Root Access

Bob

2:22 AM

> Warning: root device /dev/sda2 does not exist

2

That's never a good sign.

Nick

2:45 AM

@Bob a partition vanished?

Bob

@Nick Naw, ubuntu/apt got confused by an odd vm setup

Nick

ah, silly ol ubuntu.

RegularGDPR

3:03 AM

@Bob At least it's just a warning, not a critical or error

Bob

Depending on the number of available resources and their characteristics, brute-force attack against the brother might work as well. — alecxe yesterday

Journeyman Geek

3:22 AM

> In a timing-attack, you wait for a sufficient time, your brother will remove the MAC filtering for your device.

RegularGDPR

3:38 AM

> If you cannot wait for the time based attack to succeed, you can use a side channel attack and connect to the internet via an alternative channel, such as GSM or a friendly neighbor.

Ironically the most effective answers are the lowest upvoted

XKCD

4:02 AM

We've also developed the semi-semi-log scale, where the Y-axis for the left half of the graph is a log scale but on the right half it isn't.

RegularGDPR

4:12 AM

I don't get it... o .. OOOOHHHH

Michael Frank

It's clever!

Andy K

7:17 AM

morning

Journeyman Geek

7:40 AM

MR's service here is pretty good

My dad lost a sim card. I called MyRepublic - got it replaced in a few hours, then called them to activate it, and its up a few hours later

djsmiley2k

how did he loose a sim card o_O

Journeyman Geek

swapped it to go overseas..

"dropped it somewhere"

djsmiley2k

8:08 AM

Ah, lol. fair enough

that's a really good turn around time

With my old provider it was 'we can post you one 1-3 days, or you can go to a store to get a replacement one'.

Burgi

the people in the EE shop are literally the worst

i have to go to the one near regularly because both my parents are on EE

djsmiley2k

lol

Journeyman Geek

8:27 AM

yup

I also like the fact I can get a sim card, no real contract, and not need to talk to anyone unless something went wrong

like losing a sim card

allquixotic

ughhhhhhhhhh

Journeyman Geek

and this is one of their (availability ending this month) 8 dollar plans

allquixotic

(yes, seeing me up at 4:30 AM is usually bad news)

Journeyman Geek

:(

what happened?

(or matrix?)

allquixotic

matrix

allquixotic

8:54 AM

0

A: Why has this question on BlueJeans people account inference been placed on-hold as off-topic as "not about computer hardware or software"?

Questions just seeking general knowledge are fine, because there are many different ways to approach answering them with valid and correct answers. But very specific questions about the internals of proprietary software often won't ever be answerable by anyone except an employee of the company t...

Bob

9:12 AM

@allquixotic I feel like we should not be closing questions to chase some accepted answer rate. It's okay to have unanswered questions! I've seen a couple that are extraordinarily specific -- but get an answer a year or two down the line by someone who happens to have insider knowledge.

That said, the bigger problem is they tend to invite guesses, which makes them opinion-based.

allquixotic

@Bob yeah, that's what I ended up saying in my long-winded answer

basically, someone would either have to do scientifically rigorous empirical research on that to experimentally derive a possible algorithm for that number (which, in the end, could still end up being incorrect, even if it fits the data really well), or have access to the code, or RE it

Bob

I think I should correct my last message a bit... it doesn't really make the question opinion-based but it can make them a bit of a poor fit for SU :P

allquixotic

and RE might be impossible without breaking the US CFAA if there's server side code that's in the mix

Bob

@allquixotic Thing is, quite often this info is available (through blog posts, etc.) and it's hard to know what's known or not ... until you ask.

allquixotic

@Bob certainly true of Microsoft software, but this seems decidedly fringier

Bob

9:18 AM

There was that time I asked a question about some obscure OpenEdge thing that probably required reverse-engineering or insider knowledge.

allquixotic

MS has thousands of employees though, and active employees who go through tons of legacy cruft and then blog about it (e.g. OldNewThing) or actually participate on the network

Bob

Of the three answers...

> I am a Progress OpenEdge Technical Support Manager

allquixotic

they're kind of an exception when it comes to understanding their proprietary software

Bob

And the other one...

> Principal Support Engineer4Progress Software

'cept that second guy is now former sooo. welp.

allquixotic

fired because of a ~~tweet~~ SuperUser answer? :D

djsmiley2k

9:21 AM

@Bob should they not just vote to reopen?

Bob

@djsmiley2k Closed unanswered questions get ba-leeted after 6 months.

djsmiley2k

ah

allquixotic

9:40 AM

!! s/h/hh/g

ChatBot John Cavil

@allquixotic ahh (source)

2

djsmiley2k

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

allquixotic

11:08 AM

!! s/h/djsmiley2k/g

ChatBot John Cavil

@allquixotic Adjsmiley2kdjsmiley2kdjsmiley2kdjsmiley2kdjsmiley2kdjsmiley2kdjsmiley2kdjsmiley2‌kdjsmiley2kdjsmiley2kdjsmiley2kdjsmiley2kdjsmiley2k (source)

djsmiley2k

o_O

Burgi

12:16 PM

Not one for lunch

rahuldottech

I won a music-mixing competition today :D

Burgi

12:46 PM

Vote for "Spacey McSpaceFace"!

djsmiley2k

Actually Vote Here for "(Kevin) Spacey McSpaceFace"

Name for the new ExoMars Rover Kevin Spacey McSpaceFace

Burgi

1:03 PM

Grumpy Elon Musk (Again)

he really doesn't help himself

is this good practise?

public static function getHeaderTitle(?int $post_id,string $posttype):string{
	// stuff
}

the ?int in particular

djsmiley2k

@RegularGDPR huh

I thought amazon stopped doing anything prime, under £10 (on it's own) ?

amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00GSPGJCE

jhmmm

bertieb

1:25 PM

@Bob Ya, I answered a question that was attracting VTCs for that reason (this is unanswerable unless the people who decided answer):

2

A: How are 'main' countries chosen during Debian/Ubuntu installation?

Countries presented are based on language already selected The selection process is laid out in the README for localechooser (used to build debian-installer images): The purpose of localechooser is to ask the person doing the installation about his preferred language and country of "reside...

Some Qs of that type are more answerable than others (eg what quix says about open source software)

@rahuldottech Nice! Congratulations, what did you win?

Bob

@bertieb That's a great example (cc @allquixotic). Just because you (as in the VtCer) don't know the answer, doesn't mean no one on the site does. I see quite a few bad VtCs along those lines.

It's also good to keep in mind that there is an auto-delete for questions with no (positive) attention.

So if no one knows, and no one cares, the question eventually disappears anyway.

bertieb

@Bob Aye, that's definitely worth bearing in mind

Bob

Of course, with the caveat as @allquixotic mentioned — some simply require insider knowledge with maybe 1-2 people in the world being able to answer those.

But I don't think reviewers should be making that decision.

bertieb

Yeah

Bob

If it ends up unanswered? The system will clean them up.

bertieb

1:31 PM

They still can fall fall of "is there an actual [solvable] problem here?" test though

Bob

If it ends up with opinion-based answers? Hrm. In an ideal world, the answers would be asked for sources and deleted otherwise.

But if that happens too much they maybe getting rid of the question is the only sane way of handling it. Bleh.

bertieb

Depending on whether we accept "I am curious" as a solvable problem

Yeah, it can get messy

Bob

@bertieb I've been on both sides of that argument. Usually leaning towards "knowledge" questions as being good for the site. But that's not always the case.

It's grey.

bertieb

@Bob Agreed

Bob

On one end, you get the questions you can write books about.

bertieb

1:33 PM

Sometimes it's hard to know what value a question would have until you see the answers

Bob

On the other end, you get troubleshooting questions that are more for forums, not Q&A.

There needs to be a balance somewhere.

If we aim to be useful as a general knowledge repository? I think we need to keep general knowledge questions, but limit the scope enough to not be overwhelming.

'course, the "always good" ones are usually "How do I do X"

bertieb

@Bob Yeah, that's another question: what's the purpose of SE? The mission statement often gets wheeled out, usually to make the point "we're not here to help the querent (necessarily); but the people who come after them"

Helping the querent is a nice side-effect, so the argument goes

Bob

@bertieb On the other hand, help centre says practical questions. Which theoretically means no ... theory questions.

bertieb

@Bob Ah! but practice is merely the application of theory :P

He said, glibly

Bob

Are we just for "doing" things?

That's one way to approach the problem.

It could even work. Maybe. idk.

bertieb

1:38 PM

Again, I'm not sure there's a hard-and-fast answer

Bob

I suppose part of the muddying is SO and SF are very much practical, but then we have all the SE 2.0 sites which lean towards theoretical.

bertieb

As you say finding a balance is necessary

Yea

Bob

Maybe SU should be practical only.

But then there's a great many good theoretical questions. And we don't have a programmers.se equivalent.

bertieb

RC gets a lot of mileage out of "Why...?" questions, it seems

Bob

@bertieb Eh, that's an odd one out :P

Ok, Camomile teabags are horrid.

bertieb

1:40 PM

They're an acquired taste :P

Bob

@bertieb Oh, I love proper Camomile. The fresh (? whole?) ones.

But the bags of crushed stuff are ... off.

bertieb

Oh right

I don't think I've had fresh

Bob

Well, still dried.

bertieb

I wasn't overly-enamoured of the bags but they're suggested as a natural sleep aid so I've tried them from time to time under that auspice

Bob

Loose leaf! That's the word!

bertieb

1:43 PM

Ahh yeah

Bob

But it's less convenient :\

bertieb

True

I've tried loose leaf variants of Earl Grey on occasion and I find them quite variable

Bob

@bertieb I don't know about sleep aids, but it's a fairly common dinner choice in Chinese restaurants :P

Loose leaf in a pot, of course. Never bags in a restaurant.

@bertieb I've only recently started having Earl Grey... first time I've ever liked tea with milk :P

Just bagged, but that seems to work well enough.

> chamomile has been known to cause uterine contractions that can invoke miscarriage

O_O

bertieb

@Bob Is there also a particular blend of 'Chinese' dinner tea? I'm sure I've had other stuff in Chinese restaurants on occasion

@Bob Earl Grey is awesome

Bob

@bertieb Nah, you usually get to pick.

Camomile is pretty common because no caffeine at night.

bertieb

1:47 PM

And I'm not juust saying that because I've had 3 and a bit cups of it so far today

Journeyman Geek

@Bob you pour hot water on it first. They taste funny if you eat them. And those staples... ;p

Bob

I think the other common choice is Jasmine?

Journeyman Geek

@Bob I thought jasmine was the standard

We never had that

bertieb

@Bob Hmm, in the admittedly few restaurants I've been to here it's been some kind of mild/subtle green tea AFAICT

djsmiley2k

Journeyman Geek

1:48 PM

our local chinese veggie restaurant had the best orange juice ever.

Bob

@JourneymanGeek That's more common for lunch. Dinner is a mix, depending on time of the night and the participants :P

djsmiley2k

Why is it grey'd out Notepad++ ?!

bertieb

ISTR someone (David?) having an HNQ A relating to scroll synch in Npp

Trying to find it

Welp, I tried for ~20s

My attention span grows ever-shorter

I think that happens because in this day and ages we are-- OOH LOOK A DOG

Journeyman Geek

@Bob is that the stuff with floaty bits in it? ;p

Bob

@JourneymanGeek Which one? :P

Camomile is the one with flowers

Journeyman Geek

1:52 PM

IDK

bertieb

@JourneymanGeek Green tea with floaty bits! That's the one I'm thinking of anyway

Journeyman Geek

Happy Realm closed down :(

Bob

Jasmine has floaty bits in 'normal' tea

Journeyman Geek

probably whatever @bertieb is talking about.

Bob

Yea that's Jasmine

bertieb

1:53 PM

@JourneymanGeek Most of the time even @bertieb doesn't know what @bertieb is talking about =P

Journeyman Geek

@bertieb woof?

bertieb

@JourneymanGeek Aroof

Journeyman Geek

@bertieb I don't have any idea what you're talking about either, so its probably the same thing.

bertieb

(I was looking at the top of a house, I guess)

clears throat Anyhooooo...

Biswapriyo

Sorry to interrupt! Has someone tried this new website store.rg-adguard.net to download Windows Store Appx Packages without Store app.

bertieb

1:55 PM

Tea discussion and bad puns can be interrupted any time :P (I have not, to answer your question)

Journeyman Geek

@Biswapriyo that seems fishy as heck

or even phishy

bertieb

@JourneymanGeek Maybe it's a red herring

...I'll get me coat

Journeyman Geek

@Biswapriyo also kinda defeats the point of windows store

Biswapriyo

@JourneymanGeek But there is an advantage (sort-of). No telemetry & data collected during download.

djsmiley2k

@bertieb Could you not just read the source?

Journeyman Geek

2:00 PM

@Biswapriyo assuming the apps were legit

and I'd rather trust MS than some AC

Biswapriyo

@JourneymanGeek I tried both. Both has same SHA256

bertieb

@djsmiley2k Probably, in that case; but source code is probably slightly more intimidating for an end user to read than the docs, from the POV of an answer

Journeyman Geek

I mean, if you really mistrust MS enough that you want to use a random application on the internet...

djsmiley2k

@bertieb Sure

but anyone could read it, and answer

Biswapriyo

@JourneymanGeek No, no, not that. Just sharing......

Journeyman Geek

2:03 PM

@Biswapriyo apps you could get anyway? ;p

Maybe to save bandwidth maybe

djsmiley2k

My point being it's not unanswerable, sorry. that was all.

Journeyman Geek

@djsmiley2k @bertieb are we talking about that closure meta question?

@Biswapriyo knowing folks here, either we get it from the source or not at all ;p

bertieb

@JourneymanGeek Broadly

Journeyman Geek

ah. On that specific topic. I tend to let things be if 1) it looks to have use to the broader public

2) its not user closed

3) meta question actually tries to make an effort to convince us its useful and succeeds

I don't like reopenhammering things unless there's a great reason

djsmiley2k

I.E you growl out 'FOR GRRRREAT JUSTICE' - your paw drops, onto the specially made Pad that launches the JusticeHammer to unclose the question?

Journeyman Geek

2:15 PM

I have a photo of the hammer somewhere. its got a rubber head

Burgi

the new trailer for STDISCO is very good

looks like real trek is back

djsmiley2k

@JourneymanGeek I should get you a photo of the kids thor hammer?

Journeyman Geek

@djsmiley2k its an actual tool i own, much like the dog sized crowbar ;)

Bob

@JourneymanGeek ok. googling "dog sized crowbar" has interesting stock photos: c8.alamy.com/comp/JK1H7K/… (NSFD?)

Journeyman Geek

2:30 PM

@Bob crowbar

oops

@Bob the dog seems oddly nonplussed

You guys do remember this right?

Bob

@JourneymanGeek ...wasn't that the fishtank

01/04/2014 iirc

djsmiley2k

The quilt is confusing me :P

Is it some kind of anti-ai detection thing?

Journeyman Geek

@Bob yes

@djsmiley2k bedsheet my mom bought in india

@Bob that's my SAK and crowbar ;p

Hacktohell 'borrowed' the image with my permission

Burgi

2:55 PM

@djsmiley2k YOU HAVE FAILED THIS CAPTCHA

@JourneymanGeek are you the canine gordon freeman?

Journeyman Geek

woof?

djsmiley2k

@Burgi but I clicked all the cars!

Bob

3:27 PM

Burgi

3:39 PM

lol

Andy K

bye

Bob

djsmiley2k

yawn

nearly hometime

djsmiley2k

4:23 PM

it's 30C in here :O

djsmiley2k

6:27 PM

In 2 hours, it's cooled down 0.9C :O

rahuldottech

> Onavo by FACEBOOK
> Onavo Protect for Android helps you take charge of how you use mobile data and protect your personal info. Get smart notifications when your apps use lots of data and secure your personal details.

LMAOOOOOOOOOO

@JourneymanGeek I've seen that bedsheet before. I'm sure of it. You've posted pictures of stuff kept on it before.

> Non-case-sensitive passwords. We accept the "caps lock" version of a password or a password with the first character capitalised to avoid login problems.

HUH

djsmiley2k

9:20 PM

Omg so warm. My clock in here days 27.5C

RegularGDPR

9:34 PM

@djsmiley2k Nope. Some items are add-on items, that can't be bought on their own, or in any order under £20. That applies whether it's prime or not. Otherwise you can get Prime delivery on orders of any value.

I feel like mucking around with my phone to test out CTIL VoLTE but really the only person I actually phone is my blind friend for whom text messages are a bit... difficult.

But I keep missing phone calls while locked on 4G only, so... :-/

RegularGDPR

9:57 PM

@Bob where did you get your info about the move to OXA csc codes and encryption on Samsung firmwares?

bwDraco

11:19 PM

@rahuldottech They're either storing plaintext passwords, or are hashing it in multiple forms. I really suspect the former; this is a huge !!/no.

bertieb

Code of Conduct II: The Redrafting is ongoing (Google Docs link). Feedback is still welcome!

('redraftening' wasn't as funny as I thought; perhaps I should have gone for The Redraftinator instead)

Just a heads up for Chat:

> Be kind. Be polite and friendly with others. Avoid jokes and sarcasm -- tone is hard to decipher online. If a situation makes it hard to act kindly, stop engaging and move on.

(in the tl;dr)

As someone who is British am not sure I can avoid sarcasm...

4

Bob

@RegularGDPR forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s9-plus/help/…

RegularGDPR

11:36 PM

Also @Bob, i was gonna ask, do you feel the premium subscription to samfirmware is worth it?

Bob

11:54 PM

@RegularGDPR When I was on the S7? Yes. Because rooted and needed to download firmware. Now? Not really. Because I can get OTAs anyway.

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