Misleading headline
It should read "Manchester *setting* fire *to* ID cards"
I reject your reality, and substitute my own!
Posts by The Original Ash
617 publicly visible posts • joined 11 Jun 2009
Manchester's on fire for ID cards, claims ID minister
ID cards have three databases, says minister
'Health and safety killjoys' kill cheese-rolling race
NZ internet filter goes live - gov forgets to tell public
GCHQ loses Top Secret laptops
Friday 12th March 2010 14:43 GMT
Deterrant
Set the identifying details of the OS to be the person who has the laptop at the time. Any loss occurs, that person is immediately outed as working for GCHQ and has to abandon their current life in the interest of self preservation.
If releases of information from government departments can result in loss of liberty for UK citizens (DVLA & child benefits data losses anyone?) then the person who lost it can be part of those harmed. Maybe then they'll take extra care.
Password reset questions dead easy to guess
Tories ask: Why BBC3, BBC4?
'Negatively strange' antihypermatter made out of gold
Vodafone ships Mariposa-infected HTC Magic
Firefox alpha dons Flash flak jacket
Monday 8th March 2010 11:32 GMT
Re: Flash: What's that?
It's that important technology which makes iPlayer, 4oD, DemandFive, YouTube, Veoh, and almost every other video website on the internet work. Until browsers and sites go native <video> and use open formats (that's REAL likely), we're stuck with Flash as an in-browser viewer.
I hate it, but it's necessary right now. Not all of us use Lynx.
LibDems score copyright coup
Apple yanks Wi-Fi detectors from iTunes
Canonical betas Ubuntu music store
Thursday 4th March 2010 09:38 GMT
@Way to go
Thanks for your constructive criticism. Please take a cookie on the way out.
Just because *you* have not heard of them, and *you* don't want Ubuntu doesn't mean that there aren't others who do. I've switched my home PC over to Ubuntu with Karmic, the same with my workstation. I'm looking at GCompriz to see if it will offer the same educational resources as many 3rd party apps on Windows, and testing those apps which I can't replace on Wine. Between that, EducationCity, and a couple of other education sites there's no reason to have Windows (and the associated licensing costs, tie ins etc) at all. I can even put Office 2007 on with a little tinkering, if the staff REALLY need it (they don't, but they don't know that yet).
TL;DR: Thanks for sharing your opinion. It is, however, *your* opinion. I'll be looking at this with great interest (especially now I've seen Jamendo integration mentioned. Didn't know that...)
Global warming may be normal at this point in glacial cycle
WoW authenticators bypassed by middlemen hackers
Tuesday 2nd March 2010 13:24 GMT
"Official" addons repository?
There are no "official" (endorsed by Blizzard/Activision) addons for WoW. You use addons entirely at your own risk.
Saying that, Curse.com has an addon manager which I have used for a good long time without issue. It seems that the malware comes from a similar application which is downloaded from fake addon sites (cursea.com instead of genuine curse.com). If you didn't spot / know the difference, and just knew "Curse do an addon manager! Search on Google!" the first (advertised) link is likely to be cursea.
It's all still user error, but isn't it always?
Windows Phone 7 blocks out popular HTC model, blames buttons
BT could face criminal case over Phorm trials
Thursday 25th February 2010 13:20 GMT
Private prosecution
The complexity comes in the form of one giant issue; The police weren't going to pursue charges against BT (even though it's not their job to say as such, or even to do as such). What happens now is CPS do their investigation and ascertain whether there is sufficient evidence to make conviction likely. If they decide that there is, they prosecute. If not, they drop the case. The only way to go from there is into private prosecution, which means that instead of CPS prosecuting (as is the way in >99.9% of criminal trials) it is left to a private entity to take the place of the Crown.
This is by no means the end of the process, though. CPS can *again* become involved and take over the case. They then have the choice of pursuing the charges on behalf of the plaintiff (so the case again becomes R. vs) or dropping the case for a second time as it is "not in the public interest." You can't stop CPS from getting involved if it chooses to.
There is only one legal way to see justice done in the latter case; Drop BT in its entirety. However, that in itself isn't guaranteed; The failing banks got bail-outs during the financial downturn, why not the UKs largest telecoms operator?
We might be on a loser with this one. I sincerely hope not, though.
(By the way, the only two ways I can get broadband are either ADSL over a BT line, or DSL over Virgin-owned cable. Either way I get a shafting. At least with BT lines I can make use of LLU to get a different ISP, but I still end up giving them money. With Virgin doing their DPI trials for "copyright enforcement" they don't get a penny from me.)
Virgin to offer 100Mb/s broadband by year's end
Ubuntu's Lucid Lynx to Facebook and Twitter you
Let us legally rip discs, campaigner tells govt
Car thieves making clean getaway with GPS jammers
US must redesign killer hot dogs
Kipping at your desk is highly productive, say boffins
OpenOffice 3.2 is on tap
Friday 12th February 2010 14:08 GMT
Re: I'd like it more...
- I agree. Incremental updates would be much more efficient on both their server bandwidth and compile time. However, we must assume there is a reason for their not being incremental updates; Possibly that there were so many changes that a whole new release was required, or that it's too risky to miss some dependencies.
- English is the international business language. It makes sense to release in English, and have other languages as extensions of the main package. Or would you prefer to pander to the P.C crowd and download *every* language pack when you have to update? Because that's the alternative.
Aussie anti-censor attacks strafe gov websites
Warner Music gives up on free streaming services
BAA poo-poos Bollywood star's pervscan printout put-on
Viking frogmen chase Street View spymobile
Tories will force BT to open up ducts to rivals
New cig peril: Third-hand smoke coats puffers in poison
Half a million PCs can access Schengen's 'secure' database
Gov tempts young London onto ID database with booze, 'games'
Monday 8th February 2010 12:04 GMT 
Could someone please tell me...
... which of those things a person of 16-24 couldn't do without an ID card?
Do all of the local businesses know what the National ID card looks like? Night club doormen, clerks at game stores, the slightly slow folk working night-shift at the local convenience store?
Will they look like many of the *dozens* of available fake IDs from web merchants, originally "back of magazine" businesses?
Ultimate fail, kid.
Pupil database claimed to be breach-free
Monday 8th February 2010 10:56 GMT 
List of personnel cleared for pupil database
You and me, Darling, obviously. Field Marshal Haig, Field Marshal Haig's wife, all Field Marshal Haig's wife's friends, their families, their families' servants, their families' servants' tennis partners, and some chap I bumped into the mess the other day called Bernard.
I am not inspired with confidence. Pessimist? You betcha.
Brits take iTablet moniker for 12in iPad rival
Friday 5th February 2010 15:17 GMT
Sweet jeebus
That's one of the worst chop jobs on a photo I've ever seen.
The index finger on the right hand is in the wrong place / dislocated, the cropping around the left hand is atrocious (can see a daker outline on little finger), in fact it looks as though the guy is holding a much thicker device and the "iTablet" is just slipped in its place.
Plus, it's running xp, not 7.
Stats boss slams Tory use of crime figures
Quantum superclock will be accurate past end of life on Earth
Dear Adobe: It's time for security rehab
Friday 5th February 2010 10:29 GMT
Is it their fault?
How is their browser plugin allowed to run with permissions that affect events outside of the browser? Why isn't there a "you're not getting out" sandbox around the whole thing?
No doubt that they're responsible for the rubbish coding of their plugin, but shouldn't there be some shared blame as the fact that the plugin has enough privilage granted to it to be able to crash / exploit applications outside of itself?
Extreme pr0n suspect has his internet access suspended
Chinese e-tailer lights up ciggie-lighter phone for smokers
DNA pioneer lambasts government database policy
Manchester cops recover from Conficker
Stubborn trojan stashes install file in Windows help
Windows 7 RC 'buy a copy' shut downs start next month
Retailers fooled by fake and borrowed IDs
Tuesday 2nd February 2010 10:20 GMT
Seen this in action
A girl in front of me in a queue had borrowed her sister's driving license to go out clubbing. Doorman spotted it instantly, as the two were obviously dissimilar. He took a step to the left, pointed upwards, and told the girl "You're on CCTV, love. This isn't your license, I'm confiscating it and reporting its misuse to the Police. I don't need your name, your sisters name, address, and date of birth are already in my pocket. Off you go."
Alternative anecdote: My mate (17 at the time) was asked for ID at a bar. "How old are you?" "Twenty two." "Oh. Ok then!" Apparently not answering with "18" or "19" is proof enough.
iPad Mini/Nano beta-tester: Of course it's real
Interpol chief questions body scanner rollout
British poshos outdrink chavs
Friday 29th January 2010 14:31 GMT 
I can solve drinking deaths for you
Three simple steps:
1) Re-hire David Nutt.
2) Outlaw alcohol.
3) Legalise cannabis.
There has never, *IN THE RECORDED HISTORY OF MANKIND* been a *single* reported death directly related to the use of cannabis. Not one.
Prove otherwise. I'll give you some time for that.
Aussie man convicted for Simpsons smut
Thursday 28th January 2010 15:43 GMT
Re: OMG I've just realised...
If you saw the Simpsons movie and saw Bart's junk in it and thought "Ha, that's funny!" then you should be ok.
If you saw the Simpsons movie, saw Bart's junk and thought "I'd hit that" then yes, you should. But only after submitting yourself for psychological analysis, as you clearly have difficulty differentiating fiction from reality. Just as the government of Australia do.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
