* Posts by Florida1920

1243 publicly visible posts • joined 17 Jan 2011

UK govt admits it pulled 10-year file-sharing jail sentence out of its arse

Florida1920
Headmaster

You couldn't make it up.

But the IPO did!

Revealed: How NASA saved the Kepler space telescope from suicide

Florida1920
Pint

People who can do this stuff

are the gods of our times. It's too bad so much of humanity is unable to appreciate what gifts they bring to us.

Ex-HP boss Carly Fiorina sacked one week into new job

Florida1920

Re: On behalf of the human race

Second, Kasich is still in the race.

Not anymore. It's Drumpf all the way now. Next stop: Doomsville.

Chrome edges out IE for desktop browser crown

Florida1920

Re: long story short: Marketing

Google leverages all their other assets to promote Chrome.

Not in my case. As the post above yours says, Mozilla fiddling with the UI did it for me. Had been using their browser since the days when Mozilla replaced Netscape, but just got tired of having to deal with unnecessary UI changes and switched to Chrome last year; the same reason I dropped MS Office for OO and then LO. Life has enough challenges. Chrome is doing fine here with a few add-ons and will likely be the daily driver for some time to come. I keep FF updated and check it out after each update, but so far it hasn't won me back. Internet Explorer? Is that one still around?

Windows 10 handcuffs Cortana web search to Bing and Edge browser

Florida1920
Headmaster

Deja vu

Reminds me of the time when Internet Explorer got so fully "integrated" into the OS that you couldn't get rid of it in favor of another browser. All this bullying: forcing the use of their browser, force-feeding updates to Win 10 -- all smack of desperation. If you've got something truly good, why do you need to force people to use it?

Food for Deep Thought: 42 is IBM's answer to Life, the Universe and Everything...

Florida1920
Pint

Re: Sigh...

Zooey Deschanel

Good enough to make me turn off ScriptBlock and uBlock Origin for that page. In the absence of a BoFH it will have to do for FriBeerday.

UC Davis chancellor suspended after headlines like this one undo $175,000 online name-scrubbing efforts

Florida1920
Terminator

Scapegoating?

Assuming she couldn't manage the jackboot who pepper-sprayed the students, an official statement denouncing the action and fast termination of the rent-a-cop would have accomplished more than all the SEO in the world, and saved her career. Linda is devious to say the least, or she would have figured that out for herself. She may not be a goat, but closer examination may show she has cloven hoofs.

Mozilla slings Firefox patches at flaw found by GCHQ's infosec arm

Florida1920
Pint

Have a Brown Ale

The lone high severity bug was found by British security bods Maryam Mehrnezhad, Ehsan Toreini, Siamak F. Shahandashti, and Feng Hao of Newcastle University.

Another failed merger, Carly? Ted Cruz to bring in ex-HP boss Fiorina as running mate

Florida1920

To Do list for 30,000 former HP employees laid off by Carly

1. Make campaign contribution to [name of any campaign but Cruz-Fiorina]

2. See #1

The case for ethical ad-blocking

Florida1920

Why wouldn't ad blocking be ethical?

Exactly. Ad blocking is the Web version of the Mute button.

Colander-wearing Irishman denied driver's licence in Pastafarian slapdown

Florida1920

Re: Clothing optional

I thought it was the Mormons who had the magic underwear?

There's a significant difference?

Florida1920
Coat

Clothing optional

If he'd said he believed that during the time of the dinosaurs, billions of people landed on Teegeeack (that's Earth to you, unbelievers), then got blown up with nukes while standing around volcanoes .... they would have let him pose for his photo in his magic underwear. No human endeavor is more deserving of parody than religion.

The one with my thetan in the pocket.

Thunderbird is GO: Mozilla prepares to jettison mail client

Florida1920
Childcatcher

Tried Fossa

64-bit Fossa kept crashing at odd moments so I'm back to Tbird. Sure hope it finds a good home. Used to like FF too, but that was then. Mozilla has lost the plot, it seems.

Mitsubishi 'fesses up: We lied in fuel tests to make our cars look great

Florida1920

Good thing Bushido is a thing of the past

Else the CEO would be having a tummy ache.

Utah declares 'war on smut'

Florida1920

Re: Foolishness

Do these people never get laid?

That would explain this legislative, err, misfire.

Exploit kit writers turn away from Java, go all-in on Adobe Flash

Florida1920
Holmes

Top 10 Vulnerabilities Are Related To Flash

Better: "Top 10 Reasons To Uninstall Flash."

Yahoo! sale woes

Florida1920

It isn't management's fault if they fail

Unfortunately, one key ingredient of many CEOs and board members of big corporations is a strong case of narcissism. Failure is never their fault. If the board members blame the CEO and cut him/her off at the knees, they're admitting that people in their "class" are capable of failure, and that just won't do.

Daft Punk: Snowden goes electronica

Florida1920
Facepalm

Oh, Edward

Don't you remember? It was singing that got you into this mess in the first place.

Linux command line mistake 'nukes web boss'S biz'

Florida1920
Pint

It's Friday

This sounds like a command string the BOFH would induce a clueless HR person to type just as he and the PFY head out to the pub. Can't believe anyone running a hosting service with >1000 clients wouldn't keep offline backups.

'Bring back xHamster', North Carolina smut watchers grumble

Florida1920

Re: Detail?

" Ringo Starr has also cancelled a concert in North Carolina in protest against the law"

well....thats hardly something negative from the point of view of a Carolina Redneck.

The venue has a seating capacity of 7000, but Ringo's not a big name with Millenials. Still, it's a loss to the county and state, and it's a start.

Florida1920

Re: Detail?

What NC want to ban is anyone going into the bathroom/toilet/.loo/crapper that is NOT the gender that they were born with.
There's more to it than that. The law also removes civil rights protection from LGBT persons. Employers, landlords and service providers may knowingly discriminate against them without risk of penalty. BTW, Ringo Starr has also cancelled a concert in North Carolina in protest against the law.

Flying Spaghetti Monster is not God, rules mortal judge

Florida1920
Alien

Pastafarianism is satire

"True religions" are simply jokes.

The future of Firefox is … Chrome

Florida1920
Headmaster

This is what progress looks like sometimes

Those of us who have been around a while remember when NTSC color television came along in the U.S. The system was mandated to be compatible with existing monochrome TVs. With only 525 lines, when large CRTs and projection systems became available, the image looked even more terrible. Finally, FCC required a switch to digital transmission, where high-quality images are at last possible. You may not approve of the American HDTV standards, but you have to admit the image quality is a vast improvement over NTSC, with which it is incompatible.

This conflict seems to be at the heart of Mozilla's decision to adopt what they feel is a better browser engine. Yes, the Chrome UI has shortcomings, and now is a good time to lobby for FF to do it better. But I wish them success in this surely difficult decision to not hold onto the past for no other reason than that's the way they always did it.

Texas Attorney General charged in 32-bit 'eco-friendly server scam'

Florida1920
Facepalm

God doesn't want me to take your money

Is it true, what some people say, that religious belief kills brain cells?

Daily! Mail! eyes! up! Yahoo!'s news! arm!

Florida1920
Childcatcher

If all print media go online-only

what will they wrap the chips in? This is an urgent possibility that Vulture Central should tear into.

British booter bandit walks free after pleading guilty to malware sales

Florida1920
Coat

Pass the Lea & Perrins

Worcestershire man Grant Manser has pleaded guilty to six counts of computer misuse offences after selling booter software on the dark web....

Prosecutors said he turned over £50,000 selling the services. His profits were said to have been spent on upgrades to his home computing rig and on his motorbike.

Must be some saucy scooter.

The one with the Norton key in the pocket.

Aluminum-wrapped robbers fail to foil bank

Florida1920

BOFH: Sure, I could make your cheapo printer perform miracles

Florida1920

You'd think at some point that company would run out of users clueless enough to tempt the powers of the BOFH on a friday afternoon (or any other day)

They're like beer or crisps. No matter how fast you consume (electrocute) them, you can't use up the supply.

Bezos defends Amazon culture in letter to shareholders

Florida1920
Big Brother

Da

Bezos would have thrived under Stalinism.

Adobe preps emergency Flash patch for bug hackers are exploiting

Florida1920
Facepalm

Helpful site?

Still have FF installed but using Chrome all the time now. Fired up the Fox and went to http://flashbuilder.eu/flash-player-version.html. Had to enable a script and activate the Flash plug-in. Then I got this:

YOUR FLASH VERSION IS 21.0.0.197

THE LATEST VERSION AVAILABLE IS 21.0.0.182

The whole Flash ecosystem is whacked!

Nest bricks Revolv home automation hubs, because evolution

Florida1920
FAIL

Apocalypse Now

Google: "Do you think our business plan is unsound?"

Former Customers: "We don't see any plan at all, fools."

Top Firefox extensions can hide silent malware using easy pre-fab tool

Florida1920

@AC

Provide link to memo!

I'm not the only one who has been pushing uBlock Origin over ABP lately. Maybe if you take off the mask you'll notice more. Last week in this topic I said

Adblock is so 2015. Those in the know have long since migrated to uBlock Origin.

And got four downvotes!

Less than two weeks ago, I positively mentioned uBlock Origin twice in this topic..

We're trying, mate, but you have to help yourself, too.

SEC chair blasts Silicon Valley for its hokey valuations

Florida1920
Holmes

Sure, jump on the tech stocks

But while you're at it, tell us the one about Wall Street and the mortgage-backed securities. Didn't see that one coming, did you SEC?

Google tried to be funny, cocked it up, everyone thought it was a bug

Florida1920
FAIL

Do no evil?

Ooops.

The Register to publish Mindful Sysadmin adult colouring book

Florida1920
Mushroom

RELAX?! I DON'T HAVE TIME TO RELAX!!!

Apparently colouring in helps you to relax.

How about some Vulture Central Extra Strength tea and coffee (packaged separately, please)? You've already got the mugs; time to sell the contents!

US Marine Corps launches hacker support unit

Florida1920
Headmaster

Re: US Marines

are a separate service branch anyway. (From Army/Navy/Air Force).

Technically, they're part of the Navy, though they have broad autonomy. The Marine Corps Commandant (a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) reports to the Secretary of the Navy. There is no separate Marine Corps Secretary, as there are for the Army and Air Force.

U.S. Marine Corps logo

Adblock wins in court again – this time against German newspaper

Florida1920

Re: A hollow victory

RIght-click the icon and select Options | Whitelist. Figure out who's serving the weather info and add the URL to the Whitelist. www.bbc.com/weather/ might do it.

Florida1920
FAIL

A hollow victory

Adblock is so 2015. Those in the know have long since migrated to uBlock Origin.

Yahoo! Starts! Sale! Process! To! Fend! Off! Starboard!

Florida1920

Re: Is Yahoo! "big in Japan"?

If anything, their Japanese home page looks even more ghastly than the U.S. version. Don't use Yahoo! but had to see for myself.

Mal Men men hit LiveJournal with Angler exploit kit

Florida1920
Childcatcher

How to get content providers on board?

Content providers try to make money from advertising, opening the door to these exploits. Ironically, their sites could be the front line in a public campaign in support of ad and script blocking. But content providers would be cutting off their revenue streams, so they won't. Maybe Reg scribes could take turns on a soapbox in Hyde Park?

Here's a great idea: Let's make a gun that looks like a mobile phone

Florida1920
Thumb Up

Excuse me, I have to take this

No self-respecting gang banger or mass-murder-contemplating [insert noun of choice] would be caught dead with a two-shot .380 pistol. This is a novelty item, sure to become a collectible. Relax, gang. More people will die from texting-while-driving than from this little cell-phone-look-alike shooter.

Glum, depressed ... and addicted to Facebook, Twitter? There's a link, say medical eggheads

Florida1920
Headmaster

"Exposure to highly idealized representations of peers on social media elicits feelings...

... of envy and the distorted belief that others lead happier, more successful lives,"

OTOH, if you spend time on Facebook and Twitter, you likely are a loser, and others do indeed lead happier, more successful lives.

Top! tip! for! Yahoo! – 'Fire! your! board! of! directors!'

Florida1920
Facepalm

Core business?

Yahoo's core business is "losing money." Throwing nine new directors at it is as likely to make a difference as changing the bridge crew of Titanic after it hit the iceberg.

Water treatment plant hacked, chemical mix changed for tap supplies

Florida1920
Pirate

A warning or a warm-up exercise

A "hacktivist" group with ties to Syria....

Verizon's RISK Team uncovered evidence that the hacktivists had manipulated the valves controlling the flow of chemicals twice – though fortunately to no particular effect.

To be sure, if they weren't caught they would have been back.

Four of the top 10 places in the world for internet are, er, in the US

Florida1920
Headmaster

Does anyone actually live in Delaware?

Maryland-DC: Not surprising, nation's capital region. Massachusetts? Not surprising either. Before there was Silicon Valley there was Route 128 outside Boston. Rumor has it they eat a lot of beans in Boston. They'll get you moving in a hurry!

French publishers join Swedish 'Block Party' to pester ad refuseniks

Florida1920

Re: Even more horrendouser

Torquay Herald Express

Yep, they need an intervention.

That's not a foghorn you're hearing, Herald Express, it's the sound of silence when ad- and script-blocking add-ons hit your site. Wow, your home page loaded in a snap. Lots of interesting stuff to read about kangaroos, foghorns, piglets and a gas works. Your pages look a lot better with ads blocked than a few of my local news sites, I'll give you that. But I turned off uBlock Origin and ScriptBlock when I started writing this reply, and the page took for-freaking-ever to load. And enabling scripts for your domain opened the door for 11 scripts from other domains. No way, Torquay!

Florida1920

Re: I don't care

the most horrendous site I have seen is the Independent.

Just came from there, with ScriptBlock and uBlock Origin engaged. I never go online without them. There is a lot of white space on the Independent home page now, but it's possible to read their typo-ridden content without wading through visual noise.

Pope kicks off Easter week by triumphal entry into ... Instagram

Florida1920
Pint

This article is snarky and borderline blasphemous

In other words, the kind of article that makes El Reg worth reading.

Hand in glove: Google and the US State Dept

Florida1920

Re: Don't Be Evil

Google probably rationalize this by claiming that they aren't the actors, only the enablers. They provide the weapons; what the government does with them is another matter.

Telling your wife why you were fired is the only punishment

Florida1920
Coat

“That was the year a lot of us discovered Scotch.”

All in all a good year, then!

The one with the Bruichladdich in the pocket.