* Posts by frank ly

6077 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Jun 2009

Virgin Media costs balloon by MEEELLIONS in wake of Brexit

frank ly

Re: They are a media company

Licensing costs for use of the 'Virgin' name? Oh, the possibilities.

New Gnome emerges blinking into the sunlight

frank ly

Old dog

I use the MATE desktop because it reminds me of Win XP (which was nice to use) and everything works fine in an understandable way. I've used LXDE on a old laptop and that's workable. I've tried Compiz and I've made an honest effort to use the KDE desktop so I could learn about all this modern bling. However, I just don't 'get it'.

What is the point? Can anybody explain it to me?

Microsoft deletes Windows 10 nagware from Windows 7 and 8

frank ly

I'm so happy ....

.... that I made the effort to get the Win 10 update early this year and the Anniversary Edition update last week.

Every time I plug that SSD in and boot from it, I'm reminded of why I switched to Linux three years ago. (If you haven't worked your way through the Win 10 Anniversary Edition update process then you haven't died.)

Lethal 4-hour-erection-causing spiders spill out of bunch of ASDA bananas

frank ly

Considerate

"We are sorry for any upset this has caused and are keeping Mr Gamble updated throughout our investigation,"

I'm sure that will be a great comfort to him and his family.

Latest F-35 bang seat* mods will stop them breaking pilots' necks, beams US

frank ly

Re: minimum weight

"But delaying the parachute opening allows the seat to slow down a little??? "

Yes; as ejected, the seat is moving forward through the air at the same speed as the aircraft but is nowhere near as aerodynamically shaped. Hence, it slows down as time goes by. Opening a parachute on a forward moving seat will give a large force that causes the pilot's head to move forwards.

However, I still don't understand what the pilot's weight has to do with it. Unless a lower weight pilot results in a faster ejection (upwards) speed due to a lighter mass load on the ejection mechanism ...... I still don't get it.

Hackers claim they breached Aussie point-of-sale tech firm, try to sell 'customer DB'

frank ly
Facepalm

Did I read that right?

The password was 'admin'?

I hope the buyer changed it to something more secure.

Electrical box fault blamed for GS2 data centre outage

frank ly

@Blotto Re: I don't understand

It's no use having a Genie if the lamp isn't maintained and the personnel know how to rub it properly. Also, don't even think about using a Wizard.

ROBO-PLOD! 'Droid snatches scumbag's shotgun in standoff

frank ly

Silent Running?

Was it the sound of the helicopter that prevented him from hearing the robot sneaking up behind him?

Quantum comms succeed over metro-scale fibre networks

frank ly

I'm confused

"Charlie measures A and B, in a way that prevents him knowing which photon he's measuring."

Why is the state/content of Charlie's mind important?

"During the BSM, Alice's particle A teleports its quantum state onto Bob's particle C."

If B and C are the quantangled pair, how can it be A that has its state 'teleported' onto C?

I've read this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_state but I'm non the wiser.

Also see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-cloning_theorem which states that it is impossible to create an identical copy of an arbitrary unknown quantum state. Isn't that what was done when the state of A was teleported onto C?

Brits: Can banks do biometric security? We'd trust them before the government

frank ly

Am I too cynical?

"... according to a new survey from Visa."

“Visa is already supporting a number of institutions in the development of emerging forms of authentication,”

Are there any independent surveys? I wonder what governent surveys have to say.

Radar missile decoys will draw enemy missiles away from RAF jets

frank ly

Security by melting?

Do they have a built in time-delayed thermite charge to destroy the innards, to stop them being found and any classified data being extracted? Or wouldn't finding an intact one be all that useful to an 'enemy'?

BSODs of the week: From GRUB to nagware

frank ly

re. Win 10 upgrade

The picture seems to show two (1.5?) personal assistants in matching uniforms.

Emacs and Vim both release first new updates in years

frank ly

Just wondering

"... so a dev can browse the Internet from inside an editor window."

Is this actually useful in practical ways? I'm not a 'dev' or anywhere near being one so I don't know how they work.

T-Mobile USA leaked free access to sites with '/speedtest' in the URL

frank ly

Did he also get high speed access?

Just wondering.

Australian universities drop tech services to dodge metadata retention obligation

frank ly

How far does this go?

If I rent a simple lower tier service from a hosting provider and provide an email address to my cousin and to an old friend (neither of whom live in the same town as me) and also maybe let them have a bit of ftp server space, am I a service provider under the meaning of the act?

Let's Encrypt won its Comodo trademark battle – but now fan tools must rename

frank ly

@Paul Shirley Re: Wow

That sounds like a logical and reasonable idea but it would add a layer of legal and administrative complexity to their activities and operations. Also, IANAL but it might give Comodo a chance to demand a licence on equivalent terms and then tie them up in costly legal action if they say no. Better to keep things simple.

iPhone 7's Qualcomm, Intel soap opera dumps a carrier lock-out on us

frank ly

This is an example of ....

.... the ongoing reason why Apple won't talk to you.

Keep it up. (That's what Intel said to Apple.)

MoD confirms award of giant frikkin' laser cannon contract

frank ly

Culture CLUB would be an even more terrifying weapon.

"Do you really want to hurt me ....?"

Rise of the Machines at Sea: The British firm building robot boats

frank ly

Re: Piracy?

"So how do you assert ...?"

A big 'F**k Off' sign and lots of booby traps.

'Google tax' already being avoided, says Australian Tax Office

frank ly

Get expert advice

When politicians and civil servants are drafting tax laws, they should engage 'domain experts' to point out to them how the laws can be bypassed. We've seen, time and time again, how the intent of tax laws are simply bypassed. It's almost as if future corporate tax lawyers and accountants are running governments.

Great British Great Bake Off gets new judge

frank ly
Thumb Up

@AC Re: WTF?

Upvoted for use of the word 'minutiae' and the subtle baking references.

Sorry Nanny, e-cigs have 'no serious side-effects' – researchers

frank ly

Who do regulations protect?

I'm now three months into vaping and have been tobacco free for all that time (after a failed attempt four years ago). This time, instead of the 'pen' type system, I bought a tank system and vaped 24mg strength liquid even though the tank instructions say not to use anything more than about 16mg. I found that this was the only way to satisfy the cravings I experienced. After a couple of weeks, I diluted the 24mg with 16mg to give a 20mg liquid and got used to that. I've been working my way down, using simple mixing/dilution and am now vaping 10mg liquid and I find that the cravings are much less. My intention is to get down to 4mg or less and then quit.

If you want to save money, you can dilute high strength liquid with glycerine but you lose the flavour and you get big clouds of vapour (which some people enjoy).

I believe that my failure, four years ago, was because I was using a pen system with 24mg liquid and that didn't give me enough of a 'hit' to satisfy the cravings. As I recall, organisations that seem to be against vaping have recommended that the maximum strength of vaping liquid made available to the public should be set at a low level to 'protect them from harm'. It would appear, at least in the case of people like me, that this would have the effect of protecting BB&P from people quitting tobacco.

I realise that some people will say that 'the public' must be protected from their own foolishness but I can easily buy enough whiskey to kill myself, so what's that about? Oh, government tax income, yes. I hope I can stop before they get regulated/taxed.

GitLab snags VC cash, promises to 'Git-ify' the world

frank ly

@AC Re: @kmac499 Does this mean?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_man_%28stock_character%29

Note: By my reply, I 'revealed' that I use suppositories thus exposing myself to ridicule and extending the joke.

frank ly

@kmac499 Re: Does this mean?

I agree with you but didn't you mean 'repository'?

Ad flog Plus: Adblock Plus now an advertising network, takes cash to broker web banners

frank ly

@Steven Roper Re: Harrumpf

In the NoScript menu, select Options and then the General tab. Right at the top you can automatically enable maindomain.com to three levels of granularity.

End all the 'up to' broadband speed bull. Release proper data – LGA

frank ly

The best way to measure speed ....

.... is to wait until about three days after a very popular TV series has released an episode and then download it from the torrents early in the morning. Give it about 10 minutes to settle down and see how fast it's coming down the line. Note: This is for technical test purposes only. When it's finished downloading, or before, you must stop the torrent and delete it. You must not play it or store it on your computer.

Action Fraud warns of fraudulent anti-fraud warnings posing as Action Fraud

frank ly

Re: Banks

"... a small time window hundreds of miles away from where you normally use it ..."

One Friday evening, I drove from work to within two miles of my home then exercised my credit card by filling up my tank with petrol, then bought some food from the supermarket around the corner from where I live and decided to buy some cigarettes from the tobacco counter there. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. The cigarette transaction was blocked and guy on the counter was told to phone a special number and said he had to destroy my credit card unless I could talk to the man on the phone and answer some questions. Apparently my use of the card was 'suspicious'.

Nvidia: Eight bits ought to be enough for anybody ... doing AI

frank ly

Deep Learning

As well as the links in the article, it's worth having a look at:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceptron

This seems to give a good summary as well as a brief history of the development of the technique. It's well written and I nearly understood it.

Delete Google Maps? Go ahead, says Google, we'll still track you

frank ly

Re: Google Play Services (GPS), the Trojan app

I have a Nexus 4 running Android 4.4.2. When I disabled Google Play Services ( a battery hog), the scientific calculator app (RealCalc) gave me a popup that said it couldn't obtain a licence but at least I can Cancel the popup and use the calculator. With Touch Calendar however, it says the app licence can't be verified and gives me the choice of Exit or Buy App.

Hololens for biz shocker: Surprisingly, it doesn't totally suck

frank ly

Don't build my hopes up

"... even when the upgrades to your reality are in complex environments ..."

It took me a while to realise that he meant " -- overlays/additions/updates to your reality --". For a few seconds, I was excited by the possibility of an upgrade to my reality.

Curiosity rover likes big buttes but it cannot lie around

frank ly
Coat

Seymour Buttes

Coat: Somebody had to say it

Florida Man's prized jeep cremated by exploding Samsung Galaxy Note 7

frank ly

The windscreen glass melted

Are car fires usually that hot?

What's up, Zuck? FTC to probe Facebook for WhatsApp phone number mega-slurp

frank ly

This is why ....

.... I never give my mobile phone number to anyone unless I'd be happy for them to contact me anytime that my phone is not in Airplane mode. It's not just the phone calls, it's the texts. Even my mobile phone provider spammed me with text messages until I called them several times and told them to f**king well stop or I'd cancel the contract. Everybody else gets my landline number and they can wait and try again or leave a message if I'm not at home.

Read the damning dossier on the security stupidity that let China ransack OPM's systems

frank ly

Personality test

"... it had been attacked, but said that only computer manuals had been stolen and no personal information was missing."

Did you laugh or did you cry when you read that statement?

You're guilty but broke, judge tells Wash.io – the 'Uber of laundry'

frank ly

Exploring the business model

1. Take underpants

2. [Wash Them]

3. Profit?

When you've paid the ransom but you don't get your data back

frank ly

Reason

"Other reasons included encrypted data being highly confidential (32 per cent) ..."

I'm not sure why this is a definite reason for wanting access to the data. Surely, "we really want it back" is the reason for paying up.

Australia boards the slow boat to Brexit

frank ly

Free Trade

Does this mean that Australians will be able to buy high-tech electronics goods at UK prices (plus shipping costs)?

Meet Deliveroo's ‘bold and impactful’ new logo. No, really

frank ly

Let's talk about the colour

Is it the right choice? Will it still be relevant in two years time?

Sex is bad for older men, and even worse when it's good

frank ly
Gimp

@Stevie Re: Bah!

Are there any studies of the effects of giving/receiving a good thrashing on cardiovascular health. I ask because a friend was wondering about that.

BA check-in system checks out: Staff flung back to cruel '90s world of paper

frank ly

Re: Check in online

I'm sure you don't need a licence to look at the BBC news website. Not yet anyway.

Hacker takes down CEO wire transfer scammers, sends their Win 10 creds to the cops

frank ly

Say What?

"We were able to get the Windows 10 usernames and hashes which are tied by default to Outlook."

Those scammers are really .....smart?

Hollywood offers Daniel Craig $150m to (slash wrists) play James Bond

frank ly

Re: For some strange reason...

With Chris O'Dowd as the chief villain, Katherine Parkinson as Moneypenny and Matt Berry as 'M'. I'd watch it.

HSBC: How will we verify business banking customers? Selfies!

frank ly

Re: Is there a liveness check ?

Can you fool the 'liveness' check with a video?

Sophos Windows users face black screens after false positive snafu

frank ly

@AC(1)Re: Silver Lining

Seriously?: No.

drugs?: Caffeine, nicotine and pork pies.

conspiracy?: No, marketing opportunity - serendipity.

silver lining: sly reference to the previous 'tinfoil hat' posts as well as the old saying.

summary: Whoosh.

frank ly

Silver Lining

"The problem was limited to users running a specific version of 32-bit Windows 7 SP1, according to Sophos."

Microsoft can now target them with exhortations to upgrade to Win 10. Every little bit helps.

Brexit must not break the cloud, Japan tells UK and EU

frank ly

Money, Money, Money

From The Independent newspaper, yesterday.

"And there are concerns Japanese research and development projects based in the UK will lose access to EU science funding, ..."

Appliance-maker Liebherr chillin' with Microsoft, prototyping another Internet fridge

frank ly

The light turns off when you close the door so the cam won't be able to see anything most of the time.

Childcare app bods wipe users' data – then discover backups had been borked for a year

frank ly
Facepalm

A free app - delivering adverts

Childcare 'professionals' gave sensitive information about children to it. *Shakes my head*

We want GCHQ-style spy powers to hack cybercrims, say police

frank ly

And of course ....

.... the police will never misuse any powers given to them.

Latest Intel, AMD chips will only run Windows 10 ... and Linux, BSD, OS X

frank ly

Windows 10

The 'gift' that keeps on taking (the piss).