* Posts by Steve Sorensen

9 publicly visible posts • joined 5 Nov 2007

Phorm papers reveal BT's backwards approach to wiretap law

Steve Sorensen
Stop

Advice to BT et al. from a Yank

> Today BT's spokesman ... refused to elaborate, citing fears the project would become a "hostage to fortune".

Gawl darnit Mr. BT-spokesman, you use your tongue prettier than a twenty dollar whore.

The only damage-in-the-future fortune that could befall you (BT) is in the finding out through further FOIA requests even more "inconsistencies" behind your (BT's) public spinning. Take a lead from PR-savvy American companies: Militate against any potential PR disaster by publishing the *complete* (and verifiable) data on the who / what / when / where / how for all of your (BT's) unknown trials. Mitigate the current fallout from the known trials by doing the same. You (BT) could just come clean, take your chances in court, and move on. (Then sin no more, yes?)

It's too simple, really. If you (BT) did nothing wrong, then you (BT) have nothing to hide. It's the post-facto lying, not the original sin, that'll get you (anyone) in the pokey every time.

/s/ A Yank helping to fight terrorism beyond our shores.

x-El-Reg-audience: Irony and sarcasm thresholds exceeded; proceed at your own risk.

After Debian's epic SSL blunder, a world of hurt for security pros

Steve Sorensen
Unhappy

re: re: Does this only effect Debian?

> Only Debian and Debian based distributions, chiefly Ubuntu.

Knoppix and Linspire too. There's a list of Debian-based distros at http://www.debian.org/misc/children-distros

American cable giant joins data pimping club

Steve Sorensen
Unhappy

American Phorm in the UK, now back in the USA

*sigh* Short answers for the non-UK newcomers.

* The issue of opting in/out, or cookies thereof, is simply a red herring.

* The problem is the unilateral "deep packet inspection" (DPI) or otherwise intercept of -your- traffic by -your- ISP. For whatever (business) reason -your- ISP presumes necessary, without a judicial warrant.

* No FF plugin will protect against this interception. (NoScript/AdBlock is *not* the answer here.)

Call -your- ISP and avow "Do. Not. Want." Then prepare to move to a more knowledgable ISP. (Or set up a SSL/VPN-based default route therethrough.)

That is all.

Microsoft: Finding flaws on our website is OK

Steve Sorensen

Complaint brought by Mr. Schwartz's client, the Intel Corporation

So, who's ready to be anchored to the eighth ring of Hell for 12 years? Well, speak up!

http://www.lightlink.com/spacenka/fors/

US student planned to ice Chuck Norris

Steve Sorensen
Boffin

@It's Cue!!

Bruce Schneier taught Chuck Norris how to divide by zero as they stood silent in an elevator.

http://geekz.co.uk/schneierfacts/

Vista SP1 downloaders bite back

Steve Sorensen
Happy

@AC @Wil Risenhoover @Bill

“The only relatively stable operating systems have been those on proprietary hardware such as the IBM mainframe.”

To a point. Remember all that teeth gnashing during Sun's big switchover from SunOS/68000 to Solaris/SPARC in the early 1990's? Solaris 2.0-2.3 were abominations, barely runnable on Sun's own SPARC hardware. 2.4 was finally stable enough to be a release candidate for testing, but it wasn't until 2.5 that Solaris could be considered production-ready. (5 minor OS versions in 3 years?!) But to concede your point, Solaris x86 (then) was just a horrible joke for frightening small children, barnyard animals, and systems managers.

I'll admit though that I still miss my ALPHAbook laptop running OpenVMS AXP. It was certainly easier to lug around than any VAX kit.

'I'll be back' is most-quoted movie line

Steve Sorensen

Betelguese! Betelguese! Betelgeu

DELIA: This is my art, and it is dangerous! Do you think I want to die like this?

BETELGEUSE: Not so fast, round boy. We're gonna have some laughs.

OTHO: Ugh. Deliver me from L.L. Bean.

LYDIA: I myself am... strange and unusual.

BETELGEUSE: We've come for your daughter, Chuck!

LYDIA: You can't scare her. She's sleeping with Prince Valium tonight.

BERNARD: DELIA, you are a flake. You have always been a flake. If you insist on frightening people, do it with your sculpture.

BARBARA: [as BETELGEUSE] Learn to throw your voice! Fool your friends! Fun at parties!

BETELGEUSE: It's showwwtime!

Six-month hangover for 60-pint Scotsman

Steve Sorensen
Coat

Treatment?

> Cue six months of blood-thinning treatment before [...] his headache finally subsided.

Actually sounds like lots of aspirin and water to me but I'm no doc. Hangover treatment must truly be a fine art in Glasgow - based on much exhaustive research I'll bet.

</coat></door>

California inches toward 300 megawatt solar plant

Steve Sorensen

Re: Near where I live... & As Seen in the Movies...

The 150 MW (354 MW peak, with gas) solar plant "farm" at Kramer Junction is the immediate follow-on to the first one at Daggett. Both solar 'farms' are still in operation. (www.nrel.gov/csp/troughnet/power_plant_data.html)

They're noble uses for that "useless wretched wasteland" of a desert that I used to motocross through and camp on extensively as a youth. :-/