Posts by Mark 85

I've got one living next to me... I'm just tickled that he doesn't have nuclear weapons. And that the local cops keep a close eye on him also.

@Ole Juul -- Re: Clearly The Law is a ass...

But, especially in cases like this, it creates a lot of jobs and is a renewable resource.

It also uses up resources for all the paper generated. Maybe the only way to stop it is to get some tree-hugger Greenpeace types up in arms about bit.

Re: Small beer

Not detected? Not verified on what was looked at? Or do they know and are lying? Given what I've seen my government do, this could be any one the three or a bit of each.

Re: Is someone under the impression...

Turning off images only stops the image. It won't stop the tracking cookies or any malware from coming in. However, it I'm wrong.... tell me as I've had a few friends/relatives tell me that turning off images somehow "protects" them.

Re: Worryingly

In some ways, you Linux types (and myself included) are like the Apple folks.. "we can't get a virus". Once upon a time, that was very true since the malware writers were ignoring anything other than Windows. They've now set their sights on the non-windows platforms and rely on social engineering. The key is going to be a change of mindset for both Apple and Linux users from "The OS won't let me get a nasty" to "the odds are in my favor but I shouldn't be stupid".

So I think what the "worrying" part is, isn't the OS, but the person using the keyboard.

@MyffyW -- Re: @Ashley

It reminded me of the early day's of AOL -

So I take it that free AOL wouldn't fly in India either then? Not sure if that would be a curse or blessing.

Re: This does raise a point though...

From where I sit, it's a corporate culture problem... trust and respect. If you (the company) trust and respect your employees, they will do the same back. When that changes and it has for a lot companies (here in the US anyway), do not expect the frontline troops to be loyal and not steal and plunder whatever is available. And by whatever, I see it as everything from pens and paper to customer account details. The worse this culture slides, the worse the pilferage of anything not bolted down becomes. I suspect it's very possible that Talk-Talk is in this category.

Re: "... complaints and fines from the FTC"

To the above comments, why weren't they required to issue an "uninstaller" for the junkware? Or notify those users who installed it on how to uninstall the trash? I'm guessing that if it isn't uninstalled, it's still active then.

10,000 upvotes for that although I think a bloody gulag would be too good for them. Maybe a cross between a gulag and a Turkish prison...

Re: AI Recreation

We already have them. They're called Sales Droids.

Re: If all the people engaged in ...

That would depend on if you were out of ammunition or not... as some might try to get up and run away.

Re: Has Mr Dabbs got much better recently?

Not so much PC as more like all "storage" and "The Conversation"

OTOH, Apple actually responded El Reg recently. Devil's work, I tell you....

It would if people were actually important to the companies shilling this stuff.

Re: Party/Location

The others gave some good reasons but there's also the fact that an awful lot of voters don't have a clue who their CongresCritters actually are. Ok.. there is the brief and shining moment during the elections and actually voting but other than that... no they don't.

Re: Maybe not Friday.

Just because he closed Gitmo don't for a minute think he's better than the last lot - he's the one who authorised the extrajudicial killing of US citizens via drone strikes

When did Gitmo close? To my knowledge it hasn't.

Re: Some folks might criticize cost, but ...

the US military wanted to be able to jam Galileo without disrupting their own system, and they forced the EU to use a different frequency to make this possible.

Those idiots forgot that it also works the other way. By insisting GPS be on separate frequencies, it makes targeting an individual country's GPS easier. If Russia, for example, wanted to launch, they could jam the US/Galileo/etc. while leaving their own operational. It would be better if all used the same frequencies since you couldn't jam X without jamming your own.

Re: Not quite making sense of this:

Since all the cameras connected to Hubble and the password/username was "stupid/stupid".. the firmware pushout should have easy-peasy.

Now did they change the username/password or just email the users to do that? Which means that only 10% will actually change the username/password...

Re: Customer always right?

I was wondering that also... <absurd mode on> so maybe he wrote the code, hated the place he was working... and shorted the stock in his possession. Company slides to the bottom of the pile, he makes a fortune on the stock, and gets revenge. <absurd mode off>

Absurd maybe... but there is the question about how did he know the line...? And the motivation for changing it?

I note that there's no mention of being able to track crims. Which sort of says a lot about how much the governments are willing to watch out for the little guy. I think they'd have less of the hassle from the informed (like IT, etc.) if they used the excuse "no evidence it used by terrorists but we would love to track and apprehend those ransomware guys."

Re: Sigh

I see maybe irony, but more like stupidity in that opening statement.. They hate "American government" but they haven't called in any threats in America. Then in the quotation at the end of the article, the money is in dollars*. Methinks the Russian bit is a stretch**. The price they're asking is basically peanuts maybe it is a cover operation like "boy who calls wolf"....

*The statements say $(US) for the services.. the article says "bitcoins"... Bitcoins might be universal, but $(US) seems a bit strange. Why not Euros?

** In many jurisdiction in the States, phoning a bomb threat is a felony as security and emergency services usually need to be sent. Many companies just ignore the threat, call the authorities since historically, they've all be fakes.

Re: Interesting

Well, I think the plan was to put the politicos in the bunker for "safety". Then weld the doors shut. Once things have settled down a bit, ignore the bunker except to make sure the welds are still holding.

Re: Er...

You might as well raise the pint anyway since you've already insulted the sky fairy by calling it "fiction".

Re: No news...

Isn't that why we read El Reg? To get the dirt that "other" news agencies won't report? That and the entertainment value, of course.

Well there's meetings.. so donuts and coffee. Then there's travel to inspect something. Then there's fancy logos and catchy names for stuff. Oh.. and the director's office needed redecorating.

Tough. You will have it and like it!!!! <said in a Colonel Klink voice>

Re: Personal parachute

Well, it is self-cleaning when it finally opens... talk about a real life shit storm...

Re: 40 MM Bofors

Not a bad idea, but maybe an eagle with the frikkin' laser? This is a tech site after all.