* Posts by The BigYin

3080 publicly visible posts • joined 25 Mar 2008

Now TalkTalk cuts Brits' access to The Pirate Bay

The BigYin

Re: Blocked? CENSORED.

@Yet Another - well Canada censors government funded scientists who don't toe the party line, so I'm hardly surprised.

The "slippery slope" is not a good argument, and neither is the petulant "I wanna download stuff for no charge. Waah!"

What is a good argument is "The current copyright terms are too one-sded and do not balance the cost to society against the cost of the original creator [or however you wish to phrase it] and my alternative is [insert brilliant idea here]".

Let me be clear, I do not like the extensions to copyright, the official rubber-stamping of cartels (RIAA et al), DRM, region-locking and other barriers to free-trade. But If ones doesn't base one's argument on a credible base, it will soon be undermined.

The BigYin
Mushroom

Re: Blocked? CENSORED.

Let's be honest about it? OK. TPB is mostly used for copyright infringement. Yes the technology is benign and has lots of uses (e.g. distributing GNU/Linux iso files and other FOSS/CreativeCommons stuff) but what level of use does it get for that, compared to grabbing copyrighted material for nowt?

Exactly. And that is why is was (in all futility) blocked.

We can argue about how stupid the current copyright terms are (and I personally think they are very stupid), how draconian the new laws will be and how how much of an asshole the RIAA, BPI etc are all being; but none of this changes the fact the main purpose of TPB is copyright infringement.

If your biggest problem is that in now takes you 30 seconds longer to download a copy of "Avengers Assemble" for nothing - then you are very, very lucking indeed.

To call it "censorship" is, quite frankly, disgusting moral relativism that diminishes the suffering of those under the heel of actual censorship. So get off your moral high-horse.

US Navy buys Linux to guide drone fleet

The BigYin

Re: @The BigYin: Hey!

@Tom 13 - Oh, there's a few urban foxes I'd love to take an M16 to. And a few neighbours who feed these mangy vermin.

The BigYin

Re: Yuk

@Phil Endecott Your flawed logic is staggering. The tool (unless it is single purpose, like an M16) is not at fault. It's the human that puts that tool to use who is at fault. Baseball bats can kill people. Hammers can kill people. CDs and be used to kill people. Any chemist with time on their hand can choose to kill lots of people. Are you trying to suggest that all knowledge/items should be tagged with "Don't do bad things, m-kay?"

And even if they were - do you really think someone who had murderous/lethal intent is going to give two figs about your petty little license? "In the interest of national security, you opinions can GTF" is the response I believe.

Just about anything you do, for anyone at any time could potentially be turned around and used for something you don't like. So does this mean you contribute nothing?

My, you must be a real joy to live with.

Japan still in love with the fax

The BigYin

Re: Important documents...?

@AC - oh, don't start me on how poorly GPG et al hang together at times. But when they work, they work great. Which, of course, is why one would hire a consultant to sort it all out.

But my main point remains, if these are truly important documents then encryption and digital signatures are better than a fax.

The BigYin

Important documents...?

By fax....? Really? o_0

Install GPG, pinentry and Enigmail (or similar).

Generate a public/private key (if you don't already have one)

Get your recipient's public key (and signing is just another excuse for a party)

Encrypt and send in peace and (relative) security.

EU lurches behind copyright free-for-all landgrab

The BigYin

o_0

This. Is. Nuts.

I disagree with the staggering length of copyright (and the various abuses of due process and free trade my the media cartels) but I agree 100% with the idea of copyright. When used correctly is allows a lone creator to keep control of their work and stop a company with more lawyers than the creator has probably had hot dinners stealing it.

Oh, wait; now I see why this law is being passed.

The BigYin

Re: Its worse than that

Add to that all those wonderful folks who release their hard work as "CC BY NC" (Creative commons, by attribution, non-commercial". They are going to get royally screwed. Maybe not in a monetary sense but in a "It's my work, I'll decide how it is released" sense.

Just imagine the email exchange:

"Dear MegaCo, You are using my image for your new, multi-billion pound campaign. This is against my licensing terms. Kindly stop."

"Dear Pleb, Your image was lifted from a random website. There was no indication of license. We complied fully with a reasonable search as per law and had it declared orphan."

"Dear MegaCo, But it's not orphan; here I am."

"Dear Pleb, The law declares it orphan and we are free to use it. You are clearly deluded or trying to commit a fraud. We have called the police who will shortly arrest you for bothering us. Enjoy prison."

The BigYin

Re: Its worse than that

As for Digimarc....nice idea, but I'd like to see a published standard so that other competitors can enter the market and keep the price down (and keep each other honest). And heck, if there is a published standard that means we can get a F/OSS solution so that it's not just rich Westerners who can protect their assets.

Facebook tears wraps off its own app store

The BigYin
Joke

Wait a few days...

...then buy the apps in a bargain bin for 30% off.

You know what Google needs? Another Street View data-slurp probe

The BigYin

Re: Not this again

@AC - how do you think a lot of geo-location works?

Clue: It's not all satellites in space, y'know.

The BigYin

Re: Not this again

@hplasm - Exactly.

If the other people wrote that information down and then used it to commit a fraud against you...then you'd have recourse. But just for overhearing or record "Dude on the train said this totally unbelievable thing..."? No.

The BigYin

Re: Not this again

@ed2020 - No, because that's theft (although their insurance company may argue negligence).

Nice way to conflate to completely separate issues.

The BigYin
Mushroom

Not this again

As much as I dislike Google spying on our emails, documents* etc....if you are monumentally stupid enough to blast your information unencrypted over the air, then you deserve what you get. Why broadcast in the clear unless you want man+dog to listen in? Seriously, just how thick do you have to be?

If Google turn round and do something illegal with that data, then we can talk. In the mean time, encrypt your WiFi.

Cue the downvotes - I can take it.

*I do use gmail, but hopefully not for much longer. I refuse to use Google drive, apps or docs due to privacy concerns and I block Google as much as possible.

SUSE Linux and Canonical invade Windows Azure

The BigYin
Linux

Old tactic?

Embrace: "We love your penguins. Bring them to us!"

Extend: "We love your penguins long time. Install these super-power add-ons for extra Azure lurve. Make sure all your apps and databases are directly accessing the add-ons to get super-powers! Here's how to hard-wire everything..."

Extinguish: "All super-power add-on support is being dropped. Windows contains a backwards compatible API, the transition is seamless. Your business now depends on Azure. Suckers."

If a company wants to leverage the power of GNU/Linux...why the hell would they place such a rock-solid system on to of a Windows platform? It should be penguins, penguins all the way down.

HTC locked out of Windows 8 tablet party

The BigYin

Simple answer

Release a decent Android tablet at a decent price (maybe even cost?) and then simply bludgeon Win8 into submission. I am sure if HTC spoke to Google, there'd be some help forthcoming.

The only issue I see is that Metro might actually be quite good on a touch device (I've only used it on a desktop and it is bloody awful there).

LinkedIn users buried in spam after database leak

The BigYin

Idiots

LastPass has a checking page and whilst it's probably safe enough to use, you should change your password just to be safe.

But the best thing about this page is to play "Guess the dumb password". And yes "password" is one of them.

Really...I would have thought Linkedin would have attracted users with some level of sense. Seems not.

PC-makers hope for Windows 8 hero to sweep up sales

The BigYin

Re: Save sales?

In fact I have. I have attempted to make use of the various consumer, dev and beta previews.

And I really do mean "attempted" because Metro is an absolute fluster-cuck of a desktop GUI (I could see it being good on a phone) and the dumbed down traditional desktop is, well, dumbed down.

The average punter who just wants to surf, Facebook and write the odd letter - single tasking is fine. And this is what Metro just about lets you do (yes I know about the screen-split, don't start me).

But for someone you actually wants to use the computer (be they a coder, sys admin, graphic designer, CAD user or whatever) will want multiple windows to do their day job.

So having used Win8 my personal opinion of it is that it is a steaming turd.

Personally my main concern at the moment is which DE do I use next to get some work done. Unity and Gnome Shell suffer from many of the limitations of Win8 (geared towards single-tasking, just nowhere hear as bad) and whilst Unity may have HUD, I think KDE has to be the weapon of choice for a graphic-rich DE.

If I have to suffer Win8 in my day-to-day (likely), it will in a VM where I have to touch it as little as possible.

The BigYin

Save sales?

Have they seen Windows 8?

FFS.

People will take one look, vomit over the shop floor and run out screaming.

Arms waving in the air, optional.

NHS fights record £325k ICO fine after clap records appear on eBay

The BigYin

Re: And the moral of the story is....

No, the moral is do buy clapped out drives off eBay in the hope of getting some juicy info you can sell to the press.

In "the public interest" of course.

The BigYin

Re: No fine - just sackings

@MJI - they are all equally important.

The cleaners make sure you don't catch whatever the poor sod next door has.

The nurses make sure nothing bad happens to you and that treatment is administered.

The doctors figure out what that treatment is.

The managers make sure the kit is available for you to be treated.

What should not happen (and you are quite right about) is for a pen-pusher to be mah-hoos-ively overpaid.

If fact, regardless of industry, the people at the top getting paid orders of magnitude more than those at the bottom (who do the actual work) is a serious issue in or society.

The BigYin

Re: No fine - just sackings

Doctors are already highly paid (and rightly so). It's nurses and cleaners you want to worry about.

The BigYin

This

In buckets. Either they lied or did not properly investigate. Either one I would call gross professional negligence. Heads must roll (with no golden goodbye, pension protection or anything).

Out on the street, just like anyone else.

But this is government luvvie duvvies we are talking about. Just watch, those at the centre will pop-up again as "experts", "thought leaders" or with some other vacuous title.

The BigYin

Re: Tax payer to Government to NHS to Government funded by the Tax Payer.

@LarsG - the drives were taken away by a private contractor under form mad PGI-type scheme which allows the NHS trust to show greater openness and a willingness to be wallet-raped by the private sector (as is government policy). This will all be wrapped-up in a bollocks-speak press briefing and contract.

The contractor will be the lowest bidder with the thinnest margins and thus keen to get any profits anywhere they can, which means flogging stuff on eBay.

One other thing you can bet is that the conrtact will be so one-sided that even if the trust ejects the contractor for such flagrant negligence, they will need to pay compensation for loss of profits (a common clause in PFI deals which is why we have to spunk so much money at our badly run rail system).

I do agree with one thing, fining the NHS is stupid. You fine the contractor and you fire the managers.

Google aiming to buy dot-lol cyberland, and not just for the lulz of it

The BigYin
Joke

Sympathy Card

So this friend-of-a-friend...are you trying to tell us you are super-chums with Rebecca Brooks?

Google to show China what it's missing

The BigYin

Re: SSL

Because in the glorious people's China, censorship whacks you!

Microsoft invades Iraq, installs first distributor

The BigYin

Re: Yaaay!

@Ross K That's what I love about religion, from the Iranian viewpoint it's the USA who are the godless.

The world would be such a better place without the sky-fairies.

The BigYin

Re: Yaaay!

Of course it does, how else can the rich nations (and primarily the rich within said nations) gouge the poor and vulnerable?

The BigYin

Ah, what a way to bring freedom

By placing the country under the heel of one of the most anti-freedom companies on Earth.

Of course, the Iraq war was never about freedom or protecting the populace from the USA's old ally Saddam. It was about the oil and the chance to make billions in rebuilding the country. Just ask Dick Cheney.

BBC report urges Halo troops to end bloodshed in Syria

The BigYin

Re: Wait, what?

@Mark 121 Thanks for that, have an upvote.

I now consider myself slightly more edified in the matter.

The BigYin

Wait, what?

So they just web searched for an image an used it, eh?

Did they check that they had rights to that image?

Did they contact the owner to get permission?

No?

Well if you or I did something like that, we'd be up for a DMCA take down at best or before the beak as a pirate. Yarr!

I look forward to the reporting on where the BBC are sued for breach of copyright and loss of reputation due to the gaff.

TalkTalk subsidiary's customer data placed on the web in IIS whoopsie

The BigYin
Facepalm

Re: And Windows Server

"If the thing is configured incorrectly by the person installing it, that is hardly the fault of the software."

When the software's default position is "Rape me! Have at my datas you randy hounds!" then I'd say that's a problem.

"It is of course, fantastic that Linux is always perfect and is never misconfigured."

A few points:

1) Linux is a kernel, not a web server;

2) No one claimed it was perfect;

3) No one even mentioned it.

If you had cited Apache (or Tomcat or WebLogic or...) then you might have had a point. Too busy following the old rhetoric of "If they say anything anti MS, they must be a pro GNU/Linux, freedom-lving, fanboi. Engage maximum frothing!"

Passwords are for AES-holes

The BigYin

Re: If that's so, then why

"you didn't come up with the idea and Monroe did."

I actually don't think Monroe did, but I could be imagining things. Can't find a reference just now.

The BigYin

Re: If that's so, then why

Why?

Mostly because systems that demand "w1bbl€!" as a password, rather than what I would consider a "proper" one do my freakin' head in and don't even start me on the ones that have a upper limit of about 16*.

I was already using a system similar to the one discussed on XKCD (using poetry, if you must know) and was aware of the idea of non-symbolic but long "passphrases" from using the likes of GPG (clue is in the name "passphrase"). The XKCD just happens to be the most well known example AFAIK.

It is length that is a better measure of password strength, not necessarily complexity. Don't take that up with XKCD, take it up with grc.com and the method espoused by XKCD does lead to easy to remember, long password that don't need to be written down.

If your users have short, complex ones and have to change them frequently; I guarantee they write them down or use some kind of basic system for generation passwords "blah1", "blah2" etc. Both of which negate your security (of course, coercion can always be used to get a password; no matter how secure it is).

But most of all, I think you need to relax and breathe a little. I'm not the one slinging the insults around.

*Pretty soon I will start ranting about the cretins who can't validate an email address**.

**Anyone who thinks they can by definition doesn't know how to validate an email address.

The BigYin
Facepalm

Re: In fact it is not

Cripes. I thought people would take this suggestion light-heartedly, not get a bee up their collective arse.

I would say that a system which considers "pa5$word!" more secure than "HighTreeGiraffeeIcecreamParlour" is fundamentally broken. One might be shorter, but it is a bugger to remember (meaning it will often be written down - security lost) the other is a bit harder to type (meaning is may be entered wrongly once to often leading to lock-out - PITA but security remains).

And there are other measures too; key-fobs, one-time tables, blah-de-blah.

Me - I prefer the more complex, long keys as all I have to do is memorise a picture. Heck, I can probably even write them down in ideograms for myself and they would still be secure (I don't do this, however, as pictures fit nicely into the old noggin).

That is my opinion. It's not wrong, it's opinion and in point of fact it happens to be right because it is my opinion and it applies to me.

The BigYin

Re: In fact it is not

@Aaron Em

Hate to tell you this...but I use a similar idea for my ma-hoos-ive WiFi password. I don't seem to have any trouble.

And for SSH pasphrases.

Security is generally a trade off between convenience and, well, security.

The BigYin
Thumb Up

Correct Horse Battery Staple

That is all.

Diablo III dev rolls 12d6, scores PC sales record

The BigYin

Re: "why do people fall for this DRM infected crap "

I am quite aware what DRM is, which is why I avoid it at all costs.

But you are right about one thing, I got Blizzard and EA backwards. it was Blizzard that was demanding real names. They don't demand that any more, they have no need to. Your game DRM key uniquely identifies you.

Apologies for the confusion.

The BigYin

Remember...

...do not criticise this game in their forums. You will be banned and lose access to the game.

Pray their DRM servers don't go down, or you won't be able to play.

Hope your Internet connection doesn't go down, or you won't be able to play either!

Seriously - why do people fall for this DRM infected crap all the time?

Silicon Roundabout touts startup jobs for 'ninjas' this weekend

The BigYin

Re: 50k for a Java dev?

£50k is not enough for having to suffer London.

The BigYin

50k for a Java dev?

41k for Javascript?

Ha ha ha ha ha! Now that is funny.

Where do these people get these fictional numbers from?

NHS axes HealthSpace: 'Just too difficult' to use

The BigYin

Not really surprised

We are talking about an organisation who's standard browser is IE6 FFS.

Not that I particularly like the idea of deeply personal information being on a public network.

Maybe a system for checking appointments or something (yes, I know that has privacy issues) but not much more than that really.

MPs wrestle slippery bureaucrats in intellectual property Jell-O

The BigYin

Re: Why is your so anti-IP?

@willish

Bingo. This is the big problem with "IP". It brings three totally separate idea, sticks them in a pot and mixes them up. It then tries to blind the public with legalese. We should never discuss "IP". We can talk about copyright, trademarks and patents if people want.

But never, ever, ever "IP" as that is just some made-up bullcrap that muddies the waters and confuses matters.

Copyright - the current terms are too long. The measures currently in place (region locks etc) are too restrictive and IMHO lead to infringement.

Format shifting (part of copyright) - for personal use this should be allowed. No levy on blank media. Making mix-discs for a friend? Strict infringement? Sure. Should anything be done about it? No. It's part of human nature to share and so long as it really only is the odd copy or two floating around amongst friends....that's just life. Suck it up.

Patents - never on software. First to file (in the USA) is a joke, it should be possible to appeal a patent after it is granted should prior art be found or obviousness be questioned.

Google warns against ISPs hard on web filth

The BigYin

How to protect children on-line in 5 easy steps

1) As a parent suck up the fact that YOU take responsibility for YOUR child. Period.

2) Install/configure a web filter/net-nanny server

3) Install/configure a net-nanny software on each client

4) Configure the security to prevent it being diabled

5) If you do not know how to do the above LEARN!

There, that wasn't hard was it?

Dole Office staff snooped into private data 992 times in 10 months

The BigYin

Re: All for the public good...

@Andreas Koch

This dovetails with the idea that it can be acceptable to commit one crime in order to prevent a greater one. For example, exposing "private" information that shows a public servant is on the take, or committing an act of trespass to save a life. You can invent your own examples and, of course, it's up to a court to decide if the defence applies.

What it does not cover, however, is raking through people's details for purely personal/devious reason (e.g. you want to date them).

Your example could actually apply, but you'd need a lot more evidence to satisfy a court that you had just cause to go prying.

The BigYin
FAIL

Only disciplined?

"Staff at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) were disciplined a total of 992 times for unlawfully"

It was unlawful...why weren't they prosecuted? Oh wait, civil service; above the law and don't care about data privacy (as numerous news stories inform us).

Windows XP update fails in infinite .NET patch loop

The BigYin

Not just XP

At the moment almost every time I try to do an update in Windows 7 I lose all networking.

I am now w-a-y behind in updates as I install them one at a time to try and finger the culprit whilst do the day job.

Not good at all.

Wallace & Gromit teach Oz kids to respect patents

The BigYin

Re: They should offer free entry....

You joke, but this is in fact no joke. Ever wondered why those "print your own cake decoration" things have either gone to the wall or only allow to to choose from select designs?

Copyright!

If your bairn draw a little Mickey Mouse or W&G for their own birthday cake, it can't be printed out as they do not have a license. Now I ask you; whilst in might be in technical breach, does this in fact breach the spirit? Sure, if the picture is a near-perfect rendition and you want 1,000 done eyebrows should be raised.

But on drawing for a kid's party? FFS. Get a grip corporates. This will add to your bottom line.

The BigYin

Re: Next up, Krusty the Clown! - Wrong trousers is one thing, but this is plainly below the belt.

Hear, hear.

Every time I am stuck on those (which isn't that often...snigger*) I always think "I have just spent my hard-earned and bought original media. Why the hell do I have to suffer this? And it isn't theft, it's a breach of license mumble...grumble..."

Could be worse, we could live in the USA where such cobblers has become law.

*Nothing dodgy, I just happen to have one DVD player that jumps to the menu. Means missing out on trailers for other movies (which is a shame as I rather like watching those).

Ballmer says 500 MILLION 'users' to 'have' Windows 8 in 2013

The BigYin

Re: "no switching of web sessions"

It means, if you are doing something in IE Metro and switch to a real UI to get some actual work done; everything you we doing in IE Metro is stuck in Metro and you either have to start again or switch back to the Duplo(tm) interface.