* Posts by Spike Ravenscroft

39 publicly visible posts • joined 25 Apr 2007

Facebookers abandon online privacy for virtual doo-doo

Spike Ravenscroft

Not Essential

Its not essential to give away a whole load of information about yourself to use Facebook, nor to use some of its applications.

I've got quite a few on my page and none of them have asked me for any information.

Its also a good rule that you shouldn't put anything on the internet that you dont want the whole world to know. Just in case.

I use Facebook because i've traveled all over the world and i've got friends that dont live anywhere near me and i dont want to stay up until 3am to call them.

For the first time in my life, i'm in touch with Everyone I want to be in touch with, all in the same place. So, for me, it has its uses and worked very well in tandem with Real Life 1.0.

'It's Britney, bitch' riding high again

Spike Ravenscroft

Sorry but...

...I do quite like some of her music. No sarcasm.

There are a couple of good tracks on each album, and I do have them all.

I guess i just think its a shame that things have gotten this bad for her.

It cannot be easy to have the world watching you every moment of the day.

And i'm not saying that people in the entertainment industry dont know that its going to happen.

I'm just saying that she got into it very young, probably through 'Pushy Parents' and has had to grow up under the microscope of the media.

I always think its sad when a marriage breaks up, and I have a lot of sympathy for her.

Even if you weren't happy, its not easy and you feel a little bit of a failure.

You can times that feeling by a million if its on the front of magazines and papers everywhere you go.

She's only human, folks. How about a little bit of understanding?

I'm sure this will fall on deaf ears but at least i've said it.

Its not a funny or witty comment but i feel genuine compassion for her and the world would be a much better place if we all did that for each other.

I'll get my coat and call my taxi now.

Japanese Wii sales rain on PS3 parade

Spike Ravenscroft

I dont normally post in the Wii Vs PS3 comments but...

...I feel compelled to stick my oar in having read the same arguments from both sides repeatedly.

Shocked as I'm sure you will be to learn, everything in my house does not revolve around what is going on with the television.

So, when I do play a game, I want it to be fun and easy to use.

I've got a PS2 and I love it and have loads of games for it, some of them PS1 games. I dont care what the graphics are like as long as the game play is good and its interesting.

I've got a Wii for the same reason. Its fun and different.

I'm not going to buy a PS3 for many years to come, because all the fabulous extras that the PS3 fanboys witter on about dont mean anything to me. I dont care if its the best media center / console around because I dont want a media center / console. I just want some fun.

Thats why the Wii is outselling the PS3. It appeals to more people.

My mum just bought one for herself and she's 60.

She doesn't like the PS2 because its too much like hard work for her.

I know serious gamers love the PS3 but some of us have other things to do and want something more accessible.

Adopt this dog or we'll kill it

Spike Ravenscroft

How about

a little bit of responsibility people?

I every pet owner was responsible and sensible there wouldn't be this problem.

Mind you, if everyone was a bit more responsible and sensible, there wouldn't be most of the problems in the world would there?

Frankly, as much as I'm in support of the Burmese monks, and I'm wearing red in support of them today, i think that the world could stand for there to be a whole lot less humans and a few more dogs.

Either way, I'm a cat person.

Who incidentally, is getting her new cat from the local shelter.

Aussie gov anti-porn filter 'useless', says teen

Spike Ravenscroft

@ Graham Marsden

Apparently, what i'm missing is that you see think there should be some stigma attached to having an .xxx domain.

Why?

Thats the problem. Its not kids looking at porn, its adults trying to vilify sex instead of explaining and educating.

A .xxx domain shouldn't be any different from a .org for charities etc.

A little less prudery and a little more common sense should decide this easily.

And i'm sure if Firefox can stop pop-ups it can stop .xxx domains from parents who chose. Certainly it seems to have an add-on for everything else.

And perhaps a little more parental responsibility would stop the kids circumventing it.

Computers Are Not Babysitters, y'all!

Spike Ravenscroft

Er....?

I get really confused by this issue because it seems so simple to stop that i feel i must be missing something.

Step 1: Have all porn sites have .xxx at the end of their addresses, so that legitimate porn / sex sites can trade fairly and be used by those who want to use them.

Step 2: If a site has porn on it and it doesnt have a .xxx ending, then ISPs etc can take it down without question because its not a legit site and more likely to be something dodgy.

Step 3: Have all browsers come with a little option to block all .xxx rated sites, for parents who want to go down the prohibition over information option. Leaving everyone else who wants to view the internet unrestricted, free to do so.

Am I missing something?

Power corrupts, says workplace bullying survey

Spike Ravenscroft

The right skills for the job.

I've worked all over the world and I've seen the same thing happen again and again.

One person in a department is good, really good at their job and so they are promoted to manager.

The problem is that although they were brilliant at their job, they have NO management skills.

So, they don't know how to deal with these staff that they now have.

And thats where the bullying starts.

Sometimes its the manager who bullies, or sometimes, its someone else within the team who has more management skills who now finds that they can bully the manager.

Its a horrible situation to work in and business really needs to learn to promote people with (potential) management skills into these positions if it wants to combat bullying in the work place.

Good managers are like gold dust!

Old timers boozing themslves into oblivion

Spike Ravenscroft

A little social note..

One down side to the smoking ban is that a lot of older people who would go down to the local pub to see their friends and have a pint and a smoke, no longer go.

They cant smoke in the pub so they stay at home and a huge social aspect of their lives has been removed.

For many, it was the only reason they really had to go out every day, and its been taken away.

Yes, of course they could go and stand outside like the younger people do, but its changed the whole environment for them, so they don't.

And as much as I am personally enjoying the smoking ban, I think that this is a real shame and is also a reason why many older people are choosing to stay home and drink more than they would if they were going out and seeing their friends more.

:(

Shattered teens subsisting on 'junk sleep'

Spike Ravenscroft

Nothing New

This is simply an excuse because large portions of society isn't capable of taking responsibility for their, or their kids actions.

And its no surprise, they aren't encouraged to.

With the nanny state telling us what to do and what not to do and what is for our own good (honest), there is a real lack of personal responsibility today.

So, instead of looking at why kids aren't behaving the way "we" want them to, and are totally out of control (like teenagers have always been. Todays are no different from any other generation), they come up with something to blame and use it as another excuse for control.

Oops, I see another freakish law coming in to stop whatever we're doing wrong now..

In all fairness, the department who did the study is very well respected, I've worked with them before.

Livid woman torches ex-hubby's wedding tackle

Spike Ravenscroft

For Iain Cartledge

Yes, believe it or not, I am a woman and I read the Register and my name is Spike.

*gasp* Yes folks, all of the above are true.

Everybody happy now?

:D

Spike Ravenscroft

@Tony

'Men rule the world for a reason.'

WOW, and I just wanted to say what a bang up job you guys are doing.

So good in fact that perhaps you should move on to being some sort of powerless figurehead and let people who know what they are doing run it instead.

Or anyone else really...

I wouldn't bandy about statements like that unless you want to start a wave of incidents similar to this one.

UN moves to preserve Bounty mutineers' lingo

Spike Ravenscroft

Clive Barker knows...

If anyone has ever read Imajica by Clive Barker they will not have too much problem with this.

Some of the characters near the start of the book talk very similarly and it only took me a few moments to read the example given.

I think its great, i'd love to be able to speak it!

Natalie Portman: Attack of the Film Fans

Spike Ravenscroft

Orlando Bloom

I cant say i'm surprised about that one.

I think anyone would have a hard time getting into a frame of mind that included being romantic with Mr Bloom.

Good acting generally takes more than 3 facial expressions and lots of hot air...but bless, i don't think anyone has had the heart to point that out to him yet..

Jason Bourne disses James Bond

Spike Ravenscroft

Its all about the Bond

Bourne is a serial monogamist whose girlfriend is dead and he does nothing but think about her.

Man, what a loser!

Yeah, sure Jason Bourne is better than James Bond. Thats why there are so many Bourne parties.

I wasnt convinced about Pierce Brosnan but Bond as a concept is great :D

But neither can beat the man from U.N.C.L.E.!

Love that show, I've got all the movies on dvd... :D

PETA slams 'sickening' Hamas cat-torture vid

Spike Ravenscroft

re:Cats are an environmental menace

Most wildlife kills wildlife, thats what its all about.

Dictators are famous for hating cats because they dont do as they are told.

Frankly, I'm pro cats.

They certainly seem to have more sense and compassion than most of the people i've just seen post here.

Peterborough bloke warned over 'offensive' t-shirt

Spike Ravenscroft

Idiots.

This is just stupid.

I'd love to see this happen to me while wearing one of my 400+ collection of little black t-shirts, all of which have something on the front that i'm sure someone could find offensive (I have a plain one but i never wear it. What's the point??).

Recently the Brighton Police told a shop owner to remove a baby t-shirt from his window display because it sported the slogan 'Winner of sperm and egg race'.

This is beyond stupid, especially for anyone who has ever been in Brighton city center on a Saturday lunchtime. If that offends you, you'd best keep your eyes shut.

People just generally need to get over themselves these days.

Its only encouraging idiotic civil servants and politicians.

On a final note, i'd just like to say that anyone who actively wants to be a politician should immediately be prohibited from ever holding office. They must be quite mad to begin with.

Cameraman drops first YouTube suit to join class action

Spike Ravenscroft

Does anyone remember...

....when Google was just two guys running a little search engine?

Every time i read one of these Google Madness stories, i wonder what happened...

Amazon throws cash at MySpace-ified music startup

Spike Ravenscroft

New Talent?

This is a great idea!

It will encourage more people to explore new music because it will be cheaper than choosing the popular choice and will bring more new artists into the lime light...

Excellent!

I think i'll be up loading some stuff there....

Taser markets electric cattleprod gun to the laydeez

Spike Ravenscroft

Stick your pink!

GRRRRRRRRRRRR I hate this assumption that all women want things in PINK!!

You should try getting a ladies sized band t-shirt.

The Guys get the nice black ones and the women get the stupid pink ones with frequently no choice!

The only thing this is going to do is make a potential attacker laugh at how incredibly stupid it looks.

I don’t believe I own any item that is pink…my boyfriend on the other hand has loads.

‘Pink Justice’? Pleeeeeeeeeeease. Always bet on black.

Harry Potter and the Chancers of eBay

Spike Ravenscroft

I read it on Saturday, and it was great fun!

I really pity all of those ‘Grown ups’ who get all snooty and condescending about ‘Harry Potter is just for children’.

What a sad, narrow little life you lead.

Why don’t you try getting out of your own heads a little more, there is a big interesting world out there and it inspires the imagination and its fun.

'Mac worm' hacker in death threat farce

Spike Ravenscroft

Fanbois Vs Waterboys

Geez, Some people like Macs and some people like PCs.

*vision of the future*

2 armies poised on the edges of a battlefield, one flies the four color Microsoft banner, one the white apple flag...

Why does everyone have to like the same thing?

I think i missed the memo on that one.

And I used to be a confirmed PC user...and then I started using a Mac and I havent looked back. I find it much easier to use and more suitable for the tasks I want to acheive. And, I do find it much more secure

Buffy and Neighbours thesps join Torchwood

Spike Ravenscroft

Yay!

Excellent! I'm thrilled.

I really like James Marsters. It can only be a fun thing :D

I hope he does get to do his v dodgy accent again, it made so many of us laugh.

And @ Matt...What else did you expect in the Entertainment section??

Colour me happy.

Spike

xx

El Reg seeks ultimate 'nom de sex'

Spike Ravenscroft

Maiden Name...

I'd always thought it was your mums maiden name, making me Misty Shephard.

With this system, i'm left with the very suspicous Misty Hillside.

On an almost related note, i used to work with a girl called Kate Blows.

History does not relate if this is accurate.

Tories offer record industry cash for righteousness

Spike Ravenscroft

Tell them about it.

Teenagers and young people have always been disaffected.

Always.

I'm quite sure there were sullen Cro-magnan kids as well.

The key isnt 'cleaner' music, its education.

The more people understand things, the better things get.

Torchwood sends inspection team to CERN

Spike Ravenscroft

I Love

Captain Jack and Particle Accelerators...what a lovely start to my Friday.

:D

Possession of extreme porn to become criminal offence

Spike Ravenscroft

Catch 22

The Bill says consent of the people featured cannot be a defence because people should not be allowed to participate in degrading activities.

If the people in the pictures are consenting (and that’s regardless of how the images are made; they could be theatrical, professionally photoshopped, simulated by stunt people or simply shots taken out of context.) then where is the degradation?

Degradation is about abuse and loss of power. And by that standard, the government is degrading us by abusing our right to choose what we look at and by taking away our power. And by the Bills own statements, people should not be allowed to participate in degrading activities.

So, by adhering to such a spurious and pointless law in the first place, people would then be breaking it!

I cannot see how this law in any way benefits the country.

Letting serious criminals out of prison early? Oh lets fill up the spaces with people who watch porn! They are the real criminals in society arent they????

Quite insane.

Thank you to Graham Marsden above. I have written to my MP about this.

They need to get their heads out of the bedroom of consenting adults and get back to running the country. Thats what we pay them for.

Feds fiddle as cybertopia burns

Spike Ravenscroft

No Story Here

""None of the three films has a plot line," the FBI's Special Agent Martin Schwarz wrote in a court complaint."

???

Wow...What a waste of tax payers money that was.

Harry Potter worm claims death of teen wizard

Spike Ravenscroft

Haha

I'm tempted to say that anyone who gets infected by this deserves it.

They shouldnt be trying to get hold of a copy of the book before publication date.

They should wait like everyone else :p

Sorry but, i'm a bit precious about books.

Hippie-era CIA skulduggery report unveiled

Spike Ravenscroft

fanatical & hysterical.

I think with the systematic errosion of our civil liberties that is going on around us EVERY DAY, I think that perhaps fanatical & hysterical are good starting places.

If we dont speak out now, when will we?

If we dont speak out at all, who will?

Who will stop them when they come for us?

Because its never happened anywhere before has it?

Oh wait...

Do you have a licence for that sporran, sir?

Spike Ravenscroft

Sorry to be a smart ass but...

'sassenach' means Lowlander, so anyone below about Inverness really, including many kilt wearers.

The correct spelling of the small sock dagger is 'Sgian Dubh'

And 1994 is the date from which certain animals became protected although Bagers, which sporrans are frequently made from were listed as protected in 1992.

Sorry to kill the humour (I have a licence though!) but thats the facts mam.

Manhunt 2 shut out by Sony and Nintendo

Spike Ravenscroft

One Small step...

If I’m honest, I wouldn’t play Manhunt 2 even if it was available, simply because its not my type of game.

Having said that, i don’t think it should be banned either. I think this sort of censorship starts with games like this and before you know it all you can play is Wii Tennis (As long as you don’t get too competitive mind!).

I don’t want to see this being the start of games censorship for adults because today its Manhunt 2 and tomorrow it could be Resident Evil. And no-one is allowed to tell me, as a mature 31 year old, tax paying, law abiding person (For the time being, although continued whittling at my Civil liberties could change that very quickly), that I cannot kill Zombies on my games consol in my spare time, in my own home.

With all the issues that modern society faces, I cannot believe that they think this is a root cause of any of them.

For shame! Go and do a days work that makes a positive difference to society and peoples lives.

Rufus fights back

Spike Ravenscroft

Simple Solution

Everyone should have respect for everyone else.

Everyone should treat everyone else in a polite and friendly manner.

Everyone should have a bit of patience with everyone else.

If we all did this, none of these situations would arise.

I don’t think it’s a bad thing that call centres are being moved to India. I think it provides valuable support and development for their infrastructure. What I do think is bad is that poor training can mean that these people come in for more than their fair share of abuse. And that goes for everyone. I don’t like phoning an IT helpdesk to find out that I know more about IT than the person on the other end of the line (I’m not being a know-it-all annoying caller here, it just happened to be true in one job I worked in).

Be excellent to each other, and I believe partying comes next ;)

NZ couple fight to name kid '4Real'

Spike Ravenscroft

Bad Baby Names

I do have a fond love of mad names, including my own.

I once had a friend called Joris Reindeer and stories like this remind me of a great site that never fails to make me laugh:

http://notwithoutmyhandbag.com/babynames/

Subtitled, A Primer on Parent Cruelty.

On a personal note, when my sister got married she took her husbands surname and became Lorren Hardie.

Ah...how i laughed.

Britney's new album title - can you help?

Spike Ravenscroft

Geez...

You guys are quite mean.

Compaired to Paris Hilton, at least Britters does something for her money.

So she cuts loose once in a while? So what?

I'm sure all of us here are teetotal and never did a silly thing in our lives?

She's not that bad.

She even *gasps of shock* has some not bad music.

I say, cut the kid some slack, it cant be easy trying to live your life with cameras in your face everywhere you go.

She's suffered from Pushy Mum syndrome to get here where she is, its not all her fault.

I'll get back in my box now...

Macs are more secure: official

Spike Ravenscroft

I was a PC, now I'm a Mac

For many years I was a loyal PC user and wouldn’t touch a Mac for love nor money (Well, how much are we talking here?).

Recently though I have been persuaded to buy a Mac laptop as it has certain advantages and facilities that I want to utilise to work purposes, not because of any fashion or poser factor the machine may have.

Its been something of a revelation! I’m finding it easier to use, less clunky and prone to crashing and general hiccups and much more secure and user friendly. And I really never thought I’d say that.

I find myself looking sadly at my PC languishing in the corner now and thinking that I really should replace the old duck (18 months old!) with a nice new Mac. Normally while I’m using my Powerbook to log onto the Apple UK website to see if they have any more of those adverts because I love them, they are cheeky, fun and generally make me laugh my azz off. Any company that can come up with an advert that people actually WANT to watch has to be doing something right.

And on the subject of Mac / PC parodies on YouTube, I highly recommend ‘I’m a Marvel, and I’m a DC.’

Obviously, liking these adverts, Macs, Comics, reading The Register daily and being a woman(!!) I’m obviously something of an anomaly that messes up every El Reg survey so I wouldn’t worry too much, there cant be that many of us out there…or can there?

Scotland ranked 'worst small country'

Spike Ravenscroft

FYI

I Have never actually seen ANYWHERE selling 'Deep Fried Mars Bars' although i did see a picture of one place who punted them exclusively to tourists.

Urban legend made flesh by demand of non Scots? I rather think so.

I'm Scottish, I've lived all over the world and Scotland is by far and away, not the worst place to live. Its no better or worse than anywhere else. All Scotland needs is a bit of confidence in itself and Alex Salmond is likely to help that more than not.

Oh...and on the subject of the 'White Elephant' I see our parliment building and raise you a London Olympics. What a waste of money that is!

eBay jewellery store fined $400,000 for shill bidding

Spike Ravenscroft

Not All Bad!

I really don’t like the way eBay is going at the moment.

Its full of con artists and spammers and general meanies.

In the meantime there are little people like me selling good quality items and trying to provide a good service to my customers.

The reason I don’t leave feedback for my customers until they have left feedback for me is so that I know they are completely satisfied before I consider the sale complete.

It’s quite a horrible environment to deal in as everyone starts with the assumption that there is a scam going on and you are out to fleece them and you have to do a lot of work to change their minds. eBay and people like this don’t help, that’s for sure.

An alternative? Please?

Scientology tries to discredit BBC documentary

Spike Ravenscroft

Quite Scary

It just so happens that I was in Clearwater, FL last year and walked some of those very streets.

Yes, the whole Xenu thing is totally barking but it doesn’t stop what is happening down there being very, very scary.

Many of the ‘followers’ have military style uniforms and the ‘Church’ is redeveloping the whole area to its own specifications. They are paranoid and aggressive and very well funded.

If these people had links to somewhere in the middle East they would have been banged up by Homeland Security long ago.

Joking aside kids, its scary down there.

'Kryptonite' discovered in Serbia

Spike Ravenscroft

Present and correct...

I'm one of those fabled woman who reads El Reg but I think I’ll wait for further empirical evidence before I accept your classification as being ‘the spitting image of Brad Pitt.’

Especially if you’re basing this on information from Wikipedia!