Posts by JetSetJim

How UK gov's 'growth' measures are ALREADY killing the web

Re: Follow the money trail

Perhaps if instead a big effort is made to re-publish MP3 files with all the ID3 tags stripped out then the MAFIAA might try and get this law stomped on....

Stats-crunchers toss ebooks into Blighty's 2013 inflation basket

Re: Wow - that's a bit of luck

Aye - who'd a thunk it, the new proposed metrics mean that "inflation" is lower than currently reported. Makes you feel better about not getting a pay rise for 6 years.

Smartphone users prefer LOVELY apps to fiddly mobe websites

Re: Just say no.

>specialist apps will require less data to be transferred and are often better formatted for my device.

Agreed, but if the developer needs to develop an app for Android, iOS and Win8, what is the development cost of maintaining three load-lines of code (I assume they don't cross compile!) compared to a suitably designed HTML5 website?

En Garde! Villagers FIGHT OFF FRENCH INVASION MENACE

Re: small cells?

Perhaps they should mandate that the operator can only charge the roaming rate if it can prove that the phone has received the "Roaming Charges" SMS? Often SMSs get held up in the SMSC for quite some time (whether the originating one or the home one) and there is no guarantee of timely delivery.

Re: small cells?

Some ferries already carry their own network infrastructure that they can activate when undocked/in international waters (not that "international waters" applies to the Dover/Calais Run, it's more for longer distance ferry trips)

http://www.winssystems.com/ for example.

PS - How do you disable voice roaming on an android? Settings only allow for disabling data roaming - receive a call and you'll still get billed through France. Does "manual network selection" achieve this?

Re: Going on for years and years

Here's a similar story from 2-3 years ago, for example:

http://www.people.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2010/08/21/no-headline-102039-22504429/

Going on for years and years

I've been reading about this topic for nigh on 15 years at least - what's different about today?

Thought the headline referred to this story, instead:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-21711244

Although I note in this case there seems no mention of advanced training in white-flag-waving as part of the exercise :)

Chaos Theory causes password entry pandemonium

Re: Lastpass for me

Or rather, the one you're more likely to write on a Post-It and stick to the underside of the keyboard

Google AXES another 1,200 employees from Motorola workforce

Re: Nice one

Well, there's rumours that the Key Lime Pie release will be Moto.

http://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/news/2013/02/google_nexus_x_android_key_lime_pie_phone_on_way_from_motorola/

But it was still 90% about the patents

Boffins implant almost-cellphone in the BRAIN

>And, of course, once acquired, brain-waves can also be scanned for particular signals that are associated with thoughtcrimes

Just one step away....

Wannabe infosec kiddies put Enigma Bombe machine to the test

Re: how about a modern computer?

Brute forcing with a current PC would still have been useless in the war as the key-space is too big and they were changed daily. There is (was?) a distributed processing outfit that were trying to crack some last remaining texts, but the site doesn't seem to have been updated in a while, even though one such text was still uncracked.

The Bletchley Park crowd used extra information gleaned from sloppy procedures from the Germans - one instance I've heard of is that there was a weather service Enigma broadcast that got reused for something, or particular operators would always begin a message the same way, or other such tweaks that can help get a hint as to the rotor settings (or narrow down the solution space) and it was these that were fed into the bombe.

Re: Correct me if I'm wrong..

I think the Bombe was a design by Turing that improved a design by the Poles, who, as you rightly point out, had done a lot of work on Enigma too.

Enigma started out as a commercial device, and the UK openly bought one in the 20's, but the Mil-Spec device was different so required additional analysis and the Poles were the first to get any significant breakthrough thanks to the French handing over 2 pages of intercepted daily keys.

Then the germans added more rotors, which increased the complexity of the Polish "computer" beyond their resources.

Apple takes aim at accessory makers, files iPad stand patent

Re: No No No No NOOOOOOOO

Indeed - here's a fridge magnet digital display:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/7dayshop-Fridge-Magnet-Digital-Detection/dp/B004FI6NS6

Not a great leap of the imagination to replace the display with an iPad, and then to shield the magnets to prevent interference.

Multiple screens cooperating with each other to make more screen real estate - most PCs will do that. Basically all they're doing is running a "dual core" iPad here (admittedly 2 instances of the OS are no doubt running)

Automotive integration - isn't that what happen on virtually every Bluetooth-integrated device anyway? WiFi isn't that great of a stretch to add. And "taking it with you when you leave" is pretty much TomTom's/Garmin's/NavMan/etc.. original business model.

Moscow's speed cameras 'knackered' by MYSTERY malware

Re: Most excellent

> the German Autobahn is THE best set of roads I've ever driven on in my life, for driver courtesy, driver sense - staying out of the way of faster traffic - and sheer quality of the surface

You've just enumerated reasons for not raising the speed limit in the UK. I, personally, am not in favour of Maureen barrelling along at 100mph on the motorway - nor do I have any confidence in her getting out of my way/not getting in my way if I were doing so.

According to the wiki, Germany had 7.2 deaths per billion vehicle-km in 2010, compared to 5.7 in the UK. Restrict that to motorways/autobahns, and Germany has 4.5 deaths per billion vehicle-km, compared to 2.0 in the UK - and the motorways in the UK are busier (source, although this info seems to be from 2000, so a teensy bit out of date).

Take that, freetards: First music sales uptick in over a decade

Re: Arrrrgggghhhh

No - they wish it to be thought of that way, that way they can sell you the same "meal" again and again as once it is "consumed" there is nothing left of it.

At least I'm sure that's their twisted thought process.

It begins: Six-strikes copyright smackdown starts in US

Re: 6 strikes - worse than 1 or 2

A sufficiently senior judge is likely to have a sufficiently large house & grounds that you can't get near enough to sniff their wifi (assuming they have it)

Re: There's a reason for Geolocation lockouts.

So you're saying that copyright law is not aligned with a global internet? Perhaps that's something that needs fixing, too.

North Korean citizens told: Socialist haircuts are a thing... go get some

Re: Brazilians?

Not forgetting the glitzy denizens of Hollywood.

(and, if memory serves correctly, you shoulda used the Paris icon...)

Welcome to our Wi-Fi: Devicescape reinvents landing page

bypassing the landing page...

That no doubt contains a "by clicking connect you agree to our Terms and Conditions".

I wonder if that is legal?

No mobile signal? Blame hippies and their eco-friendly walls

Re: Yes.

Agreed - it's not the new builds blocking radio, it's the fact that they're built in areas with no coverage anyway. Unless the aforementioned house-owner gets 5 bars by pushing the phone out the window? More likely he's on a massive development that never had coverage cos it was a farmers field until last year, and - apart from those sheep fitted with SMS units - not many farm animals need phone coverage.

Mobile TV is BACK: Ericsson launches broadcast video for 4G

use case

it'll work for any major live event - like important games of US football and other such essential viewing in N America.

It won't work for stuff like regular TV series unless the network operator gets an exclusive and they can figure out a way to cripple the phone to ensure it doesn't get recorded at the same time (I presume there are video-screen-grabbers available for at least Android)

4G in the UK? Why the smart money still says 'Meh'

Re: Busting your data allowance in minutes

> 250 GB / month

Impressive!!!

Re: Busting your data allowance in minutes

You;'ll actually end up using more data in general when given a fatter pipe to use on the device - you'll be more likely to watch videos as they are less likely to stutter... You may even end up watching (gasp) HD content which requires a higher bitrate

Not massively more, but a little bit.

Still, I find that 250MB/mo is just about all I can use in a month - even allowing for app upgrades over 3G rather than WiFi. It also took me up until last year to upgrade from my old GSM-only phone (a Motorola PEBL) to a SamGalNex phone - I appreciate that I'm not the target market for LTE service, though :)

John Sweeney: Why Church of Scientology's gravest threat is the 'net

Re: Religions...

Yeah - but I bet they license the CoS branding for a large sum. Anyone care to peek at companies house for their latest accounts? The last 5 years reports have them with only £20 in the bank, and no other income (and were nearly struck off, too, recently)

(see http://www.companycheck.co.uk/company/03235420 for Cos England & Wales)

Then there's the Bournemouth mission, which seems to have £130K in the bank but a negative net worth

http://www.companycheck.co.uk/company/02081181

This is only two Scientology related companies - I suspect there will be more.

Hmm - "enjoying tax exempt status" is a bit more liberal when you can create a multinational corporate structure

This 320-gigapixel snap of London is size of Buckingham Palace

Re: Come on London!

Hmm - perhaps I should've clicked on it first - there's 3 Busby's hidden in there, according to the blurb...

Re: Come on London!

It's actually a rather large "Where's Wally?" puzzle - he's in there somewhere, but I'll let someone else point him out

Ad-titan Google blocks Adblock Plus in Android security tweak

err.

The extension in Firefox works fine for me (on JB4.2.2) - I know this is different to the app as the app aims to rid you of all ads across all apps rather than web browsing ads only, though.

Clarkson: 'I WILL find and KILL the spammers who hacked me'

Re: Silly man

It would seem there's not even pictures (according to Google) and it happened at the 2004 Press Awards bash - you'd have thought there was a camera or two lurking around in a room full of journos!

Re: Silly man

He's got my backing purely from having punched Piers in the face. I don't suppose there's footage on Youtube?

The cheap 3D craft pen that scribbles over 3D printing hype

how many $75 pens do i own?

answer=none, they're all cheap biros nicked from the office/hotels.

Ex-pats take note: China IT salaries set to jump 40 per cent

Re: Accent

A Glaswegian friend of mine has been learning it for 12 years and is still unintelligible to the natives for some reason.

I can barely say hello and ask for a receipt (all that seemed to be required for my work trips)

The official iPhone actually runs Android - in Brazil

Re: um @JDX

Perhaps that's how you get the gold badge - kinda like a Daily Mail article, just designed to attract "vigorous discussion" amongst the masses...

Love in the time of the internet: A personal memoir

Worked for me...

Excellent points in the article - internet dating does allow you to initially "sort the wheat from the chaff", so to speak and at least weed out the weird/otherwise undesirable matches.

The added plus is the initial meetups can be in more unusual public places which you wouldn't normally associate with dating sites (e.g. bars) - I met my wife at Longleat after contacting her on the loveandfriends.com site, for example. A bit of amused blushing on both our parts as during the drive through the tiger enclosure a pair of them started copulating next to the car.

Being the shy type, I always found it odd to attempt to go up to a complete stranger in a bar/nightclub - invariably ending up shouting "what?" a lot as the music was too loud.

Vertu-alised Android revealed at an all-too-real €7,900

Re: Not the first smartphone

IIRC Nokia still own 10% of Vertu, so it's still a little bit Nokia :)

Spotted: Android 4.2.2 update for Google Nexus devices

Still 4.2.1 SamGalNex

but here's hoping they allow the car-docked phone to pipe phone audio out to car speakers

http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=36614

Montana TV warns of ZOMBIE ATTACK in epic prank hack

Re: Wow..

Next target for such a prank is CMAS - then everyone with a mobile phone will receive it!! (I wonder how many lifetimes in jail they would suffer if caught, though)

Re: The government are VERY worried about zombies...

Bloody zombies, rising up from the ground, taking our jobs and claiming benefits....>:(

</ DailyMail>

They are behind in their NI contributions - no benefits for them.

Twitter translated to LOLCATZ: Strangely this had not been done

Re: Lolcatz?

Wot no Pirate option yet? Or Leet?

US company aims patent-gun at Australia’s e-health system

Re: One offs are different?

YANAL, indeed (not that IAAL, either, but have some experience with patents)

"a patent provides the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing the patented invention for the term of the patent" (wiki)

"Manufacture of a product upon which there is an existing patent is "patent infringement" which can result in a lawsuit against the infringer with substantial damages granted" - http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=1468

If you make it yourself, and don't show it to anyone, it just makes it hard for the patent holder to find out that you've infringed their patent - but it doesn't make your action any less wrong.

Illicit phone rings in Sri Lankan inmate's back crack

Re: The make and model of phone in the Sri Lankan rectomobe case is unknown

Daily Mail has a copy of the X-ray:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2276008/Thats-bum-timing-Sri-Lankan-inmate-caught-hiding-phone-rectum-guards-hear-ringing-searching-cell.html

Rather strangely, it looks like there's a pair of earphones in there too (perhaps he wanders around "hands-free" with that stored in its little pocket...)

Microsoft sails into Africa with White Spaces and Huawei phones

Cables

They might want to consider adding a few undersea cables and inter-country fibre links (locals will nick the copper links) into the mix to get the overall bandwidth capacity up so that folks can actually use the devices - but it's still a good start

Shocked Zynga investors get a penny per share

Re: They should be fed their own dogfood

They're not giving any dividends, this is non-GAAP earnings

UK web snoop charter: Just how much extra info do spooks need?

Howabout...

take that £2-5bn of cash (yeah, like it won't go over-budget) and do something to reduce the tendency of youngsters to turn into hoodie-wearing asbos? Perhaps make life in deprived areas a bit nicer instead?

Ten 3D printers for this year's modellers

Question from ignorance...

Do they all support a common file-format for upload of designs so I can download my latest Nike's from ThePirateBay?

Official: Fandroids are smarter/tighter* than iPhone fanbois

Re: HOWMUCH!?

I'm guessing you bought the iPhone with hard currency, rather than a contract rental then. Amortise the cost of your shiny handset over the lifespan of the product (handset churn used to be averaging 18 months or so, not sure about now) and add that to your £10 and you're probably at least in the £30 range/month (still cheap, but then you're not "typical", are you?).

Your £10 includes how much (free) data? I doubt it's unlimited (although if it is, who is it?) The AT&T tariffs seem to be a rather generous 1-5GB. I pay £7/mo for 500MB (which I had upgraded from 250MB with "loyalty points") - oddly the tariffs I can see on the Orange website don't seem to scale all that well in that they multiply up the number of voice minutes fairly rapidly as the price goes up, but don't do the same thing with the data - I think I'd have to spend at least £20/mo to get more data, but then I spend a lot of time near WiFi - mostly at home - or on a PC with full access to the internet (subject to work acceptable use policy) so I don't need much mobile data.

I fully intend to keep my phone for at least a few more years as my needs aren't that great - but I am aware I'm not the norm for phone use.

Disclaimer: My phone is android and I hope I'm in the "smarter and tighter" category :)

Hacker faces 105 years inside after FBI 'sexploitation' arrest

> We still live in a culture where it's cool for guys to have sex, but women who have sex are castigated as "sluts" and "tramps"

That reminds me of an age-old metaphor-joke about this:

"A key that opens many locks is an excellent key. A lock that is opened by many keys is a poor lock"

You thought watching cat videos was harmless fun? Think AGAIN

Re: How many creatures

The USDA reckon, in 2008, and for the US alone:

Cattle: 35,507,500

Pigs: 116,558,900

Chickens (total): 9,075,261,000

--- Layer hens: 69,683,000

--- Broiler chickens: 9,005,578,000

Turkeys: 271,245,000

Then there's the fishies - will no-one think of the fishies? Well, apparently the Animal Liberation Front does think of the fishies and their finest set of unbiased numbers are as follows:

Fish: 6,500,000,000

Shellfish: 64,000,000,000

Source for both sets of stats here: http://www.animalliberationfront.com/Practical/FactoryFarm/USDAnumbers.htm (I make the assumption that they quote the USDA numbers properly, as they are attempting to further their own political agenda)