* Posts by Morat

57 publicly visible posts • joined 6 Dec 2010

Page:

114 billion transistors, one big meh. Apple's M1 Ultra wake-up call

Morat

Desktops are fast enough for mere humans.

There's really no need for all the power that you can now buy for a desktop, unless you're into something niche. For me, that niche is VR gaming. Even a top line Intel/AMD processor and a 3090 won't give let you max out the capabilities of a good VR headset at the moment.

US imposes sanctions as Russia invades Ukraine

Morat

Having moved from a Cute but Ancient stone cottage to a Generic but OhSoPractical new-build I'm with insulation ALL the way. I can heat this house with my gaming PC but the cottage needed oil, coal, logs and a lot of effort to just keep it tolerable in winter.

I'm not going back. The GorBlimey moment for me was being upset by the condensation on the windows of my new house, until I realised it was on the _outside_ of the double glazing. Game changed!

Windows 11: Meet the new OS, same as the old OS (or close enough)

Morat

Re: What is an OS for?

Yes, exactly.

MS have become "The cost of doing business". They take a slice off the top of pretty much every business in the world.

Everyone in IT knows there are alternatives but they're even less popular with users because they're unfamiliar. Except Apple, and sod that.

This scumbag stole and traded victims' nude pics and vids after guessing their passwords, security answers

Morat

Re: Computer++ sentence

I installed the CCTV at work, I'm not a qualified installer. The police have made successful convictions on the back of "my" CCTV evidence.

Our system does incorporate the time/date into the video. I guess you could argue about whether our NTP is correctly configured but it hasn't been challenged so far.

Rocky Linux is go: CentOS founder's new project aims to be 100% compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Morat

HALLELUIAGOBBLE

Thank you! I wish Rocky Linux every success and hope to migrate when CentOS 7 goes EOL.

CentOS project changes focus, no more rebuild of Red Hat Enterprise Linux – you'll have to flow with the Stream

Morat

TL;DR

CentOS moves from Stable to Beta, everyone using CentOS for production moves to different Distros.

RedHat are likely to gain 0 customers.

Goodbye CentOS, and thanks for all the fish - because your world is about to be demolished. :(

Apple's M1: the fastest and bestest ever silicon = revolution? Nah, there's far more interesting stuff happening in tech that matters to everyone

Morat

Re: Headline-whoring

The day has come for Linux on the Des<HEADSHOT>

No-one needs to hear that again...

Yes, it's down again: Microsoft's Office 365 takes yet another mid-week tumble, Azure also unwell

Morat

Re: Bizarre

A Chromebook!?

Morat

Re: Exchange is bad news...

I feel it my duty to shill Zimbra at this point. I was moving from Small Bastard Server and needed a replacement for Exchange so I look at other options.

No, it's not mainstream but it's a hellofalot cheaper than on-prem Exchange and does the same job. Your users even have the choice of native webmail or Outlook.

If you need support, it's actually very good.

Try it free at home if you don't believe me!

Sadly my PHB has decided that we need to embrace O365 so we'll be making the final migration "soon" - or as soon as I don't have anything else more pressing to do.

BoJo looks to jumpstart UK economy with £6k taxpayer-funded incentive for Brits to buy electric cars – report

Morat
WTF?

Why subsidise the car industry - there are others more worthy!

LIke Zoos, Restaurants, Pubs, Hotels

in fact the whole of the Hospitality industry.

They need money to refit/re-equip for post-covid life. The car industry is the last place I'd put £6k right now. Who is going to buy a new car and sign a massive monthly payment with the current levels of uncertainty? If you're rich enough, you'll pass because you've got a decent car already. If you're not, you can't afford an EV even with £6k off.

This is a pointless exercise, how much did the SMMT bung no 10?

Morat

Re: Repurposing

Alas, you will run into the same blockage as the scheme for LPG - the SMMT.

There's no profit in repurposing existing cars, the only solution is to build new ones. Great for the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, not so good for the planet.

I heard somebody say: Burn baby, burn – server inferno!

Morat

Re: How about a nice long hot summer?

Pentium 4s were known as "Space Heaters" for a reason!

Admins beware! Microsoft gives heads-up for 'disruptive' changes to authentication in Office 365 email service

Morat

Re: Isn't cloud lovely

Yeah, well the only two reason I can think of to stay on an old version of an application are:

1. It's expensive to change between versions

2. It's technically demanding to change between versions

Neither of these things have to be true for a mail/collab server, although they are certainly true for most versions of Exchange on Prem.

Morat

On prem or hosted, Zimbra is cheaper, fully featured and super simple to admin. M$ are expensive AND shit.

Morat

Your company doesn't insist on remote wipe ability on your phone? How do they ensure that corporate data isn't lost if your phone is lost/stolen?

EU tells UK: Cut the BS, sign here, and you can have access to Galileo sat's secure service

Morat

We're still talking about Brexit like it's an issue? Time to move on.

Deadly 737 Max jets no longer a Boeing concern – for now: Production suspended after biz runs out of parking space

Morat

Re: Alternate 737MAX design kludge

Is it lift? or induced drag acting upwards in front of the centre of gravity? I'm not sure if there's a difference. Either way I can see why the plane pitches up when the underside of the engines start to to hit the airflow ahead of the wings - and everything I know about aerodynamics I learnt from paper planes and youtube. How did this get past Boeing?

Interpol: Strong encryption helps online predators. Build backdoors

Morat

Why do they need a backdoor if they can demand your hardware and passwords already?

If Interpol want to target paedophiles, then I wish them well. But, if they want backdoors into strong encryption so they can mass harvest private data then they should told to sod off. Problem is, I don't see why they need remote access to suspects phones when they can get a warrant and get hold of the hardware. It all sounds like a massive fishing expedition to me, and I bet that paedophiles end up being a tiny minority of those arrested due to compromised encryption.

Morat

Don't even think of buying Werthers Original online...

Electric vehicles won't help UK meet emissions targets: Time to get out and walk, warn MPs

Morat

Re: Time to get out and walk?

The fewer cars on the road, the safer cycling will become - and it's actually very safe now despite the hysteria around hi-vis and helmets.

Morat

Re: Alternatively,

There are ~847,000 horses in the UK already*. Perhaps we should put them to better use than standing around in fields waiting for a Pony Club weekend.

*http://www.beta-uk.org/pages/industry-information/market-information.php

Morat

Re: Hydrogen? Seriously?

Scaremongering?

We already have gas powered vehicles (LPG) and vehicles carrying gas bottles on the roads (Camper vans, Caravans).

It's very simple technology to have a blow off valve and all LPG fuel tanks are fitted with one. IF you end up in a hot enough fire (aka a petrol fire) which stresses the LPG tank, the LPG will be vented before the tank ruptures. This results in a jet of flame, but no explosion. Seeing as the petrol tank will already be on fire, you've either got out of the crash by this point or you haven't.

As for the chances of a gas bottle/tank being ruptured in a crash, no chance. They're massively strong and, of course, they're pressurised. Try jumping on a plastic coke bottle half full of water. Then imagine it made of thick steel. The chances of any crash that ruptures a gas tank being survivable for the humans involved is zero. You can youtube the results of Yanks shooting at LPG bottles if you don't believe me.

Morat

Bicycles. Stop the tribalism and embrace the future.

Bike to work! OK, it's tough in the winter but even if we only biked to work during the summer there would be a huge reduction in pollution.

The other advantages include an increase in fitness, reduction of heart disease and all the rest of the health benefits associated with regular exercise.

It woud cost, there are large infrastructure improvements required, and a lot of businesses would need to invest in showers but hey. It's worth it.

The main opposition comes from the Daily Heil's rantred of "Cyclists*" which probably tells you all you need to know about the rationality of that viewpoint.

*Cyclists are not an alien outgroup, but just people on bikes. Nearly all of them actually <gasp> own and use cars too!!

I could throttle you right about now: US Navy to ditch touchscreens after kit blamed for collision

Morat

Re: Touch screens

I got a new set of tyres last month and while I was sitting in reception I overhead the conversation between a guy who had just picked up his car and the guy who had left the ignition key on the roof so the owner could pick up his car.

I don't think that keyless entry was very popular by the time the owner had driven 15 miles home and then been unable to re-start his car

The seven deadly sins of the 2010s: No, not pride, sloth, etc. The seven UI 'dark patterns' that trick you into buying stuff

Morat

Wasn't it all signed into UK Law under the Great (Not actually a) Repeal Bill?

Genuine question not a dig!

Morat

Re: It's all obvious when you know them

I'ts pretty much ubiquitous.

How many times have you had a quote for a software license or piece of hardware that was a "specal price because we need to make out target this period"

or even "I was passing and I had some tarmac left on the wagon, do you want to do your drive while I'm here?" Same thing.

Small American town rejects Comcast – while ISP reps take issue with your El Reg vultures

Morat

Re: Good for Charlemont!

Good for you! BT are cynical in their treatment of rural areas. Their favorite tactic is to keep communities dangling while they wait for government subsidy to pay for the investment. This helps BT freeze out locally organised internet access until the money tree is given a good shake above BT's coffers.

The fastest way to get your exchange upgraded is to install a wireless alternative, BT _really_ hate it when customers start turning away from Line Rental aka BT's Internet Tax

Canny Brits are nuking the phone bundle

Morat

Where will it end?

Note 9 Sim Free - £899

S9 Sim Free - £620

iPhone 7 - £540

iPhone X - £800

For something that lives in your pocket. Has at least one side made completely of glass. Is replace every two years?

Forget plastic bags!

Stern Vint Cerf blasts techies for lackluster worldwide IPv6 adoption

Morat

IPv6? Sorry - better things to do.

and NAT still works even if you don't like it.

Every major OS maker misread Intel's docs. Now their kernels can be hijacked or crashed

Morat

I understood every word of that.

The Gemini pocket PC is shipping and we've got one. This is what it's like

Morat

Re: it's too big

Cargo Trousers are coming back - official!

Home Sec Amber Rudd: Yeah, I don't understand encryption. So what?

Morat

Re: Techies will continue to sneer.

Was a couple of rounds of drinks enough to secure him from identity theft? :)

Dad who shot 'snooping vid drone' out of the sky is cleared of charges

Morat

Re: Bullit County

You need to distinguish between firing up in the air at a drone and firing direcly at a person's chest at 10 yards (which is what the article you linked to is talking about).

Shotguns are specifically designed to take out airborne targets without causing damage on the ground to beaters, pickers up, gamekeepers etc who may well be "downrange" of the gun line but safe because the guns shoot upwards. I've been hit by falling shot many times, it just patters off your coat like rain.

Wangling my way into the 4K gaming club with a water-cooled whopper

Morat

Re: 4k vs VR

I play Elite Dangerous in 4k and it's beautiful. I don't have an Oculus Rift, so I tried lashing together a VR headset using Trinus Gyre and a Samsung Note3 in a colorcross headset/phone holder.

OK, so this may not be a fair comparison for VR due to the homebrew but since the screen is the same as the one used in the OR DK2 - I think it's completely fair to say that the resolution needs to be much much better before VR is truly worthwhile.

Don't get me wrong, the immersion was great. The 3D was extremely convincing and the headtracking meant that the flying experience felt very natural, but the detail just was not good enough on a 1080p screen for the scene to be convincing enough for me to forgoe the beauty of 4k. I'll give it a go with a Note4 or 5 soon and see if a 2k screen makes enough of a difference.

As to the article - you don't need a machine like the one you blagged from OC to play games in 4k. Get a 980 and you'll be set, even if you can't play everything in max settings. Get two 980s and you're sorted. My "rig" runs a 4790k at 4Ghz and cost less than £2k from Dino PC. It certainly didn't arrive on a pallet!

Space Commanders rebel as Elite:Dangerous kills offline mode

Morat

Re: The past is a different country....

"Or, maybe they already live in a dynamically altering universe, 24 hours a day, and they play games as a form of entertainment, like reading a book or going to the cinema. In both of those experiences, people talking to you is annoying. I am not socially retarded, but if I am playing a game, I don't want a 13-year old calling me a n00b gay fag cunt, or whatever they call each other, because I occasionally play games to relax and haven't spent ten hours this week in their universe knowing everything about it."

You do realise that you can still play in solo mode, don't you? In SOLO mode you won't see anyone at all. But even solo mode is an over-reaction to a non existent problem. IF you are insulted by one of the other players, which is highly unlikely since there are 400bn star systems and 50k players and the chat system is unbelievably primitive you can put them on block.

As for the dynamic updates - what you're asking for is the ability to farm the same trade route over and over again. offline. For pretend cash. Do you really call that living?

Morat

The past is a different country....

Storm in a teacup. The game is fantastic, the only problem with it is the ridiculously reactionary community on the forums. I do realise that a lot of the backers will be middle aged gamers who played the original Elite as kids. I'm one of them. I'm just saddened that so many of my generation seem to be socially retarded and scared rigid at the prospect of having people actually talk to them.

ED needs to be released as soon as possible so that the community can expand and the original backers can understand that gaming is now a mainstream activity whether they like it or not. There has been far too much emphasis on the wishes of the basement dwellers.

Munich considers dumping Linux for ... GULP ... Windows!

Morat

Re: From the other side of the fence...

Entirely Correct - and well put.

For a replacement to Exchange/Outlook to gain traction it has to be better. Cheaper would help, but not as much as better.

Better to a user does not mean "standards compliant" or "plays nicely with stuff I've never heard of". It means in this case.

1. Does 100% of what Outlook does

2. Some whizzy features that demo well (but will probably never get used)

3. Prettier than Outlook

4. Faster than Outlook.

It's only the beancounters and people holding the IT budget that care how much it costs.

Note that Exchange isn't on the list - users don't know what Exchange is. All information comes from Outlook in the same way that milk comes from a supermarket.

PICS: Nokia Lumia 930 – We reveal its ONE unique selling point

Morat

Re: Sensors

Cool, thanks!

Sony Z1/Z1C and Samsung Note2 have ANT+ (not an exhaustive list)

Morat

Sensors

Does it have either BTLE or ANT+ ?

iPhone has BTLE and Various Androids have one or both - very useful for the gym, cycling etc.

US cyber-army's cyber-warriors 'cyber-humiliated by cyber-civvies in cyber-games'

Morat

Cyber Ninjas are born, not made

Seriously, the army is recruiting from a totally different talent pool.

F1? No, it's Formula E as electric racing cars hit the track

Morat

Wipeout!!

Did anyone else get a throwback to Wipeout 2097?

Time to look up "Atom Bomb" by Fluke.. it's in the folder somewhere :)

The final score: Gramophones 1 – Glassholes 0

Morat

How many youtube hits?

I want to see the video of people learning to use a 60s record player!

Revealed: GCHQ's beyond top secret Middle Eastern internet spy base

Morat

Re: TRAITORS

Clearly a GCHQ employee - how else did he get First Post?

Project Tango: Google's all-ringing, all-dancing 3D-sensing smartphone

Morat

I want this on a drone

All this power on something as small and portable as a handset is incredible. Imagine being able to 3D map a building on the inside/outside and superimposing services and cable runs. Or repaint it in a different colour, or try different lighting plans. Fantastic!

TAKE MY MONEY!

Shiny, shiny! The window's behind me...

Morat

16:10 please!!!

Widescreen yes - but not the stupid 16:9 1080p sized screens. Sadly people just seem to tick the "widescreen" box without knowing the difference. 16:10 screens are really hard to get hold of now. I'm keeping hold of my old gen Dell Precision laptop because the new ones are all 16:9 :(

Is this possibly the worst broadband in the world?

Morat
Megaphone

DIY is the only way for notspots.

I feel your pain - or I used to until I organised a 100Mb leased line to share between work and a local WISP. After two years, we're getting used to nice stable broadband and speeds up to 20Mb. Mobile coverage still sucks, of course.

Scotland considers dishing out more iPads to schoolkids

Morat
Mushroom

Clearly Scotland has too much money

It is time to cut the umbilical which provides them with cash from south of the soon to be international border.

Lovefilm dumps Flash, BLINDS Linux fans with Silverlight

Morat
Linux

Meh

I used LoveFilm on a Samsung smart TV and the quality was absolutely awful. Really no great loss.

MPs: This plan for proper navy carriers and jets is crazy!

Morat
WTF?

Supersonic sorties? Tornado? Please....

There's no way that a Tornado can carry enough fuel to use its top speed to reduce its overall sortie duration. On a bomb truck like the Tornado the amount of fuel available for full throttle can be measured in seconds, a few minutes at most - and that is used for running away in an emergency not getting home in time for another trip.

Page: