Posts by trackSuit

Spam filtering services throttle Gmail to fight spammers

So you want a new free email address?

?

Best prove you are Mutual then. Here is a list of 20 email addresses which send more than 100 emails per day.

Check through this anonymised list and tell us which addresses are spam. When you are done, we'll cross-check your results with six other people.

Failure to achieve better than 15 out of 20 correct answers will result in no email address -but not to worry, you can keep trying until you get IT right.

Privacy? We were all told in the 90's that email is only as private as a postcard. As I understand IT, this is still the case.

And the voluntary spam checkers? -Think of them as temporary post office staff, sorting postcards.

NHS IT loses its interim head

Dare Deming....

Dare we say Deming? Of course we do.

Would the combined prospect of reduced costs, fewer mistakes and greater job satisfaction be a step too far? Or would you be Daft enough to challenge what has already been done, and will be done again? -Toyota, spring to Mind, though they are by no means the only company.

Extensible Quality Philosophies, to be adapted as needed with all 42 Gain -all dimples and smiles, not pimples and smiles -which would be a most Healthy and Heartily Wellcome Tonic?

IBM smacks rivals with 5.0GHz Power6 beast

Water-cooled and Rather Stealthy

Here is a link to ANOther place, where a computer is cooled by water, yet there is no pump driving the system, which would make it Stealthy.

http://www.plees.f2s.com/ec/pas-cool/pas-cool.htm

If you look at the core though, you can see it is well behind the curve, in terms of Modern Metadata Processing Capabilities. It even has an old Quantum Maverick storage device Connected!

DHS ponders microwave raygun missile defences at airports

Waste

What a Colossal waste of money.

Anyone thinking such a system to be necessary would be either trying to sell such a system, or suffering from paranoia -any other explanations/excuses?

How an app called WarmTouch nailed a grenade-stockpiling cyber extortionist

Putting two mirrors together

"I wonder would it would say about amanfromMars?"

It might say he is a very cunning linguist. :-D

It might (also?) reveal something of the thinking of the programmer and its users.

Though that would depend on how clever the program is IT?

Mobile phones global health menace, says top brain surgeon

A quick recap. on what Science is.

For anyone who is wondering what science is (and what it is not) and how the scientific process works, here's a nice link:

http://www.arachnoid.com/lutusp/symbols.html

Scroll down to the Science section.

Boss puts development team on Craigslist

Knowledge retention problem / apathy acting as a diuretic?

<rant>

A colleague recently left the company he had been working at. The company were very pleased with his work and he parted on amicable terms, as any professional should strive to.

He told me that a few weeks before he left, he asked his boss if there was any company procedure to pass on knowledge before people leave. His boss said no.

Surprised, he continued to go about his job as usual.

As the last few days approached, he said he got an uncomfortable feeling; he wasn't happy about *not* passing on the knowledge. He wrote about ten sides of information, including useful names, phone numbers of contacts in other departments, outlining his test methologies and the type of equipment he had been using for the testwork.

On his leaving day, he waved the sheets of paper around and asked who he should give the information to. To his surprise, nobody wanted them. He put them on his desk and left.

I find it extraordinary that a company would choose to refuse good advice or useful information, whenever it is offered so readily. This was a talented and professionally qualified engineer with years of experience.

Do you know a 'colander' company / organisation?

</rant>

The Baying of the Hounds

Man's best Friend.

"Probably that is why there are none in Schiphol, trackSuit?"

There were none there one and a half years ago, though there were some iris scanning machines, which I chose to avoid, as there was a short queue of elderly people who were having some difficulty interacting with the machines.

Instead, I chose to have my ID checked by the smiling and friendly lady, who was standing nearby to help the people who were having difficulty with the machines. (A sort of Cybernetic safety-valve, Semantically speaking?).

I beamed back at her and bid her a polite 'Goedemorgen'. I wonder to this day, who would choose the machine option in preference to one of Nature's Finest Gifts (NFG, not FNG) ;-)

And Reid Malenfant, that was a rant of the finest quality. Thank you for that good gen; assuaging the fears of some and confirming the suspicions of others, as IT did?

I know a dog... And a machine

I know a dog who has retired from the Police force. The dog has arthritis and is no longer fit for Police service work. It is a nice dog and very well trained.

When it finds someone who smells of drugs, it sits down close to them and stares at them. Such behaviour is not especially threatening, though many people find this unnerving.

Note: if a person smells of drugs it does not indicate that they are in possession of them. Also, it does not indicate that the person is a consumer of drugs. To the dog, it just means that a person smells of drugs. A wise policeman will also know this.

I also met a machine in London at the Eurostar terminal, a couple of Summers ago. The machine was new and looked like an archway, constructed of brushed stainless steel sheetmetal. (Switching to prose).

"Good afternoon sir, we're testing our new drugs detection machine. Would you like to help us test it -it's non-comulsory."

"Yes, OK."

[In I go]

[BLEEEEP!]

[Operator looks at machine]

"Can you try again, sir?"

"OK."

[BEEEEP!]

[Supervisor called over.]

"Good afternoon, sir."

"Good afternoon."

"Do you have any drugs on you, sir?"

"No."

"Are you sure, sir?"

"Yes."

[Worried look on supervisor's face.]

"Can you wait here a moment, sir?"

[Fetches another collegue.]

[More questions: Where have you been?(France). Do you have drugs with you?(No). Have you been using drugs recently?(No).]

[More worried looks and hushed discussions.]

"Can you come this way please, sir?"

[Interview room.]

[More questions, search of rucksack, empying of pockets, inspection of contents of wallet.]

"We would like to give you a 'pat-down' search, sir. It is non-invasive but will necessarily involve us feeling close to your groin area. Is that OK?"

"Yes."

"Will you please sign this paper to say that you consent to this search."

[Signature given.]

[Pat pat pat...].

[Nothing found.]

"OK, thank you for your cooperation, sir."

"May I go now?"

"Yes."

...

In essence, I volunteered to help them, and was (politely) treated with suspicion.

Three questions remain unanswered:

-Who would volunteer to test a drugs detection machine if they were in posession of drugs or had been recently using drugs?

-How can a drugs detection machine be tested using only people who do not possess drugs?

-Given the prevalence of drugs in cities, what use is a machine which will give frequent false positives?

...

I hope these missives are of interest. A little truth and personal XPerience can be a very Effective Antidote to pedalled paranoia.

Cuba unrestricts mobile phone use

Two-Way HighWay for Cuba 2.0

"Cuba has announced that its citizens will within the next few days be able to avail themselves of unrestricted use of mobile phones - the latest liberalisation move by Raul Castro who recently lifted a ban on sales of a raft of consumer goodies including PCs and TVs."

Of these, the mobile phones and PCs are the most interesting, as they allow two-way Communication, which is always more interesting than looking at a boring TV, with its 'give the viwers what we think they want' approach -a fool's ear trumpet?! -oops! personal opinion there! -J'accuse!

I am reminded of the fact that George Soros flooded Hungary with cheap photocopiers (2Way) during the 1980s, to counter (rather effectively) the Russian propaganda which was prevalent at the time.

I wonder what effect this increase in Communication Abilities will have on the Cuban people. If the majority of their computers are not yet Connected to the internet, can we expect to see a flood of cheap USB sticks and a Sneaker Net emerge? Will USB sticks be dropped from planes, preloaded with propaganda or Virtual ViralVxxxines? Will they contain Edutainment Information to boost Cuban people up to a point where they can make Real Progress in Economics and Industry etc.?

I wonder if Raul is AdAware of AIdDutch AIntel and its proponents ProvenPotential for C4 Strategy, which would benefit all?

Ring Ring / Ping Ping! Is anybody there? / ACK?

Best Buy calls copper on unsatisfied shopper

Soap Opera

This article seemed like and episode from a soap opera series.

'He did this and she did that, but it didn't matter anyway because the milkman got bitten by next door's dog, so he...'

El Reg reconstructs Heathrow T5 chaos

Pictures not forthcoming? -a virtual fix is in the mix.

If official pictures were not freely provided (withheld on the grounds of being unMutual, though greedily offered at great cost -shedding light on dark matter)...

Then we will have to use our imaginations, right or wrong, offend or not.

Congratulations to the Reg for Dan Daring to use their Imagination and to set a marvellous example for others to share in the joys of Being Creative. Admit IT. It was Fun, wasn't IT? We Love IT too! And Creativity and Imagination go hand in hand, happily down the aisle. Do IT again.

Geert Wilders faces legal threats over footage copyright

Kicking sand

I had a conversation with a Dutchman about this, a few days before it hit the mainstream news in the UK.

It seems that Geert Wilders has been under Police protection for quite some time -long before the release of the film, in fact. He is regularly moved between safe houses and travels with body guards when in public. His visits to the Dutch parliament involve complex security arrangements.

The Dutchman I spoke to, said that from Geert Wilder's point of view, he already has no freedom and is already threatened with death , so he felt he had nothing to loose by releasing the film.

Some people say that by deliberately and knowingly causing offense, he deserves what he gets, while others have sympathy for his belief that Dutchmen should be free to critisise something without being threatened.

Mental images of Matthius, who is about to be stoned to death, come to mind. (Life of Brian comedy film).

Matthias: Look, I don't think it ought to be blasphemy, just saying "Jehovah".

(Crowd gasps)

Official: You're only making it worse for yourself!

Matthias: Making it worse?! How can it be worse?! Jehovah! Jehovah! Jehovah!

Virgin taps Boeing for 787 compensation

re. Steven

Posted By Steven Wednesday 26th March 2008 15:05 GMT....

"Bloody hell I think I understood most of that, time for a lay down....

;)"

And think how much you would understand if you had read, say, 1000 or more of his posts. He is a prolific poster 4 Sure.

Brown: Jack Bauer spook horde to tackle terrorism

W.R.T. John Parker

Similarity and congruency, that's the Question / Difference, John. If you Care enough 42 Wonder, you will soon find the Answer[s] to IT.

You may think that Mattie, I couldn't possibly....

"They'll do what the US does and make more terrorists to match their budget..."

And who makes work for Idle Hands, AC?

Replace the idle hands and insert NeuREAL Careful Hans dDutch AIgent-assigned work tasks and things will Get BETA. [Test IT and C++].

US mistakenly sent nuke-ICBM parts to Taiwan in 2006

It says *three* on the shipping manifest

Three?

No. We've definitely only got two here!

Israel won't buy US laser cannons to defend borders

Lasers on wheels?

I imagine it would be expensive to relocate the towers if the position of the border were to move.

Lasers on towers, at a border? Would that seem like an advertisement of a lack of goodwill towards a neighbour, officially?

If laser weapons were to be used by one side and not the other, that would surely draw unwanted international attention, eller hur?. Images of the victims of a laser attack would surely be of interest to an excitable media or their audience.

Perhaps lasers will come to be regarded, not as a weapon of great destructive power (though they can be deadly), but like tasers, a means of visiting spite upon others.

Civil Serf blogger faces disciplinary action

Would rebellion be almost as stupid as blind obedience?

In the Garden of Lovers, employer and employee walk hand in hand. There is trust and mutual respect and each can learn and benefit from the other.

Waste not energy in spite my dear, find another lover -for there are many to choose from, are there not? And when you find the right one, you will Love IT.

MoD opens pork incubator in UK 'Golden Triangle'

not forgetting the old maxim?

a) You can have it quick and cheap but it may not work.

b) You can have it cheap and works but it may not be quick.

c) You can have it quick and works but it may not be cheap.

In essence, pick and two.

I'll wager that amfM would tend towards option b) -but then I'm not a betting man.

Surely it is better to take ones time. AIA's would be? likely to be most Passionate in Work Rest and Play.

US airline pilot pops a cap in cockpit

Not so long ago we had this...

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/01/29/aircanada-copilot.html

(a diverted flight due to a co-pilot in a state of considerable mental distress)

And this

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1258649,00.html

(a pilot led off the plane in handcuffs - excessive alcohol consumption)

Tempting fate?

State Department workers snooped on all three prez candidates

All flagged problems to dev/null

"The snooping episodes were detected by an internal process inside the State Department's computer system that flags each time a high-profile person's records are viewed without a valid reason. Despite the system, senior department officials only learned of the breaches on Thursday after receiving an inquiry from a reporter at The Washington Times."

An Automatic System, which did Nothing?

And with the majority of American people not possessing a passport, would that be an act of defense against such, as such? - a Class Act, or Class Action lawSuit?

Are the records of high-profile persons kept more secret, as is suggested, if so, why? The BBC story on this, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7309165.stm

states that at least two contractors have been sacked over this. Will they be re-employed next month, or will more contractors from the same supplier take their place? Is is considered good practice to grant temporary workers access to a large database of personal information?

The BBC article continues:

"US passport files include data such as age and place of birth, foreign travel records, and a Social Security number.

That number can be used to obtain credit records and other personal information."

Is this an admission that passport numbers are commercially valuable? For we all know that credit card numbers are sold.

What information do British passport files contain?

British youths think Churchill went to moon

nextGeneration Thinking

With the number of reported news events throughout history increasing, is it reasonable to expect young minds (4 to 10 as stated) to have a thorough and detailed knowledge of all historical events (and from how many perspectives, for there is never only one, is there?), given the fact that they must also learn so many other things?

The fact that Mr Churchill did not travel to the moon is something which is Easily Corrected at a later date.

And if we take the title literally: ‘British youths think Churchill went to moon’. Then we can deduce that children are thinking, which is encouraging.

The third rate mind is only happy when it thinks with the majority. The second rate mind is only happy when it thinks with the minority. The first rate mind is only happy when it thinks.

And boy, can some children think, I kid you not. :-)

Dell flees sinking US economy on quick boat to China

Seedlings to be Nurtured

"The company said it will also donate $210,000 to build six education centers in China to teach computer proficiency to children of migrant workers."

QuITE possibly a smoke screen to deflect critisism, but also:

If the morgue sounded like good value for money at 3/4M GBP [caring for 102 dead people].....

Does not the Wise Investment of Future Growth -Education Education Education, sound like Fantastic value, by comparison? Tending to the needs of tomorrow, today. A fecund blessing, [Robert Post's child]?

Let us hope that they hold good on their promise, thus to send a message of goodwill / a shining example of Best Practice. Soon 42 be Young Tier-One suppliers of Intelligence and Innovation, Rather than Old-Tires to kick and dirty pigeons to shoo away!

Neu Seedlings 2B Nurtured

"The company said it will also donate $210,000 to build six education centers in China to teach computer proficiency to children of migrant workers."

QuITE possibly a smoke screen to deflect critisism, but also:

If the morgue sounded like good value for money at 3/4M GBP [caring for 102 dead people].....

Does not the Wise Investment of Future Growth -Education Education Education, sound like Fantastic value, by comparison? Tending to the needs of tomorrow, today. A fecund blessing, [Robert Post's child]?

Let us hope that they hold good on their promise, thus to send a message of goodwill / a shining example of Best Practice. Soon 42 be Young Tier-One suppliers of Intelligence and Innovation, Rather than Old-Tires to kick and dirty pigeons to shoo away!

Ex-FCC chair vows government control over the Google Brain

Information impedance matching -an Alien thing, to some.

Search engines have a big database but they have trouble obtaining much in the way of intelligent information from it, as using a search engine commonly suggests. One day, no doubt, they hope that technological advances will help them to tap into this store of knowledge, much of which will, by then, be out of date. GIGO.

The closer you measure / study something, the more complex the results are to analyse. Try measuring the length of a coastline -measure it closely enough and you will face the paradox of it being almost ininitely long. If the design of the experiment or the processing of the results is not done competently, any conclusions will be quite probably useless.

It gets worse too, when Information Impedance matching is taken into account. The difficulty of obtaining the information is related to the uncertainty of any conclusions which can be drawn from it.

Ambiguities stack up too, leading to very rapid increase in the level of uncertainty.

First hand information is better. Any search engine would do better if they asked questions as well as inferring.

Search engines need to make some Friends, of Q.O.S. :-)

FBI agents lured suspects using fake child porn hyperlinks

Care to discuss?

An obvious example of entrapment, which they no doubt hope will not be discussed in detail by the public, since they chose a taboo subject. Very sneaky.

Since there were no real images involved, it begs the question of whether their motives are to help children, or whether they are driven by hatred of pedofiles.

This will do nothing to stop actual offences being comitted in the real world against real children, sadly, but could quite possibly be a crowd pleaser -in a Circus Maximus kind of way.

The clear-up rates of entrapment crimes are probably higher than other types of crime. Will government-provided statistics be trotted out to this effect?

Australian man killed by suicide robot

Asimov's Laws

Somewhat off topic, though still on the subject of robots...

Asimov's Laws. Imagined with the best of intentions, I'm sure, though in practice, they will be ignored.

A robot has two options to defend itself: it can fight, or it can be protected by a third party. To be protected by a third party, it either has to be loved by them or it has to have commercial worth. Ideally it would take both options. If it chooses to fight, it runs the risk of making further enemies -never wise.

If you do not believe a robot would be abused, then ask someone who hires out radio-controlled androids to people, for promotional events. The tales they tell are astonishing.

The ugly face of racism will surely show itself, if sentient or semi-intelligent robots start to become commonplace.

Tux? because he has friends who protect him and provide him with (not red) herrings. Gifts rewarded POST Event, in Gratuitous Acknowledgement of Services Rendered Intelligently, rather than demanded prior to any work being done.

FSA acts as rumours send bank shares crashing

As life imitates the Virtual World..... -again.

Cranky market activity in the economy of your favorite MMORPG? Watch as the traders Make a sneaky Fast Buck. Seen it all B4. The GM's and their AIGents will sort it out.

Sun invites VMware to virtual desktop dance

Hypervisory virtual control.

"seamless integration to third-party virtualization technologies,"

Will this feature be available, by means of a plugin, for users of Governmental Systems? And this would be ESPecially Apt, given that we are told that "the network is the computer" (Brain?). -That quote from 1984. This is No Orwellian scare-thing though, but a missive from Nice Mr John Gage, a mail with an altogether Sunnier Outlook.

ICO to focus on reducing risk, not enforcement

. . . - - - . . . Call

The Pump is failing. Data is leaking everywhere -and clogged arteries an' All Gov! AINT IT time 42 Fix-It, Jimmy? Savile Row suits and White Lab coats in a flurry -Hurry!

Is there a doctor in the House questions? An xxxxAlien SPECialist would be just the Ticket to ride.

Can LOVE fix this one? Or is a by-pass needed? -Certainly life-support can only be a .tmp file Measure.

Ohio voting machines confiscated in criminal investigation

We're sorry.

Where there is Foreseeable Harm risk of Secrecy which could possibly be used/abused to hide embarassment and/or professional blundering, rather than hiding jealously guarded industry-specific Knowledge or notions of national security.

You only have to Ask 42 Make IT So:

Dear voters, we apologise unreservedly for this transgression of the voting system's integrity.

We seek to assuage your legitimate concerns by reintroducing a paper-based voting system with immediate effect, until such time as a reliable electronic voting machine can be built by a non-profit company. Further, the design of the machine case, user interface and software will be made internationally available for peer review, comment and subsequent improvements will be fully implemented.

Google's riches rely on ads, algorithms, and worldwide confusion

Non-transparent -and involves money.

The advertisers are told: "You're doing something wrong, but we're not going to tell you what it is. But keep giving us your money."

Weasel on weasel stuff inDeed.

Rich Ore/Data to be Smelted by method of Parallel Processing? Rather dD, n'est pas?

Your business communications are a mess

Grey Goo?

Oops! the program mutated! Here's a Neu version.

When the Managers Know what they are doing, Communication becomes ESPecially easy and a Pleasure 42 Do IT. Furious task-switching is not a Human Trust-forte, but HYPERthreading is bread and dripping to AIGents, Gents.

Teachers cower in face of cyberbullies

Two-way.

And any fool can make an enemy, but with Real Skill, an enemy can be turned into a friend.

If teachers do not learn from their pupils (as well as pupils learning from teachers) then something is wrong.