* Posts by JohnFen

5648 publicly visible posts • joined 20 Feb 2015

Sure, you can keep Grandpa Windows 7 snug in the old code home – for a price

JohnFen

Re: Prevaricating?

I thought that line was hilarious because I thought that by "prevaricating" he meant "lying"!

JohnFen

Re: Prevaricating?

Heh, that's how I instinctively spelled it when I made my comment, but I corrected it before submitting. Linguistic habits are sneaky.

JohnFen

Re: Prevaricating?

" in US demotic "temporising" is used instead."

Maybe. But I am a USian and I don't think I've ever heard the word "temporising".

JohnFen

Re: "Prevaricating" means "lying"

"Nope avoidance is the standard meaning in British English."

Yes, I understand that now. This is a meaning that I'd never heard before. My only point is that "prevaricate" does indeed mean "lying" as well -- perhaps only in the US, but it still has that meaning.

I don't understand the downvotes I got, though. It's easy for me to recognize and and understand that a word I've heard and used to mean one thing my whole life has a different legitimate meaning somewhere else. Why is it so hard for Brits to understand that as well?

JohnFen

Re: Updating to Windows 10

"realise that when support stops, I may have to"

Why?

I can understand that you may want to because it's the path of least resistance, but I don't understand why you'd have to...

JohnFen

Re: "Prevaricating" means "lying"

Yes, it really does. Perhaps that's not the only meaning (although I was unaware of any other until now), and perhaps it's a regional thing, but where I live, if you say someone is prevaricating then everyone will think that you're calling them a liar.

JohnFen

Re: Prevaricating?

Interesting. I'd never head it used to mean that. And after checking a number of dictionaries, that appears to be a rare use (although, as another commenter mentioned, perhaps this is a US/UK difference -- I'm in the US). Most definitions don't include it, and those that do don't include it as the primary definition. The primary definition is "lying".

Regardless, thanks for the clarification. I was honestly confused about what that sentence was trying to say (and I had looked up the word before I commented in the first place!)

JohnFen

Prevaricating?

"The Bad News Bus has paid a visit to enterprises still prevaricating over what to do about their fleet"

"Prevaricating" means "lying". Was that the intended meaning here?

LibreOffice patches malicious code-execution bug, Apache OpenOffice – wait for it, wait for it – doesn't

JohnFen

Re: Of course

Hmm. Perhaps we're talking about different things here. I see the options as being MS Office, Libre & Open. I don't know anything about Softmaker, though, so that might count too. Apple's stuff doesn't count because that's Apple-only, Googles (or Microsoft's) online stuff doesn't count to me at all (a web service does not adequately replace a native application of this sort), and the Gnome and KDE toys don't even come close -- they are good, but really aimed at an entirely different use case.

I'll admit that I haven't done a comprehensive survey of options, though, so I'm likely simply ignorant of them. LibreOffice meets my needs very well, so I have no motivation to look at alternatives.

JohnFen

Re: Of course

"When it comes to Office software packages there is quite a choice"

Is this actually true? It doesn't look like it from where I sit.

"not sure I really follow the logic of wanting to keep the split going for that reason"

I wasn't proposing that as a strong reason, merely a sufficient reason in the absence of a good argument for merging them. What you say here approaches being a good argument.

JohnFen

Re: Of course

OK, but that isn't an argument for merging the two. I think we need more software diversity, not less.

JohnFen

Re: Of course

"The ultimate logic of this whole situation is for OpenOffice to be merged with LibreOffice which is the most efficient thing to do under the circumstances."

Why? What would be the benefit of that?

JohnFen

Of course

LibreOffice became superior to OpenOffice in pretty much every way years ago.

Congrats, Satya Nadella. In just five years, you've turned Microsoft from Neutral Evil to, er, merely True Neutral

JohnFen

Re: Congrats, SatNad...

If you're not an investor, then how profitable a company is has little to do with whether it's "better" or "worse".

JohnFen

Re: Not even close

""factually incorrect" comes to mind"

Really? I expressed an opinion. I did not state a fact.

However, I stand by my opinion. Microsoft's relationship with Linux may (or may not -- we'll see) have changed, but it's never been true that every single thing that Microsoft does is bad.

On the whole, when I consider what Microsoft has been doing over the past several years, I see no indication that it is any different than they were before. The only thing that's changed is the tone of their rhetoric. Their actual behavior isn't so different to my eyes.

JohnFen

Not even close

Microsoft now is no less evil than Microsoft then.

Grumble Pai: FCC boss told by House Dems to try the novel concept of putting US folks first, big biz second

JohnFen

Re: There is another system

There is a real, legitimate reason to allow people to set the caller ID. If you are calling out from a place that has many trunk lines, the phone # attached to a particular line is likely not one that can be called. The primary reason to be able to set the caller ID number is to allow call centers and the like to be able to set it to the right number for people to return the call to. That's 100% valid.

The problem is that this ability is being abused.

If the solution is to prevent this ability, then all that has to be done is to get rid of CID entirely and use ANI instead. ANI cannot be blocked or spoofed, but the number provided is not always useful aside from for billing purposes.

JohnFen

" The then use that number as a display for the call. He also said that they can make any number appear to be making the call that they want to. "

This is true.

"It has nothing to do with the phone company, in fact the phone company don't know any thing about what number is being used."

This is not true. When you're setting the caller ID, you're sending the data to the phone system. The phone company has full visibility of it (they have to, because they have to move that data to the phone being called).

JohnFen

Re: Sounds like ...

But the industry that would hire him is also toxic, so I'm not sure that matters too much to them.

Regardless, even if it does, they'd still hire him -- they'd just give him a meaningless title, an office, and no responsibilities. They'd have to -- if they don't follow through with the promised bribe, then their promises of bribes in the future wouldn't work.

JohnFen

Re: Public sector worker...

" But if the President vetoes the bill, Congress needs a 2/3 majority to override. And this is difficult in a country equally split between parties."

The bigger problem is that Congress doesn't want anything to change. They're sitting pretty -- the FCC is acting the way they want, and Trump/Pai is getting all the blame.

If Congress really wanted to fix this problem, they would legislate and let Trump veto (even if they can't override). That would bring the issue front and center to the citizenry and would be a good step towards ultimately fixing the problems. They simply don't want to -- Congress is on the same page as the FCC (and other agencies these days): they want to benefit the rich and powerful to the greatest degree possible and couldn't care less about anyone else.

JohnFen

And let's not forget the other power that Congress has: it can just flat out tell the FCC what it can and cannot do. The FCC acts within the laws that Congress passes. If Congress wants, it can alter the laws to make the FCC actually serve the interests of the people.

It just doesn't want to.

El Reg talks to PornHub sister biz AgeID – and an indie pornographer – about age verification

JohnFen

...and after they're done

"it commissioned the NCC Group to carry out an independent security assessment to confirm the application doesn't track user behaviour or store any age verification data."

...and after the assessment is done, what's to stop them from swapping in the *real* code?

Techies tinker with toilet-topper to turn it into ticker-tracker

JohnFen

You're holding it.

Wrong.

JohnFen
Go

Almost here...

The day is almost here when they'll be offering actual internet-connected anal probes for everybody.

(I joke -- this seat seems like a very rare thing these days: a good and justifiable use of surveillance technology.)

The D in SystemD stands for Danger, Will Robinson! Defanged exploit code for security holes now out in the wild

JohnFen

Sure, ordinary users are less likely to use BSD for the reasons you cite, but that doesn't explain your original comment.

JohnFen

"The most efficient way of resistance IMHO is Devuan at this time, not *BSD"

I don't understand your argument here. Why not BSD? I think both of those are equally effective choices.

JohnFen

I don't know why you got downvotes, but if I had to guess, it's not because people thought you were defending LP. I'm guessing it's because you're taking an intentionally low-blow emotionally-based insult too seriously.

JohnFen

Re: The D stands for Deficiency in education

"It is nice that systemD might help laptops with their (de)hybernation issues."

I've been using Linux on laptops from long before SystemD existed, and have never had problems with hibernation. I'm not saying other's didn't have issues, but I do think that this implies that such issues can be fixed without the likes of SystemD.

JohnFen
Coat

Re: Again

Puck Dew?

Truck Flew?

Muck Slew?

JohnFen

Re: The D stands for Deficiency in education

"Really, nobody needs a windows Registry like start up system on Unix"

Not only does nobody need it, it's actively bad. Not just on Unix, but on Windows as well.

JohnFen

Re: The upside of open source

A drop-in replacement can't fix anything. If it's actually a drop-in replacement, then it would necessarily retain all of the things that make SystemD objectionable.

JohnFen

Re: Again

"He seems to want social unity"

Isn't it odd, then, that he behaves in a way that guarantees the exact opposite of that?

"*I'm thinking of Jon McCann's argument back in 2011 that GNOME should depend on SystemD even if that meant nuking support for all non-Linux kernels."

I remember that. That statement is what changed my thinking about Gnome form being a DE that I dislike on aesthetic and usability grounds to one that I dislike because it represents an active threat.

Team America tries to crash Little Rocket Man's Joanap botnet from within, warns owners of infected boxes

JohnFen

Re: Running since 2009?

I think there are a few that are older, but they're mostly used for sending spam. Pushdo comes to mind -- IIRC, that's from around 2005.

Boffins debunk study claiming certain languages (cough, C, PHP, JS...) lead to more buggy code than others

JohnFen

Re: Snotty PhDs

"His justification is that someone who gains a PhD must have done some original work, whereas an MD just learns what is already known."

I'm not so sure he's correct here, but it may depend on the institution awarding the MD. In my quick survey of the stated requirements from a number of medical schools, they have all stated something like this (taken from Cornell's program):

"It is expected that MD-PhD students have submitted original research articles of which they are first author by the time they defend their thesis. It is advised that all research articles relating to the thesis research be submitted before the students begin their clinical training."

JohnFen

Re: What a load of crap!

" I hate the idea that a process I write will fail so I probably spend an inordinate amount of time writing handlers, backup and correction routines that will try everything possible before giving up and apologising to the operator/user that process X has failed."

I'm with you here.

It's amazing how many battles I've had to engage in just to convince some engineers to do comprehensive error and condition checking. The argument "Yes, it's a problem if users do X, but users will never do X" comes up a lot. Decades of experience has taught me that if it's possible for a user to do something, no matter how ridiculous, then sooner or later a user will do it -- and if the program fails as a result, that's a legitimate bug.

JohnFen

Re: And they get paid money to do this?

"Journos must bear a lot of the guilt for that."

Indeed they are. In fact, it's so bad that every researcher I've worked for has considered them harmful and avoided talking to them as far as possible, because they usually report studies in a way that seriously misrepresents the study, thus actively misleading the public.

You can see it for yourself pretty much every day. The next time that you see an article about "Scientists prove X", take the time to actually read the paper that the article is talking about. There's a 90% chance that the paper doesn't say what the article says it does. And there's a shockingly high chance that it says the opposite.

JohnFen

Re: Snotty PhDs

I've known a LOT of PhDs, but only a small number of them would put up with anyone calling them "doctor" outside of certain professional or ceremonial situations. I would never use the term "doctor" (or any other honorific) for them (or an MD) in social situations.

JohnFen

Re: Snotty PhDs

His response was ridiculous, but his question was not. There are lots of people with doctorates, but most of them aren't MDs

JohnFen

Re: It's "What's the best language" all over again

Early in my career, a mentor of mine once opined that half of the value of an experienced software engineer lies in the collection of proven, stock routines and idioms that they have accumulated.

JohnFen

Re: It's "What's the best language" all over again

"this is why the use of "coding" or "code" rather than "programming" or "program" always troubles me"

In my opinion, "coding" is a specific subset of the larger task of "programming". The act of programming includes design (when you aren't actually writing code). Coding is what you're doing when you are actually typing computer instructions.

You got a smart speaker but you're worried about privacy. First off, why'd you buy one? Secondly, check out Project Alias

JohnFen

Re: DOS

That's a fantastic idea! Now I'm considering getting one just so I can pee in their pool...

JohnFen

Re: Nest Smoke Alarms

Nest smoke alarms (and thermostats) have most of the same privacy issues as the speakers do. I wouldn't allow them in my house, either.

JohnFen

Re: those confident with a soldering iron

I have to admit -- I'm keeping an eye on these devices because if the price point drops low enough, it can become more economical to buy it in order to use the parts for other projects over buying the parts directly. There are a few other things I do this with.

JohnFen

Re: Again I have to ask...

"Why the paranoia?"

Why do you call it "paranoia"? Paranoia is irrational fear of a nonexistent threat. I don't think this qualifies -- the threat is real and is demonstrated on a regular basis.

"I say this because we use Alexa a lot."

And that's fine -- if it's worth the tradeoff to you, I'm not going to say that you're wrong for making it. But, equally, others aren't wrong for not finding that tradeoff worthwhile. And an even larger set of others aren't even aware that they're making a tradeoff at all.

JohnFen

Re: Be curious if it's picked up at the other end ......

"I wonder what the point is at all."

The point is to avoid having to trust Google, etc. That seems reasonable as it's clear they can't be trusted.

A full security audit (including long-term traffic sniffing) is well-advised (not as well-advised as just not using these things, but still...), but not something most people can do.

JohnFen

Re: Local Automation

"The upcoming Bluetooth spec is due to add triangulation, so that phone will know where, down to a couple of inches, in a room another Bluetooth device is"

Crap. That would mean that I have to stop using Bluetooth outside of my home.

JohnFen

Re: I'd quite like one for doing cooking related tasks

" Pritotyping a good multi-timer might make a good Raspberry Pi project."

It would. You could even still have it able to respond to voice commands without having to call into the cloud! Limited-vocabulary speech recognition has been solid on low-power hardware for a very long time.

JohnFen

If you're worried about privacy...

If you're worried about privacy, then you aren't using these devices in the first place. They are inherently incompatible with privacy, and Project Alias doesn't change that.

Ad-tech industry: GDPR complaint is like holding road builders to account for traffic violations

JohnFen

The IAB's position makes sense

They are, after all, a horrible organization representing a coalition of companies who don't give two shits about the harm they're doing as long as they can keep raking in the money.

FTC gets back to work: Now, where were we? Break up Facebook and fine it $2bn, you say?

JohnFen

Re: He Speaks!

How do we escape from this dystopia, then?