* Posts by mittfh

416 publicly visible posts • joined 7 Feb 2008

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Google goes long with new search pages

mittfh

@John

So it now gives you three lines instead of two. But look carefully and you'll see that instead of quoting three contiguous lines worth of your content, what you get is three lines worth of extracts (I bet you were wondering why the results are littered with ellipses), which probably won't make much sense unless whoever's performing the search actually takes the trouble to visit your site.

El Reg spymobile snapper nailed on Street View

mittfh

Google, meet Google.

Found on the BBC News website, here's 3 Gulson Road, Coventry:

http://is.gd/odcu

Google Street View hits UK streets

mittfh

Facial blurring technology in action...

...blurring a traffic light in Coventry!

http://is.gd/oaKy

ISS crew flees flying space junk

mittfh
Coat

Alerts

To all those invoking Red Dwarf alerts: You guys do realise that changing the alert necessarily involves changing the light bulb?

Sorry, couldn't resist...

No welcome in the valleys for Welsh incinerator

mittfh

No probs in Cov...

Coventry's got a W2E plant, which handles most of the non-recyclable waste from Coventry, Warwickshire and Solihull. As far as I know there aren't major protests about it, and they do maintain tight controls over emissions, as well as separating out ash, ferrous metal and particulates: http://www.cswdc.co.uk/energyfromwaste.html

However, I suppose as with any waste processing facility, new-build W2E plants have a high NIMBY factor (probably from the mistaken belief they'll pump out loads of pollutants), although (at least with fairly modern plants like Coventry) locals accept existing facilities without question - as long as there isn't any anecdotal evidence of increased health problems in the local community!

Hollywood to totally recall Total Recall

mittfh

A couple of additional suggestions

Why not do movie versions of Teletubbies or ITNG? They're considerably more intelligent than much of the stuff that gets churned out these days...particularly films labelled "Comedy" (i.e. aimed at MTV fans [Jackass, Pimp My Ride [1], PH's BFF, 'nuff said])

Or how about one where the hero valiantly attempts to stop the ex-banker walking away with a pension worth £14k a day...

Since said hero seems to be AWOL IRL...

Actually, a good one to make nowadays, especially given the number of people surgically attached to their phones, would be Stephen King's "Cell" - and Wikipedia claims there will indeed be a film, and it will probably start shooting this year :) Let's just hope the director doesn't trash it...

[1] Read: A Team film, new Knight Rider, etc. etc.

MPs told PGP 'incompatible' with Parliament network

mittfh

FoI?

So the recommended software is currently unknown.

Anyone fancy submitting an FoI request? :)

If they refuse to divulge, we can probably assume it's cr@p. After all, not only PGP but many other examples of crypto software use algorithms that are virtually uncrackable (unless you have a room full of supercomputers to hand...). Case in point: distributed.net's attempts to crack RC5-72. They've been going over 5 years and they've only scratched the surface of the available keyspace...

Second rogue Facebook app bewilders users

mittfh

Sigh...

Remember "Good Times"?

Or the numerous chain letters you immediately deleted, knowing full well that forwarding it on to everyone in your address book would *NOT* make you fabulously wealthy, and the process of deleting it would *NOT* wreak terrible havoc on your life...

Prime Minister's health records breached in database attack

mittfh

The weakest link...

It doesn't matter if you have 128 different 1,024 bit encryption algorithms stacked on top of each other - the weakest link in any electronic database is its users. Give them access to the entire database, and sooner or later someone will abuse their privileges and access records they have no business to be accessing.

Dare I mention "ContactPoint"?

Now here's a simple idea to make these databases a bit more secure - without the need for additional encryption algorithms etc.

If you request access to a record for a patient / client who's not normally dealt with by your team / practice, you have to get the request electronically authorised by a manager (social care databases already require manager's electronic authorisation to 'sign off' and complete certain assessments). Even when authorisation has been granted, it should create an audit trail that can be accessed by their manager - even better, automatically notify their manager of whose record has been accessed. It shouldn't create too much of a burden - I'd assume "out of area" requests are fairly infrequent...

OK, so it's not foolproof (no system could be), but the countersignature should put off the majority of people intent on nosing around...

Pirate Bay prosecutors get jiggy with charge sheet - again

mittfh
Boffin

And not just Google...

Live returns over 200k results, Yahoo returns 2.3m, Lycos 41k, Ask 196k...

I could go on. The only way they could prevent people searching for illegal content would be to outlaw any searchable database of web pages, since the alternative (making search providers legally liable for the results they return) would be unworkable. What part of "Don't shoot the messenger" don't they understand?

Besides which, since most record companies have generously provided free videos of music on YouTube, all you need is a copy of Audacity to do a high tech version of recording the song when it's played on the radio...

And the record companies didn't get very far in trying to ban radio cassette recorders, or even dual deck cassette recorders, or the "High speed dubbing" feature. So I can't imagine them getting very far if they took sound card manufacturers to court for providing "What I hear" functionality or line in jacks (the manual equivalent - sling a cable between Line Out and Line In).

Where there's a will to obtain music free-of-charge, there's inevitably a way.

Satellites crash over Siberia: Iridium bird destroyed

mittfh

Congestion

Surely this is the first sign that it's starting to get a little congested up there...

Google Earthlings fly to Mars

mittfh

What next?

Phobos & Deimos?

Venus? (Although you wouldn't want to settle there - a surface pressure of 92atm, temperature of 460°C, 95% CO2 atmosphere and sulphur dioxide clouds)

Mercury?

Parcelforce website cold-shoulders Linux lovers

mittfh
Boffin

Hypocrites!

Just out of curiosity, I ran a Netcraft site report on ParcelForce...

Guess what? They're running Sun ONE Web Server on Solaris...

And just as interestingly, their nameserver sits at consignia.com, which has a rather interesting address: "Royal Mail Group Limited, 148 Old Street, London, EC1V 9HQ, Sweden"

Sweden?!

Footy star sues Facebook over fake fascist profile

mittfh

And not just profile pages...

Being an active FB member, I've spotted several fake "Pages" (a special kind of profile intended for businesses, organisations and celebrities - you become a fan rather than friend). Although FB states on the creation page that it's against their terms of service to create fake pages, I haven't heard anything about action being taken to remove them.

Dangermouse's proposition could potentially work - but you'd need to make sure the address given was where the real person lived, not where Joe Bloggs lives. Since you can give a real world phone number, cross-match name address and phone number...

If it's impractical to do that in real-time, allow the page to be created, but slap an *Unverified* label to the user's name / page.

But on a related subject, it would be nice if they'd give people a better privacy level by default - knowledgeable users like me are perfectly happy with tweaking permissions to ensure that different friends get access to different parts of your profile, but there an awful lot of users who leave everything accessible by "All my networks and all my friends"...

"Only my friends" would be a better privacy level for most info.

Woz goes Strictly dancing

mittfh
Coat

How about a Silicon Valley version?

Gates / Jobs (that would be a fun double act!) / Brin / Page...

Although finding their female counterparts would be harder - unless you looked at silicon peaks...

MP wants Welsh text on ID cards

mittfh
Pirate

Easy solution...

Discard all human readable text. Just stick on a photo, a chip, and a nice large 2D barcode :)

The computers at places the card is needed should be able to translate it into whatever language the operator uses.

Or, if you must have human readable text, name & relevant numbers / dates.

Wherever the dates are placed on the card, most people should be able to work out the earliest of the three is the holder's DOB, the latest date the "Valid to" date, and the one in between the "Valid from" date.

Alternatively, use pictograms for labels - that'll make 'em readable by those with learning difficulties.

And if you want to increase popularity, use some of the space saved to allow the holder to specify an addition graphic from a range, e.g. a flag of the bit of the world they identify with most. After all, if credit card companies think giving the user a choice of 8 different card designs will encourage them to take up the offer of their brand's card, surely the government could use the same principle for ID cards...

Alternatively, make them round, shiny and black/white so they have street cred (like practically anything from Apple...)

Or even make the ID card number part of the cryptographic key for DRM / WGA, so you can't buy any digital music / M$ products without one...

Exploding mobile phone kills Chinese man

mittfh

Quite possible...

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/techno/cellcharge.asp

Scroll down to under the "BOOM!" graphic.

As Daniel B noted an hour ago, it's probably a case of a cheapo third party battery. It wouldn't surprise me if the entire phone was a black market rip-off of a famous brand...

Intel plucks power from TV signals

mittfh
Flame

Radio comments...

Sorry to be a pedant, but I think you'll find 198LW is BBC Radio 4, formerly The Home Service.

The Light Programme is what morphed into BBC Radio 2.

"All miss out on the wonders of BBC Local Radio"

Or alternatively create a spot where you're unable to pick up Global Radio (who, if you recall, have bought the majority of local commercial stations and are turning them into Heart clones)...

Reclaim the airwaves!

Another thought - could one be developed to harvest power from the 2.4 GHz spectrum? :)

Google mistakes entire web for malware

mittfh
Boffin

Technically, they could be right...

There's no way Google can tell what's happened to a webpage since it was last spidered...

OK, so the pages on most well-known big domains are likely to be fairly innocuous, but once you start trawling through individual users home pages, anything could have happened in the past few months...

Then again, 99% of malware exploits Windoze boxes, and I'm typing this on a Linux box - so unless the malware is smart enough to hack the root account, I think I'm pretty safe...

Obama gets to keep his BlackBerry

mittfh
Boffin

Super Encryption Package

LOL! Let's hope it's better than DES, and doesn't have a backdoor like Clipper Chip...

Why bother developing your own when there are plenty of decent, virtually unbreakable algorithms already on the loose...sounds like they're worried AES isn't good enough, so how about something like RC5-72 - Distributed.net have failed to crack a ciphertext encrypted with RC5-72, despite throwing computing power at it for years...

EU says Microsoft violated law with IE on Windows

mittfh
Boffin

Re: Linux

Mandriva gives you FireFox, Epiphany and Konqueror on its distro CDs/DVDs. I think FF is default, but choosing a custom install, or a few post-install clicks in RPMdrake or a single urpmi command in a terminal window, allow you to quickly install one of the others.

As for choice, how about MS offer one browser for each of the four main engines - Trident (IE), Gecko (FF), Webkit (Safari) and Presto (Opera)? Obviously those choosing a default install would get IE, but if you clicked Custom Install, you'd get a choice.

They could even potentially do something similar for media players (the other issue that's had the EU heated up in the past) - although the other big boys in the industry would probably gang up to prevent them including something genuinely useful like MPlayer (which can handle practically any format you chuck at it - including WMP / QT / Real).

Cash-strapped US businessman jumps from light aircraft

mittfh

@Moron...

Surely he could have either (a) turned the autopilot off before jumping, or (b) programmed the autopilot to head towards a suitable crash site.

Oh, and (c) planned it a bit better, i.e. withdrawing what remained of his cash, and leaving his wallet (sans cash, but with ID and bank cards) in the plane.

Wrath of Spielberg smites Welsh uni leaflet

mittfh

@Russell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_University_of_Wales,_Lampeter_people

You're right - no-one with a significant profile went to Lampeter. Mind you, it's not exactly the easiest place to get to, and it hasn't been unheard of for freshers attempting to reach Lampeter to turn up at Aber and ask if they'd arrived at Lampeter...

(Speaking from experience - I attended Aber, during Freshers Week in my 2nd year someone turned up wondering if they were in Lampeter...)

Don't shout at your disk drives, warns Sun engineer

mittfh
Flame

Talking of which...

http://packetstormsecurity.org/Netware/penetration/novell-crash.html

Some of the suggestions in November's "Back the F:\ Up" thread would also be satisfying (e.g. initiating a thermit reaction on the equipment - hence the icon).

And if your server uses RAID, you can hot swap a healthy disk in to solve the immediate problem, then have fun "fixing" the dodgy disk...

mittfh
Coat

Hammers...

I always find 14 lb ones, available from most DIY stores, are more effective (and satisfying)...

Just don't forget to buy a pair of safety goggles while you're at it...

Alternatively, "earth" your equipment to the building's lightning conductor and wait for a storm, cut a hole in the roof before ordering a skylight, etc....

Mine's the one with a copy of that entertaining read "50 ways to shut down or crash a Netware Server" in the pocket...

Wikipedia exceeds $6m donation goal

mittfh

[citation needed]

Lol! If only editing a bank's ledger file was as easy...

MSI mobo ditches Bios for EFI

mittfh
Boffin

Never mind the graphics...

Let's face it, newbies are hardly likely to go dipping into the BIOS. Having a DOS-like interface helps, as it reinforces the message that should should only go playing with it if you know what you are doing (a newbie is unlikely to know the trick of opening up the case and removing the battery or flipping the CMOS reset jumper).

What would be more welcome is a help system that actually did help - at least as far as explaining what some of the more obscure settings (like PCI-E Spread Spectrum) do without you needing to fire up a web browser and Google 3rd party sites...

Entire class fails IT exam by submitting in Word format

mittfh

Acrobat Pro?

If your IT Dept thinks the only PDF writing solution is Acrobat Professional, they need their heads examined...there are oodles of PDF writers out there, many with considerable volume discounts. Your LA might already have struck a deal, as PDF writers are increasingly needed in other areas of council business - especially with the drive to implement EDMS (Electronic Document Management Solutions).

Of course, there's also a potential solution that can also replace the entirety of M$ Orifice at zero cost, as well as offering integrated PDF writing. And it's not just for "masochistic Linux users" - you can get binaries for Windoze as well...

However, finding a decent low-cost alternative to Adobe Flash Professional may be a little trickier...

mittfh
Flame

Aarrgghh!! Not DiDA!!!

I briefly taught DiDA, before realising almost any other career could offer greater job satisfaction.

Each Unit of AiDA / CiDA / DiDA is worth one GCSE.

One Unit = AiDA (Award in Digital Applications for IT Users)

Two Units = CiDA (Certificate ~)

Four Units = DiDA (Diploma ~)

Work is not printed, but supplied in the form of an e-portfolio (i.e. offline website).

2/3 of the time spent on each Unit is supposed to be ramming home the skills needed to complete the SPB (Summative Project Brief - i.e. the project). When the pupils work on the SPB, they're supposed to do so relatively independently, with the teacher acting purely as line manager. Any guidance the teacher gives them whilst working on the project is supposed to be reflected in the marks awarded.

Oh, and the pupils are supposed to maintain an accurate project plan, updating it whenever their schedule changes.

And, even better, record all sources used (e.g. the actual image URL, not images.google.com which inevitably clogs up the majority of pupils' sources tables!) - and how they have sought permission from copyright holders if they've ignored EdExcel's advice to only use public domain stuff...

Everyone has to start off with Unit 1: Using ICT, which predictably enough focusses heavily on spreadsheets and databases. Really motivating stuff - not!

Evidently this batch of pupils weren't introduced to the DiDA website - where, in addition to the SPBs themselves, there are also prominent links to the "Moderator's Toolkit" - i.e. the acceptable file formats. Bizarrely, they'll accept almost every MS Office file format apart from .doc - and have IE and FF listed as web browsers...

Moderator's Toolkit: http://dida.edexcel.org.uk/home/spb/toolkit/

SPBs: http://dida.edexcel.org.uk/home/spb/

The SPB themes are a misguided attempt to appeal to the majority of children:

Sep 06: Five a Day (as if they're not already getting enough of that in Food Technology!)

Sep 07: Preparing publications for a charity dance marathon

Sep 08: Preparing publications to assist foreign exchange students

Hasbro drops lawsuit against Scrabulous creators

mittfh

The changes

As far as I can tell...

8 letters in the rack as standard, unable to place bonus squares (of any type) in the same position on all four diagonals (e.g. 1 in, 1 up from each corner, or 2 in, 2 up etc.)

Any game in progress on a now disallowed board layout automatically had the board changed to "WordScraper Standard", and the nature of the changes wasn't spelled out to users (only the fact that the changes had been made as part of the settlement)

Apart from that, the same customisation levels as before - i.e. able to place 4x and 5x bonus tiles in addition to 2x and 3x; place bonus tiles where you like (apart from the positions mentioned above); able to change the distribution and value of letters; and able to choose different styles of board (square - aping the original, circles - original, and 'midnight black' - effectively a negative version of circles).

Interestingly, two features which WordScraper didn't initially allow appear to be OK under this ruling - tile values printed on the tiles and blank tiles.

BOFH: Blackmail and fine wine

mittfh

@Nat C / Rick and others.

OK, so there may not be any Vista desktops on site, but it wouldn't surprise me if a management type hasn't brought their laptop in...

Of course, it will only take nanoseconds of being plugged into the network for various BOFH/PFY tools to discover it lacks any AV software (or if it does, a trial version of SAV) and to automatically download and install a random selection of malware...

As for '95, there are probably a few boxes lying around, waiting for the next gullible marketing type to be sold them at a fantastically high price...

-oOo-

Ubantu? That's far too common and mainstream for the BOFH/PFY. They're far more likely to start off with something like LOAF, then download and compile everything from the kernel upwards. Installing packages is for (l)users - compiling from source is for real geeks...

(Just don't try it on a standalone box, unless you have easy access to a networked box to download the dependencies!)

-oOo-

Meanwhile, I find it slightly hard to believe that the BOFH/PFY only knew about the Boss' activities after the event. Surely they'd have either (a) got in before the Boss, (b) made darn sure the building plans were unobtainable by the Boss, or (c) noticed the effing big hole in the wall before meeting the Boss?

We're assuming it's early morning, so it the Boss has decided to send copies of evidence anywhere, the BOFH/PFY will be able to resolve the issue fairly quickly. Electronic means - no problem, they can quickly remove the trail. Remember - the BOFH has successfully hacked into the FBI's Most Wanted website and added one luser to the list...

Paper means - post runs are usually done mid-day, and when delivered to the Post Office it will likely remain there for several hours until being taken to the sorting office, so they'll have ample opportunities to intercept the mail

Besides which, you wouldn't seriously expect them to make it that easy for the Boss to discover they were the brains behind the outsourcing company?

mittfh
Boffin

@AC (Windoze Versions)

"As safe as a domain with Windows 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, 2003, XP and 2007 can be."

Oh dear. There's something seriously wrong with this list. For a start, I'm surprised there aren't any '95 boxes hiding somewhere, so that's at least another 3 versions missed off the list. 2000 comes in desktop (2k Pro) and server (2k Server) versions. 2003 is a server version. 2007 might be Vista or Server 2008. And they're sure to have a pre-release Win 7 somewhere...

So, let's re-diddle the list:

"As safe as a domain with Windows 95, 95A, 95B, 98, 98SE, 2000 Pro, 2000 Server, XP, 2003 Server, Vista, 2008 Server and 7 can be."

Hopefully with a list this long, the boss would be starting to doze off. Add in the various editions of XP and Vista that might be around, plus any boxes running other OSes that might be patched in to the network, and the boss should be in such a stupor he'd (quite literally) sign his own death warrant, thus resulting in even more creative ways of 'retiring' him...

Apologies after teacher's 'Linux holding back kids' claim

mittfh
Boffin

Ho hum....

"...supply you with copies of an older verison [sic] of Windows..."

As long as you supply them with an advance payment to cover admin charges and shipping...

Unless they've got a few unsold copies of version 1 lying around, which they might be prepared to let go for only P&P...

"...ANY COMMON IDOIT CAN RUN WIDNOWS..."

Precisely. *Any* common idiot. Including Jim.

Strictly speaking, any common idiot can abuse Windoze (e.g. sending HTML emails, sending unencrypted plaintext confidential emails, not installing any AV), but IMHO the fact you have to have a modicum of sense to use alternatives can only be a good thing.

Judge buries bogus malware-protection gang

mittfh

Next stop, Panama...

Please tell me someone's looking into the chappie that signs his emails as coming from Plaza Neptuno, local #7 in Panama and offers fake versions of OpenOffice, Google Earth etc....

His emails always land directly in my Junk Mail folder (with nice high SpamAssassin scores), but no doubt some newbies are tempted into visiting his sites...

There's gold in green: profiting from climate change

mittfh
Flame

Welcome to Capitalism...

Step 1) Find an underdeveloped niche in an existing market, or, better still, a new market.

Step 2) Exploit it like mad

Step 3) Rake in the profits

Step 4) Sit on your profits when the niche or market eventually goes belly up

The main problem I have with the AGW argument is the lack of moderate voices. On the one side you've got the sceptics who either (a) deny global warming is occurring in the first place, or (b) claim it's a natural process, the earth's suffered worse conditions in the past, and nothing we do will have any effect whatsoever; and on the other hand you've got the greenies who'd very much like us to return to pre-industrialised society - cars and roads are evil, aeroplanes are the devil incarnate, and anyone who is incredulous enough to burn anything should be faced with a stiff fine.

And separate from both camps you've got the businessmen described above who'll fall into whichever camp is most convenient to allow them to make a quick profit...

"Attention! You have been found guilty of unauthorised combustion of materials. £500, please!"

MIT boffins crack fusion plasma snag

mittfh

Population reduction...

If population reduction's the answer, then surely the easiest way to do it would be to create a GM supervirus...say, an airborne equivalent of Ebola...

But, of course, in solving one problem, you create another: What the hell do you do with all the bodies? And if the project was to be kept top secret, then evidently all those involved in the project would have to be infected, to minimise the chances of news of the project leaking...

BOFH: The Christmas party

mittfh
Pirate

Another idea...

As well as replacing the oil, how about replacing the pigment / dye with something a little more permanent than the standard water-based wash-out stuff? :)

As an added spot of fun, since it's taking place in the office, accidentally-on-purpose leave a few patch cables lying around...

Ofcom rules on Clarkson strumpet gag

mittfh
IT Angle

Ho hum...

I heard on the Beeb that apparently the Road Hauliers' Association and Eddie Stobart have also been dismissive of the complaints against Jezza. This is on a completely different scale and context to "Manuelgate", but just goes to prove you can't please all the people all the time - and some of those who aren't pleased will inevitably file a complaint...

Still can't see the IT angle though...

Brit ISPs censor Wikipedia over 'child porn' album cover

mittfh
Happy

Proof the image itself ain't blocked...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/33/Virgin_Killer.jpg

As all the other workarounds described here illustrate, where there's a will there's a way...

µTorrent for Mac is go

mittfh

Under 1MB?

IIRC, the Windoze client weighs in at a meagre 270kb and is portable - all the installer version does is stick the single exe into c:\program files\utorrent.

Before my Windoze box died (dodgy mobo - but since it's a laptop and out of warranty, I can't be fussed posting it back to HP), I was a fond user of the program. The feature I most liked (apart from the tiny footprint) was allowing separate locations for torrents downloading/completed and for torrent contents downloading/completed.

Microsoft preps IE 8 for the web-challenged

mittfh
Gates Horns

Classic!

M$ breaks the web by allowing sites to use crappy code - then breaks it again by using allegedly standards compliant code!

You couldn't make it up! The horned beast for obvious reasons...

'Bloody' is an offensive word, declares ASA

mittfh
Boffin

Alternatively...

They could try the Red Dwarf approach to censorship...

If you can't use an existing expletive - invent your own!

I can confidently say the ASA are a bunch of smegheads :)

Similarly, LINUX/UNIX circles frequently use File System ChecK (fsck) out of context, and the French Connection's UK branch (fcuk) got away with using their acronym on merchandise...

Beeb to cut the f**king swearing

mittfh

ITV have missed a trick...

With JR absent from the BBC for a few months, ITV could have given him an all expenses paid trip to Australia, where a certain reality show for misbehaving celebs (what other term would you use to describe the likes of Kilroy and Mallet?) is currently airing...

...it would be even better if they could conveniently forget to arrange his flight back...

Study spanks Adobe Flash for abuses of power

mittfh
Flame

Doesn't surprise me...

Just speak to anyone who's attempted using the Flash 10 browser plugin on Linux...

It's been known to be very memory intensive and cause huge CPU spikes. It's also very buggy - it will crash if you try to open more than one page using it at any one time, and even when you've only got one page open, it will sometimes freeze for no apparent reason...

Unfortunately, reading around, I've discovered that apparently Gnash doesn't work well with a lot of Flash content :(

But then Adobe specialise in Bloatware - does the Acrobat Reader installer really need to top 30MB? Especially when there are freeware alternatives that are lighter and more feature-rich...

Would you know a base station if you saw one?

mittfh

Trees

I think I got most of the trees - you can either see something suspiciously pole-like poking above the main trunk, or the dead giveaway - surrounded by fencing with a metal box nearby. The buildings were harder to guess - although those drainpipes to nowhere looked suspicious...

Visa's digital credit card could raise legal stakes

mittfh

Here's an idea...

Most mobile phones allow you to lock them with a PIN between 4 and 8 digits long. How about banks also introducing the concept of variable length PINs?

OK, so replacing all the Chip'n'Pin pads might be a logistical challenge, but Tesco appear to have already replaced all theirs since introduction (used to be a black top-entry, now it's a grey bottom-entry).

Oh, and for a 4 digit pin that uses three numbers, that's 18 possible combinations (3^3).

2 numbers, each repeated twice = 6 (not terribly secure...)

2 numbers, 1 repeated thrice = 4 permutations (someone will have been daft enough...)

1 number, repeated 4 times = 1 permutation (wouldn't surprise me...)

Of course, one way to handle possible wear would be to replace cards, not on the basis of time, but on the basis of number of transactions. Someone who rarely uses their card online could have the standard 2 year timescale, whereas someone addicted to buying stuff online could have it replaced more often.

Microsoft: Windows 7 ready for Christmas 2009

mittfh
Boffin

Reboot, reboot, reboot again!

One of the more irritating niggles of Windoze (whichever version) is that practically any update will 'require' a reboot (and in some cases, multiple reboots). Not to mention a lot of 'ordinary' software installs.

Whereas in a 3hr period last night I installed Mandriva 2008.1 on a spare box, updated it, then *upgraded it* to 2009.0. All in all, a couple of dozen mouse clicks and ONE reboot (to load 2009.0 after installation - with no "Please wait while installing updates" nonsense during either the shutdown (post desktop) or startup (pre desktop) phases. Oh, and the process involved downloading about 3GB of data - stored conveniently on JANET - so download was ultra fast. Unlike you-know-who's sluggish servers...

Wacky Jacqui's £12bn gIMP could be unleashed by 2012

mittfh
Coat

GIMP?

I always thought that was some kind of image editor...

Mine's the one with a copy of LOAF in the pocket...

Nuke plant reborn as 'green' data center

mittfh
Coat

Cloudy servers?

Let's continue the weather forecast...

Presumably, there won't be outbreaks of *Sun*shine in the data centre, and you certainly don't want rain in there...

Mine's the one with the thermometer in the pocket...

How the gov's child protection database fails to add up

mittfh

Haingey

http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/news_and_events/latest_news/childa.htm

Why did the council conduct their own enquiry? They had to!

"As required by chapter 8 of the government’s statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006 Haringey’s Local Safeguarding Children Board immediately initiated a serious case review and on 06.08.07 formally notified OfSTED (the relevant regulatory government

authority) of that decision. "

And here's the government's site on ContactPoint:

http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/deliveringservices/contactpoint/

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