* Posts by Don Dumb

462 publicly visible posts • joined 20 May 2013

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X Corp is now suing a sublessee for unpaid rent

Don Dumb

Re: IANAL Opinion

"I love the dig at Twitter not paying its own rent in the filing. I don't think that will hold any water from a legal standpoint, but it's still hilarious."

As do I, it's very much the 'This You?' in statement form, played well. I don't think it's a legal defence so much as a negotiating position - for Twitter to force this through weakens Twitter's defence against the greater claims by their landlords, especially the landlord of that property. It's saying, drop the claim against us or it will help to cost you more.

Uncle Sam OKs vaccine that protects honeybees against hive-destroying bacterium

Don Dumb
Terminator

Get ready

"Now we just have to hope that antivaxxer bees aren't a thing"

There will be enough idiot humans to do that for them. Cue people campaigning against 'illuminati 5G drone pollinated crops', people selling freedom almonds and raising their own 'vaccine-free' bee populations that won't at all undermine the eradication effort.

But don't worry, bees aren't important or anything

Musk seeks yet another excuse to get out of Twitter buyout: This time it's Mudge's severance check

Don Dumb

Caveat Emptor

"he might end up in the situation where "only $44billion" would have the cheaper option."
But, it turns out he couldn't really afford $44Bn - cheaper is a moot distinction when you can't afford any option, partly because his actions devalued his own stock (except the option to not agree the amateurishly rushed premature agreement in the first place).

Once it became clear he couldn't pay, his only option was to weasel out of the deal, or at least get a judge to accept he is only liable for the $1Bn fee rather than the $44Bn that he can't afford (by arguing he should pay nothing).

One would imagine the other investors he pursuaded to join in on the purchase are having some long conversations with their legal teams about walking away and not having anything to do with Musk's deal. Can't imagine he has much credibility left amongst his peers.

Don Dumb

Re: Post hock justification

But the 'bot numbers' issue is absolutely a deliberate muddying of the waters and irrelevant to the deal. Musk stated publcially several times he thought there were loads of bots on Twitter *before he made an offer* to buy the company, infact it was partly his stated reason for buying it. So it cannot be material whether Twitter is using shit maths to calculate the numbers as Musk himself brought the company under the prestated assumption there were loads anyway. Finding out there are more bots than Twitter's calculations estimate cannot therefore invalidate the deal as he started from the position of not believing the calculations, it would be a strange argument to pull out of a deal because your assumption was correct.

In any case, he waived due diligence and "Musk made his offer without seeking any representation from Twitter regarding its estimates of spam or false accounts" *

It seems the bot number evidence is clearly a disdirection tactic to avoid completing the deal, and everyone seems to be falling for it - it doesn't matter how many bots there are to the deal agreed but everyone seems to think it does.

Musk appeared to only be asking questions of the mDAU after the Tesla price dropped and he could no longer afford to buy, so it's not unreasonable to suggest he started looking for excuses once he had signed a cheque he couldn't cash.

* - source https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2022/07/14/twitter-vs-musk-the-complaint/

Amazon fails to overturn New York City union election

Don Dumb

The best reason for forming a union...

... is that the employer doesn't want it to happen.

That shows exactly where the power lies without one. I always find it amazing people think that negotiating contracts in the way their employer wants them to is a strong negotiating position for the employee.

That Amazon is going to such lengths to try and prevent a union forming rather than simply recognising the formalised wishes of more than half of that location's workforce, and the money they are spending fighting it, tells you all you need to know about why those people would be better off with a union. How about they spend that money on raises for the workforce rather than the lawyers? - no, thought not.

Twitter faces existential threat from world's richest techbro

Don Dumb

It’s important in the same way Donald Trump’s various social media excretions are ‘important’.
Yep, that was what I was getting at, 'important' doesn't mean 'good' but we would be naive to ignore the power of the platform (politicians don't use it for fun) and that Elon might wish to exploit it for more than he is currently able to.

Don Dumb

@Lord Elpuss - regardless, it is still important. Whether we like it or not, it's difficult to argue that it doesn't have a signifant effect on today's world.

Amazon warehouse workers in New York unionize in historic win against web giant

Don Dumb

Re: To summarise...

Yep, the best reason for Amazon's staff having a union is that Amazon didn't want its staff to have a union.

UK National Crime Agency finds 225 million previously unexposed passwords

Don Dumb
Flame

Not suprised

How many of these are stolen from UK ISPs? - several appear to not store passwords in salted and hashed form at rest, even using them for verifction when you phone up.

Going against both ICO & NCSC guidance but somehow claiming in public "that's fine".

Unvaccinated and working at Apple? Prepare for COVID-19 testing 'every time' you step in the office

Don Dumb

Re: If, and I stress the IF ...

@jmch -

I think that saying "I'm gonna wait and see", as well as "I'm gonna go for the tried-and-tested platform" is a fair position to take with respect to the new vaccine platforms.

And what standard, or test will they be waiting for, and why? What education do they have to understand those desicions and tests?

Quite simply the people that actually know and understand about these things have done the research, are qualified to do the research and have made valuable assessments. Simply saying "I'm going to wait until I'm satisfied" is amazingly arrogant unless the person saying is (relevantly) qualified.

Don Dumb
Boffin

Re: Well....

Just sayin' .... DYOR - this is more than the headlines, lies and propaganda

Fucking No. Don't 'do your own research' unless you are a scientific researcher or academic authority in the relevant fields.

Everyone else, listen to those people and stop thinking you are in any way capable of 'doing your own research'.

For instance, Dr Anthony Fauci "joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a clinical associate in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases's (NIAID) Laboratory of Clinical Investigation (LCI). He became head of the LCI's Clinical Physiology Section in 1974, and in 1980 was appointed chief of the NIAID's Laboratory of Immunoregulation. In 1984, he became director of the NIAID, a position he still holds....Fauci has been a visiting professor at many medical centers." - He knows more than you and me

Don Dumb
Stop

Re: If, and I stress the IF ...

"I'm not anti-vax, I just refuse to be an early adopter of the highly novel vaccine platforms"
(Emphasis mine)

Are you qualifed in the field of immunology, virology, pharmacology or in fact in any medical science capacity? If not, then like I imagine so many people in this comment section, you are not qualified to make such a comment and your opinion on the effectiveness of vaccines, their quality and the processes they were subjected to for approval is frankly worthless.

I would have thought this site would definitely be behind the principle of "an unqualified 'self-researched' opinion is not valuable when compared to qualified assessment".

This article's comment section appears little better than a youtube comment section. Unless all the software engineers that usually comment quietly got PhDs in pharmology during the lockdown.

Money can buy you insurance against network break-ins but investing in infosec hygiene wouldn't go amiss, says new NCSC chief

Don Dumb

Re: Simply not embedded into the UK's boardroom thinking

It needs standards and regulations. The things we have governments for, allegedly.

And enforcement - often governments think the first two is enough.

It was illegal to build towerblocks that burn down. It seems more difficult to force builders to care.

Microsoft wants to show enterprises that Edge means business, rather than the thing you use to download Chrome

Don Dumb
Terminator

Leopards and their spots

I wonder if the uptick in Edge is at all linked to the recent update which forced itself on the user. Going as far as a splashpage on system startup which couldn't be deactivated by any normal command (no 'X' in the corner).

The splashpage both attempted to make itself default, again noting the page couldn't be deactivated normally and take bookmarks and history from other browsers.

I avoided it by killing it from task manager but how many users would have just clicked on 'yes' to get the page to go away, being as there was no other exit

Just like the good old days...

Ex-barrister reckons he has a privacy-preserving solution to Britain's smut ban plans

Don Dumb
FAIL

Oh really?

@Brewster's Angle Grinder

"And Apple won't let you install other media players."

Did your teenage kid tell you that to keep you from suspecting? - VLC Disagrees

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vlc-for-mobile/id650377962

Adobe: Two critical Flash security bugs fixed for the price of one

Don Dumb
Facepalm

Re: Urgh!

FFS! - Remove Flash from your browser and, guess what, it works fine.

Snap, crackle ... patch! Apple kicks out iOS 11.0.2 to tackle crappy calls, fix email glitches

Don Dumb

Control Panel

Have they fixed the 'control-panel-doesn't-really-turn-off-bluetooth/wifi-it-just-disconnects' issue?

Or is that Apple "innovation"

Apple's 'shoddy' Beats headphones get slammed in lawsuit

Don Dumb
Facepalm

Re: LMFAO

@Not also known as SC - "I don't think the complainants should win this particular case - it should be obvious that headphones would get sweat damaged in that sort of environment."

Unless they were sold with advertising stating that they would work in those conditions.

If only they stated this in the story you've commented on, like perhaps, across the first few paragraphs....

Facebook posts put Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli in prison as a danger to society

Don Dumb
Stop

Re: It's called deflection

@elDog - "It's called deflection"

Occam's Razor - no, he really is just an arsehole

Don Dumb
WTF?

Re: Menace to society? I think not.

@Jake - "Menace to society? I think not...I've certainly never been afraid of people like that."

But he hasn't offered to buy *your* mutilation, so why would *you* worry?

It's not him specifically that the Secret Service are concerned about, so much as the crazy people who will do something because of him.

Violent moon mishap will tear Uranus a new ring or two

Don Dumb
Stop

Re: Well, i hope it happens ...

I believe you're thinking of La Palma in the Canary Islands, not an island in the Azores, and unfortunately the devastating tsunami impact was overstated by an (enjoyable) episode of Horizon. The '50m high walls of water' destroying New York theory has been somewhat over-egged - Andrew Orlowski collated many references in this story 2 years ago - https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/02/17/bbc_trust_oks_hollywood_disaster_factuals/

It's a useful reminder of how easily an enduring urban myth can be created and how difficult it is to extinguish them later on.

Hurricane Irma imperils first ever SpaceX shuttle launch: US military's secret squirrel X-37B

Don Dumb
Facepalm

Way to Manage Risk guys

"Since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, all new buildings at the location have been built to withstand wind speeds of up to 130mph. However, Irma is, right now, producing winds in excess of 180mph and may pick up more strength before it hits the coast."

So after a category 5 hurricane caused damage to Florida, they reacted by ensuring that they built strong enough to withstand up to category 3 hurricanes. That's some reaction and from an organisation that knows just a little bit about the effects of a changing climate.

I really hope the nuclear facilities in California aren't built to withstand earthquakes merely up to 7 on the scale....

New MH370 analysis again suggests plane came down outside search area

Don Dumb

Re: Now this is intersting

@Mad Mike - "you would have thought these organisations are aware of what they have and what has been photographed and therefore, even if it's low priority, would take a look at it."

But they may have already done that before these pictures were taken. The story points out that the images were from 2 weeks after the event. The owners may have already reviewed their data stocks and worked on those. Notwithstanding that it was a manual exercise to go through all the imagery and you would have started within the search area, not outside it.

Don Dumb

Re: Now this is intersting

@voland's right hand - "if the area was under observation by a satellite during the window after the supposed crash why the data was not offered to Australia earlier."

These are subtle artifacts in images "objects 'probably not natural'"and outside the search area. In many ways it's the same as the physical search, you mark out an area and start looking through that. The imagery analysts may have been combing through all their data but were simply looking at pictures too far south. Only when they've taken a longer look further afield have they (possibly) spotted something.

Don't forget this isn't something that was automated so would taken time even for a small area and the images were from 2 weeks after the plane disappeared.

It's August 2017 and your Android gear can be pwned by, oh look, just patch the things

Don Dumb
Stop

Re: Who is writing all this crud?

@Version 1.0 - "so I'm old but when I started coding"

I suspect modern systems are much more complex than anything you were ever working on.

The code might well be crap, but then your code probably wasn't subject to anywhere near as much vulnerability 'attention' as Android is.

70% of Windows 10 users are totally happy with our big telemetry slurp, beams Microsoft

Don Dumb

Re: 29% Windows users

If Microsoft were really confident that people are happy with telemetry, they would have it *off* by default. Because people would be happy to turn it on right?

Dems fightin' words! FCC's net neutrality murder plot torn apart

Don Dumb
FAIL

Re: Not for profit

@Charles 9 - "no one expects ANYTHING run by the government to be efficient and well-maintained. Name one where private, profit-driven enterprise can't do any better."

Healthcare, Education, Policing..... oh, sorry, you said just one.

"Two, that smacks of Socialism, and in America, Socialism might as well be a four-letter word."

You're right there, the *word* Socialism is dirt in the US but it would really shock Americans if they realised just how socialist their sports are compared to the way sport is run elsewhere. I guess I wish* people would care more about what works best rather than whether it fits their ideologies.

* - that may be my ideology though trapping me some sort of irony spiral.

Linux kernel hardeners Grsecurity sue open source's Bruce Perens

Don Dumb

Re: Racist?

@David Roberts - Let me spell it out for you, "going by the name" suggests that someone with that surname is based in India, based only on his name. Because of course, assuming someone with that name isn't American or based in America is just straight up racism.

I can get behind digs at outsourcing but assuming someone with an Indian name isn't in America, is shit behavior.

Don Dumb
Facepalm

@AC - "Well, looking at the name"

How nice of you to clarify up front that you're being a completely racist shit

Don Dumb
Coat

#DEFINE VIAGRA

Problem is that it almost encourages the spread of viruses

WannaCrypt victims paid out over $140k in Bitcoin to get files unscrambled

Don Dumb

Re: The most worrying comment is ...

@Andy The Hat -

But it isn't a massive organisation so much as a massive collection of organisations, each with their own levels of competence, funding and priorities. I'm not at all surprised that NHS Digital can't be sure about every NHS body.

This is one of the reasons it is so difficult to get a pan-NHS IT system.

Cardiff did Nazi that coming: Hackers slap Trump, swastikas, Sharia law on e-sign

Don Dumb

Re: Sarf Wales

Mate. The speedway stadium is gone

Sorry.

Don Dumb

Re: Sarf Wales

I've been to both Cardiff and Newport - they are very different places. I spent 4 hours in Newport waiting for my passport, it was an absolute shithole, I could see no other reason to be there. Certainly anyone going there for pleasure seems to actually be going to the Celtic Manor which is outside the city. I remember the G7(or one of those) that was held at the Celtic Manor no one said Newport.

Cardiff's had quite a bit of investment (modelled on Baltimore they told us) and, being the principality's capital, has quite a bit going for it. The transport into and out of there on an evening is a nightmare though, which is why it's fantastic that they put so many events on at the PrincipalityMillennium stadium on Friday nights.

I imagine the number of stag and hen dos out on a Saturday night might sully the place for some but I'm not sure of any nice places in the UK that aren't inundated by Stag/Hen dos at the weekend.

Of course, to the rest of Wales, Cardiff is basically England.

Don Dumb
Headmaster

Re: If they really wanted to troll Cardiff

@Nattrash - You mean Malta, no?

Don Dumb
Devil

If they really wanted to troll Cardiff

Then they would have flown the St George's flag

Trump-backed RAISE Act decoded: Points-based immigration, green cards slashed

Don Dumb
Thumb Up

@AC - "It will take a lot more than this to do that."

But this is called the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy Act. Any politician that votes against reforming American immigration for a strong economy must be a traitor to the American people.

Yes, I do find the habit of using silly naming as a pathetic attempt to blackmail legislators into support very childish.

Don Dumb
Facepalm

Re: This isn't a terrible idea

@naive - "oDummer-Care"

That's a wonderful play on words, you must be really proud.

Canadian ISPs do not Canuck around: Bloke accused of piracy grilled in his home for hours

Don Dumb

@Chris G - "Anyone comes to my house with a bailiff and lawyers unless they have cops with a warrant as well, hey can fuck off."

If ever there's a group that works on the principle that people don't know their rights or what is allowed by the law it is bailiffs.

Don Dumb
Flame

Re: The true nature of big corp

@Pascal Monett - "why didn't Lackman have the right to consult with his lawyer ?"

I read it as he wasn't *allowed* to consult his lawyer, not that he didn't have the right to, which would be a big red flag for me. If someone (who isn't even in the police) is in your house, taking your stuff, questioning you AND THEN saying "no you can't get your lawyer", then it's pretty clear they know they aren't doing what they're allowed to.

This is where giving many millions in damages really is justified. Even the police can't just do whatever they want to you in your house, private individuals or corporations certainly can't and should be heavily dissuaded from doing so, the only way they understand.

RentBoy.com boss faces six months of hard time

Don Dumb
Stop

Re: I am not sure about the sentence

@Ogi - "Perhaps I am misunderstanding this, but from what I gather, as long as you donate to the right causes, you can get leniency for committing crimes?"

NO, read the article again and look past the headline. Because that would mean any organised crime or politician would be effectively immune from sentencing. That's not what the judge has done here.

From the story itself:

"These considerations appear not to have been lost on Judge Brodie, who told Hurant of his company: "The very thing that was illegal, it also did a lot of good.""

The judge said that.

What the judge is effectively saying is that "the law [here] is an ass". The very thing he is being sent down for is something that local elected representatives and ultimately the judge acknowledged was a good thing for society. That is a damming indictment of the US legislative position on this and on the priority of law enforcement in pursuing it.

This is very different from an old-fashioned racketeer claiming leniency on the basis of funding some art galleries and paying for the church renovation.

Thought your divorce was ugly? Bloke sues wife for wiretapping – 'cos she read his email

Don Dumb
Unhappy

Re: Why issue a sueball?

@kain preacher - "It's not uncommon for the plod here to say oh that's a civil case."

Considering it involves alleged wiretapping and possible attorney misconduct, that's disappointing.

Don Dumb

Why issue a sueball?

Surely this would be a criminal violation?

It reminds me of some of the super-injunctions in the UK, if people were really being blackmailed, perhaps rather than just getting an injunction, maybe you should be involving the police? Unless of course the reasoning was simply an excuse...

If a lawyer has used this information, then wouldn't they would be in big trouble with the bar, rather than simply having to defend a defamation suit?

Uber drivers game Uber's system like Uber games the entire planet

Don Dumb
Coat

I see what you did there

"To some extent, people can be expected to look for ways around technological obstacles to self-interest. Efforts to bend or break rules have existed throughout history."

Are we still talking about the drivers' behaviour or about Uber's general approach in adhering to legislation?

PayPal splashes cash on biz that persuades folks to splash cash online

Don Dumb
Thumb Up

@Captain DaFt - "Yah, I'm calling bullshit on this one."

This seems to be another crazy net tech spending spree. The words of suspicion -

"The startup itself claims to take advantage of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, although there isn't a vast amount of detail proffered up by the company on the data science behind its platform."

They present little evidence for their worth but claim to make people spend more. Unsurprisingly the only time when I visit paypal is at the point of spending, I've already made my decision (and I'm blocking anything that isn't directly helping me pay)

Don't make Aug 21 a blind date: Beware crap solar eclipse specs

Don Dumb
Pint

Re: Genuine question

@Tim Warren - that's great, thanks for the info. I've just checked that I'm on the left(i.e. south) side of the plane. This flight was booked long before I realised there was going to be an eclipse so I'm feeling pretty lucky.

Don Dumb
Pint

Re: Genuine question

@smudge - many thanks. I was mainly thinking about atmosphere and the unbroken quality of sunlight up there pushing things beyond the design of the sunglasses. Sounds like it is unlikely but I'll make some more inquiries.

Now all I've got to do is hope that I can get on the left side of the plane.

Don Dumb

Genuine question

I'll be over the North Atlantic when the eclipse starts to form, fortunate enough to land in the east coast before it starts in earnest. Will eclipse glasses work as effectively up at cruising altitude (especially as the eclipse will only be partial) or is the view of the sun too strong for the filters in standard eclipse viewing glasses?

Fox News fabricated faux news with Donald Trump, lawsuit claims

Don Dumb
Stop

Re: TRAMO is TRITH

You're proving just how good AManFromMars1 really is/was

Don Dumb
Terminator

Re: The crazy fringe right still believes it is true despite the retraction

@DougS - "The fact that Fox later retracted it isn't a problem for them. In fact, it only makes them believe harder....The fact it was pulled makes it MORE TRUE in their minds, because it means the conspiracy to protect Clinton goes so deep that even Fox News is infected!"

That's the beauty of conspiracy theories - they are a turbo-charged self perpetuating cycle. Once a conspiracy theory gains believers, any information that would dispel that theory becomes more evidence to the believer of "just how deep the conspiracy goes", their belief actually grows.

Look at vaccination conspiracy theories, by now every medical, scientific, pharmaceutical figure and group must be in on the conspiracy to give children autism, there must be more people in on the conspiracy that outside it. To a logical person that would seem to disprove the idea, yet to a believer somehow that only shows just how big the conspiracy is.

Browser trust test: Would you let Chrome block ads? Or Firefox share and encrypt files?

Don Dumb
WTF?

Re: El Reg

@Anonymous Coward - "£10 buys an automatic gold badge on the forums?"

Which you wouldn't use because you're posting as AC?

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