Posts by Marty McFly 1245 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Jan 2008
"If the product is FREE, then YOU are the PRODUCT!!"
My extended family loves Life360. I took one look at the EULA and all the permissions it wanted, and gave it an immediate "Nope!" I did, however, install it on one old phone which is no longer cellular activated and sits on my desk. I can monitor extended family that way. Any data submitted from the phone will show it never moving.
The WPPSS story is so much more complex than that. I submit demand did not materialize at that time due to the energy conservation movement. A half century later and increased demand has consumed the surplus resulting from that conservation. Essentially they were half a century ahead of their time.
Side story... I used to work at an office building built in the late 1960's when power in the Pacific Northwest would be "too cheap to meter". There was a giant chiller outside the building that cooled the air to 58 degrees. If the occupant of an office (pre-dates cubicle design) wanted warmer air, a 220v heater over their office re-warmed it. Single pane glass everywhere. The building was abandoned in 1987, and was reclaimed by my employer a decade later...who realized too late they could not afford the power bill. They were forced to sell the company two years later, never having made another dime.
Courtesy of a handy AI search... "In the United States, the National Highway Traffic Safety (NHTSA) mandated that all new vehicles under 10,000 pounds must be equipped with rearview cameras starting May 1, 2018."
I agree, an answer in search of a problem....which the government excels at creating. Note, not a "law" put in place by our elected officials. A "federal regulation" created by unelected bureaucrats.
>"you can do most things with an RPi400"
That is only a partially correct. Let me help...
"...you can do most things that you need to do with an RPi400"
The problem is, with all the embedded bloatware to track & monetize the user after they sale, it is necessary to upgrade the hardware because "you cannot do most things they force you to do with an RPi400"
>I, as the user, should be the sole entity that determines when a product is obsolete, not the manufacturer.
You are in charge. No problem. The problem is simple....
Your favorite shiny browser drops support for an older OS. No problem, everything still works. Then they roll out support for a new security related feature/function. Call it a new encryption schema. But you are stuck, you cannot upgrade the browser.
It would work fine, they just stopped testing it on older operating systems and THEN added a hard block to prevent it from running even if you hacked around it.
Pretty soon your favorite websites start requiring support for the new security thingy. And bam, your hardware is now useless for those websites.
Newest & least used computer on my desk is strangely a M4 Mac Mini. However, the primary Windows machines are all Lenovo W-series laptops that are still rockin' after 10+ years. A 14+ year old MacBook Pro & two 15+ year old Lenovo X-series laptops are the go-to mobile endpoints.
Upgrading really is a pain in the arse. So much crapware is embedded with new hardware it takes months to get a new system useable. In retrospect, maybe that is why I have purchased new Apple kit over the years, but keep digging my feet in for the Windows system upgrades. That is not to say I am inexperienced on new stuff, simply that I am more productive without it.
I am a Rural-American (we all should be hyphenated). I pay the SAME Amazon Prime rates as Urban-Americans. USPS makes my deliveries and Amazon never services my area. They used to, but they stopped a few years ago. I demand equality in the face of discrimination!!!
See icon. Because, in order to be funny, there has to be kernel of truth involved.
Porn website are statistically quite safe. You are more likely to get a computer virus checking your local church website than looking at porn.
Think about it... Porn websites need repeat customers. And if they are infecting their PCs, then that isn't very good for business.
Your local church website was probably cobbled together by an aspiring techie 10 years ago and has not been maintained since. Full of vulnerabilities and ripe for compromise by threat actors.
Win 7, no forced updates of new features. No random reboots overnight. No more patch Tuesday.
Agreed, be smart about what you click on. But, it just works.
Where it is starting to bite my butt... Browsers are nagging about it. When they cut off support, and web pages stop working, that will force the change.
High school chemistry taught me water can exist in three states: solid, liquid, or gas. So a data center converts liquid water in to steam. How is that "consumption" of water? It is just in a different form.
Sure it is converted but it doesn't cease to exist. The article compares oil to water. Oil is certainly consumed when used (burned), but water is not. Bad choice for an analogy.
So it really comes back to where is the liquid water coming from, and where does it go in a gaseous state? Well it turns to precipitation and falls back as rain....which goes right back in the fresh water supply.
If anything, data centers evaporating less-than-pure water are helping the environment by turning it in to distilled water and returning it to the fresh water supply.
I so want to love Apple devices and their privacy marketing message. This news makes me sad.
With Google/Android I simply expect it. If the product is "free" then YOU are the product.
My wired landline phone never recorded me when the handset was physically on the hook. My over-the-air TV never reported my viewing habits. It seems the pursuit of progress requires the erosion of privacy.
It cannot realistically be fully avoided in our current society, but I sure do as much as I can to opt-out via whatever means I can find.
Let's change this up a bit...
"A 2009 Chevy Malibu crashed when the vehicle failed to stop due to bad brakes. Other vehicles owners also report recently having brake problems. Embattled manufacturer, Chevrolet, has not yet responded to media inquiries as they try to start the year on a positive note."
Seriously. A 15 year old bird, at least a 2nd hand owner, operated in countries with regulations far removed from the United States....Hey, let's all blame Boeing! I agree, blame Boeing where they deserve it, but the constant battering for every tiny thing is getting old.
>"Not being an Apple user I don't know about WP on it"
Apple was as self-styled then as they are now. Word Processor was "Apple Writer". And the first office suite was "Apple Works". Ah, the glorious magic of 80-column text with actual lower-case as well!
Apple //c still lives in the attic, and I can probably find the floppy disks for those apps as well. Whether any of it still works....different question.
Not the story I expected it to be. I thought the NSA folk were actually "hacking" Christmas lights. Setting some rando's lights to rapid strobe level flashing, or something devious like that. I did not expect a legit story about setting up synchronized Christmas lights.
And we found out.... It's not us, it is you!
That's right. You, the ubiquitous "administrator" tampered with some magic that you don't understand. Botched it all up, did you! Nary a problem with our licensing, it is all your lack of understanding that caused the problem.
Negative, Bitcoin will not "become worthless literally overnight". No, don't believe some rando like me posting that rebuttal on the Internet. Here is what Forbes said about it last week:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ansellindner/2024/12/12/googles-quantum-computing-leap-what-it-means-for-bitcoins-security/ Their conclusion:
"Bitcoin is not dead. Far from it. With robust existing cryptography and a clear path to quantum resistance if needed, Bitcoin is more resilient and forward-looking than other technologies potentially vulnerable to the quantum computing threat."
That is right up there with doctors asking if there are any firearms in the home under the pretense that their presence denotes a medical issue. The doc makes a note in their database....which is conveniently shared with the insurance provider....and increased insurance rates magically result.
Yeah, that is another 'no' answer to people who have no business knowing.
Of the dozen homes in my neighborhood, I can confirm that nine have firearms. Two are a strong 'maybe'. And one is a 'probably not'. Yes, this is a small sample, and it is rural America. But it does support the point that most people will not answer truthfully when asked by someone who doesn't need to know.
Every corporate office I have been in the past couple decades is festering with security cameras everywhere. Heck, a good 20 years ago I found a pinhole camera in the ceiling tile next to my cube (it covered an emergency exit which also picked up my cubicle). Workplace surveillance is not a new thing.
This isn't even really a new use case. Decades ago a company could pay a human to monitor the videos and reach the same data analysis of when rooms are occupied, etc. The only thing different is the usage of automated technology to do the same thing.
What Boeing does have an issue with is a whistleblower complex. Everyone wants to leak some juicy internal tidbit, win a lawsuit, and be financially set for life. "Unnamed employees" should not be "sharing internal PowerPoint presentations" with the local press. This wasn't a secret management ploy, according to the article it was shared with employees a month ago.
This will result in LESS transparency and MORE employee monitoring. Boeing is an aerospace technology company and huge government / military contractor. Employees that run to the news press cannot be trusted. What other internal company secrets are they willing to share? Especially for the right price. Industrial espionage for unfriendly nation states can be tempting. And if everyone else is getting away with sharing secrets.....
Yeah, watch for more controls and employee restrictions coming soon. And next time they won't share the plans, they will just implement it. Employees just proved they cannot be trusted.
Back in the days of 7-digit dialing when an area code was only needed for actually dialing long distance, my dad had the same 7-digit phone number as a hospital in the neighboring area code. When the midnight calls happened, he would politely tell them to dial the correct area code. Because, well, people don't call hospitals at midnight because a good thing has happened and they are having a happy day.
However... Failure to listen didn't go over too well. After explaining their error, some people would still request to be transferred or connected to a patient's room. "You need to talk to the surgeon in person", or "They died" were common responses.
I live in the sticks, gotta drive 8 miles for cell service. Amazon has been through a variety of delivery mechanisms. I have seen the (now old style) Amazon vans. The new electric vans don't like to travel that far from charging stations. We still occasionally have the Amazon private contractors.
Rock solid for 'last mile delivery'.... USPS. I always monitor my packages. Any non-weather delays are ALWAYS Amazon's problem getting the package to the local post office. I recently had to order the same item three times, it flew cross country to the nearest major metro, and then never made it to the local post office. Once it finally made it local, it was on my door six hours later.
Amazon is a giant computer system. Remember how AWS was created - selling surplus compute services during off-peak hours for Amazon's ordering & delivery infrastructure. Amazon tracks everything. In my area their algorithms have determined that USPS is the best carrier for most package deliveries. Sometimes they tag UPS, and rarely FedEx.
They will try to give me the "Free next day" or "Free same day" delivery, and when I do not actually need the items I will sometimes try it. They run around a 60% failure rate on delivering those packages on time.
It totally makes sense. The independent driver contractors hate coming all the way out in the country for one stop. They are never the same person either. How well do those maps on the phones work without their cell service? No one to call if they get lost either. Let's not forget Amazon prefers they make later-in-the-day deliveries to deter porch pirates - this time of year with dark days and seasonal weather, I would be downright scared driving unknown, unlit roads too. Amazon's computers track this data, and they determine their best success is to use a different carrier.
To the topic of this article...
There is some metric in Amazon's data which has caused the system to downshift the Prime delivery schedule. This lawsuit is frivolous to suggest the metric is the racial makeup of these zipcodes. There is absolutely no way Amazon's computers are programmed with the logic "If black & low-income, then give poor service".
Amazon gives the reason of "driver safety". I will bet money they have historical hard data to back that up. I hope this lawsuit goes to court and is exposed for what it is.
It is not just mobile phones... All our vehicles are rolling mobile devices now. Sure, there is satellite -> vehicle coms today with things like satellite radio. What worries me is the privacy loss of vehicle -> satellite coms, reporting my every movement and in-vehicle conversations.
"...The Atomic Heritage Foundation estimates the PM-2A reactor may have created more than 47,000 gallons of low-level radioactive waste over its lifetime...
Just for some context... That is less than 10% of an "Olympic size swimming pool". The quote is using the words "estimates" and "may have". Instead of more conclusive words indicating hard evidence and solid research. And the picture showing the shrinking ice sheet is projected for 70 years in the future, labeled as "2090's".
I don't think I will be in a rush to panic for this one.
"We recently released the QTS 5.2.2.2950 build 20241114 operating system update and received feedback from some users reporting issues with device functionality after installation.
"In response, QNAP promptly withdrew the operating system update, conducted a comprehensive investigation, and re-released a stable version of QTS 5.2.2.2950 build 20241114 within 24 hours."
Sooo... They changed the version & build numbers to make it obvious. That's helpful.
Merriam-Webster defines "upgrade" to mean:
A: to improve (livestock) by use of purebred sires
B: to advance to a job requiring a higher level of skill especially as part of a training program
C: to raise the quality of
D: to raise the classification and usually the price of without improving the quality
E: to extend the usefulness of (something, such as a device)
F: to assign a less serious status to
A, B, & F don't apply.
C & E are certainly questionable.
Seems to me option D is the best description for Windows 11.
Several thoughts...
1) If they can run OpenWRT, and that mitigates the defect, then the company could update the devices successfully.
2) If they can run OpenWRT, and that does NOT mitigate the defect, then we are dealing with a new type of vulnerability problem, possibly at the chip or hardware level. Hopefully more industry research will be forthcoming as other devices using the same hardware could be impacted.
3) If they cannot run OpenWRT, then perhaps these devices were hard coded in such a way to prevent reflashing with 3rd party code....and that hardcoding is also preventing D-Link from updating them. "We are tired of you geeks replacing our wonderful software with better stuff, we will fix you for good!!" And then getting bit by their own device lockout.
Is this about piracy or media streaming companies losing control? The basis of that answer is 'What did Jetflicks do better'?
Not knowing the price of Jetflicks, I cannot answer if this company was strictly price driven, undercutting the market.
How about media companies playing games with their streaming properties? I used to watch Star Trek series on Netflix, and then some ST series on Amazon Prime. Then Paramount, as the content owner, took them away and made them exclusive to Paramount Plus. Next up they doubled the price and forced an 'upgrade' to PP with Showtime - or force feed me advertisements at the old price.
Just one big stupid game - sign me up for a service, and then dump the content I signed up for. Then play games with bundles & prices. Start sneaking in advertisements for a service that was originally conceived to be "ad free", and therefore better than live television.
With 185k episodes, more than any other service, it sounds like Jetflicks gave consumers a one-price, one-stop shop for all their streaming desires. Heck yeah! I would pay for that and not care if the content was pirated, just for the simplicity and getting away from the Bravo-Sierra games.
Research was published in 2022, it has been out there for two years. A little late to claim a piracy violation. Unless the main subject of the article, the accuracy of Flow 3D, got their nose out of joint by the results.
This actually speaks poorly of Flow 3D. It is a classic case of a losing argument. If you cannot win the debate, then attack the opposing party.
It would have been much better for Flow 3D to issue a press release stating "We disagree with the results of the research done over two years ago, and we invite the authors to re-visit their analysis. This time using up-to-date, supported, & fully licensed software."
What a beautiful article! There is something for everyone to comment on. Trump, Musk, big tech, cryptocurrency, tariffs, FCC, electric vehicles, Starlink, and so much more! And it even closes out with Bush 2004 to catch any remaining stragglers!
How far will this comment section go? Can we break 500 posts? Go, go, GO!
Just remember, opinions are like orgasms - everyone thinks theirs comes first!
By coincidence I just spoke about this topic last night with someone who is part of the infrastructure management for some of the big data centers in eastern Oregon & Washington. For those who are unaware, this is a prime geographic location for hydro electric and wind power generation. The further power has to travel, the bigger the transmission losses are, so putting data centers in remote areas near where the power is generated minimizes that loss. Also, bear in mind wind power is only available at the moment, whereas hydro power includes an energy storage component.
I learned the data centers are on a variable price rate system. They get cheap surplus power when the grid has it available (ie: the wind is blowing, spring run-off in the rivers, etc). They have a clause in their contract to go off-grid during periods of peak usage, or face exorbitant power prices. And there are limiting clauses in the contract for the number of times per year the power utility can pull their plug.
All the data centers look like giant warehouses surrounded by dozens of large generators. Yes, the generators are there to provide business continuity in the event of a power outage. However, they are also fired up regularly on short notice to take the data center off the grid. This is a win-win on multiple levels as the generators (and transfer switches, and UPS devices, etc) all should be regularly exercised anyway to ensure they are functional when needed.
What does this all mean? The energy production grid has infrastructure to produce enough energy to handle peak demand (hot summer with AC, or cold winter with heat). The bulk of the year that infrastructure capacity goes unused. And windy days may not be fully utilized. It makes sense for the energy utility to discount that surplus capacity to data centers rather than let their investment sit idle (wind turbines) or overflow excess water (hydroelectric).
So stop using their stuff! Don't buy a Tesla. Don't read this post being made via Starlink (launched on a SpaceX rocket). Dump your Twitter/X app from your phone. And go for some real spite and don't send me money via PayPal because it still has Musk's finger prints on it.
If you think it is unfair, then make their goods & services toxic to own. Crash their companies and destroy their wealth by sending their stock values to zero.
And when you are done, proudly explain to all the unemployed people that you destroyed a paper billionaire because it was unfair (~187,000 people between SpaceX, X, Starlink, & Tesla).
I do miss the unbiased El Reg snarkiness. Everyone got snarked, regardless of whether they were worthy of the snark or not.
Lately it seems like El Reg is curating their snarks toward certain geo political viewpoints, and away from others. Many snarky opportunities are passed up because they would tarnish the agenda.
Vote for Free Snarkiness 2024!
Y'all realize there is actually a cryptocurrency called "Baguette", right?
"Baguette Token is a community-based meme project implemented as an ERC20 token. BGTT is distributed as a reward for contributions made to its ecosystem. Its goal is to bridge the culinary and cryptocurrency worlds and provide partnerships with bakeries all around the world. The project strongly believes in the power of memes, even quoting Elon Musk’s tweet: “Who controls the memes, control the Universe” in their whitepaper. One of Baguette Token's main goals is to usurp the king of meme coins — Dogecoin — in an aptly named event called the ‘Baguettening."
The total supply of BGTT is 50M units, at a value of $0.0009146 USD. That means the total supply is worth a bit over $45,000 in USD. So this ransom is impossible to pay because there is not enough BQTT in existence.
It is always possible some fool owns a bunch of these coins, and this ransom is actually an attempt to move the market. If the coin became worth a full cent, that would be a 10x on their "investment" at current prices. Their payday would be profitably selling their coins on the open market so that Schneider could have enough to actually pay the fine.
>"rapidly dwindling..."<
BRAVO SIERRA!
Pacific NW timber country here. We have TOO MUCH mature timber, and it NEEDS to be harvested. The 1980's ban on logging federal lands has resulted in the accumulation of excess standing timber. This is a SEVERE fire hazard that gets worse every year. The logging you do see is on land owned by timber companies and is used for that purpose. It is the interspersed BLM land which is not being touched and keeps adding more fuel every year (the old BLM acronym, not the new one).
Timber is a crop. Modern hybrid trees produce fresh harvestable timber once a generation, around every 40 years. Don't prattle on about 'old growth' forests either - the only reason they were NOT harvested 100 years ago is because the timber is in a location which is a PITA to access.
I've seen this countless times. A new technical system is going in place and it is impacting someone's job. You can bet damn well that maintenance worker knew exactly what was going on and got a good laugh out of the new system crashing.
And the "solution" was a piece of plexiglass over the keyboard?? Talk about not solving the problem! The problem is employees blatantly thrashing on company equipment. And it was going unchecked by other employees coming in for the same shift?
That is a huge behavioral and cultural problem. This was in the gas industry (not clear if that means petrol or air gas). Either way, this type of systematic employee misconduct often leads to what is commonly called an "industrial accident".
Darn things seem to be reproducing around here. Intel, M1, and M2 models currently in use for various tasks. M4 somehow got ordered the other day. None were for upgrades, all were for expansion of use cases.
Apple & MacOS certainly isn't perfect. But it sure is refreshing compared to the advertising & marketing platform previously known as Windows.
Good Gawd, does that mean I am required to use this icon?
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