Hang All the Lawyers
Make the world a better place... for humans, not corporations.
:|
Posts by 404
1381 publicly visible posts • joined 20 Jul 2011
Appeal court bombshell: Google must face British justice for 'Safari spying'
Forum chat is like Clarkson punching you repeatedly in the face
Tennessee sues FCC: Giving cities free rein to provide their own broadband is 'unlawful'
Thursday 26th March 2015 16:26 GMT
Re: The AT&T of old
Oh I agree - and there was that Brit expat* who let a set of tits from AT&T upsell him and fail to notice the web & email servers running downstairs that required static public IP addresses - AT&T had the client down for a week and there's something about an English accent that changes when they're raging. I learned new words that made no kind of sense to an American-raised IT guy. Not my fault, but I was handy.
*I secretly believe he's not British, but Scottish. That man, God love him, is so cheap he'd squeak when he walked if he had an asshole.
Thursday 26th March 2015 15:10 GMT
One of your Intrepid El Reg Commentards is on the scene..
... and does business all over east Tennessee. A few observations from under the ground:
There are three competing ISPs in east TN and bid for exclusive areas of operation - AT&T, Comcast, and Charter. Only AT&T can compete with Comcast for residential/business customers in that area, with Charter being a leased/feels good on paper, poor 'competition' of leased lines/unwanted areas. Of the three, AT&T's aging infrastructure prevents good dependable service (although they have begun building a fiber loop to Athens, my base of operations). Comcast is the raging monster in local/state government - gives away connectivity to gov offices and certain employees, essentially owns area contracts in perpetuity. Between AT&T pushing VOIP & killing fax lines and Comcast's fast as hell up/down crap service (which includes VOIP) - I have some interesting days now and again.
Point is, the current situation sucketh mightily - I have been waiting for a port to open up on AT&T's ancient DSLAM at my house for 7 years, not enough ports and it seems those same ports are willed down from family generation to family generation out here. All three commercial players have issues with uptime, performance, and general stupidity.
In Chattanooga, I fought personally with both Comcast and AT&T over a business WAN that connected Athens to Knoxville and Chattanooga, had one hell of a time keeping links up in Chattanooga until EPB ran their fiber loops all over the city. Once we had the client in question up on EPB's network - not one lick of trouble from that link in the past year. Athens and Knoxville? Minimum once a week outage, either VOIP or connectivity, makes me crazy.
The Politics: TN Gov Bill Haslam's family is Oprah rich, they happen to own Flying J truckstops all over the US (recently got nailed by Feds for overcharging truckers fyi) and both Comcast/AT&T have deep pockets - Comcast is a freaking monster and AT&T is busy recreating the mega AT&T of old. Let's just say all of them scratch each others' backs, ok? Small town politics are filled with folks who continue to buy from the same local company their grandpappy bought from, no matter they're being overcharged, cuz 'that's where great great great great grandpa Miles 'JimBob' Standish the .01 bought their first musket'. I shit thee not, look up 'The Battle of Athens', it's still fought here today. However, if you get in with them, life is golden and there will be business/profit.
Trying to explain the ins and outs of this lawsuit is difficult, so many parameters I'd have to sit with a speadsheet for a few months just to makes sense of it, it's very complicated. Definitely not a two-sided issue like what folks are talking about here, too many players, agendas, family ties, and the fine old tradition of the Southern Fsck You*.
*term wife and I coined - a situation where a southern gentleman/woman will seemingly praise someone and that someone doesn't realize they've been mortally insulted days/months/years later. It's an art, let me tell you.
;)
Standard General bids to save RadioShack from oblivion
Wednesday 25th March 2015 08:18 GMT
Re: Radio Shack was useful at one time (And still is)
Canakit Raspberry Pi 2 (quad core ARM, 1GB ram SoC), PS, wireless N dongle, case, heatsink, HDMI cable, 8GB sd card preloaded with NOOBS, Raspbian, Ubuntu, OpenELEC, etc. , etc $69 from Amazon.
Radio Shack as of yesterday (two stores) Arduino Mega 2560 REV3 (equiv to Raspi A board) $51.99 - order only.. OR the China Arduino knockoff version w/built-in wifi ordered in for $74.99. But I can have an iPhone today with a selection of cases
Be honest - there was a time I wanted to live at Radio Shack due to all the 'parts' could make stuff with, didn't matter what, as long as it was useful - now it's just another trinket store.
Monday 23rd March 2015 15:39 GMT
Re: Radio Shack was useful at one time (And still is)
I can buy pretty much anything online - these items are not carried in-store, I was there last Thursday.
Have you noted even Staples is offering items in their weekly circular that are available online-only?
<meanwhile, back to configuring a home Pocketmine server on a Raspi2>
Monday 23rd March 2015 13:40 GMT
Radio Shack was useful at one time
I'm not sure what they are about any more - had they remained true to their roots, they would be selling Edison, Pi, and Arduino boards like an actual electronics supply store. Seems to be just another phone store with a few electronic bits here and there.
I do miss the old Radio Shack, going the way of TV repair shops of old.
Summer bust-up expected with new Apple TV and Roku coming onstream
Sunday 22nd March 2015 13:48 GMT
Re: Alternatively
Linguistic differences abound... Plural in 'Merika is legos.
For instance, in the American South, when they say 'bedroom suite', it's pronounced 'bedroom suit'. When I first moved here, I wondered what they hell they were talking about, you don't say 'peTIT' for petite, right? Oh hell no, they have bedroom suits, living room suits, etc.
I've given up that particular crusade - and they sometimes look at you funny if you pronounce it correctly.
o.O
Cops cuff Colorado girl for allegedly poisoning mum after iPhone ban
Dear departed Internet Explorer, how I will miss you ... NOT
Firefox, Chrome, IE, Safari EXPLOITED to OWN Mac, PCs at Pwn2Own 2015
BOFH: Mmm, gotta love me some fresh BYOD dog roll
FCC to Verizon: Blocking 911 calls? That's a $3.4m paddlin'
BBC gives naked computers to kids (hmm, code for something?)
Tuesday 17th March 2015 16:55 GMT
Re: Wrong
Re: Dominic
My 11 year old daughter has already rebuilt the Bifrost in Minecraft on the Pi 2 we put together on the kitchen table last Saturday night...
I do understand what you're speaking of though, we had a little conversation last night concerning 'too hard'.
<me> 'Did you get your audio sorted yet?'
<mean girl> 'No, it was a bunch of hippy crap and I couldn't read it'
<me> rolls eyes and laughs at her*
<her> 'DaaaaAAAAAD!' stomps off..
hour later...
<her> 'I had to take it off auto and force it to HDMI with raspi-config'...
<me> 'That's my girl!'
;)
*That's one of her buttons, she doesn't like being laughed at or told what she can't do lol.
'Just a kid' Zuck's word is his bond ... but NOT in his backyard, lawsuit claims
BBC: We'll give FREE subpar-Raspberry-Pis to a million Brit schoolkids
Saturday 14th March 2015 15:27 GMT
Re: Ah..
Ask and ye shall receive!
The carbon footprint of the Micro Bit is unacceptably high due to the requirement of a PC, whereas the Raspberry Pi only requires a low-power energy efficient flatpanel.
Free? Tell that to the future generations of children either dying from heat exhaustion or freezing to death from the advancing glaciers... I'm calling Al Gore.
;)
Saturday 14th March 2015 14:12 GMT
Raspberry Pi 2 starter kit: $69.99 - includes Pi, wireless dongle, case, PS, HDMI cable, 8GB SD card
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MV6TAJI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Rii Mini Wireless keyboard with mouse touchpad: $17.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I5SW8MC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
So for $88+tax, you have a viable computer*.
*My kids have more electronics/desktops/tablets than they need, but the Pi Kits we got them get the majority of their free time. 15yr old son is designing a game with it and my 12 yr daughter is attempting to take over the world, one line of code at a time with hers. Me? I play Minecraft & serve media on mine as I have less free time heh.
$17,000 Apple Watch: Pointless bling, right? HA! You're WRONG
Friday 13th March 2015 21:36 GMT 
Seiko 5 Kinetic
Paid $124 in 2006 as a present to myself when I started my own business. It was kind of hard to find at that time, I'd been wanting one since my Dad bought his Timex autowinder back in the 70's.
Never liked the Rolex line, I don't like showing my cards publicly, I also understand they don't keep very good time either. Those Pateks? Time travel had better be one of their functions, I could get a nice sized farm for one of those wonders of science*.
The Apple watch? Nope. I don't like *any* of these so-called smart watches - the health tracking software, combined with cloud reporting, plus our lords and protectors of all the data at the NSA - not willing to pay good money for something when criminals get the ankle bracelet kind for free...
* currently more excited over the Raspberry Pi 2 kit UPS just dropped off ;)
A gold MacBook with just ONE USB port? Apple, you're DRUNK
Why Wi-Fi won't solve mobile telcos' data dilemma
Thursday 5th March 2015 14:01 GMT
It's doable
We did this in the late 90's/early 2000's with Tsunami 2.4Ghz gear in Tucson, Arizona. Could pump data 5 miles line of sight, each tower had it's own frame relay or better to the internet - worked well for that time and place.
ISP did end up going under - owner had more money than sense and was always looking at the latest shiney. Pretty good concept at the time though.
Think you’re hard? Check out the frozen Panasonic CF-54 Toughbook
Friday 13th February 2015 22:41 GMT
Scared to death...
... since I recently 'upgraded' from a HP Elitebook 8440p to a Dell Inspiron i5447-6250sLV. Nice laptop, touchscreen, usb 3.0, yada yada* - jury is still out as far as durability in the different environments I work in, it's built decent but I won't be standing on it any time soon.
That being said, had I $2k, I'd buy the full-boat Panasonic Toughbook in a heartbeat. I *still* might figure out something ;)
*Deal I couldn't refuse: Price-matched Staple's $749 in-stock Dell with Amazon's $499 in-stock Dell and saved $250. Staple's ad this week is offering the same Dell for $599 right now lol.
Great Firewall of China blasts DDoS attacks at random IP addresses
Scary code of the week: Valve Steam CLEANS Linux PCs (if you're not careful)
Sunday 18th January 2015 14:15 GMT
Re: Two lessons from this
+1
As a fan of Robert Heinlein,/Isaac Asimov - I use 'Tell Me Three Times'... 3 backups, different locations, two with air gaps that require humans to plug/unplug at least once a week minimum.
Does that make me anal or just burned too many times by bad single backups? (remember tape in the 90's? argh). I also sandbox wife's FB laptop lol...
#paranoid
PlayStation outage: Sony asks 'have you tried turning it off and on again?'
El Reg's festive dating app guide, Pt. 2: The FEMALE perspective
Sony Pictures hit by 'fightback on filesharers' DDoS claims – report
Identity thieves slurp Sony Pictures staff info – as CEO sends 'don't sue me, bro' memo
Monday 8th December 2014 23:57 GMT
Wonder why Sony doesn't* learn?
After the hit Sony took on it's SOE division in 2011, you'd think there would have been some decent security in place, right?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/03/sony_hack_exposes_more_customers/
https://www.soe.com/securityupdate/pressrelease.vm
Sony just has all the luck & evidently all the salaried placeholders they could ever want in critical systems. So Sony didn't learn a thing while I learned to have a separate protected account for my entertainment purchases after the SOE Everquest debacle...
In LawyerSpeak, that email don't mean doodoo. Sony has had ample precedence & break-ins prior to this egregious example & did not perform their due diligence. How much should the check be, your Honor?
*OT but.... 1st time in my 50 years on earth, I realized the word 'doesn't', only saves a single space. mind=blown. Have a great day.
Linus Torvalds releases Linux 3.18 as 3.17 wobbles
Monday 8th December 2014 15:10 GMT
Re: Unknown source of kernel lock-ups?
@grifter
That *was* pretty easy, wasn't it? Unknown OS - did they use binary code? Probably not... yet connected to the alien mothership* quicker than a external serial USR 14.4 modem connecting to AOL...
*unbelievable... had to add 'mothership' to dictionary... another proof Microsoft & Google don't have a soul**
** Argument for another day, pardon me.
Yes, Obama has got some things wrong on the internet. But so has the GOP
18 million iPHONE USERS HAVE NEVER BONKED to ApplePay
Monday 8th December 2014 14:23 GMT
All good & fine until...
Sunday night, after the sidewalks have rolled up for the evening in small towns, the Dollar General is still open but not accepting *any* type of transactions other than cash because their systems are down...
...AND THERE'S NO TOILET PAPER AT THE HOUSE....YOUR KIDS HAVE TAKEN ALL THE LOOSE COIN FROM YOUR CAR CONSOLE.... WHERE IS YOUR GOD NOW?
o.0
MP caught playing Candy Crush at committee meeting: I'll ‘try’ not to do it again
Monday 8th December 2014 13:54 GMT
Re: Look at it this way...
Yes/no - more of a chance some Luddite gets major legislation passed while the others are 'busy'. Might even feel better depending *what* games they're playing... say Clash of Clans... where you might hear statements like, 'Yeah, your TownHall ain't sh*t, you non-defense-designing bastard!, I'm 100%'ing your azz muaaahahahahah'...
;)
One year on, Windows 8.1 hits milestone, nudges past XP
Amazon DROPS next day delivery amid Cyber Monday MADNESS
Tuesday 2nd December 2014 14:32 GMT
UPS and FedEx fine print
If you look at both UPS and FedEx T&C's, they do not guarantee Next Day Delivery from Thanksgiving through the 1st of the year. No matter who you purchase your merchandise from, they *always* have the next day option with the much, much, higher delivery prices, and will gladly point at the carrier for not getting your merchandise on time.
I went round and round with Newegg & FedEx a few years ago - you can pay for next day, but it ain't gonna happen, not around Christmas anyway. Maybe that's why Amazon* wants those drones so bad.
*Prime member for several years now - we order so much stuff for aquariums, computers, house, etc - it's more than worth the price, considering delivery costs.
I need a password to BRAKE? What? No! STOP! Aaaargh!
Monday 24th November 2014 21:23 GMT
Re: What is the difference...
Pfft! I wouldn't expect a Corvette to be much competition to the machinery ya'll get over there, unless they get in the way all the time.
I've come to realize we're sucking hindtit over here - detuned vehicles and shit gas. EPA is a monster - don't let them talk to your people, ever.
First in line to order a Nexus 6? AT&T has a BRICK for you
Attack of the drones: ‘Nefarious’ private use rising, says top Blighty copper
Walmart's $99 crap-let will make people hate Windows 8.1 even more
Saturday 15th November 2014 02:46 GMT
For $100...
...buy a refurbished 16GB Fire HD from Amazon-> Root, Load CyanogenMod's Android 4.4.4 ROM, Google services package, and have a much more capable tablet. Have 4 of them around the house, kids love them (have a family clan in Clash of Clans lol). Probably find them cheaper on Craigslist.
Just saying.
Net neutrality, Verizon, open internet ... How can we solve this mess?
Lindsay Lohan ignores El Reg's tender twitterly advances
Boxing clever? Amazon Fire TV is SO CLOSE to being excellent
Friday 7th November 2014 12:30 GMT
@Thecowking
Amazon Video for Tablets runs fine on vanilla Android 4.4.4 -> FireHD tablet, rooted and running Cyanogenmod 11-20141008-SNAPSHOT-M11-tate (cheap capable tablet for Clash of Clans lol).
We use Prime quite a bit - aquarium supplies, automotive parts, and whatnot. Worth the membership just from shipping in our case, video is just a bonus.
What tablets won't run the app?
Friday 7th November 2014 12:08 GMT
@James 51
Yes, program called PlayLater will copy/convert video streams to Mpeg-4. I've been populating my NAS(s) with tv series (The IT Crowd rocks btw) and movies from Prime and Netflix - finally cut the cord so to speak. Pretty much anything in my house can access content on my home gigabit network. It works quite well.
Verizon set to pay $64 MEEELLION for overbilling customers
Friday 31st October 2014 01:55 GMT
Meh
I reckon I'll be receiving another $10 class action lawsuit check in the mail shortly. Third one this year.
So what have we learned? Nothing really. Verizon admits nothing, lawyers get paid, original claimants get maybe 1%, and the rest get $10. Sylvania sent $10 to cover a $56 set of halogen lights that burned out prematurely. Michelin $10/ea for a sidewall issue.
Point is, they have already made their money. Customers took the loss and only recover a very small portion of that loss. Settle while wailing protestations of innocence, it's like theatre:
Corp: 'Ah, you caught us!'
Lawyers: 'Why yes, yes we did and we'll do it again!'
Corp: 'No, you won't.'
Lawyers: wink, wink.
Corp: nudge nudge.
Corp: ' Good show on that, see you at the club?''
Lawyers: 'Right!'
It's not Friday afternoon yet.
;(
Tim Cook: The classic iPod HAD TO DIE, and this is WHY
Wednesday 29th October 2014 07:22 GMT
Re: Apple killed the competition then deliberately dumped the market...
+1 for you Adam1. Youngest son (14) uses his S4 as an mp3 player, he can barely make calls, text, or any of the other myriad uses of a handheld messaging computer*. He only pays attention to texts and whatnot from us parental units for fear of losing his music, there are times I want to rip the headphones from his little head, but that's another story.
* (His eleven year old sister? Uses every single Mhz of her S4. Frankly, I'm a little surprised I haven't been visited yet by the authorities - she gets a Raspberry Pi for Christmas)
Security Avengers team up to take down Chinese hacking group
Samsung turns off lights on LEDs worldwide – except in South Korea
Monday 27th October 2014 22:17 GMT
Re: The lesson of the LS120
There was one. Me ;)
When the LS120 was introduced at COMDEX in Vegas in what? 97? I *had* to have one - had several... still have a couple of drives laying around. fyi, the superdisks don't seem to break down like regular 1.44s - they still work, unlike 70-80% of the floppies I still have boxes of.
I need a bigger shed... or at least get rid of the floppies.
Just don't blame Bono! Apple iTunes music sales PLUMMET
Monday 27th October 2014 01:13 GMT
Rumor has it...
...that Apple is porting iTunes to Android <waves dead chicken furiously> Ran across mention of it today when I checked Google. Subject came up during a discussion with the wife - I was asked by client staff if going from Apple to Android was a good idea. First impulse is to say 'Ohellya', then reason kicks in and I ask how invested are they in iTunes. If they're a crazy person and have hundreds/thousands in Apple kit/music/whatever, I tell them to stay with Apple, if not, try Android. Wife wondered if they had iTunes for Android. Good Question.
Anyway, the search terms in Google are thus:
'Itunes for Android - don't judge me, this is research'
You'll find a few references - it makes *some* sense if Apple iTunes is losing market share, although I'd never sleep again if I was Tim Cook - Steve would rip my heart out for that one, where ever he may be.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
