* Posts by JohnFen

5648 publicly visible posts • joined 20 Feb 2015

Schneier: Don't expect Uncle Sam to guard your web privacy – it's Europe riding to the rescue

JohnFen

Re: When the Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth...

Personally, the yardstick that I use is the basic "act as you wish others would act", but yours is very good as well.

JohnFen

Re: In the USA

You can't view this in such a black-and-white way. You're correct that perfection is unattainable, but there are varying degrees of malfunction. Having less malfunction is an attainable goal. We've had it before.

JohnFen

Re: When the Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth...

So it wasn't really about ethics, then. It was just named that.

JohnFen

Re: Sure.

"I imagine that quite a few of the top brass at, say, Facebook are alarmed at how successfully their echo chamber has been subverted by different parties."

I don't.

I think that Facebook is quite alarmed that too many people in the public at large may be becoming aware of this stuff. I don't think they actually care at all about it otherwise.

JohnFen

One niggle

I agree with most of what Schneier says here, except for this part:

"The reason for this American impasse, Schneier said, was that politicians stateside don't have a clue about the internet, and how it works and can be abused."

Clueless politicians are an important part, but I don't think they're the main reason for the impasse. I think the main reason is that the major companies involved actively don't want any of this to happen and are doing everything they can to make sure it doesn't.

'Java 9, it did break some things,' Oracle bod admits to devs still clinging to version 8

JohnFen

Java is a bit of nightmare

It shouldn't be necessary that I have to keep three different versions installed on my dev machine, but it is.

Microsoft flings the Windows Calculator source at GitHub

JohnFen

Re: Fix it! Fix it! Fix it!

If I need to mix modes like that, I just run multiple instances of calc. It's more convenient that way anyhow, in my opinion.

JohnFen

Re: "oncentrate on being a cloud company where the real money is..."

"Azure has been successful only because it was the only good path for MS developers and customers"

I don't know about "only". Judging by the extreme (and extremely insulting) hard sell that a couple of Microsoft reps gave to us about Azure last year, some of that success is likely to be from arm-twisting. Although that didn't work with us -- they managed to anger management so much they committed to never even considering the use of Azure in the future.

JohnFen
Coat

Re: Is this a boiling frog experiment ?

"the Win16/32/64 API is rather baroque"

If it ain't baroque, don't fix it.

JohnFen

Re: Is this a boiling frog experiment ?

"anymore"?

JohnFen

Does it need a community?

Like with Notepad, the value and utility of Calc is that it's basic. Basic enough that I don't know why it needs a community around it. The only thing that's likely to do is to increase the number of features and complexity of the thing, which would ruin the main thing that I find useful about it.

Tim Apple. Larry Oracle. Ginni Layoffs: It works so why the heck not?

JohnFen

Re: Doesn't go quite far enough.

I love this idea. Unlike the one to require politicians to plaster themselves with the logos of their corporate sponsors like race drivers do, this would actually be practical.

UK's ICO event on targeted ads opens floor to the adtech industry: Anybody? No? Speak for 10 minutes. Hello?

JohnFen

In fairness...

When you have no legitimate defense, shutting up is your best option.

Galaxy S10's under-glass fingerprint reader, quelle surprise, makes mobe a right pain to fix

JohnFen

Re: Smaller is always harder to repair

"I usually criticise Samsung (they are a greedy hardware company trying to take over software, computing, and everything else), but repairability in small forms is difficult"

Perhaps so, but it wasn't that long ago that moist manufacturers managed it.

How to make people sit up and use 2-factor auth: Show 'em a vid reusing a toothbrush to scrub a toilet – then compare it to password reuse

JohnFen

Re: Not even El Reg.

A assume that 2FA would not be required in any case, and that it certainly wouldn't be used for anonymous posts -- that would be impossible since there's no identity to verify with anonymous posts.

JohnFen

Re: Wanting to use 2FA is one thing...

"My Yubikey lives on my phone. It's got a USB interface for plugging into the PC/Laptop, and NFC support for the phone to communicate with."

Since my phone is the least secure and trustworthy device I own and use, I don't (and won't) use it for any 2FA-related purpose.

JohnFen

Not an argument for 2FA

That's an argument against password reuse, not an argument for 2FA.

You know why I don't use most 2FA systems? Because they rely on service providers that I don't trust. (I do use 2FA that I run myself).

5G is 'ready' once you redefine 'ready'... and then redefine 'reality'

JohnFen

Re: I'll wait for version 3 or later...

"while the networks CLAIM that 5G will improve coverage"

Which is very strange claim, as each 5G antenna has a much shorter range than previous cell technologies. That means that more antennas are required to cover the same area. How this will make coverage an easier thing to achieve is a bit mysterious to me.

JohnFen

Red flags everywhere

Everything that I've been hearing about 5G seem to include large numbers of red flags. I smell a disaster in the making here.

When 2FA means sweet FA privacy: Facebook admits it slurps mobe numbers for more than just profile security

JohnFen

It worked reasonably well for me. I only had to go off on two people in my social circle about including me in any way with Facebook, and now (as near as I can tell), I don't have that problem anymore. Several of my friends and family think I'm being overly sensitive about it, but they respect my stance regardless.

If I discovered that someone routinely ignores my wishes on this, I would most likely cut them out out of my social circle entirely on the basis that they can't be trusted.

JohnFen

Re: "better quality than the witless drivel vomited out by commercial radio?"

Here in the US, the quantity and quality of broadcast advertising became intolerable years ago, and are why I stopped watching TV or listening to the radio entirely.

JohnFen

"You might want to take into account that most people are utter innocents when it comes to privacy"

Perhaps incurring the wrath of the friends and family that they've innocently betrayed will educate them.

JohnFen

Re: Google too

"As a result of recent legislation ("strong customer authentication"), the card companies are required to take additional steps to validate some online transactions."

But using SMS for 2FA isn't "strong customer authentication".

JohnFen

Re: At what point do the employees wise up ?

"Facebook is already concerning in what they do with the data, but I'm afraid some other companies might be downright scary."

I think Facebook is downright scary.

JohnFen

Re: Possibly Microsoft too

"I always reply 'Maybe later' as I don't want to lie 'I don't have a mobile number'."

Why not?

JohnFen

No, you don't. I left a few years ago, and I still regret ever joining.

JohnFen

Re: Friends like that

"IMO "Friends" sharing your personal data are not friends at all."

A million times this.

JohnFen

Re: Google too

"If the choice is NO 2FA or 2FA using SMS then SMS 2FA wins"

Not when the phone # you provide is being used by the authenticator for unrelated purposes. In that case, I'd go with "no 2FA" as the better option -- but the actual best option is "delete your account".

JohnFen

Re: At what point do the employees wise up ?

"Do FB staff avoid admitting that's who they work for ? Are people turning down a FB job offer because of peer and family pressure ?"

We'll be there when having Facebook in your work history makes it more difficult to find work elsewhere. That's a trend that I'm already seeing that start of.

JohnFen

Facebook or not

Facebook is a vile company who will continue to abuse everyone until the day they go out of business. No surprise there.

"Users have the option to remove their phone number from their account, though that would preclude using it for account recovery."

Which they should absolutely do. Not just with Facebook, but with all 2FA. Nobody should be using a cell phone as part of 2FA, whether it's Facebook's system or anybody else's.

Alphabet snoop: If you're OK with Google-spawned Chronicle, hold on, hold on, dipping into your intranet traffic, wait, wait

JohnFen

Re: Nice horse!

As a user, I don't see a meaningful difference between selling the data and selling access to users based on the data.

JohnFen

"Nobody better at security than Google."

Oh? I'd like to see evidence for that, particularly since their entire business model is antagonistic to security.

JohnFen

Oh, great

Now we'll get even more companies selling us out to Google.

USB4: Based on Thunderbolt 3. Two times the data rate, at 40Gbps. One fewer space. Zero confusing versions

JohnFen

Re: Use Case?

SD cards seem a superior solution for this to me.

JohnFen

Re: C'mon USB consort.

"Who buying USB 2.0 or similar "

I am! USB2 is still easy and relatively foolproof. USB3 is less so. Since there's nothing USB3 offers that I want, I stick with 2 when I have the choice.

JohnFen

Re: Please

"Dont change the physical interface from the current/USB-C formfactor."

But please do stop shoving all those incompatible signals through USB-C. As it is right now, we're back in the dark ages when cables that look identical on the outside can inserted into the wrong sockets and physically damage your devices. We're going to have to start labeling our cables and sockets again and remembering to double-check everything before plugging anything in.

It's insanity.

JohnFen

USB has lost the plot

The Big Problem that USB solved was that it made connecting an managing peripherals much easier and less error-prone that it had been with the legacy serial port. However, beginning with USB 3, that advantage seems to have been eliminated.

USB4 promises to make that even worse, particularly since it will use USB-C, which makes the complexity problem worse than ever all by itself.

We'll see, though. Maybe they're work this out in the end. In the meantime, I'm going to stick with USB2. If I need high speed data transfer, I'm not using USB anyway, so 2 is just fine.

Correction: Last month, we called Zuckerberg a moron. We apologize. In fact, he and Facebook are a fscking disgrace

JohnFen

Re: Warning!

Also, (Like Google) Facebook is collecting as much data about you as they can anyway, even if you don't use their services. Some of it from web tracking, and a lot of it from buying datasets from third parties. Facebook doesn't need your friends to post information about you.

JohnFen

Re: Over the line?

They apologized for calling him a moron, and do you get upset when people use other egregious swear words like "darned"?

JohnFen

Re: It seems lying is hard coded into Facebook’s DNA

Facebook has to lie. If they were actually honest about what they're doing, they would be out of business in under a year.

JohnFen

Re: Dumb fscks?

"I have no idea whether its the exception or the rule these days."

As near as I can tell, it's the norm when you're talking about certain groups from other industries and areas and the exception everywhere else.

Silicon Valley companies have pretty much become the epitome of the sorts of businesses that profit by harming people and society.

JohnFen

Re: Warning!

"Still, it would be nice to have an extra badge - blue for being on the BOLO - to mark that distinction."

Could that be called a "badge of pride"?

JohnFen

Re: Warning!

"Don’t like FaceBook, don’t use FaceBook, and I consider Zuck to be a weedy sociopath with no mates and, asymptomatically, poor social skills."

Good. But remember that not using Facebook in no way protects you from Facebook.

JohnFen

"The Zuck and his company are amoral , sociopathic and already close to the sludge at the bottom."

I mostly agree. If you change "amoral" to "immoral", I'd 100% agree.

JohnFen

Re: Wow

"What the many of us seem not to have noticed is that behind the code these tech people are sharks just like the captains of industry have always been."

What amazes me is that so many people didn't catch on when they started saying things like "data is the new oil". Had everyone forgotten what the behavior of oil companies was (and is)? They were essentially declaring their intention to become evil right then and there.

Good news: Congress has solutions to end net neutrality brouhaha. Bad news: Two competing sets of solutions...

JohnFen

I don't understand

I honestly don't understand how Title II is inappropriate for internet service providers. It seems 100% appropriate and correct to me.

The problem here is that the telecoms have been intentionally (and successfully) conflating two different things: the internet itself, and the services that run on the internet.

The internet itself is nothing but a telecommunications network, conceptually no different than the phone network. Title II is clearly and obviously the correct classification of it.

ISPs also run their own services on top of that telecommunications network (such as VoIP, email, streaming, etc.). Those services are distinct from the internet, and those services are clearly and obviously Title I.

It's not your imagination: Ticket scalper bots are flooding the internet according this 'ere study

JohnFen

Re: Follow the airlines lead - issue tix to named individuals

The excuse that airlines have for doing this is security. What excuse would artists have?

Also, I've purchased more tickets to give as gifts than I have for my own personal use. Is it really wise to prevent gift-giving?

JohnFen

"if scalpers make money by selling tickets for more than the regular price, then the band and/or the organizers could make more money by selling tickets for higher than the regular price, so no matter how you look at it, these people are stealing from the artist."

I disagree. No matter how you look at it, if you buy something you are not stealing from anyone if you resell it at a price higher than you bought it for.

JohnFen

I don't buy ticketrs online

I don't buy tickets online because there's no way I'm going to willingly give any money to Ticketmaster and ilk.