* Posts by Wzrd1

2260 publicly visible posts • joined 7 Dec 2012

Russian hackers got Trump elected? Yeah, let's take a close look at that, says Obama

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: We could do that too, if only

"Since when have El Reg readers blindly accepted anything the U.S. intelligence community has said?"

Thus saith The Donald, who immediately shrugged off all intelligence briefings, muttering words to the effect of, "I've got mine, screw you".

Bloke sold cash register code to restaurants that deliberately hid sales from taxmen

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Liability?

One can build a machine gun or artillery piece as well, but if one sells it to an unauthorized person, one is in trouble for doing so.

If one doesn't pay the making tax for that weapon, one is also criminally liable.

Interestingly, one can build semiautomatic firearms legally, provided one isn't adjudicated mentally incompetent, a substance abuser, domestic abuser or a felon. One need only provide a serial number if one is building such weapons for resale.

Yeah, US laws are a bit weird.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

"It's almost an official admission that tax rates are too high."

We just had that argument on a US news program, where the corporate talking head went on and on about the US having "the highest business tax rates in the industrialized world", then attempted to link that and "mom and pop" (small businesses) enterprises and the anchor for a change, calling him on it.

Small businesses, such as those involved in this story, are taxed at an private individual rate, not at a corporation rate.

The anchor also called him on the fact that corporations never pay that "huge rate", as they write off so many expenses and costs in such a way that they frequently pay precisely zero tax.

Europol cop took terror dossier home, flashed it to the web accidentally

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Re "this unlucky person"

"Policy isn't made for arse-covering, it's meant to lead to processes and rules which make stupid behaviour like this extinct."

The problem is, nothing is truly foolproof, as fools are so damned ingenious.

Stay out of my server room!

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Claim it is a fire hazard

We have extremely tight data center access control, only the minimum personnel, aka engineers have access to the data center. Anyone else has to jump through everything from information security through change management, even to get a tour.

Needless to say, being in the information security department, I've successfully avoided a tour. I've lived inside of data centers long enough to happily skip that bit. Copious signage reminds the engineers to not leave anything that isn't a server or switch and such being authorized to be there inside of the data center. Paper and boxes are outright forbidden - devices are brought in without boxes or dunnage whenever possible.

About two months after I had arrived at the facility, having recently transferred there, one of our information security engineers wanted to retrieve a removable hard drive from a server, where some patches were installed from the device remotely.

He also wanted to sidestep change management in order to more rapidly retrieve the device. I wasn't having any of it and put it through change management, speaking personally with the manager in charge of change management in order to escalate and facilitate speedy removal of the offending device.

Said engineer then attempted, to surprising success, in having our management seek authorization for me to gain access to the data center.

A quiet conversation over lunch with the change management manager, suggesting an attempt to end run around the change management process put the kibosh on that access.

With a bootnote from myself through the entire management chain, "If you want me to have engineering access to the data center, you're going to pay me engineering wages, grant engineering access to our systems and title me an engineer, otherwise I'll have none of it, as it's above my pay grade".

Fire alarm sparked data centre meltdown emergency

Wzrd1 Silver badge

"There have been some cases of fire alarms literally killing disks due to the siren - apparently mechanical disks do not take well to 120dB of sound."

Well, there was that time that the LAN/WAN shop supervisor and I were working in the main server room, when after a bit, we happened to work our way toward the end of the room that was close to the door and we noticed some odd noise.

Upon opening the server room door, we noticed that the fire alarm was going off and we later learned, it had been going off for at least 20 minutes before we noticed it.

Obviously, the server room had no siren, no annuniciator or any other form of signaling device to notify anyone within the server room that an emergency was ongoing.

Of course, the entire data center was one that was hastily installed, so it was a converted warehouse with a wet pipe fire suppression system that was shut off, lest a leak turn into a multi-million dollar disaster.

Once, we had a new installation fire marshal want to charge the system and test it, which all admins refused to permit, the country manager refused to permit and when authority to overrule all was sought from The General, well, it wasn't all that long after a major communications outage (see the UPS story above). Sir's response was both memorable, brief and negative.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Silkscreen artwork

"Intended to be manufactured, not to be fault traced or understood."

Indeed.

A handful of years ago, our building UPS, where backup power was supplied by a room full of batteries until the generator kicked in, had a veritable room full of defunct batteries.

When a utility transformer blew, leaving prime power offline, the building UPS promptly went offline. Fortunately, nothing critical was offline - only all war communications to and from both Iraq and Afghanistan. Telephone service, offline, data services, offline.

Suffice it to say, the staff meeting was quite lively with explaining to the General why his telephones and e-mail didn't work.

The common meme was, "no budget for that room full of expensive batteries". Something I had placed in my weekly status report since my arrival in theater. Those in charge, who glossed over in pointy haired boss mode were sent scurrying into the shadows, lest they never be promoted again.

Needless to say, our budget increased sufficiently, if only for a one time event, to replace that room full of expensive batteries.

Six months later, the batteries finally cleared customs and were to be installed in the UPS room. The facility manager then decided that he'd switch the UPS into bypass mode - without reading the manual or consulting an electrician.

Off went the power.

He then decided to read the manual, set it properly into bypass mode and begin re-initializing all cryptological devices and noted that the primary routers for the entire enterprise remained stubbornly offline.

I happened by to get a status report, as well as to ascertain just what in the hell was going on and I was brought swiftly up to speed on events that had just transpired.

So, my first question, "Do you have an electrical diagram of the power circuitry?". Amazingly, the answer was a resounding affirmative and off to the diagrams, rolled out over the middle of the facility floor I went.

I swiftly traced the power to the racks with the main routers back to their breaker and asked, "So, where is (not the actual circuit number) L18Y7 breaker?

A befuddled look later, we went off to the racks and racks of breaker panels, locating L, then 18 and finally the proper breaker, which was thoughtfully installed behind one of the larger racks of batteries and out of sight unless one knew it was there to be found.

I asked, "Do you want to await the arrival of the electrician or do *you* want to flip the breaker? It's not my responsibility and I won't be responsible if something goes wrong when it's flipped by an unauthorized person.", he flipped the breaker and the routers came up.

The moral to the story: Keep the damned manager away from the damned UPS!

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Strange Coincidence

We once had a house in Philadelphia that was built in the 1920's. Featured, knob and tube wiring, old gas pipes in the walls from the now long gone gas lights and a fuse box.

No wired fuses though, screw in and cartridge fuses only.

We promptly installed a breaker box, segregated the circuits and blown fuses became a thing of the hopefully to be forgotten past. And honestly, hanged if I could find a fusible wire in the US.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

" Nobody else uses fuses in appliance plugs, for example, but then they don't usually run 32A to a wall socket either, as we do in the UK."

Well, many appliances also have thermal fuses within. Most motorized appliances have them inside of the motor windings (I've bridged more than a few to get them operating again at home (yeah, I know, not the optimal solution, but it's a coffee grinder)). Hot plates also tend to have thermal fuses.

As for relays, I've burnished my fair share of relays before they overheated and melted. I've even separated welded contacts, burnished the contacts and set them back into service, pending a replacement relay for the next maintenance cycle.

Walgreens demands $140m refund from busted bio biz Theranos

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Definition of Chutzpah

Indeed, churn out vaporware, use competitors real hardware and software in place of the vaporware, albeit with standard sized samples (requiring new samples be acquired from the patient, resulting in a delay in diagnosis and care), it's obviously not the testing company's fault.

It's Walgreens for not flogging over another $140 million.

Or something.

Job ad asks for 'detrimental' sysadmin

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: It just doesn't mattress - unfortunately

"I did wonder about the concept of being unfortunately retired."

That means, running afoul of a BOFH.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: It just doesn't mattress

"... it's to pile in as much bullshit phrasing as possible."

Precisely, the telling part is when one is speaking with HR and there is no real, concrete (or even general) duties description.

Several times, with the hiring manager and HR, right in the middle of the interview and nothing but buzzwords were sent my way, I finally gave up and walked out.

Leaving one of my previous employer's rejected security androids in the elevator, as a parting gift.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: It just doesn't mattress

"In our post-verbal whirled, linguine skills are much less importunate."

Ah, but what they're *really* saying is, "This position is one of great impotence".

Hacktivist crew claims it launched last week's DDoS mega-attack

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Costs

"All you need to do is force the user to change the admin password the first time they log in to configure it."

Alas, many of these devices use that one button config option, which then has the IdOiT device place itself on the damned DMZ.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: IoT

"You change the Computer Misuse Act to let us shoot back."

And when that shooting back involves GCHQ or US Cybercommand to shoot back at Russia, let the chips fall where they may.

As that could be construed as an act of war, oh well. There were a lot of vacant old buildings in those cities, now we'll have a construction boom.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: IoT

"How do you write a law (or regulation) that distinguishes between them, though?"

And how do you enforce your law in China, where many of these boards are built?

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: IoT

"And how to change a password."

And that 'assword' is a lousy password.

End users = not very bright about such things.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: IoT

"Follow that with idiot sysadmins who can't be bothered to change the default password."

Erm, most of those IoT devices were consumer grade devices. Most consumers don't have sysadmins.

But, not a lot of people need most of the current crop of IoT devices on the damned DMZ. Seriously, if you can't figure out how much goddamned milk you have in the fridge, you should just stay at home where you can look inside the thing yourself, you're too damned stupid to be allowed outside alone. We don't need to see inside of your nursery, the kid's ugly.* Oh, your printer? Sure, I'll happily print 200 pages of black.

Seriously, most consumers don't have a clue what a DMZ is, there is no reason that any automagic configuration should stick an IoT device onto a DMZ. Ever.

*Honestly, I am actually quite fun in parties.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: IoT

"It's worth keeping up with Pen Test Partners via their blogs because they are rattling through shonky IoT trash as quickly as they can."

Yeah, but Christ, that's only the tip of the iceberg! There are so, so, so many more out there.

Enough that even I am having trouble keeping up and both my reading rate and retention are legendary and I'm infamous for not having a personal life, as we've been married for 35 years. ;)

Hmmm, next time a bunch of us get together, I'll bring it up with my peers. It *is* becoming difficult to keep track, perhaps we can get a board together to track things and keep us up to date via a dashboard of novel things. We've gotten blindsided a couple of times with annoyances, we don't want to miss something important.

And while we're at it, we'll share our toys. Well informed is well armed. :)

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: IoT

As the malware is designed to hack into routers, web cams, DVR's and assorted other IoT devices, "just one webcam" is about the stupidest thing I've heard since Trump responded to this "a new thing called a cyber attack".

For The Donald, there is this new thing called fire. Fear it.

For you, the same general chipset can be used in a camera, router, DVR, garage door opener, light bulb or sex toy. As that implementation can also contain a reference filesystem and OS, if they're also using the same inane admin|admin username|password, that same malware will work on each and every device - even grannie's computerized back scratcher.

Oh well, back to doing some things the old fashioned way, remembering all of those IP's that I *really* have to connect with.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: i worry

In this, the market can actually come to the rescue.

When those large client organizations get tired of this robbing them of the ability to conduct their business of making money, they'll create enough pressure for some form of backbone rapid response.

Let's face it, if the C2 traffic was sent to the bit bucket, the attack would've gotten nowhere very fast. I mean, seriously, two flipping Cloudflare IP's?!

Meanwhile, TOR was broken long ago and the control station remained connected to the botnet C2 for the entire attack. Someone's going to get nicked for it.

Thanks, IoT vendors: your slack attitude will get regulators moving

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: with Crimble coming

Bleh, other than routers, none of that crap should be on the DMZ.

If it's inside of the DMZ, the big, bad intertubes can't reach them.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Time, cost, quality

The Edsel was never pulled, it sold so poorly, due to a number of issues, from a poor economy through it was unreliable, that it was shifted over to Lincoln-Mercury, where it did sell under the Comet model name.

Hell, the infamous flame mobile Pinto was never pulled either, one of the worst models was my wife's very first car.

The IoT very nearly got someone killed, someone woke me up to complain that Netflix was broken and I was sleeping, as I was on midnight shift. ;)

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Ah, RaNdOm capitalization, ever so useful. After all, volume proves one's point, rather than logic.

OK, I'll bite. How do I sue Foscam in China from the United States?

Hell, who died because DNS failed? They have a stroke because Netflix didn't resolve? Amazon withdrawal?

50 page disclaimers? WTF are you smoking? Get rid of mandatory arbitration is what you really should have said.

How about you try two things.

1: Get a clue about what you're going on about.

2: Figure out how to make a clear and concise statement about what you just got a clue about.

It is far better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

The Edsel failed due to reliability problems, a recession and it's flat out weird look.

You're thinking of the Pinto, the model that was infamous for bursting into flame when rear ended being my wife's very first car. It was never "pulled".

As for regulation because it killed people, yeah, that'll work in today's US, where ten million in campaign contributions makes everything all better.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

"The only time that anything will change is when it hits the decision makers in their pockets."

Not always. We had a breach in our company network, interest was finally taken when financial servers were breached and a series of Sarbanes-Oxley audits ensued. With the CEO facing potential criminal prosecution, the breach was finally terminated.

During the post mortem, it was learned that the breach was all of five years in length and started in a computer lab in Canada via a forgotten test server on the DMZ.

That resulted in a massive inventory being taken...

Now, here's the million dollar question: Whyinhell does a baby monitor, home security camera or fridge need to be on a DMZ? I'll not even go into routers with standardized username/password combinations.

Both of which were at the heart of this entire debacle.

Pacemaker maker St Jude faces new security flaw claims from biz short-selling its stock

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: A few things to contemplate

"In June, a surgeon placed a St Jude CRT-D in my chest and I can now walk briskly for an hour before my arthritic pain begins to slow me down."

You lucky bastard! I can't quite get anywhere near an hour before my arthritis grinds me to a stop.

Oh well, at least I can still walk those four miles to work, while wearing my laptop bag.

I'm anticipating needing a CRT-D later though, a heat stroke makes me throw PVC's often enough to actually toy with v-tach, plus LVH, secondary to hyperthyroidism induced hypertension that very nearly blew my aorta out.

I do have a reasonable expectation that the damnable thing is at least secure enough that I don't have to worry about someone trying to screw around with it. It's entirely possible that there is a debugging that bypasses the magnet requirement.

Lemme check the software catalog. Ah, here it is, McAfee endpoint protection for implantable medical devices. "Don't let malware become the end of you"...

No, there really isn't such software. Yet.

Here's to hoping that this outfit enjoys a call from both DHS and the FTC. DHS, because, "A terrorist could stop by a cardiac clinic and claim a victory" (that wouldn't be noticed) (yeah, they'd do that, if they hear about this story, as that *is* how they think).

FTC, as this is stock manipulation and fraud.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: different view

"How come its always his grubby fingers yanking the other end of all the strings in this shitty little conspiracy addled world?"

Indeed, why Obama also showed me where to park my car when I came to work in a building that he'll never hear of, in a city that he's likely never even heard of.

He then jimmied the lock at my house and did the dishes for my wife.

Feeling his good works for the day were completed, he proceeded to the meadow behind my data center, where he stampeded the women and raped the cattle.

Seriously, these wankers really do need a reality injection. And they'd probably benefit from some lithium salts as well.

Perhaps then, they could return back to their job as living advertisement for birth control.

"Don't risk having a child that turns out like this! Use our protection product."

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: different view

" The problem is the feral DA is apparently not interested in the case and his chain of command is not willing to make him do his job up to Obama."

Ah, so now the POTUS makes decisions on even relatively minor stock manipulation and fraud. Does he also oversee parking tickets in the Bronx?

What a fucking idiot.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

"I'm wondering how long before the idiots in the community get tired of this, and those who need pacemakers can sleep easily at night without wondering if some fool is messing with it."

Anyone who gets two meters or less from me while I'm sleeping and that individual isn't my wife is someone that, if they're fortunate, gets shot.

Unfortunate means, I'm using a knife.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Surely this is almost the definition of insider trading?

"What is it you don't understand about needing to switch the device into receive mode with a magnet?"

Actually, it's placed into communicate/programming mode with the magnet.

The rest of the time, the device is read only. It can transmit telemetry, but it won't receive any instructions unless the magnet in in place.

To be specific, a ring magnet suspiciously like a magnetron magnet that's encased in plastic.

Still, a debug mode for developers *might* be able to bypass that protection. Still, if they're within two meters, I'm more than comfortable. That's both knife and cane range. :)

Dyn dinged by DDoS: US DNS firm gives web a bad hair day

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: It's back

"I know it's the wrong side of the pond but this appears to be a fairly major hack."

So, now a DDOS from a bunch of cameras and home routers is a hack.

My, how some people have low standards.

The only real hack was against those insecure IOT devices.

Or as I call them, IdiOT owned devices.

Yahoo! begs! US! spymaster! Clapper!: Spill! the! beans! on! secret! email! snooping!

Wzrd1 Silver badge

"This last hack got several of my accounts hijacked."

Oddly, neither my Yahoo account, nor my wife's account got hijacked in the Yahoo breach.

Somehow, I suspect the common factor was our information was already compromised during the OPM breach.

But hey, at least I know that I can get a security clearance in China...

Wzrd1 Silver badge

"Yahoo's part since the NSA will go into "we can neither confirm nor deny" mode."

No, this appears to be Yahoo's salvage, after both revelation of the kernel module *and* Congress wanting to know precisely whatinhell is going on.

"We can neither confirm nor deny" can and has resulted in termination of an agency's budget. Failing that, I'm reminded of the Air Force defying a Congressional order (in the form of a law), repeatedly, resulting in precisely zero officers being authorized until they complied.

Long story told short, a certain Colonel, who openly defied that law, was instructed to retire - or else be involuntarily terminated from his commission. The latter would have endangered his pension, so he wisely complied with both orders, retiring and complying with Congress.

Invasion of the virus-addled lightbulbs (and other banana stories)

Wzrd1 Silver badge

AI, perhaps within 50 years

As promised 50 years ago, as was promised for fusion power.

Apparently, that's an undocumented constant in physics, "in another 50 years".

The universe will undergo heat death soon, "we're 50 years from both AI and fusion power"...

Crypto guru Matt Green asks courts for DMCA force field so he can safely write a textbook

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Really?

@Mk4, I can't agree more.

This, from a US citizen who spent five years in various GCC states, much of that time, with my wife happily in tow.

Act and feel like you belong, be accepted as belonging. Act and feel like you're special and an outsider, be embraced by one and all as that outsider. Just realize, the latter has the cost of not being allowed to play with the locals kids. ;)

I've actually played Santa in Arabian homes. The downside, it was 28 degrees C outside and that Santa suit was a bit... Warm.

Still, smiling kids and all. :)

Man dies after UK police Taser shooting

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Moderator comment

People are remarkably robust in some ways, in that to stop someone immediately from causing harm, the level of force required to instantly disable a person comes remarkably close to lethal.

A blow to the head sufficient to render someone immediately unconscious can easily kill that person, an electrical discharge sufficient to immobilize can trigger significant electrical conduction patterns that can be lethal up to three days after being tasered, the fact is, tear gas/pepper spray can cause a person's airway to literally blister closed.

Anything sufficient to immediately stop someone can kill, it's just that simple.

Star Trek's phaser set to stun is a myth.

For me, a heat stroke caused modest cardiac damage, sufficient to send an ECG machine alerting to "digitalis effect" in the absence of digoxin. I also throw periodic PVC's sufficient at times to toy with V-tach. A taser used against me would be likely a lethal experience. Add in subsequent cardiac remodeling, secondary to hyperthyroidism induced hypertension that resulted in moderate left ventricular hypertrophy, yeah, it'd be a one time experience. Fortunately, the hyperthyroidism is being successfully treated and that remodeling will recede over time.

Sneaky brown dwarf gives us a bright flash and astroboffins are confused

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: 0K->?K

As a matter of fact, there is such a thing postulated.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_hot

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Typical of your carburettor based stars...Nah, it's the battery.

That's about it, still fairly hot, decent currents flowing, strong enough magnetic field to become tangled and reconnect and hence, generate a flare.

Bold stance: Microsoft says terrorism is bad

Wzrd1 Silver badge

I'll qualify an objection

While I have a personal objection, nay, an actually rare hatred of extremism and especially terrorism in the extreme, I wonder.

Precisely *how* does the originator of Microsoft Outrage and Internet Exploder want to implement a program to eliminate terrorism in their Bing searches. With US Government input and UN contribution.

Sounds more like a contract thing, to be honest.

Magic makes it so, micromanagement might make it possible, only needs three times the population of the planet to actually manage.

Having lost a cousin on 9/11, friends that were especially close in our "war on terror", acquaintances aplenty to terrorism, suffice it to say, I especially loathe terrorists, to the point of considering summary execution. As that is more abominable than anything to me at all, it's saying a lot.

Having personally dealt with terrorists, it's even more telling.

One question, when does a ruling party get to rule to Google, via their contract, which party is now a terrorist organization and only their party results get displayed?

As this question is one that I'll honestly consider picking up a firearm and calling my old fireteam together out of retirement, it's a damned good question.

And I'm quite serious and as wanting such a thing as much as I'm willing to masturbate with a cheese grater to do so.

But, the potential for abuse is so great, that I have to find both questions equal.

Chocolate Factory my ass, it's now an Ex Lax factory.

Although, I'm quite familiar with USG and Google links that are well over a decade old, with tailored appliances...

US government publishes drone best practices

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Hello Big Corporate Brother

Well, save that reading the Constitution was mandatory reading for our children in the age group you spoke of and I personally purchased Nineteen Eighty-four for our children to read and they're voracious readers, yeah. Some still exist.

I've also taught critical thinking, rational analysis and picking your battles.

Dastardly thinking is a familial trait.

To the point where, I've repeatedly had men with silver stars on their collar remark to me personally, "Damn, but I'm glad that you're on *our* side".

As a single star is qualifying, I found the multiple, including several with four such starts, comforting.

Or, as I've told a terrorist on more than one occasion, there is the wrath of God and there is me and the creator decided to take the day off when I get involved.

The mind is the ultimate weapon, assuming you don't feed it deficient ammunition.

Currently, you're firing blanks. This is guidance only, suggestions, not rule of law and rule of law is impossible, as Congress wasn't involved.

The entire Constitution is still in force, although there are hiccups that should be addressed about abuses by FISA courts and lack of oversight.

We lack an emperor.

One party is more concerned about bathrooms or walls, making great strides to figure out how to do nothing, but look like they're doing something other than tax breaks for the highest earning minority in the nation.

And one majority candidate uses the National Enquirer as an information source.

I think we have bigger problems than a suggestion from a federal agency.

Such as, "The best government that money can buy"?

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Hello Big Corporate Brother

Bleh.

Shield your circuits, surge protect your equipment. EMP the damned thing, call it a day.

If you're a consumer electronics technician, clean up. ;)

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Utterly Pointless...

Not really. Some of us find such guidance something of value.

As in, yeah, that's a *really* bad idea, I'll not do it.

Other items, "Why would I, that's beyond my comprehension as to *why* I'd do that!".

Then, wonder about my neighbor.

Which, to be honest, I've done more than a few times recently. ;)

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Or just ignore the government

"Don't forget "Life's about what you can get away with.""

Erm, largely in the US and Somalia. Civilized nations, your mileage may vary abruptly.

We're still busy regulating who gets to go into which bathroom and which religion gets to ignore the very first amendment.

And something about a repeatedly bankrupt casino guy.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

"I have a shotgun that operates under differing rules and suggestions.

I dare you."

OK, I put my M1A on that oversized drone and return the favor.

Anarchy isn't the way to go.

Besides, my house isn't pellet proof, start shooting randomly around, I'll precisely engage you and win. I never did learn how to miss and I'm good to 2 KM with my current equipment.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: The drone code

They're precisely guidelines, as Congress hasn't passed any law to create such a code.

The "code" exists under the Executive Branch, barely.

Meaning, it's not especially enforceable, save within current existing legal code for aircraft or cameras.

Well, save in my area, which is a special aviation area, due to some critter called a B-52H.

But, to be honest, I'll give them that one.

As I have those BUFF's flying quite literally over my house, largely 24/7 in hours of operation and I do mean literally, as in cat running and hiding from their shadow literal, yeah, I don't want one ingesting a drone and falling on my house.

I'll be colored impressed when Congress isn't regulating bathrooms, coloring door stalls or similar nonsense and actually passes a law that actually has something to do with actually running the country.

Such as regulating drones, which are currently out of control.

This, said by a man who has used tactical drones in war and considered ginning up one to look at the traffic to and from work, save that it'd conflict with those B-52's...

No need accidentally conflicting and dropping one on my house, with a resultant loss of wife and cat, although the cat is beginning to become negotiable. (Russian Blue cat, exceptionally overaffectionate to the point of trip and keyboard risk, but alas, too cute to eat)

The ‘Vaping Crackdown’ starts today. This is what you need to know

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Good for regulation!

First off, nicotine is a lethal poison in high percentage form. We've had a handful of deaths from high purity e-juice in the US already.

Second, what are the health effects of breathing the oils and glycols used in e-juice? We don't want to replace a carcinogen with something that might cause cancer or lipid pneumonia.

Finally, howinhell do I know just what is in that e-juice? It could actually be what is advertised, it might also be anything from ricin to plutonium.

OK, maybe not that extreme, but let's face it, a lot's made in China, which is a proper warning label.

But then, I remember my own nation's history, when it was a good idea to drink water with either radium or thorium in it - right until some rich family lost a family member to jaw cancer, then we began regulating things touted as health bringing, medicines, etc.

I'll give full disclosure, I am a cigarette smoker, smoking worse yet, unfiltered cigarettes. I've yet to meet an e-juice that is strong enough to begin tapering down, they've all, save one lethal percentage I didn't dare toy about with, been too weak and I'm not about to touch that 80% nicotine crap without a proper chemical lab to ensure it's 80%, protect myself from that toxic strength (nicotine is trivially absorbed by the skin) and ensure I can survive even a dose at a properly diluted dosage.

And not inhale a brew that clogs my lungs with something even worse than my Luckies already are providing.

Daddy might've raised a dummy, but he didn't raise a fool.

Jump through the hurdles, prove that your product has what it says it has in it and be as considerate as I am of my secondhand smoke - I hate my own secondhand smoke, I'll not inflict it upon another.

Do excuse the tobacco stench of my clothing though, it is indeed a nasty addiction. I throw serious PVC's if I stop, toying with V-tach since that heat stroke damaged my heart.

Oh, to further complicate things, I have atrial flutter, secondary to left ventricular hypertrophy, due to ignoring my own health while caring for a dying father and long undiagnosed and well compensated for hyperthyroidism, with the only specific symptom being hypertension until tachycardia and stage 2 hypertension began.

As the hypertension was well controlled and considering the family history, yeah, it got missed until all hell broke out medically.

Quitting smoking now would be... Complicated, I'll be conferencing in a number of my specialists soon.

Before things get *really* complicated.

First though, I'll wait for the Grave's to move into remission, which so far, it's moving rapidly in the correct direction.

If you haven't figured it out, I'm in the medically advanced class of people, understanding medicine, physiology and pathology well, courtesy of my previous military career. I can converse intelligently with physicians, even fellows in highly technical fields of research.

An abrupt change would currently be hazardous, so, it'll take planning and consultation first. My specialties involved military medicine involving plumbing problems or pathogenic illness or fractured limbs, mostly, endocrinology is a voodoo best left to the specialists. As the heart and kidneys are mixed plumbing and endocrine, yeah, specialist time.

I still have biochemical questions on vaping.

Newest isn't always bestest, as quite a few drugs and fads have proved in the past.

This, from one who could never, ever be considered a Luddite in any way, shape or form!

'Acts of war in a combat zone are not covered by your laptop warranty'

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Mail from the "E" - spam today, spam tomorrow, please sir, some spam?

Yeah, E. Remember those days, had my wife complaining about E as well back in the day.

She's finally using the proper names, Microsoft Outrage, Internet Exploder, Blotus...

Those are also a hit in our security shop, the kiddies never heard those highly technical terms. ;)

Some are astonished at my tales of remote registry editing, scripts performing complex maintenance tasks and repairs, etc.

Just whatinhell are they teaching computer science classes these days?

I've got scripts and jobs for everything, even scratching my nose, as that would take my fingers away from the home row. ;)

Then, there was that script writing script I wrote... Deep_thought.sh.

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: underwater.....

It was via secure satellite link. They can come to periscope depth, raise the antenna mast, acquire the bird and chat away.

Resupply by ship isn't uncommon either, if it's mission critical especially.

ULF is used for extremely short coded messages, such as come to periscope depth to receive traffic/orders. Voice ain't going that way, as just saying hello would take a week at that baud rate.

I actually did talk to a guy on a sub twice, once for a personal telephone call, once, a case of a sailor doing the "hey, I gotta take a crap, talk with this guy for a bit until I get back". The latter turned out to be a SEAL team member, on a sub going somewhere or something that I had no interest in, made small talk for a bit, then the RTO came back and took over.

It turns out, we chewed a lot of the same sand and were covering each other a few times in mutual aid missions back before I retired. He was thinking of retiring too.

I suggested, "When it starts hurting too much to put all of that crap on, it's time to retire. It's what I did".

Wow, but I still miss my guys!

Nice thing about Army: Nobody comes out of the ground and shoots at you with things that chase you around and won't miss. Navy doesn't have the advantage of being able to hide in a hole while calling in close air. Air doesn't have that advantage either.

Hats off to both!

Wzrd1 Silver badge

Re: Enjoyable read but...

We had EOD teams call in for support while under fire, they had to be able to see the latest and greatest on the current IED model in use in the area.