Posts by max allan 264 publicly visible posts • joined 8 Mar 2007
I once leant on the partition by the till behind me's scales and was asked to move. Even though I wasn't touching the scales they seemed to get very upset if there was anything within a couple of feet.
Maybe my arse is more of a threat to accurate weight measurements than this lady's breasts were....
Microsoft issued the following statement: "Kinect for Xbox 360 has not been hacked -in any way - as the software and hardware that are part of Kinect for Xbox 360 have not been modified. What has happened is someone has created drivers that allow other devices to interface with the Kinect for Xbox 360. The creation of these drivers, and the use of Kinect for Xbox 360 with other devices, is unsupported. We strongly encourage customers to use Kinect for Xbox 360 with their Xbox 360 to get the best experience possible."
So what they are saying is that to hack something you have to change it's hardware or software. This distinction may come back to bite them/their peers.
"I didn't change your code to play that game without a serial, I wrote my own and put it in a wrapper around yours, therefore it's not a hack"
"I didn't hack my iPhone, I'm just running my own code on it instead of yours"
etc...
Obviously whoever made that quote has no clue what "hacking" entails.
"Sinclair overdelivered on the hype and underdelivered on the execution, again making shortsighted technical choices"
So not like Windows Vista or OSX or pretty much any IT project that ever gets reported in the Reg?
Comparing the hype in the 80s with the hype these days, Sinclair was way behind the curve for hype and way ahead of the curve in actually delivering computers/etc.. that were slightly ground breaking.
OK, they may not have been 100% successful or reliable but they were generally more different than the rest than the difference between for example : OSX & Win7 or Vista & 7 etc...
ROTFLMAO. The video looks like it was shot on a mobile phone and edited by someone with their eyes closed!
Wobbly shooting and clips that only appear for a fraction of a second. I'm watching in the office so have no sound, I'm guessing it's just as bad.
What a great advert...
"Folio will deliver up to seven hours' battery life, on the basis of a lot of web browsing, a little movie viewing and a quarter of the time in standby mode."
Does that mean that it will only standby for a quarter of 7 hours?
Or that they quote the battery life including some time as effectively switched off?
Why don't they claim a life of 5 hours of real usage?
Otherwise I can see this going like "unlimited" broadband <small print> with a cap</small print>
"My tablet has 12 days battery life <small print> with 4 hours use</small print>"
For more information check out Stonesoft's site "antievasion.com".
The only bit of real "example" of what they mean is :
"A: Technical: Consider the well known method of packet fragmentation, this alone would be caught. However, if this is combined with random IP options and a manipulation of how data is interpreted on the target, the attacker can successfully deliver a payload containing any attack."
Which means absolutely naff all to me. If a firewall is going to block a fragment, then it doesn't matter what options you put on it, it'll be blocked. If we're talking about a remote exploit, then how can you manipulate how the data is interpreted on the target? If you can affect your target remotely, then you've already hacked in far enough that the target is fubar.
They've fudged the whole issue of explaining these AETs to the community at large :
"Stonesoft is announcing the concept discovery, but it is not providing any details or tools that would arm criminals with the information needed to use these techniques. AETs are complex, and require the resources and funding that average hackers do not typically have"
Those "details" would not only arm the criminals with the attacks but also the world's security people with the defences.
Sounds like the biggest FUD scam for years!
It's important to outsource DNS because it seems some sysadmins are not capable of understanding the difference between traffic routing a certain way because of BGP routing failures and traffic routing the right way by BGP but being told to go to the wrong IP address by DNS.
And as for some random DNS provider claiming it is fixing DNS's security problems by introducing it's own systems to combat cache poisoning etc...
What ? Why ?
Joining in with DNSSEC would be a more sensible solution than trying to shore up the existing technology. OpenDNSSEC is a open source package, so anyone can join in.
Then you just need a decent network/security administrator to put a security wrap around your systems and most of your "security" problems are solved.
Your suggestion that no robot is required is based on current usage patterns.
"You won't need a robot because every device in the drive will be connected."
But, with more "slots" available it probably makes sense to have a pile of cartridges ready to use, in a hopper, and an output hopper.
Then the robot can swap new RDX cartridge into drive and when it's written dump it in the hopper. Maybe even allow it to push daily rewritable carts back in the input hopper.
I can't see anyone producing a library that I can afford that allows me to connect my entire cartridge stock for the next year's worth of backups at the same time.
A lot of Indians I've experienced seem to be loath to admit that they can't handle something personally. A slightly different slant on the "disloyal" suggestion.
In some ways it is nice that someone takes a personal responsibility, BUT:
It can be annoying when you, as a customer, realise it's not going to be resolvable by a person at their level but you can't get them to transfer you to someone more senior who can make the change you want.
Which also agrees with your point of view that problems get sat on until something blows and it has to be escalated.
My suggestion is to put on a lot more excess pressure in the first place compared to talking to a Brit. Instead of "this might cause a problem if ...." try "This is causing major problems right now"
Of course, if it's a problem you aren't aware of, then you're screwed...
No one ever said a badly configured box couldn't be pwned. In fact a badly configured *nix box is likely to offer more opportunity to the cracker than a windows box because windows protects you from being an idiot, whereas *nix assumes you know exactly what you're doing.
Of course as has been suggested, MS probably have excellent skills at securing windows and not much at securing *nix. So the box was likely not patched or configured with some insecure services running with bad config (like maybe NFS sharing the root filesystem to the world without mapping root to a different user, which is a common mistake).
If you want to get the "frother" community going, maybe we should mention that MS who WRITE their own operating systems, firewalls, mail, web and other software STILL feel the need to have Linux in their environment. Presumably because whatever they've paid millions to write and punt to the rest of the world isn't up to the job.
I don't think there is a single bit of software where MS haven't stuck their oar in, so what do they need Linux for? Unless their offering isn't actually any good... "Froth at will"
OK, so you've got a choice between police and firemen today or no police/firemen today and a wonderful new anti crime/fire robot thingy next year, maybe.
I'd rather have the safety today thanks.
Of course, you could probably make some cuts somewhere else, but that's what the gov will propose as the only other option. Something you need vs something you'd like.
At the end of the day, they'll do whatever they want anyway.
"detach a cable, slip a sleeve on, and reattach it?"
You've missed out checking pre-requisites :
Check the car's serial number against affected models.
Check car hasn't already been fixed.
Visually inspect existing cable and decide if it needs replacing or patching.
Test entire system for faults so you can be sure that you haven't caused any new faults.
I'm sure I could think of a few more if I could be bothered.
Then, the "detach cable" part doesn't include the time where you have to extract it through a hole about 2" diameter hidden underneath some other panels that require you to remove half the car to get at.
Similarly, if you've bought a new car recently, you might have seen that headlamp bulb replacement is something that is a "main dealer" only task. They'll probably bill you an hour or so's labour just to change a bulb.
At the end of the day it's probably just that an hour is the smallest unit of time their maintenance process system can cope with. "Check your oil level sir? Takes an hour.", "Refill washer fluid sir? Takes an hour" etc.... "Charge your battery sir? Takes a week."
(I know a Tesla won't have engine oil, but presumably it still has gearbox oil.)
Can you remember 50 characters for 6 months?
I have enough trouble remembering a handful of 9 character passwords after a couple of weeks on holiday, let alone 6 months spent, presumably mainly at her majesty's pleasure or undergoing stressful complicated legal wrangling...
"You have the right to remain silent ... mention now ... etc...."
Yes officer I'd like to say "zxplLkIujnn*&^fh44£$FklpkjbMHFGXFWzchbjn kju642dhvnblp}[1b36nndfj3jdnx^nbghfhkl;LHGGVBL"
Later in court :
Q: Would you like to tell us your password?
A: I already did. It's not my fault if the police didn't capture that evidence, is it? I've been stuck in a holding cell for the last 3 months awaiting trial and I've now forgotten what the password (if there ever was one) was.
Would that work????
I can't believe this crap is patentable.
Spelling checkers work now by finding words that have a few similar characters in, generally somewhere near in the alphabet or phonetically.
Finding a replacement character that is nearby on the keyboard doesn't seem to be too big a leap intellectually and something I've been cursing about the lack of ever since I started using a "soft" keyboard.
Surely it needs nothing to do with a "pattern of dots". Simply take the 8 characters surrounding each typed character and search each of them through the valid word database. I'm guessing there would only be a couple of matches, (bearing in mind the design of qwerty was that normal English would have minimal striker collisions on an old mechanical typewriter running at speed.)
I expect indexing could be clever enough to narrow down most words after only a few characters.
I seem to recall what seemed to be a horrific number of injuries through supervised sports when I was at school. I have seen (during "games") :
One death (yes really!)
Several broken arms/legs/wrists/ankles
One broken face (blood everywhere and no sign of a chin, courtesy of hockey stick)
Several cricket ball/groin incidents
I reckon only about half of us made it through undamaged, we were the half that normally just hid during games, being typical computery geeks.
So, exactly what are these idiots complaining about?
Really, video games are the safe option, trust me.
I drive to/from work along a motorway and most days there is some idiot in the middle lane getting slower and slower (down to about 40-50) and as you pass them you can quite clearly see that they are on the phone. Either talking or texting.
(Alternatively, someone in front slams on the anchors and veers wildly through traffic to the "slow" lane without looking in mirrors, to answer their phone. Because of course braking and veering on the M-way are much safer than continuing on your course at the same speed...)
I always find it amusing that American road safety people suggest that phones aren't as dangerous as :
"adjusting the radio, to eating and drinking, to tending a child in the rear seat, to reading, shaving, and applying makeup, to swatting bees"
Most of which are actually illegal in the UK, even while stationary.
I suspect even swatting bees would come under a generic "being distracted" category!
So if it's eco friendly, can we assume that they included the hours of processing time to convert from various common media types to Apple's own proprietary formats?
As well as needing to leave something else switched on to stream the media to it.
You could replace it with a bump on the wire and get your PC/MAC to "stream" HDMI to the bump and the bump can transmit it to the telly. Oh look, there's a set top box that needs no power at all.
Just like speed cameras, there will end up being a database online somewhere linked in to google maps or GPS systems etc....
Maybe like the #uksnow tag in twitter someone could make something that uses geolocation on photos of ANPRs posted to twitter to build the database. (don't use the geo info from twitter, by the time someone tweets, they'll have left the area of the camera)
Considering the entire IT estate gets changed out about every 5 years or so I completely agree with your plan to skip everything right now and start again from scratch. Big Bang solutions are always so good especially when done across the entire infrastructure like you're proposing.
As opposed to the obviously idiotic step of having a phased approach where as systems go end of life they follow their natural path to the bin and get replaced with something with "free" software.
At the same time they can take the people who know how to use a system that's gone and give them the training that they would naturally expect to receive when replacing one expensive system with another (in my experience that's about sod all).
"Basically the rag seems to exist to push the reactionary outrage button on closet facist readers."
It's taken you how long to realise this????
Why not post some more exciting comments :
Grass is green
Sky is blue
Water is wet
Fire is hot
Of course you could jazz it up a bit :
Basically fire seems to exist to push the thermal outlet button on combustible fuels.
Basically the grass seems to exist to absorb the energy from the sun with clorophyll.
etc...
As a viewer of films, I'd like to ask a projectionist :
Why are films never in focus these days?
Why do you leave the blooming lights on?
Why do cinemas insist on charging 15quid for a tiny portion of popcorn that drives everyone else mad with the rustling through the film? (OK, so maybe this one isn't for projectionists)
And, I agree about phones :
Faraday cage the whole building and then stick a small signal jammer inside.
Provide "house phones" that connect direct to 999 (or 911 if you're mercan) for genuine emergencies.
If it's not 999 level, it can wait an hour or so.
If you're expecting an "emergency" call, don't go shut yourself in a room with a bunch of people who want to concentrate on something other than you playing with your phone and walking in and out of the room.
<PEDANT>
You've got an "oxygen tube" inside a "PVC tube".
PVC is quite rigid and easily formed into a tube. I am happy with that bit.
But how do you make oxygen stay in a tube shape and prevent it from diffusing into whatever surrounds it?
Do you mean "tube with oxygen in"?
Also, it sounds like you're not going to fill it with oxygen, just "air".
Maybe : "rubber tube containing mostly nitrogen" ?
I don't know much about rubber, but it's probably some sort of poly butyl something or other.
And it's got your Aluminium oxide in too.
</PEDANT>
What makes you think a dedicated hacker couldn't find his way into a SBO system in a couple of weeks?
The same time spent poring over the source code can be sent doing an awful lot of "random" packet injection.
In an open system, the "cleverest" person wins. If he's on your side you're going to beat the hacker. As soon as he notices the flaws he tells you and you close them.
In an SBO system, if someone does get in undetected, nobody else is looking at it to tell you where your flaws are, you're never going to know.
Look at the number of software products out there with licence restrictions that "cracks" are available for to see how often closed source is defeated.
Most people running Intel chips are windozers. Anyone playing ZFS is likely to be on solaris and either at home on intel-like hardware (where SAS drives are going to be too expensive) or at work on a 'real' Sunracle box.
People in "enterprise" class environment running an OS capable of ZFS on Intel hardware are probably as common as hen's teeth.
Hence we have another solution to a non-problem.
But, maybe in the future it will be a good thing.
Ellis reportedly made £200,000 and the police only spent £29,000 (plus normal hours work etc...) in trying to prosecute him.
I wonder who managed to afford the best legal team...
If they'd actually managed to prosecute presumably his money would have been taken as "proceeds from crime" and they could have put the whole thing down as a "profit" rather than a "loss".
Any data on how much the successful prosecutions clawed back from the crims in question?
The problem with "webmin" like tools is that it lets people that don't have a clue do stuff that they wouldn't do if they understood what they are doing.
This sort of problem is OS independant.
Windows has it built in that people can see GUIs and click buttons and create terrible solutions very easily.
It's like Java "write once, crash anywhere" now we've got webmin "fail to understand once, distribute crap everywhere".
There are no tools that are a subsititue for knowing what you're doing REGARDLESS of the operating system.
The block "shit" but when you get as far as shit recommend "shite".
They allow "bollox" and block "bollocks".
Sounds like their list of naughty words isn't very comprehensive. Anyone got a copy of Roger's Profanisaurus they can send to Google?
McShit and "pink darth vader" aren't blocked. I can't recall any others.
So, if someone commits an offence and then uses their car, local councils aren't allowed to use the registration number to find out who the offender might be? This is a "good thing" why?
For examples :
Out of control dogs menace someone and shit on the path, then jump into vehicle and drive away. That would be a council issue so they aren't allowed to find out who owns the car that the dogs jump into. (Which would be a good starting point for an investigation.)
The next day, the same out of control dogs savage someone, then jump into vehicle and drive away. That would be a police matter and they're allowed to query the DB.
I say : pillory the Sunday Express for acting like a bunch of criminal friendly pillocks.
As well as whoever specified the rules for querying the database.
Seems sensible that any offence committed by someone who could be identified with the aid of number plate searches would generate a legal query.
PS Did anyone else get confused about why the DVLA would want the council to take away their Waste Electrical Equipment? Too many words, too few different TLAs...
Meaningful to whom precisely?
I can probably squeeze a "std def" (I assume you mean standard definition, which could mean anything from 320x240 to 640x480 to different people) channel of black with some good encoding/compression down the 256K channel you're complaining won't work for radio.
But then, stream a normal film with an enormous bitrate (co compression), add in (uncompressed) 7.1 surround sound and you'll be lucky to stream it on a 20Mbit connection running at full speed.
It's still not going to help when the carrier advertises "up to 10 meaningful measurements worth of bandwidth" and you find you can only get less than one at peak time. They said "up to" and you're getting somewhere below the limit, you got what you're paying for.
Driving onto the M4 at J16 there is what appears to be an ANPR.
Driving off at J17 onto the A350 there is one quite well hidden in the trees.
At the Chippenham end of the A350 there is another one.
With such ubiquitous coverage they could easily start to use them as speed cameras, even though you would have had to drive slower to go round junctions, there could still be times when you didn't slow down much for the junctions and went too fast and managed to get your average speed above 70 for that section (for example late at night when there is noone around to have a crash with and no children walking on the road)
I think it's time to have a google maps app to plot their locations. I would suggest using street view to find them but all 3 of those mentioned have been put up in the last few months.
If they interface it with the iPhone rather than simpy sellotaping it on the back, then I expect people will buy it to use as an external storage module.
It might shut some of the iPhone haters up for about 10 seconds till they start "oh but I don't need an add on to read memory cards".
(I'm neither a fanboi or a hater. I own a iPhone 2G that runs both ios and android. An HTC hero and an iPhone 4. They all have highs and lows.)
Once again, the lawyers win.
I think there used to be a time when laws were set up to protect the freedom/property/etc of individuals.
Now it seems that laws and policing are set up to perpetuate the huge amounts of money earnt by lawyers in either arguing about loopholes or arguing about idiotic/contradictory laws.
Now, if a government promised to sort that out, I'd vote for them.
iPhone patches get downloaded onto your PC and then installed over iTunes and your cable to the device.
The reason that it's so big is that this isn't a patch. Apple don't patch, they just release a whole new iOS. Which includes browser, mail app, phone, contacts app, etc. etc. etc....
Hence, yes it is a bit chunky.
RIP OpenSolaris.... :-(
I, for one, don't welcome our over-engineered, big iron supporting, probably ridiculously complicated for no good reason, Oracle labelled overlords.
And there was x86 Solaris 2.6 and probably later versions. OK, not x64, but at that stage I don't think there were 64bit intel CPUs. So your comment about sol9 and x86 is like saying the lack of petrol powered horses before the model T Ford was due to the oil industry wanting to sell big iron.
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