* Posts by Wzrd1

2260 publicly visible posts • joined 7 Dec 2012

Britain enters period of mourning as Greggs unable to process payments

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Ok adding my not so consipracy take...

Вкусно–и точка, Delicious - Menses?

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Ok adding my not so consipracy take...

So, Korea, Vietnam, Granada, Panama, Falklands, Gulf War I were not wars.

Rather like, "If we ignore the last three pandemics, there have been no pandemics since...

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Ok adding my not so consipracy take...

Testing, testing, testing and don't feed them after midnight.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Best thing on the menu IMHO

Only because they don't put the exit on the menu.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

"But we do know one common factor: single point of failure. Bean-counters want cheap, little if any redundancy and then get taken by surprise when the beans stop arriving."

Frankly, sounds like a common vendor, making the same mistake of not testing updates before pushing them out.

Or a Typhoid Mary employee, sacked for bollocksing one update, hired on to bollocks up the rest of the universe, one employer at a time.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Yes, the Cuyahoga, running through the post-industrial rustbelt hellhole that was Cleveland, Ohio, in the seventies. I am not insulting it, I lived there.

Also, the Schuylkill River in Philly, back in the 1890's. Killed some fishermen when the kerosene on the river caught fire.

Then, there was Love Canal, NY, where a school was built on top of a chemical dump site and the creeks notoriously caught fire when kids threw stones against the gravel of the banks.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: What comes between Y2K and 2038?

Soylent Green is people!

Judge demands social media sites prove they didn't help radicalize mass shooter

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: It’s the algorithms on trial [Hold Up Here, Chief]

"Tobacco, drugs, alcohol and sex have legal age limits because vulnerable people have been deemed unable to practice the necessary self control."

One has no Constitutional right to tobacco, drugs, alcohol or sex. Indeed, that's at the heart of every INCEL's objections to life.

One does have the right to free speech - within specified constraints to ensure the welfare of the public and society. Hence, the defect of Section 230, as those constraints are removed and antisocial media, in order to serve advertisements for profit then steer objectionable, frequently unlawful in many jurisdictions discussions toward unsuspecting users.

The product isn't defective at all, it's functioning perfectly as designed, it's used amorally, but we don't legislate morality, we restrict unlawful and likely to cause civil harm - save in these "common carriers" (a term previously utilized by mass transport, shipping firms, internet and telephone carriers and decidedly not publicly available bulletin boards).

Everything operated correctly, as designed and intended, with unintended results, exacerbated by parental non-supervision.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: It’s the algorithms on trial [Hold Up Here, Chief]

"First, all this -- the lawsuit and many of the comments here -- totally disregard peoples' moral and legal responsibilities!"

Therein lies the problem, inappropriate tool usage. BEM is morally liable, not civilly liable, as US courts do not enforce moral code, but legal code. When one goes into things moral, those are addressed socially via political processes and appropriate legislation (and more often, inappropriate legislation, because if you want something fouled up, give it to a politician (regardless of nation)).

Trying to claim that their product is defective, when it was operating as designed is like holding a car manufacturer responsible for a driver intentionally running down pedestrians. Using the courts in this manner, akin to trying to screw together shelves with a scalpel - a tool not designed for that purpose and one that would inevitably fail, typically in an injurious way. Then, bitching that the scalpel was defective as well, as it was used for a purpose it was not designed to perform, in a way it was not designed to be used and predictably shattered, spewing sharp edged shards about.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: IANAL

"Same apples to everybody else, but if they can't do that then they're not a "common carrier" and are liable for content."

OK, then the postal service is not a common carrier, despite legal code and case law. They filter content (mail) by content (address) and deliver it to the address indicated. So, if any terrorist receives "go" orders by postal mail, obviously the postal service is defective in that argument.

By that standard, all mechanical devices, from hammers and knives to motor vehicles and highways are defective and need to be shut down, as all have been utilized to commit crimes.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: IANAL

"With regards to 'defective', I think the argument that FB etc are 'defective' products that are causing harm through some defect is quite wrong. FB etc are causing harm through their 'correct' (ie as-designed) behaviour. Which is, I think, even worse."

I completely agree, however such is not actionable in court. Otherwise, Ford would be found responsible for introducing a defective product because it functioned correctly when a malcontent driver decided to run over a crowd of pedestrians. The truck operated properly as designed, the operator used it in an unlawful manner.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: No clean hands

One problem with your characterization of the 4chan and 8chan message boards being more responsible by non-promotion of the objectionable content. You basically crafted a position of "heads I win, tails I lose, now prove your innocence beyond the shadow of the most unreasonable doubt", which is the antithesis of what our judicial system requires.

And defending those two groups makes me feel physically ill!

The antisocial media corporations have algorithms that steer users to what is detected to be preferred content of interest, largely in order to display advertisements for profit that would also interest the victi - erm, user. The xchan boards do not, they simply are message boards for flakes and malcontents.

So, with zero respect to the plaintiff, it appears that both products are operating as designed, regardless of objectionable content. It would be like trying to old Ford responsible because a driver of a Ford truck decided to drive over a crowd at a bus stop. When the "defect" is the user utilizing a device or service, the product isn't defective, the user is.

Hence, the matter should not be addressed by the judicial system, but via the social and hence political system. You don't use a scalpel to screw together a bookshelf.

Voyager 1 starts making sense again after months of babble

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Just a thought

Million monkeys and Shakespeare, the biggest problem being how many people cannot ascertain the difference between the output of either group of primates and the singular primate.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Real Time

Those DSN dishes are scheduled to be retired after the Voyager program ends, which will be after the final processor finally goes titsup or the RTG finally gives up its last gasp from its thermocouple (the RTG will continue to heat, the most common failure in RTG's is the thermocouple).

Attacks on UK fiber networks mount: Operators beg govt to step in

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Using phrases such as "Genetically predisposed to violence" ...

Well, there is one species that is genetically predisposed to violence, it being even more violent than its closest peer species, pan troglodytes, pan sapiens, aka homo sapiens.*

*How to start a riot at a taxonomist convention: Pop into the pub at closing time and shout, "is it pan sapiens or homo troglodytes", then run like hell.

Cyberattack downs pharmacies across America

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: forced some folks to pay for their medication at full price in cash

Given my insurance company wants to literally wait until my last dose is taken to refill my beta blockers, I'd get my meds on time via the emergency department.

It's either that or my aortic aneurysm pops apart.

Musk 'texts' Nadella about Windows 11's demands for a Microsoft account

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Some elements of the operating system simply do not work

I'm sure somewhere there are about three people (two of which are held at gunpoint) which really consider moving from a power-efficient, user friendly modern platform which lets you get on with things to the shit show and sea of pain and mediocrity that is Windows, with its constant flow of buggy updates and increasingly invasive ads and nag screens, an improvement.

I dunno, I've grown quite fond of reinstalling my network drivers with every update.

Which is the only reason I end up logging into my only Windows machine. The rest are Linux boxes. I only have to fix one of those maybe once per year at most.

Americans wake to widespread AT&T cellular outages

Wzrd1 Silver badge

"If 2., then removing the SIM should allow you to call 911, as the cellphone will then not remain tethered to AT&T, but will default to whichever (working) network it can pick up."

And if your phone uses a soft sim, you're just screwed.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

"Until you have a powercut and discover that the battery they included in the modem died years ago. or you find that the cabinet at the end of the road that the fibre terminates at doesn't have battery backup."

And that the included battery, if working, still only gives a couple of hours of service before discharging. Had to put a massively oversized UPS onto mine to retain service during an outage during hurricane Sandy.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Well, they did build fiber, tons of it remains dark. Interestingly, AT&T being one leader in owning dark fiber.

All backbone stuff, no last mile or well hell, last 20 miles stuff.

They were quite miffed when the US government returned a bunch of leased fiber that they didn't need, leaving AT&T with even more dark fiber.

In its tantrum with Europe, Apple broke web apps in iOS 17 beta, still hasn't fixed them

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: The EU is a cancer

Hitler, Stalin and Mao are dead and the world is better for it. Soon enough, Putin and Xi will join them, much to the betterment of global stability.

So, back under your bridge, there's a special goat waiting there just for you. You'll spot it immediately, it's glowing blue, because it's special.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

"It’s not expected to work properly, because it’s, well BETA!"

Um, no. Alpha isn't expected to work properly, beta is testing to ensure it is working properly and continues to work properly, as the next stage is release.

Seriously, have you never tested software personally? Frequently, there's even subdivisions of internal alpha, then external alpha, then internal beta, then external beta testing conducted. Done all of the above.

With internal alpha frequently being, "so, that's what the interface is going to look like - once it stops crashing". "Oh, they got it to stop crashing at idle, now it only crashes when you try to do something". When it sort of works, it goes to external alpha. When it's working fairly well, it's internal beta, once those bugs are hunted down, external beta. After that, it's release time and only Microsoft treats an initial release like it's an external beta. :P

One has multiple versions of alpha and beta test, as bugs are ironed out, but by the time one goes wide beta, all of the biggies, like this regulatory compliance issue are worked out and this would be a software developer's version of flipping the bird at the regulators.

Providing a release with a similar disability, the kiss of death for conducting business with an entire continent. Oh well, I hear Antarctica is a wide open market...

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: a dev

"No, it’s usually out of ignorance or laziness… or unjustified fear."

As an old SA type and later, network security type, I don't have to justify my reasons to end users, but usually explain when asked. The purpose is to secure the enterprise, not splash access to resources and information outside of authorized areas. Not for your personal enjoyment and trust me, those restrictions can be a pain in my own ass as well, as I never requested an exception from policy for my own platforms, save if it was essential for the enterprise and even then, grudgingly. While looking hard at replacing the offending application.

Try to evade policy, well, busy is busy and it's really a matter for HR and legal anyway. Something that I've explained to an in-the-process of being terminated user's face.

I also didn't tolerate ignorance or laziness on the staff, ignorance was retrained, lazy on a corrective action plan, as it undermines trust and garners attitudes like yours.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: a dev

I miss the good old days, back when computing platforms put things either in admin mode or for the overwhelming majority of applications, user mode.

For some reason, Apple decided to reinvent the wheel and how has made it square, with a fixed axle and called it compliant, which basically is proclaiming absolute contempt.

And a truly creative way in which to lose 448 million customers by regulatory action. I'm sure that the stockholders will be thrilled, thrilled enough to replace a golden parachute with a one made of the finest lead.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

"Jeeves, I will require my mobile telephone and the number 4 iron."

Don't bother, just put it on the pigeon pile on the skeet range along with mine. Here's a spare shotgun...

Bonus if you get the battery to ignite.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

"Perhaps should have been the lede, eh?"

So, the lede should be speculation, then follow with facts. What an odd format your version of news is!

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: I love Apple...

The only USB-C failures I've experienced was non-standards compliant cables shorting. Literally nearly causing a fire.

I've only had one cable failure since I spent a little more to get compliant cables and that, due to damage to the cable at the connector, resulting in another short that melted the connector plastic.

So, blaming that on the interface design is like condemning electrical utility power because substandard power cables triggered a house fire. Go with that mentality, we'd have to outlaw fire!

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Apple really do make things simple

And governments can make things even simpler, prohibit non-compliant technologies within their domain.

Which for Apple would mean 448 million less customers. Oh well, there's still China... Assuming that they can get them to stop stealing from them...

Reminds me of a line from a film.

"The Almighty wanted me to tell ya, he can get me out of this mess, but he's pretty sure you're faulked".

iFixit tears Apple's Vision Pro to pieces

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Frying tonite

"Let's hope all those Joules (142,000) don't get routed through the wearer's head at once!"

It'd have no noticeable effect whatsoever. No amount of energy can damage a singularity.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Cnnot use with glasses so need prescription lens inserts

"Only in America.."

True, however in that case, it was the press mistaking parody for reality.

Although, for some drivers, bindfolded or sighted results in equal lack of skill in driving. Putting paid any notion of a flying car.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Cnnot use with glasses so need prescription lens inserts

"A helpful soul on Reddit has done a fair job of explaining why it isn't possible:"

As I recall, it is theoretically possible, but implausibly expensive. Think fleet of supercarriers expensive per unit, plus R&D for the adaptive optics that would have to be invented.

And likely, weigh in close to that larger than a bread basket warship...

I'm sure that a solution will arrive - right alongside commercial viable fusion power - in another 20 years, taken out and rinsed and repeated every 20 years.

Because, some solutions, while possible, do illustrate the saying, "Sure, you could do this, but why in hell would you want to?".

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Cnnot use with glasses so need prescription lens inserts

"Because most of us believe that the only simple way to bend the light between screen and eyes is to use physical lenses."

Not really, gravity can bend light quite handily. Although, most of us wouldn't enjoy wearing anything from a neutron star to a black hole anywhere in proximity to their nose.

I'll just get my coat...

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Cnnot use with glasses so need prescription lens inserts

"The optician doesn't bother to apply for it - doing the paperwork would cost more than the £10 they would get so they just give me the discount and move on."

Yeah, time spent vs money recovered, not worth the trouble.

Thankfully, my vision was never quite that bad. Needed glasses for distance since age 16, hit my 40's and needed bifocals (never could get used to those), mid-40's and suddenly didn't need correction for distance vision. Hit my 50's and I needed cataract surgery to remove damaged natural lenses, leaving me with implanted lenses set for distance and a need for reading glasses that are "dime store" cheap.

And occasional laser treatment to blast holes through the posterior lens capsule... Otherwise, it starts to appear as if the cataracts have returned.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Cnnot use with glasses so need prescription lens inserts

"That would only be useful if the dog has a degree in optical engineering."

Optics is easy! As long as I let someone qualified design them. ;)

As for the one suggesting a guide dog, I've no need for one, as I've got a fine gun that I'll be leaving parked and chocked that's happily resting on their toes. No need for munitions, the sheer mass will be quite convincing enough to generate an apology.

And the need for a replacement foot...

No, I really don't own a howitzer. As the building charges for parking, I couldn't afford the parking spot - or the paint to maintain such an absurd machine.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Cnnot use with glasses so need prescription lens inserts

Erm, optics is a branch of physics, one cannot alter the laws of physics by clever implementation of circuitry, so precision lens inserts would be required to prevent severe operator fatigue.

As for VR headsets, I can see a niche in a number of training scenarios, but overall utility for me, not too much - not even if the money fairy dropped off a huge load of excess wealth. I anticipate that latter to be due to occur around never the third.

And I'm one of those who require reading glasses, as my eyes are permanently fixed focus after cataract surgery and surgical lens implants. Upside being, the only way that my prescription would change is if my skull changed shape.

Give 'em time, direct retinal projection might actually get introduced, which might be a tad more practical. Well, as practical as a flying horse.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

"Any definition of 'good enough' depends upon the user and the application."

Yep, the story as old as technology itself.

Personally, I've got no use for such a device, but I could see the potential for use in training scenarios in many fields, as well as some sensory enhancements if properly implemented.

That said, the price will likely bring many corporate clients up short. Still, give it a few years and someone will produce a more affordable offering.

And as likely, a pocket sized fusion reactor... ;)

HP's CEO spells it out: You're a 'bad investment' if you don't buy HP supplies

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Longtime IT Nerd says...don't buy HP crap

The last good HP printer was the Laserjet 5 series. The 4000 series went with a fuser that was composite and eventually crumbled, compared to the 5 series that was still metal.

Fortunately, there are other vendors, at least until they pull an HP and Lexmark and shoot their own feet with their chipped toners and inks. Then, as far as I'm concerned, ban paper.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

If HP is investing in the buyer

Why are they selling the investment, erm, printer? Give away the printer, then it's an investment.

This is more like roping someone into buying only one brand of gasoline for their car - their brand. Totally stimulating innovation and competition via monopoly.

Thankfully, they're not the only printer company around.

Tesla owners in deep freeze discover the cold, hard truth about EVs

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: @jmch - Norway

>I've been to Siberia in winter. They leave their engines running 24/7, light a fire under the engine, or they use block heaters (rarely) to prevent the engine freezing solid.

Alaskans typically go with block heaters. But, that doesn't help the car battery.

Excessive heat or cold wreak merry hell on pretty much any battery. Maybe we need to borrow a page from the book of Trump and go back to steam.

Frozen boilers can be *really* entertaining.

I'll just get my coat...

SSH shaken, not stirred by Terrapin vulnerability

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Hmm...

And annoyingly, OpenWRT shows this vulnerability. Ubuntu 22.04 doesn't have it.

Nearly a million non-profit donors' details left exposed in unsecured database

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: US based,,, Or only operating in the US?

Now I hold out cash and am met with refusal, apparently I must sign up for direct debit payments and give my name, address, phone number etc...

Yeah, got that same crap myself. I put my money away, "Lemme check my other pocket", rummage a bit around and withdraw a fresh third digit.

Cloud engineer wreaks havoc on bank network after getting fired

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Credentials after leaving

Oh, I've been curious, just no curious enough to even consider trying.

But, curious enough to ask a friend to make sure the accounts were disabled and marked for eventual deletion.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Credentials after leaving

Heh, in one position, I was moving on and the last thing I did was disable my own user, then admin account, then logged off for the final time.

Obviously, under amicable terms and I had the manager witnessing my actions, just for CYA all around.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Some people are so stupid

Hell, I got a cheap-o-matic netbook that cost a whopping $89, an after Christmas special from old stock from the previous year. It's the only Windows boxen I maintain at home, the rest running Linux.

US warns Iranian terrorist crew broke into 'multiple' US water facilities

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Paragraph Four

Some years back, when I was supporting small to mid sized businesses, a chemical company (I joke not) had an internet presence that the owner insisted upon self-hosting.

The admin password being LetMeIn. Nothing could convince him to use a password that was stronger, such as 'assword'...

Wzrd1 Silver badge

The decision to do this is driven not by efficiency or technology but rather by the bean counters who are more concerned with hitting the quarters' numbers than protecting their businesses or customers.

Yeah, Billy-Bob and John-Boy really care about the quarters numbers, rather than taking up a handful of computer security courses. Because, it's far cheaper for their minimum wage selves to take college level courses than to just set up the water processing equipment for their town of 10k than it is to just set up the equipment and hope that nobody notices.

The singular case outlined was from a community of that number, from a water works for said community with a part time employee base of six, two being managers.

But, it's all about profits, because water in a land where water is plentiful is ever so prohibitively expensive or something. Why, that Pennsylvania river right outside of my window is obviously worth its weight in platinum!

Wzrd1 Silver badge

At which point the board of the company should personally be on the hook for failing to perform any form of network security.

What board? They are a municipal water company, which would be a board of two and an entire staff of three, counting the "board".

Bank's datacenter died after travelling back in time to 1970

Wzrd1 Silver badge

The solution is simple

Quarterly battery replacement. That way, they'll get replaced annually on a good year.

And likely, management will complain about the budget and additional expense...

Musk tells advertisers to 'go f**k' themselves as $44B X gamble spirals into chaos

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Delusional narcissist - Trump?

The only time IQ testing is a problem is when amateurs make it a problem. It's supposed to be *part* of a comprehensive examination of mental abilities, not a start and finish line. There's emotional testing, empathy assessment, etc.

Each assessment stage is worthless in isolation and is frequently abused by isolating one stage by itself, rendering any assessment entirely out of balance and incomplete.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Delusional narcissist - Trump?

"That really casts doubts as to whether standardized IQ ratings are valid. What's really being measured and is it any good indicator about a person?"

That's been an ongoing debate since IQ testing first started.

Case in point, Wikipedia is an absolute genius in general knowledge terms. It's also entirely vacant in terms of mathematical skills and spacial reasoning. But then, it's a searchable encyclopedia, not an AI.

Our current AI's are barely that, in narrow enough areas to fail an IQ test, let alone a Turing test.

Meanwhile, I've personally met some high IQ types who would also fail a Turing test, but are undeniably intelligent and some, even socially skilled.

Meanwhile, to assess mental function, IQ testing is part of a comprehensive battery of testing, it's not a be all and end all, save for the layperson, who doesn't understand psychology at all.

And to properly cover that requires at least a psych 201 level course. :/