* Posts by Solomon Grundy

901 publicly visible posts • joined 12 Nov 2007

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US gov now says Eye-o-Sauron™ border masts are crap

Solomon Grundy

You heard it here first

hahahahahahaha.

Gov boffins to carry out simulated London dirty bombing

Solomon Grundy
Happy

The real story here

is that nickj and I seem to be the only people who visited the website to find information about the tracer. Had others visited the site they could have discovered it for themselves. Instead people waste "precious" (hahaha) thought on creating a controversy when there is no controversy.

Oddly enough, it sounds just like the experiment under discussion. A waste of resources to study and problem that doesn't exist and trouble people for no reason.

nickj also said "Note they've been doing this since 2003"...strange coincidence that the paranoia factor in the UK hit all time new levels beginning around '03? I think not!!! The government is gassing all of you to cause paranoia. Now they have succeeded with their gas and propaganda and the scientists will be beaten or stabbed by citizens scared of terrorists.

The evolution of Crystal Reports

Solomon Grundy

Huh?

Wow. Some of these folks really hate Crystal Reports and aren't shy about saying so.

What they fail to understand though is that if they are having problems learning to use one of the most powerful reporting tools out there, it's their problem and a failure on their part to learn to use it correctly. There is a reason it's so popular you know.

Management uses those reports to keep the money coming in to write the checks for developers. So just shut up and create the report exactly like I say and we'll all go home on Friday just a little richer.

Sergey Brin: 'Microhoo! makes me nervous'

Solomon Grundy

@Charles Manning

You said "Both (Yahoo and Microsoft) are losing market share". In actuality they have gained market share considering the worldwide growth of desktops and the increase in broadband in the home.

Microsoft isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Someone is going to have to come along with nearly 30 years of experience to make them go away. I for one don't think it's going to happen any time soon, and I'm glad for it. (you should be too, cause whether or not you realize it, your job as an IT professional depends on MS sustaining their market position for another decade or so).

Solomon Grundy
Stop

Googleversity

There is only one reason that Google believes diversity is good. It's called the FTC. For larger enterprises diversity is only useful for regulatory compliance. Once a company reaches a certain size competition is no longer beneficial. Just like no ElReg reader would test their ball skills against David Beckham, no sane company competes with the de-facto leader in any industry.

Google has a great PR department, but like any business, it's just a front. The minute they get the opportunity to destroy, acquire, or overrun competitors they will (and do).

Don't drink the Kool-Aid. GoogleSoft is on the horizon - then we're hosed.

Google mounts Chewbacca defense in EU privacy debate

Solomon Grundy
Boffin

Technical Clarification

I'm no networking expert so if anyone of you could help me understand this I would really appreciate it.

If IP addresses are dynamic how can people like the RIAA track downloads back to users? Wouldn't that mean that "I" might not be the person doing the downloading - that it could be someone else that at some point used the same IP address as me?

If IP addresses are static why do ISP's charge more for the option.

I just don't get it.

Apache daddy walks out on OpenSolaris

Solomon Grundy

@Greg

Yes, and hippies built Snapple, but exceptions to the rule aren't a standard that I can build generalizations around.

Solomon Grundy

Not to be a d**k but....

Open Source will always be overrun by the balding white man in the corner office. Case in point Ray Fielding resigns because he "isn't happy" with things. The Ray's of the world (Open Sourcies) built their Utopian "community" on good will and giving - successful businesses are built on "self" and taking. The communal giver is always going to lose because:

They don't want to fight.

They don't know how to fight.

They don't have the resources to fight even if the other things were untrue.

They only know how to run away when the going gets tough.

Open Source is good for the market because you get lots of really talented people to design products for free - then you run them off and take the work for peanuts! It's hard to beat a cheap product - big profit business plan.

Essex youth's cop headbutt heads for YouTube

Solomon Grundy

@Brian

No, the next step in the escalation chain should legally be a roll around on the ground and punch it out scenario. The winner is the one who walks away. Obviously the pig won in this case, so under my system he would not be prosecuted. However, if the kid had won the pig would be prosecuted and branded a pansy.

Unfortunately I do not rule the world (or even the UK), so we must all abide by the set of laws designed to treat everyone equally. In this case the Officer started a physical confrontation without even beginning to display "threat mitigation" behavior (hands up, etc...). He should be fired, prosecuted, and possibly executed. The last thing the increasingly sterile gene-pool of the UK needs are short tempered "law officers" running round the streets starting fights.

Solomon Grundy

Akido? How 'bout Bar Brawling

What does the form of self defense have to do with it? Whether Akido or Jujitsu, or just good old fashioned bar bar brawling it's still a recognized way to defend yourself. If the kid in the video is of the bar brawling ilk, then that's what happens when you assault them. If it was an Akido expert I expect the offender would be an side-chop to the throat (or whatever).

Solomon Grundy
Unhappy

Officer Deserved It

The Officer initiated physical contact (i.e. started the fight). Anytime anyone starts a fight, it is the right of the victim to defend themselves in kind. The Officer would not have pushed the kid if he wasn't a policeman and basically immune to prosecution.

One step closer to the end - when "officers of the law" can push citizens around without fear of punishment.

cDc automates Google Hacking

Solomon Grundy

Results

Just for fun I downloaded "Goolag" and it's not much fun. I expected to find lots of interesting tidbits out there but so far I got nothing except "0 results found". Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but it would be nice if it returned something.

BAE bulging with cash and wardroids, worried about future

Solomon Grundy
Happy

BAE Grassroots Marketing

For an excellent example of grassroots marketing (or classified brainwashing technology) please reference: "UK Government is Kliing Defence" as posted above.

EU wants RFID tags turned off

Solomon Grundy
Unhappy

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart RFID trials already tie back debit/credit card purchases with the customer and the products purchased. All data is captured and stored but private info is obfuscated (for now) to prevent internal users from harvesting it.

At a symposium Wal-Mart put on a few months ago they said that while they did not currently use this data, they might in the future, but they wanted to start collecting it now to test system integrity and security. I was there and I was scared.

Always PAY CASH!

Solomon Grundy
Thumb Up

Good

This is Good.

Treehuggers lose legal fight to solar-powered neighbour

Solomon Grundy
Stop

Stupid

The trees were obviously there first. Some dumbass installed solar panels without proper planning. Now the trees get cut down. Total crap.

If I were involved in this I would simply threaten the offending solar neighbor with bodily harm until they shut up or moved. It's too bad our society is moving away from settling disagreements through contests of strength. Duels between gentlemen were good things.

Deloitte flags risks of UK child database

Solomon Grundy

@security through obscurity is still a reasonable argument.

I can't believe you rehashed that old argument. It's been proven that Open Source products are just as vulnerable as anything else. Some people just won't let it go,

China plans 'deep-sea base project'

Solomon Grundy

5 Year Steps

Communist work in some 5 year or so steps... For each 5 years they plan what will happen and how it?

So do most successful businesses, does that make them Communist?

Microsoft opens APIs and protocols to all

Solomon Grundy
Happy

Fantastic

This is good. Being able to interface with the most widely used OS and productivity suites on the planet will really add a lot of potential and creativity to other projects. While I'm not a big open source kind of guy, this is just the kind of traction that open source products need to get into the big leagues.

Yeah Microsoft.

Facebook loses a few bitches

Solomon Grundy

Very Simple Really

All the "social networking" sites were fun and novel at first, but it doesn't take people very long to get bored with the whole thing. I mean the sites don't really do much of anything, and once you've established contact with your long lost friend, lover, cell mate, there's no point in using the sites to stay in contact.

As far as making new "friends" on these sites, who really does that? You may swap a few messages with someone but will you ever really get to know them, will you ever meet them in person, will you care when they stop using the site? The answer is probably a resounding no!

Want to meet new people? Why not try the tried-and-true ways of going to the pub, or sporting events, take up a hobby, selling drugs, or, god-forbid, talking to your co-workers.

Death to social networking - it's a silly idea.

French telecoms chief says 'non' to EU-wide regulation

Solomon Grundy

Cost More - You Bet

Centralized regulation is generally far more costly to the taxpayer. It doesn't seem logical but the added costs of internal bureaucracy, program ownership issues, and regional differences almost always end up costing more than lots of little regulators that play by their own rules.

Logic is like the sword: those who appeal to it shall perish by it.

UML officially an unfunny matter

Solomon Grundy
Happy

Yin to that Yang

All right, on a positive note:

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

Proudly plagiarized and probably misquoted by Solomon Grundy. Originally by Robert A. Heinlein.

Solomon Grundy
Unhappy

@ !!11oneeleven

Holy shit! You're right. I misread the article. And I'm usually so good about picking up on the details.

I still like my quote though. I memorized that years ago and I've been lying in ambush, waiting for the time to break it out. Too bad it wasn't as good of a time as I thought.

Solomon Grundy
Stop

Solomon Grundy???

As the owner of the aforementioned name I take offense to the suggestion that my life is a sad reflection of morality. If anything I believe my life is a sad reflection on society as can be best summarized in the following quote, certainly too complex for a silly UML diagram. (50 points to the person who can identify where the quote comes from)

“I never seek to protect society who does not protect me, and whom I will even say, in general, occupies itself about me only to injure me; and thus giving them a low place in my esteem, and preserving a neutrality towards them, it is society and my neighbor who are indebted to me”

So, in closing, I say to you this famous quote: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of the woman! This is good. Now run screaming in terror you silly twits.

Die for Gaia, save the planet?

Solomon Grundy
Pirate

Geeks, equations, and casual observation.

Articles and "equations" like those in this story are what give both the greenies and the techies bad reputations. Too broad, too simplistic, and fatally removed from the fact that people are still fairly primitive animals. When (if) the shit hits the fan the only one's left will be those who know how to fend for themselves. Tech will not help you any more than a particle accelerator will help a hedgehog.

Right now a huge problem is the growth of the "information society" which is founded on displaced labor (i.e you do nothing that sustains life and expect someone else to handle all the life-critical stuff while you spend your time in an office building). Going forward Humans stand the risk of mass destruction from engineered lifeforms and genetic manipulation put forth by the same people that believe displaced labor is good for mankind. People who have too much education who have almost no knowledge of the "real world" because they have spent their lives in school and office buildings.

We're all screwed. But you can maximize your chances of survival by not forgetting fundamental skills like hunting, foraging, shelter building, and while you're at it learn a bit about animal husbandry. When the end comes you can watch as your friends and colleagues die from starvation while you spend your time providing for yourself and the harem you have built to repopulate the Earth.

Toshiba's board to kybosh HD DVD this week?

Solomon Grundy
Happy

The Sony Effect

Instead of bashing Microsoft for no reason, you should congratulate Sony on finally being able to get one of their formats in a leadership position. The poor bastards have been trying to do it for 20+ years. Beta, MiniDisc, CyberStick, and a whole host of great technologies have been championed, and killed, by Sony. Good on them for finally pulling off a win.

UK bank blames fraudsters for World of Warcraft ban

Solomon Grundy
Black Helicopters

Interchangable Terms

My comment was about cashless societies in general. I apologize for my failing to recognize that English banking may not view debit cards the same as credit cards. In the States a debit card can be used anywhere a credit card is used (depending on the card it can be both) it may not be the same over there. My bad.

Irrespective of banking system nuances, my initial comment is still valid. If the bank has seen fit to issue me with a card, then they should leave me and my purchases alone. I review my statement each month and if something is wrong I can invoke my buyer protection privileges and the charge will be refunded. If people aren't reviewing their statements that's their problem. If banks can't implement a better system than having to call them to authorize a purchase, that's their problem. There are already plenty of systems in place to protect consumers.

Disclaimer: Solomon Grundy has never, nor will he ever, participate in WoW. His comments were made based on principal.

Can we get a penguin in a black helicopter icon? It'd just be cool.

Solomon Grundy
Black Helicopters

Cashless Society

This is a good example of why cashless societies are bad news. At the end of the day you are placing your ability (right?) to spend your money how you choose. Analysts, consultants, politicians, etc. can (and obviously will) refuse to let you spend how you want.

It's my money damn it!

Secret printer ID codes may breach EU privacy laws

Solomon Grundy
Black Helicopters

RFID

This is a good example of why RFID is a threat. The serial # can easily be encoded to the RFID device and as soon as you use your card to purchase, your info would be known to the manufacturer or the government without ever having to register the product.

Bad news.

Indian IT sector will employ 2m by end of 2008

Solomon Grundy
Stop

Time for Career Planning

Hopefully all the professional developers have actually learned how business works and are making plans to become business professionals instead of computer geeks. Those without plans will be left behind as the sandal brigade marches onward.

Outside of super specialized jobs outsourced (Indian anyway) projects generally return a product of comparable quality to western work and at a substantially reduced price. Seeing as Indian IT people are willing to work for a decent wage it's inevitable that they dominate the IT industry.

Wikipedia ruled by 'Lord of the Universe'

Solomon Grundy
Thumb Up

Article Compensation

Jesus! Are ElReg writers paid by the word? That's the longest article I've ever read on the site.

Good article though, I guess that's why I read all the way though it.

Iran fires rocket 'into space', plans satellite for '09

Solomon Grundy
Pirate

Why Would They?

The whole Iran/Israel/Middle East Jew/Christian/Muslim mess is a dispute over holy land and holy sites right? Why would the Iranians want to blow up these sacred places?

I'm no politico, but it seems sort of counterintuitive to explode/melt/irradiate the thing you are trying to liberate - cutting off nose to spite face sort of thing.

Physicists go nuclear with online protest at funding cuts

Solomon Grundy
Unhappy

Knowledge Economy

Whoever coined this term, and the people who seek to implement this "economy" should be shot.

If countries do not produce hard goods, maximize natural resources, etc... they are doomed. Only natural resources and agriculture create money, everything else just juggles existing money around.

I think Paul (above) has got it right - 3rd world here we come.

Brits can't distinguish history from the TV listings

Solomon Grundy
Stop

Who is Sarah Bee?

Is she new at ElReg, or has she been there a long time but escaped her handlers and posted comments without authorization?

Boffin shortage will blight Blighty's prosperity

Solomon Grundy
Unhappy

Education as an Industry

What did everyone expect to happen? The Western educational system has been altered to make spreadsheets (graduation ratios, level of education, etc...) look good, not to actually teach anything or accelerate careers. The education system is stupid and is failing society.

Just remember, all the crazy stuff you see big companies doing, they learned that somewhere - school!!

Drop out now, before you're in debt for 20 years.

Rocket train smashes world land-speed record

Solomon Grundy
Stop

Land Speed Record?

While impressive this isn't a true new land speed record is it?

I understood that test vehicle must be able to repeat the run shortly after the first so as to meet or exceed the standing record twice? It looks like they only did it once.

Also, a 15,000 foot inflatable helium tunnel? I want whoever thought that up to be shot immediately.

NASA to beam Beatles song into deep space

Solomon Grundy
Thumb Up

@Aliens-- Watch your backs!!

While the Beatles weren't from the States, your comment was hilarious.

"Americans are usually oversized, and wear sunglasses. They shout a lot, as most are plainly deaf, and they bomb and kill when in other folks territory, and then have men in suits to lie about things!

Hahahaha!

Scientists create 'no-tears' onion

Solomon Grundy
Linux

Poor Choices

Forget about onions! I want someone to engineer a woman who won't make me cry.

I like the penguin, cause penguins don't make anyone cry.

Carphone Warehouse boss shuffles off the net

Solomon Grundy

Executive Blogs

are stupid. Exec's should never be allowed to cry their hearts out to the public. Everything needs that proper marketing-spin, otherwise competitors/analysts will think they are soft.

Shell IT staff disgusted at mega profits

Solomon Grundy

@ The Other Steve

IT must become a boilerplate industry if it is truly to thrive. IT's too complicated with too many ways to arrive at the same end. IT must evolve to the simplicity of a toaster or spanner wrench and high cost specialists must go.

US navy electro-cannon test successful

Solomon Grundy
Black Helicopters

Trajectory

Did anyone else notice that the first shot of the projectile shows it nosing downward, then in the next shot it's flat, then moves to nosing down again?

How did they do that? How can the projectile change orientation while in flight?

Chinese make Olympic weather bow to Party's will

Solomon Grundy

@ Charles Manning

The only problem is the Chinese have been experimenting with weather manipulation for several years ahead of the Olympics - in order to ensure perfect weather for the event, validate methods, estimate costs, etc...

Solomon Grundy

Scary Stuff

The scale of the Chineese weather experiments is scary. They actually have "rain brigades" in many of the small villages throughout the country who go out with special devices in order to control the weather.

Fucking with the weather is a bad idea. Everybody knows that.

US military prepares for plummeting spy satellite

Solomon Grundy

Superman is Canadian

Superman is actually Canadian, not American as stated above.

Barracuda plays the hippie card in Trend Micro patent row

Solomon Grundy

Ecosystem

WTF is the free software ecosystem? Correct me if I'm wrong here, but most ElReg readers wouldn't be involved in software development unless it brought them some sort of financial gain. If all software was free why would people even get involved in developing software? Unless there are a lot more unemployed developers than I think - people with the time to create software for free, this ecosystem seems to be the death of software???

Solomon Grundy
Paris Hilton

What Crap

Barracuda: We're an open-source software company and we want everything for free. Would you like to help us do patent research for free too?

Me: I'm not so sure. Rule #1 in tech is to make sure you see the money. This sounds fishy.

Barracuda: It's not fishy at all. It's the new world! We convince silly gits to perform all the expensive work for us in hopes of selling out to a more traditional software company for huge profits.

Me: Oh I see. I'd love to work for free then! Just so you can get the Ferrari's and yacht's and mansions. When can I start!

Jack-off's. They should fail as a "company" for even suggesting this.

P.H. cause she'll fuck anybody for free.

Stellar EMC fails to impress investors . . . again

Solomon Grundy
Thumb Up

Consumer Products

My money is on 2008 as the year of the EMC consumer product line. It's been coming for a long time and rumor has it they've got a plan. I expect they'll pull a Cisco and buy another storage vendor and put their name on it.

Over the next five years you will see EMC move towards SSD products for high-end applications and traditional HDD products for SMB and consumers.

I'm looking forward to my overpriced emCGate drives.

UK.gov on Galileo: We can't stop it, just sign the cheque

Solomon Grundy

Compatibility

Will people who have already purchased satnav products be able to use them with the new system? (Assuming it ever gets off the ground and assuming it happens in the next few years)

The Penguin - cause it's cute.

Bush orders NSA to snoop on US agencies

Solomon Grundy
Thumb Up

@ where can I run??

Canada.

Almost no spying going on up up there - privately or governmentally.

I'm leaving in July.

Solomon Grundy
Thumb Up

Awesome

That's all I can say.

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