* Posts by Mark 85

12880 publicly visible posts • joined 22 Nov 2012

How to help a user who can't find the Start button or the keyboard?

Mark 85

I learned the military version when pilots had issues they couldn't grasp.. "short in the headset between the earpieces". It still works as all our call-center people use a dual ear headset.

Mark 85

Re: Stop being a smartarse who makes things worse

I quite agree. My FIL who's 80 and started using a computer 5 years ago calls it "poke" which works for him.

That one weird trick fails: Google binned 780 million ads last year

Mark 85

@Philip Storry -- Re: So they're cracking down on some scumbags...

I'd like to see Google refuse to do business with them. But Scientology would probably just start a shell game with many new companies in order to get what they want.

Probably not go that far... just lawsuits. They have a history of suing companies and people for trying to ban/stop them.

GCHQ spies quashed this phone encryption because it was too good against snoopers

Mark 85

Re: So GCHQ wants to help the terrorists and Russians?

Well... they do seem interchangeable with the NSA. Same Shitte, Different Place.

Watch: SpaceX Dragon capsule breathes fire during crucial hover test

Mark 85

Restartable rocket motors? Unless they are, parachutes would still be needed if the capsule used the motors for escape.

Pentagon fastens lasers to military drones to zap missiles out of the skies

Mark 85

Re: Still not reliable

Well, there is that little crackpot in N. Korea but so far, they don't have that capability. It'll be a game changer if he gets them.

Mark 85

Re: Isn't there a standard defence against lasers?

They all use mirrors. It's the mirror material that is variable. Some use silver, gold. I recall that there's some that use stainless steel. The common silver mirror only works for some lasers. If you get into RF lasers (not light), they're using something else.

As a side note, the mirror reflecting material has to be on the "outside" of the substrate. IOW, on a wall mirror, the mirror material would be on the front or viewer side, not the back or wall side.

Mark 85

Re: Isn't there a standard defence against lasers?

Mirror won't necessarily work. Some lasers can cut through a mirror. It depends on the type of laser.

Mark 85

That would have to be one Big Freakin' Drone then.... I'm surprised they haven't decided to use a blimp since they want it to be over a launch site indefinitely. Oops... shouldn't give them ideas.

The last time Earth was this hot hippos lived in Britain (that’s 130,000 years ago)

Mark 85

Re: Rate of change

The climate change deniers had better be damned sure of themselves. <---- This is part of the problem in any discussion. The climate evangelists remind of the fundy Christians.. with their same argument.

I'm not a denier nor believer. The term skeptic has been subverted to "denier". So maybe "questioner"? or "seeker of knowledge"?

This is science, not religion. Not politics. There's going to be conflicting theories and arguments both ways. All the data isn't in yet... There's charges and admission of tampering with the data which don't help. Archeologists and historians are finally starting to weigh in with their input.

Mark 85

@RIBrsiq -- Re: So what are we supposed to think?

One problem with climate change, you see, is all the infrastructure and cities and stuff we've built on the assumption it will not change...

And therein is the issue... people don't want things to change. Yet, if they knew anything about archeology, they would know that empires/countries rise and fall, cities are built and then fall into decay. Change is neverending but no one wants to be a part of it. Ok... maybe except for what they deal with personally then change is good.. globally, not so much.

Brit boffins brew nanotech self-cleaning glass

Mark 85

Rain is actually the enemy of glass since it picks up contaminants and becomes slightly acidic. Over time, this etches the glass and reduces transparency.

Mark 85

Which, is a reasonable expectation... long term savings. However that does run counter to the corporates who build these things... short term profits. More cost in building won't allow them the profit and bonuses.

However, there's is a good case for this tech.. less heating and cooling costs, less cleaning costs. If one can penetrate the corporate mind, it's very practical.

Gov must hire 'thousands' of techies to rescue failing projects

Mark 85

Laugh over the fact we shared the same experience of government or weep as my experiences may be more common than I feared!

My impression is that this is pretty much the same from country to country. The same frustrations, issues, and PHB's. Just a different locale and possibly language. Or.. SSDP... Same Shitte, Different Place.

India just about accuses Facebook of faking Free Basics fandom

Mark 85

Re: Outside "help": Beware!

In summary: Won't people think of the childerun?

Oh but they are, just not in a way you'd think. They want an audience of wallets and the urge to buy. Some places also toss in "obedience to the government at all levels". Television advertisers have learned.. reach the children and the advertiser/marketer will own the adults. Now apply this to FB, Google, etc.

Asda slammed for letting vulns fester on its cyber shelves

Mark 85

Re: Mandatory security certification for all retailer/bank web sites

Given that e-commerce is world-wide, there would or should be a requirement then for this being international in scope and implementation.

There are inherent problems with this, such as is the agency just a rubber-stamp? In some places, the agency personnel are open to bribes or just not giving a damn who they pass.

The other problem is does anyone besides us IT types really care? Most users seem to have the attitude that all this "security" and "privacy" doesn't affect them until they become a victim.

It's not just you: Massive Comcast outage blows Bay Area offline

Mark 85

Re: Sorry, I would've commented earlier...

Which "ground zero"? Looks to be quite a few.

Mark 85

Netflix a lifesaver?

For some reason that first Twit.. e... Tweet in the article strikes me as bizarre. Almost feel sorry for them that life depends on Netflix.

Mark 85

Re: Newz

Looks like quite few others are have similar issues in similar areas...Charter for one. Sometimes, tech types in SF forget there's more to the country than SF, I guess.

IRS 'inadvertently' wiped hard drive Microsoft demanded in audit row

Mark 85

Re: inadvertent" blunder?

Well.. that is our tax dollars at work. The IRS can now say that by wiping and re-using the HDD, they saved the taxpayer money... but then there's the lawyer fees.

Forget infrasound, now it's ultrasound that's making you ill (allegedly)

Mark 85

Re: What next?

I believe IR already has been tapped back in the '60's as many TV remote controls used it. Oh.. don't forget the radiation from the picture tube.

Alibaba says 'open sesame' to AI, 1,000 new jobs in $1bn cash splash

Mark 85
Devil

This sounds familiar...

".....our vast data troves that will create immense value to our users,"

Data on users I would assume not the data they store for others...? Maybe a new slogan for their real customers: "We have more data, more products than Facebook".

Privacy warriors plead with FCC to wield sword of net neutrality against snooping ISPs

Mark 85

Re: Well, yes we could...

And there's a special bonus from NSA, et all that's coming soon to an ISP near you.

Boffins: There's a ninth planet out there – now we just need to find it

Mark 85

Re: Plan 9 from outer space!

I wonder where Ed Wood is now that we need him. We need the Solobonite now just in case.

Which tech stocks are suffering and – crucially – why?

Mark 85

Re: Geocities?

I don't think they were losing money on it but Yahoo are idiots. Look at all they stuff they've bought for a high price and then dumped over the side for some strange reasons.

DARPA commits to brain-computer interface development project

Mark 85

The next project will be from NSA to read and collect all that information coming from your brain.

Space podule outfit inks Arizona launch deal

Mark 85

Re: "size of a football stadium"?

Define "football stadium". American? British? Brazilian? Size is important.... or so I've been told.

It's 2016 and idiots still use '123456' as their password

Mark 85
Devil

I'm shocked that 123456 is still allowed. Don't all passwords have to be 8 character now? It should be 12345678. Or maybe abcdefgh...

Florida cuffee surprised by pills in vagina

Mark 85
WTF?

The longer I live, the less surprised I am by what some people do.... and then claim to know nothing about. But this one deserves a "WTF was she thinking?"

Trojan-filled Chrome extensions for Steam boil off gamers' assets

Mark 85

If it seems too good to be true - it usually always is.

FTFY since this is the www we're talking about.

Facebook Messenger: All your numbers are belong to us

Mark 85

Low end vs. High end phones..

Looking objectively (if that's possible) there might be a method to this madness. Get the app on the low end phones and get people used to it. When they upgrade their phone, they'll want the apps they're familiar with. Obviously a long-term goal thing as opposed to a short-term profit. If that's the plan..? Or if junior is using low end phones or friends, then they will persuade the higher end phone users to get it.

Personally, I don't touch text messages. my old Samsung cell only has a telephone style keyboard and no touchscreen. Texting is damn near impossible.

Ad-clicking bots predicted to rip US$7.2 billion from Mad Men

Mark 85

Opt-in for ads?

Adblockers should be mandatory maybe.. opt-in to get the ads. The only ones doing this other than the clueless part of the population would be the botnets. Win-win from where I sit.

Fears of fiber cable cuts, rogue drones menacing crowds at Super Bowl 50

Mark 85
Meh

Re: well...

Don't you know that most people don't watch it for the "game"? They watch it for the commercials and then there's the parties that happen. The feed for the game could be cut and not many would care in reality as long as the adult beverages flow, the food is reasonably good and the commercials play.

Disclaimer: I haven't watched this particular event in a couple of decades... and I'm American.

Apple backs down from barring widow her dead husband's passwords

Mark 85

Re: "low and behold"

It looks like he's referring to the article's use of it. Now why the "tips and corrections" button wasn't used... maybe he didn't want to email since it was AC?

For fsck's SAKKE: GCHQ-built phone voice encryption has massive backdoor – researcher

Mark 85

Re: One!...More!!..TIME!!!...

While that's an excellent idea, the way things are now the implementation would put 2 agencies in direct opposition to each other and neither would do anything of note except squabble, blame each other for failures, and waste massive amounts of tax dollars. Come to think of it, we (the US) does have a cybersecurity military command that's pretty useless due to manpower.

While I'm against blanket snooping, trolling, etc. I could see that this could be used WITH a subpoena much like a wire-tap back in the analog phone days. It would make massive slurps unnecessary and only allow the court (court, not a politician) to approve it. If the agencies had to pinpoint who they were listening to and justify it, then it might be a better use of their assets. As it is now, meh.... waste of time and money.. too much data, too little payback.

If the pinpoint snooping (subpoenaed wire taps) were permitted, then maybe a cybersecurity agency would work if the agency could afford to hire decent people.

Prez Obama sends Iranian defense hacker home in prisoner swap

Mark 85

A pardon? WTF? I can see sending him back... but a pardon? I suppose that legally, if he does it again, he can be re-arrested. Seems the pardon is revocable but still.... it just seems wrong.

Twitter goes titsup

Mark 85
Coat

Re: Twatted

On the bright side... no pictures of other people's breakfast. Oh wait... FB is still running...

Trump's new thought bubble: Make Apple manufacture in the USA

Mark 85
Headmaster

Re: Hey El Reg...

Clown he may be but Trump is the leader in the GOP field according to the polls.

I guess I need a pedantic type's help or at least someone better versed in the mother tongue than this "Merikin... is he a "twatdangle" or a "cockwomble"?

Mark 85
Devil

@AC -- Re: Hey El Reg...

I guess we should ask then: Why are you wasting electrons reading the article and commenting on it?

Mark 85

Anyway, whats so wrong with the idea of bringing manufacturing back to the USA? I imagine a large proportion of the population would be more than happy about it.

While I agree in principle, there's a different reality. Bring in manufacturing jobs to a country where segments of the population believe burger flipping is a career and they should be paid $15 an hour for it? A country were for decades, dads who worked in factories told their children that they should do better than work in a factory? There are factory jobs that go unfilled because the millennials (for starters) think that work is beneath them no matter how much they're paid for the work.

GCHQ summer schools to pay teenage hackers £250 a week

Mark 85

Re: gossiping about sexts while perusing the nude selfies of teenage girls

It would seem that GHCQ is already well-versed in this. There was an article here some time ago about them grabbing Yahoo chats and in particular the images. I'm sure they've expanded their horizons some. The Internet is a big place and selfies are everywhere.

Bigger than Safe Harbor: Microsoft prez vows to take down US gov in data protection lawsuit

Mark 85

The government can do so because it recognises no territorial limits to US power in its laws: everywhere in the world is the United States.

This is BS and appalling. I'm a US citizen and the fact that my government doesn't respect other countries yet expects them to respect us is just flat stupid and wrong. What the hell are these people thinking except their own bottom line and power base? Or maybe that's the point to it?

No matter, if you want respect, you have to give respect. And there are those who wonder why there's no respect* in the world.

*Then again, a common mistake by many is that fear=respect. It doesn't. Fear=contempt.

Amazon cloud increasingly powered by hot air

Mark 85

I take it that the wind farm is complete yet based on this: “1.1 million kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity.” Or maybe the site should have been closer to DC if there wasn't enough hot air?

Ubuntu's Amazon 'adware' feature to be made opt in

Mark 85
Trollface

Re: Either that or...

Either the negative feedback on Win10's data slurp caught their attention or MS paid them off...

Nude tribute to Manet's Olympia ends in cuffing

Mark 85

So which one of you two posters is Mel Brooks?

999 What's your emergency: Mega millions Met call handling IT muckup?

Mark 85

Re: You can't solve all your problems with air strikes.

There's the old saying that applies here: No problem is so large that it can't be solved with the judicious application of high explosives. I have a sign with those words hanging in the server room. Stops a lot of questions early on.

El Reg mulls entering Robot Wars arena

Mark 85

Re: Living tissue over a metal endoskeleton

Would wrapping it in bacon be a good thing then?

Mark 85

Re: hmmm idea's idea's

I can see where Kevlar might be a good thing to incorporate.

Mark 85

Re: Web of Death

Rats... no explosives. The rules take the fun out of everything.

Facebook is no charity, and the ‘free’ in Free Basics comes at a price

Mark 85

Outrageous indeed. Yet, Tim W. used to postulate that increased access did work for such things as weather reports, fishing reports, comms in general among the farmers and hunter/gatherer societies. The difference was/is as far as I can tell... Worstall was pushing a free or limited Internet. This "service" of Zuck's wouldn't allow for what Worstall was pushing.