* Posts by Gannon (J.) Dick

850 publicly visible posts • joined 13 Aug 2006

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Microsoft sends IE9 'do-not-track' tech to W3C

Gannon (J.) Dick
Pint

Denial 0f Savants Attack

I'm surprised that nobody has put out a page of cookie setters which automatically sets the Fortune 500 and then some ... anybody who reads them times out ... sort of like the long gabfest that telemarketers loved so much ... hold on gotta walk the dog, be right back ...

Crematorium to heat council swimming pool

Gannon (J.) Dick
Black Helicopters

This has never been Creepy

However the Pool Party invitation I got from my boss just became creepy.

Facebook suspends personal data-sharing feature

Gannon (J.) Dick
IT Angle

Not holding my breath

Some 5 years ago I wrote a namespace which can be used as proxy bad (or good, you are never quite sure) information. When FaceBook was a bunch of "dumb fucks" at Harvard and Google was actually trying to live up to their motto, both were free to put this in their client API's. They had a choice.

But then my server logs would have been bombarded by the Dodgy Who Can't Read Directions. That never happened, and I'm not guessing it will.

More likely than not, a web form will not accept a link in lieu of an, for example, address.

Do the Boy Scout thing, Be Prepared.

http://purl.org/pii/terms/

Creepy as hell: Facebook developers get to know you better

Gannon (J.) Dick
Unhappy

@Adam 54

This is the sheep-shepherd game changer for the Net. The Facebook Green* version of sustainability is to harvest as much wool as possible before harvesting mutton.

Economists make no distinction between mutton and lamb. Government are left wondering why their tax base declines while they serve more citizens. Until they wake up to this fascism-by-proxy there is little that can be done.

* alias Soylent Green

No need for speed, says Oz communications shadow

Gannon (J.) Dick
Coffee/keyboard

Point of Order

Apparently it's not the Queen's American, either.

Assange vows to drop 'insurance' files on Rupert Murdoch

Gannon (J.) Dick
Happy

What's really sad ...

... is that the TSA is probably is probably expending thousands of man hours trying to find out just what awful secrets are in that Bill of Rights.

YES, Madame Secretary, we're working on it. NO, nothing yet. YES, we Googled it, page after page about the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution but nothing about a Bill of Rights. Assange must have hacked Google! He's an evil genius! YES, we'll call as soon as we have something!

Google opens API for url shrinker

Gannon (J.) Dick
IT Angle

The answer is Norway (.no)

I assume Denmark got as good a price for Greenland (.gl) as Tuvalu got for (,tv).

Not that Google would ever even think of breaking ccTLD, that would be like, invading personal privacy.

Searching in vain for my Eric Schmidt halo icon ...

Lawyers fear Assange faces death penalty in US

Gannon (J.) Dick
Thumb Up

Ah ...

I assume that means he has retained local counsel. Only an American Lawyer could say this with a straight face.

Civil servants touted ID cards to friends, family as flop loomed

Gannon (J.) Dick
Headmaster

Just Great

Stupidity Tax ? No. It's the Holy Grail of Politics - a de post facto stupidity tax.

Mozilla takes on web data miners with privacy icon release

Gannon (J.) Dick
Boffin

Past tense ?

I like any ideas which enhance privacy, including having your own domain.

But why the past tense ? ... we've already collected your personal information and may or may not do something smarmy with it ... I can see this icon appearing on webform "thank you" pages, by which time it will be too late.

Wouldn't it be better to flag the first offender in the History List and require the flag to be reset by the user ? And no spammers, there is no soft reset available. There should be some way to poll the flag so that a subsequent page's form can refuse submission until the flag is set (or reset).

Steve Jobs gets Obama love

Gannon (J.) Dick
WTF?

Heart of Darkness

I imagine the President's daughters are reading "Heart of Darkness" in school right now. I'd love to be grading their book reports. iPhones are the new Conflict Diamonds and asia is the new Congo.

Feds please no one with first official net neut rules

Gannon (J.) Dick
Thumb Up

Great question

I think, not at all. This is a uniquely American formulation of local jurisdiction which allows a fictional uncertainty to the Private Sector. Putting a 800 lb. gorilla in each American courtroom does not have an effect on the global availability of 800 lb. gorillas, there will always be plenty to go around. The 'local' remedy, Castle Doctrine and the right of self-defense, simply does not scale.

The rest of the world is already on notice (or should be) regarding the lack of personal privacy restraints on American Content Providers.

Duke of Edinburgh gives spintronics researchers a pile of cash

Gannon (J.) Dick
Joke

@Mark Dowling

Quantum States' Rights ? Too American, I think :o)

New UN committee could hand governments internet control

Gannon (J.) Dick
Stop

Vested Intrests ?

Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf stated: "The beauty of the Internet is that it’s not controlled by any one group. Its governance is bottoms-up [sic] — with academics, non-profits, companies and governments all working to improve this technological wonder of the modern world.

"This model has not only made the Internet very open - a testbed for innovation by anyone, anywhere - it's also prevented vested interests from taking control.

========================

Pooh, I say.

Governance of what, by whom ? The identity of the "vested interests" who want control is clear from the list. Vint does not like to pay taxes; we get it. Neither does Google, and therein lies the conflict. Shame on the Reg for promoting anarchy in the guise of freedom.

SGI forges overclocked servers for Wall Street

Gannon (J.) Dick
Pirate

Really Fast

"We don't know what we're doing, so we have to do it really fast.", said a Wall St. Spokesman. "Gotta go, time and frequency are money, well, time is money ... frequency is commissions, but don't tell anybody I told you that", he continued, volatility-ly.

Google Chrome OS mauled by Richard Stallman

Gannon (J.) Dick
FAIL

Well Mauled, Richard

This is a necessary first step to turn computers into appliances.

The 'fridge does not shut down when you leave for work in the morning and cool off again before you get home ... or does it ? ... have you noticed any excessive spoilage lately ? Would you ? Salmonella is just a natural part of life, right ?

If you pervert technology to make a buck, are you anti-science ? Yes, I think so.

Ethics? There's an app for that

Gannon (J.) Dick
Happy

Metadata

Yes, but if a Compaq Server was described as a Boat Anchor you might not have noticed, and that, friends, is the real moral of the story.

We probe the Google anti-trust probe. Vigorously

Gannon (J.) Dick
Pint

@Nick

...

Q: What would happen if the spammers were to win?

A: Google would lose its edge as a search engine, and the world would have to re-invent it or suffer.

=========================

What, precisely, would the world suffer from ? A lack of trust in Advertising ? A little dose of that might be a good thing every few years ...

'Looking and acting like an employee' didn't make him one

Gannon (J.) Dick
Coat

Carry on.

So if, as an American, I look and act confused as to WTF this means, that really means ...

Oh I see, Tax Man Logic. Never mind. Just answered my own question.

Privacy-protecting social network opens up

Gannon (J.) Dick
Joke

Point of Order

" ... usually its people have a hope, or at least a desire, to return to their homeland at some point, if the ''homeland''still exists in any meaningful sense."

Does this mean people want to return to Microsoft, or that Microsoft has meaningful sense ?

Like the kid who told his mom "When I grow up I want to be a Musician". "It's one or the other, son. You have to decide.", she said.

Gannon (J.) Dick
Happy

Barn Door Locks, Thirsty Horses

People bemoan the fact that the WWW was built with no mind to security. To me it's just a bit of paradigm confusion: The web was made to keep the barn door open and let thirsty horses find a place to drink. The "solution" to barn door locks and poisoned wells has always been Good Faith dealing.

Cheer up Anon 16, there's a good living to be made writing clever obituary templates for dual career Felon-Philanthropists.

Lawsuit says Facebook plunders user names, photos

Gannon (J.) Dick
Welcome

Favor to ask, El Reg ...

Could we say "non-remedial" instead of "frivolous" once in a while ?

I'm afraid some screen pixels will wear out.

Motorola drags Microsoft to ITC, says Xbox infringes its patents

Gannon (J.) Dick
Thumb Up

You Go Girls ...

I certainly wish Motorola and Microsoft the best of luck in hacking each other to bits. Meanwhile, leave the suicide nets in place.

The issue remains that Silicon is the new Carbon and toys like the X-Box are the new Conflict Diamonds.

Google sued for scanning emails of non-Gmail users

Gannon (J.) Dick
Headmaster

@Jimbo 6

"... that message becomes theirs. You have given it away."

What if you dispute this assertion, as many Professionals do as evidenced by disclaimers about Work Product ?

Eric Schmidt said "Privacy is Dead" and then proceeded to prove he was the murderer. It wasn't proof of death, it was proof of murder. This is just a variation on the theme. A Good Samaritan comes to the scene of an accident and picks the victim's pockets. It's not proof of altruism it's proof of opportunistic theft.

Jimbo 6 you are hereby sentenced to listen to Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry" until you are dead, or like, want to listen to something else or have to make a beer run. Whatever.

26,000km 'leccy joy ride crosses finish line

Gannon (J.) Dick
Pint

On to Whitehorse!

If trains stop at train stations, what happens at a workstation ?

Is it true the first two years of Journalism School are called <CTRL> C and <CTRL> V ?

Berners-Lee: Facebook 'threatens' web future

Gannon (J.) Dick
Happy

Vision

Vision is the ability to describe a 20 year old punk in printable fashion. TBL does a much better job than I could have.

What's wrong with the Web was invented long before it's birth. The next 20 years will tell. There is nothing an old punk has to teach a young punk - except to be wary of old punks.

Foxconn hit by worker protests

Gannon (J.) Dick
Pint

Day of reckoning

Electronic Toys are Conflict Diamonds.

I'd love it if some of the Famous Fabulous would take on this one.

Bono ? Clooney ? Bueller ?

Gibson gets a Catholic pass on this one (see title), but the rest of you better wake up and smell the café au lait.

Content 'made available' in jurisdiction where server is located

Gannon (J.) Dick
Thumb Up

Uncommonly Huge

Data has "always" followed Maritime Law, because it was in the Seller's best interest. Truthfully, Sellers managed to sneak this one in before Governments and Courts realized that Jurisdiction was necessary (A Seller lie ? Whoa, that will never happen).

Microsoft once had a Marketing Slogan "Where do you want to go today ?". Translation: Go to our servers and find out.

But people unconstrained by only thinking what judges have always thought were on to the Sellers trick for some time now

http://www.un.int/kamal/thelawofcyberspace/index.htm (Notice it's a UN Publication)

It's perfectly practical to put Cyber-Space in an appropriate Court Room, you just have to make Multi-Nationals submit to SOME land based jurisdiction first (getting them to pay taxes should be motivation enough for Governments).

http://www.rustprivacy.org/sun/spookville/federal/

Alleged bad Appler should pay back $1m

Gannon (J.) Dick
Jobs Horns

Me big bottom pecking order too

"bad Appler" should be filtered through the Chamber of Commerce Happy Talk Exchange first. The source code was probably "worse Appler" or something similar.

Sort of like parking in Adolf Hitler's spot at Party HQ. Hope this helps.

Exposed: leaked body scans published online

Gannon (J.) Dick
Coffee/keyboard

Why ?

Why does this remind me of the Sony CD DRM that was defeated by a black Magic Marker ?

Why does this remind me of a Space Shuttle Disaster enabled by Power Point ?

Doesn't anyone read Feynman anymore ?????

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled."

Feds may tighten privacy protections

Gannon (J.) Dick
Grenade

Since The Beginning of Time, in fact ...

"Representatives of the online ad industry have long argued they can police themselves just fine."

Like the Lions used to argue whether Christians taste better with Salt AND Pepper. Don't think that one was ever settled either.

US census takers fight angry Americans for their data

Gannon (J.) Dick
Pint

Cheers

I was a NRFU Enumerator. Everything the Author says is correct in detail. Nonetheless, I probably will say (after I file taxes next year) that I had way too much fun for what I was paid.

I worked near a Lake, and had my share of FoxNews sodden bozo's. Once they were too drunk to escape by jet ski, you had them. That "get a real (productive) job" line becomes easy to laugh at when the speaker is busy fishing. And even bored rich kids will not tell you they are busy updating Facebook.

I had to turn down a lot of beers and Margarita's. I'll be catching up for years.

Google: Street View cars grabbed emails, urls, passwords

Gannon (J.) Dick
Grenade

delete the data "as soon as possible."

The fastest solution:

Something which when properly fused and lit releases a large amount of energy in a confined space such as having been shoved up Eric "Privacy is Dead" Schmidt's ass.

Facebook leaked users' real names with advertisers, suit says

Gannon (J.) Dick
FAIL

Where stuff is stuffed

About the only disadvantage to suing FB and MZ is that when you win, you get money you don't want to touch as you are not sure where it's been. Some Lawyers, apparently have used their diplomas to make gloves - problem solved.

The Plaintiff and the Defendant deserve each other as far as I can see.

Foxconn warns phones prices will rise

Gannon (J.) Dick
WTF?

Have you ...

... ever heard of a Professional Economist mention the word "slack" in relation to working hours ?

Evidently, it's just something they just don't ever mention, probably because at American latitudes there is no slack in an 8 hour day. Hourly workers are machines regularly run for extended periods well past their rating. Any responsible engineer would have long since resigned.

Facebook is 'killing privacy for commercial gain'

Gannon (J.) Dick
Thumb Up

More useful reading

http://www.insidervlv.com/casinoodds.html

Are Advertisers doing worse than the Gambling Industry or better ?

Foxconn faces leaked report of worker abuse, violence

Gannon (J.) Dick
Jobs Horns

That bad, but not that simple.

I was on this one when the original suicides came to light.

And I do mean came to light ...

Anyone with Internet access can look up the rules Apple and the others are hiding behind.

http://www.eicc.info/EICC%20CODE.htm

You'll find they violate Chinese Law, but not American Law ... because there isn't any American Law regarding the duration of work.

Now if you are intrigued as to what this all means, you can look at the pictures I sent around to a half dozen reporters about six weeks ago (and heard not a peep back from anyone).

http://tinyurl.com/2e889u2

http://preview.tinyurl.com/2e889u2

I picked two areas at random ... Shenzhen, China and Cupertino, USA to illustrate the point.

In early October the Shenzhen workers passed the Dawn-to-Dusk point. But don't feel sorry for them because they will see the sun again in March.

Google UK on mission to brainwash news media

Gannon (J.) Dick
FAIL

Location Location, Location

Had several "you used to know your way around the Scientific Method" moments a while back. Particles and waves, that sort of thing. Anyway, there is something that the Google's of the world really don't want you to know about how stuff works. If someone does something sublimely stupid in say London, then it's only officially stupid 24 hours + 1 second later when the time of day has passed everywhere on the globe when people are bored enough, or sober enough, or awake enough to find out what sublimely stupid Londoners did. You can be bombarded with the News and the news, but nobody, even Google, can change the period of the stupidity wave as it makes it's way across the globe. However sublime the stupidity, wake me up at 3am to tell me about it and I am not going to thank you. The 24 hours is fixed, the 1 second is the time it takes the world to say "yup, really stupid".

To make a too long (sorry) story short the stupidity wave vanishes after 1 day + one second. Nobody remembers it was there unless you do imaging for a living or are an early 20th Century Physicist. But once you have the idea in your head, it easy to calculate the order in which news of the stupidity seemed to reach you, and you already know how long it takes to get to everybody. This is a location - and that's what Google does not want you to know.

There is no bonus for being first in line at the voting booth, as much as advertisers want you to think so.

ICO wants clearer definition of 'personal' data

Gannon (J.) Dick
Grenade

Big Brother doesn't need you.

This might be one of those "If you're not British you'd never understand." sort of things, but I doubt it.

I herewith give my permission, therefore, to the British Isles, and anyone who has ever heard of the British Isles, to tell (we) Americans we are full of shit the next time you hear us say "If you're not American you'd never understand". I think I'm being fair, here.

The sad fact is that Big Brother doesn't need you ... except for elections. The only time the Government needs you to identify the miserable little backwater you call home is when you vote. Consequently, the only information they may disclose (in the US, at least), is a location so heavily filtered by civil structure that the dangerous stuff is pushed back past the 15th Decimal place. Since Big Brother doesn't need you, it works for them (and has for several thousand years).

GPS changes this, or so it seems. In fact, it does not change anything at all - except to make everyone Out-Law, which is the only reasonable description for a location system too exact, too zoomed in, to determine a legal jurisdiction except at the Country (Big Brother) level, maybe, it's a matter of pattern recognition, not science. In wartime, they are pretty handy gadgets, true, but in peacetime Big Brother does not need that specificity (notice I didn't say accuracy) and you don't need that specificity, even if it gives you some minor Out-Law thrills and the opportunity to spout nonsense about privacy being dead.

Big Brother's Laws should reflect a simple principle: Anything more dear than a polling place should be off limits. Of course the howls from the Private Sector - the sellers, will be deafening. That is to be expected because finding new customers is hard work and the Tech Industry is way out of practice.

Baby Boomers committing suicide at unprecedented rates

Gannon (J.) Dick
Coffee/keyboard

I've only read ....

... the comments this far to see if someone would provide a helpful link for nominations. I'd not gotten to the food question.

Shame on you for such a thought!

(if you run across a nominations link, let me know, won't you ?)

Gannon (J.) Dick
Thumb Up

Out of the mouths of babes, Paul

You are exactly right, kid. Although I'm having distinctly old-fashioned feelings of pique that I'm old enough to be your parent, if I were I would be proud of you.

'Hyperbolic map' of the internet will save it from COLLAPSE

Gannon (J.) Dick
Coat

That's it then.

We're doomed. When the Hyperbole Entropy currently centered in Washington DC (it's an election year) is unleashed on the Hyperbolic Map it's bound to cause a big mess.

I don't know whether the explosion or the implosion will get me first, but I'm sure glad I don't have to clean up.

Mine's the one with the Illuminated Manuscript I'll be transcribing in the pocket ...

Just 5% of workers ever truly leave the office

Gannon (J.) Dick
Go

Agreed

Not too many generations ago nobody had artificial lights. Sunshine was not only the best option, it was the only option. What is really been missed, especially in the US, is that global communications demands one sort of time shifting and global manufacturing operations demand another sort. Obviously a help desk or call center (one side of the world) works when you (other side) do. In a factory or remote installation , the situation is a bit different. When the home office says "work two hours longer" they could very easily be saying (in the kindest interpretation) that employees will not see daylight for six months out of the year because work is in artificial light.

Daylight, and sunshine are an important part of Work-Life Balance, especially for families with school age children. This issue is so far below the radar in the US it is nearly below ground level. A US employer "refused" a request for odd hours or overtime because they are asking for the "wrong hours" is stunned and confused - there are no "wrong" hours in the law.

The "workday" depends a lot on where you are, and not only who you are. Perhaps the largest collective yawn of my storied career (of collective yawns) was when I showed this visualization around: http://www.rustprivacy.org/sun/Sunshine.pdf

Note to El Reg: Did you ever stop to consider that suicides in Chinese plants might be related to stress, pay *and* stealing sunshine (in the form of 12 hour days) ? I did. My guess is, problems not over, by a large margin.

Americans demand Twitter-watching police

Gannon (J.) Dick
Joke

Have you ...

... checked @PoorRichard ?

Gannon (J.) Dick
Welcome

@jeremy3

Yes!

but don't stop there. Medicines and food. Here in the US, twitter just bought the US Post Office and the Internal Revenue Service, so all you have to do is leave a tweet for Congress and they'll send someone by to pick up the money.

Do remember to ask Google for money when you tweet them to send beer.

Schmidt: Erase your identity to escape Google shame

Gannon (J.) Dick
Big Brother

Right.

Sycophancy is an unrecognized prion disease in the Hive Mind. Even the suggestion that such a thing would exist , will earn you the coveted "miscreant" label from one end of your ever-so flat earth to the other.

Eric Schmidt saying you have no Personal Privacy is like Enzo Ferrari saying there is no speed limit outside your kid's kindergarten. Saying so does not make it so; acres of Astroturf recommendations notwithstanding.

Microsoft patent victor targets Apple, Cisco...

Gannon (J.) Dick
Pint

OK

(drinking faster)

Google on defensive as Facebook joins net neutrality fight

Gannon (J.) Dick
Headmaster

"Reasonable"

Weasel Word.

What he means is "reasonable" = I get what I want .

What he wants you to think is "reasonable" = logical = fair.

In fact, there is no reasoning system which can differentiate between packets without knowing their origin, or looking inside. That is the antithesis of a "reasonable" network which treats all traffic the same.

Germany bans BlackBerrys and iPhones on snooping fears

Gannon (J.) Dick
Welcome

Status Update

American Press: insufficient red-tops read for the number of red-bottoms deserved.

Gannon (J.) Dick
Happy

Good point

"I know of many private companies that impose VERY strict limits on how "smart" the phones that their staff use are and the degree to which these phones are permitted to interact with company systems."

And I doubt they are very fond of visitors with "smart" technology either. Research labs have the same problem.

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