Latest Comments by F.Ultra
Intel chipsets have another security issue, this time it's 'unfixable'
9 Mar 2020 at 7:40 pm UTC Likes: 2
Where quantum computing will wreck absolute havoc is in asymmetric encryption which is not used to encrypt data (for 99.99999% of it's application) but to exchange encryption keys or used to sign data by encrypting cryptographic hashes.
edit: just wanted to point out that I wrote the wrong timeframe change above, it's not the time component that is halved, it's the number of bits. So a 256 bit symmetric algorithm today will in a fully quantum world be equivalent to a 128 bit symmetric algorithm.
We are still talking about billions and billions of years, and in fact the "not with the whole energy of the sun" that Eike first wrote is actually a quote taken from Bruce Schneier's first book where he talks about the energy requirements to brute force a 128 bit symmetric key so what Eike wrote still holds true even in a quantum world (the energy requirement to brute force a 256 bit symmetric key today would be equivalent of 2^128 suns).
It's also worth noting that this energy requirement is also based on a implausible future where the energy requirement to fully decrypt one step of an algorithm would be just the movement of a single electron one energy level. Today (and still tomorrow with quantum) such an operation will take billions of such movements.
9 Mar 2020 at 7:40 pm UTC Likes: 2
Quoting: Purple Library Guyquantum computing will just scale down the timeframe from many many billions of years to (many many billions of years) / 2.Quoting: EikeYesyes, encryption works. And if what someone is trying to do is access your data, that's fine. Won't stop ransomware though, they can just encrypt your encrypted data. Or hijacking your machine to help a botnet or whatever. If someone's got physical access, they can do pretty much anything except access encrypted data, and I still don't see how a chip having security features is gonna stop them.Quoting: Mountain ManLocal and physical access tends to decrease the effectiveness of and defeat many security measures. For that matter, if someone has physical access to your machine, they could simply walk off with it and crack it at their leisure.If you got decent encryption, not within billion years with the whole energy of the sun.
(For that matter, cracking encrypted data they might not be able to do in a few days or even in a practical length of time, but it won't take any billion years; they just wait 10-20 years for quantum computing to mature a bit)
Where quantum computing will wreck absolute havoc is in asymmetric encryption which is not used to encrypt data (for 99.99999% of it's application) but to exchange encryption keys or used to sign data by encrypting cryptographic hashes.
edit: just wanted to point out that I wrote the wrong timeframe change above, it's not the time component that is halved, it's the number of bits. So a 256 bit symmetric algorithm today will in a fully quantum world be equivalent to a 128 bit symmetric algorithm.
We are still talking about billions and billions of years, and in fact the "not with the whole energy of the sun" that Eike first wrote is actually a quote taken from Bruce Schneier's first book where he talks about the energy requirements to brute force a 128 bit symmetric key so what Eike wrote still holds true even in a quantum world (the energy requirement to brute force a 256 bit symmetric key today would be equivalent of 2^128 suns).
It's also worth noting that this energy requirement is also based on a implausible future where the energy requirement to fully decrypt one step of an algorithm would be just the movement of a single electron one energy level. Today (and still tomorrow with quantum) such an operation will take billions of such movements.
Intel chipsets have another security issue, this time it's 'unfixable'
6 Mar 2020 at 11:21 pm UTC Likes: 2
And if you are in a big server room then you have physical access to those servers without necessarily have the kind of physical access that you would have if you stole a laptop from someone.
So these recent vulnerabilities are not so much of a desktop problem as they are a server problem, just like many of the other recent Spectre variants.
6 Mar 2020 at 11:21 pm UTC Likes: 2
Quoting: Purple Library GuyI don't really like Intel, but this doesn't really worry me. I mean,Think servers, when you use a resource remotely on a server (e.g a HTTP request to a web server, or a SMTP request to a mail server and so forth) you have a form of local access to that server (and if the software have some form of vulnerability as well then you definitely have local access, even if that application is securely sandboxed).
they would need some sort of physical and local accessWhy are we even expecting any kind of compute-y thing to be secure when someone has physical and local access? That was never a thing when I was young, and I'm fairly convinced that if we think it's a thing now it's mainly wishful thinking.
And if you are in a big server room then you have physical access to those servers without necessarily have the kind of physical access that you would have if you stole a laptop from someone.
So these recent vulnerabilities are not so much of a desktop problem as they are a server problem, just like many of the other recent Spectre variants.
Speculation: porting studio Feral Interactive could be in some trouble (updated: they're fine)
27 Feb 2020 at 10:22 am UTC
27 Feb 2020 at 10:22 am UTC
Quoting: ShabbyXYou would think Feral can now get many games that are ported to Stadia and release them on desktop fairly quickly. I wonder what's stopping them from doing that.The original game publisher is what is stopping them from doing that. Either by outright refusing to let Feral buy the Linux/macOS rights or by having such a high price that it's not worth it.
Steam Play Proton is correctly tracking Linux sales, a statement from Valve
20 Feb 2020 at 9:55 pm UTC Likes: 2
20 Feb 2020 at 9:55 pm UTC Likes: 2
Quoting: scaineThere is always the "send a mail to yourself" option otherwise :)Quoting: rustybroomhandleWell, Android for one - I think that was mentioned earlier. I can't buy games at work either, because that's either Android or Windows, so I have to wishlist, then hope I remember when I get home.Quoting: dpanterAll I want is that buying a game from a Linux platform counts as a Linux purchase.On which platform are you not getting this, though?
Is that really so bloody difficult? :><:
We really should be able to demonstrate support for our platform in easier/better ways that this...!
The original Half-Life games are now free to play until Half-Life: Alyx launches
23 Jan 2020 at 7:29 pm UTC Likes: 1
23 Jan 2020 at 7:29 pm UTC Likes: 1
Quoting: HoriThere's no argument to be made about which is better, linear or open. They are very different approaches that aim for very different things. It's like comparing apples to a dog.I don't think that either of us are against open world games. It's just that the current expectation that every single game should be open world more or less forces game devs to implement open world into games where it does not fit or work so you get a lot of open world games that would probably have been much better if they would have stayed linear.
Linear games very much have a place in modern gaming and the future. I recently played Hellblade and I had an absolute blast, and made my kinda miss linear games.
It's all up to personal preference, and even tho I prefer open games, a good linear game from time to time is very welcome.
The original Half-Life games are now free to play until Half-Life: Alyx launches
22 Jan 2020 at 9:19 pm UTC Likes: 1
22 Jan 2020 at 9:19 pm UTC Likes: 1
Quoting: subI'm currently replaying the series for the first time in a very long time.Linear games are severely underrated and it's shame that a new game that isn't open-world (or that isn't online multiplayer) gets so bashed by gamers. Most of the time the open-worldness as you say is just slapped on by repeating a few things over and over and over.
Black Mesa was great.
Now close to the end of HL2 (base game).
Imho, this game has aged particularly well.
Also, I don't mind the linearity that's very often criticised (by younger gamers?).
I love good handcrafted stories and this one is undoubtedly extremely well executed.
Maybe that's one reason I'm not that much into open-world/sandbox games, where content is
too a large extend very repetitive or procedurally generated.
(Exception: I LOVED 'Breath of the Wild'!)
Hope the Index is available again soon.
Steam reportedly coming to Chrome OS - Linux gaming across even more devices
18 Jan 2020 at 6:55 pm UTC
18 Jan 2020 at 6:55 pm UTC
Quoting: LinasIn Denmark I see people using Linux on their laptops from time to time. MacBooks are very popular. But I don't think I have ever seen a Chromebook, either in use, or in a shop. Not anywhere in Northern or Eastern Europe for that matter.Here in Sweden they are quite popular in Schools.
VVVVVV from Terry Cavanagh has the source code opened up to celebrate the 10 year anniversary
10 Jan 2020 at 6:46 pm UTC Likes: 4
10 Jan 2020 at 6:46 pm UTC Likes: 4
Quoting: slaapliedjeIt's recreated from scratch in 6502 assembler, so it's not really ported and it's not really a crack either (it is however copyright infringement on the original).Quoting: seanbutnotheardI love that since I set it to 'get emails when there has been a post' that I still got the link.Quoting: slaapliedjeTime for a port to the Atari 8bits?Well it's already been ported to C64...
(edit: removed the link because I realized after the fact that it's an unofficial "cracked" version, apologies for that. perhaps now that the source is released there will be an "official" port.)
Huh, wonder how someone would have cracked it then ported it though? Wouldn't they need the source? Not sure what language it's coded in.
The Steam Winter Sale is now live with a special Holiday Market
20 Dec 2019 at 6:14 pm UTC Likes: 1
I learnt to program basic by myself when I was 7 so I kind of have a different view of these things than you there ;)
20 Dec 2019 at 6:14 pm UTC Likes: 1
Quoting: einherjarThat is not mutually exclusive, besides playing video games I taught my kids at that age to Squat, Bench Press and Deadlift (my girl that is now 18 is stronger than most boys her age).Quoting: F.Ultra...If they are small, I recommend to play with them in real life. Kids with about 6 years really do not need to play video games. My daughter is 7 and very happy without video games and so was my son.
If they are that small I would highly recommend GCompris, which you will find for free in most if not all Linux distributions already. My kids loved it (especially they loved TuxPaint) when they where really small.
I learnt to program basic by myself when I was 7 so I kind of have a different view of these things than you there ;)
The Steam Winter Sale is now live with a special Holiday Market
19 Dec 2019 at 10:48 pm UTC Likes: 1
There is always Minecraft!
19 Dec 2019 at 10:48 pm UTC Likes: 1
Quoting: denyasisNoooo! Why am I poor?!?If they are that small I would highly recommend GCompris, which you will find for free in most if not all Linux distributions already. My kids loved it (especially they loved TuxPaint) when they where really small.
On a side note, how is slime rancher for young kids? In particular, ones that can't read yet. I'd like to introduce them to the world of Linux gaming, but finding games for kids that young (and not so stupidly annoying to an adult) is a lot harder than I thought.
Happy holidays.
D
There is always Minecraft!
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