* Posts by JaitcH

3904 publicly visible posts • joined 12 Oct 2009

Apple sued for iPhone, iPad chip 'patent rip-off'

JaitcH
Go

Perhaps when Jobs feels the pain of patent attacks against him ...

he will become more amenable to cross-licencing at reasonable royalty rates as well as using his paid hacks in the US Congress to revisit the patent question.

Older Reg readers might remember when TaiWan was best known for knock-off software and hardware. Then their government got smart by cracking down on pirated software and financing a national technology drive.

I guess this is pay-off time with the former US-based technology leaders now paying others for their IP. How the world has changed.

GM OnStar cars will upload all data unless owners opt out

JaitcH
WTF?

Why would a company, just emergng from bankruptcy, want to spend millions on collecting data on where their vehicles are travelling and doing?

These are the same companies that nickel and dime costs down, during design, even to the point where the elimination of a bolt is considered a financial win. And these guys want to fit electronic modules?

This reminds me of when explosive devices were introduced to vehicles, aka air bags, (have you ever had one go off?) along with an electronic control module that analysed data including direction of travel, speed, seat belt usage, etc. which it retained in memory for a few seconds.

Shortly afterwards, Ontario Provincial Police started scavenging these modules from ALL vehicles involved in accidents and which data was used to lay charges.

Can you imagine what lies ahead? GM gathers this data, 'shares' it with Plod who, say, determines a speeding infraction and issues a Stop Engine command through OnStar (a feature that already exists). Then, using OnStar GPS, Plod dispatches another Plod, to issue a ticket.

Given ACPO's desire to track everyone everywhere, OnStar data could be fed, along with number plate camera information, into the Hendon computer for an even more complete picture of Brits going about their daily lives in a 'free' country.

The applications are limitless. An American drone, spotting a car full of potential terrorists, real or imagined, could signal for it to stop then, with a stopped vehicle, they could destroy the vehicle with less 'collateral' damage.

How about the repo(session) business? Again, stop and locate vehicle, dispatch tow truck, problem solved.

Colour me disconnected and the radio module neutered. And a non-GM customer.

The amazing shipping container: How it changed the world

JaitcH
Happy

So cheap, the Chinese won't pay the shipping charges for 1000 kilometres

VietNam borders China yet these wondrous boxes are so cheap to manufacture they are not worth the return shipping costs by road, rail or sea if the distance is over 500 kilometres.

As with most every other country, there are piles of disused freight containers.

Five 40 foot containers, mounted on concrete pillars, sides cut and welded to form a large area forms the basement of my house for vehicles and storage. Cost under $1,200 + digging the hole, pouring the pillars and welding.

My mini-hotel is completely constructed from containers; the rooms are factory made modules that slide in. To make the ugly containers look nicer, I had expanded metal grid welded to the outside and sprayed with concrete.

Three containers will make a cosy, compact, economical home for two.

Royal rugby star bar snog CCTV upload - bouncer in court

JaitcH
WTF?

If anything can be seen in public, where's the problem?

If an act, of any type, is done in the public domain there should be no expectancy of privacy. If they are embarrassed or otherwise annoyed, they should do whatever in public.

These days almost every half-decent cell phone has a camera, so expectations of privacy should be less than expected.

I was taking pictures of a commercial food establishment's premises, from a public footpath, and a couple of hairy security types suggested I shouldn't. I continued, so they called the Plod who, upon arrival, asked to view them. I replied my camera immediately transmits the pictures so they cannot be viewed except at the office.

Plod inquired why I was taking pictures and I told them for an article on dirty restaurants. They said I could take any pictures of anything from public streets.

At least some places get it right.

Chinese bloke gets eel lodged up todger

JaitcH
Unhappy

Very common in the tropics, or pee like the locals do

The cases I've heard of were people urinating UNDER the water, thereby eliminating the need for a long swim.

The locals always know more than tourists - they urinate on the ground.

In Singapore locals laugh when they see a Foreigner walking bare footed on the sidewalks rather than using flip-flops. The reason is that Singapore puts it paving flagstones down in sand, rather than cement and a local parasite lives in the cracks and joints.

A bare foot stepping on a joint or crack is sufficient time for the parasite to transfer to the skin and then burrow it's way into the body where it turns in to a very, ver long and destructive worm.

Both the penile crawlers and the Singapore worms can be ejected by drinking foul tasting Chinese medicine.

'Leaked' FBI Anonymous/LulzSec psych profile is bogus

JaitcH
Stop

Why wouldanyone, except gullible politicians and judges, believe the FBI?

These days organisations produce documents with slight variations in them to provide an aid for identifying sources of leaked documents.

No whistle blower in their right mind would ever supply a copy of an original, be it a paper-based document, or a computer document.

Of course, many word processing documents provide a long story line which often includes drive/directory info along with registered software user.

All good copies should be run through Notepad, in ASCII, to clean documents.

MPs blast dole-office-online plans

JaitcH
FAIL

Government Service Centres

In Canada there are Service Canada and Service Ontario, etc.

These offices are staffed by a handful of 'generalists' who are trained to answer common questions but also know who to reach out to get specific answers to unusual requests.

Additionally, these offices are equipped with dialing capability to government offices along with PC's for online assistance/

There are also stand alone ATM type terminals which can issue various licences and permits, accept payment, etc. These are usally located in shopping centres an the like. Of course, we don't have dress restrictions so anyone can use them. I guess hoodie wearing Brits are banned.

Lincs bloke fined in deceased hedgehog outrage

JaitcH
WTF?

British 'justice' ...

sucks. There was no victim.

Also he was answering Nature's Call in the midst of Nature.

9/11: The day we lost our privacy and power

JaitcH
WTF?

At least someone else cares - it needs repeating until people understand ...

just how intrusive most governments are.

Britain is just a bit player in this game, no self-respecting country would allow another to build a spy base as the U.S. National Security Agency has at Menwith Hill in the Yorkshire dales with British police hassling anyone, be they in cars or on foot hiking the dales to quell American anxieties.

I say again, you cannot hike the dales because of Americans.

France wouldn't do that.

And the national number plate tracking scheme being installed by the unelected ACPO floes i the face of the furor of the proposed National Database proposed by Labour and a reason for their downfall. Not only does the system use public cameras but also private ones.

A friend visiting Britain on business reported he stopped at a roadside gas station and it displayed signs advising their cameras were hooked to Hendon.

The Plod designed system has one big weakness, it depends on criminals not being smart enough to switch number plates. Unlike North America, where number plates are issued only by governments, anyone can have any number on a plate made up in Britain.

Fortunately, infra-red 'night vision' cameras can be effectively neutered by a handful of LEDs mounted around a plate or on a baseball cap, in the case of facial recognition,.

What other country imprisons someone for not handing over a password? My fellow employees, when traveling internationally, are required to carry essentially blank hard drives - they are formatted and have DOS but nothing else. Upon arrival in a foreign destination it is necessary to use a cell phone to activate a download which subsequently permits downloads of working files. We are not alone in this, many corporate IT departments are adopting this - not because we live in authoritarian countries but because of supposedly free countries in the West.

So long as electorates permit their representatives pass laws overriding basic human rights without protest it will continue. In Britain it is worse as the government grants amazing powers to the police who have proved repeatedly they can not be trusted.

If police, without judicial oversight, are permitted to do this one has to ask why we need politicians.

End of UK local dialling in sight as numbers run out

JaitcH
WTF?

Local number expansion no problem with Siemens

When VietNam decided to modernize it;s POTS system, it decided upon Siemens equipment.

Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh/SaiGon had 04 and 08 as area codes and all the line numbers began with 8 - a lucky number for many here - followed by 5 digits.

Expanding subscriber numbers were accommodated by simply inserting an additional prefix number universally across an area code. Recently we went big time in these major cities maintaining the same area code followed by a new prefix digit (either 2 or 3) plus the former 7 digit, for a line number with 8 digits.

At all times local dialing was possible, i.e. no area code, and because the new numbers were the older, familiar, number plus a new prefix, and inconvenience was minimized. This schema has been used throughout the country with each province retaining it's unique code.

Of course, the secret lies in the flexibility of the switching software.

North America has stuck with it's 7-digit local number plan and now has cities that have two or three different area codes, intermixed rather than by geographic area. Really confusing. The problem started when they allocated cell phones numbers within land area codes - the UK solution of having separate area codes for cell phones is far superior and enables call billing to be implemented.

Pre-paid Chinese users still anonymous despite new law

JaitcH
Happy

Suth-East Asia: SIM ID's

I am currently in China and there is absolutely no problem is getting a SIM. I went to a China Telecom's place, took out my old SIM and waived it at the woman and pushed some money across the desk and the deed was done. She didn't speak English and I pretended not to know Chinese!

In VietNam you are required to show your visa to get a SIM from a store. The hotels also have a supply, obtained by using guests passports without their knowledge. All previous unknown SIM users lost service, earlier, until info was supplied.

In Cambodia no Foreigners are supposed to have cell service. No problem - ask any hotel and they will get you connected within 5 minutes.

In Laos, same as VietNam.

All three Indochina countries have 3G, some patches of 4G and radio streaming multi-channel TV everywhere!

Just how will Apple restrict device-ID snooping in iOS 5?

JaitcH
Stop

Why do cell phone manufacturers think thet are entitlrf to data?

All customer data should be deemed private by law, including UDID and SIM information.

Jusy=t because the software and processors in smartphones have the ability to capture and transmit this data doesn't mean they have the right.

I have a simple Samsung slkider phone, in which I had the GPS module disabled, and found out that some d=collected data as mundane as the number of times the slider is operated/used is counted and held in a register.

The trouble with smartphones is that we don't know what data is captured and transmitted by anyone nor where or what the data is used for. It's bad enough having snoop software of cell systems that enables tracked cell phones usage, numbers dialled and message content, be stored and regurgitated at someones whim.

Vandal posts official's nude pic to protest cell shutdown

JaitcH
WTF?

Now we want pictures of Cameron - and an offer he might find hard to refuse

Given that Cameron has threatened to disable cell systems, a very easy exercise achieved by changed users Class of Service, perhaps some of his drinking buddies in Oxford or girlfriends have some pictures that ,could be donated to the public domain.

That the Western governments support Arab Spring and protest when Middle East governments limit messaging systems and close down cell systems illustrates what a two-faced hypocrite he is.

.

Apple ordered to pay $8m over playlist patents

JaitcH
Happy

For Apple $8,000,000 is ...

pocket change.

Apple's, and Jobs', loss of 'face' is priceless!

Airport screener stuffs stolen iPad into (own) trousers

JaitcH
WTF?

Only crazy people check valuables - especially in the USA

London, and the 'tunnels' used to be the prime baggage theft site for baggage theft, but now the WHOLE of the USA is on the list.

I always carry my goodies on my person as carry-on. If important, although less valuable, I put them in netted, as from Pac-Saf, which are securely attached to the bag. They permit inspection yet remain secure.

X-ray theft is also prevalent and I use the security cable from my laptop, looped through my jacket and other stuff, to prevent theft. Waiting, as in holding back, to ensure the X-ray channel is clear also helps prevent 'accidental' theft.

Most every flight I make requires a hand-job so previous passengers have usually cleared by the time my first carry-on has been X-rayed.

I also carry plenty of 'baggies' and make a point of packing my pocket items in them, before heading off for check-in. Even in a tray, stuff in bags is harder to steal.

Another distraction, during which thefts can occur, which can be avoided are metal belt buckles - I now only use inelegant plastic web buckles along with web belts and they NEVER trigger the X-ray. The only challenge is when a stupid security type says 'remove your belt' for I cannot remove my belt without taking my pants off!

Dev's iPhone cable melts after iOS 5 upgrade

JaitcH
Unhappy

The penalty of using poor quality unapproved connectors

One benefit, for consumers, of internationally accepted connectors is that there are numerous sources for them, eliminating monopolies and exorbitant prices but also has the added attraction of being tested against accepted standards.

But some vendors love the extra revenue stream afforded by their unique, sub-par, connectors.

Nissan car secretly shares driver data with websites

JaitcH
Unhappy

"it's not really precise at all" you wish!

Software currently running on almost all North American cellco networks is good for an accuracy of less than 3 metres. Remember, they can use more than 3 tower arrays to pinpoint a wanted cell's location.

Only local very ow power re-broadcast units can lessen this software's accuracy which is why ATT wants femcels to have GPS in them.

Microsoft squeaks on Google Nortel sale

JaitcH
FAIL

Nortel, Canada's version of AT&T and Bell Labs, had a lot of Canadian taxpayer money ...

in it. It's a pity no one is thinking of them.

As for the shafted ex-employees pension contributions, I hope they don't expect Delaware courts to give a damn, Delaware is for business only.

Cabinet Office talks to Facebook & co about new ID system

JaitcH
WTF?

How does "insist that privacy would be at the forefront of such a system" work with Facebook?

Apart from the fact Facebook and security are incompatible why should I have to sign up with any non-governmental system to access my entitlements?

Or is it a tacit admission that the UK's purported world leading cyber 'experts' can't handle secure logins?

Making one of the early users the pensions scheme is more than nutty - these people are more likely NOT to have InterNet access as well as being MORE likely to less computer literate.

I am fed up with people expecting myself and fellow employees to obtain FB or Twit accounts so we can learn some information. I simply refuse to use Twit and the decision about FB has been made as the government of the country I live in has blocked FB very, very effectively.

The UK government is my government so why the hell should I use American gateways to access my UK government, gateways that the American government has total access to.

Bet the French wouldn't do this - or the Americans - they have a sense of pride in their countries.

Feds seize $15m from scareware monger's Swiss account

JaitcH
WTF?

US 'Justice' arse backwards

Most jurisdictions put an alleged offender on trial first, then apply penalties.

If you think the money is going back to the suckers, think again. The US Government has an insatiable appetite for money.

Ask the international drug cartels.

'One size fits all' EU data law would undermine rights, says Clarke

JaitcH
WTF?

UK Privacy Policy Screwed Up - Government Left and Right Frontal Lobes Totally Disconnected

I seem to remember one of the points Cameron/Clegg ran on as the elimination of the national ID database. And they even honoured their pledges.

Contrast that with the collection of old farts that comprise ACPO, the commercial outfit that benefits by selling government data, who announced a couple of weeks ago that they had scored GBP24,000,000 to enable it to equipment every roadside AND EVERY PRIVATELY OWNED traffic facing camera with number plate reading capability, in real time, with the data to be stored on a new computer to be housed in Hendon. This will only record number plate details and depends on the criminally minded not to switch number plates - a la James Bond.

Clarke, in addition to rendering his thoughts on rapists, also declared he thought 15 years was not an unreasonable time for the U.S. to store PNR information for 15 years.

In case any Register readers aren't concerned, consider that the following information is also collected but not shown on tickets, Numbers refer to PNR fields:

2. Date of reservation; 5. Other names on PNR; 6. Addresses; 8. Billing address; 9. Contact telephone numbers; 11. Frequent flyer information (miles flown and address(es)) (frequent flyer number might be shown on tickets); 16. Split/Divided PNR information; 17. E-mail addresses; 19. General remarks; 23. No show history; 25. Go show information (often used to note a "walk-up" passenger, i.e. someone who presents themselves without a ticket or reservation, and buys a ticket to travel immediately. Some carriers create a reservation on the spot . Other carriers simply sell them a ticket- which might be an "open" ticket, boarding them as a stand-by); 26. OSI information; 27. SSI/SSR information; 28. Received from information (the person who requested the reservation, not necessarily the traveller, e.g. a business associate, personal assistant, friend, family member, etc.); 29. All historical changes to the PNR; 30. Number of travellers on PNR; 33. Any collected APIS information.

The following data might be gleaned from tickets:

1. PNR record locator code (Tickets don't always show any record locator-the CRS record and not necessarily the same); 3. Date(s) of intended travel, airlines, dates, and flight numbers or '"open"; possibly hotel or car hire reservations, tour or cruise bookings, etc., on non-air PNR; 7. All forms of payment information; 10. All travel itinerary for specific PNR (reservations for current flight, and might include reservations for flights not yet ticketed, or ticketed separately, together with non-air components of the travellers such as accommodations, car rental or rail reservations, tours, cruises, etc.) 12. Travel agency; 13. Travel agent-IATA/ARC accreditation number, agent, etc.; 14. Code share PNR info; 24. Bag tag numbers; 34. ATFQ fields.

Register readers can no doubt determine just how invasive this information is to their own situations.

The PNR often contains additional information pertaining to car rental and hotel stays and all the associated data such as affinity cards, etc.

In reality I don't think Clarke, or the present government, has the faintest idea of what privacy is. Additionally, ACPO will undoubtedly build a case for having access to this data so Plod can track a persons movement aided and abetted by knowing cell phone information.

If you want to take some action now, you can do it by using a travel agent and requesting the agent to (1) hold all data not needed to issue a ticket on agency based contact management software; (2) Book hotels and car rental directly, on-line; (3) Use the agency as your contact address and telephone number.

15 years is one hell of a long time to hold any data.

McKinnon's mum applauds Obama extradition stance

JaitcH
Unhappy

It's not McKinnon who should face charges but the incompetent people in NASA and the Pentagon ...

as it was their lax commitment to duty that enabled McKinnon to breach what is laughingly called 'security'.

It is time that defective piece of legislated by Blair & Blunket was amended so that Britain can put on trial all people accused of crimes committed in British jurisdiction - as do the French. Cameron has the responsibility, now, to secure justice for Brits.

Just imagine what the Chinese hackers can do if poor old Gary McKinnon can hack these computers!

Oz paper in todger-based trivia quiz outrage

JaitcH
Happy

Something like this happened back in the '60's with a UK electronics magazine, ...

except it was an article on war surplus conversion of a radar unit which featured a 'horn' and a 'cavity', in the days before the commercial resale market developed and the magazine was distributed and when readers, at least those with dirty minds, realised it described the deflowering of a virgin all tangled up with words technicians commonly use there was absolute panic. One phrase that comes to mind was "blowing away the cobwebs before you start". A real collectors item.

Yes it was an April issue - which was hurriedly recalled, unsuccessfully.

As for the question: : "What is the official currency of Vietnam?" the answer is the DONG (pronounced DOM) and has a picture of Uncle Ho on everyone of the notes/bills. They start at VND200 and the largest is VND500,000. There are about 22,000 to the dollar. My morning Cafe sua nom (strong enough to melt a teaspoon) costs me VND5,000.

Bradley Manning accuser to meet with prosecutors

JaitcH
Thumb Down

Lamo - a publicity seeking piece of scum out of the ...

gutter who wrapped his betrayal in the flag to claim he was a hero.

Some questions:

(1) How much has he been paid or will he be paid;

(2) During this much touted Washington trip will he be advised or coached into what to say:

(3) How does he reconcile the varying accounts of what transpired between himself and Manning;

(4) Will the prosecutors try to get him to include Wikileaks in his 'disclosure'.

PlayStation Network breach will cost Sony $171m

JaitcH
FAIL

Do I feel sorry? No! If Sony had expended as much energy on

security and updating server software as they did whilst harassing George Holtz it would not of happened.

Poetic justice: what a hit on the bottom line! Hooray!

Foxconn closes iPad factory after explosion deaths

JaitcH
Unhappy

Kind of hard to operate when you have holes in the factory floor

According to ChengDu, SiChuan local media a friend relayed to me apart from the damaged explosion area there are holes/cracks in floors above the detonation point and there were concerns the floors might collapse.

What interests me more, are the employees going to get compensation for the lay off period?

Modern Warfare 3 teaser trailer reveals terror on the tube

JaitcH
Happy

To beat the best Tube movie, made before CGI, which was ...

IMO, American Werewolf in London, anything better will have a hard time making it. The subway chases were superb in Werewolf - all taken with straight cameras!

Super-injunctions 'unfair' cos of Twitter gossip, says Cameron

JaitcH
FAIL

"Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt declared Twitter had made the law "an ass" "

Wrong! The politicians were the asses who drafted and passed this legislation, Twitter had nothing to do with it other than asserting it's U.S. Constitutions 1st Amendment rights.

Mind you the two stuffed dummies, Neuberger and Judge, didn't help themselves much when they opined about technology on the weekend. They are simply out of touch, not too good if they are deciding the merits of your case.

If married footballers, broadcasters or others want to bed women other than their wives they should understand the risks, including large alimony payments, before they do so. Using injunctions tto stop the publishing of fact is not justice.

Fred the Bankers, aka Fred the Shred aka Fred to Adulterer, injunction was a mockery of the courts - but they fell for it hook, line and sinker.

Apple iPhone 5 to sport CRT-style screen

JaitcH
Unhappy

Apple emulating car manufacturers - a touch here and another there

Obviously Jobs mob is getting desperate to maintain repeat sales.

All they appear to be doing is making slight changes so Iphans can differentiate between new models and clunkers and, Jobs hopes, it will generate yet more sales as Iphans slavishly buy yet more of the same.

Worked for years for car manufacturers, why not other products?

vBulletin abandons bid for injunction against ex-devs

JaitcH
Alert

No costs in the U.S.A., hopefully big ones awarded in the UK for the ...

defendants XenForo.

Pure malicious legal harassment.

Journos 'risk charges' for covering Parliamentary debates

JaitcH
Unhappy

Messrs. Neuberger & Lord, Senior British Beaks, have demonstrated just ...

how much they are out of touch with reality - the InterNet prevails and no matter how much sabre rattling these two old farts do, their jurisdiction ends at Penzance and/or Hadians Wall.

Then Neuberger further illustrates his stupidity by implying that newspapers reporting disclosure of 'superinjunctions' in Parliament would be potentially liable for contempt. What Neuberger misses is that newspapers have a duty to report to the electorate the activities in Parliament, except for a very few exclusions. He also forgets that he, Neuberger, is subservient to Parliament inasmuch as they write the legislation he administers.

As far as their fellow idiot who named Twitter, he too seems to realise the limitations of his proclamations as was reported by today's Guardian who named the Scottish Herald as being the newspaper who showed a slightly modified picture of the football player who was sleeping with Imogene Thomas.

Pretty sad state of affairs when the judges are clueless about the real world.

Heads roll at HP as Apotheker swings new broom

JaitcH
FAIL

Apotheker is like a dog peeing on a lamppost to show there's a ...

new boss in town.

Pity so many people are suffering career interruptions.

The 'new' HP is nothing like the old one: it valued employees and treated them with respect and dignity. Guess this is the Frog method of management.

Apple seeks anti-snoop display patent

JaitcH
FAIL

Yet more Apple Tosh: Ever heard of Polaroid or 3M - ATMs use it

Here we go again, Apple trying to re-invent other peoples work.

There are already films, applied screens, that do this and at least one type of LCD does, too.

Dumb U.S. patent office

Google was 'warned repeatedly' about rogue drug ads

JaitcH
FAIL

Just 'running ads from online pharmacies that were breaking US laws' doesn't make illegal elsewhere

Google, and other international companies, cross borders and different countries have different laws, therefore what is legal in one is maybe illegal in another.

V-P Biden is obviously in the pocket of the Hollywood media types - he is the one pushing the anti-piracy and copy hacking agenda - and now, obviously, Obama and company, facing a 2012 election, is cozying up to the U.S. pharmaceutical industry which has lots of dollars to throw around.

Maybe Obama should pay regard to hundreds, if not thousands, of American citizens who cross the northern border to purchase prescribed drugs - ignoring the fact Canadians have great marijuana, too - and with these savings can still afford the 'drug run' buses together with plenty of cash left over.

Canadian brand name drugs often are manufactured IN the USA, so many of these drug purchases are essentially buying exported drugs and then importing them back in to the U.S.A. The only difference is the price. The Province of Ontario has a drug pricing regime that is way, way cheaper than many other places - not generics but the same name brands.

Much of the on-line purchasing - ignoring certain blue heart-shaped pills - is a modified form of this, no buses. There is the small matter of U.S. prescriptions being accepted without a Canadian doctor actually issuing the prescription for Canadian drug sales.

At the bottom of this whole thing is American drug companies wanting to max out their profits. They work against the legal generic drug industry yet licence generic knock-offs in India and Brazil - two countries which find it difficult to deliver drugs into the U.S.A.

Not many Register readers have to ask themselves: Do I pay the rent, or buy food , or buy drugs. Europe looks after it's citizens, as does Canada, but in the 'greatest country in the world' there are many families who have to make this call monthly.

Obama claims he is out to look after 'the small people' yet his policies say otherwise.

Maybe Obama and company think they stand a better chance of getting political kickbacks from Google than they would if they chased the also illegally advertising Yahoo and Bing/Microsoft?

Google nabs patents from defunct mini-phone maker

JaitcH
Unhappy

Nortel patents, many at the cost of the Canadian tax payer

Way back in the early days of digital cell phones, when Americans had a lighter weight (than the famous Motorola brick) cell phones, the Canadian government decreed that when it introduced new technologies it would not licence dumb portable telephones.

It laid out a plan to guide manufacturers and Nortel jumped on the plan as a way to make big money. It also received large Canadian government grants to develop these technologies. If anyone gets to buy the portfolio I hope it is Google rather than some patent troll.

Pity Canadian taxpayers aren't able to receive a proportion of the patent sales, they surely deserve it.

Explosion in iPad factory kills two, injures more

JaitcH
FAIL

How can 'good working condition's equate with explosion?

I seem to remember that Foxconn ChengDu was a recent addition to their line up of factories and, given the earthquake of 7.9R in 2008, a lot of new industry was using brown field building sites.

Foxconn also requires special conditions for it's plants - clean, for a start - and notwithstanding the penchant for the Chinese construction industry to cut corners or bribe inspectors to overlook deficiencies, so I doubt Foxconn building inspectors failed in their duty.

I witnessed a dust explosion when I worked at a farm during my school summer vacation and it was pretty dusty in the silo before the explosion, guess who carried the tea to the workers there, so I find it hard for 'good working conditions' to have existed prior to the Foxconn explosion. (See < www.latestgadgetsnews.com/wp-content/gadgets/images/7/foxconn-ipad-2-plant-explosion-video.jpg >)

Whilst I, and others, have disparaging comments to make about Jobs' mob, even if they had no hearts or feelings, it is simply not good business practice to have sloppy production lines - it can hurt profits.

I believe, strongly, that work transferred from or done by Western companies should be done under the conditions that prevail in the home country. China along with Bangladesh, India, Cambodia and VietNam have all been guilty of worker mistreatment in the name of profit and it is due mainly to NGO and public pressure that things have improved.

Western consumers have a moral obligation to consider their purchases origination - whenever I visit Toronto I rarely take more than a couple of shirts as I know I can buy a new shirt for about the same as dry cleaning a soiled one. How can a shirt be manufactured and shipped to destination with small margins for profit without workers paying a penalty?

Low retail prices come at the cost of workers. Besides, not even Apple could manufacture their products in the U.S.A economically.

Using the internet in the People's Republic of China

JaitcH
Unhappy

Hotel InterNet access may seem lax but almost every room connection ...

in the country has activity recorders attached to record and transmit back each individual rooms 'net activity. They were installed in preparation for the Olympics.

Our company uses a small hotel in NanNing when attending a work site. We hook a TP-Link WiFi up to a directional antennae, and crank the power up with a software patch, and use the connection at the work site.

At least we have access to more web sites than the locals do from their broadband connections.

In the more remote hotels in YunNan Province, which borders VietNam, Laos and Burma/Myanmar, the hotels have no room activity recorder as you can see the broadband connection coming through the wall and connecting to the modem and the hub for the rooms.

£1.1bn Royal Navy warship finally armed, sort of

JaitcH
FAIL

New Navy procedure: Ordering ships without armaments - Part 2

Britain's last aircraft carrier was scrapped a couple of weeks before everyone's 'hero', Cameron, decided to conquer Libya in 2 or 3 weeks, months ago.

But the Ministry of Defence, always on the ball, has ordered two new aircraft carriers which will be delivered in a few years time.

Everyone but everyone knows 'mods' aka 'variations' is where suppliers make money.

So our gallant desk bound admirals ordered these ships, but without knowing what aircraft will fly from them - in fact there will be no aircraft when they hit the water. The choice of aircraft will determine if the carriers will be equipped with the standard steam driven or the latest maglev launching system.

If they go with maglev on only one carrier it means when the maglev version is out getting oiled and greased the other, steam launcher version will be unable to launch the other carriers aircraft.

So what did these expensive destroyers teach DOD about procurement? Squat! And once again the British tax payer get to pay twice or three times the original cost.

Part 3 are the Trident submarines .....

Apple to support reps: Don't confirm Mac infections

JaitcH
FAIL

Apple products - computers or Lemon 4's - are perfect; Jobs said so and would he lie?

Once again, Jobs mob is playing dishonest with their customers. Seeing how they have already been taken for premium prices you would hope for, but not expect, straight dealing.

No one is perfect, except in Job's mind - and that the sun shines out his nether end.

FTC, Canada bust internet scammers

JaitcH
Happy

Name Brand versus Generic

In most Canadian provinces pharmacy customers have to be asked if the want name brand or generic EXCEPT WHEN doctors add, on a prescription, no substitutes.

Not being able to opt for a generic maybe explains why NHS costs are so high!

Many name brands only 'touch up' their formulas in the hope of maintaining a patent, according to a Canadian research paper issued when drug copyrights were being re-legislated.

JaitcH
Alert

Unless you can squeeze money down your broadband you have to use plastic

Canada has quite an able national police force, as well as provincial and municipalities, and it certainly doesn't need the US FTC. A simple message to the RCMP liaison office in Washington, DC is all that is required.

Snake-oil originated in the US, and reading US newspapers they are as active as ever (cancer cures abound). If the FTC had completed cleaning up the mess south of the 49th then perhaps, they can cast their eyes wider.

The US often thinks Canada is it's 51st state, it isn't - that's why both countries have border controls.

The US thinks it is the worlds policeman, it isn't, yet you find the US Coast Guard challenging ships in the East China Sea and other places thousands of miles removed from the continental USA. It pays little heed to the niceties of other countries rights; there are US DEA officials in many countries.

If the offending company did wrong, Canada is more than capable of handling it - without having to deport the operators to the US for their version of 'justice'.

Credit card errors can be resolved through the card issuer and the card issuer is well able to withdraw credit card handling facilities to businesses, of any kind, so they will lose the convenience.

Besides, if Americans are dumb enough to supply credit card details in order to receive a purported 'free' offer, and they are incapable of thinking something is fishy, then they are fools.

JaitcH
WTF?

FTC: Clean up your US acts first ...

as one of the things the US continuously complains about is on-line Canadian pharmacies (chemists in the UK).

I was recently in the US and I was given a prescription for Biaxin XL 500 milligram tablets for which several pharmacies wanted USD$38.02, plus dispensing fee.

I went on-line to a Canadian dispensary and the generic of this, Clarithromycin, was only USD3, plus express mail and dispensing fee of $4.

So FTC, close your scammers down first, before chasing down Canadian entrepreneurs.

Simply viewing Apple kit provokes religious euphoria

JaitcH
Happy

Follow the crowd phenomena are not new ...

as it is common in Lemming behaviour.

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada was earlier known as Pile of Bones. Before the West was settled the First Nation Indians used to drive buffalo over low cliffs to kill them - the easy way.

The first few buffalo to the edge were hard to get over the edge but followers, seeing the first buffalo head over, simply followed.

Similarly, a few few early adopters entice the rest of the Jobsian supplicants to follow them. Just like sheep.

Cisco refuses to deny it will sell off Linksys

JaitcH
Unhappy

"those slim "flying-saucer-wedge' cases" ...

can't be stacked, either, unlike good old square cornered boxes.

JaitcH
Thumb Up

Do we really care, when there are quality products from ....

TP-Link? Their products can be patched and all manner of neat 'features' added including high power outputs.

ASUS has it's new WiFi line, too.

Linksys always looked 'clunky' with it's case designs.

Mumsnet founder: Our members are 'very keen' on PORN ...

JaitcH
WTF?

The UK government needs a single, coherent policy

My understanding is that UK law holds that websites that host chatrooms, such as this, are not responsible for content UNLESS they actively edit content.

Then people want ISPs, etc. to get in the business of moderating websites their users access, which, IMO, puts their heads in line for potential legal action.

On the other hand telco's are completely free of these encumbrances if their users plan so called acts of terrorism or just a simple break and enter.

Both classes of entity are 'common carriers'. Maybe the government could hold electricity supply companies responsible for supplying electricity to a indoor marijuana growing operation?

Identity and Passport Service loses its website

JaitcH
FAIL

Why don't they absorb ...

ACPO into the Home Office so that British citizens can have law governing their police rather than guidance from a bunch of old reprobates who get their positions by not getting court at anything disreputable during their careers.

At least the Home Office and the government is answerable to the pubic at election times whereas ACPO just goes on and on.

Apple proposes even tinier SIMs for future iPhones, iPads

JaitcH
Happy

The top cover fell off my SIM and it revealed ....

not one but two chips each covered by some sort of glue.

The cellco provides GSM with 3G.

Welshman attempts to board train with pony

JaitcH
Unhappy

In the days before Thatcher buggered up the railways ...

and the Metropolitan line ran on electric traction to Rickmansworth where it switched to steam engines and later to diesel electric, the guards had a whole 'van'/carriage to themselves with plenty of room for passengers goods to be carried.

I have seen a small horse in a guards van in those times as well as a few sheep. Then they 'improved' the service by electrifying the rail to Amersham - but no more guards van.

David Davis: Jobless should dig trenches for fat UK pipes

JaitcH
WTF?

Another UK politician reveals how stupid they can be

Laying cables today often involves ploughs and pigs.

Ploughs, designed for cable laying, can dispense armoured cable straight off a reel to a depth of about 1.5 metres, dependent upon the type of soil or the lack of it.

Pneumatic 'pigs' are devices shaped like a torpedo, in which a reciprocating weight, driven by compressed air, that can make holes under lawns and roadways in minutes. Think of it like a piston from car that is designed to strike the top of the cylinder, and kinetic energy drives the 'pig' forward. Some are 'steerable' within limits.

The problem has been, in the past, that the former BT entity always went the 'gold' route with cable conduits being installed (remember those 4 and 6 hole pipes?) and their conformity tested by dragging a test piece through them to ensure it didn't get stuck.

Canada has had thousands of kilometres of all sorts of cables laid by ploughs. Even undersea cables are ploughed in to prevent damage from fishing tackle.

The 'drops' to premises can be pre-manufactured so field work is minimised and limited to feeder connections in street distribution boxes.

Maybe the unemployed Davis has in mind can be used to make tea or coffee or roll the spools of cables around. Certainly they are not need for digging holes.