* Posts by Anonymous Blowhard

1026 publicly visible posts • joined 25 Mar 2013

US gov to Apple: COUGH UP iMessages or FEEL our FEDERAL FROWN

Anonymous Blowhard

"If they think they have problems now trying to get imessages how bad will it be when they have driven every user away from US companies and US based infrastructure?"

They need to go somewhere that the government is tiny and the taxes are low; so relocate server farms to Greenland* and HQ to the Caribbean?

* I know Greenland is still a part of Denmark, and taxes are high, but the server farms don't make any money and need to be cool; feel free to reply with improved suggestions TIA!

Sunk by 'patent troll': Iron Speed director asks 'anyone want to buy us?'

Anonymous Blowhard

Name That Troll!

Grab your pitchforks and burning torches, deploy "Angry Mob"...

Ofcom issues stern warning over fake caller number ID scam

Anonymous Blowhard

"Never give out your personal information in response to an incoming call, or rely upon the Caller ID as the sole means of identification, particularly if the caller asks you to carry out an action which might have financial consequences."

Sound advice; are you sure this came from Ofcom?

So Quantitative Easing in the eurozone is working, then?

Anonymous Blowhard

"Any economic analysis of QE that does not acknowledge the debt based nature of this unbacked privately issued river of gold and the problem of the interest payment is meaningless."

QE may be "debt based", but it isn't "unbacked"; governments are effectively "backing" the investment from QE with future earnings (taxation) in exactly the same way that a company or individual may borrow money based on their capacity for future earnings (wages for individuals and profits for companies).

The main risk with QE is that the government is effectively acting as lender and borrower, so they need to have restraint and balance the improvement they can make to the current economic situation with the impact on the future economy.

America's crackdown on open-source Wi-Fi router firmware – THE TRUTH

Anonymous Blowhard

Re: Software Defined Idiots

The trouble is, the FCC has got to try and anticipate problems before they happen; once the genie's out of the bottle it will be hard to put back in.

There's also the potential problem of deliberate misuse of SDR devices to create a denial of service on radio frequencies. We currently have any number of examples of malware that targets home routers for malicious purposes (DNS redirection for example) so there's a real possibility of criminals or foreign agencies deliberately targeting SDR devices.

Those who want to tinker have a definite point, so the mechanism for control has to take this into account; one option could be that only updates from authorised sources can be delivered over the network but anyone with direct access (presumably the owner) can apply an update from a hardware i/o device (e.g. USB).

Files on Seagate wireless disks can be poisoned, purloined – thanks to hidden login

Anonymous Blowhard

Re: Is it the manufacturer or the consumer that has "no idea"?

Totally agree; and even if the consumer has a really good level of knowledge, who has time to examine every device they own for security vulnerabilities? And you'd have to re-check after every update in case the manufacturer has added a "helpful feature" that includes a new vulnerability.

The industry needs to have one, or more, independent testing and certification agencies that consumers can use as a guide before purchasing; certified devices might cost a little more, but should give consumers the confidence that someone independent of the manufacturer has looked at the security aspects of a device.

The current "race to the bottom" is certainly delivering low prices, but at the cost of poor security.

Brit school claims highest paper plane launch crown

Anonymous Blowhard

Re: No more Paris articles

Wasn't there some kind of AFU with the FAA?

Feeling sweary? Don't tell Google Docs

Anonymous Blowhard

I'm lost for words...

Almost all dot-science malicious, dot-cricket rigged, researchers find

Anonymous Blowhard

ICANN makes bucks and passes the buck

"TLD operators need to pay the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers US$185,000 for the privilege to operate"

"There are no requirements to impose the scrutiny on domain buyers"

Another chance to win a 6TB Western Digital Black hard drive

Anonymous Blowhard

This is a nightmare! My 3D tattoo is still freaking me out!

Why Nobody Should Ever Search The Ashley Madison Data

Anonymous Blowhard

Re: Wrong recipient?

I know, I was wondering if he had an address I could send this "A" I'd just made out of cardboard...

Twenty years since Windows 95, and we still love our Start buttons

Anonymous Blowhard

"The question of why the public accepted a substantial user interface change in Windows 95, but not in Windows 8, would make a nice topic for someone to research"

I think the answer is twofold:

1) At the time that Windows 95 was introduced, the number of home users on Windows 3.11 would have been a lot lower than the number of home users on Windows XP + Vista + Windows 7 when Windows 8 was introduced, so the number of people with a prior experience would have been much lower. The number of people using computers at work would have been higher but many would still have been using DOS or terminal based applications, so the user experience would have been completely different and users wouldn't expect any similarity with Windows 95.

2) When Windows 95 was introduced the home-use of the Internet was almost non-existent, and there was no social networking for any disgruntled users to vent their frustrations on.

Samsung emits Galaxy S6 Edge+ 'inboxing' video

Anonymous Blowhard

Re: hats?

Maybe they share it, like "headwear as a service"...

Raspberry Pi gains new FreeBSD distribution

Anonymous Blowhard

Also available for Raspberry Pi 2 Model B

I just checked the site, and it also has images for the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B:

http://raspbsd.org/

Google reveals OnHub WiFi router, complete with GLOWING RING

Anonymous Blowhard

Re: I don't believe the conspiracy

Google don't need to slurp all your data with this, they just want to intercept all those 404 responses and replace them with suggestions from Google's advertisers; similar functionality is already implemented in some routers from ISPs.

So if you can't find what you want, Google will suggest something based on your original query; the revenue from this will pay for the updates to the router software.

If you're ok with this, then it's no worse than other products already foisted on people by ISPs like BT.

Anonymous Blowhard

If you like this

For those considering this device, you might want to wait for the new "NSA Home Router" (available as "GCHQ Home Hub" in the UK).

Skills crisis? Not for long: More and more UK kids gain STEM quals

Anonymous Blowhard

Re: The CIA World Factbook

"The CIA World Factbook ??

there must be a comedy goldmine in the title alone....."

Wait until you've seen the NSA's kids page; Mercury Rising anyone?

https://www.nsa.gov/kids/home_html.shtml

Costa Rican authorities detain drug-smuggling pigeon

Anonymous Blowhard

Now they just need follow the money trail and find the narcopaloma's banker...

Australian court slaps down Hollywood's speculative invoices

Anonymous Blowhard

"Australia is a sophisticated jurisdiction with copyright laws that in many ways resemble those of other nations"

But it's judges seem to be capable of interpreting copyright laws in a way that makes sense, and not just using the letter of the law to beat up citizens on behalf of corporations.

It's not a free pass for alleged infringers, but the copyright holders have to demonstrate what they believe they've lost, forget about punitive damages, and put their money where their mouth is.

Typewriters suck. Yet we're infinitely richer for those irritating machines

Anonymous Blowhard

Re: A Couple of Random Thoughts...

"I wonder what futre Reg* readers will be complaining about, when they look back pityingly on the laughingly primitive tech we had to put up with?"

If any Reg reader in the future finds this thread, and has access to a time machine, could they please add a comment about this.

Thanks In Advance!

Apple splashes dough to keep Big Cheese safe

Anonymous Blowhard

"the $1.5m Oracle spent on security for its former chief exec, Larry Ellison"

And yet he still gets out!

Anonymous Blowhard

Re: Learnt a new word

It's the origin of the work "perk" (meaning a non-cash benefit of some kind) as in "perks of the job"; unusual to see it used though.

Beaming boffins feel the rhythm as neutrinos oscillate over 500 miles

Anonymous Blowhard

Re: ice melting in a bucket?

Clock! You were lucky! We 'ad ter walk barefoot fourteen miles into town to note down t' time from t' town hall clock, walk all the way back whilst keeping count wi' a chant of one-alligator, two-alligator...

Then we 'ad t' time paint drying fer two days before walking back into town to compare the time elapsed wi' town hall clock!

An' if, when we got back, we were more than a second out o' sync wi' town hall clock, our teacher would kill us and dance about on our graves singing Hallelujah.

NASA briefing in HOURS: 'We are upon the CUSP of finding ANOTHER EARTH'

Anonymous Blowhard

Re: Only 5 light years away?

So is it OK to do the "Space is big" quote?

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Space

Contactless card fraud? Easy. All you need is an off-the-shelf scanner

Anonymous Blowhard

Re: Where are they shopping

"Amazon doesnt require a CVV"

They do the first time you use a card, but not for subsequent transactions.

As far as the online fraudulent purchases go, they could probably get the same details from the front of a card using a camera aimed at a reader.

SPACE FARMER 'nauts arrive safely at International Space Station

Anonymous Blowhard

Re: freeze dry

It would be better to reclaim the water from the faeces, otherwise you're gradually losing water from the system. For a closed system, or at least one with minimal input required, this would be pretty important.

Also it seems that bacteria are pretty hard to kill so the combination of UV and vacuum may not make it safe for use:

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/bacteria-are-so-good-at-surviving-in-space-nasa-needs-a-new-way-to-kill-them

Looks like they need to develop a compact sewage plant after all.

Ad rivals whimper: Hey Commish, we've 'ad it up to here with ad giant Google

Anonymous Blowhard

Lifeblood of the Internet

"advertising is the lifeblood of the internet"

I thought it was porn?

PEAK PLUTO: Stunning mountain ridge snapped by New Horizons craft

Anonymous Blowhard

Re: Science is amazing

There are plenty of UK citizens working for/with NASA and ESA (Rosetta anyone?) so would-be British space explorers have plenty of opportunities without having to wait for a UK Government to realise that there's something beyond Westminster and the Square Mile.

Farmer mooved after reunion with two-year fugitive cow

Anonymous Blowhard

Re: Classic

I can't believe the puns; how dairy use them on a site like this!

Then again, how cud he resist?

Anonymous Blowhard

Where's Anonymous Cowherd when you need him?

Happy NukeDay to you! 70 years in the shadow of the bomb post-Trinity

Anonymous Blowhard

In a month we can celebrate 70 years of not using nuclear weapons in anger.

Then, hopefully, we can make it another 70 years and take it from there...

Robot SHOOTS into the air with hot gas from its soft round behind

Anonymous Blowhard

Fnarr Fnarr

"eliminating an abrupt hard-to-soft transition that is often a failure point"

There's a blue pill for that I think...

China wants to build a 200km-long undersea tunnel to America

Anonymous Blowhard

A nuclear weapon, even a "over sized hydrogen bomb", isn't that big, and if they wanted to send one they could put it in a forty foot container and send it on a container ship to Oakland; they get over a million containers a year so they don't inspect them all.

And why would China want to bomb the US, their best customer? Xenophobia?

"There is a lot to be said about the vast ocean separating competing Countries"

You probably like the English Channel too, in case the French or Germans decide they want to invade us.

Never mind the redundancies as Capita splashes cash on Barrachd

Anonymous Blowhard

Barrachd Cac

BI meets BS...

Sorry, say boffins, the LHC still hasn't sucked us into a black hole

Anonymous Blowhard

Re: Bravo

" whilst one lot of theoretical scientists piss on the idea of black hole creation another lot point out the very high risks of this level of experimentation"

Which scientists are pointing out the risk of these experiments?

Professor Otto Rössler, a German chemist:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/2650665/Legal-bid-to-stop-CERN-atom-smasher-from-destroying-the-world.html

Walter L. Wagner, a botanist, and Luis Sancho, a Spanish science writer:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/science/29collider.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

These are scientists who do not have any relevant expertise in high energy physics.

Experiments at the LHC are a fraction of the energy of cosmic rays, which have bombarded the Earth for billions of years without producing a runaway black hole. The reason for this is that either the black holes can't be created like this or, if they can, they don't last long enough to do anything.

Plenty of informed content here: http://press.web.cern.ch/backgrounders/safety-lhc

Anonymous Blowhard

ADD = Additional Dimensions

Where does the second "D" come from? Is it from an additional Dimension?

Russia campaigns to stop SUICIDALLY STUPID selfies

Anonymous Blowhard

In Russia, selfie takes you!

Welkom in Nederland: Laid-back, chilled, and MONITORING everything

Anonymous Blowhard

Anne Frank's Blog?

Security gurus deliver coup de grace to US govt's encryption backdoor demands

Anonymous Blowhard

@theodore

Spot on; the only reason criminals don't bother infiltrating ISPs and communications facilities is that strong encryption means there's no point. Any data of financial value is encrypted (right up until it is decrypted and left lying around on a server at T J Maxx).

Anonymous Blowhard

"So what if another 9/11-scale attack occurs, leading to thousands of casualties, and it's found that universal strong encryption was a key factor in not being able to prevent the attack?"

A 9/11 scale attack can be organised by people using no-encryption, or using non-US encryption, so the availability to the US Government of *everyone else's* communications will make no difference.

Anyone sophisticated enough to mount such an attack will not be naive enough to use an encryption that they fear is compromised; they will be well funded and able to source a "clean" encryption technology from non-US suppliers.

If you want to save lives, campaign for road safety improvements; the US averages 30,000+ motor vehicle deaths per year. I'm sure the budget for an unsuccessful implementation of broken encryption could be used to improve this figure by 10%, saving a 9/11's worth of lives every year.

Canuck chump cuffed over helium balloon flying chair stunt

Anonymous Blowhard

They should throw the book at him

"We couldn't find anyone who could get me to that altitude. No pilots were willing to lose their license to fly me into controlled airspace."

A good clue that what he was wanting to do was illegal.

"We went as far [as] to consider bringing a Mexican into the country as a temporary worker to fly the plane. That's when we turned to helium."

Evidence that, even though he knew it was illegal, he was willing to go ahead with the stunt.

"Sometimes you've got to live life on a limb if you truly believe in your company"

So he's happy to risk his own life; fine. But what about innocent lives? Controlled airspace is there for a reason; the chances of a collision may be small but the consequences would be terrible.

Why the BBC is stuffing free Micro:bit computers into schoolkids' satchels

Anonymous Blowhard

Re: Year 7 = 11 years old

And the problem is that a device with an exposed battery (as proposed) would almost inevitably lead to accidental ingestion which combined with the speed at which these create internal damage would almost certainly lead to severe injury if not death.

I wasn't aware of how dangerous these things are once ingested:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-29610570

ALIEN SLIME SHOCKER: Approaching comet probably NOT inhabited, say boffins

Anonymous Blowhard

Sounds like he should be committed...

SEC launches probe into tech startup share selling 'black market'

Anonymous Blowhard

Wonga is a "unicorn" tech-startup? Is this the same "Wonga"?

If so, they aren't a "tech" company they're a "finance" company!

(Actually, more like loan sharks with an "app")

Mastercard facial recog-ware will unlock your money using SELFIES

Anonymous Blowhard

What problem are they trying to solve with this?

Oh I know:

"How can we make people think MasterCard is run by fuckwits?"

Angry Austrian takes a hit in David and Goliath Facebook battle

Anonymous Blowhard

Re: Photo

Yes I am!

Engineers 3D-print ROBOT SEAHORSE, then SMASH it with rubber mallets

Anonymous Blowhard

Re: "his next step is to build a robot using his tamed seahorse knowledge."

This has really got me thinking whether I wouldn't be better off with robot-seahorses with lasers rather than sharks...

Anonymous Blowhard

I thought seahorses, creatures where the male gives birth, were weird before I found out they'd evolved resistance to rubber mallets...

UK TV is getting worse as younglings shun the BBC et al, says Ofcom

Anonymous Blowhard

"Apart from content I've recorded myself, (with a camera), my AV equipment never gets used."

I think you might be the reason they want to monitor our Internet activity...