* Posts by Graham Marsden

6899 publicly visible posts • joined 19 Jan 2007

Even Apple doesn’t mess with Taylor Swift

Graham Marsden
Meh

"the world’s biggest pop star"

Who?

GCHQ didn't illegally spy on Brit NGOs, tribunal rules

Graham Marsden

Re: YAAC Or 3rd option

This is the same IPT that came up with the ruling that British Law forbids mass surveillance, but even though GCHQ is troughing every bit of data on us as they can, they're *not* performing "mass surveillance".

Matt will now explain how many angels can dance on the head of that particular pin.

(Well, actually he won't, he'll just call people by silly names and dodge the question and move the goalposts as we've all come to expect...)

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

Re: Or 3rd option

Spies keeping their spying secret from our elected representatives or those elected representatives condoning the spies breaching our laws and spying on us just because they can - who would have thunk it.

FTFY.

Anakin Skywalker chased by cops, crashes podracer into tree

Graham Marsden

Re: those prequels...

Sorry, *what* prequels?

There were only three Star Wars films and one Matrix and one Highlander film...

Tim Worstall dances to victory over resources scaremongerers

Graham Marsden

"He also gave every attendee a copy of his latest book"

Apparently it was a condition of attending...

Oi, UK.gov, your Verify system looks like a MASS SPY NETWORK

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

"Damn...

"... they spotted it."

- HM Government.

Buh bye fakers? Amazon tweaks customer product reviews system

Graham Marsden

Re: And...

But then the scammers would just put a load of products on for a penny, immediataly buy them with their sock-puppet accounts and mark them as "shipped"...

Graham Marsden
Flame

Re: What about fake products?

Not forgetting those products with "Genuine Leather" in the title which then say (PU Leather) somewhere at the bottom of the description.

Graham Marsden

@JeffyPoooh - Re: Wow... Ooooh... Ah...

Thank you for that very helpful review of Amazon coders. I would up vote you a thousand times if I could...

.

.

.

.

(but I can't be bothered to create 1000 sock puppet accounts)

LinkedIn reveals invitation-only bourgeois bug bounty

Graham Marsden
Boffin

Re: "inivitation"?

Err, no, it would be a bounty for spotting spelling mistakes in El Reg articles...

Graham Marsden
Facepalm

"inivitation"?

Pity El Reg doesn't pay a spelling mistake bounty...

Supermarket tweet: Twitter ankles balloon in product, places shopping frenzy

Graham Marsden
WTF?

"Twitter ankles balloon in product, places shopping frenzy"

"Hooray, hooray for the spinster's sister's daughter!"

Yep, it's true: Android is the poor man's phone worldwide

Graham Marsden

Looks like...

... Apple have created a Giffen Good

Are ALIENS hiding on Jupiter's Europa? Let's find out, cry NASA bods

Graham Marsden
Boffin

@GX5000 - Re: Seeding life

Wrong

Graham Marsden
Thumb Up

"about the same cost as flying a B-2 bomber for 250 hours"

And a damned sight more useful!

US National Vulnerability Database contained ... yup, an XSS vuln

Graham Marsden
Facepalm

Re: Maybe it's just a big honeypot

See Hanlon's Razor for details...

Foxconn's going to 'exploit' Indian labour? SCORE! Bye, poverty

Graham Marsden

@LucreLout - Re: "I think that billions coming up out of absolute poverty... @Graham Marsden

> So its ok for the third world to live in actual poverty as long as your salary is guaranteed to keep up with mine?

No, try a different Straw Man and, please, put the Racism Card away, it just makes you look silly.

Graham Marsden
Holmes

"I think that billions coming up out of absolute poverty...

"...is worth widening in rich country inequality. Others might not agree."

See icon for details.

Why don't we try getting rid of some of those top-level CxO jobs? You know, the ones that pay big bonuses for, frankly, doing fuck all or, even worse, give massive golden parachute pay-offs for screwing up the company, causing your workers to lose their employment and leaving them scratching around for minimum wage jobs to try to feed their kids and keep a roof over their heads?

Oh no, says Tim, those workers should be *happy* that someone else, somewhere else in the world is "getting out of poverty", meanwhile the bosses and the shareholders are laughing all the way to the bank. Trebles all round!!

MILLIONS of broadband punters aren't getting it fast enough – Which?

Graham Marsden

@Tim Almond - Re: Does Anyone Use this capacity?

The point is not whether anyone *uses* this capacity, it is that the Providers sell it as if everyone *can* use that capacity.

And that's a different matter (and not exactly credible either)

AssangeTM says Sweden squibbed on promised interview

Graham Marsden
Meh

Re: Great quote...

Oh look, Scorchio!! is back...

I've just had a look at his posting history:

Today, 9 days ago, 1 month ago and 4 months ago, virtually all of those posts about Assange.

I wonder whose sock puppet he is?

US Air Force drone pilots in mass burn out, robo-flights canceled

Graham Marsden

@Ledswinger

>> Shooting misidentified civilians or friend ground forces is not.

> I honestly think you've got that the wrong way round. In the very infrequent event that compensation is paid to foreign victims it will be paltry,

It's not the cost of the compensation, it's the cost of the cover up full enquiry that follows...

Climate change alarmism is a religious belief – it's official

Graham Marsden

Look at Lewis' previous rants diatribes tirades articles on the subject and it may become a little clearer...

Downing Street secretly deletes emails to avoid exposure to FOIeurs

Graham Marsden
Devil

Re: I wonder

Oh don't worry, if it finds out it has done something illegal, it will just retro-actively change the law to make it legal...!

YOU ARE THE DRONE in Amazon's rumoured new parcel delivery plan

Graham Marsden
Holmes

Re: Money! Kiddie Fidlers! Stalkers! Thieves!

> What about the positive human side knowing you actually helped someone and at the same time had a small detour from your work run?

What about the positive side of you've just acquired a new lap top/ 4k TV, boxed set of CDs for nothing...?

British Library publishes Digital Magna Carta – written-by-web-vote because it's 2015

Graham Marsden
Flame

"Only three of the 63 clauses still stand in law?"

And Call-me-David Cameron is doing his utmost to get rid of even those ones.

Equal access to justice? Not now the Tories have denied many people access to Legal Aid. Now it's "how much justice can you afford?" If you're wealthy, fine, if not, you're screwed. Worse than that, they want to outsource the system to their mates in G4S and the like (the same people who are likely to end up running the privatised prisons) so obviously there's no conflict of interest there!

"No imprisonment without trial"? Well, unless you're an immigrant being held without any idea of if and when your case is going to be reviewed.

And, of course, there's Cameron's plans to scrap the Human Rights Act and bring in their hypocritical "British Bill of Rights" which really means "British Bill of the Rights we say you can have, provided you're someone we like". The only reason that's been kicked into the long grass at the moment is that he knows he can't even convince a lot of his own party to support it, but like the Snoopers Charter, it won't go away, they'll just do it slowly, chipping away at a Right here, a Protection there, a Liberty somewhere else...

Cameron, in his utterly hypocritical speech, said "We talk about the 'law of the land' and this is the very land where that law – and the rights that flow from it – took root". What he didn't say is that he's doing his utmost to uproot those laws and salt the earth so that those inconvenient rights don't get in the way of their control freak ways.

Icon: Our Rights going up in flames...

Hacked US OPM boss: We'll fix our IT security – just give us $21 million

Graham Marsden

Re: Of course...

Yeah, but there was nothing that could be pinned on them, so they were quite happy to crap on someone else...

Graham Marsden
Stop

Of course...

... what the grandstanding politicians with their accusations and speeches (more for the media than for information) were really thinking was "Thank fuck it wasn't anything that *I* am responsible for!"

News website deserves a slap for its hate-filled commentards, say 'ooman rights beaks

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

"this is all over 230 quid"

No, it isn't. It's about who is responsible for the comments and what laws should apply to the hosting company which publishes them.

As the author says "in a case that was all about the principle" did El Reg's editor not read the article before commenting?

How swearing at your coworker via WhatsApp could cost you $68,000

Graham Marsden
Facepalm

"the law applies to UAE citizens and foreign nationals"

... but will actually only be used to prosecute foreign nationals because all UAE citizens are noble, upstanding people who would never break any law, especially not the ones who have lots of "wasta" [influence or clout]...

FTFY

EU MEPs accept lonely Pirate's copyright report – and water it down

Graham Marsden
WTF?

“The commercial use of...

"... photographs, video footage or other images of works which are permanently located in physical public places should always be subject to prior authorisation from the authors or any proxy acting for them."

So if I make a film in London which includes aerial footage of well known buildings or shows a statue or another public work of art in the background, I have to get "prior authorisation" from the "author or any proxy" working for *every single one* of them? And, presumably, if I don't, they can then sue for breach of copyright when my film is distributed?

Wow, what a great fucking stupid idea!

Go fac' yourselves: US privacy bods walk out of visage recog talks

Graham Marsden
Holmes

So...

... the Industry which wants to monetise us refuses to accept that we have any right to not be stalked by them everywhere we go?

Colour me surprised...

Graham Marsden
Meh

Re: to promote better and more personalised service levels

Of course the flip side of that is when my bank or gym scans my card and then says "Hello Mr Marsden" as if I should be impressed that they've just read my name off their screen.

Graham Marsden
Stop

"they could always refuse you entry if you don't accept their T&Cs."

And I can tell them where they can shove their T&Cs and go somewhere else.

Vodafone hikes prices to 37.5p/min – and lets angry customers flee

Graham Marsden
WTF?

" write to us"?

Good to see Voda aren't putting barriers in the way of people leaving by letting them e-mail or phone to end their service...

</sarcasm>

Hating on 'Like Farms': boffins trawl for Facebook fakes

Graham Marsden
Thumb Up

Re: Like!

You make very good poiunt. Thank s for this article.

http://www.ihopethesearchenginesimprovemywebsiteratingsintheirindexes.com

Sunday Times fires off copyright complaint at Snowden story critics

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

"Also why does the page jump to the bottom when I click on up or down vote?"

I'm getting the same in Firefox.

I'd assumed it was due to my running NoScript and AdBlock which occasionally can cause odd errors like that.

Who else is having this problem and *why* can't El Reg get their Up/Down Vote system working without needing to refresh the page?

Silicon Valley season closer: Would you like fried servers with that?

Graham Marsden
Mushroom

I watched the start of the first episode of this "comedy"...

... and found the humour crass, the writing poor, the dialogue tedious and the characters unlovable.

Give me the Big Bang Theory any day!

Chancellor Merkel 'was patient zero' in German govt network hack

Graham Marsden
Coat

I bet they got the idea...

... from watching James Bond films...

Grumpy EU ministers agree shaky pact on new data protection law

Graham Marsden
Devil

@AC

I was just thinking the same thing.

It's in the business' “legitimate interest” to make profits. Whether them selling our data or doing anything else with it is in *our* “legitimate interest” is another matter entirely...

'Snowden risked lives' fearfest story prompts sceptical sneers

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

Has anyone seen...

... any reports of the recent loss of all those Background check Vetting Forms on *any* other mass media apart from El Reg?

After a bit of searching I can only find it on the Wall Street Journal and The Guardian's pages. I wonder why...?

Unlucky, Palmer: Facebook's going to BAN Oculus pr0n apps

Graham Marsden
Alert

Re: Prudish much?

Yep, you'll no doubt get many games which let you shoot, blow up or run down people in exquisitely rendered 3D graphic detail, but gods forbid you might get to see a pair of boobs...

Why is that idiot Osbo continuing with austerity when we know it doesn't work?

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

As always....

... cui bono?

The Independent Living Fund, which helps around 18,000 disabled people work and live in the community, is being wound down.

The NAO has said that more than half of Britain's councils risk falling into serious financial crisis and may not be able to provide services they are legally obliged to offer.

Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary (HMIC), has said that 17 out of the 43 police forces may "struggle to sustain themselves in the medium term in light of continued austerity".

Cuts to Legal Aid mean that many less well-off people are now excluded from the system and cannot "afford" to get justice.

Meanwhile the richest get a £100,000 a year tax cut, banker's bonuses (you know, the people who helped cause the crisis and the ones who have been fixing LIBOR rates etc) have risen, George has not "eliminated the public sector deficit by 2015" as he claimed he could (in fact he hasn't even managed to cut it in half) and British workers have had the longest decline in average wages since records began whilst minimum wage jobs and zero-hours contracts have risen "reducing" unemployment with near poverty level labour.

Cui bono? As always, not us...

Graham Marsden

@Chris Miller - Re: @Graham Marsden

Ah, there's nothing like reasoned and adult debate. Pity your post was nothing like reasoned and adult debate. Still, at least you don't call people by silly nicknames like Matt Bryant, so I suppose I should be thankful for small mercies.

As to the relevant parts of your post, yes, I'm aware that no voting system is ever going to completely and accurately reflect the wishes of *everyone*, but you appear to be arguing that since it's not possible we might as well stick with FPTP on the basis of "well, it is broke, but we can't find a perfect fix for it, so let's do nothing at all".

Naturally that suits the Tories and Labour fine because they know that they'll eventually get back in power by the principle of Buggin's Turn. Whether it's good for us, the people who they are supposed to be *serving* (not ruling) is another matter entirely.

Graham Marsden
Happy

@Zog_but_not_the_first - Re: @BB- What the...?

No worries, Mate, but perhaps we can just call you Bruce?

Graham Marsden

@Chris Miller - Re: @BB- What the...?

"Our 'broken' electoral system did exactly what it's meant to do [...] ensure that our two-party state system remains in place and ensures that people don't get a real choice"

FTFY.

> People who hate FPTP never seem to specify precisely which system they think would be an improvement

ORLY? I could have sworn I've seen many posts on exactly that, but perhaps some people just don't read them (or don't want to read them?)

Here, let me repeat mine (which I've posted before in these comments pages): Personally I think we should switch to a form of AV or STV system (like the one they use in Scotland!).

At the same time we switch to an elected House of Lords where the seats are apportioned to Parties according to the First Choice votes expressed by the electorate in the election of MPs.

That way we ensure that the MP in a constituency is actually chosen by a *majority* of the votes, rather than being the "least disliked" option, but the "revising house" represents the actual views of the population.

PS as I've said before (also in these pages) the AV Referendum was a complete stitch up. We did not get a *choice* of what FPTP was going to be replaced by, we were simply told "it's either FPTP or AV" which meant that those who wanted some form of Proportional system were forced to vote for either of two choices, neither of which they wanted.

Graham Marsden
Boffin

@BB- Re: What the...?

> England voted and chose steady hands

Howls of derisive laughter, Bruce!

Do you know how many more votes the Tories got this time than last? 600,000. That's it. Thanks to our broken electoral system hat's all it took to give the Tories a "majority", even though they only got 37% of the votes.

Meanwhile the SNP got 4.7% of the votes and got 56 seats, but UKIP got 12.6% and the Greens got 3.8% yet each only got *one* seat, whilst the Lib Dems got 7.9% and 8 seats.

So, no, BB, England (or rather, the United Kingdom) did *NOT* vote for Call me David and Gideon, 60% of them voted for something else entirely, yet still we got this bunch of idiots who think that kicking the poorest in society and giving their rich mates all the money is going to make things better.

Innocent Spaniards roasted by experimental napalm mead

Graham Marsden
Mushroom

I thought the SPB were concocting their own rocket fuel for the LOHAN mission!

Jurassic World: All the meaty ingredients for a summer blockbuster

Graham Marsden
Happy

To quote from Mock the Week...

"The dinosaurs are killing everyone! WHY do we keep re-opening this park and WHO keeps giving us Public Liability insurance???"

How much info did hackers steal on US spies? Try all of it

Graham Marsden

@HildyJ - Re: That's not the point

I think your Irony Detector malfunctioned.

(At least I *hope* the OP was being ironic...)

Use snooped data in court? Nah, says UK.gov - folk might be cleared

Graham Marsden
Childcatcher

@SVV - Re: Local Council Bin Inspectors

But the Government have gone through all the time and effort to get these powers implemented, so they *must* have intended them to be used and, by the gods, we're *going* to use them!!!