* Posts by Sir Runcible Spoon

5770 publicly visible posts • joined 29 May 2007

Are you a Tory-voting IT contractor? Congrats! Osborne is hiking your taxes

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Yes, they will emigrate

And if you work in a technical field in Germany you will find they are pretty much all fluent in English. Most of the technical terms are used as-is (i.e. English words).

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: I will be worse off

The article didn't mention that as freelance consultants we don't get sick pay either.

A bit of extra tax is one thing, but if they make it more complex and risky then contractors are more likely to seek refuge in permie roles as they will at least will get some perks like pension contributions/sick pay/redundancy entitlement/HR protection from unscrupulous managers/protection from unfair dismissal etc.

At which point, believe it or not, the government will get less tax, not more.

Snowden to the IETF: Please make an internet for users, not the spies

Sir Runcible Spoon
Joke

I think they may have been thinking along the lines of DHCP for MAC addresses :)

Sir Runcible Spoon
Black Helicopters

Sir

Someone once told the control freaks that information is power and effectively a form of currency.

Now that they have collected all this data on everyone they need to spend it on something.

Analyst: I know, why don't we sell the nebulous idea of a war on something so we can spend all this 'information' currency and convert it into some REAL currency.

Monger: That's a terrifying thought!

Analyst: That's it! A War on Terror! We're made, it's the gravy-train for us alright...choo choo!! I'm just going to call uncle Broomfondle and let him know the good news - Magickthighs was right all along :)

Much more Moore's Law, as boffins assemble atom-level transistor

Sir Runcible Spoon
Coat

Re: Well, we've created this computer that uses single atoms for transistors...

but can it play Crisis?

Project Morpheus VR headset hands-on at the Sony Summer Showcase

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Sir

It does, I had a look at a trailer yesterday and it shows some promise.

Something like that with Rockstar level production would be most welcome :)

I also had a look at Limit Theory and Ascent.

Sir Runcible Spoon
Megaphone

Sir

Isn't it about time we got a sand-box game that was both land and space based (and good)?

I want Megatraveller Elite Redemption GTA VI, and I want it in VR. (Please)

An EPIC picture of Earth, sunny side up, from one million miles out

Sir Runcible Spoon
WTF?

Sir

I'm not sure I understand how the resolution exceeded their expectations - did they order the imaging hardware from Amazon and just plug it in before launching?

If they designed it and built it, how can it be better than they expected?

STARS SNUFFED in massive galactic whodunit

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: It's the remnants of a space battle.

We could do with a Gray lensman visiting Earth to sort it out a bit to be honest - anyone got their telepath number?

Metadata slurp warrant typo sends cops barging into the wrong house

Sir Runcible Spoon
Headmaster

Re: Typo's [sic] happen

'It could be argued that the apostrophe indicates the missing letters for "typological error".'

Errors, surely?

Female blood-suckers zero in on human prey by smelling our breath

Sir Runcible Spoon
Mushroom

Re: So what's new here?

I was thinking that too - how come I've known this for years yet there is new research to 'prove' it. I certainly didn't do any experiements so I must have read it somewhere (and it was a fair while ago too).

Perhaps the world is suffering some kind of reboot process where bits of it forget that stuff has already been done (prior to the reboot).

<awaits BSOD aka 'The Sky' to fall in on me>

FireEye intern nailed in Darkode downfall was VXer, say the Feds

Sir Runcible Spoon
Joke

"22 Year old Victorian"

I take it there was no mention of them confiscatiing his time machine?

Lawyer brands client 'small penis asshole' before challenging him to a DUEL

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: I wouldn't normally do this but...

And you get multipliers if those involved come to some sort of disagreeable/amusing end.

Did speeding American manhole cover beat Sputnik into space? Top boffin speaks to El Reg

Sir Runcible Spoon
Coat

Re: First ORION launch?

but..but...that's what makes it a worm!

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: 2.0013% of the maximum velocity of a sheep in a vacuum.

I don't think it would have weighed that much after a couple of seconds of ablation from both the upward force and the atmosphere, plus any effects of vibration breaking chunks off.

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Very interesting story,

That does sound spooky :)

Microsoft to Windows 10 consumers: You'll get updates LIKE IT or NOT

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: THE SKY IS FALLING!

Considering how often updates can break things the knowledge that you can't stop them is a fairly important consideration on when you decide not to use Windows 10 (aka Windows titsup)

Microsoft nixes A-V updates for XP, exposes 180 MEEELLION luddites

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Microsft A/V support ending? No great loss.

Running XP with no AV at all is probably a reasonable move at this point since a lot of the cleverer stuff tends to view such machines as honeypots whose sole existence is to attract infection with a view to decompiling their operations.

Sir Runcible Spoon
Joke

Re: Does the XP Point of Sale improvement still apply?

"Me, spending the money I have saved on White Lightening!!!"

Mind bleach?

Hacking Team spyware rootkit: Even a new HARD DRIVE wouldn't get rid of it

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Mitigation?

Deploy a proxy using a whitelist.

Anything that doesn't go via the proxy gets blocked.

Of course, then you need to set up a proxy for your proxy etc :)

Natural geothermal heat under Antarctic ice: 'Surprisingly high'

Sir Runcible Spoon
FAIL

Re: Surprisingly high: Compared to what?

That link takes you to a paywall, so it's a bit hard for me to examine what it actually says.

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Surprisingly high: Compared to what?

No, I'm not certain that there is such a thing, but then I'm not making any assertions to that effect am I? So no proof necessary (to ask questions).

Any chance of a citation for the claims you made in your last sentence?

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Surprisingly high: Compared to what?

@AC You seem to have drawn things up into two camps again, leaving little room for those who have not been convinced by the evidence so far, a lot of which is tainted by accusations of fudging and bias.

"We know as a physical fact that increasing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere will cause global warming (basic physics)."

Do we? If you only include basic physics then this is probably a fair assertion, but what about increasing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere of a complex system with a large number of subtle (and not so subtle) feedback mechanisms? Are you 100% certain there is no feedback mechnism in play that reduces the impact of rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere on heat retention by the planet?

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Surprisingly high: Compared to what?

"The poor old AGW deniers are desperate for crumbs of anecdotal evidence because there is just about no one left with half a real science qualification arguing their side, and no substantial evidence."

For the record, I'm not an AGW denier. However, I am yet to be convinced that man is the primary cause of any warming we are seeing. A lot of the rhetoric seems to focus on people who are for or against the idea, when in reality there are quite a few people who just don't think the evidence* provided so far is conclusive enough.

Whilst we are at it, you don't require evidence to prove a negative. It is incumbant on the proponent of a theory to provide evidence that can be tested rigourously by independant parties. You can't prove a negative (that I am aware of).

*especially when there appears to be a lot of fudging going on.

The Great Barrier Relief – Inside London's heavy metal and concrete defence act

Sir Runcible Spoon
Coat

"I think there was a special bus"

I remember those, although I don't seem to recall seeing any sunshine buses recently :(

Uninstalled Google Photos? Thought your pics safe from slurping? WRONG, bozo

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Photos are special; they do not belong to a single app

I think you need to re-read the article.

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: So

No, the person taking the picture has been volunteered for that crime.

Someone at Subway is a serious security nerd

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: "Because there’s something about having your life on the line."

Unintended is always funnier :)

Sir Runcible Spoon
Thumb Up

Re: "Because there’s something about having your life on the line."

"got a whole bunch of hits"

deliberate? :)

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: dogs and b-a-t-h

When it comes to actual food potential the whole spelling thing just goes by the way-side and she brings out the big-guns: telepathy.

Seriously, you've only got to think about going into the kitchen for something and she can go from 'laying on her back with her legs pointing to the four corners of the universe' to 'stalking mode with ears in jodderal bank position' in as much time as it takes to blink :)

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Expensive locks on cheap flimsy doors that lead to empty cupboards

" like dogs and the b-a-t-h."

Our dog has learnt to spell, so that one's out. If I ask her to go outside and do a wee and it isn't obvious we are about to leave the house, she gets very suspicious and I think she has now successfully managed to piece together that this is a pre-cursor to having a shower :)

Hacking Team: We’ll be back in the spyware biz before you know it

Sir Runcible Spoon
Headmaster

Re: translation please

"Specifically because being stolen made it worthless junk."

Or rather it being stolen and released publicly made it worthless junk.

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: "ethical" behaviour.

New business case proposal:

1. Buy zero day exploit for $x

2. Sell zero day exploit for $x/10 to 11 customers (i.e. knock-down price)

3. Expose zero day through puppet company to reduce value to zero.

You make 10% to cover your running costs and you eventually eliminate all known exploits (or people stop buying them).

Worth a go?

Hacking Team: We're the good guys, but SO misunderstood. Like Batman

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: "We're the good guys."

"I don't recall Clint Eastwood ever saying a line of that sort in any of his three Sergio Leone movies."

He didn't need to, he was clearly labelled as such in one of the intro's. I'm also not sure those movies can be safely placed into the 'cheesy' category.

Security gurus deliver coup de grace to US govt's encryption backdoor demands

Sir Runcible Spoon
Pint

Re: Chasing criminals or controlling the populace?

We seem to be on the same page :)

Enjoy a virtual beer on me --->

Sir Runcible Spoon
Thumb Up

Re: Chasing criminals or controlling the populace?

@Dan, I really do think you are being far too generous with your acceptance of the possibility that the results we are seeing are some kind of unintended consequence.

The only circumstance I can see that being true is if the people making these decisions are completely unaware of all the warnings they have been given (i.e. fingers in the ears humming loudly).

If they are aware, then it's deliberate. If they aren't aware then it's incompetence bordering on treasonous (I'm re-purposing the word here to mean to work against the population, not the crown :) ).

I've enjoyed reading your posts in this thread though, your points are well made and need to be taken into consideration. Knee-jerk, frothing at the mouth type reactions will only serve the cause of freedom more harm.

If the system has been corrupted by corporate interests, then that is what we need to tackle. More oversight and controls on lobbying would be an excellent way to start limiting the power of money over the power of the vote (imho).

Sir Runcible Spoon

Missing the point

"But that runs into the First Contact problem. You have to be sure the person you meet in person really IS the person you want to meet and not a mole. Plus the code you use can limit your vocabulary. Try to make it too broad and it can become suspicious enough to warrant a code-cracking effort."

You would have the same first contact problem when using encryption too, so it's irrelevant to the comparison.

Why would the vocab be limited? A true cypher cannot be cracked unless you know the source text.

(I'm thinking homophonic substitution cypher here). Sure it's inefficient and unwieldy, but I can't see anyone cracking it.

Sir Runcible Spoon

"Which people would say would stick out like a sore thumb and warrant investigation"

Really? Wow. It would be so hard for a rogue encryption solution to appear like the approved version I'm sure (that's sarcasm by the way).

Have you ever looked on usenet? I could agree a cypher with someone in person and then communicate, in public, without anyone knowing anything about the discussion. I could post the message from anywhere with weak wi-fi security, using spoofed MAC addresses and fingerprinting profiles from a clean install of an OS run as a virtual guest.

This can be done right now, without the need for any encryption software. When you play whack-a-mole, the game does not end until your arms drop off or the hammer breaks.

Up until now they have been claiming 'all' they wanted was the meta-data - whom is talking to whom - now they want the details, including your bank balance and shopping profiles. What for?

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: What the ever happened to the USA's ideals

These surveillance bods seem to subscribe to the 'bracketing' method of PR.

If you want to convince someone that way A is better than B, then simply represent two aspects of A as being the only alternatives to argue over. B never gets a look in.

B=Freedom in this instance

Crap crypto crackdown coming as FBI boss testifies to US Congress

Sir Runcible Spoon
Coat

Re: Rare moment for Europe to be ahead of the US

Red Sea pedestrian, surely?

(PS. Don't tell them he wasn't a Christian* either!)

*although you could argue that he was the first :)

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: them intertubes be dangerous

It's funny how these goons ignore the experts saying it can't be done with a simple belligerent response 'but it *must* be done, how is your problem!'.

It's also funny that they never seem to want to address the primary source material for creating extremist fundamentalists - US foreign policy.

US Homeland Security boss wants nationwide law for reporting network break-ins

Sir Runcible Spoon
Coat

Re: And no more NDAs

He's right, it is key, but not in the way he is implying.

Sharing information on all the personal details of who has security clearance, for example, does not make you more secure.

NSA snooped on German chancellors for DECADES: Wikileaks

Sir Runcible Spoon
Coat

Re: Ich bin ein Berliner

I thought he called himself a doughnut?

Welkom in Nederland: Laid-back, chilled, and MONITORING everything

Sir Runcible Spoon
WTF?

Re: change the photo

I don't often see people wearing Beefeater outfits in the UK either, but I don't think I'd get my knickers in a twist if some foreign rag ran a story on the UK with someone in a Beefeater get up.

Security world chuckles at Hacking Team’s 'virus torrent' squeals

Sir Runcible Spoon

Sir

"Critics argue that the tech is used by countries with patchy human rights records to spy on activists and journalists."

or

"Critics argue that the tech is used by countries with patchy human rights records to spy on activists and journalists."

No caveat required really since they are all at it and recognise no limits to their surveillance.

(Like GCHQ for example.)

Silly Google's Photos app labelled black people as gorillas

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Stuff kids say

"so thats one feature that won't be returning to my phone any time soon."

Superb :)

I think all* products should be tested by toddlers.

*There will obviously need to be *some* restrictions!

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: So how behind *are* Google

*voice* I have detailed files on human anatomy. */voice*

Sir Runcible Spoon
Coat

Re: Stuff kids say

She sounds quite advanced to me, can't find fault with either her timing or what she said.

Goodbye Vulcan: Blighty's nuclear bomber retires for the last time

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: A beautiful aircraft though - Possibly the loudest thing I've ever seen move.

The Lightning's are a fearsome beast, it's basically a couple of huge jet engines with a couple of fins attached to it - the pilot is almost an afterthought!

Audit finds new flaw at US Office of Personnel Management

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Why do so many people *need* security clearance?

Don't forget: a lot of these jobs will involve access to buildings as well as networks. Even if someone doesn't have clearance to get into the 'secure' room, they could still do something nasty in the canteen where people with all sorts of clearance will visit at some point.