* Posts by TheVogon

3511 publicly visible posts • joined 17 Jan 2013

Microsoft's 'successful' Nokia slurp kills off Lumia photo apps

TheVogon

Re: Microsoft's marketing

"Microsoft's marketing is truly woeful."

The bigger issue is the lack of a consistently refreshed / available / full product range. The Lumia 930 is already end of life in most outlets in the UK, and there is nothing out yet to replace it, and the Lumia 1020 went end of life a while back - also no replacement yet.

TheVogon

"According to every benchmark, review and analysis its the best camera in the market."

Quite. A Lumia 1020 still beats the latest Iphone or Samsung hands down and it's 2 years old!

TheVogon

"Word, Excell .. format where you have for each new office version a new file-format ."

There hasn't been a new MS Office file format for nearly a decade.

TheVogon

Glad to see Microsoft are finally tidying up the mess of multiple apps that do much the same thing.

I can't wait for the new Surface phone and the Lumia 950 / 950 XL allegedly due to be announced next month...and the Surface Pro 4!

BORN to HURL: Man's shoulders are head and shoulders above apes, gorillas, chimps etc

TheVogon

Re: Cricket vs. Baseball.

"Primitive monkeys, apes etc are of course well known for their poo-flinging antics"

A bit harsh to refer to our Australian Cricket playing friends like that, but only fair I suppose:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/9143892/Aussie-politician-in-faeces-throwing-row

TheVogon

Re: Cricket vs. Baseball.

"Cricket vs. Baseball. "

Baseball is just Rounders with more spitting. Nothing like Cricket.

It's still 2015, and your Windows PC can still be pwned by a webpage

TheVogon

Re: I thought Edge was supposed to contain some fancy security features?

"I thought Edge was supposed to contain some fancy security features? "

Not really - It's based on Internet Explorer minus all the legacy cruft.

TheVogon

Re: Sigh

"If the Cryptolocker was available to Macs and Linux systems (is it?) "

Yep - a lot of Synology NAS systems got hit a while back.

"the stupid users would happily click away each warning and type their SU passwords when asked for."

No password was required. Not even any user interaction was required, unlike the vast majority of Windows exploits.

Microsoft boosts Azure's VM creds with price cuts and GS

TheVogon

Re: Azure uses the obsolete SQL Industry standard

"Azure uses the obsolete SQL Industry standard"

SQL Server is the most licensed database product on the planet and is still gaining market share so hardly obsolete. Azure also has a fully featured No SQL database - see http://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/services/documentdb/

"Azure is obsolete and out of business."

Seeing as Microsoft are now by some distance the world's largest vendor by cloud revenue, the market would seem to disagree...

Oracle laying off its Java evangelists? Er, no comment, says Oracle

TheVogon

Re: About Time

"What's replacement? PHP, Ruby, and Python have lightning fast development for small projects but their weak typing makes large projects a nightmare."

.Net and C# generally - especially in performance sensitive applications.

Photoshop for 40 quid: Affinity Photo pushes pixels further than most

TheVogon

Re: Let me know when it works on computers.

"Say something like this for .£850.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-MacBook-Pro-15-4-Quad-Corei7-2-4ghrz-8GB-128GB-SSD-Retina-Display-2013-/131442911036?hash=item1e9a9ba73c

"

You can get a NEW Dell QHD+ Infinity Screen XPS13 with better specs, 3 years warranty, and touch screen for that sort of money:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261982153755?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Chinese mobe market suffers pre-pwned Android pandemic

TheVogon

Re: Don't you mean pre-pwnd

Reminds me of one of the advantage of Windows Phone - Secure Boot - Makes it much harder to hack or compromise the firmware.

Popcorn time at Popcorn Time: More vid slurpers hauled into court

TheVogon

"Each defendant has been confirmed to be using the Popcorn Time file sharing software that is specifically designed for and intended for committing theft, including theft of plaintiff's motion picture"

Or uses an open WiFi connection.

Microsoft backports data slurp to Windows 7 and 8 via patches

TheVogon

Re: Charles 9

"Simply stop buying any game that has no Linux support, and before you know it, you no longer care about Windows."

But you would also have relatively few recent blockbuster games to play. And the latest games where actually available on Linux will play with significantly lower graphics performance without Direct-X 12 support...

TheVogon

Re: Disable CEIP?

"That being the case, the only way to squelch the traffic is to add custom routing rules (probably at the router rather than the PC, just to be sure) for any/all IP addressed associated with that address."

Or just create a firewall rule on the PC.

Nvidia's GTX 900 cards lock out open-source Linux devs yet again

TheVogon

Re: A solution for the wrong problem

"Their Steam OS (i.e. linux) drivers are now on par, and sometimes faster than the Windows versions 9and much faster than the Mac versions)."

Nope - nowhere near it - especially with AMD based cards. Windows 10 currently has about a ~40% performance advantage over any Linux based options with Direct-X 12.

You CAN'T jail online pirates for 10 years, legal eagles tell UK govt

TheVogon

Re: Of course it will work...

"Jammie Thomas is a woman"

Point taken . I have trouble keeping up with all these invented names / mistakes of illiterate parents that seem particularly common in the colonies...

TheVogon

Re: Of course it will work...

"Jammie Thomas. It's in the link on my previous comment."

The link clearly states he was prosecuted for sharing files (i.e. distribution), not for downloading.

Leaked images claim to show BlackBerry's first Android phone

TheVogon

Re: Blackberry VENICE

"I've got that sinking feeling."

Apparently it plays "Nearer, my God, to Thee" as the default ring tone....

Microsoft will explain only 'significant' Windows 10 updates

TheVogon

Re: Basically

"Really hope Steam for Linux picks up the pace."

There is no DX 12 for Linux though and Vulcan is likely at least a year away, so you will be playing with a ~40%+ graphics performance handicap compared to those using Windows 10....

Could our fear of fracking be appeased with CO2 sequestration?

TheVogon

Re: It is called fracking for a purpose

"Fracking opens up existing natural fracktures in the shale rock."

Not quite: "Hydraulic fracturing (also hydrofracturing, hydrofracking, fracking or fraccing) is a well-stimulation technique in which rock is FRACTURED by a pressurised liquid"

"The process involves the high-pressure injection of 'fracking fluid' (primarily water, containing sand and other proppants suspended with the aid of gelling agents) into a wellbore to create cracks in the deep-rock formations through which natural gas, petroleum, and brine will flow more freely. When the hydraulic pressure is removed from the well, small grains of hydraulic fracturing proppants (either sand or aluminium oxide) hold the fractures open."

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing

Hence the name.

TheVogon

Re: Talking about how the fractures never get near the aquifer (@ Francis Vaughn)

"the question is when they will leak."

And the answer is not until the several KM of non shale rock on top of them is removed...

TheVogon

Re: It is called fracking for a purpose

"Fracking is the breaking the integrity of the rocks to make to oil and gas trapped there easier to get out so with the integrity broken the CO2 won't stay underground"

Not quite. Fracking breaks the local rock integrity several Kilometers underground. The rock cap above it would be more than enough to prevent future leaks - otherwise the oil or gas they were fracking for would long since have evaporated.

"Leaks are known from some projects"

Only from the borehole itself or waste water brought back to the surface, not by escaping from deep underground.

Windows Server 2016 Preview 3 brings containers at last

TheVogon

Re: Intersting point

"If they want CALS for every connected user via a container as well as CALS for the apps in the container then this is a dead duck "

Microsoft would currently want CALs for most connections to a Windows Server. Details of when that's required are here:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/volume-licensing/archive/2014/03/10/licensing-how-to-when-do-i-need-a-client-access-license-cal.aspx

This does not of course normally apply in Azure, where the licensing is included in the cost.

TheVogon

"Nano is huge compared with a minimal Linux installation"

By huge you mean a few hundred MB of difference at most. That's peanuts in disk space. And if they are using a Windows Server or other modern disk storage with deduplication then it will have almost no disk cost.

"and Linux is far more performant and scales better"

Not in this space - Hyper-V scales better than say KVM - and has a proven higher throughput capacity for IOs per VM. Also you can get Hyper-V Server which is a standalone hypervisor version but completely free and with all features, whereas Linux based hypervisor solutions are a bolt-on to the full kernel. Linux focused cloud solutions like Google and Amazon also don't have an out of the box Hybrid Cloud option, whereas Microsoft does. Microsoft's solutions also generally have a lower TCO and are much easier to use and have more capable management tools. Also there are historically far fewer security patches to have to evaluate / install for Hyper-v Server versus any commonly used competing option.

Hence why KVM has only about 1% of this market, and Hyper-V which has about 30% - behind VMware but catching up fast. See http://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2014/07/hyper-v-is-eating-vmwares-lunch/

TheVogon

Re: Shielded VMs?

"Right. With all the holes appearing in x86 system management mode good luck with that."

The processor level one were fixed years ago. System firmware bugs will be patched as they are discovered - and most corporates patch firmware on a regular basis...

"The only way for any VM to be truly secure is for the whole thing to be encrypted and be decrypted on the fly and only then if the key in memory can be hidden from an attacker."

No need to do that. Just encrypt / decrypt your data at the client.

TheVogon

" it's just that you can use Docker management tools on Windows"

Which are not the greatest. Presumably Microsoft are working on bringing container management into System Centre. So that in future you can manage your hybrid cloud, your VMs and your containers all in one place.

"not that you can run any of the actual standard Docker container packages."

Windows Containers are standard Docker containers. Microsoft have been working with Docker to ensure all Microsoft's needs are addressed in a single container format. Docker containers will load and run on Windows Server 2016 if the binaries are Windows compatible.

Android apps are flooding on to jailbroken Win10 phones

TheVogon

Re: If....

"If Android apps on Windows phone takes off then doesn't that make the Metro (whatever) apps and the development of them totally pointless?"

Not if it ensures Windows 10 is the most popular platform. There will be roughly 1 billion Windows 10 users soon if things go according to Microsoft's plans....Developers tend to focus on the most popular platforms first.

Another root hole in OS X. We know it, you know it, the bad people know it – and no patch exists

TheVogon

"which is where your browser sandbox comes in"

Which Safari isn't the greatest at. It is hacked first pretty much ever year on Pwn2own.

TheVogon

Re: OS X security?

"How many vulns like this are found in Windows EVERY MONTH ??"

Fewer than in OS-X - which is currently on well over 2000 as per NIST and Secunia.

TheVogon

Re: OS X security?

"If you are going to target an exploit which would you aim for?"

OS-X - they have after all already demonstrated that they are rich and gullible by buying Apple!

However I guess hackers can't yet be bothered with such a small market share.

Microsoft replaces Windows 10 patch update, isn't saying why

TheVogon

Re: Those of us who haven't "upgraded"

"I never understood why I was supposed to "reserve my copy of Windows 10". Are they in short supply?"

Pretty simple - they are deploying it in a phased approach to limit the bandwidth demands. So you wait your turn depending on when you requested it.

TheVogon

Re: Me too

"After being pleasantly surprised that X-Com Enemy Unknown and Civ V both have Linux ports"

No Direct-X 12 - or similar option though - and it's likely to be at least a year before Vulkan is even in beta. The best gaming graphics performance is on Windows 10 at least for now.

TheVogon

"I don't expect to hear very much in the way of Windows 10 success until at least in to 2016."

Bank of America have already announced that they are deploying Windows 10. That's potentially about 230K users.

TheVogon

Re: Those of us who haven't "upgraded"

"No issues with Win 8.1 ?! You cannot be serious.

For desktop users it's almost a complete abomination to use as 8.0"

Except that you can set it to boot to desktop mode by default and never see the tiles if you don't need to.

Chinese gang shoots down aerospace security with MSFT flaws

TheVogon

"That's a different issue. Reversing encryption and hash cracking are different beasts, so your point is irrelevant."

They are different - and that is the whole point - and is entirely relevant.

From Windows 2K3 onwards, Active Directory passwords are by default not stored using any sort of reversible encryption or crackable (LanMan) hash. They are only stored as a complex one way hash function. Therefore there is no way of recovering the original password other than brute force. Which is likely not computationally feasible for anything complex and at least ~ 8 characters or longer.

TheVogon

"You can dump plaintext passwords from the Windows Authentication Digest"

Yes - because that has to use reversible encryption - as it stores passwords that need to be replayed in original form to websites, WiFi systems, etc. and hashes wouldn't work This is not where Windows user account passwords are stored.

TheVogon

"SAM dump and hash cracking definatley works on DCs above Win2k"

Only if they have been upgraded from an earlier version without updating the security settings. As per the link above - from Win2K3 onwards, the default is not to use reversible encryption for Active Directory passwords.

Windows 10 growth flattens out to 30 per cent per week

TheVogon

"The fact that this version is "free" "

It's not free. It's a free upgrade only if you already paid for a version of Windows...

TheVogon

Re: Curves

"Grabbing five per cent of a global market in under three weeks is no mean feat, but will just shy of five per cent of the market satisfy Microsoft?"

Considering Microsoft are controlling the rate of the rollout we can only imagine that they are happy, or they would surely be turning the dial up? Some friends PCs that have chosen to receive Windows 10 since launch are still pending the download.

Budget UHD TVs arrive – but were the 4Kasts worth listening to?

TheVogon

"Yes, but only if you want a 40"+ monitor."

My Dell XPS 13" laptop has a UHD screen...

These LED based screens still have an inferior picture to a decent Plasma. I'm waiting for OLED before I buy a new screen.

Two weeks of Windows 10: Just how is Microsoft doing?

TheVogon

Re: The shell is not the OS

"Powershell while not that bad isn't fit to lick Bash' boots yet, seriously manthat made me laugh so hard, and yes I have used both"

Clearly you have no idea what you are talking about. You might want to read some of the previous threads on the Register on the subject. Powershell has numerous advantages over Bash, is significantly more powerful and hardly has any disadvantages in comparison.

TheVogon

Re: The shell is not the OS

"Everyone hates the shell, and dissing it is an easy way to get eyeballs"

I don't - Powershell is awesome. Much like the concept of a *nix shell but far more powerful.

TheVogon

Re: That privacy option...

"Unless there is a way via Group Policy to override dumb users just clicking on the "OK" button"

There is.

Labour Party website DDoS'd by ruly democratic mob

TheVogon

Re: Sky TV is in no way "formerly the BBC".

"How can the BBC be considered left-wing when"

You must have missed their coverage of the last general election for instance.

TheVogon

"Voting Corbyn in puts him within shouting distance of number 10."

And hopefully that's the nearest he will ever get. I mean seriously - renationalise £180 billion of stuff?! As if Labour governments don't waste enough money anyway. And since when have governments ever been good at running anything? His list of ideals reads like a communist party manifesto.

The Conservatives would have to screw up REALLY badly for that to ever be remotely possible. It's more likely UKIP will be in government than Corbyn will ever be Prime Minister.

Run Windows 10 on your existing PC you say, Microsoft? Hmmm.

TheVogon

Re: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

"the only game I play on my Win7 computer is solitaire - which, as I understand, Win10 takes away."

No - you can play Solitaire on Windows 10.

TheVogon

Re: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

"It's been because I noticed a new feature I felt would be of value to me. I saw no new feature in Win8.1 and see no new feature in Win10 that would make me want to take the leap. So, why take it?"

For many users there are 2 good reasons - a) It's better than Windows 8, and b) Direct 12 - which gives a quoted average of 40% improvement in graphics performance - much higher in some cases - so gamers will be jumping on board.

CAUGHT: Lenovo crams unremovable crapware into Windows laptops – by hiding it in the BIOS

TheVogon

Re: When is a BIOS not a BIOS?

Presumably GCHQ already have a custom version of this...

We need a WPBT table viewer - anyone?

It's 2015, and someone can pwn Windows PCs by inserting a USB stick

TheVogon

Bitlocker is enabled by default in Windows 10. Not with the most secure possible settings mind you, but it's still on which makes accessing a disk via booting from USB somewhat more challenging...