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Comment Re:I have _never_ had colleagues ... (Score 1) 54

by BenBoy (#66123690) Attached to: The Case Against an Imminent Software Developer Apocalypse

It's like there's 10 of me, well rested and in distraction free speed typing mode, and I'm a seasoned and experienced senior webdev who still loves his job.

I've had a similar experience! It's like there's a dozen SWEs working shoulder to shoulder.

  • Nine are just brilliant.
  • One's badly hung over and has just rejiggered the tests specifically to 'solve' an error in the code.
  • One has apparently just had his first hit of X, and wants to tell me how great he thinks I am and that all my stupid ideas are genius.
  • The last one occasionally just fucks off somewhere and all the work stops until he's 'up' for it again.

Genuinely, I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have on a rather massive personal project I'm working on without AI, but I've also spent a stunning time backing out some ... idiosyncratic? ... rust code.

Comment Re:Not even the worst part ... (Score 1) 95

by BenBoy (#65919902) Attached to: Why It Is Difficult To Resize Windows on MacOS 26

That's not what I am seeing.

Funny, I'm seeing that a lot in the comments; I'm on 26.1; perhaps a fix awaits in 26.2 :-)

I find the behavior inconsistent on 26.1. With the window *definitely* in focus, I still can move the cursor from outside the window slowly through the corner into the window with no change. The misbehavior seems more consistent outside->in rather than vv.

I mostly did user interface work prior to retirement ... weird behavior is par for the course!

Comment Not even the worst part ... (Score 4, Interesting) 95

by BenBoy (#65918384) Attached to: Why It Is Difficult To Resize Windows on MacOS 26

Apple removed the visible resize grippy-strip from window corners in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion in July 2011.

What chaps me is the mouse cursor, which does not change, not one iota, over about 90% of that grippable area. If we got a 'resize' cursor image over the territory that could be grabbed, all of this would be a non-issue. Instead, the cursor flips over 1/n the width of the human hair, with n=the number of people bloody sick of interface changes for no damned reason.

Comment Inevitably!! (Score 1) 94

by BenBoy (#65900259) Attached to: Could AI Bring Us Four-Day Workweeks?
Look at the terrific increases in individual productivity we've gotten so far from computers. Speaking from a US perspective here, but clearly that productivity boost has *already* resulted in a halving of our work week, right? How could this not happen?

Submission + - Scientists Reveal Roof Coating That Can Reduce Surface Temps 6C On Hot Days (theguardian.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Australian scientists have developed roof coatings that can passively cool surfaces up to 6C below ambient temperature, as well as extract water from the atmosphere, which they say could reduce indoor temperatures during extreme heat events. One coating made from a porous film, which can be painted on to existing roofs, works by reflecting 96% of incoming solar radiation, rather than absorbing the sun’s energy. It also has a high thermal emittance, meaning it effectively dissipates heat to outer space when the sky is clear. Its properties are known as passive radiative cooling. [...]

In a study, published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, the researchers tested a prototype for six months on the roof of the Sydney Nanoscience Hub, pairing the cool paint with a UV-resistant topcoat that encouraged dew droplets to roll down into a receptacle. As much as 390 milliliters per sq meter per day could be collected for about a third of the year, the scientists found. Based on that water capture rate, an average Australian roof – about 200 sq meters – could provide up to 70 liters on days favorable for collecting dew, they estimate. [...]

In well-insulated buildings, a 6C decrease in roof temperature “might result in a smaller fraction of that cooling being reflected in the top level of the house," [said the study’s lead author, Prof Chiara Neto of the University of Sydney], but greater temperature reductions would be expected in most Australian houses, “where insulation is quite poor." She said the coating could also help reduce the urban heat island effect, in which hard surfaces absorb more heat than natural surfaces, resulting in urban centers being 1C to 13C warmer than rural areas.

Submission + - Someone Snuck Into a Cellebrite Microsoft Teams Call and Leaked Phone Unlocking (404media.co)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Someone recently managed to get on a Microsoft Teams call with representatives from phone hacking company Cellebrite, and then leaked a screenshot of the company’s capabilities against many Google Pixel phones, according to a forum post about the leak and 404 Media’s review of the material. The leak follows others obtained and verified by 404 Media over the last 18 months. Those leaks impacted both Cellebrite and its competitor Grayshift, now owned by Magnet Forensics. Both companies constantly hunt for techniques to unlock phones law enforcement have physical access to.

“You can Teams meeting with them. They tell everything. Still cannot extract esim on Pixel. Ask anything,” a user called rogueFed wrote on the GrapheneOS forum on Wednesday, speaking about what they learned about Cellebrite capabilities. GrapheneOS is a security- and privacy-focused Android-based operating system. rogueFed then posted two screenshots of the Microsoft Teams call. The first was a Cellebrite Support Matrix, which lays out whether the company’s tech can, or can’t, unlock certain phones and under what conditions. The second screenshot was of a Cellebrite employee. According to another of rogueFed’s posts, the meeting took place in October. The meeting appears to have been a sales call. The employee is a “pre sales expert,” according to a profile available online.

The Support Matrix is focused on modern Google Pixel devices, including the Pixel 9 series. The screenshot does not include details on the Pixel 10, which is Google’s latest device. It discusses Cellebrite’s capabilities regarding ‘before first unlock’, or BFU, when a piece of phone unlocking tech tries to open a device before someone has typed in the phone’s passcode for the first time since being turned on. It also shows Cellebrite’s capabilities against after first unlock, or AFU, devices. The Support Matrix also shows Cellebrite’s capabilities against Pixel devices running GrapheneOS, with some differences between phones running that operating system and stock Android. Cellebrite does support, for example, Pixel 9 devices BFU. Meanwhile the screenshot indicates Cellebrite cannot unlock Pixel 9 devices running GrapheneOS BFU. In their forum post, rogueFed wrote that the “meeting focused specific on GrapheneOS bypass capability.” They added “very fresh info more coming.”

Submission + - Israel Demanded Google and Amazon Use Secret 'Wink' To Sidestep Legal Orders (theguardian.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: When Google and Amazon negotiated a major $1.2bn cloud-computing deal in 2021, their customer – the Israeli government – had an unusual demand: agree to use a secret code as part of an arrangement that would become known as the “winking mechanism." The demand, which would require Google and Amazon to effectively sidestep legal obligations in countries around the world, was born out of Israel’s concerns that data it moves into the global corporations’ cloud platforms could end up in the hands of foreign law enforcement authorities.

Like other big tech companies, Google and Amazon’s cloud businesses routinely comply with requests from police, prosecutors and security services to hand over customer data to assist investigations. This process is often cloaked in secrecy. The companies are frequently gagged from alerting the affected customer their information has been turned over. This is either because the law enforcement agency has the power to demand this or a court has ordered them to stay silent. For Israel, losing control of its data to authorities overseas was a significant concern. So to deal with the threat, officials created a secret warning system: the companies must send signals hidden in payments to the Israeli government, tipping it off when it has disclosed Israeli data to foreign courts or investigators.

To clinch the lucrative contract, Google and Amazon agreed to the so-called winking mechanism, according to leaked documents seen by the Guardian, as part of a joint investigation with Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call. Based on the documents and descriptions of the contract by Israeli officials, the investigation reveals how the companies bowed to a series of stringent and unorthodox “controls” contained within the 2021 deal, known as Project Nimbus. Both Google and Amazon’s cloud businesses have denied evading any legal obligations.

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