@ Tony 12:31 GMT
"...a fascist state that Stalin would be proud of."
I can't see Stalin ever being proud of a fascist state, but I get your point.
Posts by Phil Hare
71 publicly visible posts • joined 2 Nov 2007
Blunkett and ex-CPS chief turn on Home Office
Minister trashes ex-spook chief's liberty warning
Hydrogen motoring too heavy for pundit
Nokia comes clean as Ovi bombs
Vatican endorses Darwin, slights intelligent design
Thursday 12th February 2009 13:55 GMT 
For fuck's sake people
I'm not getting involved with this discussion as such, even though I do have pretty strong views about it, but please, please guys, look up the word "theory". Definition:
"A well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena"
Many of you are confusing the word "theory" with the word "hypothesis". Stop it. Just stop it.
National Safety Council seeks total* cell-phone driving ban
Tuesday 13th January 2009 12:00 GMT
Add it to the driving test?
Mobile phones aren't going away, and criminalising their use means that people would not only be talking and driving at the same time, they would be talking and driving *and* looking out for police cars. The law will actually make people that use their phones whilst driving *less* safe, but it is highly unlikely to deter people from doing using them after the investment made in a hands-free kit.
The emergency services, on the other hand, are trained in using their radios whilst driving safely, so perhaps this should be incorporated in to the driving test. Or perhaps whether or not a person is driving safely should be left up to the police on the ground. Personally if I was driving (which I don't any more, because I'm bored with the whole concept and public transport where I live is quite entertaining) on the motorway and came across another vehicle driving perfectly safely whilst the driver was using a hands free kit, I would not fear for my life any more than I would if they had passengers. Furthermore, I don't put idiotic driving by a person on the phone down to the fact that they're on the phone, but down to the fact that they're an idiot.
Incidentally, this legislation won't happen; it would deliver a serious blow to one of the few industries left that is actually making a profit as well as the other industries (such as couriers) that have adapted to rely on the technology.
It's a nice idea, but it's seriously flawed.
Sales show SanDisk's SD-not-CD player a hit with punters
Monday 12th January 2009 11:09 GMT 
If the player won't play...
...the millions of CD's that are out there already, the technology will struggle to expand.
I have a PS3, and I am now buying films on Blu-Ray. Only new ones, though, as I don't see the point in buying films I already own on DVD because they will work perfectly well in my PS3, as they will in any other Blu-Ray player. Same with my CD's, that also work in my car stereo and billions of other CD, DVD and Blu-Ray (oh, and HD-DVD of course) players around the globe.
SD will quickly find itself limited to the mobile market, and the mobile market will quickly realise that pissing around with teeny little SD cards to change from one album to another when a normal MP3 player will let you do it at the click of a button isn't worth the hassle. SD cards slots on MP3 players? Great idea. One album per SD? Crap idea.
Human rights court rules UK DNA grab illegal
India plants flag on Moon
Google crowbars search money machine into YouTube
Another 180 'hover & stare' ducted fan bots for US forces
Forcefields will guard Mars ships from solar ion storms
Vodafone pitches Comic Sans as the next Crazy Frog
Sarko demands withdrawal of voodoo doll
Crazy Frog won't croak again
Govt ponders proof-of-ID law for future phone purchases
Monday 20th October 2008 13:02 GMT 
I have a question
WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?
I'm fairly certain that those among us that voted for NuLabour didn't vote for this bollocks. This is the fourth story I've seen today that's made me wince at the opportunities for abuse of power opening up before us. They say they're doing all this to stop terrorists. Fine, assuming that all the terrorists out there know they're terrorists. What if some of them don't yet know they're terrorists? What if there's a senior civil servant out there who's two injustices away from going postal? If we centralise all this power it's not a question of if someone is going to abuse it, but when. History has shown us this on many occassions in the past.
"Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely" - the first Baron Acton
UK.gov says: Regulate the internet
Monday 20th October 2008 11:39 GMT
Parents
Some of the responsibility has to lie with parents. The rest has to lie with the government; specifically educating parents.
A parent that allows their child to use the Internet without supervision or filtering (that's self imposed filtering, mind) of any kind can be equated to a parent allowing their child to play hopscotch on the M6.
However, if said parent doesn't understand what the dangers are, then said parent cannot be expected to act appropriately and responsibly.
This is the only solution that stands half a chance of making any difference.
US teen cuffed for sending nude phone pics
Thursday 9th October 2008 10:01 GMT
@David Wiernicki
Please site your sources. While you're there, look up the "Magna Carta".
I will admit that the American War of Indepenence was as a direct result of the then parliament completely ignoring said document, but then Camp X-Ray is a complete ignorance of the U.S Bill of Rights. Quote:
"No person shall be ... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."
In both cases, the failing is not with the mandate itself but with the people elected to implement it. You are right to have pride in the U.S Constitution, as I am to have pride in the UK's (considerably older) democracy. However, neither you nor I should ever stop questioning when the liberties of both ourselves and others are being eroded by those officials we have elected to enfource and protect our rights, regardless of their motives.
"Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious" -- Oscar Wilde.
German developers forge Iron from Chrome
Illuminati spook fails to disarm Soviet cow nuke
Axon takes 100mpg wonder car for a spin
OMFG, what have you done?
Exposed: North Korea's taekwondo assassins
45th Mersenne prime discovered (possibly)
Customs raids tech trade show
Friday 29th August 2008 15:56 GMT
I really hope...
...that those companies that were raided and are found not to have infringed any patents sue Sisvel and the German government for everything they can. This kind of bad press sticks, and if the companies in question have done no wrong then an apology (which they probably wouldn't get) isn't enough.
Microsoft bags European price comparison sites
Friday 29th August 2008 15:54 GMT 
M$ search is third because...
...it simply doesn't find what you're looking for. If I use Live search to try and find anything, it just doesn't find what I need. Google does. End of.
Paris because you'd be better off calling her and asking her to guess where what you're looking for might be than using Live search.
US judge says University can ignore Christian course credits
Thursday 14th August 2008 13:19 GMT
As much fun as dumping on the pulpit sheep is...
...let us not forget the people who will actually be affected by this: the students. These guys have based years of work on Christian propoganda text books because that's what they were told to do, by their school and usually by their family. This is not their fault, but they're the ones that are paying for it.
I realise that in the long run this kind of action could (but let's face it, won't) drive Bible-bash based schools towards a broader and more objective curriculum, but that doesn't help these poor kids, who after all have been learning *something* over the past few years, however speculative / scientifically questionable / outright false it may be. It could, at the very least, form a grounding for asking questions, even if many of us feel that they'll be the wrong ones.
If UC has any sense it will at least look at putting an access course together for these students to try and rescue them from the path of the zealot they will otherwise undoubtably follow.
CERN: LHC to fire first proton-smash ray next month
MPs report back from internet's dark side
Thursday 31st July 2008 13:51 GMT 
To agree with "Nanny state..."
...allowing a child free access to the internet is tantamount to allowing them to play hopscotch on the M6.
However, the knowledge gap for many parents can be too much to bridge for them to be relied upon to keep their children safe from the internet without denying the child access completely.
One possible solution would be a certification program, where browsers can be set only certificates that carry a valid certificate. This will force those sites that wish to maintain a child audience to comply with whatever standard is deemed required.
Spammers, Cuil, and the rescue from planet Google
China readies Blu-Ray competitor
The return of Killer Chlorine
RIM issues patch for serious BlackBerry flaw
Blinking to replace remote controls, claims Japanese boffin
Ubuntu man challenges open source to out-pretty Apple
Wednesday 23rd July 2008 14:33 GMT
Some rules for open source to follow
Thinking more on the subject, I've come up with some rules (in no particular order) that Open Sourcers might want to adopt:
1. Command line operation should always be an option, but never a requirement (a GUI gives the user a chance to figure it out for themselves. With CLI you either know it or you don't)
2. Interface working methods should be as uniform as possible, regardless of objective
3. Always assume the user knows NOTHING
4. Functionality is not enough; easy access to functionality is everything
5. Document everything, and get it proof read!
There are many more, but there's five to start with. They would increase the overheads of open source development significantly, but that's the price to be paid for an OS that can truly compete.
Wednesday 23rd July 2008 14:22 GMT
Standards
The problem with Open Source is that dispirate coders come up with different solutions to common problems (and then usually call said solutions something stupid. YaST comes to mind).
What's needed is a community based *solely* on design before coding ever takes place; a community that doesn't worry about the code itself, but specifications of the product and it's interoperability. A community to create an international standard for operating systems, if you will.
Now THERE'S a pipe dream...
Biting the hand that feeds IT
