bb101
Re:Forced to Upgrade
on Monday December 02, 2024 @06:38AM (#42295207)
I tried to go back to using an old but trusty iPhone 5 in 2018. I found that I couldn't get a signal in half the locations I used to get signals fine previously. Technology had marched on, and so had the mix of 2G, 3G and 4G bands.
Given that our beige computing boxes used to be out of date within two years, I'd say six years for a phone is good going. Time to get a new iPhone.
Re:I'm banned for life from advertising on Meta. Because I teach Python.
on Thursday October 19, 2023 @05:55AM (#37940676)
Our legal systems have already become like this. Only those with the knowledge on how to navigate the system or those qualified to interface in the expected protocols have any hope of achieving results.
Super-corporations are now just the next rung down, adopting all the habits of their superior, but without the responsibilities.
Re:Why the Culture Wins: An Appreciation of Iain M. Banks (2017; by Jo...
on Monday October 16, 2023 @06:12AM (#37897739)
I do wonder if there is any overlap between the Culture novels and The Algebraist. I seem to remember mention of aHumans and rHumans in both -- a fascinating idea really.
Re:Why the Culture Wins: An Appreciation of Iain M. Banks (2017; by Jo...
on Monday October 16, 2023 @06:02AM (#37897681)
Works perfectly on Mullvad Browser, Firefox and Safari. Remember: friends don't let friends use Chrome.
Re:My Beautiful Friend
on Friday July 21, 2023 @10:00AM (#36813851)
Hands down the best TV show I've ever seen, and so well matched with Max Richter's soundtrack. Very much looking forward to the last season.
Re:Apple says it'll remove iMessage and FaceTime in UK rather than bre...
on Thursday July 20, 2023 @10:31AM (#36801024)
I can't help but think the other parties would put forward better policies that don't alienate the electorate nor swathes of international business. Some would say the current conservative cabinet are the low-grade remnants of the recent party turmoil, and their policies demonstrate this. Unfortunately for us, they really have nothing to lose over the next year.
Re:Apple says it'll remove iMessage and FaceTime in UK rather than bre...
on Thursday July 20, 2023 @10:23AM (#36800908)
The current conservative government is on its last legs before being banished for at least a decade. It appears they already have their eyes on the lucrative private sector and are willing to vandalise the UK with little thought to public protest.
Re:Wix’s new tool can create entire websites from prompts
on Monday July 17, 2023 @12:57PM (#36760698)
Any mention of Frontpage should come with a trigger warning! After all these years, I still haven't forgiven Microsoft.
Re:Wix’s new tool can create entire websites from prompts
on Monday July 17, 2023 @12:50PM (#36760600)
"Now there's a design that POPS!"
Re:Researchers treat depression by reversing brain signals traveling t...
on Thursday May 18, 2023 @05:47AM (#35985876)
Interesting. A real life example of latency and half-life[1].
[1] https://slimemoldtimemold.com/2023/04/25/n1-latency-and-half...
Re:Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools
on Monday January 23, 2023 @11:43AM (#34491215)
"banished handguns so you can no longer protect yourself..."
I think this view has been quite comprehensively debunked by now. I for one do not want to live in a country where most people have access to handguns.
Re:Gorgeous Photos Capture Life Inside a Drop of Seawater
on Friday January 20, 2023 @07:52AM (#34452415)
Andy Weir's short story "The Egg" deals with similar topics.
Re:LastPass: Notice of Recent Security Incident
on Friday December 23, 2022 @08:44AM (#34105686)
Field 6 "sharedfromaid": "aid of the sharer's Site/Secure Note" is unencrypted. The hackers will be able to infer relationships between Lastpass users.
Field 10: "genpw": "Is an auto-saved generated password". Good for deciding whether to brute force or not.
Yikes. I can't imagine why anyone would trust Lastpass after this.
Re:LastPass Breach Is Worse Than You Think Because URLs Were Unencrypted
on Friday December 23, 2022 @07:19AM (#34104998)
1Password also uses a secret key in addition to your master password to encrypt your data. You enter the secret key when setting up the account on a new device.
So a hacker would have to get hold of the encrypted data, together with the secret key for each account. The secret key isn't stored by 1Password, requiring the hacker to brute force it. However, each key provides 128 bits of entropy, which makes it infeasible to brute force with current technology.
More info: https://support.1password.com/secret-key-security/
Re:Never trust a system that seems to be working
on Monday October 17, 2022 @12:37PM (#33236035)
It seemed to me to be a handbook on how to conduct a revolution. Much as Heinlein's Stranger from a Strange Land was a handbook on how to start a religion (hello Scientologists).
Re:An odd discovery on Spotify
on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @04:46AM (#32562126)
I agree. There are some playlists and songs I only listen to in the gym, and similar songs constantly float to the top of Spotify's recommendations for me due to gym being 3x week.
I did consider creating another "gym-only" user on our Family plan, but Spotify should really have a way to create named contexts for the one user. e.g. commute, gym, run, working from home, on a plane, etc.
London’s climate ‘will resemble Barcelona’s by 2050,’ study reveals (2019)
Re:IQ decline and Piaget: Does the rot start at the top? [pdf]
on Tuesday January 04, 2022 @02:29PM (#29798974)
Perhaps as technology progresses, we'll see the equivalent of Neal Stephenson's Young Lady's Illustrated Primer from his book The Diamond Age. The primer is an AI-backed story interface, designed to teach and entertain a child whilst also becoming more complicated as the child ages.
Re:Elizabeth Holmes found guilty
on Tuesday January 04, 2022 @10:23AM (#29795702)
I do feel sorry for her in a way. She was riding a treadmill of expectations. Started off slowly, probably thinking "yeah, we can do this" and by the time the treadmill was moving at light speed, it was too late to get off.
Even TED has removed her talk from YouTube. What responsibility do the media bear when their shallow hype turns out to be false and damaging to all parties?
Re:Are 14 people really looking at that product? (2020)
on Tuesday December 07, 2021 @04:58AM (#29470760)
Another dark pattern is listing a page of products, and marking one as "Sold out". Makes one wonder how much stock is left of the other items, and when those might also become sold out.
Re:Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards
on Wednesday November 17, 2021 @08:27AM (#29252666)
I had a similar experience in Washington. Amex had an international courier deliver a new card within days. In the UK, the three companies that won't lose my custom (unless things go very downhill) are Amex, NFU Mutual and firstdirect. In my dealings with each, their staff come across as competent and efficient, with a get-stuff-done attitude and evidently empowered to make their own decisions.
Re:Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards
on Wednesday November 17, 2021 @06:32AM (#29251637)
People with higher incomes can afford Amex's Platinum card, which includes good travel insurance, good customer service, access to a good hotel booking program, airport lounge access, boosted status with a few airlines, etc. Most places in the UK that cater to this segment also accept Amex.
However, it's a charge card and not a credit card, so it does need to be paid off in full every month.
Re:An unprecedented wave of online bank fraud is hitting Britain
on Thursday October 14, 2021 @08:05AM (#28863175)
That's where effective legislation and regulation can play a role. It's not as if other parts of the same bank aren't making money hand over fist.
Re:GCP releases Spot VMs, the next generation of Pre-emptible VMs
on Wednesday October 13, 2021 @05:03AM (#28849889)
Looking through our history, it looks like us-east-1 preëmptible VMs were a flat 30% the cost of non-preëmptible VMs. So in the worst-case scenario, we'll be paying 10% more for the same product, but also potentially saving up to 19% in periods where GCP has excess capacity.
Re:GCP releases Spot VMs, the next generation of Pre-emptible VMs
on Wednesday October 13, 2021 @04:49AM (#28849793)
I find GCP's UI easier to use than AWS' by orders of magnitude.
Re:GCP releases Spot VMs, the next generation of Pre-emptible VMs
on Wednesday October 13, 2021 @04:44AM (#28849762)
From https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/preemptible: "Spot VMs (Preview) are the latest version of preemptible VM instances. Preemptible VMs continue to be supported for new and existing VMs, and preemptible VMs now use the same pricing model as Spot VMs. However, Spot VMs provide new features that are not supported for preemptible VMs. For example, preemptible VMs can only run for up to 24 hours at a time, but Spot VMs do not have a maximum runtime."
So preëmptible VMs are still supported but may now cost as much as 40% of non-preëmptible VMs, "to reflect the supply-demand dynamics of Compute Engine’s excess capacity." That's quite a big change from the current pricing structure.
Re:Malwarebytes' privacy VPN is Mullvad in a shady trenchcoat
on Monday October 11, 2021 @08:32AM (#28827596)
It doesn't seem to be. MWB's location for me is much more accurate, I'm thinking Google?
Re:Hypersonic HAWC missile flies, but details are kept hidden
on Tuesday September 28, 2021 @04:07PM (#28686901)
And our reality would segue into the storyline of Threads. The 1984 BBC film should be mandatory viewing for all people in positions of power. The bombing is only the start of the horror. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgT4Y30DkaA
Re:Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector
on Wednesday September 22, 2021 @09:14AM (#28615910)
The servers come across more as dining consultants or even storytellers.
I have a feeling this may be a feature of American fine dining. In Michelin-starred restaurants in the UK and France, I've found the service to be very discreet but immediately present when you need it. Certainly no introducing of names, or unrequested stories.
An amusing example was a lunch at Apicius in Paris, where we were offered an aperitif on the terrace. Having enjoyed our tipple, we then waited for someone to come and seat us. An hour later, a curious staff member stuck their head outside and asked whether we are ready to dine. I don't think it occurred to them to usher us around and we were free to time everything to our leisure. Moreover, on our next visit the same maitre d' remembered our preferred drinks and suggested talking to the chef to reconfigure the tasting menu with dishes we didn't have previously -- with two years between the visits.