Posts by Neil Alexander

I use a Mac

... and I use a Mac because I like it. It's user interface just makes more sense to me. It's not about security (after all, a computer is only as secure as it's owner), nor is it about speed. It just does what I want it to.

PC users who are calling Mac users "fanboys" are just as bad as the pretentious over-bearing Mac users out there. It must be jealousy or something. I can't think of any other reason why you'd get so screwed up about it.

@ "PC World"

Even as a former PC World employee who used to do hard drive recovery, I would never look at people's files. Disk checking utilities are more than capable of telling whether the data integrity on the hard drive is OK without me sifting through their personal files.

"Perhaps he then drives home to switch the heater off"

In his Prius, of course.

@Anonymous Coward

Probably there is a reason that you are an anonymous coward.

Dear CSIRO

You will not succeed. Thanks though.

How will they know whether you are tethering?

It's probably simpler than you think; my bet is that the tethering will be hardcoded by the operators to use a different access point. In that case, it's very very easy for them to now if you're tethering.

I'm amazed that not one of you guys even thought of that.

@Doc Dish

"Also, can't the BlackBerry be erased over the air?"

Consider reading the article:

"Commenters on the Daily Mail's website were quick to point out that the BlackBerry features a lock-down feature to enable savvy customers to prevent their address books and other data being pillaged if the device is lost. And of course, contacts can also be backed up. Sadly, it appears Paris is not one of the vendor's savvy customers. ®"

Why...

... are all the planned Android phones ugly as hell?

Source code

"Echoing his GPL, Stallman would like to see Javascript code for web services distributed with its original source code"

JavaScript source code is sent in plain text clear as day with your HTML document, mate. It doesn't get much more distributed than that.

However if, you are, in fact referring to the other serverside code that is used in combination with JavaScript and AJAX, then distributing that would be pointless and probably make it hella easy to find flaws in someone's website engine.

Get this man out of my life, please.

Skype on 3

> "UK operator 3 has had some success with its Skype-Phone, but that isn't really VoIP at all, neither can it make SkypeOut calls - so the user is still dependent on 3 for most of their calls."

I have both a Skypephone and a Nokia N95 on 3, and both can make SkypeOut calls.

Made my day

I've not laughed so much at an article in a long time.

Jet engine failure

Why, if sucking birds into jet engines is such a problem, has nobody ever thought to just put some kind of reinforced net over the engine intake?

Surely that is not rocket science.

Re: The A-GPS on our sample was quick to get a satellite fix

A-GPS doesn't use satellites. Unlike vanilla GPS, A-GPS uses phone masts to determine it's location. Can we please decide whether we are talking about GPS or A-GPS here?

LTE

Alternatively, we could develop real 3G evolution technologies and products so that anyone anywhere can get access to these future Internet services that we hear so much about.

If you're an average person

... then this will be way too complicated and/or confusing, and then the need for a better solution becomes apparent. You don't seriously expect typical average users to sit at home configuring OpenVPN with subnets, key pairs and connection bridges, do you?

Paris, because she can't work OpenVPN either.

Hmm.

Couple of years old iBook G4 has been a dream for me. The power management unit got fried once from heavy thunder and lightning (but that also coincidentally zapped a stereo system and a desktop's power management unit that were also connected to mains power).

On the other hand, my Toshiba Satellite overheats regularly, has had a faulty DVD drive (which also blocked other system operations because the drive was almost in a permanent 'waiting to be ready' phase) and dodgy USB ports (that would power surge and then shut the unit down upon connecting some devices).

That's awesome, innit.

Re: Free cancer

In case you didn't realise, radio jammers work by emitting louder stronger signals on the same frequency. Good job.

Re: give up on WAP

WAP's dead anyway. XHTML is the future, where we can actually display rich content instead of bulleted lists.

I also enjoy using mobile services. Windows Mobile's Live application makes finding places easy, the Messenger program and push email are extremely useful (and also entertaining when there's nothing else to do), and with websites like Facebook becoming easier to use on small devices, that's also becoming a popular passe-temps for a lot of people.

Let's remember that there are people out there who would still like access to these services without having to be glued to a desktop or laptop to do it. After all, not all of us are.

Nobody is forcing you

... to watch MTV or TMF. If the language offends you, my suggestion would be to turn it off or watch something else.

What the hell is wrong with Britain today? Bloody nanny state.

I did join the BT FON programme...

... and then the new software for the BT Home Hub which powers this FON business caused my router to restart itself at random. As you can imagine, I downgraded the firmware very quickly and stopped using it.

Re: Mectron

"but then again, what do you expect from a lousy company like Apple? Wonder if there is still any Apple mindless Drones to say that Apple Make high quality product? Here is a news flash: They never did."

High horse alert! Please stop pretending like people are actually going to take you seriously.

Re: Benny

"Seriously, next he'll be telling me I cant Linux on MY ipod, or run an app I build myself on MY MacBook. I really don't understand why hes so bothered, it's not like it affects them in anyway!"

Ah, but that's where you're wrong. It matters an awful lot to Apple, because they have a very expensive handset that is overhyped and the only way an operator will ever sell it is on an 18-month contract at least.

The moment that operators realise that people are using this very expensive (and therefore, heavily subsidized) tool to make calls over their data network for what is more likely less expensive than their own network, or even free, then suddenly there is nothing in it for the operator and they'll stop carrying the handset. That'd be the end of Apple iPhone, in Steve Jobs' eyes.

Having said that, though, a lot of phone operators are already ruling against VoIP use on their data networks in their terms and conditions.

Well

I just did a speedtest on O2 EDGE and I'm getting 127kbit/s. I would have expected much better from any 3G network, even O2.

@ M. Burns

"IPv6 compatibility would be a very stupid reason to switch to Vista from, say, XP. If your PC is on a NAT network, as for example on a home router, then IPv6 on the PC is irrelevant and IPv6 compatibility is a router issue not an OS issue."

... except for the fact that using a NAT with IPv6 is totally redundant. In fact, I'd be surprised if it worked at all. The idea is that each computer has it's own IPv6 address which is automagically routed by the same gateway so that NAT is not necessary.

(Also who the hell comes up with the names for these Linux distributions? "PCLinuxOS" sounds like it was thought up by a nine year old!)

So, uh

The competition is made up of three computers that are as close to factory defaults as possible? Doesn't anyone realise that a very large percentage of security holes on computers come from software that users voluntarily install?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/27/buggy_flash_menace/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/12/march_patch_tuesday/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/25/vmware_critical_vuln/

http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/03/27/firefox_security_flaws_update/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/11/adobe_reader_exploit/

And in my opinion, even with computers that are at factory default, having a user click a link doesn't really count as hacking per-se. Let's face it; the typical person is going to be connected through one of:

1) wireless networks with no port forwarding by default;

2) other routed networks with no port forwarding by default;

3) GPRS/EDGE/3G/HSDPA networks with no port forwarding by default;

4) a firewall.

In this case, what does it matter if a port is opened here or there? There aren't really that many standard modems in use anymore where you are completely externally exposed, and if you are stupid enough to be using one without a firewall, or if you are stupid enough to permanently have your router/gateway set to DMZ, you are asking for trouble. If you are stupid enough to allow a hacker onto your LAN, ...

If a hacking competition is based on the idea that someone is going to have to physically walk up to your computer and stick a crossover cable in the side of it to do any real harm, then the competition is sorta flawed. In that case, I would be more concerned about someone breaking into my house rather than "hacking" my computer.

Similarly, a competition where people have had the time to orchestrate their attack and just execute it when they get there is equally flawed.

I'm a Mac user day-to-day. I don't believe that the system is completely secure, which is why I keep my firewall up, regularly install updates and security patches and don't set myself up for trouble. At the same time, I don't expect everything I install to be completely secure. I have had previous Windows computers that have been infected with viruses before my first logon after a fresh reformat and reinstall (just by being connected to a LAN during setup). But at the same time, I've also had Windows installs in the past that have been flawless for as long as they have been in use. Computers are inherently insecure, regardless of your operating system.

Okay, yeah. So the MacBook got beaten first, and now this has happened, the playing field is leveled a bit. The moral of the story is "use your firewall, install your updates and don't click links you don't trust". Now will the Windows or anti-Mac zealots please stop with the "take this, fanboys!" attitude? Your operating system is not perfect either, yet I do not waste my time bashing your system. Get back to me when it is and then I might be less tempted to gouge out your eyes with a screwdriver.

It seems the word "hacking" is vastly misunderstood these days.

@ "Oh, 3G also has more latency than EDGE/GPRS."

I just experimented with ping times on both 3G and EDGE connections.

Huawei 3.6mbps 3G USB modem on the 3 network (the software claims 2 of 4 available signal bars) had ping times to 66.249.91.99 (a Google IP address) at 134ms, 134ms, 133ms and 133ms. A HTC device using USB internet sharing on the O2 EDGE network (the phone claims 4 of 4 available signal bars) had ping times of 886ms, 675ms, 832ms and 730ms.

I don't know what explanation there is for that, be it technological differences, backhaul or what, but that's a pretty marked difference.

Hmm

I've been using Leopard since the day before the "countdown" release (the courier people delivered my preorder faster than Apple announced it's release), and frankly, I've not once thought about going back to Tiger.

Yeah, I couldn't get Office 2004 to work, but I'm an avid iWork user anyway so I don't miss it. Aside from that, I haven't come across anything else that hasn't worked. My laptop is by no means a powerhouse - it's just a plain and simple iBook G4 - and I've noticed a pretty solid speed boost since my upgrade.

The only way to benefit from a new version is to cooperate with it until it feels normal.

Hmm...

All this speak about H.264 being a part of Flash is all great and wonderful, but most of the user-generated video content on YouTube and such will probably never *ever* reach the superb quality that H.264 is capable of delivering. After all, they've got away with compressing everything to merry hell for some time now, and will probably continue to do so regardless of the codec in use.

Major websites sending YouTube-quality content gives people the impression that their connection can't do much better. Stage6 and the DivX codec actually showed the contrary, and did it well.

I trust that the people who complain about the DivX codec and Stage6 are the same sort of people who are still running System 7 and watching VHS tapes from 1991.

"Missing technical knowledge?"

There is not really any excuse for failing to set up your network properly. I do not know of one wireless router that comes without an instruction/guidance booklet explaining how the wireless security works and what it does - and I've set up a lot of wireless routers.

If you take the router out of the box, plug it in without reading the instruction manual, and your connection is unsecured by default, then that is as much your own fault for not reading the instructions that were provided. Heaven forbid that we should allow people to drive before actually learning the laws of the road; why should things like wireless security be different?

The wireless security setup procedure in any commercial wireless router is not any more difficult than "go to this address, tick the box, enter a wireless key, click Apply". If the user can't understand the fundamental details of the technology from reading the instruction manual, then what is the user doing with the technology to start with?

Incidentally, whether computers or wireless-capable devices should automatically connect to a wireless network is not at all relevant. The fact is, is that there are devices that do regardless. I have a 802.11-capable mobile phone. If I leave the wireless on and it stumbles across an open network, it might connect to it. (I say might because, well, frankly, I've never tried.) If it succeeds, my EDGE data session could get paused and then could get moved across to WLAN. If my Windows Live Messenger or push email services are active, they could reconnect using this new connection. All of this takes place without even taking the device out of my pocket. Would the police still like to run down the street and take me away for it?

If you take the two minutes that is required to tick the box that turns your wireless security on during your initial setup procedure that, in all likeliness, you'll never have to repeat, then that won't happen. You can then go to bed at night knowing full well that:

- innocent passers-by will not be unknowingly connected to your network;

- less innocent passers-by will only be able to get into your network by deliberately trying to attack your network or find your key, and if they do "steal" your connection, they have done it deliberately and you have a case against them;

- you've made the effort to actually understand the technology and prevent such mishaps from happening.

Long live common sense.