* Posts by Shanghai Tom

39 publicly visible posts • joined 3 May 2010

Should UK tear Wi-Fi a new one at 5GHz? Speak your brains, says Ofcom

Shanghai Tom

Ethernet over Mains supply

I use a Ethernet over power lines to rooms that don't get a good signal, the termination points all have a wifi capability as well as an ethernet port. Plug a "sender" into my router, and a "receiver" in a mains socket elsewhere and off you go.

It may not shift data as fast as a good direct signal, but it does mean that a far away room has wifi and Ethernet in it. In my case it's good enough to use IP TV on my main TV and that needs an average of 2Mb/S data stream.

An extra bonus is that you can use different channels and SSID's on each one to further minimise contention.

The ones I use are by Dlink, and encrypt the signal on your "Mains" network and there are plenty of other manufacturers to choose from.

Gadgets are NOT the perfect gift for REAL men

Shanghai Tom
Joke

Birthday Treat

It was my Wife's birthday , and as we were walking down the road we walked past a Restaurant, "Ah, that smells good", she said.

So being the Northern softie that I am I walked her past it again....

#Facebook: Now all your hashtags ARE BELONG TO US, Twitter

Shanghai Tom
Big Brother

#braindumptag

As long as your #farkin #braindumptags stay #private to your #facebook #timeline and never appear on my #timeline I'll be reasonably happy, however if your #farkin #braindumptags appear in my #timeline and I don't know you then prepare for #mailbomb #warfare.

In otherwords, I do not want to see any #farkin #tags from anyone else that is not on my friend list.

Apple asked me for my BANK statements, says outraged reader

Shanghai Tom
WTF?

Colour copies of passports illegal ?

I vaguely recall that taking colour copies of UK passports is illegal....

Ubuntu 13.04: No privacy controls as promised, but hey - photo search!

Shanghai Tom

Re: sob. sob.

I use Ubuntu a lot, but as Kubuntu, either download kubuntu or use the default Unity install then download XFCE and set is as the default.

No privacy issues, no Amazon hook up, and it's fast.

Unity on a two screen ( large panel displays too ) is not a good experience for me.

I have a windows VM running for those things that have no drivers / utilities / whatever yet in Linux but all my work is otherwise done on Kubuntu.

Except for one thing, accessing my office via Citrix on any flavour of linux is excriable, so for that I use the Windows VM and access it from there, orders of magnitude faster that running natively on Linux, Come on Citrix, extractum digitem !!

Microsoft tries to sell home Office users on subscription pricing

Shanghai Tom
Pint

Re: I'm still using Office 2000

I'm not sure you did buy it, just a license to use it, it's old so the T&C may be different, but as far as I can tell you still don't own the software , which leaves the only alternative that you are already renting it for a one time charge :)

Personally I use Libreoffice and Kingsoft Office, between them I can do all the docs etc I need on any platform I use ( Linux, Win and Android ) and I rarely have an import problem and if I do then it's no different than someones new shiny Office software generating a format that isn't compatible with my older software - which happens in business to business a heck of a lot.

I've lost track of the number of times when using office 'Office" that I had to write back and ask for a downlevel saved version because the company I was working in hadn't shelled out / rolled out the Latest suite.

As for cloud based solutions, try working in a somewhat rural setting, or on a plane, or even another country where free wifi is not a viable option - right now you won't get a lot of work completed, data roaming charges are usually exorbitant, and dependent how locked down your equipment is you may not be able to get a local sim with a far better data expense.

Did I remember reading that Google docs no longer supports older Word formats ? not sure, but I bet there are a squillion documents in the old formats archived away...

Libreoffice can be run from a memory stick as a valuable backup tool, I never did find a way of running Office that way, although Lotus Notes can run that way, just alter notes.ini to reflect the drive letter of the mem-stick when it's assigned after you plug it in.

Haven't used Symphony for a long time, but with their latest fix pack it should access .xls, .xlsx, .docx or .pptx.

I'm not anti-windows / office, I just found this to be my best alternative while giving me compatibility and flexibility, and of course, saving the software costs for something else.

I primarily use Linux as I have less hassle with hacking, virii, port probes etc etc, and it's faster too, I have Windows [Licensed] running in a VM for those things there is no equivalent for yet on Linux. ( Free or Fee ) .

Activists urge Skype: Tell us who is spying on us

Shanghai Tom
FAIL

Not only that, but here in China you will find it xtremely difficult to use the real skype, it gets subverted to a special chines version from tom,skype.com which pushed pop up adverts in your face all fecking day.

Not only that, it talkd to special china servers.... need you ask why ?

I liked skype, saved me good money on calls, now it's just as cheap to buy an IP telephone card and set up my mobi to use that and skip skype.

For messaging, I suggest google chat, it's based on Jabber so there are plenty of clients for plenty of devices and pc's. There's also Google Talk for voice, but as yet I haven't tried it.

BTW, Skype intends to push "vocal ads" into converastions between people who don't have Skype Credit on their account "to intensify and make the internet experience more rewarding", or some similar line of bull..

Skype ? not any more , I have many alternatives

First Google wants to know all about you, now it wants a RING on your finger

Shanghai Tom
Devil

This magical ring will work on my Android tablet too ? oh no, Google designed it without a USB port

All operating systems that run a browser ? yeah, heard that tripe before too.

Oh no, my phone doesn't have a USB port / Oh No, my phone isn't running windows NT V8

Get real guys...

Facebook tries to stop its staff using iPhones in 'dogfood' push

Shanghai Tom
FAIL

What to use when facebook dies ?

1. Use Wechat... no ads, no bloat , mini time line experience , photo albums, groups of friends, runs on a variety of phones. Free. Multiple Languages, runs on Andrioid Tablets ( mostly ) and also has a basic web interface for your PC

2. For a much slimmer chat version, use WhatsApp, bascically one to one messaging, and you can set up groups, no albums, no ads, free for the first year, 1USD$ per year after that. Phones only, no tablets yet. No Web interface.

3. Google Plus - spent a month trying to understand how to use it and now never touch it, deactivated on my phone.

My family never emails me anymore and I live some 5,000 miles away , I am sure they consider that because I don't use FB I must be mentally or socially deficient in some way even though from FB Messaging they CAN email me directly, just put in my email address !.

When I pointed out that WhatsApp is very much like sms / short emails and is free data transmission if you have a wifi nearby, then it suddenly got popular with some of them.

I tried FB on my mobile, wtf ! massive blocks of space taken up by "pages you might like" and also shoving in my face "friends you might know" , FB on the mobile deactivated.

In fact it looks almost exactly like the m.facebook.com when accessed through a phone browser that I don't know why they have an App when a browser shortcut is just as good.

Operators turn UK bonking consortium into Google-killer

Shanghai Tom
Devil

NFC with Push Ads ? no thanks

I have to agree, I am sick and tired of Ads shoved in my face for all types of crud I have absolutely no intention of buying.

This would be the last straw for NFC, push Ads will result in the death of NFC.

Oh, and another thing, I get push ads on Bluetooth from a Photo Booth every time I walk past it and I'm using my bluetooth headset. Wants to know if I want to print any pictures !

Similarly, push "menu specials" as I walk past certain restaurants.

My Old "smartphone" had a block list for Bluetooth, my new "very smart" phone doesn't !

go figure...

Now, if there was a blocker for NFC Ads that would be worth paying a few bucks for..

AMD launches Android app store for Windows PCs

Shanghai Tom
Alien

Re: linux?

Download and install Virtualbox - from Oracle, not any other place. Windows or Linux versions.

search for buildroid_vbox86t_4.0.3_r1-20120518_gapps.ova and run ICS4.0 in a virtual machine WITH google apps market.

Take a copy of the download first , then you can start again if you mess something up...

AMD Only ? not with Virtual box and the above download, just switch off "mouse integration" in VBOX if you have a problem with your mouse going invisible on the ICS screen.

Canonical bungs kill switch onto Ubuntu's Amazon 'adware'

Shanghai Tom
Flame

Re: Canonical should have a care....

I switched my Ubuntu desktop to XFCE , problem solved, unity is barking useless on a 26 inch monitor ! In fact without having to install tweak tools, you aren't even allowed to chose the font and size you want to use ! usability = -5 , code quality -9 , never had to deal with a desktop environment that freezes, blips, flashes as much as that does.

XFCE brings back my little widgets that I rely on to monitor my system, and other systems, and as for the "new" gnome shell, I can't think of anything to say that's printable, as an example, here's a clock widget, it goes top centre, What do you mean you want to move it? I'm the developer and it goes where I say !

Bottom line is that everyone is setting up "operating" systems to run on tablets and phones, not desktops and big screens.

Fine for punters with handbags, absolute b*llocks for business and serious users.

All you need to know about nano SIMs - before they are EXTERMINATED

Shanghai Tom
WTF?

I need a SIM slot

I travel a lot, many countries, when I get there I more than often get a pay as you go sim for a week, drop it in and away I go.

So, Mr Apple, HTF can I drop a sim into a phone that has no sim slot ?

Will EVERY country have chip re-programming for a simless phone ?

I'm currently in China, I have with me a China SIm, a Hing Kong Sim ( Which roams worldwide ) , and a UK roamaing sim which works in just about every GSM country , how do you expect to replace that functionality ?

Also, when my GF phone runs out of battery ( man! can she yackety yack ) then I put her sim in my phone so she can call someone.

What a joke, give control of the sim to the handset maker ? Get real Apple, I haven't had a contract with a mobile supplier in 10 or more years but I always have an active number.

Hong Kong visitors get all-in-one guidebook and phone

Shanghai Tom
Meh

I frequent HK about 4 times a year, I go to a China Mobile shop and buy an IDD card for 85-100 HK$, for that I can call pretty much anywhere in the world at very cheap prices.

They offer a data plan as well, so maybe another 100 HK$ for a week, you can chose short service - 1 day or longer 3-5 days I think, I usually pick a 5 day setting.

On top of that the sim will work in almost every country in the world and roam, but that is NOT cheap.

If I pop over to mainland China from HK then for .65 HK$ per day I can get a CHINA mainland number for the same sim and have pretty reasonable roaming rates until I return to HK.

There are plenty of options available in HK for a traveller and the phone etc, this one seems to play on the ignorance of the traveller - why would I want to have to learn another device / transfer data to it when I have a perfectly good one already.

I also recall there was an Orange service in HK that was pretty good, but I couldn't find it a couple of years ago so I switched to China Mobile /PWCC.

BTW, Google maps on Andriod allows you to cache where you want to go before you get there, all you have to do is set the option on and then prowl around HK on the map and then it is available offline on your device without needing an expensive data plan.

Happy travels folks,

T.

Metro, that ribbon, shared mailboxes: Has Microsoft lost the plot?

Shanghai Tom
Alien

Linux AND Windows

I bought a new pc revently, and yup, I'd already paid for a windows 7 license that I didn't want.

90 minutes later I had lnux on it and my veteran windows xp running in a virtual machine for those things I can't yet do outside of windows.

Why ? well, I have very little worries about hacks / virus / worms etc, backup up or restoring windows is as easy as moving the 8gb file containing the virtual XP.

The VM has windows up and running and ready for me to log into in less than 10 seconds, and it goes like greased whatsit off a teflon shovel.

I also get as many virtual Linux desktops as I want, so I keep my work organised on a screen basis and just slide the mouse around to get the desktop I want.

There's a little freebie for windows users called Virtuawin, it's very useful and I used it a lot before transferring the majority of my work to a Linux base, gives you virual Windows desktops, great for laptops.

Accessing my office environment is by tunnelled RDP, and although the Linux version of Citrix Receiver isn't as polished as the Windows one I have no real issues with it now that a 64 bit version is available.

I'm not a fan of Mint, I have tried it and I suppose the idea was to make a clone of the windows XP layout, but I prefer not to have that, heck, I even downgraded the XP desktop to the Win2000 desktop because it was simpler to ude and look at.

If metro is really so differen,t and from what I have read - a pain to use, maybe there will be many more people like me, running old windows software and enbracing the linux desktop at the same time.

Zynga shares wobble as biz bleeds $85.4m in Q1

Shanghai Tom
Big Brother

Facebook has so much sh*te about who wants a pig, built a barn, I have blocked ALL games notifications.

I don't care what you are playing, that's your problem and your business, and you will piss me off by sending requests for dung to put on your flowers or whatever.

Cutting zynga from facebook will put it back where it should be, a social COMMUNICATION site, oh damn, I just remembered that FB identifies me in other peoples pictures, sends my phone number to third parties, and has the most complex reasons for leaking your private data to the whole world and simply gets away with it.

Anyone tried email or a blog ( not tw*tter ) for communicating ? - as long as it's not a hotmail derivative it's useful and usually secure. [ you can get paid $10 for every hotmail account u crack into ]

iPhone 5 in ICE CREAM SANDWICH photo riddle

Shanghai Tom
Flame

Another 5 years ?

Come on, this is already happening! 5 more years.. ha ha.. there won't be any in 5 years.

So many people complain about the very poor call quality, I even lent my phone to my boss for a day because where he was going he knew the I phone would not work.

I live and work in China, the look alike Apple kit is FAR superior to the real thing, and very cheap too. You all know that Foxconn makes the I phone, in slave labour conditions here in china, people actually commit suicide by jumping off the factory roof.

If I won an iphone in a competition I would go on public tv and they can watch me stamp on it...

All those 4G lies, they are just trying one-up-man-ship in advertising, and losing worldwide creditability while doing it.

Barclaycard site falls over, web payments impossible

Shanghai Tom
Alien

As a backup, do NSLOOKUP secure.barclaycard.co.uk 8.8.8.8 or use 4.4.4.4 , these are non-uk DNS servers.

Write down the IP address it gives back, and then you might be able to connect by using the numeric address instead of the name.

I have a few jotted down for when things like this happen and I can usually get online.

If you want to get complex, over-ride the dns servers in your router or Network Connection to use these, this will push all dns to them but may extend your response times slightly.

EU boots UK phone cash bonk threesome out of bed

Shanghai Tom
WTF?

NFC Pushes Ads = Dead in the water

Well, that's killed NFC, I am sure everyone is totally sick and tired of having ads pushed in their face, if NFC goes this route I will Most Certainly NOT have it enabled, Ever !

I have enough trouble every time I walk past a Metro station Photo Booth here in China, it tries to push messages at me by Bluetooth, I have successfully , finally, banned that damn thing from accessing my phone - it has 4 Bluetooth addresses so I had to ban them one by one. Persistent cr*p !

Some restaurants are also doing the same, I hope my phone has plenty of space for "banned" bluetooth devices, already I have more banned that accepted :)

LibreOffice will have roadmap for cloud service next month

Shanghai Tom
Thumb Up

Bring on the Android version !

All I need next is a Mail app that links to the Calendar App so I don't have to retype meeting notices into a calendar from an email and I will quite happy :)

Now Apple opens fire on EPAD trademark in China

Shanghai Tom
Flame

Re: Give me a break!

No-one seems to care that Lenovo has been selling LePad for ages either, maybeLenovo has more muscle that Apple.

Personally, when I hear the "i" anything trade mark I inwardly Barf.

If I won any "i" anything in a competition I would publicly stomp it into pieces.

Why ?

I am sick and tired of the hype on this stuff. What I use is for it's technical merit, and not it's bling appeal or hyped up consumerism driven stereotyping.

Becrypt disk crypto earns first Brit spook kitemark

Shanghai Tom
Alien

I use truecrypt all the time, never had a problem, swap thumb/portable drives between Linux, Mac and Win, can the same be said about this "certified" product ? or as usual, is it a Windows only certification.

Truecrypt will also do full disk for windows as the prior post mentions, but linux can do it's own encryption anyway if you don't have a need to use Truecrypt because of dual boot. This leaves you still able to use truecrypt for your portable requirements.

My Windows runs in a VM under Linux and it runs on truecrypt virtual hard drives :)

There is a report out there somewhere that the FBI couldn't hack a truecrypt disk.....

Ubuntu 12.04 hits beta, brings smooth Unity for marching masses

Shanghai Tom
Thumb Up

Re: Have they still got those stupid disappearing scroll bars?

you can turn them off, have a sniff on the net, there are several quick "HOWTO" about it, took me 5 mins to get back to "normal"

Shanghai Tom
Meh

Re: meh

The Ubuntu Distro is usually good and solid, once you have tweaked back the versions you want rather than the old stuff they supply, but the UI and Shell are in my face and just plain annoying, technically good, visually ... don't know what to say that won't be censored :)

I went the XFCE route by doing the install of XFCE myself rather than starting off with a new distro, now I run my aging WINXP as a VM under Virtual Box ( not the one from the repo, go to Oracle and get it ) and I can pass through my USB devices - which is about the only reason I use windows - updating some 600 phone contacts etc is still very much a Windows based tool, oh yeah, and my printer/scanner works just fine connected as a usb pass through too, so that's saves defining remote printers between XP and Linux too, I just switch it as I need it.

Gnokii etc just don't have the interface for multiple numbers, addresses, etc etc and nothing I have found syncs my phone calendar.

Please don't mention google calendar/contacts etc , why should I put my personal data on the 2nd most snooping platform ( FB being the first )? . Not only that, I live in China, accessing anything with the words "google" in it is asking for dropped connections etc, FB/Twtr/G+ are all banned here.

I am quite happy syncing my calendar and contacts from a PC app where I can back it up easily, I wish I could do that with Thunderbird, but it's not been a success so far..

I am running Ubuntu with Xfce and two VM's with XP, one connected to my office VPN, one for anything I need to do where I don't have a Linux equivalent yet.

Go for it, think about keeping a Windows VM around "just in case", or go the dual boot route and define some shared data space in case you want to VM your Windows later.

The best thing, Windows performs far far faster under linux in my opinion, so 2 * XP + Xubuntu is just great.

Is LinkedIn preparing for a China push?

Shanghai Tom
Meh

LinkedIn - China

LinkedIn is currently used by a LOT of Chinese people, a lot of them seem to be Headhunters looking to "link" to prospective employment opportunities amongst the foreign members, but there are also plenty of high profile natives showing their skills on LinkedIn.

So, do they need a separate server ? or just a few web pages in Chinese to make it easier for natives whose English isn't quite sufficient to deal with the site ?

I live and work in Shanghai, and I'm English, the LAST thing I want is for China's DNS to steal my LinkedIn url and direct me to a site that doesn't have English pages - as they do with www.google.com !!!

F*cebook and Tw*tter are blocked over here, so I really really wish people would leave off the FB and TWT links of web pages, I lose time every day just waiting for a page that links to one of them to time out ! by all means put a graphic, but not with a URL that mentions either of them !

Using phone-tracking tech? 'Fess up now, urges expert

Shanghai Tom
Meh

Tracking ? Blames the Marketeers..

I am an English guy living and working in China, I am sure you have all heard of the censorship on the net inside china , but one hidden piece of information is that the traffic systems track random Mobile phones ( Cellphones ) to analyse traffic flow and integrate with traffic control.

( They also photograph every license plate that passes through traffic lights also)

Well, that's what they say anyway, anyone who has been in a Friday evening downtown Shanghai traffic snarlup will probably say it isn't working :)

Should I be worried ? if the data escapes the traffic network I could be, that data identifies my phone and where I go, and the telco knows who I am, or at least it thinks it does. I have on off the shelf pay as you go SIM card, not a monthly account.

Marketing and Advertising drives all these Invasions of Privacy far more than Governmental concerns, so do yourself a favour, if you know any market analysts, advertising developers or whatever, then please ostracize them immediately.

Ubuntu hoists skirt, flashes 'concept' gadget at CES

Shanghai Tom
WTF?

Shuutleworth, the Steve Jobs of Linux

I am also moving to standard Debian, forcing a back level gnome shell on me in the latest version finally did it. I don't particularly like KDE, but what if Unity soon becomes the ONLY UI that is readily available on Ubuntu.

Unity on a very large screen is not comfortable, not only that I NEED to see various windows on the desktop at ALL times as part of my job, showing me an A4 document as 1 foot high and 2 ft wide is not very useful or appealing.

It was NOT an upgrade, it was a Replacement. I foolishly assumed the revert to Gnome Shell ( which I had to download! ) would be the familiar one, hah hah, good joke...

I know, I know, I can do whatever I like on any distro, but to do that takes time, time I am better spending on getting a Distro with a UI that works with minimal tweaks and is likely to stay that way.

Goodbye Ubuntu, Goodbye Steve Jobs of Linux, your arrogance is astounding.

Facebook shoves your face into creepy 'sponsored stories' in 2012

Shanghai Tom
FAIL

Your picture is not Personal Information ?

The distinction of Personal Information is weird on Facebook, Personally Identifiable Information which is normally classified as Confidential or above in a business seems to be PUBLIC in facebook, my picture IS PII - Confidential in standard business practices, so FB's saying there will be NO personal information is incorrect.. my picture IS personal Information.

I use FB to see what my family is up to, but right now I am seriously considering telling them to email me or forget me... I truly resent FB continuously coming up with a new scam to publish my personal information to even more scammers and spammers.

Having my Photo's suggested to people I didn;t even know ( Friends of Friends ) was bad enough when they started the Facial Recognition , now they still want to get my photo out there.

Time to rethink about google+, but they are pretty bad about harvesting information also !

Yeah, I got it, back to boring old email..

Electro-plaster points China Unicom mobes at 3G

Shanghai Tom
Meh

3G or not to 3G

I have lived in china a long time, for data on my laptop the choice was China Telecom CDMA or China Unicom equivalent.

Recently a dongle came out that accepted a 3G Unicom sim ( and dropped back to 2G if 3G wasn't available ), so at considerable expanse I bought one, itching for the 7.2mbit speed that China Unicom touted on their shop windows.

Well, thanks to all the Apple Fanbois, and probably not enough cell coverage it works out at 1mbit download and 100Kbit upload ! BITS not BYTES, around 60k BYTES top speed, that's a very sorry comparison when it should be up around 600K BYTES.

I switched the dongle back to China Telecom CDMA 2X and it was way faster than China Unicom 3G !!!

I also have an "international" smartphone, (you know - one of those where the lock screen password really locks it, and bluetooth follows the international standard where it can talk to other phones ( Unlike any Iphone/pad etc etc ))

BUT it won't work on China Mobiles 3G , works fine on China Unicom 3G and China Telecoms 3G, and almost every where else on the planet..

The result is that I will never buy a China Mobile 3G handset because it will only work here in China.

So, it's a smart answer, but is it the correct answer ? Sadly I think the Apple owners are going to be happy about this ( despite China Unicom sending kill pills to many handsets when customers took out the Unicom sim and put in a CM sim :) , public outcry and loss of sales seems to have fixed this issue ) and jam up the China Unicom spectrum so much that there will be even less bandwidth available.

There are other downsides, China Telecom "downgrades" traffic priority if its external to it's own IP network and originates in China. So, China Unicom users accessing a portal in China whose ISP is China Telecom suffers, and I have no doubt it happens the other way too, I just haven't measured it yet.

I don't want an Iphone, if I won one I would recycle it with extreme violence, my friend has one, he wants someone to buy it from him so he can get something else, and that's a common viewpoint now that many phones are as capable and "pretty" as an Iphone and for far far less money, and of course, if I travel anywhere, it won't have a 3G capability.

I'll stick with technology that is more world wide than just one country, maybe that's because I travel and don't need 10 phones for 10 countries, so even though someone not an Apple user, a 2G china telecom with data over China unicom would appeal and would give my smartphone data a boost over China Mobile but not as good as switching completely to Chinas Unicom or China Telecom ( minority service providers )

MS denies secure boot will exclude Linux

Shanghai Tom
Thumb Down

My 5 year old MoBo has a jumper to enable / disable bios updates, and also a "touch" jumper to reprogram the bios back to it's factory original.

This is not new technology, it's suppressed technology because of cost "engineering" and very very lazy programmers .

If I compile my own Linux kernel, how the heck can I boot it unless a key generator is available, and if it's available and you are running Windows then I expect there will be a hack to alter your opsys and then surreptitiously re-key it.

Energy scavenger eats leftover wireless signals

Shanghai Tom

Energy Scavenger - I remember when .. ..

As an exercise in "green" electronics, some 40 years ago, I built a two tuner radio using low power transistors, the first tuner was used to hunt for a signal strong enough to put static through a crystal earpiece - and was normally Long Wave Radio 2 , the second tuner was then used to locate the station I wanted to listen to.

For extra boost the aerial could be crocodile clipped to a wire fence / frame ( such as a bed frame ) and provided free listening almost anywhere. It was also built from Balsa wood about the size of 20 ciggies.

I live in a city saturated with WiFi provided by a Telecom providor, so it would be quite feasible to suck all that free energy instead of hunting for a radio broadcast station.

UK operators band together for NFC revenue

Shanghai Tom
FAIL

NFC, Yawn..

I live in China these days, they tried NFC Sims for the Expo. From what I heard the system fell down on day1. So, if you wanted lunch you had to go join a large queue to buy a credit card sized NFC, then after lunch you had to join another big queue to get a refund of the money that was left - why ? because you were only at the expo 1 day and NO-ONE would accept cash for lunch and the card only came in 1 denomination!

I would also suggest the rate of phone loss / theft would make it impractical because the sim needs replacing, then 20 screens of authorisations to get the account transferred to a new sim card etc.

If you lose your phone how are you going to call to get the NFC function blocked before someone buys 5,000 packs of cigarettes on your tab ?

Also, I'm not sure it would work in my current phone, the sim is buried so deep underneath the battery it's probably an effective shield :)

I have an "nfc" transport card, SPTCC, it works in Taxi's, Buses, Ferries and some trains. I can top it up in a metro station or a local supermarket (24*7). It's durable, solid and won't blast me with adverts every time I use it.

That's the final straw with anything for me, if you keep pushing adverts in my face then yours is the first service I dump.

Wise up guys, NFC could be nice, just keep the Ads out of it.

Oh, by the way, don't tie me to one country, I travel, and when I travel I want to use my NFC to get a coffee anywhere that "nfc" is available, Thanks...

RIPA to be changed to demand full consent to monitoring

Shanghai Tom
FAIL

What is a "a public telecommunications system"

"any communication in the course of its transmission by means of a public telecommunications system and was not" .. .. ..

So, is there ANY public system ?

BT owns BT, O2 is owned by telefonica, and anyone else will no doubt be owned by someone.

Has anyone seen T&C's of a system that specifically states it's NOT privately owned or "the property of" ??

I'm no legal beagle, but the phrase clipped above specifically states you only pay a fine if you are caught sniffing on a PUBLIC system .

Maybe bush telegraph can be considered public, but I do not know of any others :)

Facebook to share home addresses, phone numbers

Shanghai Tom

Address/Phone/Email to use on your "personal page"

I suggest that everyone uses the following address of Facebook themselves on your facebook page, if facebook trawl, peruse or otherwise amalgamate address and numbers for nefarious marketing purposes I hope they reap the benefits themselves, especially if Facebook "inadvertantly expose" your contact address/ Telephone number.

I have even amended the country I currently live in to be a very minor country - why ? because I get less of those scuzzy ad's appearing on the RHS of the screen.

Besides, my real friends know where I live :)

1601 South California Avenue

Palo Alto, CA 94304

United States

Tel: +1 650-543-4801

Email : abuse+dt17u8y@fb.com or client-support-en@fb.com

Facebook changed it's email domain to fb.com on Jan 12 2011

Gemalto squeezes Facebook onto a SIM

Shanghai Tom
FAIL

Facebook blocked in China

Facebook access ( along with twitter and a few others ) are blocked in China, so I don't see China Mobile agreeing to put facebook on a sim and bypass their own internet firewall!

Google ends all Street View Wi-Fi data collection

Shanghai Tom
WTF?

Google has no rights to know where I am

Wherever I am, that's private, google and anyone else has NO rights to know where I am unless I VOLUNTARY invoke such a process. Anything else is a gross and uninvited lack of privacy.

UK Government Army etc has now banned all IPHONES because of their involuntary geo location reporting. what a security risk that is !

What I search for on the web often bears no resemblance to where I am, so WTF am I bombarded with results that are totally irrelevant.

I search "Punjabi Shanghai" and get results from Chicago!, tomorrow it may be Pakistan or whatever, what a crock...

Even worse, I use a vpn from my phone, with random outlets, so if I am in china I do NOT want french restaurants in Paris in my results.

My IP address and especially my gps GeoLocation are my PRIVATE property, Google, Facebook, you can all go F O !

and I will do everyting I can to stop this so called geo location crap. I am never where my AP address says I am !! what a pain these FORCED ad marketers are.

Tonight I got facebook ads from Brazil, but I am in Beijing.. GOOGLE is worse, presents ads in Brazilian even though my browser is set to accept ENGLISH only web pages.

sheesh....

Seat in sexy e-sportster shock

Shanghai Tom
FAIL

Zero local emissions ? is the power stationj so far away ?

Zero local emissions, does that mean the power station that burns gas/ coal/oil is not local to you ?

the efficiency of the charger can never be 100%, so you will always produce CO2 etc emissions in excess of your KWH as part of the cost of the recharge.

CTOs warned to prepare for Windows 7 budget squeeze

Shanghai Tom
FAIL

Cost of Win7 upgrade os "hidden"

I upgraded to Win 7, then I found that 1500+ usd of software that worked on XP won't work on Win7, Win7 happily tells me to contact the various suppliers and obtain "compatible" new versions.

So.. a 200$ upgrade turned into a 2000$ upgrade.

You can guess the rest... win7 cd in the trash, win xp rules again, but I am also using Linux , which cost me 10cents to burn the CD and all the software I need is free....

Mobile users and personal devices

Shanghai Tom

Mobile Users and Personal Devices

For WiFi access my smartphone supports all the same methods as my laptop for wireless access, so I feel secure using my phone and laptop to access my own private Wlan around the home. (It's NOT a notebook, it's 16 inches wide)

Internal Corporate environments are also usually quite secure, although I recently worked at a site that only has a 40 bit access key and some 200 laptops accessing it, statistically that makes it a weak point for traffic sniffing, especially with just one AP and one Channel.

For other Wlan's I have to rely on the setup of the security for that access point, that's no different than going to Starbucks or other Wlan with minimal protection.

To increase my level of security I ALWAYS use a VPN solution on the more public wireless AP's, and also all Hotel connections ( even Cable connections ), the initial connection is reasonably open, but then I fire up my VPN and everything goes through that. My Smartphone also has VPN support, so I do exactly the same with that.

I know there are sniffers for wireless traffic that can decrypt streams of data and produce a key for access to the Wlan, but as Wlan security levels and methods increase, there are less and less of these tools available.

Corporate access from outside the company always relies on a VPN or other secure tunnel method, if your Phone or PDA doesn't support this, then DON"T DO IT .

I am continually amazed at how many open WLAN's my phone spots as I walk around places, even in countries with paranoia controls on internet access.

I have worked at sites that have a closed policy on their Wlan, and I have seen employee's connecting their PDA/phone through Bluetooth and sharing the IP connection, well, it works, it's easy to set up, but Bluetooth just doesn't have the same security levels as a Wlan, so that's a possible point of attack. Bluetooth power levels are not so high, so any access would probably have to be made in close proximity.

MAC address can be spoofed very easily, so slotting permitted MAC addresses into routers isn't always as secure as people think...

There is plenty to read on the net about security of this nature, so next time you have time to spare, go have a read...

Regards all,

Tom