* Posts by Kiwi

4368 publicly visible posts • joined 26 Sep 2011

That's what makes you hackable: Please, baby. Stop using 'onedirection' as a password

Kiwi
Gimp

Re: one direction

There's an xkcd for that.

(Bout time we had an XKCD icon as well)

Kiwi
Pint

Re: I didn't google 1D TO here

Now if you really wanted to complete the troll, create a page with links to a certain Rick fella's vids...

Kiwi
Pint

Re: 1-2-3-4-5?

The scary thing is, I sort of am LastPass. I fix a family PC, and then six months later they phone me to ask what their password is. I don't write them down - but remember them better than their owners.

Used to be like that myself. These days I just pass someone the keyboard and turn away (or get them to type it in if via Teamviewer etc).

I don't want to know their password. I don't want to know how many characters, which end of the keyboard they use, nothing.

Boss planning to tear you a new one? Google Glass is back: Weird workwear aimed at devs, but on sale to all

Kiwi
Black Helicopters

Re: Nobody is likely to object to Google Glass on an assembly line or in a warehouse

Try reading Manna by Marshall Brain

It took me a bit to find this, but I read it some years back and I guess enough stuck for specific enough terms.

I don't know how close it will prove to be in time (especially the ending as I recall it), but I can see some of the earlier bits coming into play now - and this thing with the new "glass" sounds quite like the ideas expressed in this story.

--> We don't really have an icon to show the future we're headed for, with monitoring beyond Orwell's worst nightmare/greatest wet dream. The only thing he missed is it's corporate monitoring more than government.

Kiwi
Devil

Mechanics

including mechanics with manuals in their line of sight

For the given price, that's a long time to pay off!

Few weeks back I was asked to do some work on a model of bike I'd not heard of, let alone seen. Several faults from sitting, brakes needed serious work, clutch was seized, carbs needed cleaning, fuel pump wasn't working (yes some bikes have part of the tank below the height of the carbs so use a pump), and a couple of electrical faults as well. Bike was in bits when I got it.

I set about to work on it.. Brakes were straightforward, strip, clean lines (compressed air needed here), clean callipers, clean and re-build masters (both needed new seals). Cars didn't hold any surprises. Same for the clutch, take the cover off, disassemble the basket and eventually you'll find the stuck plates. Gentle work to free them.

I did need a manual.. It's a bike with a lot of plastic fairing and I'd not seen it intact. A few bits I couldn't work out where they went.

By the time a mechanic completes their apprenticeship they'll have plenty enough experience to fix most faults without referring to a manual.

Back when I did my apprenticeship I could repair many TVs, VCRs, CDs etc simply by past experience and common faults. Service manuals were expensive, treated like gold, and seldom needed.

The public doesn't really know how people with experience can find their way around unfamiliar engines/circuits with relative ease, even though they could do the same in fields they are familiar with. Someone really is trying hard to sell this things as being acceptable, rather than the nasty privacy invasion they are.

At last, the fix no one asked for: Portable home directories merged into systemd

Kiwi
Pint

Re: No point

> Yes, but not from MS.

Sure, and you can do similar things using Windows PE builder I think. However:

Ah, my apologies - I misunderstood your meaning of "live usb".

For me, they've generally been short-use things for repair or recovery work, sometimes hardware testing. I've not used them as an actual OS and when I posted that message I forgot that.

You're correct.. A short-use tool stick can be done, even some stuff you might run for a few days (F4 had that capability I think, some tool/trick to bypass the "24 hour limit", but not something you'd use for anything other than repair/recov.

Kiwi

Re: No point

(ever heard of a "live" Windows USB stick for example?)

Yes, but not from MS. "Falcon 4" was doing it with a CD (that could also be made to boot from USB using YUMI or other tools - I think if you run the YUMI program it can also download F4 among others), there's also Hiren's boot DVD, and several others.

Great tools, but something someone spent a lot of time building and likely with little or no help from MS. I used Linux-based tools for most jobs but sometimes some of the stuff available on these was much more useful.

Kiwi
Pint

Re: The way forward

I shouldn't have impled it was more common than it was

Probably an easy mistake to make.. I consider using *nix, a firefox-based browser, ad- and script-blockers, other privacy tools etc to be quite normal - because I spend much of my computer time (including talking or thinking about them).

When I come across someone using Win 7 with an AV last updated during the factory install, using IE or Chrome, no ad/privacy protection - it sometimes takes quite a bit of effort to realise THIS is normal desktop use, not what I've surrounded myself with.

TL:NWR : If that's where you spent your time, that was your "normal". Can't fault anyone for thinking their "normal" is most people's :)

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Portable?

I'm SO pleased I use void linux!

Oh, I think more people are using that than you realise...

When this new systemd nightmare starts to show its bugs (which will get the old "not our problem, WONTFIX), it'll pretty quickly void any unfortunate's valuable data. And when they discover that has happened, many of them will also pretty quickly void their bowels.

I'd not heard of Void till your posts. Is it happy with Steam? AMD GPUs? (my best box has an 8-core 4G bulldozer or similar IIRC and a Radeon HD 6950 I think - only get to play with it on weekends). If Devuan with Steam lets me down this weekend I may be looking for something else. While it will probably be used for browsing/email etc my only goal is to get Steam and HomeworldR/Quake champs and a couple of others running on it - I know SOASE:R will work happily, expect 1st Decade should (if I can be bothered).

Desktop doesn't matter. Getting my few remaining windows things gone is all that matters (well, that and being free of the D)

Kiwi
Boffin

Re: My pet theory for this shites existance is that...

...the lead developer is seeking to make his mark on history and he doesn't give a dam' who else gets sacrificed along the way.

Somehow reminds me of a local stray tom.

About the same result.. A foul stench that can take some effort to clean up, and can easily cause loss of sleep (ever tried sleeping through the smell of tomcat?), and is something disgusting you really don't want around your /home.

Interestingly.. The same "solutions" could also work in both cases (although I am a cat lover and would much rather give the cat a chance to be taught better behaviour and given a better life, his chances of redemption are much better than Pottering etc)

Kiwi
Linux

Re: Where are you?

The biggest problem is that systemd is (sort of) trying to solve issues for people with laptops (faster boot time byrunning a couple of tasks in parallel), and people who don’t have laptops (portable home directories) but is doing so by chaining servers down with impenetrable logs...

I have a nice fast computer tucked away that I hardly touch. SMGT only generally (except last weekend I made some space for a fresh Devuan install and a try of Steam/Proton - this weekend try to play it and see if I can rm -rf /Windows next weekend).

Most everything else is done from a Dell D630 with a whopping 4g of RAM and 2TB of ultra-cheap HDD. Does have Nextcloud syncing with other machines (including my server also running a D630 - what can I say, I found some for a tenner, bricks and docks included!).

Boot time is measured in minutes. But... I often just put it into sleep or hibernate (sadly sleep is as dead as the battery, which I discovered lifeless this morning :( ).

On my non-working-mornings I get out of bed, walk to the desk in the lounge, turn the machine on, go for a leak, turn on the jug, let the cat out, clean the litter box (if needed), clean up, make the coffee, do my morning reading (one of those freaks who reads paper book stuff during that first coffee), wash the dishes (one of those freaks who does dishes once a day unless desperate - nice having plenty of bench space), then turn on the monitor. I don't know how long the machine actually took to boot, was it 5 minutes? 35? 2 minutes? 20 seconds? Don't have a clue, don't need to know.

If I am working and at a client's place where I can run it, I'll check their needs first, if nothing urgent turn it on then go and start any meal I am supposed to be cooking, or do any cleaning, or gardening or other jobs I am there for. Again, no idea how long it takes to boot, when I am ready so is it.

If I am there as someone to keep an eye on them after certain meds, same thing. Check them, turn puta on, chat with them for a while, do any other tasks that need/can help with doing (technically not there to do dishes but some of them really appreciate it when I give their kitchen a good clean - none of them will complain to my bosses and it helps me with my being borderline OCD about clean kitchens and kitchen stuff!). When I'm done with that and they're settled, the little box of stressful happiness is ready. 1 minute? 100 minutes?

If I was in an office, I'd sort out any paper work while the machine was starting, or collect any thing else I might need to start my day (including the first dozen coffees). If I was allowed, I might also set my machine to turn on a few minutes before I am due to arrive so it's ready. When did BIOS's first have an auto-on timer? Has been some 20 years anyway I believe. And now I mention it, in '94 I had a machine turn on automatically with a mechanical mains timer switch - back in the old days of mechanical latching switches rather than the electronic push-buttons we have today.

Boot speed isn't an issue if you have even a fraction of an IQ point and/or the slightest bit of organisational skill.

Kiwi
Pint

An executive wanting a portable home directory? What have you been smoking?

I'd be more surprised at an exec wanting to take work home! For that matter, even just wanting to work (beyond the bare minimum).

--> Because.. Ah, you'll figure it out :)

Kiwi
Coat

And yeah, the only company code I ever had on a home system was during the winddown of a bought-out startup.

Did that make you feel a bit "down and out" at the time?

Alright, I'm going already! Put the taser away!

Kiwi
Trollface

Re: Next RC codename ...

I'd be happy if they'd just spend a few years aiming at "decent".

Personally, I'd be happier if someone took better aim at Pottything..

Kiwi
Trollface

I am reminded of an old "Herbs" song

"The systemd-homed service, which enables portable home directories, has been merged into the code for systemd and will be included in the forthcoming 245 release.

"Rust in Dust"

Contains the line "2,4,5,T - NO!"

Song was a protest against the use of the herbicide "245T" which was quite nasty, and talks almost of a post-apocalyptic world where many things including birds, seafood and wildlife are all-but gone.

Much describes my feelings on SD - destruction of natural things and ruining this good land, a dangerous toxin that MUST be removed from our environment IMMEDIATELY!

--> (WARNING: Song contains Maori words - some people here find the use of Maori words to be offensive/racist)

Boris celebrates taking back control of Brexit Britain's immigration – with unlimited immigration program

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Conservatism

There's lots you can do to help prevent accidents, and the research strongly suggests those motorcyclists who start on dirt bikes when young are much safer drivers than those who start with SUVs.

I've had at least one experience where anyone in a car would not have come out intact. It involved a sliding truck around a blind bend where I was already as far to the left as I could get - any car following would've had nowhere to go, no chance to avoid.

Did have one with someone pulling out from a roundabout as well who I got behind, but I think while a car would've hit they'd have come out not to badly hurt.

Never forget, your time in the hospital shows you those who get badly hurt, it doesn't show those who make it home without the slightest incident :)

--> Thanks for time BTW. Paid of volunteer, I'm always grateful for medical and emergency people.

Kiwi

Re: Good, good.

I as an ashamed english person (doesn't deserve capitals) am glad that the UK is now done for.

Did you spend time trying to fill the education gap? Did you hunt for people who could not get to the polls and offer to take them? Did you watch the news reports in the preceeding weeks/days, see that maybe it was going to be close, and encourage people to get out and vote as when it is close then yes, every vote counts?

If you did any of these, you have no reason to be ashamed. Go out and make the country the best you can regardless.

If you didn't do any of the above then yes, no matter the outcome you should be ashamed of yourself. But still, you can redeem yourself. Go out and do the best you can to improve the country regardless of your actions.

If we give up (and reading certain posters here or knowing some of the people/politicians in my own land, it is tempting sometimes!) then we are done. But if each of us continues doing what we can to improve things then that is what we will get - things will improve. We cannot do it by one big effort resting on one or two people's shoulders, but it can be done by lots of little efforts.

Yours is the nation that won the Battle of Britain against overwhelming odds, yet look at what you are today. Feel that shame, and use it. Don't make excuses, make something of your nation.

Kiwi
Pint

Kiwi> You seemed to be using me as proof of Brexit supporters being racist - which would mean that yes, you were saying that..

Nope. Wrong. You were responding to my post calling out codejunky for his lying.

No other reason I responded to your posts. In fact I had ignored them up til now.

Dishonest or intellectually dis-qualified?

But lets take a look at history... In this post you quote me, talk about my calling people "Paki", quote Codejunky's comment about some Brexit supporters being racist, then say "I didn't have to scroll far" - the context being you were using my post to show codejunky was lying (how you figure that I still don't know - you're claiming I am racist, have claimed I am a Brexit supporter, and then quote Codejunky saying some brexit supporters are racist as being a lie...)

When we go back a little further to my post, we see that I was not at all responding to you but responding to Codejunky's querying how you believed he was lying. Going to his post, he claims that you falsely accuse him of being racist without adding anything to the conversation. I can see a pattern emerging there. Wonder where I've seen you falsely accusing someone else of being racist...

Barely into your post and we've already picked up a couple of falsehoods. Lack of honesty or lack of intelligence?

Especially the "Paki" ones. But please don't try and reverse ferret them. If you defend use of uk-specific racist terms by out-of-contexting them, then do you not think you are just enabling and adding to the problem?

But the context was that "Paki' is always racist and is always a racist way to refer to Pakistani's. I showed that in my nation's language "Paki" has a different meaning and also that Pakistani's in other cultures refer to themselves as "Paki" or "Paki's". It's not racist to show that other cultures have other ways of doing things. It is racist for someone seemingly from the UK to be limiting what words people in other cultures can use. Smacks of the old colonialism and of the bad days (not too long ago and not nearly long enough ago :( ) where speaking Maori in schools could get you physically beaten by staff (and could get you fired in the workplace etc).

Those were in response to a thread started by Solidsquid where s/he mentioned "Paki" was racist. BrownishMonstr - a person who can "ethnically be considered as" Pakistani, responded that the term is not racist when used "in an otherwise normal conversation". sed gawk took it upon themselves to speak for other people and say it was racist and deserved prosecution and violence, and I responded to question why they'd expect violence to be carried out against people for using a term Paki's also use to describe themselves, and to point out it's racist to try to speak for other cultures and limit how they are allowed to refer to themselves.

How is that "out-of-contexting them"? And don't you think that your elitist limiting of how people may use their own language is "adding to the problem" much more so than my using my nation's language or the terms people of other cultures have invited me to use to refer to them? Do you honestly believe it's up to you to define what words other cultures may use? You claim you don't need to "post your credentials" yet you are doing an awful lot of speaking for others and pronouncing how we can/cannot use our language.

Kiwi>.From your posts, you are one who voted "remain".

Nope. Wrong again. My voting rights were removed. I had no say in Brexit what-so-ever. Even though it is directly affecting me.

Well, your posts indicate you'd've voted "remain" if you could, so I'm still basically correct. I guess you live outside the UK (but perhaps close, France or somewhere else in Europe?) Unless you have a criminal conviction that prevents you moving, that is by your choice. I made a mistake in assuming you're a UK citizen/were entitled to vote and voted "remain" but I am still correct in that you would've voted "remain" if you could. I have no problem with people voting what they believe - I have a little bit of a problem with people NOT voting (unless that's what you believe - I'd love to have an option of "none of the above" on many ballots), and a lot of a problem with people who could've voted and encouraged others to vote who're vocal about the wrong choice being made but who didn't get off their arse and encourage other people to vote their way. That's how you win elections, help people to vote and do your best to educate them to see your POV and agree with you. If you just lazily wander up to the booth and expect everyone to mark their ballot your way then you're already a failure at standing up for your beliefs.

--> Anyway, may your day be Paki (pure) joy and the weather Paki (sunny).

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Like Brexit or loath it...

Didn't miss the point at all. This is exactly what we see in my own land.

There are ways to control population changes in area where the local councils have some teeth.

First, the release of land for construction. If the sewer/water/power etc infrastructure is in place then open up a trillion square miles for new housing. If the infrastructure only supports 1 square mile on the south side of town then only open that area up. If the infrastructure is ageing and won't support new developments then don't open up new land for development until the infrastructure is in place.

Are several homeowners in large plots wanting to subdivide and put in some infill housing? Does the infrastructure support it? If yes, let them. If no, tell them no until the local systems can cope.

Wanting to convert to a BnB? Can things cope? Grant permission, if not then don't.

Is this really that hard? I guess it is, as many councils are still opening up land while there is work needed to make it functional.

If your council wants to stop or restrict newcomers until things are right then it is with them, and it is with you to encourage them to make those restrictions. If you want to have large numbers of people coming in then do nothing. If you want to change it, get political.

But at least in a few places I've seen where old housing is being replaced with new (large blocks that had maybe a hundred houses that are being re-done), systems have been installed to better cope with storm water and I think some sewer surge/storage tanks as well. And at least Wellington is finally increasing the water storage capacity (and the work done on emergency supplies (post Christchurch) has been amazing!)

Kiwi

Kiwi>But I'm not a Brexit supporter.

I never said you were. Sorry for any confusion. Still dislike your posts on the use of abusive language. Having been on the end of such stuff all through school in the 70s.

"codejunky>yes some racists supported brexit (I found some supporting remain too).”

I still say this statement is a lie. Finding remain voting racists? Evidence or it never happened.

You seemed to be using me as proof of Brexit supporters being racist - which would mean that yes, you were saying that..

You may not like my calling you out for your abusive and racist statements, but that's not my problem.

From your posts, you are one who voted "remain". You are also very clearly racist in the way you wish me to stop using the language of my culture. You are the proof that there are racists amongst the remainers.

In my country, the Maori people suffered many decades of abuse where the use of our beautiful language was not permitted. Kids caught using Maori words in school (including their own names should they have been given a Maori name) were subjected to physical punishment.

And yet here you are saying that we cannot use Maori words. And you try to make out I am the bad one. You are the one who wishes me not to use the native language of my land, yet I am somehow the one who is racist. Codejunky was right about you.

Rangi paki āpōpō ā, ka puta atu ahau ki te whakangahau.

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC1809/S00008/mostly-paki-fine-weather-for-maori-language-week.htm should help you to translate that - even without following the URL. Can't make it clicky for now as any URL's in my posts are triggering recraptcha sorry, you'll have to cut and paste.

Please enjoy the weekend, and please take your racist garbage elsewhere. Don't try to call me 'racist' or 'abusive' when you're trying to take us back to the times when then Pakeha colonists were trying to rid the world of the Maori language and made it a crime to speak these words I have typed above. I may not be old enough to have experienced that directly, but I missed out by just a few years and the memory was very raw with others I grew up with. In my area we were ahead of the times, I was taught Te Reo Maori even in early school (late 70s). In other areas, even in the mid 1980s children were punished for speaking Maori (see https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/maori-language-week/history-of-the-maori-language)

This language is an important part of our culture, of our heritage, the links to our tribes. A lot of people suffered trying to keep the culture alive, racist abuse that was going on even in my childhood. Though the Maori teachers at my school taught us the language, people outside of school did not appreciate it being spoken still.

Any reasonable person would understand the offence you cause when you want to stop me using the language of my culture.

I am not the one at fault here, I am not the one acting in a racist manner. It is you who is yet another Brit living in the UK wanting the Maori language to be suppressed.

(I was not born Maori, but where I grew up I spent a lot of time on several of the local Marae, farmed on Maori land under the guidance of the local Kaumatua, ie I was somewhat immersed in the culture - which is a big part of our national identity)

Kiwi
Pint

Re: I can't wait

You forgot "Stay, cry like a little bitch, and work to change the system to make life better for everyone"

All work and no play makes ...etc.

You're correct, I did forget that one. I don't care much myself so long as people are trying to make things better for them&theirs. If we all try to make this world a better place, we'll make many mistakes along the way but eventually we will get there. And it doesn't take huge efforts, just lots and lots and lots of little but relevant efforts.

There's a weekend coming up. Please take some time out to enjoy it, even if you are stuck in winter :)

Kiwi

Re: This will be wonderful!

as I not met many "top top scientists, researchers and mathematicians" who are in any sense of the word "practical", several I know even have problems with everyday things such as: dressing, ties, shoe laces and brushing their hair.

To be fair, many of the plumbers, electricians, builders etc I know tend to dress rough, quickly get dirty, and haven't used a brush or a comb on their hair in ages. And shoe laces? Who wears shoes? It's either work boots, gumboots, barefoot or slipons. None of them wear slave collars/corporate nooses.

Kiwi
Unhappy

Re: Good, good.

Whilst you are sorting things out make sure you consider your wife's (and family) circumstances if you were to drop dead.

That's not limited to the UK. From news reports around these parts I suspect Australia could be quite nasty in that regard (especially if your skin or hair was a shade too dark or you were from a not-currently-trendy country). I also suspect NZ has had its moments with people who've been here for a long time and lost a spouse. Or gotten sick despite earning well and paying in the higher tax brackets. Something we should be quite ashamed of, to be kicking people out because they're not currently healthy enough regardless of anything else in their lives.

Kiwi

Re: Conservatism

But there's only one country (other than the UK) that I've ever visited that I've thought "I could live here", and that was NZ. Colour me green.

OOI are you a motorcyclist? I love the look on the faces of visitors from other countries when we spend a day riding. Some truly awesome roads not far from me. I see more envy in an hour then most people see in a lifetime when I'm taking those tours, especially from the yanks :)

Years back I met a couple with a campervan and 2 bikes. They were driving down the west coast. They'd stop at a town for a few days and get out on the bikes and explore the local roads before moving on to the next town. Eventually they'd reach the bottom of the South Island then move to the East coast and work back up north. Look like they had a good few years in them yet, probably still riding..

If I ever get rich enough, I know how I plan to spend my last days. I've seen too little of my own country to worry about seeing another (though I could probably live in Canada or the UK, maybe some parts of France if my schoolboy French isn't so bad it gets me deported!)

Kiwi
FAIL

Re: Good, good.

Kiwi>I too would like to see that! In what way am I lying?

Aren't you the person who likes to call others, "Paki" ?

I wouldn't say I like to call anyone that, but I do from time to time. It's a Maori word that means "bright and sunny". In NZ culture it's quite common to use Maori terms. If you watch any of our news broadcasts you'll hear a number of Maori words and terms being used outside of those that are just place names.

Also, in the Pakistani language it means "pure", and in New Zealand (and in the US (at least in Salt Lake City)) it is also perfectly acceptable as an abbreviation for "Pakistani".

So if you're trying to suggest I am racist, you've just scored an own goal and proven yourself to be racist by failing to understand the cultural differences between you and Kiwi's, especially the Maori language. You've also shown yourself to be racist against Pakistani's both in NZ and in the US by claiming a term acceptable to and used by them is wrong.

Care to try again Mr Self-Confessed Racist?

codejunky>yes some racists supported brexit (I found some supporting remain too).

There you go. I didn't have to scroll far.

But I'm not a Brexit supporter. If you had any level of reading comprehension you'd have grasped that.

Besides that.. Assuming I did support Brexit and I was racist as you wish to imply, how would CodeJunky have been lying by saying some racists support Brexit?

And since you've shown yourself to be racist, how is he lying by saying some racists also support remain?

FTR, since I've not come out really and said it (I am pretty much neutral since I don't live in the UK) - If I was in the UK it is likely I would've voted remain. There, I've said it. Most likely I'd be a "remainer" However, I have no skin in the game and have not really sat down and looked at the issues or promises either way, therefore I take a neutral stance. For now it's a close thing with me but as I said, I'd probably have fallen to the side of "remain" as, if I was over there, close ties to the EU might have seemed more beneficial to me - but only just. I'm not there, I haven't read the material in depth,so I have to side with "status quo".

The reason I support people such as Code Junky is they tend to have the more reasoned responses to posts unlike people such as yourself. If you want to have a reasoned discussion, please do so. If you aren't capable of a reasoned discussion, perhaps you'd find the Dail Mail or re-runs of "Big Brother" or "Britain's Got Talent" to be more to your capabilities.

Oh, and thanks for showing us how racist you are. I know now how to respond to you in the future.

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Good, good.

Bring those roles back in-house. Then the 20% markup that the outsource companies slp on top of everything disappears and the people actually doing the job can (hopefully) benefit by either having higher wages

Sadly, the money saved will not reach our pockets. More likely, some bureaucrap will line their pocket with a hefty bonus for the "savings" they made and that'll exceed the costs saved.

...or having more people to spread the load.

No thanks. Trust me, on a bad day some of our clients can "spread the load" in ways you could not imagine (of if you did, the basin's that way, hope you didn't pay much for lunch!). More people doing it just ain't what we want! :)

Kiwi
Headmaster

Re: Good, good.

In what way am I lying?

I too would like to see that! In what way am I lying?

If you can prove to me that codejunky is indeed lying in this topic then not only shall I call him a downright dirty liar to his face (at least so far as El Reg allows), I shall write a strongly-worded letter the Moderatrix (wherever she is, if I can find her) and I shall also vehemently go forth and downvote many more of codejunky's posts for being the filthy rotten liar you accuse him of being!

Assuming, of course, that you can show that he's lying in this posts to this thread.

Kiwi

Re: Good, good.

Because uncertainty is more scary than a known danger.

I understand your position, however...

Uncertainty is perhaps one of the most irrational fears we humans allow ourselves to be tricked into fearing. Or rather, the reactions we take to it.

I'm a motorcyclist, and at many intersections there's an uncertainty about whether or not another driver has seen me, or correctly judged my speed and intentions. At low speed a crash means damage to me and my bike, at higher speeds it means bigger damage - perhaps life changing. I still ride because I enjoy it and I take actions to minimise the risks.

I changed career a few years back , from technical sometimes challenging work to something many consider menial. I could see my old industry dying back considerably but would I survive the new role? Yes, it's worth it, and more stimulating than I expected. I could've let the fear of the unknown stop me, and missed all this.

Not long back we had a change of government. I thought it'd be a great thing, being largely a leftie. But I think our current government isn't exactly that great (unless you like knee-jerk reactionary laws instead of considering the issue and acting appropriately, and undoing what my grandfather's fought to achieve). I'm still doing what I can to make this place better for those I love and those who follow.

I have some mind-fuckingly scary stuff coming up and perhaps this year will be making financial decisions that will change my life and the life of several others. A big opportunity looms on my horizon - a chance to make big changes for the better for several - or screw things up royally and ruin something that is a gift; a chance to serve in a way I've been begging God to let me do for years.

I also live in Lower Hutt. We have several major fault lines running through the valley a couple of KM from where I live. At any second one of those could rupture, and I may not survive the experience. Or I may live but many of those I know may not, or may loose homes. I still get shivers when I think of the Civil Defence sirens being sounded in anger early AM on the 14th Nov 2016. The families who fled their homes in terror seeking solace in my little cul-de-sac, the street blocked with cars as people spent the rest of the night in them or in whatever shelter we could provide.. And the weeks of aftershocks? Even for someone like me they played on the nerves. I know others had it much worse. They've only just started rebuilding the local picture theatre, and other buildings are still waiting to be demolished I believe.

Maybe I'll have a stroke before I get to send this message. Or an aneurysm. Or the cat will decide he's so sick of me he chokes me with his tail..

Where I live and how I live I face lots of uncertainty. I don't really see a need to fear it though. Shit's gonna happen. If you can, get up, dust yourself off, move on and recover. If you can't, well it ain't worth worrying about it then is it?

Probably should've just posted that French soldier's poem instead of all this waffle...

"Well, there is either a war, or there is not a war;

if there is not a war, why there is no need to worry.

If there is a war, then you are either mobilized or not mobilized ;

if not mobilized there is no need to worry.

If you are mobilized, well, you are sent to the Front or not sent to the

Front;

if you are not sent to the Front, there is no need to worry.

If you are sent to the Front, then you are either in a safe position or in an

exposed position;

if you are in a safe position, there is no need to worry.

If you are in an exposed position, then you are either wounded or not wounded;

if not wounded there is no need to worry.

If you are wounded, then you either die or you recover; if you recover, there is no need to

worry.

If you die — You Can't Worry."

Is Chrome really secretly stalking you across Google sites using per-install ID numbers? We reveal the truth

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Randomly change what's sent back ?

For info: I've been avoiding Google and counselling against use of any of their products for more than a decade, but local solutions don't scale.

So.. You're not one of those locked away in mom's basement furiously bashing out blog posts (read only by you and Mr Kitty) thinking you're something.. You're one who is doing something and something of value.

For that you have my thanks :)

(FTR : Mom died years back and basements aren't common for residential houses in NZ)

Kiwi
Megaphone

Re: Randomly change what's sent back ?

Ad brokers get paid no matter what, and adding in truly random data to their training data will just increase their signal-to-noise ratio, but they'll easily filter it.

"All it takes for evil to succeed..."

YOU are the reason we have this, you and the lazy defeatist people like you. Because too many have the attitude of bending over and taking it at the first suggestion, regardless of what you want or think, just because "they don't care what I want so I might as well cave in", we have these people who think they can make their demands, act outside the law, and people will do what they want and hand over money and worse their privacy without further question.

It doesn't take many people standing up to bullies for the bullies to cower back into the holes they belong in. But it does take people standing up, and any decent person will not bother to look if they have support or not, any decent man will take up the fight regardless of support. True, it works better if you have a well-organised team behind/beside you, and you can make your first step a look to see if anyone is at your side, but if you're alone that doesn't make this cowardice acceptable.

And that's really what this defeatist attitude is, cowardice. Man up, stand up, step up, and even if you punch like a newborn kitten do your best to give them a bloody nose and send them packing. They may not notice the first 10,000 of us, but if people actually start fighting eventually they will notice.

[El Reg, can we get a "raised fist"/"Power to the people" icon?]

Fed-up air safety bods ban A350 pilots from enjoying cockpit coffees

Kiwi
Pint

Re: If this was a car

Sounds harsh, but car and truck drivers should not be drinking at the controls and there's lots of sensitive electronics in modern cars/trucks

Given the increasing use of touch screens for controls in cars, I'm quite sure we don't have much to worry about with people drinking.

I've only had one car with cup holders (or rather a bottle holder - not for alcohol). Previously I'd keep the bottle in my lap, capped except when I had a clear moment to take a swig. Much safer than trying to find somewhere to stop, pull off, sip, pull back into traffic... And the more I drink the more likely I am to need a "rest stop" after a couple of hours, rather than driving the range of the tank :)

(I personally would argue strongly for the cup holders to be fitter ABOVE the touch-screen stuff in cars...)

Cockpit seats are not wetrooms

Well... There was this one flight I was on that has some excitement during landing. If the passenger compartment was anything to go by...

Kiwi

Re: How hard is it

You would think making a center console at least splash proof would take mimimum effort. Almost as easy as providing spill proof cups as previously mentioned.

4 of my motorbikes have used the same aux switch. It has been with me for over 200,000 miles, many of them in rain weather. The switch is neither waterproof nor sealed (and was only intended to be temporary till I could find something better but in near 20 years I haven't needed that!).

Back around '12 or '13 I worked on an "Excel" branded laptop. Was the only one I ever saw, had some interesting tricks for hiding case screws, was very near impossible to find any documentation on (some in German IIRC, perhaps another European language other than French or English). The thing had an isolated keyboard well that, should it take a spill, would not allow coffee into the rest of the machine. On the top of this was a waterproof socket the keyboard plugged into. Dunno if the keyboard was easily washed, but in the event of a spill it meant none of the rest of the unit got a drink.

According to the owners it was NOT an expensive unit (though still the only one I've ever seen!).

I do get that aircraft have a higher test regieme, but waterproof switches aren't exactly expensive these days and reliable switches aren't exactly rare. If a cheap one can survive 20 years of the vibration and soaking and dust and me futzing with things and the odd electrical issue I'm sure there's something around suitable for an aircraft.

Kiwi
Coat

Re: 0/10 Would Not Buy

OK, OK. I know the drill :)

That's getting a bit boring y'know...

(Yes, mine's the one next to his..)

Kiwi
Trollface

Re: Gobsmacked!

Is Tesla making airliners now ?

I believe that Tesla's "autopilot" is highly infallible.

Just like something that is highly inflammable cannot catch fire....

Historic Linux destktop environment question

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Historic Linux destktop environment question

Thanks.

I'm so used to using display managers I'd never thought of doing it this way. I can see how it works.

I'll have a play on the weekend, I think it could be fun (also meaning to play with Slackware as well so might create a couple of VMs).

I do feel that the different desktops don't play as well together as they used to, especially on some of the "friendlier" distributions. But that could also be a function/special gift of systemd - I know I've swapped DE's on Devuan many times without issue but tried it on a recent Zorin without luck. XFCE isn't there, haven't looked at fvwm, Cinamon is there but didn't work (the only one I've tried).

Kiwi
Boffin

Historic Linux destktop environment question

Hi there,

Wanting to settle an argument and would be happy to be proven wrong.

I've been using Linux for some time, and as my main desktop for most of that time. I've used various display managers and desktop environments in that time, including having several set up on one machine. I can recall using Super Karamba (sp) for some display effects perhaps back as far as 2005 (maybe earlier, maybe NOT that far back), and also earlier KDE and Gnome, plus others (eg whatever earlier Knoppix was based around).

I do not recall being able to change DE without at least logging out, and perhaps even having to restart the machine (or at least re-start X).

I have a friend who insists that you used to be able to change desktop environment while logged in, without logging out. He claims he can remember using a menu while logged in to make the change. I myself am quite certain that the architecture would not allow this although I am also aware I can run "kde-only" programs under Mate with the appropriate packages installed.

I'd love for any of the older hands to confirm either side. I'm quite happy to learn in these matters and have no objections to being proven wrong or even being proven a total idiot from time to time :)

Much thanks for any responses.

Very little helps: Tesco flashes ancient Windows desktop on Scan-As-You-Shop device

Kiwi
Holmes

Re: "May I be the first to welcome Tesco to the 21st century"

Because I have no garden and my window box is just about big enough to grow the cress for a single egg and cress sandwich?

*IF*1 you have space available, and a landlord who allows you to, then as Jake says there's lots you can do with small space.

I have bugger-all here, a very narrow strip the width of the yard where I can grow. But I built up the soil and grow a fair bit there. I do have the resources of a friend's back yard I've set some stuff up plus I sneak a bit of space in the oldies home I help maintain (largely voluntary). People I know have abundant fruit trees and swap among each other, and I've encouraged them to allow me to start planting more so they now have a neighbourhood orchard/"food forest" under way. Do you have space for a fruit tree or two?

A mate in a block has a 1mx3m balcony where he grows tomato and a few other small things in buckets/large pots. Even gets potatoes growing there.

One of the oldies had a spare growing light set up in the junk room in her flat, growing a small amount of stuff there. You can grow enough in a plant pot to be worth it, and still give you some fresh food.

You can use old pallets to make garden boxes as well. Look for ones with untreated or safe-treated timber (once you've looked up the markings you'll know), break them down with an axe/sledge hammer, pull and straighten the nails, re-assemble the bits into the form you want. Takes an hour, you get fresh air and exercise, you get to be creative, you get to recycle stuff, and you get to make yourself a box you can grow your own food in. *IF*1 you have the space.

1 I realise for many that's a very big "if". But still, see above, be creative.

Kiwi
Coat

Yep and then you get to the tills and the "random" security check means they demand you scan everything in again!

They've learned to avoid me...

Check the local laws. Generally unless they're police they have no powers of arrest, and if they touch you or try to detain you they are committing a crime.

Windows takes a tumble in the land of the Big Mac and Bacon Double Cheeseburger

Kiwi

Re: Feel old

Reducing food waste is definitely a good thing, and having to wait maybe 5 minutes for a more freshly cooked burger isn't such a bad thing.

Oh, I'm all for reducing waste - though there are better options for handling unsold food than just throwing it in the landfill, even if it's just sent off to a compost factory or something like that (also options for helping poorer people out - which is why I've both eaten more KFC than anyone I know and don't touch it that often - at a time of being very poor a friend used to drop stuff off on her way home from work)

Also all for fresh food - I grow much of my own fruit and veggies and putting tomato, lettuce into things... Did some home-made spaghetti bolognase last night to get rid of some excess tomatoes. Some of the tomatoes were on the plant 2 minutes before I started washing them, none had been off the plant for more than 5 minutes, and I often have burgers where the time between plant and mouth is less than 5 minutes.

Anyway, yes I love fresh food BUT there are some things that you have to let simmer for a while for the flavours to really come out. McD's patties are like this - if you let them fester a bit they can start to develop a great flavour.

You're right on the 10-15minute time limit, which is why it was really rare to get anything that had been there for 20 minutes. Twice, but maybe 3 times I've had this in my life. You had to hit a busy time and order an un-popular burger to have a chance.

Appealing? The flavour was well worth it! Hygenic? Well, they do tend to be pretty hygienic in these places (at least as far as the food handling goes).. But if you're eating in a kid-friendly joint with local toilets, playground, and tons of people with who-knows-what illnesses or personal hygiene standards then you've pretty much given up the 'hygiene' battle anyway :) Besides, all this making everything always clean and massive use of "anti-bacterial" everything isn't great for your immune system (helps resistant bugs to develop and grow while knocking back the good bacteria, also (according to some I've heard/read) weakens your immune system from under-use.

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Feel old

Maybe it’s due to starting to feel like I'm getting old that I dislike the self service screens in McDonalds or maybe it's because it's killing my nostalgia.

McD's has killed a lot of things that helped make their stuff a bit nicer.

One of the things many strangely hated was the old heat lamps they had. They used to make a pile of stuff ahead of time and leave it sitting in a heat source. If you were really lucky, you could get a burger that'd been there around 20 minutes. This had let the flavours really develop and the burger was actually quite good. Now, unless you do that yourself, you just cannot get that sort of flavour again.

There's the loss of the staff and having these silly boards (drive-through may be a better option, then park your car, get out, take your food inside... :) ), and much more of the old effort seems to have gone.

Sadly, people do care less about what goes on around them. As much as I'm not exactly into Christmas, I used to love the effort some people would go to for lighting. These days I could probably beat the best house in the region just by putting up a 2nd coloured light.

When's the last time you saw a family at a picnic near a lake? I guess OSH would have a fit, or someone would want the kids taken away due to dangerous exposure to fun and outdoors.

Have computers/consoles/phones done all of this, or do we just suck at living in general these days?

Artful prankster creates Google Maps traffic jams by walking a cartful of old phones around Berlin

Kiwi
Boffin

Re: Performance? Art?

Works great for me.

If I'm using the tablet (which is rare but not unheard of) I use 'Navigate" and don't have any data options for it. "Navigate" will readily let me know when there's map updates, and on exit if connected does display an add screen (only when exiting and only when connected to the net/connected without PiHoile).

And I have a stand-alone unit that I have to manually hunt for maps for, and it only gets updated 2 or 3 times a year. But road changes are few, they are generally well-notified in advance (this unit shows up-and-coming roads that are still months or years away from completion), and it has a really neat (to me) feature where if you drive on a new road it from then on realises the road is open and starts to plan to use it. I've not known others to do this, and even saw many ones on Droid which you had to pay for that could be years out of date (eg Kapiti Expressway still NOT SHOWN AT ALL some 18 months after it opened). My unit is a cheapy based on the IGO 8 software. Not the greatest of units, based on WinCE, but works and keeps my secrets.

Kiwi
Pint

Re: 99 jamming phones ...

Okay, okay! I'm leaving - just let me get my coat.

Not without one of these you're not! :)

Kiwi

Re: What I don't understand is

Presumably Google must have a means of distinguishing pedestrians from wheeled traffic.

The units I've used have varying profiles that can make changes to how they plan a trip, eg a truck/bus might try to avoid some of the narrower/twistier/hillier streets, pedristian or cyclist may get directed through narrow walkways or cycleways, while cars and motorbikes get normal roads.

I found some shortcuts through my neighbourhood through this, eg a couple of walkways that when you're there look like a driveway to a back section (which they are) but are also legal footpaths - you only discover that if you first come through from the other side or see them on a map/gps. I can walk to the local shops quicker than I can drive there.

Kiwi

Do these maps function as dispositive nets that determine the behaviour, opinions and images of living beings, exercising power and controlling knowledge?

Don't forget all those libraries, only letting you think the thoughts contained within the books they choose to buy and let you borrow! Oh wait, without them, life is worse, not better.

Books? libraries? How quaint and out-dated! And how many trees and tree-based ecosystems were murdered for your books? :)

Yep, I too like to sit down from time to time with something that doesn't require any electricity to 'turn the page".

But sadly, so many people today rely on their phones for their news, entertainment and so on. And crafty buggers have already realised they can manipulate you by altering the suggested/displayed news, videos, adverts and so on.

Perhaps not so much the maps themselves, but the underlying systems (much owned by google - youtube and search results etc) can be used to manipulate people by the results they're given. Lets say you wondered about the pros and cons of a certain vaccine (actual reports of harm/reactions vs the risks from the illness it maybe prevents). A straight search engine would give you results that are directly related to what you want, perhaps weighted by page popularity. A manipulated one might give you lots of news stories about people without the vaccine suffering horribly, pages from the nuttier end of the 'anti-vax' people where a few seconds reading can make you colour the whole group as quite bad, and only present glowing reports about the vaccine in question.

If you have the means to control the news people see, you have the means to control a lot of their views on life. That's why the people trapped into watching Faux News etc get so weird as time moves on, and why wall-wall horror stories/murderporn/world-as-we-knew-it-just-ended seem to keep people so fearful and more and more isolated from their neighbours.

(FTR, I'm just old enough to have missed polio so seen what it could do and what the vaccine thankfully prevented, but also have known people who had a bad reaction to some vaccines (normally quite rare but not unknown), and I also have questions about vaccinating against every minor niggle under the sun instead of letting the immune system build up naturally - so I'm firmly in the "read up about them carefully over several days and make an informed decision, try to avoid emotive people in either camp!" crowd)

Kiwi

Re: Performance? Art?

My daftphone has to smal a screen to be useful without my son holding it and tell me what to do...

I just have the unit connected to the stereo, and rely on voice instructions. It can be nice to be able to see some stuff on the screen (many still aren't great where you have say 2 or 3 roundabouts in close proximity, not giving you lane advice or "roundabout take 1st exit then roundabout take 3rd exit" like "Navigator" does on 'droid).

You can always go Tesla style and stick a honking great tablet screen in the middle of your dash, wrecking night vision. Bonus points if you move all your vent etc "tactile controls" to it so instead of being able to feel for things without looking away from the road, you now have to take your eyes off the road, re-focus on a bright screen, hunt for the item, make the change, eyes back to the road and re-gain night-vision plus re-focus on the road (some people have a slower focus). Do Tesla screens do a 'night-vision" mode? If not, please do!

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Performance? Art?

Having a satnav at least tell you when to turn left or right, or, when you missed that or had to detour because of just any applicable reasons, recalculates and offers a new instruction? Very worthwhile.

Much the same here. I was given one to trial for someone who was importing some cheap ones, and soon found it useful when heading to places I didn't know. Didn't have to stop to look up a map, didn't have to keep as much of an eye out for a street name when also trying to negotiate other traffic and hazards, and could set it so the screen wasn't visible while driving and not have the initial novelty distraction of seeing it.

Leaves me better able to concentrate on what's around me. I'm not one of those drivers who suddenly slow down at every other turnoff while trying to read the name and think if I was supposed to turn at Thames Valley Road or turn after Thames Valley Road (which is why, pre sat-nav, I used to ask people to never give me names of roads I wasn't supposed to drive on, only names of roads I was turning on/off).

Kiwi
Pint

At last! A use for...

Memes! And copy-cats.. And trends.. And....

Normally I would hate these things and tend not to partake of them willingly.. But I might just have to look at getting a cartful of phones here.

Or.. Set up a few "walking tours" around the area. Get lots of mates out for a wander (or complete strangers interested in messing with Google for no real gain )

--> A tanker-load of your favourite, Mr Weckert, and may you have many many more!

It’s not true no one wants .uk domains – just look at all these Bulgarians who signed up to nab expired addresses

Kiwi
FAIL

Never mind malware, how about targeting $megabank.uk for a nice little earner?

That's what I hated with these barely shortened URLs. When ".nz" and ".kiwi" came out, we suddenly had to significantly increase our expenses for mere pointers to the main site, otherwise we ran the risk of others using our respected name. A competitor could easily enough have brought the URL (after a grace period) and pointed to their site, or faked ours and - if they managed to get it higher in the search rankings - do little tricks like change our rates our put up a "we are currently not taking new orders" banner or...

And that's aside from the risk of using one of our support pages to grab customer details, or accidental email mistypes (not that it'd be a big risk but still, for a small startup every customer is important)

--> Still, at least the NZ lot wasn't as bad as the UK lot - which looks more and more like it was done for financial interest then "helping our customers" interest.

Kiwi
Devil

Re: "I'm a SEO expert"

"I'm a SEO expert"

... the internet's oldest profession

Something I've wondered..

What is SEO? Does it stand for "Snake-Excreta Oil" or something?

I've read some of these "SEO expert" sites and, aside from mountainous piles of verbal excreta in the visage of icky marketspeak, I see nothing they do of value (except steal from gullible people).

Beware the Friday afternoon 'Could you just..?' from the muppet who wants to come between you and your beer

Kiwi
Pint

Re: The joys of family tech support

I would think that "running mint" comes from the pristine status of a freshly minted of a coin.

Perhaps that is the origin.. .. But in my time in NZ it often was used to refer to a vehicle running very well, even up until a few years back.

Cars and other things would also be referred to as being "in mint condition", IE "like new".