* Posts by frank ly

6077 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Jun 2009

A scanner, darkly: Master data-miner Google tweaks terms of service

frank ly

Adverts on Gmail?

I don't see any adverts in the few emails to my gmail account. I think this is thanks to Adblock Plus, which is a plugin for Firefox and I have their app running on my Android phone and tablet. It's so long since I set everything up that I can't remember.

German space centre endures cyber attack

frank ly

Re: "state sponsored"?

The "state sponsored" description is used to mean that the development effort, along with testing and insertion into the target would be so expensive as to require a very rich sponsor, i.e a state level backer.

I suppose that it's possible for a major banking trojan development group or a drugs cartel to finance this level of operation but it seems unlikely.

Report: Apple seeking to raise iPhone 6 price by a HUNDRED BUCKS

frank ly

@AC 'may be naive' Re: "no other game-changing device this year"

Many diabetics control their condition with tablets, certainly in the initial stages of the disease. I know my father did. Effective control in the early stages can help to lessen the rate of progress and will also reduce bodily damage, or at least slow down the effects. Continuous non-invasive monitoring would be a fantastic tool for any diabetic because they could respond to any medication need more often than at present and without having to prick their finger and smear blood on a test-strip.

Microsoft Research adds interactivity to Windows 8 Live Tiles

frank ly

Amazing

It's as if the 'tile' becomes a small 'window', in which an application runs and you can have more than one of them on the screen at the same time. It's a paradigm shift!

Icahn, but Iwont: Carl the investor pest ends war with eBay

frank ly

What percentage of eBay shares did Icahn buy?

It must have been significant to demand that two of his aides be given seats on the board?

Greg Christie to leave Apple as Jonathan Ive seizes design reins

frank ly

Re: @ Scott L. Burson - "seizes design reigns"???

I see that the sub-headitor had second thoughts.

frank ly

Re: @ Scott L. Burson - "seizes design reigns"???

It's a pun! Read it as ".... seizes design; reigns."

Apple to flush '£37bn' down the bog if it doesn't flog cheapo slabtops

frank ly

I'm sure the correct spelling is 'analist'.

Something to do with attention to detail and personality. I may have misunderstood.

Microsoft crows about 149k-seat Office 365 deal that costs it MILLIONS

frank ly

I'd be surprised if that 5+5 was applicable to the deal that Microsoft struck with the Queensland government. For such a large sale to a specific customer, the terms are easily negotiable. If it is, then they would probably make sure that five employees and their mobile devices were covered by each 'allowance'.

PC market's bleeding slows thanks to XP phase-out

frank ly

@ITS Retired Re: Tablets do not replace PCs

Win 7 removed the pop-out toolbars that XP had. I'm just glad I tried Linux and MATE (etc).

Linode raises Hourly Billing flag against Digital Ocean pirates

frank ly

Information requested

Is there a technical blog, or even a formal article anywhere that I could read to learn how to set up one of these cloudy platform service things? I understand the principles but have never done it. I don't mind paying a few pounds (or dollars) for a learning experience. I find that the explanations on the websites of these companies is very high level, without the detail I need.

(Many years ago, I set up an Apache server on a non-standard port on my home PC and made a mini-website to show a photo album; so I do have some technical ability but I do need to be told the details.)

Microsoft's Azure cloud lashed by BT's private cables

frank ly

I smiled, in a sad way

"... BT's private fibre cables giving security-focused organizations ..."

Maybe GCHQ will be interested in using them?

USB reversible cables could become standard sooner than you think

frank ly

Uh Kev, on the back of my computer the USB connectors are vertical. So does the seam go to the left or the right? Also, is that the computer's right or my right - viewed from which position and orientation?

Windows 8.1 Update: Throws desktop drones a bone but still as TOUCHY as ever

frank ly

@janimal Re: Windows 8 was built for one reason only

You can install and then use any DE you like (selected on a button at the login screen). If you're used to Windows, I'd go for MATE, XFCE or LXDE in that order of decreasing 'power'. (They have pop-out toolbars, just like XP did, but which Win7 got rid of.) Try Cinnamon if you like; they are all free apart from the cost of your time and a bit of disk space. If you want a truly 'futuristic' experience, try KDE.

Melting permafrost switches to nasty, high-gear methane release

frank ly
Flame

Blue sky thinking

"Methane is a far more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, ..."

Flare it off?

Microsoft: We've got HUNDREDS of patents on Android tech

frank ly

I assume ...

... that they use exFAT to make the files compatible with any (thus many) Windows PCs that are used to read SD cards from an Android device or connect to an Android device?

Gay marriage foes outraged at Mozilla CEO flap, call for boycott

frank ly

Maybe he could do a job share with an openly gay co-CEO as his 'partner'. Maybe.

Windows XP still has 27 per cent market share on its deathbed

frank ly

Re: It's not dead

Ah, the budgie. I don't want to talk about it.

frank ly

It's not dead

It's just resting.

Beat it, freetards! Dyn to shut down no-cost dynamic DNS next month

frank ly

@Lost ... Re: @big_D What's the point?

I don't work in IT. I've never worked in IT (thank goodness). I can find TDC on my car engine (and used to) but nowadays I pay a mechanic to do that sort of thing for me. If my car broke down on the road, being able to find TDC would not help me to get it started. However, I do always carry a mobile phone and have a subscription to a recovery service, which is much more useful that knowing how to find TDC.

If I was the owner/director/manager of a company that relied on a computer controlled/related production line then I'd make damn sure that there was training, procedures and processes in place to deal with common/forseeable problems and breakdowns. Perhaps you prefer the 'keen amateur' approach to running a company which clients and employees depend on?

frank ly
WTF?

@big_D Re: What's the point?

They run a production line, which I assume is somehow important or even vital and is somehow dependent on computers and the internet. Despite this, they can't be bothered to learn what an IP address is??

Singapore decides 'three strikes' laws are too intrusive

frank ly

re. " ... Singapore’s context ..."

Do they mean the local culture and 'social norms' would feel this was too intrusive? I thought that Singapore was a place where the government forbids you to chew gum and forces 'long' haired males to have a haircut before they can enter the country.

Can anyone who knows Singapore well comment on this?

Apple sued in Texas troll territory for iMovie patent infringement

frank ly

Re: When

When a lawyer and a patent troll are hanging at every crossroad.

Vint Cerf wanted to make internet secure from the start, but secrecy prevented it

frank ly

Snowden should be careful

" ...his revelations about NSA spying tactics are assisting authoritarian government, ..."

The CIA don't like people muscling-in on their patch.

Samsung's thumb-achingly ENORMO Galaxy Note Pro 12.2

frank ly

re. use in portrait orientation

With the S-pen and a proper handwriting recognition app, this would be great for note taking. Are there any apps out there that can do that? I realise that for me especially, some 'proper' handwriting would be needed.

Drone 'hacked' to take out triathlete

frank ly

Re: Next step

" ... anyone but the nominal operator of the drone being responsible for its movements."

Or the government, secretly taking it over to carry out some covert activity. Oh, you meant legally responsible?

Why ever leave home? Amazon wants to turn your kitchen into a shop

frank ly

Re: Prior art declaration

Do you have a working model of such an apparatus? Oh, .... I'm being old fashioned again, sorry.

Too late, Blighty! Samsung boffins claim breakthrough graphene manufacturing success

frank ly

I've had an idea

" ... both Samsung and Nokia have filed patents for using graphene in mobile devices, and that Apple, Saab, and Lockheed Martin have also filed for or received patents on graphene use."

I'll file patents for use of graphene in spaaaace! Then sue anyone who copies my brilliant IP.

Final Windows XP Patch Tuesday will plug Word RTF vuln

frank ly

"Windows XP is a thirteen year old operating system .."

And they were fixing its flaws every month until it officially 'died'. For how many years will Microsoft be sending out essential security patches to Win7 and then Win 8?

Deep desert XP-ocalypse averted as Reg man returns

frank ly
Thumb Up

re. " If I were a more skilled operator ..."

You are now Simon :) Well done and thank you for sharing your experiences with us. We look forward to similar articles in the future.

BEHOLD the HOLY GRAIL of TECH: The REVERSIBLE USB plug

frank ly

@ andreas koch Re: @ Graham Dawson - Am I the only one ....

"I think you probably twisted it around a bit."

I think that twisting it around a bit could be dangerous too :)

Note: If it's reversible, then the ground will be on the centre connector(s) and the 20VDC will be on the outer connectors (or vice versa). For this type-C connector, that would give less than 2mm gap between ground and power, with some data connector strips between the power connectors.

frank ly

Am I the only one ....

... who would feel nervous about sending 100W through a connector that is so small and puny and a dust trap?

China's Bitcoin exchanges begin pulling down the shutters

frank ly

"... it received the instruction by telephone ..."

It sounds very informal. Can I call them and tell them to start accepting Bitcoins again?

Tamil Nadu's XP migration plan: Go Linux like a BOSS

frank ly

Re: Hooray

As a matter of interest, how many 'user seats' were there and what were the licensing cost savings compared to continuing with (I assume) Windows? Did the users have any problems or difficulties adapting to the new system? etc....

Mechanical monster macropod LEAPS out of the lab

frank ly

Re: Re German humour

The tail blocks the view of the rear light so it isn't 'street legal' at the moment. Also, it will need white lights shining from its eyes.

On a separate note, I have a background feeling that much of that video was 'rendered' from CAD models, except for the woman who could have been added in.

IEEE signs off on 400 Gb/s Ethernet development

frank ly

re. "As we foreshadowed .."

I followed that link and you definitely 'foretold' it. 'Foreshadowing' is much more subtle and spooky.

Intel uncloaks next-gen 'Braswell' Atom, 64-bit Android KitKat kernel

frank ly

Words

" ... or even Linux," he said, ...

Is it my imagination or does he sound surprised?

Google's Nest halts sales of its fire alarm – because waving your hand switches it off

frank ly

Re: Why would you make it convenient to turn off an alarm?

"... This could delay an alarm going off if there was a real fire ..."

It seems that it's not _cancelling_ an existing alarm that is the issue. It actually _disables_ the alarm; it would seem.

Bay of Tweets: US sought to disrupt Cuba with covert social network

frank ly

Re: Signature Required for Delivery

How do I go about getting a USAID box? I really want to try one.

Does my mass look big in this? Roly-poly galaxy El Gordo more porky than first feared

frank ly

re. "three quadrillion times the mass of our sun"

It would be more useful and a better comparison to know how much bigger it was than our own _galaxy_. Can anybody offer a figure?

Microsoft in 1-year Windows XP survival deal with UK govt

frank ly

Re: Microsoft told The Register:

From what we've seen of government, that would need much more than a year of planning, feasibility studies, pilot projects, budget reallocations, staff changeovers, consultancy swaps, re-specification, ............

Lego is the TOOL OF SATAN, thunders Polish priest

frank ly
Happy

@Christoph Re: Where are the values?

Definitely a 'carrier of Death'; and he does it so well.

iiNet to Senate committee: metadata retention an expensive joke

frank ly

Re: $60M for a 20TB data centre?

It does say 'build and _secure_', so maybe it's a reinforced underground bunker with dual redundant power generation and underground storage tanks for a year of fuel?

Crashed NORKS drones discovered by South Korea

frank ly

Re: Auntie Bee has pictures of the drone

I thought you meant Sarah. My heart beat a little faster for a few seconds. (But, you meant 'Beeb'.)

Single chip photon source brings quantum comms closer

frank ly

As I understand it * ....

... you can't use entanglement to send information between two places instantaneously (in the sense of sending a bit stream representing the letter 'A', for example), but you can use it to send information between two places (at the speed of photons) in such a way that nobody can intercept or listen in to the data transfer without the end parties being aware that this is happening. Hence its potential for use in very secure data networks.

*From snippets of info I read or heard somewhere.

How Microsoft can keep Win XP alive – and WHY: A real-world example

frank ly

Re: WHY because Why waste that old Hardware, its bad for Planet Earth.

@ Charlie Clark

If it's only 6 years old, can't you give it more memory?

frank ly

Re: End of the road

Just as a matter of interest, two months ago I bought a Kingspec 32GB 2.5" IDE/PATA _SSD_ for my old laptop. It cost me £40 on e-bay from a Chinese supplier. It works fine, but I'm not sure for how long, and it's given a speedy and silent new lease of life to my 8 year old laptop.

Good idea with the virtual machine solution. As long as it's just network connections that are needed it should be simple to do.

Chinese patent app tries to own Wine on ARM

frank ly

They learned a lot from Apple

It would seem.

Researcher lights fire under Tesla security

frank ly

Botnet herders .....

....., rounding up and rustling Teslas.

Boeing, Cupertino to 'explore weaponisation of Apple technologies'

frank ly
Happy

" ... bear fruit ..."

You could have said 'take wing".