Posts by Deckard

Japan torture flick sickens UK film censor

Some people like to kiss, some people like to hug....

I doubt very much if the short work exploring the overwhelming passion between two lesbians and the extremes to which they will go to prove their love to each other will ever be granted a certficate by the BBFC, despite the excellent examination of human relationships, racial divides, pathos and post-modernism being addressed in such a short running time.

However, despite the lack of marketing and official relase, I believe that 2Girls1Cup was seen by millions of people around the globe, mainy of them young, so-called impressionable teenagers.

Are we to fear an explosion of young corprophiliacs developing in the next year or so? Or is it simply the case that the vast majority of people are somewhat curious when presented with the darker things in life, will have a look and then simply get on with their day without suffering irreparable damage?

Trading Standards calls for online knife sale ban

@ Steve Renouf

"Unless I'm completely out of date (which I don't think I am) you have to be over 18 to have a credit card, so if an online credit card transaction takes place, you must be selling to an 18 year old."

Very true, you do need to be 18 to hold a credit card but not so with debit cards that are handed out to11 year olds. (http://www.lloydstsb.com/current_accounts/under_19s_account.asp).

This makes it pretty easy for a retailer to check the age of the card holder but I sincerely doubt that any self respecting bad boy is going to kit himself out with an 8" Global Santuko. I suspect it's far more likely that the type of weapon used will have either been given to him by someone he knows or procured from some less reputable shop or market stall and therefore bypass any restrictions put in plave by the ITS.

Another genius system that is doomed right from the get go...

Beeb tech boss seeks to expand TV licence online

So...

using that logic, if don't use the iPlayer and I don't watch any BBC channels I don't have to pay?

Windows 7 and the Linux lesson

Ubuntu jockeys

It always makes me laugh...as soon any the words 'Linux' and 'Microsoft' are metioned in the same article you always have some semi tech literate Digg user that sit there smugly telling the world that 'Ubuntu just works!'

Fine....as soon as it 'just works' with Exchange, MSSQL server, Sharepoint and other Microsoft products that my customers use, I'll be happy to switch to it and tell all the people that are kind enough to pay my invoices each month the same.

For a home user, sure...an open source alternative will work for someone that knows what they're doing. For my mother? No. As a business desktop? Not yet....

Paris because you Ubuntu jockeys will swallow anything too

IWF denies wielding Pirate Bay banhammer

Err..

Is it just me or does everyone seem to be over reacting here?

The block is on BT Mobile i.e SIM card connection, not the home broadband connection, and is simply the of the 'This content is deemed suitable for people over 18 only ' variety. So all you need to do is phone them up and tell them to lift the block. All very simple really and no hysteria involved. Gambling sites are also included in the block and I didn't hear much uproar when it was discovered that Goatse is unavailible to 10 year olds. It's not as if they've nuked the site from oribit, or anything.

Rtrdos comment sums it up quite nicely with "So I phoned them and ask the content filter be removed. Ready for an argument and everything, and the girl got it removed no problems."

panic over...

Wi-Fi Beeb viewing may break law

Hmm...let me guess...

They're going to suggest a licence per handset model perhaps?

If I've read the story correctly, then I personally would get fined if I plug in my smartphone into a premises that didn't have a licence?! So...what am I meant to do? Buy a licence for every un-licenced place I walk into?

A licence per person model wouldn't work either as you'd need 2.4 if you and your family wanted to watch TV of an evening.

So..best way to try and claw even more money out of us is for the BBC to offer a licence per handset model at the very reasonable price of £5 per month or something...or risk a fine of £1,000 for plugging in your phone.

I wish I could fine people £1,000 if they didn't buy my product but instead decided to go with one of the many free alternatives out there....

Last call for UK liberties

While we're at it...

Can people stop using 'Sheeple' too?

Teen sacked for 'boring' job Facebook comment

@debaser

"...All beacuse you think people really care about you and what you think."

Do you see the irony of posting your thoughts on the matter in a public forum? Hmmm...do you?

VPN security - if you want it, come and get it

SwissVPN (p.s.)

..and just in case you're wondering, it seems to evade my ISPs (cough) Virgin (cough) traffic shapping as certain downloads work much faster while connected

SwissVPN

Is a pretty good provider I've been using ever since this whole Phorm in a teacup thing. You pay by the month and 6 months access cost me £30, which worked out at £16-17 in real money

More dodgy phone-ins cost BBC £400,000

@AC

"Nobody is forcing you to watch TV *or* pay the license fee..."

Erm, well not strictly true. I have a 32" LCD TV that I use mainly for watching movies and playing Xbox Live on. However, as it also houses a receiver capable of picking up TV signals, I am required to pay for a TV license whether I watch TV or not (it's still receiving signals). And it's not just the TV that could land me in trouble. From the TVL website:-

"Using a TV or any other device to receive or record TV programmes (for example, a VCR, set-top box, DVD recorder or PC with a broadcast card) without a valid TV Licence is against the law and could lead to prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000, not to mention the embarrassment and hassle of a court appearance. "

And yes, while no-one is forcing me at gunpoint to pay for the license, I do consider it easier to simply buy one rather than risk the fine. You may as well say that no-one forces you to pay parking tickets or speeding fines.

Heck, why not just ignore all legal or social precedents altogether and do what the hell you like - no-one will force you to go to prison, will they?!

UK ISPs agree to menace their filesharing users

The upside....

So, does this mean I can sign up to BT and get the free Blackberry, then start downloading movies like mad in the hope that they kick me off within a month or so and therefore unburnden me of having to pay them £30 a month for a year and a half?

This could turn out to be quite a nice way to get out of those 18 month contracts the ISPs are so keen to sign you up to, especially as BT won't cancel your contract because of Phorm issues.

Kraken stripped of World's Largest Botnet crown (maybe)

Reagrds - all the more reason

"...for people to switch to a real operating system (GNU/Linux, one of the BSD's etc) and get off of MS's fisher price quality offerings"

While I agree to some extent with the above statement I think you'll find that the large majority of these zombied pcs are owned by people that don't have the first clue about security threats, let alone what a botnet it. Asking these people to switch from their old Win98/ME boxes to Fedora 8 or whatever is like asking the school nurse to perform brain surgery (no offence to school nurses intended). It ain't gonna happen. Also, like it or not, a large majority of home user apps are Windows only, especially when it comes down to gaming.

IMHO, education is the only way to reduce the infection rate so people understand the risks involved and what to do if they suspect something is wrong. I use Windows XP (as well as Linux) and yet my machine isn't part of a botnet nor is it infected with viruses. I'd argue that's because I know how to secure the system and don't click on anything stupid. People are still going to do stupid things with their machines and get hosed by something unless they understand why they shouldn't open that attachment. People will still send thousands of pounds off to Nigerian scammers, regardless of what operating system they use unless they become aware of how these scams work. Peopel will still fall for phishing expiditions regardless of what email client/webmail they use unless they know what to look for.

Also ISPs could do more. While they seem happy to get into bed with the RIAA regards fileswapping they don't seem too keen on letting their customers know (and possibly advise on patching) when their pc is being used as a spam relay.

Blaming the OS is a tired and short sighted argument.

Latest AACS crack 'beyond revocation'

Not MS malware

"The good thing about all this DRM BS is that Microsoft have cheerfully slit their own throats by grossly encumbering Vista with DRM malware.... Thus opening the door wide for Linux, BSD, Mac OS/X (somewhat), and anything else that hasn't drunk the kool-aid."

Er....what? I think you'll find that Mac OS/X and Linux also have to use this 'DRM malware' as you put it. The copy protection has been insisted on by the studios, not Microsoft. I take it you fall into the 'consumers who don't know anything about technology' catagory you refer to.

Hi Ho