Posts by Emperor Zarg

Top cops demand access to the UK's entire web browsing history

Re: Ah but...

Commswonk wrote: [...] what is the bien pensants reaction going to be if there is another 7/7 or Lee Rigby? I think I can hear it now: "Why didn't the police do something to stop it?" The answer may be "we didn't have the necessary powers" and it will be very hard to argue against that.

That answer would be a lie. They already have the necessary powers. They just want more - they will never say they need fewer powers - and they are willing to use any emotive situation to manipulate public opinion.

The perpetrators of the 7/7 atrocity were either already known to, or could and should have been linked to persons already known to the security services. In the case of Lee Rigby's murder, both were known to the security services. In neither case they did adequately act upon intelligence already in their possession.

One could postulate that the security services already had too much information with which to work, and that finding useful intelligence in a morass of information is almost impossible. Providing them with even more information would clearly be the wrong thing to do.

Anyone may be a suspect, but everybody is not a suspect.

They can already get what they are asking for, and more, by obtaining a warrant from a magistrate. The requirement exists in order to prevent the police from abusing their power.

For reasons which they have not adequately explained, they want to remove the requirement for judicial oversight and approval in order to have untrammelled access to very personal information on each of us whenever they feel like it.

The lack of a requirement for a search warrant, especially when combined with such unreasonable search powers is surely the hallmark of an authoritarian regime.

Cops use terror powers to lift BBC man's laptop after ISIS interview

Re: Kiddies!

Worth remember that the tactic du jour was highly targeted surveillance, rather than the endless fishing trips they seem to so enjoy these days.

Exposed Volkswagen 'n' pals get 2 more YEARS to sort out emissions

Re: Here's a plan!

No, no, no. I'm amazed nobody has seen through the, er.. *cough*.. smoke-screen. This is all about data.

All new cars, and certainly anything manufactured in the last 20 years, record oodles of data every time you drive. What I foresee happening is that you will be required to submit all of this data (or your car will rat on you do it for you automatically), so TPTB can see or calculate your actual emissions based on your real driving. Taxes can then be levied directly on actual emissions produced.

(Note to all Governments and alien overlords: this taxation model is available for licensing at competitive rates, interested jurisdictions should contact me for details)

Villainous types making use of personal motor vehicles in commission of their crimes can expect to receive an "environmental impact" tariff in addition to the usual sentencing.

Ashley Madison wide open to UK privacy lawsuits, claim lawyers

I have been with her sister too

"Around 9.7GB of customer data from the website for people who seemingly can't be trusted, and a sister site, were were released by hackers on Tuesday night following last month's megabreach."

Do you think Ashley Madison is going to find out that I've been with her sister too? If she does find out, should I try for a three-way?

Use snooped data in court? Nah, says UK.gov - folk might be cleared

Re: Here's a bloody good question...

If the mobile Telcos are anything like BT they will be actively involved in with Government information gathering schemes.

Bulk interception is NOT mass surveillance, says parliamentary committee

Re: Ain't so bad

The problem is that, in order to make it palatable, they have built the apparatus of mass surveillance, under the guise of counter-terrorism. However, other than mere hearsay, no proof has been provided that such apparatus has prevented a single terrorist incident.

Therefore, the logical conclusions we might draw are:

1 - The apparatus is ineffective and a waste of taxpayer's money

2 - The primary function of the apparatus is not the prevention of terrorism

Re: A minimal IQ?

Feeble minded, I think was the phrase you were looking for.

Ex-Microsoft Bug Bounty dev forced to decrypt laptop for Paris airport official

In spite of all the Franco-bashing that's going on, this is actually a US TSA requirement, not a French one.

"(Reuters) - The U.S. Transportation Security Administration will not allow cellphones or other electronic devices on U.S.-bound planes at some overseas airports if the devices are not charged up, the agency said on Sunday." [Sunday, 6 July 2014]

Use Tor or 'extremist' Tails Linux? Congrats, you're on an NSA list

Re: they're a spy agency

Aren't spies considered to be unlawful combatants, at least under the US interpretation of the Geneva Convention?

ISPs haul GCHQ into COURT over dragnet interwebs snooping

Oh yeah? Says who?

"Furthermore, all of GCHQ's work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework which ensures that our activities are authorised, necessary and proportionate, and that there is rigorous oversight, including from the Secretary of State, [...]."

One presumes that they are referring to the Foreign Secretary, but it's interesting to note that they don't actually mention him or his position directly.

I think it is time for us to ask William Hague if he is fully aware of what GCHQ have been up to, and if that work was necessary, proportionate and undertaken with his full approval? After all, a General Election is just around the corner. I think we should be told.

And...

"The United Kingdom's interception regime is entirely compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights."

In other words: "Move along now, nothing to see here."

Move over, John Pilger, let us IT scandal-mongerers stick it to you

Euphemistic musings

Quote - Dabbsy: "Tiger Woods’ inability to keep his nine iron sheathed"

I'd have said it was more likely to be his putter, his 1-Wood, or if you must, his driver. Unless of course, Dabbsy actually meant Tiger was using a very short-shafted club, but that implies rather more intimate knowledge than I would have expected from him.

Feds crack down harder on 'lasing'. Yep, aircraft laser zapping... Really

Re: You'd be tempted too...

Try to move to a more select part of town.

Revealed: GCHQ's beyond top secret Middle Eastern internet spy base

Re: Why is this a surprise?

"What was it you thought they all did, if not this? No-one gave up and went home after the Cold War finished, they all refocused on the new threats, whilst keeping an eye on the stuff that never went away."

That's just it though, they didn't refocus on the new threats. Instead, they've been hoovering up everything almost globally, on the basis that it might come in useful sometime. A bit like all those old cables and hardware odds and ends we all keep.

What I, and probably most people, expected them to do was targeted, directed surveillance of known or likely persons of interest. Not facilitating an Orwellian wet dream, bordering on totalitarian.

Re: Hmmmm

Are you sure that the ARW det wasn't just standard security for Irish citizens visiting Beirut back then? They were probably just tourists.

Re: Britain's got secrets

They don't want us know all the dirty little deals that were done in our name, that quite possibly were not in our collective interest and were definitely done without our knowledge or informed consent. And they are fully cognisant that if we had known, we would have vociferously objected.

They know perfectly well that the public will be incandescent when they fully realise what has been going on. They fear that.

Capacity planning: How to plan ahead and keep your Oracle database healthy

Re: Yesterdays problem

Organisations running IT at scale that lack an effective Capacity Planning function end up needing a lot more of those expensive people you mentioned. You cannot buy your way out of this problem. It will only get worse.

Avere SPEC benchmark shows cloud's just as fast as on-premise

--- PREMISES ---

It's not "premise", it is "premises".

Premise is not the singular of premises. Premise is an idea, a theory. Even in American English.

Premises is a building. Please!

.

premise

noun [C] /ˈprem.ɪs/

› an idea or theory on which a statement or action is based:

[+ that] They had started with the premise that all men are created equal.

The research project is based on the premise stated earlier.

Bolshy investor pushes Juniper Networks into restructuring plan

Watch out Juniperians! Layoffs are probably on the near-horizon.

Bosses to be banned from forcing new hires to pull personal records

Re: Explanation?

So your partner breached the T's and C's of Facebook and LinkedIn. I wonder if exposing the personal data of others in this way is also a breach of the DPA?

Brits: We can stop trolling if we know where they live - poll

An IP address is enough to convict paedophiles and copyright-thieves, but a higher burden of proof is required for trolls?

Mastercard and Visa block payments to Swedish VPN firms

Feels like the whole house of cards is about to collapse. The question is, are the general public still asleep?

I am NOT a PC repair man. I will NOT get your iPad working

Apparently, we are special

Why is it, that the same people who would never contemplate asking a plumber or mechanic to come around to their house, out of hours and/or at weekends, think it's ok to ask us to fix their technology problems or provide free, one-to-one training? Said training often being on something that we have never seen before either.

The plumber or mechanic would get paid and probably get a tip for being so helpful.

I have better neighbours than Alastair... I get a cup of tea, with biscuits. No cash though.

I don't get why technology is special in this regard.

Google avoids tax with ‘Double Irish Dutch Sandwich’

Instead of constant rhetoric and hand-wringing, perhaps Governments worldwide should have a long, hard think about exactly why they feel entitled to plunder from corporate and individual citizens.

Whatever the question, their answer always seems to involve increased and frequently byzantine taxation.

Enough!

Apple shifts 3 million iPads in 3 days: But how many were Minis?

Now I know

Turns out I had been abducted. I completely missed the launch of the iPad 4.

For anyone else that also missed it... it's an iPad 3 with a faster CPU (1.4GHz A6X), new GPU and an improved front camera.

What is an iPad 4?

Quote from article: "Apple sold three million iPad 4s and iPad Minis in the weekend after the device launched"

I am beginning to suspect that our alien overlords abducted me for a period of time. I appear to have missed something.

What is an iPad 4?

I assumed that people were referring to the Mini as an iPad 4, but the quote from the article, and the comment from HipposRule, suggest they are two different things.

Queen unveils draft internet super-snoop bill - with clauses

Yes, but...

Did Her Majesty pronounce data as "day-ta", or "dah-ta"?

I think we should be told.

Assange: 'iPhone, BlackBerry, Gmail users - you're all screwed'

If it is true...

... then the data held in the phone is inherently unreliable and the CPS can kiss goodbye to any evidence gathered from a perp's mobile phone.

How bin Laden thwarted US electronic surveillance

Bet this happens...

How long until USB thumb drives are labelled as instruments of terrorism - just like bottles of any liquid over 100ml?

Judge mulls 'wasted costs' as ACS:Law cases close

Rich liars...

Don't forget the £10k a month(!) houses he was looking at renting.

Londoners warned of card skimming risk

The supply is too great so they have to manage demand

The banks aren't really interested in combatting fraud because admitting to large scale fraud is likely to weaken public confidence in the banks and murder their share prices - and they're all bonused in shares now. Fraud is just a cost of doing business.

Plod isn't interested because the country is awash with fraud. They just don't have the resources to deal with it.

In order to manage the demand for investigation down to something that the police can address (in much the same way that many shops pursue civil debt recovery for shoplifting), there are high- and low-water-mark monetary values for fraud.

Below the low-water-mark, the police will not be interested and will refer you to your bank.

Above the low-water-mark value, but below the high-water-mark, the police will record it as a crime, but that's about all they will do.

And if it's above a high-water-mark value, they will even do some investigation, but probably not apprehend the culprits.

Law and order is merely an illusion.

Antique Nimrod subhunters scrapped – THANK GOODNESS!

Here... have this!

The Telegraph reports 1,200 likely job losses. Instead of "investing" £4bn in the MRA4, we could just have given those 1,200 people a cool £3m. EACH. And it would still have been cheaper.

Pope pooh-poohs airport perv-scanners

I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that

Does this mean that Catholics can refuse to go through the scanners on the grounds that it is against their religion?

Big Blue eye glares at UK workforce

Are the looking for recommendations?

I don't work for IBM, but I really hope they haven't already selected who is going to get the bullet and are merely jumping through the necessary legal hoops. There are some IBM'ers that I'd really like to recommend for the chop.

Yorkshire lass eBays cheating boyf's Xmas prezzies

@Wortel

I don't believe that the human species is intended to be monogamous - or at least the male isn't at any rate.

Consider this analogy...

A man walks into a sweet shop.

He looks around, admiring all the lovely different sweets.

He picks up just one. To be fair, it is a nice one - the purple one from Quality Street.

And then he goes and says, "you know what? I only _ever_ want to eat the purple ones from Quality Street for the rest of my life. I won't ever let another sweet past my lips. Not even the purple one from a box of Roses - even though it's very similar and could easily be mistaken for the one from Quality Street. I'll be very careful when I'm drunk."

Now, come on. Does this sound like the sort of thing any right-thinking bloke would say?

Female readers may ignore the following question. Which do you prefer: sweets or sex?

The vast majority of people do not restrict themselves to one type of sweet, so why do it for something as important as sex?

Paris... because she doesn't believe in the one-sweet-for-life deal either.

LibDems uncover over 10,000 RIPA yarns

@secretgeek

You are wrong to say that RIPA may be used for investigation into "ANY offence not necessarily anti-terrorism, not even necessarily for a serious crime."

However, I suspect you are right if you meant that RIPA is being used for investigation into "any offence".

RIPA, Chapter 2, Section 22, Paragraph 2 very clearly defines what RIPA may be used for. You will find that the list is concise.

Furthermore, RIPA has nothing to do with setting up covert surveillance - it solely relates to the interception of private communication... essentially emails and telephone records.

Considering the original article for a moment, we are told that in 2008 there were 518,260 RIPA requests. An RIPA request pertains to one individual and a specific purpose, e.g. Joe Bloggs, council tax evasion. These numbers are staggering, but I still fail to see any justification for warrantless access to this information.

RIPA appears to provide unfettered access to what ought to be private and personal information. This information was available prior to RIPA, but very rightly required the oversight of a Magistrate or Judge. RIPA sidesteps due legal process.

Budget airlines break new rules on opt-in website pricing

@Kevin Elliott - Priority bus

In my experience and to my amusement at Bergamo... sorry, Milan... Ryanair send the Priority Boarding passengers on a separate bus to the aircraft ahead of the masses - so you do get to choose your seat even if you are bussed to the airport. Perhaps this doesn't happen at every airport where Ryanair uses remote stands.

Police drop BT-Phorm probe

What else could they do with all that data?

It wouldn't be because BT/Phorm offered to share the information gleaned with the fuzz, would it? It would go something like this:

Dear City of London Police,

This week the following people have obtained or attempted to obtain <kiddie pron / terrierist material / mp3s / warez / something else the State doesn't like>:

Mr A, 1 The Street...

Mr B, High Street...

Miss C, Asbo House...

etc. etc. ad nauseam.

Today is not Hadron Collider Day

Stephen Hawking says....

..."the most exciting result would be something we don't expect".

Every scientist/physicist available to the meeja seems to be saying that they don't expect the world to end. Hmmm.

Having met one of the boffins involved in building this thing, if he's anything like typical they'll adopt a "suck it and see" approach.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7608465.stm