Posts by Ropata

NZ government network leaking data like a sieve

Re: Ministry of Social Development

we also have the GCSB (Dotcom spies) and MoBIE (otherwise known as Ministry of Bloody EverythIng)

it's MSD not MND

Meanwhile, Institute of IT Professionals New Zealand chief executive Paul Matthews says MSD's security woes appear to go far beyond the kiosks:

"As well as the clear issues of placing a publicly accessible system on an internal network containing highly sensitive data, the fact that any computer on the network can seemingly openly access these types of files points to a potential widespread systemic failure of IT security and governance."

HP imposes staff wage cuts

@Anon

That is ONE exception, Anon. The more usual HP experience is described (anonymously) at sites like these:

http://www.proletar.com/By-Employees/HP.html

http://hpwfr.blogspot.com/

The common refrain is that HP staff are ROUTINELY paid below market rates. Also for many workers there has been NO salary increase for 5 years. There has been a continuous effort from upper management to demoralize the workforce by eroding pay and conditions ~ how would you like to have a pay freeze for 5 years while the cost of living rockets up? The only way to further ones career is to LEAVE a parasitic corporation like this. "Slasher" Mark Hurd sucked away the last remnants of good will years ago. There's no longer a company culture when every message from the corporate lords and masters is designed to suffocate talented people and treat them like drones.

Corporations are personal fiefdom of executive class

Don't you guys realize that corporations and everything they do have one main function: to support the lifestyle of our heroes in the Elite caste, we are all mere functionaries. Everything they do is just a smokescreen to disguise their urge to (monetize, incentivize, synergize) PILLAGE and PLUNDER the last vestiges of wealth from the peasantry.

Why port your Firefox add-on to Internet Explorer?

Heard of IE7Pro?

It is EASILY the best add-on for IE ; making it nearly as good as FF/Opera

Facebook ignores huge security hole for four months

But James, XSS is *remote* script!

NoScript is able to distinguish XSS from JavaScript running locally. Its XSS filter even remains active when you allow js globally. For example embedded Youtude vids are blocked until you explicitly allow them.

And *everybody* should use NoScript -- XSS attacks are very common, and malicious js is not just limited to obscure corners of the web. Even big sites get compromised sometimes.

How the fate of the US economy rests on a Dell workstation

The best way to model markets is with a market.

New Zealand boffins have created "iPredict", an exchange where you trade stocks in political, economic and social events. In their simplest form, these stocks pay $1 if an event comes true, or nothing otherwise, and the price these stocks trade for is the prediction.

This lets humans process information from their unique/varied perspectives, and make value judgments. OK markets ain't perfect, but they're still the best way of harnessing the collective wisdom of a crowd. No supercomputer required.

https://www.ipredict.co.nz/Main.php?do=help

And so we begin the tech sector's journey into the Heart of Darkness

Tech Bubble 2.0

Is gonna hurt more than the first one. In Y2K I had share options worth $5000 then cashed them in 2 weeks later for $800. The price drop was largely because the CEO had cashed in his overpriced shares for $100 million and promptly retired to California. Bastard.

New York's Freedom Tower to depend on RFID

@seasonal pedants

some of us live in the Southern hemisphere, you insensitive clods!

Crazed NZ fanboy mows down churchgoer

link to 3News story

http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/Story/tabid/209/articleID/31196/Default.aspx

PS. the word is "munted"

PPS. fish and chips cost six dollars fifty :o)