* Posts by Tim

15 publicly visible posts • joined 2 Oct 2008

Conficker: Hold the funeral, it's not dead yet

Tim
Black Helicopters

Dexys Midnight Autorunners

Windows "autorun" has long been known to be a security vulnerability and a backdoor to MS operating systems. A pity that some security "professionals" overlooked this in a number of organisations in the UK.

UK.gov thinks internet should be run like BSkyB

Tim
Pirate

"Chocalate Tax" by a different name?

The proposals are clearly influenced by an agenda rather principle. They are not drawn up by people wishing to protect or add value to the Internet and clearly they know very little about the Internet except from what they can easily reference in Wikipedia. The people behind this do understand everything about extracting money from the proletariat.

The Government have managed to tax drinking in a pub to such a level that it is a leisure pastime only contemplated by the rich and have taxed nicotine addicts to a level where some may consider street crime to support their habit. Alternative tax revenue is required and some see the Internet as the next easy target.

The WWW is the Global Public Library of the 21st Century. If the UK Government gets its way the vast majority of people in the UK will end up reading electronic comics because they can't afford the books.

PS Is it just me or is there a sense that a people's revolution may be in the air?

DARPA orders 'Katana' monoblade nano-copter

Tim
Joke

Awsome Payload

No doubt the "Katana" monoblade nano-copter's missiles will strike fear in the hearts of the peoples of Lilliput and Blefuscu.

UK.gov tells domain industry to get its house in order

Tim
Boffin

Focus and be effective.

Governments need to allocate and manage some special domains for national infrastructure and leave the non-national infrastructure to others. They can then focus their security efforts on what is is critical and important to their national interests and not get side-tracked and overwhelmed by trying to control everything.

Nasty Toryboy bloggers ate my politics, claims Blears

Tim

Champion of democracy?

People being in disagreement with a government is a normal state of affairs. When you govern it should be government for all the people not just for those who elected you in the first place. Labour are quite rightly being judged on their behaviours, actions and results.

Respect is earned. Everyone that has access to the net, can if they want express themselves on the net. A more open and straightforward politics is required, one where everybody can participate. The days of the focus group are over. Politicians need to engage with a much wider range of people and take proper account of their needs and wishes.

UK politicians must learn from the presidential campaign run by Barack Obama. Real democracy is coming to the west, and it is the internet that is enabling this change. The power of the big media outlets owned by the rich and powerful few is waning. PR spin is becoming ineffective, partly through over use, but mainly as there are now numerous places on the net, where information can be examined and issues discussed freely away from media mogul control.

The government does not have the right to control or silence those in opposition to their views. Champions of democracy should be protecting freedom of expression on the internet. Is Hazel Blears such a champion?

DHS cybersecurity boss fights back against critics

Tim

The false eye of providence

There are many inexpensive yet effective things can be done to protect national infrastructures. Unfortunately such approaches aren't sexy and the don't satisfy the financial needs of the multi-billion pound security industry. Priorities have been forgotten. Continuing to fight an expensive phony war, we are in grave danger of losing our freedoms in the process.

US Navy robot kill-choppers to drop auto-snort podules

Tim
Joke

Clubbers beware.

As you come out of the club at six in the morning, the last thing you want is a "podule" dropping out of the sky and rendering you even more incapable.

Taliban extends mobile shutdown order

Tim
Black Helicopters

Got signal?

Don't want to lose all that useful information about Taliban activity supplied by the local populace.

It's either time to issue free satellite phones or to start night-time overflights by aircraft equipped with cellular microwave antennae.

Prof: 'Taser-proof vests put cops in danger'

Tim

Bright Sparks

If criminals who use tasers as non-lethal force find them ineffective, some might some go back to using kinetics. So the arms race goes on and the police won't be safer.

I believe the main users of the taser-proof material will be criminals, particularly as the police are the main carriers of tasers. No doubt as we speak they are trying to get hold of something that will do the job.

DARPA to begin mysterious 'Project GANDALF'

Tim
Black Helicopters

Dark Riders so no to iPod ID

Even your iPod emits RF and every RF emission has it's own unique characteristics, so Gandalf will know the unique identity of your iPod.

News just in ..... I hear Sauron is equipping the Dark Riders with Faraday cage cloaks and has issued orders that all future operations will in be carried under cloud filled skies in the pouring rain, preferably accompanied by heavy lightning.

UK.gov says: Regulate the internet

Tim
Boffin

Children's Internet Portal?

I think there is an opportunity to regulate the internet for children. This could be achieved through a children's internet portal. A children's internet portal would at least give a tool to parents to help prevent children from being exposed to extremism, hate, violence and pornography. Parents would have to exercise some responsibility to ensure that their children's computers, mobile phones, games consoles, etc were set up to use such a portal.

I am sure the government could easily come up with a suitably bureaucratic nightmare of system for getting sites included in the children's internet portal.

Trying to sanitise and filter the whole internet for the adult population is a step too far. However It would be useful to have a more publicised system for reporting illegal sites, so that where necessary the authorities could take appropriate legal action or follow up with the authorities who had jurisdiction over such websites. Reporting might be made easier by having a suitable reporting add-on available for Internet Explorer, Firefox etc.

'Overplayed' privacy concerns rile Symantec boss

Tim
Flame

CIA data loss

"Last week I lost our agent list. Don't worry, it's encrypted and I'm the only one with the key."

Aldrich Ames - famous quotes that never were

'First production-line energy weapon' now shipping

Tim
Black Helicopters

Environmentally Friendly

This will truly revolutionise the war on insects. The days of toxic fly sprays are surely numbered.

Emails show journalist rigged Wikipedia's naked shorts

Tim
Boffin

@ Andy Enderby

Naked shorts are about taking a bet, and they usually don't come off. If the risk is too high the bet won't be made.

As an enhancement the tax could be returned to the company involved in the short so in the example if the punter made 26.8m, the company would receive a cash injection of 243.2 million.

Tim
Boffin

Lost your shirt? Prepare to lose your shorts.

There is a solution to the problem of naked shorting, tax proceeds of naked short trades at 90%. See how many people have the balls to short then.