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  ARM Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life (Terry Pratchett, Jingo)

Paid antivirus? On ads? Think of all the beer you could buy without that subscription

(2021/07/19)


Bork!Bork!Bork! Beer and bork: two of our favourite things here at Vulture Central. And also, it seems, at the Co-Op.

In this instance, digital signage that would normally be advertising delicious beer brewed in the Cotswolds (a charming part of the UK) is revealing that the retailer – or, more likely, whoever is responsible for the screens in its stores – has failed to renew the antivirus software.

Where once simple posters might have hung, smart signs are so smart these days that they require antivirus software to stop miscreants doing dastardly deeds. And for this sign, the fight seems to be over.

[1]

Click to enlarge

While it appears that the installed ESET's Endpoint Antivirus is bleating about expiration, it is worth noting that the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently took some of the big boys, McAfee and Norton, [2]to task for automatic renewals and some sharp pricing tactics.

However auto-renewal has not happened here. In the era of pandemic panic, the disconnected system attempting to flog ale to punters is instead unhappy about the potential for virus infection. Aren't we all.

[3]

Lucky that Windows Defender is there to save the day.

[4]Who needs 'Bliss' in Teams when you can have the real thing on a Bristol bus?

[5]2021: A Bork Odyssey. Is it remake of Disney's The Black Hole or explorer.exe being shown the door?

[6]The black screen of BIOS borkage haunts Space Shuttle Discovery's new home

[7]Black screens in Windows 11? Bork has seen it all before

Our reader, a member of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), snapped the screen at the store in Winchcombe and found the stricken screen gazing balefully down from above the all-important beer section.

The version of Windows, at least, looks relatively up to date, although the presence of the icon for Microsoft's pre-Chromium attempt at a browser suggests that things are not entirely tiptop in the update department. Still, it's good to see what looks like VLC keeping the showreel on the road, even if the ESET Endpoint wheels have come off.

[8]

Quite why such a complicated bit of kit is required to encourage the bottles of the amber nectar to fly off the shelf is anyone's guess. ®

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[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/07/14/bork_5.jpg

[2] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/25/uk_cma_mcafee_refunds/

[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YPWhpQOP4du39rG87CTi7gAAAII&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[4] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/13/bork/

[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/09/bork/

[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/07/bork/

[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/05/bork/

[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YPWhpQOP4du39rG87CTi7gAAAII&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[9] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/



New tipple?

2+2=5

Badgers Old Bork?

Re: New tipple?

Data Mangler

That would be brewed in Blandford Forum in Dorset, (Hall & Woodhouse, Badger Beer) not the Cotswolds.Thankfully, their product has become a lot more palatable than the stuff they used to churn out in the seventies.

Re: New tipple?

42656e4d203239

>>That would be brewed in Blandford Forum in Dorset,

Not unless they have moved the brewery across the river... it was in Blandford St. Mary last time I looked!

Monopoly

elsergiovolador

is worth noting that the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently took some of the big boys

The irony that alcohol companies still maintain a monopoly on psychoactive substances in 2021. They even managed to get a gift of Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 that closed off any competition coming from "head shops".

Where was the CMA then? Surely there is a plethora of substances safer than alcohol that people could enjoy after a long day of work.

Where once simple posters might have hung

TheProf

But imagine the misery of the poorly paid shop assistant having to swap the poster every 30 seconds.

Re: Where once simple posters might have hung

katrinab

Before the got computers doing the job, they used to have them on long equlateral triangular prism strips that rotated 120° every 30 seconds or so. That only allowed you to have three different frames though.

"However auto-renewal has not happened here."

captain veg

Doesn't the globe icon in the notification area indicate that the machine is disconnected from the internet? Which would seem like a good idea, in the circumstances.

-A.

Re: "However auto-renewal has not happened here."

Captain Scarlet

With the team viewer icon being on in the background I'm tempted to believe it probably has some form of internet connection. Probably behind a proxy of some sort.

Also its an endpoint solution, I would assume Eset would have something within the company itself like most other AV's (I use Eset myself but only for personal use).

Re: "However auto-renewal has not happened here."

heyrick

Indeed, it will probably be connected via some sort of VPN to head office so that new content (different adverts) can be pushed out centrally.

Badger Ales

Chris G

I would like to know, is this made from fermented badgers or made by badgers?

Either way, it doesn't sound very appealing.

A bit like the old Bishop's Finger, one would like assurances of where his finger has been and what pertenance it has to the ale before imbibing.

Re: Badger Ales

42656e4d203239

Badger brewery, Blandford St. Mary, Dorset.

>>Either way, it doesn't sound very appealing.

Au Cotraire. My all time favourite one of theirs is Tanglefoot - a well kept keg of that (hard to find.. it's a finnicky beer and hard to keep well; probably why you tend to find it in bottles & cans!) is absolutely scrummy.

They used to do (still do? I duunno moved away so not really looking any more) several on trend ales - peachy, gingery, session style etc. which ranged from "why?" through "hmmm not bad" to "almost as nice as Tanglefoot"

They are, incidentally, the manufacturers of Panda Pops as well - the forever reasonably priced sugar/sweetner in a can/bottle beverages.

"Nine years of ballet, asshole."
-- Shelly Long, to the bad guy after making a jump over a gorge that he
couldn't quite, in "Outrageous Fortune"