* Posts by John 211

31 publicly visible posts • joined 27 Aug 2009

End all the 'up to' broadband speed bull. Release proper data – LGA

John 211

"up to..."

Shouldn't the article state "UP TO 10 year sentence for online copyright infringement".

:-)

New Bitcoin exchange launches in the UK

John 211

Also

"Complies with..." does not equal "is certified to". anybody can claim to 'comply with...".

And ISO27001 is not really a data secuirty standard - it is a standard for managing information security, and assessing (and controlling) identified risks. there is no 'your password must be x", "you must encrypt y" as there is in, say PCI-DSS.

TVShack O’Dwyer strikes deal to avoid US extradition

John 211

Will they let him in?

I'm hoping some commentard knows the answer to this, but this sounds like he has been found guilty (admitted guilt) of a crime in the US, so surely has to declare this when entering the US. Are the TSA likely to even let him get past the airport?

El Reg mulls Forums icon portfolio shake-up

John 211

Omnishambles

In light of the recent OED entry, I suggest an icon to represent 'onmishables'

Not sure what though.

What a clockup! Apple's Swiss clock knock-off clocks up $21m fine

John 211

more like

...Down votes 1..2..3..

Also methinks 'Apple caught out by second-hand design' would be a better headline - although it would get boring using it every time Apple produced something 'new'.

Barnes & Noble: You won't need a Nook to read our ebooks

John 211
Facepalm

Re: Interesting (or not) potential problem for DRM in the future

With the down vote it looks like we have found the only person in the world who thinks DRM is a good thing.

(either that or they don't like other people enjoying audio books). :-)

CERN 'gags' physicists in cosmic ray climate experiment

John 211
Happy

I agree with your sentiment...but

The flying spaghetti monster web site has a lovely correlation chart between 'bad shit happening' and 'the reduciton in the number of pirates'. Would a 'credible scientist' therefore start investigating the reduction in pirates?

Correlation != causation, you must find the mechanism instead

Having said that, I'm actually on your side in this :-)

And I can;t wait until they un-gag the real scientists.

George Lucas rattles lightsabre at Jedi laser firm

John 211
Happy

Surely the headline should have been...

The Empire Strikes Back

FCC takes baby step towards net neutrality

John 211
Happy

Surely better than..

Incentivise (sorry incentiviZe),

Software freetards demand axing of ACTA

John 211
WTF?

I'm a freetard

What's next - an article on those pesky freetards who use public libraries?

Terror data handover seriously flawed

John 211
FAIL

The SWIFT Diode

Can I put forward a suggestion that the agreement be henceforth known as the SWIFT Diode.

Washington cop tases naked lawn sex man

John 211
Happy

Playmobil?

please

ID cards poster girl laments her £30

John 211
FAIL

So in effect she is saying...

..that the 'seminal' experience akin to the birth of her child is not worth £30 - would she be prepared to have that experience expunged from her memories for a £30 buy-off too - guess so.

Her kid must be chuffed about that.

A phase containing 'fool' and 'money' springs to mind.

Sky gets Five HD

John 211
Happy

Oh no..no 5ive..

that mean's I won't be able to watch........erm.......

Tories on cyber war: Waffle, mutter, waffle. Um, vote for us!

John 211
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PFM

Whenever somebody asks me 'How does it work, though....really?" (especially around technology and the interweb) I still reply 'PFM' - Pure F**king Magic.

PS No relation to John 186 :-)

Steve Jobs says 'No' to iPhone-to-iPad tether

John 211
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Me and my MiFi

You beat me to it...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/10/14/me_and_my_mifi/

But I still don't know why anybody would even WANT an iPad (or even an iPhone come to think of it)...each to their own I guess

Scots unleash world's strongest beer

John 211
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or Roger's Birthday Bitter

That was much nicer than R&O (only 1100 gravity though as opposed to the 1135 for R&O). I also like Hastings (gravity 1066).

Ah happy days in Sheffield.

Windows plagued by 17-year-old privilege escalation bug

John 211
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why only some?

Type your comment here — plain text only, no HTML

Mini-asteroid sneaks up on Earth

John 211
Joke

I'm hoping...

..that the lead-time is inversely proportional to the reciprocal of the square of the distance of the object as viewed from arms length in comparison to the size of a hole in a polo mint...or some such formula.

i.e. bigger = more time (I would hope)

PS. The polo-mint inverse square reciprocal law does yield an SI unit (the 'Polo') but was rejected due to trademark infringement.

Todays meteor would have a value of 0.02 Polos (at a guess), with a value of >0.5 polos being one to worry about :-)

Larger meteors being measured in 'Donuts', where 1 donut = 375.2 polos (due to the squaring rule and the variance in sugar coating).

I believe the dinosaurs were wiped out by a donut-meteor.

It feels like Monday to me....sorry.

Should you lose your religion on your CV?

John 211
Megaphone

general advice for CVs that 'I' would give

Personally I would advise clients never to put anything on a CV that is classified as 'sensitive' information under the Data Protection Act, as this limits the employers' ability to store the information (and hence keep you on record for future roles/vacancies).

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/Acts/Acts1998/ukpga_19980029_en_2

Included in this list is Racial or ethnic origin, political beliefs, Religious Beliefs, Trade Union memberships. sexual orientation, health information, criminal convictions.

Some of these may be relevant to certain jobs and may have to be disclosed (i.e. criminal convictions) but don't add them to your CV.

John 211

Why not...

attach a photo instead (assuming that this helps - i.e. you don't have a beard longer than the length of your fist! (or a pony-tail, obviously)

I agree with all commentards who say that putting religion prominently (or even at all) on a CV is a bad idea - it does imply that religion is more important than your work experience/qualifications (hence more important than your job).

However, I disagree with those who say 'you wouldn't want to work for a company that cares about your name' though, as there may be 1 person who sifts the CVs who has a prejudice - and that is not a basis on which to judge the whole company (in fact it makes you as bad as those who judge a whole religion by a few individuals, doesn't it?)

Apple seeks OS-jacking advert patent

John 211
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PAY + ADS

The idea that the ads would make the product free is hopeful in the extreme. It is no longer the case that we are given a choice of Free+ads or Pay+no ads. Hollywood movies have already moved towards product endorsement and TV is doing the same, and these are not free - so the powers that be are seeing that the mugs (us) are prepared to pay AND have ads.

Personally I believe that any movie that has product endorsement should be free to watch (maybe a small admin charge for the theater - but nothing else). Unfortunately the trend is for non-free with ads, and I expect applications (and OSs) to go the same way - the excuse being that the ads are 'subsiding' the cost rather than meeting it.

It must be late (as I am in a very pessimistic mood).

Hisense 1080p Media Player

John 211
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Couple of questions and a suggestion

I'm assuming it can connect to Samba file shares, but can it play DVD ISO files WITH menus?

Also, have you reviewed the Popcorn Hour C-200 yet (I can't find it if you have) and would love a comparison ('cos this one wins on price but obviously lacks BluRay support).

PS. Thanks for making my decision that little bit harder!

Tories would take an axe to Labour IT policy

John 211
Happy

"giving people ownership of the data"

Perhaps they could start with usage of the RM postcode database.

Microsoft Security Essentials shakes up consumer antivirus

John 211
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Looks like I may keep it after all

having discovered how to disable spynet..

http://www.malwarehelp.org/how-to-block-microsoft-spynet-2009.html

John 211
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Data Collection - SpyNet

I think the use of the name 'SpyNet' is very apt. I have just installed MSE and looked at the SpyNet options - Basic or Advanced membership - there is no 'NO MEMBERSHIP' option. the results of the scan are nobody's business but my own, and unless I find away to disable this comms channel I shall be removing the 'SpyNet Agent' PDQ.

John 211
FAIL

Windows Defender

It would appear that it also disables Windows Defender (which has some nice tools in it - none of which are included in MSE), so, as I already have another AV app I shall be removing it to get WD tools back.

John 211
Happy

IGNORE ME

My mistake - Win Defender is still there (mine disappeared and I read that WD used to be disabled by MSE so assumed the worst).

Blue Shield provokes fresh China censorware row

John 211

Made in China!

@David

" If it says, MADE IN CHINA, then simply don't buy it !"

Be careful. Lots of things labelled 'made in China' are made somewhere else, and assembled in China. Also don't confuse 'made in r.o.c' or 'made in republic of china' with 'made in china/PROC/people's republic of china' - R.O.C means made in Taiwan - where as PROC (people's republic of china) = what we know as china - don't accidentally cripple Taiwan in this.

Either way Long Fei's comments are valid and you also be affecting the workers (who we need as allies) - not that I'm saying Boycotting is out of the question.

Google shuts down bank snafu Gmail account

John 211
Happy

Reminds me of....

The collective noun for Bankers....

A WUNCH

:-)

Fire at Google UK

John 211
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Blue John

Looks like somebody has been testing Google Voice on an iPhone