Posts by Intractable Potsherd

Re: If it's free..

That's true, and sometimes I am happy to accept that bargain because I am (relatively) clued up enough to deal with it (hey, I come to this website!) However, I would not accept any deal where I did not know the price beforehand - if something in a shop doesn't have a price label, I don't buy it, for instance. Therefore, the powers that be should be insisting that the basic principles of contract law should be upheld and the price for these "free" services clearly displayed. I don't suppose it would stop everyone (or even a reasonable proportion), but it would educate at least some people.

Re: Gender imbalance @ Graham Bartlett

Anecdotal evidence that reflects what you are saying. I've recently been involved in university selection interviews for potential medical students. All the sessions I did had many more female than male candidates (70:30, approximately). The cohorts in the years already in the medical school tend to go from about 50:50 in the fifth year to 60:40 in the current first year. This will translate in many more female doctors graduating from our medical school at least, and the pattern does not seem to be any different at the others I know of. The medical profession is undergoing a huge a change of demographic, and I am not sure it is ready for it.

Re: Haven't heard that Uber

Everywhere I have lived (South Yorkshire, Warwickshire, East Coast of Scotland), there have been a fair number of disabled-friendly private-hire vehicles. Where I live now, there are a lot of the sliding-rear-door Peugeot and Renault vans-with-seats of different sizes, many with stickers saying that they are equipped to take wheelchairs. I don't know how generalisable this is, but it does suggest that it may not be a huge problem as long as the will is there on the part of the private-hire operators.*

Oh, and we don't get that "South of the river" crap that seems to be the hallmark of London black cabs!

* That isn't to say that there shouldn't be some regulation to ensure that everyone is properly catered for.

More anti-tax waffle from a suspiciously well-expressed AC. I wonder who he/she works for?

Re: ...how many landings are fully automatic... (@ John Brown)

In general, I agree with what you are saying - about four years ago I was unable to drive for about three months. Getting back behind the wheel took a lot of readjustment.

However, I have to take issue with one point : "... when sidelight are all you need ..." No, no, no, no, no!! Highway Code, Rule 226: "You MUST use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced, generally when you cannot see for more than 100 metres (328 feet)." The only exception, (which should have been got rid of years ago), is at night on a lit street: Rule 113: You MUST ... use headlights at night, except on a road which has lit street lighting. These roads are generally restricted to a speed limit of 30 mph (48 km/h) unless otherwise specified." Only then is driving on sidelights allowed.

I drive with my headlights on all the time, even when I rent a car with daylight running lights - I want the back of the car lit up as well as the front.

Re: Political soapbox much?

So Adam Smith was a leftist?? Wow, you can learn so much from El Reg comments ... 8-0

Re: Nice theory

ratfox was being sarcastic, Mike.

Re: Why?? re: different use cases

Mr/Mrs Idiot: yes, I have had to think about these things due to my own advancing lack of dexterity, and I have completely dismissed them. Some form of hard-wired access from inside the house - possibly. IoT enabled access from anywhere - not a chance.

Re: I think it *will* be a ghastly mess

Radiation, AGW, State actors pushing an agenda that doesn't benefit the people on the receiving end. The first two *are* bollocks, the last *may be* bollocks.

Re: Two issues here.

Unusually, I agree absolutely with jake on this one, and partly for the reasons veti has outlined. For example, the actions of the police in the Jean Charles de Menezes case could easily be seen a terrorism, whilst the killing of Lee Rigby could easily be seen as not terrorism (just another couple of nutters killing someone for racist or other reasons). The term "terrorism" has no real meaning, and is used as a trigger word to get the public to do or agree to something that may not be in their interests. It is used to by-pass critical analysis of suggestions such as (on topic) "We need to have weak[ened] encryption". The risks from other, more common, forms of criminal activity are far higher, and far more likely to occur, from reducing encryption than any benefits with regard to terrorism.

It would be so good if we were governed by people who thought about more than their popularity ratings ...

Re: Right answer, wrong reasons - Lone Wolves

"Especially with lone wolves who have little to no connections of any sort?"

Lone wolves can do very little damage, and are irrelevant. They are not worth searching for, since there are too few of them, and their efficiency is small. The claim to prevent the unlikely and the ineffective (which describes all terrorism in the West, really) is the excuse for this data-collection crap, when really the only logical reason for it is to control the populace.

Re: "250 grams (1 pound)"

Thanks, H4rm0ny! My eyes were opened to this point by a young maths genius on TV some years ago. Just as Kevin says, the right units for the job are what is needed. A kilometre is too short a distance to measure big distances, a mile is about right. I'd be happy for leagues to come back for really big distances, to be honest.

Out of interest, are any downvoters going to come back and explain their point of view?

Re: chiclet keyboard

But does it have the page back and forward keys flanking the "Up" arrow. If not, it is significantly worse than the X40.

Comment written on X61 :-)

True - and on that note, what has happened to Verity Stob lately?

Our organisations are effectively brain dead.

They are all held in thrall to the Cult of Bean Counters, whose first rule is "Know the price of everything and the value of nothing". Their second rule is "No-one else knows the value of anything either, regardless of qualifications." Their disciples, known as MBAs, are so thoroughly indoctrinated into the creed that they can see no God but the accounts ledger.

Re: Limits of exposure

I don't use my phone for financial stuff, extra- (or intra-) marital affairs, internet dating, or watching naughty videos. I do use it for calling and texting people, email and occasionally reading websites, weather reports, making shopping lists and reminders, and as an alarm clock. Occasionally I use the GPS and mapping. Am I odd?

Re: Wrong security model @DAM

Upvoted for all but "... some people are okay for paying taxes for which they get shit healthcare and large mansions for parliamentarians."

First, I don't know what "shit healthcare" you are talking about, but if you mean access to GPs* (especially in England and Wales), then blame the recent successive Ministers for Heath, who have deliberately made the system worse for their own reasons. Also, you need to address the attitude in the medical profession - being a GP is, for some reason I cannot understand, a second-class option**.

Secondly, what other funding scheme do you want? From previous postings you seem to very much in love with the Libertarian "all taxes are evil; the free market will sort it all out" model. Since it can easily be empirically shown that such a system (such as the USA's clusterfuck of a healthcare "system") is a guaranteed way to drag down public health to third-world country (hence not tax-funded either) levels, then what system do you propose, and why?

OK - off-topic, but you brought your opinions about sensible heath-care funding into this :-) So, sort-of on topic: I don't understand computer gaming. The most complicated game I ever play on the computer is Spider Solitaire, but the Kerbal Space Mission thing that some folks have mentioned on rocketry threads here looks interesting, but I can't see a case for spending money on time-wasting stuff for the computer - it's a tool. However, I am certainly all for people having control of the things they own, so good on fail0verflow for working on this.

* I'm assuming this is is the case because, overall, hospital care is of a very high standard in the whole of the UK. Outpatients' services and A&E are creaking a bit, but this is due to the problems listed above, which come down to government policy decisions over the last 35 years. Paying out of your pocket wouldn't make them any better (how many private A&E/outpatient services do you know of? Very few, because there is no money in it.)

** On the whole, if I was starting yet another career and decided to go into medicine, I'd be quite happy to consider being a GP. I don't see their work-load as being particularly onerous compared to hospital doctors, and their pay is at least on a par with hospital doctors of the same experience. The relevant factors - for me - would be the differences in team-working (to this day I still miss the team-work experienced when I was a nurse), and whether generalisation would suit me better than specialisation. However, ask a proto-doctor what they want to be when they grow up, almost none say "GP", and this is strengthened throughout their training. If we want to increase the number of GPs (whatever the payment method), we need to address the culture in medical schools.

Re: Worse for us

"It's always the same two questions. So, one person peering over your shoulder, a keylogger or just someone who's able to do some basic research to find your mum's maiden name and your 2FA becomes sweet FA."

One person peering over your shoulder - who in their right mind allows this to happen?

A keylogger - difficult to install, and needs a lot of motivation.

Mum's maiden name - depressing to say, this is a genuine weak point because people *do* use the actual name. I haven't done so for years, but trying to persuade family members not to do so seems to be impossible.

On the other hand: "If you don't have your phone to hand, or can't be arsed to look at it ...": why sign up for 2FA if you aren't going to use it? If it is inconvenient to look at your phone, wait until it is. However, since any 2FA is, by definition, going to rely on some sort of device (key fob or whatever), you are arguing that no 2FA is going to suit you. Since security is always a trade-off with convenience, you will always be dissatisfied.

Why do you think being burgled would necessarily change my opinion on mass surveillance? Been burgled, had one car broken into and one stolen, and I *still* don't approve of endless CCTV surveillance. We deliberately moved recently into village without a single CCTV camera, where there hasn't been a burglary or similar crime for more than 10 years - counter to your argument about CCTV being a great crime-prevention tool. I do always try to stick a middle finger up at the ANPR cameras on the ends of the major bridge I have to use several time a week, though (it's a pinch-point, so the snoopers couldn't resist putting a camera there).

@AC

I agree, but the problem is in deciding who is a taxable entity within a country. Simply "doing business" in a country is going to be difficult for small businesses who trade on the internet, and is largely unenforceable without complex treaties etc. Methods of accounting (mis)used by large companies are there to help smaller companies to offset purchases and avoid tax that would cripple them. I don't know what the answer is, but I doubt it will be simple.

Re: balance compensator...

Currently in a period of remission, but the syndrome I have includes rheumatoid arthritis and balance problems. I would be very interested in having at least a lower-body exo-skeleton (and if there is one for my hands I'd be very happy!), because the falls have been one of the worst bits of my life this year.

Re: Why?

"... the police are certain the law has been broken, it's just a matter of whether it's civil or criminal"

The police should have no part to play in investigating breaches of civil law - that is for those that think they have been affected by it to do; a process known as "suing". The fact that the police are involved means that there is already an assumption that it is criminal.

Thanks, Mike - I was getting to the point of thinking no-one else was going to post that correction, so I'd have to do it myself!

@AC

So you are claiming what? That there is a Wikipedia entry? That there was a census in 2011? That there are African-Americans in Chicago? Don't be shy - tell us what you think you see in that entry that is relevant to this thread.

Re: To all Americans @ Vic

"the lessor of evils"

It definitely sounds like a book title!

""SSL gave the world the Heartbleed, Shellshock and Poodle vulnerabilities. ... Huh? ... Just stop with the hyperbolic statements without fact-checking first because it makes you look like a ninny."

Ummm - I don't know if there has been an edit since you wrote, but my version says only "a reasonable idea given that SSL gave the world the Poodle vulnerability."

Re: University of Bums on Seats

That is eerily like the websites of several real universities I know of, except for student "praise" for the university culled from words that have been said in eight or none completely different conversations.

However, I now have a Fasttrack E-PhD in Dynamic and Cyber Arts, but I'm a bit worried about whether it is real - no respectable university would allow a false email address for billing purposes, would they? ;-)

Re: Grim, eh!

I'm married to a Slav - she also thinks smiling and laughing are signs of insincerity and that all British signs of politeness are insincere (such as saying "please" and "thank you" often). She doesn't/can't/won't understand that she comes across a miserable and constantly trying to pick an argument, and wonders why she doesn't get the cooperation from others that she wants/needs. She isn't willing to accept that "when in Rome, do as the Romans do", despite having lived in Britain for 12 years and spent several years in the USA before that. We do live in Scotland now, though, and she does seem more at home - the locals make my native Yorkshire-folk look excitable by comparison.

Re: Doozers

I like the way that it is the cable boots that are "too far forward", not a shitty design decision on the device (I'd hit that button every time when putting a cable in)!

Re: Design Patent approximately UK Registered Design @Sean

As I've said before - if the car company that first put accelerator, brake and clutch in the order they are standardised at now had brought and won a case based on design patent and "user experience", I'd agree with you. Equally, there is no other sensible place to put the trigger of a handgun than in front of the grip below the barrel. The same applies to phones - there is really only one way to do things, and all solutions will converge towards it. Some things are just "right", and don't warrant protection.

Re: Surprised to read this far @dogged

Well, with Pugwash's adenoidal speech, "Master Mate" certainly sounded like "Master Bate". Also, I can't be the only one to think that "Pirate Willy" could have an alternative meaning ...

John Ryan, the creator of "Captain Pugwash", was a bit of a knob for taking a libel case over a few jokes (which are still being told - early Streisand Effect?)

Re: Why?

And, there, ladies and gentlemen, is the first astroturfing from the security forces. You will hear this argument put forward more and more over the next few years.

Re: Margaret Atwood @ Tom 7

Heinlein wasn't far behind - Donald Trump and Nehemiah Scudder don't seem worlds apart. The only thing we can hoee is that Trump wins and takes the USA into total isolationism.

Re: Colossal ignorance

Didn't you know that if it is hard to find a small number in big amount, then it is easier to find the same small number in a bigger amount? It's obviously true because governments say so.

{That's sarcastic, by the way. There are too many irony deficient people on here on a Monday morning :-) )

Re: Windows in the wild

I've seen two in the wild - my friend and his wife bought one each (over my reasoned objections), mainly because of the cameras. A year later, both were so heartily pissed off with hanging, random reboots, and ability to do basic tasks (making calls and texts) and receiving emails that they went to iPhones (and so far, they *have* just worked).