Posts by Ole Juul

+1 for this being the end of fb

and the beginning of something else.

Re: Why bother?

Take the newspaper out of Google . . .

The night before the hearing.

Content

The whole censorship issue is a red herring. The problem is that if content, of any kind, gets considered in regulations then telecoms have an excuse to set content related fees. I'd be worried about that.

many ways to pay

I pay for Gmail by having to delete all their spam postings in forums. I was hoping that was one of the services they were going to drop since I would benefit from that. I suppose spammers would beg to differ.

Re: Heard this one on R4 yesterday...

Remember that most recording these days st to solid state devices. Wow and flutter are really a thing of the past.

I think as well as providing a form of timestamp, the system allows you to spot where a recording has been edited - sudden phase changes in the hum will point to something being cut out or inserted.

I agree that wow and flutter are a thing of the past. That makes it all the easier to make accurate forgeries. It is also not beyond the means of most people to record with hum and other external electrical input below the noise floor if they have some expertise and wish to do that. There is no need to worry about phase changes in the hum if you add it at the end or avoid edits. Awareness of what the end result is supposed to look like is the key here.

Re: ...verbose, complicated terms and conditions...

I know people like to diss this "Joe Public" guy, but really, "post tweets on your behalf" is pretty damned simple to understand.

Not everybody knows where their behalf is or can imagine why somebody would want to post a tweet on it.

I wonder if St. Julian will get the same leeway

Yes. Nine years from now. By which time the Ecuadorean ambassador will have committed suicide.

The censorship issue is a red herring

Indeed, it is just a political way to distinguish between some nations. In fact, by doing that it makes it less obvious that the real threat here is telecoms who want to find justification for more tariffs. All they need is a thin wedge.

Re: There's still something missing.

- more salt

Re: Anyone else think that the votes is a good indication of the actual active users?

I wouldn't go quite so far as to suggest that there are only 1/2 million active users. However, the number is so far removed from the 1 billion claimed users that it takes the breath away. Not even close to 1/10% suggests something is seriously amiss.

Someone suggested above that FB would have the means to judge the number of active accounts by seeing when there last was a login. I'm thinking that they are likely to deny that ability, because the number could have some serious legal ramifications regarding their IPO and all the lawsuits that resulted.

Re: Game changer

in the uk? give us your password or we'll give you two years jail

Personally I don't share media files, or even use them much - but that's not the point. The thing here is that the responsibility now rests on the end users. If all goes well, it will be more difficult to shut down the service. It will also be a lot of work to go after individual clients one by one. This changes the file sharing landscape considerably, especially if other internet services start to follow this model. The fallout from this could be all over the place. We'll see.

Cyberspace

Information has always been something to fight over. Communication is paramount to personal freedom as well as economic development. Any amount of control of that can be a very useful land grab.

Like many here, I'm no fan of ICANN, or the US Government, but I do think that keeping the internet out of the ITU is the way to go. In this case, I'd side with the approach taken by the U.S. ambassador to the WCIT. (See ZDNet article.)

Re: injection

Yes, it's supposed to be injunction. That's the joke. :)

Reg demographic?

This is a great opportunity to gauge the current Reg reader demographic... "RMS is right as usual". Other than actual Linux mailing lists, I can't recall such staunch pro-FOSS bias on even the pure techy forums I visit.

I think that RMS actually has some Windows users supporting him because of his adherence to principles. I agree that Reg articles and authors are fairly evenly distributed among operating systems. However, regarding the Reg demographic, I'm not convinced that we're seeing "staunch pro-FOSS" here. I think we are seeing a split between those who think that principles are important, and those don't mind letting some things slide.

Re: One small problem...

... can be in the nav aid band (108 MHz to 118 MHz)

Are they actually using that band, or is it just available as a point of argument when they need it? Yes, I agree that things are complicated, but I have a feeling that there are some complications which are, in fact, non-technical.

nd a dr

I'm guessing the lights went out and they're looking for the door. It happens here all the time.

Re: To whine or not to whine

Dave 126: I for one would rather be treated by a doctor who wasn't distracted by their own aching neck, or suffers pain in their wrist.

I agree with you there, but I really expect doctors to not be suffering from stuff like that if it is self inflicted, which the computer interface misuse most certainly is. Also, my comment about whining is partly related to the fact that I wake up with what to most people, would be an intolerable amount of pain. In cases like mine where there is no medical solution we learn not to whine, because it just makes it worse. I would hope that doctors would be setting an example, both regarding avoiding damaging body stresses, and whining. Remember, they're asking for money for something which others figure out on their own.

Re: Boring tech doc

You seem to be hinting that this is actually more of a political doc than a tech doc, and I'd agree with that.

Re: Bring it on

if it finally pushes people to abandon whizzy flash non-W3C compliant websites . . .

Websites that display right away and can be read? It'll never catch on.

Re: The dad lacks backbone

Yes, this helps to validate the business model of the trolls - not to mention the police. I understand what you're saying and feel the same sense of indignation. But if you've ever been a dad, you will see how continuing this pressure in the family involving your little girl, is causing harm. If it was me, I too would make it a priority to protect my child from these kinds of predators who have no concern for her well-being or development. Children shouldn't have to suffer from the moral, legal, and ethical fights of the adult world until they're old enough to process that stuff. I'd pay the bucks to stop the harm (assuming I had the money). Then, if I wanted to continue the fight, do it in a way that did not harm my family. This dad did have backbone, and he used it to protect his little girl.

Re: , "... a non-observable negative density..."

he just couldn't believe that there was actually any "there" where he was!

That's because it is only true for very large values of wasn't.

Re: Phantom voters are phantom users

Amazing that FB is using their phantom users as a "silent majority".

That's actually really funny. What's not so funny is that it also suggests that Facebook still thinks we're "dumb fucks" and can't figure this out.

Re: Thumbs up!

Fine, Apple bashing is perhaps a bit off. But I am puzzled at to why the kid would pull out any electronic aids at an interview other than to make an impression. That gesture by itself is suspect in exactly the ways detailed by the interviewer.

Re: Halogens don't like dimmers

Thanks for the info. I had wired up a halogen with a diode in one leg and was surprised that it burned out after a few months when I had expected it to basically last forever. It's a trick I've done with incandescents, but I see now why it didn't work in this case.

I like using dimmers (or diodes) for prolonging the life of incandescents, but one trick that gives spectacular life expectancy is to use a bulb rated for 220v on a 120v system like we have here. I have one "always on" light like that and I don't expect to have to replace it in my lifetime. The draw is around 1/4 it's rating, and the light output is very low, but quite adequate for it's intended purpose.