Posts by allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

In "Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy", "witchcraft" was the material gained from source "Merlin". Which turned out to be an operation to undermine the service and to protect a mole inside it.

Re: It isn't a loss...

I don't have debts, my capital-asset ratio is negative.

Re: Licking county / Middlesex county

I guess their homepages are banned by some ISPs...

"I've 'eard of unisex, but I've never 'ad it." -- Man in a vintage Monty Python sketch I can't be asked to look up right now

Well, there's The Right Way and The Wrong Way. And The Weasle Way.

Re: Fickle Microsoft

"Stuff changes, get over it. Bit like DOS developers complaining when they had to learn this new Windows stuff."

Heh, you should have heard the FORTRAN programmers when they got rid of the last five card punch machines when I was at uni in 1986 (no, not a typo). Apparently terminals are the spawn of the devil or something.

Re: Why are people bringing so many sharks to the hotel in the first place?

Don't ask.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Re: Comprehension issues

Use the recordings to make a wicked re-mix, add some video and upload it; should go viral in no time.

Re: halcyon 50's ideal

"The white paper is an economic suicide note. To what aim? Preserve some halcyon 50's ideal that never was?"

... a halcyon 50's ideal that only ever existed in Enid Blyton novels*, while in real life rationing didn't end until 4 July 1954 ...

^{* Which I loved as a kid, especially The Famous Five series. Up until the day when I realised that each and every one of them has the same plot. Still, good times...}

Re: Why !

I'd love to have a vacuum cleaner that's build like a little tractor/lawnmower to ride around on.

Re: Reg headline

Well, the guy who made Sea Monkeys into a thing also sold "invisible goldfish" for a while.

Re: CIA phone number

(703) 482-0623 (during normal business hours)

Re: "either creating great content"

"Facebook could easily move its business model to TV: Social "contents" - think the stupid reality/contests we see everywhere, tied to its "social network" to allow Facebook "users" interact somehow and believe they're "part of the show"."

Fahrenheit 451 (1966) - Futuristic Interactive TV

"The future is now, but it's all going wrong." - The The, Perfect

"He's all for democracy until it doesn't go the way he likes....."

DJT's policy concisely summed up. Well done, that man!

Re: Note to self

5. Make sure that all the IoT-devices that potentially can rat you out are utterly destroyed beyond the possibility of any data salvage.

Re: Colossus: The Forbin Project

Alternative title: IoT With Nukes

Re: Google Captcha

Robot outwits "I am not a Robot" Captcha

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go wash my monocle..."

Gasp! You.. you are not using disposable monocles?!?

Re: Happens everywhere

Well, she has my blessing.

Re: "LG's space-age monitors..."

Pre-WW III-age.

Re: hold the heads of federal agencies accountable for managing their cyber risk

Wow, I never knew the CIA had a kids page... But then, why not? Although I'm surprised it includes pictures of CIA operators.

Re: History repeating itself

Hmm... I had one of those IR contraptions you could use to hook up your printer to your computer. A pair of boxes you plugged into the centronics port. The IR beam bounced of the ceiling, so line-of-sight wasn't necessary. That was roughly 20 years ago. It did work a such, but never quite as advertised... Ambient light could be a problem. Reflective surfaces in the room could be both a help and a hindrance. And so on. In the end I bought a very long centronics cable.

If anyone is interested: I've still got the things boxed up in my ever mounting pile of obsolete IT stuff; if you pay for the postage they'll be yours... So if your PHB reads about this you can truthfully tell him that you already have the gear to test the idea!

Re: Not Accenture

You are Peter Thomas, and I claim my £5!

Re: fun exercise

"(Fun exercise: print off a political map of Europe. Colour the countries according to the age of their Constitutions. Mmmmmm.)"

Hmm... AFAIK, Britain doesn't have one. So it remains blank on that map. Does that make them the winners or the losers in this little exercise?

Re: Lets look at the bright side

"Come to think of it have you ever met or heard of even one intelligent person boosting about how intelligent they are (apart from Idi Amin)."

Good point.

Any volunteers to check the freezer at the White House?