* Posts by Tony

208 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Mar 2008

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Ballmer clashes with Obama over US tax rules

Tony

It's only a global market when it suits them

On the one hand when companies like Microsoft want to move jobs overseas because it is cheaper and they can avoid tax, it is a global market.

But if you want to buy copies of Windows in South America (because they are cheaper) and then resell them in Europe suddenly it isn't and you should be prosecuted.

Wankers.

New Labour: Chainsaws out, maybe Contactpoint, too

Tony

'Balls at the Treasury'

No further comment required.

ISPs frosty on Jacqui's comms surveillance plan

Tony

@SHE HAS GONE!!!

Well, it's a start.

If Gordon really wants to cheer the nation up, he should have a word with the Russians and see if they have a spare rocket we can strap her and the rest of the cabinet to, along with enough fuel to get it to the sun.

Weary locals scratch Butt Hole Road

Tony

Missed Opportunity

Surely they could have made a fortune...

People keep stealing the sign? Reinforce it, then sell 'replica' ones.

Also get some t-shirts, keyrings, postcards etc printed... 'My boyfriend took me up butt hold road' and the like...

As for delivery companies refusing to believe it is real.. Surely they all work from postcodes these days anyway?

YouTube flooded with porn

Tony

Fuckwits

On the surface this is kind of funny, but in reality this sort of shit just gives amunition to those that want to see the entire web controlled/filtered/moderated.

Yes, there is already plenty or porn out there and if you let your kids roam free on the web they may well find it, but if idiots do this sort of moronic shit it just gives the 'wont somebody please think of the children' lobby evidence that a free an neutral net is 'dangerous' and 'must be controlled'.

Great job fuckwits.

Governator revives anti-violent video game crusade

Tony

Um..

Am I missing something here? Why is this a problem?

Most people don't object to an 'adults only' rating on violent movies or those with sexual content. Why is having the same on games an issue?

If they were wanting to censor the content for adults that would be a different matter, but not sure how classifying games in this way and restricting sale to minors is a 'freedom of speech' issue.

Sony eyes smile, smirk-controlled music phone

Tony

heh

'gurn for death metal'

There's going to be a lot of ravers out there getting a nasty surprise then. lol

Now Google tracking follows you out of cyberspace

Tony

excellent

So my phone can work out when I am bouncing up and down and arrange for me to get even more viagra-related spam?

Marvelous.

Geeks make least selfish lovers: Official

Tony

Title? Pah!

'80 per cent of those slogging away at the IT coalface regularly whip out sex toys.'

Well a blow up doll definitely counts as a sex toy..

“During sex, do you consider your partner’s sexual needs above your own?”

Puncture repair kit on standby....

Germans resist Street View invasion of privacy

Tony

@John Coleman

'citizens must be aware that you have no right to privacy and everything you do will be monitored so that we can improve our invasive technologies'

Oh sorry - For a second there I thought you were reading from the New Labour manifesto...

Wacky Jacqui defends Michael Savage ban

Tony

@AC 19:55

One man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist my anonymous friend.

Nelson Mandela was head of the ANC's military wing, which was responsible for an awful lot of deaths and - however things may have been repainted since - did not limit it's targets to military ones.

It is true that they were rebelling against a genuinely oppressive regime, but in doing so they killed a lot of people along the way. You could argue that the end justified the means and that he only resorted to violence when all non-violent means had failed, but that's all a matter of perception.

Gerry Adams and Martin McGuiness are viewed simply as politicians by most nowadays, but to some in Ireland they will always be heros, while to many over here they will always be terrorists.

The media likes to give us heroes and villains. Black and white. The truth is almost always more complicated.

Tony

Hmmmm

'Reports that the Home Office is rolling out some new signage reading "Welcome to Britain: No jeans, no trainers, no Russkie skinheads, no fascists, no suicide bombers, no white wizards and no shock-jocks. Have a nice day" are unconfirmed.'

How about just a simple "Abandon hope all ye who enter here"

Danger Mouse seems to want fans to pirate his blocked release

Tony

I demand...

...That all musicians should be locked up.

They all plagarise notes that have been used before and just play them in a different order. Thieves the lot of them!

They should either come up with some new notes or not be allowed to charge for their music.

:p

I can't comment on the artistic value of what this Mr Mouse produces, as have never listened to his stuff - I may check it out this evening when I get home (although the mention of Jay-Z puts me off). In general though, DJs do not get enough credit for their work.

A good DJ uses samples from prior work, but they do something different and innovative with it. They create something new and often something that appeals to an entirely different audience to the original work they 'stole'. That being the case the person that produced the original has not lost out in any way, so how exactly are they being wronged?

There does obviously have to be some common sense - Playing huge chunks of an existing work with minimal modification is clearly not adding anything significant and IS just plagarism, but all too often people with no taste for or understanding of dance music just dismiss DJs as parasites. That's bollocks. A good DJ is every bit as much a musician as the bloke the played the guitar or sang the lyric he samples/remixes.

Interesting video here on how one 6 second drum loop is the basis of whole genres of modern music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac

If The Winstons had jealously guarded their creation and sued the hell out of anyone that reused it, the history of dance music would be very different and while some of you rocktards probably don't care, an awful lot of us feel the music world would be poorer as a result.

Gut instinct no protection against net scams

Tony

But surely...

..if I can't trust the former finance minister of Nigeria, who can I trust?

Facebook eliminates parts of Wales

Tony

Can I just say...

LLOL!

Facebook users warned over renewed phishing assault

Tony

Stupid is as stupid does

'The theory runs that access to a profile on a medium-sensitivity site, such as Facebook, could be a stepping stone on the way to owning a more sensitive online banking account or similar tasty miscreant treat.'

Surely no-one would be stupid enough to use the same password on something as inherrantly unsecure as a facebook account as on their online banking? Oh wait - This is facebook users we are talking about. Carry on.

Mickey Rourke to star in Mona Lisa rehash

Tony

Just. Plain. No.

That is all.

Firefox passive-aggressives adjudicate Nerd Law

Tony

@Hans Mustermann

I don't like you 'ideal world' Hans.

Sounds a bit too much like a press release from Phorm to me...

Arnie pops up in Terminator Salvation

Tony

@Wayland Sothcott

'I do love CGI, The Matrix is very good.'

Indeed it was, but would it would not have been very good without a good story - As confirmed by the absolutely awful sequels.

Darth Vader tops movie misquote poll

Tony

"I had his liver with some fava beans, and a nice Chianti"

I always took this as proof the man was a bit mental.

A bottle of South American Malbec would obviously go much better with census taker's liver...

Tony

Badgers?

We don't need no stinking badgers!

Brown red in face after blusher found in cab

Tony
Go

No way.

You cannot be serious... They put makeup on him AND HE STILL LOOKS THAT BAD?

What the hell must he look like before?

Plod called in on MPs' expenses leak

Tony

@ people who say that "we'd all do it if we could"

No, we wouldn't.

If I spend money on something business related (eg travel etc) then damn straight I claim it back...

However when I am staying away I COULD watch pay per view porn every night, eat every meal at Michelin starred restaurants and empty the minibar. There is technically nothing in the company rules that say I am not allowed to do those things - They just expect me to act in a professional manner and not to take the piss.

I work for a private company - One that despite the credit crunch is still making money and has billions of dollars in the bank... yet I have enough professionalism to not go out of my way to milk the system. MPs are supposed to work for the electorate -You would think that because of this they would feel a greater moral obligation than I do not to 'take the piss'. Surely the simple fact that they see no ethical reason not to do so should immediately mark them as unfit for office.

Ofcom works out why Wi-Fi doesn't work

Tony

Bournemouth

Have you ever been to Bournemouth?

It's 70% OAPs and 30% students. Therefore not a lot of baby monitors.

Aussie censors implement six degrees of separation policy

Tony

Sneaky

so in effect they are making any site that published their banlist illegal too without having to specifically legislate for that.

Sneaky.

Lame Mac 'email worm' limps into view

Tony

Flamin' marvelous

Thanks for the correction on my inappropriate use of caps. Much more important than what I was actually saying obviously.

Can't think why people say MAC owners (:p) are more interested in style than substance..?

I genuinely don't have a problem with Apple products - I don't have a mac because my work machine has to be a pc and the primary use of my home machine (other than getting flamed on here) is games.

I am not trying to score points in the ongoing MS vs Apple yawnfest by saying "ha ha your platform is just as vulnerable as mine" - What I am saying is that it doesn't have to be if you worry a bit more about it before you have to.

Tony
Stop

Wake up and smell the skinny latte

No doubt there will be a stream of MAC users laughing at this lame duck.

However, you should take this seriously.

Yes, it is lame and badly coded and no threat to anyone. It IS however a sign that nasty people are starting to take an interest in your trendy piece of plastic. Just because this worm is so badly executed it isn't a threat does not mean that they all will be.

Nearly all the MAC owners I know take no interest in security at all - They still think they are untouchable. Sooner or later someone with a bit more smarts than the idiot(s) that wrote this WILL find a significant exploit and if you are still all still sitting round smugly congratulating each other you will be right royally bumfucked.

Virgin Media pilots 200Mbit service

Tony

@Matt and @Tony (if that is your real name!)

@ Matt

'Has anyone seen, heard of anyone, had a vision of ANYONE who has 50mbit?'

Um... me - See my post further up the thread. AND it actually does give the advertised speed pretty much all the time. I'm sure that in another few months they will start throttling the shit out of me as they do on all their other tarriffs, but for now... It's bloody lovely :)

@ The other Tony

Who are you and where did you get my name?

Tony

@Caps

I am on the Virgin 50Mb package and as far as I can tell there is no cap or throttling at the moment and no contention either.

Not sure how long that will last before they put a leash on it, but I'm making hay while the sun shines.

I just need a bit more storage, then I can just download the whole internet and work offline ;)

Conservative US shock-jock to sue Wacky Jacqui

Tony

May contain nuts

The guy sounds like a Grade A right-wing nutjob (after all anyone that describes our borderline-fascist Home Secretary a 'liberal' is obviously several books short of a bonfire). Everything I have read about him seems to indicate that he is a decidedly unpleasant and frankly deluded individual.

Having said all of that he does have a point.

No chance of any legal action getting anywhere as far as I can see, but on some level I really wish it would. If freedom of speech only applies to people that say things you like or agree with that isn't freedom at all.

Apple brands UK tabloid 'obscene'

Tony

@DZ-Jay

That's pretty much accurate, apart from the models are generally 18 rather than 16.

I have always found it a bit odd to be honest - Our country is famous for being somewhat prudish when it comes to sex, but several of our daily newspapers (if you can call the gutter press such) proudly display naked ladies every day.. whereas your country is famous for having the biggest appetite for pornography in the known universe, but everyone shits a brick when someone's boob inadvertantly slips out on television...

Is this proof that not being exposed to the odd view of a ladies boobies turns you into a closet wanking addict?

;)

Tony

So...

...They don't object to the blatant scaremongering, sensationalism, bigotry, hypocrisy, political toadying and outright lying that passes for journalism in our nation's favourite 'newspaper', but are terrified of a couple of plastic tits on page 3? Sounds just like the Merkins to me.

Kebabs pose 'no danger whatsoever', Russians claim

Tony

Question

Where is the picture of the naked bloke with the funny moustache?

"I'm Hitler and I'm a vegetarian"

Army officer tossed laptops into the sea

Tony

Um.... What?

So... the standard Ministry of Defence procedure for decomissioning unwanted computer equipment is to hop on the ferry to Calais and lob it over the side then?

At least that explains how our navy ended up with all those copies of Windows - They must have floated past after the army decided to dispose of them.

Meet Phorm's PR genius

Tony
Stop

@ @HamsterWheel BBC comments...

'All these agitators complaining about a British company creating British jobs should be ashamed of their traitorous behaviour.'

All I can say is that it is a crying shame that the crack cocaine industry isn't open to public investment as I am sure HamsterWheel would be first in the queue. After all it is a large British Industry creating British jobs.. And probably a better investment than Phorm as at least their customers actually want the illegal shit they are peddling.

Pork industry in 'swine flu' tag beef

Tony

You're not entitled to a title

'There is no danger from eating pork. All transmissions so far have been human to human transmission.'

So you're saying I should start eating more bacon and less Mexicans?

Phorm boss blogs from a dark, dark place

Tony

'Phorm boss blogs from a dark, dark place'

You mean from several miles up the Home Secretary's backside?

No wonder hubby has to look elsewhere - no room for him in any of her orifices with all the interest groups and general scumbags rammed in there.

Small biz slams Harman's equal ops law

Tony
Joke

@Jimmy Floyd

..Alright, but apart from generating the biggest national debt in history, getting us involved in an illegal war, erroding pretty much all our civil liberties, increasing taxes, decreasing public spending, making us an international laughing stock, spending all our money on spying on us and giving new meaning to the term 'hypocrite'... what had New Labour ever done for us?

Tony

Hmmm

I believe that clauses in contracts that forbid employees from discussing what they earn should be considered unlawful as they prevent employees and unions from identifying if there is pay discrimination going on (for whatever reason).

I do however question Ms Harman's figures. On the one hand she seems to be saying that because of current contract law you cannot effectively benchmark salaries, but on the other she keeps throwing around figures like 'women earn 20% less than men in the same role'. If you cannot benchmark the salaries how are you calculating that Ms Harman? The only possible measure I can see is the arbitrary 'total amount of tax paid' which takes no account of length of time in a job, hours worked etc etc.

In general I would welcome a change to the law to force more transparancy in pay, but on a personal level I really object to the Governments continuous insistance on throwing around pointless and meaningless statistics to try to convince people of things.

Big boost for Aussie firewall

Tony
Go

Won't somebody think of the children

Here's an idea - Rather than filtering the entire damn internet why not make it the legal responsibility of anyone that is giving access to the internet to minors to ensure that they are either supervised of that a reasonable attempt is made to employ some form of filtering locally on the machine they are using?

PC manufacturers should be required to ask 'will children be using this machine' when selling an off the shelf PC and if so explain the owners responsibilities under law and offer parental control software. If a parent allows a child unsupervised access to a computer with no parental controls and they access things they shouldn't the parent should be held legally responsible. If a machine is in a school, library or internet cafe then the organisation providing it should be required to ensure it is secured.

Sorry don't know what I was thinking - It's a crazy idea as it would actually required parents to take some responsibility for what their children do. Madness.

Old school music sales fell 8% last year

Tony

So...

..what they are saying is that the huge economic downturn which has resulted in massive drops in revenue in just about every industry in the last 18 months has in no way had an impact on cd sales at all and any reduction in their sales is entirely down to those evil Swedish men. O'rly?

Pirate Bay guilty verdict: Now what?

Tony

@AC

'Dude, the site is called the PIRATE bay. It's going to be quite hard to *prove* that the site was *not* set up to aid so-called "pirates".'

You'd think that wouldn't you? But then expertsexchange were no help at all with my gender realignment surgery...

Pirate Bay loses trial: defendants face prison time, hefty fines

Tony

@'Its about the intent' and other such rubbish

It is perfectly legal for shops in pretty much every country in Europe to sell bongs, king-sized rolling papers etc which are used exclusively for smoking drugs. They also sell digital scales, small plastic bags etc which are blatantly for dealing said drugs. Possession and consumption of those drugs is actually a genuine criminal offense which in most countries can carry a significant jail term, however selling those items is still perfectly legal. The law is clear - The offence is committed by the person that buys/sells/takes the drug.

So... why is assisting copyright infringement (which is a very minor civil matter) punishable by a year in prison, whereas assisting consumption of narcotics (which is a serious criminal offence) totally legal?

Tony

OMFG!

So Sweden have just set a legal precedent that renders ALL search engines illegal.

WTF?

UK dons dunce hat on copyright law

Tony

@Ian

'Let's wait until we replace Labour and have a slightly more competent government in'

I'm not sure I can wait that long Ian.. I may only have another 30 or 40 years left to live.

At the next election it seems likely that we will replace the current crop of lying, thieving, cheating, embezzling low-lifes with the same lying, thieving, cheating, embezzling low-lifes that f*cked us up last time around. Not sure how much of an improvement that is likely to be.

PETA pitches for Pet Shop Animal Shelter Boys

Tony

ufff!

Seriously, what is it with PETA?

I am a confirmed carnivore but even I will admit that I prefer my food to be reared as naturally and as cruelty-free as possible. Quite apart from any moral argument happy, healthy animals taste better than ones reared in the dark in tiny cages and pumped full of hormones.

I am starting to suspect however that PETA are not actually what they say they are at all, but are funded by the intensive farming industry. I cannot think of any other explanation for their continuous undermining of the real issues with stupid stunts and 'own goals'. Seriously - the only purpose they seem to serve is to make the vegetarian and animal welfare movements appear to be ridiculous idiots (which most of them are not, even though I don't always agree with them) and to drive anyone that has the slightest sympathy for the cause away for fear of being associated with such a bunch of infantile loonies.

Whitehall to train pro-West Islamic groups to game Google

Tony

I can see it now...

They type in 'Death to the West'

and it comes up 'Did you mean "pursue a peaceful coexistance with people of all cultures and religions" ?'

MySpace rant was not private, rules US Court of Appeal

Tony

@Copyright - yeah right

Actually that is not true Colin. MySpaz's terms and conditions DO give them unlimited rights to distribute (and profit from) anything you post for as long as it is up there, but once you remove it from their site they no longer have the rights to do so and copyright for the work wholly returns to the creator.

As the article states that by the time the paper republished the text it had been removed from MySpace the rights to it would have reverted entirely to the author and Myspace could not have given them permission to use it even if they wanted to. So technically she WOULD have a case.

Prof: Fat ladies don't get to be CEOs, lardy blokes do

Tony

meh

Is it not possible that none of them were fat when they got the job, but that less figure-conscious men spent their 7 figure salary on eating out and beer, whereas with women under more (perceived) pressure to look slim and healthy they spent theirs on personal trainers or liposuction?

Phorm moves beyond privacy - except when slating rivals

Tony

Cool.

That Kent Ertugrul seems like a standup guy. Where can I sign up for this Phorm thingie then?

It sounds great.

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