Posts by JMB

Diary of a not-spot: Vulture hack vows, I will never pay BT again!

Re: Diary of a not-spot: Breaking the BT barrier

Having worked around the Highlands and Islands for many years I would be very sceptical that an area does not get any lightning. I have seen too much lightning damage over the years including one large installation completely destroyed.

I presume there is a nice big UPS with backup diesel generator at your friend's house so it can be fairly compared with a BT line. I know I would not want to not have a proper fixed connection in a remote area - many mobile phone base stations don't have battery backup. There have been long (i.e. several day) power cuts in parts of the Highlands in the past (one of the reasons I don't have much faith in the emergency services' complete dependence on Airwave).

TSA officer accused of stealing from passenger luggage

TSA

The headline is as surprising as reading that the pope is Catholic.

Airport screener stuffs stolen iPad into (own) trousers

TSA

"What was the TSA reaction to his previous victims when they reported that their property had been stolen?"

I presume they keep a record of who searched which bags so it should be easy to see if there are a larger number of reports of thefts for any one TSA employee?

Seems odd that he could advertise online and no one be able to trace back to him.

It certainly gives very little faith in US security staff if they cannot find such a blatant thief in their own numbers.

MB

Freedoms Bill: Gov may U-turn on personal data and DNA retention

DNA

It has been obvious through all the discussions on DNA that the UK police do not understand the concept of being "innocent". If someone is arrested but not charged then he is no different to any other innocent person.

It is only a matter of time before they want DNA of the whole population.

I always worry about the absolute faith they have in the infallibility of DNA evidence - there was the case where a woman was very nearly charged with murdering a newborn baby because of DNA matching but fortunately they were able to prove that the match was with her deceased mother. If had not been able to prove that she would have been sent to prison for a long sentence. As the DNA database gets larger then so will be the number errors and false convictions from it.

Kindle Store awash with auto-generated crap 'books'

Kindle Store awash with auto-generated crap 'books'

Another scam that I have noticed whilst searching for books is lifting pages off Wikipedia to produce a book made up of them.

RAF Eurofighter Typhoons 'beaten by Pakistani F-16s'

Typhoon

Did they ever get around to fitting guns to the RAF Typhoons? Wasn't it decided to not have them as an economy measure? If so then it might explain why the Pakistani Air Force were more successful in close combat.

Sexy eco-bulb wins Design of the Year

How do you remove it?

"These things last for years, they get stuck (especially screw fittings), when you try to remove it, it will just break, then you're covered in toxic dust."

Unfortunately they do not last for years.

This award winning one looks very fragile and easily broken.

Microsoft releases IE9 for chip happy Windows world

IE9

I tried the download on mu Windows 7 PC, when I ran the install program it told me that it was the wrong type for Windows 7 32/64.

Microsoft releases IE9 for chip happy Windows world

Why is it not on Windows Update if an official release? I don't like downloading from unknown sites, there is nothing on that website to show it is an official Microsoft site.

Census threatens spies' cover

If you have nothing to hide #

Will it not just end with a lot of people working at some anonymous government postcode and only indicate that they worked for the Civil Service in some way.

Or they could enter that they "work from home".

America spared Top Gear Mexican quips

Top Gear

The Mexican Ambassador would have been far better if he had invited them over to his country to film a review of the car there, that way he could have got some publicity. They made some funny comments about Albania last week but Clarkson commented what a beautiful country it was.

BBC apologises for Top Gear outrage

BBC apologises for Top Gear outrage

Anyone living or working in Mexico who can confirm whether Mexican television ever offends the British or any other countries so we can get apologies from them and their ambassador.

FAA to pilots: Expect 'unreliable or unavailable' GPS signals

FAA to pilots: Expect 'unreliable or unavailable' GPS signals

Don't the aviation authorities always advise pilots not to rely completely on GPS?

Similar tests happen off the British coast a few times a year, nothing unusual about it.

MB

Man nabbed nude pics from women's email accounts

"dont put naked pictures of yourself on the ####### internet".

It's also a general rule that if a woman gives nude pictures to a boyfriend then he will show them to all his friends and quite possibly give them copies so the pictures will end up all over the Internet.

WTF is... up with e-book pricing?

eBooks → #

"I use my Kindle only to read out-of-copyright material"

I keep thinking about getting one similarly as a convenient way to carry around PDF files in an accessible form.

USA to bin colour-code terror warning system - report

Re: USA to bin colour-code terror warning system - report

We used to have a number system at work which meant that no one ever had any idea whether "1" was good or bad. If it did go up/down a number then you always had to ask what the number meant.

US may disable all in-car mobile phones

US may disable all in-car mobile phones

I have no problem with a complete ban on use of mobile phones by drivers but this seems a crazy way to go about it. I can't imagine high powered businessmen and politicians in their chauffeur driven limos not being able to talk on their phones all the time. Many vehicles have systems using mobile phone networks for relaying data to equipment in the vehicle, anti-theft tracking devices using mobile phone networks and even the police use them for tracking criminals' vehicles. Emergency services use mobile phones both for speech and for data (partly because of the very expensive Airwave network they have been forced to use in the UK) but I suspect the same in the US.

All would be jammed as would a pedestrian if a jammer equipped car passed.

Presumably the police will still be allowed to use their mobile phone style "radios"?

Content producers should chip in for mobile internet costs

Content producers should chip in for mobile internet costs

I don't see why someone like the BBC with its iPlayer should pay for someone using an expensive mode to access their content, the mobile networks sell their service to customers by telling them that they can access content like that from the Internet so they should charge a rate to cover their costs.

I read someone moaning about one ISP capping him at hundreds of GB, if he wants to download so much then he should pay not the providers of the free content.

BT network goes titsup up north

advised to reboot their equipment #

When I eventually got through to the call centre in India I was told to do a reset to defaults. I didn't

The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits. → #

Also very irritating is that when you phone their 0800h to report that you have lost your broadband, there is a recorded message suggesting you report the fault online.

When you get through to the operator it takes five minutes or so to tell them that your broadband is not working because of all the questions they ask, they then test your line. Why not a simple automated process where you confirm your telephone number then press a number to indicate complete broadband failure. That way they very quickly get a picture of what areas affected.

Airport screeners go for the groin

Airport screeners go for the groin

There has been one assassination attempt with a bomb hidden internally in someone's rectum. How long before that is tried on a plane and then the searches will get very intrusive.

Frenchman cuffed for naughty lip-slip email to MEP

MB

""displaying contempt towards a public servant". #

Posted Friday 29th October 2010 22:53 GMT

Unhappy

Shit, I hope that's not a crime here in Blighty!"

Careful, you could find two plod at your door with a European Arrest Warrant. No defence against them, you can be sent for trial in the issuing country however dodgy their legal system is as many British people have found out.

Cameron cocks up UK's defences - and betrays Afghan troops

No UK long range SAR cover

The scrapping of the Nimrod MRA4 means that the UK has no long range fixed-wing Search and Rescue capability, we have had none since March 2010 when the Nimrods were retired but that was claimed to be just temporary until the new one was in service.

If a ship or aircraft gets in difficulty out in the Atlantic or goes missing then it will be out of the range of the SAR helicopters. Also the Nimrods used to assist SAR helicopters by directing them to a vessel and so saving time as well as giving safety cover whilst there are away from land.

App steers cyclists away from traffic, upward inclines

Cyclists

"Having said that, there are lot of twattish London cyclists, you don't see much of that kind of behaviour oop north anyway."

Depends what you define as "oop North" but I suspect that I am much further North than you. The main pedestrianised street here has No Cycling signs everywhere but they are completely ignored. You even have to be careful in the pedestrian underpass for cyclists speeding through ignoring the No Cycling signs.

Apple in 873-page legal claim to word 'Pod'

Apple in 873-page legal claim to word 'Pod'

Does that mean we can no longer talk of pea pods?

Apple in 873-page legal claim to word 'Pod'

Is "Pad" next?

Moms stand firm against antenna madness

Moms stand firm against antenna madness

People just don't under the Square Law and cannot understand that 0.5 watt mobile transmitter held against the head is more dangerous than a 100 watt one half a mile away.

I usually try to explain by comparing a small 0.5 watt torch bulb held right in front of the eye and a 100 watt lamp outside a house down the road.

Thieves jam key-fob lock signals in mystery car thefts

Thieves jam key-fob lock signals in mystery car thefts

My car has a keyless system where you don't even need to push the button, the car locks as you walk away though get the audible and visual indication that it has locked. Only problem is that if you go back ot check the door then it unlocks when you touch the handle.

You can push the button to lock which is what I do in dodgy areas so I can physically check the door is locked.

The TV programme mentioned suggested there was some newer system which can unlock and allow the thief to drive the car away.

UK passes buck on Europe's cookie law with copy-paste proposal

Cookies

With the browser set to ask for confirmation then you find that many sites use large number of cookies (not third-party ones) but still work find when you refuse them.

I am sure many of them are not even using most of the cookies.

What annoys me most is when a site informs me that I must enable cookies to continue but does not say which cookies.

Celeb pics row shows ACPO in frame for shake-up

RSS

I read a story recently of someone in Canada who used to watch their speed camera vans parking near his home booking people at the bottom of a long hill. He went out one day and rattled some keys in line with the speed gun, the plod did not like this and booked him when he refused to stop. They took him to court and it was only when they got to court that they realised they would to admit that the speed camera could give false readings if they were going to continue with the prosecution so dropped charges.

Photographs

Today's newspapers have reports of some police officers playing on a zip wire when they should have been investigating a burglary.

A member of the public took pictures of them and was ordered to delete his pictures by one of the police officers. So much for it not being illegal to take photographs and the police having no right to tell people to delete pictures in their camera.

ACPO plc

Doesn't "not for profit" just mean that all the millions earned by ACPO plc's subsidiary companies is used up on higher salaries, bonuses and plusher offices for the senior employees of the organisations.

ACPO defuses impending photo row with police forces

Plod

"Get the camera to spit out a 5 digit checksum (could be a compressed longer checksum) of the images on the SD. Make a note, smile pleasantly and hand over the card."

So plod deletes images, how do you prove there were images there as all you have a five digit number? I could write five digits on a piece of paper but it does not prove anything.

What is the copyright position of the images, could you tell them that you charge £xxx for the use of any of your photographs and by taking the camera they are agreeing to a contract to pay that for any that they use including in criminal investigations and prosecutions? By removing the camera from your sight then you will presume that they are used all images stored in it and so will be charging them for such use.

Police slam internet justice - then use it themselves

Plod

The police have always been lax in giving out personal information. I remember years ago reading of someone's surprise to read in his local paper that he had been burgled. with his full name, detail and address.

The usual one is after an arrest to read something like "a 47 year old married sagger maker's bottom knocker with two children living in High Street, Anytown" has been arrested. No name but enough information to identify the person.

Of course if it is a police officer who is under arrest then you will probably just read that "a police officer from Mickey Mouse Police Force has been arrested for an offence" with no further information.

Feds admit storing pervscanner pics

Perv scanner

It's obvious that they are going to store images whatever assurances they give. If someone gets on a plane with a "device" then they are going to want to be able to retrieve the image to see why they did not spot it.

Dixons aims high, medium and low with own-brand blizzard

Dixons

So are Dixons dropping their brand named that used the name of a WWII Japanese war criminal? Always seemed rather tasteless.

Wiki crew launch attack on FBI official seal bluster

Feds

I thought that anything "published" by a US Federal agency was public domain.

Court slaps down coppers in photography case

Met Police

Whenever anyone talks of "police state" it is quickly put down by many but the Metropolitan Police do seem to be a law unto themselves and pay little attention to what the real law is or what the courts and government tell them to do.

It is about time that someone in authority makes an attempt to take control again and make the Metropolitan Police stick to the law and rules.

Women, gorillas likelier to have sex with men wearing red

Red

Nice thought of a Labour MP, wearing his red tie, being chased by a randy Gorilla.

NatWest calls off legal attack dogs

"Na#wes# Trademark Abuse Department"

How long before the "Na#wes# Trademark Abuse Department" come up with the idea of taking action against everyone writing Na#Wes# on envelopes address to the bank?

Thought I had better alter the name of the bank as I don't want to get a visit from them ;=)

Papal crackdown on bare-kneed tourists sparks hypocrisy claims

Vatican

I wonder if we can expect Jeremy Clarkson to tell us next week how he saw the pope trip up and expose his underwear :=)

Though I expect with all the rest of the goings on at the Vatican it would be no surprise if he wore suspenders and stockings under his cassock.

BBC chief acknowledges DAB flop & internet radio

Internet Radio

Most cars have also not got Internet radios in the car.

DAB was designed for use in cars and with enough transmitter it works well at doing that.

DAB is free, Internet access needs a contract, even if it comes with some free bandwidth you cannot guarantee that will always be the case. 3G coverage is limited perhaps more so than DAB.

In the event of an "incident" then lots of people trying to access the Internet through the same base station is going to run out of bandwidth and also access could be lost because of ACCOLC. Could a mobile phone base station cope with all lanes of the M1 stationary and everyone trying to listen to the radio through an Internet connection.

Don't forget that any Internet access through a mobile phone type device is covered by the The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2003 so changing station could be an offence under that act.

(4) A device referred to in paragraphs (1)(b), (2)(b) and (3)(b) is a device, other than a two-way radio, which performs an interactive communication function by transmitting and receiving data.

(c) "interactive communication function" includes the following:

(iv) providing access to the internet;

Pure

The Pure Evoke Flow is even worse on batteries, it can take a couple of minutes sometimes to get it on. Most annoying is when you press the power button to switch on, after a delay you get a message on the screen if you want to turn it off!

FM

I recently took my Pure Highway out of the car whilst I took it up to the garage for some work - 60 miles away. DAB drops out briefly two or three times in the same journey but FM had multipath distortion and flutter most of the way, it actually got quite irritating after the good reception on DAB.

An extra DAB relay station and it would be perfect all the way - there are two DAB transmitters and three FM ones on the route.

It is rubbish that FM is perfect reception, it can be good in a fixed installation with a decent antenna but not always. DAB is poor usually because more transmitters are needed.

BBC

"Two thirds of radio usage was catch-up or on-demand radio."

Don't you mean two thirds of digital radio usage, I find it very hard to believe that two thirds of all radio usage is iPlayer.

By Lyons definition, FM was a complete flop as take up after ten years was still very low.

Apple seeks antenna engineers after 'Death Grip' debacle

Antenna Engineer

Has anyone proved whether or not they had any antenna engineers previously?

Mobe-wielding drivers getting away with it

Mobiles

Always seems ironic to see a police officer driving a police car to call up for a check using his Airwave radio/terminal whilst pontificating about the dangers of using a phone whilst driving - Airwave sets are very similar to mobile phones.

The police routinely check mobile phone records after an accident, is an automatic check made of the Airwave log when a police officer has an accident? Some police forces have a very high number of minor accidents in routine driving i.e. not on emergency calls. I always wonder how many are these are caused by the police officer using his Airwave set?

(I know that the police can legally use an Airwave set whilst driving before anyone points it out)

Lost mental hospital memory stick had health records

Memory Stick

The Daily Record report says there were also criminal record details on the memory stick.

I suspect that this part might also embarrass the hospital.

"The files reveal that a lack of sinks in dining areas at the unit threatens to contaminate food, spread disease and raises the "possibility of a major outbreak"."

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2010/05/05/confidential-medical-and-criminal-details-of-hospital-patients-and-staff-found-on-memory-stick-left-in-asda-car-park-86908-22235247/

TfL signs £27.6m road CCTV deals

CCTV

The police's interest in CCTV is crime solving, it does not matter if you are seriously assaulted or murdered provided they can identify the culprit because it then becomes a solved crime in the statistics. I am sure most people would prefer a few plod around on the streets and not being assaulted or murdered.

Darling confirms telephone line tax

Telephone tax

Why not tax the cable telecom companies that have cherry-picked the lucrative urban areas and never made any attempt to serve rural areas, surely they are the one who should be paying for rural areas out of their profits?