Unless
you write the OS, compilers and libraries you have to trust someone.
It is easiest to check if the codebase is open to inspection.
Posts by tony2heads
1344 publicly visible posts • joined 1 Apr 2010
'Trust no one' is good enough for the X Files but not for software devs: How do you use third-party libs and stay secure, experts mull on stage
Beer necessities: US chap registers bevvy as emotional support animal so he can booze on public transport
Two billion years ago, snowball Earth was defrosted in huge asteroid crash – and it's been downhill ever since
Hospital hacker spared prison after plod find almost 9,000 cardiac images at his home
Over a thousand electronic gizmos went missing from London councils last year
Load of Big Green for Microsoft: Lloyds Banking Group inks company-wide Managed Desktop deal
Friday 17th January 2020 09:54 GMT
Re: Spot on
I do online banking, but from time to time need a real branch to fix various screw-ups.
My wife recently opened a bank account (at a different bank) and had far more screw-ups in a month than I have had in 10 years, because the staff did not know (or could not explain) their own products.
What was Boeing through their heads? Emails show staff wouldn't put their families on a 737 Max over safety fears
Blame of thrones: Those viral vids of PC monitors going blank when people stand up? Static electricity from chairs
Is there alien life on Earth? Maybe, says Brit 'naut. Well, where did they come from? How about this far-away cluster. Or this 'Godzilla' galaxy...
Stack Overflow makes peace with ousted moderator, wants to start New Year with 2020 vision on codes of conduct
Junior minister says gov.UK considering facial recognition to verify age of p0rn-watchers
Conspiracy loons claim victory in Brighton and Hove as council rejects plans to build 5G masts
Service call centres to become wasteland and tumbleweed by 2024
Charmin'. Garmin admits customers' full credit card data nicked from South African web store
Everyone remembers their first time: ESA satellite dodges 'mega constellation'
I just love your accent – please, have a new password
My god, it's full of tsars: A gun-toting Russian humanoid robot is on its way to the International Space Station
Friday 23rd August 2019 15:00 GMT
Menial tasks
Microsoft Notepad: If it ain't broke, shove it in the Store, then break it?
Off somewhere nice on holibobs? Not if you're flying British Airways: IT 'systems issue' smacks UK airports once again
We don't mean to poo-poo this, but... The Internet of S**t has literally arrived thanks to Pampers smart diapers
2019 set to be the worst year yet for smartphone market as lack of worthy upgrades dents demand
Friday 19th July 2019 11:35 GMT
Re: 5G around the corner and nothing very compelling to upgrade to.
Most recent phone (Samsung J400F) "must have" points:
- removable battery which I don't need to charge every day (once every 2-3 days depending on usage)
- dual SIM (I move around a bit)
- 4G
- buy outright ( I don't want to pay for a contract when out of the country)
- enough memory (32GB version)
-replaceable micro-SD (I have had those fail in the past) but it is much quicker to backup directly from SD to another device than any other way.
Chrome on, baby, don't fear The Reaper: Plugin sends CPU-hogging browser processes to hell where they belong
Wednesday 17th July 2019 13:22 GMT
Ancient history
Worked in the Netherlands on a VAX environment where someone wrote a program called 'Magere Hein' (local nickname for the Grim Reaper) which killed of processes that seemed to nothing for long periods of time. Exceptions could be made, but you had to justify them
It forced you to save your stuff.
Boris Johnson's promise of full fibre in the UK by 2025 is pie in the sky
Oh look. Vodafone has extended its ultrafast 5G network to deliver... Wi-Fi?
Loose tongues and oily seamen: Lost in machine translation yet again
Friday 12th July 2019 14:10 GMT
You have encapsulated my world view
'I have the opposite problem: the outside world to me is a foreign country filled with weird people saying and doing weird things that defy explanation or logical purpose"
So much of what passes for popular culture and politics are covered by that short comment.
Investor fires shot at 'sinking ship' Google in battle over privacy-menacing Google+ bug
Russian Jesus gives up food to meditate on how he can improve crypto messenger Telegram
Neptune-sized oddball baffles astroboffins: It has a good atmosphere despite star-lashing
In the living room, can Google Home hear you SCREAM? Well, that's what you'll need to do
Uncle Sam to blow millions on mind-control weapon tech that can be fitted without surgery
Oh 4G, I'm speechless: EE network outage smacks rare breed of customer that talks into their mobile phone
Ahem, ahem... AI engine said to be good as human docs at spotting lung cancer developing
Boeing admits 737 Max sims didn't accurately reproduce what flying without MCAS was like
Dedicated techie risks life and limb to locate office conference phone hiding under newspaper
Wine? No, posh noshery in high spirits despite giving away £4,500 bottle of Bordeaux
Thursday 16th May 2019 15:12 GMT
Re: Wine is wine
"detracts from the essence of Bordeaux and could actually be a very fine Napa wine."
This says it all, as many new-world wines are every bit as good as (and in some cases better) than the French ones, but don't have the same 'cachet' any nobody would dream of paying wildly inflated prices for them.
Want a good Android smartphone without the $1,000+ price tag? Then buy Google's Pixel 3a
Astronomer slams sexists trying to tear down black hole researcher's rep
Monday 15th April 2019 10:13 GMT
Re: Heroes and heroines
Observations at 1mm wavelength can have problems with the troposphere, so you want to build your radio telescope at high enough altitude to reduce the effects (preferably more than 2km above sea level)
Mount Asgard might be a good place for the Canadians to build one as it has
1) a cool name (VITAL!)
2) a flat top for construction
Apple disables iPad for 48 years after toddler runs amok
Xiaomi's Mi-too attempt at a pholdable: Not one, but TWO creases of fail
'It's full of beer!' Miracle fridge reveals itself to pals tuckered out from cleaning flooded cabin
Yes! Pack your bags! Blossoming planetary system strikingly similar to ours found by boffins
Science says death metal fans delightful and intelligent people, great at dinner parties
Thursday 14th March 2019 09:30 GMT
Re: Not surprising
Which operas?
Maybe Don Giovanni where the dead (in the form of a statue) come to life and the anti-hero gets dragged off to hell by demons.
I also remember that some bands use the Dance of the Knights (alias Montagues and Capulets) from Prokofiev's opera Romeo and Juliet as walk-on music, so this metal+opera link seems real.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
