Posts by Barrie Shepherd

UK's first permanent facial recognition cameras installed in South London

Re: "they will only be turned on when officers are in the area"

Auto turn off when they recognise pink elephants flying overhead otherwise will 'accidentally' be left on.

Re: Wrong question

My limited research indicates that the matter has not been voted on in Parliament, indeed there appears to be no legislative process for control or oversight of facial recognition cameras. The police are rushing ahead to try to set a precedent before Parliament, or at least the bit that is concerned with freedoms, wakes up.

Datacenters near Heathrow seemingly stay up as substation fire closes airport

The aftermath will add to the 20 Billion 'black hole' for Rachael to find funds to fill.

Re: Questions will doubtless be asked

Microwave links can provide better latency than fibre - is there not already a private microwave network from UK across to EU financial data centres?

HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls

Just catching up

Looks like HP are catching up with all the others - and GP surgeries - then.

OpenAI asks Uncle Sam to let it scrape everything, stop other countries complaining

Perhaps they could start by sorting out the US's stupid Patent system.

We did not have Brave clashing with Rupert Murdoch on our 2025 bingo card, but there it is

Didn't News Corp, along with others, 'lobby' (an near acceptable term for handing cash over) the Australian Government to make the likes of Google pay a surcharge to the media outlets for the summaries of the News pages they put in search results.

Currently (in the UK at least) you are now faced with a Pay Us Money or accept personalised adverts flash box from the MSM newspapers which means I no longer read any of their twaddle !!

Apple's alleged UK encryption battle sparks political and privacy backlash

I think that it was Australia who first enacted the TCN concepts into law - some years ago.

What has Apple done in AUS?

Given that we have only heard of this TCN by the substifuge of Apple removing a product - is it now reasonable to accept that others (WhatsApp etc.) have already received such notices and have complied?

It needs some smart guys to unravel the recent SW updates on those platforms to see what has been sneaked in while we aren't looking.

Britain dusts off idle spectrum for rail and emergency comms

Re: Good idea, ruined

Railways were the first users of telegraph, and for that matter had teleprinter networks before Telex. Apart from 'Bell codes' on lightly used lines they have moved on.

Governments can't seem to stop asking for secret backdoors

I was under the impression that it was Australia that came up with the 'cunning plan' to make it illegal to disclose the back door order in their equivalent legislation.

Similarly Australia has a similar law in place on disclosing the list of banned/block websites that ISPs have to restrict access to - I'm not aware that the UK has copied that particular bit of censorship - yet!

UK Home Office silent on alleged Apple backdoor order

SO Apples' decision to remove the encryption option from UK IThingy customers is not because they haven't been asked for a snoopers back door by the UK government then?

Re: Human Right

Vegans do not keep it secret so don't need to encrypt the matter - They tell anyone who wants to know - and those that don't.

Re: This is not new

Trouble is that the newer messaging services are end to end encrypted, so the government cannot snoop unless they have access to at least the hardware at one end of the link.

The new requirement appears to be asking for a backdoor in the middle so that everyone can be snooped on at will, without oversight. Much as they want for Bank Accounts.

As Apple have been asked it's a dead cert. that Google/Meta/Facebook/TikTok et'all will also have been served but are being 'good' and not telling us.

Elon Musk calls for International Space Station to be deorbited by 2027

So no coincidence that NASA have been discussing decommissioning - to a longer timescale - of the ISS with a certain Space company?

Shots fired as AT&T and Verizon ask FCC to block Starlink's direct-to-cell plans

Re: Stupid Question Time !!!

"Proving a negative is notoriously difficult."

Especially when dealing with the Ether which is variable.

Meta faces multiple complaints in Europe over plans to train AI on user data

Once you have logged into your facebook account open this page and you should be able to complete the form for opting out - assuming Meta accept you have a EU account.

https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/6359191084165019

Now does anyone know if this works for the whole Meta product range?

Microsoft doesn't want cops using Azure AI for facial recognition

"Microsoft now prohibits "any real-time facial recognition … on mobile cameras used by any law enforcement globally." "

Compliance by UK police will be about as good as a snowflake being told it can't melt in hell.

The genie is out of the bag for face recognition and, UK wise, I don't see any chance of our beloved bobbies not continuing to use it. It will just be impossible to know if they do and FOIs will be rejected on "Security" grounds.

Some smart meters won't be smart at all once 2/3G networks mothballed

Re: newer != better

The reason 2/3G is closing is to release the spectrum for other services - I don't think carriers will be happy with mobile BTS roaming the street creating interference with their services. And while a mobile BTS can liven up the meter - maybe - there still needs to be the switching network emulated to allow the transmission of data - I know that you can have a GSM in a Box solution but managing IMSIs etc is a problem.

Fujitsu set to be preferred bidder in UK digital ID scheme

So long as the cards self destruct when the holder reaches the age of 21 and no adults are required to carry or use them then I am Ok with them.

If they scope creep into adult life then no - we don't need them.

Until they mandate that you MUST have Digital Photo ID to open bank accounts, sign up for mobile phones, etc.

Virgin Media sets up 'smart poles' next to cabinets to boost mobile network capacity

I've been musing over the "Charge Evs" element of this.

How much digitised optical energy are Virgin going to be pumping along their fibre optic cables to adequately power a solar cell with enough energy to generate a practical EV charging amount of power?

Then if that optical cable breaks will the emerging high power light become a "weapon of mass destruction"?

"VMO2 also claims that smart city infrastructure, including electric vehicle chargers, could be connected to smart poles in future."

How much power do Virgin run to those cabs then? If they want to move into EV charging then I can see the streets being dug up again for more copper power cables to be installed - just after all the digging to get rid of copper.

Re: Danger of Death

SIDE

S witch Off

I solate

D ump

E arth

From a managing high voltage video on BBC2 Trade test transmissions many many years ago !

Attacks on UK fiber networks mount: Operators beg govt to step in

You can't get blood out of a stone so fines don't work they don't pay them or do so at £1 a month off their UC payment.

As for operators suing for damage again the crims have nothing (which is a part of the problem) so there is nothing to take to pay for damage.

Re: Root cause

"Or sabotaging the water delivery infrastructure?"

The Water Companies seem to be managing that quite well on their own so no help needed.

Re: Transportation

Only agreement / space for 200 there

"Yes, removing people who are genetically predisposed to violence from the gene pool had a long lasting effect of reducing violent crime in the UK."

But the ones that were not caught lived on to breed and we are where we are :-)

Bricking it: Do you actually own anything digital?

Re: "I have a lot of physical books.... there's only a few I actually go back and read again"

Government is doing their best to close public libraries down in many towns by removing funding from the councils that run them.

England's village green hydrogen dream in tatters

Re: Why not just make methane?

Why bother with all that?

The old towns gas was 40-50% hydrogen with 30% ish methane. The pipes carried it OK. The problems came when they put dry natural gas through the system and all the tarred wet joints dried out. That led to the gas leaks / explosions following the great natural gas conversion programme.

Before Natural gas we used to heat our homes with towns gas from the gas works.

I wish people would understand that this was between 40-50% hydrogen with methane and a little carbon monoxide.

So why all the fear sbout going back to a similar composition? The nimby's and government departments who have closed down evaluations have done the country an inustice.

Health crusaders prep legal challenge over NHS mega contract with Palantir

What could possibly go wrong?

All that that data about patients together with "the number of beds in a hospital, the size of waiting lists for elective care services, or the availability of medical supplies" being stored by a US company, with track record in supporting spying activity, and data being available to Big American Pharma.

"We see that the NHS is running low on stores of drug1234 - so they will be buying some soon - tell marketing to raise the price 20%"

"We see that the NHS waiting list for cataract operations is lengthening get our private hospitals in the Uk to start a marketing campaign for private cataract operations"

Senate bill aims to stop Uncle Sam using facial recognition at airports

" "Facial recognition has nothing to do with the government intruding on people's personal privacy. It has to do with validating that the person presenting themselves to travel is indeed who they claim to be.""

The old you have "nothing to hide so you have nothing to fear" argument of government employed experts when the government want to do something questionable.

Photo validation can be completed locally by comparison of a live image with the Passport image at the machine - so what is the justification to send the images off to servers for storage? Simple data and biometrics collection on a grand scale.

Tesla sues Swedish government after worker rebellion cripples car biz

Re: I am enjoying this dispute

Regrettably he was not alone! I have come across similar individuals during my woking life.

What's really going on with Chrome's June crackdown on extensions – and why your ad blocker may or may not work

Re: Time to unleash AI on adverts?

But you still end up with a blank screen while you wait for the wanted material to play :-)

Google dragged to UK watchdog over Chrome's upcoming IP address cloaking

...........they should focus on passing bills to reduce child poverty.

..........they should focus on passing bills to reduce poverty.

Re:British habit of making the tea when the adverts come on

Was there not a case made, when VCR's became popular for timeshifting that advertisers wanted the fast forward buttons banned so that people could not skip the ads?

The world has apparently not grown up.

UK may demand tech world tell it about upcoming security features

The result of this rank stupidity will be that every IT product developed or manufactured in the UK would have the same security risks, or at least thought to have, as the Government claims Huawei equipment has - it's just a different administration sniffing around.

Listening to him reading it it sounds like he was bored to death with it.

Ofcom attempts to thread the needle in net neutrality update

The first thing Ofcom should insist on on is transparency - for the user - on what the Network Providers are doing - especially on what traffic is blocked/restricted/ports mucked around with etc.

I'd like to think the same should apply to the mobile networks - but maybe these are exempt from Net Neutrality?

Millions of smart meters will brick it when 2G and 3G turns off

Re: Why smart meters ?

To add insult to injury - those who don't have smart meters are having to pay for them anyway - Ofgem juist bung it all on the standing charge.

I don't need to know what the smart meter does, whether it uses 2G/3G/4G/AnyG, whether it can turn the power off or read my mind.

All I need to know is that the government wants me to have it - which means it will not be good for me - so no thank you.

Re: No corruption here.

So the countries usage of AA batteries increases by tens of millions to keep the smart meter display working

Your ex isn't the only one stalking your social media posts. The Feds are, too

Re: Yawn...

Pretty sure they still do that. It's a US requirement to enter the US - they have no concept of airport transit - you have to be processed at the first port you land in irrespective of whether you are staying in the US or not.

I won't be holding my breath!

Boris Johnson's mad hydrogen for homes bubble bursts

Re: Capacity

"Commonly referred to as “town gas” or “illuminating gas,” it was a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and methane, with small amounts of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Depending on the gasification process, hydrogen concentrations ranged from 10 per cent to 50 per cent."

When the distribution network was converted to Natural gas there were many leaks - because the dry Natural gas dried out the 'wet' joints. So it is quite possible to distribute Hydrogen, CO and methane.

Power grids tremble as electric vehicle growth set to accelerate 19% next year

Re: Cost of refining oil

I'm no petrochemist but my limited understanding is that the refining of oil will still have to continue even if we don't use the petrol and diesel fractions.

We still need the other fractions for jet fuel, lubrication products, pharmaceutical products and a whole range of other chemicals so I don't get the "Stop Oil" or "EVs will save refining of oil" arguments.

Where are all the chemists when you need them?

Re: If have the extra power to refine more petrol...

Don't forget we are all going to have heat pumps as well to add to the load.

Can the Grid and Street Distribution handle it.

A good video from Paul Jewell, System Development Manager at National Grid, telling us whether the grid in the UK will be able to cope with the significant increase in electric vehicles and heat pumps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uG4xv3oLeQ

Re: For many of us, hybrids make more sense than BEVs

".....charging your EV from a 13A socket will be no more legal than running a road vehicle on Red diesel."

How will they know? Teams of CAPITA men walking the streets at night sniffing out cables 13 amp plugs and TVs tuned to BBC?

The electrons in the battery cannot be stained with an ID dye.

Re: For many of us, hybrids make more sense than BEVs

The story is not that clear.

When you buy liquid fuel you are paying the government 53 pence for each litre in addition to the oil cartels and garage operators.

When you charge your EV what you pay goes to the charge point operator and the electrical distribution and supply cartel.

Why can a garage operate a building, storage and all the other stuff they do for the profit from fuel sales but EV charger operators are charging like wounded bulls?

Soon the government will want it's revenue stream back from the EV chargers as well - that's only fair.