* Posts by Arachnoid

1076 publicly visible posts • joined 17 May 2012

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Amazon Lex can now speak British English... or simply 'English' if you're British

Arachnoid
Flame

British English

WTF exactly is that as there are so many dialect and variations within the language , is it Brummy, Mancunian, Liverpudlian ,Cockney or some other variant involving plums in ya gob?

On the other hand American English is in a world of its own and should be corrected on sight, especially the spelling.

Where China leads, Iran follows: US warns of 'contract' hackers exploiting Citrix, Pulse Secure and F5 VPNs

Arachnoid

Re: "malicious persons from Iran"

They infiltrate local IP addresses and use those as a proxy subterfuge to then enrol in the services, simples init bro.

GCHQ agency 'strongly urges' Brit universities, colleges to protect themselves after spike in ransomware infections

Arachnoid
Mushroom

Yea but theres back doors in that encryption if its to US standards, init bro.

Pen Test Partners: Boeing 747s receive critical software updates over 3.5" floppy disks

Arachnoid
Mushroom

OOH ERR MISSES.... Sorry I can't do that Dave.

"Disk 2 of 20 is unreadable, please re-insert disk."

Twitter hackers busted 2FA to access accounts and then reset user passwords

Arachnoid

OK, so they broke the 2FA of some employees to get into the tools.

The "Tools" in question may grant third party access to an admin level of the account which the user does not have access to, bypassing the user log ins i.e. for modifying the post or adding fact check warnings.

TomTom bill bomb: Why am I being charged for infotainment? I sold my car last year, rages Reg reader

Arachnoid

Re: Car dealers are slow to keep up

Yes I have a Mazda 3 that the previous owners left their mobile call signs on but it took a google search to find a way to remove them as there was nothing on the GUI or in the literature stating how to reset the device.

Talking of which the 09 mazda has its own gps onboard , newer vehicles have a different software vendor so updates are completely unavailable should I even wish to spend upwards of £300 for it [more than the price of a decent standalone unit] .

Arachnoid

Change of contract

It may be the initial sign up with the third party {tomtom} through the car interface,either had a limited period of free/paid subscription i.e. 3 years and then in the small print went to a different paid subscription i.e. monthly fees or alternately the fee for that particular subscription type changed and went to monthly similar Microsoft Office.

That said it wasn't 100% Mazda at fault as they could not interject as the agreement was with a third party Tomtom.They could however have put a procedure in place to remind previous owners of this issue instead of relying on some license agreement they may have flicked through on the screen several years ago and I cant see it being an isolated case. Its like signing up for an app subscription on your mobile and hoping it dies when you sell or destroy the phone.

The use of unauthorised payments to a card used on another service provided by the same vendor is very probably in breach of consumer credit laws as they should have written to the owner advising them the payment details had expired and asking for new credit payment details.

At the end of the day I cant see why a subscription fee is required for a car when a stand alone device from the same manufacturer will come with "lifetime subscription" which basically is usually until they change the model type, model number [which may be the same device] , hardware architecture or requirements due to mapping changes that are not supported by that particular model. The only difference being the standalone device will bring in substantially more initial revenue that adding a piece of software to someone elses device as per a phone app.

Just to add there are nefarious websites and apps that use what one could call underhand technology agreements i.e. agreeing to cookies, as acceptance you have agreed to a subscription service after the initial "free" offering..

Finally, a wafer-thin server... Only a tiny little thin one. Oh all right. Just the one...

Arachnoid
Black Helicopters

Phasers on stun

The engines cannae take it Captain

Faxing hell: The cops say they would very much like us to stop calling them all the time

Arachnoid

Fax`s never die

Working for a major UK food company they were still using a fax to send dispatch notes to the office on the same site until quite frequently. Working in Silos seems to be the modern lingo for that one.

Contact-tracer spoofing is already happening – and it's dangerously simple to do

Arachnoid

Re: Colour me surprised -- NOT

No need just repurpose the government txt broadcast system to send the messsage to everybody

Arachnoid
Stop

Virus-tracking app angers thousands in Moscow with fines

https://apnews.com/ca08db0bc06f0a9d20e205104680c881

Coronavirus laws changed to mean relatives are not 'childcare' after Dominic Cummings scandal

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/coronavirus-laws-dominic-cummings-lockdown-childcare-relatives-a9542381.html

Japan to test self-destructing satellite to shrink space junk with string and an inanimate carbon blob

Arachnoid

Dak Star

Bomb No 20 can you hear me?.........

Smart fridges are cool, but after a few short years you could be stuck with a big frosty brick in the kitchen

Arachnoid

Why expect anything else

Your mobile device is only supported for several years if you are lucky and "smart " cars well we will see how that pans out regarding spares availability [batteries especially] and software updates.

The Rise of The (Coffee) Machines: I need assistance. I think I'm running Windows. Send help

Arachnoid

Sirius Cybernetics Corporation

Siriously Shirley not!

Serial killer spotted on the night train from Newcastle

Arachnoid

Re: glutenous

"[Google says] What is Glutenous?

adjective. tending to eat and drink excessively; voracious. greedy; insatiable."

Have you been drinking too much during your abstention from work and missing out on your hour in the exercise yard!

Arachnoid

Re: Thats just Twerk

Are you using your tea break to look at her with the large gluteus maximus again?

Boeing 787s must be turned off and on every 51 days to prevent 'misleading data' being shown to pilots

Arachnoid
Mushroom

So.......

How many would fly on a 747 that knowingly has not been rebooted for 50 days?

Intel's Atom C2000 chips are bricking products – and it's not just Cisco hit

Arachnoid

On the Synology system it seems adding a 100 Ohm resistor solves the issue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8_emfoR_MI

Call us immediately if your child uses Kali Linux, squawks West Mids Police

Arachnoid

Re: urging parents to call police if their child has installed

Shirley in these days of social media it easier to post it on their facebook or Twitter page to get ignored by them but laughed at by everyone else

Crypto AG backdooring rumours were true, say German and Swiss news orgs after explosive docs leaked

Arachnoid

dead-dropping

Set up a battery powered pseudo mobile Wifi Hotspot near say the local Mcdonalds with onboard storage , all the sender and recipient has to do is log in to transfer the data with little risk of interception as it never hits the NSA internet servers.

Arachnoid

Without a key the source is difficult

"Is de Gaulle's prick//Twelve inches thick//Can it rise//To the size//Of a proud flag-pole//And does the sun shine//From his arse-hole?"

Fed-up air safety bods ban A350 pilots from enjoying cockpit coffees

Arachnoid

Upside down

Using the flaperoonies

Arachnoid

NASA

Maybe they should approach NASA for a solution as this never seems to happen in space and they have lots of floaty stuff up there near the electronics.

Bada Bing, bada bork: Windows 10 is not happy, and Microsoft's search engine has something to do with it

Arachnoid

Re: Don't mince your words.

Like Mince Pies but with additional tasteful content

Arachnoid

Re: B.I.N.G

Bin n` gone

Forget sharks with lasers, NASA kits out an elephant seal with a sensor-studded skullcap

Arachnoid

Unicorns

See this is how it all starts with fantasy animals , next we will see seals with horns on their noses.......

Homeland Security backs off on scanning US citizens, Amazon ups AI ante, and more

Arachnoid
Stop

Facial scanning

Yea right they are not required to be scanned but just like when it occurred recently in London outside a Train terminal, anyone refusing was pulled over and questioned for several minutes.

Remember that competition for non-hoodie hacker pics? Here's their best entries

Arachnoid

Hello John

By the time you have decrypted this message I will have left home with the kids and all the money from our Bank account.

USAF spaceplane back on Earth after mystery 2-year jaunt in orbit. Jeepers creepers, what has it been doing up here?

Arachnoid

Apophis' attack on Earth

Master Bra'tac to Jack Oniell

How many great ships do you have to defend Earth?

Oh just some Shuttles.

These are mighty Warships yes?

Three UK goes TITSUP*: Down and out for 10 hours and counting

Arachnoid

people can die due to not being able to call for help

What total bollox do what we used to do years ago before mobile phones were so prolific, stop making your mobile the one thing in life you cant do without!

Dear hackers: If you try to pwn a website for phishing, make sure it's not the personal domain of a senior Akamai security researcher

Arachnoid

Re: name of your first pet + mother's maiden name?

She led a mysterious and adventurous life then.......

Arachnoid

name of your first pet + mother's maiden name?

Theres nothing to say these have to be the actual names Shirley its more secure to make them up i.e. Rhaegal+Dhampir .Though I can never get round why email addresses are used as part of a two part log in system on some sites.

Damn my securitys blown now!

Never let something so flimsy as a locked door to the computer room stand in the way of an auditor on the warpath

Arachnoid

Area 51

"Mind you, after seeing the gadgets and systems being guarded, I FULLY UNDERSTAND WHY they did what they did!"

Area 51 Aliens?

Don't mean to alarm you, but Boeing has built an unmanned fighter jet called 'Loyal Wingman'

Arachnoid

Led panels and shape shifting skin profiles to adapt and blend in with enemy aircraft

Bored bloke takes control of British Army 'psyops' unit's Twitter

Arachnoid

99 Brigade

Sounds a bit "flakey" maybe they melted aware under the glare

What a cheep shot: Bird sorry after legal eagles fire DMCA takedown at scooter unlock blog

Arachnoid

Dumping

Could not Bird be prosecuted for dumping after all I could leave a pile of crap on the pavement with a for hire sign in a similar manner?

Why millions of Brits' mobile phones were knackered on Thursday: An expired Ericsson software certificate

Arachnoid

So.........

All these hacks from "Foreign sponsored states" are a complete waste of time on their part all they need to do is intercept all the certificate reminders

GCHQ pushes for 'virtual crocodile clips' on chat apps – the ability to silently slip into private encrypted comms

Arachnoid

Sounds more like Citizen over watch

There is nothing to stop sophisticated "bad guys" writing and distributing their own communication application even as they are reputed to do these days, use "game chat" to pass messages. Neither of option will give authorities any chance of accessing the intelligence they seek.

Technical foul: Amazon suffers data snafu days before Black Friday, emails world+dog

Arachnoid

Funnily enough

This has come up on the very same day Tourtech UK Ltd [ the motorcycle parts company] seem to have sent out a mass email to many customers with an attached receipt for work carried out to the sum of £351.24 . The source appears to be from their email server but they too seem to have neither registered on the ICO Public register nor reported the possible loss of customer data and are "investigating the matter".

Yikes. UK military looking into building 'fully autonomous' killer drone tech – report

Arachnoid

Fully Autonomous

its so much like self drive vehicles........ who takes the blame when someone is injured or dies through its actions [or inactions i.e. self preservation] ?

If one elected party brings them in and a death occurs during another parties term of office whilst under their watch, who exactly is to blame. The designer, innovator, programmer or the network supervisor?

Palliative care for Windows 10 Mobile like a Crimean field hospital, but with even less effort

Arachnoid
Mushroom

Blackberry

Well someone had to mention it.This so reminds me of the " secure" operating system that took a nose dive for lack of viable investment in user experience and usability.

Shift-work: Keyboards heaped in a field push North Yorks council's fly-tipping buttons

Arachnoid

Quite wicked electronic tipping Yobos

Damn vandals often ruin areas ,knuckleheads.Needs extra observation, criminals often leave evidence, maybe a klue.

This one weird trick turns your Google Home Hub into a doorstop

Arachnoid

Security PAH who needs stupid security

These devices all suffer from a complete lack of security in any form related to restricting access, as previously documented by the TV show that caused an Alexa device to order online products using the owners account. They could at least have some form of verbal access code when doing such things instead of just acknowledging whomever speaks out loud..

Alexa Open the front door!..........

Chuck this on expenses: £2k iPad paints Apple as the premium fondleslab specialist – as planned

Arachnoid
WTF?

I can just hear the distant bleating of the iSheep now

"iPaaaads Good, Tablets BAAAAD!"

Arachnoid

level one Apple Care

Im surprised apple haven't introduced a newer and much dearer, level one Apple Care for the higher priced items they are now selling to the Sheep.

Anyhow that now £3K+ iSheep will need to find as the new phone will make it a matching set.

Microsoft points to a golden future where you can make Windows 10 your own

Arachnoid

Retestrak

"I would have tried XPLite"

Ah yes those modded OSs were better designed than a whole team of Microsoft employees could come up with.

Arachnoid

What about the stuff that we really don't want...

"Get of my Lawn!"

Haunted disk-drive? This story will give you the chills...

Arachnoid

One from DARPA

"AI cannibalism

In the early 2000s, Mike Sellers was working on social AI agents for DARPA. During one simulation, two AI agents named Adam and Eve were given a few basic skills. They knew how to eat, but not what to eat. When they tried to eat apples from a tree, they felt happy. When they tried to eat wood from the same tree they didn't get any reward.

So far so good, right? Things started going haywire when another AI agent, Stan, was introduced. Adam and Eve learned associatively. Because Stan was hanging around when they were eating apples, the agents learned to associate Stan with both eating and the feeling of happiness.

Guess what happened next?

"At the time it was pretty horrifying as we realized what had happened," writes Sellers. "In this AI architecture, we tried to put as few constraints on behaviors as possible... but we did put in a firm no cannibalism restriction after that: no matter how hungry they got, they would never eat each other again."

https://www.zdnet.com/pictures/im-sorry-dave-9-real-times-ai-has-given-us-the-creeps/

Robot Operating System gets the Microsoft treatment

Arachnoid
Joke

Obi Wan You're My Only Hope

Yes but it was very tidy rubbish,,,,,,,,,,

Brit startup plans fusion-powered missions to the stars

Arachnoid

Nukes in Space

So first to show the enormous cost of the project according to Nasa it spends around $6000 to send something the size and weight on a Lemon into space.

Second say you get this project up there and light the touch paper, how the hell are you proposing to slow such a mass going at the speeds you need for interplanetary travel ,create an stable orbit then fire off again to the next planet of interest as each would take days?

Not only that but the maths required for such navigational feats to hop planet to planet would be astronomical bearing in mind your "road map" is made from a telescope based on a planet millions of miles from where you are.

Thirdly what are the occupants going to survive on in regard to Air and food or is this going to be a one way journey?

[Quotes from google] :

How long did it take for Voyager to get to Pluto?

Launched in 2006, New Horizons is the fastest spacecraft to ever leave Earth. It crossed the orbit of Jupiter the next year and has been traveling nearly a million miles a day—but it still took 9.5 years for the spacecraft to reach Pluto and its moons.

What speed was the speed of the New Horizon satellite

The Jupiter flyby increased New Horizons' speed by 4 km/s (14,000 km/h; 9,000 mph), accelerating the probe to a velocity of 23 km/s (83,000 km/h; 51,000 mph) relative to the Sun and shortening its voyage to Pluto by three years.

When you look at it your propulsion is only a tiny part of the problem

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