* Posts by John B

11 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Dec 2008

Judges rap police over raid on paedo expert

John B
Flame

@Inachu

Bit of a wrongth in the last paragraph: all the porn was on separate hard drives, and had to stay there to preserve the evidence chain.

As to the rest of it, I think we're all agreed that Plod decided to make an example of someone they didn't like, just as they did in the Sallly Murrer case. Murrer was slightly different, as they also wanted to discipline the local press and the unofficial police sources.

Homer Simpson 'nuclear waste spill' panic at nuke sub base!

John B
Thumb Down

Pilgering idiot

If you want a really dangerous luminous watch, buy an old (pre-1960) military wristwatch. Full of radium.

Oh, hang on: radium emits alphas, so you've got eat the dial. Or lick it, like an eco-liar licking a window.

NYC granny shoots mugger with .357 Magnum

John B
Paris Hilton

No no no no no!

Stupid woman, using a mag round. Hollow point .38s is where it's at for urban combat. No through and through to hurt bystanders, and a pretty good chance of the perp bleeding out at the scene. No lawsuit then!

/removes tongue from cheek.

On the lawsuit front, there are loads of stories* from the 70s in Saudi of HGV drivers knocking down locals, and then reversing over them to reduce the blood money.

*May contain lies.

Paris, because she understands through and through.

What's wrong with a Twitter degree?

John B

@Chris

More confirmation of the content-free toss nexus, or whatever we're calling Web No.2 this morning. I'm doing a degree, a proper one with essays, exams and modafinil deathmarch revision. It will give me a sense of real achievement if I pass and real failure if I don't.

As regards Arsebook, Sadspace and Belmo, I use them specifically to track people outside the local area, in my interest groups. Those people are not my "friends". Being quite traditional, I don't regard an introduction as having occurred until the handshake/third pint/exchange of fluids.

Fresh tech hiccup for V-22 tiltrotor fleet

John B
Black Helicopters

Tacky nuts? No!

Tack welding nuts is a good way of getting the whole bolt to shear, and then you have to torch them off., which then heat stresses the swash plate etc.

Anyway, the only successful missions I've ever seen a V-22 fly were in HL1.

Paris, see post title.

Parcelforce website cold-shoulders Linux lovers

John B
Thumb Down

Who cares about the browser? if you get through, you troubles are just starting!

I have driven HGVs for Parcelforce, and they are the most incompetent firm still in business I know of.

Bowling with an antique wooden rocking horse? Check.

Losing a fully loaded trailer for 3 days (eventually found in the workshop)? Check.

Employing 6 men to do a job, cancelling the job, and 2 YEARS later they're clocking on, going to sleep on full pay, because the union has to approve ALL redeployments?

Managers having fist fights in view of the agency staff? Check.

However, they make a nice home for waifs and strays. ADHD, narcolepsy, morbid obesity, self harmers: all part of the job's rich tapestry.

Facebook-based privacy campaign to spam Wacky Jacqui

John B
Unhappy

I'd like a camera up my...

If you want to find a government snooper IRL, look for a single issue pressure group that's being reasonably effective at pissing off the rich. Then look for their back office staff, treasurer, secretary, webmaster etc. The most effective and diligent will be a spook.

I'm only saying this because I help run a couple of .orgs and we need some more volunteers. Help us get better at overthrowing democracy!

US woman says Ubuntu can't access internet

John B
Stop

..and then install a printer.

I've got a dual boot XP/Ubuntu system. I've got an Epson ALC1100 printer. To install it under XP, I get the driver off Epson, double click the .exe, and it's in.

For Ubuntu: Open a terminal and cd to the directory where you saved the filter package.

Extract the Package:

tar xvfz Epson-ALC1100-filter-1.0.tar.gz

cd Epson-ALC1100-filter-1.0

Install the filter :

./configure

make

sudo make install

Restart CUPS and install the printer :

sudo /etc/init.d/cupsys restart

lpadmin -p alc1100 -E -v usb:/dev/usb/lp0 -m Epson-AL-C1100-fm3.ppd

That isn't clever.

Terry Pratchett knighted for services to literature

John B

@iamapizza

Lacks talent? I take this is the usual "If loads of people like stuff, it must be rubbish" thing. I can assure you that real authors don't think so. Terry has taken over from where Dickens left off, holding up a mirror to the world. Ignoring the "fantasy" setting, which is now just an amusing background and plot device, the Discworld novels are one of the best humanist oeuvres of the last 100 years. I particularly like the line "You think the world is divided into good and bad people? There are, always and only, the bad people. But some of them are on opposite sides."

Glastonbury new-agers protest WiFi

John B
Happy

I like hippies

...because when civilisation collapses they'll be an excellent source of uncontaminated meat.

Enormous HP box spotted from space

John B
Thumb Up

A thing of beauty

Well, it would be round here. I'm typing less than a mile away, and the box blocks most of the Tesco depot out. How we love them, with their fridge engines running 24 hours a day, the crazed Polish HGV drivers hammering up and down the local roads, and the hordes of Lithuanian fork lift drivers banging in and out of the trailers. Other amenities nearby include the local traveller site, with its picturesque rubbish moraine, and further afield the McCains factory emits its exciting aromas of chip fat and boiled sewage. Nature has its place with the abandoned brickpits and the River Nene to the south, out of which are dredged cars, sometimes containing the occupants, and on one occasion a horsebox, still containing its occupant. Bright spots include the "Argos Cenotaphs", set up to commemorate those too drunk to steer, swim, or breathe under water.

Peterborough, so good they named it once.