* Posts by Graham Marsden

6899 publicly visible posts • joined 19 Jan 2007

Google went behind our backs and really hurt us, squeal upset porn kingpins

Graham Marsden
Childcatcher

@ Brewster's Angle Grinder - Re: @graham

> Actually, their argument tends to be, "We don't like it and we don't want our children seeing it (or liking it)

No, the "Won't Someone Think of the Children!" argument is just their excuse for trying to ban something that they don't want us seeing.

Graham Marsden

Re: @Symon - Doesn't kill anyone

> How about this?

Given the number of porn workers, what's remarkable is the *low* number of people infected and the measures that the industry itself is willing to take to deal with the problem.

Now compare that with the rising number of young people who have not got the Safer Sex message and have contracted STDs...

Graham Marsden
Unhappy

@moosh

> why should anyone object to that?

Because, as is traditional with with religious lobbies and the Mary Whitehouse Brigade and so on, the objection is "We don't like it, so *you* shouldn't be allowed to see it, just in case it makes you do something bad..."

Unfortunately, as with all such prohibitions, it only makes the "forbidden fruit" even more attractive and does nothing to actually stop the behaviours (such as rape, abuse, misogyny etc) which happen whether or not the viewer has seen it.

Regrettably, however, because of the "shame" that society surrounds such things with, few people are willing to stand up and say "I like this, I want to see it", so the politicians pander to the vocal minority knowing that it will go down well in the hypocritical media (Daily Fail, I'm looking at you) with their claims that they are "protecting" us/ society/ women/ children from harm, when, in fact, they're causing the opposite.

Google have, it seems, fallen for the same short-sighted view.

Graham Marsden

@Symon - Re: Doesn't kill anyone

No, that's just stupidity and I don't see google blocking that any time soon...

Think Google Glass is creepy? Wait until it READS YOUR MIND

Graham Marsden

> What you do NOT want is your mind state being transferred to Google

Have they invented Effectors, then?

UK gov rushes through emergency law on data retention

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

Re: Words that are friends ...

Perhaps we could have one over-arching organisation to deal with everything like this.

They could be called the GEneral STate POlice, perhaps...

Global protest calls for canning SOPA-by-stealth treaty's IP bits

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

"been told the treaty is in their best interests"

And "it's for your own good" as the Vet said to the tom cat...

Give an exoplanet a new name: Fill in this form and hope these astro-boffins pick your $input

Graham Marsden
Thumb Up

A pity that...

... Fintlewoodlewix is already taken...

It's finally happened: Bloke builds BOFH-style goofing-off cattle prod

Graham Marsden

@ I ain't Spartacus Re: Dope Amine

> I'd much prefer it if electric shocks were built into the downvoting button instead.

I can think of a couple of posters on El Reg who would be fried to a crisp if this was introduced given the number of downvotes their posts have accrued...!

Graham Marsden

@Dick Pountain - Re: Dope Amine

... and then fall asleep for half an hour or order a pizza?

Graham Marsden
Thumb Up

@Billa Bong - Re: Wrong way around

> Reward for good behaviour is by far more powerful at creating the habit pathways in one's brain than punishment for bad behaviour is.

COMPU-TEACH: Good morning life-form.

PUPIL:Hi teach.

COMPU-TEACH: Are you sitting comfortably?

PUPIL: Yes.

COMPU-TEACH: Then stand up! Harsh Economic Truths, Class Seventeen. You are standing up?

PUPIL: Yes.

COMPU-TEACH: Good. Posit: you are living in an exciting, go-ahead civilisation. Where are you looking?

PUPIL: Up.

COMPU-TEACH: What do you see?

PUPIL: The open sky. The stars. An infinite horizon.

COMPU-TEACH: Correct! You may press the button.

PUPIL: Thank you.

[Button is pressed. A surge of energy]

PUPIL: Wow! That feels nice.

- The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Russian MP fears US Secret Service cuffed his son for Snowden swap

Graham Marsden

@Jonny Canuck

> I'm wondering how agents of the US government can enter a foreign country and remove someone against their will

Does the expression "Extraordinary Rendition" not ring any bells?

The Americans have a long history of kidnapping people to bring them to "justice" and, of course, have a nice little understanding in their Courts that it doesn't matter *how* the defendant (who is, of course, supposedly presumed innocent, whether you have any sympathy for him or not) got there...

Doctor Who season eight scripts leak online

Graham Marsden
Mushroom

@SteveK - Re: Wait and see

Re: The F1 GP - I actually sent a complaint message to BBC on Sunday because I was sitting down to watch the highlights of the British Grand Prix (having avoided any news etc earlier in the day) only to have BBC 3 News *immediately* before it announce the result in a way that was totally impossible to avoid seeing :-(

Graham Marsden
Unhappy

Re: Wait and see

Yeah, the only problem then is avoiding the bloody spoilers from Trailers the BBC broadcast which give away massive hints as to what is going to happen, not to mention pictures of Cybermen stuck on the front of the Radio Times ruining any surprise as to the "big reveal"... :(

Wireless-controlled contraception implant is coming, says MIT

Graham Marsden
Coat

@WraithCadmus - Re: Power

No, it only works when she's on top!

Boffins urge European Commission to reboot electric brain project

Graham Marsden
Thumb Up

Re: An electronic brain?

I'm sure the end result will be something we can all Share and Enjoy!

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

Re: Science gravy train

I said it to Wilbur and I said it to Orville, that thing will never work...

European Space Agency demos MARS LANDINGS BY DRONE

Graham Marsden
Alien

Dropship?

"We're on an express elevator to Hell. GOING DOWN!"

Alabama quadchopper hits THREE THOUSAND FEET next to AIRPORT

Graham Marsden
Thumb Up

Just for a moment...

... ignoring the rights and wrongs of this, that footage from *inside* the fireworks display was bloody impressive!

Don't panic! Mega cloud biz group says NSA just one among many threats

Graham Marsden
Coat

Re: No cloud is still the best option

Hey! You! Get off of my cloud! - The Rolling Stones

Fridge hacked. Car hacked. Next up, your LIGHT BULBS

Graham Marsden
Unhappy

Re: Why is security still an afterthought?

Why? Because it doesn't make money, that's why.

It's a cost on the bottom line, not a revenue generator so the bean counters don't want it, the bosses don't understand it and the coders are being pushed to get the product out, so security is ignored or pushed to the end of the line.

NSA dragnet mostly slurped innocents' traffic

Graham Marsden
FAIL

The laughable fundamental flaw with Matt Bryant's arguments...

I find it ironic (well, absolutely hilarious, actually) that Matt Bryant keeps calling us "sheeple" yet his arguments boil down to him actually saying that he *wants* us to be obedient sheeple, to not question, to accept the State snooping into our private business, to let them do whatever they want because they're the "shepherds" and they're doing it for our own good and to protect us from all those nasty wolves which are out there.

Well, thank you, Matt, but frankly I'm not falling for that nonsense and neither are most of the rest of us on here. So you feel free to keep baaa-lieving that it's all to make you safer and knuckle under to the power of the State and that you're not at any risk because you're not important enough for them to worry about and that it doesn't matter that your data and information is being stored and recorded and kept on file but some of us won't be sheep and won't simply, blindly accept this sort of thing, but will stand up for our Rights and Freedoms that people have fought wars to protect.

Oh and the final ironic flaw: Shepherds? Sheep? Lambs to the slaughter...?

ROFL!

Graham Marsden

Re: OMGeeez!!! What a DISASTER!!! We're all DOOOOMED!!! Etc.

> Even data that the NSA has decided is irrelevant is retained by the agency

But I've been *ASSURED* that nobody is interested in us because we're just not important so *why* are they retaining this unimportant data?

Is this just the Precautionary Principle that "well you might be of interest to us later?" Perish the thought that there might be False Positives where some poor innocent sap gets caught up in the dragnet and then faces an accusation of a crime in a Kafka-esque secret court where he's not even allowed a proper defence because his legal team is not allow to actually examine the evidence against him.

Still, that's not harmful to Rights and Freedoms and Civil Liberties, is it?

Is there too much sex and violence on TV?

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

@Khaptain - Re: Flower Power + Darwin

> Yes, society is on the decline

ORLY? Since before the days of Juvenal, people have been bemoaing the decline of society (mostly due to people publishing/ broadcasting/ doing things that they don't approve of) yet, somehow, we haven't lapsed back into barbarism...

Goldilocks Gliese planets don't actually exist

Graham Marsden

Phew...

... that's lucky. Imagine what it would have been like if we'd received a whole load of cute pet xyplict photos back...

Your Android phone is a SNITCH: Wi-Fi bug makes you easy to track

Graham Marsden
Boffin

"this means your phone will fall back to the mobile data network while the screen is off...

"...which will increase mobile data usage and power consumption."

Err, unless (as I do) I keep mobile data switched off until *I* decide to switch it on and use it...

Use Tor or 'extremist' Tails Linux? Congrats, you're on an NSA list

Graham Marsden
Boffin

@Matt Bryant - Re: Lee D(unce) they're a spy agency

> "NSA training manuals state that 300 terrorists have been captured using intelligence from XKeyscore before 2008"

And, of course, we all believe them, don't we, boys and girls? (After all, they wouldn't say "well, actually we haven't caught anyone, but that won't stop us trying!" would they?)

(Who are these terrorists? If they're terrorists and have been captured, surely they've been charged and convicted in a court of law so we can *know* that they're terrorists? If they haven't been charged and convicted, then wouldn't that just make them "alleged terrorists"? Or is a suspicion of them being terrorists enough to call that a success...?)

> Under US law it is all legal.

Oh, well *that's* alright then! Nothing to see, move along...

> It really would be terrible if you realised you are of zero interest to anyone.

Umm, did I mis-read this bit from the article: "the extent of the paranoid agency's targeting of Tor users, Linux Journal readers and and anyone else interested in online privacy"? Why would they be targeting these people if they were "of zero interest"?

ISPs haul GCHQ into COURT over dragnet interwebs snooping

Graham Marsden

"...all of GCHQ's work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework...

"...which ensures that our activities are authorised, necessary and proportionate, and that there is rigorous oversight, including from the Secretary of State..."

... who will, if anyone finds out that we've been naughty, conveniently and retro-actively change the law so that what we did that was illegal is, suddenly, now entirely legal. Nice bloke!

Lords try shoehorning law against revenge porn into justice bill

Graham Marsden

@Arnaut the less Re: Stick

> It isn't actually that hard to write into a law that it applies to the posting of pictures and comments intended to insult, humiliate or expose the victim to ridicule

Except, if you have any familiarity with the way such things are written (cf the Extreme Pornography laws) that is *not* what happens. Instead we get some vague and entirely subjective definition written into the law and then the mess is left for the Courts to sort out.

What this means, of course, is that you probably won't actually *know* if you're breaking the law until you find yourself arrested and accused.

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

@Arnaut the less - Re: "then don't pose for it."

> Pressure on girls to produce these pictures or have them taken can be very great. It isn't reasonable to expect teenagers and young women to resist it; some sort of law is needed to protect them.

Bullshit.

What is needed is *education* not *legislation*, just as we need to teach boys that they are *not* all "asking for it" not to teach girls that they shouldn't dress in a "provocative manner" in order to prevent themselves from being raped.

And that is why I downvoted you.

Like frozen burgers, 'Bigfoot' DNA samples have a touch of horse

Graham Marsden

Err...

... didn't I see all this in a documentary on Channel 4 at the end of last year? What is there here that's new?

PayPal says sorry: Fat fingers froze fundraiser for anti-spy ProtonMail

Graham Marsden

And this is why...

... I ensure I never let a large balance build up on Paypal, but transfer it out as soon as possible...

REVEALED: The sites blocked by Great Firewall of Iraq

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

It's a good thing...

... nothing like that would ever happen here...

</irony>

New Russian law punishes online 'extremism'

Graham Marsden

@ Yet Another Anonymous coward - Re: How long

> Like it was some medieval monarchy

ITYM "like the UK under the previous Tory regime..."

SUPER EARTH possibly home to life FOUND in our 'solar backyard'

Graham Marsden
Coat

@TimeMaster T - Re: Missing from article

> at the other end of the couch next to the TV remote

Well I hope it doesn't fall down behind the cushions, then...

MPAA, meet the Streisand effect: Picture ass. slaps Reddit with takedown

Graham Marsden
Thumb Up

For those who have never seen it...

... the original Edge of Darkness is being repeated on BBC4 starting at 10pm on Monday 30th!

What is ex-NSA spyboss selling for $1m a month, asks US congressman

Graham Marsden
Facepalm

"so that Congress can verify if classified information has been leaked"

Which is, of course, *their* job...

Creepy battery-operated teddy bear sex toy..,sadly, this is for real

Graham Marsden
Happy

@Tim Worstal - Re: How bizarre

I've been in the adult products business (making and selling leather BDSM gear) for 20 years now and every time I think I've seen it all, someone comes up with a product that makes me go "I would never have thought of *that*!"

So don't be disappointed that you didn't think of this one...

US Supreme Court: Duh, obviously cops need a warrant to search mobes

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

Re: Two terrorists just...

I downvoted you because I refuse to be treated as a terrorist suspect simply for wanting to visit your country, so I simply refuse to go there.

Study of Brit students finds TXTING doesn't ruin your writing

Graham Marsden

Texting might not ruin writing...

... but typing seems to have had that effect on mine!

I learned to touch-type many years ago and now very rarely handwrite anything more than the occasional note. So when I've tried to write anything longer, I find I have to slow down or even do some "warm-up" writing on some scrap paper to make sure the result is legible...

Super-snoop bid: UK government hits panic button on EU data retention ruling

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

@thomas k.

Goebbles was alleged to have said "If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself", however there seems to be no confirmed attribution of it to him.

However there is:

"[...] voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

Herman Goering

Shine on you crazy diamond: Distant dwarf may hide space jewel

Graham Marsden
Thumb Up

@AC - Re: Arthur C Clarke strikes again?

Yes, Clarke did write about it and used it as part of the plot of 2061:Odyssey 3

Titan sprouts 'Magic Island', say astroboffins

Graham Marsden
Alien

Aha!

The mystery of Lost Atlantis solved at last!!!

POTUS promises Trans Pacific Partnership text

Graham Marsden
Coat

@Don Jefe - Re: @dan1980

> Ugh bludgeoned his neighbor to death to claim ownership of The Monolith

That was actually Moonwatcher :-)

(Mine's the one with the copy of Clarke's "The Lost Worlds of 2001" in the pocket)

Congress passes crackdown on NSA surveillance

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

" shutting the back door on mass surveillance"

And what about the front door? And the windows? And the skylight? And then there's the route through the basement and...

#YO_NO! Messaging app 'Yo' gets hit by hackers

Graham Marsden
Facepalm

Y'oh!

The post is required, and must contain letters.

DANGER MOUSE is back ... and he isn't half a GLASSHOLE

Graham Marsden
Happy

@AC - Re: On being nick-named "Penfold"

I blame my parents for that...

Graham Marsden

On being nick-named "Penfold"

Given a lot of the potential nicknames that could have been applied (usually by petty-minded bullies who thought that references to Mars Bars were the ultimate in wit) "Penfold" was certainly not the worst by any means.

I got tagged with Penfold almost 30 years ago and still to this day there are people who call me that, rather than Graham and it's never bothered me in the slightest.

Crikey, Chief!

- Penfold

The rise of the humans: How to outsmart the digital deluge

Graham Marsden
Happy

Re: How I outsmart the digital deluge ..

> Excuse me, but this sounds like stating the bleeding obvious ..

Yeah, but it's great when you can get paid for it!

Virgin Media boss AND ex-Murdoch man: BSkyB broadband is 'lousy'

Graham Marsden

@sorry, what? - Re: Sieze the opportunity

Whereas I often have problems with Virgin, such as my broadband connection freezing for several seconds on an intermittent basis with no rhyme or reason that I can report to get fixed.

On several occasions over the past year or three I've called their Customer Services because of a fault that they say is with my computer/ router/ whatever and that they'll have to send out an engineer in two or three days, when the fault is actually with their system and it would be a waste of time sending an engineer, but their drones are too dim to realise this.

I also sometimes don't get the promised speeds and see downloads slow to a crawl.

The only reason I don't switch to another provider is that my BT line has been cut off (quite literally, someone has taken a pair of wire cutters to it and it ends half-way down the wall!) and they want silly money to re-connect it which would wipe out any savings or benefits I might get by changing.