* Posts by mego

171 publicly visible posts • joined 7 Oct 2007

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Ad blocking made Google throw its toys out of the pram – and now even more control is being taken from us

mego

Kinda... don't disagree with Google's point

They are first and foremost an advertising company, and we pay for their services such as search by viewing their ads. Now, I don't support Google - and have moved everything I can off the platform due to their shenanigans - but if you want to use Google, you accept their terms and their method of paying for the services you use.

VMware to stop describing hardware as ‘male’ and ‘female’ in new terminology guide

mego

Re: Last time I checked ...

Ironically, this is now happening...

mego

Re: Last time I checked ...

"can't rename them because they'd no longer be SUS Compliant"

You think the idiots that make these demands care? To them the compliance requirement is the problem, and they're hell-bent on making the change. If Canada can make laws forcing compliance on gender pronounces, you can bet these people can and will change or outright challenge the compliance itself.

The moment you hear "be kind" or "common sense", exit the area with all possible haste. It's about to become a massacre.

This is literally a case of terrorism.

mego

Re: White board good, black board bad?

Exactly.

mego

Oh yeah...

Lets stop celebrating our differences and just become homogeneous blobs that aren't male, female, Indian, English, etc. - I'm sure that's healthy. Cthulhu's sake, this is going beyond stupid into the insane.

Linux Foundation, IBM, Cisco and others back ‘Inclusive Naming Initiative’ to change nasty tech terms

mego

I seem to recall saying this would happen.

Actually, exactly this. Unholy Cthulhu, it's scary when I'm right.

TikTok seeks injunction to halt Trump ban, claims it would break America's own First and Fifth Amendments

mego

Re: it will ultimately be We The People that end up paying

Nope. What you're referring to is a different item altogether. I'm not referring to that at all, though the circumstances there alone are problematic, such as CASH being used to pay 400 million dollars. I'm referring to this: https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2013-12/iran-p51-sign-nuclear-agreement; which Obama pledged quite a couple more billion to under executive order - i.e. not sanctioned by congress. It is one of many problems with Obama's presidency that repeatedly bit America and we are still dealing with fallout resulting from it.

As a side note, Iran is a recognized terrorist state. Any money given to them is going directly to fund terrorism; and that terrorism is usually directed at America and allies of America.

Second, everything I've stated is referenced by history. If you think history, criminal reports, and actual things that happened are lies, then... I don't know what to say.

mego

Re: it will ultimately be We The People that end up paying

You're funny. Do you really think you know something that the democrats - who get erections just thinking about getting Trump kicked out of office - do not? Because, they've spent four years investigating the man trying to find some way to either impeach or compel legal intervention. All attempts have met with failure and Trump is still the president (and most likely to win thanks to the bats--t insanity on the left).

But if you know something they don't please go ahead and contact them, you'll be their best friend.

And I'll come back here after the elections. If Trump loses, hey I'll eat humble pie and say congratulations right here in this thread. If he wins, will you eat humble pie and admit that something just ain't right in what the media are trying to force into your head?

mego

Re: it will ultimately be We The People that end up paying

"rile against a black president who has been devotedly married for 23+ years, a loving child and not a SINGLE questionable moral action in his skill set".

Putting aside the questionable moral aspect - and I assure you, it is questionable at best - all of that is noise. When we speak of Obama, we speak of a president who:

1) Committed constitutional violations. A lot of resources on this but you can start here: https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/top-10-ways-obama-violated-constitution-during-presidency

2) Bribed Iran to halt nuclear development with an UNapproved cash payment - and ignored our allies when they repeatedly reported that Iran was not following the terms of this agreement. In effect he funded terrorism directly with American taxpayer money.

3) Allowed immigrants in the U.S. illegally

4) Refused to prosecute violation of drug laws

5) Illegally refused to act on Yucca Mountain’s application to become a nuclear waste repository

6) Refusing to enforce parts of congressional-enacted statutes

7) Falsely portrayed the Benghazi terrorist attack as a spontaneous protest against an anti-Muslim YouTube video,10and then lied about the White House’s involvement

8) Continued to give Egypt aid after the military took over its government, even though federal law prohibits aid to Egypt in the event of a coup

9) Illegally granted businesses a waiver from Obamacare’s employer mandate

10) Illegally required people to violate their faith via the Obamacare contraception mandate.

11) Madeillegal “recess” appointments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

12) Appointed czars to oversee federal policy specifically because czars do not require Senate confirmation

13) Illegally targeted conservative groups for heightened IRS scrutiny

14) Got secret permission from the FISA Court to reverse restrictions on the National Security Agency’suse of intercepted phone calls and emails

15) Secretly obtained phone recordsfrom staff at the Associated Press

16) Had meetings with lobbyists in coffee shops near White House to avoid disclosure requirements

17) Illegally sold thousands of guns to criminals,and then refused to comply with congressional subpoenas about the operation.

I mean, I can go on here. Most of those items taken individually would be significantly immoral, let alone against constitutional law.

No idea if El Reg will allow this to stand since these factoids could be offensive.

mego

Re: it will ultimately be We The People that end up paying

It's less that people voted FOR him as people didn't want to vote for the alternative. The bats--t insanity that is the left right now, is unfortunately so far afield that Trump was a desirable candidate in the first place.

Like seriously, I don't see the left having a chance at the next election if they don't get their spokespeople under control. Yes, yes, you can show me all the poll data you like - it proves nothing since those are largely democrat voters being polled. I'm sure the democrats will all agree their guy will win

mego

Oh the irony

China willfully bans any and everything it likes. Especially things that empower free speech, or (in some cases) those that provide secured communications. This will be an interesting thing to watch...

Family wrongly accused of uploading pedo material to Facebook – after US-EU date confusion in IP address log

mego

"Police scoured mobile devices and took away a computer that the family eventually recovered through the help of an attorney."

See, here's the part that always boils my... urine. If the family were found innocent it should have been automatically returned. Why did they have to have the added cost of an attorney?

When Huawei leaves, the UK doesn't lead in 5G, says new report commissioned by... er... Huawei

mego

Re: Where's the proof?

Not sure how it streamed to respond to you - my response was actually to Oh Homer, who claims it's only paranoia to suggest China is a risk, regardless of the cost involved.

My apologies for the incorrect connection.

mego

Re: Where's the proof?

Are you more knowledgeable than government officials required to know every intricate detail before making recommendations? I must ask, have you offered your amazing skills and knowledge to the government since you don't need to research to make an opinion that it's unsubstantiated paranoia? Surely they'd be glad for someone that can make such snap decisions without need for pesky research.

Sarcasm aside, I did a quick Google search and found copious information including law reviews on the spying law established in China. Clearly you didn't even bother to do so, so here you go we'll do your work for you. Here's the first couple that hit my results. Most telling is the following quote from a presenter at the International Legal Technology Association:

"You should also be aware of the laws in China that compel every Chinese citizen and company to assist in national security or intelligence work. This should concern you if represent clients that work in or with China."

https://qz.com/1016531/what-you-need-to-know-about-chinas-intelligence-law-that-takes-effect-today/

https://www.lawfareblog.com/beijings-new-national-intelligence-law-defense-offense

https://www.dni.gov/files/NCSC/documents/news/20190606-NCSC-Remarks-ILTA-Summit_2019.pdf

Who knows if El Reg will allow this comment, I hope so since it answers your comment directly.

mego

"Currently the US doesn't have that much of a play in this technology"

Oh, you'd be surprised. a couple of major telecom companies are talking about the technology for business leased connectivity (not mobile) use. I just had a conference call with our data services rep the other day who was talking about 5G being a probable next step for some of our facilities where fiber isn't an option.

mego

I can guarantee you the likelihood of that being real 5G is practically zero if it's just upgrades to the existing tower. 5G requires a pretty significant change to the supporting structure, such that the tower will likely need full replacement and/or movement if power support isn't in sufficient supply in the spot it's in.

mego

Re: Credibility Gap

"Until then I will treat the hysteria about the lack of 5G (or even 4G in a lot of places) with increasing scepticism."

It's... not that simple. Ignoring the qualities of 5G itself, consider the problem that we are actually oversaturated in mobile accessibility requirements. The old technology - which is pretty poor at handling heavy demand and when too many mobiles are in the area, choke - can't keep up with just mobile demand. The problem? Nobody wants to invest in high end 5G towers just to fix a mobile problem that's been there for decades. BUT... if that 5G tower now can service home internet as well, at a fraction of the cost for implementing fiber and cellular in the area... now you start to see a major cost savings for delivering what is fast becoming a demand.

mego

Here's something for you to chew on: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6927096/ (in which it speaks of and reference-verifies the >1ms latency, 10Gb data rate at peak, etc.). That's not only within fiber range, but when we can set a latency of under 1ms from your computer to station, it significantly alters the playbook for how we handle data needing rapid response (AI for example).

And I don't work in Marketing, I work in IT. I've worked in the semiconductor industry though for over 20 years, and while I'm not a highly qualified RF engineer, I do know enough to understand why 5G is so important to both the IT world since it affects me and decisions I'll be making for our WAN in times to come, and I can recognize it as an achievement of the engineering world.

mego

5G - proper 5G - is a serious rethink of how data works across wireless transmission. When I speak of 5G here, I mean in it's correct form, not 5G LTE or some crap that's not really fully implemented. It's practically the same jump as when mobile was voice only to when we had 3G - yet at the same time, much more than that. 5G redesigns and restructures how wireless transmission works, in as much as WiFi has diverted from the original infrared wireless systems, so is 5G (REAL 5G I mean) different from 4G. Beam-forming (a part of the real 5G spec for most companies) is a significant technology that is literally at it's infancy, with very few serious engineers actually capable of developing in the arena.

4G as we have it today isn't even really to spec, hence it being called LTE in most marketing documents. 5G, on the other hand, is capable of beating wired connection for latency and capacity.

China trolls Trump with tech export rules changes that could imperil TikTok sale

mego

Re: @mego

See my response to the other question.

mego

Ok, let me ask you one question. Do you believe the death rates they're reporting? Because, I don't know about you, but I get skeptical when a country kicks out journalists trying to report on the truth of the matter. Maybe just me?

But in this case, I'm talking about things like blocking the world from being told, arresting anyone that tried, then proceeded to demand the UN change the facts and declare them heroes. The fact that the Chinese government acted early to shut down the spread of INFORMATION is what significantly established the economic and health problem we are facing right now. Information that would have led to the world shutting down travel rapidly and start working on policy that will slow it down, and reduce spread of infection. No, I guess it had no impact that they arrested the doctor that discovered it and reported it, forced him to sign a confession that he was "making it up", and detained him under arrest while he was dying from COVID-19?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/business/media/china-expels-american-journalists.html

https://www.thedailybeast.com/china-silenced-doctor-who-first-raised-alarm-about-coronovirus-nyt-reports

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-52420536

https://apnews.com/68a9e1b91de4ffc166acd6012d82c2f9

https://www.foxnews.com/world/chinese-doctor-critics-who-first-raised-the-alarm-over-covid-19-vanishes (fox news, I know, but there is corroboration elsewhere - this just puts all the data into an easier to read format)

mego

China's already trolled the world with their handling of COVID-19 that's lead to far more death and economic devastation than anything they could come up with.

China proposes ‘Global Initiative on Data Security’ forbidding stuff it and Huawei are accused of doing already

mego

Sure...

It's not like China has laws on the books that requires it's citizens to assist in spying on the west. Oh wait, they do.

It's not like China conceals anything it feels like even if impacting the world, disappearing people who don't comply. Oh dear, COVID-19 concealment anyone?

It's not like China has no respect for online privacy. Oh wait, no that's not true.

It's not like China doesn't support copyright and digital rights. Oh wait, while not the only ones, that's not a facet of China.

I'm not sure I understand what China has to offer on this one... and whether or not I trust any technology or solutions they propose as a result; since they definitely won't comply themselves if there is any concept of privacy or individual security. And for another thing, given how the world is suffering with COVID-19 right now, I'll be fine if China falls into obscurity. You don't screw the world over and presume we've all forgotten about it just because you wish it were so.

As Amazon pulls union-buster job ads, workers describe a 'Mad Max' atmosphere – unsafe, bullying, abusive

mego

Do Amazon even run the warehouses anymore?

I know they completely outsourced the delivery component and the management of warehouses. Just like delivery drivers complaining recently about Amazon's policies (which were the delivery companies issues not Amazon's.

mego

Re: There's a simple solution

Yeah Walmart make Amazon look like playground bullies in comparison. Seriously, Walmart is way more of a bad company, regardless of what they may do for workers.

Here's a neat exploit to trick someone into inadvertently emailing their files to you from their Mac, iPhone via Safari

mego

I'm not sure of the utility risk

There's some risk, sure, if you know a file to grab. But... any modern MacOS version a random file (even passwd) won't give you much

'My wife tried to order some clothes tonight. When she logged in, she was in someone else's account ... Now someone's charged her card'

mego

Hmm..

The bank recognized the incorrect usage and was proactive in solving the problem. Seems like something did work in that pile up?

Appeals judges toss out FTC win: What Qualcomm did to its rivals was 'hypercompetitive, not anticompetitive'

mego

In general, actually. Most judges get confused by things like rounded corners as denoting a copied design - in that example, it was to the extent that the Galaxy S3 (or was it the 4?) was designed in part by the legal team to ensure small things like the corners were not aligned.

Judges understand the law as it relates to the topic. This doesn't give them the ability to understand technology or it's impact in society.

mego

And here you have the rub: judges making decisions on technology they don't understand the impact of to modern society.

IBM quits facial recognition because Black Lives Matter

mego

Re: America

There are plenty of examples of people who grew up with societal limitations who have moved out of the poor ranks and into middle class. I'm an example of one, and there are hundreds of thousands more not to mention actors and multi millionaires that came up from nothing. Besides which, there is only so far you can claim "but my childhood" or "but I grew up in a one bedroom home" or "I had to pay for college" before it becomes a chant for free stuff. I'm sorry but, while those are obstacles, the choice you make is whether you want to wallow in it, or change it. You make that decision regardless of your personal and cultural limitations.

Fascinatingly, when I replied to your comment with facts from the US Borough of Statistics, my response is rejected. Not for being bigoted, racist, sexist or in any other way derogatory - but stating facts which are by nature none of those things. It amazes me how far El Reg will go to make sure their narrative opinion is the only discussion allowed; while bringing facts that disagree with their opinion is clearly verboten. Copy of my reply, the discussion thread, and the article sent for review.

mego

Re: Hillarious

Ok. Then you explain, how it is that black kids shoot each other at a rate well over white kids. Explain how it is that 13% of the population are responsible for 50% of the murder in the country? Explain how it is that black kids rather join a gang than finish high school.

I agree, if you compare population numbers the statistics look skewed; add the factors of murder and violent crime and you see a significant and radical correlation.

mego

Re: I hate stories like this

Trust but verify. Microsoft have a long history of appearing to embrace new technology that competes with theirs, and have an equal history of hanging around long enough to extinguish the same technology.

mego

The irony is that race is rarely ever a consideration; as much as sex or religious orientation. Companies want work done and goods sold. In fact the government had to set a law in the states to stop shops selling to black customers back in the bad days. The best person for the job is what matters - and sometimes that isn't a man, or isn't a woman, or isn't a white man, or isn't a black man, or isn't a heterosexual or isn't a homosexual. Consider the following examples:

1) A person selling in a predominately white neighborhood populated by retirees

2) A person selling to predominately female customers who may be under duress (skin issues for instance)

3) A person selling hunting gear in a predominately black neighborhood

4) A person selling magazines specifically aimed at the LGBT community.

5) A person selling religious goods in the bible belt

Don't tell me the choices for those typical examples are not guided in some ways by a person's race, sex, orientation, or qualities other than their ability to do a specified job.

Apple's at it again: Things go pear-shaped for meal planner app after iGiant opposes logo

mego

"Yes in a few more decades the elected representatives might act. Which side do you think Trump would take? "

Much as I hate turning anything into a political discussion, and clearly you have issues with our current one, there's a maximum of two terms per president equaling 8 years. In one decade we'd already be approaching the end of the second term of the next president. Just FYI...

mego

That's not the problem. The problem is that even if Pear wins, they'll be bankrupt by the lawsuit. And Apple most likely won't win this one; but they don't really care - all they care about is that they can destroy this small business who they know is not infringing on their copyright. And they choose to do so, in spite of the "right thing to do" being to acknowledge their design is not similar.

mego

Re: In an alternate reality somewhere

I have no idea what butt hurt idiot is downing you but you hit it on the nose right there.

mego

And they'll continue doing so...

Until all the fanboys stop buying their crap.

If you own one of these 45 Netgear devices, replace it: Kit maker won't patch vulnerable gear despite live proof-of-concept code

mego

Re: I took a sample from the list...

I'm truly curious about what's disagreeable; surely you don't expect +10 year old cheap home-grade equipment to still be able to be patched?

mego

Re: And they wonder why open source matters

I don't think you're wrong, I just wouldn't expect small home-grade devices over a decade old (which the couple samples I took from the list are) would be supportable. I don't like Netgear, as they tend to be cheap on features and quality, but this seems to be a bit too much to expect.

mego

I took a sample from the list...

and the majority of these are many years old - some over 12 years. Are you really griping about ancient devices not being supportable with new code?

ReactOS hits a milestone – actually hiring a full-time developer. And we've got our talons on the latest build to see what needs fixing

mego

Re: Personally...

How about looking as good as any system from, oh the last 20 or so years? I recently retired an old Macintosh from pre-2000's running MacOS 7.x that was light years ahead of ReactOS in looks

mego

Personally...

It's not ready until it either looks more modern - right now it looks like the bastard child of Windows95 and Windows for Workgroups - or has significantly better architecture than the current Windows10 offers.

Win10 is extremely stable at this point, ironically more stable than macos if by macbook is anything to go by....

Trump's bright idea of kicking out foreign students unless unis resume in-person classes stuns tech, science world

mego

Re: Article is flame bait: A.A.P. Says send kids back to school

No big news there...

mego

Re: Backfill for Brexit

That's a good plan! Maybe they can bring more strains of COVID-19 from their markets...

Also, the UK is going to force students to return in the new school year. So they will be in person in class.

mego

Firstly, Trump is not and has never been anti-immigrant. He is with damn good reason anti ILLEGAL immigrant. Every western country is anti illegal immigrant

Secondly, Universities are typically liberal in nature. This is made worse by the fact that professors believe that violence is a suitable answer to being told the truth about gender dysphoria, or even truth about the color of the sky or nature of humanity. Universities actively allow rioting and violence when the minority of republicans ask a republican speaker on campus. So yes, there is a problem there. And yet, Trump doesn't shut them down or do anything in reaction.

Back on topic. These people are here on specific visas to enable them to share culture, be in class in person, and make physical connections. Online learning is fully capable of sharing information and enabling them to learn - but is not the point of these programs. When the program cannot be achieved due to social distancing, the program needs to be revised and if necessary cancelled.

I would expect the same treatment if I was here on a work visa and I lost my job and couldn't find another.

mego

I'm not sure I understand the issue. Foreign exchange is about being here in person, experiencing the culture and being part of the system in person. Under what circumstances should students on such a program NOT return home if that is no longer feasible?

Additionally, WHAT brain drain? They are not immigrants or otherwise intending to stay and work here, they are students here to study in another culture.

Everything OK with Microsoft? Windows giant admits it was 'on the wrong side of history' with regard to open source

mego

Don't trust a word they say...

Experience - rude experience - has taught that Microsoft have a tendency to embrace, extend, extinguish anything rivaling their own systems. This happened with a number of things over the years - from development tools to hardware even - so, no, I don't trust it.

UK smacks Huawei with banhammer: Buying firm's 5G gear illegal from year's end, mobile networks ordered to rip out all next-gen kit by 2027

mego

"""Regrettably our future in the UK has become politicised, this is about US trade policy and not security. Over the past 20 years, Huawei has focused on building a better connected UK. As a responsible business, we will continue to support our customers as we have always done."""

That concerns me greatly given China has a law requiring that all Chinese citizens in a position to spy on the west, must do so.

Further, my sympathy for any Chinese owned company has been significantly curtailed thanks to their handling of COVID-19, and the fact that the world would not be in the position we're in had they not sought to hide it from everyone. Do not forget that people in China speaking out about this still to this day continue to "disappear" randomly.

Lastly, theft in China for Intellectual Property is significantly high. Purchasing such high quantities of goods at a cheap price just encourages that.

If you're going to spend $3tn, what's another billion? Congress urged to inject taxpayer dollars into open anti-Huawei 5G radio tech

mego

Re: Huawei presents two big problems

"They spend more on R&D than several of the top US tech companies combined."

For fiscal 2019, Huawei spent 15.3bn in R&D. Apple alone spent over $17bn for fiscal 2019.

Source: Their balance sheets are public. Also, I have stock in both (among other tech companies) and I attend earnings calls.

"The Chinese also educate way more people in STEM than anyone else."

They have 1/8th of the world's population. The next is India, with a little under that, then it cuts sharply to less than a quarter of that number for the US. So... yes between China and India having 1/4 of the world's population I'm pretty confident they have more of ANYTHING than anyone else. What a dumb statement either way since it doesn't impact the fact that both countries are rife with IP violations.

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