Posts by Tony S

Dare I say I told you so

I remember making a suggestion a while back that in one of the comments to an article, that there could be an issue, and that people should not automatically assume that "Chip & PIn" or any other technology was unbreakable. Several people chose to sneer at my position.

The reality is that there is no such thing as 100 % security - all anyone can do is say, "we have not been able to crack it, and are not aware that anyone else has".

Too many people suffer with an almost religious zealotry about security - I do X, I use Y, I have Z, so I am totally secure. Anyone that believes that is suffering with delusions of adequacy; and what is worrying is that they continue to believe the fallacy long after it has been demonstrated that it is not true.

But there you go - the problem is not with the hardware or the software, but with the wetware!

Slow And Painful

The GUI is very old fashioned - similar to the old O/S2 from the 1980s. However, it can be made to work, but it needs people that really know what they are doing. Although it sounds physically impossible, the java both blows and sucks.

Far too many of the system integrator firms promise much but deliver little - they say that they have experienced people and charge a fortune, but actually supply staff with at best limited exerience (and they pay them a lot less than they charge the client!)

They make lots of comments about "business process change" and promising "best practices" but in most cases, the change is not for the better and does not deliver any real benefits. But as the AC @ 14:06 stated, the top execs don't like to admit there is a problem and won't pull out. So they throw more money into the bottomless pit that is the SAP project, and SAP convince everyone that they have another happy customer.

Staff announcement...

...Cleaner required in aisle 2!

Fingerprints

" they will be able to register as many fingerprints as it is possible for them to record"

So I'll get them to register Meg Hillier's and Alan Johnson's fingerprints then.

Perhaps we should remind them (and ourselves) of the following:

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."

The Rt Hon. William Pitt, the Younger.

(Prime Minister 1783-1801, 1804-1806)

Sad day

Cadbury's chocolate - better get it now whilst you can.

No matter what the management at Kraft say, they are going to make cuts to the work force and they will definitely look to relocate some parts of the business (if not the whole thing) overseas.

It's also highly likely that they will look to change the recipe of the products (they have done with almost every other brand that they own.

Still, there's always Thorntons - bet their sales increase on the next few years.

IT angle? There are going to be a lot more IT techies not getting their leg over as the British womenfolk will hate the American style "candy"

left hand, right hand

So they they are giving out laptops with one hand to raise "digital awareness"- but then cut the higher education budget with the other hand.

That makes sense if you are trying to dumb down a population. After all, you wouldn't want an educated population being able to think for themselves - they might question what you are doing.

WTF?

Yes, that will do it. Replace the head of a failing services division, with a former head of another failing services company.

Where was...

..Renee Zellweger?

As Bridget Jones' bottom, she showed considerable talent for playing English women.

Can't even get a statement right

"The system has enabled the arrest of murders [sic], rapists and the barring of would-be illegal immigrants."

Minister: how do you arrest a murder? Or are you referring to the poetic noun for a collection of Crows?

I would also query just how many MURDERERS and rapists have been arrested. Certainly the number of would-be illegal immigrants arrested is very low compared to the number that actually make into the country (and possibly also compared to the number that end up working in government offices as cleaners!)

Childish - I know

"Jack was "one of our best" techs "

Or did she say 'one of our breast techs'!

Power corrupts;

... absolute power corrupts absolutely

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/288200.html

There are numerous examples of this throughout history. It happens over and over and over and over......

A latest example would be the expenses scandal at the house of commons - they set the rules, they abuse the rules. When people justifiably query the level of abuse, they argue that it was "within the rules" - they rules that they set and change as they like.

Protect your right to privacy - you'll miss it when it's gone

All your thoughts belong to us

A good article, if perhaps a little predictable.

It is clear though that there was a knee jerk reaction and the law was passed without being fully analysed or debated. I think unlikely that any subsequent government will repeal it, unless there is a really pressing reason for doing so. It needs a serious set of lobbying; and too few people care sufficiently about the issue to do anything. We are sleep walking into the sort of police state that once was the preserve of Uncle Joe or one of the African dictatorships.

BTW, like the new layout of comments - 1 thumb up.

'ello, 'ello, 'ello

Heard a comment on the radio this morning - a senior police office made the comment "... it can also be used to prove you are innocent."

Now at first glance, this might not seem a major issue - but understand this. The law (as it still stands) is that you are innocent UNLESS proven guilty. This is a cornerstone of English law and has been in place for many centuries. This is in fact a principle that many thousands of people died for.

It is not for you or anyone else to have to prove your innocence - you are innocent by default. They MUST prove your guilt, and if they cannot do so, you walk free and can probably sue them for wrongful arrest.

However, the useless gits that think they know better want to change the law - if you don't agree with them, you know what to do.

@AC 15:54

"And it is an offence punishable by up to two years in prison to refuse"

Which then means that you are a criminal so they have every right to take your DNA and store it for ever. If they try really hard, they could make everyone in the UK a crim (apart from theirselves of course).

1984 - G. Orwell didn't predict the half of it.

Two thumbs up

Had a couple of copies of RC1 on different machines. Also a couple of copies of the RTM (both Ulitmate and Enterprise). Installed on Desktops and laptops - not particularly high spec machines. Also passed a couple of copies of the RC1 version to some users to test out at home.

In each case the installation went well - no issues at all in fact. A couple of odd items with some specific software products (Java based and a legacy product) which we did resolve eventually, but other than that, everything runs really well.

The general feeling of the users that we have allowed to test it is also very positive - about the only negative comment so far was that it looked a lot like Vista and they were expecting something else. Most people seem to be quite keen to move over to 7 - and with the improvements, it might be better for us.

Going to get some new laptops in the next week - they will have 7 on them, so we'll see what our sales reps can do to bugger it up!

@AC 14:58

As an emmit living in Kernow, I feel bound to respond.

"give them their own government " - it's called the Cornish Stannary Parliament or "Seneth an Stenegow Kernow". Stannary courts and parliament have been around since the 1200s (although not so much recently). And we don't have so many problems with corrupt politicians.

"dig a big trench to cut off Cornwall from the mainland" - it's called the river Tamar and runs from the south at Plymouth all the way to the north just a few miles from where I live and with a little bit of digging could easily separate the county from the uncivilised masses.

"what does the Uni of Cornwall offer you.. " - the finest pasties in the world! (Plus really good surfing dude.)

I'll drink a pint of Doom Bar any time.

Meh!

10 million have never been online - that could be a number plucked out of thin air. Even if it wasn't, the chances are that it consists of people that have no interest, no equipment or are unable to get online due to other issues such as lack of mental capacity to use the Internet.

But once again, it is an example of "Nanny knows best" - it doesn't matter that we are up to our ears in debt to the extent that our children will be paying it off, lets just waste another few million so that they can say that they are trying to do something.

Our government is increasingly out of step with reality - are they next going to debate how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?

Sad

I'm not sure that even the best mobile phone from the front row would be capable of taking a picture that would show anything other than a pixelated blur. Of I could be wrong - I tend not to use my mobile for taking pix as it's only 2 M pixel.

And to be honest, I don't know Ms Friel - I'm sure that she is a charming young lady, but I have slightly better things to do with my time than try to make out what her thru'pennies look like in a fuzzy image.

If I wanted pr0n, there are a number of magazines available for a relatively low cost - but I'd rather spend my money on a bottle of wine. I still find that my imagination generates much better erotica - but that's probably illegal now.

Or am I just a Grumpy Old Man?

Oh dear

In the overall scheme of things £24 million is not that much - a couple of trips abroad by Gordon or Alistair to rub shoulders with other "Important People". Or maybe a couple of dozen MPs need to get their wisteria cut back or moats cleaned again at the public expense. It soon mounts up.

Of course for me it's a tidy sum - I could actually retire on 2% of that. I suspect that a lot of others would be happy to do so.

But more importantly, this is about National Security - you know the thing that they have to have the DNA database, ID cards, no fly lists etc for. All to make sure that no bad people do anything naughty. Yet it is being managed by a company that is HQ'd outside of the UK, probably using consultants from outside of the UK. And no-one in government thinks that this might not be a particularly good scenario for security?

Perhaps we need to start thinking up new words to describe just how poor a job our current crop of people are doing because most of the words I can think of don't quite describe the complete ineptitude of these people.

@Sarah Bee

Perhaps we should have a "Miserable Git" award - you can name & shame all of those that demand "where's the IT angle" and everyone can vote for their favourite to be ritually humiliated. We could have a panel of celebrity IT judges to make caustic remarks about their IT skills (or should that be skillz?)

And in case anyone from TV land is reading this, I reserve to right to be considered the author of this idea, so anyone thinking of turning it into a programme, I want 10%

Party

I regret to say that when I was in my teens, most of the parties I used to go I couldn't remember very much about them afterwards. Which is why I probably enjoyed them...

Perhaps we should persuade Microsoft to link up with Carlsberg to organise these things.

call me Mr Cynical

So this is a plan to save lives?

"along with a GPS system to report the current location "

Is it just me, or does it seem that the real reason they want this is so that the thought police will always know where you are, where you have been, where you are going?

They will pwn your lives

@AC 15:46

"Perhaps it's a sign of moral progress that the Boeing exec feels he has to pretend that this technology will "save lives". "

No - it's called "New Speak" as opposed to "Old speak" (1984: Orwell, G)

So the MiniPax (Ministry of Peace) deals with armed conflict, MiniTrue (Ministry of Truth) deals with propaganda, MiniPlenty (Ministry of Food) deals with rationing, and MiniLuv enforces birth control.

When using New Speak, it's important not to give negative connotations - so something is not bad, but ungood. Really poor is plus ungood - SHTF is double plus ungood.

The aim is to make any alternative thinking - "crimethink" - impossible by removing any words which describe the ideas of freedom, rebellion, etc.

Welcome to the Future of mankind

We don't need no steekin' security

I've had major row with Lloyds TSB.

A person saying he was from their Credit Card division phones me to query a transaction - then asks me to give him my password - the whole password, not just a couple of characters from it. When I refused, he wouldn't discuss the problem.

I then phoned up to discuss this with someone, but all they would do was state that this is their company policy. They were able to confirm that the person that phoned me was from their dispute division - but couldn't put me through to him as that department don't accept incoming calls. I've actually written to them to point out that their current policy is a bit flawed, but all I got back was a standard acknowlegement. They simply don't see where the problem is.

If the major banks don't follow basic good security practice and actually encourage bad practice, how are we going get the average user to be sensible?

See you Pal!

Fockin bampot - gonna gis you a right weltin'. (Puit the heid on 'im as well. G'wan, banjo the bas. )

Mebbe send the Smeato round to talk to yer muither an gie her a malkie.

Matthias Meyer

"...but insisted the company attached "the greatest importance to data protection and respected the laws on the country in which it was working"."

Matthias, I don't want to worry you, but your nose is growing longer, and your trousers appear to have burst into flames.

@Dan 10

"it needs one new agency to do this, "

You don't appreciate the thinking of the public service mentality. There is a lot of money to be spent on this, and those in charge of the various bodies know that they can get some of it to carry out approved tasks. The money will probably be ring fenced, but that's OK as it means that the department grows in size - therefore the people charge grow in stature as well.

For a better (and lengthier) explanation, read anything on Parkinson's Law - "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion"

This is why in the UK we have (so far) 18 different agencies working on digital security!

Quite right too

This raises an interesting point that needs to be discussed further.

In the UK, the process of investigation of computers (including servers) is governed by the ACPO guidelines. This dictates what is considered good practice; failure to follow the guidelines would most likely result in the evidence being rejected and therefore the court case failing. (I know this having studied a PG course on Forensics)

In terms of the investigation, they don't actually need the "administrator's" or "Server" password to get access - the information that they require should be obtained using other methods or a different account with appropriate permissions.

In fact they most definitely shouldn't have the admin password as it would no longer be possible to state with any absolute certainty who carried out any specific task. If I were the lawyer defending the case, I would argue that any work carried out after the password were revealed could have been done by the outsiders, and demand that the prosecution prove otherwise (which they can't).

I know that this case is in the US and therefore they do have slightly different rules, but I think that the point about proving who had access to change the evidence is still valid. (Unless anyone knows differently?)

Yawn

They are really getting desperate - re-hashing programmes that are only a couple of years old.

Films that are all about the effects rather than the plot (what plot?).

I sound like a boring old fart, but I'm getting really tired of all the crap that is being trundled out by Hollywood and the TV networks these days. It all seems to be about pumping advertising in one form or another, rather than trying to be something that is worth watching.

The amount of TV that I watch has dropped by about half in the last couple of years, and I could actually see myself only turning on to watch the news within a couple more years.

Just call me Victor "I don't belieeeeve it".

Mines the one with the leather patches on the elbow and a copy of the Daily Mail in the pocket (damnit!)

@AC 4:30

"Americans spent a half century shedding their money & blood because of European love for Socialism"

You mean the 14 months in 1917-18 and the three and a half years from 42-45? I didn't realise that qualified as half a century; on that basis, the Canadians (you know, the ones north of the 49th) spent a century and a bit doing their part. And as others have pointed out, the USA actually made a profit from WWII unlike any other country.

It's also worth remembering that at the beginning of WWII, the USA was still supplying Germany and a number of US companies continued to trade with Germany thoughout the war thru intermediaries. In fact the US ambassador in GB during the first months of the war advised Roosevelt that we would fall to the Nazis in a matter of 6 weeks, and continued to maintain that position until Dec 7th 1941.

"The Socialist mindset is just sick to the Common American - their ancestors fled Socialism at the muzzle of guns"

I would suggest it was more about totalianarianism than socialism - and that's been happening since the 1600s

"Socialists are just too ill-educated to understand history & modern facts - just can't figure it out the American mindset"

It was your own president Truman that called the USA "the best half-educated country in the world". Most Americans have no knowledge of any historical event other than what they see on TV / Movies, which is why they have so little real understanding. Most Americans can't even identify countries on a map that they share a border with, let alone one that is a couple of thousand miles away.

It's also worth noting that UNICEF did some surveys about 10 years ago, and it showed that most children in the "third world" had a better understanding of the economic problems and the operations of the IMF than did any equivalent group of children in the USA.

Yeah, right

During the 1960s, the astonauts had to have rubber accoutrements to retain urine bags (In Space, no one can hear you pee, but it buggers up all the equipment). They were issued in 3 sizes - extra large, huge & enormous. If they couldn't win the space race, they were certainly going to win the dick swinging contest.

Bearing in mind that you can take a standard size lettre francais and put it over your head, anyone that thinks they need an extra large durex is fooling no-one but themselves.

Perhaps all of the 200 callers were Australian and Tescos didn't realise? (Durex is a popular brand of sticky tape downunder.) G'day miss, can I have a 50 metre roll of Durex?