* Posts by Kiwi

4368 publicly visible posts • joined 26 Sep 2011

Stallman's final interview as FSF president: Last week we quizzed him over Microsoft visit. Now he quits top roles amid rape remarks outcry

Kiwi

Re: He should have stuck to what he knows

The only "morons" are those who do not know what rape is, or what it does to the victims.

RMS is right for taking a stand like he did.

People have to speak up for those who've gone through it, lest the vile SJWs steal even more words to make themselves feel better at the expense of true victims.

Kiwi
Angel

I'm gonna get so much hate for this..

Most of you here probably already know this so no details.

I am a victim of rape.

I am a victim of several "sexual assaults".

I refuse to call myself a victim of child sexual abuse (I was 15 and willing), but I could if I wished.

I agree with what RMS said on Marvin Minsky - if Minsky entered that room believing that Virginia Giuffre was both of-age and willing, then Minsky is innocent of any sexual assault in the sense that he did not believe she was under age or unwilling. This happens to a lot of people who engage prostitutes or others, they simply have no clue that the person who has approached them is not actually wanting to be where she (or he) is.

When people try to steal phrases like "sexual assault" and apply it to people who are also victims of someone elses's abuse, they are robbing those of us who are victims. They equate "rape" with un-forced and un-coerced sex, which is an absolutely disgusting thing for people to do. I cannot express how angry I am at these people who do that sort of thing. Epstein committed the crime, and he did not suffer nearly enough. I would much rather he rotted in prison for decades before dying a slow, lingering death then taking the cowards way out like he did. Of course, his victims may have a different view - for a start they know he can never again hurt another person. Some of them probably also cared very deeply for him, despite the abuse, and that will colour their view of his death and the circumstances.

But if Mr Minsky entered that room believing she was willing and legal, he was not guilty. I don't write this to diminish the crimes against Ms Giuffre, but I don't wish to see the blame spread away from where it belongs and the words themselves robbed of their power.

This is perhaps why I have so much anger and hatred towards SJWs. They take other's pain upon themselves, and try to steal from us to increase the attention they so undeservedly lust after. They add nothing of value to this world, and instead add to the pain and confusion others feel, hoping to make themselves look and feel better at the expense of those who really are suffering. They are the lowest of the low and, well, best I stop now.

Mr Stallman, you are in many respects a hero. I stand as a victim of rape and abuse and thank you for taking a stand against those who would rob the rest of us, who would steal the language we use to describe our experience and use it for their own gain. I applaud you for all you have done and tried to do, and for speaking your mind. I wish there was more I could do then offer you these words, and I wish there was more people like you in the world, annoying as you have been to many. You have done more to help others than most of your detractors ever will. Even where I disagree, you were at least trying to do the right thing rather than hiding behind your keyboard doing nothing but criticising others.

May the Lord (regardless of your faith!) guide you into a new role that will make the most exciting day of your life seem dull, and may you go on to much much better things than even you imagined possible.

Tesla Autopilot crash driver may have been eating a bagel at the time, was lucky not to get schmeared on road

Kiwi

Re: Hit the rear end of the fire-truck ? ... happens more often than you'd imagine

"How often have you been closing on a sea of brakelights slowing gently to match speed with the traffic going at an expected pace, only to suddenly realise that it's not moving at 30 but stopped dead?"

Myself? Precisely never. A quick poll about the place just now (10 adults) suggests what you describe is not common at all.

Well, given your claims about your driving I'm surprised. Forgive me for not believing a word you say...

It is a common thing with people who drive a lot, especially when we use the same stretch of road and traffic slows but seldom stops (eg where two motorways merge). It doesn't happen often but it'll happen a few times in the career of people who are actually out on the road a lot.

Initially it can be quite hard to gauge closing speeds. As a pilot - and again, forgive me for thinking you're telling porkies on that - you'd know about the many difficulties humans have judging closing speeds especially with frame-of-reference issues, such as apparent movement (or lack thereof) against a background, the "looming" problem, and many others.

We can all see (some with the help of glasses/contacts) the difference between slowing and stopped traffic from a couple hundred yards.

Only if the background allows it. At times, especially with people who take their foot off the brake when stopped, it can make judging their relative position difficult.

Any one with real driving experience knows this.

Should you be driving? Might want to get yourself checked out just for your own piece of mind, lest you inadvertently kill somebody.

Wait.. So you proudly boast about how you aggressively tailgate (something that can get you jail time in places other than barbarica), you expect others to get out of your way and claim they're driving badly when they slow down to mitigate your bad driving, and you say someone else needs to get checked out?

Kiwi

Re: Did he get a ticket?

Sorry, greenaholics, most purchasers don't give a shit about saving the environment, they are instead helping to stuff the HOV lanes just as full as the regular lanes in the name of "convenience".

That's the motivator you have to play on to get people to change in most things - short-term convenience rather than long-term issues. Smokers, alcoholics etc - all we want is to relieve the immediate longing, what we will be like 20 years (or 5 years) down the road isn't even remotely a consideration.

That's what keeps people away from a lot of the desired changes, no immediate pay-off (especially when they want you to change a lot of things today instead of small change tomorrow, another one next week and so on)

Kiwi

Re: It will be interesting when the 1st similar case happens in the UK what the police reaction is

Just watch what you say as they record audio which might not be a great thing for you in some cases.

Few years back I had BT in the car (still do), and had a, well lets just say "annoying customer" call.

After the call they hung up, I also pressed the red hang-up button. But somehow was still connected. I'll let your imagination to the rest as it still embarrasses me what I apparently (and believe probably) said.

Today, if I feel a moment of PTSD-like 'wanting to say what I feel about someone', I make sure I have stopped and moved away from microphones, just in case. Anyone who knows me would understand, anyone who doesn't would have the AOS on my arse in a heartbeat.

Kiwi
Boffin

Re: It's always a firetruck

Frame of reference issues?

That's common among motorcyclist accidents.

If two of you are approaching a curve or an intersection (eg roads that intersect at 90deg), one vehicle can appear relatively staitonery in relation to it's background due to the changing angle of approach apparent from the other vehicle. Due to this effect, drivers can mis-judge approach speeds quite easily, as the main indicator of speed we use is changes relative to background (especially in the case of smaller vehicles). That's why a fly buzzing across your field of view appears to be going much faster than an airliner a dozen miles away in a clear sky. (well, that and the changing angle-to-target as well)

Kiwi
Pint

Re: "starts with c..."

This is a tech website, with reasonably intelligent people. Did you really think you had to explain what would otherwise have been a rather good joke?

I made the post, so I guess my action answered your question before you even asked it... :)

Kiwi
Flame

Re: You do know it's the 21st century don't you

is just another acidic drip which make women feel uncomfortable in our tech communities.

Do you actually work in the sector?

I know many women who work in tech, and who have a sense of humour. I can't say I know any who'd be put off by a "blonde/Essex" joke.

Some might be put off by the tired old stereotype/trope that we need to make some sort of effort to 'attract' them to jobs that they largely aren't actually interested in (women who want to be engineers become engineers, those who don't, don't).

If women are feeling uncomfortable around you, then perhaps it's because you're trying too hard to treat them as something different. Treat them as an equal part of the team, as a person, not as a woman or some precious fragile thing that'll break if some complete stranger says something on some random forum.

Whether it's been farming, demolition, engineering or automotive work every women I've met in those fields has wanted and expected to be treated as any other member of the team, and all have resented any form of 'special treatment' because they're female. I can only speak for my experience of course, and I know there are women out there who consider men to be sexist pigs if we don't treat them differently, but most just want to be part of the team, face the same expectations, and have the same opportunities (both social and job advancement).

To act differently because there are (or might be) women around is to act in a sexist and condescending manner towards women.

</rant>

Kiwi
Facepalm

Re: Hit the rear end of the fire-truck ? ... happens more often than you'd imagine

The back end of a fire-truck with lights flashing is something we see moving more often than not - and they're big enough that while we see them, we think they're moving if they're in line with the lane and our approach - right until about 2 seconds out at 65mph when we exclaim "oh bugger!" - On the flipside - if we see the broadside of a truck / diagonally parked in the lane - we slow the hell down - as it's even bigger, and obviously going nowhere !

Doh! I should've taken that into account as well, and well spotted!

That's a part of the effect the 'anti-SMIDSY manoeuvre I mentioned works - approaching motorbikes can have the same effect on the driver (also why many pull out in front of trucks and buses - they're only moving slowly always, right, so can't be bearing down on me at 50 mile an hour when they move so slowly!). By changing the angle/profile of the bike, it helps a lot with the other drivers assessment of speed and distance.

And yes, a truck parked at an angle to the lane is easier to see and obviously stopped vs one in line with the line. How often have you been closing on a sea of brakelights slowing gently to match speed with the traffic going at an expected pace, only to suddenly realise that it's not moving at 30 but stopped dead? (common problem on motorways that commonly have big peak-hour slowdowns but few actual stops, when something's happened and they have all stopped - for those who don't believe it just look at all the news reports/spewboob footage on motorway (etc) pileups).

Icon for me.. If you close your eyes you can almost imagine it's the beer icon, so have one for yourself :)

Kiwi

Re: Total BS

BS, total BS. SO he just sat there, watching the road while he plowed into the back of a large, heavy truck that had bright flashing lights?

Some significant problems with your thinking.

1) At speed, you travel a considerable distance in a second.

2) There can be some ambiguity about which lane things are in while you're some distance off, especially if they're around anything of a corner - you cannot always be sure what lane they're in till you're fairly close.

3) Like many drivers without "AP", he'd let his attention wander. By the time he realised that the vehicle was stopped and in his lane....

4) 3 assumes the Tesla didn't swerve into the truck from a different lane, as they've been known to do. He may've forgotten this after the trauma of the accident.

I don't defend his actions, but I have enough experience of human foibles to have no issue trusting him. I've seen very good drivers do very bad things, and it can only take a second for an excellent driver to become an at-fault statistic. IIRC at 100km/hr you're travelling around 30 metres/second, 2 seconds for any sort of response time from a lot of people (IE realise action needs to be taken, develop a plan and execute). So we're looking 60-90 metres at 60mph, the complacency of freeway/motorway/whateverway (wide road with few and gentle curves, no intersections, all traffic going in the same direction at near the same speed) driving coupled with the added complacency of "AP"/"Driver assist" etc doing a lot of the work.

And that's before we get into things like "Target fixation" as well, which is something he may've suffered from. Maybe, for a change, the Tesla wasn't at fault and he did what so many other drivers do - another big part of "human foibles" that kills so many of us (and is very useful once you know what it is and how to use it as a survival skill instead of letting it drive you into roadside furniture).

(OOI - over here we have roadside flares or other markers put out in the leadup to a scene to encourage drivers to move to another lane - why not here?)

Kiwi

Re: Because most Tesla drivers are not pilots.

There's nothing wrong with the tech at this stage if it's used as a driving aid,

The problem is the number of reports of people having to fight the car eg over "lane departure" systems, times (rare it seems, thankfully) when emergency braking triggers, and times when the car itself decides to take evasive measures and sharply avoids a radar ghost, injuring/killing everyone in the vicinity.

Youtube has 'one or two' videos of such happenings if you care to look.

I'd like to see the tech properly done and safely deployed, but for now I have to be worried that a gnat landing on a sensor may be taken as a truck blocking the lane, and the same sensors fail to see me on my bike. Knowing the tech would stop cars pulling out in front of me is great - but during these early stages too many people trust it to replace their attention, and people are dying as a result.

Not wanting to die because of someone else's screw up does not make me a luddite. Understanding the issues the tech faces and knowing they've not overcome enough of those problems does not put me in the same camp as the FES (a few of whom seem rather intelligent in other fields....)

Kiwi

Re: Did he get a ticket?

Emergency vehicles (police, fire, ambulance) should all have blue lights. Anyone else with a blue light visible anywhere on the outside of their vehicle should hauled in front of a judge.

I agree - all EVs should have blue lights on them and any other flashing blue lights should = long chat with an unfriendly judge in a very foul mood.

Seems to be pretty common the world over that fire engines have red lights on top, with a few blue ones showing up in very recent years.

So I guess your own area is just as silly.

Kiwi

Re: It will be interesting when the 1st similar case happens in the UK what the police reaction is

the police attitude here is that there is no genuine reason to run into the back of another vehicle

There are 2 or 3 I can think of that are more forgiveable.

1) Some twat pulling in front of you and braking suddenly, or stopping suddenly after moving into your lane without sufficient warning

2) Someone with faulty brake lights, where by the time you realised how hard they were slowing down it was too late

3) Someone who rides their brakes a lot, again meaning that where you think they just have their foot resting on the brakes (and triggering the lights) they're actually slowing hard for some reason.

I've also heard rumours that in some countries there's a get-out-of-jail-free if the person does something silly, like stop in the middle of a major road without obvious reason.

In NZ it's also almost a strict-liability issue. If the front of your vehicle contacts the rear of the other vehicle, your'e at fault - almost even in cases where they reversed into you (I say 'almost' - I think innocent people have been charged over this).

Kiwi
Coat

Re: Maybe, Maybe not

our brain has the ability to decide which events are important enough to move from RAM to 'storage'.

Obviously Tesla's AI crew took part of that a little too literally...

Kiwi
Coat

Re: Naming

Yes, they do burn rather nicely, don't they?

I blame the crayon department..

They were having a round of drinks after successfully eliminating one of the more serious design problems. Someone suggested they 'toast the new design', and it got taken as an order....

Kiwi
Trollface

Re: Naming

Bender Mode

(kill all humans)

Perhaps the most appropriate.. I mean, they already go through "bend over mode" when they buy one!

Kiwi
Pint

Cars don't have the equivalent of air traffic control that will at least attempt to alert an off-course airplane, and if they can't manage that, divert other traffic, as they do in any emergency. With cars...it's a wild world out there.

And here we have a big part of the problem. People (perhaps rightly given the discussion and linked video in this thread) perceive auto pilot as capable of controlling a great deal of the flight with the crew doing very little much of the time (there are, I believe, even planes (fighters) that humans could not directly fly but require a flight computer to manage most of the load). But we fail to make the critical connection - the skies are well managed with lots of space between aircraft (and by necessity - airliners cover a great deal of ground in a few seconds and if a bit falls off you can't simply pull over and stop!) where as the roads, well.. Any idiot can get on them at any time, and a great many do.

Kiwi
Boffin

Re: Wondering...

It just isn't good enough at understanding what is going on around it. While I will not get a Tesla with autopilot, I do look forward to autonomous vehicles which do have the required level of perception (sensors and analysis) to cope with hazards properly.

As a motorcyclist I have to agree!

One thing Tesla seems to be missing (unless it's dead tech?). Years back radar systems from overseas had a "SWS" mode which IIRC stood for "Safety Warning System". I was told that overseas emergency vehicles transmitted a signal when their lights and/or sirens were active, and the radar detectors would pick this up and use it to alert the drivers (I don't believe it was ever deployed in NZ).

If this still exists and is in use over there, surely Tesla could incorporate it into their cars to at least give them a chance of not running into such vehicles? (Although knowing Tesla, it'd probably see it as a target to be rammed). And if it has gone out of favour, or never existed, perhaps it could be re-introduced?

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Did he get a ticket?

Doesn't really help your assertion that emergency lights may not be as visible as we'd like to believe.

In some circumstances red flashing lights can be somewhat lost in the 'noise' if there's a lot of them around.

I've noticed in NZ in recent times ambulances and fire trucks now have red and white lights on all sides including to the rear. Police cars with blue and red lights haven't been quite so affected.

Makes them much more noticeable under adverse conditions. (But while it may lessen the incidence significantly, I bet it still won't stop twits driving into them!)

Kiwi
Pint

Re: What a complete plonker!

I've decided I want flying drones to follow all Tesla's around. Think of the "stunt" footage we could have.

As a bonus, we'd get another type of footage as well...

(Rhymes with 'stunt", starts with c...)

Let's recap reCAPTCHA gotcha: Our cunning AI can defeat Google's anti-bot tech, say uni boffins

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Catcha is the most annoying piece of crap ever

Ah, you had to ask, didn't you? A Pelican (or PeLiCon) crossing is a Pedestrian Light Controlled crossing - a crossing with traffic lights activated by a pedestrian who wants to cross the road.

Ah yes, I know what they are now. We have several here in NZ actually. I'd send you a link to one but google maps doesn't seem to want to show me the menu that'd allow me to activate street view.

Much like the one lower down in the link you gave, but without the accompanying road intersection.

(I notice the other sign - "Turning traffic give way to pedestrians" has been changing - used to be shortened to "PEDS" but someone took offence at the preference given to paedos..... Yes sadly we have people who have too few other real problems and a pathological need to complain, or to few braincells (or both)

Kiwi

It's always bugged me at some deep level that I'm being forced to train Google's automated ML just to use things like banking websites

Start making some noise then. Surely you have a banking code of practice where you are that makes passing your details on to any 3rd party a bad thing? Privacy laws etc?

Make a bit of a fuss, name names etc, maybe ask around to see if there's a lawyer who'll do a class action on behalf of the bank's customers...

This stuff can be changed.

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Catcha is the most annoying piece of crap ever

It's the rough equivalent of a pelican crossing in the UK BTW.

Sweet.. Cool. Now I know crosswalk=pelican crossing.

But..

WTF is a pelican crossing????

Divert the power to the shields. 'I'm givin' her all she's got, Captain!'

Kiwi
Pint

Re: The plant was supposed to be protected by the levees that failed,

That the home cannot be lived in afterwards is a secondary question.

Many of those "dangerous" places stood for long after the quakes and the thousands of aftershocks (many quite large).

But there is the risk of other problems, like water ingress leading to further damage. A wooden home can be repaired, but the question becomes at what cost? Is it cheaper to demolish and rebuild, or to go through opening up walls, repairing damage, and closing in again? And can you trust it afterwards?

Friends of mine live in old state brick houses, or never-state but same design places. They get very nervous in quakes (and will often quickly leave the house to the back yard despite the official advice (years back, not sure if it's the same today) NOT to do so) - a brick-house can fail quite badly whereas a wooden or reinforced concrete house can fail where a wall will collapse but largely stay as a single slab, leaving voids where people can survive.

I still cannot get over.. My place rode through the Kaikoura quake and many others with no visible damage despite being a horrible place the moves violent if a flea farts in the neighbour's garden. Yet modern buildings only a few KM away were badly damage. The repairs in Lower Hutt are still ongoing (they're just starting to rebuild the picture theatres in Queensgate Mall)

I used to live in a sandy coastal area myself for a short while. I know what you mean by feeling the ground move with even small quakes! Liquefaction was often a big worry though I never saw it.

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Biodeisel is only 8% bio

The newly planted trees are growing much faster than the older trees they replace.

I've often found some "greenies" who are denser than the wood they complain about. They believe that building a house from wood "creates CO2" and is thus a bad thing. I try to point out to them that 1) The felled trees have stopped growing, 2) the replacement trees will grow faster and thus require more CO2 and the obvious 3), while the house stands the carbon in the wood is locked in, it does not magically and instantly evaporate into the atmosphere, it will be a part of that house for centuries to come if basic maintenance (or 0 maintenance but the right atmosphere - see the many abandoned but intact buildings that are >100 years).

Wood is our 'greenest' building material. And if we burn it, and feed the exhaust gasses into greenhouses where more wood is being grown...

Live clean, but leave my valuable CO2 alone. Stop burning other rubbish, go zero-plastic, make your house energy efficient, but burn as much wood as you want (the older the better) because the replacement growth fed by your gasses will do so much more than you can imagine to help this planet recover from our lazy foulness.

Allowlist, not whitelist. Blocklist, not blacklist. Goodbye, wtf. Microsoft scans Chromium code, lops off offensive words

Kiwi
Boffin

Re: This is stupid

In classic western films, the bad guys wear black hats and the good guys white. I think the convention goes back to before "talkies".

Hints to it even in the Bible, verses referring to 'evil [people] likes darkness, because their deeds are hidden'. Even on a moonless night far from city lights, there is often some ambient light and white will far more easily be seen than black.

My first exposure to this was in one of the "Secret Seven" books where a couple of the boys had made themselves up to look like snow men to hide in a field near some old guy's house. Later, inside the house, one of the boys had removed the white clothes and hidden in a dark corner to avoid detection, but had forgotten about the white on his face.. Or something like that.

Kiwi

Re: The "right thing" is not to pander to the whims of the PC scum

Is that your intent?

My intent was to vent.

I have expressed the reason I wish to vent elsewhere.

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Coffee without milk?!

Gotcha, thanks. I have heard about that, so it must be just my memory that's faulty :)

I don't blame you.

I'm glad I'm poor enough not to accidentally buy this stuff!

Kiwi
Windows

Re: ouch!!

so whats next? is MS going to start filtering Office360 documents and Outlook mails for "inappropriate content" ?

Well.. Why else do they insist on keeping them on their servers rather than on your local machine?

Kiwi
Flame

Re: Are people really getting triggered by this?

This is hilarious to see what the world has become, over hyper sesntive idiots who now get offended for other people. Might as well call it the #000List and the #FFFList

Sir, your statement is highly offensive! You should know that the "0" kinda is visually similar to ladie's private parts, and the "F" obviously represents a four-letter word. You cannot claim innocence, you must have known that before you posted and thus were deliberately trying to be offensive!

"Blocklist" and "Allowlist" are also out as they indicate some level of privilege. Obviously these words are being promoted by elitist privileged older white males to remind every one else of their place in society!

The only acceptable terms henceforth shall be "List" and "List". And don't you DARE try to come up with a way to differentiate between the two, as that would be DISCRIMINATION!!!!!!!!!!!

Kiwi
Pint

Re: We are all the same colour on the inside

These so called offensive words used to describe different groupings of people is wrong... just wrong. I have never seen an actual black person just has I have never seen an actual white person.

We have refugees from Somalia (and other nations) not far from here. Generally quite decent people too, so far as my interactions with them go.

I have to say that they would pretty much meet the definition of 'black'. They are quite dark-skinned.

Kiwi
Paris Hilton

Just for comparison I put my tea under a colour scanner but it got all steamed up and stopped working.

That happened with a SJW I knew once. I asked him to get some more black ink while he was out. Stormed off going on about me being racist and quit the job when the management told him to stop wasting time.

Shame... I was wanting to know if we could use him as a new heat-source for our boilers.

[Even Paris would have more brains than most SJWs combined!]

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Programming and computers as a casualty

Does that light-headedness lead to you thinking about a wankel?

Dagnammit! I was about to head to bed, but now I'm gonna have a hard time sleeping thinking about engines and crank shafts and those pistons going up and down and up and down harder and faster inside those slippery tubes...

Even the shape of a spark plug will be getting someone upset. Or just the term "plug"...

[Sorry for the other post - obviously had old data in the paste buffer and didn't proof-read!]

Kiwi
Coat

Everyone knows it's either taken Julie Andrews or Whoopi Goldberg.

That's offensive! If I was to make a black coffee under those terms, I'd then be 'making Whoopi' - and that as you know is a sexual reference that is offensive to the prudish types and the celibate types (many of whom are so by choice - not their's but the choice of every one else!)

[Dad-joke time - what were Mr and Mrs Goldberg doing at the time she was conceived? Why, they were making Whoopi!]

Kiwi
Pint

Just for the fun of it I put my hand under a color scanner. RGB: 161 102 86. That's RED, folks. Not even close to white, as people insist...

Do you find it hard living with what life has done to you?

I mean, when you look in the mirror at what you are today - do you see RED???

:)

(Would love to use joke, coat and troll icons as well - but if you don't like the joke at least you can chuck the glass at me :) )

Kiwi
Coat

Re: Homonyms

And country is an incredibly misogynistic word...

But phonetically accurate when the other side is in office... :)

Kiwi
Pint

Re: IIRC the last person I recall ...

As it happens, there is a wikipedia entry with some useful context:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversies_about_the_word_niggardly

I came across that one during my search last night, but it doesn't reference the speeches I recall hearing. I was hoping to find stronger support for my point.

Annoyingly, search engines first return the most money-making, then the most popular, then the most -almost-right-by-ultra-twisted-logic results. "Most accurate results based on your search terms" never get a look in these days :(

Kiwi
Pint

Re: This is stupid

Im still struggling with the new one.

Coloured people....BAD!

People of Colour....GOOD!

Is it the result of doubleplus unthink?

(On their part, not yours, obviously :) )

Kiwi
Coat

Re: The term Asian is strange

How this became the SJW term of art for people from all the above countries is a mystery to me, but it certainly seems disrespectful. Or at least stupid.

HTH

HAND

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Then give that m$ engineer a Nobel Prize for saving the world

Okay, in his position, what would you do?

Leave the code as it is, go out side, find someone in my community who has a real need, fix that need as best I can (or help them find/fund someone who can do it better).

How many people today get offended by terms that yesterday they did not know exist, and last Monday were considered non-offensive and perhaps even the best term available?

People get told that a term they've found OK is supposed to be offensive, and they get told their friends/loved ones should know better and must be deliberately insulting them when the loved ones are using the best language they know how and only speaking with the best intentions. The PC victim then goes from believing their loved ones are doing them right to believing their loved ones dislike or at least disrespect them, and instead of being kind are being abusive. That leads to a great deal of pain and anger.

All because some vile piece of PC scum decided they should get their name in the paper by making out a perfectly accurate and acceptable term should be offensive and everyone should have already known that from time immemorial.

If there is any one in this world who should suffer an agonising and slow death, it is the proponents of PC (not the ones intending to be doing stuff from the best intentions but the ones sticking their nose in and stirring things up for their own motives).

PS if you respond with a contrary point, you will be acting in an unfair and offensive manner as you may show me an error in my thinking and thus damage my belief that I am always right - in doing so damaging my fragile self-esteem and proving you are just as bad as the most racist person out there. To respond contrary to what I said is to risk offending, insulting or just plain hurting me, and in this PC world you are not allowed to correct any wrong thinking I may have!

</rant>

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Police officer is a bit of a mouthful

Police officer is a bit of a mouthful

I prefer to use the word "pig".

If you'd met the ones I know, you'd not be so polite.

(And you'd probably agree that their partners would never refer to them as being "a bit of a mouthful')

(Ok, getting annoyed and hateful now, best get to bed and to sleep, perchance to dream...)

Stalking cheap Chinese GPS child trackers is as easy as 123... 456 – because that's the default password on 600k+ of these gizmos

Kiwi
Paris Hilton

Re: Kite Mark?

I thought CE meant "Close Enough"????

Kiwi

Re: When I were a lad ...

I'm not agreeing that the devices should be used, just that I can understand why they would be desirable.,

Yes, I can see that myself - where little thought is put into it. Sadly, too few today spend any real time thinking about purchases (well, waay back when no one really thought much, but back then the frivolous spending was more likely to be a set of gaudy curtains than a tracking device for your kids)

In reality unless they get prevalent, a ne-er-do-well will not realise they have a tracker on them and would probably not be able to send fake GPS locations unless the target was a high value.

That's the sort of thinking I'm sure they want you to have. You don't think the paedo chat rooms (if there's any still around?) aren't already all over this? There may be a bit of a gulf between their dreams and their abilities, but some will have the resources to abuse this. Many people will think there isn't any near them, but why take the risk?

However the bit about no-confidence to do xyz I just don't see and would need some reliable evidence for that. I'm pretty sure 18yo are far more likely to holiday or go travelling by themselves much more than I was or my parents generation were. There seems to be no obvious decrease in appetite for risk amongst teenagers from what I can see, so would like to know the evidence. The food related illnesses is far more likely to do with the availability of fast food, processed food and sugar rich foods than people putting trackers on their kids.

Look around. Kids are less likely to be sent outside or even allowed outside to play. They're more likely to be inside on their playstation. I wasn't allowed inside during the day unless I was playing in the yard and needed the toilet or it was a weekend and I was coming in for lunch. Otherwise I could be anywhere (once any chores were done - that's how we got spending money, did work at home or work for someone else like a paper run) and sometimes was 3 towns over, perhaps an hour's ride away.

My parents trusted me and taught me to be trustworthy. Taught me to go out by myself and look after myself.

We had sugar-rich drinks and fast food and the like, but they were a rare treat - even amongst the richer kids - not an every day item. We'd share a half-pint bottle of coke between 2 or 3 of us once a week, not expect to go through 3 or 4 litres of the stuff each every day.

Want to put it to the test? Walk outside on the next fine weekday and see how many kids walk or ride past your house, how many play in the street (if your street is quiet enough). Go to the local playground. Is it filled with playing kids? Or is the only sound the chirping of crickets? When I was young the playgrounds were full, the streets were playgrounds for those who could, and kids walked or cycled alone or in groups - always without parents. Can you spot that in your community today? Do they still walk/bike to school? Do they still go to the playgrounds on their own or in groups of friends?

It may not have changed where you live. It has where I live, and it has where I grew up. The thought of getting their arses off the couch has the fat little buggers panting and wheezing. The concept of being away from their devices causes them to have massive panic attacks. And social interaction? Forget it.

(At least more and more schools are getting over the "ban anything that might get them hurt" stage and getting back into the "get off your fat arse, get outside and play" stage)

Kiwi

Could be worse...

oblig Dilbert

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Never mind the hackers, what about the parents?

What does it do to those children, knowing that their parents can listen in on everything that they say or is said to them?

For many, especially the younger ones, they probably won't mind so much. But it will teach them to expect constant monitoring, like it's a normal thing.

When they get to puberty (or just before), it will be a much different manner. And there's that age around 7 or 8 where they start to get rather privacy-concious, and wouldn't want mum listening in while they're in the toilet. That I can see causing the kids some psychological issues, perhaps major.

Whatever way you look at it, this is NOT a good thing!

(A lot of us had our trust eroded when we learned about Santa Claus etc)

Kiwi
Pint

Re: White hat botnet

The only way this is likely to be taken seriously is a very visual demonstration of how much data is available

I've tried. Not with this, but with a all-singing all-dancing alarm/CCTV system. Showed the person how trivial it was to get in to and disable using a laptop out front of their property.

"But no burglar would ever think to try that", or objections to that effect.

No matter how much you educate the general population, you're still dealing with people with an average IQ. You're dealing with people who publish all their life details on farcebork etc, who tell everyone when they're away from home and how long for, who give everyone their pets names via social media, link to their parents and grandparents (esp on their mom's side) profiles, and act surprised when people know what should be 'private information' about them.

Do your best, I applaud your efforts and will be helping as best I can in my bit of the trench, but don't expect intelligent responses to this potentially grave threat. They can safely ignore you because it won't happen to them.

If you can save one child though, you're a bloody hero and it was worth the effort after all!

Kiwi
Childcatcher

Re: When I were a lad ...

So a parent of a child of a certain age - one who is on the cusp of being able to walk home alone from school alone for instance, may well be forgiven for seeing a device that costs a few pounds and thinking that it will give them reassurance that their child id on the way home or has stopped for some bubblegum at the shop or is actually in the back of a van on the way to Manchester.

1) If I was so inclined, I'd be taking off anything that looked like one of these devices or,

2) from the article, it's apparently fairly easy to spoof the location information - so the app may tell you they're in the lolly shop while they're actually in my van, quite far from manchester.

Or 3) Said van made up somewhat faraday-like, and your handy tracking device let me know just when Billy took the short-cut through that quiet alley where no one would see me grab him.

But if there's nothing like that to happen, the biggest problem is still the one Jake and I agree on - along with many others...

4) The over-protection of kids means they're not prepared for adulthood. Their fitness and health levels are poorer than they should be, their confidence with climbing/swimming and other stuff (including surviving alone outdoors for a few ours/days in some disaster or emergency or...) is negligible to non-existent; in short they're destined to die young from preventable disease or accident where our generation had the skills and confidence to get through easily. The over-protection of young kids sets them up for disaster later. Just look at the incidence of childhood diabetes and heart-disease (including fatal heart attacks) in kids who haven't reached their 20th.

I can understand the desire to protect, especially at a bad time. After a breakup with his GF of a couple of years, my nephew sent a lot of us a txt with one word - "Goodbye". It was another 3 or 4 hours before he was located (alive and well but very upset). I can understand wanting to know where a child or loved one is. But the price, the risk of what all this protection does - it's too great and the cost to this generation will be so much higher than we can imagine.

Teach them smarts and teach them confidence, that's the best protection and sets them up to survive a whole lot of things. And remember, the odds of your kid being abused by someone in their own home are far far higher than the odds of them being abused by someone on the street.

Kiwi
Paris Hilton

"parents who wish to use GPS gear to track their kids' whereabouts would be well-advised not to..."

"...parents who wish to use GPS gear to track their kids' whereabouts would be well-advised not to..." have kids in the first place.

Bad enough we have the mass giving away private info to whoever for whatever reasons that they're bring brought up with, but now to also have them carrying tracking devices[1] that also monitor their conversations?

Years back, based on my reading of the Bible, even before GPS was commonly used, I used to say stuff like this would come about and it'd be sold first to monitor crims then later to monitor kids. Used to get mocked (and no doubt will do again here, how can I claim the Bible said this 2,000 years ago before they had electricity??) but who's laughing now? Well, not me I'm afraid.

I hope this gets badly enough abused to scare people well away from this sort of thing, but sadly I also see wide-open WiFi cameras still get installed, alarm systems with terrible insecure base units and terrible insecure apps still get installed, people trust their homes to electronic locks with RFID or NFC-based "keys", and use those magnetic locks (with 200kg of force!) to "lock" their doors. I may weigh less than 80kg, but I wonder how much force I could generate if I took a run at your door. Probably even a sturdy kick. Of course, the WiFi camera shows me when you're not home, the crappy creapy app can help me confirm I'm jamming your outbound signals and turning off your mains switch - that magnet may have a battery backup but I wonder if it'll last the day while you're at work?

Anyway.. Point is I hope people get scared of these but I expect they'll ignore the warnings and lap them up. After all they're not aware that Mr Herbert down the road is listening in and even watching their kids through the thing (if it can hold photos I'm assuming it has a camera of some sort?), perhaps whispering ideas while the kid is asleep (dunno how effective that would be but if I was so inclined I'm sure I'd give it a try)

</YAAR>[2]

[1] Yes I know mobes can be used to track people, but few of us consider them as 'tracking devices', unlike a device designed for that sole purpose

[2] Yet Another Annoying Rant

I just love your accent – please, have a new password

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Scottish accent

On a visit to NZ, I was informed that "wh" is pronounced "f", so Whakatane is spoken as " fuckatarny", and that movie they made a few years back would have to be referred to as "Fail Rider"..

Juvenile humour, but hey.

Perhaps anyone here can help me? Is there anywhere else in the English language where "WH" is given a "F" or even "PH" sound?

Years back one of the lady Maori MP's, when such debates were up a bit (possibly over Wanganui - not "Thong-a-newie" - in the case of that city it has always been W not F) commented "If the white man had meant 'F' then the white man would've written 'F'".

From what I know of English pronunciation rules there is no other case where "WH=F" (we do have PH kinda=F etc). When the explorers/early settlers started writing down Maori, they wrote it using the English rules for pronunciation of the day (so that the Queen and others could learn how to pronounce the words correctly). I have been keeping an eye out for an answer for more than 20 years.

So, in all honesty and desire for learning I ask - does anyone know of such an example, with citations?

Thanks.