While deploring HP's vile practises I have only qualified sympathy for recent purchasers of their printers, for many a year it has been clear that they are not to be bought by anyone valuing their pockets or privacy.
Posts by Oldgroaner
61 publicly visible posts • joined 3 Dec 2009
HP customers claim firmware update rendered third-party ink verboten
If you like to play along with the illusion of privacy, smart devices are a dumb idea
Using the datacenter as a dining room destroyed the platters that matter
Yodel becomes the latest victim of a cyber 'incident'
Wednesday 22nd June 2022 13:09 GMT
Twice recently I have Yodel lie about failed delivery and leaving a card - at a time when I was at home and had my front door under observation. When the packages eventually arrived (after several days, not 48 hours) the plants they contained were dead. I've told the firms concerned they'll have no more orders from me until they change their courier.
In the meantime I wish Yodel as much cyberhavoc as possible.
Is it decadent that I use four different computers each day, at different times?
Windows XP@20: From the killer of ME to banging out patches for yet another vulnerability
To CAPTCHA or not to CAPTCHA? Gartner analyst says OK — but don’t be robotic about it
Brit IT firms wound up by court order after fooling folk into paying for 'support' over fake computer errors
Google reCAPTCHA service under the microscope: Questions raised over privacy promises, cookie use
Dido 'Queen of Carnage' Harding to lead UK's Institute for Health Protection because Test and Trace went so well
Analogue radio given 10-year stay of execution as the UK U-turns on DAB digital future
Too hot to handle? Raspberry Pi 4 fans left wondering if kit should come with a heatsink
Monday 22nd July 2019 22:36 GMT
Fan of fans
Why bother with a heatsink when the fan for Pi 4 from Pimoroni works fine and is cheap. Can program it to come on at whatever temp you fancy (65C is suggested) and one can see it rapidly cooling the chip. So quiet you don't know it's cut in unless you notice the LE changing colour. Fits over the first few pins but they're stlill available.
Firefox armagg-add-on: Lapsed security cert kills all browser extensions, from website password managers to ad blockers
What a meth: Elderly Melbourne couple sign for 20kg shipment of drugs, say cops
Are you able to read this headline? Then you're not Julian Assange. His broadband is unplugged
Germany slaps ban on kids' smartwatches for being 'secret spyware'
Two drones, two crashes in two months: MoD still won't say why
RBS debit card payments have gone utterly TITSUP
Ad flog Plus: Adblock Plus now an advertising network, takes cash to broker web banners
BBC detector vans are back to spy on your home Wi-Fi – if you can believe it
Tech support locker scam poses as failed Microsoft Update
Remain in the EU and help me snoop on the world, says Theresa May
Mozilla slings web push notifications into Firefox
Russian Pastafarian wins right to bear colander
Microsoft steps up Windows 10 nagging
Tuesday 15th December 2015 23:28 GMT
When the trust is gone
This is Microsoft's Volkswagen moment -- while we anoraks knew they were evil, naive users didn't know and trusted them. Now the trust is gone and can never be restored. During the last fortnight I have installed GWX control panel and Spybot anti-beacon on 9 machines owned by elderly computer users who were on the brink of a change they didn't want -- and many of whom had had 5 or more gig of downloads foidsted on them.
Terrorists seek to commit deadly 'cyber attacks' in UK, says Chancellor Osborne
Flying drug mule crashes in Manchester prison
175,000 whinge to Microsoft about phone tech support scams
NatWest and RBS' mobile banking apps go TITSUP
Post-pub nosh neckfiller: Chana masala
Norton Internet Security antivirus update 'borked Internet Explorer'
Now Samsung's spying smart TVs insert ADS in YOUR OWN movies
Google, Amazon 'n' pals fork out for AdBlock Plus 'unblock' – report
SURPRISE: Norks' Linux distro has security vulns
Welsh council rapped for covert spying on sick leave worker
BBC Trust candidate defends licence fee, says evaders are CRIMINALS
Tuesday 9th September 2014 22:07 GMT
Re: Harassment
I have had an amusing few minutes each month for several years when I receive the latest scum-mail from Crapita -- it goes in a cycle, reaching a climax of 'what to expect when you're in court' and then bathetically subsides to the initial communication. Provides me with one useful fire-lighter per month.
Mae Microsoft yn addysgu Swyddfa, Bing, siarad Cymraeg*
Monday 12th May 2014 16:31 GMT
Re: They got agreement on this?
Until late in the nineteenth century French was actually a 'minority language' in France itself -- it had more speakers than any other of the languages within the geographical area, but fewer when these languages were aggregated. It took a massive -- taxpayer financed -- effort by central government to bring about the current hegemonic status of French. Similarly in Wales large sums of taxpayers' money was employed to promote the English language. Now that there is a little redistributive justice there's a surprising amount of bleating about the alleged costs of this -- often, in my experience, from those of an UKIPish disposition.
PS Students of language have a good joke 'What's the technical term for someone who can speak only one language?' 'English'.
Broadband Secretary of SHEEP sensationally quits Cabinet
Wednesday 9th April 2014 16:10 GMT
Re: The needle returns to the start of the song...........
Farage is a Tory reject -- repeatedly turned down as a candidate, now he's pissing into the tent in the hope of getting his hocks in the UK trough just as he's been plundering the MEP trough. And unlike Miller, who at least turned up in Westminster, Farage and his cronies are simply lining their pockets while not doing the job the sheeple sent them to do. UKIP are politicians like all the others, with just the same self-serving ends.
Windows XP is finally DEAD, right? Er, not quite. Here's what to do if you're stuck with it
Why can’t I walk past Maplin without buying stuff I don’t need?
The UNTOLD SUCCESS of Microsoft: Yes, it's Windows 7
Friday 14th February 2014 22:11 GMT
Win 7 is good enough. Why spend on new OS? Microsoft's idea -- we'll come up with something that means you have to unlearn everything for a decade or more -- and for non-touch desktop owners is incredibly inconvenient. This is our usp. We can't be bothered to implement improvements in speed, stability or security (Win 7 SP2) And now they wonder why Win 8 is seen as a rat sandwich (and death to many PC manufacturers).
Biting the hand that feeds IT
