Posts by Trigonoceps occipitalis

Re: Fire ants and scammers

Ah, the Viserys Targaryen and Khal Drogo solution, only not so expensive.

Re: I'm touched by the weirdness of this request...

"Never liked the TV adaptations."

We'll get a good video (TV/Film) of Discworld when we get a good video of Dune - probably never.

Re: ASA has no legal powers

Any teeth (more like gums) that the ASA has rely on the press. If they issue the famous "this advert shall ... " etc and it is ignored then, if the company involved issues substantially the same advert they lay themselves open to a savaging in the press - Nissan Ignore ASA!

Of course there is the adage that no publicity is bad publicity and there could be an element of collusion; the newspaper/TV Station driving viewers up whilst increasing the name recognition of the offending company. Perhaps a dangerous game for the company because the campaign started by the newspaper could just become a Mumsnet blog and then all bets are off and the company pressman may get sacked.

Re: The big question

"why do I get the wavy red underline of disapproval for my spelling of behaviour?"

Because they spell "behaviour" incorrectly in the USA.

Red/Amber

I don't know about the USA but it is an offence for any part of the vehicle to cross the stop line when an amber light is showing in the UK. There is a statutory defence that it was unsafe to stop (when the amber light is on). Thankfully enforcement is more relaxed.

Re: @ Trigonoceps occipitalis "Why couldn't he be arrested and tried here in the UK - his home."

"In the US there is also such a thing as plea bargaining.

I believe there was an offer on the table that would have been a slap on the wrist, yet it would have meant he couldn't use a computer (including a smart phone) again."

1. I didn't say there was a plea bargaining system in the US courts.

2. An offer was made, even if the alternative was a pat on the back and an upgrade on the flight home, that quacks like a plea bargain.

Re: Indie

"Wales is not part of England."

Correct, it was the first part of the English Empire.

Re: brexit cost

"... and on to more recent events ... "

Close, but no Godwin.

Re: opponents are using guerrilla tactics

"if the tobacco companies got you smoking by age 18, they had you for life"

A merry life, but a short one.

Re: Forcing the Underground

"Arguments with extremists rarely convince them to change their ways."

Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.

George Carlin 1937 - 2008

Re: £1,745?

I think the fine is tied to income so, as a doctor, you would pay more.

More importantly the victims can make out a civil case for misuse of data. Current payment seems to be between £250 and £750 for non-pecuniary damages - £7-20k or there abouts.

There was a report (sadly probably apocryphal) of a member of The Expeditionary Forces' Institute hefting a NAAFI pork pie at an Argy jet over San Carlos Water.

Re: Give that man a cookie

" ... party leader promoted to the Lords if their rotten borough should fail to do the right thing."

Precisely the opposite: Alec Douglas-Home

Re: "The only country that is Up Shit Creek *with* a Rudder."

"I suggest you fool them and buy an anvil."

Now you’re part of a conspiracy, no need to buy an anvil to be convicted.

Re: Interesting, but...

Sally

Isaac Asimov (1919-1992)

Re: And what if they could access those messages?

Playing Devil's Advocate:

If there’s a record of easily decrypted messages then when I report John Smith as a possible terrorist the authorities can easily check the real situation.

I think that is rubbish. There is plenty of information given to the police about terrorists before the event. More information is not more intelligence, let alone evidence.

El Reg:

" ... Hopkins made a run for it. Deyo then reportedly shot him twice before calling the police ... "

Adam 52:

"Iowa, unlike other US states, doesn't allow a self-defence defense for shooting fleeing intruders in the back."

Thank you for that irrelevant information.

Re: Skyadsmart...

"Whatever happened to creating nice, well rounded people ?"

This is against government policy. Check out the wars on fat and sugar.

Re: 99% Male

Chance of what?

Re: stupid politics

Sell crazy somewhere else.

(Melvin: As Good as it Gets)

Re: E-Spy

"discriminate between "events"

I read somewhere that the emergency calling was linked to air bag deployment. Seems sensible (and no reference to Bulgaria).

If it sounds too good to be true ...

Every time I get professional advice or make a financial transaction some one pays, sometimes it is me. I am a technophile, I hang around on the Register and other tech forums. I know the pit falls of acting as a conduit for someone else’s money.

However if I wanted money, or needed it because I was poor with children say, an offer to share the commission that would otherwise be paid to a rapacious bank may persuade me to help the "law abiding company".

Yes, if it is too good etc is a good maxim to assess any offer but those not equipped (knowledge, morals, intelligence) to do so may fall into a trap. I would like to say that banks have some responsibility here but nothing sets me off like my bank, after an over 45 year relationship, doing it best to stop me getting at my money because of money laundering rules.

"could improve climate change models"

= Not a hope of improving climate change models but I would like a research grant to check this.

Re: Pah.

" ... what could he possibly know ... "

About the same as anyone with an A Level/High school maths qualification - back doors are not compatible with secure encryption.

Tell that to Alan Turing.

Re: EU tech

Me and my mates have 10 or so Rapsberry Pis between us. Ebdon, where's the download for RaspNucSim v1.0?

Re: Taking it seriously

I must confess that i don't know the specification for the make up of credit/debit card numbers. I do suspect that, like sort codes, there is read over from the issuing bank. So, knowing that I bank at, say, Coutts whose credit cards are issued by, say, Lloyds, some of the 16 digit number will be within a given range. Now add a definitive last quartet and it just makes the number crunching that much easier.

But its OK, its the AA and, experts as they are in all things motor related, they have reassured me that I need not worry about high tech fraud.

Re: Easy decision

We need to consider all the facets of AI, the rules we should mandate and recommend, even if we need rules.

The lawyers will need a guide to get the suits going after all.

Re: SEP = Standard Essential Patent

System Executive and Plans

Oh the frivolity had in the lower levels of the organisation.

Re: Problem

Not an apologist for Special Branch nor the Apartheid regime however:

Some revolutionaries will use any, usually benign, cause to support and justify their revolutionary and sometimes violent activity.

Some crazies are just so committed to their cause that they should be committed before their unwarranted violence causes injury or death.

Re: I think someone has misunderstood the intent of social media

"Why would they need access to the phone?"

Custody of evidence? Direct from the phone memory is best evidence, who knows what has happened on the way to/from social media. Also remember that the BBC has (had?) a habit of removing the meta-data that is probably crucial to a clips evidential worth.

Re: 1 per user

I think I read, at the time that The Standard went "free", that news agents, shops etc were expected to pay 2p per copy. The rational was that when I entered the shop to collect my free paper I would sometimes buy a high margin Mars bar or similar.

May be the accused were shop owners after free Trigonoceps lure?

(No connection to Mars etc.)

"The problem the ASA faces is that advertising is generally targeted at everyone. It's national. Or maybe regional."

So what is Google's USP?

Re: Hmmmm

Charles Forte was a guest on a chat show. The compare congratulated him for building the Lions empire from the one shop he originally owned. He replied to the effect that the hard work was done by his father who left him a café free and clear of debt.

The chances of anything coming from Mars is 99%.

FTFY

Re: Go PLATO

"Of course, it is possible that alien beings travel billions of miles to amuse themselves by planting crop circles in Wiltshire or frightening the daylights out of some poor guy in a pickup truck on a lonely road in Arizona (they must have teenagers, after all), but it does seem unlikely."

Bill Bryson

A Short History of Nearly Everything

Re: "United Kingdom retains its world-class regime protecting personal data,"

I've not bothered to check the facts, basically because the tale puts the Queen in a good light.

As I recall the result of the '74 election was subtlety different. EH was prime Minister, not being required to resign during the election. HW won the most seats in Parliament, albeit not a majority. EH however won the popular vote. It was said that he went to the Palace offering to continue as PM, justified by having the most votes. Allegedly HM the Q explained that it was clear as can be that the (unwritten) constitution required her to invite the Party with the most seats to try to form a government.

What was it Walter Bagehot said:

The right to be consulted;

The right to encourage;

The right to warn.

Not sure if it was encourage or warn.

Re: Top tips

"without any consequences to speak of"

Except, of course, a dead black person. Some police apologists seem to forget that minor point.