Comment Targeted content based on interest (Score 1) 40
Journal Journal: Thoughts on confidential computing 2
https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/07/04/confidential-computings-core-trust-mechanism-is-broken-the-fix-may-not-exist/5266056
The claim in The Register is that confidential computing might not be a fixable problem. I am not going to claim I have "the solution", or that the solution I have come up with meets either the requirement of being necessary or sufficient, but I would argue that it adequately challenges the assumption that the problem cannot be solved at all.
Journal Journal: Thoughts regarding confidential computing
https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/07/04/confidential-computings-core-trust-mechanism-is-broken-the-fix-may-not-exist/5266056
The claim in The Register is that confidential computing might not be a fixable problem. I am not going to claim I have "the solution", or that the solution I have come up with meets either the requirement of being necessary or sufficient, but I would argue that it adequately challenges the assumption that the problem cannot be solved at all.
Comment Some poor sysadmin having to deal with this. (Score 2) 195
Comment Re: Keep it quiet (Score 1) 65
Submission + - What is a quantum computer good for? Absolutely nothing — yet (theverge.com)
Companies drive the hype, too. In June, Microsoft announced a new quantum computing chip named Majorana 2. It claimed the chip was a hardware advancement that accelerates its timeline to a “scalable, practical quantum computer” by 2029. But independent experts swiftly criticized the announcement. “This is complete codswallop,” Henry Legg, a physicist from the University of St. Andrews and a longtime Microsoft critic, tells The Verge.
Legg just published a paper in Nature on June 24th criticizing Microsoft’s quantum claims from a year ago — peer review takes a long time — and pointing to what he sees as major discrepancies between Microsoft’s papers and press releases. Nature included Microsoft’s rebuttal.
Researchers have made genuine progress in quantum computing — it’s just been largely incremental and too esoteric to immediately capture the public’s imagination. Proponents predict that the technology will lead to discoveries in medicine, as well as advances in materials science and machine learning. Meanwhile, many national security experts frame its development as a new Cold War competition between the US and China.
Some have imagined the quantum computer as a cyberattack tool. In 1994, computer scientist Peter Shor developed a quantum computing algorithm for factoring prime numbers that should be able to break RSA encryption, a ubiquitous family of algorithms used to secure banking and email communications. So "RSA is dead" is the repeated mantra of the quantum computing hype.
Current quantum computers like Google’s Willow are individual chips too primitive to break RSA encryption or implement drug molecule simulations. But the vision is to build scaled-up machines that can.
Similar cycles have played out several times since the technology’s beginnings. Companies announce a breakthrough; independent researchers cry hype, all while investors continue to inject money into the industry. Then investors cash out and then call it a "scam" on the public.
Henry Legg is more skeptical and thinks some have underestimated the fundamental challenges of scaling. “There’s no evidence of the scalability of any platform to the level that you would need to do useful quantum computations within a decade, or probably a couple of decades,” he says.
While researchers have made progress toward building a useful quantum computer, it’s not clear what that use should be. “It’s such a nascent technology,” says Islam. “If you ask, what is a quantum computer good for, I do not know of an application which is a sure shot.”
The Trump administration wants a useful quantum computer in two years. Are we having fun yet?
Submission + - Windows to Linux refugees, which free/small aps do you miss and need? 1
My list would have to contain GTK versions of: Irfanview image manager, which I think is unequaled in Linux, which does work to some extent under Wine. I also miss the full version of 7zip, because of its better compression settings, which File-Roller does not provide, though https://www.ruinelli.ch/p7zip-... is available but unnoticed by common distribution. Lastly, I think that Notepad++ would be a good addition to Linux.
Which daily-driver aps do you need?
Comment Name it Super WebMD (Score 1) 49
Comment I'm OK with this. (Score 2) 93
Submission + - County With 37 Data Centers Asks Schools to 'Conserve Electricity'
‘On June 26, the County Manager of Henrico County, Virginia, John Vithoulkas, sent an email to thousands of county employees asking them to help the local government conserve electricity.
“Beginning July 1st, the rate we pay for electricity used in all Henrico County government and school facilities will increase dramatically — by 25%, increasing costs by an estimated $5 million next fiscal year. We anticipate more rate increases for electricity in the years ahead,” a copy of the email obtained by 404 Media said (emphasis his).’
Submission + - Microsoft wants to kill Docker Desktop on Windows with WSL containers (nerds.xyz)
While Microsoft insists Docker Desktop, Podman Desktop, and Rancher Desktop remain important parts of the ecosystem, the direction seems obvious. If Windows eventually ships with a capable container platform built directly into WSL, many developers may decide they no longer need third-party container tools for everyday work.
The announcement also includes APIs that allow Windows applications to launch Linux containers programmatically, along with enterprise management features, improved file performance, new networking technology, and tighter integration with existing Windows tooling.