* Posts by JaitcH

3904 publicly visible posts • joined 12 Oct 2009

Google's Inventor gets short shrift

JaitcH
Pint

Maybe this says more about Pogue ...

than it does the Google Application.

There have, over computing history, been several iterations of D-I-Y programming with varying levels of success.

Just because one guy can't hack it doesn't mean to say others won't succeed. One thing is for sure, it is a damned neat way to interest people in Android than Job's sterile walled yard.

Short passwords 'hopelessly inadequate', say boffins

JaitcH
Pint

The HSBC was good then they stepped backwards

The HSBC InterNet banking system has three numbers. An InterNet Banking number, Date of Birth and a customer determined number.

Then then they got an attack of the dumb-dumbs and made it possible to remember / prefill the first number. Why, who knows?

Still it's quite reliable as long as you watch your computer security.

BT Tower to open for first time in 29 years

JaitcH
Happy

Want to see a hot reactor? Come on over to Canada.

Several of our nuclear stations are open to visitors, the operators are proud to show off their prowess.

JaitcH
WTF?

Redacted from maps and largely redundant

Demonstrating just how retarded government security could be, this ugly monster appears as a wide open oblong on a several maps I have of London.

Like many of it's taller brethren, the BT Tower is not too good for much given that it's archaic microwave dishes and horns have been replaced by fibre-optic cable and satellite links. It's historic building rating about sums up it's utility other than for outside broadcasts, etc.

Given that it is, technically, a publicly funded building it should be wide open so tourists can use it in a shorter version of the CNN Tower in Toronto, Canada - except it really sways when it gets windy (olace a bottle of drinking water on a flat surface to see how much).

Archos 7 Android tablet

JaitcH
FAIL

No Android V3.0+ has to be a pass

Google is releasing V3 later this year with tablet-specific benefits and unless this is GUARANTEED as an update.

No slide-out keyboard, resistive screen complete the disappointment.

Apple staff allegedly sold secrets worth $1m

JaitcH
Jobs Horns

Business as usual for the Far East

'Tea' money is common in the Far.Southeast Asian economies, called bribes, kickbacks, etc. in the West.

If this guy was Singapore based, as some reports would have it, he will likely be in deep do-do as Singapore likes to be known as a squeaky clean, corruption free society which, of course, is not true.

People might remember the Siemens, Pirelli, BICC, Tomen and Marubeni scandal where they kicked back USD$9-million+ to CHOY, Hon-Tim the deputy chair of the Public Utility Board.

No doubt this will rumble on for some time and presents Apple with a problem since only a few companies are capable of meeting their, and others, exacting requirements for smart-phone production.

Ten unlikely iPhone insurance claims

JaitcH
Jobs Horns

Only one person capable of this ...

Jobs!

Android gets talk-tastic Froyo upgrade

JaitcH
Pint

Possibly Nuance has the lot beaten

I have recently acquired the latest version of Nuance' Dragon Speaking to transcribe field reports I dictate using a headset, albeit in noisy conditions.

The software is able to handle even the more obtuse words, even technical expressions.

Perhaps they can be persuaded to write Apps for all mobile OS as they seem to have gotten the problems locked using many accents.

'PatentGate' allegations denied by Apple

JaitcH
Jobs Horns

Fixed or mobile it's the art of the patent

It makes little difference if prior art is used on a desk top, a vending machine or a portable device a patent. or prior use, can not be recycled which is what Apple attempted to do, again.

Shareholders sue HP over Hurd's sex scandal probe

JaitcH
WTF?

Messrs. Hewlett and Packard must be ...

spinning in their graves. They were beacons of American industry and were honourable in their business dealings.

The trash management that has assumed the mantle has done little except besmirch their founders names. It is shameful.

In an earlier career I bought HP test products knowing they were high quality and that they would stand behind them in case of failure.

I wouldn't even by an ink refill from them now.

Skype and Google next against the wall in India

JaitcH
WTF?

No problem, go and screw your national production goals

Let the Indian government go ahead and do a number on Google and Skype. All they will achieve is increased problems in advancing their technology goals.

They should bear in mind that neither Google or Skype costs a penny to use and therefore their GDP benefits.

15K Wikileaks docs 'potentially more explosive,' US frets

JaitcH
Pint

The US demands transparency from others, but not itself!

In such a publicly hypocritical way the US is objecting, nay even imprisoning, whistle-blowers who expose the total inexcusable murder of reporters going about their lawful business.

These reports have allowed the public, who is actually paying for this folly, to see just how little they are getting for bankrupting their country and placing the burden on many future generations of Americans and Britains.

Since the reports are obviously 'past tense' and they contain not so much as secrets rather than embarrassments and details of breaches of US military and international law they deserve to see the light of day.

Did George Washington ever think his dream country would stoop so low?

Oracle sues Google over Java in Android

JaitcH
Pint

In other words: Share the Wealth, Google.

I want to know why they didn't sue Google for also copying the letters O, L and E for use in their name.

iPhone 4 on Pay as You Go: UK networks compared

JaitcH
Unhappy

How come SIMs cost so much

The government of the country in which I live has decreed that telco's can not discount any service below cost.

Our SIM's cost USD$0.25 (25 cents) and they are not the smallest as they contain menus in 3 languages which are quite memory hungry.

Another feature they offer is number selection independent of the SIM's which is just a matter of checking a box next to the desired number.

The articles price lists illustrate UK carriers gouging the poor British cell user.

Chinese hurl $1.5bn into NFC city

JaitcH
Pint

ChongQing - City of pollution, hills and 30,000,000 people

ChongQing, a city in western China, needs industry diversification as presently it is dependent on motorcycles, automobiles and some mining.

Visitors remember a few things like the crowded streets, traffic jams and those hills, one after the other.

Are plasma TVs killing radio?

JaitcH
Unhappy

Odd harmonics do it

10MHZ x 9 or 30MHZ x 3 sound like potential offenders.

Taxman warns on phone fraud

JaitcH
Unhappy

... their details will probably then be sold on to other crooks

Crooks other than the tax people?

India threatens BlackBerry ban

JaitcH
Pint

RIM / BlackBerry has always had good scrambling

They use Triple DES, too.

There are more secure software based systems.

JaitcH
Unhappy

The UK was one of the first ....

with RIM servers.

Blair and Brown i your pants.

Firefox 4 hits third beta stage, gets touchy-feely with Windows 7

JaitcH
Unhappy

A lot of work to do, yet

A couple of my employees are testing out FF4 but the damn browser keeps on collapsing - even on fresh XP OS installs.

Pity they can't keep some of the add-ons current especially Tree Style Tabs.

ASA: You can't say 'f**k'

JaitcH
Alert

The deterioration in language skills id regrettable ...

but if the Neanderthals that populate the ASA committee were to stand outside almost any middle or senior school and delete every use of the colloquial word for intercourse many youths, of either sex, would have a sizeable chunk of their vocabulary eliminated.

The standard should be the acceptable language of society not some do-gooders trying to impose their wishes on the public.

How does the British-based FCUK survive?

An interesting report stated: "FCUK is indeed perceived as particularly styling among the 14 to 17 year old segment, according to the Portman Group, a British drinks industry panel. So interestingly, the AFA's media-tized petition might actually backfire in the mind of the youth it intends to protect. To rebellious teens, such a reaction – an uptight, out-of-touch reaction, they might say from the "old folks" – can only make a seemingly cool brand even more attractive. Could it be possible that FCUK connects with its young audience better than many parents do?"

It's all a play on words, if they had allowed "I F**CKING LOVE YOU" (sic), what about "I LOVE F**CKING YOU" (sic)?

MoD bod warns of cyber attack risk

JaitcH
Thumb Down

This is DoD code for ...

we need more money.

Documents show CAA fears over powerline networks

JaitcH
Unhappy

Airport ATC frequencies are jammed by cable TV ...

where the co-ax cable gets damaged and the centre core is exposed. See: < http://www.emcuk.co.uk/awareness/Pages/InterferenceExamples/IssuesWithBroadband.htm >.

Maybe the CAA should check out air regulations and see if there is an answer there. Anyway, when the first 'incident' (crash) occurs people will wake up.

Northern Ireland gets upgraded spycams

JaitcH
WTF?

Caution: British government transparency at work

typical British civil service attitude: We know what's good for you!

Better ban those white laser flash-lights / torches from China, too, as they make the optical sensors 'fluoresce' when illuminated by these lights.

High-intensity UV lasers also have more interesting effects on many cameras without automatic iris attachments.

Just another waste of money. Question: "If speed cameras don't work gow come these do?"

Junk mail kingpin held on child abuse charges

JaitcH
WTF?

If you can't get him on e-mail scams ...

charge him with something else - an old U.S. law enforcement trick.

Don't be so quick to convict him ... even in Russia you are not guilty until the c=judge says otherwise AND sometimes even the judges say Guilty when the accused was not (framed by police).

Cloud dollars fluff Rackspace's quarter

JaitcH
Pint

Disclosure

The Register is hosted by Rackspace.

Given The Register's up time speaks volumes for Rackspace reliability.

Apple kills browse-and-get-hacked bugs in iOS

JaitcH
Jobs Horns

Some patch at 378MB - sounds more like a REBUILD

There is no way such a huge download, presumably compressed, can ever be considered as a 'patch'.

And who gets to pay for this LemonAid download - maybe a visit to an Apple outlet would save users data allowances?

Another tribute to Job's skills in 'under statement' or as some might call it ... lying. And they actually tested Lemon 4 before they released it? Perhaps Job's should hire the hackers to do he testing.

Maintaining the faith can be very testing and expensive.

Facebook bug spills name and pic for all 500 million users

JaitcH
WTF?

Ain't technology wonderful - especially Facebook

It was Shakespeare who gave the line: "For tis the sport to have the enginer Hoist with his owne petar" to Hamlet in 1602 - for an explanation see: < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petard > - and Facebook is a wonderful example.

Facebook subscribers have no one to blame for their public exposure as the web site has behaved as immaturely as it's purported owner. There have been plenty of warnings that privacy should not be expected either by technology failings or malicious intent of the web site operators.

If you want your privacy, don't publish your information anywhere.

Hands on with RIM's BlackBerry Torch 9800

JaitcH
Pint

Missing some Apple Lemon 4 features

It appears the Apple Death Grip and External Antenna features have not been copied by RIM. And what of Flash?

The most obvious advantages in this new RIM is that so many of the tried and tested features such as the keyboard remain meaning users of older BlackBerries will feel right at home with this new device.

No news about the battery or the charging connector. The screen appeared to be a little too reflective in the video clip as we could clearly see the users facial features in several frames.

India threatens to ban 1m BlackBerrys

JaitcH
Happy

ECHELON is the answer

The countries who are signatory to the ECHELON interception network can always claim to 'never spy on their own citizens' by having other members do the work for them. Bit with the Patriot Act the U.S. government is vacuuming all forms of communications in the USA, and world-wide, which is really self-defeating as analysis is falling way, way behind that results in the Detroit would-be bomber getting a visa, or flights in mid-At;antic either being turned around or told to land in Maine.

Besides, there are RIM servers physically located in the UK (distributed processing).

JaitcH
Stop

RIM is quickly losing it's advantage

The major factor in opting for RIM, apart from it's thumb exercising keyboard, was security.

Where is Phil Zimmerman when we need him?

We need a multi-platform e-mail client that offers plain and encrypted communications and elected use of encryption would likely go unnoticed. BTW, please drop the file header - it's too obvious!

Police told terror ads too terrifying offensive

JaitcH
Unhappy

Useful insight into Plod mindset & 'thought process'

This, in Plod terminology, is INCITEMENT or maybe even RACIAL INCITEMENT. But the insight into what passes for Plod thoughts is very interesting .. and useful.

Many people are unemployed and unlikely to become bank customers - they like people with money - and what if people choose to keep their curtains dawn.

Next thing the 'Englisman's Castle' will be required to divest their estates of all leafged shrubbery exceeding 6 feet in height. Maybe they should ban all those gause/chintz curtains that prevent plain view of house interiors.

Or could it be that due to Plod budget reductions means they are abandining police cars for surveillance and masses of detectives are riding around on the upper decks of buses peeping in windows.

They could ask Google to run two sets of cameras on heir Streetview cars: a lower one for Google and a higher one for Plod.

Then building regs will need rewriting banning bedroom windows not facing the road, in case some miscreant tries to commit his crime in private.

As for myself, I will continue to use cash because any supposed privacy connected with banking or cards of any type is totally illusory. And a closing hint for terrorists: use a debit card and your bedroom curtains open!

Attack reads smudges to retrieve Android password patterns

JaitcH
WTF?

Written by Apple fanbois

I have various hand-held devices and all of them are protected by screen overlays and they don't smudge. Besides, having chubby fingers I honestly prefer a stylus which leave no smudges.

Several are tethered to my belt and these crazy ideas are unlikely to be very practical.

I hope any government funding for these types of stupid studies are cut, soon.

Blackpad to 'cost $500, launch in November'

JaitcH
Happy

A winning tablet ...

needs full communications capability as well as at least one SD memory socket, one or two USB sockets and an OS that will have plenty of Apps, Flash and a real keyboard.

Whilst Android 3.0+ would be the best OS, I guess we will have to put up with RIM OS.

EC probes Apple for anti-competitive antics

JaitcH

Looks like Steve is becoming more like King Canute each day

King Canute, legend has it, sat on a beach in his throne and issued certain commandments to his minions which Nature immediately challenged.

King Job, of California, is slowly learning his commandments are slowly being challenged, too.

First the Law of Physics 'radio frequency division' failed to comply and now mere civil servants are challenging his commandments. Will this usurping of his power never cease?

UK.gov to scrap new staff training rights

JaitcH
WTF?

Way to go, Britain, other countries do exactly the same and win

How dumb can British governments get?

With today's rapidly changing technology continual updating/retraining is required.

In my North American business career I have spent, at employers expense, approximately 6.8 years at non-university product related training.

The dummy politicians who made this decision should study places such as Singapore, Greece (even), China and VietNam and see just how determined people are to improve their skill-sets.

Accenture denies British Gas 'millions of errors' billing system claim

JaitcH
Unhappy

British Gas simply passing the buck (pound or euro)

Seems like British Gas has problems that are common to utilities, often started when meter readings were misread.

Our wonderful Toronto Hydro electrical supply utility had such belief in their computers infallibility they cut me off for a month whilst they figured out that I was right.

First SMS Trojan for Android is in the wild

JaitcH
WTF?

My biggest security concern with smartphones is ...

knowing what data is collected by the smart-phone OS issuers themselves.and what it is used for.

Any GPS feature should be controlled by the user, including remote functions.

Microsoft ends Office lovers' employee discount program

JaitcH
Gates Horns

Word, it's time has passed

Word was nimble and good - although Wordstar was better.

Word has too many features that go unused to warrant the hard drive real estate it occupies.

Air steward resigns via emergency chute

JaitcH
Unhappy

Why do you quote the WSJ

when Murdoch, the Neanderthal is, he first to try monetising what others provide at no cost? This ignores the fact the WSJ is now simply an opinion column for Murdoch.

Toshiba shows off self-deleting, self-encrypting drive

JaitcH
Jobs Horns

Apple most likely has ...

a patent for that.

Voda UK rings up PAYG plans for iPhone 4

JaitcH
Jobs Horns

Maybe the Brits are smarter than Americans ...

in expecting when they buy something like the Lemon 4 they expect it to work and this is is Vodafone's answer to moving sales?

Garmin Asus Nüvifone M10

JaitcH
Unhappy

Asus is Good but Garmin ...

is the most unreliable company for product accuracy, ruggedness and what they call 'service'.

I bought a Garmin unit and the case retaining moulded-in screw socket worked loose, breaching the 'waterproof' feature of the unit.

Cost me $45 to get my 'free replacement' as my country Garmin rep was forced to pay Garmin's handling costs - and they made me pay.

Garmin never responded to my complaints.

Palm Prē design lead ejects from HP

JaitcH
Unhappy

Merging companies is more than money

With HP's acquisition of Palm paying the bill is often the easiest challenge.

Deciding whether a Palm type entity remains whole under the HP umbrella as a separate operating unit or whether it is integrated INTO HP will make a lot of difference.

Management style, work conditions even dress can affect employees.

Google, Verizon net pact has 'many problems' says FCC commish

JaitcH
Pint

The difference between a Republican and a Democratic FCC

is that the former tended to simply rubber stamp industry proposals whereas the Democratic appointed chairman seems to place consumer interests ahead of industry.

If only other Western countries had such an open process - compare that to the UK's slow response to maps of transmitter sites.

Plane crash kills 'series of tubes' Senator Ted Stevens

JaitcH
Pint

What the courts didn't achieve, Alaska's ATC did

Stevens was an influence pedlar from the Republican camp who grabbed millions of dollars for worthless projects instead of getting Alaska's air traffic control to work in areas where traffic demanded better coverage.

He was a greedy politician whose hunger for 'appreciation' knew no limits.

Apple iPhone exec falls on sword

JaitcH
Unhappy

The corporate disappearing act

A large reservation travel company, once owned by an airline in the U.S., runs a program that removes permissions for a terminated employee that is triggered the minute the employee is notified.

All computer access, web and e-mail references are removed with e-mail forwarding implemented, telephone systems reprogrammed, credit cards cancelled along with all employee privileges such as airline discounts.

The employees access card is, of course nuked, and they have to be escorted out of the premises! By the next business day all traces of employment, such as parking spots, office names, etc have vanished done by gremlins who work overnight.

Only HR retains contact to finalise all the paperwork, etc.

Pretty amazing to watch, as long as you are not the reason!

700,000 Saudi BlackBerrys go silent noisy

JaitcH
WTF?

It's nearly that time again ...

the Hajj.

Borders are almost wide open, to muslims, and the vulnerability is highest.

US appeals court bashes warrantless GPS tracking

JaitcH
Happy

Since 2007 they have had a couple of high tech vehicles ...

for deployment in high crime areas.

The FBI/DEA device is described here: < http://www.spyzone.com/index.php?app=ccp0&ns=prodshow&ref=gpsrecorder&sid=t5nd57eu6f6p864joe3bw66s5sp29ts1 >.

The hardest part is concealing the device under a layer of grease, dirt or paint. Most any person familiar with a vehicle can locate these things with the use of a vehicle hoist and bright light.

Of course a GPS jammer, easily constructed to emit a carrier at L1 (1575.42 Mhz) and L2 (1227.60 MHz) will defeat these devices. Google provides numerous low cost schematics for those interested in their very own low power GPS station that should be mounted under your vehicle.

Fortunately with government budgets coming under extreme constraints police budgets can no longer afford these goodies. In fact a Colorado has just sold off it's police helicopters so Big Brother has taken another hit.

Apple iPhone app patent claim 'doesn't feel right'

JaitcH
Jobs Horns

Apple built it's early UI on plagiarised goods

Apple simply co-opted Xerox ground breaking UI work and they have continued to do so, as well as plain stealing others names, such as the Fujitsu iPad. MS is little better.

Those pathetic little screens Apple is seeking a patent for have already been employed, several years ago, in travel res terminals. The terminals were also touch, although a very early version.

The concept was liking checking boxes only with the customers finger, rather than having a keyboard vulnerable to vandalism and permitting them to type their requirements. The screen labels changed discretely as selections were touched.

Apples copies appear to be static, which a step to the rear. Like external antennae.