Like I said Matt...
Soon to be adopted here, no doubt.
Welcome to the NuLabourian Empire. Resistance is... just pointless, really.
Posts by dervheid
1194 publicly visible posts • joined 12 Dec 2007
South Korean prez turns on the internet
Hard 'core'? Birmingham City Council's net filtering
Tuesday 5th August 2008 14:07 GMT 
Dear Kane
You must be your hairdresser's favourite customer, as you appear quite adept at splitting hairs.
You really must get them to try a different shampoo though, as your current one seems to be affecting your ability to comprehend the basic points being made;
The council have 'ownership' of the equipment, in so much as even if they do not purchase and operate it directly, then *they* pay whoever does this on their behalf. This gives them the obligation to the good council taxpayers of Birmingham to ensure that, as far as is possible, this equipment is not being *misused*.
Now, we can all argue until we're blue in the face about what constitutes *misuse*, but I do believe that BCC have have the absolute right to decide what purpose *their* equipment is being used for, regardless of it's legality. As I would expect of any organisation/company.
She gets it, you don't!
Tuesday 5th August 2008 10:19 GMT
Don't see the problem...
personally.
It is morally unacceptable to 'block' a select few *religious* sites, whilst allowing access to others. Everyone has the right to follow (or not to follow) whichever religion they choose of their own free will.
However.
The council could go the other way and 'block' all *religious* sites!
Would this be seen as fair?
Boils down to this;
Their equipment, their rules.
Pretty much like every other employer that allows their staff to use their equipment for internet access.
Old ships' logs show temporary global warming in 1730s
Home Office bankrolls plastic plod 'documentaries'
Dell files patent office application for 'cloud computing'
Monday 4th August 2008 09:54 GMT 
This only shows...
just how fucked-up the 'patent' system really is, if any company/organisation/individual could be granted a patent for a two-word phrase.
Must file a patent application;
"Cloud Computing" - A combination of measurement instrumentation and specifically created software to enable the calculation of the dispersal cloud from a release of toxic or flammable gasses / bullshit.
Rumour of redesigned iPhone
Greens: Abandon economic growth to beat CO2 offshoring
Friday 1st August 2008 14:58 GMT
Oh look...
another barking mad Eco-Nazi.
This guy, clearly, needs a reality check.
Yes, we've all heard the " but if you don't do something NOW it WILL be all "log cabin with goose fat lamps" and hair shirts, eating lentils" arguments. They don't wash with the masses, as Mr Wray so eloquently points out.
I'm sure that we'd almost all like to be a little more "environmentally friendly", but if you try and herd me into YOUR version of a 'Green Utopia' with a big (sustainably sourced) stick, I'm going to take said stick and insert it in one of your bodily orifices where the sun don't shine.
Thank you for listening.
US customs: Yes, we can seize your laptop, iPod
Toyota unveils Segway rivals
Friday 1st August 2008 12:31 GMT 
I see...
that El Reg seems to shy away from the term 'paraplegic'.
Can't think why. It's legitimate medical terminology for someone who has lost, or lost the use of, both their legs.
The S or M versions look like they could be used by someone suffering this type of disability.
Or is there a problem perceived in using the term 'paraplegic' in the same comment as "lazy short-arsed fuckers".
Or was it the "Dwarfs" reference.
Or is it just OK to mock the fat.
If you're gonna mock one group, it's gotta be open season all round (as it were).
Foreign Office reports five data losses to Info Commissioner
Sumerians cracked world's oldest joke
Dr. Strangevote saves mankind with Luddite voting recipe
Thursday 31st July 2008 13:44 GMT 
"impartiality of the providers of the technology"
I would imagine that the vast majority of the voting populace will be utterly ignorant of whosoever the technology providers are, far less any idea (or concern) of their political 'interests'. All the sheeple care about is just how much (or rather, how little) time/physical effort out of their 'busy' lives voting will take. That's why this form of voting is SO attractive. The sheeple love it!
MPs report back from internet's dark side
Thursday 31st July 2008 13:25 GMT
Muddled?
Yet another prime example of just how little knowledge those involved in creating this report actually have of the physical composition of the 'internet'.
Ultimately, and unfortunately, they will discover that they cannot exert any control over content and that the only way to limit access to any of the sites in question will be to block them entirely.
Welcome to The Peoples Republic of NuLabouria, formerly known as the United Kingdom.
Please deposit your personal freedom in the nearest waste bin/ballot box.
New Van Gogh pic discovered using German atom-smasher
iPhone 3G not compatible with existing accessories
It's official: The Home Office is listening
Extra-heavy minicopter 'Jetpack' astounds world+dog
Ex-Googlers reinvent web search
McKinnon loses Lords appeal
Plods say it's OK for them give out your DNA
Wednesday 30th July 2008 10:36 GMT 
Who the fuck...
gave THEM the authority to provide this data to anyone else without the 'owner's' specific consent? Could it be that, like the plods, if you asked, most people would be likely to tell them to fuck off?
The National Police Improvement Agency!
There's an oxymoron for you! Appears to be staffed by morons too.
As for the " newly formed ethics board", does that mean that prior to it's formation, no-one even gave the pretence of giving a toss about the 'ethics'?
Sounds like a case of "Oh shit, we've been rumbled. Quick, form an 'ethics board'. That'll keep them at bay whilst we think up some more excuses/try to find a way out of this"
The only way I want anyone to get a sample of my DNA is reproductively!
Branson unveils Virgin Galactic mothership
Bebo users to summon superhuman alien pop-fancier invasion
Blank robbers swipe 3,000 'fraud-proof' UK passports
Tuesday 29th July 2008 11:32 GMT
the Identity & Passport Service says they're useless.
Given current governmental performance on data 'security', does anyone really believe that!
I'll bet they were in nice little cardboard boxes, clearly marked "Passports - UK - Blank"
"as the passports contain a chip, they can't be used to produce fake passports"
That'll be in the same way that 'as credit cards contain a chip, they can't be used to produce fake credit cards' then.
Fuckwits, the whole lot of them.
Orangutans concoct plant-based soothing balm
It's official: Samsung shows off i8510 8mp cameraphone
Thursday 24th July 2008 14:24 GMT
@ paul charters
nice to know I wasn't the only person to have that kind of problem with a samsung phone. My Orange U600 WOULD let you change the tones via a profiles setting, but if you changed profile, or turned off the phone, everything went back to default.
Nothing will ever convince me to have another samsung phone.
Thursday 24th July 2008 12:25 GMT
8Mp - so what?
Given the woefully s l o w performance of the 3Mp camera on the U600 I was unfortunate enough to own, you can only hope that they've addressed that issue or god only knows what good 8Mp will be, apart from creating horribly bloated file sizes.
Be better utilising a smaller camera and concentrating on image speed and quality as more megapixels does not automatically mean a better picture!
Sony Ericsson C702 rugged handset
Norwegians demo 10cm video & GPS pocket-chopper
UK ISPs agree to menace their filesharing users
Thursday 24th July 2008 09:43 GMT
You can almost hear...
the sounds of gleeful hand-rubbing by the Vultures, sorry, Lawyers on this one.
@ Adam Foxton
If you listen really carefully, you CAN hear the faint sound of Jack-Boots in the distance, along with a little tapping sound of more of our freedoms being eroded.
"Memorandum of Understanding". There's an oxymoron if ever there was one.
More like "Join us, or we'll start to use the big heavy stick with the nails in it to hit you with"
Be interesting to see how many of the 'usual suspects' have signed up to this.
HMV lines up a few VAT-free CDs and DVDs
Thursday 24th July 2008 09:02 GMT
VATMAN!
& Robbin'. The Caped Crusaders.
Coming to an HMV near you soon.
Complete with all-new, uk.gov approved, electric/hybrid VATmobile.
(Please note; The VATarang has been outlawed under Health & Safety legislation. VATman will, however, use all legal weapons at his disposal!)
Same colour as the VATcopter.
Blinking to replace remote controls, claims Japanese boffin
Blighty's electro-supercar 2.0 uncloaked today
Wednesday 23rd July 2008 13:32 GMT
Oh dear!
I seem to have upset another one.
"As to fossil fueled power stations, they're a damned-sight greenER than a fleet of fossil fueled vehicles - running at optimum performance and efficiency most of the time and fitted with far better exhaust management systems than any vehicle on the road."
Not the two big coal fired fuckers close to me matey! Until recently, their operator used to simply pay the massive fines for causing a whole shitload of acid rain, until they were finally told that they'd HAVE to fix the problem by installing exhaust gas scrubbers and de-sulphurisation or face being shut down.
BTW. did you actually bother your arse to read and comprehend my original post;
"..produce an economically viable electric car, capable of carrying the average family and their luggage the entire journey from central Scotland to Cornwall (530 miles), in reasonable, air conditioned comfort, in a journey time of just under 9 hours (not including breaks), that won't need to be recharged en-route?
That, my friends, is what's known as 'real-life' motoring. Until then, you can shove your electric (and hybrid) cars where the sun don't shine!!"
Of course, on reflection, I maybe should have emphasised the "Until then" a little more.
Or were you, as were a few others I suspect, simply incensed by the inflammatory title?
I suspect you may require another "well-needed ciggy". Although your penchant for tobacco would seem to be at odds with
"Yeah, brilliant. That's right up there with "there's so much shit in our food we might as well forget eating the healthiest food we can find and chow down on cyanide."
and
"taking the least harmful options"
And as a smoker, how do you feel about your habit's contribution to global pollution and health?
ps. It's 'fuelled' not 'fueled'.
For those interested, using commercially available cable charts
200A rated cable, 70mm2, 3 core, O/D 32mm, 3.1kg/m
400A rated cable, 185mm2, 3 core, O/D 45mm, 8kg/m
800A rated cable, 400mm2, 3 core, O/D 67mm, 15kg/m
(Connectors not included!)
Tuesday 22nd July 2008 15:37 GMT 
Recharge times
To all who replied to my original in the same vein;
My point was that all these 'sports' and 'urban' (e.g. the G-Wiz) electro-cars are utterly irrelevant to the vast majority of the motoring populace, who require their car of choice to be far more than any of these offerings.
Thanks go to the various contributors for pointing out the "practicalities" of a 10 minute / 200 mile recharge.
And as for their 'green' credentials, where exactly does most of the electricity (currently, at least) come from to recharge them...
That's right! Fossil Fuel!! Very fucking 'Green'
Joke. That's the current state of electric cars.
Tuesday 22nd July 2008 12:14 GMT 
Electric cars = Total COCK!
Look, it's all very nice producing a super-duper leccy sports car or two, but tell me this...
Who is going to produce an economically viable electric car, capable of carrying the average family and their luggage the entire journey from central Scotland to Cornwall (530 miles), in reasonable, air conditioned comfort, in a journey time of just under 9 hours (not including breaks), that won't need to be recharged en-route?
That, my friends, is what's known as 'real-life' motoring. Until then, you can shove your electric (and hybrid) cars where the sun don't shine!!
(BTW, Journey both ways, recently carried out, with an average speed of 60mph, and an average fuel consumption of 51mpg, diesel of course!)
HP packaging madness continues apace
Wednesday 23rd July 2008 10:36 GMT 
It'll all be down to...
Health & Safety, don't you know.
Probably find that the courier operates a strict "no manual handling" policy requiring the use of fork lift truck devices all round.
It probably costs more for the pallet and packaging than for the contents on this one.
But hey, that's progress for you!
The Hi-Viz one everyone has to wear at work these days.
UK comms intercepts up by half - and it isn't the council
Wednesday 23rd July 2008 09:54 GMT
"These powers can make a real difference ...
enabling us to gain that vital intelligence that will prevent a terrorist attack, working to tackle antisocial behaviour or ensuring that rogue traders do not defraud the public."
And of course, providing invaluable targeted advertising to the on-line community.
So, there were 519,260 "requests for information", or "look how much we're looking after your National Security"
No mention of how many 'unauthorised interceptions' took place then.
Or don't they think that the public would be interested in the "but look how badly we're doing" side. Could it be because they're doing feck-all about what has to be the largest one?
Home Office classes openness review a secret
Tuesday 22nd July 2008 12:08 GMT
Only a matter of time...
before we all have to supply a key to our property to the local authorities then. And Plod. And HM C&E.
That's presuming we're going to be allowed to have our own 'property' in GB's new Stalinist State.
You might be allocated a coat, if you're lucky, and toe the party line.
EU tells UK to deal with Phorm - or else
Ofcom flashes cash guarantees at BT for fibre investment
Monday 7th July 2008 09:06 GMT 
BT install new cables?
BT can't even organise the repair of a damaged cable within an acceptable timeframe, and have no appreciation of how long a job will actually take in the real world. We need to have them do the job as positively the last resort, cos it'll still not be done by the end of the NEXT fucking millenium!
Biting the hand that feeds IT
