Posts by bombastic bob

Re: Simply my ass

"What is your "simple" method going to do when they use IP addresses instead of hostnames to reference the ads?"

a not-so-simple method involving:

* RDNS and regex filters

* content scanning (somewhat smart-filter type scanning, "looks like an ad" or "has tracking in it")

* blacklists (including nation boundaries for entire IP address ranges)

but yeah, simple methods only work until the bad guys decide they'll stop using simple methods, and then the spy-vs-spy cold war begins

Re: Or, simply...

"Ever heard of Google Analytics?"

yeah they're permanently banned in my NoScript config

Re: Or, simply...

"move ad-blocking outside the browser to the DNS level."

year ago, before I had a NAT setup, I had written an HTTP proxy server. It included some simple DNS filtering, such as anything with "ads.x.x" got immediately re-directed to localhost

It makes me want to write my own browser, with a regex DNS pre-processor to bypass DNS entirely (for everything that is caught by the blacklist or "not on the white list", whichever). And if I wanted to be really slick, I'd RDNS every direct IP address request, too, and filter THOSE with the regex as well...

but anyway - none of this is all that hard to do, assuming that the web browsers and their plugin APIs have NOT been deliberately designed and/or obfuscated to PREVENT it...

Re: Dumbing down

wait until the browsers are NO LONGER OPEN SOURCE, for a fork of what they're up to that reverts it back to the way it was (for the convenience of the end-users) is likely to trigger some kind of knee-jerk control-freak response on SOMEONE's watch...

it makes me want to write my own browser. something webkit based. Midori was ok until it became as 2D FLATTY McFLATFACE as Chrome and Firefucox...

Re: Missing the point

"even before the 90s we learned at school how to find and trust primary sources before jumping to 'OMG THEY SAID THIS'."

Fixed it for ya. I think that pretty much explains it. 4-inchers (people who view everything through a 4-inch screen) under the age of 40 may be driving all of this... and the "lack of education" system set them up.

All their base are belong to fake news. They have been set up the bomb. etc.

/me has a nice faked-up photo that I did with Obama's face as 'Cats' and the 'All your base are belong to us' as a demotivational... [it was fun]. It wasn't purely my idea, but I ran with it and made it better.

plastic pollution in the oceans? ugh, I hate environmentalist wackos using these kinds of premises as "examples" because we can EASILY forget to QUESTION THE @#$%-DAMNED PREMISE IN THE FIRST PLACE!

oh, and thanks for the subtle 'fake news' embedded in there. Nice. Job.

this could easily become like YOU BEATING YOUR WIFE because that is JUST AS FAKE as you asserting the 'plastic pollution in the oceans' thing.... [yes it's a reference to that classic leading question of 'how long have you been beating your wife' to which there is NO possible answer that comes WITHOUT the un-due criticism].

Such tactics are transparent. Your 'tricks' are for CHILDREN. <-- that was a reference to a breakfast cereal commercial

Re: Fakes versus bias

"So we all take our news with a grain of salt, which is probably a good thing."

The BEST thing that can come out of a ship-load of convincing 'fake news' is that people actually DO this, start thinking instead of feeling/reacting, and recognize that there is way too much B.S. out there to leave your skeptic hat on the hat rack while viewing it.

Hell, let's just call B.S. and 'fake news' on EVERYTHING, and wait for the dust to settle.

Re: OpenAI?

"OpenAI is a deep, well thought out and prepared deception, provocation and diversion."

without actually researching whether or not I'm right [and I most likely am, instinctively] I would venture to guess that Open AI covers a broader spectrum of what A.I. _could_ be, sort of like what the STL libraries have tried to do with all of their implementations for various collections of things, in a GENERIC sense, which tends to be inefficient [but covers a wide spectrum of possibilities].

So yeah there's an example or two of "that" out there, which also suggests that using OpenAI [like using STL] is not necessarily a bad choice except (possibly) for certain exceptions.

And if I bothered to research this, which I probably won't, I'd probably just confirm what my instincts and experience are telling me.

Re: News and my patented blockchain AI technology

I'm too lazy to do a patent search, but if you were to give us the patent number we could all look at it ourselves to see what it's all about... and THEN snark all over it!

heh heh heh heh

/me recognizes a few patents out there for things like perpetual motion devices, microwave based star drive systems, and other crackpot ideas. If you want to shell out the $ and file the thing, you too can have one o' those!!!! might be fun at parties

my own name is on a provisional patent (among many other names, department boss, supervisor, a couple of other engineers) having to do with a wireless network reliability method for wifi streaming audio/video content, as I'm the guy that did the prototype for it. never went anyplace as a product though. the latter part is what REALLY matters.

Re: a doctored video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

what about all of those photos etc. of drunken Mrs. Clinton?

(One in particular made a funny demotivational)

Re: Expert

"Trump sure is trying to make it so."

Saying things like that is _USUALLY_ called "pandering to the perception" (at least by me) and is a PERFECT example of trolling for up/down votes, etc. [like was mentioned in the article, or at least that was my interpretation of the quote I made a few posts up]

I'd ask for proof of your B.S. assertion if it was not so obviously 'fake news'

Re: Expert

lessee - the solution to RAMPANT FREEDOM GOING UNCHECKED is... A DATABASE?

HA HA HA HA HA HA! (oh you were serious?)

Re: Blockchain technology and AI

you're forgetting about a couple of things...

a) freedom of speech

b) artistic expression

And, from the article:

"Users can be easily manipulated to like, comment, and share posts without thinking about the potential harm they can cause."

happens in HERE _ALL_ of the time!!!

"Potential harm" - to WHAT exactly? If I could produce a ship-load of videos that use extreme audio/video editing to make fun of lib-tard politicians and their *RIDICULOUS* ideas, and how they continue to TRY AND RESTRICT MY FREEDOM [while simultaneously INCREASING THEIR OWN POWER CONTROL AND WEALTH], I'm gonna DO it. Consider it a Guerrilla tactic for FIGHTING AGAINST THEM.

keep on snarkin' !!!!

Re: "Windows Subsystem for Linux"

"throwing out the Windows kernel and leaving the API."

Re: But why?

"future versions of Windows would be able to simply run Linux software out of the box."

It's more easily done the OTHER way: a Microsoft-blessed version of WINE, running on a Linux kernel, with a WINE-like subsystem that implements all of Win32 at the API level, making native X11 and Win32 calls.

The rest of their ".Not" crap could then make Win32 API calls through the layer... and I bet it would STILL be faster than it is in Win-10-nic!!!

That's just too obvious, though. Remember MS did this with Windows 1.x, 2.x, 3.x running on top of MS-DOS. So now it would be Win-11 running on Linux! heh heh heh

I think the Altium bunch is near enough to me that maybe I can go over there some day with a ginormous penguin-shaped cluebat and get them to create a Linux version.

no looking back if they finally "get it", I bet. I think CAD started with X terminals, now didn't it?

Re: Its the updates

" you don't know how it feels to a new user."

Heh - a FEELER, huh? FEEL the 4 letter 'F' word. You should try THINKING instead.

Re: Its the updates

"The pre-requisites for this lib and that was nothing but a real pain."

Me-thinks you do NOT know of what you speak.

" I've never found Linux all that usable, and I'm about as technically minded as they come."

You need to install something OTHER than Ubuntu with Unity. And don't bother trying to find 'Internet Explorer' either. You'll probably need a few different software packages that are equivalents to and/or better than the windows version, things like Libre office, VLC Firefox and/or Chrome, and so on.

/me has been using FreeBSD GUI almost exclusively for EVERYTHING, since 2005-ish. Linux is a tad bit more friendly for windows users with some of the built-ins, auto-mounting USB drives when you plug them in, GUI bluetooth and wifi config, things like that. It's all there for you, last I looked, in every decent distro.

I suggest either the Mate desktop, or Cinnamon. That should get you something familiar enough, easier of a transition than 7 to 8 or 7 to 10 would be.

Re: Rock, hard place etc.

still in XP? That would be a GOOD thing!

XP works just fine for my 3D printer software, though I admit I had to massage it and talk nice to it while getting the drivers and stuff installed...

The computer doing teh 3D pinting came with XP. It's one o' those low-end Lenovo "book sized" deals with a 1.something Ghz atom processor. Again, works fine for 3D printing. And if I were to "up" grade it, maybe not so much...

nothing wrong wiht XP. Micro-shaft should've stuck with it.

Re: Small point

I thought ignorance was bliss?

silly me...

Re: I've been caught ...... I must have Asperger's.

yeah about "ass-burgers" - it's one of those ENVIOUS nicnames for "genius personality" - like AD[H][D

better drug it out of existence, because CREATIVE and INNOVATIVE people aren't so easy to control...

Re: Back in time

did you try links or lynx? text-mode browsers. heh.

Re: The 39 Steps

Yeah, but the problem with trying drivers is sometimes, if the printer is in another room (or building), the wrong driver will dump a box of paper with 4 characters on each page, creating a billion print jobs that have to be individually canceled before you can shut it off... [I had that happen a few weeks ago with a Lexmark printer at a remote site - no more attempting to print from Linux until I have a working solution]

Ideally Lexmark will have a CUPS driver I can find with a simple google search... but if they don't, I'm stuck, since that's "the office printer" and every other computer (that's not an RPi to be used in an embedded system, which is temporarily on the network so I can use ssh as well as pluma via remote X11 desktop to do development work on it) is running *cough* Win-10-nic... so they don't have problems, because Lexmark HAS to sacrifice to the Micro-shaft god to stay in business...

Re: The 39 Steps

regarding asking for Linux help in an online forum, or IRL for that matter, and generally getting a helpful response to your problems...

"Even if that were true (which in my experience it isn't),"

it isn't? Of course, it depends on how you ask.

wrong way:

"This @#$%-ing Linux thing SUCKS. Rant rant rant gripe gripe gripe complain blah blah blah. If it can't [insert minor nitty problem] I'll tell EVERYONE I know how much LINUX SUX"

wrong way:

"I'm a n00b at Linux. How do I XXX? I expect you to walk me through the process while I argue with you and tell you how wrong you are"

wrong way:

"Someone told me to install Linux and I did, and now my computer doesn't work"

right way:

"I have a problem with XXX. I've tried YYY after taking the time to google and research the problem, but it didn't work. Am I doing something wrong?"

[if it is not clear, now, then you are beyond any help anyway]

Re: The 39 Steps

"asking for help fixing an issue tends to get a friendly response."

even on IRC. or USENET. surprise!

Re: The 39 Steps

the problem with printers is a lack of SERIOUS CUPS SUPPORT by some vendors.

this was a thing back in the windows 3.x and '9x days, too... lack of drivers. lack of non-buggy drivers, at any rate. I choose printers that support CUPS and make it easy to update with their PPD files. Vendors should remain aware of this.

Re: Only if they run me to ground

Seriously if we're talking "old school" then we should just collectively hire hit men to go find the robo-callers and leave a horse-head in their beds [or similar], and accelerate the response if they don't get the hint...

and, collectively, it would cost a LOT less I bet!!!

[organized crime has no national borders, which addresses the 'overseas' problem right there]

/me mentions something about the dark web... OK FBI it's a *JOKE*. now quit getting FISA warrants and tapping my lines already!

Chrome never "caught on". Everything ELSE simply started becoming INDISTINGUISHABLE from the chromium CRAPPINESS and so people settle for what they already have installed on their 'droid phones... hence it's "popular" because no true alternative exists. Google publishes their "standards" which differ from the IBM ones of the 90's [the ones that made Windows actually popular because people went out and BOUGHT IT to add to existing computers, not simply accept because it "came with the machine"], because the new SMUG kids on the block [aka millenials] have to do it THEIR way. And FORCE everyone ELSE to COMPLY with it. Because, they're superior. And it's THEIR turn.

I'm reminded that I need to write my own web browser, by porting webkit to use MY toolkit [once I finish it] and ENFORCING the non-2D-FLATTY 'classic menus and tabs' look on EVERY operating system [including Win-10-nic]. no more hamburger menus, etc. Something like MIdori, except it won't swallow the fornicating 2D FLATTY HAMBURGER MENU coolaid.

Re: Clouds rule OK!

at least with Libre Office I can work with Micro-Shaft format documents _AND_ do so on Linux or FreeBSD without having to be online. And it's not all 2D FLATSO, has *NO* ribbon or other irritating UI elements, and I've *NEVER* heard of a MACRO VIRUS that affects Libre Office (so you can open up documents that random people that you don't know might send you with pretty good security and reliability).

Re: Clouds rule OK!

"Their cloud is the mainframe of old"

yeah I saw that one coming during the dot-bomb days of the early noughties.

We'd just gotten to the point where computing power was distributed among all of those PCs on everyone's desktop. THEN, "the powers that be", to control and monetize things back in their own favor, "decided" to change everyone back to the old way of doing things, by going light-client-heavy-server instead of heavy-client-light-server. Except they'd use JAVASCRIPT to force all of those "light client" applications into becoming HEAVY CLIENT applications, which is why every web browser nowadays is a FORNICATING PIG when it comes to CPU and memory and other resources...

that way our ">10 times faster than they were in 1999" computers on our desktops run like CRAP with all of that "required" BLOATWARE, plus the latency of "cloud", and the reliability of a single basket filled with all of our thinly shelled eggs.

Re: Sounds like

Hotel Clouid-i-fornicate-you

(except Redmond is in Washington, but the techno-smug is DEFINITELY in Cali-Fornicate-You)

yeah I'll stop explaining now. coat please.

from the article: "and an error is vomited onto the screen."

(worthy of a mention)

"will the WTO survive Trump's wrath at all? "

Not at all. They'll soon decay into irrelevance. After all WHAT can they really DO about it? Nothing. They haven't stopped China's abuses. Their presence is like a bunch of sheep telling wolves to "don't, stop..." and so NOW that their ineffectiveness is obvious to the most casual observer, the rams and shepherds and sheep dogs are going to put a stop to it the old fashioned way.

Or something like that. WTO can just BLANK the FEEL off!