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User: bill_mcgonigle

bill_mcgonigle's activity in the archive.

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  1. "The real culprit" on HTML5 Ads Aren't That Safe Compared To Flash, Experts Say (softpedia.com) · · Score: 1

    The real culprit is the ability to send JavaScript code at runtime

    Derp. The "real" problem with Flash is its use as a vector for installing malware via buffer overflow (usually) attacks. Those are distributed via ad networks.

    Javascript injection is a separate issue, and there are other Flash privacy concerns, but that's not why people are screaming from the hills that Flash must be exterminated.

  2. n.b. Signal is limited to 3 devices on Battle of the Secure Messaging Apps: Signal Triumphs Over WhatsApp, Allo (theintercept.com) · · Score: 1

    I was all set to go whole-hog with the Signal Protocol, until I realized I could only use it on three of my devices. It's a hard-coded limit (cf. github) and there are no plans to change that, currently.

  3. "stay up late writing code" on Mattel Sells Out Of 'Game Developer Barbie' (cnet.com) · · Score: 1

    Dumbasses, the absurd schedules that male developers allow themselves to be subjected to are the #1 reason there are relatively few females in the profession. Moms, generally, need 9-5 jobs. If you want there to be more females in the profession then you need to stop allowing your management to treat you like a wage slave.

    Oh, but that might be hard and uncomfortable while being a social justice worrier is easy to feign online.

  4. Re:Somebody has to ask on Microsoft Tests New Tool To Remove OEM Crapware (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 2

    Run Double Driver before the MS tool. This would be a nice combo (to get back to 1987, as others have mentioned).

  5. Re:Telemetry on SpaceX's Falcon 9 Crashes Into Droneship (cbsnews.com) · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does the engine design have that margin already?

    FWIW, the Falcon 9 heavy will have nine of these engines. 8/9 seems easier than 2/3 (and of course 7/9 is easier on the eyes).

  6. And Apple Music is different from other streaming services exactly how?

    Apparently it's run by a relic who can't see where the future of music is going, that 1789 Copyright is obsolete in 2016, and who can't distinguish between the words "stolen" and "replicated".

    It's my understanding that Pandora, Spotify, and Google Play are all run by people who are pushing the edge of what they can do legally, every single day. That gives them a direction towards the future.

    So much for the days of hoisting the Jolly Roger at Apple!

  7. Re:Just what Walmart shoppers need..... on Walmart Experimenting With Robotic Shopping Cart For Stores (bloomberg.com) · · Score: 2

    Y'know, I was just in one last night, and most of the people there were normal. I especially noted two middle-aged women in nice sundresses who wore them well.

    But back in the toy section, there were two young women, each over 300 lbs, riding the electric scooters, with nothing in their baskets, pulling noisy toys off the shelves and setting off as many sounds as possible (especially fart machines). They were clearly there for sport, not shopping, and while they weren't hurting me, they sure did seem to be hurting society with their life choices. I made all kinds of assumptions about where they get their money and what they do with it - my guesses could be wrong, but I doubt it.

    Walmart doesn't create these people, but it sure does put them on display for the rest of us. Maybe we're better off seeing them than not seeing them.

  8. Re:Can change the battery and load custom roms unl on Obama Finally Ditches BlackBerry, Switches To Samsung Galaxy S4 (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    Can I FOIA the unlocked bootloader?

  9. OMEMO/Axolotyl on Facebook Adds SMS Support To Messenger (techcrunch.com) · · Score: 1

    Can we get a merge with WhatsApp and federation with Signal? That would make a pretty damn compelling case for switching to FB Messenger (I trust them a hair more than sending messages over SS7).

  10. Re:Clickbait headline... on Adios Apt and Yum? Ubuntu's Snap Apps Are Coming To Distros Everywhere (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    you'll be several point versions if not major version numbers behind the 'stable' version available from the original websites

    Unless the original website is providing the 'snaps'. I run several vendors' yum repos, preferentially to the distros' versions of their app. It gets updates when needed, not when an additional volunteer has time to look at it.

  11. Re:The legacy left by Steve on Developer Accuses Apple Of Stealing His Breathe App (www.bgr.in) · · Score: 1

    That's a poor paraphrase that doesn't capture the spirit of the original.

    He left a quote not a paraphrase. But anyway, the full version is:

    Ultimately it comes down to taste. It comes down to trying to expose yourself to the best things that humans have done and then try to bring those things in to what youâ(TM)re doing. I mean Picasso had a saying he said good artists copy great artists steal. And we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.

  12. Does it work with just a regular graphics driver? I don't actually care too much about VR (it's fun, but nothing I need) but I want a monitor I can wear on a long bus ride. The resolution of this one looks good enough to fire up a terminal.

  13. Re:It's amazing she still has defenders on Assange: Wikileaks Will Publish 'Enough Evidence' To Indict Hillary Clinton (rt.com) · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Amazing that she has defenders? Why do you think a woman can't be President?

    checkmate. ;)

  14. Good Luck on Apple Introduces New File System AFPS With Tons Of 'Solid' Features (apple.com) · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's a hard job. We're into year fifteen of ZFS and it's just starting to gain some features that make administration of it manageable by non-experts. Give it another five before you want to make it your default on a desktop for grandma. BTRFS will be along five years after that.

    If Apple can pull off something similar in a couple years, it will be a major triumph. It's too bad for everybody that Steve got bitchy at Jonathan and the community hasn't had Apple's help as a contributor for the past decade.

  15. Re:desktop / mobile convergence? on Apple Announces Its New Desktop OS macOS Sierra Featuring Siri, Apple Pay (9to5mac.com) · · Score: 2

    How long before macOS be stuck with a walled garden in which we can't install non-approved "apps"?

    As soon as an Apple A? is as fast as a Intel i5, there will be a KVM mode for the iOS devices, and then you'll have your desktop whenever you want it.

    802.11ad is on its way, and Apple is already moving the GPU to the display in preparation.

    It's possible you could see a preview of this at WWDC 2017 at the rate things are going, with an iOS Desk Set available that Christmas for $999.

    Replace the Mac Mini with a high-end iPod, make an 'Airtop' which has no main logic board but just a battery and a slot for the iDevice (in addition to 802.11ad for people wed to their Otterboxen), and then see if anybody still cares at all about the Mac Pro (it won't last for too long once this starts).

  16. Thank You for Participating in the Pubic Beta on Older Android Wear Watches Will Miss Out On the v2.0 Update (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    Please insert another $400 to continue.

  17. Skimmed the paper. It looks like a fair description of an engineering approach to exploit what we all already knew about hypervisors' access to their guests' memory and networking components. I don't see any revelations, just confirmation that you're not safe against a hostile hypervisor, with a somewhat practical attack method.

  18. Here: on Ask Slashdot: Why Do Most Tablet Specs Suck? · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here.

    Not even a LMGTFY.

  19. Re:First stop the Facebook spam, then I'm interest on Facebook Now Lets Users Comment With a Video (techcrunch.com) · · Score: 1

    It's interesting that your Facebook experience is completely different than mine. I don't get any email about spam pages on FB and I don't link to people on FB. I happen to have ad blindness as well - maybe NoScript does something for that too.

    But, tonight I was helping friends plan political campaigns and setting a date for next week. Also, sharing some nifty art stories.

    Still, I can't think of anything useful I'd usually do with 'reaction gifs' that were videos. I'm sure not going to narrate or sing! Heck, their GIF89a support still uses Flash, so I probably can't see them anyway.

  20. Re:Usual "quality" editing on There's No Evidence That Google Is Manipulating Searches To Help Hillary Clinton (vox.com) · · Score: 1

    They're both CFR, so of course they're friendly (as much as any CFR member still has human feelings) but the odds of Schmidt successfully orchestrating a secret pro-Hillary conspiracy inside Google Search are close to nil.

    Stop believing the scare stories you want to believe!

  21. Re: Revenge p0rn on Gawker Files For Bankruptcy After Hulk Hogan Lawsuit (usatoday.com) · · Score: 1

    bankrupting the entire business seems excessive.

    Look at it another way - Gawker's management was awful and it seems frankly criminal, from other media reports. Only by driving them into bankruptcy can a change in upper management take place . If ZD buys their assets, there's no way they're taking the management that bankrupted the company, through a criminal penalty, along.

    And we can then stop hating on Gizmodo, at least a little.

  22. Re: Revenge p0rn on Gawker Files For Bankruptcy After Hulk Hogan Lawsuit (usatoday.com) · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is not about Gawker anymore, this is about a billionaire using his money and influence to destroy someone using the legal system as a proxy.

    Your actual complaint there is that the legal system is too expensive for even Hulk Hogan to afford, much less Gawker's other victims. If there were true justice, Hogan never would have needed Thiel's help. Thiel would have had no power in the situation.

    But make no mistake - Gawker is the entity that fucked itself royally; Thiel just provided the lube.

  23. Re:Implications for other immune system disorders? on 23 Seriously Ill MS Patients Recover After 'Breakthrough' Stem Cell Treatment (telegraph.co.uk) · · Score: 1, Insightful

    But it's going to be a while before you can do this in your local community hospital.

    Yep, better to die than to take the risk of dying. Current FDA body-count estimate is up to 2 Nazi Holocausts - when people believe they can achieve risk avoidance, they completely fail at risk management.

  24. Re:Latency on Bluetooth 5 With 2x More Range and 4x Better Speed Coming Next Week (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 3, Informative

    You don't need 0ms. If you can keep it under 50ms it's undetectable for most humans. 40ms seems to be a minimum human nervous system latency. Spiders can do 20ms, but spider music is a niche case.

  25. Re:Time to try out Linux on that laptop on First Batch Of Chromebooks Reach End Of Life, To Stop Receiving Support and Updates (betanews.com) · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The SSD shouldn't matter too much. That they're often ARM laptops with non-free hardware (video/wireless/touchpad, notably) is going to be a bigger issue.

    I run CentOS 7 on my "chromebook" but it's an i3-based unit. And even at that, I have a bunch of customization on there to make the kernel/touchpad/video stable.