* Posts by Al Iguana

11 publicly visible posts • joined 20 Jun 2008

Nation's moral guardians snap over 'shag bands'

Al Iguana
Coat

Instruction manual

This is another example of moral-outrage eating itself.

My 7-year old daughter has an arm full of them. Bought them from the local shop. As have all her friends. They just like them because they are "colourful fashion bracelets".

Then along come some website, The Sun, and MPs, and tell kids "no! they are not fashion! they are sex-toys. Here, if you go to www.whatever.com, you can read the rules and find out how to do it! Which, of course, you shouldn't! Outrageous!"

If everyone had kept schum, then they would continue to be... harmless colourful bracelets. It's the GROWNUPS (so-called) that are turning them into something more.

3 flings bribey fivers for new subscribers

Al Iguana
Jobs Halo

nice, but

I'd rather that Three offered me an iPhone on upgrade....

Baby Shakergate: Apple officially sorry

Al Iguana
Jobs Horns

Yeah but

You can slag Apple off, and I'm not a fan. But that game WAS deeply offensive. Surely SOMEONE at Apple noticed it before the broohah? That's not Apple being policeman, that's just... being a human being. Or are they all robots and just follow the rules until someone complains then they change the rules? Dunno.

if there had been a "gas the jews!" or somesuch 'game', would it have gone un-noticed and un-dealt with for so long? How about a "Shoot your classmates like it's columbine??" If so, then they SERIOUSLY need some kind of person testing these apps.

Boobs are a different matter, if you're over 18 then what they heck. There is stuff that is dodgy, but if you're over 18 then knock yourself out, and then there is stuff that is just sick and nasty.

Facebook-based privacy campaign to spam Wacky Jacqui

Al Iguana
Stop

yeah but

Facebook is a data-miner, but you don't have to sign up for it. Everything you post on Facebook is posted because you WANT it to be public knowledge. Not so with the govt plans, which will (apparently) monitor every email, website, phonecall, whether you like it or not.

So it isn't necessarily ironic, more making the point that we're happy for people to spy on us IF WE CONSENT TO IT. (Although, since we voted this govt in, I guess we consented to it, although I don't remember voting for Gordon or Jaqui)

Where's Wally Vista SP2?

Al Iguana
Gates Halo

Running it already

It's called Windows 7. Infact, Microsoft should slip out Windows 7 to all Vista users by way of apology for us beta-testing it for the last two years.

Gmail outage causes outrage

Al Iguana

I thought it was just me...

Pheewww... dunno about causing "outrage in the blogosphere", because I couldn't log into my Blogger account to post about it. Or My Google Docs. Strangely though, Google Reader and Calendar still worked.

I still can't log into Blogger this morning, although Gmail is working again now. Cookie problem, probably.

BT slams bandwidth brakes on all subscribers

Al Iguana
Thumb Down

well

I call shinanigans. For example, if I go to watch a video on the BBC news site, my internet connection shuts off. EVERY TIME. Doesn't happen with YouTube or such, just BBC related content. I have to reboot my BT Homehub to get connection back. Methinks BT are targetting the Beeb specifically.

Any ISPs that don't have a blanket throttle? I'm feeling the need to switch providers all of a sudden...

Virgin warns 800 punters for file-sharing

Al Iguana

Misconception

BT and Virgin are throttling their internet services to make more room for their on-demand TV services, NOT to stop file-sharers etc. However, they should only throttle the internet of people using TV, not every user on their network. It's a very short-sighted and unpopular approach (how about investing in infrastructure with all that money we're paying you?)

Regarding these letters, I'm in agreement with the posters above - It isn't the job of the IPS to police what their users do. We pay for a connection. You give us a connection. End of story. It's like the electric company throttling your electricity supply because they don't like you using Playstations on it. It's none of their business.

King Arthur was English 'propaganda', French claim

Al Iguana
Happy

Actually....

although the earliest Arthur legends were of Briton/Welsh origin, it is the French troubadours that popularised the story, embellished it, made it into the structure that later became popular with English authors. So the Arthur of shining armour and chivalry and jousting etc was a French invention (albiet the tale of an "English Knight"). Which is fair enough, since the "English" after 1066 were ruled by the French anyhow.

Arthur was/is an anti-Saxon (therefore Anti-English) hero, kind of like William Wallace was in later years. Can you imagine some Wallace being portrayed as some heraldic English king? Scotland would launch the nukes lol. Its time the Welsh reclaimed him from all this mediaeval knightly nonsense. Oh yeah, and while we're at it we'll have our Boudica back too. Diolch.

UK clamps down on bus-spotting terror menace

Al Iguana
Stop

yeah, but...

I was hassled a while back while taking photos of a Bridge (also in Wales). Some council type in Yellow jacket came up and demanded to know what I was doing and why I was taking the photos. Erm... cos it's a landmark? jeez....

some of the most famous photos of the 20th century, hell in the history of photography, have been street photos. Some of the most iconic images ever have been taken by some person with a camera, in the right place at the right time. If we stop photographers taking snaps, or make them too scared to, western culture will lose a huge future archive of history. All we will have a paparazzi shots and... cleared... media shots. Lock up the person on the London Underground who took footage of the tube attacks (that were on the news constantly). Lock up the people who took photos of 9/11. Lock up the people who took photos of the man in front of the Tanks in Tiananmen square. I mean.. come on. A bus in Ponty?

AVG fake traffic spares Google AdWords

Al Iguana
Go

The solution is...

to use Firefox 3, because the link-scanner extension doesn't work inside it.

Seriously though, do you need a link-scanner? Only if you are using IE or have some very dodgy browsing habits..