Posts by James Haigh

How Phorm plans to tap your internet connection

You can't stop it recording...

You can't prevent the tracking of your actions.

*Whatever you do, your online activities will be tracked. All you can do is request that they don't serve you advertising based upon your browsing habits.

You still get the same number of ads, they are just random ones.

*But they still record what you do*

Opting out via any method (publically talking changing your hosts file, or using a different browser, or wearing a tinfoil hat, or refusing cookies, or opting out via their site) only stops them targeting the adverts based on your browsing habits, it does not stop them recording what you do.

Apologies for repeating the same message others have also made/tried to make, but folks are either ignoring the facts, missing the point, or are being just plain stupid!

Go to a decent ISP - Zen and PlusNet have both stated they aren't touching Phorm with a bargepole.

7000 Leap Year Babies attack Steve Ballmer

@ Stuart Jones

Erm, the 1904 date system only works for dates starting at 1904.

So actually less useful than the flawed 1900 date system, which at least only requires a modifier to the result of an equation

=WEEKDAY("2/16/1900",1)+1

(If you were using the 1904 date system, the above formula would return #VALUE! error.

Quake rocks Britain

@Mark Otway

Research is the key to avoiding looking daft pal;

To state [..snip]in the UK (which has almost zero quakes annually)[snip...] does make you look rather a buffoon:

The two in Market Rasen were the 6th and 7th quakes in 2008 in the UK.

Based on averages since 1979, we have roughly 170 earthquakes a year in the UK.

That said - I agree with the Kiwi's in part - it has been sensationalised in the national media far too much.

Yep it was unusual in its magnitude, but it wasn't a huge disaster and doesn't justify the coverage its had.

Begs the question though - what will the Gov't try to sneak out today while nobody is looking?

Infra-red cameras to tackle congestion in Leeds

@Mark

Two things;

First, as pointed out this will be the first of its type, as its type will be one which is monitored by these cameras.

Secondly, when it opened in 1998, it was the first HOV lane in the UK.

http://www.konsult.leeds.ac.uk/private/level2/instruments/instrument029/l2_029c.htm

Samsung laptop battery burns

Laptop?

I thought we had to call them "Notebook Computers" these days, since implying they should be used on ones lap leaves the manufacturers open to criticism (and in this litigious age has the potential to affect profitability)

Regardless of naming convention, I'm certain that the instructions supplied with said device when new will have advised that air vents should be kept free at all times.

Counterfeit vans: A little-known online grocery scam

How is this safer?

So, if you are a little paranoid about safety, perhaps being scared that the person bringing your shopping might be a little unsavory, what do you do?

You suspect they might mug you when they arrive, so you want a way of increasing safety.

Eureka! The perfect answer;

Encourage the paranoid customer to venture out of their house to accompany the suspect grocery-mongerer to the kerbside to ascertain the identity of delivery chariot!

Ignoring the questions about how somebody would know that you have ordered your shopping to arrive at a certain time....

Surely the more sensible thing to be sending to customers via SMS would be a serial number for an ID card which the official driver would be carrying - at least then it can be presented via a letterbox/chained door for checking.

Eeejits.

Suit blows £105k in London bar

Why does it need an IT angle?

As has been said many times before - if you wanna read IT news, you don't wanna be looking at stuff in Odds and Sods, and less so in Bootnotes.

ISPs accuse TalkTalk of hijacking customers

Re: Pretty silly idea to begin with....

>>By Michael

>>Posted Monday 18th June 2007 14:58 GMT

>>[snip]

>>....More fool anyone who buys a service from a company that can't offer a

>>service and just badges someone elses. If and when soon after their BB stops

>>working what did they expect to happen?...[snip]

So Michael, what solution do you suggest?

Remember that BT Retail is a completely seperate company to the people who actually *provide* the service. BT Wholesale provide the service (assuming non-LLU/non-cable services) and BT Retail stick their logo on it the same as any other ISP.

Are you suggesting we should all move to Virgin and get BB via cable? I'm certainly not gonna, they've started throttling in much more restrictive ways than many ISP's you can find on the market.

Google UK gags gambling ads

Are these ads served by Doubleclick?

I block all traffic to doubleclick at our firewall - save lokking at junk like that!

Spammers stuff PlusNet email accounts (again)

Yup, and for some reason customers are the last to hear about it.....

Still haven't figured out why info from PN ends up on TBB first, and is then repeated/quoted/linked to from the official portal forums.

Is it perchance because potential customers, and news sites see what goes on there?

Do PN need to look as if they are all over the situation in public, whilst leaving the rest of us on their portal as poor relations.

More spin than my washing machine.

GRRRRRRR

Cash machines get a voice

Photo example of headphone Jack

This picture shows the headphone jack next to the card slot on many UK cashpoints... in case anybody wondered.

http://www.devon-cornwall.police.uk/v3/crime/atm/images/atm.jpg

Erm, not really 'new' is it?

Many UK cashpoints have a headphone jack for those who want to listen to whats happening.

The jack points downwards, and is housed in a protrusion near the slot for your card.

Presumably if you have sight difficulties, but can make out the bright patch that is the screen, you can then figure fairly easily where the card slot and headphone jack are.

iGoogle launch fingered in user data loss furore

I wondered what happened..

I spent hours trying to re-build my personalised page, each time though the page reverted to the default unconfigured personalised page.

In the end I gave up and signed out.

The following day, everything was back to normal, except for the silly iGoogle logo.

I guess I must be one of the lucky ones whose data was resored successfully.