Posts by Jonathan 164 publicly visible posts • joined 5 Mar 2008
So thats why UK.gov isnt too keen to do anything about Phorm.
A) It sounds pretty much like what they want to do, so it suits them fine.
B) BT bears the cost, not UK.gov.
C) UK.gov needs a big favour from BT (ie getting BT to do the dirty work in data collection), so it becomes a "you scratch my back, I scratch yours" situation.
Corruption? In the UK government? Say it aint so!
Next thing you are going to tell me that Phorm/BT isnt being investigated for similar reasons, and that this very probe was dropped because cash changed hands. And that the police raided the offices of two Tory MP's because Labour told them to. Shocking!
Oh wait, its all true. What a great day for Britain, that those with money can buy protection from those with power.
How I love thee.....
Its... really kind of funny to see the UK gov not able to give the EU a satisfactory answer. Its like when teachers/parents ask kids why they did something naughty - they know quite well that they dont have a good reason, what they really want is an admission of guilt and an apology.
So fess up UK, do it sooner rather than later.
Quote: "The file will then pass to the Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer QC, who will have final say"
So, he will do exactly what the police did - nothing. I'll be surprised if he brings the case against BT and Phorm - from what we have seen of the UK Gov, corruption is rife.
Perhaps the EU will be our saving grace after all. But then again, perhaps there will be an "investigation", BT will be found guilty and pay a fine of 6 pints and two packets of crisps, and all will be forgiven. After all, we dont want precious BT to really be accountable, do we?
They have already shown that they will stick behind big business against the consumer. Whats the point? BT illegally intercepted their customer's communications, and ICO says they are in the clear. If they arent willing to do anything about information privacy and security, why should we give them more money?
It would be nice if, you know, we sometimes extradited Americans over here. Oh wait, the treaty we have is one way only. Strange how Gordon doesnt seem to mind.
Like when some British troops were killed in a friendly fire incident a few years back? And it was concluded the Yanks were in the wrong?
So Google wont let user made applications install hidden stuff willy nilly. How is this bad? I wish Windows warned me before installing SecuROM on my PC. This seems like making much ado about nothing - what is is that user apps cannot do exactly? Can they still function? Is the only thing they arent allowed to do is install other apps? Does that matter?
I also dont see how this gives Google more cash.
Apple is still far more restrictive than Google.
No, he advises people not to worry. He doesnt say anything about whether you care or not. Besides, if people weren't so busy judging people according to their religion's rules of what is right or not, perhaps they would be nicer to each other?
As for religion moderating against some problems, The Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and the modern war in the Middle East all beg to disagree. All that you need for trouble to start is for one charismatic people to unite people under the fear of what is different, and you can get major wars occuring.
No religion = no power base to be hijacked = no problems. People will hopefully have open minds and hopefully not vacuously follow something without thinking about where it leads.
Now, if we can back to more important matters, such as worshipping Paris Hilton, I'd appreciate it.
My life has been improved by becoming an Athiest - I dont live with doubt or fear anymore, I am my own boss and am more motivated by it. I am no less moral than I was when I was a Christian, if anything I am more tolerant of others. Everyone I know who is an Athiest feels the same.
Maybe the Athiest in your example declined the debate because everyone that he knew that was an Athiest feared being revealed to the public, and being treated as an outcast for not believing in God.
The scary thing is that this confirms that Patrick Byrne was right on two counts - that naked short selling shouldnt be legal, and that he was being silenced by his critics (the account of the Wall Street Journal not publishing his piece is particularly revealing).
Personally, I think the second revelation is the scarier one. Everyone knows that crime in general, including fraud, happens and will continue to happen. But when those who are guilty of it, know they are doing wrong, and are able to silence critics..... Thats when things get a little scary.
This is, I fear, the problem with capitalism. Although Adam Smith's invisible hand works in an ideal market, in reality, everyone is motivated by greed, and thus will do whatever they can to get money, and that includes illegal activity. I dont know people are surprised when individuals, including those work for corporations, act illegally, and then say less regulation is needed. Its exactly what I would expect from greedy humans.
The second illegal trial?
I think the thieves should write a letter explaining their actions, just like BT had to do. Yes, that would be fair. And before the City of London think about investigating, lets remind them it would be too expensive and require extensive counsel. Better to just leave it alone.
Quote:
"Apart from the intrusion - that makes "1984" look bland - were is the mandate and need for this level of scrutiny? What do our Lords and Masters really want?"
Its worse than that - they'll do a Phorm and sell your data. Not only do they monitor you, the government can make money off of you! Think of it - a massive interception database that pays for itself and then some. It benefits everyone involved! Except the consumer that is, but then they dont have much of a say in what goes.
Dont feed the troll - hell he even posted anonymously, obviously isnt too proud of his beliefs.
I think we need to have a course entitled "Evolution for Creationists - Ten Things You Didnt Know"
I can think of a few topics.....
1. Abiogenesis, Evolution, and the Big Bang Theory, and how they have nothing at all to do with each other. Also covers why Abiogenesis != Evolution (very common mistake, ask my local Baptist Church).
2. Evolution is a fact - it happens. The Theory of Evolution attempts to explain why and how it happens. It is, as you might have guessed, a theory.
3. Scientific Theories, and why their name does not mean scientists are in doubt about them.
4. How Scientific Theories, including evolution, are refined and changed over time.
5. Why the Flying Spaghetti Monster is infinitely superior to your own religion (stripper factory and beer volcano, can you top that?).
You know, I kinda expected this. But I have a question - is DS Barry Murray incompetent or does he merely know which side his bread is buttered on? Its a serious question - in a recorded phone call with Alexander Hanff, he shows ignorance of what RIPA actually is. Surely knowledge of the law is the first step towards enforcing it?
But my guess is that he is in fact not incompetent, despite appearances, but it is very difficult to invent excuses not to investigate when you know perfectly well you ought to.
To be honest, I think this is worse than what BT and Phorm originally did. Yeah, illegal trials happen, companies make mistakes when blindsided by money. But whats worse is when no-one takes accountability for investigating - its a clear way of saying, "Sorry civilian, you dont have a say in how things are run, just go back to paying your taxes and stop grumbling." This shows that with connections in the right place, you can just about get away with murder. You know - I'm going to start a petition to fire Barry Murray for wasting tax payers money - he should have just said BT cant be charged with any crime anyway because of their connections. Why bother inventing excuses?
Lets imagine a scenario for a second - imagine there was a former government owned milk producer, that diluted its milk and used dangerous chemicals to hide that fact, resulting in infant deaths. What has happened here with BT leads me to believe such an entity would be immune to prosecution because of their connections.
PS: Barry Murray's statement about "the aim was to enhance their products" could have been lifted directly from Phorm PR.
Did he basically say, "If a child brings up creationism, a science teacher needs to be able to explain how it is not scientific?"
I'm strongly against the teaching of Creationism in schools, but even I think he has a point - if you dont tackle the root of the fallacies, perhaps you will never get children to properly understand evolution and why creationism is not scientific. Anyone got a link to his original statement, before the damage control?
On a side note, I received a pamphlet the other day from a local Baptist church about evolution. Only problem was, it confused evolution, abiogenesis and the theory of the Big Bang. I was tempted to write to them to explain the difference, just so that they could form a better opinion of why they were against evolution. Cos, you know, you cant disagree with something if you dont even know what it is.
"We were only borrowing the equipment so that we can advertise to BT better. As soon as we have a look at what types of network equipment they usually buy, we will be in a better position to sell them something they dont want to buy in the first place. Had BT opted out, none of this would have happened. Our opt-out notice is clearly displayed under the left front tyre of Mr Samson's car who lives in Green Oaks drive in lower East West London. Our methods bring better value to our customers - BT - and lots and lots of money to us. This was a legal trial - we asked our mate Joe at the pub, and he reckoned it was a great idea so long as we dont get caught."
Mine's the one that lost its Phorm because it got wet.
If BT/Phorm is going to profit from a website's visitors, then perhaps the website should benefit too?
How about a notice that says something along the lines of:
By intercepting my visitors traffic you agree to be bound by my DPI Contract.
The contract stipulates that whosoever performs the interception of my visitor's traffic must pay me £100 per visitor per session, no later than 30 days following the date of visit.
Failure to send me the funds will result in prosecution.
I mean, as I see it, since websites have the right to not consent to interception, they also have the right to consent under certain conditions. Thus,BT would need to monitor every websites consent status, and requests (anyone want a glass full of brown M&Ms for their interception?).
Anyway, I recommend any readers visit nodpi.org and listen to the first conversation with DS Barry Murray. I'm so astounded by his incompetence and rudeness that I think I shall complain to the police - his behaviour is truly unbecoming of a police officer.
I expect that the UK gov will try to pass Phorm, and the secret trials, as legal and above board. Since some former BT execs now work in anyway, I'm surprised that BT hasnt just announced they own Phorm anyway.
The other thing that might happen is that Phorm might be given as a sacrificial lamb to the EU, and Phorms technology will somehow find a way to BT, who will then abuse it. Did I say abuse? I meant bring value to consumers.
Nothing to see here people, move along!
Remember when the top end single GPU card cost £400-£500?
Suddenly we have 4850's for £130!
To be honest, I actually think we have AMD to thank for this. Blame it on AMD's lack of success with getting the R600 to perform as well as it should have if you will, but the launch of their highest end card at less than £300 forced Nvidia to drop prices. They've only being going down from there, until we have ATI's top performing single GPU solution selling for £180, a far cry from the £400 it would normally have cost (back in the old days). Which, of course, forced Nvidia to drop prices, something even Nvidia fans should be grateful for.
I wouldnt be surprised if the truth is something along the lines of ATI and Nvidia had an agreement to keep the high end cost a lot. ATI couldnt compete with a fixed price because their cards didnt really perform as well, so although the agreement got them much bigger margins, it was hurting their competitiveness. So they broke the agreement, dropped prices, and started competing on their own terms.
Are the most overpriced things in existence. I remember a Reg article containing proof that its more expensive to send a local text than it is to communicate with a satellite in orbit.
Its a pity they dont offer a plan in which you pay a small monthly subscription, and then pay for the data you transfer. That means texts would be practically free, as they should be, and if Skype can offer free Skype to Skype calls, I dont see why mobile calls need to be so expensive. The infrastructure has probably paid for itself 1000 times over!
Nonetheless, given the poor performance of Barcelona chips compared to Nehalem and Penryn, these chips at 1.9 - 2.3 GHz will be less than useless. Considering the highest clocked Phenom goes to 2.6GHz (and beyond with overclocking) its a bit of a mystery why these chips are clocked so low.
Even if they are aimed at a low market segment, it really wont hurt AMD to squeeze a bit of performance out of them. Its only a different multiplier as far as they are concerned, but better performance for the end user. With only 2 cores, its power draw and heat dissipation should be a lot less than Phenom chips.
Heres an idea - dont upgrade your OpenGL then. If you dont want to use new OpenGL functionality when writing your CAD application, write your application with an old version in mind, and tell your users thats what they need to have.
Otherwise, if you want to use the new version, accept that you might have to do things a little differently. Why should CAD hold back the entire industry? No one is saying they cant use deprecated features, but I think if they want to, it should be their problem.
After beating Tiffany down again for being so stupid and being too lazy to enforce their own trademarks...
Is to develop a digital certificate system that will enable eBay users to see at a glance whether a seller is a registered seller for a particular item, eg Rolex watches or whatever it is that Tiffany sells. Even better, charge Tiffany through the nose for the service and claim its the only way they can protect their trademark (because its a good way to see at a glance whether something is geniune or not, whether it has Tiffany's approval)
Its the Old Boys Club again! The BT execs, Home Office management - they probably still drink in the same pub together. No wonder the Home Office has helped BT defend itself, they are practically party to the offense.
My guess as to what will happen is that, in true UK Old Boys Club style, nothing will happen to BT. Nothing at all. Vivienne Reding, of the EU, will put pressure on the UK to prosecute, who will protest at the outside interference and continue doing all the nothing they like. BT will surreptitiously launch Phorm under a new name, but will "consult" with the Home Office beforehand, not because they care, just so that they can dot the i's and cross the t's, and claim to Joe Public that this is not illegal and in fact something worth having for more relevant advertising and increased security.
Mark my words, it will happen.
"Isn't 22 years almost a double life-sentence in this country?"
I think thats the problem with the corrections system in this country - commit murder and you get an all expenses paid weekend trip to one of our 5 star prisons where you can play PlayStation all day at the tax payer.
I dont believe in capital punishment, but I believe in keeping the public safe by keeping criminals behind bars. Guess I havent stopped to consider the poor criminals feelings, oh woe is them, crime is a tough job and somebody has got to do it, right?
For those who want discrete graphics processors (like me) it means you have a free vector processor to use for physics calculations. With both ATI and NVidia looking into physics on GPUs, its not much of a stretch to see that if you had a Fusion CPU and a discrete GPU, your Fusion GPU could do the physics while your discrete GPU does the graphics. Sounds like a match made in gaming heaven to me.
@AC
Yeah, everything that ATI/AMD makes is crap, thats why the 4850 and 4870 are the new cards to have, forcing Nvidia to drop its prices by 25%. Maybe you would rather there was no AMD and nvidia could charge whatever they liked?
He hacked into their systems without too much trouble, caused them huge embarrassment when they were forced to admit they did not know the meaning of the word "security", and now they want to make an example of him.
In all likelihood, whether he agreed to extradition of not, he would probably mysteriously find his way to Gitmo.
I'm not saying I agree with that he did - hacking is still a crime. I just dont see why he cant be tried over here, and why the we cant extradite US criminals over here, but they can take British citizens.
We must be the next star on the American flag.
How can an 8800GT beat a GTX 280? And why are the 4850 and 4870 getting much better scores than the GTX 280? Every review I've seen has it the other way around (although not by much).
Also, I think AMD deserves a round of applause. They have produced a chip that normal gamers can afford, and that you dont need a nuclear power plant to run. These are fast, powerful cards, available for what yesteryear's crappy midrange used to sell. In fact, I think even those using Nvidia cards, such as the venerable 8800GT, should thank AMD for putting competitive pressure on Nvidia to lower its prices. GTX260 and 280 card prices have recently been cut by 25%, solely because of AMD!
So, even though Phenom leaves much to be desired, lets hope AMD sticks around.
Lets throw away all police regards more than a year old, and how about we arm them with water pistols? After all, arresting criminals is traumatic for both the criminal and the policeman.
Lets also do away with DNA evidence. Who can say whether DNA is reliable? I cant see my DNA, can you? Its infringing on a criminal's rights for them to do this.
Actually lets remove law enforcement altogether. Who are we to say what people can and cannot do? If a man wants to steal, should we stop him? Doing so might damage his psyche. Lets just let people do what they want to do, its better for everyone that way.
Paris, because even she wouldnt miss the sarcasm in my post.
Quote: "Atom uses the same 45nm technology that you’ll find in the latest 'Penryn' Core 2 CPUs"
Please clarify this, its misleading. Atom is an entirely new architecture that has nothing in common with Penryn at all, not even design philosophy. The only thing it has in common is that they are both manufactured on a 45nm process, which results in smaller and more power efficient chips.
Also, in your power consumption benchmark, you mention that the Core 2 Duo uses Dual Channel memory. This makes your power consumption comparison meaningless, as having an extra memory module, regardless of capacity, will cause the Core 2 Duo PC to consume more power than the Atom PC. This makes the test unfair - you arent testing the difference in processor power consumption as much as you are testing the effect of adding extra memory to a system.
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