* Posts by Ole Juul

2726 publicly visible posts • joined 27 Apr 2007

Botnet hijacking reveals 70GB of stolen data

Ole Juul

What's the best way to get an infection?

So there's 180,000 infected machines. I would be curious to know if they didn't have a firewall, operated as root, or if 180,000 users just had an irresistible penchant for clicking on mystery scripts.

EU urges US to drop ICANN

Ole Juul

This could go badly

Regardless of EU wishes, let's hope that the transition of ICANN to something more appropriate goes relatively smoothly. Unfortunately the USA does not have a good record when it comes to cooperation.

Wikipedia's Norwegian press officer cuffed for killing mum

Ole Juul

re: Know your Norwegian language

In North America, the word "pleietrengende" would be refered to as "in need of home care" or just "in need of care". It could even be translated as "in need of nursing". We typically have nurses or (lower paid) people trained in home care to come to the home of elderly or disabled people. There is a wide range of needs possible outside of hospitalization and there is a whole industry built up around this sort of thing, so of course there is a name for it. It is of course possible that the son did the work, but professional workers would call themselves "home care worker", "home nurse", or "nurse". Yes, you have a feeble dictionary. :)

Google force feeds Web 2.0 to US gov

Ole Juul

Travel broadens the mind

Andrew McLaughlin has just returned from a trip to earth.

Child porn suspect ordered to decrypt own hard drive

Ole Juul

How to prove someone remembers

I've got a computer beside me here which is bricked because I can't remember the password that I used some months back. I'll just reinstall, but surely this happens to others as well.

It seems to me that you can't prove that someone can remember something. How do they prove that he can remember the password? I know I often forget passwords and no amount of pressure is going to bring them back - quite the opposite, in fact. Sometimes I remember something for a while and then, as time goes by, I forget. Perhaps I'm unusual in that respect.

If this judge really does know if someone remembers something or not then I think he is a mind reader and should just inform the court what the password is without asking the accused.

Music industry's Irish ISP shakedown letter leaked

Ole Juul

Possible loss of revenue

Could there be a possible lawsuit for loss of revenue from someone who uses said blocked sites for distribution?

RIAA won't sue, but will throttle

Ole Juul

business as usual

So what happens when the accused denies? What does the ISP say then? I guess they have to hope that the RIAA was right. hmm ... this is going to get complicated. They're just turning a page and starting to mess up another one. Really, there's nothing new here.

Bill Cumming (above) nailed it when he said:

"So they are changing tack and stopping suing people just before their methods are ruled illegal... Giving themselves the right to use the same (potentially illegal) methods to go after people in the future for more money??"

Wikipedia self-flagellates over vanishing 'farmsex'

Ole Juul
Coat

wikiphilia

Why does the word wikiphilia keep popping into my mind? People get turned on by the darnest things.

Microsoft: 'We will save America from foreign domination'

Ole Juul

Re: It would be funny if it wasn't so sad

Chris C said: "On another note/rant, am I the only one who thinks it's incredibly egotistical to use the term "Americans" to describe US citizens?"

Nope. I think so too. The name "USians" would be more suitable, and I've heard it used on occasion. The advantage of that name is that people from Hawaii would be included.

Canada moots tough sanctions for DRM flouters

Ole Juul
Pirate

Treason

The current government is not Canadian.

In this case it is especially obvious because every single Canadian interest group, including Big Business, is opposing them on this bill. They simply don't represent anybody in this country.

Added green burden could ground flying cars for good

Ole Juul

You want green?

Anything cool has to burn a lot of gas or it just won't work. So forget going green if you want to have any fun. There is one system that might work though ... I've been contemplating the idea of using a large slingshot (UK=catapult) to get (some people) off to work in a hurry. You need one at home and one at work.

Customers give Dell the finger over keyboard screw-up

Ole Juul
Paris Hilton

Re: Varying Keyboard Layouts

My keyboard has the enter key on the left, and all the letters are upside down.

US Department of Justice banned from Wikipedia

Ole Juul
Paris Hilton

mind-boggling

It's not like Wikipedia is an authority, or that we know who writes the stuff. What kind of *.case would actually care what they say about these kinds of things?

I'm with Paris on this one.

Ubuntu man says Microsoft's about to 'swallow a hand-grenade'

Ole Juul
Unhappy

My vote on the style

Shuttleworth can be pretty astute at times, that in itself is reason to talk with him, nevermind his money or Ubuntu. This interview, however, didn't seem to go so well ... or maybe it's the way it was written. I like Ashlee Vance's writing better when he doesn't try to sound like Orlowski.

Anti-Scientology crusader vaporized from YouTube

Ole Juul

YouTube needs parental guidance

I honestly can't see Scientology as being any kind of an issue. People will always claim to know something others don't in order to be one up. The fact that they're a pyramid scheme just makes them even less interesting. Bunker's story is worth looking at, but not because of Scientology.

The story here is really about YouTube. Time and again they show themselves as being immature and spineless. Pathetic, really. They could use a little help from someone who has been around the block and who has developed some real principles ... an adult perhaps.

Ubuntu man Shuttleworth dissects Hardy Heron's arrival

Ole Juul

Free MS-Windows

Antoinette Lacroix said: " Almost nobody pays for Windows,"

Thats great news! I think it would be fun to run it on some older machines. I've never tried it because the price always held me back. Please let me know where I can download a copy.

'Rowdy' rectal extraction op vid hits YouTube

Ole Juul

Shake before using

@Dave "...I heard the jingle to a very old but"

I get it now.

Pirate Bay offers uncensored, ad-backed blog hole

Ole Juul

Let's have a look

I don't think this is such a big deal. Paul Smith (above) summed it up: "I presume that what TPB intend, is to host blogs that will only be removed after a successful approch to Swedish courts, as apposed to the more usual "we will remove it just in case'." Well, that is a good thing anyway.

So what are we going to see there? Well, let's have a look:

http://www.google.se/search?as_sitesearch=baywords.com

Hmmm, the word booring comes to mind, but doesn't quite go far enough. Hopefully after the first rush, or maybe with a bit more careful scrutiny than I've applied, there will be some gems.

Scientology threatens Wikileaks with injunction

Ole Juul
Happy

Re: amanfromMars

I'd buy a copy of "The sayings of amanfromMars". It'l be the "Doctrine of Advanced Technology" for a religion based on ElReg, amanfromMars, and the Holy Mackerel.

Wikipedia-reading boffins jimmy keyless door to entire universe

Ole Juul

Old school

People don't use these kinds of locks because they don't want their car stolen. They use them because they think they're cool. To prevent theft of your car, you pull a spark plug wire when you leave it. If you're really serious, pull the fuel line too. That worked in the old days and I'm sure it works even better nowadays when everybody is a nerd and nobody is a mechanic.

Get your German interior minister's fingerprint here

Ole Juul

I'm waiting for a response

I'd laugh if we started seeing all German officials wearing gloves in public. I wonder how the minister will respond. I don't know about over there, but in NA you can't copyright fingerprints, so it's hard to call it forgery. I'm sure they will try to do something to save face.

Woman accuses RIAA of killing dolphins

Ole Juul

Times have changed

When I was a kid, the name RIAA was mostly heard in association with the phonograph playback curve. What happened? How did a respectable standards organization end up on the Greenpeace most wanted list?

Next time I buy a record, I want to see NO DOLPHINS WERE HARMED IN THE PRODUCTION OF THIS RECORD printed on the label.

A journey into Cebit's heart of Greenness

Ole Juul
Flame

Green Software

When the next linux distro comes out, and it can run on LESS resources than the last one, THEN we'll be getting somewhere.

As long as software developers keep coming out with crappy unpolished bloatware like MSWindows and the average Linux distro, just to name a couple, then we're not going to get anywhere. We'll just be buying more and more, and throwing out still working hardware. The whole business model is based on the fundemental act of dumping.

Filesharers petition Downing Street on 'three strikes'

Ole Juul

I'm almost hoping

It's hard to tell how this will play out but the article brings up a good point. I'm almost hoping that we will see some stupid senseless law which will expose the RIAA and others to ridicule. It might set an example to avoid elsewhere.

I know the constitutionality of cutting someone off has been questioned but one serious problem just occured to me. How can you cut off someone's internet access if that is their only phone connection? I'm not sure about Britain, but here in Canada where this sort of thing is also under discussion, there are many people without a land line, and in the US they have been taking out the copper in some places so a person could be left without the ability to get a phone. Not a safe situation for some people. Just another possible law suit which I'm sure the ISPs want to avoid.

Watchdog sues US Justice Department over Google chatter

Ole Juul

DOJ breaks law

would be a more sensational, but true, headline. The EFF is also asking for legal costs in the suit. This could be fun, but I beleive that the DOJ is probably above the law, so this will just fizzle.

Treehuggers lose legal fight to solar-powered neighbour

Ole Juul

Re: That is why I planned ahead...

"I'm betting the shade lost by removing those trees will increase his/her A/C needs by the summer sun beating down on their roof."

Yes, and this being in California, they will now be able to sue their neighbours again. This time for cutting down the trees and causing further financial burden.

Sergey Brin: 'Microhoo! makes me nervous'

Ole Juul

The fourth monkey

I am pretty sure that the original motto was presented as "do no evil", but I think "don't do no evil" has more of a fourth world ring to it.

Microsoft opens APIs and protocols to all

Ole Juul
Paris Hilton

A real surprise

I don't see any good in this, and nobody here has come up with anything credible on the positive side. What really surprises me is just how many people think the world of IT is now a better place, citing all kinds of imaginary or useless things, and completely ignoring history, especially Microsoft's. I don't see any real MS shills here, so ... Paris, because innocence is the word of the day.

Wikileaks judge gets Pirate Bay treatment

Ole Juul

Re: Key question: how true are those docs?

Maybe you missed it, but Wikileaks is a wiki. That means that "Users can publicly discuss documents and analyze their credibility and veracity." There are other checks in place too, so there should be little danger for what you're talking about. Sheesh! Can't people look up anything?... Now *THAT* scares me.

Consumer group slams 'unfair' software licenses

Ole Juul

EULAgy

Any EULAs that I've seen are unrealistic to the point of being humour. In fact some are sheer poetry that no sane person would take seriously. Unfortunately some vendors take the joke too far.

I've only once bought a Microsoft product. It was XP-home and it came preinstalled on a computer. I don't know what the software cost, (in fact I don't know what got into me) but it did make the hardware rather expensive and I'll certainly never do that again. There was no obvious EULA, but it turns out that to have the capabilities that one would expect on a modern computer, it would have been necessary to purchase additional software which would have made my project a complete economic disaster. The worst part was that when I tried to copy the OS on to another machine for some kids to use, it wouldn't let me! Rude pythonesque legalese is one thing, but when they start writing their EULAs right into the software's functionality, I stop laughing. I know Microsoft is not alone in this, but I don't like getting ripped off. So they had a good laugh on me... good for them, but obviously I won't be buying any of their products ever again.

It's not just EULAs we have to get rid of. It's the ripoffs that go along with them.

Secret printer ID codes may breach EU privacy laws

Ole Juul

Re: ...forced on the manufactures...

If Microsoft can get manufacturers to do their bidding perhaps the US government can also be persuasive. Yes, it would be interesting to find out about the actual mechanism. I wouldn't be surprised if things wern't completely kosher.

On another note. Some people have said that you need to get the registration, or actual printer, in order to make a correlation. Actually, the fact that it has the year, month, day, hour, and minute, could be damning. The EFF has simple information on how to read the (up to) 14 7-bit bytes (plus parity) on their site: http://w2.eff.org/Privacy/printers/docucolor/

Does anyone have any information on the chip involved? Pinouts would be useful. I can see a little business in "re-chipping" printers.

SCO bags $100m to fight another day

Ole Juul

@Nigel Kneale

Good one! I too find that the less I think about Microsoft the more I enjoy my breakfast.

Ole Juul

FAQ

Q: "No one throws good money after bad, so why throw good money into a fire-pit?

A: To keep the fire burning.

Ole Juul
Black Helicopters

Who knows ...

Funneling support through Saudi Arabia is certainly a way to cover your tracks if you're MicroSoft. They are, after all, interested in keeping any open source FUD going.

US scientists puncture the ethanol biofuel bubble

Ole Juul

@JonB

It's getting a bit late in this thread but I just had to ask. What do you mean? I understand, and agree with, your first sentence, but I have no idea what the rest of it meant. I am not concerned if you agree or disagree with me. You are entitled to your opinion, but what are you saying?

My point was that a farmer has a life for himself and his family. Then he is evicted and his life is destroyed, with no hope for the future. No place to live and no longer any way to make a living. Should we not care? Should we not at least consider that in some small way?

Ole Juul

@ Morten Ranulf Clausen

"Are the poor of the world suddenly too dumb/lazy/whatever to take up farming or sumtin'?"

Biofuel is a rich man's game. Many poor people are already farming but they're not really part of the equation except as a nuisance factor.

News clip: "Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania) A British firm, Sun Biofuels PLC, has been given the go ahead by the authorities in Tanzania to embark on a massive multimillion dollar biofuel project that will involve the displacement of thousands of peasants in the Kisarawe district of the Coast Region for the 9,000 hectares of land needed by the foreign investor, APA learnt Sunday."

I understand that 11 villages are being displaced and each family will be paid just over $200 in "compensation". So, after generations of living in one place, here's this fellow walking down the highway with his wife and kids in tow, but he's got $200 in his pocket... life if good. I'm sure there are lots of other success stories like this.

Ole Juul

Re: Not News

Old news, I agree. As for obesity as an energy source, we could probably setup acres of exercise bikes with generators. Now THAT would be a pretty sight! It's pretty obvious though, that ANY discussion about energy sources and usage is, in the end, just about people.

Here is some real biofuel news:

"Some 150,000 families in Argentina and 90,000 families in Paraguay have already been displaced by soya. The accelerating rate of soya expansion due to the agrofuel boom is associated with increasing frequency of evictions."

Inventor promises bottle-o-wind car in a year. Again

Ole Juul

Alternative to batteries

"The first buyers will be people who care about the environment,"

Especially closed or explosive environments such as coal mines, but somehow I don't think that's what he had in mind! I want to see come complete energy chain calculations before I'll beleive this is environmentally freindly.

I do think that compressed air could be a useful storage medium when combined with some, yet to be developed, technology. Perhaps small, high efficiency air pumps on a windmill, or some clever direct from solar mechanism not involving a compressor as we know it. Surely there are alternative ways to pressurize a gas.

Unfortunately the problem with ALL cars is that it is inefficient to carry hundreds or thousands of pounds of metal (or whatever) around with you wherever you go.

When poor people pollute - the Tata Nano and eco-crime

Ole Juul

Growth?

From the article: "growth is not defined by nor is it dependent upon the consumption of resources. It's defined as the addition of value to them"

I would agree with that, but feel a need to point out that you need resources either way. Our current penchant for little, low resource, short lived, disposible, electronic devices is just covering up the reality... like selling candy floss at the fair. You pay 2 dollars for 2 cents worth of sugar. Big deal. Now you're better off and the other guy isn't. That's economics... but not growth.

Here in Canada we have a huge amout of very poor people, many live in the street. The US also has a high poverty level. I've seen kids with rickets there! My point is that our current "economic growth" is a sham. Anything with any real value such as soil, water, or metals, is getting either rare, or unaffordable by most people. We are NOT growing.

When I was young, people were called homeless if they didn't have a house. Then it was if you didn't have an apartment. Now it's if you live on the street. We're going backwards and the reason is that we don't have enough resourses for all of us to live "the good life". Making little plastic gadgets and selling them isn't going to help. An ipod has little "value". Give us land and water, that's what we all need. Not enough to go around? Well there you are then.

Microsoft rejects Yahoo! rejection

Ole Juul

Open source, not Google

Many people talk about how this deal doesn't make sense. Let's look around for an explanation that does then. I think MS is looking for some kind of open source angle so they can embrace, extend and extinguish. They've been devious before and open source is probably their worst enemy, not Google.

Yahoo has some open source FreeBSD. Could that be what they're after? THAT would make sense.

French motorwonk savages hybrid cars

Ole Juul

@ Dana W

"I'm guessing you live in one of those small and mild climate European nations."

Nope, but most people who live in flat countries like Denmark or Netherlands should be ashamed to drive. I've done most of my peddeling in a very hilly Canadian city and I can say that an average person can still maintain a good 15mph in the traffic... including stopping for lights. Cars tend to do less in the city, when you talk about door to door. Funny how drivers never want to talk about parking and all that fuss climbing in and out of the vehicle!

Where I live now in the mountains people generally need a car because they carry heavy items (like firewood) and travel distances are often in the 100 mile range. I do note though, that when my son comes to visit, he can make a trip to the store (24 miles) on my old clunker bike and be back in two hours. (Ahh to be young again)

@JamesH "any suggestions?" The problem is not individuals. The problem is a general mind set that promotes things that are "modern" or "popular" and come from China. I note someone above considering 300,000 miles on a car to be unrealistic. I would say that a mechanic that can't keep it running twice that long is the wrong one to go to... or did they really mean that by that time they would be justified in desiring a NEW one. I say... get a grip... and a wrench. My neighbour's regular driver is a 1948 GMC pickup. He wins.

Ole Juul
Pirate

Wimps can't peddle

We all know that the Prius is worse on the environment than a Hummer and fancy all-electrics are faster than gassers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qDZOBQs60w

Those kinds of topics are really not very relevant to any discussion about carbon usage. We should be discussing why people are so stubborn or lazy as to need a passenger car in the first place. Are these people all old, sick, or disabled? If not, then a passenger car is just a toy. How come the average car owner doesn't have the guts to peddle their own ass to work? That is the real question.

US man threatens TV repairman with shotgun

Ole Juul

Solder of fortune

I see the gun lobby has arrived. I do agree with them to some extent though. I'm certainly not about to give up my Weller.

RIAA chief calls for copyright filters on PCs

Ole Juul

Is this guy related to Darl?

They're using the same thinking style as SCO so it's probably about getting bonuses for themselves and contracts for their lawyer friends. They obviously don't care about their company or even copyright issues.

SCO details bleak future

Ole Juul

SCO is a concept

I think we need another icon.

@Paul: you got it bang on when you said "they treated the company as disposable right from the start."

IBM explores 67.1m-core computer for running entire internet

Ole Juul

RE: ...linux microkernel... ?

Actually I would think that Andy would be pleased, it's Linus who is getting his clock cleaned here. Maby Tanenbaum is right about how to do it so it can scale to these proportions. IANACoder but the idea of "self healing" and keeping all drivers etc. in user space so it doesn't crash, does sound more solid. Perhaps Linux as we know it with the macrokernel will eventually be left to just rule the desktop.

OT: Is it just my imagination or does Minix3 seem to be stalled. Apart from MPlayer 1.0 rc1, comming online in December, most of the action seems to have stopped at the beginning of last year.

US expat casts ballot from Vienna, wonders if anyone got it

Ole Juul
Coat

Be careful what you ask for

You just might get it!

Sun cheers Rock delays

Ole Juul
Coat

Old technology

I thought Rock-based servers went out with the longbow.

Nobel Prize winner demands more honesty from peers in green debate

Ole Juul

Academics and Pines

@Shakje: Thanks for posting that. I can't beleive how we view academics nowadays, atleast in North America. We, and the media, tend to think of going to school as being a waste of time unless it can get you more money. What a bunch of hicks we are over here.

@Anony Mous (and others): I live in the middle of the BC forest and have been watchin the biota for the last 40 years. Just to muddy the waters on the point of the pines, let me point out that there is a symbiotic relationship between the beetles and a certain fungus. It's not so easy to seperate organisms once you start to look closer. Unfortunately mycology is just too abstract for most people and the real world just doesn't translate that well to TV. There is also a beleif in the botanical community that the current problems began many years ago (~100) when we started to control forest fires. Once you meddle with an organism as large and as complex as a forest, there is no knowing how things will turn out. Whatever the factors, there is still no getting around that 80% of the trees where I live are no longer green. It's not a pretty sight and it's obvious that when it comes to forest fires, we are *really* in trouble now! I'm certainly getting an extra pump to protect the house.

Ole Juul

Not lifestyle problem?

@AC "Methinks your concerns are with people's lifestyles themselves, rather than any environmental impact of them."

I'm not sure why you said that. My point was that any environmental impact will involve a lifestyle change and that we need to focus on that instead of being nags and backseat drivers for the scientific community. Why bicycles? That was just an example, but perhaps you re not aware that it is practical for most people to ride 10 or more miles to work on a bicycle, and in urban centres they will get there before a car will. That is an unrivaled difference in resourse consumption. The problem is that most of us have chosen, or are forced into, an unsustainable lifestyle. Regardless of any global warming issues, our resource usage is beyound what we (the planet) can afford. If you don't want to ride a bike, it's OK to walk. Older people who can't walk so well usually find bicycles to be easier however. If you live too far from work then that was just bad planning then wasn't it?

Any solution to our real or imagined planetary woes is going to involve a very large change in lifestyle... voluntary, unavoidable, or both. Global warming or not. I fear, however, that unless they can sustain themselves on the backs of others, our grandchildren may be unable to even afford bicycles, let alone flying cars and private space rockets. Their focus might well be on real productivity rather than leisure activity and transportation toys like private cars. Unfortunately most people are content to argue about it and just wait and see. Pass me the remote will ya?