* Posts by Teiwaz

4133 publicly visible posts • joined 19 Oct 2011

Devuan ships second stable cut of its systemd-free Linux

Teiwaz

Re: Who gives a flying fuck about uptime on any single given machine?

All the linux zealots who use Windows update reboots as a stick to beat MS with.

I thought Windows reboots were a clever if authoritarian method of a concentration break.

How generous, a three hour 'smoke break' in the middle of the day as Windows tells me I've put off the update far too long already...

What, that's not an intentional design?

Shock: Google advises UK peers against more legislation

Teiwaz

There are more 'mostly black boxes' that affect us all out there than the ones purely tech firms run.

Even slightly opaque boxes, where you've sort of some idea what clockwork is whirring about winding and twisting your life to the machinations of accounts, bureaucrats and other process and system slaves, you have about as much control of as you do the totally dark boxes.

Systems and processes are useful, but humanity has too much dependence on them and become slaves to them too easily.

Actual control of Windows 10 updates (with a catch)... and more from Microsoft

Teiwaz

Re: Visual Studio 2017 is an atrocious mess!

but rather than do that as an update, they're bringing it out under the new name.

Of course....

1) Launch half-assed product early to much fanfare.

2) Wait feedback for exactly how bad it is in the press

3) Fix small subset of the most glaring problems, introduce three times as many new features.

3) Rename product to give the impression it's much newer than it is

4) Return to step 1.

Teiwaz

Re: Money

Yes, it is a bit like, pay us, or we will f*ck it up for you

FTFY

UK digital secretary throws cold water over bid for laws on kids' use of social media

Teiwaz

Re: Digital ostrich, digital smeagol...

it's not our place to legislate anything about the matter as it looks like inexplicable magic to us

That 'digital ostrich' manages to become a 'digital anteater' other times, wanting the tasty meta-ants no matter how far down that hole and how long ago said ant colony existed,

And if it's 'inexplicable magic', doesn't stop them demanding 'one simple trick' to defy the laws of mathematics, god and reason if it's whats they want (and they wants it now, our precious).

Teiwaz

Of course no restrictions on children.

of greater government intervention on kids' use of tech

No, of course not, they'd much rather use the convenient excuse to monitor and restrict adults use instead.

Goes to prove that when the government get 'alarmed' about childrens safety on the internet, their focus is on another round of getting 'that barn door further closed' and culling a few more 'cattle' that have dared to step out of line.

Added bonus, all that lovely data they are gathering has a longer shelf life than the 'old mutton' that'll be well passed harvest value in ten or twenty years., by which time the fresh rising crop will have a really rich, deep data set.

Android users: Are you ready for the great unbundling?

Teiwaz

Re: You people are funny

People want cheap phones

Cheap phones are 'cheap' and 'phones', google / android offering are expensive data gathering honeypots, they want you hooked and online as much as possible. It's why FB, instagranny, etc. are pre installed, it's the raison d'etra, phone is now secondary, only beneftting the Carrier Network, while all else benefits Carrier Network, manufacturer and Google in either your cash or your data.

So painless and convenient, you don't even realise you are being milked, many even find it pleasurable

You already pay for your phone on contract or outright otherwise, the main body of the android O.S is only partly Google funded, companies have just gotten used to having a customers pay bills <and</b> get customer usage data free like a regular bonus.

I think it's the wrong people who are confused as to what they've been getting free for a long time....

Teiwaz

reputation suicide.

Seems like a lot out trouble to avoid buying a dumb or feature phone...

Apparently, being seen with a dumb phone is akin to going to a trendy big city nightclub dressed as a Bay City Roller.

I don't have a reputation, and if I did I wouldn't give a damn, rather have something that doesn't drain it's battery inside half a day trying to report back my every movement and run a too high def for the size screen and cost almost as much as a real computer.

In defence of online ads: The 'net ain't free and you ain't paying

Teiwaz

In Defence if online ads???

This was a sponsored article, right?

More advertising...???? --Shrieks!!!--

Actually i don''t mind - for the small number of sites I visit, the ads these days are mostly well behaved, So I don't adblock.

I don't watch TV anymore,I found when I stopped that when I did see ads I was less likely to be numb to the message. I think there's an oversatuation failure that's hampering advertising, but they'll never twig to that, or if they did, acknowledge it.

Microsoft sinks another data centre with Natick 2

Teiwaz

Gunge Bob Server Pants!

I'm not feeling particularly creative right now either, one glass of wine too far i think.

...But would Microsoft Bob Pants Server be vaguely more amusing?

Yeah, I've binged a little on Green Wing reruns this evening too.

UK military may recruit wheezy, alcoholic keyboard warriors

Teiwaz

Re: Recruiting poster

A popular defaced version when I wor a lad.

Join the Army

Go to BelfastSouth Armagh

Get your legs blown off

Teiwaz

Re: Travelling and Fighting?

Travelling and Fighting?

Sounds like half my career in IT.*

*yes, drinking was the other half

Ahhh, your a Procedural Guy!

Teiwaz

Re: I'll do it!

I'll do it!

Просто дай мне маска акулы, лазер и головной ремень.

<u>Anyone hear anything about some Lauuunch Codes......?</u>

Teiwaz

Re: I'll do it!

will a sea-bass do?

Ahh, A fishy requisite!!!!

Teiwaz

Re: Future War

Currently the head count in uniform = headcount that can follow orders & be used as infantry in extremis.

Don't kid yourself, a future war, the U.K would go from zero to 'The Bed Sitting Room' pretty sharpish.

God Save Her Majesty Mrs Ethel Shroake.

Teiwaz

Re: "At last! A valid use of a 'hacker in a hoodie' stereotype stock image"

"At last! A valid use of a 'hacker in a hoodie' stereotype stock image"

Yes, but how does the six screens, three keyboards, one mouse set up work then??*

See also Investment, Stocks Trader....

* It doesn't**, just looks good. Impress your friends, alienate your partner.

** May work better with a tiling wm...

Teiwaz

Hopey Cokey....sniffff!!!

Once they are out, they are out.*

Once you are in, you are in.

When you are only halfway in, you are in the TA.

Sounds a bit like Probation and Offender Rehabilitation - I hear help kind of dries up there after a while too.

I see a satellite of a man ... Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, that's now 4 sats fit to go

Teiwaz

Re: Growth rates

I have so far been under the impression that NHS at al is something that the UK wants to keep?

What gave you that impression. Not the Trusts, which seems a prep stage to small Regional Health Insurance Companies, nor the Outsourcing to increasingly dodgy and inept businesses....

Teiwaz

Re: the lies told then were as bad as the lies told now

Did they promise an extra £350M/week for the NHS?

No, and nor did the Brexit bunch. It's just remainer FUD.

No, you are right, they didn't. They did strongly allude to it though. Which is much the same when it comes to broken promises and campaign lies.

It's not really Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, more easily spotting something that's at best underhand manipulative and at worst an outright lie.

Not that the remain campaign didn't twist things as well though.

UK.gov lobs £25m at self-driving, self-parking, self-selling auto autos

Teiwaz

government's aspirations for the UK to become a world leader in autonomous vehicle technology

Better to be concentrating on autonomous fruit pickers right now...

Australia wants tech companies to let cops 'n' snoops see messages without backdoors

Teiwaz
Windows

There is are many reasons why the the twat won't go into techical details.....

First bit of wisdom there then...

(In his mind) If he uttered the wrong hashtag, the internet might be wiped and the government fall.

Chief EU negotiator tells UK to let souped-up data adequacy dream die

Teiwaz

Not a fan of democracy, but all British and European citizens have the right to directly elect their MEPs to the European Parliament.

It's the Commission 'bit' - 'take back control' doesn't really work as a rallying cry for the general public if it's the Governments themselves that were disinclined to relinquish that control to a Democratic Europe in the first place, so we get a Politicians and Bureaucrats only club at the top manipulating things and being manipulated over high level private meetings, fine meals and various other ego puffing exercises.

Better to have pushed for more power transferred to the properly elected body from the appointed side - but that's not the control the government want going to the electorate.

Teiwaz

Re: Well, duh

Its not the Tory party.

ITS TEH WILL O THE PEOPLE!!! (tm)

Sorry, I don't buy that.

If that were the case, the minimum would be pushed, as it is, the current leadership are using it as an excuse to pull out of anything and everything 'Europe', even when not directly tied to the EU.

This is what happens you throw around binary choices - real life seldom has such choices

Premise: You are low on money.

a) 'rob a bank'

b) 'don't rob a bank'

Like the referendum, neither is much a solution, but one adds a lot more headaches, although it 'might' solve your problems for a while, if you can manage it.

Teiwaz

Re: Well, duh

Perhaps the UK should stay in the EEA? (The ballot paper never mentioned leaving the EEA.)

And also want to leave the ECHR, which is not part of the EEC. (May has wanted this for far, far longer than just since the referendum).

It's as if they just arbitrarily decided to pull out of anything with 'Euro/Europe/European' in the title.

Honestly wouldn't surprise me to hear that the UK will be declared no longer a part of the continent of Europe next....The textbooks will all have to be changed.

It's not bloody surprising the EU doesn't want a rogue state with a potentially divergent legislation involved, I don't blame them.

UK Foreign Sec BoJo asks tech firms to save endangered species

Teiwaz

Re: Give him a break

Give him a break

This may be completely pointless, misconceived and intended purely as a publicity stunt BUT no-one was offended, jailed or executed as a result, so on balance it was a diplomatic triumph.

I'm not sure not panning politicians for idiot timewasting, and just on damage caused is necessarily good, you'll spoil them.

I think he might benefit from being parented by one of the two pepperpots (or preferably both) from Monty Pythons Art Gallery sketch.

Uh oh! Here's yet more AI that creates creepy fake talking heads

Teiwaz

Re: Power in the hands of idiots or bastards

@Milton

it's all disappearing in a worldwide shouting match where the emptiest tins make the most noise.

Lovely rant piece - above excerpt shone out, but even without this gem, it is masterly.

One Upvote seems hardly enough.

Teiwaz

Re: Boffins invent an astounding new technology

And what does the internet do with it? Use it for porn.

Thanks humanity.

The Interwet?. To be fair, it's what humanity does with any new tech they invent - I think it's necessary, sex is tied into the 'play' circuit in the adult human - and 'play' is how humans explore things when learning. As with bone and antler carving, murals, canvas and cameras. 'VHS' Videos and DVDs

Only after the porn use stage will it get applied to something useful and productive.

It seems rather unfair and counter productive to layer this behaviour with negative connotations per-se

Ex-CEO on TalkTalk mega breach: It woz 'old shed' legacy tech wot done it

Teiwaz

Not sure 'legacy' is the right word

'Legacy' isn't the right label for a system you couldn't be bothered to secure properly.

She's just scapegoating some with some word she overheard.

Just a third of Brit cops are equipped to fight crime that is 'cyber'

Teiwaz

Re: Is this the right level to work at?

playground bullying?

It's a shame and a bad sign if that this is something left for the Police to 'deal with'.

This sort of trend won't end well.

Teiwaz

No capability?

One place I lived, my car was broken into repeatedly.

They seemed to have no capability to investigate that either. I was lucky if I got a phonecall at work telling me my car was left with it's door wide open from mid morning onward.

Seems 'tech investment' money is better spent on getting facial recognition right at certain festivals and holding onto illegally retained information.

Dual-screen laptops debut at Asus' Computex chat

Teiwaz
Joke

File under chocolate teapot

And if someone invents heatproof, waterproof chocolate?

Q. How would you eat that?

A. Carefully.

Teiwaz

Re: FFS...

keyboards with no tactile feedback

No good for long term keyboard entry use, no. But how many casual computer users just browsing do much of that...If they do, plug in an external.

I can see some interesting uses for a screen keyboard in the realms of adaptive illustrated keyboard layouts for applications - like having the key layout illustrated for those users who don't use enough to memorise shortcuts. Have the desktop panel appear there, saving main screen real estate, and of course touch centred there where it makes sense rather than the main screen, where it's often awkward.

Then there's games key layouts, and the opportunity to try more modern keylayouts than one designed to prevent the keys from jamming on long defunct mechanical typewriters....The only reason we're still stuck with qwerty is staid conservatism combined with the the tyranny of the uninformed populous.

Teiwaz

Ah - like the VMU on the Dreamcast?

Well, that's an ancient reference. Nintendo have been doing that more recently with the 3DS / Wii-U (although both weren't massive sucesses).

I never found the VMU screen worth anything except using it as a tamogutchi on the bus back from work.

Teiwaz

Re: Interesting but clunky

Looks interesting, but hardcoded apps and inconsistent UI design are meh. Useless without universal APIs.

Yup, 'app' type thingies with a probably limited repo will kill this.

Needs a standard screen designation and ability in the O.S. window management to allow specification to a particular screen, then you wouldn't have to rely on 'apps', just a window rule to send the calender/calculator/whatever to the extra screen or not, let the user decide what fits and what doesn't.

(don't know about Windows, not used it in a long time, but) KDE Plasma could do it, but it's multi-monitor has still got faults and flaws too - I don't think a lot of KDE devs use multi-monitor.

It's 2018, and we're headed toward phones combined with large screens and keyboards, treating multi screens as one desktop seems anachronistic and limiting. It's why I keep being drawn back to the deceptively complex window managers.

John McAfee plans 2020 presidential tilt

Teiwaz

Re: Finally!

No power?

If only.

Well, insofar as the previous Presidents acts generally seem to get disassembled, jumped up and down on and then buried deep in the woods by the next in the door, yes, no power.

It's getting kind of like a Fool as 'King for a day'

Experts build AI joke machine that's about as funny as an Adam Sandler movie (that bad)

Teiwaz

Well....

If they managed to get funding for this nonsense, then at least they are laughing.

OnePlus 6: Perfect porridge? One has to make a smartphone that's juuuust right

Teiwaz

Re: I'll take...nowt

Personally, I don't see the point of slim.

I'm certainly not carrying it in my back pocket, I'd only sit on it, front pocket is also out, rounded edges or not, either are not comfortable.

Slim is certainly no advantage on the belt where I prefer my phone.

So no slabs, I'm sticking to my ancient dumb phone again this year.

US judge won't budge over Facebook's last-minute bid to 'derail' facial biometrics trial

Teiwaz

Who gots popcorn? Ah, CMOT Dibbler?

Mmmm, fresh and hot.

Thank you, there you go, have a nice day, kthanxbai

You'd buy popcorn from CMOT Dibbler?

Sober?

It might be corn, but only marginally 'popped' - and some of the kernels might not be corn at all (teeth, rat faeces)

Basically - Only if I had Cohens new teeth.

Cold call bosses could be forced to cough up under new rules

Teiwaz

Re: Split their noses open with a boat hook

Cheese straws don't suck.

But they go very soggy when dipped in the pulp of a director's brain.

Who dips cheese straws? You want celery, sticks of carrot, a nice spicy tortilla or those nasty biscuits that come with (plastic)cheese dip.

Snacking on a lot of Directors lately? It can be known to cause something like Mad Cows disease you know....

- Soylent Green Corp. Health Advisory.

Teiwaz

Proprieter, Ken Clean Air Systems.

I actually had one this morning from a lady working for "Clear Eco Systems" wanting to look at my inverter.

Dunno, sounds like a euphemism to me. Are you absolutely sure you weren't being chatted up, or did she ask for your credit card for the next ten minutes...?

I'd like some Pram please. Chest of Drawers?

Teiwaz

Re: Split their noses open with a boat hook

I hope you don't mean a plastic straw - let's keep it environmental!

Cheese straws don't suck.

Teiwaz

Re: Good news everyone

I'm really not doing well today with the old English and spelling.

Old English is hard(er). Aim for current English for less of a ribbing.

Teiwaz

Re: Good news everyone

"[...] and that one day they can chase directors for non-criminal breeches as well."

You mean like flares?

Yeah, but in America it's all pants....

A Reg-reading techie, a high street bank, some iffy production code – and a financial crash

Teiwaz

Should have used COBOL.

ADD POSITION.EXPOSURE TO TOTAL_EXPOSURE GIVING TOTAL_EXPOSURE ?

Of course. COBOL is an almost perfect business language.

It's only sheer idiocy and masochism to move off it or use something else.

Who had ICANN suing a German registrar over GDPR and Whois? Congrats, it's happening

Teiwaz

Re: ICANN not understand how you wrote this article !!!???

BBC are reporting on ICANN and their problems with an article that completely misses the issues and frames them as the victims !!!!

To be fair, the BBC news site is edited down to such a bare minimum of facts and seems to be written with the intent of being understandable to anyone with an I.Q in the single digit range it's not a surprise it misses most pertinent facts or is vaguely anywhere close to the truth and not new for the fluffy mushroom heads and those that have dodgy living arrangements with seven bearded mining little folk.

Activists hate them! One weird trick Facebook uses to fool people into accepting GDPR terms

Teiwaz

Didn't notice that

FB has been hassling me for at least a year or two couple of times a week about unread status peek, pokes or photo tags, I have a page because relatives, but I don't go near FB.

It is interesting to see who is still posting their life to it regularly. There's one relative I'm expecting to be caught up to no good in a public lavvy any day now, I'd expect that to be posted as worse have gone on there.

Ex-staffer of UK.gov dept bags payout after boss blabbed medical info to colleagues

Teiwaz

Re: When asked for comment.

The DUP said "I don't see what all the fuss is about. It's only chlamydia for heavens sake and can be easily cleared up with a course of antibiotics. ... oh wait, hang on. Are we on the record here?"

The DUP said that?

I Must be in the wrong universe again...usually it's something about 'immoral' whatnots with them, fearless fighters as they are, of the stubborn rearguard action against common sense and the obvious.

Is your smart device a bit thick? It's about to get a lot worse

Teiwaz

Re: Some men do get periods ...

I'm definitely intersex though I think I may be misunderstanding the word.

You're thinking of Unisex - if that's what you normally experience.

(another 'ahh' Rincewind, 'I miss Terry Prattchet' message - from one of the early books)

UK Home Office's £885m crim records digi effort: A 'masterclass in incompetence'

Teiwaz

Re: Improvement Through Adversity

At least uk.gov learns from its IT mistakes.

Are you kidding? it doesn't even learn IT from its mistakes, nevermind learn from its IT mistakes.

Teiwaz

Nonsense

Every joke about Govt. Digital projects failing has been used, re-used, turned into a horse, been killed,.....

Every joke about Govt. Digital projects failing has, gone platinum, played in west end and Broadway for several centuries and broadcast for all twelve days of christmas since the alleged birth of a sun god (morning and matinee) and chorasters have toured the country in hot air balloons reciting it end to end in high and plain chant.

We just need new material (I'm sure they'll be new failures), new writers, (a new government preferably) it's still a bloody joke.