* Posts by Graham Marsden

6899 publicly visible posts • joined 19 Jan 2007

DRM is NOT THE LAW, I AM THE LAW, says JUDGE DREDD

Graham Marsden
Meh

Great, but...

... WHEN are they going to sort things out so we can subscribe to the Digital Version of 2000 AD and get it delivered straight to our Inboxes as soon as it's published instead of having to go to their website and buy each copy individually (which is the online version of going down to the shop and buying it in person)?

PS been reading since Prog 1 and got the complete collection up to #1890 when I went digital :-)

Infosec bods can now sniff out the NSA's Quantum Insert hacks

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

I'm sorry...

... but I've just been told that a new law has been rushed through making packet counting illegal...

Industry infighting means mobile users face long delays on UK trains

Graham Marsden
Mushroom

Oh what a shame...

... I SAID: WHAT A SHAME!

NO, NOT TRAIN... SHAME...!!!

HELLO???

When the Schmidt hits The Man: Look what the NSA made Google do

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

"Randomly watching and surveilling what's going over the internet...

"...and invading the privacy of American citizens [and everyone else] is not OK."

... if it's not us doing it...

Cheer up songwriters, there's shedloads of money rolling in

Graham Marsden

Re: Money

... get back

I'm all right, Jack, keep your hands off of my stack.

Money, it's a hit

Don't give me that do goody good bullshit

Google versus the EU: Sigh. You can't exploit a contestable monopoly

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

"The moment Google starts screwing over us consumers then we'll bugger off elsewhere"

ORLY? Generalising from your own experiences and behaviour there, TW?

Yes, *some* consumers will "bugger off elsewhere", but a lot more, because they don't know they're being screwed over or find "everything under one roof" to be more convenient or not being willing to accept that they're being screwed over or whatever will not.

In the mean time the verb "to google" has entered the language and the (false) idea that their results are impartial and aimed solely at getting the best results for the consumer gives a powerful drag factor on any change, so they will keep their monopoly for a very long time unless those pesky governments try to ensure that people *really* have a choice.

TW does rather seem to be missing the point, doesn't he?

White House cyber-general says US must be able to cyber-nuke the worst of the cyber-worst

Graham Marsden
Mushroom

'The goal is to create "norms of behavior" for nation states'

In other words: "Do what *we* like, or else!"

AssangeTM ♥s dictator Kim Jong-un say Sony Pictures' lawyers

Graham Marsden
Thumb Up

@Simon Sharwood - Re: "Rebuts"

It's gratifying to see that at least one of El Reg's writers knows the difference between Refuting, Rejecting and Rebutting an argument!

Lawyer: Cops dropped robbery case rather than detail FBI's StingRay phone snoop gizmo

Graham Marsden

@LucreLout - Re: @Gordon

> your right to privacy when using the phone you just stole from me is trumped all day long by my right to have you caught for the robbery and my phone retrieved. It just is.

But this case *isn't* about a phone being stolen, it's about the Police very probably using illegal methods to snoop on phones in the same way that GCHQ and NSA want to snoop on what everyone does online in the hope that, in the massive haystack of data they collect, there may be a needle.

Yes, in certain *specified* situations, the Police have been given exemptions from certain laws, but, for instance, they can only speed when it's an emergency situation and they're using lights and sirens, not any time they just feel like it.

These exemptions, however do not "override" the law, nor do they have the right or the power to decide what the law is or isn't just depending on how inconvenient it may be and I, for one, want it to stay that way because I don't want us to live in a Police State.

Post Office denies IT blunders led to criminal charges against posties

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

Refuted?

Or just rejected?

I see no refutatation in this article, just a statement that "there have been exhaustive investigations which have not found any evidence of systemic problems with the Horizon system", but given the allegation that there is evidence the Post Office "has been withholding from Second Sight", this doesn't contradict the assertion that the Horizon system has faults.

High on bath salts, alleged Norse god attempts tree love

Graham Marsden
Facepalm

And this goes to show...

... just how effective the "War on Drugs" is, because people have not and would not switch to other substances to get high and even if they did, we'd just ban them and *that* would make the situation better...

FCC hit with SEVENTH net neutrality lawsuit

Graham Marsden
Holmes

"we believe it could lead to smaller bonuses and consumers going elsewhere"

FTFY!

Lib Dem manifesto: Spook slapdown, ban on teen-repelling Mosquitos

Graham Marsden

@dogged - Re: @ Graham Marsden

Please, hyperbole much? The BNP or anyone other minority party won't be "ruling the country" but to suggest that some people "SHOULD NOT" be represented simply pisses all over the idea of a representative democracy (even more than FPTP does!) and ends up with the situation in certain parts of the world where only "approved" candidates are allowed to stand.

And if you think that the Lib Dems are the only ones who engaged in "nasty, power-grabbing politics and the dirtiest possible election campaigns", you really need to take a better look at electoral campaigns in the past (Hint: New Labour - New Danger for one)

Graham Marsden
Meh

"Promises from Clegg? (oi, stop laughing)"

Promises from [Insert Party Leader's name here]? (oi, stop laughing)

FTFY.

Graham Marsden

@dogged

What people are saying is that we want a government which represents how *we* voted, rather than the one that we get with our incredibly broken First Past The Post system.

I invite you to consider the Blair government that got a majority in Parliament despite only getting 34% of the votes. I then invite you to consider what it's like to live in a "safe seat" where Party X can parachute anyone they like in to be your MP knowing that the people there would vote for a donkey with the right coloured rosette on it and if you vote for someone else it's a waste of time. Finally try considering the fact that a lot of the electioneering at the moment has been on the lines of "if you vote for X, you'll get Y..."

It doesn't matter whether it's the Lib Dems, the Greens, the Monster Raving Loony Party or even (gods forbid!) UKIP, the fact is that if 10% of the population vote for them, that 10% should be represented in our Parliament or, if not, we could have the House of Lords elected on that proportional basis.

It is my hope that this election will be the last one which is carried out under a system which only benefits the Tories and Labour whilst ensuring that almost nobody else can get a look in and, instead, we get a Parliament which means that if a Party wants to pass the Snoopers Charter or the Bedroom Tax or any other such piece of nonsense, they'll actually have to *convince* others of the value and validity of such legislation, rather than simply bulldozing it through with a sneer because they have a "majority".

European Parliament mulls law on use of blood metal in tech

Graham Marsden
Boffin

@Dan Paul - Re: When will people stop making @Graham Marsden

What a wonderful rant! Pity you miss the point entirely.

Consider this: If someone invaded your country (even, or especially, under the guise of "helping" you), tried to tell your countryfolk how to live their lives, elect their leaders (prefereably from their chosen shills candidates) and generally pissed all over your lifestyles and traditions, what would you do? Would you capitulate or fight back?

The answer to that is pretty obvious, of course, so now consider what would happen if the invaders started trying to kill off anyone who opposed them (with, of course, attendant "collateral damage") using drones to wipe out a whole area of housing just in case there was a terrorist there and having helicopter gunships shoot up people by mistake.

I think that, if that happened, even those who might have had more moderate, even (who knows) those bleeding heart liberals might consider taking up arms to fight off these interlopers etc.

Would you say that that would be a reasonable assessment of what would happen, yes?

SO WHY DO YOU THINK IT'S ANY FUCKING DIFFERENT FOR PEOPLE IN AFGHANISTAN OR THE MIDDLE EAST OR AFRICA OR ANY FUCKING OTHER PLACE IN THE FUCKING WORLD???

Shooting the shit out of anyone you don't like is NOT going to make the problem any better, it just drives more people into the arms of the militants and terrorists because the people see that as a better option than just capitulating. "They may be bastards, but at least they're *our* bastards"!

"Kill all the people who don't agree with us!" is the cry. But is that them or is that you?

Graham Marsden
Facepalm

Re: When will people stop making

> the real task is to solve the unrest problems in Africa [...] The world would be a better place if groups like the Congolese rebels and Boko Haram were wiped from the earth.

What a *BRILLIANT* solution! Why on earth did nobody think of trying that sort of thing before in Iran or Iraq or Syria or Afghanistan or...

Cram my freebies into Android phones and get a royalty discount, says Microsoft (allegedly)

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

Nice OS you've got there Squire...

... oh you know the rest...

Nuclear fusion simulator among boffinry tools picked for monster Summit supercomputer

Graham Marsden
Coat

At last!

Something that *can* run Crysis!

IWF took down over 31,000 child sexual abuse URLs in 2014

Graham Marsden

Re: St Trinian's banned

Once again I give you the Paedofinder General!

"She's 43, she's from accounts..."

"She looks like 12 and that's what counts!"

:-(

Graham Marsden

@h4arm0ny - Re: I was wrong.

> the tyrannical moral censor that I anticipated has failed to appear

Or has it simply not appeared in an obvious guise?

I fully accept that action needs to be taken against those who commit child abuse and who post such pictures online, but, as Larry F54 says, how many false positives were there?

Given the sort of Moral Panic that surrounds such things, I wouldn't doubt that there have been the equivalents of the album cover or pictures of children in the bath or on the beach which have been caught up in this, all of which have undoubtedly been included in that headline grabbing figure.

This open-source personal crypto-key vault wants two things: To make the web safer ... and your donations

Graham Marsden

Re: @king of foo - Opt-In

> As for the "spoilt vote" idea, unfortunately there's no way to tell the difference between that and stupidity.

"Stupidity" is your word. I used the word "apathy".

There's a difference.

And even if there was a massive no-show (like when Blair got a "majority" with 34% of a 60% turnout) it wouldn't matter, because whoever got in would still declare that they had a mandate to do what they liked.

The only way to get their attention is to either a) spoil your paper or b) vote for a "minor" party (ie not LibLabCon) and demonstrate just how broken our First Past the Post system is.

Graham Marsden

@king of foo - Re: Opt-In

> what if voting meant filling in a questionnaire covering lots of different (divisive) issues, and the results were mapped to the closest matching party?

That's what this site is for.

As for the "don't vote" idea, unfortunately there's no way to tell the difference between that and apathy. At the very least, show up to spoil your ballot paper to register your protest, otherwise you end up with the nonsense of the Police and Crime Commissioners' election where some got in with less than 15% of the votes.

Graham Marsden

@skelband - Re: More anonymity for criminals and terrorists

> If I'm not interesting, why do they want to look at my stuff?

Well obviously the AC agrees with the Police and Security Services that you *might* do something, so it's far better to keep an eye on you "just in case" than risk missing spotting you being a naughty boy!

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

Re: More anonymity for criminals and terrorists

Oh good grief, do people *still* believe this sort of nonsense?

Dear AC, you stand much more chance of being killed in a traffic accident or even getting out of bed than you do of ever being the victim of a terrorist attack. And we're all *so* glad that you have so little to hide that you are not only willing to forego *your* privacy, but everyone else's too!

Please try to understand that we (mostly) have *no* problem with the Security Services doing their job in a targeted manner, what we object to is them treating *everyone* as a potential suspect and acting as if they have a better chance of finding a needle in a haystack by making the haystack so much bigger.

PS If you "have nothing to hide" why are you posting anonymously...?

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

And how long...

... before some NSA/ GCHQ shill proposes a law to make this illegal...?

Verizon to world: STOP opening dodgy phishing emails, FOOLS

Graham Marsden

@Ivan 4 - Re: Dear El Reg...

> You can always use AB+ to kill it.

Yes, I know, I did that for the incredibly stupid and annoying "dancing Jesus" one they came up with a while back, but the point is I shouldn't *need* to if El Reg bothered with making their site user friendly.

And that includes getting rid of the ridiculously massive image at the top of each page which often has virtually no relevance to the story it's referring to...

Graham Marsden
Boffin

Dear El Reg...

... It is possible to set .gif images to loop a set number of times eg 5 or 10 rather than just "loop forever".

Thank you.

Aussie priest BLESSES an APP – and the sacred iPad it runs on

Graham Marsden
Coat

If you use this App...

... God help you!

HOT HOVERSHIP-ON-HOVERSHIP ACTION: SpaceX ready for barge boing

Graham Marsden
Thumb Up

@SteveK

Better than 10 Moby Dicks...

Lib Dems wheel out Digital Rights Bill pledge as election sweetener

Graham Marsden
Gimp

@Crisp - Re: WTF is a digital sphere?

Not... *rounded* corners...?

Graham Marsden

@AC - "I/we don't get to vote for a manifesto, but only an MP"

We are supposed to vote for someone to represent *us* in Parliament. Unfortunately we usually get someone who will just do what their Party Whips tell them to do :-(

But if you want to get an idea of which Party best respresents your views, try this short questionnaire.

The Walton kids are ABSURDLY wealthy – and you're benefitting

Graham Marsden

Re: The problem

Ah, but those nice Waltons have just generously increased the wages of the peons workers to bring them *above* the American Minimum Wage for the first time since the Banking Crisis.

The fact that that represents about 1% of their annual revenue (not the 1% that usually gets talked about!) and that, of course, during that time, the Waltons didn't have problems putting food on the table makes no odds...

PHYSICS APPLECART UPSET as dark energy disappears, Universe slams on brakes

Graham Marsden
Coat

Well that sub-heading...

... went down like a Bomb!

ICANN urges US, Canada: Help us stop the 'predatory' monster we created ... dot-sucks!

Graham Marsden
Holmes

Well...

... isn't THAT a surprise, boys and girls?!

Idiot thieves walk free after stolen iPad uploads pics of them with loot

Graham Marsden

@Eddy Ito - Re: Strike 1 of three? @chriswakey

> Basically it means being so drunk you're staggering about recklessly causing a hazard to yourself or the general public or passed out in the streets. No, can't say I've ever done that

There's an awful lot of Brits who (regrettably) have done so.

If the Police spent all their time nicking and charging them all they'd never catch any other criminals (there's some other cynical comments I could add here...!)

Graham Marsden

@Loyal Commenter - Re: Prison is about 45% effective

> Compelling either party to engage against their will is only counterproductive.

Yes, I'm aware of that.

But it's better to at least try to do something like this which has a chance of making a difference, rather than the "lock them up and throw away the key" mentality which has been shown to be an utter failure.

Graham Marsden

@Velv - Re: The punishment

> Well you don't tend to get repeat offenders...

An argument which ultimately leads to Judge Death from the Judge Dredd stories...

Graham Marsden

Re: Prison is about 45% effective

Restorative Justice has been demonstrated to reduce re-offending rates by up to 27%

Much better than just locking them away with other criminals so they learn to be better at crime.

Graham Marsden
Facepalm

Re: Strike 1 of three?

Ah, yes, the incredibly sensible Three Strikes law which ended up with one guy being sentenced to 25 years in jail for stealing a slice of pizza...

Graham Marsden

Re: The punishment

Whilst we're at it, why don't we just bring back hanging for Robbery, Burglary, Shoplifting, Pick Pocketing etc as prescribed in The Bloody Code

After all, that worked so well in the past that it virtually completely eliminated crime when it was in operation, didn't it...?

"Those who do not learn from History are doomed to repeat it." - George Satayana.

RELICS of the Earth's long lost TWIN planet FOUND ON MOON

Graham Marsden
Coat

I reckon...

... it was Mondas...

Facebook preps for class action lawsuit as angry EU mob lawyer up

Graham Marsden
Holmes

"Facebook’s opt-out system for advertising...

"... does not meet the requirements for legally valid consent,"

Really? But how can "If you use our system we can do what the hell we like" *ever* be considered to be unacceptable...?

Bonking with Apple is no fun 'cos it's too hard to pay, say punters

Graham Marsden

@bpfh

Inflatable Ingrid!

Graham Marsden
Trollface

Curious, they've never complained to me...

Oh no, Moto! Cable modem has hardcoded 'technician' backdoor

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

Re: A hardcoded backdoor?

Hey, if it's good enough for the US Government...

Google wants Marvin the Paranoid Android's personality in the cloud

Graham Marsden
Mushroom

I'm sure that...

... the implementation will be one that we can all Share and Enjoy!

Amazon listens to MORE of your private stuff

Graham Marsden
Facepalm

"You appear to...

"... be having a wank.

"Would you like to buy a porn movie?"

This will crack you up: US drug squad's phone call megaslurp dates back to 1990s

Graham Marsden

Re: The greatest trick

The greatest trick the main two political parties pulled is convincing Corporate America that they are the only two options

FTFY!

Instead of public sector non-jobbery, Martha, how about creating real entrepreneurs?

Graham Marsden

Well, yes. Because the ones with the brains and the ideas are not making it to the top and the ones at the top are too busy awarding themselves massive bonuses and getting their bought-and-paid-for cronies in Government to say "that's fine, because they're providing lots of (zero hours and minimum wage) jobs which make it look as if we're helping the country instead of ham-stringing it and besides, when we stop being MPs we're in line for a nice lucrative directorship..."