* Posts by Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

473 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Jun 2009

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You Wreck Me, Spotify: Tom Petty, Neil Young publisher launches $1.6bn copyright sueball

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Keep on knockin' off the Free World

Jeremy Clarkson and Co. rise to top for Great British Bake Off replacements

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Re: "Bring back Tomorrow's World, I say."

@Mattjimf

Not even once.

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Who gives a flying fruitcake whether it's on BBC or Channel4 or replaced by some other dreary nonsense? Bring back Tomorrow's World, I say.

Google says it would have a two-word answer for Feds seeking Yahoo!-style email backdoor

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face
Mushroom

I just remembered I had an old Yahoo account for freecycle and one or two groups. No personal details in it (who signs up with their real name/address/dob anyway), but it felt good to delete it.

Idiot flies drone alongside Flybe jet landing at Newquay Airport

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Police have found no trace...

Give it a day or two, then check youtube.

UK's climate change dept abolished, but 'smart meters and all our policies strong as ever'

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Hard to believe it's been ten years since David Miliband decided to patronise us all with his Utopian plans for carbon credit cards and citizens environmental contracts. What we need is some kind of government wiki where we can debate these ideas in a mature, sensible fashion.

Like last time.

Trump? Terror? Turkey? Whoa, there's a Tentacool in that Bush...

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Parallel Universe?

Have we entered a weird parallel universe, and nobody else has noticed?

Boris Johnson 'NIGHTMARE'

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Re: LBJ

"Lyndon Johnson told the nation

Have no fear of escalation

I am trying everyone to please

Though it isn't really war

We're sending fifty thousand more

To help save Vietnam from Vietnamese"

Tom Paxton

Tesla whacks guardrail in Montana, driver blames autopilot

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

While I agree with everything that's been said here about personal responsibility, one has to wonder whether all this "safety" tech in cars is actually making them less safe. Every day on the motorways I see people looking down at their mobile phones, veering and then correcting. It causes no end of near and actual rear-end shunts. If people already take such risks without the widespread use of lane assist and automatic braking, imagine what they'll do when it becomes ubiquitous.

414,949 D-Link cameras, IoT devices can be hijacked over the net

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

I've a few of those cheap IP cameras running. Instead of exposing the firmware to the internet I used apache to proxy the static image from the camera, building all the feeds into a single web page which refreshed frequently enough to make it look like a moving picture.

Chilcot's IT spend: Tighter wallet than most public sector bods

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face
Mushroom

£30,854,800

.. to tell us what everyone already knew.

Bloke 'lobbed molotov cocktails' at Street View car because Google was 'watching him'

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face
Facepalm

Irony

Man seeks privacy. Ends up on the front page of the internet.

'Digital influencers' must disclose paid-for content, says new guidance

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

More international nannying...

It's giving me a headache.

Here, take these.

Ah, Nuprin. Little. Yellow. Different.

Brexit: More cash for mobile operators or consumers? Pick one

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Re: UK legislation

"The House of Lords is unelected, the Euro parliament is elected"

Not that old chestnut. The House of Lords is an unelected revising chamber. They scrutinise legislation. The European Parliament is an elected rubber stamping organisation designed only so that people can still convince themselves they live under a democratically accountable system. They are the only parliament anywhere in the world which cannot propose legislation. They simply nod through the wishes of the unelected Commission, whose sole purpose is to further the European vision.

Vote "in", for an end to democracy and the rule of law. And cheaper mobile phone calls abroad.

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

This was mentioned in "Brexit the movie". If you trade you democracy for cheaper roaming charges, you deserve all you get.

Wales gives anti-vaping Blockleiters a Big Red Panic Button

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

I think a second button that reads out a suitable riposte is called for.

"He who smelt it dealt it".

Don’t let the Barmy Brexiteers wreck #digital #europe

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Cast your mind back to 1957, the Treaty of Rome was signed by six nations. It consisted of nothing more than an elaborate front page, a signature page, and (due to "technical difficulties") a whole wad of blank paper.

Almost 50 years later the European Constitution was signed. It was a solemn and impressive ceremony at the heart of Ancient Rome. All that remained was for the people of Europe to approve the pact which was made in their name. The Dutch and the French, however, deigned to disagree, voting the whole thing down in their respective referendums.

Regardless, the project pushed on, and was quietly repackaged, much of the text lifted word-for-word into the Lisbon treaty. This time it was billed as a "tidying up exercise". No need to bother the proles with a vote on the subject. Except for Ireland, who voted the "wrong" way, and were told to vote again.

If you happen to be one of the 42% of people who bothered to vote for your MEP, you might find some comfort in the fact that the people who ride roughshod over the parliamentary democracy and court system of the UK are subject to some democratic oversight. But this is an illusion. The appointed EU Commission are bound by EU rules to represent "the project", not their respective nations. MEPs cannot instigate legislation. Their function is provide a fig leaf of democracy to the whole sham. The legislation they do get to scrutinize, they invariably nod through.

There are lots of reasons to leave. The crippling of the economies of Greece, Italy, Spain. The parachuting in of unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats into the highest seats of power in Greece and Ireland to pull the levers of power. The appropriation of Cypriots' savings. The hounding to an early grave of a market trader who dared to use traditional weights and measures. The unelected Jean-Claude Junker pontificating on what would happen if the Austrians voted for the wrong candidate in their recent election. The breaking of their own rules in granting bailouts. The ridiculous blue flags on everything that has been built with "EU" (ie YOUR) money. The control-freak legal system that thinks that unless something is regulated it cannot be permitted.

I could go on, but I fear you might guess which way I'm voting.

England just not windy enough for wind farms, admits renewables boss

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face
Paris Hilton

Spongey pavements!

Micro-generation and combats obesity at the same time.

Paris, well, because...

Brexit: UK gov would probably lay out tax plans in post-'leave' vote emergency budget

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

I agree wholeheartedly. It's thoroughly depressing that the campaigns have focused almost exclusively on immigration and economics. There are massively important issues of national identity, sovereignty, historical legitimacy, democracy and freedom at stake here.

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Re: So basically...

"EU law"... that phrase really rankles. Law without democratic legitimacy is really lawlessness.

'Acts of war in a combat zone are not covered by your laptop warranty'

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Re: BS

@Wzrd1

I'm sure I saw this on the I.T Crowd.

Moss: What operating system is it running?

Bomb Disposal guy: Erm.. Vista, I think.

Moss: We're going to die!!

IBM says no, non, nein to Brexit

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

My point is that the European Union has become the tool by which an unsavory and unelected cabal assimilate complicit nations into an anti-democratic dystopian protection racket. In his days off from fighting court cases involving sex with hotel cleaners, DSK is a leading light in the "enlightened" one-world currency/government movement.

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

If Neil Kinnock, Peter Mandelson, Jean-Claude Junker, Dominique Strauss-Kahn and now IBM are all for it then it must be a good thing.... erm.. right?

Thunderbird is GO: Mozilla prepares to jettison mail client

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Not being a big fan of cloudy services, I've found the combined address book, enhanced calendar and mail functionality of Thunderbird to be all I need to organise my life. One central profile gets synchronised across 2 android phones, 3 house phones and another PC. Works very well (although I wish they'd fix the vcard formatting/integration).

Mystery Kindle update will block readers from books after Wednesday

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

My Solution

1. Buy Kindle

2. Never register or put it on the wifi

3. Buy books from Amazon and download them to software kindle on laptop

4. Remove the steenkin' DRM

5. Copy to kindle via USB

Facebook is no charity, and the ‘free’ in Free Basics comes at a price

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

"But how appealing is a taxi company that will only take you to certain destinations?"

Isn't that a bus?

Day 2: Millions of HSBC customers still locked out of online banking

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Is this the same HSBC that announced 8000 staff cuts last June?

Probly just coincidence.

SpaceX makes rocket science look easy: Falcon 9 passes tests

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face
Mushroom

Ironic

Big, sooty, reusable. Could almost have been designed by Volkswagen.

Library web filtering removes info access for vulnerable, says shushing collective

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face
Black Helicopters

The first rule about the Radical Librarians Collective...

... is that you don't talk about the Radical Librarians Collective.

Kids' TV show Rainbow in homosexual agenda shocker

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

I'm not sure the rainbow had such connotations back when the kids tv program was popular.

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Re: Interesting theology from this 'pastor'

That's not what a rainbow is. It's what a rainbow is made of. Otherwise you and I would be nothing but bags of chemicals and water, possessing a meaningless existence within a meaningless universe. Were this true, you wouldn't be posting your thoughts here.

Electrician cuts wrong wire and downs 25,000 square foot data centre

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Re: opps

IIRC, the RISK is the likelihood of failure and IMPACT is the damage caused to the business should something go wrong. Taking these two factors together would give you a good idea of whether or not to proceed with the change in its existing format.

GCHQ Christmas Card asks YOU the questions

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Re: NSPCC

Just tell them you're in favour of a return to Victorian values and beating children never did them any harm. Worked for me when I was stopped by one of those guys in a green bib while walking through town with the wife and four kids.

How to solve a Rubik's Cube in five seconds

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Seems to me that there are a lot of people filming themselves quickly messing up a Rubik's cube, reversing the footage, then putting it on YouTube.

Rooting and modding a Windows Phone is now child's play

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

The next update I'm planning on my Windows phone is to strap it to a nice big chunk of wood and cut it in half with a circular saw. Then I'll take it into CarWarePhoneHouse and see if they'll send it back to the manufacturers for fault investigation.

With any luck they'll tell me they're not replacing it.

Nuisance call blocking firms fined £170,000 ... for making nuisance calls

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

My gripe...

Signed up for Millets mailing list using millets@mydomain to get a free voucher.

Ticked the "do not pass on my email address.." box.

Unsubscribed about a year ago.

Millets get bought out by JD Sports about six months ago.

JD Sports mail me at millets@mydomain at 1am this morning blathering on about their Black Friday deals.

Who owns space? Looking at the US asteroid-mining act

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face
Thumb Up

Excellent news. We're running short of unobtainium. Where's Sigourney Weaver?

Speaking in Tech: Anonymous’s ‘total war’ on ISIS – how effective can it be?

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Probably really peeing off the spooks who will lose their best source of intel.

Pope instructs followers to put the iPhone away during dinner

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face
Happy

Re: This from the organisation which routinely destroys families?

To be fair, if anyone is entitled to pontificate, it's the pontiff.

The only GOOD DRONE is a DEAD DRONE. Y'hear me, scumbags?!

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Recently witnessed this first hand. An eight year old with a bow and arrow downed a drone that had been hovering over his family's group of tents and deliberately winding them all up.

Pretty hilarious really, the reaction of the operator when he flounced over to pick up his wounded toy was probably more childish than the eight year old.

WIN a 6TB Western Digital Black hard drive with El Reg

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Re: Just a quick question...

I'd also like to put in a complaint on behalf of the unimaginative...

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

After three days Janice was regretting taking the job in Australia.

Hunted TV Series - How did they.. how would you...

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Hunted TV Series - How did they.. how would you...

Anyone see "Hunted" - how did they clone the phone using a phishing email? I watched it after a long session at the pub and it's all a bit hazy...

How would you avoid capture?

NASA announcement of MAJOR MARS DISCOVERY imminent: WHAT can it be?

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Hopefully they've found a way of allowing upvotes on comments without needing to do a full page reload.

Uber is killing off iconic black cabs, warns Zac Goldsmith

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

I always found the distinction between Hackney Carriages and Private Hire pretty bizarre. Maybe it's time to simplify and deregulate the sector, rather than implementing new rules for the internet era. If the purpose of regulation is primarily the protection of the public, then it's rapidly becoming pointless, as there's enough information in the public domain for people to make an informed choice for themselves.

Ashley Madison invites red-faced cheats to bolt stable door for free

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face
Headmaster

Re: Other sites

Are you thinking of Jeremy Kyle? Jeremy Vine hosts a Radio2 show IIRC.

Toyota recalls 625,000 hybrids: Software bug kills engines dead with THERMAL OVERLOAD

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Re: Honda

If you want that kind of mpg you could always save yourself a lot of hassle and buy a Diesel focus.

Bitcoin fixes a Greek problem – but not the Greek debt problem

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

"Anyway if Greece prints without permission, it's illegal."

The whole concept of EU "Law" is lawless in nature anyway. Their rules are set aside and rewritten whenever it suits them. Their so-called laws serve no higher purpose than to perpetuate a corrupt protection racket.

Smart meters set to cost Blighty as much as replacing Trident

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Control the language, control the debate...

If they were being honest, these meters would be called "we screwed up generation capacity by replacing coal power stations with useless environmentally unfriendly turbines so now need to control demand by turning off your power when we feel like it - meters".

Unfortunately the marketing people got there first.

Gates: Renewable energy can't do the job. Gov should switch green subsidies into R&D

Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

Oh for the days of coal, steam and carrier bags full of free Pit Head Bath soap from family members who were miners.

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