Posts by Condiment
140 posts • joined Wednesday 24th August 2011 11:11 GMT
I've downvoted you purely for dashing my hopes of free parking.
Re: Can't see how it will work.
Did you read the comment or just the title?
The comment has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with how stuff will be physically archived.
Can't see how it will work.
Lets say somebody completely annihilates me in some sport or other when we both youths. Now I might want that expunged from the internet since I am embarrassed about it, but the person who beat me will want it kept because they are proud of their sporting achievement. Who gets to decide whether it is expunged or kept?
A similar argument for criminal acts can also be made. As an example, I attempt to mug an OAP but another youth bravely thwarts my dastardly deed. Again, I want it expunged but the other youth wants it kept.
The problem is, that most of what you do in life involves other people (I expect a few wankers will argue about this) and therefore if you are deleting an incident in your history you are also deleting it in theirs and they might not want it forgotten.
Re: WOW !
> an inspiration to all walks of life
Posted in Star Trek: The original computer game
Re: Rogue: Dungeons of Doom
http://rogue.rogueforge.net/home/
Enjoy.
Re: David, you missed the point
> What might have escaped most of the people ... doesn't print double-sided 3d parts, or those with internal cavities straight off the machine's table
What seems to have escaped you is this part of the article:
"The handgun, seen by Forbes, uses 16 printed parts that are clipped together"
16 parts so as to avoid any with internal cavities.
Re: Not a danger to society, but a danger to the user.
The strength of the ABS is the determining factor in the length of the barrel. But, if the past is anything to go by, the materials and their manufacture will improve which will enable more accurate and endurable weapons to be printed.
Re: Duffy Moon: Ammunition?
> by having sympathetic ground crew stash weapons on the aircraft
I remember that one. Was it Passenger 57 or Executive Decision?
As far as I am aware, ground crews stashing weapons on board for hijackers has only ever happened in the minds of Hollywood script writers and fiction authors.
Re: If it's possible...
> Is it that anyone sufficiently well organised to make and sell them is subject to political pressure, or is it that more effective second-hand guns made of metal are also very cheap to buy?
Its cheaper and more effective for the third world to make AK-47 assault rifles. Production only costs a few dollars per rifle and it is a very reliable weapon. Also the materials (metal) are readily available and very low tech so there is no dependency on any third party.
Re: David, you missed the point
> anyone determined enough could just use a drill, files, a dremel, or even an exacto knife set and carve their own from ABS stock.
No they couldn't. I certainly don't have the ability to do this and I was trained to use lathes, mills, drills etc (decades ago). There is a fair degree of skill and dexterity needed to make complex parts to exact specifications and the vast majority of the population will not have the ability. It also takes a lot of effort and patience, something which the criminal element isn't generally renowned for.
On the other hand, pretty much everybody knows how to print a file.
Re: At least a Windows Pro tablet is a bonafide PC
> it runs any existing Windows software.
Including all the trojans, viruses and malware.
Re: NFC
The card number, expiry date and name will be handing over to an unauthenticated reader which means a phone with NFC can read it.
The "high-tech" attack is risk free and cheap since there is no investment in specialist equipment (any NFC enabled smart phone will do).
Re: NFC
> to acquire a copy of the details printed on any credit card. It's called a camera.
I'd like to see you do that when my card is in my wallet in my pocket. The point about obtaining card details with NFC is that it can be done with the card still in your wallet.
Re: The acid test
> credit cards numbers are not secret
Actually they (kind of) are. This is why receipts only have the last few digits of the card printed on them and not the full number.
There are any number of ways the credit card number can be used to obtain cash/goods/services. You may or may not detect it, but it will be a real pain to chase down a refund just because somebody got to close to you on the tube.
http://www.kjrh.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/thieves-caught-turning-stolen-credit-card-numbers-into-quick-cash
http://www.bet.com/news/music/2012/07/13/guerilla-black-arrested-for-buying-stolen-credit-card-numbers.html
Neither of the above involved any pIn or CVV number.
Re: The acid test
Yes you are protected, but I rarely go over my credit card statement with a fine tooth comb. I use it for everything so there are typically more than 50 transactions and I only ever check the high value ones. This means that it would be possible for somebody to remove small amounts without my notice.
I guess all those news items about databases being hacked for CC details or shopping tills and ATMs being infected with malware are simply scare stories designed to keep you awake at night. Who would have thought that criminal gangs would waste their money obtaining and trading these worthless numbers.
*sigh*
The good old days, when every web site could be listed on a single page and everybody played xpilot in their "spare" time.
Re: Sounds fair
> but it would be easy enough for then to note the % tax to be paid by a customer based on where the buyer is.
From a previous article on this, there are over 9,600 state, regional, city and town tax authorities. The rules can differ according to which city or town the buyer is in and even what day of the week it is.
For an internet business this will produce a significant burden to keep all of this information up to date or even result in them having to pay a third party for the information for every sale. A bricks and mortar establishment only has to keep track of the tax in their location.
Perhaps a better alternative solution would be to treat the internet as a 51st State, when it comes to sales, and to levy a single sales tax rate. The revenue raised could then be split between the 50 real States.
Re: You takes your chances..........
If oracle had offered $AUD17,999 then they would have had to pick up the bill.
The key point is that she rejected a larger offer.
The bill for $AUD224k is the bill for her lawyers. Lawyers don't work for nothing and Oracle actually paid a large chunk of her legal bills. They paid up until she rejected their offer of $AUS85,000.
The courts look at it this way. If a company makes a reasonable settlement offer then you are liable for all costs of both the company and yourself if you reject it. A reasonable offer is one which is more than what the court ends up awarding. Why should Oracle suffer the costs run up after a reasonable offer was made and rejected?
Re: Windows Security Patches + Anti-Virus considered Harmful
Lets say piece of malware compromises account "joe". It can not use setuid to get "bob" or "fred" or any other users permissions. The malware can not save an program, change the owner of the program to "bob" and then setuid the program so that it has bob's permissions (or any other sequence). There might well be programs on the system owned by "bob" that have the setuid bit set but all "joe" can do is have the program do whatever it was designed to do.
As an example, the "ping" program is owned by the user "root" and it is setuid and "joe" can execute this program and it will run as root, but all "joe" can do with it is ping another computer.
Re: 15KWh?
> Right, what we need is a perfectly safe energy storage system.
There is safe and then there is a 340kg flywheel spinning at somewhere between 15,000 to 30,000 rpm (or even more).
This will have the same energy potential as 13kg of TNT and if it goes wrong it will release all of that energy in an instant. The energy discharge gradient will be vertical, just like TNT.
A battery storage system will not be able to release the stored energy instantly because the speed of discharge is limited by the speed of the reaction within the batteries. It might overheat and catch fire, but it will not be an explosive event.
Re: 15KWh? == 13kg TNT
This is called regenerative braking. The bus doesn't use a flywheel for getting from A to B. What it does is use the braking to spin a flywheel up and then when it needs to start again it uses the energy from the flywheel to begin to move. The flywheels are typically heavy with a spin of a couple of thousand rpm.
The flywheel in this project weighs 340kg and will have to spin somewhere between 15,000 and 30,000 rpm depending upon the flywheels size (radius).
Should the unthinkable happen and the flywheel disintegrates it will instantly release the same energy as 13kg of TNT. This is not something I would want outside my home or any home in the vicinity.
Re: 15KWh?
Car flywheels are only there to maintain the torque between piston firings. They typically weigh less than 10kg and only turn as fast as the engine.
The flywheel in this weighs 340kg and will spin at least one order of magnitude faster than a car flywheel (I could calculate it based on the flywheel size and 15kWh of energy stored but its late and I need sleep).
Re: 15KWh?
> The tend to have much lower running costs than battery which always tend to have a small leakage current.
The leakage for a battery is approximately 5% per month. The leakage for the flywheel is 2% per day. That alone is enough to increase the running costs. The 2% per day might well be higher since people looking for funding tend to be optimistic with their calculations.
Re: Windows Security Patches + Anti-Virus considered Harmful
> because the existence of the setuid bit means that malware can create files that run under permissions other than those the user has
If the malware is running as user "joe" then it can only create files owned by "joe" and can only setuid binaries as "joe". It cannot use setuid to run a binary as "fred" or "root" or any other user. The only user that can do this is "root" and if the malware is already "root" then it doesn't need to use setuid.
NOTE: I am specifically saying binaries rather then scripts since the setuid functionality on scripts has been disabled on every variant of linux I know for at least 10 years.
Re: Windows Security Patches + Anti-Virus considered Harmful
Re: Eadon
> You set the execute flag to OFF
The execute bit isn't necessary for running a program.
If it is a script then you run the appropriate shell (bash, ksh, perl, php5 etc) with the script as an argument.
If it is a binary you use the dynamic link loader to execute it.
/lib/ld-linux.so <some binary without the execute bit set>
Re: Windows Security Patches + Anti-Virus considered Harmful
Lets review how many falsehoods there were in your original comment.
due in part to all the command line pissing about to get it working properly
False. Modern distributions "just work" for the vast majority of hardware out there.
It only takes a click on the admin account `allow` button to install god knows what, just like any other os.
False. You have to enter a password to install applications.
There was also a state sponsored trojan that sat in an irq client included in many distributions for years unnoticed
False. No evidence of anything being state sponsored. This is just a conspiracy theory.
False. It wasn't included in many distributions. Gentoo is the only distribution I can find that *might* have distributed it.
False. It didn't go unnoticed for years. It was compromised in November 2009 at the earliest and corrected at the beginning of June 2010, a little more than 6 months.
Re: Windows Security Patches + Anti-Virus considered Harmful
> Yeah, ok, you put in a password then click ok .... stop being so bloody pedantic
Here is what you actually said:
"It only takes a click on the admin account `allow` button to install god knows what, just like any other os."
Other OS'es might allow you to install with a single click, but linux doesn't.
> Irrelivent, it can still rape your data from the user account its installed in and I never said it was in the kernel, but it was certainly in many distro`s repositories.
It wasn't in many distro's repositories. It was in the mirrors of the unreal distribution. Not the repositories of many distros. The only distribution that I know off that might have got caught is Gentoo. All of the others used the source from Unreal's primary site and so never distributed it.
> I cant find the source at the moment, but there were rumours that a certain government planted the thing to monitor conversations betwix ner-do-wells.
A rumour. Must be true then. I'm sure that if I look hard enough I can find a rumour that aliens did it.
Don't let the fact that the inserted code was to execute commands and not to listen in on chats get in the way of you conspiracy theory.
Re: Windows Security Patches + Anti-Virus considered Harmful
Unreal3.2.8.1.tar.gz isn't linux. It isn't part of the kernel or "many" distributions. It wasn't "state sponsored". Had the trojan been part of the kernel or the core distribution and had it been able to escalate its privileges, you might have had a point.
"The `ok` button on the admin popup u get when u install something through the gui."
If I am installing anything I have to enter a password. So it takes more than a click on the admin account `allow` button.
Re: Windows Security Patches + Anti-Virus considered Harmful
> due in part to all the command line pissing about to get it working properly,
What command line pissing about?
> It only takes a click on the admin account `allow` button to install god knows what, just like any other os.
Which button is this? I've never seen this allow button in any of the linux distributions I use.
> There was also a state sponsored trojan that sat in an irq client included in many distributions for years unnoticed, as no one bothered checking the source before including it.
Reference please. I would like to know about this.
But isn't bing just a frontend for google searches: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/02/01/google_accuses_microsoft_of_copying_its_search_results/
Re: Streetmap is superior
Does streetmap even know how to get from A to B? (It might do but when I visit the site I get a security warning about cross-site scripting attempt and I'm not prepared to allow it). With google you can have it plot the route for car, cycle or pedestrian.
The "superior" streetmap doesn't even allow me to zoom in enough to see the street names in my area.
Re: Choice
The current about:config has a browser.blink_allowed configuration option whose default value is set to true.
They are getting rid of the blink attribute in its entirety because it isn't part of the standard and because getting rid of it means they do not need to support, maintain or test any of the associated code.
Re: Choice
Then fork'an do it yourself.
The medium is Google, owned by Google, operated by Google, maintained by Google, built by Google.
I think it is only fair that Google get to set some of the advertising guidelines. As long as these guidelines comply with the ASA (and any other regulations) it doesn't matter if they are more restrictive, that is Google's right.
Re: Old news
> Cue calls for Assange to be tried for treason. Once a secret, always a secret. etc.
All of these documents are already de-classified. They are all available to the public at the US national archives.
The only thing Assange has done is copy them to wikileaks and make them searchable. It's no big deal.
Re: I hope we can all agree...
> That won't work in this case as the attack was distributed.
The attack spoofed Spamhaus IP addresses so although the requests came from multiple sources, to the DNS servers it would appear that they all came from the same small group of IPs so response throttling would have worked.
Re: Spamhous must really be hurting those parasites
> but since I'm filtering by RCPT TO it still has to be downloaded.
If you are filtering by RCPT TO then you don't have to download the message. You just send the "piss off and die" response before the DATA segment arrives.
Re: @Condiment
Can you explain to me how making the claim that the "array is unlikely to provide enough spot power for a 3kW kettle especially in the UK" has anything to do with storing power? Spot power is the power generated at that moment in time, not the power generated yesterday and stored in a battery.
Aside from using stored energy to make the cup of tea you could also draw power from the grid or use a backup diesel generator or, if its windy enough, a wind turbine. There are any number of ways you can make up for the lack of spot power from the array. None of them are relevant.
Re: A more likely cause of these complaints
Trains don't usually blast their horns. Oil fired power stations are supplied by pipeline so no tankers.
Unless you are in the actual generating room you will never hear the turbines spin up/down.
They don't have shift horns (does any place now?).
I live about 500-600 yards from a 2GW coal fired power station and the only time you hear anything is when they are mowing the surrounding grass fields.
Re: @Condiment
http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2013/03/25/nanowires_and_photovoltaics/#c_1773164
Re: >>unlikely to provide enough spot power for a 3kW kettle
> array is unlikely to provide enough spot power
Boil the kettle too many times and what are you going to use for evening/night-time and morning?
The 7.5kWh is on a perfect sunny day with a clean solar array. Storing and discharging the energy in short bursts introduces large inefficiencies. You would have to use lead-acid batteries as these are capable of producing high surge currents (you need to boil that kettle). With lead-acid you can get a charge/discharge efficiency of 90% but only if you start from fully discharged battery and then fully charge and discharge it. If the usage profile of your batteries is to discharge up to half the charge and then to recharge them you will only get as little as 55% efficiency in the charge/discharge cycle.
So yes you can boil that kettle by using stored energy rather than spot energy but the 7.5kWh available for your home is going to significantly reduce due to the storage inefficiencies.
Re: @ Lee D - Fantastic!!
The best you can currently hope for from a solar panel is around 175W/m2 (with a solar irradiation of 1000W/m2) which means your 5m x 5m array will only be producing a theoretical peak of 4.375kW. Using this http://www.efficientenergysaving.co.uk/solar-irradiance-calculator.html calculator reveals that you can generate 7.5kWh on a good sunny March day. The average UK household uses 9kWh which leaves you with a shortfall of 1.5kWh. If your array is covered in snow it wont be generating anything and any dirt on it will also reduce the efficiency.
With a peak of 4.375kW your array is unlikely to provide enough spot power for a 3kW kettle especially in the UK which is a considerable distance for any point in the world where solar irradiance reaches 1000W/m2
Re: Fantastic!!
> You say 1KW/m^2 is maximal (where - UK, equator, 1 mile above sea level?)
1KW/m^2 is maximal at solar noon on a clear March or September equinox day at the equator.
Re: Burning Gas = Electricity
> The only reason we do is because it's cheap and easy to throw up a gas turbine whereas it takes years of planning to build equivalent wind turbines
And for every watt of electricity the wind turbines factories can produce you need the equivalent in conventional generation (gas usually) for when the wind dont blow
Re: Gas-based energy policy for a country with no (more) natives reserves?
According to the Times a leaked report from the British Geological Society is going to put the official estimate at 1300 trillion cubic feet.
Aside from that the 200 tcf was only from Cuadrilla's Bowland Shale license area and it was the minimum amount there. You also have other operators like Island Gas Ltd, Greenpark Energy, Composite Energy etc who all have licenses for other shale gas areas.
You also have to consider the nature of the drilling that previous reports are based on. The boreholes were drilled looking for oil and gas. When you drill looking for these you tend to look for hill shaped rock formations and drill at the top. When drilling for shale you look for basin shaped formations and drill at the deepest part. This means that boreholes looking for conventional hydrocarbons tend to underestimate shale deposits.
Re: Gas-based energy policy for a country with no (more) natives reserves?
You mean apart from the 200 trillion cubic feet under Lancashire?
The morons haven't gone for a gas based energy policy, they have gone for a wind based energy policy with gas as a reserve. The wind simply can not provide what we need.
Using other means to generate electricity will not help with those who use gas for heating and cooking.
Re: So much butthurt, so little brainpower.
That is far more accurate than you realise (or perhaps you do). This comment http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2013/03/22/donglestorm/#c_1770735 from above shows how Ms Richards all but accused one person of racism for mentioning lynching.
Re: Sendgrid, a name to remember ...
> You support the genuinely aggrieved, not fire them.
No you don't. You support those who have a genuine grievance. Ms Richards, although genuinely aggrieved, did not have a genuine grievance.
Sacked blokes response
This is the response from the target of Ms Richards ire:
I really did not mean to offend anyone and I really do regret the comment and how it made Adria feel. She had every right to report me to staff, and I defend her position. However, there is another side to this story. While I did make a big dongle joke about a fictional piece hardware that identified as male, no sexual jokes were made about forking. My friends and I had decided forking someone’s repo is a new form of flattery (the highest form being implementation) and we were excited about one of the presenters projects; a friend said “I would fork that guys repo” The sexual context was applied by Adria, and not us.
My second comment is this, Adria has an audience and is a successful person of the media. Just check out her web page linked in her twitter account, her hard work and social activism speaks for itself. With that great power and reach comes responsibility. As a result of the picture she took I was let go from my job today. Which sucks because I have 3 kids and I really liked that job.
She gave me no warning, she smiled while she snapped the pic and sealed my fate. Let this serve as a message to everyone, our actions and words, big or small, can have a serious impact.
Re: A more likely cause of these complaints
> Ask people what it's like to live next to a coal, oil or nuclear plant and I bet they have a worse experience in terms of traffic, horns, noise.
Unlikely. Coal and oil power plants don't get their fuel via the road network. It is usually supplied by other means. Coal is normally transported via rail and oil via a pipeline. The only traffic any of them normally get is the workers travelling to and from them to work.
