* Posts by frank ly

6077 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Jun 2009

Creaky PC? SanDisk gives users a NAND with speedy '3-bitter' SSD

frank ly

Percentages and bits

"TLC or 3 bits per cell flash stores 50 per cent more information in each cell than MLC (2 bits per cell) "

Three bits gives you eight possible values; two bits gives you four possible values. That sounds like one hundred percent more information.

Dozens of COPS cuffed in Turkish Prime Minister's wiretap probe

frank ly
Happy

Re: It's weird

Both.

Nuke regulator hacked three times in three years

frank ly

Recruiting the best and the brightest

"... conning dozens of staff to enter their login details into fake web forums, and by tricking employees to download and execute malware hosted in a Microsoft SkyDrive account, and contained within an attached PDF file."

The people who fell for this should have their internet access blocked.

Xen to practice art of motor vehicle embedded development

frank ly

Re: That's all very well

Then to save costs, they'll all share the same memory.

frank ly

Just wondering ...

" ... an Android virtual machine could run the entertainment system while a Linux VM takes care of niceties like keepingt the car on the road."

And a Windows VM could ... ?

Munich considers dumping Linux for ... GULP ... Windows!

frank ly

@Def Re: Thunderbird + Lightning

I store my TB mailbox on a home network drive (all solid state, no fans) and so can access it from any of my computers at home. I use a plugin to access my Google calendars and also have private calendars on an FTP server out on the internet which work nicely with Lightning. Its all doable but I would concede that Thunderbird needs some polishing.

frank ly
Happy

Do you hear that? It's the sound of a Thunderbird plus Lightning.

e-Borders fiasco: Brits stung for £224m after US IT giant sues UK govt

frank ly

Tears roll down my cheeks

" ... undertake a review of the case ... and to identify flaws so they won't be repeated in future government contracts."

I'm not laughing; I'm crying.

TRIANGULAR orbits will help Rosetta to get up close with Comet 67P

frank ly

24th September - Night Excursion

Hoping to find nightclubs and bars?

Something's phishy: More holiday scam spam flung at real hotel customers

frank ly

Modern Mores

"If Booking.com had been breached, you'd expect a dump of customer details would have been posted online by now - if someone has found a way to access customer details and are keeping it to themselves in order to craft these very specific spear phishes, then this would be a rather unusual case. "

If I found a way to get this info (and I was of criminal intent), I wouldn't share it with anybody, unless they paid me. I'm old fashioned.

Google's so smart it's discovered SHARKS HAVE TEETH

frank ly

With cable, you lay the line.

Top Gun display for your CAR: Heads-up fighter pilot tech

frank ly

So many things to consider.

" ... Navdy has refuted claims that its new device is dangerous, ..."

Have they refuted these claims or have they just denied them? Refutation needs proof.

"You hear that? Pilots use it; it's safe"

Pilots have lots and lots of training. They don't have other aircraft jumping out in front of them or traffic lights turning red suddenly as they fly along.

"Projected like it's two metres in front of you, so you never have to adjust your focus away from your driving."

If you drive around focussed on what's two metres in front of you, you'll miss everything you need to be paying attention to.

YES YES YES! Apple patents mousy, pressure-sensing iVibrator

frank ly

Re: 1 step closer to their goal

That would have made a great sub-heading joke.

SpiderOak says you'll know it's secure because a little bird told you

frank ly

@Eddy Ito Re: 6 months?

Your idea is technically good but the act of revoking a signature can only be done by someone in the 'offending jurisdiction' actively telling the revoker that something is wrong - hence potentially falling foul of the law there. Another layer of 'everything is ok' messages would need to be sent between the various signors, perhaps every week. It could be done with proper organisation of staff but it then starts to get complicated.

Google hops into bed with Brit red-top: Cooks up 'draw an app' coding compo for kids

frank ly

From the Sun article

"You’ll get to build a game and start hacking with a Raspberry Pi."

It's an evil plot to raise a hacker army. Or maybe an evil plot to pre-screen citizens for hacker tendencies?

Snowden on NSA's MonsterMind TERROR: It may trigger cyberwar

frank ly

History sort of repeats itself

"Clapper insists he did not lie to Congress in his statement. Instead, he argues, it depends on your definition of "collect." "

I did not have data monitoring with that computer.

Stanford boffin is first woman to bag 'math Nobel Prize'

frank ly

Re: I'm wondering ....

Is there a branch of mathematics which describes the hyperlink paths that are followed by someone reading mathematical articles on Wikipedia? If not, there ought to be.

frank ly

I'm wondering ....

.... what the difference is between 'dynamical' systems and dynamic systems. Is it one of those subtle distinctions?

One in 12 Tweeps are bots

frank ly

Tweeps?

I think the word 'tweeps' should be reserved for tweets from peeps.

Beware of Greeks bearing spammy small omicrons, says Google

frank ly

My favourite website (mybonk.com) has been taken offline. Is this related?

£100m DMI omnifail: BBC managers' emails trawled by employment tribunal

frank ly

Use of technology

"Linwood claimed he was given a choice of resigning or going through a disciplinary process and facing dismissal. Coles and Burdon denied this."

A small, good quaity audio recording device in your jacket top pocket would be useful in some situations.

Chinese Bitcoin farms: From scuzzy to sci-fi

frank ly

@Scott Earle Re: I've often wondered

Any kidding aside, the North Sea would make a great heatsink.

frank ly

Re: You could build Bitcoin heaters

You're showing signs of long term planning and joined up thinking. There's no place for you in the modern world.

Microsoft: Just what the world needs – a $25 Nokia dumbphone

frank ly

@Lost all Faith Re: Nice thing to have

I use it mostly as a miniature tablet, mainly via WiFi. On walks and visits I use the camera and then the installed FTP client can shovel the pictures to my home networked FTP server. It has Dropbox and GDrive clients installed on in and an email client and a GoogleCalendar app. It's amazing what a modern smart'phone' can do.

frank ly

Re: Nice thing to have

I doubt that it would last long if you use it as a music player; driving the earpieces will use lots of battery charge. Similarly, using it as a phone but not even making calls would drain the battery, probably within a week or maybe two if you're lucky.

My smartphones have always lasted about 5 days between charges (HTC Wildfire then Incredible and now a Nexus 4). I have WiFi on all day at home but I don't make many calls and I don't use GPS or Bluetooth and I don't play music on it and I hardly ever use mobile data. I also put it in airplane mode when I go to bed. I can only assume that you do all those things all at the same time.

Secretive Apple's super-secret university is full of BULL chic – leakers

frank ly

"Even the toilet paper in the bathrooms is really nice."

Cue associated jokes .........

Stephen Hawking biopic: Big on romance, not so much with the science?

frank ly

Re: Mr Hawking – Over-rated - Big Bang Mythology

" ... e = mc2 can be easily understood ..."

If you believe that, you've been gulled.

frank ly

Re: Mr Hawking – Over-rated - Big Bang Mythology

Something, something, ... downvote crown, something .... troll award.

Gartner's Special Report: Should you believe the hype?

frank ly

Magic Report

Is Gartner's Magic Quadrant or Hype Report anywhere near the ToD?

O2 vs Vodafone: Mobe firms grab for GCHQ, gov.uk security badge

frank ly

Cyber Security Accreditation

If you get that, does it mean you've cooperated in installing GCHQ taps into your network?

Microsoft fixes all those shaky GoPro vids nobody wants to watch

frank ly

Very impressive results

I'm wondering how long it would take the average laptop to process a video in this way.

The linked video was a very good and detailed (if rapid) overview of the techniques used. Why oh why did they have to add loud modern/hip music at the end of it? (I'm a grumpy old curmudgeon, I know.)

Another step forward for diamond-based quantum computers

frank ly

Fibre to the chip

I assume that block and translucent strip going up from it is to do with coupling photons into where they are needed..

Has any work been done on laying fibre optic tracks on PCBs or within chips?

Anonymous wifi the latest casualty of Russia net neurosis

frank ly

@Alfred2 Re: Lessons will be learnt

Over the weekend, The Independent carried three articles about online bullying (and 'grooming'), within which a former Government spokesman said that the internet was becoming too dangerous for children and that the Government needed to get tough on 'the industry'.

This feels like an initial massaging of public opinion to enable acceptance of restrictions.

One idea mentioned was to use Australian legislation about online bullying as a reference model. So, look to Australia as inspiration for future UK government attitudes and legislation of the internet.

Why hackers won't be able to hijack your next flight - the facts

frank ly

Faster than a speeding data block

"In all cases the signals sent are time-sliced to ensure controls respond instantly ... "

No, they respond within a defined and acceptable time delay, by design.

Apple, Intel, Google told to stop being tightwads and pay out MORE in wage-fix settlement

frank ly
Happy

@ Steve Knox Re: A US Judge has smited an attempt

There is something about a woman in a voluminous black robe.

Intruder alert: Cyber thugs are using steganography to slip in malware badness

frank ly

Re: FFS...Get Real

I think it means they only have two eyes, not five eyes.

Why do Reg readers deserve the big bucks? Here's why...

frank ly

Re: Mordac

Try Google; you get links to the cartoons on Google Images :)

Love in the time of the GPS sees chap propose with Google Map

frank ly

" ...suggest they are occasional cyclists with unexciting bikes."

Ordinary people can find love too.

Ecuador follows Bitcoin ban with digi-currency proposal

frank ly

This seems puzzling

" ... it will be possible to attract more Ecuadorian citizens, especially those who do not have checking or savings accounts and credit cards alone."

People who are too poor to have bank accounts or credit cards would be unlikely to have the ability to access the internet to manage a digital currency account. If the government sets up access terminals in public libraries, etc., then why can't they set up a 'bare bones' banking system using existing currency?

People who specifically avoid formally recorded money accounts would run away from a government controlled currency account.

True fact: Hubble telescope spots ZOMBIES in SPACE

frank ly

A supernova that was only 110 light years away would be an impressive sight.

Cracker takes control of 200 rooms in Chinese hotel

frank ly

An interesting application

It might be interesting to remotely open all the blinds of the hotel across the road.

Gmail gains support for non-ASCII email addresses

frank ly

Re: How will this handle codesets with different but same characters?

If it was native Pakistani spam, then it would be in Urdu, not Arabic.

Cor blimey: Virgin Media pipes 152Mb fibre to 100,000 East Londoners

frank ly

You're not supposed to create, you're supposed to consume. Sit back and vegetate.

SCORE: Rosetta probe hits orbit of duck-shaped comet

frank ly

Re: Very impressive re. semantics

I'm sure a rendezvous involves Rama in some way.

Watch this Aussie infosec bod open car doors from afar

frank ly

DMCA breach?

If he sets foot on US soil, would they arrest him for DMCA breaches?

Target tosses US$148m onto data breach barbecue

frank ly

At last?

Maybe now they'll realise that poor security hits them on the bottom line. Most of them need this kind of clue stick.

Astounding: We're about to stick a probe in orbit of a COMET

frank ly

The ultimate ride

If Philae's solar cells and battery can last, will Philae and its instruments survive the outgassing as the comet loops around the sun? What is the planned timescale of observation events? Is it intended that Rosetta will maintain orbit or does the mission have a natural end-point?

Hacker crew nicks '1.2 billion passwords' – but WHERE did they all come from?

frank ly

Recent Spamstorm

Is this why, for the past month, I've ben hit by "Online Rx 35% discount" spam, sometimes four a day?

I've used a particular yahoo email address as a 'sign up' address for various things over many years. I think it's time to get a new email address and migrate all my 'serious and useful' accounts over to that.

BAD VIBES: High-speed video camera records your voice from trash

frank ly

Re: Scared sh*tless

Just sweep the room for potted plants and crisp packets before you have any sensitive discussions.