* Posts by John Tserkezis

2242 publicly visible posts • joined 16 Jun 2007

Google engineer names and shames dodgy USB Type-C cable makers

John Tserkezis

Re: So... the news is USB doesn't work in real life...

"Seriously, USB has so many flaws"

Still not as bad as bluetooth. If it works, it works great, otherwise their stance is "screw you".

John Tserkezis

"The real problem here is the device manufacturers who just connect the USB power pins to the raw 5v and assume that the conected device will 'play nice'."

I've seen this more often than I'd like!

John Tserkezis

Re: Er....

"That's not how I remember it. Maybe you meant 5W ?"

Less than that. 500mA max, and that's with the devices "asking nicely" (there's some USB negotiation before it'll do that.

1A is however, routine, if not out of spec, and I've seen them squeeze 2A out of it too. Standards are treated like suggestions, if it doesn't fit your needs - just ignore the documents and do what you want.

Samsung S6 Edge has 11 nasties, says Google Project Zero team

John Tserkezis

"Not all of us install, 'apps', on our handsets"

Then you have no better than what we would call a "Dumb Phone".

Or specifically in your case, an "Expensive Dumb Phone".

Volkswagen: 800,000 of our cars may have cheated in CO2 tests

John Tserkezis

"The board deeply regrets this situation"

"The board deeply regrets we got caught"

There, fixed it for them.

Food, water, batteries, medical supplies, ammo … and Windows 7 PCs

John Tserkezis

"Bugger... is social melt down really upon us already?"

Yes it is. A lot of the boxes aimed at domestic use, simply don't have windows 7 drivers, and conveniently, they all have new hardware that is not automagically recognised by Win7 even if you try it.

So, stocking up on freeze-dried hardware might not be a bad idea.

Dev to Mozilla: Please dump ancient Windows install processes

John Tserkezis

Re: wrong problem to be solving.

"I want the download link to download the ENTIRE program, not just an installer stub."

My installer is 41+Mb. If that's a stub, then someone is being REALLY sloppy.

But yes, in general I look for full installers.

John Tserkezis

"This exploit requires access to the System32 folder. Will corporate workers have access to that folder?"

When some shops have the same username and password for all employees across the board, then, to answer your question, yes.

Star Trek to go boldly back onto telly, then beam down in streams

John Tserkezis

"Since Australia is the arsehole of the world, and that's not available to us"

I've since found out that CBS has done a deal with the 10 network, so presumably it's going to be showing on free to air. That means it's likely to air at 2:00am, and laced with on-screen commercials for either cooking or home renovation shows. You know, because they're important.

That's the 10 network - the same one that starting this year butchered the Formula One seasons to an hour long "best of". With ads, that's 42 minutes program material, with the trophy handouts and top three interviews, that leaves maybe half an hour of racing for a race that's nearly two hours long in real life.

Torrents here we come.

John Tserkezis

"other than those subscribed to US broadcaster CBS' "All Access" video-on-demand platform"

Since Australia is the arsehole of the world, and that's not available to us, we'll have to persevere with the torrents. Nicely packaged, without ads, a mere few hours after it's available in the US, terrible, just terrible.

Now VW air-pollution cheatware 'found in Audis and Porsches'

John Tserkezis

"Serves everyone right for not buying a Prius - talking resale values here."

Yeah, if you don't mind polluting the environment with the smell of smug.

Google snaps Dutch woman completely taking the piss

John Tserkezis

Re: Poor restoration

"I had no idea they had blimps in 1643."

I'm assuming the painting restorers are taking the piss?

John Tserkezis

"Electric arc to the noodle injuries are seriously unfunny."

As long as it's not yourself, I beg to differ.

John Tserkezis

"Depends on the individual."

Yes. Some individuals don't piss on the streets.

Skype founders planning non-drone robodelivery fleet. Repeat, not drones

John Tserkezis

What about the kids riding it?

"I wanna ride the horsie!, I wanna ride the horsie!"

Kaspersky announces 'death' of Coinvault, Bitcryptor ransomware

John Tserkezis

"During our joint investigation we have obtained data that can help you to decrypt the files being held hostage on your PC," Kaspersky says.

Now all you have to do is subscribe to Kaspersky. Or if you choose to not subscribe, you get nothing.

E-mail crypto is as usable as it ever was, say boffins

John Tserkezis

"There are loads of decent mail clients with PGP and GPG support built right in. It's not really that hard."

No, it really is that hard. Just because YOU can do it, doesn't mean EVERYONE can do it. Built-in support is only one tiny aspect of getting it to work. Most people I know continue to choose outlook, and since I don't have to support it, I don't. Bottom line is they go without - they don't even try to google it, or ask anyone else.

So, it really IS that hard.

SeaMeWe-3 submarine cable spur borked until November 10th

John Tserkezis

"So what's going on down there?"

The NSA is having trouble installing their tap.

Or, is the Australian Goverment's Internet Filter (tm) installation is proceeding like their NBN install?

Or... where's my tin foil cap, oh , here it is.

Linus Torvalds fires off angry 'compiler-masturbation' rant

John Tserkezis

Beats the shit that's beaten into Microsoft software people "Make money at all cost! Make money at all cost!"

Has Voyager 1 escaped the Sun yet? Yes, but also no, say boffins

John Tserkezis

"So when is Microsoft pushing Windows 10 on to that platform?"

Accounting for the quite slow communications bitrate, it won't get the win 10 install before it drifts into the next solar system. By that stage, the intelligent life there will be getting ready to communicate with us.

Then they'll notice Voyager, take one look at windows 10, and they'll launch an intergalactic war instead.

John Tserkezis

"Potential applicants will need to do their own research into exactly which CPU's assembly language they need to be fluent in, because El Reg couldn't be bothered to look that information up, and include it in the article."

Potential applicants would be proactive enough to do the research themselves, and not wait for El Reg to do their homework for them. Sigh.

The story of .Gay: This bid is too gay! This bid is not gay enough! This bid is just right?

John Tserkezis

"there is already a .lgbt TLD so is that also causing some conflict?"

The religeous nutcases making the decisions didn't know what it meant. So they let it through.

Use Skype if you want to report a crime, say cops

John Tserkezis

Re: "Have you been the victim of a crime...?

"YOU ARE UNDER ARREST. YOU HAVE TWENTY SECONDS TO COMPLY!"

Er, no, I'm reporting the crime...

"YOU HAVE FIFTEEN SECONDS TO COMPLY!"

Volvo eyes kangaroo detection tech

John Tserkezis

Re: @sgp Vision

"It might be hard to hit a kangaroo at less than 30 mph"

It's pretty easy actually.

We were 4x4ing on a firetrail (at about running pace) with a cliff on one side, and a mountain on the other.

A roo comes down the mountain, bumps us, and continues it merry way down what looked like a cliff.

There was no apparent damage done anywhere, but we were after all in her backyard.

That was in broad daylight, but the real problems come at night when they get "hypnotised" by the oncoming lights. They wait till last moment, then move in directly in front. When you hit it, you 'aint doin' 30mph at that point... Amazing how much damage even a smaller roo will do.

Aussies' distinctive Strine down to drunk forefathers

John Tserkezis

Re: The Aus accent really grates...

"Us Kiwis DON'T have an accent - it's the rest of you that have an accent!!!"

I'd like some foosh and chops please.

LG uses sucky logic to force Dyson admission its vacuums suck badly

John Tserkezis

Doesn't matter to me, I lost all respect for LG a long time ago.

Want to slash your phone bill? Go to jail. Go directly to jail

John Tserkezis

Ah, now I understand why they smuggle cell phones into prison, wrapped in a condom and shoved up their arses. It's STILL cheaper than the prison phones. And all this time they've been telling us it was for drug deals...

Shopping mall CCTV gear commandeered to blast websites offline

John Tserkezis

"A healthy respect for the Computer Misuse Act prevented my less benevolent side from probing quite how far you could go."

Probably just as well you didn't tell them either. That class of idiot is so misguided, they'll likely throw the book at anyone who even appears to know what's going on.

Anons blow Japanese airports off-course in dolphin cull protest

John Tserkezis

I'll have the dolphin burger please. Yes, the one in the non-enviromentally-friendly styrofoam box.

And yes, I'll have the super-sized genetically modified fries with that too.

IoT's sub-GHz 802.11ah Wi-Fi will be dead on arrival, warn analysts

John Tserkezis

Re: But.. but..

"How big are these people's houses? I don't really need to be able to adjust the mood lighting in my living room from the pub down the road."

Firstly, note that 1km distance specified is ideal under ideal environmental conditions, with no wind, with no walls, with no interference, as long as nobody sneezes... You get the idea.

Also, regular WiFi won't get from end to end on a typically sized property. At our place, almost to the end doesn't count, I've had to install a wifi bridge to span the entire property.

.ah would be ideal here - if the price is right of course. Which it won't be, because I'm doing the same thing here with cheapo off-the-shelf bridge wifi devices - right now.

Yahoo! boss! Mayer! promises! shake-up! in! bid! to! save! her! job!

John Tserkezis

"Marissa Mayer, who has been trying for three years to turn the company around, with limited success."

She could start by pissing off that abominable and faulty new mail interface. I'm quite sure not only her users, but internal staff would be quite happy to say the improvement would be significantly more than "limited".

Bosch, you suck! Dyson says VW pal cheated in vacuum cleaner tests

John Tserkezis

"the European regulations state that vacuum cleaners should be tested in a laboratory without any attempt to replicate real-world conditions – which leads to misleading results, a Dyson spokesperson said of the claims."

That's just stupid. If the test method doesn't at all replicate any real-world conditions, then what's the point? It's like having a vacuum that works really well in the lab, but utterly pointless in the average home. Now that's misleading.

Oracle points patching firehose at 154 vulnerabilities

John Tserkezis

And yet, still not as bad as flash.

CIA boss uses AOL email – and I hacked it, claims stoner teen

John Tserkezis

Social Engineering at its best

Mitnick would be proud.

Verizon should be ashamed.

And AOL, well, let's just say after many years of people making fun of them, things haven't changed.

Get ready to register your drones in the US – or else

John Tserkezis

"Toys and smaller drones that don't fly at a high enough altitude to interfere with other aircraft would be exempted from the registration rules"

Notice how they don't give a clear number on what defines "enough altitude"?

It gives them enough scope to cover toys if they feel like it.

Samsung told to build bots who work for less than Foxconn staffers

John Tserkezis

I'm just waiting for the robots to start throwing themleves off their balconys.

So just what is the third Great Invention of all time?

John Tserkezis

Beancounters, BEANCOUNTERS!

It's blasphemy I tell you!

Apple quietly swaps out MacBook Retina displays to fix skin-peeling stains

John Tserkezis

Re: Apple Replacement Programs - Not worth the web page they are posted on

"From that description I'd say you've got a fairly watertight legal case against Apple."

"In legal theory, nothing is black or white, just shades of grey. Grey is guilty with a good excuse."

Apple knows full well, with that class of money you won't fight it, because if you lose against a multinational, multi billion dollar company, you're automagically up for everyone's lawers. And in this case, the plantiff has limited depth to their pockets. Apple doesn't.

I'm not saying you can't win, you just need to make absolutely sure that you're making it more economically viable for them to "lose". It often means you have to come to the table with more than just what you have right now. This is how it works, I've dealt with enough bastard insurance companies to know they'll use their legal team to save several hundred dollars if they can.

Big Blue lets Chinese government eyeball source code – report

John Tserkezis

Has IBM forgotten the nation that's checking their code for backdoors, is the same nation that built itself in the first place by copying other's stuff?

Just sayin'.

Self-driving vehicles might be autonomous but insurance pay-outs probably won't be

John Tserkezis

"Five of those and a bag of nuts usually does the trick."

Had a friend who was unconvinced that a large chunk of metal could fly, he could only get into the plane if he was entirely completly rip snorting drunk. (back in the days when you could still do that).

The family knew this, and would setup and prepare prior to any required flight.

Last time he flew, all went well, staggered down the aisle, plopped down on his seat and fell asleep soon afterwards.

He woke before they landed.

I would like to say the shit hit the fan. But I can't. It was worse.

On the upside for him, this was before the era where smiling at the stewardesses not only will get you shot on board, they chop up your body into small pieces and mount your head out the front of the airport to discourage other travellers from molesting staff again. When did saying "nice tits" go out of fashion?

Good news: Adobe bangs out Flash patch fast. Bad news: Google's defenses were useless

John Tserkezis

Re: Flash is a diorhea that just won't end

"Would someone PLEASE PUT Adobe out of our misery?"

There is still a vuln that was there since day one that still hasn't been fixed yet.

It's called Flash.

How to get 10Gbit/s home broadband in the US: Step 1. Move to Chattanooga, TN

John Tserkezis

Chattanooga is pretty much at the top of the list when it comes to bible-thumping cities in the US, and you expect me to move there? I burst into flames just walking in front of a church.

It's really inconvenient you know.

Apple 1 goes on sale, expected to fetch £300,000 to £500,000

John Tserkezis

"The computer looks sound enough, save for “One chip at B12 incorrectly inserted”"

Don't expect to ever have this functioning again. Ever. Someone's had a "play" with it, meaning, half the logic is blown sideways, and the other half, well, good luck with that.

I used to get (more modern) gear like that on occasion. If it looks like someone's had a play, I won't touch it. My sanity is worth more than that.

Dry those eyes, ad blockers are unlikely to kill the internet

John Tserkezis

Re: @werdsmith - People who use adblockers...

"I had a novel experience with them recently."

An aquaintance once mentioned how he (inadvertantly) dealt with JoHo's.

He lives on a rural property, hears the doorbell ring, but was busy butchering chickens at the time round the back of the house. He didn't want to trample chook blood through the house, so he walked along the side of the house, wearing a plastic apron, covered in blood to the elbows holding a knife in one hand.

He peeks around the front, says "yeees?".

He said they ran pretty quick.

Apple may face $900m bill after A7 CPU in iPhones, iPads ripped off university's patent

John Tserkezis

Re: Oh the irony

"Apple had countered that the patent was invalid and had suggested WARF was a patent troll."

Pot. Kettle. Same old story.

Windows 10 preview on death row, will be executed on Thursday

John Tserkezis

"What Microsoft has to crack with Windows 10 is the XP problem"

No, Microsoft has to crack the Windows 10 phoning home problem.

Is streaming pirate video legal? Europe's highest court will take a look

John Tserkezis

Re: hardware

"...the question is if the hardware and software is legal..."

Since you can do the same on an x86 architecture, are they going to ban PCs too?

You can't legislate against a combination. It can and will be ported so some other hardware, or software, or more likely, the rantings will be ignored from the start.

In 2015, your Windows PC can be owned by opening a spreadsheet

John Tserkezis

"For Flash we recommend patching immediately,"

"For Flash we recommend deleting immediately,"

There, fixed it for them.

Companies grow faster when they buy more IT. Yes they do

John Tserkezis

Re: Old cause and effect confusion again...

"The people who buy this line from Dell deserve everything that they will get."

But they also promise it'll make us more attractive to women. To hell with productivity, we need all the help we can get...

Laser razor binned from Kickstarter resurfaces on Indiegogo

John Tserkezis
Coat

Re: Burn my face fur off?

"Clearly they need to build some sort of extractor and filter or catalytic converter into the thing"

Perhaps they can take a few pointers from Volkswagen?

Yes, ok, you don't have to tell me twice, I'm going...