Posts by Pierre

"felony theft and conspiracy"

Preposterous. I do hope they'll win. If the guy can prove he tried to alert the bank, it looks like a done deal. Also, I do hope the bank gets a good spanking for wasting the judiciary's precious time.

Decent work but

How come the BOFH and PFY didn't get a visit from the coppers during the break? And if we admit that the boss did'nt call the pigs but just security, how come they were allowed to enter the building? I know there must be a good reason somewhere around, but I can't find it.

Also, I remember a time when the BOFH would just have done the e-mail thing whithout warning, ridiculing the smug boss instead of killing him. Having him sent to the nearest, erm, "retreat" would have been a plus.

Anyway, good to see the BOFH is still alive and kicking. Keep it up!

Let's get the chronology right

MS rushes out new unfinished OS. Said OS is so crappy that only a handful of MS fabuoys buys it. MS pushes harder, forces its retailers to sell it. Two major US MS retailers go titsup. MS lays off staff, with its only good result being a non-Vista segment. Ballmer:"don't you dare think it's the Vista backlash". Yeah, right Steevie. Put that chair down now.

Macs don't get viruses

Not yet. But then again, when was the last time you saw a Windoze virus in real life? As for the few tens of boxes I administer, it's been several years actually. And I did come across thousands of trojan/backdoors/spyware (stoopid lusers). Wake up guys, viruses are not really a threat anymore, at least for the common user. Black hats know better, trojans and backdoor can make you rich, viruses can't. There are no Mac-targeting flying saucers in the wild, so you're safer than Windows users, right?

To AC Thursday 22nd January 2009 23:31 GMT:

"how buying AV software will keep me from giving my superuser password to a piece of software I do not consider dubious? Will Mac AV software add three levels of "are you sure?" to each and every action, Windows-style?" please, tell me you're just trolling. One can't possibly be _that_clueless. Especially when trying to be pedantic with a "A trojan is not a virus" right afterwards.

Disclaimer: I hate Windows because it's a pain in the... neck. But smug and clueless Mactard tend to get on my tits (and in general, the dumbest the smuggest). It's people like you who make the sysadmins' lives a nightmare.

Cade, your bias is showing

Some parts of the article are good, but some others are just hand-waving. Most notably:

"More ads means more clicks" -do you have any data to back that up, or is it just a wild guess?

"You don't improve quality by spewing 57 per cent more ads onto your pages." -it might be a challenge, but do you have any data that would prove they failed?

Other than that, good piece.

Benjamin Button

Could have been a nice film if "they" hadn't cliché'd it to death, making it an 2h30+ collection of sentences previously heard in "Titanic", "Amelie Poulain", "My Best Friend's Wedding" and the like. And better actors might have helped too (though honestly, Pitt and Blanchett have both done much worst). As is, the movie only qualifies as a loooong director's cut for a bonus DVD. To be seen by the afficionados of the "real" movie. Too bad this "real" movie won't ever be released...

@ Unix

>"to develop and deploy a new generation of secure hardware and software."

>-- isn't that called unix?

Well, "secure software" (though probably not really possible, let's say "less insecure software") would certainly need ditching MS altogether until they fix their shit. Not that we should expect such a move from an US gov. As the saying goes, "what is good for MS is good for America". But most advanced countries are actually in the process of doing that, to some extent, so again, maybe the US will follow suit one day? One can dream. (or MS could actually fix their shit, but seing what they did with OXML, I wouldn't hold my breath).

At ShaggyDoggy: chill mate, you're not on /b here.

@JonB

Erm, maybe you should RTFM? Pretty much everything in my /etc/ is quite self explanatory _and_ heavily commented*. The most convoluted/complicated files in there even have their own man/info page in case you want to really fiddle with the most obscure aspects. I don't remember seeing anything even remotely approaching that for the windoze registry. "annotation suffers", if by that you mean "annotation is impossible by design" (which is not due to the database approach, as you seem to believe, but to the _dumb_ approach. Adding a comment field would not be rocket science, would it? The lack of it is further proof it's been designed to be obfuscated.)

We could go on and on with the flaws in the registry... but the fact is, autorun, hiding the extensions and all that useless dangerous crap is why botnet herders and VXers will never get out of business while there are MS products allowed to see the 'net.

* I'm sure it's the same in yours

Lethal or not

As you noted, the "non-lethal" thing is to avoid criticism from the wooly-gilet goat rearers, so it just needs to look like it's not been designed to kill. The fact that it will cause death at every use is, well, how do they say? A regrettable side-effect?

Anyway, I think the non-lethal aspect was not especially wanted in the first place. Sticking a bullet in the head of a ultralight-mounted kamikaze bomber, at a 500 ft altitude, is a _bad_ idea. Trapping him in a net (Which will make him fall right where he is, or that you can subsequently drag anywhere you want with a wire) is much better for obvious reasons.

Yes, but what about...

... rappers?

Also, it's good to see that a couple Reg commentards are about as clued as your average brainless bimbo." Kill all them law-breakers instead of sending them to the covert luxury palaces they call "prisons" Arrhh! Kill kill kill!."

Mac buyers on a budget

These would be the people who think the definition of "misery" is $40 000 a year.

"I'm cleaned out, I can't spend more than one grand on a new laptop this year". Yeah right. Now what about Bugatti buyers on a budget?

"but about half of all web content comes from overseas.”

Erm.

Why 8 wheels?

Because 8 motors then.

Ok, this is getting old

"3/10 windoze PC vulnerable". Who cares. Not their owners apparently (afraid of the AdvantageOfDoom maybe?). Nor the (wise) sysadmin who has some control on his local network.

And I'd bet the guys who run non-legit copies (and thus can't update -presumably-*) are not the less secure...

* I really couldn't say, my win2k installs _are_ legit...

Arrrrh! Ye fooled me

I read "*GNOME* appoints new chairman as police continue investigation".

Prease, lemove my humbre visit flom youl honourlabre site's stats*.

More seriously (but not by much): "stock market manipulation", huh? In some Western countries, a whole wunch of bankers** got generous amounts of "bailout" taxmoney as a reward for doing exactly the same thing...

*heeheehee <¦-)

** hehehe :-)

Other malware spreading chavs

Apparently some nefarious website pretends to show the inauguration online only to force a malware called Silverlight on ususpecting punters. Beware.

So bad I don't even know what to say

The worst part is that other govs might follow and reproduce that nutjobbery.

Also, I think we can now officially say that Ol' Blighty is crazyer, more hypocritical and biggot-grade prude than the USA. And that's saying something.

@ ..Really? And @ Who Cares?

I don't care about who made the crap, the fact is that Silverlight is so flawed that RealPlayer almost seems secure by comparison. (Also, it's from MS).

"the general masses do not give a damn how what they are watching is being broadcast, just that it works and they can watch it."

Yep. The general masses generally don't care about maintenance issues, they don't care if their computers get massively infected by malware and recruited into botnets. What was your point again?

Read between the lines

«“When business is down and IT budgets are stretched thin, some managers may be tempted to cut corners, leading to increased use of unlicensed software in their businesses,” said the group’s veep of anti-piracy and general counsel Neil McBride.“This is a terrible mistake because in the long run, companies stand to lose more money from being caught than they saved by installing unauthorised copies of software.”»

Translates to: "we need cash. We're coming for YOU *now*"

BSA guide to a successful software biz:

1- covertly encourage piracy to spread your crap. send licenses. Ca$h.

2- go for the "pirates", sue them to hell. Ca$h.

3a- in tough times, go for your legit customers, find a few which lost one paper, sue the hell out of them . Ca$h.

3b- concurrently to 3a - , find a state where the courts are clueless and/or bought (e. g. third-world areas like Texas). Find a few legit customers that fell in the pits of the weasely licences (i.e. you don't *own* this copy of the soft, you are only allowed to use it on one precise computer belonging to one precise department in your company.). Sue the hell out of them in the previously identified clueless area. Ca$h.

3c - Get the CEO to leave, that should keep El Reg hacks busy ;-) .

4a- When times get even tougher (the EPS might be lower than Wall Street expectations. Doom. God forbit, you might even have to lower the overall yearly bonuses to higher management by a few billion): lay off staff, repeat steps 3a b and c /ad nauseam/, get some taxmoney (blackmail and bribes will help). Ca$h, ca$h ca$h, ca$h and MAJOR CA$H. Also, fire the CEO (same effect as 3c, but stronger).

4b- try and find a scapegoat (P2P is hot right now), try and milk the cow* as much as possible.

5- (to be read by higher management people only) You're done. your debts overcome your assets so much that no-one wants to buy you: if you reach this stage, fire everyone, get as much as you can from your shares, and run. FAST.

Have your say: When will MS (arguably the BSA's most influent member) reach stage 5?

*scapecow? Anyone? Really? I still retain the copyright, use at your own risks.

Crime? No. USA? No

When the *erm* hacking took place, it was an offense, not a crime (and a petty one, at that). The law has been subsequently hardened, but applying laws retroactively is incredibly nasty.

The _offense_ (not crime) has been committed in the UK. The extradition treaty hasn't been ratified by the US (and one might reasonnably think that the US have no intention of ratifying it, ever. As usual. Lying deceptive twats) so should be considered void, surely.

I say, the snooping idiot stays where he is and gets a fair trial. In the country where the offense was committed (the UK). (which means he'll benefit from a reasonably fair judiciary system, not a risible staged comedy as it's so often the case in the US. Just a bonus)

@ the compassionate suckers

Sorry mates, but he WAS actively trying to commit fraud. He WAS trying to bribe toll officers. He effing well *deserves* what happened to him. He is not a victim, he is an incredibly stupid wannabe crook.

Still nothing compared to the naked short-selling scum, the subprime crooks and other pathologically greedy brainless taxmoney vampires. And at least this particular idiot won't be "bailed out" of responsibility with our money.

Someone MUST be responsible for our FAIL

The common people, who just were stolen the credit crunch money *twice* (once directly, once with the bailout), don't buy our mega-expensive stinking pile of pop tripe anymore. Shurely that's because they download it illegally, not because they are tired to finance our yacht-sized jets and supertanker-sized yachts by forking an arm and a leg for our recycled turd.

That's typical. Someone else MUST be responsible. Preferably someone powerless enough so that they can't fight back. Joe Bloggs will do! That's the same reason why the "not my fault" crook crowd are currently "bailed out" of the grave they dug, thanks to Joe Bloggs' tax money. You'll note that Joe Bloggs, who lost his house in the deal, will not be bailed out...

Hey, I've got a solution. Why don't we give the BPI, RIAA and friends whatever preposterous pile of cash they claim they lost because of P2P? Just give them some tax money! How much do they want? 2 T$? 3T$? No problem!

Pah...

Most higher management types -and some politicos- steal at least ten times that per year. Every year. This guy just needs to get the right friends. And some common sense (from home? C'mon!)

@Robert Brockway about western countries

«the best definition is "Western European countries and countries inhabited primarily by the decendents of western europeans".»

I think you mean "mainly", not "primarily".

That important point made, how do you consider Southern America? The real definition of "Western Country" as used nowadays is more like "Western Europe plus a few former British colonies" -depending on how you consider Canada, you might have to add "current British colonies" ;-).

Which is roughly equivalent to "Advanced capitalist countries not in eastern Eurasia" -depending on how you consider the US, you might have to add "formerly advanced countries" ;-). But the real signification is: "USA and goons in the UN".

@ Joe

"you got anything else to say?"

C'mon pal, you KNOW you feckin want to read this shit. You didn't feckin land here by a feckin accident. You feckin came here to get your feckin dose of feckin swearwords hell-feckin unleashed upon the feckin lusers that feckin pump your feckin oxygen*. Get the feck out of the closet already (or just GTFO).

Best regards,

Pierre

*Or bandwidth. Or both.

Data breach???!!??

Oh gawd. And I thought "data leak" was an an awful expression. Let's hope "data breach" isn't here to stay.

Physical destruction is good

Drives should definitely be physically destroyed when the destruction of the data is critical. Not because it's more efficient than dd, but because there's nothing more similar to a dd-ed drive than a non-dd-ed one. At least, after a good hammering, you do know.

Stop being twats, it might well have been an UFO

UFO it was, at least until it's identified... ;-)

"about 170ft long" to hit two of the blades? Or the size of a duck, but two of them?

Unless, of course, it's just a mechanical failure. Which is most probable, given the obvious attempts by the company to pass it off as an ET attack. "Our turbines are so incredibly sturdy, they must have been attacked by the Death Star, only way to damage them, honest". Wacky J. and friends should watch and learn. Coming soon: ET attacker steals Gov database on a CD, leaves it in pub.

As usual...

As always, a new toy for those with truckloads of money to spend and no need to do anything that they couldn't do (faster) with a typewriter. Bah.

He was _that_ bad really?

Theorem: when your former sysadmin can't hide his track better than that, you *know* this pink slip was not wasted paper. Corollary: don't fire a good sysadmin...

Corollary's corollary (in the light of current economics): don't hire a good sysadmin in the first place. Crap, this is getting complicated. Looks like they made the good decision: hire only crappy sysadmins, then sue the hell out them if they misbehave. Your systems might be vulnerable, but you will get your money back. C'mon, you know it (almost) makes sense.

Or maybe....

Maybe all the rumors are true, and the fine people at Apple keep a few Jobs clone/androids in a closet. Maybe he did die a few times already, and they keep activating clones...

Indox backwards?

Isn't being a backward mail thinggy Exchange's job?

Nice article...

Though calling Word a _productivity_ app is quite strange. Why not Twitter and Facebook, while you're at it?