* Posts by Kiwi

4368 publicly visible posts • joined 26 Sep 2011

Are you getting it? Yes, armageddon it: Mass hysteria takes hold as the Windows 7 axe falls

Kiwi
Linux

Re: the Microsoft version of systemd

systemBSOD?

Well, you got the SOD part right...

Step away from that Windows 7 machine, order UK cyber-cops: It's not safe for managing your cash digitally

Kiwi

Re: Dont use

"Not until I know I'm talking to FDUFYU bank... goodbye"

I've had a few calls like that, often from people who won't even say who they're calling from or why until you give them some deeply personal identifying information. If I am being polite I'll tell them to give me their name and the name of the firm/branch they're calling from. I'll then look them up and call their listed number.

If they haven't agreed, I've told them my only safe assumption is they're scammers trying to get personal information from me and I will now hang up and report their call to the police.

Kiwi
Linux

education if poss. but will using a paid for VPN service, avoid any of the possibilities of getting hacked due to lack of updates?

They can avoid some, perhaps even quite a few. OpenVPN with PiHole and some other stuff on your own server can also do perhaps as well.

Some of the VPN services block known malicious sites and also block other attacks on your system. It's not a cure but there's a good chance it'll help some.

A whiltelisting firewall (one that requires confirmation on changed code, registry changes etc) can help a hell of a lot but does require some managing. Still, consider this - with W7 you may get hacked and may leak personal information. With W10 the leak of private data is assured, and I believe the EULA can be interpreted that such data may be sold to MS's "advertising partners" - have not read it in a while and happy to be corrected with actual references :)

W7 is a 'maybe'. W10 is a 'it's already done'.

Kiwi
Linux

Wonder what percentage it would be on if Microsoft had not been dirty handed.

If the UI could be improved, the telemetry completely turned off, and updates/reboots on MY schedule and mine alone I'd probably be using it. Hell, it's a fair certantity I'd use it. I tried Vista for 6 months before reverting to XP (yes the hardware was fine, the OS wasn't), but I started using 7 not too long after it'd come out. Disliked it's UI initially but quickly adapted.

Updates - I could fix that with the "metered connection" setting though I have heard (via these forums) that some still have been forced.

UI - I don't really spend that long with it. Classic Shell would probably help a lot but not necessary, However, the flashing/moving/distracting/annoying 'tiles' and any advertising would be an absolute deal breaker. (you can feed me non-profiled static ads when I am looking for stuff related, like if I am looking for a new Mobo then please also suggest CPUs and other stuff that I could well be interested in, but you must not do it as part of the OS/GUI if you want my custom)

That just leaves the telemetry. And there is the issue - too much damage has been done, too much trust broken for me to use it. I have some quite personal information on some of my hardware that I am not willing to get out. That would be a massive breach of trust I get nervous about often and sometimes have nightmares over (it is exceptionally unlikely it would happen, good physical security plus strong encryption).

I stopped updating 7 when the individual updates stopped, with a few carefully researched "security only" ones in. I think my firewall, NAT router, AV and general practices (I have other devices to surf from) should keep me safe for a while. Then there's unplugging the network when the AV runs out. Assuming I still can be bothered running 7 and keeping backups of it (Linux I just need to back up /home and /etc with a small few other files (including a package list), restoring is easy)

Kiwi
Holmes

Will this result in people eventually staying on a static version of software in the foreseeable future or will people eventually give up because they have no choice?

Next week I start migrating the few family/friends I still support off of 7 most likely on to Zorin. Some are getting completely clean MS-free systems, others are getting dual-boot and/or Lin+VM-Win (their old machine copied to a Virtualbox or other virtual disk - really should look at the other offerings esp one I believe Ubuntu fairly natively supports (and as Zorin is Ubu-derived, probably does too).

A couple have wanted W10. I don't support that and won't install it. I explain to them my concerns, and simply tell them that I cannot in good conscience allow them to do that or do that to their machines. They're going elsewhere for support, which is their choice.

Me? While I have some games that play better on 7 I'll use 7. If for some reason that had to stop then I would no longer play those games. Most of what I like runs happily under Linux and Wine or other systems so I am fine with that. And I have a lot of stuff I can do elsewhere (like getting off my arse and out of the house) which I probably should appreciate a lot more while I can. It has been some years since I have climbed a mountain[1], and I am not getting younger nor am I getting fitter by playing games.

[1] Anything under 2,000 metres is a hill, not a mountain. Anything over 3,000 metres is too much effort, I don't need to prove myself that much!.

Kiwi
Linux

Re: F.U.D.

but not for the average desktop and certainly not because some obstreperous individual 'doesn't like W10'.

How about because they value privacy? Don't believe an OS they paid for should be used as an advertising platform? Value relatively stable hardware support and function? Value stable software collection (rather than MS's past performance in deleting software their 'partners' were in competition with or whatever it was)? Value a stable feature set in the OS?

What about those who value a decently designed UI? (come on BB here's an opening for you!)

Kiwi
Pint

Re: F.U.D.

If you cant, walk into your branch and bank there. It will stop them closing and keep some people in work ;)

I had fun pointing that out to a teller once - she told me "oh you can do all of this online" and I replied " Yeah but if we all did that, you'd be out of a job". Wish I had a bodycam for the look on her face..

(Have also pointed that out to checkout operators who point me to the self-service machines etc).

Kiwi
Angel

What if they decide to DoS attack things on which you depend or are used for credential stuffing your mum’s email account?

In the former.. It's our summer so the garden needs weeding, lawns need mowing, vehicles could use a clean or maintenance, several projects not completed and some barely even started, lots of other things that could be done. Since the 90's my nation has seen lots of quake damage, significant volcano-related power grid issues, storms and flooding etc etc - ie lots of stuff happens outside our control that could stop us working - and yes I have worked in factories where a power outage causes issues (as stuff starts to cool down or as chemical reactions go on for longer than is desirable). Sensible people know that if the service is down there's nought more to do but something else (oblig oatmeal)

In the latter, I'd thank them. Seriously. If they could get emails to me mum, I'd love them and be doing anything they wanted no matter how perverse just to talk with her again!

--> Me mum, dammit :(

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Upgrade from Windows 7

Screens and monitors are simply output devices and have no effect on bootability.

Not quite 100% true, but I have given you an upvote.

Although it's been a while since I've seen this, some machines want to output an error message when they dislike the screen only the screen won't show it. And many screens I've known - while they have a or DVI input, they won't do text mode in any form and very rare graphical modes, thus you cannot see a boot menu or other such things (eg the WIndows installers IIRC all the way to Win7 and many *nix installers start in text mode till you do some of the installation or select a waiting menu option).

In short - yes the machine could probably boot happily as you say (but a few won't), but you may not be able to use it.

Flying taxis? That'll be AFTER you've launched light sabres and anti-gravity skateboards

Kiwi
Facepalm

Re: @ Warm Braw

"Around the world, in the few hours between our posts, literally millions of people have managed to use "mass transit" without issue."

ONLY millions? Last I checked, the population of the world is around 7 BILLION. That means there's a LOT of room for people for whom mass transit isn't an option (like myself--the nearest stop is miles away, and the weather's schizophrenic around here).

So NO, I DON'T call the problem solved.

The stupid in your post is astounding....

Your post was at 14:38GMT on a Monday afternoon. Mine was at 21:22GMT that same Monday evening, 7 hours between.

Most of the world's population does not use "mass transit", many do not have access. Further, it's a fair bet that in those not-quite-7 hours, most of the worlds population did not travel at all. School-aged people in many countries are currently not at school, so for a very significant portion of the 7B population there's no school (not sure if those in the Northern Hemisphere have largely, partly or not-at-all started back at school after the Christmas holidays). Another significant portion of the population do not work at present (to young, lazy, infirm, on summer holiday, retired....), and many (such as farmers) work from home so do not travel.

Your assertion that for mass transit to be solved would require the entirety of the world's population to use mass transit in one 7 hour period is just... Even for you that's pretty messed up.

For the first/last mile issues, that too has long been solved. Where I live we have these things call cars which let us move from place to place. Near railway stations and larger bus depots we have these amazing places we can leave them called car parks. I am informed (from people who live and work in such places) that other cities in countries such as the USA also follow this pattern. In many cities it seems less than 50% of households have private cars yet manage travel quite well.

We also have smaller vehicles called bicycles which a single person can use to travel to a bus or train stop. Some services let them take these bicycles on the bus or train with them, to use at the other end of the trip.

Some trips may involve the use of multiple services but that too isn't an issue. EG I used to travel from Paraparaumu to Plimmerton by train, board a bus at Plimmerton to Waterloo in Lower Hutt, then take a train from there to Upper Hutt, and bus from there to work. I'd walk from Raumati Beach to the P'Ram station in OK weather if I had time, otherwise take a bus. Several stops, but not much longer than doing the trip by car at peak times - and much shorter if there was a traffic accident on one of the main roads (given how often that happened I'd say my 5miles walking +2 trains +2 buses still averaged quicker overall)

There are options for those who live miles from stops : walking, cycling, driving, ride-sharing/car pooling, other public/private transport.....

IOW, for those capable of a little bit of basic thought, yes the problem is well solved.

Sure, some people work quite some distance away from public transport - I used to pick a guy up from the then main Waikanae bus stop on my way in to another job and that was the nearest stop for a very long way. And some work at times not visited by public transport (I used to work a 8pm-2am shift, between the last and first bus of the day - but car-pooling helped a lot there), that's fine and I don't suggest people try to use MT where it's not available. But for a significant portion of the world's population it is, if only they wouldn't cry so much about how unreasonable it is that they have to get off one vehicle and on to another instead of using their car and sitting stuck in traffic for hours when they could be at home or out with people doing other things.

But yes, the millions who successfully used MT between our initial posts, many of whom drove or were driven some distance to/from a station, prove quite conclusively that these problems are well and truly solved.

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Flying taxis = wrong solution to right problem

Roundabouts are fine when there is roughly equal traffic on all entrances, but on a minor road joining a major road you could be sitting there all day. It could be argued that traffic lights with the correct sequencing and no roundabout would be a better solution in this case.

Ermm... No.

I use such roundabouts at least a couple of times a day, some more than once. I'm often coming from the very minor road to the major one or even crossing from one minor road to another. Worst I had was 3 or 4 minutes, and that was yesterday behind a learner driver who wasn't confident about entering a smaller gap - something I had no problem with as learners learn better when they're not under undue pressure.

NZ is a place that likes to stack roundabouts upon roundabouts upon roundabouts, you you experience 3 that are all-but connected at the hip (although 2 in this fashion is common).

In the worst places of busy/minor roads the roundabout is airborne, and is above the major road with on/off ramps (examples Mungavin/SH1 at Porirua, SH2/SH58 at Manor Park). Well, worst except SH1/sh58/Paremata Station carpark one. Coming out of the park during morning peak, most of the main road traffic gives way to the station traffic, but evening peak is different. But the SH58 traffic causes the main road traffic to pause so you only wait a minute or two for a gap, plus if heading north the left turning lane helps a lot.

Badly designed ones give you a few minutes wait. Well designed ones drop that well down. Many of ours have a left-turning lane to help people off the minor road, though that really is very seldom an issue.

The Hutt Valley is littered with roundabouts of varying sizes, and some of them in the Wellington Region are so small they're literally a white dot in the middle of the intersection (eg Glasgow/Upland intersection in Karori - there is smaller but I cannot recall where it is ATM) yet carry plenty of traffic with no issue and very small wait times, even for the very small streets intersecting very major highways.

Kiwi
Coat

Re: Licence to Kill

it could be that he does indeed have a "Licence to Kill".

Around these parts they're neither secret nor rare. Just look at our driving standards! :(

Kiwi
Pint

Re: @ Warm Braw

"Then why aren't they in charge already?"

Because it is very, very difficult to make an autopilot that can deal with land travel. Fully automatic air, rail and sea travel is at least an order of magnitude easier to achieve.

Rail is probably easiest, as you have a limited corridor and any incursions are dealt with in the manner of "it's dead already. Slow to a stop then collect the pieces". I think the BART (San Francisco) system is completely automated?

Air doesn't yet have the density of cars (either by numbers or by idiocy), but once we reach those levels it'll become much much harder to manage especially with miscreants trying to mess things up. The busiest cities would have what, a couple of hundred aircraft in their airspace at peak times? But they'd have several times that in cars at quiet times!

I've heard of autopilot systems in ships but every bridge I've been in has still had someone at the helm 24/7 while the ship is in motion, with only short breaks. In theory you could tie the GPS, plotter, and radar/sonar/depth finder systems into an autopilot system that should do a bloody good job of managing, but from what little I know of mairtime law this simply is not allowed. ICBW and am happy to be corrected :)

I think one of the bigger reasons though is that we still hold on to our independence, often fiercely. I know many [cough]"men" who won't use GPS because they don't like someone telling them what to do. I know others who won't drive automatics because of a petulant "I want to be completely in control!" (me, I prefer the feel of manual over auto but am happy for a good automatic to do the work). Sadly this idiocy is one of the reasons we don't have better uptake of public transport, and why we have so many people driving individually from the same general area to the same general area at around the same time :( (and many of them believing in "climate emergency! we must take drastic action now!" yet unwilling to give up the car and get on a bus!)

Kiwi
Trollface

Re: @ Warm Braw

Designed by geniuses, built by robots, driven by Americans is far more real-world dystopic.

I don't think we need to worry about that. I doubt there's enough thrust in the world to lift the average yank!

Kiwi
Facepalm

Re: @ Warm Braw

OR off-route. The biggest problem mass transit has, and the one that's not time-dependent, is the infamous "last mile". And if you're going the last mile in unfamiliar territory in bad weather...

I realise this is very hard for someone like you to grasp but.. Around the world, in the few hours between our posts, literally millions of people have managed to use "mass transit" without issue.

This is a problem that was solved decades ago.

Kiwi

Re: @ Warm Braw

The vehicle would drop off the passenger and then fly empty to a parking space outside the city. Existing city roads would be devoid of land traffic and so serve as drop-off places along their entire lengths - gradually being replaced by rooftop drop-off points

So... Somewhere out in the country, somewhere green and fertile, has to be paved over? Some massive bit of land has to be cleared and paved to replace what would otherwise be a multi-story parking building? And what of the fuel cost of 2 lift-offs and 2 landings per trip? At least when I park my car and turn it off it uses no more energy.

And to your previous post :

Any practical system of flying cars for daily use would pretty much require such cars to be fully automatic and navigated under central computer control (with failsafes) in order to manage the complex 3D navigational chess game. Automatic piloting is far easier to achieve with a flying vehicle than a ground vehicle because in the air there are no unexpected obstructions (apart from relatively small objects that need not present a danger).

In the last few weeks I've seen a surprising number of disabled modern vehicles (ie <5yo). Most I don't know the circumstances, some I know suffered an electrical failure taking out the ignition system, one lost all the rear lights (driver wasn't going to proceed without brake lights and indicators - very smart lady!). Many cars have individual coils or 1 coil per 2 cylinders, some have more than one set of ignition circuits. This is something that has been around since at least 1985 on Honda motorbikes - completely independent ignition circuits for pairs of plugs so of course if one circuit fails you can still ride with vastly reduced power. For a fault to knock out a car completely there has to be something very wrong with it.

A car's electrical system failing, or many other potential engine/electrical faults, would make the car unable to maintain lift. We're talking car-sized craft here so not much room for wings, no rotors for auto-rotation, the loss of even a small fraction of lift is going to at best require a very rapid descent. At worst, such descent will be completely uncontrolled and un-announced. A falling vehicle will mean any others below need to move out of the way, and if there's any level either of congestion or lack-of-space (eg lanes between two buildings)

It's not so easy to find traffic stats these days (IE I only spent 5 minutes searching), but Wikipedia [link removed as it triggers that stupid google datastealing captcha crap which I cannot get past due to "no google allowed"] says that Ngarunga Gorge sees 60,000 cars/day. SH2 must see at least that many, and given the 400,000+ citizens in Wellington it's safe to assume at least another 100,000 car movements/day. There's also lots of buses and taxis. That's near 1/4 of a million daily vehicle movements for a piddly little city. With road space being used for other things as you suggest, the available surface area for travelling would be reduced (if you stack them 3 high you'll only need 1/3rd of the space in idealistic theory). If one of the bottom tier vehicles comes down there's no issue, but if one of the top tier ones comes down.... Don't forget too that these won't be like airliners with toilet facilities, and people will have need for quick urgent stops, especially after a night on the booze or a meal at some of our less-reputable eateries.

One other sudden obstacle I can think of - and am certain it will happen - is the sudden release of foil confetti AKA 'chaff'. It'll give a radar profile of something much larger, yet sufficient amount could be contained in something the size of a party-popper I expect. A "glitter bomb" could take on new meaning, with much more deadly results.

At least 3 X redundancy of all critical systems together with the vehicle refusing to take off should all systems not be functional could be part of the design, making the risk of serious accidents low enough to be perfectly acceptable.

There have (IIRC) been accidents caused by confusion over which sensor is correct and which is faulty. A main power fault (especially one where high voltage escapes its bounds) could knock out redundancies as well.

But the part that most requires redundancies yet is least able to have them is the engines. To generate lift in such a vehicle you need to be able to generate enough thrust to equal the weight of the car+cargo, and more than that to get the thing moving. 6 fire hoses can lift a mini, and no doubt these would be fairly light vehicles - you're not going to do this to a Buick or full-sized Caddy. But each engine and control system adds considerable weight, and there's several issues with the control system especially responsiveness.

Most planes can glide in the event of a power failure, and many use the angle of the wings (a very wide V shape) or the position of the wings in relation to the fuselage to assist stability In the event of a loss of hydraulics the plane should assume a fairly stable flight angle by simple nature of the forces acting on the wings and fuselage. With a flying brick you don't get this natural stability, and the loss of the front lift engines could quickly result in an un-recoverable attitude - they have to be emitting thrust almost instantly, and in such a way that any issues with the failed engine are dealt with. Of course, if that failure is physical due to impact with a large enough object (say an office chair tossed out a window?) then your chances of recovery are very very small indeed. Even just an engine bent out of alignment could cause significant control issues - with a flying brick they'd have to be fairly well tuned to give some semblance of fuel efficiency!

(That said, some quad coptors seem to cope fairly well with the loss of one corner).

The main thing preventing such vehicles is that the technolgy allowing the design of a something that has a sufficiently long range and/or sufficiently short refueling time to be practical is not yet available.

In the 1960's you could make that argument and people would happily agree. Today it's much much more about efficiency, and even a "climate denier" such as myself is horrified at the thought of how much energy would be required to get these things moving. Until "Mr Fusion" is invented, these aren't realistic. Or some form of low-energy anti-gravity, or a substance is found that is lighter than helium but has a larger atom/molecule size (so it doesn't escape like helium does). You'd be wanting to lift still near a ton of mass but with the footprint of a medium sized car - there's a lot to overcome in that!

It would certainly have a huge number of advantages - most roads would no longer be needed, saving a huge cost to the country's infrastructure.

Oh, roads would still be needed. Emergency landing, rescue and recovery vehicles, the fact that many people won't want to come down from their roof when they should be able to be parked at the front door...

Getting people onto bikes and into public transport would do so much more. At peak times a cyclist could travel between Petone and Wellington (13km by 100kph motorway) faster than any car, and someone on a train can get there faster still although there's a waiting time for the next train to arrive. A motorcyclist can do it in the time a car takes to move 100 metres (yay for splitting!) Every person out of a car makes it easier for everyone else, especially with how common SUVs and other generally stupidly-unnecessarily-sized vehicles are (I drive a wagon myself, but it is doing a wagon's work at least 1/2 the time rather than ferrying one person about - otherwise I ride a motorbike).

And a decent public transport system is much much more efficient than any flying cars could hope to be. Until we can get the fuel requirements down, from a purely ecological view 'flying cars' are a disaster waiting to happen. That's before you worry about people modifying them in attempts to say allow them to break free from the "central control", perhaps so they can evade/escape police etc.

Kiwi
Pint

Re: These kind of ideas go back a long way

They shifted all of the shelves around too for unknown reasons.

That used to be the practice of supermarkets over these ways, every few months.. Idea being that customers got to know where the things they wanted were so could go straight ot them, missing the opportunity to buy other pointless/needless junk on the way. So mix it up, make people have to search, and hey they spend more money - or so the thinking goes.

There's nobody there now that knows much about hardware or where things can be found.

Sadly that seems to be the same with the "big box" car stores over these ways. And plumbing. Recently found a small plumbing store on Hutt Road in Petone. Prices are generally on a par with the big-box places but the service is damned good. Guys know their stuff, happy to chat, happy to act as a sounding board, and the impressive bit - "We do sell that, but so-and-so is cheaper" (to which I've said "I'm here, might as well get it from you".

Couple of years back I was after some valve lapping tools for an engine rebuild. At the big-box auto stores (one of which markets themselves on a great deal of knowledge about cars so much so they can tell you what car an oil filter fits just from the silhouette) the twits there met my question with blank stares and utterly confused looks. By chance found a small store (name somewhat after the city I live in) and cautiously asked after them. "Yeah, 3rd isle, middle shelf. You'll see the paste on the shelf below. What sort of head? Oh, for that you want to use this paste first, then that paste". For years I sought di-electric grease (helps keep bike switches working). Asked at this store, "No we don't have it, but we can get some in. Will be here next week, ok?".

These guys are all older, youngest would be around my age (mid-late 40s). I dread the loss of skill and knowledge when the likes of them die, so few people today getting the same level of skill set (at least the Naenae mower guy has passed his skills on!)

But I have seen too many small successful shops sell out to muppets who have no clue as to what was the source of the success, and fail soon after.

Kiwi
Go

Re: We have the technology

But what happens when most of your traffic load is INTER-city

[engages brain for 0.005 seconds] Well, you could do like the Wellington system where people ride their bikes to the train station, board the train WITH their bike, travel to the station near their destination, then ride the rest of the way.

or, or, or, or, or, you could do like they do around these parts and walk/ride to the local station, train to nearby stop, then use a hire bike or free bike (think there's still some around) or e-scooter to destination, leaving the bike there for someone else to use.

[another 0,00005 seconds of thought] Or..............

Kiwi
Coat

Re: Flying taxis = wrong solution to right problem

So, what we really need is a....monorail!

I dunno.. Proponents of that seem to suffer from a one-track mind!

Windows 7 and Server 2008 end of support: What will change on 14 January?

Kiwi

Re: Oh do get real

"I'll bet ya dollars to doughnuts that DB knows plenty about how not to get hit."

I'll take your bet. These same firms know there are ways to get around everything. If they want you bad enough, there's a way for them. Like you said, drive-bys using mandatory first-party scripts are one way (recall, these hit mainstream sites).

Except that there's no such thing as "mandatory first-party scripts" and in the days of drive bys I cannot think of any sites that used JS for their main content, not even sure they could.

DB would have to answer to confirm but I suspect such sites would've been avoided.

Tell me how such scripts get past a decent basic firewall though?

AND they're spreading faster than the mitigations.

[citation needed] though I still doubt you'll give one. Would be a change from your normal posts...

Thus reports from right here at El Reg of exploits working even on fully-patched-and-up-to-date software...

Oh, you know an exploit that works against software patched for that exploit? Do provide some proof.

It's like with privacy in general. The global village is here, and there are simply too many traces of you to hide, and there are people out there (the village gossips) who get off on putting them together.

Oh, actually there's lots of me hidden all over and ain't none of these sites got the real me pinned. They don't know where I live, what my bank details are, who I normally associate with. what I eat, where I shop etc etc.

Doesn't take much effort to keep yourself hidden. In fact it's pretty much the default action. Just don't give people this stuff out. No one on the internet needs my address, bank number, DOB etc, and very very very small few have ever had my real name. 10minutemail.com saves giving out real email addresses.

I realise you believe I have to give this out because if not some corporation will reduce the USA to ashes if they don't force me to obey, but it's just not like that in reality.

Kiwi
FAIL

Re: Pot meet Kettle

I speak from firsthand experience

I seriosly doubt it. When you're telling us that corporations have greater military might than the US, when you tell us that someone in the UK cannot obey UK/EU privacy laws around UK citizens because of laws from other countries.. Well, why would we believe you elsewhere?

I do speak from actual first hand experience though. My plan doesn't have one drop of data, and my phone has no FB or anything else built in - it literally has NO data capability. Perhaps some telcos don't advertise such plans widely, but I'd hazard a guess that if that's what a paying customer wants that's what the paying customer can get. I mean if little ol NZ telcos can do it...

Kiwi

Re: A repeat of XP?

>Of course, 7 could run with 1G and XP could go happily with 1/2.

Definitely, "light loads" to get away with those settings, I doubt you could open Word with those constraints and Outlook would definitely cause performance problems.

Word? Outlook? On MY computers? How dare you accuse me of such horrific crimes!

Actually they performed OK IIRC, though I was careful that only one was really active at a time even if both appeared to be running. I think I had Office 97 installed on them (only office install disk I had to hand at the time). It was built at a time when mem specs were lower so doesn't expect so much.

Not certain, but I may still be using the same laptop today (had a few of that model), but today it runs Devuan with a small 7 VM for the very rare times I need to fire up my old printer (colour laser I got for free some years back as it was nearly out of toner - still 'nearly out' but suits my needs).

These days, running Waterfox, Clementine, Mega, Nextcloud, Skype (must migrate my one remaining skype friend to Viber or something else) and Thunderbird uses 4g of ram, have to shut down WF to fire up the VM. One day might get round to working out why. (Desktop is Mate).

Kiwi
Windows

I don't think cost is the reason Microsoft is dropping Win7. I think it's more about consolidating users.

Cost? Maybe not, but it is financial. W7 had virtually no advertising within it (I think maybe during the install there were some ads for other MS products), whereas 10 is saturated with annoying distracting adverts. (yes, even just one on the start menu is 'saturation' and 'annoying' when it comes to an OS)

Kiwi

Re: A repeat of XP?

Basically, if you've been used to running W7 and business applications on a 5+ year old typical business laptop, it shouldn't be that much slower running in a VM on current hardware.with VT support.

Hell, this old Dell D620 used to hapily do a 7 VM though not under much load (a couple of business apps and IIRC one disk scanning tool). Used to even run it in "seamless" mode on Virtualbox under Mint/Mate. One time really upset my Linux-hating boss by having 7 AND XP running concurrently, and a simple ^-ALT-> letting me switch between task bars. Dunno how the hell the machine managed it then but I think I kept the loads very low for the demonstration :) Of course, 7 could run with 1G and XP could go happily with 1/2.

If you really really really really really need "real" Office, and cannot/will not install it under WINE (has worked fine every time I tried but the last time was before 2015) then a VM will let you run it quite well on even basic modern hardware. So long as the OS isn't too resource-intensive, and most of them are getting pretty fat these days.

Kiwi

Re: Pot meet Kettle

If Facebook is on a dumb phone, the phone supports is. As for plans, most of the plans out there provide a daily allowance just for Facebook (you can see where this is going).

Yes. It's going into weird charleyboy fantasyland where what he says goes and reality is long gone.

Lots of dumb phones don't have FB, built in or not. There are providers who still do non-data plans, though some of them are the more obscure smaller companies like Vodafone - they're so tiny you probably never heard of them though. (I am assuming their plans in NZ are like plans elsewhere).

Data can be turned off on phones as well, although I wouldn't exactly trust Google to honour that (even less so Apple) - hence why if using a smart phone I'd have data blocked at the provider level.

Why is a 22GB database containing 56 million US folks' personal details sitting on the open internet using a Chinese IP address? Seriously, why?

Kiwi
Pint

Re: late capitalists

Great "friend" you are, wishing ill on your mate.

For the most part I agree.

However, sometimes there's things where "I told you so. Serves you right!" are quite apt. Not sure if it applies to VW (no real experience of them), but I did have a friend seek my advice on a "status car" where the brand had once been top quality but now was garbage. I told him to avoid it, his family told him to avoid it, and several owners told him to avoid the brand but for much of his life he'd viewed this brand as a status symbol and had his chance to own one. Surely the rest of us (including those with direct experience) couldn't be wrong!

He got an expensive pile of crap that had all sorts of weird (and well documented) failures, breakages, and massive shortages of spare parts for things that aren't normally replaced in the life of other brand's cars. He was warned, he ignored us, we all felt he got what he deserved. When he came to me for help fixing it I reminded him I'd already told him I wanted no part of in.

We're still good friends. He's a bit older and a lot wiser when it comes to checking out cars before buying :)

It's a no to ZFS in the Linux kernel from me, says Torvalds, points finger of blame at Oracle licensing

Kiwi
Holmes

Re: Hypocritical

To give you an idea of how hard it is to win, the guy that Elon Musk publicly called a pedophile sued him for defamation and lost.

That's not exactly a fair case now is it? I mean for a start, peadoguy Musk is a hero of the American Public and all-round True American Man whereas the other person is some foreign paedo (he must be coz Musk said so and Musk is so great I think I just did some love-wees in my panties!).

And the second issue is the quality of affordable judgeslawyers. PedoMusk could afford to buy any number of top judgeslawyers he wanted to, whereas the other guy didn't exactly have equal access to the same number let alone quality of lawyers.

(Of course, saying PedoMusk purchased judges etc is NOT defamation - I have proof as the case went PedoMusk's way and that would not have happened in a truly fair hearing with unbiased judges!)

Kiwi
Pint

Re: I'd love to know how to prove it is my code

But if you've previously published it, backed it up, kept it in a SCS, these all create a digital trail which strengthens your defence.

One of the very sad things with legal cases is that so very often "evidence" is irrelevant. You have absolute irrefutable proof that you're right? Sad news, their lawyer is better than yours and can convince the judge that said evidence should never be shown to the courts, thus it's never brought up in court.

They have proof you're right? Again, their 'much better lawyer than you could afford' will show them every little loophole to prevent such evidence being found during 'discovery' and of course tell them all sorts of legal and illegal delaying tactics to make sure you cannot get that evidence. And if somehow you do get it, again they'll make sure it doesn't come out in court (bloody hell I sound like Charles writing this! THE HORROR!)

Where it's a couple of evenly matched lawyers you have a chance, and in some cases you can have a good chance especially where there is some publicity. But most devs aren't in that boat when it comes to large companies 'stealing' code.

And sometimes people give code for free by accident. I used to have a Hotmail address pre-MS purchase. For some crazy reason (since I didn't do such things at that time) I read MS's license when they took over and discovered interesting clauses such as their having copyright over all material sent via HM, their being allowed to read and use anything in there and so on. So lets say I'd used that to send you code - how could I stand against MS in court and argue that I owned copyright when the EULA gave it to MS?

It is because of that I've been careful with what images/video/code etc I share online. I may license you to use my stuff but I want to retain full copyright. But Google, LinkedIn etc claim all sorts of rights over your IP. Send code to someone over gmail? Guess who owns it. Put your company logo on LI? Guess who owns it.

Be wary, there are some very nasty license terms out there, and some so buried in masses of legaleese and in seemingly irrelevant places you may easily miss them (I think the LI one was well buried somewhere else, almost like they intended you to miss how you were giving them all sorts of rights over your IP)

Have a nice night and sleep well. One of us has to, as you've reminded me of the horrors embedded in corporate licenses and Idon't think I'll sleep for a week :(

Kiwi
Pint

Re: The problem is not Oracle (for once)

This must be the first time I have ever agreed with Bob

It is a rare and sometimes somewhat horrifying experience, but it is possible for you to heal and lead a largely normal life afterwards.

The shaking usually goes away after a year or two...

--> I hear tankerloads of these may help :)

Kiwi
Pint

Re: ...and sue ME for copyright/licensing breaches on code I helped write

No, since you still have a copy of the code you're using with the simple BSD license attached. The BSD license doesn't make it any easier to falsify authorship of code than the GPL does. This is FUD.

Purely out of interest, and neither specifying agreement nor disagreement with your post... How do you defend a claim as a person with effectively no pockets whatsoever, perhaps relying on a "public defender" equivalent whose knowledge of BSD licenses didn't exist whatsoever till you visited in desperation, and do this when you're going up against a company with pockets that wrap around the core of the planet several times and have the best lawyers money can buy on speed dial?

When their lawyers can shout the judge a meal where your lawyer has fits thinking of the cost of just ONE serving of the cheapest entree - how do you prove that you originated the code and they're the ones trying to mislead the court? (not that I'd ever suggest any judge can be bought with an expensive meal - I fear many of them sell out for far far less :( )

I may still have a copy of my code, but I'd love to know how to prove it is my code.

Kiwi
Black Helicopters

Re: Hypocritical

Please provide evidence though, I love a good popcorn moment

If you ate a kiddy bag a week and limited your supply to every kernel of corn that has or will exist during the history of manking, I doubt there'd be enough popcorn to cover your waiting for actual evidence - even twisted paranoid conspiracy-nutter[1] levels of evidence!

[1] Separate (though sometimes overlapping) entity from conspiracy theorists and further more from those who see things and sometimes think "the official story doesn't add up"

What if everyone just said 'Nah' to tracking?

Kiwi
Headmaster

Re: So much fail

"and now your[sic] speaking my language."

Erm. I'm not sure exactly which language you are speaking. It almost looks like English tainted with Geek, but the constructs you've used seem more like double-dutch.

I'm so very tempted to go nuclear with the ear worm on this one....

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Privacy Badger

Privacy Badger

A good extension for Chrome.

Waterfox is a much better 'extension'!

--> For the Waterfox dev. And hopefully I'll remember to fling you some real cash real soon instead of virtual beers and well-wishes.

Kiwi
Facepalm

They have a defense against that: take on the ROOT root cause and have them change things to make it bulletproof their way, with no possible recourse except maybe emigration.

Meanwhile, in the real world....

Kiwi
Paris Hilton

Re: So say "NO" Regtard writer

Then watch El Reg go bye-bye.

Beware the Law of Unintended Consequences.

What makes you think that would happen?

Beware the laws of living in reality.

Kiwi

You've apparently never been saved by on-the-spot research or needed impromptu directions or whatever because your vaunted written directions failed you.

Kid, I've been driving for years longer than up-to-date maps have been around (that said, IIRC TomTom took over a year to show the Kapiti Expressway but I digest...). Got lost? Work it out, learn to read a map, or use basic survival skills - like find someone and ask or backtrack or... Been driving just long enough that you had to carefully plan your return trip from Auckland if it was on a weekend as most in-between service stations closed at 12pm, so you had very very few options. Oh and the big central open-late service stations? 6pm on a Sunday and not a second later.

I use a GPS that's reasonably up-to-date anyway - I update the maps once a year which is plenty enough.

Last minute research - well in the fields I've worked in that's way too late. The only 'last minute research' is the names of the chemicals for the hazmat team to come in and deal with later. You don't need to worry about it, even though you might be breathing at that stage you wouldn't survive long enough (and besides, things like phones are strictly verboten - the life of everyone in your area depends on that rule being obeyed and any higher up trying to rule otherwise would not be working for the firm by the end of the day, even the owner would be forcibly removed (and yes, I mean knocked unconscious and dragged out if they refused).

Where I was making IT-related house calls, the idea of looking stuff up online was considered 'bad form'. You either knew your stuff, had some notes with you, or apologised and brought the machine back to base. Very rarely was there an excuse for looking anything up (that usually came from a customer giving the wrong information - hint - the customers who got house calls were trusted and generally gave the right information).

Murphy? He was that guy who kicked my bike out from under me on the Maungatooks, and I was already on my way back later than anyone else. I remember working out what was wrong with the ignition and patching it by feel in almost total darkness. This is well out in the bush and before the days of cell phones. Still got the gap in my teeth where I couldn't see the knot on the end of the bit of wire I was stripping with my teeth (had some wire stowed in the tool box - wish I had some wire cutters and a torch there instead of just wire!). Also on a Sunday evening in an area only visited on weekends, many miles from houses. And I don't think my family were aware where I was, so I'd be on my own for some time.

If you think you need your smart phone as a survival tool then kiddo, you have some nasty shocks coming. Learn to rely on your self, not your brainless toys. Be able to get your self out of trouble, don't rely on others who don't have your best interests at heart.

Bloody kids these days. Don't know they're born. Oh yeah, GET OFF MY LAWN!

Kiwi

Re: I just don't care.

But that's as it's always been: all the way back to the days of the village gossip. You can't control what other people know about you, especially that gleaned from their own senses.

1) "Village gossip" was very seldom compiled and built into a profile on people.

2) This isn't stuff they've gleaned from their own senses - it's often stuff they've gleaned via illegal means (eg in Simon's post RE other people giving FB their email login - where this is a company and they've allowed FB to get other people's addresses, this is an offence under many countries' privacy laws including NZ's laws - if a business has given my details to others other than as a part of the actual trading (eg the firm that sent me a re-furb laptop from Auckland giving the courier my delivery address) then they've committed an offence under the act.

Some of this info has been gained by criminal means. In my case, where FB, Google, almost every advertising company and any data harvesting company, my information has not been legally gained. I have not consented to give it, I have not consented for it to be retained, I have not been properly informed as to what is gathered, how it is gathered, how it is to be used or who it is to be shared with. It doesn't matter if it's a supermarket I have a loyalty card with (I don't) or a site I sign up to or any of that, the information has not been gained in accordance with NZ law thus has not been legally gained. EG wth the supermarket, I can grab the loyalty card over the counter and start using it there and then for "savings". I've not been given a chance to view the T&Cs etc nor even told such a thing exists. When I pay by EFT-POS it's tied to my bank account, thus personally identifying information is not shared with a 3rd party (and more) whom I don't know exists. Data sharing starts before I actually get a chance to make an informed decision, and I am encouraged to give up that data without being warned to read the information first - I'm not even told there is info to read.

This stuff is done illegally and why should I not object to people using unlawful methods to get unlawful data about me?

And yes, my friends volunteering information would also come under this as I have not consented to that data being held. Hmm, I wonder.. Think I might see a lawyer this week... (sadly I'll probably forget - but anyone in NZ who has FB friends, or android-using friends who txt you, or who don't use android but txt you where their telco might harvest the txts - you might be able to make a case for suing under the act since you did not consent to that information being held about you nor were you informed it was being collected!)

Kiwi
FAIL

The mere fact that the selection of adverts you are presented with in your social feeds, search engine searches and banner advertising changes over time is proof of this ongoing optimisation.

So.. Why do I so often see adverts for properties I could never afford in countries or cities I don't even visit let alone live in? Why do I never see ads for motorbike stuff (when I spend a lot of my other internet time in Biker forums) but see a lot of ads for SUVs (which I clearly would never buy)?

Why do I see so many ads for 'girls in your area" (which isn't my area) when I'm clearly gayer than the Pope's favourite alter boy? Why no "fat sloppy bears in your area" ads?

I gets lots of Scamscum and lots more crApple product adverts - the spelling should tell you how likely I am to buy from those companies. Where are the "cheap generic crappy tablet" ads? The "basic no-name laptop" ads?

Why does GoT get pushed my way often (closet I've come to seeing it is the South Park documentary on it) yet stuff like The Expanse and Mr Robot never show up (yet I'd actually pay for more of them!)?

Why does Spewboob want me watching utterly boring videos of people wandering around in old mines (some actual accuracy in a Freudian sense?) or suggesting I want ads about dogs (hate them love pussy) and halloween costumes (Christian, no kids, and tend to be 'elsewhere' when brats come knocking)? Hell, why no cat videos? My cat and I used to go to sleep watching those on the tablet, yet they never show in the suggestions, I have to search for them if I want them. And yes, on the tablet I have a single account (no real details not even IP/location) that stays logged in on YT. Wanted to comment on something, made the account, never bothered to sign out.

"Ongoing optimisation?" HAH! At least Mitre10 show me relevant ads on their site - but then lets face it, they're a hardware store and I like my hardware so pretty much everything they sell at least has some potential to be of interest to me. Oh, and I have made purchases because of those ads. No tracking, no profiles, just a basic pairing of items that often go together. Buying irrigation kit? Probably a gardener. "Hey, we're doing a special on compost, interested?". Not "Buying irrigation kit? Hey, want a new Xbox? Clearly you must spend your life inside!".

</rant>

Bloody hell. You must work for one of those firms. How else could your mind be so messed up?

Kiwi
Paris Hilton

Re: Indeed

Even if it's the government, against whom one has no real power to stop?

Plenty of ways to stop the government collecting data about you if you don't wish them do so. Takes a little bit of engaging brain to figure it out though.

(I live in NZ under a socialist government, whereas you live in the US under a Republican government - why is it that you seem to have this trouble and I don't????????????????)

Kiwi
Paris Hilton

Re: Maybe the economic basis for the web should implode...

So if you're too poor, you lose your freedoms of speech and press? My, how Darwinist of you...

Most people I know qualify as "poor".

Not an issue for us. There's lots of simple options out there, if you engage brain for a couple of milliseconds and look. If you can afford to view a free page you can afford to put up content.

(I've had times where I could not afford 3 decent meals a day yet could still keep a site running - use the free Library computers and free hosting/free DNS providers)

Kiwi

Re: Two conflated things

More DVRs block fast forwarding, plus there's the product placements and INLINE ads slapped in the middle of the content.

"Product placements" are like static web ads. They don't track, aren't annoying (unless you're "triggered" by the memory of that tragic time your friend died drinking a delicious refreshing PepsiTM), and are just 'there'. Sometimes they also make the scene a little more natural - eg briefly I switched to TV and the movie Cobra is on. Muted so no idea what was said, but Stallone was in a dairy ('convenience store' I think the Yanks call it) with bottles of Pepsi and 7-up visible as well as other items (real or made-up brands I know not).

Some of the inline ads, especially for other shows, can be quite annoying and are a reason why I don't tend to watch live TV. If it blocks the show I am watching then you just made me hate your show/product, and I'll happily spend my money with your competition.

My last DVR was a TV card in one of my computers. Can neither recall why I stopped using it nor why I used it, but might've been WW1 centenary stuff (family history 'n all that). Oh, I actually have one a friend loaned me several years back - he never got round to collecting it. Just gathers dust (I don't need the DVD player either).

We don't get the more annoying aspects over this way much, except the odd bit for upcoming shows (usually over the end credits). The channel "C4" I think tried some of it some years back. Note that some years back the nation collectively said "Get stuffed" and C4 is no longer around...

(I find most cola's disgusting actually. I do sometimes partake of some Royal Crown draft cola, but haven't touched Pepsi in decades and haven't poisoned myself with Coke in years)

Kiwi

Re: We see that you're using an ad blocker

Of course, it would require a lot more CPU cycles on their servers, but rather there than on my machine slowing down my browser.

I don't think it would make a huge difference TBH. A little bit of PHP and some database requests, small images and decent server speeds - you can do a hell of a lot with a shopping site with little server overhead and NO JS. Cookies or server-side storage to hold "shopping carts", history of other's carts to get an idea of what often goes together so you can run an "other stuff you might like" portion of the page. Image sliders/scrollers can be done in HTML/CSS (quite nicely I might add) so a customer could skip from item to item in a "commonly brought with" or 'other stuff..." easily enough.

There really is no need for JS for any of this. And you can pull in static ads (even pictures) from other servers.

Kiwi

Re: We see that you're using an ad blocker

is it still not your problem when you the site refuses to do anything else because of your adblocker?

Yes.

Because there are sites out there that won't attempt to offend me. I can easily go elsewhere. Drive me away and I'll go away.

(case in point, DropShots has become quite nasty about advertising - I'm moving my stuff from them to Vimeo - and DS's 'detector' is a 3rd party site I'd never trust and is probably in breach of NZ and other country's laws - I had no issues with DS showing me ads BUT their 'detector' script falls foul of some malwaresite blocker. They've lost me and my few viewers (measured in the dozens but not likely more than a hundred - but lots of views meaning many ads in front of eyes - all Vimeo's now till they piss me off and drive me off)

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Privacy Badger

The more I see where people are from, the more I am convinced NZ is very over-represented here on El Reg.

Welcome Cuz.. Tui?

Kiwi
Holmes

Re: Privacy Badger

Anyone who manages to get an animated ad in front of my eyeballs pretty much guarantees that I'm not going to buy their product.

I and many others I know are the same. Some of us even let customers know.

Animated ads are the main reason for ad blockers. They're annoying and drive customers away.

The most effective advertising is having a good service, and letting your customers spread the word. Likewise, shit on your customers and they get their shit elsewhere.

Kiwi

Re: But How ?

So switching to DoH just means there's now two parties with the ability to track me. (see also: VPN)

First, I fully agree on clodfool and hate that any data of mine ever gets seen by them.. Websites please note I have never "opted in" to your giving this 3rd party my data and very explicitly opt-out.

That aside... The VPN can easily be your own. If a clod like me can do it pretty much anyone can. Yes I have my own domain but there's still free domains available.

When I'm away from home, my VPN takes all my traffic. Whoever else in between only sees I am connected to the VPN server, not what sites etc I call up. Obviously the ISP can still see the IP's I connect too (would love to have my tunnel meet someone like Nord - a my VPN over another VPN - but that's beyond my level of hunting thus far), but everything is HTTPS where possible and I also run my own DNS server which doesn't talk to my ISP for upstream requests. (Personally I dislike the "https=everything" idea but I value my privacy - I wish I didn't have to faff around with it and wish others the same, but while miscreants (ie most advertisers/all data gatherers) have a interest in my data I have a greater interest in stopping them).

Er where was I.. Oh yeah, at home enjoying warm post-curry feelings on a recliner with a keyboard in my lap and a cat curled on my feet... But I digress...

By running my own VPN I block every other ISP. By running my own DNS I limit what my ISP can tell, dropping them to IP only levels. And then since the same house houses a long-running seedbox I suspect my IP data is both interesting and irrelevant, I have that much traffic on the poor wee system...

(better check the poor cat... May not be so much "sleeping" as "unconscious due to soxogen')

Kiwi
Thumb Up

Re: But How ?

The only addition I would like to see to the Pi-Hole is a simple way to VPN into it so that a mobile phone could be connected to it when using data and still have the same protections.

I have PiHole + OpenVPN set up on a Devuan-based server running off a Dell D630 laptop. The server was set up for Nextcloud so the bulk of it was already done. Getting OpenVPN + PiHole working IIRC took me less than 20 minutes, probably including searching for a "how to" (which I expect was in general for VPN).

Alas the machine that I did that from is many miles from here so I won't be near it for some days. However, there is a very good chance the tutorial I used starts at https://docs.pi-hole.net/guides/vpn/overview/

One running, create a profile file for your Android device, copy the file to the device, install the OpenVPN app, import the profile, done. As far as I've checked it works perfectly.

Kiwi

Re: Firefox, clear all cookies on exit, except for a very short whitelist

(Hands up who else is really annoyed about having to try to find replacements for about three quarters of our previously reliable installed add-ons which had been around for years, had been developed to be mature programs, and then which Mozilla just threw off the back of the cart... :-( )

GoogleWaterfox is your friend.

Kiwi
Pint

Re: But How ?

it's even worse, Google has blocked extension AdNauseam from their store that does just that so is clicking every tracking link in the background eventually polluting those databases if used widely enough.

Adnauseum upsets google?

I... I didn't know.. I'm so sorry... I honestly did not know it was upsetting to Google. If I had known that, I'd've installed it on this machine ages ago!

TYVM for the heads up! It is now installed on here!

Kiwi
Alert

Re: But How ?

I just use a Pi-Hole at home, which blocks around 2.5 million known tracking and malvertising sites, including all of Facebook's over 2,000 domains.

On the move, with the smartphone, it is a little more difficult, but I use NoScript and uBlock Origin in my mobile browser.

PiHole couples very nicely with OpenVPN - and there is an Android and likely an IOS app for OpenVPN.

I'd love to know where your list comes from. Mine "only" blocks around 120,000 domains (including all of FB's excessive amount of domains!). Think El Reg will let you paste it into a comment? :)

There there is 120,000 out there is scary enough.