* Posts by ratfox

3721 publicly visible posts • joined 3 Sep 2007

Bug-finder chucked for posting to Zuck

ratfox
Pint

Re: ...and here we se the "Head In The Sand" approach to system security...

I joined at the time to participate to a discussion/group/whatchamacallit.

But indeed, the most important attraction is to read what is happening to your friends, assuming what they write is not "had a donut today" and rather "will be in NY next week-end, anybody there up for a drink?"

YouTube Wars: Microsoft cries foul as Windows Phone app pulled again

ratfox
IT Angle

Did Microsoft just claim they are less capable than Blackberry?

"The roadblocks Google has set up are impossible to overcome, and they know it."

Sounds like Microsoft is having trouble finding good software engineers these days…

Google: Cloud users have 'no legitimate expectation of privacy'

ratfox
Pint

Re: Shock! Gmail works just like Google said it would...

I regret I have but one upvote to give to you, good sir!

ratfox
Facepalm

Shock and horror

…There are people who signed up for Gmail without realizing that Google was going to read their emails and show them related ads!

I mean, I understand that some people like privacy, but then for Cthulhu's sake don't use Gmail…

Starwing: Nintendo, Argonaut's Brit boffinry and the Super FX chip

ratfox

Superstar cluster-Zuck as Facebook tries out celeb-only edition

ratfox

Re: Pronouns

Yeah, I didn't get what this was about. It's pretty clear that "between you and me" is correct, so why should it be "between they and we" rather than "between them and us"?

Does Gmail's tarted-up tab makeover bust anti-spam laws?

ratfox

Re: CAN-SPAM is toothless

Keep reporting them as spam. You spam filter will soon just get rid of them for you.

About this Promotions tab, I've largely been using it as a secondary spam folder, so I can't say I care much what happens in it…

Norway BANS Apple from Oslo's skies: No aerial Maps app snaps allowed

ratfox
Facepalm

Wow

This is a particularly good attempt at security through obscurity. Thankfully the terrorists are now stumped, since there is no other way they could obtain pictures of the place.

Xbox 180: Microsoft scraps mandatory Kinect policy

ratfox
Coat

Let the conspiracies begin

What proves the camera is really turned off when you turn it off in the settings, eh? There should be a little red light which turns on when the camera is on!!1!

Elon Musk unveils Hyperloop – the subsonic tube of tomorrow

ratfox
Meh

Good luck

He'll need it. This is far from the first time that the combination of electromagnetic propulsion + vacuum tube (or semi-vacuum in this case) has been planned. The results have been so far underwhelming.

I have to say, apart from the $6bn cost to build the system, the 7 million passengers a year also seems optimistic to me. Without even talking of having the whole thing self-powered by solar cells.

It is good that there are people who try to push the limits of what is possible, but don't count on me to buy these bonds.

Deutsche Telekom launches 'NSA-busting' encrypted email service

ratfox
Devil

Interesting

Does this mean that if everybody opens a mail account on a German email provider, and uses HTTPS to communicate with that provider, then everybody's mail will be private?

…Apart from the German government, that is…

Google to snub Samsung, hand Nexus 10 to Asus – report

ratfox
Happy

Re: And what of the Microsoft tax?

Hmmm… You could buy "Microsoft offsets", which consist in calling Microsoft support until you cost them $5…? That way, you could buy a device and still be Microsoft-neutral!

I should start a company.

Google Glass: Would you pay a mere $299 to plop one on your brow?

ratfox

Re: But will I be able to use it?

Nobody can see things fractions of an inch from their eyeballs. The optics are set to make it seem like a screen 3 meters away, so that is fine for you.

Indeed, better than me, for with my myopia, I cannot see the display well, it seems too far away.

ratfox
Stop

Really?

I find hard to believe that the hordes of people who still wear glasses are so unhappy about them, considering how contact lenses and laser surgeries are cheap and available. There are people whose eyes cannot be fixed by these, but they are a small minority.

Personally, I prefer to have glasses than contacts, and I did not bother with laser surgery so far, even though my slight near-sightedness would be easily fixed.

Web ad giant (Google) pops Adwords into Maps for iOS and Android

ratfox

Re: Google maps cost money

I download maps in advance fairly often. Every time I leave my country, basically.

I hope that somewhere down the road we will stop paying 10X for bits when roaming, but until then, downloading in advance is something I need.

Asus will bung 'Nexus 7 2' fondle-droids on Blighty's shelves this month

ratfox

Re: Specs make the iPad Mini look REALLY crap.

The screen of the iPad mini is slightly bigger, but the higher resolution of the Nexus is the biggest difference here.

Of course, the iPad mini is almost one year old, and the soon-to-come new one will undoubtedly have a retina screen (and cost a lot more, too).

Webcam stripper strikes back at vicious 4Chan trolls after year of bullying

ratfox
Trollface

NomNomNom is always trolling

Sometimes, he is just more subtle about it.

Chrome, Firefox blab your passwords in a just few clicks: Shrug, wary or kill?

ratfox

An optional master password would be nice

Though to be honest, I've never used the feature. Partly because it feels unsafe, partly because I prefer to remember all my passwords, in case I'm using a different system where they are not saved. If you let your computer remember all your passwords, it feels awfully easy to forget them.

Android approaches 80% smartphone share as Apple's iPhone grows old

ratfox

Re: "As usual, Linux phones managed to scrape a percentage point of market share"

I'm not sure Android is trying to hide the fact it contains Linux… It's just that for this particular brand, the fact that it contains Linux has become irrelevant.

You might well see people say that UNIX has practically disappeared… They just have forgotten that OS X is UNIX-based, and has been UNIX certified since 10.5.

'Look, give us Snowden' - this Friday's top US-Russia talks revealed

ratfox
Angel

Re: My contempt and hate of everything Obama is growing...

Can you counter the effect by talking about UNladen swallows?

Yahoo! announces! plan! to! change! logo! 30! times! this! month!

ratfox

Queensland bans IBM from future work

ratfox

@Gordon

As it happens, I see no Send Corrections button for this article.

Maybe they are planning a new version which points to a proper form, rather than an email address. This has been my personal reason for not using the Send Corrections button. I should not use my work address to send an message to a news site, and I'm not going to the trouble of logging into a throwaway Hotmail address just for reporting a correction.

Google patents swish, swosh, swoosh pattern unlock app swipe

ratfox
Boffin

Re: ROFL

That should not be a problem, considering that there are over a hundred thousand patterns. My iPhone only lets me set a four-digit PIN, so they could have ten different unlocking patterns and still be more secure than iPhones… Which are plenty secure enough.

Behold, replica Nazi-code-cracking Colossus computer IN LEGO FORM

ratfox

Re: Wow

I was however surprised to see that the Lego City Space Shuttle includes a mug in the cockpit of the shuttle. Somebody obviously did not pay attention.

Jimbo Wales: ISP smut blocking systems simply 'ridiculous'

ratfox
Pint

Re: @NomNomNom

Yes indeed, the trolling was surprisingly successful.

Transdimensional rift appears above Australian bolt supplier

ratfox

USA reverses iPhone, iPad sales ban

ratfox
Thumb Up

Re: Correct descision, even if the taint lingers

Agree with this, as I don't think that standard-essential patents should ever be used as a barrier to doing business.

Of course, it is going to take years before Samsung and Apple agree on what are fair and reasonable licensing terms, but Samsung hardly needs the cash urgently, and Apple can obviously pay, so…

The Old Reader drops Google refugee eviction plan

ratfox

All is well that ends well?

Capitalism in action, working properly for once it seems…

Google SELLS OUT the INTERNET HIPPIES! AGAIN!

ratfox

Old news

Surely this has been known for a long time?

If I remember correctly, they also have restrictions on using Google fiber for businesses? Eg Yahoo cannot open a data center in Kansas City and order a dozen of Google fiber connections to connect it to the Web? Surely that also goes against pure net neutrality, right?

Google Glassholes to be BANNED from UK roads

ratfox

New rules?

Surely there are already rules about paying attention to the road, and GPS displays. If they are going to write a new rule for every new gadget, they will hardly have time for anything else...

FCC votes to bring faster internet to US schools

ratfox
Facepalm

Re: More Obama and his meaningless bullshit.

So true! The proper way to provide jobs to the population is certainly not to make sure it gets a better education and training than the rest of the world in important technologies like the Internet; it is to make new laws that forbid US companies from outsourcing jobs!

No wonder they prefer to hire foreigners.

Google teases hush-hush Android event on July 24

ratfox
Trollface

Something new

Maybe it's a smart watch?

You, Google. Get back here and bend over again - EU antitrust chief

ratfox

Re: The Googletards are awake, I see

The problem is that there is no way Google can satisfy the demands of Almunia and especially the competitors.

The competitors claim that Google shafts them in search results, Google claims it does not, they just appear lower because their websites are crap and/or users don't click on them. And since there is no way to reconcile that without Google giving all details of their ranking system (which is obviously never going to happen), there is no way out. The competitors have no interest in agreeing to anything, since they have every advantage in causing trouble for Google.

The problem Almunia has with Google is not a particular law that Google is breaking. It's not like he's able to say: "This part of what Google does is wrong", because there is no single part that is wrong; otherwise it would be easy to just tell Google "do this exactly or else". His problem is that Google controls a larger part of the market than is healthy. So he has to ask Google to "do more", even though he does not know what exactly.

So he is going to ask for more and more using the threat of fines until he feels that he cannot get any more. Google on its side is going to try to give in as little as possible without actually telling him to sod off. And competitors are going to complain as loudly as possible.

Dear Linus, STOP SHOUTING and play nice - says Linux kernel dev

ratfox
Alert

Re: He's rude, but he's right

"Wrong stuff made by nice people, or stuff that actually works"

If you keep insulting people, you might get stuff that is not made at all because nobody wants to do the job anymore.

Google study finds users ignore Chrome security warnings

ratfox

Re: It only applies to women - apparently

I was once told by my professor to replace he/his by she/her because I should not assume people are male…

Be still, my quivering atoms: Here's a new way to count a second

ratfox
Boffin

Re: Measuring Time

The definition of a second did not change; however we might be using a different second than before because we are able to stick closer to what the definition is.

It's like the definition of π never changed; it always has been the ratio between the perimeter and the diameter of a circle. However, with centuries we have been able to know more precisely what the actual number is, from ~3 to 22/7 to billions of digits.

BAN UK tax breaks on patented tech, fumes German finance minister

ratfox
Holmes

No shit, Sherlock

Though in this case, rather than encouraging them to do something, it is encouraging them to do in this country rather than in that country.

The solution is obvious: They should create the same tax breaks in Germany!

Human error blamed for toxic Russian rocket explosion

ratfox
Happy

Easy to fix

Just reverse the polarity of the Proton beams…

Inventor lobs spherical, throwable camera

ratfox
Coat

Do you get bonus points…

If you chose Pikachu?

France's 'three strikes' anti-piracy law shot down

ratfox
Pint

Re: I'll bet this shitze don't fly

Eh, if you weren't an AC, I'd take you up on that bet… The decision comes from the Constitutional Council, which generally has the last word in these matters in France…

But do keep spluttering!

Italy scores in SPAAACE: ESA 'naut Parmitano pops out for walk

ratfox
Coat

"replace a Space-to-Ground Transmitter Receiver Controller"

Is the part called AE-35 by any chance?

Run for your (private) lives! Facebook's creepy Graph Search is upon us

ratfox

I assume because he considers the word 'pervert' was chosen for Daily Mail-like scaremongering rather than to inform.

A bit like a politician would talk of 'terrorists' rather than good old-fashioned 'criminals', which are much less scary for some reason, even though terrorists are statistically way less likely to hurt the population.

Apple files patent for 'Waze-plus'

ratfox
Mushroom

You've got to be kidding me

"There is a hint of a trivial novelty in the patent: once a user has rated a route, other subscribers could have that rating pushed to them – so if there's an accident blocking a freeway, a user's report would alert other users to find a different route."

This is the novelty? This? This?? <blink>This?</blink>

I need to go lie down…

Mastercard and Visa block payments to Swedish VPN firms

ratfox
Holmes

@Phil O'Sophical

If you do use a credit card for using an anonymization service, you can do anything you want anonymously; people would only be able to tell you used the service, but not what you did while anonymous.

US Navy coughs $34.5m for hyper-kill railgun that DOESN'T self-destruct

ratfox

Re: Erm, curvature of the earth, anyone?

At Mach 7, the rotation of the earth would not be much more than what they already need to take into account while firing normal shells… That is two minutes and a half.

Some guns in WW 2 had their projectiles staying 2 minutes in the air already,

Apple back in court as Shanghai firm takes offence at Siri

ratfox

If anybody needed any proof

That the patent system is an obstacle to innovation…

US states: Google making ad money on illegal YouTube vids

ratfox

First amendment?

It's probably legal to show these videos, otherwise they would get taken down… Are they suggesting that Google should show "moral leadership" and censor these videos?

Zynga zinger: Xbox chief bagged as new CEO

ratfox

Wow. Leaving Microsoft for Zynga.

Is it me, or does Microsoft have trouble retaining people?

Google 'disappoints' US congressman over Glass privacy controls

ratfox
Trollface

"New technology should have built-in privacy"

No doubt that people of the RIAA keep dreaming of going back in time to insist that DRM be built in that new fangled Internet technology…

Brit fantasy artist sues James Cameron over Avatar world

ratfox
Holmes

I was strongly reminded of World of Warcraft

Floating islands in the sky - check

Blue people - check

Luminescent vegetation - check

Huge tree with mystical/natural meaning for the natives - check

I'm sure there are other examples; not that all of this has not been pretty much done a few times before.