Posts by Fred Flintstone

Re: A=B=C=D

That's the trouble with meta-data. Not only does it not specifically identify a person as opposed to an address or whatever, it doesn't even tell you why the communication was made or even if it was completed correctly.

The massive problem with meta data is that it can be manipulated by carefully selecting the sources you include, and there are very few people that understand the difference between a probability inferred from meta data and a hard fact derived from the actual contents of communication. Meta data "facts" are NEVER facts, they are always probabilities and should be presented as such.

Not that I hold out much hope they will, which is why I am absolutely against uncontrolled mass surveillance (because that's what they're really after).

I dare ANY, and I mean ANY MP who is for this idea to offer their data to the public for 6 months, because that is really what they're asking us to agree to - I have yet to see any access restriction actually be respected. If you dare not, don't ask the voters to do so.

Re: They did their dash with me

While it's easy to get riled about it, it's just as easy to forget that they have no obligation to supply those services - it's not like you entered into a pay-cash-up-front-for-service type of contract...these services are a means of getting data from you, and when Google decide that service isn't doing it for them they're not under any obligation to keep it going just because you like it.

Absolutely correct. Being upset about it just indicates that you labour under the mistaken impression that Google offers you a service: it is not. You can easily identify a service on offer: you pay for it. Ditto for Facebook.

If you do not pay for a service, the correct word to use is not "service", but bait.

Re: Dumbest idea ever

Have they even considered how this would work when everyone in the office is doing this at the same time?

I have - that has been known since we started with voice dictation in, what, the 90s?

On the other hand, imagine the fun the next "Occupy Wall Street" will have with loudhailers :)

Re: $100k fine.. thats a bargain

Even if they only managed to recruit a few people, thats still a darn site cheaper that the usual recruitment agency fees.

Judging by the WHOIS it IS a recruitment agency. Makes sense to keep that part of the process at arms length.

Re: I'm genuinely curious...

It means Facebook now holds data on you as it does on countless others - without their consent.

And there is no way you'll be able to find out. Google and FB play the same game when it comes to that. The problem goes even deeper: even if they do not know who you are, there is a chain of connected events (searches, site visits, comments etc etc - the works) waiting for you to make the mistake of logging on to a site that will identify you. All it takes is logging on on a site that has FB or Google links on the page with any of their cookies still in your browser, or one of their affiliates and you've now marked that chain with your name.

It really is the most insidious way of spying on people since Eastern Germany.

Translated, many of our customers are so tied in to the T&C, and we're not waving exit fees, so they're stuck.

I think it's more a case of not enough people standing up for their rights, plus the usual inertia.

Claiming that customers "stick around" amounts IMHO to misrepresentation, which is not a good thing when talking to the City and shareholders because it does not offer them a view of the risk that customers will still pull the plug as soon as they have gained enough confidence to do so without repercussions.

Re: No one really grumbled back then

I worked at the Pit but not underground [..]. This was regarded as a big step up.

.. literally :)

Re: Now I've seen it all

I really need to stick a HOWTO to El Reg trolling on the Net somewhere.

The only thing you're doing right is putting so little effort in that is actually becomes insulting, but you should aspire to some sort of standard.

Or maybe we ought to write a trolling RFC, that could actually be quite entertaining :).

Re: AutoCorrect in Libre Office

While Libre Office supports Add to AutoCorrect in the context menu, adding blocks of text to an AutoCorrect entry doesn't. It appears to, but the entry isn't saved.

That's because it's slightly non-obvious, I originally had that problem too. Here is how you do it (and where you probably went wrong in the same way I did):

1) Highlight the block of text you want to turn into an AutoCorrect option

2) Tools - AutoCorrect, choose "Replace" tab - you will see the block already filled in on the right

3) Enter the shortcut you want to use

4) (I think this is what you missed) - hit the "New" button next to the entry first, and only THEN..

5) hit OK to close the dialogue

Incidentally, AutoCorrect is impressively powerful: it can insert practically anything. If you highlight a piece of text with an image and a table in it, for instance, all you have to do is to untick the "text only" box in AutoCorrect when you create the entry and it will play ALL of it back when you type the shortcut.

I'm sure we've all done something that daft at least once.

Well, "once" is what I'm prepared to admit to without the help of a lot of beer :).

Re: "Have you been the victim of a crime...?

At least we haven't sunk to the depths where hippies are allowed to roam freely over ancient stone circles without being truncheoned into a coma.

There a few variables here. That may simply be because we have a lack of hippies...

Re: But...

Is this the real thing?

Is this just Fantasy?

It's certainly an escape from reality..

:)

Re: OMFG Journaterropedolist

Journalism should be keeping Enterprise, Government, Police and Judiciary in check, by being able to publish the cases where these elements of society are violating the rights of People, however when Enterprise owns Journalism, Police, Judiciary and Government, there is no chance of this happening. Sadly, social media <gag> gets more traction over here in getting the public to attend to issues of this nature, than do the media.

And so, in one paragraph, a proper journalist shows how the art of journalism can condense issues down to their essence without losing anything essential in the process.

Yes, I called you a proper journalist. It is a difficult skill to reach a conclusion in spite of your own biases, and it takes effort and commitment to remain objective in the face of so much pressure to chose a "side" when there is in reality a wider palette of choices and positions. In effect, it is a skill to present a condensed version of the facts in such a way that you still leave the intelligent reader to draw their own conclusions.

Thank you.

Re: Don't look behind the curtain...

NSA and the 28 dwarfs

OK, that one I like :)

Re: Windows security is like a heavily armoured gate...

You mean, like one of my favourite depictions of flawed security? :)

Security could be a lot better on Windows and other OS if program developers would actually manage to stick to some sane programming methods.

For example, why on earth does most software want to install for use by all users instead of giving the users the choice? Adobe is an exceptionally good example of that - if Adobe Reader and Flash were contained to one user, you could set up a safe user to use the Net and a Flash infection would not have too many rights to make a mess.

Instead, the very first thing an Adobe installer asks is admin rights, even before it has downloaded the actual program (because clearly we are not allowed to have any ability to virus check what comes down).

It may sound trivial, but that exact need to have admin rights when software has no business installing at that level is what annoys me. It's different if we talk about installing a driver or a kernel extension, but for normal user land software I think there is still FAR too much software on the market that is written in a way that needs far too many rights, which has as direct consequence that you already have a backdoor installed for whatever containment you seek to set up.

Do we need to educate users? Yes - always. But if we undo that education by making it a habit to grant admin rights to whatever install, then we shouldn't complain if they don't get suspicious if that new fancy toolbar they got from dodgy.com wants the same.

As I said at the beginning, this is not just a Windows issue. The choice to install at user level or system wide is one that belongs with the user, not with the software author - system wide installs of anything should IMHO be exception rather than rule.

Re: While the DB10 does look awfully impressive

Austin Martin "?????

Well caught, thank you. I need to hunt down auto-correct and kill it (it's the one thing I forgot after rebuilding this machine).

Re: Err...

No, it's an M4, it has 4 wheels. The black wheel on the left is what makes it easy to tell apart from the M3.

See http://www.cryptomuseum.com/crypto/enigma/m4/index.htm, the site also has images of the M3.

Re: SLA

With an SLA like TalkTalks' the hacker will be lucky if she responds to the email this year.

I'm amazed that this blackmail email even got to her in the first place. :-)

"Visual F# and Visual C# are not even vaguely similar"

But it's indistinguishable from Visual G♭

I've heard people say that Visual G doesn't exist, but I think they just can't find it ...

Re: Should have made it harder for them

Would have expected Apple to register a number of domain names which closely resemble the correct name...

That would be a never ending effort, certainly now the number of TLDs has gone up.

Re: HOLY DOT SHIT

At first I thought he was some sort of complete idiot for having important stuff on an AOL mail account, but the suggestion that talking to Iran to try and sort things out is an unexpected breath of sanity in this world.

That's probably why this had to be on an AOL account - gives the US government probable deniability in case anyone dares accuse them of behaviour that is actually sane :)

Re: Cue all the usual stuff about incompatibility etc

LO isn't anywhere near as strong as Excel. I'd like to see some large corps/govs clubbing together to request and fund LO features.

Funnily enough, that is exactly what the German government did when it wanted something - best use of tax money ever IMHO as it directly benefits the common good. It gave us GPG and Kolab. Not sure what they're up to now, but giving LO some funding would not be a bad idea.

Multiple small satellites will also be much harder to avoid up there. Space junk is already an issue.

True, but I can also see advantages. Small means more likely to burn up if it leaves its orbit :)

You shouldn't be worried about falling 20,000 feet vertically. That's perfectly fine. You should be worried about the sudden stop at 0 feet. That's the painful bit.

Like this? :)

I think you've broken the record for must upvotes to a single post in the history of El Reg (and probably the record for the most stars in a single post for bleeping out expletives - there may be a correlation here :) ).

This is an award winner IMHO. You should get a free copy of Windows 10 or something, no, wait ..

Re: Optional extra

"Baldrick!"

God, yes, now THAT I would buy. If you could reconfigure any of these devices so they'd listen to a different name I suspect they would not be able to keep up with the sales.

Re: A tool for the paranoid...

Get stopped at the airport and ordered to hand over all electronic devices so they can be "examined" for dodgy things? Sure, here you go... Fzzzzt goes some expensive hardware.

"Would you care to boot up your laptop and show us what is on this USB stick, Sir?"

They are not *all* brain dead..

Re: Let me count the ways...

4. Your server looks up an "A" (IP address) record for "gmail-smtp.google.com". The result is something like "gmail-smtp-in.l.google.com A 64.233.168.26".

Almost, it also includes a preference value because it's usually a list of servers, and the preference value helps prioritising which one to use. Having said that, I totally love your step 6 and 7, that deserves an RFC of its own :).

There is also another problem that few people know about and which is (IMHO) rather misleadingly used to claim "privacy": your connection to your local mail server and the recipient's connection to their mail server may be encrypted (typically to prevent exposure of plaintext credential exchanges), but the transport between the two mail servers is not mandatory encrypted and may thus be in plain text..

Re: Hold On!

Does this mean Indian companies won't be processing and storing our data now?

Don't worry, to paraphrase Shappi Khorsandi, you can still call them to find out what the weather is over there.

To get back on topic, I don't know - Safe Harbor was an exclusive EU/US fix for privacy so this decision will not impact that aspect of data export. I would actually be quite interested to find out what protections are in place for data handled in India, but that would not fall under Safe Harbor.

Where's there's power, there's abuse.

Probably the shortest possible summary of this whole circus..