* Posts by The BigYin

3080 publicly visible posts • joined 25 Mar 2008

Ten... Portable USB 3.0 HDDs

The BigYin

Later this month?

It was already the 20th when you posted! Rather than use some marketeer's future-possibly-not-true price, why not simply quote the actual price that of the thing at the time of writing? Or, at the very least, make it clear that the quoted price is in some way proposed/fictional.

It almost smacks of false-advertising and makes me wonder what else in the review was based on PR-puffery rather than actuality.

Lost 1967 spacecraft found crashed on the Moon

The BigYin
Joke

Indeed!

And if you look, you can clearly see clouds near the horizon. Clouds? On the moon?

If you zoom in and look at the second hill on the right, you can see clear evidence of a wind blowing the clouds over the hill.

In the bottom right you can also see what looks like fog in a crater.

This was clearly taken before they'd agreed the protocol for creating the fake moon pictures.

Time NASA 'fessed up to their New World Order conspiracy and admitted the truth.

The Earth is the centre of the Universe, it is flat in all directions and we were made in the Perfect Image of the One True God! Throw down the Copernican Conspiracy and the Evolution Falsehood.

Set yourself FREE into the glory of GOD!

It could all be artefacts of processing/compression of course. There's less stars than one can see with the naked eye on Earth, so perhaps this was near the Lunar dawn and that not much reflected light. But really; which explanations are more likely?

Google grabs facial-recognition 'ware firm

The BigYin
Mushroom

Screw that

I don't use my real name on the net, and I try my best to keep my fizzog off it too (unless hidden by a hat or something). I've got nothing to hide, I just don't want some random freak on the street recognising me from something (or my employer finding out what I get up to when not on their time).

As much as I like the Internet, the uses (and potential abuses of it) are slowly shifting the cost/benefit. All it takes is one person to post a picture of you, tag you and blammo; you're privacy is gone. If that doesn't worry you, then you are brain-dead.

Moonpig gobbled by PhotoBox

The BigYin

Ah...

...but now you do the funky chicken...err...pigeon.

Fujitsu installs Windows 7... on a phone

The BigYin
Headmaster

Bleurgh!

^ See title

Boxing boomers bounced building in Seoul

The BigYin

@Mystic

So you mean from here?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihUJUNL1jyI&feature=player_detailpage#t=133s

Don't worry, not many people know you can link a specific time in a YouTube video.

MPs probe science behind bogus gov booze guidelines

The BigYin

Why let science get in the way?

The evidence on drugs safety/harm has been ignored.

Evidence on road safety is ignored

What make anyone think the science will be listened to?

About the most that will be listened to is the big PubCos and drinks makers who stand to profit. Money trumps evidence. Always.

Captain Kirk's Google+ account gets zapped

The BigYin

@AC

Wrong, I get it. I just don't see why *my* social network should be the business of some company.

I think it's you who does not get the point. The "share with your buddies" is just a ruse to get more information on you to sell for advertising. That's it.

Also, because of my views, if my G+ account got connected to my meat-self I could well be fired. So the social network now becomes a forum for employers to impose a certain world-view on their employees.

So again, my real name? Never.

The BigYin

Real name?

No feckin' way, tossers. I am not directly linking my cyber-self to my meat-self.

If G+ enforce this, then I won't be using G+, just like I don't use FB.

Anonymity and privacy are precious, I won't be giving mine away if I can possibly avoid it.

Online map suppressing crime reporting, says survey

The BigYin

@nyelvmark

Not even close.

The BigYin
FAIL

@nyelvmark

If you are going to be a grammar Nazi, it is helpful to at least be correct. The contraction of "because" sounds exactly like "cause" ("be-caws" and "caws"; your accent may vary).

Quite why you feel the need to attack someone for a simple typographical error beats me. None of us are perfect and fingers slip on the keys. Also, did you consider that the OP may have dyslexia and such an error may be a result of that condition? I guess you didn't.

Or has someone made you The Last True Guardian of English and not let the rest of us know?

One final point, do keep your xenophobia to yourself.

Firms fight over universal remote control patents

The BigYin

Macros then

Bloody obvious (from keystrokes to mouse events; it's all been done before), and IIRC the old Palm could do that too.

The BigYin

Agreed

How hard can it be to do little more that replay an IR signal?

Heck, my old PalmPilot could record IR signals and play them back. Great for annoying people. :-)

iPhone plunges 13,500 ft from skydiver's pocket - and lives

The BigYin

I see...

...an opportunity. The "iChute" case. A bit bulky, but if the phone detect free-fall it deploys the chute and comes down safely, also sending SMS updates to a designated phone of its current position.

Blighty's top cop quits over phone-hacking scandal

The BigYin

@vagabondo

As has been reported on the Beeb etc, she cannot not give evidence to MPs as that may prejudice an active police investigation.

The BigYin

Curious...

...now the Brooks has been arrested, she can't give evidence to MPs. Are the two connected?

As China rises on the net, website numbers shrink

The BigYin

Sorry...

...I've asked this before, but is this a story about China or the USA? Y'know, shutting down sites (even foreign ones) on a whim and without legal recourse?

It must be China! They're not demanding the extradition of foreign nationals for running a web site.

Advice on offshoring issued to UK.gov IT bodies

The BigYin

Indeed

And that is something else to be concerned about. It may not be long before physical geography is irrelevant and it's the chain of ownership that determines governance.

The BigYin

For that...

...you'd need an education system that works. Unfortunately we are now ramping up to exclude people on cost grounds and allow private companies to provide education. For all the ills of the previous system, at least the main focus was in getting the little buggers to learn and not profits.

Those companies will be "tax efficient" so not only will be be churning out sub-par graduates, but we'll be losing tax revenue to boot.

PS I wish my data were a stollen, I could keep it safely secure in my belly and a data-dump would take on a whole new meaning. :)

The BigYin
Mushroom

Offshoring?

Government IT functions? Are they nuckin' futs? At best this will be profits for cronies, done on PFI (thus more expensive, but off-book and a future cost).

We'll see headlines like "We saved £40 million in off-shoring this-and-that!" Which, of course, is total bullshit when one considers the actual total cost.

but we have form for this, we outsourced our Customs buildings to a company that runs from a tax haven. Only in Britain. MPs here are more concerned about their next expenses claim or corporate event than they are about doing their job.

Brussels acts to ensure arrival of new, unknown legal highs

The BigYin

@Stiles

I agree. Most of the problems are caused by the restricted/tainted supply.

The drugs should just be graded on risk/cost and if found to be lower then or equal to booze/baccy, legalised. Some forms should, however, still remain illegal/controlled. Just like when one needs some meths, one can't just pop into the local corner shop and buy it.

Hell, if the Afghanis could sell their opium openly, they might be able to yank themselves out of the state they are in.

The BigYin

@AC

And that's what needs changed. Legalising it means legalising the supply chain as well. You won't get rid of every single problem (heck, we still have child-labour sweatshops) but I put it to you that the situation will be "less bad".

It's not as if prohibition is working, is it?

The BigYin

Give it up

Legalise it, grade/certify it, tax it.

Base any restrictions/advice on medical evidence (e.g. booze, baccy) and not on reactionary propaganda.

Benefits? Vast amounts of tax revenue, reductions in crime, reductions in police workload, reductions medical admissions due to tainted drugs etc.

Will the number of users go up? Almost certainly.

Will the price go down? Almost certainly.

Will problems go up? Maybe, but still won't be as bad as alcohol IMHO.

Legalise everything? Don't be daft. Cannabis I don't see any issue with (I can't smoke, so this isn't a personal desire) but something like crack is just too damaging to ever be legal I think.

'Being cyber-stalked is as bad as being raped, or in a war'

The BigYin

I am sure it's not pleasant at all...

...but I am equally sure that being cyber-stalked does not compare to being raped or caught in a war zone. As I have not been in any of the three situations, however, I guess I am not qualified to comment.

A bit like these researchers probably.

Game gears up for Mac OS X Lion release with... Panther

The BigYin

@Doozerboy

I think you'll find that the upgrade costs £20, the full version costs circa £800 (comes with a free computer tho').

Doom guy: tablets, phones to be gaming platforms of the future

The BigYin

Why does....

...the phone/tablet need the juice? That would kill the battery. Have a grunt GPU set-up do the rendering and an efficient way to squirt the rendered images down (plus responses up). A bit like modern networks FPS games, but with a server doing the rendering too.

Otherwise you'll need a forklift to follow you around to hold the batteries!

NHS told: freeze all Microsoft spend

The BigYin

In all honesty...

...I take the pragmatic view. F/OSS scratches that itch? Use it. Proprietary is the answer? Use it.

Just one caveat; you will interoperate and you will not block/change your APIs to ensure lock-in. Data will be stored/moved in a format that is fully and publicly documented and can be implemented without worrying about patents or license fees.

Why?

So in 15 years time when I need open an old file, even if the code does not exist I can yank the spec and pay someone to build me a module to read it; that's why.

Summary: F/OSS code? As needed. Open Standards? Without question.

And Test Man...so you are in charge of the NHS then and know for a fact that MS is better? Wow.

The BigYin

Nice pipedream

As good as LibreOffice is (I use it an like it) the front-end is just the beginning. All the macros, plugins, full text indexers and whatever else will need updated to cope with the new software/formats. That cost will far outweigh any savings on the license fees. MS could just drop their license fee to zero too and load-up on the services. As that's probably a different budget (and a rolling future cost) this would still allow the government to crow about how much they are saving when, in fact, there is no overall change.

Aslo, MS -deals can probably get done on a PFI so are off-book anyway. I wish it were otherwise.

The BigYin

Oh well...

...so much for using more Open Source to reduce costs. As MS does not support standards*, it will be impossible (or very expensive) to get other systems to integrate that are not from MS (or from MS gold-partners).

This is a real shame as there was some interesting grassroots FOSS stuff going on in the NHS (e.g. OpenMolar).

Your tax being spunked on over-priced, sub-par shit. Sounds like a typical government spend to me. Still, so long as a few MPs and civil servants get invited to nice dinners it's all OK.

*Do NOT start me on the who docx/ISO BS.

The BigYin

Yup

I have regularly found acceptable flights for far cheaper than the corporate services can, not allowed to book them as it is against policy. Idiots.

Deep inside AMD's master plan to topple Intel

The BigYin

@enigmatix

You'll find the Linux kernel in many, many OSs. Certainly way more than Darwin or NT.

What was your point?

Coulson arrested

The BigYin

He'll get a few years...

...and released early. Then probably re-appear in a new role after a short time.

Assuming a case can even be built (I don't mean legally, I mean politically). We have a very poor record of pursuing the well-connected.

Press body looks at its naughty bits as hacking scandal grinds on

The BigYin

I thought...

...that hacking and other tactics* were par for the course on Fleet Street. The NotW was just unlucky to be caught.

*Which include tax evasion.

Virgin and Spotify: A step forward for digital music

The BigYin

BUt you ISP does not one this

Most live in fear of being a dumb-pipe, they need to up-sell the add-on services as that is where the margins are. If you have a decent line (e.g. 20mb+) then you have no need of TV or phone subscriptions - do it all over IP.

And that is exactly what the gutter ISPs fear.

The BigYin

Yawn

So five years ago. Just finish the Linux client, kthxgby!

Virgin Media to integrate Spotify across multiple platforms

The BigYin

@Ian

Aye, the V+ drives me nuts at times as well. Why it won't play nice on my network (i.e. stream content I have shared out) is a mystery. Shame it can't be hacked (unlike my xBox which is simply awesome with XBMC).

The BigYin

It will run on a TiVo?

Does that mean it's subscriber only, or are they actually going to finish the Linux version?

(For those that don't know, TiVo runs on a Linux OS.)

Ofcom slaps Channel 5 for loud PlayStation ads

The BigYin

I thought...

...MythTV could already do this? Or does it only work in the USA?

Must say that ads are one reason that I rearely watch live TV any more. Record and then 32x FF when the dross shows up.

The BigYin

All channels do this

Whether it's because the tone of the ads is different or something, but they always sound louder.

"...let her go now, she has passed on to the other side. Her spirit shall drift in eternal bliss with the cosmos. She is finally at peace.

[break]

MOVIES BROUGHT TO YOU BY WONDER BANG! WONDER BANG! FOR ALL YOUR NEEDS! BUY WONDER BANG! NOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

If you pre-record and only watch time-shifted you can simply skip the ads. Or use something like MythTV.

The BigYin

Dear Ofcom,

In that case I recommend you change your parameters.

Yours sincerely,

Your employer.

UK will obey Euro unisex-insurance rules from 2013

The BigYin

And therein lies the problem...

...the stats are not public. And where they are public (bloody hard to find) they are not often comparable.

I like the measure "per billion passenger kilometres" for events like this, but we don't pay by distance, we pay by time. Men drive more, so may still pose a higher risk (even if the X per billion passenger km is lower). Dunno, the stats are not public (well, they're bloody hard to find if they are).

We could get into a discussion over what constitutes "safer" and to whom (occupants, other road users or society).

One thing I will guarantee you though, the ins.cos have not been charging women less out of the goodness of their hearts!

The BigYin

Well said

But put the "base" insurance onto fuel, not road fund. Drive more? Drive faster? Pay more. Let your own actions determine your own premium (if you follow me).

Want more than just third-party/liability? Go buy a top-up from someone.

No uninsured drivers (how we deal with drivers who fuelled abroad is a good question).

The BigYin

And this is why...

...we have no claims discounts and discounts extra security, extra training (e.g. RoSPA) etc.

I think (I may be wrong) that the stats say women have more accidents, but men have BIG ones; so end up costing more.

Either way, if the impartial facts show women are less risk, then I see no problem with them paying less (I am male, BTW). I pay less than a 21 year old as the stats say I am safer/more experienced. I don't see why gender is any different.

Telcos: up your prices, lose customers

The BigYin

Simple answer

Stop giving the good deals only to new customers and we'll stop leaving.

Facebook's 'awesome' plan to hook up with Skype?

The BigYin

I can see it now

Chav 1: That Chav 2 is a pure minger

Chav 2: Yeah, mingin'

[And over on Facebook profiles]

*Auto* Chav 1 unfriends Chav 3

*Auto* Chav 2 unfriends Chav 3

Thank you for using Facebook voice recognition! (On be default)

Plucky Czechs force Street View changes

The BigYin

How about...

...educating Czechs in securing their WiFi?

Google do deserve slapped for that one. How much to they pay their lawyers and that can't get a simple thing like registering as a Data Controller right? Sheesh.

Fox News tweets hacked to show Obama death stories

The BigYin

How do these hacks work?

Surely after n-failed logins, the account gets locked and needs re-activating? (where n < 5)

EU cloud data can be secretly accessed by US authorities

The BigYin

Sorry...

...is this story about the USA or China? It's hard to tell sometimes.

US judge greenlights case against Google Wi-Fi slurp

The BigYin

@Turtle

I didn't bring them up, the OP introduced MS.

And I will repeat once again, in the futile hope that you finally get it: the information was blasted into the air. These folks may as well have gone into the street and yelled their orders to Amazon at the top of their voices.

Do I trust Google? No.

Do I think Google is a pure as the driven snow? No. I think they way they caved into China was repugnant.

Will I let MS off the hook for their past misdeeds? No.

And will you stop with the straw men? I have never said I liked (or even adored) Google. In fact I have repeatedly stated that I do not trust them. Stop reading what you think my opinion is and start reading what it actually is.

There was no theft - you CANNOT steal what is FREELY GIVEN AWAY.

The BigYin

@Turtle

"And you think that hashes of hardware strings are more "personal" than emails, passwords, and whatever communications and data packets Google intercepts?"

Where did I ever say that? Where? Kindly keep your straw men to yourself.

---

" "That's theft. However a stranger walking through said door is would hardly a surprise would it?"

An irrelevant point."

Nup, that's exactly the point - as far as you analogy goes anyway.

" "The stranger having to kick the door down is a different matter."

Another irrelevancy. You are on a hot streak!"

It is also relevant. Theft is theft, we can agree on that I hope. Kicking down the door is akin hacking the WiFi crypto. Walking through the open door is simply listening to what gets blasted into the air. No more. Although I repeat, IRL analogies rarely work.

---

"there are judges in various jurisdiction and government and law enforcement officials in various countries who think that Google's data theft *is* a serious matter."

I never said it wasn't, but I don't think it's theft and I would not class it as intercept because*the data was not encrypted and was sent into a public space*. I said below that does raise very interesting issues that society and the law need to address.

---

The whole *POINT* I was trying to make was that MS are using this as an excuse for a PR stunt to try and paint themselves in glory "we place a priority on privacy". But they have a past history of invading privacy and cannot be trusted. And to make the point clear, one cannot trust Google either!