* Posts by linkbox8

9 publicly visible posts • joined 20 Dec 2011

Sync your teeth into power browser Vivaldi's largest update so far

linkbox8

More RAM

The point of surplus memory is that you *want* software to use it if that helps it run faster. So add more RAM and it should be used, if only for caching.

The question is whether it hogs that RAM when you've got other stuff running that needs it more. Probably it releases it gracefully.

Encryption doesn't stop him or her or you... from working out what Thing 1 is up to

linkbox8

That's because exactly that did happen in the first Gulf war. The nightime US bombing of Baghdad was preceded by a surge in evening pizza deliveries to the White House.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/pizza121998.htm

Wait, what? The Linux Kernel Mailing List archives lived on ONE PC? One BROKEN PC?

linkbox8

Re: £120 for 4MB

Yes, in the mid-90s there was a wave of thieves stealing RAM but leaving the PCs. Happened to our office.

Nokia 8: As pure as the driven Android - it's a classy return

linkbox8

PayPal vs. Credit card

you've got the Ebay and Paypal guarantees, if they won't cough up you can go to the credit card provider under Section 75.

Section 75 doesn't apply if you pay via PayPal, only if you use the credit card directly with the supplier. PayPal is an intermediary, so the usual credit card protection doesn't apply.

David Beckham fakes bewilderment to flog mobiles to Yanks. Fakes?

linkbox8

> Do you get paid if we watch that advert?

It is worth it just to read the small print at the end.

NEW, SINISTER web tracking tech fingerprints your computer by making it draw

linkbox8

Re: Description...

Here's the text from that PDF:

"Canvas fingerprinting is a type of browser or device fingerprinting technique that was first presented in a paper by Mowery and Shacham in 2012. The authors found that by using the Canvas API of modern browsers, an adversary can exploit the subtle differences in the rendering of the same text to extract a consistent fingerprint that can easily be obtained in a fraction of a second without user's awareness.

"The same text can be rendered in different ways on different computers depending on the operating system, font library, graphics card, graphics driver and the browser. This may be due to the differences in font rasterization such as anti-aliasing, hinting or sub-pixel smoothing, differences in system fonts, API implementations or even the physical display. In order to maximize the diversity of outcomes, the adversary may draw as many different letters as possible to the canvas."

Sky-scraping boffins mash amateur astronomers into huge virtual telescope

linkbox8

Re: Let's Enhance

Even better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp77AjBdlEc

Think your IT department's parochial? Try selling to SMEs

linkbox8

Good choice

"the MD did the mental arithmetic on the cost of downtime, and decided it didn’t justify the expense of the second machine"

Sounds like he made the right decision then?

The Best of El Reg 2011 now on Kindle

linkbox8
Boffin

@Jedit: "That's like saying all those crucifixes give away that Jesus dies at the end of the Bible!"

SPOILER ALERT: err... if you read on I think you'll find he comes back to life again. Resurrection?