Sign in / up

* Posts by Michael Shelby

39 publicly visible posts • joined 4 May 2010

Microsoft uses Windows Update to force Windows 10 ads onto older PCs

Michael Shelby

Really?

How is this any different from my Macbook asking me if I wanted to upgrade to Yosemite? I don't recall any "tut-tut" article from El Reg for that, so why now?

12 10

John Lewis stakes £100,000 on building a working tech creche

Michael Shelby

Read the headline too quickly...

I thought it said John Lettice, and I was very confused...

0 0

Insert 'Skeleton Key', unlock Microsoft Active Directory. Simples – hackers

Michael Shelby
Reply Icon

It rather involved being on the other side of this airtight hatchway...

5 0

Armouring up online: Duncan Campbell's chief techie talks crypto with El Reg

Michael Shelby
Reply Icon

Re: really?

I found nothing wrong with the article. It is called "Crypto Toolbox Part I". As the first article in a series, it was intended as a simple introduction to the most common tools and pointed to a few helpful tutorials. I expect the rest of the series of articles to be more advanced...

11 1

Google swears no search leg up for new dot-word sites: We drill into claims

Michael Shelby
Pint

That's the best subhead I've read in a long time. Cheers!

0 0

Dr. Dobb's Journal sails into the sunset - yet again

Michael Shelby

Too Bad

Being able to read about how to use new C++11 features directly from people like from Koenig and Sutter was a great learning experience for me. I hope the archive stays available online...

3 0

El Reg Redesign - leave your comment here.

Michael Shelby

Expanding section nav

I'm not a fan. When I read the last line of text on the screen and hit PageDn, I expect to be able to see that line of text again at the top of the screen. Now that line of text is hidden behind the expanding menu! Maybe I'm odd, but I like being able to re-read the last few words of that line to make sure I didn't accidentally scroll two pages instead of one...

10 0

Tinder swipes left on CEO Sean Rad, journalists swipe right

Michael Shelby
Reply Icon

Re: "... used his initials "B" and "D" to form the shape of a penis and balls."

Try using uppercase letters with "=" characters between them. The number of "=" characters to insert depends on what will make you laugh.

1 0

JINGS! Microsoft Bing called Scots indyref RIGHT!

Michael Shelby
Reply Icon
Joke

Re: Margin of error

"...demands of recounts, legal challenges and accusations of misconduct from one side or the other"

At least that kind of thing would never happen here in the good ol' US of A!

Oh, wait...

6 0

TV transport tech, part 1: From server to sofa at the touch of a button

Michael Shelby
Reply Icon

Re: All that effort...

And people keep sending them money for it!

2 0

NO MORE ALL CAPS and other pleasures of Visual Studio 14

Michael Shelby
Reply Icon

re: C++11/C++14 features

That was also my first question. There's a partial list here (look under both CTP 1 and CTP 2): http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2967191

4 0

TweetDeck XSS flap: Miscreants flash their naughty bits at users

Michael Shelby
Reply Icon

Re: This was bound to crop up eventually

But then the attacker could just enter:

{256 bytes of stuff}

</NoExecute>

{evil code}

<NoExecute length=256>

{256 bytes of stuff}

HTML mixes data and code, period. There is no way to separate them, the damage is done, we are all doomed.

4 0

Winklevoss twins flash their Winkdex at Bitcoin price-trackers

Michael Shelby

Winkle One and Two?

I would have gone with Winkledee and Winkledum.

12 0

KCOM-owned Eclipse FAILS to cover up the password 'password'

Michael Shelby

hash(salt + password)

Security isn't rocket surgery, people.

1 0

Orbital Sciences' Cygnus resupply truck blasts off to the Space Station

Michael Shelby
Coat

Launch scheduled to take place at 1307 EST?

An elite space truck would wait another 30 minutes.

22 0

Calling Doctor Caroline Langensiepen of Nottingham Trent uni

Michael Shelby
Reply Icon

@AC

What it really needs is a Playmobil image.

8 0

How to relieve Microsoft's Surface RT piles problem

Michael Shelby

SecureBoot is not the problem

I'm pretty sure that no one has ever said, "I'm not buying a Surface because I can't install Android on it." If punters want Android, they'll buy a slab built for Android.

And why would MS ever allow SecureBoot to be disabled? The potential increase in hardware sales (which I think is nil) would be overcome by the loss of Windows Store App sales. I thought the goal of locking down the hardware was to sell more software?

4 0

Are you experienced? The Doctor Who assistants that SUFFERED the most

Michael Shelby
Reply Icon

If you want to talk about dying, I think Rory had Adric beat at least 5 to 1. How many times did Rory die, anyway?

8 0

Crypto protocols mostly crocked says euro infosec think-tank ENISA

Michael Shelby
Reply Icon

SHA-2

It depends on the size. From the report: "we denote SHA-224 as in the legacy only division of our analysis", and "for near term use we recommend SHA-256 and for long term use SHA-512."

4 0

Android adware that MUST NOT BE NAMED threatens MILLIONS

Michael Shelby

I only hope...

... that Temple Run is not on the list of affected apps. I AM SOOOO CLOSE TO ESCAPING THE STUPID TEMPLE AND FINALLY BEATING TEH GAME!!!!1

1 0

Google's Project Glass headman answers most pressing question: 'Why?'

Michael Shelby
Thumb Down

I'm sorry, Google...

... I don't want you to live on my face.

13 1

12 simple rules: How Ted Codd transformed the humble database

Michael Shelby

"everybody understood the principle"

But not everybody can apply it, which is why thedailywtf.com exists today.

0 0

Jokes of no more than 2 lines

Michael Shelby

veni, vidi, V.D. ...

I came, I saw, I cankered.

0 0

Android bug batters Bitcoin wallets

Michael Shelby
Reply Icon

I wouldn't use the camera, but a phone has many sources for entropy, including some (accelerometer, touch screen, antennae, etc.) not found on a desktop or laptop. Kind of shocked that a function called SecureRandom is actually neither.

3 0

The good and the bad in Hyper-V's PowerShell

Michael Shelby

WIN-WHAT?

I keep misreading the name of Trevor's system as WIN-FHQWHGADS. I will now waste the next 4 hours watching old Homestar Runner videos...

2 0

Ten ten-inch tablets

Michael Shelby
Reply Icon

"why bother with WinRT?"

I would assume battery life and tablet-optimised apps. So that raises the question: does WinRT have better battery life and/or apps than full Win8? I would like to see that comparison.

1 1

Keep calm and carry on flogging: Dell soothes troops as buyout looms

Michael Shelby
Reply Icon
Coat

"unscrupulous capitalists"

... also known as "capitalists".

1 0

Bacon sarnies can kill: Official

Michael Shelby
Reply Icon

Re: Noooooo!

Here in the US, kids smother everything in ketchup. As they become adults, they smother everything in ranch dressing. Might explain why the rest of the world thinks we have no taste.

2 0

Touchscreens to get finger friendly

Michael Shelby

Forget about phones...

I'm looking forward to having this technology in my car. Touchscreen consoles look great but are unsafe. It'd be nice to be able to feel some of the more common controls. I miss being able to turn on the A/C without taking my eyes off the road.

1 0

Watchdog tells Greenpeace to stop 'encouraging anti-social behaviour'

Michael Shelby

I can't wait for fusion...

...not for the cheap and clean energy, or for the benefits to the environment and the human race, but because it will mean not having to read stories like this ever again.

2 0

Turing's rapid Nazi Enigma code-breaking secret revealed

Michael Shelby
Reply Icon

Re: Unbreakable

There were still inherent design flaws in the machine. For example, the fastest moving wheel was on the right-hand (output) side of the machine. This meant that, for long stretches of messages, the whole rest of the machine could be treated as a constant, which made breaking the codes possible. You're right about human factors making it even easier, but Enigma was not perfect.

0 0

Music and relationships

Michael Shelby
Reply Icon

Re: Music and relationships

No matter what you do, make backups. Trust me.

0 0

Japan, Russia in plan for elephant to birth CLONE MAMMOTH

Michael Shelby
Reply Icon
Thumb Down

re: dire wolf

"...lets see thos b????ds shoot that sucker."

That would just be a challenge to my fellow Americans to buy better guns. I don't want all my neighbors to be so well armed!

3 0

El Reg's NAOMI rocket throws launch-pad strop

Michael Shelby
Thumb Up

Loved the Pringles rocket...

The words at the top, "Instant Win", said it all...

1 0

Microsoft boffins propose cloudy home furnaces

Michael Shelby

I need to check my calendar...

Feels too much like the first day of April!

3 0

Adobe releases lengthy list of Apple Lion woes

Michael Shelby

The Raymond Chen vs. Jonathan Ive Scenario

The classic OS upgrade philosophical battle... Would you rather have an OS with shiny new features that broke all your old apps? Or would you rather have all your old apps work forever at the cost of a bloated OS full of compatibility hacks?

6 0

World Cup: Holland to win, Spain to slump

Michael Shelby

Slovenia?

Surprised to see them crack the top ten. England and USA had better not take them lightly...

0 0

Google heats up native code for Chrome OS

Michael Shelby
Reply Icon
Thumb Down

Er...

Imagine having to download Photoshop every time you pointed your browser at that web page.

1 0

Phillies fan tasered for field incursion

Michael Shelby

"Tasered"?

An American radio personality asserted that the correct usage is "tased", not "tasered". Can we get a ruling from The Register Grammarical Department? Personally, I would have used "tackled and punched in the face", but I don't write these stories.

0 2