* Posts by Waseem Alkurdi

1240 publicly visible posts • joined 16 Apr 2018

Here's to you: UK.gov praises Reg-reading techies for keeping on top of cybersecurity

Waseem Alkurdi
Waseem Alkurdi
Angel

Nope, you get more taxes for wasting $EMPLOYER's time and bandwidth on useless things like system updates and pornsecurity updates.

Waseem Alkurdi

Well done El Reg!

But am I wrong, or is the "t" in "the Register" supposed to be capitalized? (in the screenshot from the report)

iFixit surgeons tut at iPad mini 5 X-ray: Looks like a mild case of pain-in-the-arse-to-repair

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Business sense

Stupid-ass locked not-so-EFI-yet-EFI firmware (iBoot), but they almost managed to do it on iPhone 3GS and older (and the original iPad I think as well). The project was called iDroid. It relied on a BootROM exploit.

Apple really, really had to fuck that up on the iPhone 4 and iPad 2.

Waseem Alkurdi

Does Apple even sell parts or does the repair community rely on a supply of busted units and third party vendors?1

Where I live, there are no Apple authorized repair shops, and only a couple authorized resellers (no maintenance), yet there's a heeuuuuge part of the population with iPhones.

They rely on (mostly) iCloud-locked phones for that. They'd salvage the immediately-usable parts (camera/display/housing/whatever), then the not-so-immediately-usable parts (flash storage)*

* There are shops which "upgrade" a 16 GB or 32 GB to 128 GB for the equivalent of $40-50.

Waseem Alkurdi

It's Apple, duh?

As Red Hat prepares to become part of Big Blue, its financials look as solid as Linux kernel 2.4

Waseem Alkurdi

Can somebody explain the Linux Kernel 2.4 reference?

Huawei's 2019 flagship smartphones: 'Things nobody else can do' but baby I swear it's déjà vu

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Deja vu

Damn! Just yesterday, Only yesterday, a friend told me how her P20 Lite (retail: $700) is not any different than the released-three-days-later Honor 3i (retail: $280), except for the size and, only slightly, the camera. They even both use LCD panels instead of OLED!

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Deja vu

And the author says that the consumer upgrade cycle is now three years or more.

Frankly, what's the difference between the 2016 Galaxy S7, and the 2019 Galaxy S9, save for the screen?

Spyware sneaks into 'million-ish' Asus PCs via poisoned software updates, says Kaspersky

Waseem Alkurdi
Joke

Re: Modern times

Hope it doesn't crash mid-game!

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Modern times

OS/2.

Aussie engineer accuses 'serial farter' supervisor of bullying, seeks $1.8m redress

Waseem Alkurdi
IT Angle

To jump to a philosophical issue

Can you prove it's actually wrong to fart in front of other folk? It's a socially-established taboo. Apes (from which we're descended from, as far as evolution knows) have no qualms doing this.

There's no actual damage done, apart from the damage caused by breaking this taboo.

If you want to tell me that others are disgusted by the smell, I'd reply that the fact that this smell is "disgusting" is a product of the taboo.

(Icon: Where's the IT angle? It's an engineer raising the lawsuit)

(As I started to write this, I chose the "Joke Alert" icon, but by the time I went to "Submit", I became serious about this).

Techies take turns at shut-down top trumps

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Be careful about differentiating by colour

The epic, well-known discussion of relativity and absoluteness.

My take is as thus:

What is color? After all, colors in all languages are adjectives. We describe something to be blue, green, red, whatever, because we perceive them to be thus.

Back to the example of the traffic light:

To a colorblind person, the light's colors are different.

Yet they are still sources of light that emit waves with a distinct wavelength that falls somewhere on the visible light spectrum.

The color might be red, but it's still light, and one with a wavelength of 700 nm.

TL;DR: Some properties are relative, others are absolute.

P.S. If a relative quantity is seen to be the same by everybody within the universe, does that make it absolute?

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: The problem with poorly located buttons

Sure you've heard that before, but I just love your username ^_^

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Be careful about differentiating by colour

Yes, there is something called acquired colorblindness.

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: colourblind

And one of the four languages has to be Mandarin Braille.

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: The same problem every time

Aircraft fell out of the sky because of screwed-up visual (and audible) identification.

Yet we who dwell the ground don't learn.

Facebook's at it again: Internal emails show it knew about Cambridge Analytica abuse 'months' before news broke

Waseem Alkurdi
Thumb Up

Re: Be careful where you treadern

Yeah laziness on the part of the college/organisation and the students. It really wouldn't be a big job, especially if people understood the ethical reasons.

People don't and won't understand unfortunately. They always repeat the infamous "If you've got nothing to hide, then you've got nothing to fear", which, frankly, is true in essence, unlike what some say. Explaining the problem with the heeeeuuuuge amount of data they hold and the potential uses would be responded to with a "better get your tinfoil on, then", as usual.

Edit: And how is a member of the cattle (not a higher-up) convince 1000+ different people, and face 1000+ different tantrums?

Start by blocking the domain and providing guidance to the alternative.

That's if you're the sysadmin. But what if you're the worker/student? And your sysadmins save for one (who's really a DBA, not a sysadmin) all use Facebook/WhatsApp/etc?

Given what we know about Faecebook, how the hell can the college/organisation carry on using it?

Convenience, they say. Everybody and their dog has it.

The Uni that I work with provides an online meeting place for its courses on its own systems. Some students would start up a separate Faecebook group for their course, which then excluded the non-Faecebook users.

This EXACTLY is what I'm talking about, except that the "non-FB users" here is a minority of one, and the "official" forum is unused at all because of the popularity of the Facebook group.

This is typical thoughtless behaviour, and the Faecebook groups were discouraged (not possible to ban them but that's what they need to do).

Discourage something, and it only gets more popular, unfortunately.

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Be careful where you treadern

How in hell can you get a whole workplace/school/college of 1000+ to leave the Facebook group and use an alternative?

Your idea works if you're talking about others' communications to you; not so much if about losing a much-needed Facebook group with 1000+ members that don't and won't understand the issue with Facebook.

Waseem Alkurdi
Thumb Up

Re: Be careful where you tread

Nice one, @Boris!

Children of Wales to be prepped for the vibrant world of work with free Office 365 ProPlus

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Libre Office

"as Office doesn't work on Linux."

Just like most students

They could easily learn Facebook/Instagram/whatever's new interface, but not a new operating system?

They even adapt to Windows 01's ever-changing UI, but not Linux? Weird world.

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Microsoft are drugging Welsh schoolchildren?

And the multicolored (first-gen, CRT) iMac as well.

New Zealand cops cuff alleged jackasses who shared mosque murder video, messages online

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: "Islamic" terrorism can only die when people stop calling it Islamic.

Consider Sunni and Shi'ah (for a start.)

Actually, that's it. Sunnis and Shiites. And the two only differ in what's actually superficial issues, but the basic tenets are the same. The schism is not as wide as in other religions.

Under the Sunnis, you have four "sects", but you can't really call them that, because they are not at all incompatible, but rather different complementary answers, just like how in math, you can have different proofs for one problem.

Waseem Alkurdi
Devil

Re: They are us

No sir!

The absolutely infallible, modern science of craniometry has proven beyond doubt that the species of white man is evolutionarily superior to that of black man!

In fact, black men are actually lesser-evolved primates!

(/s)

All white supremacists are descended from Africans. Their families simply lost the ability to make enough melanin, so their descendants look pasty and turn bright red in the sun.

Well-played.

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: "Islamic" terrorism can only die when people stop calling it Islamic.

While I agree with you, the problem is that the people doing the terrorism claim to be Islamic.

Imagine an American dressed in a traditional Chinese outfit. Is it correct to call him Chinese?

It is not, because that individual, while having the look of the Chinese, doesn't conform to our known definition of a Chinese person.

To solve this, as we solve issues with any definition, let's define the term Islamic.

There are two primary sources of Islam: the Quran and the Hadith. The latter means anything that the Prophet Muhammad said or did, all of which was written down and passed down by a strict system of "validated narration chains", which is outside the scope of this topic.

These two sources define what is Islamic and what is not.

Looking at the primary source I quoted above for instance (which is one example of many many more), it is very clear, even to a casual observer, that the acts of ISIL et al are in clear contradiction with Islamic rules.

Therefore, ISIL et al are not Islamic.

Waseem Alkurdi

p.s. It's interesting how you reduced victims of Islamic terrorism in Europe to "Western interests", as if they were not people at all but some abstract values.

Says a lot about your reading comprehension skills. I used the label "Western" to denote the location, not the values of the West, and certainly not to reduce anybody or anything into abstract values, as you claim.

Should we not use the label "Middle Eastern" when referring to victims of ISIL in Syria or Iraq simply because that would reduce them from being victims or people, but some abstract values, as you say?

After all, the whole takeaway message of the New Zealand massacre is that people died. Innocent people, regardless of their faith.

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: You can always spot the Americans...

Follow the money.

Waseem Alkurdi

Brilliant post ... but I have only one tiny objection:

You look into the internet, and you see the state of humanity, as a collective, warts and all, at that point in time. It is the first time in the history of the human race we can do this, and it could really change society, far more than it has already.

I don't think that this mirror represents all of humanity equally. Does China, for example, get the same amount and strength of representation as the West (US, UK, and Europe)? Not really, as I see it.

Waseem Alkurdi

What you are saying is this, if we apply the example of the NZ attack and Muslims:

When Muslims attack Western interests, they attack the whole Western society.

When a Westerner attacks Muslims, it has nothing to do with Western society.

Or is it the other way round?

When a Muslim attacks Western society, it has nothing to do with us Muslims.

How does that make sense? Can you please clarify your use of the pronouns?

Waseem Alkurdi

Muslim here.

"Islamic" terrorism can only die when people stop calling it Islamic.

I'd suggest you'd read this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_military_jurisprudence#Ethics_of_warfare (long quote ahead):

Fighting is justified for legitimate self-defense, to aid other Muslims and after a violation in the terms of a treaty, but should be stopped if these circumstances cease to exist.[3][4][5][6] The principle of forgiveness is reiterated in between the assertions of the right to self-defense.[3]

During his life, Muhammad gave various injunctions to his forces and adopted practices toward the conduct of war. The most important of these were summarized by Muhammad's companion and first Caliph, Abu Bakr, in the form of ten rules for the Muslim army:[7]

O people! I charge you with ten rules; learn them well!

Stop, O people, that I may give you ten rules for your guidance in the battlefield. Do not commit treachery or deviate from the right path. You must not mutilate dead bodies. Neither kill a child, nor a woman, nor an aged man.* Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire, especially those which are fruitful. Slay not any of the enemy's flock, save for your food. You are likely to pass by people who have devoted their lives to monastic services; leave them alone.*[7]

______

* Tell that to the guy claiming to be Muslim and bombing X where X is a restaurant/subway station/other civilian location.

** Tell that to the ISIL guy beheading Christians.

Carolina coward fesses up: I was a tech support scambag, and I made millions out of defrauding the elderly

Waseem Alkurdi

Well, even though rich people have lots and lots of money, it's still scamming.

Even though they might've earned it through ill means, it's still scamming.

Do I have the right to mug a rich person, stealing the keys to their Benz, unlock it, and drive away, simply because they are rich?

Scamming is wrong, just like any other crime, even if the person truly deserves it.

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: I get these calls about once a month.

Here in Jordan, they call from UK numbers too!

(I'm talking about "real" HP's support desk. They'd call from Dubai -probably where the outsourced call center is at- but the number showing would begin with +44 and a location of "London" in Android's dialer.)

But call centers of local companies also use local numbers, even when the call center is actually in India or something.

Waseem Alkurdi

Seems he will.

Vengeful sacked IT bod destroyed ex-employer's AWS cloud accounts. Now he'll spent rest of 2019 in the clink

Waseem Alkurdi

BOFH?

That was my first thought, but it seems not.

We don't want to be Latch key-less kids: NYC tenants sue landlords for bunging IoT 'smart' lock on their front door

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: No worries!

I have a whole lot (maybe five) of these. Stuff that came with MSX computers (picture: this or this. Worth a single dollar per unit, unfortunately.

I also have a Psion Series 5mx (probably the only one to enter my country) ... and nobody would buy that either.

Croydon school rolling in toilet roll after Brexit gift deemed unfit for the Queen's Anus Horribilis

Waseem Alkurdi

Water

Doesn't water cut it for arse-washing? I've always wondered how people *believe* they can clean up with just bog paper ...

Waseem Alkurdi
Angel

The face of a half-nude pic of some actress, probably?

College student with 'visions of writing super-cool scripts' almost wipes out faculty's entire system

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Don't Shout "Fuck" in The Data Centre

Well, it is, it's spelled 'fsck' though.

Waseem Alkurdi
Angel

Re: This happened to me a few days ago!

Precisely! xD

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: This happened to me a few days ago!

For that to work, it must have been synced to that computer before ... identifying you as a possible owner.

And you don't need to hack the passcode for that ... the backup alone is enough, provided you get iTunes to make one.

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: This happened to me a few days ago!

Or more precisely, get the luser to really confrm it. I actually told the girl I was going to restore the phone, but she said a'ight, perhaps not knowing why the hell would Apple made the word "restore" translate into "wipe my childhood memories to no return", or possibly because my vocal cords weren't at their best, making my confirmation sound more like a whisper to self.

Anyhooooo, lesson learned! (Get lusers to sign an accident indemnity form! xD )

Waseem Alkurdi

This happened to me a few days ago!

A classmate, female, presented to me with an iPhone 5 that had symptoms of, well, a locked iPhone whose passcode is forgotten. She asked me to bypass the passcode, so I thought, "Better borrow a laptop then" (Mine is on Linux).

Restored the phone, gave its owner a thumbs-up, only to find the owner broken and in tears.

Turns out she wanted me to bypass the damned thing FOR THE DATA.

Cue an hour trying to explain encryption to her, to no avail, because she believes I was too incompetent to break Apple's encryption.

Sigh.

They're BAAACK: Windows 10 nagware team loads trebuchet with annoying reminders to GTFO Windows 7

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: At Dave K, re: LTSB.

I get your argument ... but Windows 10 (to M$ at least) is worth money. It makes money selling Windows 10 licenses ... so that makes it an asset, no less important than a physical asset.

M$ also (purportedly) spends money on its development ...

I still stand corrected though, and I need to know what you think.

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Solving the Windows Issues

MADE. MY. DAY.

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Time, gentlemen, please

Do you get Windows Updates? (You probably don't.)

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Time, gentlemen, please

Me, I'm feeling more smug than ever about my decision to install 8.1. Seriously, it's probably the last "good" Windows version.

This changed my downvote to an upvote.

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: At Dave K, re: LTSB.

This line of reasoning (from a legal point of view) is like carjacking a 2019 Mercedes-Benz S560 and driving away, simply because I have paid for a same-model-year-but-ten-times-cheaper Mercedes B-Class EV. It's not my fault that Mercedes built a crappy, generic four-door wagon with a limited drive range (compared to a regular car).

However, your suggestion of renewing the trial is actually sound. After 90 days * 3 renewals (M$ calls them "rearms") = 270 days (nine months), Windows would need a reinstallation anyhow (because of the bloat that accumulated in the internim).

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Oh well,

For God's sake, who made 'ageist' (*) a word?

_______

(*) Falls in the same bin as 'speciest'. SPECIEST? Is that a superlative form on crack?

Latest Fast Ring build grazes big red button, unintentionally ejects some Windows Insiders

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Paste as plain text

"Paste as Plain Text" (under Paste Special).

Or they managed to screw up that too?

Waseem Alkurdi

compatibility between MS and $competing_standard

You're forgetting that this is M$ we're talking about here. Internet Explorer? Win32 APIs?