* Posts by bill

9 publicly visible posts • joined 17 Mar 2008

Wikimedia becomes latest to ban Phorm

bill
Thumb Up

What a great week it's been!

That is all.

RAF in plot against Fleet Air Arm again

bill
Thumb Up

Bravo sir!

You're not ex-navy, by any chance? What a sensible take on a ludicrous situation. I couldn't agree with you more (and I work with RAF and Navy every day)

However, I have no faith whatsoever that this episode will be anything other than an almighty clusterf**k, as usual. That's what always happens when there are politicians, British civil servants and US weapons companies involved: cash and honours for the old-boys, and a total shafting for The Boys, if you catch my drift.

New trojan in mass DNS hijack

bill

Am I right in assuming...

...that this exploit is only possible if the LAN includes a Windows machine capable of being infected with the trojan? In other words, Mac/Linux-only LANs are immune to this threat?

Apple quietly releases Safari 3.2.1

bill
Alert

Aren't you missing the most important thing here?

Umm, has nobody else been reading the stories elsewhere about the new "anti-phishing" functionality of Safari 3.2.1 and the fact that it sends data about the pages you request to google? Add into that that Apple's privacy policy does not exclude "3rd party use" of your personal data, and there's a shitstorm brewing here. Your Safari browsing habits could be used by Google Ads in the same way that Phorm plan to use your ISP connection to profile you for targeted adverts. Perhaps the Australian government can get in on the act too, Apple....

Main BBC channels to be broadcast live via web

bill
Coat

Oh Boy....

...I can see where this is heading....

Every owner of a PC in the UK will be required to buy a TV licence, regardless of whether you intend to use it to watch BBC TV live or not. You think that sounds silly? Well I once tried explaining to an American that every household and business that owns a TV set in this country is compelled to buy a licence for it, or risk possible jail time, whether you actually watch any BBC channels or not. She thought I was winding her up....

Yes officer, my TV licence is in my coat pocket....

Scotland Mountain Rescue turns on Ofcom

bill

Up the Revolution

I've had just about enough of this capitalist crap that everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, can be best run by the "Market". If you give essential, life-saving services over to businessmen, all they'll be interested in is how much profit they can "leveridge" out of the poor sap of a "consumer" - Sod the quality of service or the conditions that the brave rescuers-on-the-ground (or in-the-air) have to endure.

As a past "consumer" of mountain-rescue "services" I'm damned-thankful that my life-saving experience wasn't routed through an Indian call-centre that first tried to get me to self-extract (a.k.a. "have you tried turning it off and on again?"), then put me on hold while they conferred with their line-manager, then raised an order number for a rescue team to be sub-contracted and dispatched some time next Tuesday.

When are the people of this country going to realise that there are certain things that private industry should be allowed nowhere near? Healthcare, armed forces, policing, prisons, royal mail and the EM spectrum...all the things that are essential to underpin the functioning of a civilized society, and that should not be expected to "make a profit" - rather, it must be accepted that they are things that will incur a necessary cost. FFS, you don't expect eating your greens to make a profit, do you? No - it costs a certain amount, but you have to do it to keep your body fueled and healthy.

Sometimes I despair at peoples' greed and stupidity.

Serial troll bitchslaps Reg hack

bill

1 x 25mg daily. Avoid alcohol and operating machinery.

I think this individual had a bit too much to drink. Or maybe his medication isn't working any more. Still, it's nice to know that the fate of the world rests in the hands of a nation of people who are so mentally stable...

Apple recalls iPhone 3G power adaptors

bill
Coat

I'll get me coat...

I knew there was still a reason to be proud to be British: the most robust, solid mains electricity power connectors in the world....

BT admits misleading customers over Phorm experiments

bill
Boffin

@anonymous coward :re: browser test

Anonymous coward...why did you "not even bother" to test Safari? Is is not susceptible to this attack vector, or is it just that nobody in their right mind would be using it in the first place?