* Posts by Kiwi

4368 publicly visible posts • joined 26 Sep 2011

GIMP open source image editor forked to fix 'problematic' name

Kiwi
Pint

Re: With that name

The paradigm makes its own sense, once you get a feel for it

Same..

Ok, so I am severely mentally twisted. What's your excuse for being able to happily use GIMP? :)

Kiwi

Re: Divide and rule

Also, the idea of improving the interface "yes please", coming from using Photoshop for years I often feel like I am fighting the interface on GIMP.

I personally find it the other way around - probably a matter of what you've learned. Just like I use CLI for a lot of things where there's apparently perfectly good GUI tools, because my early Linux days were spent working remotely on headless systems :)

Kiwi
FAIL

Re: Divide and rule

Non-destructive editing layers?

You've never actually tried it have you?

Several years back I had a friend start some work on a photo for me using Photoshop. I took the files she created home with me that night, used what I'd seen her do, and finished the project. Took it round to her the next day and she was amazed at what I'd done with GIMP. I even taught her a few tricks her beloved photoshop could almost do.

A couple of years back I tried to do something really stupidly simple in Photoshop Excrements. Gave up after 4 or 5 hours butting my head against the ridiculously idiotic interface and severe limitations of that bit of crapware. Put my Gimp Suite on and hey presto, 20 minutes later had a finished image ready for publishing.

Kiwi
Unhappy

Re: Astronomers are more mature...

Upvote for unashamedly using the correct spelling of "sniggering" in this thread!

I find your use of the word "sn*****ing" to be highly offensive as it contains the word "n*****" and you knew that full well!

A few years back, during the President Obama's time at the trough, I watched 3 news items. There was a warning that some people may wish to change channel/turn the TV off/leave the room etc for one of the times as it contained material some viewers may have found disturbing.

One was footage from a multi-fatal accident here in NZ, a van involved in a crash where most of a family was killed including children, bodies covered with sheets visible in the wreck.

Another was footage from Iraq, Afghanistan or Syria showing scenes of fighting, footage where you could actually see people being shot and (almost certainly) killed.

But it was the middle one they gave the warning about. An address by President Obama where he mentioned that people should not get so upset "When someone uses the N word" when there were many more issues the country was facing that needed to be dealt with. Seeing fairly graphic footage of the scene where a local family died? Yeah not the sort of thing I would like to see. Seeing much more graphic footage of people firing weapons intent on killing others? Definitely not something I'd want to see - would've appreciated warnings on those bits. But hearing Obama speak in that manner? Not something anyone should consider offensive or otherwise. Even if he used the word "Nigger" he, like me, used it in an entirely appropriate context - no one in their right mind should find that offensive.

(Shut up Bob. We know you find every utterance of Obama to be highly offensive! :) )

Kiwi
Angel

Re: Divide and rule

Oh, you must mean the born-again-fundamentist that knows more than the entire school.

By 13 I swear I knew more about most subjects than the teachers presenting them (just ask any 13yo and they'll tell you the same!)

At that stage I was very very far from "born again"!

Kiwi
Gimp

Re: Divide and rule

I personally don't believe this story.

I quite believe it myself, especially given the original context (I kinda recall the post - you can find it by clicking Icecold's name).

Me.. I won't dare search for "G.I.M.P" let alone Gimp, even when I am alone. And with company around? Hell no... (Unless, it's that sort of company and I want to get this party started!)

Kiwi
Coat

My turn..

I have an actual identifiable mental illness, one I inherited from my mother1

There is software out there that has a name I find offensive, as the name is clearly aimed at mocking those of us who are such alternately-non-disabled-in-a-different-manner.

I think it is high time we ended the use of "Lisp", and brought all who have ever used it to justice! The name was clearly deliberately chosen for no purpose other than to be an abelist insult against those of us who have any form of speech impediment, and the namer knew full well what s/he was doing when this offensive name was chosen.

It is high time we stood up against these abusive names and made an example of the nasty people who deliberately chose such insulting names! Lock them up! LOCK THEM UP! LOCK THEM UP!

1 I have a significant speech impediment, AKA the "Kiwi" accent.

Kiwi
Paris Hilton

Re: Eh?

Read the list of them on the wiki page and I dare you not to giggle like an immature schoolchild. ;)

You and I must have read different pages.

El Reg - can we please get that "despairing for humanity" icon?

Interesting to see that when my Dr referred recently to a slight deformity I have in my toes, he was actually being offensive by using the word "deformed" instead of something else. And I see "Differently-abled" is now an offensive insult instead of the socially-acceptable euphemism for 'disabled" it was just a few years ago.

No wonder Bob goes apeshit trying to keep up with this stuff.. Oh, sorry, "apeshit" may also be considered an insult against those of alternative mental capabilities, or whatever I am supposed to use instead of "Mentally handicapped". I'd say this world is getting depressing, but that implies I have a mental health issue and that could be considered offensive to some.

Bloody hell..

Kiwi
Gimp

Re: The name Glimpse discriminates against people who are unable to see

You can get closer with google translate..

english -> irish = léargas

..for which I assume you need to be wearing a rubber mask to fend off.

Would that be like the one that comes with my gimpsuit? ;)

Kiwi

Re: Is calling someone a Paki racist?

Let me be clear, racism costs, you'd don't want to collect that's fine, don't expect anyone else to turn the other cheek. I would encourage the expectation of prosecution and prolonged violent retribution.

Why would you "encourage...prolonged violent retribution" for someone using a term a lot of Pakistani's don't find offensive/racist and themselves use to refer to their heritage?

Don't you think it's a somewhat racist of yourself to assume they're unable to speak for themselves and fight their own battles?

Kiwi

Re: Eh?

A pom is allegedly a contraction of pomegranate - pronounced to rhyme with immigrant ( I guess your accent has to be right for this)

My Dad was an Ozzie. He always told me "Pommy" came from "P.O.H.M" as in "Prisoner Of Her* Majesty". So for many Ozzies yes, it could be considered an insult as it reminded them of their criminal heritage.

In short, it's racist, don't do it, don't make excuses for it.

It's not. Most Paki's I know use it in self-reference when discussions or questions of their heritage come up. But like "Yank" and "Limey", it can be, if that is the intended use.

* Or "his", as the case may be - but quite sure he used "her".

Kiwi

Re: Eh?

I mean, Paki was pretty commonly used in the 80s as well, doesn't mean it's not racist

Funny... Almost every one I've known from Pakistan has referred to themselves as just that...

It's like when you call someone "Mike" instead of "Michael".

Kiwi
Windows

Re: Eh?

Because there aren't *enough* open source project names that defy any reasonable means of associating the name to what the software actually does.

You mean like "Windows", "Outlook", "Edge". "Bob", "BASIC", "Visual Studio" (I guess some form of video or photograph software?), "Bing" to name a few... P)

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Eh?

Of all the word meanings, some people seem to be fixated only on the offensive ones.

"If there are two ways to take something I said, and you find one of them offensive, I probably meant the other one"

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Eh?

Free speech means I can insult anyone and any group I choose

[..]That just makes you a thoughtless tw*t though, not some free-speech warrior.

Not necessarily.

When I speak my mind on certain topics, including here, I almost always offend some people. If I speak on sexuality in some forums, they get offended that I am not rabidly anti-gay. Or here, if I speak on something around my Christian beliefs here on El Reg I can guarantee someone will feel that I have insulted them, and many more will feel offended.

And if you hold differing views to me, you may write something that I could take offence at, and maybe even say something insulting. That in no way makes you thoughtless, just means we have different views on what is right and what isn't. We may be uncaring about the other's views, but not necessarily thoughtless.

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Eh?

Poor snowflakes get more easily offended. Also being usually incompetent, the only control they are able to try to exercise is to control the free speech of others.

I've often noticed that. More commonly than not, the more peoplesnowflakes whine about PC crap, the less likely they are to have actually accomplished anything.

In order to think, you have to risk being offensive.

Some of the best things anyone has ever said to me have been utterly offensive to me at first, but onl reflection I've made changes that have improved my life for the better.

The worst things, OTOH, have been when muppets have sat silent and let me come to grief because they could see a problem but didn't want to risk offending me. I've been at risk of serious injury because someone was too girly to warn me I was making a mistake in how I was using a power tool. Had the thrown bit of work been a few inches over it could've gone into my chest instead of grazing my shoulder.

Speak up. Speak your mind. I might run away crying. I might wet my panties. I might thank you for it. (yes, may even try to end my life too - that's a risk we take but it's more likely to be over-protected snowflakes getting their first taste of reality than people who've not been overly protected).

But the competent will always win.

In that, I think you are very sadly mistaken. This world is great at producing fools, great at promoting lunatics, and utterly amazing at producing utter fuckwits. Those of us who are even remotely competent (even going as low as my level) are outnumbered 100 to 1. And even worse, they're too stupid to realise they're too stupid.

#MAGA

Make Anal Gay Again? Thanks, but I don't mind the straights sharing some of the joys....

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Eh?

Some modern politically correct bollocks that we don't get much exposure to because it's utterly irrelevant to anybody other than a minority of screaming toddlers on twitter who don't have any constructive work to do.

Translation: Those of us in the majority can casually insult those who are not, because such politically correct bollocks is utterly irrelevant to us.

I technically qualify as disabled.

Don't get upset on my account. This PC nonsense really doesn't help anyone, but it does hurt a hell of a lot of people.

Can't bear to part with that well-worn copy of Windows 7? Microsoft might let you keep it updated an extra year

Kiwi

Re: The cost of Win10 is far too high.

The good news is that unless you are paying customer, the end of support to Windows 7 means fairly soon, MS telemetry wont be the only data exfiltrating your PC.

Decent firewall and AV does far more to protect your system than anything MS has done.

Hell, a basic NAT router (one that doesn't have open-by-default open-to-world telnet/HTTP etc interfaces) on its is more protection than any MS update ever.

Kiwi
Pint

Re: At J27, re: phones.

*Hands you a pint to take the sting out of my post*

Hands you one right back due to agreeing on what we value on phones :)

Kiwi

Re: The cost of Win10 is far too high.

So I assume you're still using a flip phone (or no phone at all) because both Android and iOS are massively worse than Windows for telemetry. Windows even allows you to turn it off.

A phone without internet can still act like a phone. Can still do SMS, I'm guessing MMS (if that still exists?), and phone calls. Windows without internet seems to get a bit uppity, in my very limited experience with W10.

But personally, I use the dumbest phones I can find. I have laptops and tablets if I am out on the road and wish to do anything. I have a dedicated GPS hard-mounted on my bike and a block of wood glued to the dash on my car - I sit a tablet on the ash tray, and the instrument panel on one end and the block of wood on the other keep it nicely in place - if I have a rare need or desire for GPS (offline maps via "Navigator")

I value battery life and reliability in a phone. Done the first-at-accident a couple of times and thankfully never needed to do anything more than basic scene control and a very basic health check (only one case where someone needed an ambulance) - in those circumstances I really value the phone having plenty of talk time, plenty of signal, and nothing else to interfere with my concentration. Also done the "stuff it, I'm going bush for a few days" thing a couple of times, and it's nice to know my phone will last a week.

A dumb phone with a USB connection so I can tether it if I am really desperate for a net connection is all I want. Anything else quickly becomes a hassle. Oh, and my last smart phone got dropped and broke the screen - once that happened it was useless. If the screen had broken in an accident and I was needing to call myself some help.... Whereas I've twice broken the screen on dumbphones and guess what, the keypad still works fine and I can still dial out easily.

Kiwi

Re: The cost of Win10 is far too high.

And now we have shortcut key sequences being recommended for Windows 10....

The only keyboard sequence I can think of for W10 reminds me of the cybermen from the David Tennant era of Dr Who.

DELETE DELETE DELEEEETE

Kiwi
WTF?

Re: "Install Windows 10 LTSC"

You paid for (or rather, got for "free") one variant of a product, but this gives you NO entitlement to any different variant of the same product

Now lets assume for a minute that I did pay for a home version of Win 10.

Wouldn't I be entitled to expect that said software was reasonably functioning, didn't contain in-built spyware that could conceivable collect information on my children (which, without proper consent procedures, is highly illegal in many countries), would continue to function largely as it was when I purchased it, would respect my privacy (not just that of my kids) and would also respect the laws of the land?

Wouldn't I be entitled to a purchase that is fit for purpose, remains fit-for-purpose without removing or adding features unless I agreed (your 5-speed manual 4WD car doesn't suddenly become a 2-speed auto that can barely get out of the garage under it's own speed just because the makers thought that's what you might want rather than what you purchased - why expect the same of an OS?).

The product, to stay on the right side of many consumer laws, should remain largely as it was when purchased, not having things added or removed post-purchase to the detriment of the owner at the whim of the maker.

When MS respects the law of the land, they can expect others to show them some respect. Until that day, I consider using their product against the terms of their license to be quite morally acceptable. Though I usually subscribe to "Treat others as you would have them treat you", in MS's case it's "Do to them what they do to others."

Kiwi
Windows

Re: The cost of Win10 is far too high.

The cost of non-Win 10 will be far higher when the support ends and patches are no longer issued.

Not really, no.

If you're NOT running an enterprise version of 10 and thus have the telemetry stuff on, are a Dr's office or hospital or... and your OS is sending even just fragments of documents to MS (and their "advertising partners" if I recall the EULA correctly), then you're breaching privacy laws in several countries.

Over here our privacy law is being updated, and AIUI the per-breach fines are going from $1k to $10K. That may not be a lot to a large enterprise, but to a small business which probably doesn't update much anyway, maybe has decent AV and a relatively small attack surface, that will be life-threatening.

If they have reasonable perimeter defences (OK firewall, AV and reasonably set up router with separate "guest wifi" and main network) and decent staff who only browse non-work stuff using the guest account on their own device (which is the majority of businesses I know), the chances of a flaw in Windows being a problem are minimal.

If someone gets ransomware into their machines, they face at the extreme $20K to get things fixed. Other malware, might be a $couple of hundred depending on the quality and regularity of their backups.

But if they have 100 customers, and get found to have leaked the customer's name and phone number to MS via W10, they face a mere $1Mill in fines.

And the more W10's data leakiness gets known, the more companies have to start paying someone to work on mitigation, costing more. It's cheaper to keep W7, keep the perimeter defences strong, and teach your staff properly.

Beware the developer with time on his hands and dreams of Disney

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Why yes, yes I have...

[...] unless you had proper boots and a proper helmet.

A naturist group organised a visit to some tourist caves. The regulations required strong boots and a pit helmet. They had to watch out for sharp corners in some places. Yes - there are pictures to prove it.

No thanks.

I discovered something horrible once when doing frontline repair work.

1) Customers who have screen savers that show random photos should be educated on the problems with such things.

2) Naturists seem to be predominantly considerably over weight.

3) Naturists also seem to be predominantly over 50, many over 60 and way past "needs ironing".

4) No one in my area supplies mindbleach by the supertanker.

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Never live it down

Yes, it is now replaced by PTSD ;)

Fixed that for you.

-->

(Would love to add several other icons, but sadly there can be only one...)

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Never live it down

Bork one Directors .PST file, and you're branded for life...

Always thought .PST should be pronounced "Pissed", as in the person who designed it must have been seriously so, as was anyone who insisted on its use within an organisation...

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Why yes, yes I have...

One of the phrases that was included on the announcement of the party was "some form of lower body attire is required".

Reminds me of a track-day at a local racing track (IIRC it was Mansfield). It was made very clear that you would not be allowed on the track unless you had proper boots and a proper helmet..

And a certain old character (NOT me) went out with just that. And I mean just that..

Bloody memory.. Make mine a mindbleach!

Kiwi
Coat

Re: Why yes, yes I have...

And that's why I'm Not Allowed to come to work naked any longer.

No, actually it's all them pies and beers that make it so you're not allowed to come to work naked...

If you only looked like me, you could walk naked wherever you wanted, your ears filled with shrieks of joy from all who look on your body.

I mean 'shrieks of joy' in the full-on out-of-their-mind lunatic-asylum types, as sight of my nakedness ruins their mind forever more...

Probably should at least put a coat on....

Cloudflare punts far-right hate-hole 8chan off the internet after 30 slayed in US mass shootings

Kiwi
Angel

Point is, they've BEEN rejected. Doesn't really matter WHO rejected them, particularly when the who is EVERYONE.

Been there done that got the scars. I know what it is to feel cold steel tearing into my flesh, and I know what fun it is to watch as someone levels a loaded gun at your kneecap and pulls the trigger - thankfully they didn't know what they were doing. But I do have a hole in my leg that roughly matches that left by a .22 from another incident.

I faced levels of rejection you cannot imagine. Not 'for real'. You can talk about it, somewhat conceptualise it (wow, that's an actual word and I spelt it right first-time!), make vast sweeping statements about, but you haven't lived it. You've tasted some of the worst violence this world has to offer, but it hasn't touched you directly (and I hope and pray it never does!).

Some people are capable of sucking up a lot of resources, I know that and have worked with many. They often proudly proclaim "I don't want to be a burden" (IME that's your first, and clearest, warning that you're dealing with the worst kind - the guilt-throwing resource sucker). You deal with them what you can, leading them to the concept that they can do better and have a responsibility to rise above what they are. Use peer-pressure, or kid-pressure, or lead by example. Or maybe find someone who wants to volunteer but is practically useless anywhere else, yet can take this case and be given the special honour of single-handedly dealing with the GTRS - making 2 people happier and changing more than one life in the process.

There is not one person in this world who is so far gone they cannot be redeemed. But there are many people in my community who it would not be right for me to try and do anything with or for - other people will reach them better. I may, however, be the right person to equip those 'other people', or provide a shoulder for them to cry on, or simply help out someone else freeing up resources for those 'other people' to use.

But.. If everyone else in the community is rejecting someone, then it is right for me to act and do whatever I can for them. Some people are so annoying they deserve to be rejected, and my life would be more enjoyable if I did reject them. But I have a debt to pay - repaying what someone did for me. And as I quoted weeks ago in this same thread, I cannot claim to be a Christian if I am willing to reject anyone - even the worst person. No one should be rejected, and if someone in your community is so rejected then YOU are the failure, for you have options to do something about it.

As I said earlier tonight, don't look to others for excuses, look to yourself for fixes (paraphrased obviously).

God Bless....

Kiwi
Pint

Re: @Kiwi ... "You can [..] draw a conclusion that bad actors are going to [..] do bad things."

Yes, actually! Worst part, he currently resides in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue! AND he doesn't appear to be the type to code power (or ANYTHING) willingly.

Doesn't matter. Worry about your back yard and fix that. One way or another, he'll be gone in a few years (or maybe a few hours, or maybe he's dead now and I should've watched the 11 o'clock news), but you'll probably still be around.

Whether you're in a cesspit or a paradise is largely of your own making. You can have a huge impact on your local community, for better or worse. Me? I do my best to make my communities better, whether it's doing little things to help my neighbours (like taking the old lady's rubbish bin the kerb and mowing her tiny lawn) or larger things like volunteering at a retirement village. Or cleaning up some rubbish in the street, or... I don't want to blow my own trumpet, I say this in hopes of inspiring some to do little things to improve their area, and by that improving our world, and improving their lot.

Don't worry and don't give mind to what someone else does, do what you can and lead by example. You constantly fall back on the excuse of what someone else is doing (whether Trump or Equador or eliter Gamerz!!!1111!!!!!11 or someone who will watch their family get executed if they don't travel to work WITHOUT public transport at 2AM or...), but you seem rather resistant to taking responsibility for your own actions, your own community. You can do a lot if you take your focus off other people and start doing what you can. You start, you show others what can be achieved with a little effort or a little thought, and they'll follow. The more who follow, the less you have to do, and the faster things change.

Focus on yourself and be happy, or focus on someone else and forever be stuck in the shadow of another's failures. Your life, your choice, not theirs.

Charles, as much as I want to kick your head in sometimes - stomp some sense into it, you're someone who has so much potential I'd like to see unleashed. You have it in you to be a truly amazing person who achieves incredible things, if you can only lift your eyes off what others do. I really want - and hope - to see you fulfil your potential, not be bogged down like some of us did to ourselves.

Kiwi
FAIL

Re: @Kiwi ... "You can [..] draw a conclusion that bad actors are going to [..] do bad things."

But what about Stupid WITH enough nukes to turn the whole world radioactive green? This isn't something you can just ignore since there's always the risk of someone willing to go M.A.D. there.

Do you have someone like that in your area? No? Then what of it? That doesn't apply to what I said.

Argue the point, not the wild straw-men you imagine.

Kiwi
Pint

Re: @lglethal -- Guns or the people using them?

"Start small, and set examples. Encourage and educate as best you can, and encourage others to do the same."

Problem is if the people in power WANT the status quo AND has few if any scruples. Just look at who's running the show right now..AND he was ELECTED.

Doesn't matter. Just another feeble "whataboutism" excuse.

In my nation, 40 years ago, the majority of the population wanted the status quo. Fags were vile creatures worthy only of torture and death. The 'love' fags felt for each other was just an aberration/abomination and not even close to actual love. Just something based on lust due to their twisted minds. Only thing to do with them was to shoot them or lock them away.

Politicians, the media, the general population - each and every one of them wanted things to stay as they were and did not want things to change. Certainly every effort must be expended to make sure that "gay rights" could never be a thing. This was much the same around a lot of the rest of the world.

And yet... Today I can marry another bloke if I choose. Not just a 'civil union' but full marriage, and other countries do the same. Even some of the more conservative places.

What was a crime worthy of life imprisonment or even death is now accepted standard practice.

Those in power WANTED things to stay as they were. They had few scruples (I mean we're talking politicians after all), and they were elected.

Look around you. Look at the changes in places like North Korea - a long way to go yet a lot has changed.

There's been changes for bad and for good - but a great many changes that not long ago were considered utterly impossible, the societal changes required considered insurmountable. Yet much of this happened simply with a few people starting to make the change.

One person can make an entire neighbourhood a good place, or a toxic wasteland. It's your choice. You won't always see the fruition of the work in your lifetime, but if you stick at it you'll change society for the better long-term. You may not be remembered, you may die horribly in the effort, but things will change.

If you have a big problem to deal with, you just haven't broken it down enough yet. When building a house you don't start with a completed house, you start with a couple of bits of wood, a hammer and a nail. (Well, actually you start by finding land and getting materials to the site but you get the idea...)

Kiwi
FAIL

Re: Guns or the people using them?

It is if you're ruled by DEATH...and all his friends. For some, the way of life there (think MS-13) would make death a blessing if it wasn't damned by religion.

You've clearly never been to Oz...

But anyway.. Do you live in Somalia or any of the other "bad" countries discussed? No?

Then how does that absolve you of your responsibilities in your own patch? Stop using the feeble "whataboutism" excuse and start doing something to improve your patch. Just because one country has problems doesn't mean you can stop doing your bit to improve your society.

When you use these excuses, you really do make yourself sound like someone around 13 or 14 (or someone with a lower than average IQ).

Kiwi

Re: Guns or the people using them?

For those with a fear of beaing attacked in their own hone - well, they'd better just be very good at target practice.

A well-determined assailant is not going to be threatened by an untrained someone in their home no matter the weaponry. OTOH, a determined and trained homebody is going to have all sorts of advantages.

The untrained homebody is far more likely to kill their own spouse or kids than ever fire a shot at an intruder. And like with computers, once they have physical access that's it.

Kiwi

And a ***SINGLE*** arson attack in Japan left 35 people dead

The key word is SINGLE.

SINGLE

Not >250 so far this year. Not 9,000 or more dead by arson attacks.

SINGLE.

When such things become more common, then the media gets involved in a 'public outcry' (how much of that they generate themselves and how much is "just reporting the news" I'll leave for another debate (I'd be on the side that says "They report the news, but in a manner they hope generates more public unrest that generates even more news and gruesome pictures). Until then, they report it as a terrible one-off but there's not much more they can say on it. A couple of hours later it's mostly forgotten by all but those involved while there's other "terrible tragedies" to sell report on

Kiwi

Re: So hiring a hitman is fine then?

Assuming your words are true, that teacher illegally assaulted you and illegally incited violence against you.

Back then, they had pretty free reign. And even if what he did and said was illegal, who'd believe a fag. Who was I going to go to? I'd've been in a psych ward or jail cell before the day was over if I complained.

"Physical discipline" of children was not illegal in the mid 80's in NZ. Asking other kids to help with said discipline was not illegal in NZ in the mid 80's. Being gay was. (Well, actually it was only acting on it, being gay got you locked up in a psych ward until they believed you were cured. But, short of a massive miracle, there is no cure for being gay.

I presume they were not prosecuted, but that does not change the fact of your allegation and that the law prohibited their behaviour.

It didn't, but even if it did - where would I turn? I'd have been worse off if I'd complained. After all, ECT and other wonderful "treatment options" were also perfectly legal, quite acceptable, and very commonly used back then.

Even on small children.

Nobody has the right to incite such violence. Nobody.

You're correct in that, but at many times even in 'civilised society', it was quite acceptable. Take a look at the likes of Dad's Army and the racist comments commonly made there. 'Foggy Dewhurst(sp) in Summer Wine - talking of how he would sneak up on 'Japs' and slit their throats from behind, constantly living his supposed glory days of killing people of a certain ethnicity. Much of our movies and other TV spewing hatred against today's foes.

I guess that you tell yourself the story of unlimited free speech to explain to yourself why they were not prosecuted, but it's not true.

It's got nothing to do with it. What was done was not a crime under the laws of the day, hence there was no possibility of prosecution. OTOH, if I'd complained I would've been convicted.

Likely they weren't prosecuted because they held sufficient power over everyone in the room to prevent reports.

They held sufficient power over me. Every else? They didn't want the vile, evil little fag to live either. I recall we did a class on knot tying once. Special emphasis on how to tie a noose in case anyone realised they deserved to die and decided to hang themselves to save the rest of the world some pain.

This was NZ (and much of the rest of the world) in the early-mid 80's. Even after 1986, after the protests, riots, and violence that led to the 'homosexual law reform' (much of it far worse than the media will ever show), those who wanted to 'touch' gays were largely untouchable themselves.

A decade later, in the mid-late 90's, we still faced a great deal of abuse for being gay. Jeff Whittington, a 14yo boy, was beaten to death in 1999 by two men who proudly boasted that they'd "fucked up a fag" and left him dying in the street. I never knew this kid but I do know the area he lived in, and I've had a taste of the terror he felt in his last moments. Yes, although the two men were convicted of his murder, NZ even in '99 was still a place where you could beat up a fag and be proud of it.

"The faggot was bleeding out of places I have never seen before". This is what we lived with, 13 years or so after the law reform.

Today, even to call someone a "fag" could almost lead to jail time. If someone harasses you, you snap, give them a slap, and it turns out they were gay (but you had no idea at the time), sorry that's a hate crime and you're doing time.

I've lived with abuses, I've lived with people saying nasty things, I've lived with people inciting violence against me. I don't wish that on anyone.

But

If the heroes in 1986 who'd had enough of the violence didn't have some rights to speak up, to say "enough is enough" and to fight for the law reform, then my life today would be very different. Today, I'd either be serving a life sentence in jail for sex crimes (ie sexual activity with a consenting adult male), serving a life sentence in a psych ward (undergoing ECT and other wonderful fun activities), or dead - either by my own hand or by someone else's (although disease or accident could've intervened).

This is why I am very much pro free-speech. If I want to speak my mind, I have to give you the same right. I might think you're about as stupid or as horrible as a person can be, but the right to utter your words is what my grandfathers fought for, and it is one of the highest rights we have. If we lose that right, we'll lose much more very quickly. The moment you cannot speak up for your fellow man is the moment we descend into governments that make 1940 Germany look like a Jewish Paradise.

(I'm pro-Israel, just in case anyone mis-reads my words above).

I couldn't possibly tell you the computer's ID over the phone, I've been on A Course™

Kiwi
Pint

Re: He should be proud that of that guy

NZ was involved. As was Oz, UK, France, Germany, Russia/USSR/Whatever it was at the time, Poland, Italy, Japan I believe, probably other European nations, I think some of the African nations, and maybe even some of the South American nations (Yes, NZ forces were fighting in American waters in 1939)

The US was there too.. Oh, no wait a minute. No, the US wasn't interested. Came in late, after the really hard work was already done, and try to take credit.

But that's irrelevant anyway. Most of that generation has died off, very few are left. The people we have today - the children they fought and died for - tend to be a bunch of disgusting lazy whiners - you need look no further than their obese sedentary bodies and their penchant for suing each other over the tiniest imagined slight for evidence of what I say :)

Kiwi
Pint

Re: He should be proud that of that guy

and whilst they have deep qualifications in their speciality that does not make them automatic experts in everything else. The average academic has a mildly above average IQ, on par with most El Reg readers.

I love those types. When I've had to deal with them, I developed a simple and effective response...

"If you're so bloody smart and better qualified, YOU fix it yourself. I'll help someone less capable than you are.".

Most times I'd get an apology, sometimes a bit belated (after their boss bailed me up about it and I pointed out that I was being berated by their time-waster who kept telling me how unqualified I was). Hmm.. Maybe they left more of a mark than I thought. Make mine a pint of bitter -->

Kiwi

Re: This is this bank

And the privacy/information regulators in both countries have green flagged this when queried?

Thus far, they take the word of the websites who use this over the word of the people complaining. The websites say "it's your bank's own site".

You can see a screenshot of a fake poli-pay transaction at the enter bank details page here. For comparison, here is a shot of the ANZ login page

Not many differences. Style, colour, URL... Nothing much.. I forgot to record the URL of the poli pay submit button, but trust me when I say the URL it sends to is not "???.anz.co.nz" nor "???.anz.com.au".

A couple of banks have told customers it's not acceptable, where customers have asked. The banking ombudsman's office isn't interested, most of the banks aren't interested, and the organisations involved aren't interested. They all claim innocence, that it's above board, goes direct to the bank, and what would someone with web-developer or computer security experience know? The company and the government say otherwise so that must be true, and no matter what evidence web devs or security pros show they're wrong. It's all above board, nothing to see here, move along please.

El Reg - where's the icon with tears of frustration/despair over the self-inflicted fate of humanity?

Kiwi
Flame

Re: This is this bank

"I think my bank may have me on a list about this."

Either that or your bank may have had an outbreak of sanity.

At a bank? Surely you jest!

Here in NZ (and I believe in Oz) there is this "Poli Pay" system that's supposedly set up to let you pay for various things (including some government like vehicle registration (think of it as a type of road tax) . Most sites that use it claim it goes straight to your bank's website, but it doesn't. Most banks don't seem to care that any time their users use this thing they're in breach of the contract with their bank (the "do not give your details to anyone ever not even the police" bit). Mine (Kiwibank) has issued a statement to me and anyone else who has asked to confirm that it is considered a breach of contract, and one other actually seems to block it from their system, but most other banks just effectively stare at you blankly, a bit of drool running down their cheek, while you ask them if it's a problem or not that their users are encouraged to put their bank login details into an offshore firm's website (name, address, DOB, bank access number, bank passwords, security questions - everything). Worse is the gubbermint defoolments who also encourage it's use and won't listen to warnings that a) it's putting the users in breach of contract and b) it's a massive security risk!

</rant>

I need a cuppa and a lie down now..

Kiwi
Trollface

Re: He should be proud that of that guy

I'm sure also that NATO and the US presence had nothing to do with the fact that the Soviets never did make a move on West Germany.

Couldn't be that the rest of us aren't war-worshippers like the yanks are now could it?

Kiwi
Coat

Re: He should be proud that of that guy

No-one heard of checksums?

That's what I do with my Czechbook isn't it?

Kiwi
Trollface

Re: Can't say white / black

I'm Scottish. We're not brown - we're blue.

I'm not surprised. If I lived that close to England I'd be feeling quite blue as well! :)

Kiwi
Facepalm

Re: This is this bank

I tell them "You confirm my details first"

I do the same, banks or other organisations I deal with (actually my bank doesn't call - a very strict no-first-contact policy except through the official app/website).

Some people get quite shirty when they're trying to confirm it's me but they won't say who they are, who they're calling from or what they're calling about (legitimate privacy protection). I'll sometimes get them to give me part of an account number or something else (eg if it was my bank, I'd ask them to give me the cents from 3 of my last 10 transactions, in any order).

You've called me out of the blue. Your phone # is blocked. The information you ask for is enough for me to be a victim of ID theft. And you're expecting me to give you that without me being able to confirm you have a right or reason to be asking?

'Hey Google, remind Greg the locks have been changed, and he should find a new place to live. Maybe ask his mistress?'

Kiwi
Flame

Re: Dystopia, one improvement at a time

Best hurry up, won't be long before all advertising is banned. : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49332640

Scotty, beam me up. No intelligent life down here :(

Like many, I've been a "victim" of all sorts of "stereotyping". Like many, I've learned to laugh at these things and enjoy them.

The only thing "harmful" in all this is shutting down a chance for someone to make the adds a bit of a laugh.

Oh, and to the complainers -especially those who aren't gay but would complain about any form of "gay stereotype" - you DO NOT have the right to get offended on my behalf. If we don't take offence at something then you have no bloody right to do so for us! (Said because, well, I'm sick of busybody SJWs thinking they should speak up for me. Worry about your own life!)

Kiwi
Flame

This could be a good thing.

Time to this being widespread : 600hours

Time to mass annoyed people smashing their google spybots in an orgy of effectively ending the annoyance : 600:00:01hrs

Now lets hope Alexa et all end the same way.

Alexa, can you tell me how many Chinese kids were forced into working nights to build this unit?

Kiwi
Megaphone

Amnesty International, Tear Fund, World Vision - time to act.

I know so many people who'll buy cheap stuff from overseas rather than a more expensive version of the same product produced locally.

This of course is wrong on multiple levels - it deprives local workers of employment, deprives local firms of income, means to some degree the goods have to travel further (obviously some components or raw materials need to be imported in most cases). And of course, it means we're exporting misery and slave labour whilst ruining our own economy and risking our ecology.

Perhaps you guys can start running some adverts that can actually point out to the selfish types who buy cheap rather than local that they're actually employing child slaves to make their products? Perhaps you can start to pressure the governments to not only outlaw child slavery locally but internationally.

If I was to travel to a country where sex with someone under 16 is perfectly legal and engage in that act, I am still guilty of a crime under NZ law and can be imprisoned once I return. Under NZ law (and several other countries do this as well I believe) it is illegal to have sex with someone under 16 anywhere in the world, even if it is perfectly legal where you happen to be at the time. Perhaps it is time to extend this style of lawmaking to other areas as well - make it a criminal offence to employ child slaves even if you're only purchasing an iPhone or Alexa or whatever. Make it worth prison time (yes I extend that to Android and any other device). Sure there'll be some economic hiccups but at least people don't buy without knowing what's involved.

I'm not advocating the wiping out of all 'child labour' however. As a kid I enjoyed opportunities to work on various farms, do paper rounds, mow lawns and do a great many other jobs to earn extra pocket money. That money allowed me to purchase and enjoy things my parents could not afford to buy for me. I've also known a few kids who simply could not perform at all at school, and letting them take job opportunities that came up when they were 13 or 14 was best for everyone involved.

Kiwi
Facepalm

Re: Plausible Deniability

What if they're doing the same or worse, meaning ALL roads lead to Hell?

What if you gain some real world experience and learn that there are a great many companies who do their best to do the right thing by their employees and their customers?

What if you gain some RWE and realise that there are many people who, if they cannot find an ethical option, do without?

Jeff Bezos feels a tap on the shoulder. Ahem, Mr Amazon, care to explain how Capital One's AWS S3 buckets got hacked?

Kiwi
WTF?

Re: Give Mr Bozos a bath with a bucket of slop

Any outfit that trusts their private stuff to Wireless or Cloud organizations deserves to be sued for malfeasance.

So... What of those who wish to do international trade, or provide other services that people want today?

What of businesses that are growing but cannot afford new tin, or have times of massive spikes that'd require increasing their hardware by 2,000% for a week out of the year, but otherwise could run on a single P90 with a 20MB HDD for the rest of the year?

With reasonable steps to make things secure, cloud computing is the best option for a number of options. It's also a hell of a lot better for the environment.

Kiwi
Pint

Re: Whose Fault

One of us would type and the other would look over a shoulder....two brains are better than one.

Used to do that even for much smaller things.

Especially when cloning a customer's disk. If you realise you got your OF and IF around the wrong way and cancel DD 1/110th of a second in, it's too late (well, recovery tools can help but they can be messy...)