* Posts by Graham Marsden

6899 publicly visible posts • joined 19 Jan 2007

US Congress probes accidental top secret file sharing

Graham Marsden
FAIL

"The file-sharing software industry...

... has shown it is unwilling or unable to ensure user safety,"

No, the file-sharing software industry expects users or admins to use their *BRAINS* and not install (or allow to be installed) their software in ways or in places that allow access to confidential information!

Whatever happened to *responsibility*???

Privacy watchdog bashes UK.gov net snoop plan

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

"a step change in the relationship between the citizen and the state"

What, you mean another one?

They've been making a sustained attack on our liberties ever since they came to power, what makes him think that this complaint is going to make the slightest bit of difference?

The only option is to get rid of the current shower in power but *not* replace them with "New Tory" who talk a good opposition, but, when they get into power are likely to say "you know, on second thoughts, maybe all this stuff might be useful, so we'll keep it..."

Landlord sues tenant over moldy Tweet

Graham Marsden
FAIL

'"We're a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization"

I think he meant "We're a sue first, THINK later kind of an organization,"

Aussie woman's toilet trauma prompts lav-overhaul call

Graham Marsden
Happy

On a related note...

... nothing to do with the story in the article, but a small tale to amuse...

A friend is an ex-pat Civil Engineer working in the Middle East and heard about a half-built housing estate that had to be torn down and re-started from scratch after someone noticed that anyone living in one of the houses would not only be facing towards Mecca to pray, but would also be worshipping the great porcelain god in the same direction...!

Truck drivers! Don't go texting now

Graham Marsden
Stop

@Trevor Watt

"did you read the article, the evidence shows that truck drivers are no more likely to have an accident when using their mobile phone"

Err did *YOU* read the article?

"truck drivers sending text messages are more likely to have accidents than those paying attention to the road ahead."

And if they are as "professional" as you claim, surely they would be *less* likely to have accidents (let alone do stupid things like text whilst driving which was the whole *point* of the article).

For a little more food for thought: Last winter I was riding my motorcycle on the M27 on a foggy night (visibility was so bad I'd slowed down to 40mph!) I wasn't too surprised to be over-taken by idiotic car drivers doing 70-80mph, but when an artic came past me...?

Graham Marsden

@Remy Redert

Truck drivers, taxi drivers, white van man and many others are not "Professional Drivers"!

Simply racking up a larger number of miles every year does *not* make them better or more "professional" than the average driver, in fact it can make them worse because they have an over-confident view of their driving "skills" which is simply not warranted and may make them think, incorrectly, that they can use mobiles etc safely whilst driving

Even Emergency Service drivers make mistakes and they are trained to a higher standard which would give them at least a reasonable claim to be "professional" drivers.

Oz Firewall still standing after inconclusive filter trial

Graham Marsden
FAIL

Government "success"...

... In other words "Let's not tell anyone exactly what we want, then we can spin what happens as a success"...

Bill Gates: Tough US immigration stance a 'huge mistake'

Graham Marsden
FAIL

Come to America...

... where they out-source your job to India!

Feminist org declines nude calendar cash

Graham Marsden
Grenade

Perhaps...

... they would prefer the calendar if the women had been wearing burkhas...?

MoD sticks with 'most decrepit browser in the world'

Graham Marsden
WTF?

"Disbenefit"???

Anyone who can use a word like that does not deserve to be in a position of authority!!

EU privacy watchdog warns on transport monitoring

Graham Marsden
Thumb Up

Hear hear!

It's good to see that someone understands that widespread (and indiscriminate) tracking of people's movements is not a good thing.

Whether those in power, however, get the point or just think "well, it'll make anti-terrorism/ policing/ road pricing/ something else simpler" is another matter entirely...

Watchdog bites Mattesons saucy sausage ad

Graham Marsden
Coat

Innuendo....?

... isn't that an Italian suppository?

Graham Marsden
FAIL

We need a "Won't Someone Think Of The Children!" icon...

... next to be banned: repeats of Carry-on films, saucy sea-side postcards, St Trinians films...

To the Moon - with extreme engineering

Graham Marsden
Boffin

Joke?

Snopes is your friend: http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

Too-tall terror snapper stopped by cops again

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

@Chris Hunt

> I don't mind telling them who I am and showing whatever ID I might have on me (if any). I know I don't have to, but if it gets him out of my hair so be it. If he wants a look at my pics, that's probably OK too if I don't have anything better to do.

And every time that happens it simply justifies their actions and weakens the right of everyone else to "Go about their lawful business without let or hindrance".

Ihre Papier, Bitte!

Bank fined £3m for data loss

Graham Marsden
Grenade

Why not....

... instead of fining the bank, fine the Directors. That should make them start taking this seriously!

Firefox 3.7 swivels glassy eye

Graham Marsden
FAIL

So...

... how do I turn off the fancy see-through rubbish and the pretty buttons and so on which add absolutely nothing to my ability to browse but just slow everything else down by increasing the unnecessary processor overhead?

Google aims at mobile operators' money supply

Graham Marsden
Grenade

@npupp 1

You were lucky with the ads in the Taxi.

In one of Robert Heinlein's stories (I think Podkayne of Mars) there are taxis with holographic adverts in them and the only way to do anything about them was to bribe the taxi driver to turn them down!

Grenade because... ;-)

Google lights up Moon on Apollo 11 anniversary

Graham Marsden
Happy

@Neil Paterson

> Why no streetview?

Well, when Google tried, their robot's progress was disrupted by a group of small woollen creatures...

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HArUmqqiL0s for details!

Deutsche Bank sacks two for spying

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

But...

... nothing like that would ever happen in the UK, would it...?

It shouldn't happen to a vetting database

Graham Marsden
FAIL

You can trust us...

... but we don't trust you.

- HM Government

Swine flu will [enter scare words here]...

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

Swine flu will...

...make it easier for Terrorists to get into the UK and it's probably all an Al Qaeda plot anyway, so let us check your DNA for traces of flu, just go along to your local Police Station and while you're there, why not sign up for an ID card - Government Spokesman.

Apple sued over shrink-wrapped Mafia death threats

Graham Marsden
Black Helicopters

Where...

... is the tinfoil hat icon...?

The Mafia doesn't have any Black Helicopters.

NASA orbiter returns first shots of Apollo moon sites

Graham Marsden
Coat

So...

... where did Wallace and Grommit land...?

Amazon vanishes 1984 from citizen Kindles

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

We...

... control what you read!

Ministry of Justice issues digital preservation code

Graham Marsden
WTF?

"the right to access information has become a cornerstone of our democracy"

Provided you don't actually try to get any information out of our "democratically elected" Government...!

Oz cops turn to wardriving to fight Wi-Fi 'jackers

Graham Marsden
Joke

And of course...

... they're not using the unsecured systems to download lots of porn....

Spooks' favourite IT firm tells Reg readers to grow up

Graham Marsden
FAIL

Bullshit!

"What matters in terms of privacy, according to Detica, is how they're used."

No, what matters in terms of privacy is Data Troughing where every possible detail is being recorded on databases, whether it's actually needed (or justified).

"Where investigations are directed in a more focussed way it means members of the public will not be investigated unnecessarily"

No, members of the public should not be investigated *AT ALL* unless there are reasonable grounds for suspicion!

This is just a piece of post-hoc spin trying to justify holding large amounts of data by saying "trust us, we won't look too hard at your information, honestly!"

Would you leave your child alone with a cabinet minister?

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

Let me rephrase that for you...

"a one-off visitor, especially a government Minister, should never be left alone..."

Bunch of hypocrites. "Do as we say, not as we do. We're trust-worthy, you aren't".

Well, sorry, no, we don't trust you. I wonder why...?

Mysterious organic blobs found in Alaskan waters

Graham Marsden
Alert

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh...

... Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtan!

OpenOffice bug/feature stirs 'horde of angry chimps'

Graham Marsden
Boffin

So why not...

... just put in a check for if any fields are currently hidden and and will be affected, then, if so, pop up a message "Warning: This action will over-write data in hidden fields, do you wish to proceed? Yes/ No"?

Problem solved.

Government defeats Tories in 'McKinnon' extradition vote

Graham Marsden
Pirate

@Good old Labour party...

> please Gordon, put us all out of our misery - call an election

Co-incidentally Number 10 has just replied to the Petition calling on the Government to hold an election now. Guess what their response is...?

http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page20043

UK to get Kindle in Christmas stocking?

Graham Marsden
Pirate

In the US...

... it seems the Kindle 2 costs $299

What's the betting that here it will cost £299??

Builder blacklist boss hit with £5,000 fine

Graham Marsden
FAIL

Hmm...

1) Get paid £478,937

2) Get fined £5000

3) PROFIT!

Airbed-fixing German blows up mattress flat

Graham Marsden
Joke

Are you sure it was an airbed...

... not another sort of inflatable like a certain Australian was caught stealing...?!

Child protection groups undermine Aussie Firewall

Graham Marsden
Thumb Up

Cenordyne...

... what an excellent ad!

(Wish we'd done something like that for the Dangerous Pictures Act...)

DNA database swells despite human rights ruling

Graham Marsden
FAIL

@Alex D

> Is it such a bad idea for the police to have a database of DNA?

Ask Raymond Easton, the guy who, although suffering from Parkinsons Disease (which meant that he could barely walk to the front door unaided) was, none the less, arrested by Swindon Police on behalf of Greater Manchester Police because his DNA was "found" at the scene of a burglary. Except it turned out that it wasn't his DNA and it was a false positive.

http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2000/8/15/238098.html

The fact that the guy was virtually immobile appeared to be utterly irrelevant to the Police, who in their simple minded way, decided that because there was a DNA match, he *must* have been the criminal.

Now imagine that you sneeze into a hanky, someone else steals that hanky and drops it a the scene of a crime. "Oho!" says Mr Plod, "Let's check our database... Aha! Mr Alex D I arrest you for the crime of not thinking a bit more about the risks of false positives..."

Kent Police clamp down on tall photographers

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

Flash Mob!

Why not have someone "look suspcious" in Chatham High street by taking a few photos, then, as soon as Plod starts taking exception, have another 50 photographers all grab cameras out of their bags etc and start taking pictures of the PC/ PCSO...!

MontaVista boasts 1-second Linux boot

Graham Marsden

@Dave 31

Don't forget the BBC Micro.

Bee-Beep!

Save journalism, online newspaper publishers beg EC

Graham Marsden
Boffin

a small piece of code...

... which would instruct these services to ignore the pages.

You mean like robots.txt...?

And if they still want "the attention search engines bring", why not have an un-robots.txt blocked section that has the headlines and nothing else, so people have to click on the headline and visit their site to get the article...?

Not exactly rocket science.

Italian bride's bouquet downs ultralight

Graham Marsden
FAIL

Mode = Rocky Horror

I really loved the skillful way,

You beat the other girls to the bride's bouquet...

... erm...

Cyclists offered cut-price shag at German brothel

Graham Marsden
Joke

Two nuns on a penny-farthing...

... one says to the other "I"ve never come this way before"...

US thesp to attempt audacious tw*tdangle

Graham Marsden
FAIL

Snickers bars - sponsors of Feeding America

Hmm, tell us about the nutritional value of Snickers bars. (Don't forget to mention the high sugar content which encourages obesity...)

Mobile directory blames press for latest failure

Graham Marsden
FAIL

Oh dear, how sad...

... too bad!

Did the Vatican suppress hidden 'Galileo Cryptogram'?

Graham Marsden
FAIL

LOBLOSCK!

There's a cryptogram for you...

Orange UK drops DRM

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

Now how about...

... they drop this ridiculous "equivalency" that assumes that £1 = $1 and stops charging us 79p for a track that the Yanks can buy for 79c?

Hint 79 cents is 48 pence...

Written material saved from censor's big black pen - for now

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

Don't break out the champagne yet...

As Mark above points out, the Dangerous Drawings Act has been waved through with barely a murmur after a discussion at the Committee Stage by a one lot of people with an agenda and another lot who didn't really have a clue refusing to listen to those who pointed out how stupid this law would be and there is still the possibility that the Dangerous Writings Act might get the same treatment at the Report Stage...

Home Office gets another ad agency for ID cards

Graham Marsden
FAIL

So...

... just how much more of our money is the Government going to piss away on their Quixotic desire to convince us that they can be trusted with all our information and ID and that we're not going to have to carry a card to show we have their permission to walk down the street?

ELECTION NOW, GORDON!

Coming soon: clothes that take photographs

Graham Marsden
Coat

Plod will love this...

... Excuse me Sir, but was your jacket taking a photograph of this building which may be of use to terrorists...?

Mine's the 12MP coat...

US docs claim world record musical-kidneys game

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

@Anonymous Coward Posted Thursday 9th July 2009 14:33 GMT

> I often wonder why organ donation isn't an opt-out system, apart from religi-tards I don't know anyone who objects to the process.

I am not a religi-tard and I am signed up as an organ donor however I certainly object to the idea of it being "opt out" because it is my *CHOICE* to donate.

The State should not get to decide what happens to my body at ANY time, allowing this sets a dangerous precedent.