* Posts by JohnFen

5648 publicly visible posts • joined 20 Feb 2015

Scott McNealy gets touchy feely with Trump: Sun cofounder hosts hush-hush reelection fundraiser for President

JohnFen

Re: Sun Radio.

He's probably jealous of Henry II.

"Will nobody rid me of this turbulent priest?"

JohnFen

What a scumbag

"He was the person who famously announced that the age of privacy was over, and he followed that up last year by announcing that people’s personal data was safer with marketers than the US government"

Fuck you, McNealy, for that as well as the rest of your inhuman, hypocritical worldview.

I got 99 problems but a switch() ain't one: Java SE 13 lands with various tweaks as per Oracle's less-is-more strategy

JohnFen

Re: Remind me of the last major feature that was added in since this release cycle began

Plus, it'll really keep the maintenance cheap and easy!

JohnFen

I don't mind if Java applications exist. I just wish I could avoid having to do development work with the language.

JohnFen

I think you might be confusing Java with JavaScript. They're two entirely different things.

JohnFen

Re: But it should be

"Home users, whilst often less technically adept, can make for ideal late-beta testers"

Why do you hate home users so much?

JohnFen

Re: But it should be

Yeah, LTS releases help a bit, but not nearly as much as I'd wish.

JohnFen

But it should be

"because waiting three or four years between major releases just isn't done anymore, for the most part."

But it should be. In my opinion, rapid release beings all sorts of unnecessary badness and is currently one of the major things causing the decline of software quality.

US government sues ex-IT guy for breaking his NDA (Yes, we mean Edward Snowden)

JohnFen

Re: Public interest defence

Snowden also says he wants a fair trial in the US. I doubt that's possible, though.

JohnFen

I'll have to wait

I guess I'll have to wait to see what happens before I buy his book. I don't want the money to go to the DOJ.

HP printer small print says kit phones home data on whatever you print – and then some

JohnFen

Re: What sends this back?

A couple of decades ago, I finally learned that for common peripherals like printers and such, you should never install the software that the manufacturer supplies.

JohnFen

"this is all standard fare for any sort of tech support call"

Then they can ask for that information if I make a tech support call. Collecting it automatically by default is just plain unacceptable.

"they might also want to make sure the printers are actually working in a large scale sense"

I'm sure they do. That doesn't excuse this behavior at all.

No company (software or hardware) that does this sort of thing deserves my business.

JohnFen

Re: polluting the well.

"add an extra T&C"

Don't think that matters much to those of us who don't worry about what the terms and conditions say.

JohnFen

Re: Generic PCL if you're just printing.

Yes.

Also, don't connect the printer up to your LAN. Instead, connect it via USB to a print server, and have the print server connected to your LAN.

COBOL: Five little letters that if put on a CV would ensure stable income for many a greybeard coder

JohnFen

Re: A stable income – yes, but ...

What? I genuinely don't understand what you're saying here.

JohnFen

Re: COBOL is not a good career choice

"If a COBOL job appeals to you, and you find a vacancy, you are a lucky man and I'd say take it. If you are an old-timer, my suggestion is do a Javascript bootcamp (or something popular that appeals to you). Experience the magic, life after COBOL is good!"

I'm an old-timer, and I'm competent-or-better in most modern languages, so a JS bootcamp is unnecessary. Just because someone is a graybeard doesn't mean that their skills aren't up to date.

JohnFen

Re: IF Year > 50

Ah, those were the days! (/sarc)

I've never forgotten the old days of turning in a card deck or paper tape, then waiting a day or two for the printout from my run to be returned to me. More precisely, I've never forgotten when the shift was made to being able to compile and run stuff interactively! No longer did I need to spend days desk-checking my code to ensure that my run wouldn't terminate early because of something as stupid as a syntax error (which would come along with a scolding for "wasting the computer time").

JohnFen

Re: A stable income – yes, but ...

You and I are clearly of differing temperaments. What language I'm using has nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not I enjoy working at a place.

JohnFen

Re: Worth learning today?

I would recommend becoming proficient in a language that is in greater demand, and learn COBOL (along with a lot of other languages) on the side.

I think a programmer who only excels in one or two languages is in a weakened position for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that the more languages you become at least passingly familiar with, the better you'll work in the languages you use the most.

JohnFen

Re: COBOL is not a good career choice

"It is a myth that there are huge numbers of COBOL programmers."

I've never heard that there are huge numbers of COBOL programmers. My understanding is that their numbers are relatively small, but they make bank.

JohnFen

Highest paid

The two highest-paid engineers I know (by a longshot) are expert COBOL programmers, working in COBOL.

I used to be well-versed in COBOL, but haven't touched in 20 years or so. It hasn't escaped my attention that should I feel the need to goose my income for some reason, brushing up on that skill would be a good way to go.

The results are in… and California’s GDPR-ish digital privacy law has survived onslaught by Google and friends

JohnFen

Re: Thank goodness

No, it's genuine good news. It's just not the end of the story (or the fight).

JohnFen

Thank goodness

I needed to hear some good news for a change.

Wall Street analyst slashes HP Inc's share rating amid mounting worries over printer supplies declines

JohnFen

Re: Sometimes printing IS essential

It sounds like you have a good case for owning your own printer. The same economics don't apply to me, though. I already know where the local copy shop is, and I don't have to fight traffic, find parking, or any of that stuff to get there.

JohnFen

Re: Sometimes printing IS essential

True. When I absolutely must print something, though, I use the printers at the local copy shop to do it. It's more expensive per print, but considering how rare it is that I really need to print something, it's still cheaper than owning my own printer. Takes up less desk space as well.

JohnFen

You think?

"We worry that printing may be facing greater structural headwinds from the shift to digital (i.e people printing less)"

I don't know about most people, but I stopped buying printers over a decade ago, precisely because of the shenanigans that the printer industry adopted regarding the price of ink. The shift to digital had nothing to do with it -- the terrible business model is what drove me away.

From pen-test to penitentiary: Infosec duo cuffed after physically breaking into courthouse during IT security assessment

JohnFen

Re: More info required

It's not false at all, although this may vary from state to state. I know more than one person who have real problems because they were arrested, even though they were later found innocent or had the charges dropped.

Here's a reasonably good description of the problem: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/09/20/criminal-records-expunged/72532932/

JohnFen

Re: More info required

"hope these guys don't get a criminal record out of this."

They'll have a record of being arrested. Sadly, in the US, that is nearly as bad as being convicted (in terms of impact on your ability to rent a place to live, get a job, etc.) even if you were found not guilty.

JohnFen

Re: Naivety...

"Howeve I'd have hoped that this would soon become a case between customer and supplier and the employees will be taken out of the firing line."

If that's the case, then they probably will be -- but they may have to go to court and prove that they were operating in good faith and it's their employer that screwed up. I suspect that if that's the situation, then the pentesters may be able to win a rather juicy lawsuit against their employers, too.

JohnFen

Re: hire a more reputable firm

"When he saw his arse he could have thrown the penntesters under the bus."

That's why pentesters must have a written contract detailing what the parameters are, and carry it with them. If you have it in writing, then it doesn't matter if an executive tries to claim the acts weren't authorized later on.

JohnFen

Re: Doing their job to the fullest extent?

"Where do you draw the line?"

Pentesters can't break the law -- that's the line. Pentesters operate within the law by having permission for their activities. Breaking in? Totally legal if you have the proper permission. Kidnapping? Cant' ever be legal, since you can't give legitimate permission to assault someone else.

JohnFen

Re: Forced Entry? Break-In?

In most places in the US, "forced entry" occurs if you have to move anything to enter. For instance, if a door is left slightly ajar and you push it open a little more to enter, that counts as "forced entry".

JohnFen

Re: Where do you draw the line?

"They want to keep the option of claiming that the two men overstepped the mark and acted of their own accord."

If Coalfire knows that the pentesters were acting as instructed and is trying to cover its own ass by throwing them under the bus (or even just keeping that option open), then that should serve as a huge warning to all Coalfire employees that perhaps they should rethink who they work for.

JohnFen

Re: hire a more reputable firm

"Because if you're too explicit, it's not a fair test."

Not true. Typically, only one or two people are aware that the test is happening and what the parameters are. Being 100% clear is essential and doesn't invalidate the test.

JohnFen

This sounds easy to clear up

In my experience with pentesters, there is always a contract that clearly spells out what the pentesters can and cannot do (for obvious reasons).

So, either those pentesters were working within the terms of the contract or they weren't. This should be a simple matter to determine. If they weren't, then they were attackers with unknown motives, and the courthouse should probably scour their facilities to ensure that those guys didn't plant any devices on their network.

Fairphone 3 stripped to the modular essentials: Glue? What glue?

JohnFen

Re: At the risk of making myself unpopular

For me, nonreplaceable batteries means a lifespan of 0 days, since I won't buy anything that doesn't let me change out the battery.

JohnFen

I have never broken anything on any cell phone that I've owned. But from my observations, I'm the exception!

Just what we all needed, lactose-free 'beer' from northern hipsters – it's the Vegan Sorbet Sour

JohnFen

I would have said that differently

"pushes the boundaries of taste, flavour and colour".

When I read that, I can't help but think it's code for "this stuff is disgusting".

I don't know if it is or not (and I can't drink beer or wine anyway -- I have to stick with liquor), but that's how the copy reads to me.

France says 'non merci' to Facebook-backed Libra cryptocurrency

JohnFen

Re: "thought needs to be given to creating a public digital currency"

"my experience is that very few US people have a bank account as we know it in EU."

My experience in the US is that the vast majority of people have real bank accounts. Most got them as children. I admit, however, that I don't know what you mean by "as we know in the EU", but I have a hard time believing that bank accounts differ much between the two.

Last I heard, the US has an abnormally high number of "unbanked" and "underbanked" people as compared to other modern nations, but they are a minority nonetheless.

"I suppose that's also why companies like Western Union still exist, while in Europe they are dodgy and insignificant"

In the US, I wouldn't call them "dodgy", but Western Union is not a significant player and tends to be used by the minority of people who are underbanked.

JohnFen

Re: "we can not authorize the development of Libra on European soil."

Actually, I believe that Facebook asked them (as well as a bunch of other nations).

JohnFen

At least the colors are arranged correctly from the model's perspective.

JohnFen

Good on her!

Good on Valerie Khan for keeping the real issue squarely in focus and working to prevent Facebook from redirecting the conversation to something that isn't the primary problem.

Facebook is really good at doing that. Just look at how hard they're working to redirect the privacy conversation away from Facebook's spying ways and onto "privacy from anyone who isn't Facebook".

Breaking, literally: Microsoft's fix for CPU-hogging Windows bug wrecks desktop search

JohnFen

Re: No Problems for Me

"Windows Search has been dependable for me"

I'm jealous. Windows search hasn't worked acceptably well for me since Win 8. Oh, it'll find some stuff, but it will leave out a lot, too -- which is worse than if it just didn't work at all.

I've given up on Windows entirely now. I mean, I have to use it at work, but I no longer use any of the utilities (except Notepad and the calculator) that comes with it unless absolutely necessary. It's burned the last of my trust.

JohnFen

Re: Hmmmm...

I think that "fsck -A" roughly approximates that.

JohnFen

I thought that everyone knew that FitBits lie about pretty much everything.

JohnFen

Re: It seems to me

I've never used it, so I don't know.

The gig (economy) is up: New California law upgrades Lyft, Uber, other app serfs to staff

JohnFen

Re: Knee Jerk

"It's not about them trying to take advantage of me."

No, it's them abusing the tax laws.

Do you want fr-AI-s with that appy-meal? McDonald's gobbles machine-learning biz for human-free Drive Thrus

JohnFen

Re: I for one welcome our new burger slinging machine overlords

"Spotty faced youths no longer slinging squalid greasy burgers?"

In my part of the US, spotty-faced youths working at McDonald's are a minority. It's mostly people of retirement age who can't afford to actually retire.

Facebook: Remember how we promised we weren’t tracking your location? Psych! Can't believe you fell for that

JohnFen

Yay on using a firewall!

I can't use the no-root variety, though, because they use the VPN service to work, and Android doesn't support more than one of those. You can't use a no-root firewall and an actual VPN at the same time. That a big part of why I consider the ability to root to be not optional.

JohnFen

Re: Interesting phrasing

"I'd be very surprised if many ISPs anywhere did this"

My ISP (Comcast) doesn't do this. It assigns me a hostname, but the hostname includes the IP address as part of it. If the IP address that I've been assigned changes, so does the hostname. That's why I have to use a dynamic DNS service -- if Comcast did what Wayland said, then that would be unnecessary.