Posts by Novex 363 publicly visible posts • joined 20 Jun 2011
"1 - Neo in the matrix doesn't hack from his workplace. He just works as a software engineer, and it's enforced even further in the interrogation scene that "by night youre a hacker" and as he works days (late after going to the club) we know he's not working nights."
I was thinking the same thing...
I never even started with it. With all the retrocompromises being applied to Windows 7, I'm also jumping the MS ship to Linux Mint. Am I happy with Mint? Yes, but there are some teething troubles which really shouldn't be there (Bluetooth problems, hibernation problems, WINE problems) but I'm willing to stick it out for a while. If they can't get sorted, I can always try a different, non-Ubuntu derived distro. The only thing left with Linux is the lack of higher grade commercial software for it, like Adobe products, and other specialist music and graphics stuff which I use some of. But I can keep a restricted install of W7 for those I suppose, and a VM for non-hardware related software.
Mint Problems So Far:
In Linux itself, I'm struggling to get used to KeePass as a replacement for Roboform (the Lite version of which can't read existing passcards, and doesn't have enough features compared to full Roboform). I'll have to struggle with KeePass/KeeFox for the foreseeable future.
In WINE, Winamp can't see my CD drive, so I can't rip CDs with it, which I do need as it's got a reliable ripper that I like.
I've already installed Mint alongside Win7 as a dual-boot, and tried it out. It's fine, except that, as expected, certain software doesn't have a Linux variant and when I try to run it in WINE it doesn't perform as expected. Of course, there are different software products that are similar, but also as expected, their functionality is not equivalent to the software I already use, which means I lose features that I use frequently. Grrr. I will eventually have to install Win7 in a VM and so will still be dealing with keeping MS updates away from it. Grrr.
"He said many of those large providers have been reliant on being friends with the CIOs in large enterprises, but in the future that will no longer be sustainable."
Interesting. That's basically an admission that the reason so many of the outsourcing deals have happened is due to 'insider trading' - i.e., the deals never went properly out to tender to find good quality, good value propositions. The exhaustion of those relationships might very well be the reason these deals are becoming less common.
Actually, I've already installed Linux Mint to a partition on my Windows 7 laptop so it's dual boot now. I'm getting used to Mint as I type and eventually I'll remove Windows 7 from boot and just have it as a VM in Mint for one or two bits of software that just don't work under Linux (either natively or WINE).
Bearing in mind I still occasionally* get asked to work on version of MS Access going back to 2003 where VBA still ruled, and to upgrade without loss of functionality to something more recent (mainly 2010), it's useful to still have VBA in there.
These days though I could do with learning something new, if only I hadn't fallen on hard times and so don't have my computer equipment setup in the hovel I currently live in (otherwise I'd be learning a non-Microsoft tech like HTML/CSS on LAMP+ (P for PHP, + for C++).
*OK, infrequently, very infrequently these days.
...just got me to install Linux Mint 17.2 on my laptop, as an eventual replacement for Windows 7 once I've got through some of the inevitable troubles with various programs and the like. So well done, you've lost a customer due to too much bloody invasive crap.
I'm glad to see an article tackling this subject, as I agree it's not that hard to set up an email server, and as long as you have a sufficient broadband connection with reasonable upload as well as download speeds, it's worth doing.
Although it's offline for an annoying reason at the moment (not related to the PC or software), a couple of years ago I set up my own email server based on an Acer Revo 3700 (and a couple of gateways and a mail server were on such PCs as well) using ClearOS 6. It was connected to a Plusnet Fibre connection with a static IP, and once I'd solved installing the SOGo groupware on it, worked like a dream with Thunderbird. I couldn't get the Outlook Connector side of things to work, but that was down to ClearOS 6 being based on a version of RedHat that was too old for some of the components that SOGo's Outlook Connector needed.
... but if I have Windows Update set to notify me of updates, but not install them, would I still be able to catch any upgrade stuff and uncheck it, and if necessary hide it? If so, I'm presuming the automatic download of the upgrade files only happens on systems with WU set to download and install without any intervention from the user?
Actually, I have been investigating going to Linux Mint, and have tried an older version of it some time ago.
The problem is that I need to be sure that all the software and hardware I have can work on Linux. There are some software/hardware combinations I have that are Windows only and will never be able to work on Linux (they're older and now unsupported). Until I can find some way of replacing them then a full move to Linux isn't possible.
However, I am looking at getting my laptop moved across, but it will still need a Windows 7 VM for some of the software I use so I'm not going to be entirely free of Windows even then.
If Microsoft is building a walled garden a la Apple, then I can see myself never upgrading from Windows 7. And if that were to be retrocompromised, I'd finally take a serious look at moving to Linux (probably Mint) for any general use PCs. For specialist PCs with particular software/hardware needs, I may have no choice but to keep a Windows PC going, but not with anything after Windows 7. If software/hardware vendors ultimately stop supporting W7, then I stop using their products and pursue alternatives (which may not be easy for specialist stuff).
MS lost me as a potential Windows 10 customer with the forced updates. Much like Mr Potts, I see not being able to control such things as a complete deal breaker. So I'm staying with Windows 7 for the foreseeable future, and at least until MS comes back to its senses and allows us as users/power users/admins control of exactly what updates get onto a PC.
The problem with inflating the budget is that the accountants now pore over every line, looking for accuracy of estimates. They do this because management believe that all budgets are getting inflated and in any cash-strapped times they want to cut back not just the inflation, but the actual real cost. So inflating your initial figures will eventually get found out (and more probably before work begins now than after the project fails - unless you're working on Universal Credit).
As for the main article I'm one of those honest types too, one who finds it difficult to stretch (or compress) the figures with fictions and make up a believable story to support them. Unfortunately, it seems being able to bamboozle management with smoke and mirrors and trick them into seeing wonderful $$$ where there are none is becoming more and more of a required skill for all jobs (of any kind in any industry) these days, not just the 'sales teams'. It seems that that kind of trickery isn't something IT types like those of us who read El Reg have aptitude for.
Anyone who wanders around with WiFi, bluetooth and GPS all switched on is, IMHO, an idiot and will be getting what they ask for - tons of annoying adverts, risk of malware infection, and very low battery life.
As for me, I only switch those things one when I actually need them for a specific purpose, then they're turned off immediately afterwards. When it comes to advertising, there's enough of it around anyway and I do already have eyes and ears that are assaulted by it all so I'm not inviting any more of it to crowd my already overloaded brain cell.
Names I'm pretty useless with, and not the only one it seems.
Faces on the other hand I can remember easily. If I could address people with a picture of their face from my brain to theirs to show I remember and know them, I'd be fine. However, I don't think taking a picture of them on first meeting and then later on just holding it up on my phone in front of their face as a greeting, would go down very well...
Hmm. I'm generally of the opinion that if a site is designed in such a way that it is reliant on any Javascript for its layout, let alone 3rd party JS, then the designers need to rethink what the hell they've designed. Basic HTML5 and CSS3 should really be enough for everything except the most unusual situations, for which 1st party JS might be a fallback for. But, hey ho, that's probably just me.
While not a perfect solution, having an add-in like NoScript on Firefox to block unnecessary JavaScript can help to reduce the likelihood of even having such JS code getting onto the browser in the first place.*
* situations where the malign JS manages to get into trusted JS sources can't be covered, of course.
As far as I can tell, Javascript is probably the biggest risk on any browser at the moment (not the browser itself, which will still have flaws of course regardless of which one a person uses), due to it being allowed too much freedom (if any at all). But because JS allows a number of fancy things to be done outside of web standards, it will probably never go away completely.
Apple can put as much mark up above the all-in costs on an exclusive item like this watch as they like. It's a 'luxury' market that can pay whatever the company (in this case Apple) charge. Therefore there is no doubt in my mind that Apple make a higher profit out of that $17k over say 100 items, compared to the amount of profit they'll be making on the $300 version over say 10,000 items (and that will still be a decent profit even then).
...then they should phone me. Equally, if I want a quick response, I'll phone. I mean, that's what a phone (smart or otherwise) is for, isn't it?
* Of course, in this day and age much communication seems to be about dishing out hassle to other people just to deliberately irritate them so that the 'disher' can feel smug about being 'in authority'. Actually communicating for the purposes of getting a job done seems to have become somewhat rare.
You read my mind. Add to those non-weaponisable nuclear forms things like molten salt and waste annihilating molten salt reactors, and we might get somewhere. But no-one until recently has wanted to invest anything in the development of purely domestic systems of nuclear power generation.
While scaling up is needed, I believe we also need to encourage and support any kind of sustainable business of any size, in any sector (not just I.T.). Even the very small businesses provide work for at least one person each (and often more). And, it's often the case that a few of those small businesses naturally grow to become bigger players and employ more people. From small seeds do big plants grow, something this govern-mint seems to have forgotten.
Couldn't a patch for operating systems have a default check message box come up for the user when a USB device is plugged in, asking them to confirm the type of device (and perhaps its manufacturer and model as well)? Such a check might not prevent every attack, but at least it would give the user a chance to stop any of the more obvious ones (like a memory stick pretending to be a keyboard or network interface, for instance).
I have a similar watch, though it's by Casio. It uses solar power, has worldwide wireless time update, and, at least for me, doesn't rip hairs out of my arm when I take it off. Mine's quite old but still in the current line-up: WVM120J-1, http://www.casio.com/products/Watches/wave_ceptor/
Not an advert, just a satisfied customer.
It doesn't always cost more to outsource overseas. A small local team on local daily rates can produce a better result faster and cheaper, when the outsource option is going to a larger supplier with a set-in-stone process in place that they don't want to change, and so charge a bomb and a half for development that doesn't fit their development model. A case of the tail wagging the dog.
One of the things I've picked up from watching a number of programmes on Auntie Beeb hosted by Michael Mosley (a doctor who has subjected himself to a few dietary regimes to see what happens) is that the answer to obesity is not in miracle solutions like pills, superfoods, or any other crap. It's in having a healthy balanced diet and getting a reasonable amount of exercise. So I agree that walking to the shop, using the stairs, and in fact making the choice not to be lazy whenever possible is pretty much the answer.
The trouble is, it seems to be part of human nature to take the lazy option.
After a bit of 'back of envelope' research, I have found that it turns out the ciphers for SSLv3 and TLSv1 are basically the same but with different names. However, on my servers the TLSv1 setting directly links to the SSLv3 cipher list, so disabling SSLv3 in the cipher entry causes the ciphers for both SSLv3 and TLSv1 to be disabled. I believe this is an OpenSSL issue that may or may not be OS specific, or related to the version of OpenSSL on my server.
If you mean the Qualys one, that's the one I benchmark by. If I disable the SSLv3 ciphers on my web server, but allow TLSv1 and TLSv1.2, nothing for TLSv1 gets through (all those clients show 'Protocol or cipher suite mismatch'), but a few that use TLSv1.2 are OK.
Disabling SSLv3 on SSLProtocol in httpd.conf on Apache works, but disabling SSLv3 on SSLCipherSuite in httpd.conf is breaking my web server (and the same in my email server with tls_cipher_suite in imapd.conf)... :(
So how do we get rid of the old SSLv3 ciphers, and ensure that the TLS 1.2 ciphers are used instead?
(Browser: FF 32; Email: TB 31)
All proprietary software carries with it a risk - that there could be any kind of code inside that users can't see that could be doing any kind of thing with your computer or data. This applies to every company, be it the big boys like Apple, Microsoft, Google, or the little guys working on their own in bedrooms.
The retail and business releases of W10 should not, in any fair world, have any snooping code in them. But do we trust MS if they say it won't/doesn't have it?
Ultimately our usage of any software comes down to trust, both in the developer and other users, because we can't check every single line of code in every single program we use ourselves.
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