* Posts by hj

89 publicly visible posts • joined 31 Mar 2008

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It's perfectly legal for cars to harvest your texts, call logs

hj

Unfortunately this also happens in europe, only difference is they have to tell us... Which basically means you sign a eula when you buy the car. You know how many people read those, and where that clause is hidden? :-\

US cyber spymaster calls TikTok China's 'Trojan horse'

hj
Meh

Fair point

" Beijing could "manipulate the data" that Americans see, Joyce continued, adding that this could include presenting "divisive materials." This may unduly influence their political and social leanings." Fair enough,but than you should ban Fox News too!

NSA super-leaker Edward Snowden granted Russian citizenship

hj

Merriam Webster definition of a whistle blower:: one who reveals something covert or who informs against another, especially : an employee who brings wrongdoing by an employer .... I don't think he is a self-described whistle blower, but one by defintion...

Amazon has repackaged surveillance capitalism as reality TV

hj

Re: I wonder ...

If you replace organization for corporation, I would say the NSA. Since they're good at what they;re doing, have the means and funds and the mandate of their government to cross connect all these databases to one all compassing one...

50 lines of Bash to bring a Wordle fan out of their shell

hj

Re: Prior art?

This has been a TV show for more than 30 years!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingo_(Dutch_game_show)

Google dumps interest-based ad system for another interest-based ad system

hj

Re: Are you deaf or stupid Google?

Then you should just use another browser! (there still is choice)

A moment of tension as the James Webb Space Telescope stretches sunshield on way to L2 destination

hj

Re: GoPro

Looks like NASA is listening to you, they just published a nice blog post:

"As NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope makes its way out to its intended orbit, ground teams monitor its vitals using a comprehensive set of sensors located throughout the entire spacecraft. Mechanical, thermal, and electrical sensors provide a wide array of critical information on the current state and performance of Webb while it is in space.

A system of surveillance cameras to watch deployments was considered for inclusion in Webb’s toolkit of diagnostics and was studied in-depth during Webb’s design phase, but ultimately this was rejected.

“Adding cameras to watch an unprecedently complicated deployment of such a precious spacecraft as Webb sounds like a no-brainer, but in Webb’s case, there’s much more to it than meets the eye,” said Paul Geithner, deputy project manager – technical for the Webb telescope at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “It’s not as straightforward as adding a doorbell cam or even a rocket cam.”

First of all, Webb is big, undergoes many configuration changes during deployment, and has many specific locations of import to deployment. Monitoring Webb’s deployments with cameras would require either multiple narrow-field cameras, adding significant complexity, or a few wide-field cameras that would yield little in the way of helpful detailed information. Wiring harnesses for cameras would have to cross moving interfaces around the observatory and add more risk of vibrations and heat leaking through, presenting a particular challenge for cameras located on the cold side of Webb.

Then there’s the issue of lighting. Webb is very shiny, so visible cameras on the Sun-facing side would be subject to extreme glare and contrast issues, while ones on the cold, shaded side would need added lighting. Although infrared or thermal-imaging cameras on the cold side could obviate the need for illumination, they would still present the same harnessing disadvantages. Furthermore, cameras on the cold side would have to work at very cold cryogenic temperatures. This would either require ‘ordinary’ cameras to be encapsulated or insulated so they would work in extreme cold, or development of special-purpose cryogenic-compatible cameras just for deployment surveillance.

Notwithstanding these challenges, engineers mocked up and tested some camera schemes on full-scale mockups of Webb hardware. However, they found that deployment surveillance cameras would not add significant information of value for engineering teams commanding the spacecraft from the ground.

“Webb’s built-in sense of ‘touch’ (for example, switches and various mechanical, electrical, and temperature sensors) provides much more useful information than mere surveillance cameras can,” said Geithner. “We instrumented Webb like we do many other one-of-a-kind spacecraft, to provide all the specific information necessary to inform engineers on Earth about the observatory’s health and status during all activities.” Engineers can also correlate years of data from ground testing with telemetry data from flight sensors to insightfully interpret and understand flight sensor data."

US Commerce Dept says China has brain-control weaponry

hj

"I have absolutely NO doubt that every single major nation in the world is engaged in similar brain research." Probably, but the way it is done is important too. But somehow, and this is probably prejudice, i feel that the Chinese government is a little bit easier on the ethical issues than most western powers.

The Ministry of Silly Printing: But I don't want my golf club correspondence to say 'UNCLASSIFIED' at the bottom

hj

Re: Back in the early 90's

Isn't that why we call them "window managers"?

Linus Torvalds tells kernel list poster to 'SHUT THE HELL UP' for saying COVID-19 vaccines create 'new humanoid race'

hj

Re: Man makes idiotic statement on a mailing list...

You don't see there irony of your own response, do you? (hint, what this all the diatribe after your first sentence add to the reply?)

Cockup or conspiracy? Popular privacy extension ClearURLs removed from Chrome web store

hj

"The issue is complex because Google also claims to be concerned about privacy, " made me blow air forcefully through my nostrils!

If you can see this headline, you're certainly not reading it on Twitter: All tweets, notifications vanish

hj

Don't understand

the amount of hostility towards the platform here. Because, or you hate it, and you stay away from it, so no problem. Or, you follow whoever/whatever you want to follow (say el reg...) and then there is no problem either. Feel like a lot of people think it's cool to say how horrible twitter is. (and don't get me wrong I know there is a LOT of bile and vitriol and misinformation on there, but most of us are quite good at thinking for ourselves and so in skipping that)

Tracking President Trump with cellphone location data, Greta-Thunberg-themed malware, SharePoint patch, and more

hj

"The case highlights the egregious way in which telcos in the US are profiting from selling off location data to almost anyone with the money. "

Did you actually read the (very interesting) article? Cause it was talking about companies like foursquare, since the telcos are bound to rules after some fiasco..

Quote: "The data reviewed by Times Opinion didn’t come from a telecom or giant tech company, nor did it come from a governmental surveillance operation. It originated from a location data company, one of dozens quietly collecting precise movements using software slipped onto mobile phone apps. You’ve probably never heard of most of the companies "

You'll never get Huawei with this, FCC tells US telcos: Buy Chinese kit and you won't see another dime from us

hj

Re: "a threat recognized by other federal agencies and the governments of other nations"

It pains to say this, but my shitty Dutch government is also very deeply in the pockets of the US (spy agencies)...

Chinese sleazeball's 17-year game of hide-and-seek ends after drone finds him on mountain

hj

I read somewhere else the police had trouble understanding him since hardly could speak Chinese anymore.

Fitbit fitness fans furious following flummoxing flawed firmware float, fleeting feedback, failed fixes

hj

Re: "a full factory reset of their Fitbit device and re-installation of the app"

Unfortunately Fitbit has also learned from big software companies and, as mentioned above, just forces the upgrade to you. I could keep it of for a few weeks and then it was just pushed onto my device. (app behaves, for me, not worse than before though)

Huawei new smartphone won't be Mate-y with Google apps as trade sanctions kick in

hj

Re: Hurt Google more than Huawei?

The degoogling would not be the biggest challenge, getting popular android apps an board will. Huawei can make a good messenger app, but if it doesn't talk to whatsapp, nobody is going to use it... And seeing how low the penetration in western countries is, that may take a lot of persuasion from Huawei...

Loose tongues and oily seamen: Lost in machine translation yet again

hj

Groot vader? Weird.

Not that weird, it's just grand father. (oh and it's grootvader one word)

Airbnb host thrown in the clink after guest finds hidden camera inside Wi-Fi router

hj

Re: Some people would argue....

I understand where you're coming from, but isn't it also a case of: you get what you pay for? People prefer to pay little, so the service they get is just as much... I for one, accept those risks and happily book with them.

China still doesn't want iPhones despite Apple slashing prices, say market watchers

hj

Re: I suppose they just need more and iPhones fall short of their needs.

Funny that, cause they are Austrian.. Even better famous French brand Salomon has been bought by Atomic, that"s why Salomon are OK now in Austria...

Thought Macbooks were expensive? Dell UK unveils the 7 meeeellion pound laptop

hj

I think/hope it's Dell sense of humor?

Cash-sprinkler Softbank and Alphabet hand over $1.9bn to Manbang

hj

Re: Okay, what about Huochebang?

Maybe that's where the "whole shebang" comes from?

You get a lawsuit! And you get a lawsuit! And you! Now Apple sued over CPU security flaws

hj
Devil

and one count of unjust enrichment

Yes, the one the ambulance chaser are trying to get...

Icon, because of said chasers...

Why did I buy a gadget I know I'll never use?

hj

Try broiling them, they will taste finer.

Judge says US govt has 'no right to rummage' through anti-Trump protest website logs

hj

This is another huge win

not just for DreamHost, but for internet users around the world,

Uh no, just for the US, the rest of the world has nothing to do with American case law...

Shock: Brit capital strips Uber of its taxi licence

hj
Alert

what if?

Like in Bogota, Colombia, people just keep using the app? Who is going to stop them?

Quebec takes mature approach to 'grilled cheese' ban

hj
Thumb Up

Re: If even the Canadians can do it

Correct, without ham it"s called a croque madame..

Saw-inspired horror slowly deletes your PC's files as you scramble to pay the ransom

hj
Devil

Of course he should be able to stop it by chopping of his own hands? (yes, both of them)

Dutch telcos build data bonfire after judge nixes retention law

hj

It's heart warmingly

to see that no telco or large ISP had joined the coalition of plaintiffs.... (BIT only does B-to-B).

Jimbo tells Wikipedians: You CAN'T vote to disable 'key software features'

hj

Re: Gutenberg and Wales: Comparable? Maybe... but

As everyone (in The Netherlands) knows printing was invented by: Laurens Janszoon Coster!

So, yeah, if it hadn't been Gutenberg, someone else would have.

Snowden's HELPING public clouds says VMware hybrid head

hj

"Initial reactions, he says, were strongly negative as customers felt “this is the death knell of public cloud.” Today, Fathers says, “there is now universal acceptance that public clouds will outstrip data centers in terms of performance, security and economics.”

What a load of Boll*cks!

US bloke raises $250k to build robo-masturbation device

hj

Re: "I deeply apologize to those who were offended by the sight of artificial human penises."

I think that remark was not meant to them but for the sad people who watch a sales pitch for a masturbator and then complain it contains fake(!) nudity.

FTC: Do SSL properly or we'll shove a microscope up you for decades

hj
Joke

Re: It's a funny old world

They do this for the NSA, their scripts fail if SSL is not implemented correctly.

Snowden: Hey fellow NSA worker, mind if I copy your PASSWORD?

hj

Re: Is it just me...

Does it really matter?! Do you really think the guy would have had any credibility without the info he got hold of?

hj

Re: You couldn't make this up!

Guess, if you want to show the world what's going within the NSA, people want proof. Since he was only a third party contractor employee, he needs this info from his "co-workers". Can't really see why that is "fucking over your colleagues". Lets not forget those colleagues are/were the ones doing the actual spying on everybody. And I really can't have any warm feelings for those f*ckers.

Put down the (cod)piece and step away: Artist cuffed after sculpture cockup

hj

Re: When will we finally

Stupid as in: I am not really bothered by the facts, just like to call people stupid? Once again, did you check how the "gun" looks?

Not all data encryption is created equal

hj
WTF?

implementing security applications

Check out the "nice" service of HP: http://www.lolware.net/hpstorage.html

Bundestag holds 'unusual' hearing on German Copyright Act

hj
Go

What if

Google in its turn will say: "OK, we will not list any content of you in the search results"? I think in the end the publisher will suffer even more. And google could start asking money for indexing their website and showing it in the results. And as a side note, are these the same publishers who make their online money through Google AdWords?

Eric Schmidt: Ha ha, NO Google maps app for iPhone 5

hj

Re: Bing Maps are Nokia/Navteq Maps

Bull, because the tomtom app works really great. Still don't unbderstand where all this tomtom "hate" comes from.

Apple hands iPad screen contract to rival Samsung

hj
Thumb Down

Re: Sniggers in the Samsung boardroom

Could you please fill us in some more about the contract(s), seems like you know what is in them.....

IBM PC daddy: 'The PC era is over'

hj
Windows

For some, a windows PC desktop is a really expensive way to play 'Spider Solitaire'

Funny thing is: a tablet is - often - more expensive than a desktop PC!

BlackBerry blog hacked with riot-related threats

hj
WTF?

re: Gotta love that logic

And the best part is that the police, especially at this moment, has nothing better to do than go sifting through a couple of million of texts, so they can arrest those _really_ innocent members.

Well at least learns me a lesson, even if some group does something "Good" (defacing a scary nationalistic website) they still can be thick and stupid as hell!

Apple sued over Mac OS X 'quick boot'

hj

isn't it ironic?

Well ... that is the ironic part; they weren't. Actually when the modern patent system was coming into place somewhere at the end of the 19th century it was because there were a lot of people inventing a lot of stuff. But nobody wanted to disclose his secrets because of fear for the competition. That is why patents came: you could show your invention and keep getting money for it!

I don't know when or where it went all wrong, all i know now is: please kill this system!

Creationists are infiltrating US geology circles

hj

hitler not doing it *right*

Luckily he did not do it *right*. Mr Fry has even written quite a nice novel about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Making_History_(novel)

Mac OS X Lion to include browser-only boot

hj

i did

Until I found out I can not use it with a wireless network (card).

Has Steve Jobs killed the consumer hard disk industry?

hj

Has Steve Jobs killed the consumer hard disk industry?

Only if you have nice new iMac, because Apple in all its wisdom decided you can not replace your HDD with any other and put on some proprietary connector... (the rest of the article is just such bullsh!t that i do not know where to begin (and luckily others already have pointed thart out))

IAEA: Handling of Fukushima has been exemplary

hj
FAIL

May i suggest

That, now it is clear that any report from a `lobbyist group` is used as proof for one´s own theory/opinion, that you change your tag line from `Biting the hand that feeds IT ` to `Getting nourished by the dick it sucks`?

From the IAEA site; `The IAEA's mission is guided by the interests and needs of Member States`

(Although probably only for conspiry theorists nice detail; the current boss of the IAEA is... Japanese!)

hj

yeahr, but no

As far as i can remember this was not a power plant, just a "factory". Which gave me the following question - please try to be objective if willing to answer my question - What would have been the implicatiuons for the Gulf if Fukushima would have been sunk into that same site? And i am thinking both long and short term, anybody?

hj

spin it up?

Will not say that they falsefied any reports or something like that, but it is funny to see that an organisation who first critized EPCO for being very untransparant, now says that the information and openness of all parties is so great... Typical case of `We from the nuclear lobby recommend the nuclear lobby`.

Ex-PM blocked Steve Jobs knighthood

hj
Jobs Horns

because of what?!

`because it has always taken design as the key component of everything it has produced`. Let´s give every designer a knighthood then!

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