Posts by Paul Banacks
64 posts • joined Tuesday 15th May 2007 18:04 GMT
Your computer belongeth to us
Mandatory driver signing (costing $100's per driver) means I will not use or recommend Windows 7 to anybody. I should be able to decide what goes on my computer and I shouldn't need Microsoft's blessing to install anything. Heck, if I wanted that big-brother nanny-state hand-holding I'd buy Apple products.
My computer now runs Linux. Development is done with Python, wxWidgets and C/C++ and I'm just as productive - if not more so - than I used to be with Microsoft only tools.
Posted in RIM unveils free BlackBerry server
Too little, too late.
We got Blackberrys on our last contract because the executive thought they were great - In fact the first our department knew about it was when one of them came in and said "Jim connect these to email would ya." So off we went looking for the imap client or exchange client, like on a normal phone, only to discover there was none.
We eventually discovered that proprietary software was required which could either be Vodafone BIS (an externally hosted service) or a grands worth of server software.
All in all, when compared with other phones that just work Blackberry left us with a very sour "vendor lock in" type taste in the mouth and I certainly wouldn't choose them in the future because of it.
If they had had this "free" software then that might have made a difference - except that the effort required to sync emails, calendar, etc now requires a new server, learning new software, keeping it up to date, etc.
The only way I'll ever consider blackberry devices again is if they make a client on the phone which does emails/exchange natively.
Defective by Design
I won't buy iAnything.
Posted in Apple bans geo loco ads on iPhone, iPad*
Defective by Design
http://www.defectivebydesign.org/ipad
Where is the carrier option.
I don't *ever* want to make calls to premium rate numbers. Why can there not simply be a "disable all premium calls" option? Why should I not be able to take care of this risk by prevention rather than cure?
Ban premium
I never use "premium" rate telephone services as they are never good value.
So why can't I tell my carrier to block them all from my phone?
Blah
IE - Microsoft. Enuff said.
Chrome - I trust it as much as I trust Google after their CEO said "Privacy is for those with something to hide."
Opera - Nice, but why pay for a browser? Perhaps so you can feel special or something, fuck knows. IMHO there are better things to waste $ on.
FF - Free. Standards compliant. Plenty fast enough.
My choice is obvious.
Posted in O2 grovels for London network failure
Congestion charging
"It's pretty standard these days for a service supplier to offer a service they can't provide and then give customers the option to pay more to get something closer to it."
Yeah, but this is London. Congestion charging is expected part of life.
O
"Right, I'm sure they'd be running a rainbow-table based attack on something they can tap almost at will (results vary based on nearest government.)"
Perhaps... In their own countries.
What's needed...
There are so many people who are willing to jump on the climate change bandwaggon simply because lots of people are screaming about it. There are also a significant number of people who are willing to jump on the deniers bandwaggon because lots of people are screaming about it.
The way I see it is that there's lots more screaming going on producing a religious-like devotion to one cause or the other than any real science. Everyone seems happy to quote this-and-that paper as if they wrote it. Frankly, I'm sick of it as the real science is lost in the sea of FUD.
Real science is conducted from a neutral POV and should stand up on its own. But it feels not like science but the same, tired old statistical manipulations played by govermnents all over the world for their own political gain.
Posted in US Supremes prod software patent law
@Michelle Knight
Agreed!
On another note, I believe state enforced monopolies are wrong. The entire patent system should be scrapped.
@RIPA: That's not encrypted data...
... It's simply a file/partition/drive that I secure wiped using random data.
Conspiracy?
"In other companies this would spark a firedrill and command their maximum attention until it was fixed."
I agree. Either Microsoft is completely incompetent or this vulnerability was put there on purpose.
EU wide road pricing anyone?
Aaah. GPS + GSM with IMEI tied to vehicle engine / registration numbers sold with the usual "Protection of the Public" message.
That would make price-per-mile Road Pricing lots easier wouldn't it.
P
Bad Bad Bad
Right now we have the ability to identify and track these disgusting people. Policies like this will push them onto networks like Tor or other encrypted p2p style networks where their actions and even the identity of their servers will be completely untraceable.
Furthermore, any list of censorship should be published by each and every ISP that implements it. If not, then we have no assurance whatsoever that it's only being used for the intended purpose. No government can be trusted with this.
Sadly, such a list in this case would be a directory of child porn and would make it easier for these filthy people to exercise their desires. Thus the only logical answer is that you simply can't have such a list.
We're stuck with personality politics and the ever present pressure to be seen to do things - even if those things are completely wrong.
Chrome?
"A third vulnerability disclosed Monday affects Google's Chrome browser and could be used in some cases by malicious websites to track web users."
Except its Google so that should probably start off, "A third feature disclosed Monday..."
@Why new laws?
It seems odd that those creating new laws don't know of existing laws.
It seems odd that those prosecuting offences don't use existing laws to do it - instead they complain that the law isn't strong enough.
How standards have fallen.
@NuLabour
"Thank goodness NuLabour and Comrade Browne have a plan to get us all out of this mess."
I imagine it involves sending another few hundred milion pounds of our tax as"aid" to India. It clearly would be better spent at home.
Bring on the revolution!
And the loser....
The consumer.
Thanks Patents once again.
@Tamer Shafik
It may be worth more than that if inefficiencies in "petrol -> useful work done" vs "leccy -> useful work done" are taken into account!
OUTRAGEOUS
If anything it should go the other way.
Copyright on music should be no more than 10 years.
All appstores?
Is everyone making an "app store" type application nowadays?
@(IE 8 sounds good.) AC
Anonymous Troll!
I use Firefox every day and I can't remember the last time it crashed.
@AC1
"I wonder why they didn't compare it against Safari beta 4 or Opera?"
1) They compared against shipping versions so beta's don't qualify
2) Or Linx, or "insert your webbrowser here..." - Do your own test!
The real issue for me is who really gives a f* about 0.2 seconds of difference in loading a page!
btw. If you do watch that video - it's only a 47MB download - which is mostly text and a simple tune!
Nonsense
More people eat apples than pears... c'mon. Any more useless comparisons!
Posted in G.hn-ing for gigabit
@Tony Smith, Notches
On the face of it, notches sound like a good idea but it's really just a convenient word. In their current form they only cover ham radio and even that is not perfect.
The shortwave band is used for many other things, including broadcast radio, and if all the required notches were in place (http://www.mikeandsniffy.co.uk/UKQRM/if.htm) then there's not sufficient bandwidth remaining!
The current thinking seems to be that because PLT equipment is not classed as a radio transmitter, it can get around all sorts of regulations. IMHO it's only a matter of time before it is realised that these devices are in fact simply radio transceivers which use mains wiring for their transmission medium.
In any case, it has been demonstrated time and time again (see articles in RadCom, RSGB for example) that these devices all fail against current standards regarding EMC so I don't understand why they are on the market.
The regulator should do their job and enforce the standards, even if that means admitting failure to do so in the first instance. It's not their job to decide what's in the public greater interest.
Posted in G.hn-ing for gigabit
PLC...
If they have not overcome the current problem of interference to shortwave radio services. (http://www.ukqrm.org/) then I hope the powerline versions of these devices never reach the market.
Nineteen eighty four?
Didn't Orwell call this kind of simplification "Newspeak?"
@AC
I suspect you're just trolling. However:
"That said, what if there *isn't* a short wave user residing within range? Why should I have to stop just on the presumption that there's somebody there."
Given that you *know* that these devices almost certainly emit harmful interference, that's disgustingly selfish. You are not able to make such a presumption now and certainly not in the future.
You state that an affected user can contact OFCOM for help. Did it occur to you that an affected user may simply think their radio doesn't work any more? That they are unable to attribute it to your deliberate interference? Not everyone reads TheRegister. Your deliberate interference will cost those users countless hours trying to rectify a situation that they ultimately can't fix for themselves. They may not know that OFCOM can/will help and they may very well just give up. And that's all thanks to you.
Long as you're ok, eh?
p.s. I stopped using my PLT's immediately upon discovery of this issue. I have not yet implemented an alternative.
The problem is the law
The law as written is just an example in a long list of badly written legislation from Labour in their ever ending quest to be seen to be "doing something." This has done a HUGE amount of damage to our legal system. I would like to see a re-debate of ALL laws passed under this Labour government with a view to writing them properly.
No-one would argue that child pornography is a bad thing but this image is not child pornography yet it comes under this law because it is not written properly. No-one would argue that children need protecting from exploitation but most would argue that this should not be at the expense of existing freedoms. Such freedoms are just as important. This is what makes writing good legislation difficult.
How hard can it be?
How difficult can it possibly be to securely collect the answers to a few multiple choice questionnaires cheaply?
It's ridiculous that these "projects" which could be built by a solitary geek in his garage take millions of dollars to create by a company using the latest "technologies" only to find that they fail their most basic task!
If anyone wants to pay me to make a set of e-voting machines + counting in a non-secretive professional manor then I'll happily take on that task!
No money for roads?
Well... we're taxed like crazy for using them so just where exactly is all this money going?
Bring on the revolution.
Give them an inch...
... they'll take a mile.
We need to say NO from the outset. Why can "they" have even two years of surveillance data? In fact, why can "they" build a surveillance network? Did you agree to that? Did I agree to that?
Bring on the revolution.
One down, 57 to go
Ouch!
Posted in Dutch boffins clone Oyster card
DoS and 24 hour limit...
DoS of a radio system presumably is quite easy... just get a sufficiently powerful transmitter on the right frequency and block out the airwaves.
DDoS is subtle though and comes from the 24 hour claim. If you managed to clone and use 100 cards in one day by skimming the details from peoples pockets, not only would you get free travel but when the LUL scan for discrepancies happens it would presumably lock out all 100 of those cards!
Posted in Boris backs weed for pain relief
TIME FOR CHANGE
"Brown seems likely to ignore the advice..."
Indeed, that sums up the entire Labour party and their Labour mayor. Time has come for change!
"It's no different than the driver talking to a passenger."
“It's no different than if I'm walking with a friend and talking".
Actually, that argument didn't work out when used for mobile phones in cars...
"It's no different than the driver talking to a passenger."
It is *very* different.
The bottom line is this. Using a road is an inherently risky task. Inattention greatly increases this risk. It makes perfect sense that rules of the road apply to all road users and those include pedestrians crossing the street.
What nonsense
Hmm... some immediately obvious points:
1) Why would a microwave burst affect a guidance system of a missile but not that of an aircraft. A missile is after all an aircraft with a bomb on the front.
2) Why would a terrorist need to use a missile containing a sophisticated guidance system? With suitable thought and practice, one imagines a bog standard rocket containing no guidance system whatsoever launched down the flight-path would be able to hit an aircraft with relative ease. And the microwave disruptor would be completely ineffective.
3) Assuming our hypothetical terrorist actually has such a sophisticated missile, why would he need to launch it near an airport? Why not, for example, do it a few miles out where the flight path is still well known in advance, the aircraft is still low in the sky and it would be well out of range of these electronic countermeasures.
The government will buy any old crap in the name of security if someone wants to sell it to them! I should get into the security business!
Down with IP
We don't need intellectual property. It's only purpose is to promote greed - we developers will still get paid to develop without the prospect of patent monopolies and copyright for precisely one reason: Theres plenty of problems to be solved and plenty of people willing to pay for a solution.
IP is a thing of the past, created by greedy people who made something cool and wanted to retire early.
Posted in Apple sued over iPhone caller ID
Patent reform
Patents, and other forms of so called "Intellectual Property" need to be scrapped altogether. With the billions of people in the world, it cannot be fair to grant monopolies on ideas to just the few.
Patents were invented long ago to encourage invention. I suspect that, in the majority of cases they have the opposite effect. Nowhere is this more clear than when you look at software patents.
Information is free, as in freedom so why do we tolerate those small minded fools who impose arbitrary restrictions to encourage greed like the above.
Hmm
Even with the cell sites off line, there's nothing stopping NATO forces from using their own mobile "cells" with directional antennae...
... So if true, there's possibly more to this than meets the eye.
BORIS FOR MAYOR!
We need to get rid of Mayor "I hate cars" Ken.
Congestion is caused by having far too many traffic lights which stay RED on all exits and dividing the roads up into bus lanes. Then he smugly taxes us for it.
There is an alternative.
* VOTE BORIS FOR MAYOR - 2008 *
@Anonymous Coward [Easily Sorted]
"To be honest this is only a serious concern if you've registered your printer & serial number..."
1) Government has document they want to trace. They extract the serial number + date / time information.
2) They present the serial number to the manufacturer who tells them which supplier bought the printer.
3) Government contacts supplier with serial number to find out where it was sold.
4) Repeat 3 as required until at end of chain.
5) Your "unregistered" printer is now traced.
In practice, this won't take very long at all as all suppliers track inventory with the serial number. Oh, and in the future imagine if you have to present your ID card to buy a colour laser printer. In which case, they'll record the S/N on the central government database.
"*and* you're printing stuff that you might not want traced back to you."
Maybe when you bought the printer you had a government that wasn't so control-freakishly oppressive that you wouldn't... but nowadays?
p.s. Surely, the answer is to print on yellow paper?! :P
Posted in London Congestion Charge becomes CO2 tax
Congestion Charge?
Come on.... Congestion *charge* has always really been Congestion *tax*.
Posted in US spooks won't get UK census access
Shoddy advice
"Eagle told MPs there was no evidence the Patriot Act has been used against non-US based companies. Eagle said: "We've received legal advice that there is no risk that that would happen." UK firms are expected to carry out the actual census."
What kind of advice is that? Even a molecule of common sense can see that "no risk" is nonsense. All a US official has to do is phone up his mate and ask them to send it in the post on a couple of CD-R's in exchange for a couple of grand and secrecy. How naive are these advisers?
And why does everything IT related need an expensive contract involving foreign companies? There's nothing particularly difficult about databases! You could easily give the census project to undergraduate university departments as a competition and pick out the best solution and use it for a 10/th of the cost..
@ Nick Palmer
"Gordy's merry men are already doing it."
And why the f* aren't we stopping them? I pledge to refuse ID card related interviews. Do you?
@ Illegal in the UK...
That doesn't surprise me. If we don't get rid of this bloody government then at the rate they're making laws it will soon be illegal to breath without a license!
@Why do we always over-complicate everything?
Indeed. Why do we?
Someone has to fund these IT companies selling "security solutions" to government officials with cloth between their ears!
Intellectual Property...
I often wonder if the world would be a better place without so called "Intellectual Property." I have come of the opinion that the very idea that you can own something intellectual is grossly offensive and not one argument for IP stands up to even the most cursory level of scrutiny...
... yet, in a world of Billions of people, we keep the the crazy idea that you can own something "Intellectual."
Utter nonsense.
@Richard...
"RFID is shit because: It only proves that the card was somewhere near an RFID reader."
Yes. And not necessarily the reader intended...
Alice is walking down the street, followed closely but covertly by Eve. Inside Eve's pocket is a RFID reader linked to a radio transmitter. Trudy has a receiver linked to a cut-up RFID card in her wallet and is about to pay for something in the shop.
Trudy walks out with the goods and meets up with Eve to share. Alice, keeps on walking, completely unaware that she has just paid for Trudy and Eve's lunch.
