* Posts by bombastic bob

10903 publicly visible posts • joined 1 May 2015

Waterfox: A Firefox fork that could teach Mozilla a lesson

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: Mozilla is the modern Xerox

(someone actually said "mean spirited" and MEANT it? Try being ME some time, you'll grow a shell and start laughing at it)

If _I_ ever meet them, I'll ask why they have NOT fixed the 2D FLATSO AUSTRALIS by PUTTING BACK a PROPER 3D SKEUOMORPHIC UI (as an option, at least) instead of CLONING CHROME...

(I bet a clever person could even do it with CSS)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Handy? In case? Your provider?

you know, e-mail is not that hard (it may take some RTFM'ing but it's not that hard once you understand what needs to be done). I've messed with Perl scripts that work with IMAP to filter things, auto-send mail with data files attached, and things like that. Writing a GUI wrapper around the Perl scripts would NOT be that hard, using GTK or something like it. I think it's been done a few times, too...

(the "use Email" Perl modules also correctly handle SSL and TLS and other such things)

And yeah, NO HTML MAIL if *I* wrote it (MY turn to be an arrogant developer, heh). I'd filter out all HTML elements and display it THAT way as an alternative, for those mail clients that *ARROGANTLY* *DO* *NOT* *SEND* *EQUIVALENT* *PLAIN* *TEXT* along with that (BLANKETY BLANK) HTML content.

And this is ONE thing that Thunderbird has ALWAYS gotten right: "View message content as plain text". ALWAYS selected, on MY mail clients!

I have noticed that a lot of spam mail often says "Hello, xxx" as the only plain text. It becomes a filter (in my mind anyway - need to find out how to train/modify T-bird's filter for that).

No/Incorrect Plain Text ==> JUNK FILE [maybe it can be an addon?]

bombastic bob Silver badge
Linux

Re: Open source closed devs

if you use menuconfig every time, you're doing it wrong. (first time useful, though)

I typically just hand-edit the appropriate file(s) and use "make oldconfig", for those increasingly rare cases where dynamic modules cannot be used. Or, if I fix something and just rebuild with the patch applied [and this part is why 'oldconfig' exists].

But now the topic is going off into the weeds, and the point is really that developers aren't making software for other developers. They're making it for THEMSELVES, and TOO OFTEN are arrogantly IGNORING others (including other developers). So we end up with a lot of forked versions of popular projects, ones that are popular because of convenience, not necessarily about how things are implemented.

Maybe it's because not enough of these "developers" worked in 'customer service' jobs when they were teenagers, and INSTEAD were *INDOCTRINATED* (instead of educated) in high school and (especially) college, and ultimately graduated from the "My Shit Does Not Stink" program with honors.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Terminator

Re: Open source closed devs

the only "monoculture" here seems to be among the "big tech" development groups that manage projects like Gnome, Mozilla, Chromium, yotta yotta and as mentioned already, HOW MUCH OF THAT is directly influenced by Apple, Google, and Micros~1 ???

"We are the Borg" etc.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: informative article.

You should realize that microsoft has reached it's claws deep into mozilla at this point as well

Yes, it DOES explain a lot.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: root is the new Administrator

you reminded me of those "Cancel or Allow" Mac vs PC commercials

strangely, they stopped...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Waterfox Classic is from FF56, trouble with more websites

some sites tell you to upgrade simply because you are using NoScript (and the latest Firefox, go fig)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Forks are a sign of success.

non-UI features can be deal with via plugins.

It's the "MODERN" UI that irritates me... and they somewhat-recently did it to THUNDERBIRD as well. I used to see actual dialog boxes in settings for T-bird (FreeBSD ports from a couple of years ago, version 60-something - still worked with the retro UI plugin). Not any more. Apparently, THIS is what happens when they "continue to develop" it.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Agree

the simplifications they **FEEL** obliged to push down on us users is infuriating.

emphasis mine. They certainly are NOT THINKING, that's for sure!!

Cisco requires COVID-19 shots for all US staff – even remote workers

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

Re: The medical powerhouse that is CISCO...

I'm demonstrably more productive working from home. All my stuff is here. Often it's better stuff than on site. And I can work when I'm more productive that way. But it takes self-discipline and a LOT of people may not be able to pull that off. There have been a few El Reg articles on this. I suppose I could use a search engine to pull one up but I'll leave that as an exercise for others.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Boffin

Re: The medical powerhouse that is CISCO...

yeah from a medical science perspective you could call certain vaccines "100%" although if you get nitty you can find some risk factors and ineffectiveness in EVERYTHING.

Still, 'cow pox' (the first vaccine ever) helped to establish 'herd imunity' which basically killed smallpox. Of course we still vaccinate people with something that has been well tested for decades as to its safety and effectiveness, to KEEP it that way. And of course, other things too,.

And, seriously, that is the goal of ANY vaccine, to make sure that herd immunity prevents the disease from killing a lot of people. Either partial immunity (mild disease symptoms only) or outright 100% immunity is just as effective. The thing you also want to consider is those who are already immune... where a vaccine might actually be WORSE (a cytokine storm, for example). Only the China Flu seems to have a HUGE number of people trying to mandate those who have already recovered from the disease to get vaccinated ANYWAY... REGARDLESS of any extended risk factors vs NO benefit.

(and that of course reflects a LOT of ignorance about science among those who INSIST on mandating vaccines)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: The medical powerhouse that is CISCO...

if you only knew how hard I was laughing at the moment...

This reminds me of one of the 'Lethal Weapon' movies where Mel Gibson as Riggs said "Am I getting to you? Am I getting to you? Am I getting to you?"

heh heh heh heh heh

(sometimes this is just TOO much fun!)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Megaphone

Re: The medical powerhouse that is CISCO...

I can be your test case, since it's been nearly TWO years since I had my China Flu fever.

Doing fine. Not worried. And if VACCINATED people "can spread" the thing, why does ANY of this matter? Protect YOURSELF, if you fear it. Leave the REST of us ALONE.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: The medical powerhouse that is CISCO...

heh - the humor in your post is appreciated

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Get rid of the religious exemption.

It was supposed to be ironic, actually

bombastic bob Silver badge
Boffin

Re: Get rid of the religious exemption.

Do you ACTUALLY have any evidence for this?

how about https://www.theburningplatform.com/2021/10/21/81-research-studies-confirm-natural-immunity-to-covid-equal-or-superior-to-vaccine-immunity/

(it only took a couple of minutes to scan past the propaganda front-loading the search results, and find something more relevant)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Facepalm

Re: Get rid of the religious exemption.

obvously you have not been paying attention...

(you DO understand what "natural immunity" means, right? it means you recovered from whatever disease you became immune to by recovering from it. Duh.)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Get rid of the religious exemption.

here';s a quote attributed to Albert Einstein:

"He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice."

Just thought I'd mention that.

And I shall not live my life in fear, either.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Pirate

Re: Get rid of the religious exemption.

you have an even MORE likely chance of being struck by lightning than you do dying from the China Virus, if you have natural immunity. Like me. No need for a vaccine. And, *I* refuse to live my life in fear. A one-day fever is NOTHING. I just took my usual vitamins and aspirin, drank tequila, slept a lot, and played video games.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Get rid of the religious exemption.

heh - good one. 1776 was a PERFECT example of REBELLING against GUMMINT OVERREACH.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Boffin

Re: Get rid of the religious exemption.

I hope you stick to your principles if you catch it.

I had the virus back in January 2020, before anyone heard of the thing. It took the form of a one-day fever, with an encore a week later. I got it from a co-wrker who had just returned from being in China for over a week [he went home sick with the same thing], and 2 weeks later TO THE DAY I got it. So, there is NO way I would be affected by it again. I am naturally immune, and if _you_ ONLY had the vaccine, then MY immunity is most likely better than yours. [THAT would actually be a science-based claim].

Point is, I do not NEED a vax. And I do not WANT one, either. Let someone ELSE have it. And GUMMINT has NO business telling ME what to do, either. I'm old enough to make my OWN decisions (and I'm certain they're BETTER ones than any GUMMINT could make). My objection is GUMMINT OVERREACH.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Megaphone

The best jobs seem to come from small businesses and startups wtih fewer than 100 employees.

At least, that's how *I* see it.

And that kind of exec order from Washington D.C. is NOT CONSTITUTIONAL anyway. Good luck enforcing it, I say.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Thumb Down

Re: The medical powerhouse that is CISCO...

you forgot who it was that GOT THE VACCINES DEVELOPED IN THE FIRST PLACE... "Warp Speed" I think it was called. And everyone said it'd take 5 years. Except Trump got it done in less than 9 months by greasing the skids and getting the bureaucracy to COOPERATE.

"finally has a government that takes seriously epidemiology" - then WHY! THE! ONE! SIZE! FITS! ALL! MANDATE! TYRANNY! *EVEN* when NATURAL IMMUNITY EXISTS and is SCIENTIFICALLY KNOWN to be SUPERIOR TO A VACCINE??? It is a WASTE of RESOURCES, at the very least. Give that vaccine to someone who NEEDS it, instead. Nations in Africa seem to have a low vax rate. That might be a good place to send them, for those who WANT them.

No serious epidemiologist would DISAGREE with the OBVIOUS LOGIC that I have stated here.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Big Brother

Re: Get rid of the religious exemption.

I wouldn't wanna work for Cisco [or anyone else like them] anyway. And since natural immunity is WAY better than "the jab" I see no need, for me. Therefore I'll just *REBEL* and NOT get the jab, REGARDLESS, (because "they" are trying to find ways to MAKE US ALL GET IT, so *I* *WILL* *REBEL* - otherwise I probably would've done it eventually, after everyone else who wanted it got theirs).

My Body. My Choice. Right?

(see icon - my medical history is *MY* *BUSINESS* and nobody else's!)

Last I heard a bunch of people have been walking off of their jobs and protesting in NYC over this vaccine mandate nonsense. So, I am not alone.

SQL Server on Linux: Canonical offers official support, AWS Babelfish helps users move to Postgres

bombastic bob Silver badge
Linux

Re: Performance is equal to Windows SQL Server?

SQL Server is probably already tweeked for Windows. As such, running on Linux may be "not as tweeked". Linux's file system and network stack are (from what I've seen) MUCH more efficient than Windows and as such there should be a CLEAR advantage to using Linux. But... since the SQL Server code is (as I understand it) CLOSED SOURCE, there is no easy way to find those bottlenecks where Linux may perform "not as well" compared to Windows [and then benchmark it or tweek it yourself and submit a patch].

Since I have not run a comparison, it would be hard to do anything OTHER than speculate based on the tests I have run, in the past. And years ago I determined that Linux and FreeBSD were about 30% faster for copying large files using SMB networking. In short, copy the same file with equivalent computers. and see how long it takes. But as I have not done this test since the mid-noughties, it's hard to say what the comparison is now. Yet, the PERCEIVED performance of Win-10-nic vs Windows 7 and XP does not show any serious improvement (and may in fact be "not as good" with Win-10-nic) I would venture to guess that my measurements in the mid noughties are still relevant.

So perhaps a tweeked SQL Server running on Linux could be 30% faster overall? That would be MY guess.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Linux

Re: Why?

yes I can see that you want to use a Linux server, and you are SO correct for doing that, but running Micros~1 SQL Server instead of something like PostgreSQL... THAT is the question *I* am thinking of!!!

I just can't see any REAL reason to use SQL Server instead of "something else"

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

Re: Why?

unfortunately there are those out there who LOVE the way SQL Server does things. I am NOT a fan of it, and have only used those features that are basic to any SQL database (the idea was to make the code DBMS-independent and do all of the real work in C). That argument was mostly philosophical, and you always had some advocate generating a specialized query using SQL Server specific features (like maybe a stored procedure) instead of something that would work EVERYWHERE, especially an edge case example, to try and make YOUR DESIGN look bad and gain brownie points. Never mind that once you're LOCKED in it's even HARDER to switch to something else down the road.

I'm a fan of PostgreSQL because (in my opinion) it provides an SQL that is compliant with the standards as well as being open source. So something written for PostgreSQL generally should work everywhere, except for when the implementation has quirks (like MySQL or maybe even Maria - string handling with embedded quotes comes to mind - yeah NOBODY has a '1/4" nut' in the description field right? Or calls something "Joe's favorite hammer").

In any case, my own preferences aside, the selling point for Micros~1's solutions is usually something that locks you in later down the road. Then you won't have a choice any more (not without cost at any rate). "Embrace, Extend". You are locked in with 'Extend'. And you know what follows, something that forces you to migrate to something even MORE proprietary and costly... you know, like maybe HAVING to use a Micros~1 server product instead of Linux to run SQL Server on, maybe? With per-seat licensing and/or monthly subscription, of course!

It has been 15 years, and we're still reporting homograph attacks – web domains that stealthily use non-Latin characters to appear legit

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Surely the answer is

right - OCR "homonyms" should all translate to the appropriate charset before name lookups happen, or at least before registrars accept them as non-duplicates.

And doing periodic name cleanup might be a good idea, requiring takedowns of any domain that's a lookalike (and assuming they're being used for fraud).

So basically construct a map of UTF-8 chars to ISO8859-1 lookalike chars, then run every domain name through that matrix, see if duplicates show up.

I assume other-than-english lingos might need something similar.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Coat

Re: Homoglyphs are DISGUSTING

what if they identify as ISO8859-1 ??

Google's 'Be Evil' business transformation is complete: Time for the end game

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Without journalism, you get guaranteed corruption

Example, Bezos owns the Washington *BLEEP* (aka Washington [com]Post). It is well known as having a left-wing bias (long before Bezos bought it). I do not believe anything has really changed in their politics, from what I understand. They were the newspaper of Woodward and Bernstein (of Watergate fame), after all.

Now I do not believe Bezos interferes with their operations or hands down orders to them. Rather, he bought a newspaper that most likely agrees with what he believed already at the time, and probably still believes (politically).

And that's probably the case with many other "political owners".

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

no. you place blame inaccurately.

It's the final stage of un[der]regulated monopolies and trusts cornering the markets and controlling everything, similar to late 1800's and early 1900's Robber Barons.

It's a big part of why Teddy Roosevelt became president, back then (although that history is more subtle, he was McKinley's VP and became President following McKinley's death).

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: Wishful thinking

specific quotes are a bit much to remember

Uh, that's what search engines are for... right?

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Wishful thinking

comparing Google to Archie might be better...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Thumb Down

Re: Wishful thinking

(see icon)

I use NoScript. does not work in Chrome.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Because Google is actually useful

DuckDuckGo - my default search. If I can't find "it" there, I open a sandboxed browser (that has no saved history or cache) and hold my nose and use google.

Usually works the first time with DuckDuckGo, though.

(and I typically scroll down immediately)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Wishful thinking

I've been pushing this mantra for the last decade... and all I've gotten in return is to be scoffed at, called paranoid and generally ignored.

the choir says "Amen"

I've been avoiding social media and even google for a long time, now. Sometimes when it makes sense I use their services, but I do it from SANDBOXED browsers that erase all history when I'm done.

and as for 'droid devices, I'm just careful.

Data transfers between the EU and the US: Still unclear on what you're supposed to do? Here's an explainer

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Pointless

“As of January 13, 2020, 25% of Fortune 500 retailers had blocked their websites from being visited by European IP addresses.”

and all they really had to do was STOP COLLECTING DATA WITHOUT PERMISSION... (and to reveal what the data was afterwards)

I wonder if I could simply code a web page that displays it all from an SQL (or other kind of) database for the user-specific stuff allowing user edits within any GDPR requirements. And as I recall, aggregate data isn't covered, right? Just the user-specific stuff, right? (it would be hard to deal with data NOT directly connected to a specific user anyway, like general sales statistics).

So, NOT hard from my limited understanding. OK maybe some basic clarifications might be needed, but a consulting service or three could make that possible (on a how-to web page) and evaluate things on the cheap, assuming it has not already been done. Then they do business in EU/UK and it pays for itself.

But NOOooo... they must WANT that data for some purpose. Otherwise, why not be consumer-friendly and above board? (I know I do not want to know the answer to that, it is probably obvious, see icon)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Scratching their heads? Why?

It should be BRAIN DEAD OBVIOUS: if it's covered by GDPR, don't transfer it in a way that violates GDPR.

I'm saddened by the fact that the USA does NOT have a GDPR-like data privacy protection law, and is allegedly being used to hide stuff through "data transfer" (if I read the article correctly).

Microsoft wins JEDI contract, Amazon complains. Amazon wins NSA contract, watchdog says Microsoft right to moan

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: US Gov Buys Google

I would design that way, so I expect no less.

A sane person would, yes.

(see icon)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Big Brother

well it's (sadly) not uncommon for lawsuits to do what "quality and price" competition can not... especially for those high profile mega corporations that border on being modern day "Robber Baron" trusts.

AWS and NSA - vs Micros~1 and JEDI. The military JEDI contract sounds a lot more constitutional and "above board" to me, vs NSA and allegations of data collection on citizens. I'm surprised Google wasn't in on THAT one. But I am NOT surprised that Amazon WAS.

SpaceX-powered trip to ISS grounded by 'medical issue'

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Boeing version of a "medical issue"

Boeing really is having trouble keeping up, aren't they? They're kinda like IBM that way. Decades ago IBM laid off a bunch of middle and upper management all at once (quite possibly for reasons including age and retirement obligations, but that's another issue). But I think everyone around them agreed that there were too many "bosses" and not enough people doing work. It may be that Boeing has too many bosses and bureaucrats who circulate papers with one another and therefore "scamper" instead of run.

And THEN you naturally get a few high profile problems because NOBODY seems to have the time to SOLVE them.

I wonder if Boeing could simply build 10 rockets, launch the first, fix whatever it finds wrong with some creative hardware hacking, then launch the next and the next until they get one that works... yeah that's kinda how Musk did it I bet!

(ooh look, another fireball! back to the workshop...)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: It's probably gas...

sorta like one of the first thing a sub crew often does when they get to periscope depth [when the situation permits] is to stick the snorkel mast up and ventilate for a while. Same idea. Equipment has a smell to it when it operates in an enclosed space for a relatively long time. Tighten up the hatches and recirculate the air and you actually start to accumulate the smells of paint, oil, and grease. Even with the best air conditioning designs possible, and with electrostatic precipitators in the ventilation system (better than anything you could get to deal with allergens in your home), and scrubbers and burners to take care of exhaled CO2 and organic smells (farts, cooking, oil, grease, paint) not all of it is dealt with completely and the stench slowly accumulates. You notice it the most if you stayed in for an underway period, and as soon as the boat pulls in you get back to the boat and it smells "like that" for a day or two. And so does the crew (and their clothing). Wives often complain "you smell like the boat".

So in reality it's not the farts. It's the equipment. At least, from my experience.

Singaporean minister touts internet 'kill switch' that finds kids reading net nasties and cuts 'em off ASAP

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Here's a radical idea,

I take it you've seen the movie "Idiocracy" ??

I do not advocate gummint control, more like NOT control. It's just that people need to stop acting like IDIOTIC GENIUSES when it comes to maintaining a population on the planet. Smart people need to HAVE MORE KIDS. And gummints need to STOP INTIMIDATING AND INTERFERING with parents.

I'd do it except that GUMMINT has made it NOT WORTH IT to me... so the next generation will SUFFER WITHOUT MY GENETIC MATERIAL.

(spank your kids, let them do dangerous things as long as they know and understand the risk, and they become more resilient and independent. that's a GOOD thing, I say)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Childcatcher

Re: Here's a radical idea,

come on, don't you know that government knows best for your children?

('scuse me while I reach for the pink liquid - even SNARKING that made me sick)

bombastic bob Silver badge
FAIL

Re: "It could be crowdsourced like Wikipedia, for its accuracy."

when crowdsource filtering becomes woke vigilante mob... who'd a thunk it?

Good Grief! Ransomware gang has only gone and pwned the NRA – or so it claims

bombastic bob Silver badge
Facepalm

Re: What we never hear about

sending the target lots of emails that they think they must open and read

I have been getting a LOT of those lately. Fake inquiries for purchasing products, fake "our check did not get through" requests for banking info, LOTS of fake mail from my e-mail domain admin (I own the domain, I _AM_ the admin) telling me my mailbox is full or my pasword expires (etc.) and giving me a link to some phishing site to "fix" it, yotta yotta yotta. sometimes 15 or 20 per DAY, lately. It's pretty much a PLAGUE now.

Maybe it's a GOOD thing they went and made themselves "new special friends" of the NRA...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Happy

Re: Thoughts and prayers folks ...

you sure an AR rifle can be belt fed? (never heard that before)

Actually a "Ma Deuce" 0.50 caliber WW2-era machine gun or a helicopter-style minigun would be better... heh heh heh. "Happiness is a belt-fed weapon" (or chain fed, same idea)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: I'm happy for them

i wish they would, and then they'd have to drop their (allegedly VEXATIOUS) case because anything collected in this manner would be inadmissible

bombastic bob Silver badge
Mushroom

Re: I'm happy for them

And it's just the sort of devious thinking and misdirection the NRA is known for.

Do you have actual EVIDENCE for that potentially less than accurate claim? Or are you merely trying to pander to an inaccurate perception in a failed attempt at humor?

Keep in mind the NY attorney general FAILED to go after Cuomo for a very, very, very long time. Other high profile (allegedly politicized) legal issues have been observed over the last few years coming out of their offices (such as actions against Trump - "trumped up" charges, yeah), and (mentioning it again) a COMPLETE FAILURE to do anything about (now former) governor Cuomo's NOW well known exploits they apparently knew about for a long time. Except NOW everybody ELSE knows about it too, and they have to "save face" with some token investigations...

So, keeping THAT in mind, I would suggest it is VEXATIOUS PROSECUTION, and politically motivated.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Pirate

Re: Ummmm, no...

yeah exactly what _I_ was thinking.

Ransoming the NRA, even from half way around the world, is probably NOT a good idea, like teasing the lion or scaring the elephant. This is a group of people who strongly believe in self-defense and (if they're like me) RETALIATION. With weapons if necessary. Or lawyers wielded as weapons. Or, as I would put it, "Nothing is too good for our new special friends" (kinda like Charles Bronson in the Lethal Weapon series).