* Posts by Ole Juul

2726 publicly visible posts • joined 27 Apr 2007

Copyright troll Prenda refuses to explain legal strategy

Ole Juul

Re: Rights

Lawyers pleading the 5th. That's a bit rich innit?

Congress plans to make computer crime law much, much worse

Ole Juul

Re: "it's judicial bullying and overreach"

"Big Brother" is a bit of an understatement. When you start to get laws where they can always find something on anybody they want, then it's actually leading to something much worse.

BIGGEST DDoS in history FAILS to slash interweb arteries

Ole Juul

never have been

I'm guessing this is just someone who got their words garbled. Take out the word "been" and you'll get what was likely the intended meaning:

The only thing we would like to say is that we (including our clients) did not, and never have, sent any spam.

Watchdog warns UK.gov not to create 'them and us' digital divide

Ole Juul

Re: @ Ole Juul - Just buy a computer! Sorted.

Yes I do understate the case. I too live in a very small rural community and there is a fair proportion here who are simply not going to get a computer, let alone figure out where the any key is. I have a neighbour, a couple in their mid 80's, who just got a computer last year. It has taken them this long to figure how to put search terms into the Google box and what a list of results actually is for. Yesterday I got a call asking how to input a postal code. After fighting with the auto-complete, it turns out that the key piece of information here was that we needed to sort out the difference between a zero and and the letter O on the keyboard. There is indeed much to learn if one is starting from scratch. Indeed, many who don't have a computer now, are simply not going to put in the effort to get up to speed.

Ole Juul

Re: Just buy a computer! Sorted.

I get the joke, and it's exactly what some bureaucrats seem to think.

However, the tragedy here is that it's not about economics, it's about education. There's probably some other old fart like me reading this right now on some old piece of kit that somebody else would throw away. It would cost me nothing to get on line were I to start from scratch. People reading this forum know that running a browser doesn't need to involve a new computer, and anybody could theoretically get online regardless of income. But the sad fact is that even if the government were to give away free computers to the 15% in question, it would take some time before very many of them would be able to file something on line.

Ole Juul

incentives

To use online public services people need to be able to trust the government with the information they provide online.

I'm sure that many will trust the government, but that doesn't mean that they actually can be trusted. If a bank gets hacked, people will go to a different bank. There is an incentive for banks to be secure. The government, on the other hand, is in a different position. They get hacked, and people will go to a different .... what? Exactly. There is no incentive for a government to do the best they can.

US bill prohibits state use of tech linked to Chinese government

Ole Juul

Re: All of it?

By inference pretty much every business in China must have connections to or are overseen by the Government and businesses that have goods made in China must have permissions from the Government.

In fact, I'm not entirely sure how this would be significantly different here, or in any other country. Every company needs permits and has economic connections to their government etc. Are we to assume that the US government hopes to do an overnight revival of home industry, or is the state planning to do without tech for a while?

Slime mould mashup models fiendish computing problem

Ole Juul
Headmaster

Myxop

The article missed a mycological opportunity by not even once referring to the slimies by their more colourful name of myxomycetes.

Ubuntu tapped by China for national operating system

Ole Juul

insecure devices

Could be interesting from a security perspective as there are lots of compromised unlicensed windows PCs that don't get patched in China.

Indeed, this could be revealing. We might see a lot less malware coming from China as botnet hosts die.

Stop excluding vulnerable Brits from digital agenda - MPs

Ole Juul

power shortages?

When I was a kid we used to do e-mail on an abacus.

Ole Juul

Re: Good question

Do you have ANY idea how much four hours dial-up every day costs?????

Yes I do. My ISP has a 120hr package for $18.95 per month for 56K dialup. They also don't meter after 11pm so if you don't fall asleep early, you can get by with their $8.95 per month plan.

Weev gets 41 months in prison for exposing iPad strokers' privates

Ole Juul

Re: Idrajokl????

It's a puzzle. HTML wraps unless you use /pre or line breaks (/br). In this case I get IwbAJtta at my usual 120% and IdrAJopc at 100%.

Feedly now home to 500,000 Reader refugees

Ole Juul

not the money

The service just didn't fit into their long term plans for corralling everybody into their net. Good thing Feedly got something out of it. However, that may be temporary until Google comes up with some new but related service to gather all those people back in.

FCC waves big fines at political robocallers

Ole Juul

wrong script

Just call it hacking and charge them under terrorism laws like they do with everybody else. Why are they pussyfooting around? I think the government is complicit in this case. My point is that this could be treated like they treat script kiddies, but they don't. Why?

Drunk driving: No more dangerous than talking on handsfree mobe

Ole Juul

Re: Tested a drivers skill...

I agree that it is not so black and white. However, I think the lesson here is that it is not about making more laws. It is about the fact that "due care and attention" is an overreaching factor which could make the present laws seem to be poorly correlated with the real situation.

NORKS says USA attack took it offline ... as if anyone could tell

Ole Juul

Intensive virus attacks?

Intensive and persistent virus attacks are being made every day on internet servers

This kind of statement makes me wonder what exactly is going on. Of course there are always attempts to compromise servers, surely they didn't just discovered this. Maybe he is referring to the kind of virus attack one gets after visiting free pr0n sites. Which side of the firewall are we talking about here?

Don't buy a Google car: They might stop it while you're driving

Ole Juul

denial

This protesting about Google not continuing to provide something is just indicative of people denying that they had unrealistic expectations. This is a public company in a dominant position so it has little to no responsibility toward its clientèle. That's just how it is. Pretending that is not the case is perhaps what all those people are doing who have bought into Google's services and now complain when their dreams are broken. There'll be more of this, and I for one, am not playing that game.

Police accuse Reuters hack of helping Anonymous hackers

Ole Juul

Re: 25 years?

I'm not sure myself, but does an account for an employee still belong to that person after they are no longer an employee? I would think that in this case the account would belong to the Tribune and that they would have been negligent in allowing Keys to still have valid credentials - that being tantamount to them willingly giving out the password themselves. Who knows. The story here could indeed be about The Tribune trying to blame somebody, anybody, on their own incompetence.

$1.5k per complaint. Up to 1,900 gTLDs. Brand owners, prepare to PAY

Ole Juul

Re: Band of brands

a policy that is designed to dilute the value of their brands

The thing is that the whole idea of diluting the value of a brand by using a close spelling in a domain name is a bunch of hooey anyway. Mostly people click on links, and besides, spelling isn't as hard as some marketeers would have you think. We have had similar spellings for as long as there have been written words. My friend Jon is not about sue my other friend John for diluting his identity, and in any case I have no trouble telling them apart. If I did, we'd have another problem on our hands - either with the Jo*s or with me.

Google's Wi-Fi sniffing to result in $7 million fine

Ole Juul

Re: It's not stealing in the first place

most police cars these days are equipped with equipment just as capable

Are you suggesting that if it's OK for the police, then it's OK for Google? I don't like that idea very much. In fact I'm not even happy with how far the police are going these days.

Mark Shuttleworth: Canonical leads Ubuntu, not 'your whims'

Ole Juul

progressively more disenchanted

I feel the same way. It is odd that Shuttleworth says he has "zero interest in the crowd who wants to be different", when it is the fact that Ubuntu keeps changing, and is "always different", that is causing many of us to move on.

Ole Juul

Re: Mark, you keep punching that straw man...

"I simply have zero interest in the crowd who wants to be different. Leet. 'Linux is supposed to be hard so it's exclusive' is just the dumbest thing that a smart person could say," Shuttleworth wrote.

Yep, that's about the dumbest thing that a smart person could say. . . . oh wait ...

New UK.gov cyber-security standard puts MANAGERS in firing line

Ole Juul

Here's an opportunity

for those peddling secure operating systems.

Pirate Bay to world: We're not really off to NORKS

Ole Juul

Re: No, no, the hoax is a hoax

If the hoax was a hoax, then it wouldn't be believable .... oh wait ...

Gnome cofounder: Desktop Linux is a CHERNOBYL of FAIL

Ole Juul

Re: Huh.

As for Linux not being user friendly "Huh" indeed. I'm writing this on a computer that started as Ubuntu 6.04 and eventually got upgraded to 8.04, which is what it has now. That means that it has been a user friendly and functional desktop machine for 7 years, and that the current Linux on it is now 5 years old. That's a pretty good track record. I'm sorry if you haven't been as lucky, though I do suspect that bad luck isn't actually your problem.

If you want to put down Linux, I'll join you, but I'm not going to say that it isn't user friendly, easy to install, and very functional - because it is. Still, I'm with AC at the top there, about FreeBSD being the best choice.

Report: Danish government hits Microsoft with $1bn tax bill

Ole Juul

Re: The local media outlet is called DR...

I only watch the radio when I'm drunk.

You must live in a nice neighbourhood. Some places you have to watch everything.

Ole Juul

Re: As a Swedish colleague said

When you see the Scottish women you understand immediately why it was only pillage.

There's lots of beautiful women in Scotland. Perhaps you a getting confused by the kilts.

Ole Juul

Taxes?

Microsoft?

Java malware spotted using stolen certificate

Ole Juul

Re: Waiting for it to happen.

Actually, there should be quite a number of opportunities for AV hawkers of all kinds.

Pirate Bay 'seeks asylum' in, er, 'North Korea'

Ole Juul

Re: @Ole Juul: N. Korea?

I was referring to TPB pretending to be hosted there. Sorry, I thought that's what the article was about.

Ole Juul

Re: N. Korea?

It's fake. Lots of fun though.

Canonical announces Mir display server to replace X Windows

Ole Juul

Requirements?

It might be useful to them, but to me this dogged insistence on 'look and feel' requirements is a drag.

New class of industrial-scale super-phishing emails threatens biz

Ole Juul

Re: Spearfishing?

Something is fishy all right. They didn't even mention what kind of software one would have to run in order to make this happen.

Sinkholes reveal more Chinese-hacked biz - and piggybacking crims

Ole Juul

Re: a Linux LiveCD ..

I hope you're not suggesting that all the news about America being hacked is just a noble nationalistic attempt to protect America's favourite corporation, combined with sheer lazy avoidance of having to learn something new!

Euro watchdog bares teeth at Microsoft over browser gaffe

Ole Juul

Re: "Whoops!"

RW: It was neither deliberate nor a "technical" error. It was a management error, pure and simple. You would think that MS, with the threat of a large fine hanging over it should they commit a specific misdeed, would make very sure that that misdeed did not occur by accident.

MS is probably assuming that it will not be a large fine, probably only a few million, which they can well afford - especially considering that it will not actually "cost" them that much after tax deductions etc. It's likely worth it to them. If it turns out not, only then is it a management error.

Canadian cyborg says Google Glass design is cracked

Ole Juul

"computer-mediated reality"

That just covers way too wide a spectrum. In fact it easily covers everything from absurd hilarity, to tragic misunderstanding. An example of the latter would be proponents of marketing data. In any case, I can't help but think that so much of the natural world would be missed, that it would be a situation of one step forward and two steps back.

Health pros: Alcohol is EVIL – raise its price, ban its ads

Ole Juul

Re: Nanny can't fix it

Instead they just impinge on the freedoms of responsible users.

And non-users as well. Here in Canada we have draconian alcohol laws and you can't easily buy clean ethyl alcohol for other purposes since it is assumed that you will drink it all on the way home. In any case, these kinds of laws always infringe on freedoms in general. They do, however, make an excellent excuse for collecting more taxes to fund programs such as this which will create a lot of jobs which otherwise wouldn't have a reason to exist.

Browser makers open local storage hole in HTML5

Ole Juul
Coat

Cloud storage

I can see this being used by botnets and rented out as cloud storage.

Strategic SIEGE ROBOTS defeated by 'heavily intoxicated' man, 62

Ole Juul

Siege Robots may need redesign

How about something more disarming - like a mini skirt.

Vint Cerf: 'The internet of things needs to be locked down'

Ole Juul

Re: WTF?

I suspect that the novelty of arriving home to a cacophony of pets disturbed by the sudden music who have eaten the toast again and an enormous electricity bill because the windows were left open will quickly wear off,

Yes, but the ultimate goal is that you don't ever have to go home. You will be able to do everything you normally do, including watching TV with the security camera's over the net, that it will be possible for you to stay at work 24/7.

Official: More than 7 million Brits have NEVER accessed the interwebs

Ole Juul

Re: Not surprising, but nice to see some stats

I work in the disabilities sector and find the reference to disabled people being hooked on drugs, prescription or otherwise, so be a crass over-generalisation. Care to elaborate?

If you work in the field, it must be an isolated branch. I'm sorry if you find my sensibilities "crass". What kind of elaboration you want?

These are people with which I have a tremendous amount of empathy. I've personally lived with a number of drug addicts, have had problems of my own, and spend considerable time with the group of which I speak. In Canada it is a very large group and mostly uncounted because they only show up to collect a cheque, or to get food. I have been closely connected with these people and have only the greatest respect and empathy. I'm not trying to "over-generalize" at all.

I am personally disabled, and know only too well the connection with alcohol and other drugs that can so easily ensue. I don't know what kind of work you do, but my work with drug addicts over the last three decades has certainly opened my eyes to what I'm talking about here. Perhaps you only deal with nice "clean" disabled people. The kind that can afford electric wheel chairs (I can't) and live in homes. Perhaps they even get treatments and have family. Safe crowd, eh? I suggest you spend a few years with the street people in the city of your choice, and then you will start to see a relationship between drugs and disabilities. I'm not claiming to have it figured out, but there is an interaction which often makes it difficult to see which came first. In my case, I've had polio, and I wake up every day with pain. To me it is clear how drugs can seem like a solution. After a while, it just gets all mixed up in the mind.

Ole Juul

Re: Not surprising, but nice to see some stats

No, I didn't mean 'dependent on strong prescription medication', but that is probably also a problem. I am not generalizing or putting down any group. In Canadian cities we have large populations of people without homes. They are mostly "disabled" and mostly addicted. The two often go hand-in-hand. I have current local rural experience of this, and yes, it is a tragedy. I also have city and personal experience, and I can confirm that it is a National tragedy as well. Another tragedy is that the drug/disability situation is mostly ignored by the government.

Ole Juul

Not surprising, but nice to see some stats

People over 75 often don't feel they need it. Yes, I'm getting older so I talk with these people. I also notice that disabled people are often hooked on drugs or TV, or both. Again, there is no perceived need to join the world of communication. My prediction is that the first group will change as they get replaced with people who learnt at an earlier age, and the second group stay roughly the same. More poor and/or disabled people will "get it", but the group will grow in size.

I'm in both groups, but have kept up with computers since before the PC. I also refuse to get involved with things like drugs and TV (I don't know which is worse). The internet is perfect for someone like me.

Facebook reveals plan for new archival data centre

Ole Juul

photos nobody looks at any more

What photos are these, and to whom do they belong? From the article, I'm just not getting any idea of what this thing is really about.

Obama's new cyber-security tactics finger corrupt staff, China

Ole Juul

Closer to home - indeed

How about looking at their OS of choice?

How private biz can link YOU to 'anonymised' medical data

Ole Juul

Re: Buck? Period.

Indeed, these parts being the land where corporations rule. Too bad we couldn't have people being at least equally as important. In fact, that's what's wrong here. This is all about the health of corporations.

E-taxes aren't really stuffing Uncle Sam's pockets enough

Ole Juul

untaxed commerce (cheques and balances)

He also pointed out that sales tax collections have lagged economic growth, suggesting that untaxed commerce has grown.

And it will continue to grow, simply because it has to, in order to compete with government efforts to destroy the economy.

Perfect sex minx calculated from 'deep' probe of X-rated flicks

Ole Juul

the perfectly average

One has to wonder about the applicability of averages to all things. If half the people like black, and the other half like white, does that mean that everyone likes grey? Since both milkshakes and hamburgers are very popular, I suppose a ground beef shake would be twice as popular. Sometimes it's the non-average that makes the treat. In fact, average isn't very sexy.

Mega-rotund Dotcom's Mega gobbles up Bitcoin payments

Ole Juul

It was inevitable

Decentralised cryptography-based currency is starting to gather traction because payment intervention is being used for political purposes more and more. Bitcoin is probably the best protection, especially for an on-line business, since you can't trust the banks any more.

Wikipedia's Gibraltar 'moratorium' - how's it going?

Ole Juul

Re: I did mention Gilbraltar once,

And thus we have yet another definition of "gibbing".