Posts by The Sceptic

New stats: Blighty's PC market ended 2012 on its KNEES

@ Shell User

Spot on - if I may add a little something!

Its so common place that the initial release of MS systems are normally 'broken' that no one wants to have to risk of finding the problems - especially when MS still refer you back to your vendor and denying liability.

Windows 7 is kinda of a stable - only if you upgrade all software. Its no longer about purchasing a computer with an OS as on top of this you have to upgrade all software - or at least thats the support from MS's first comment when compatibility issues arise.

Cost of new equipment with MS OS - £400

Cost upgrading vendors software - £600

My typence worth

Microsoft courts customers for search help

Bollocks to Microsoft

Sorry but Microsoft can go play with themself. In the last two years their customer service has went from poor to pathetic. They must be the only organisation who listens to the customer then actively ignores them.

Their licensing has went from unreasonable to extortion.

Their kneecap of unlicensed system affecting licensed systems by accident is the final straw.

They didn't listen over Vista (now rebranded for the dumb asses out there) - why change their corporate policy now!!

Must be losing customer

Yours sincerely,

New Linux User

Woman sues over Vista to XP 'downgrade' charge

How exactly does this work?

Tried forcing the issue but was advised by PC World that they had an agreement with MS which didn't allow them to supply XP anymore. Asked was there something in place which allowed me to downgrade after purchase for free - advised MS didn't give this option. Asked for no operating system - advised their warranty require an OS to be sold with the hardware.

Then asked the staff member to confirm this by email - took my details and haven't heard anything since.

Needles to say like so many others I just don't go to PC World any more - its what the customer wants - not MS

Bosses swear data protection oath

Loss of bonus as a measure of good faith

If these guys are the genuine article why don't they sign a legal document stating they will resign if neglect is shown and forfiet any pay off tied into their contract?

Windows 7 public beta end date named

Bollocks to Re-branding

Am I the only one who's realised this - surely not?

Windows 7 is Windows Vista - check any component - system properties show Vista. Another display of the contempt MS have for the customer

Microsoft releases Vista virtualization

So bad MS can't get Vista fixed

I've been running XP\2000 as a VM on Vista 64 now for about a year now - no doubt MS have been data mining and realised the volume of people doing the same.

How bad does an OS have to be to require a mounted VM to run applications - Vista bad.

Last weekend I had enough - scrapped my Vista 64 bit version (too many unresolved bugs) & am in the process of building a 32 bit Server 2003 to create my VMs on. I already am licensed for everything back to 3.1 so will not be purchasing any additional licenses & following this will be getting an Ubuntu laptop as I've had enough of the new MS license scam.

AMD rolls out first Phenom IIs

Does it have a decent fan\heatsink?

Wonder if this one keeps cool under stress?

My 2.4 9750 works great but can't sustain the high utilisation as the core temp creeps up.

NHS needs to catch up on technology

"but that's a permissions error!"

Another outstanding example of how little the providers think of the NHS.

No doubt the guy who knows enough to tell to the provider how to do their job probably works for them now.

Why don't the NHS managers realise that the providers NEED their business - send an install with the relevant permissions built in to the install (10 minute job) or plan to phase out the provider. Again no top level support for the guys in the field.

First question has to be "who signed off on the purchase & how was it tested". As an end user support engineer you are completely entitled to ask for this information. Again with no NHS employed project manager probably to oversee this process it perfectly positions the provider to give you the run around.

Stop Stealing My Golden Eggs

Not happy this matter has been brought to the publics attention - again!!!!

Having made a good living from the NHS (as a consultant) I feel I should add some balance to the arguement for us third parties.

1) Senior management are very upfront and honest - you are informed at the earliest possible stage that your services are being employed so that if a project fails it is because of your incompedence and not the fact the idea was bad in the first place. Ultimately you will be fired and the manager gets browny points for taking decisive action.

2) All the talented staff have left - such as myself as compensation is diabolical for skilled jobs. Why should I work for 25K a year doing my job when I can leave then come back in as a consultant - doing the same work for £25\hour (50K\year) - you know it makes sense.

3) For the inherantly tricky issues I require to pay a third party for these - ultimately they will get the sack if something goes wrong - I have my cut on top of theirs for protecting myself - an ethos the senior staff fully support.

4) I also save the NHS the hassle of writing my contract - I do this for them. This way I am perfectly positioned to find loopholes to allow me to overcharge for time in case things are quiet. For some reason no one in the NHS wants to verify my contract terms and conditions - may imply a level of liability if they did then they would get penalised.

5) Most competent staff who used to be with the NHS either work for me or with others like me. They don't seem to have realised that its the key personnel we're interested in which forces them to employ my services as I now have their key staff with the skills to progress.

6) This leads us to 'The Maintenance Contract'.

All components - hardware\operating system\environment\administration\updating are usually handled by different parties. This allows all parties to stall for time while 'discussing' who is actually to blame. Usual outcome is one of us gets a nice £50-£100\hour (depending on the system) to find and fix the problem - average time to resolve - 1 week. (you would do it too)

7) Latest developments: The Fully Managed Service

Great earnier - the third party providing the service has a license to make money - the NHS are so reliant on the provider they have to go with what they say & don't wish to rock the boat by asking why they are being charged say an extra 100K for a mistake that looked like the third parties - again coming back to liability - we pay you then you take the rap. The key staff skilled enough to have them fix the problem for free now work for the third party - outstanding.

8) The National Framework:

250 laptops costing £1000\unit get a limited £0 (yes zero) discount for the bulk order - even although the exact same model is in PC world for £600 - no oversight and the person from the NHS got a free mousemat and matching mouse for their effort - not bad for a 250K order.

If it was my business - have NHS internal project managers (you tried MS Frame) who are responsible from concept to handover & pay them accordingly. 30K for someone managing a £5,000,000 project of which £2,000,000 is scope creep is pants. Pay them for the job they do & you might keep your staff instead of them going elsewhere.

Think that about covers it.

Japanese gamers no longer delighted by DS Lite?

Wii - almost a great system

Bought a Wii - love it but the bitter after taste of trying to get an issue resolved by the Nintendo customer support has actually put me off the console.

So far I have had 5 emails advising they are busy and value me, this is after being advised to contact them online by their phone support 5 weeks ago.

Haven't bought any games. Machine is now an ornament under my TV.

I think this is why the Playstation was so good - they had the customer service to back up the product. Wouldn't recommend this now as my experience has quashed the excitement.

Orange France iPhone total hits 90,000

The big picture

I think price plans aside my whole reasoning for not going with the iPhone is simply that of the media downloads. From videos to music Apple have been so stringent in recent times about their commission on these types of download that surely they will use the iPhone as a stepping stone to locking users into their over priced media services.

Very simple indeed for me - just like their home computer systems - their restrictions far outweigh any perceived benefits the OS may provide.

I'll wait for the next gen of phone which no doubt will be at least as good and less contractually based.

Portuguese-speaking worm attacks Google Orkut users

Should we be taking Google to court?

I think it only fair that any damage incurred on any organisations website who host these types of service be responsible for their own security, its the only way security will ever be taken seriously.

If your at work and have an accident through unsafe working practices you are entitled to claim so why not on the web? You here many stories about Microsoft security threats but not many when it comes to their own systems! I wonder if they take their own security more seriously?

MoD trumpets 'Innovation Strategy' for buying kit

Just to clarify

Army Funding:

Spending for the army has gone up considerably (34 billion this year if memory serves me right) - its the army chiefs who have decided to allocate less to soldiers & more to technology. I dare say none of the big guns had to go without body armour although by delegating responsibility to the government may address moral within the army that the soldiers are simply being screwed.

Towers of Excellence:

This sounds like another newly qualified graduate idea with no foundation outside the theoretical world. You can have all the standards in the world but if no ones trained to use them what good are they - no doubt another expensive juggle of resources, brings new meaning to the term 'Buying Time'.

American Trends:

I think the American trend of putting technology into projects simply because they can is going to bite us as it has America. The culture is double edged - organisations promising to provide a service to make a sale & the government delegating responsibility in case of failure. There appears to be no real commitment now days with maintenance cost after successful completion being completely omitted (the US - Mexican border fiasco springs to mind)

Any way - its easier now days to request 100 million for a new project than 100 thousand for a new staff member who can actually do the job.

US warrantless wiretapping predates 9/11

The Process of Government Planning

I don't know why we are still wasting time on this - in the real world this is how things work.

Government decides on a course of action

Then

Decides on how to justify it in case the public don't agree with the bullshit reasons they use to justify that course of action.

I.e. The Real World

IT chiefs demand centralised e-crime unit

The blame game

An e-crime unit - what a joke.

For about 6 months I created\implemented a company policy of reporting phishing scams for run of the mill and banking scams. These consisted of notifying the Met & OFT.

Primarily the emails were intercepted by their own mail security as being recognised as phishing scams so the recipients on the other end were unable to receive them. After a process being created to allow reporting I started to realise that I may just have been the only person in the country to actually report these.

Needless to say I was asked only to send one of each type of scan caught by our mail security as they had very little resources to even log the issues never mind deal with them- I advised I was only sending one of each type!!!

This example of one tiny corner of 'Cyber Crime' [I too feel this term has no meaning] as they put it show just how unprepared the police force & authorities are. I think we have devolved into a culture where the police are encouraged by the political authorities to be seen to be dealing with problems yet not actually do this as it takes too much time & the quick wins - shoplifters, shoplifters ....eh...... shoplifters are dealt with as the police get an instant brownie point for these but not the more relevant ones.

Anyway, the police force wouldn't pay the wages for someone who could do this job - I think the old entrapment tactic of actually catching someone doing it then giving them the option to work for them for peanuts or going to jail for 30years (without their playstation) would be the best approach.

Its simply laughable

Botnets linked to political hacking in Russia

"Circumstantial"

What a load of bollocks El reg. This is right up their with the DNS server article last week.

Well - my mates wife says her sister's friend's dog who gets walked in the park with his doggy friend who's owners wife says this article is a load of bollocks - so it must be true then.

I think from this day forth the El Reg should merit the designation of El Bollocks when presenting articles of this quality.

NASA Mars droid in ET life discovery shock

To summarise

Hypothetically there MIGHT be life on Mars which a machine found which SHOULD have held life at some point so there hope of finding something which MAY have been life at some point. Speculation about hypothetical arguments based on hope - outstanding.

I reckon NASA are about to submit a new budget request.

Rogue servers point users to impostor sites

My 2 cents worth on Microsoft DNS\HTTPS security

Internet Explorer is inherently flawed when it comes to redirection - especially to secure sites accessed through DNS. Goto anyone of their sites almost (hotmail.com) from IE and it goes straight in - try it from another browser (Firefox) and you will get a warning stating the certificate is not actually for that site but another Microsoft site - Why does IE not highlight this?

Certificate Authorities provide such basic information relating to their certificates that in the end it comes down to guess work to proceed or not. They defeat the purpose of the certificate almost and as in our global economy are happy to sell to anyone who provides any details as long as they pay with minimal checks - again defeating the point.

This isn't a new practice, our organisation have utilised this our selfs when a server crashed & one had to be put into place quickly - it the way of the world in production environments but the service providers who grant access to the individuals who do this un monitored should be held accountable as should the authorities investigate the matter.

Acer inks Olympic partner deal

Double negative

Acer maybe aren't the best & maybe they do have some flaws but this could be the boost they need to invest and get them up to date.

Google slightly less open than Interpol

Whats the point?

Ok Google got a mention - so did Interpol - Google are more honest than Interpol - Interpol are a trusted international organisation!!

So what - all the bad things about Google we are hearing must be lies (or at least something thats about to come out is).

This may or may not be a marketing tactic but why is The Register bring this to our attention, are they getting free search rankings from Google now to highlight this utterly useless piece of information? I don't know but between irrelevant Microsoft articles & pointless Google write ups I am starting to lose faith in this site, feeling the urge to respond less and less to articles produced by The Register!

Back to the important stuff: Ms Hilton

The Register search for Paris Hilton - 93 results

Google search for Paris Hilton - 25,100,000 results

Microsoft Live Search for Paris Hilton - 46,600,000 results

Go figure!

Yahoo! and! Adobe! sign! ad-packed! PDF! pact!

Blanket ban on Adobe products

Working within secure networks this has the potential of a security breach. This is very simple for me - If adobe start pumping uncensored materials to our network we will simply migrate.

This is a single point of access for many computers from a hackers point of view, just not worth the risk especially with the other PDF attacks which have be discovered. A sign maybe of just desperate Adobe are becoming - maybe its time to jump ship before it sinks!!!

Brown pledges to be greener than greens

When do we get the chance to boot Gordon out?

As stated - yet an other excuse for a tax hike!

While 'green' land is built on, wars are waged & MP's have a free for all with expenses any statement of this type will raise the dreaded "Where is he going to screw us now?" feeling within.

I've voted labour the last few elections but now I feel its time for the liberals - or maybe even the conservatives. This is what happens when you put a money man in charge - you end up with a blinkered approach.

My council refused to take rubish in the wrong bin (cardboard in amongst paper) - I wonder why they had to back track after an uproar from their residents as no one supported all the extra 'green' initiatives?_

Trojan spreads using PI wiretapping scare

Internet Police!!!!

Any of the authorities doing anything about this?

Verizon hijacks your browser

Heeeeelllllllloooooooo!

Microsoft have done this for years & still do! - you install certain updates and suddenly microsoft is your search engine.

Google does this! (to assist the customer apparently)

What am I missing here?

I think what we have here is a marketing campaign from another provider who isn't happy with verizon

Yeh, sure outlaw it - but what would all the other big boys do?

Yahoo! Mail and Hotmail strike out Iran

Bollocks Two

Never heard so much dribble in a long time!

Why stop a means of monitoring? Maybe the case that Yahoo and Microsoft are about to be booted out & they are just trying to get in first to save face.

This should let other countries realise that they should get their own systems in place and not to rely on anything American (other than the ability to buy weapons).

This is a new level of stupidity - as has been proven before, sanctions only increase tension and hostility. The children using these services will grow up pissed off because they can't talk to relations elsewhere.

Stop spitting the dummy and acting like amateurs.

X-Files movie sequel is go

Can't wait

I await with baited breath - something to look forward to.

If you think his career has faded check out Californication - outstanding and down to earth.

US ban on internet access tax gets seven year extension

Just as well the US didn't invent the alphabet

Why are these people being seen to be doing us a favor by not taxing the internet?

Another fine example of how desperate the US economy is if they are becoming so eager to tax anything that people rely on. I would be interested to see how other governments handle this as its another fine example of how maybe China ain't so bad.

It is often joked about how if Microsoft invented the alphabet then we couldn't afford to read - now I know why, the US government would tax it!

Glasgow is UK's runner-up in software piracy stakes

If it smells like sh*te then it probably is - Not the Barras

Something not right here! Why are the authorities going to spend money on such a high profile operation when they get very little in return?

Microsoft has over the last year been requesting that software vendors who are approached for site licensing from organisations forward their details to check against their currently licensed products - I was personally involved in just such as case less than 6 months ago - in Scotland about 20 miles from Glasgow. This has nothing to do with the Barras as its not cost effective to take individuals to court or pursue small time retailers who are the main clients of that great little market.

I would guess that the authorities are looking for justification for some type of audit and by targeting Glasgow and allowing people to assume its the Barras they are effectively covering their intentions.

My money is on they are looking to audit specific firms and this is their justification.

Brussels asks Ofcom boss what he's on about

@ Ofcom needs a good kicking

Just a little addition to your fine comment...

Try formally complaining about OfCom when you have personally experienced just how pointless they are to the consumer - you are not allowed to complain directly about them, you must actually complain to your local member of parliament who then may or may not raise the matter with the commons. An excellent way to hinder complaints about a useless organisation.

On a side note - after getting shafted by DVLA on an old car for which I notified them I had sold they advised:

1) They have no process of escalation other than internally

2) They are charged as upholding legislation so ultimately they audit themself

3) Their word is final and pay or be taken to court - take the problem to the government as they do as they are told.

Outstanding examples of how the government has displaced liability so to the voter they are not to blame.

FTC demands bigger spyware penalties

Bout time

Why has this taken so long?

Marketing & Malicious practices have been let run loose for years now. We may be seeing the US getting a little worried about China adopting their own methods so now they've decided to clamp down on their own guys doing this.

Rhys Jones 'killer' named on YouTube

Right on Vernon

I think someone had to state the obvious here.

This aint da pisin contest of gramar!

A boy was killed. His family need closure and you can bet your house on it the killer was local and people know him. The best deterrent we can have is catching the offender and letting others know they won't get away with it. It doesn't matter if the death was intentional or not - it doesn't matter if the killer knew him or not. There should not have been opportunity in the first place.

UK Government tried to stop EU roaming cap

No excuse for ignorance dear chap ;-D

"Where—

(a) the appropriate records authority receives a request for information which relates to information which is, or if it existed would be, contained in a transferred public record, and

(b) either of the conditions in subsection (2) is satisfied in relation to any of that information,"

I feel the need to highlight that simply an event happening is not enough to make it a available to the public. There is a process where by the information is deemed available for public viewing.

The period of time for the process required to make the information available exceeds the possibility of recent and current events being leaked - in theory.

Regards,

Why the leaked documents???

I don't buy it - the cost and effort required to make this work for UK based contracts far out weigh any gains on their current pricing structure. Apart from this, mobile operators have know for at least 2 years this was coming - not unlike the banks being told years in advance their charges would have to be reduced giving them time to get their affairs in order.

I think what we might be getting here is a leaked sweetener before Europe take something else out of our pockets.

On a side note, if sensitive government communications are being leaked why aren't the police investigating this - don't all these officials sign the official secrets act?

China hijacks Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! traffic?

Eureka !

Just released - China are Iran's main trade partner which doesn't suit the US

http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,2199855,00.html

Surprise - Surprise

@ Anonymous Coward

May I start by saying there are certain topics which need to be addressed responsibly and jumping in guns blazing in my opinion is not the way.

My issue with asulum seekers is that from day one the service was managed poorly. The best of intentions is no criteria for success. In my experience asylum seekers are given priority for housing & benifits although having worked with quite a few I must concede they are more dedicated to their employer than the established UK residents more often than not.

Illegal immigrants are not a concern of mine - its as simple as the countries they cross allow them to pass so they become someone elses problem.

Extradition is nothing more than a joke. On one hand the authorities want them here to monitor their contacts - on the other Joe Public doesn't understand this.

You do seem a little caught up in the whole conspiracy thing though - bear in mind a lot of the leaders of the foriegn powers were educated in western countries. For me it is a source of amusement with the belief that when they do actually happen we will probably never know anyway.

CCTV in my opinion is a must, having installed a few systems myself and seen the benifits it is worth its weight in gold - its more of a preventative measure I feel in the long term although the last couple of years the police have not been declaring it which in my opinion borders on entrapment.

Air travel can't be too secure as a lot can go wrong with very little chance of survival if your unlucky enough to be on that plane - I wouldn't object to all passengers being searched and x-rayed. You would probably see things differently if you were standing in queue and someone carrying a bomb was caught - saving you from their sacrifice.

Ireland - I think you should check your history and get more of an understanding before throwing ill informed acusations onto the fire.

Back to the point, China - ultimately what difference does it make to us if the Chinese re-route traffic for Google & Microsoft - so what? Microsoft over prices at every opportunity based on their 'market research' and google honestly believe they can make a phone for which to advertise on and people will still pay for it. Its about time in my opinion that someone (or country) stood up and said so what - tough. If they don't like it then go elsewhere.

Dear Hans

To be quite frank I find the whole issue a little puzzling.

Only last month I had to put a block on a part of the Orange website as the link on their page was redirecting to another website although I haven't even heard mention of it. I am more interested in method of delivery for informing us of this matter. It stinks of propaganda - but why? I suppose it could be so credit card details aren't passed on to the wrong company - it could even be other countries trying to steel trade from China, I just don't know!

The article seems more to finger point and is vague at best without actually providing any facts. There are so many inaccurate statements issued by the western governments that I find it hard to take any of them seriously now.

I don't think it appropriate in the first place that Microsoft & Google complain about the matter publicly, this is the function of the relevant organisation within their country who should if required inform the public.

I think it has been overlooked also that internet connections (yeh I know - in theory) are two sided. Surely if it was decided the Chinese were acting illegally and there was real merit to the matter then there should be some sort of provision available to investigate - oh I forgot, the Microsoft operating systems so many use are by design setup to re-direct etc..

Anyway, Global Warming is out with my control so what I can't change I don't worry about - the crap about everyone doing their bit annoys me as the huge air conditioning systems the government and organisations place in their buildings throw huge quantities of heat back into the environment and use massive amounts of electricity (another conservation item)

Regards.

<In response>

Dear Fellow readers of The Register,

It would appear I may have brushed across some issues which brought offence to individuals, that being the case – tough!! You don’t appear to condone the actions of China yet you would seem to prefer my thoughts be censored (oh yes the irony :0) )

@ Jolyon Ralph – I think you may have hit the nail on the head with this being more corporate based than government, know any British companies with interests in China who would benefit from this type of endeavour?

@ 1865 – My translator now work velly well so future statements of propaganda should be integrated more seamlessly – thank you for bringing this to our attention.

@ JonB – Dear Jon………….

@ Ken Hagan – Skimming the whole conspiracy theory, if I do receive a visit from the men in black then at least we will know I was right about something (I knew there was a real live alien still living at area 51!)

@ China's Super Computers – So simply put – our own equipment is being used against use, why does that have a familiar ring to it???

To summarise, I do have an interest in the global economy but wonder what the US & UK governments are up to that they seem to be preparing a justification for something they are about to do!

And it doesn't happen hear - BOLLOCKS

Why is it recently we are constantly being notified about what China is up to. The US & UK government are already in contract with the named organisations about what will and will not be passed to the customers.

I wonder why we never see any derogatory comments on the like of Google making it back to us.

Now just to clarify - Microsoft (who is backed by the American DOD for some strange reason) is in partnership with Google (who has agreements with western governments on what content to allow) with Goolges rival (who will do anything to gain favour from governments) are advertising that China is doing something they all already do?

I maybe a little slow this morning but doesn't all the organisation & governments keep track of what comes in and out of their networks - it the responsible thing to do.

I wonder if China monitor their nationwide telephone conversations as we do?

I wonder if China videos their people on the same level as in the UK?

I wonder if China waste billions on fighting wars they started forcing all types of tax increases on their citizens?

I wonder if China have more rights for people coming into the country than their own population?

Very simply put - our governments don't involve us in our own affairs so why on China's?

Big fines and jail time for MS scammers

About time

I must say that Microsoft's pursuit of honor in this wrong doing must surely open the doors for everyone that Microsoft has ever shafted. Surely they should practice what they preach.

Our organisation is heavily researching open source with a view to dumping Microsoft as their cost are becoming unrealistic. Its not enough now the cost of updating systems but the licensing is also fast becoming a joke.

I can't wait till organisations start suing Microsoft for down time when their patches screw systems up - oh they can't but - Microsoft has EULA's which state their product is crap - unreliable & open to attack.

Microsoft racks up best quarter since 1999

Surprise surprise.....

El Reg flying the Microsoft flag yet again - highlighting their propaganda campaign. How disappointing. I think El Reg should start declaring sponsored stories, be up front and honest - just as you preach others do.

I noticed there was no differentiation between new pc sales with Vista included - in fact the El Reg article couldn't have been more vague, XP sales are still going well - wonder if this is due to customers purchasing for their new pc which came with Vista. I've used Vista quite extensively and have to say its right up there with Norton Utilities for really draining the life out of a machine. Works well initially but grinds the workstation to a halt over time (just like XP only worse).

The ads thrown in your face by El Reg are annoying - just switch to Mozilla and they are blocked in a click (I do appreciate the site has running costs).

Anyway - When will El Reg start declaring their sponsored stories?

MPs claim IT supply savings

CSA Purpose

No one seems to realise this but the CSA was never about fathers looking after children - it was about the government not paying for them. A subtle difference I know but a completely different perception of its purpose.

The government underestimated the peoples ability to actually realise this.

In the past - unmarried partners stayed with each other (or not), dad contributed to child & mum, was offically around.

Present - CSA try to take money and keep most of it, dad has second house which the DHSS pay the rent for, dad officially not around, child sees dad less as dole snoops report him for staying more than 3 nights a week.

In short - the system has damaged more families, cost more than it will ever make, tied up the court systems & made the government look like silly little boys for backing the system in the first place - I reckon some of their mates needed a job so they created the CSA to justify the post.

Austria OKs terror snooping Trojan plan

Peer pressure has gotten the better of me

Yes, I did comment before reading thank you for rubbing this in Tawakalna.

My point still stands - Who are we to decide on the rights and wrongs of those in authority for any country?

@ Hate2Register

Its a valid and highly topical point you raise .

"And this state sanctioned malware. Should we accept Chinese malware because it's state sanctioned? Russian? American? Austrian? British?"

I think these are internal matters for the countries leaders. I noticed you kept the UK off and US of your list - is it OK for these guys to do it?

As far as I am concerned of course they can do this, if cross border parties such as ISP's are dumb enough to allow such intrusions to pass unchallenged then hell mend them. Get over it.

Nasty PDF exploit runs wild

@ Vladimir Plouzhnikov

An outstanding point Vladimir - why are we blaming individuals for defaults in the software?

If you leave your keys in your car and its stolen your insurance is void -

If it goes on fire through a manufacturing defect the manufacturer is liable -

If Microsoft or Adobe f**k up we have to buy the next version to resolve the problem fully or accept an update which throws something else out!!!!

Where does it say on the Microsoft or Adobe EULA

"The chances of this product being compromised is highly likely and any personal data stolen may bankrupt you. This is not our fault as we do make the effort to secure our systems"

Most shocking findings to date for me personally - Office 2007 is a patched locked down version of - Office 2003 which s a patched locked down version of - Office 2002 which s a patched locked down version of - Office 2007 which s a patched locked down version of - Office 97.

Same applies from Vista - XP - 2000 - NT

Yet they were bundled as new operating systems and priced accordingly.

Bottom line - you go for products from the big guys and get burnt - go cry elsewhere.

ISP IGNORANCE !

I think the solution to this is very simple - the debate about ISP's taking ownership of such problems has been an ongoing issue. The problem being the corporations supplying the detection software want the additional license money from the individuals - which is fair enough.

I think a similar scenario would have to be making guns legal in the UK and us having to purchase bullet proof vests, if we didn't purchase them then it would be our own fault for not doing so in the event of being shot.

It's a simple system to put in place but then again this may stop the authorities using the same tactic -

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/23/teutonic_trojan/

A scenario one organisation is considering against an ISP is that by allowing this type of attach to pass through their systems unchallenged they are effectively condoning the attack. Sanctioned by inaction.

Anyhow, the issue in my opinion isn't about individuals carrying out such attacks as in modern business you will do what you have to to survive - its about stopping them and removing the option.

Ships pollute more than planes

@ Charles Hammond

I feel I must take this opportunity to highlight your satire & agree that to simply dismiss any industry is used more as a method of circumvention in regards to resolving issues with no real positive outcome.

I spent a year working for a Scottish Port Authority which also included setting up a PDA system to assist with internal communications for senior managers\directors\CEO etc..and was a little overcome to say the least by the level of effort and time which goes into running such organisations.

I think an aspect often overlooked by Joe Public is that commerce for such organisations is by its very nature global and legislation must exist which allows business as usual for all parties in all countries.

On a more positive note, this may be a starting point for discussion on the matter although I do think any type of legislation would be impossible to police as there are so many countries outside the EU umbrella.

And this means what?

"Ships pump out twice as much carbon dioxide as planes, according to new figures from the maritime industry body Intertanko."

Gotta say, this pisses me right off when readers are left to make assumptions and speculate on at best shoddy information with no real context and no level of relevance.

OK let me pose some questions:

1) How much CO2 does a plane put out so I can work out the the relevance?

2) How does this compare to say a 4x4, a normal car and a 500cc motor bike?

3) On an average day what is the average amount of ships on the sea?

4) On an average day how many planes are in the air?

I may be wrong but don't ships run on diesel which has inherantly low emmisions? Don't planes run on really high octane full which has enormouse emmissions?

I may be having a bad day but this article means absolutely nothing to me and allows me to quantify nothing!

Last point, what is this - an attempt by the industry to tell us boats bad, planes good - give the planes all your business? Governments must get more revenue from the planes and its easier to tax.

Government denies road charging 'blackmail'

Boot them out

These type of blackmail tactics were the single reason the Labour government was thrown out of office in Scotland - it now looks like it going to spread nation wide as they have already put back their elections as the public were in support of other parties.

The whole issue in Scotland was they were prepared to charge for road use which we are supposed to be paying for anyway. They seem to forget that most journeys are through necessity - not for the sake of it. By effectively taxing one route they force the traffic through small villages and minor roads - increasing the likely hood of accidents.

I now work beside a primary motorway route and was shock to learn my carbon dioxide level in the blood have doubled since starting working hear after attending a chemist for a check after reading an article.

There have been options available to spread the load of peak times for years but the government changed the way roads are paid for so now the councils just ignore the fact.

Catalytic converters in the exhaust systems do address the problem to a degree but the vehicle must average a minimum of 2000RPM to maintain the heat required for the process - needless to say in peak traffic the levels are shocking.

I would be really interested to see a study on the variance of CO2 through out the working day.

I wonder if they will start to listen when they start getting sued for inaction as in a court of law apparently doing nothing is almost the same actually committing the crime!