* Posts by JasonW

180 publicly visible posts • joined 27 Apr 2007

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EU Commission plots to end rip-off Britain online

JasonW
Unhappy

Great

Will the EU be funding all citizens to be able to read all the languages of the other EU countries so they don't fall foul of small print? Will they require every EU-based eshop to publish in all EU languages? Will they be putting a stop to cross-border transaction fees (like the upto 3% that card issuers impose over the top of Visa/Mastercard mediocre exchange rates)?

Admirable intention - doomed to fail in Blighty (and Denmark and Sweden) at least thanks to their collective spurning of the €uro

Europe agrees on exchange of criminal records

JasonW
Coat

Criminal record swap

I have some Des O'Connor here - I'd like to swap it for something like Jacques Brel.

Or is that the wrong type of criminal record?

Boffins develop '500TB iPod' storage tech

JasonW

Third time lucky

ok - you have the 0.32nm right - that is 0.32 billionths of a metre

micro = millionth = 10^-6

nano = billionth = 10^-9

0.32nm = 320 picometres - 320 *trillionths* of a metre

Swedish lag's wooden todgers fail to impress

JasonW
Coat

disappointed in El Reg

Of course the correct unit of currency to express the fine in this case would be the Vietnamese Dong

It's about 4.8 million VND

Dear ISP, I am not a target market

JasonW
Flame

What about when it goes wrong?

Accepting for the moment the premise that it does not breach RIPA or other laws (I don't accept that but assuming it goes ahead).

There is an interception of all my HTTP traffic by a single cluster of devices somewhere in my ISPs network. This cluster has now become mana from heaven to the black hat mob.

Since it will have been installed by the hand of (wo)man, it is certain to be accessible by a similar hand (it might take a while for someone who isn't supposed to access it to do so) - but *inevitably* it will be *compromised* (after all there are people defacing websites of banks, governments etc already).

When the compromise happens, have I just broken every agreement with (say) my bank about taking care of my information (even though they routinely leave it out the back for collection with the bins)?

DAB: A very British failure

JasonW
Flame

Only just got ½DAB here...

Funny that I'm living in Scotland, receiving DAB from a Scottish transmitter yet I can't get BBC Radio Scotland on DAB. Because it's not broadcast from my transmitter - no commercial multiplex (for the non-commercial BBC to offer it's service on), and according to OFCOM no application for one either.

Sound quality is crappy (compared to FM) thanks to the high compression, many stereo stations are mono or some hideous cobbled-together-bollocks-trying-to-pretend-to-be-stereo-but-failing.

Net radio might be an answer when not on the move, but certainly not for on the move (then again since the DAB coverage map here looks like Rab C Nesbit's vest nor is DAB).

Confidential Home Office data turns up in laptop on eBay

JasonW
Happy

@Sweep

I don't habitually carry my laptop when out (example for a meal). It's most often safely locked away in the office or hotel.

JasonW
Happy

3 sliding clips

That's all that holds my keyboard down. It's where I keep my emergency €20/£10/$20 when travelling. Never tried to squeeze anything else in there though. Must remember to take them out before I return the laptop.

EU wants RFID tags turned off

JasonW
Coat

@michael

indeed it'll be make shoplifting easier... zap the RFID tag in store so it can't be read by the "no unpacking required" till and push through your trolleyful of chicken nuggets.

Mine's the RFID-free Gannex Mac

Scottish government drafts Cat Welfare Code

JasonW
Paris Hilton

@AC a Cat code of practice

Agree 200% - I'm thinking of keeping a European eagle owl purely to remove the cats here since the SuperSoaker™ seems to be losing it's effectiveness.

If someone can explain to me adequately the cat owners' paradox (ie. how you can "love my cat to bits" and in the next breath open the front door and boot it out into the driving rain for 8+ hours without a thought) I may reconsider.

Paris because we've probably all seen her "cat" :)

Home Sec in anti-terror plan to control entire web

JasonW
Pirate

"largest global technology and internet companies"

So - BT, TalkTalk, Tiscali and their peers are going to save the country? I suppose at least some of them can suppress the information - or make it so slow to get at that any uncommitted terrorist would give up and resort to an A-level Chemistry book from the 1970s or older.

Clash of the compacts: Eee vs Air

JasonW

No modem on the EEE

The EEE has a space for a modem, but it doesn't appear in the item as sold.

YouTube biker clocked at 189mph

JasonW
Coat

Hang on

isn't the LCD the rev counter? The speedo looks to be a needle around the edge of the dial.

JasonW
Paris Hilton

@ Steve Ives

>>After all, what's more dangerous - doing 80 on a motorway in a modern car in clear weather or doing 29 past a school at chucking-out time in rain & snow? Oh, silly me - must be the speeding

Which offence is easier to get an automatic camera to flash pictures and send out NIPs?

We need trained traffic police, not Kodak Box Brownies.

(Paris because apparently she has nips too)

Super Soaker inventor touts solid state heat-2-leccy

JasonW
Happy

a retrofit to the current boiler?

slap one on the side of my boiler flue and I'll have some of that 'waste' heat do me some good while keeping warm.

US switches off the incandescent lightbulb

JasonW
Coat

@censored

>>There is rumoured to be a dimmable bulb available somewhere in the world, but not it seems in the EU.

There are 6 in my lounge right now - and my lounge is in the EU. Bought them in Germany (also in the EU) about 12 months ago. Megaman is the manufacturer and I've seen them on sale in Blighty (in the EU) too.

Tiscali in shock customer satisfaction win

JasonW
Happy

@Ian

Reviews aren't what you need - it's real life experience from current/recent users. Sites like http://www.dslzoneuk.net/isp_ratings.php and www.thinkbroadband.com are there to help. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to realise that those to the right of the graph are less well regarded than those to the left.

Oh and remember that PlusNet *is* BT now....

JasonW
Coat

Tiscali have never been Wanadoo or Freeserve

Freeserve turned into Wanadoo, who morphed into Orange.

Tiscali has always been Tiscali and always been crap.

To anyone that thinks all ISPs are the same - they aren't - get off your butt and do some product research.

Chancer punts 'lucky' Wii for $1,234,567...

JasonW
Coat

Now if it was Zim $.....

I'd have enough :D

UK gov superfast broadband summit decides... erm... nothing

JasonW
Unhappy

What's the point of superfast broadband

... when it's throttled to hell and/or volume restricted?

Beer set to hit four quid a pint

JasonW
Coat

@Stephen Gazard

Actually there are high yield yeasts available that will take you above 20% now (I'm sure I saw one for 23% recently). http://www.leylandhomebrew.com/item930.htm as a hastily googled example for a 21% yield yeast.

@Karim

I've just put another batch of 40 pints on and the total cost per pint (allowing for depreciation of the pressure barrels over the 15 years I've had them, the fermenting vessels etc) is 29.36p per pint. Zero crude oil, zero aluminium involved.

Will bird flu stuff our Happy Christmas?

JasonW
Coat

No impact here

It'll be a home-produced curry for mine - just to be different. Failing that roast pork with plenty of crackling and proper gravy - not the tasteless garbage that a turkey or chicken makes.

Ferry Boat's right - no-one would voluntarily eat turkey, would they?

Lily Allen gets 'social networking' TV show

JasonW
Coat

"Are the Chuckle Brothers running the BBC?"

No - they're in Nos. 10 & 11 Downing Street

GMail shakes IMAP out of coma

JasonW

Interesting...

I haven't had to enable IMAP (in fact I don't have the option) yet I'm happily using IMAP to access my inbox.

Road pricing 'back-burnered' by Brown gov't

JasonW
Stop

Fuel Duty - already collected...

Neil Sunerton hit the nail on the head in #1

Why is there a need to know where the car is to charge? If I want to reduce pollution, I buy a more economical one and use it when I know it's likely to be less congested. Net result I use less fuel, cause less pollution and therefore pay less duty. As fuel duty is already collected then there's a zero net increase in collection costs, I don't need to get anything fitted to my vehicle both I and the Government "win"

3UK still haemorrhaging money

JasonW
Coat

Title

Or use it outside a metropolitan area.... nearest 3G coverage (of any network) to here is 40 miles away

Broadband claims mislead on speed

JasonW

Shock! Horror! ISPs in non-delivery outrage

No doubt the 300 customers had followed "Which?"s best buy policy which probably recommended Tiscali....

So nobody can get 8M - well I don't live on top of the exchange - and I do, sync at 8128/832, downloads hit 840kBytes/sec - great. The vicar up the road also syncs at 8128 yet he gets 30-50kBytes/sec tops. Same exchange, same router. The only difference is in ISP.

As for the "laws of physics applying immediately it leaves the exchange" - don't they apply inside the BT network? That explains the high cost of calls then.

EC wants to suppress internet bomb-making guides

JasonW

Nothing new in the world

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mhkfqlgbcwsn/ bears at least a passing similarity to the devices found in London and that delivered in Glasgow.... no doubt the court proceedings are a matter of public record and need to be banned too.

How to enjoy media in any region

JasonW

I've been doing this since 1999

Bought my first DVD discs in 1999 before I even had a player.... I had R1/R2/R3 discs.... bought a hackable player and never looked back. When it broke bought another. etc.

Is it really newsworthy?

Free BBC HD satellite TV service given green light

JasonW

Different to SkyHD

This is a totally different proposition to SkyHD where you get to pay an extra tenner a month on top of your normal subscription for HD content - this is free to air HD content.

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