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* Posts by Bernard M. Orwell

1177 publicly visible posts • joined 12 May 2010

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Councils launch eight spying ops on Brits A DAY using RIPA

Bernard M. Orwell
Big Brother

Cameras....

....are about fines.

Fines are about profit.

RIPA helps this process along.

Remember, when you pay your council tax, you are partly paying for the system that allows them to monitor and fine you to further increase the monies they can take from you. Monies that are then, usually, expended in bribing developers to build large, empty office blocks or elitist "waterfront developments" etc. that ensure those same developers then support the councillors who run the system in the first place.

Welcome to Britain. Please smash some cameras on your way past.

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Judge frees nude TSA protester, citing free speech rights

Bernard M. Orwell
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Re: If you think TSA treats you "like a convicted felon"

Been there have you?

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Yes, you can be sacked for making dodgy Facebook posts

Bernard M. Orwell
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FAIL

@Aaron Em

And you produce naught but ad hominem attacks.

Your argument is rendered invalid.

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Bernard M. Orwell
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Mushroom

Re: sacked for making dodgy Facebook posts

So, I can have punitive action taken against me by another party without recourse to the judicial process? I think there's a thing called a "tribunal" that may disagree.

I may not know much about US Law (I'm a UK citizen and hold this aloft as an example of something we don't want over here thankyouverymuch) but I believe you have a sort of law that goes by the following wording.......

"The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances."

And the 14th amendment goes on to clarify that...

"There are exceptions to these general protections, including the Miller test for obscenity, child pornography laws, speech that incites imminent lawless action, and regulation of commercial speech such as advertising. Within these limited areas, other limitations on free speech balance rights to free speech and other rights, such as rights for authors and inventors over their works and discoveries (copyright and patent), protection from imminent or potential violence against particular persons (restrictions on fighting words), or the use of untruths to harm others (slander). "

Oddly, I don't find ANY right of an EMPLOYER to censure the speech of an EMPLOYEE, or to take PUNITIVE ACTION based on such speech.

Yep, I think we are indeed discussing a point of law. One wherein an employer has clearly broken it and appears to be allowed to do so with impunity.

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Bernard M. Orwell
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Big Brother

Re: sacked for making dodgy Facebook posts

Yeah, ok, reading and comprehension fail on my part in not noticing the US references. Doh.

That aside, however, do we feel the same way about the "Blow up Robin Hood Airport" story? Or how about those that said "Hooray! Riots!" on facebook during the riots and the heavy sentences that followed? Tally that up with how our leaders like to talk about restricting and monitoring social networking and then what do you think?

Personally, my answer to this is simple: We have free speech in this nation - Did he kick anyone in the head? Did he physically conspire to blow up an airport? Did he take actual part in the riots? No? Then NO CRIME has been committed.

We should, and must have the inalieble right to say what the hell we like, when and where we like and not be subject to censor. Likewise, if someone says something f'in stupid on facebook, myspace, a forum, the TV, the papers, the radio or on a soapbox in Hyde Park Corner we have the right to point, mock and laugh too (the right to parody is an important part of this argument).

I will allow for the exception of "incitement" in such cases, so inciting people to kick patients in the head, start a riot or blow up an airport is possibly a criminal act, but merely saying it should not be. If the BNP, PETA Extreme Religious Fanatics or anyone else want to stand there and spout whatever nonsense they like and be unfraid to do so due to official (as opposed to public) censure.

This is a free country, and restriction of speech by any means is a step towards erosion of those freedoms. You have a right to an opinion and an equal right to express it however you wish. Your employer is not your morality-watchdog and must never become such.

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Bernard M. Orwell
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Big Brother

Re: sacked for making dodgy Facebook posts

You do realise, of course, that precisely the same situation could just as equally apply to posts you make in a ny forum, such as this one?

This ruling amounts to yet another piece of "Shut Up and Obey" legislation. I'd be interested to know what country this ruling was made in, however.

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So, that vast IT disaster you may have caused? Come in, sit down

Bernard M. Orwell
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Re: wow, who the hell . . . . .

Yeah, the other techies and I make mistakes here from time to time; it happens...

Problem is that our customer doesn't think we should make mistakes, and will not accept anything less than 100% performance 100% of the time. We always used to deal with that unreasonable expectation...

....then our new parent company moved in. Seems the management/directors that we now work for also think that so much as ONE failure in a year is a reason to go on the warpath...

They're going to be left with no one who can even change a toner cartridge at this rate.

Feet are for voting sometimes.

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Capita publicity to show only UK staff - some of whom are being let go

Bernard M. Orwell
Meh

I have a suspicion....

...that the reason the reason the new operators from foreign shores are not shown in the Capita literature is because they won't be Capita employees. Instead, they will work for one of the "Multi-Service Call Centres" that India is now famous for, where one service centre serves dozens of different client businesses.

Which keeps costs down.

...and allows cheap labour...

...to be worked for 12 hours a day seven days a week....

... with little to no employment rights...

Ain't capitalism and the free market great?!

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So you wanna be a Wall Street techie? Or anyway, get paid a lot

Bernard M. Orwell

Interviewing Tecnique...

When I interview potential new staff I look for people who are effective communicators, don't have an issue holding a reasonable conversation, respond coolly to challenging statements or questions, and have a genuine interest in what we do.

I can teach them all the technical skills they need, but I don't have time to shape decent people or teach charisma classes.

As a result, I have a team of people who get on with each other, respond well to my customers, get on well with me and understand our product range and processes completely (as well as having significant input on how the company continues to develop).

I think all of these "clever" ways to assess candidates in interviews; these trendy fads in methodology, lose sight of what you really need: the right person.

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Bernard M. Orwell
Holmes

Well...

..Go to an interview in an asshole industry populated by over-inflated asshole egos and one can duly expect to be asked asshole questions for an asshole job that pays asshole-level money.

Remember, these are the same assholes who made an ass out of the economy.

Don't go work for the assholes, and maybe they won't be able to do as much damage in future.

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Brussels could 'clash' with London over UK snooper's charter

Bernard M. Orwell
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Re: If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.

also see: [Godwin] "Tell that to Anne Frank".

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Bernard M. Orwell
Megaphone

And this...

...my friends, is why we want to stay as signatories to such things as the ECHR and the EU supreme courts. Bear in mind that Cameron has been banging the drum of "Lets tell the ECHR to sod off because they protect terr'ists and write our OWN constitution and 'bill of rights' - a Citizens Charter! Won't THAT be COOL?!".

Yeah, a charter that will let you and your cronies enact the will of the ministers without challenge, destroying our last line of defence against super-surveillance, police state fascism.

F**k you, Gov. F**k you very much indeed.

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Reborn UK internet super-snooper charter to be unveiled today

Bernard M. Orwell
Mushroom

Filthy, lying, cheating....

Bastards.

That is all.

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'You don't have to take Prozac to work at Capita - but it helps'

Bernard M. Orwell
Stop

What has changed?

I don't get it. What has changed in the IT market? Are there suddenly less computers in the country? Have networks & servers suddenly become so reliable that they no longer need support? Are racks now self-installing? Are call centres experiencing a massive drop in call volumes?

No. I don't think they are, yet corporate IT is slashing low-end jobs left, right and centre; one corporation after another. Even in ones where jobs aren't "formally" under threat, the level of intimidation, bullying and "strech objectives" is ever-increasing as demands on staff are pushed to the breaking point.

There is NO excuse for companies treating employees this way. It's fire-sale cost cutting in order to keep share values high in a kneejerk response to the "current financial climate" (which was created by the machinations of yet more corporate fucktards).

Well, corps, keep pushing us techies all you like because sooner or later you're going to be left with a company full of managers and the inability to even replace a toner cartridge. Your costs will spiral out of all control as you buy in expensive contractors to cover simple jobs. You will lose contracts due to the lack of continuity of skills and customer knowledge as people like me, and many other engineers, decide to say screw you and head off to start their own agile and responsive small businesses.

I'm heading that way myself soon.

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Smart meters are 'massive surveillance' tech - privacy supremo

Bernard M. Orwell
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Big Brother

Re: The info you get from these smart monitors ...

It's great for devices like this to tell US CONSUMERS how much power we're using and where; i'm all in favour of that. The issue is that these systems are going to report this information to your provider who will in turn use it to determine patterns of behaviour (no doubt for harmless, anonymised targetted marketing models). It is already the intention that the powers that be will then use this information to limit and control the amount of power you are permitted to consume and when you are permitted to consume it.

"It also gives utility companies the ability to reduce consumption by communicating to devices directly..."

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_grid#Peak_curtailment.2Fleveling_and_time_of_use_pricing)

So, you will, eventually, not decide what devices you will have operating in your home, when you may operate them, what is done with the information gathered on your usage, possibly face criminal proceedings for "excessive usage" and have your usage shown to your neighbours either as an example of how they should behave or how energy-greedy you are compared to them.

Social control anyone? Or do you want to carry on cracking jokes about tinfoil? Now, go and do some research into how RFID will be applied in a similar "smart grid" for objects (like your car, your possessions or even, if some americans get their way, you and your children) and line them up with the Energy Grid and the "improvements" to data interception.

Still think I'm paranoid? Still think I have no reason to be paying attention to the bigger picture? Then I would suggest you are blind to history and gullible to a fault.

Trust the powers if you want. Personally, I don't think it takes much intellect to realise that government and corporate interests cannot be trusted one whit.

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'Zombie bullets' fly off US shelves after wave of undead attacks

Bernard M. Orwell

Well...

There's a lot of hypothesising and posturing going on in this thread, let's put your theories to the test.

http://projectzomboid.com/blog/

Down the freebie. Play it. Warning: there is no "Save Game" and there is no "Pause Game".

My personal survival record is 8 days and something hours.

This is how you died....

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Bradley Manning in court as lawyers wrestle over secret docs

Bernard M. Orwell
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Re: my stupid opinion

"...the point was that he was not in a position to judge whether or not it could be harmful..."

S'funny.

He had plenty of time to read and examine them before making a judgement; more time and study than many here have had yet it's not stopping people, such as yourself, reaching a firm and unmoving opinion on the same question, is it?

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CERN confirms neutrinos don't break light speed

Bernard M. Orwell
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Re: Try that with mythology (aka Religion)

Yep, scientists can be smug because they're right and religion is wrong.

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London picked as test bed for Skynet-like Intel tech

Bernard M. Orwell
Big Brother

What was not said...

""We are determined to make the UK the best place to do business in the world and a great place for technology companies to invest and build new business. It is encouraging to see major tech partners like Intel investing in this country as a result of the policies that the Government has put in place," he self-congratulated."

What was missing in this statement?

Ah yes...Nothing there about serving public interests, protecting citizen rights and freedoms, improving the quality of life for residents, ensuring that privacy isn't invaded in the pursuit of profit, enabling an opt-out facility for those who don't want to be part of the mass surveillance, remaining in accord with EU and International Law....

Smash the cameras. Take back your freedom.

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Child support IT fail: Deadbeat mums 'n' dads off the hook

Bernard M. Orwell
Mushroom

I'm with mr Heffernan on this.

Paying child support, or being in receipt of it, no more makes you a deadbeat than having a beer makes you an alcoholic.

I expected better of the Reg and am dissapointed to see it sink down to the level of the rag-tabloids when it comes to creating headlines.

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Terrorists 'build secure VoIP over GPRS network'

Bernard M. Orwell
Megaphone

KaBoom!

"God forbid we have to use these missiles - it's going to be a split-second decision between killing everyone on the plane, and letting the pilot/hijacker kill everyone on the plane and lots of people on the ground. This is an absolute last resort, after jet fighter intercepts and helicopter-mounted snipers have failed."

Nah, the choice isn't that. The hypothetical plane would fall on people in either scenario, the question is WHO would it fall on?

The Rapier missile system is somewhat old (1970's tech). The missile itself, whilst reliable, has a flight time of ~13s at approx 650m/sec.

Now, I think London is a bit bigger than that, so let's go with the scenario of a plane load of terrorism being aimed at the Dome during the opening ceremony.

Plane detected, missile fired, where do you think the plane will come down? Yeah, somewhere in central London. In bits. All over the place.

So, who are those missiles protecting exactly? Well, at least they protect the attendees, you may say, and that's a good thing. So, let's take a look at who those attendees are shall we, as we know its not us mere citizens who have to fight in an auction over the remaining <~30% of the tickets that were not pre-reserved (yeah, we only get to pay for the Olympics with our taxes, we don't get a right to attend it or buy a ticket. Never mind, we can use it to make us feel better about Austerity, eh? Like we did for the Royal Wedding that we also paid for...)

So, who's going to be the target for the plane? Well, let's see here....oh! It would appear to be a collection of rich people, government cronies, heads of corporations, representatives of foreign powers (including Iran and Syria, no less!) and various other pals of our government.

Seems we're quite happy to use weapons to protect these people at the expense, both in terms of finance and, potentially the lives, of the citizens of London and, indeed, Britain. (And I've not even *started* on the vile "social policies" being used to "clean up" the image of the area around the games before our foreign "dignitaries" arrive!).

Boycott the Olympics, I say.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/jun/13/government-olympic-ticket-allocation

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/news/8573995/Olympics-1500-tickets-reserved-for-business-guests.html

http://www.totalpolitics.com/print/162287/dcms-reserved-8815-olympics-tickets-from-ballot.thtml

Rapier Missile Stats: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapier_(missile)

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Google KNEW Street View cars were slurping Wi-Fi

Bernard M. Orwell
Stop

Hmm....

"A better comparison would be you leaving pictures or letters out in the yard and someone taking pictures of them without your consent. Now you both have a copy of the text or image but no theft took place."

So, if I go into the cinema; a public place, and record the film which is being displayed openly, then no theft took place? I'm not sure the law would agree. My data, surely, is MY intellectual property - say I was transmitting the latest draft of my (awful) novella? Or a personal message to a...erm..close friend. What law is NOW being broken? Copyright theft? Wiretapping?

Perhaps we should invoke a class action stating that Google is in contradiction of intellectual property and copyright laws?

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Beijing removes all online mentions of fleeing activist Chen

Bernard M. Orwell
Megaphone

Well, isn't that nice to see....?

So, few years back, we watched the Olympic Torch (invented by....oops...nearly invoked Godwin in my first sentence there!) carried through Tianamen Square as it began its noble, symbolic journey. (Good thing they'd scrubbed it clean of blood and removed the tanks, eh?) and as the world and it's wife applauded Chinese "openess" and we watched the media begin its decade's long rattle about "China's acension as an economic power" and it's "inevitable and progressive change towards Democracy" (that's special Chinese Democracy, not proper democracy - Kinda like America), we all new that finally, the most repressed nation in the world had come to it's senses.

Nice to see how it's all panned out for the best and they're no longer oppressing, supressing and restricting it's people's freedoms.

Nice to see how our lovely western technology and lucrative trade deals no longer need to turn a blind eye to such abuses.

Nice to see that our media need not speak of China in anything less than glowing terms.

Ah, China, you shining paragon of democracy, freedom, progress, innovation and economic growth.

We're glad you're our bestest friend.

*smoochies*

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Expert: UK would break its own rules with web-snoop law

Bernard M. Orwell
Facepalm

Foolishness!

Foolish, foolish OutLaw.com thinking that the UK.Gov.PLC actually has to abide by, respect or even pay lip service to law!

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Oz billionaire says CIA backs Greenpeace

Bernard M. Orwell
Megaphone

er...

"It's an unfounded and unprovable assertion..."

What? Like WMDs in Iraq? I don't think that stopped anyone acting on it, did it?

2 2

Tony Blair closes RSA 2012, denounces WikiLeaks

Bernard M. Orwell
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Pint

Re: Re:Oh, how I laughed!

Good research on the origin of the Sarin used on the marsh-arabs, I concede that point.

I'd say we could continue debating all this until Nibiru turns up, but I think we've cleared the thread of all other commentards and the landlord of inevitability is flashing the lights of last orders at us.

Beer? I'll get the coats...

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Bernard M. Orwell
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Trollface

Re: Re:Oh, how I laughed!

Oh, am I sensing annoyance from you, Matthew?

"Are you contending that Saddam was whiter than white and had no crimes to answer to?"

No, but I will contend that no one gave that as the reason Iraq was to be invaded. It wasn't even mentioned in the so-called "dodgy dossier"; the very secret reasons (if you believe it) that we went to war at all, instead we were fed BS about "45 minutes for Iraq to launch WMDs at us" and "Saddam supports Al Qaeda". If liberation of the an oppressed people HAD been the reason I would probably still be applauding it as a "moral war". If it had been, perhaps we'd now be doing the same in Saudi, Somalia, Uganda, Iran, North Korea, Syria... ('Merica! World Police! We're not after your oil, no sirree, we just want you to be free!)

But it wasn't, and I think we all know that now.

Anyway, its the same US that propped Saddam into power and the same US that sold him the chemical agents he used on the marsh-arabs (as a test in preperation for war on Iran, which served US interests perfectly.)

Let's move along for the baby-troll, shall we?

Ok, so let's assume that the Guardian is lying completely. Unlikely, as its not the Mail, but let's pretend for the kiddies....

....how about CNN or ABC? How about Glen Greenwald?

http://www.salon.com/writer/glenn_greenwald/

...Maybe you'd like to check Reuters? The BBC? Al-Jazeera?

Or...let's read the report from the UN itself! Here you go.

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2012/03/12/A_HRC_19_61_Add.4_EFSonly-2.pdf

So, I think thats the evidence presented that the Guardian wasn't making it all up, so I can dispose of your "you can't trust 'em" argument. There's an awful of lot of international groups and governments now coming to the conclusion that the US is actually pretty nasty when you get down to its core, whilst the good 'ole boys are sitting there, wrapped in flags and crosses and saying "it ain't so" over and over to make sure that they (and foolish people like you) continue to believe that they are all liberty, justice and mom's apple pie. Wakey! They aren't!

And then you present some comedy gold...

"Only a faux intellectual bigot would tar a group of people with such an assertion."

Really?! I'm not sure I even need to answer this, but if I did it would merely to Copy/Paste some choice examples of you doing this over and over. I doubt I'd even need to leave this topic to do so, so I shan't waste my time. Your hypocricy amazes me, and many others here, but I don't think anyone is suprised by it anymore. Just for you though, I shall change "redneck" to "rednecks with particularly low intelligence" to clarify. Or, if you prefer, "Only a poorly educated bucket of slugs would...etc. etc.". I do, however, applaud the way you got a straw-man AND an ad hominem attack into the same sentence, that takes a small measure of skill.

Move along, nothing to see here....oh wait...one more ad hominem non-sequitor to deal with.

"a job no doubt way above your paygrade and requiring far more intelligence than you can muster. That is if you do have a job even. I'm beginning to think that unlikely."

A VP or something then? Or some kind of director? Yeah, that'd be above my pay-grade, true enough. I am not going to give details of what I do due to certain security directives and so forth that I have to abide by in my nice, well paid role working for the nation. That is, unfortunately, as far as I can take a discussion about what I do.

Trollface, 'cos one of us should wear it proudly.

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Bernard M. Orwell
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FAIL

Re: Re:Oh, how I laughed!

"Can you tell us why you believe the war in Iraq was neccessary?"

It seems you can't, or won't, answer my question. I suspect that's because you know that it is entirely unreasonable to attempt to defend your point of view on the subject as the war in Iraq had no moral justification at all.

Oh, and by the way, did you see yesterdays news?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/12/bradley-manning-cruel-inhuman-treatment-un?newsfeed=true

"The UN special rapporteur on torture has formally accused the US government of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment towards Bradley Manning..."

"In his opening letter to the US government on December 30 2010, Mendez said that the prolonged period of isolated confinment was believed to have been imposed "in an effort to coerce him into 'cooperation' with the authorities, allegedly for the purpose of persuading him to implicate others."

So, the UN condemns the treatment of Bradley Manning as torture after a 14 month investigation that your precious USMC refused to cooperate with.

Only rednecks think it wasn't torture now.

Game Over.

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Bernard M. Orwell
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Re: Re:Oh, how I laughed!

" ...you are so closed minded that you cannot perceive that someone else could have a different POV..."

I didn't have to look very far to see you saying the same thing, Matt. What's good for the gander and all:

"...it must be down to the vacuuous nature of your bleatings being so similar and strikingly unoriginal, presumably because you both over-grazed on the same astroturf..."

You go on to say that war is sometimes neccessary; I agree. Can you tell us why you believe the war in Iraq was neccessary?

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Bernard M. Orwell
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Stop

Re: Re:Oh, how I laughed!

Apology accepted.

I'm done arguing with you now. It's clear that you are just a troll, or mentally deficient in some way, as no one in their right mind could think any of the following:

* War in Iraq is good.

* It's reasonable that the USA redefined the word torture

* US foreign policy is perfectly justified.

* The right to question the orders of a superior is a fallacy

* AV/PR is a bad idea entirely

* Tony Blair was a good guy

* The Tories are good guys

* State secrecy is perfectly fine, in all cases.

* The treatment of Bradley Manning is ok

* Julian Assange should be raped, then shot.

* No one else, anywhere on these forums, has any intelligence and only you're right.

These are all opinions you've spouted. You are clearly delusional and sociopathic.

Go find some help.

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Bernard M. Orwell
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FAIL

Re: Re:Oh, how I laughed!

Personally, I am more inclined to listen to the opinion of Amnesty International who condemned the treatment of Manning OUTRIGHT as torture, than the opinion of those inflicting the torture, but this is old ground and we've trodden it before. Also, yet another stupid sidestep by you avoiding the subject.

"""whine from the Left!" ???" Take it up with Bernie, he was the one that insisted it was all a Tory / Big Money conspiracy. I was just enjoying the fun of mocking his insecurities."

Please show me where I said that? I think you've got the wrong poster. More proof that the only dialogue you understand is the one going on in your own (wrong) head.

You're not even a very good troll, are you?

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Bernard M. Orwell
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FAIL

Re: Re:Oh, how I laughed!

h4rm0ny has you bang to rights there, MB.

To reinforce his point, and the weakness of your "argument" (I struggle to call your point of view an argument, as it implies reason and you lack that, really.) I shall point out that I am generally "left wing" (Neo-Socialist) and I wasn't really in favour of AV either; it was a watered down version of PR and I'm not even certain that PR itself would be a good idea.

In the end I settled for FPTP, as it's better the devil we know, and the argument from the AV camp was not cohesive or clear enough.

Please, bring your next deluded assumption about how your fellow commentators think. We'll be waiting for the laughs.

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Bernard M. Orwell
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WTF?

Re: Re:Oh, how I laughed!

Another sidetrack?

err....so what does Manning have to do with anything in this article or thread then? Or, indeed, how does it relate to the question I asked you, which, I believe has relevance to the discussion of the career of Tony B.Liar?

Elucidate please.

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Bernard M. Orwell
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Re: Re:Oh, how I laughed!

Nice evasion. Not.

Not prepared to answer the question? No suprises there. Only a moron would still be in favour of the Iraq war.

Again, you are woefully unaware of my position on Manning. He should be treated humanely and given a fair trial, not tortured and then put in a show-trial to appease the redneck right-wing of the yankee public.

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Bernard M. Orwell
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Re: Re:Oh, how I laughed!

Everything aside, Matt, for a moment, may I ask you a question in all seriousness?

When the war in Iraq/Afghanistan kicked off, I, like many, was in favour of the "direct action". Several of my friends were soldiers and their enthusiasm for the fight swept me along, as well as the rhetoric from many of our leaders. 7/7, initially at least, galvanised my opinion.

It wasn't until some time later that I changed my mind and "swapped camps", based on the arguments presented to me and the evidence I uncovered for myself.

Why do you support the action taken in Iraq?

I'm not taking the piss here, I'd genuinely like to know your opinion.

FTR, I was never a Blair fan, nor am I a Cameron fan, and I don't rate the Lib Dems either....

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Bernard M. Orwell
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Trollface

Re: Re:Oh, how I laughed!

You coming out as a Blair supporter then MB? I mean, surely you were in favour of the War on Terror in Iraq? I doubt, somehow, you were part of the million-strong anti-war march.

Wouldn't suprise me if you were a supporter of Blair/Bush, but it's a bit of a blunt instrument for trolling, isn't it?

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That steady diet of EastEnders is turning her into a shrew

Bernard M. Orwell
Boffin

Bad Science, surely?

Where's the controlled test? Surely this experiment proves equally that women shown videos get more aggressive? Where is the group that was given an article from a magazine to read, or a video game to play? How about a group that was shown "Antiques Roadshow"? What about subjecting men (poor blighters) to the same videos? How did they fare?

Bad science, I say, possibly just more popularist opinion mongering.

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Solar storm has a 'sting in its tail', warn space weathermen

Bernard M. Orwell
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Boffin

Re: No, no, no, no

A faraday cage won't neccesarily protect you from magnetic effects, and only in a limited way from other atmospheric or electrical effects. Furthermore, the thin shell of an aircraft doesn't really work very well as a faraday cage at all, it's primary defence against say, lightning, comes from the fact that the plane isn't grounded. A faraday cage, in essence, is a layered mesh that distributes electrical energy harmlessly around it whilst protecting what is inside. In order for a faraday cage to be properly effective against electromagnetic radiation, it must be made of several layers of fine mesh and also be grounded.

As your plane has neither of these features....well....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage

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Stratfor email hackers were tricked into using Feds' server

Bernard M. Orwell
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Coat

Re: Know thy enemy and know thyself

Yeah, never start a landwar in Southeast Asia, either.

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The 'one tiny slip' that put LulzSec chief Sabu in the FBI's pocket

Bernard M. Orwell
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Re: Good Grief!

Oh god it happened again....

"So what are you saying, asdf? That all cross-dressers are inherently evil and cannot be trusted to hold positions of authority? That they should be banned from office merely on the rumour that they might be gay? Sounds like homophobia to me, I'm not surprised your first post got removed."

I....I....upvoted MB.....

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Bernard M. Orwell
Thumb Up

Good Grief!

I'm in agreement with Matt Bryant! Pigs fly! Hell freezes over! Blue moon sighted!

"He has also pleaded guilty to using stolen credit card information to pay for car parts valued at $3,450. Monsegur also admitted profiting by selling on the login details of compromised bank accounts, a form of aggravated identity theft."

This largely, alongside the fact he spent 16hrs a day on his PC and has two kids, marks him as feckless and criminal.

As some of you may be aware, I am a supporter of Hacktivism to a large degree, but what this 'tard was doing isn't hacktivism. Lulzsec ("we're in it for the Lulz"; that's not a noble cause, folks) are little better than hoodie vandals who are prone to turning on each other at the drop of a hat when it suits them.

In this particular case, I am glad that the FBI picked him up, though I am still concerned that US law appears to be transforming into "western law" pretty swiftly, without the protection of the bill of rights and constitution that US citizens are afforded.

Lulzsec muddied the waters of real hacktivist causes, and I for one am pleased to see it being dismantled.

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Lingerie-clad she-devils romp past watchdog

Bernard M. Orwell
Reply Icon
Devil

Re: So for all you guys out there...

Yeah, why not!

Sounds like fun!

:P

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SimCity to return after 10-year holiday

Bernard M. Orwell
Big Brother

Attention Western Government!

"Suffocating air pollution, high unemployment, no fire stations, schools, or hospitals, a regimented lifestyle... ...kept in line by a hyper-efficient police state."

This is NOT a real world planning tool, or a guideline for success.

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Katie Price's teasing 'strapline reveal' avoids bust

Bernard M. Orwell
Facepalm

Dear god...

Katie Price. A chocolate bar. Twitter. Advertising and a ruling by the ASA.

Does ANYONE care about any of these things?

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Stratfor leak: US 'has secret indictment' of Julian Assange

Bernard M. Orwell
Reply Icon
Alien

Re: How about....

Not at all, old chap, I do indeed have my own opinion instead of regurgitating nonsense spewed out by the Daily Mail and the Fox Network, unlike your good self.

Ooh, reputable journalist! Where did you find one of those these days? I prefer my information unfiltered rather than carefully edited by a so-called "newspaper".

I don't doubt that you are well-researched, I just wish you'd accept that others do their own research and may reach different conclusions.

I don't think that anyone's word is gospel (nor do I capitalise the word heaven, that says much about you), but it's an awful lot of effort to fake that much data, and, on the surface and with initial examination, it appears to be genuine; certainly more evidential than anything you've managed to bring to bear to support your fascist, knee-jerk reactionism.

Oh, and on the subject of St. Julian, I will direct you to an earlier post of mine in which I denounce his self-publicity and hypocracy entirely; on this we are generally agreed - the man is clearly a tit of the first order.

Where you and I differ (on this subject in particular, accepting that we differ in many ways beyond it), is that I believe that Wikileaks is a valuable resource and a powerful presence in modern politics and, even if it is flawed, provides a template for future activism against state censorship and secrecy.

So, no, I am not an Assange fan, but I am a Wikileaks supporter and I will occasionally tip my hat to Anonymous for *some* of the things that are done in their name, but not all.

Unlike yourself, I am not absolutist, and when presented with evidence (rather than rhetoric, ad hominem and straw-man arguments such as you present) I will look at it, evaluate it, and where appropriate adjust my opinions.

So, all you have to do is convince me you're right.... Good luck with that while you spit bile and hate in every post.

Alien, because such adaptive thinking will be to you.

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Bernard M. Orwell
Reply Icon
FAIL

Re: How about....

...About as good as your ability to evaluate the charges against Assange, his motivations, the true principles of Wikileaks, the origin of any data they hold, whether politico's are lying to you or telling the truth and so forth; all of which you seem to have expert knowledge off if we believed a word you say....

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Bernard M. Orwell
Big Brother

How about....

Some quotes from leaked Stratfor emails:

"These assholes [Anonymous] should get the death sentence, along with their hero Julian Assange.”

On 12/7/10 3:26 PM, Fred Burton wrote: "Founder needs to be water boarded until he gives us the code "

#GIFiles: "If I thought I could switch this dickhead off without getting done I don't think I'd have too much of a problem."

#GIFiles: "Not for Pub --We have a sealed indictment on Assange. Pls protect"

So, when we were all shouting that the US were secretly planning nasty things for Assange/Anon/Wikileaks, and the jackboot brigade were calling us tinfoil hat wearers, they were wrong all the time. The so-called "crackpot conspiracy theories" turn out to be true.

Remarkable.

I'll keep reading and let you know if anymore quality, hypocritical quotes appear. I do love the way that a company that made its money by stealing secret information is outraged when someone else steals their secret information.

Delicious.

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Weeing Frenchman sues Google over Street View photo

Bernard M. Orwell
Stop

I've been waiting for this one to come up...

...granted, this isn't quite how I thought it would manifest, but...

"He is suing Google in a court in Angers for infringement of privacy and use of his image without permission. He wants the photo taken off the site and, naturally, he wouldn't mind about €10,000 in damages as well."

Tell me now, is the picture of him his intellectual or creative property? What about the garden he's standing in or the way he has painted his house? If it is, then there is a collision here between privacy (non-privacy) laws and IPR, isn't there? If not (and I can hear lotsa people saying "No reasonable expectation of privacy means footage can be taken") then suddenly art galleries, cinema's and theatres have an issue too, don't they? Those are public locations and thus I am free to take pictures and films?

Even if there is some dubious clause to protect corporate privacy and not private privacy (and I'd hardly be suprised at the existence of such), then I still think its only a matter of time before some company slurps someone's original artistic works and runs afoul of the "artists" IPR.

If I write a message on gmail to someone, and google slurps it, then surely they are in breach of my intellectual property rights, or is it the case that I have no expectation of privacy in my emails and therefore the content can be legally copied by anyone who wants it?

Either way, I see exploits.

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Interpol attacks hacks

Bernard M. Orwell

A mere 25?

Is that all they could manage? I wonder what the costs were like, in terms of manpower, time and money?

Jake, in order to have cannon-fodder it follows there must be "generals" to send the "cannon-fodder" in, and in assuming that you make the same mistake that these law-enforcers have made; they've assumed that the entity called Anonymous cares. It doesn't. It probably doesn't even know. Thats because "it" doesn't exist.

Oh, and it's legion.

They will need to arrest tens of thousands before any serious progress will be made, and I suspect that will simply exacerbate the situation, rather than alleiviate it.

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