Posts by Frank Marsh

"subscription overflow wardrobes"

I don't know if you coined this term, but it's brilliant.

Re: Two spaces?

You were, and remain, right! Computers can handle spacing. We're not using fixed-width fonts for body text anymore.

Re: Been there. Done that.

Thank you! I hadn't seen that video in years. Well worth the re-watch.

Re: They should call it what it is...

Laughed out loud. Thank you.

Re: Author of the article thinks there's nothing different about Eastern District?

Lost In Clouds of Data is on the mark. I wonder if s/he is a patent attorney.

Eastern District of Texas has waned as the mecca of patent trolls, but in its heyday companies like Samsung were building ice skating rinks outside the courthouse. This article is instructive: https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/why-south-korea-s-samsung-built-the-only-outdoor-skating-rink-in-texas

There are many ways that, even with a single federal body of law in common with other districts, a judge can advantage one side over another. Procedural rules, as one example, are specific to different districts.

Re: "a novel approach to dealing with the problem of patent trolls"

Unfortunately, all the Examiners who can't work effectively will just have to rush through their backlog once the systems come back up. That sort of rush will make it even more likely for BS patents to be excreted out the back end of the USPTO.

Re: Interesting

Hmm... I think the Editor may have glossed over that a bit too quickly. The actual journal appears to be Space Weather from the American Geophysical Union. "Advancing Earth and Space Science" is simply a tagline on their website.

These stories about Magic Leap are hilarious. I find them almost as funny as BoFH. Thank you very much, El Reg!

Re: Reminds me of a story

Oh. My. Goodness. I used to work for Agilent/Genital and never heard or realized that. Thank you! I will never think of that time in the same way again.

Re: Agreed on the Rickroll

Well-played. You got me.

Re: KeePass to LastPass to 1Password

My fault - when I said "local vaults," I was specifically referring to Dropbox sync for those local vaults. Yes, my password blob is stored in the cloud, but a hacker would then have to crack my master password if they plucked the vault from Dropbox.

1Password 6 has actually _removed_ support for Dropbox sync. https://discussions.agilebits.com/discussion/76885/1password-6-does-not-support-local-vaults-atm

Previously, the vaults were read-only, which was also a non-starter.

Now I find out 1Password 6 doesn't work with IE. ARGH. You can hate it but it's what many businesses (like mine) use.

Concrete shoes

That's what I'm wondering. Many of these criminal gangs don't restrict their operations solely to the ether.

Epic FAIL

So tell me again why anyone would use a me-too product like this, which has no actual cryptographers on staff? Cryptography is hard, and these bozos aren't even getting to the cryptography - they're forgetting to check for valid SSL certificates.

Re: Truecrypt + Notepad

What Charles 9 said. You're basically creating your own poor man's version of KeePass. And if you think that a Truecrypt volume is security by obscurity in comparison to KeePass, look up how Hacking Team got their code stolen. An attacker got admin rights and grabbed the text password file when the lead engineer decrypted his Truecrypt volume to use a password.

You have the exact same single point of vulnerability as KeePass (or 1Password minus browser plugins). And none of the features (additional fields for security questions, password generator, and many UI features beyond what Charles 9 said, such as auto-locking after various measures of inactivity).

Re: Oh, for a sensible cable...

I like their site, and may try them out for new speaker cable. But they don't appear to have much selection in the way of USB-C cables.

Re: Anyone been through the filings in East Texas?

Advanced Dynamic Interfaces LLC is the troll. Amazingly, they filed in Delaware, not E. Texas.

Thankfully they also sued Salesforce.com and Oracle, so hopefully there will be some well-funded hellfire and brimstone.

Re: Gotta love Apple.

You make an excellent point, one that patent apologists believe is the only point. The problem exist when the "inventor" hasn't invented anything but instead has simply described the problem. When a company like Apple comes along with the solution, the inventor (or, more likely, his chosen troll) comes along and extracts money from Apple.

The patent system establishes a quid pro quo: a 20-year monopoly in exchange for public disclosure. When the value of an inventor's disclosure is nearly zero, the patent monopoly shouldn't reward the inventor with millions, and hundreds of millions of dollars.

Re: "keyboard doubles as a capacitive multitouch trackpad"

Best Reg comment of the week. As I was thinking "Read the bl--dy article before commenting, you... " the satire hit me. Brilliant! Thanks for the laugh.

This is exactly the problem. I doubt very much that more than a handful of Reg readers haven't upgraded their phone or tablet in the last 5 years. But the ones who have may repurpose the outdated devices to functions (like running Sonos exclusively) that are well within the abilities of an old device. And it's perfect - your new iPad is your personal device, while the old iPad is the family/guests coffeetable remote.

I nearly bought some old iPod Touches off of eBay to replace my original Sonos CR100s, whose batteries are nearly dead. Good thing I didn't, or I'd be boohooing right now as well.

I doubt Sonos has any malicious intent, like funneling more of our hard-earned monies into Apple's pockets (Sonos would rather have those dollars). I'd be curious, though, why old Sonos iOS apps won't be able to talk to the updated Sonos device software. If it will make the Sonos app more responsive, I'm all for it! The Sonos app has never impressed with its speed.