
Why bother with research?
Bees aren't important.
Not unless you think that what they help the survival of is important ; flowers, plants, other insects & animals, & oh yes, the food we eat.
34 publicly visible posts • joined 21 Aug 2008
Nice. It should be a whole lot easier now if I wanted to nick one of those things. I just have to look out for some fool walking down the street holding one out in front of him, whilst oblivious to what's really going on around him.
If they must do emails etc on the move, perhaps they should try speech recognition?
$490bn xwastedx spent on US forces?!! ....I feel sick just thinking about it.
$60bn xwastedx spent on UK forces?!! ....WTF! Given our size as a nation, this confirms we must have a Little Napoleon complex.
Just think of all the far better, more worthy causes we could have spent our hard-earnt taxes on. We could have bailed out an incompetent, worthless bank with that sort of money. Oh no, wait, we already did that as well.
As with YouTube, I always try to make sure I log out of my Gmail account before using the Google Search facility, so that yet more linked & unnecessary data about me isn't gathered & stored.
But until the other day, I hadn't realised that if I happened to have a logged-in Gmail window open while in another browser window I was performing a Google Map search, then that data was also being linked & logged. When I recently explored some of the additional facilities hidden in Google Maps, I discovered a log of all the map searches I had made for the past year! This is despite the fact that I clear my internet cache of cookies & all other data daily, so the log could only have been made by Google through use of my Gmail account & it being open at the times the searches were made. I had liked leaving my Gmail logged-in so that I can keep checking my Inbox, but I guess that will have to stop now & I'll have to start using a separate email client again.
So OK, the hidden log facility could be useful on occasion, should I wish to perform an old map search without retyping the details. And OK, I have the ability to now delete the log (now that I know about it) so that it can't be viewed on my computer any more (though whether it ever gets deleted from Google's own database is another matter). But what really annoys me is that until now, I had never been made aware that this had been going on. It is not made clear or obvious either on their Map or their Gmail site. I'm sure that it is in their small print somewhere, but that simply isn't good enough. Especially since I have all their other privacy options selected ("Always use https", "switch off Web History" etc). I'm willing to bet the average Gmail user is totally unaware of all the data that is being gathered & stored about them by Google.
And to all the commenters here saying "why does this matter?" Well it matters because, even if you trust Google not to abuse the data they hold on you, data has a bad & regular habit of leaking. Once that happens & it falls into someone else's hands, the potential for what they might do with it, or how they might even use it against you, is limited only by their imagination.
Alas, not a nip, just light.
When she raises her hand to toy with her hair, her arm blocks the light & her so-called nip disappears.
Judging by the way she keeps pushing her chest forward, adjusting her hair, chewing with her mouth open & smiling at the camera, she seems eager to create a good impression.
OK. So they set up facial recognition. Next thing you know they'll be worried about how easy it is to defeat it.
Solution: you'll need a special licence for whenever you want to change your hairstyle, grow side-burns, or heaven forbid a full-beard.
They'll probably work out the complexity in having to do all the extra processing of your image & work out a range of licence fees. It could be a good little money-spinner for the government. Maybe:
£50 -New Hairstyle
£100 -New/ removed Moustache
£150 -New/ removed Sideburns
£200 -New/ removed Goatie
£500 -New/ removed Full beard
& maybe a bargain of only £10 if you want to do smaller changes such as wear lipstick, mascara, or tweak your nose hair.
I propose we subvert this system, & all start a new fashion for growing long hair, combed down over the face. It should also piss off all those CCTV operators that like to record our every movement in public.
But sorry Baldies, I guess there's no place for you in our new masterplan.
How many more reports do we need that Toshiba are hinting this, they may do that -each time giving another freebie boost to their pre-release advertising? Do the reporters work for them, or just hoping for a complimentary fuel cell when/ if they ever come out?
Enough already. Wake me up when they actually DO get released.
"About 25 years ago, we had a guy and his wife who kidnapped a gal and kept her under the bed for a couple of years - but I guess this is a little more bizarre."
No. I disagree. I've seen the full story on TV of that under-the-bed kidnapping. If it's the one I assume it is (how many can there be?!!) the under-the-bed treatment went on for many years, involved repeated torture & BDSM, brainwashing, & even a brief release for the kidnappee to see her family, before she voluntarily went back, only to be locked in the casket under the bed for another year or two. And the torturer's wife & kids happily lived in the house with the bed the whole time!
This surely beats what is little more than another variation on ritualised cremation. Don't many Indians do this sort of thing all the time?
I'm usually only too ready to join those who slag off eBay for their sneaky policies, greedy charges, dreadful customer service etc. But for a change I'll offer them a little credit where it's due ;
Perhaps eBay are putting some of their profits to good use at last. An email I received from them yesterday indicated that now "When you pay with PayPal, your item will be protected to its full value (including postage) - no more caps, no more seller criteria to keep track of."
There are still numerous exclusions & provisos in the small print (which is comparable in length to the complete works of William Shakespeare, & equally hard to fathom) such as "intangible" items not being eligible - but I must say, this does seem like a step in the right direction.
I actually hate them a little less now ;)
In recent times Britney has continuously been "accidentally" caught wearing no knickers in numerous paparrazi upskirt shots.
Given this, I'm surprised the advertisers weren't more imaginative about choice of product placement. It would make a nice change to see a phone, rather than what Britney usually has on display there.
And perhaps a chance to show-off the vibrate mode?
Ebay are running their regular promotion again next week to encourage more sales :
"Free Top Secret Document With Every Storage Device."
As usual though, check PayPal's smallprint & you will see that any Top Secret documents that the buyer has to return are not included in their payment protection plan.
"Although it restricts the heaviest users' speeds at peak times, Virgin Media doesn't ration data"
It's pretty close to rationing, when you consider that (the last time I checked) peak times are classed by VM as 10am to 3pm & 4pm to 9pm ie. most of the useable day. And if you download more than 300MB during these times, your speeds are throttled right back for another 5 hours.
Try & find this fact on their website though -it's kept well hidden.
Daily, we are reading of yet another data loss, yet another drive being handed in to the police or the media which contains data which the possessor shouldn't have.
And yet, this is just the tip of the iceberg. For every drive/memory stick etc which gets handed in by an honest person (found it on a train, bought it on ebay etc) there are many more lost devices which remain unreported or not even realised as being lost. Not every "finder" is honest -surprise surprise!
And just think of all that unencrypted data knocking around in all these criminally negligent government offices, banks, private companies etc, where less-than-honest employees have already by now decided to run off a copy of the data for themselves. Not necessarily to sell-on or use immediately, but maybe just because they feel that to have knowledge/data is to have power. Who knows when all this illicitly run-off data will finally emerge out in the wild?
Come on, lets see all of these incompetent handlers-of-data (ie. those Responsible for the poor standards) thrown in prison. ENOUGH'S ENOUGH!
"banned for trolling.." -No, just felt like a change of name. At no time have I ever been accused of this.
If you read my posts in this thread, you will see that whether you agreed with my view or not, I have at least bothered to provide a viewpoint, and explained my reasoning in the process. Clearly you prefer the nonsensical drivel from AmanfromMars. Here is an example of another of his recent posting "nuggets";
"...Or would that Round Table be Turned ? How about if IT were ...AIMutual Pleasure? Would that need Controls or would one Just Abandon all Semblance of Order for the Pleasures that Delivers the Highest of Higher Orders? Suck IT and See would always Reveal One's Future Needs and Possible Feeds....... which is what AI Betas are All about, too..."
OK, so you & your small flock of Sheep can follow & encourage his postings. But then watch the sad demise of El Reg. The comments section can be a great forum for discussion of the current news stories -a chance to read or write additional facts, develop ideas, or just agree or disagree with the editorial. This is why I & many others come here & is what we appreciate about it.
The gibberish postings just serve to waste our time & frustrate the flow of intelligent discussion.
I'm all for a bit of light-hearted banter & sillyness in the comments, but in moderation & not from one ego-ridden flood merchant. Just Google "amanfrommars site:www.theregister.co.uk" & then try wading thru the dross of his 1,780 hits. If you enjoy his postings, perhaps you also like sifting through the content of sewage farms in your spare time?
Why am I complaining & not just ignoring it? Well, I've tried to ignore it for long enough now. Someone needs to speak up. And if it has to be just me who does this, & I take some flack from his sheep, then so be it! Hopefully I can't be the only person reading the Comments sections, who enjoys the discussions, but finds the reams of random gibberish from amanfromMars tiresome (to say the least)?!
@AC "amanfromMars is a local hero.." -You do set your aspirations low, don't you?
"so very very clever and know so much with a name like that.." -My nym was meant somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Anyway, you're a fine one to talk, aren't you, Mr Coward.
@amanfromMars "As a loud newbie" -Actually, I've been frequenting this fine establishment since year dot. Just the nym is new.
Interesting how you can string a coherent sentence together when you come under fire. Perhaps you're finally reaching puberty now?
Can't say I'll be sorry to see this one go. If we must have nonsense-talk stories from journalists, at least try to make it remotely amusing. Come on El Reg, more quality IT news please, we know you can do it!
(Oh, and isn't it time the spotty teenager AmanfromMars grew out of his trolling phase? You keep popping up in the comments section with your inane drivel, trying to satisfy your ego trip. Big yawn. I'll be glad when you eventually get bored/banned from the comments section)