Posts by Goldmember

Those do exist. I was served a cocktail in a Las Vegas bar which was mixed by a robot. Here it is in action:

Robot Bartender

Re: "App on their smartphones"

"What's the problem? Are you similarly concerned that they take their uniforms, notebooks and batons home?"

It's more abuse of the system, I think. Imagine being in the pub and getting your mates to give the print scanner a go after a few pints. All fun and games, until it produces a match...

"He will need to suspect anyone coming within a foot of him in the street of having a rag with chloroform and a car parked around the corner to take him to a "private" Cessna parked at a nearby airport. Everywhere worldwide. UK included."

I very much doubt that. The US has too much to lose by doing something so brash as to kidnap a UK citizen, on UK soil, for the sake of a failed extradition request. And just look at another prominent extradition request they lost in recent times; the Gary McKinnon case. That was a far more embarrassing hack for the US than this one, and he's still very much alive and kicking (he's now an SEO consultant, apparently).

Indeed... adding the words "each time" would have made this considerably easier to read.

"... MH370 (and a bunch of earlier critical safety incidents) happened _because_ of it, not the other way around."

Huh?

So you've figured out the answer to the biggest aviation mystery in decades? Please do share it with the rest of us.

Because no-one else alive has a clue what happened to it, aside from finding a few broken pieces and having a very rough idea of which section of the Indian Ocean it's possibly lying in.

Re: And what about the DVLA?

"I think the DVLA should be reported to the ICO for failing to have stringent checks in place. It looks like they give out info without any kind of due dilligence."

Big upvote for that. They've passed my details on to various cowboy private parking "companies" without any checks, and even allowed one of my previous cars - which was stolen and had been reported as such - to be registered to someone else and taxed.

It seems that not only do they not have 'stringent' checks in place, they seemingly have no checks at all.

Fuckers.

Re: Threatogram received from Crapita today

"Bunch of cheapskates."

Not really. It all depends on what you want to watch.

18 months ago I cancelled all services and switched exclusively to non-iPlayer streaming - some paid for, some free - and I've never looked back. But back in the days of me having broadcast TV at home, I only really ever watched the F1, a few Sky Atlantic and HBO dramas (Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones etc) and car-related shows (Wheeler Dealers, Fast 'n' Loud). None of which were available on the BBC. And yet, I still had to pay the ridiculous licence fee to watch all of this stuff, on top of the extortionate Sky subscription.

So no, it's nothing to do with being "cheap", it's all to do with being FORCED to pay for a particular media network's entertainment output, even if you have no intention of using it and only want to watch commercial output (note the word Entertainment here, before anyone pipes up with the stupid "how often do you go to hospital? You're happy to pay for that and not use it" argument).

It's great that you're happy to pay for the BBC. If the government ever see sense (a paradox, I know) and decides to switch it to a subscription-only service, you can enjoy paying for it. But I shouldn't have to.

Re: 'HP Inc is not alone in this thinking.'

They're losing touch with the sort of consumers who frequent sites like this one. We're (generally) going to buy a device which most fits its intended purpose in terms of performance, over how it looks (Apple fanbois not included, naturally).

But your average punter really will care more about aesthetics than performance/ usability. As long as it switches on, displays the latest Facebook drivel and comes in a pretty colour which matches the curtains, they really couldn't give less of a shit about anything else.

Re: Safety-critical updates?

"Patch released at (for argument's sake) 12 noon. Accident at 2pm. Is that negligent? Or is it a reasonable delay?"

It would make sense to remove the user from the software update process entirely, especially if the updates are potentially safety critical. Have over the air updates automatically download and install. Then the insurers would have to pay out to the user and to any third parties in the event of an accident. By all means inform the user when an update is ready/ has been applied, but removing the responsibility and putting this on the manufacturer should solve that particular problem for the most part.

This would then mean insurers can only reasonably wiggle out of paying if the user has purposely modified the ROM to stop updates, or has installed custom updates.

However if an update fails, although I would hope the car would let the user know about it, it could create a pretty big legal headache and would possibly shift some of the liability back onto the manufacturer/ software publisher.

Re: If you have issues with the Telly Tax...

"rush to the bottom with 3 minutes of programming per 30 minutes of adverts."

This is incorrect, actually. The ratio of ads to programming is regulated. It was increased for Sky when it launched to give it a chance of survival. A few years ago, the other providers complained and were given the same increased level (Sky's should have been decreased to match in my view, not the other way around). It's not done hourly but over a day, which is why you see more during peak evening times and fewer late at night. But the disappearance of the licence alone will not cause an increase in ad frequency.

And oddly, as others have mentioned, the BBC almost matches commercial radio and TV in terms of ads promoting itself anyway. Radio 2 is unbearable for more than a couple of hours for me, for this very reason.

It's definitely time for a serious discussion on the future of TVL.

Re: Over my dead body!

Since the Surfrider Foundation clearly has considerable funds at its disposal (they've already shelled out nearly half a million fighting him), if I were them I would set up a daily boat service from further down the coast, to Martin's Beach.

A service with one of those "party boats" which plays loud, banging music and is full of rowdy drunk people. With bars, drinks promotions and all-night parties on the beach itself.

May as well piss him off if he's insisting on tangling the matter in red tape for as long as possible.

Last year, I used paid-for O2 roaming in Greece, Netherlands, Czechia and Italy, all with no problems. I didn't always have 4G, but there was no noticeable throttling of speed.

Funny, eh?

The point is...

"navigational and gps transponder equipment"

... the transponders were switched off. Whether manually (by the pilots) or through another means (fire, electrical short) we don't know. Which is why we could really do with finding that plane.

But the only other means of tracking it - the 15-minute interval satellite "handshakes" with Inmarsat - were not designed to be used for tracking, which is why the potential final flight path was (and still is) so varied.

It was basically an accident that we even knew it had gone into the Indian Ocean.

Re: Being human

I do as well. Although the truck driver apparently pulled a pretty stupid manoeuvre, the driver of the Tesla should have been paying attention, should have seen the truck and should have taken evasive action. Quote from the article;

"Brown's final trip lasted 37 minutes, from buckling in until the crash. During that time he had his hands on the wheel for 25 seconds"

Twenty. Five. Seconds. In a 37 minute journey. Completely entrusting his life to beta software.

I remember seeing one of the driver's previous dash cam videos where he'd been paying no attention to the road (he was too busy taking "no hands" selfies) and had relied on the Tesla to stop him from crashing into another truck which he should have seen but didn't. On that occasion the Tesla saved him.

Advanced driving aids are nowhere near ready to take full control of our vehicles, no matter how good they appear to be. It was only a matter of time before this happened to him, sadly. And quite frankly, it scares me to think I have to share the roads with such reckless people.

Yep. To give production credentials to a junior, on their first day of employment, is asking for trouble. They should never have been written into this document. Not even a rough draft.

And as far as "legal" getting involved? Well, surely any type of investigation would highlight serious security flaws internally. So the CTO and subordinate managers would be far more screwed than the (ex) new guy.

Re: I don't see the problem

"The purpose of a date is for each party to learn something about the other."

Indeed. The idea of going to the cinema on a first date has always seemed an odd one to me. So you're meeting for the first time, then you're going to sit in the dark, in silence, for 2+ hours?

Maybe it's a case of starting as you mean to go on for some.

Re: So, are the Swedes going to pay

"Now that they have just dropped the case, we are left with the bill. Shouldn't the Swedes pay the cost of this?"

The case hasn't been dropped, it's just been suspended as they can't physically get to him while he's here. Quote from the article:

“If he, at a later date, makes himself available, I will be able to decide to resume the investigation immediately,”

But you're right in that a ridiculous amount of resource has been spaffed on guarding him. He has cunning, and a team of loyal backers/ supporters who can make a lot of noise in the media. It was clear he wasn't going to back down and give himeself up.

Years ago, they should have instructed officers to quietly turn their backs and quickly have a taxi take him to Heathrow with a one-way ticket to Ecuador. It would have saved millions.

Recently they've started to announce that "the next station stop will be... " on trains in the grim North West.

Re: Here we go again

"Just make a part of Facebook for idiots and creeps, and another for regular people who just want to like your breakfast."

Or, just do it yourself. It's not a public and open forum like Twitter, unless you want it to be. I use Facebook sparingly, mostly just to keep in contact with people I don't see very often. On the rare occasion I have a bit of a browse, I only see content from people I actually know. Mostly it's just gripes about bad days/ shopping/ traffic, pictures of friends' and families' kids or Instagram shares of meals, which is why I rarely use it. It used to be much more interesting than it is now.

But this also means I've never seen videos of baby murder on there. If I did have someone in my friends list who felt the need to post or share such a video, or who felt the need to go off on a racist rant etc., it wouldn't take long for me to hit the "unfriend" button. There would then be no need for moderation from above.

Re: Odd that there were network ports available inside the secure area

The quote from the report:

"They narrowed the search area down to the switch in P3 and the PC was connected to port 16. I was able to follow the cable from the switch to a closet in the small training room."

So it wasn't simply a port; they managed to run a cable directly from a switch somewhere. Maybe a comms cab in a cupboard, locked door but accessible from the ceiling? I've not had time to read the report yet but will later to see if there's clarification.

One thing I'm wondering though; how did they manage to sneak out an entire monitor or 2 on which to use said PCs? You can cobble together the other parts and sneak them in pockets (with the exception of the mainboard, but that is thin so can fit down pants). You don't need a case for the PC to run. But how did they get a screen out?

Re: Interfering mice

Yes, we had this in a company I used to work for. Complaints of "I'm being hacked!" or "Someone is controlling my computer!" at spurious mouse movements, apps opening and words being typed always turned out to be some else's wireless keyboard and/ or mouse interfering.

To be honest, why anyone even requires a wireless keyboard and to a large extent, a mouse, when they're using a desktop PC, is beyond me. They're nothing more than a colossal waste of batteries.

"Oh, and I will cross at pedestrian crossings when the light is green. It's not my fault I run into people who think red traffic lights are not for them.."

You run into cars and come off better?

Are you, in fact, a tank?

Re: On to the next target

"Yep, lucky that you and other small businesses are off the hook, just hope you don't need to use the NHS or any other cash-starved public service."

That was exactly my point; we should be encouraging enterprise, and the Tories should not be reneging on an election pledge. The hike should not even have been considered, and now with the backtrack it will likely just be used as an excuse to cut public services even further.

And as already stated, I am both employed and self-employed, so I actually pay 2 lots of NICs...

Yes, you can

"What about following due process? You can't just fire people like that."

Of course you can, even in the UK, if you use loopholes. Simply make the staff "redundant" and hire replacements with different job titles.

It happened all the time in a company I used to work for...

Re: and don't take a job

"where your entire purpose is to look at the dregs of humanity."

One of the guys in the article was "involuntarily" moved to the snooping team.

Re: At the risk of sounding controversial...

"This is like saying, I'll buy major parts of the highway, and then saying you cannot drive on it, because I don't want you to (I only want my cars to get to work on time). You have to walk to work."

No, it's more like saying "This is my highway. So there's a dedicated lane for my cars. The rest of you are welcome to use my highway, but you can fight it out in the other lanes. Or use a competing highway."

Again, I don't see a problem. On a personal and moral level it may be dubious, but companies aren't people. They don't have moral compasses. All they have are lawyers to tell them what they can and can't do.

Re: Maybe it's the police who are doing the hacking

I wouldn't expect police involvment in that. But FBI/ GCQH; absolutely. They have a lot of legal protection. To the point of having laws changed/ created when they do step outside of existing bounds.

Re: Contradiction?

"Call me cynical but that possibly sounds like a statement the ambulance chasing lawyer has cooked up, where there's blame there's a fat pay check for fees"

Maybe... But at the end of the day, this was a royal fuck up. A royal fuck which could, and should, have been prevented. The two lads were lucky to have survived at all, and they endured something which must have been horrific for them. It may even have caused some long term damage they don't know about yet. So, lawyers' fees or not, the uni deserves to pay every penny of that fine. And the two lads deserve each a decent enough payout to pay off their uni fees/ loans, and then some.

Re: Add TnT to it

In the future, these drones should have some kind of explosive added to them such that if they are illegally stolen again we can simply blow them up. Serves 'em right for stealing it in the first place!

So the "theft" of a single drone is worth causing instant death to military personell, a major international incident and potentially triggering a full-scale nuclear war between the two largest superpowers in the world, at unimaginable human and economic costs to both sides and half the other countries in the world to boot?

I really, really hope you don't wield even the tiniest amount of power in whatever work you do.

Re: Umm

It doesn't matter what society-imposed "safeguards" or morals are included; the modding/cracking communities will be all over this from day one. Just look at how quickly games are cracked. I see no reason why the firmware of a sexbot could be not modified to get around this.

And I should imagine the motivation to do so would be immense, to say the least...

Agreed. I recently spent some time in Cambodia, and can confirm 4G connectivity in cities there is better than any city I've visited in the UK.

Re: Cobblers to that!

Private parking companies can't legally do either of those things in the UK. All they can do is send you an invoice disguised as a "ticket."

Re: I was at a local....

"They are f***g massive things and f******g expensive"

Yes, but the world changed during the 40+ years of the original Mini's production, whereas the design of the car did not. I visited the BMW museum in Munich last year, where they have/had a "Mini Story" exhibition (which was actually pretty cool). One fact that stuck out to me was that the average human was 10cm taller in the late '90s than they were in the late '50s. So the revamped car had to be designed with this in mind.

But the cost thing... yes, of course. BMW is a premium brand. They aren't going to churn out cheap and cheerful, iconic branding or not.

Re: RE: "Why did the kid know the family bank account details?"

According to the BBC article, the kid had a savings account set up in his name. This was the account used, not the "family" account.

Re: More adverts

Whilst @Planty's execution was poor, the point was sound. Google offers software products for "free" (and the new hardware products will be released at low-medium price points, apparently). Consumers use the products, and in exchange agree to hand over various bits of personal information. This info is used by Google to create a profile, which it then uses to push targeted ads at said consumers.

The products are often good, which is why people use them and are happy to hand over information in return. There is no "theft" involved. It's all there in the T&Cs.

It's pretty simple. If you don't like the thought of Google using your info, don't use its products.