Posts by Paul Gomme

Autogyro legend Ken Wallis hangs up wings at 97

Will be very sadly missed

I had the pleasure of speaking to him once - completely engaging character who took plenty of time to talk. One of the proper "old school" characters. RIP.

NY Museum of Modern Art embraces 14 video games

Re: Eve Online but not Elite

As you say... Historians: Those that like to selectively recall their favourite bits of the past, rather than contributing to it.

To wit, if you don't understand something, better to keep your mouth closed, rather than open it and remove all doubt.

Schoolkids learn coding at GCSE level in curriculum trial

You'll like this one...

I left school at age 16 in 1990 to take a BTEC ND in Computing at the local college. The careers teacher at my school informed me and my best friend (who also left), that "there's no future in software".

Said teacher went to the same school, did their teaching qualification, then returned to the same school and gave careers advice. Go figure.

Last I heard, he was in charge of IT there. Still, I'm sure everything that he uses was developed before 1990... (eh, Jim...?)

WikiLeaks boss labels UK extradition order a 'rubber stamping process'

Good luck with getting the UK to withold extradition to the US...

Just look at Gary McKinnon's case to see how easily UK.gov give in to any US requests...

The repeal bill: what's left in, what's left out

Quite frankly...

...what did you expect?

ICO drops BT, ACS Law probe

Fix the deficit...

Close the ICO. I've yet to see them address any issue they've been presented with.

Every little helps...

ARM Holdings eager for PC and server expansion

Full circle...

ARM going back into a desktop machine - that's how it all started with Acorn's Archimedes...

Met re-opens NoTW phone hack probe

Hacking?

Guessing a 4-digit PIN gives real hackers a bad name...

Interesting how a few celebs and MPs can get this investigated, but ten thousand BT Openworld accounts intercepted by Phorm and BT get completely ignored...

Stuxnet code leak to cause CYBER-APOCALYPSE NOW!

I did want to post a comment

I did want to post a comment on the Sky News website, but where do you start...?

Twitter joke martyr loses appeal

All over

Any semblance of free speech in this country just died.

Energy-saving LEDs 'will not save energy', say boffins

That'd be...

"Enlightened policy decisions may be necessary to partner with the technologies to have big impacts."

That would be tax increases then, wouldn't it...?

CEOP claims success for Facebook 'panic button'

Anyone got a calendar...?

...I just need to check when the next Honours List comes out...

</cynicism>

Phorm issues shares to raise cash

The internet is a global community...

And was set up for the free exchange of information...

The current usage may not meet those aims, but neither does it give anyone a license to mine it for commercial purposes.

If you wish to allow your personal details to be sent to a third party, that's fine. But that should be YOUR choice. An ISP that automatically opts you in, simply cannot be trusted..

Phorm's losses top $100m

Hoping the next Phorm headline

Here's hoping that the next Phorm headline we see in The Reg will be the news that they've gone titsup. Although a couple of prosecutions along the way would also be nice...

Google's Wi-Fi snoop nabbed passwords and emails

The point being made...

The reason people are upset is that a large corporation with a vested interest in processing personal data has been gaining it against local laws. The offence is not "failing to secure a wi-fi point" - it's "capturing data without consent".

The debate about securing your access point is not the issue. The issue is "did you capture personal data without consent?"

If you leave your bank statement by a window, I read it and then drain your account or commit identity fraud, am I blameless, because you left your details available for anyone to read...?

Google's Wi-Fi sniff probe reveals 'criminal intent' - PI

Take some responsibility

This code didn't write itself; someone actively coded it, so they should take some responsibility for it. And whoever was in charge of them should have been aware of what they were doing. Even if Google do allow engineers time to work on their own pet projects, if that project is then used in a company project, then it should be subject to appropriate reviews. If basic code review and legal compliance is not part of Google's product lifecycle, then this excuse will be used by companies as a reason for non-compliance with data protection and privacy laws for years to come.

Halting McKinnon extradition not in our power, says Clegg

Yellow through and through...

Well, what else would you expect from someone who heads a political party that chooses yellow as their colour...?

Omegle invites you to show world+Facebook your bewbs

Question

If CEOP are so concerned about the protection of kids, why don't they start their own service, complete with a 7000-page vetting questionnaire before allowing people to join?

Guy Kewney, pioneer, guru, friend - RIP

Will be missed

I remember reading his stuff as a kid in the early 1980s - probably responsible for my choice of career. He'll be sorely missed.

Computer pioneer and Gates mentor Ed Roberts dies

Paul Gomme

To Ed Roberts,

For those about to code,

We salute you.

Rest in peace,

The Modern Personal Computer Industry.

El Reg April Fools 2010

Oh you lot are such a tease...

Next thing you know, Lester Haines will be running the country, Chris Williams will be defending our cyber-shores..

And Sara Bee...? She'll have never had it so good...

Hull Daily Mail pulls porncoder comments

They have form for trying to stifle competition

They clearly feel threatened by the HU.17 website. A BBC report from a few years ago shows how strongly they wanted to be sole media provider in the area:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/reports/pdf/local_tv_news_laughton.html

Pages 37 and 38 refer to HDM's declining market share and are likely to be the cause of their personal attack on Mr Smith.

Aussie hoaxer strikes again

Just wondering...

How long before this sort of thing starts happening regularly here in the UK?

File-sharing Bill could give Government control of the internet

EU law does NOT protect us...

I seem to recall this government disregard any European legislation they don't like. Remember their response about privacy over Phorm, their stance on DNA retention by the police...

Nation's moral guardians snap over 'shag bands'

And...

Smoking causes paedophilia, heroin addiction and suicide bombing...

Just ask the Rockall newsdesk... ( sadly missed :-( )

Government swiftly backpedals on vetting scheme

Sign the petition - it's at...

http://www.petitiononline.com/vetting2/petition.html

Naturally, in doing so, you may notice increased incidents of black helicopters flying over your house...

Abigail's Windows 7 Party

Oh yes...

She's back... :-)

IWF chief: We don't need crusaders

Speaking your mind

The fact that so many commentators feel the need to post under the 'AC' label should tell you something about how people are scared about voicing criticism of the government here in the UK.

Privacy watchdog bashes UK.gov net snoop plan

Why are the gov doing all this?

After all, didn't they say that terrorism would never be allowed to affect our way of life and freedoms...? Or did I imagine that bit...?

Cops and ISP in paedophile data mix up

Colour me shocked!

I could understand plod and government not understanding technology, but it's now quite clear that they really don't even know the time of day.

Gotta go, as there's a bunch of goons in riot jackets at my door...

NotW bosses fight back over hacking claims

The Reg says it best:

"Integrity - we've heard of it"

Just a pity more of the public don't read it...

Ministry of Justice issues digital preservation code

Good luck with that

"The introduction of the Freedom of Information Act has significantly increased transparency in public life and the right to access information has become a cornerstone of our democracy," said Wills.

Have you ever tried applying for anything of use under the Freedom of Information Act? Good luck...

UK tabloid in phone hacking probe

Can someone tell me why...

Could someone please explain why the police want to get involved in this, when they wouldn't lift a finger about BT and Phorm's illegal interception of people's web browsing?

Apple punts Safari update

This worked for me...

I was having huge problems after updating to Safari 4 with it continually crashing. A look at the crash dump logs pointed to the Shockwave plugin. I updated that to the latest, and it's been fine ever since. I'm not saying that's what's causing all the problems, but worth checking.

Manchester council caned over school data breach

When will someone take responsibility for these breaches?

"...data privacy watchdogs at the Information Commissioner's Office criticised the council for carelessness with personal data, and for clear violations of the Data Protection Act. Any future transgressions by the council could result in enforcement action by the ICO."

So why aren't they being prosecuted? Surely if you violate the law, you should be punished?

And the use of the word "could" seems to suggest that even if they breach the regulations AGAIN, there is no guarantee action will be taken against them.

Just because people are (perhaps naively) willing to expose their personal information on places like social networking sites, this should not be used as an excuse by either public or private bodies to avoid their obligations to protect people's personal data.

In this case, as in many others, much is made of "actions put in place to ensure it will never happen again." But what about the potential (and maybe real) consequences of such a breach?

Gordon 'to sacky' Wacky Jacqui

No flowers...

...and no loss, either...

Post your happy comments here...

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=46271966027&ref=ts

Apple power brick sparks lawsuit

Eh?

What on earth are these people doing to induce "dangerously frays, sparks, and prematurely fails to work." failures?

Yes, the cable frays if you run over it with a vacuum cleaner or any other physically-hostile device.

Sparks? What, between the connector on the device and the adaptor end? I assume the plantiff is referring to that very odd natural behaviour of electricity to flow to earth via the path of least resistance - and any video evidence would involve teasing the adaptor towards the unit...

If an adaptor becomes seriously hot enough to induce melting of its component parts without shutting down, that indicates that something is drawing too much current into the device itself, and therefore not tripping any fuses within the device. Have you perhaps tried lifting it off the bed and unblocking the ventilation?

Of course, Apple have many billions of dollars. How many users have common sense?

Wacky Jacqui spanked by husband

I declare Wacky Jacqui Open Season now OPEN!!

...join up and and comment / poke fun / start a discussion at:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=46271966027

Everyone welcome!!

LibDems want gov action on killer lorries of death

Should be banned or taxed, or restricted to the military...

Because before the widespread availability of satellite navigation devices, there were absolutely ZERO instances of drivers getting lost, women driving into lakes, hitting bridges or attempting to navigate vehicles down roads that were too narrow for them...

Perhaps we should also mandate cartographers to provide road widths on their maps?

Quite what the government is supposed to do about this, I'm not quite sure... Perhaps signpost narrow lanes in Polish, Estonian, Hungarian, French, etc, etc...? A few years ago when I was working for a GPS semiconductor company, I was sitting outside a pub in the countryside (and this *WAS* miles from anywhere), when an HGV pulled up outside and the driver came in to ask the way to a particular town. Having been advised that the way he was going would not be wide enough to get his lorry through, he insisted on carrying on with his journey because his sat-nav had told him that was the way. I wasn't around to witness the point where our advice and reality crossed...

Of course, naturally someone from the UK government will undoubtedly pop-up in the press over the next few days telling us that the billions of pounds of taxpayer's money being invested in Gallileo will fix this.

If any politician can really solve this, they've undoubtedly also solved NP-complete mathematical problems as well... I'll keep an eye out for that...

Police ad urges: 'Trust no one'

I am just so utterly lost for words...

...so can someone please say some on all our behalfs at:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=46271966027&ref=ts

Industry ponders fate of Wacky Jacqui's überdatabase

Come on people, put your voice to it...

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=46271966027&ref=share

People seem to be *SLOWLY* waking up to what's going on. Will you all *PLEASE* join the group and get some discussions going...

DNA database includes nipper and nonagenarian

More signups please

As you probably know, here's one Facebook group for it. But don't just signup, please take the time to post on the walls and join in or start a discussion.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=46271966027

Jacqui's jihad on web extremism flops

Once again - the link is here...

I've had enough of this.

No, I'm not scared, but I am nervous. I've been taking a stand against this stuff for several years now, and if you want to, now is the time to act.

I have set up a Facebook group - "How mad is Wacky Jacqui?"

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=46271966027

You don't have to join it. You don't have to flame it, either. But please look at what's been happening in this country, and make a considered decision. Some of my best friends haven't joined it because they fear it could attract attention to themselves.

I'll be at the "photo shooting" event in London on Monday 16th February 2009. Some people have said that making a protest on Facebook doesn't achieve anything, and that you should "march" to make your voice heard. Well, go for it...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/09/liberty-central-stop-and-search-police

This is about a single issue, but ultimately, all these issues terminate at a single one: Our Civil Liberties.

If you are going, print the above card.

I guess this post will be moderated - and if you're there, Sarah Bee, I'm the 5' 6" nerd with the short hair, long coat, glasses, and an attitude on YOUR side...

Photography rights: Snappers to descend on Scotland Yard

Hope to see you all there...

Yes, I'm nervous about going. Yes, I expect to be stopped by the police and possibly arrested. But rights are like muscles: if you don't exercise them from time to time, they'll wither up and die.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=46271966027

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=47417324089

Wacky Jacqui Smith says whole country crusading against CCTV

Facebook groups

I’d like to thank everyone who has signed up to the Facebook group so far. I have seen a couple of less-than-supportive comments from people, so I’d just like to mention a couple of things:

This group is for an expression of public feeling regarding the curtailment of civil liberties by the current UK government, and one minister in particular.

Time and time again, writing to your MP simply doesn’t achieve results; it merely results a polite letter thanking for your time (and if you’re lucky, a couple of prints of existing departmental webpages restating their position).

Calling on people to march and protest in person is all very well, but it negates to mention:

1) People may not have the time to join a formal organised protest, due to family commitments, work, etc

2) People are actually scared of protesting in public, because of EXACT REMOVAL OF THOSE LIBERTIES that this group has been established to discuss.

The “Comments” pages of The Register are not the place to get into a discussion about how to protest about a situation you don’t like. Please have a look at the Facebook group, read it and if you wish to be part of the debate, either positively or negatively, then please contribute.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=46271966027

Join the campaign!!

I've been so inspired by her apparent insanity, we now have a Facebook group dedicated to Wacky Jacqui. Please join up at:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=46271966027

April 1st should definitely be designated "Wacky Jacqui Day", so please join up and submit your ideas. Serious discussions on our continued erosion of civil liberties are very welcome.

UK cybercrime unit to meet IT leaders

Does their remit...

...include investigating breaches of Data Protection Law and unauthorised wiretaps of internet connections by major telecomms providers? Just wondered, as no other police department have taken the complaints seriously...

Jacqui Smith cracks down on gangs via computers, closets

There are several Facebook groups for her insanity

Here's mine...

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=46271966027

"How mad is Wacky Jacqui?"

Please feel free to join up!!

Recession prompts job cuts at PC World call centres

Another reason would be...

Because you can get more useful information by talking to a tree...

Extreme pron vigilantes are after you

Mainstream media are starting to notice this

http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/3300776/could-you-get-arrested-for-owning-a-graphic-novel.thtml

Pity how the media are only picking up on this AFTER the laws are introduced... Still, maybe it will make people pay a bit more attention to what's going on...