* Posts by Danny 2

2212 publicly visible posts • joined 6 Jul 2009

It's 2019, the year Blade Runner takes place: I can has flying cars?

Danny 2

Netflix no more

I am having to cancel Netflix, the only TV I've had since 2013. I've lived without TV before, happily, but this will be a wrench because I have less in my life now.

I am going to watch the film Roma today, then cancel with an email explaining why. This is why: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-46732786

The Great British Curry: Put down the takeaway, you're cooking tonight

Danny 2

Re: Drunk?

I am drunk, but on Highland malt rather than Islay malt so I may as well be sober. All the Islay malt disappeared from shops here well before Hogmanay. I suppose at least I didn't have to resort to Speyside.

[Islay malt should be made illegal overnight. Addicts like me should be given it free on prescription. None of it should be exported]

I've been coughing my lungs up since the eighties without any ill-effects. In the past two weeks I've been feeling a sore twinge in the middle of my head every time I cough. Modern cigarettes are awful, they now contain flame retardants so they go out if you drop them on your bed or carpet. Great for your neighbour, crap for you.

My father attacked me yesterday because he couldn't work his TV that I bought him. I really don't want to reach his age, I merely want to outlive him. I said that to a specialist my GP sent me to to discuss my drinking, and the specialist agreed about life-span, "Quality not quantity".

Cigarettes are ruined, but have a curry, have a whisky. Avoid anything steamed.

Staff sacked after security sees 'suspect surfer' script of shame

Danny 2

Nederlands Sys Admin

Last century I went to the Nederlands to become a Business Analyst, and instead they forced me to be the Sys Admin because my English wasn't good enough (Scottish accent). I was learning Dutch and they told me, "Don't learn Dutch, learn English". Rude as fuck is a national trait there.

There systems were awful, set up by an irrational hobbyist with an unhealthy interest in porn. Wanking at his desk with his office door open unhealthy. About a quarter of our servers disk was smut, some of it highly illegal / instantly dismissible in the UK but I never knew what the laws were there.

The incredibly expensive leased ISDN lines feeding the office were even more expensive because someone was logging in remotely and keeping them hot with porn (animal bestiality). The systems were so precarious that if I tried to refine them they'd collapse, and the users were all techies who were happy with the way things were. I put it out on the grapevine that usage was out of control and so was being investigated, and nothing changed. I then mentioned I was watching everything they were watching. I wasn't, but that put a stop to it. Even Dutch pervs happy to wank in an open door office don't want someone recording what they are doing over their shoulder.

Usage surprised me, even back then it was equally men and women viewing porn, albeit some of the men had extreme 'tastes'. There was a couple of guys who didn't view any porn, but I assumed they just knew the systems better than me.

It's a lot of work, being popular: Apple, Tim Cook and the gilets jaunes

Danny 2

McDonald's at least can claim to be feeding the poor

Qu'ils mangent de la burger royale.

Your two-minute infosec roundup: Drone arrests, Alexa bot hack, Windows zero-day, and more

Danny 2

Look! A squirrel drone!

Asked about speculation there was never such a drone flown over the airport, Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Tingley told the BBC: "Of course, that's a possibility. We are working with human beings saying they have seen something. Until we've got more clarity around what they've said, the detail - the time, place, direction of travel, all those types of things - and that's a big task."

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/gatwick-drone-latest-police-say-it-is-a-possibility-there-was-never-a-drone-a4024626.html

"We are working with human beings"? Maybe CS Tingley should start working with tiny aliens in tiny spaceships because this nonsense begs for conspiracy theories.

Danny 2

Re: Drone arrests

You are arrested, and then you are charged, and then you face trial, and perhaps then you are found guilty. The tabloids and twitter have just jumped straight from A to D.

I'm not even sure I should have named them here, even though their names are published, but I did so because I'm not the least convinced.

I've been questioned a lot, arrested a lot, charged fewer times, found guilty twice on relatively minor charges (breach of the peace, speeding) that I admitted to. The sort of nonsense I was questioned about ranged from terrorism to fascist propaganda to "suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal damage" when I'd locked on to a police van at a peace protest. That time The Guardian called me "an ingenious young man", which shows how mucked up the press are since they weren't there, I wasn't young and it was more than a bit daft. I even broke into an airport once, responsibly, and the police let me off.

No activist group would do this stunt, even the most extreme of them, at least not this way. And this couple aren't activists. They could be lone nutters, but they really don't check that box either; jobs, house and kid.

Supposedly some guy was seen over two drones on a bicycle, but this couple have vehicles.

This arrest requires extraordinary evidence that perhaps the police do have, but if they don't then this couple will be rich by the time they sue everyone and every publication that has smeared them.

Danny 2

Re: Drone arrests

"What do we know about the current suspects?"

The arrestees are a middle aged couple with a child. He works in a window company. His employer says he got the suspect into drone flights, and that the suspect was working during the crimes. The boss also said the suspects wife, also a suspect, had no interest in drones.

The suspects facebook account has various photos of RC aircraft he built and a couple of small drones he bought.

The police were being mocked and demeaned on social media for not catching the perpetrator. The couple have been arrested but not charged.

Danny 2
Black Helicopters

Re: Drone arrests

Bear in mind Paul Gait and Elaine Kirk haven't been charged so far and this is sub judice, despite them already being vilified by tabloids and on twitter. Frankly they don't strike me as credible suspects. He's got a job, she's no interest in drones, they have a son. It could be they are just locals who are known to have drones so an easy arrest to relieve media criticism of the police while they pursue actual culprits.

I also don't believe it is an environmental protest as more disruption would have ensued by swapping to Heathrow once all the police attention was on Gatwick. That said, the culprits may not be that rational. I still feel it's more likely to be a protest against over-flights by a disgruntled local.

London's Gatwick airport suspends all flights after 'multiple' reports of drones

Danny 2

The media coverage is hysterical. Obviously filling a hole in their holiday headlines.

On our way from Stockholm,

It started to snow,

And you said it was like Brexit,

But you were wrong,

It wasn't like Brexit at all.

By the time we got to Oslo,

The snow was gone,

And we got lost,

The beds were small,

But we felt so young.

It was just like Brexit,

It was just like Brexit,

It was just like Brexit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IippcraBPKA

Danny 2

Re: Tinsel might do the job or a net

Tinsel, or rather long strips of kitchen foil, is a great way to shut down an electricity sub-station. Not a great way to take down a drone.

Over a decade ago police started using drones to buzz open air activist meetings and there was a lot of discussion on how to bring them down, similar to the comments here. Lots of suggestions of shooting at them, which I had to point out was dangerous - what goes up comes down.

Helium party balloons used as barrage balloons - with tennis nets strung between them. Helium is expensive.

My solution was our own drone with a signal jammer that blocked all but our modified signal.

Danny 2

Re: Dutch solution - eagles!

I was at my first Trident Ploughshares camp meeting, and an Irish peace activist asked them for advice on how to shut down Shannon airport that was being used for US military overflights to Afghanistan. I replied, the first and only time I spoke at their meeting.

"Don't! Don't go onto the runway, don't interfere with air traffic control, you will be threatening the lives of innocents if you do. The one thing you could do to close down that airport is to surround it with a lot of dead fish. Airports can't operate when they are swarmed by seagulls".

Previously when my employer was contracted to BAA and the CAA I was on a flight that made an emergency landing due to a seagull strike in the engine. It smelled fishy, and I mean that literally. Everyone except me panicked. I was the only passenger who got on the next flight, the same aircraft.

One thing I learned at the CAA was how common near air tragedies are. I was repeatedly asked, "Were you just on flight so-and-so?", and then I'd need to lie, "No" to avoid being told how close to death I'd been.

Danny 2

Re: Chocolate teapot

So much of this comes across like the question on a US immigration form 'Are you planning to come here and commit a terrorist offence? Tick yes or no'

I was behind a pensioner in a crowded, sweaty consulate who hadn't filled out her visa application.

The poor guy had to shout the questions to her, and they became amusing.

"Have you or any of your relatives ever been a member of the Nazi party?"

"No son, my man John would never have tolerated that"

"Have you or any of your relatives ever been a member of the Communist party?"

"Well, John was a trade unionist for the miners, and he was a Communist, but he died twenty years ago. People would come to our cottage for help, and he'd talk to them, but I was never allowed to stay in the living room with them. I'm just wanting to visit my daughter"

To the great credit of late 1980s USA she was allowed in to visit her daughter.

The very best yes/no question I have ever been asked was when I was being tested for breast cancer by the NHS. The form asked, "Are you still having your periods? Y/N"

I get most people who have breast cancer are female, but it is deadlier in males and few males even know they can get it. That question was the nicest part of that day.

Danny 2

Dutch solution - eagles!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-35750816/eagles-trained-to-take-down-drones

Added advantage with eagles is they also keep seagulls and other potential air-strikes away. It is kind of ironic that the inbred British elite poison avian raptors to protect their grouse for shooting season, and yet are never prosecuted by the police.

A trained golden or sea eagle could not only take down a drone, it could rip the face off any drone operator.

Danny 2

Re: I wonder if...

Would be a good way for some climate change group to get lots of publicity while 'saving the planet'.

Likely true, and arguably justifiable. I knew some Plane Stupid activists that did stupider and less effective things. Their justification is recreational tourist flights are destroying the climate. They invaded a taxiway and faced longer sentences than the five years facing this culprit.

The other most likely culprit is a local driven crazy by constant over-flights. One idiot near me launched fireworks at landing aircraft, and while again I do not approve of that at all as these tactics can distract a pilot and cause a crash, I do understand the motivation. When I was a kid sitting in my garden I would notice a flight going overhead every so often. Now every hour or so I notice the silence of an absence of flights.

Even more idiotic folk shine LASERs at flights. If this was a crazy person then they'd have strapped laser pens to their drones to maximise tabloid horror.

In truth there is negligible risk to aircraft from drones or lasers, but the negligible risk is potentially so dangerous it should be treated as attempted murder.

I love flying, but I don't fly for rational reasons. Flying for fun should be as socially unacceptable as drink driving for fun.

Phew, galactic accident helps boffins explain dark matter riddle

Danny 2

Re: The Matrix?

"The Universe is a simulation a bit like The Matrix."

So there are sequel universes, each one worse than it's predecessor and without any stars?

Taylor's gonna spy, spy, spy, spy, spy... fans can't shake cam off, shake cam off

Danny 2

Beyonce @ NATO

This is an off-topic and irrelevant anecdote so feel free to downvote or delete. Oh, and I can't find supporting links or even remember the year so feel free to disbelieve.

The Edinburgh International Conference Centre hosted NATO ambassadors or foreign ministers discussing the occupation of Afghanistan at the same time as it hosted a music awards do.

This led to a lot of peace protesters and music fans out front trying to get in, and wads of police and security easily stopping them.

I wanted to get inside to protest the Afghan war but I knew the area so I walked across the Western Approach Road into the parking area. Apparently too dangerous for any security. There was still no way into the building, the car park doors needed security keys, so I was about to turn back when one door opened.

Beyonce stepped out in a sparkly green evening dress. I hadn't seen or even heard of Beyonce so my first thought was, "That is a strange costume for a NATO ambassador."

I moved to get inside the door before she closed it, nearly bumping into her, and immediately two huge black guys in tuxedos got between me and her and were obviously about to deck me. I gestured past her to the door, and they realised I wasn't after her and let me in, while shielding her from me.

It was only when I saw the local STV news later that I learned who she was. I still get to the NATO ambassadors but I got closer than anyone else, and I learned they were less protected than the music folk, several of whom I passed in the corridors. Again, I don't know who any of them were so any interest you may have had has been misplaced.

[I have a similarly boring, if shorter, anecdote about Alexander Usminov and Naomi Campbell if anyone requests it]

Celebrities and war criminal: can't live them, can't get within five feet of them.

Danny 2

First they came for the Swifties, and I did not speak out...

because they call themselves Swifties.

I'm a bit more worried why this videoed Swiftie wasn't arrested for dangerous driving:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XFBUM8dMqw

Ecuador says 'yes' to Assange 'freedom' deal, but Julian says 'nyet'

Danny 2

Re: Sunday Morning Herald column

She describes herself as a previous Assange critic, I'm not sure that is true, but it seems a balanced critique.

Well, it kind of aligns with my opinion so I would consider her balanced! The SMH is a very reputable, a tad conservative, newspaper. I'm more of an The Australian type of guy. And I despise Australians.

Danny 2

Re: He not cooped up

That's Pamela Anderson. Admittedly neither of them have aged well, hence your confusion.

I was much amused by Cryptome John Whathisname's hostility to Wikileaks initially, but that hostility quickly became pathetic and ruined the credibility of Cryptome.

You need to ask yourself, do you really think Assange could bypass the Met AND get out on London streets AND restrain himself from posting?

Danny 2

Sunday Morning Herald column

Worth reading.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-column-i-didn-t-want-to-write-about-julian-assange-20181206-p50kng.html

Danny 2

Re: Alternative solution?

Hiya Imbalone,

My point was US sanctions should only apply to US citizens and US corporations and US banks. The US Government should not be able to arrest a Chinese citizen in Canada for breaking US sanctions on Iran.

Nobody elected the US President as President of the Earth.

This is over-reach. This is imperial. It is very similar to the Assange case in those terms. I am not a fan of dictatorial China, but I would not be upset if they arrested every US citizen in China on trumped up charges - if they did then what would your complaint be?

We have various international bodies, like the UN, ICC, IJC, to deal with international issues. Canada has shamed itself with this arrest.

US courts have no jurisdiction outside the US. We should stop kowtowing to them. I'm not anti-American, I just think I am the equal of any US citizen - and I am much, much better than their current politicians and judiciary.

Eff them.

Danny 2

Re: The photo

It's the old Ecuadorian football strip. Probably had the number three on his back - left back.

Danny 2

Re: Alternative solution?

The arrest of Meng Wanzhou is a telling comparison. An insane US President sanctions Iran, and now gets to arrest third party nationals in Canada? Eff that for a game of soldiers!

Even Obama before him threatened to have the founders of SWIFT arrested and extradited from Belgium because SWIFT connected Iranian banks.

You're not the boss of me now

You're not the boss of me now

You're not the boss of me now

and you're not so big

Danny 2

Senior Americans have called for Assange to be killed which alone should be enough to rule out any extradition.

Personally I feel we should not extradite anyone to the US except perhaps fleeing American criminals. I think the UK–US extradition treaty of 2003 should be rescinded. It's utterly one sided so a betrayal of British sovereignty. If I commit a crime on British soil then I should be charged in a British court and imprisoned in a British prison, not sent off to a politicised [judges should not be elected or appointed by the head of state] US court and sent to their privatised rape gulags.

Assange has not committed a crime in the US. He has said he is willing to spend time in an English prison for skipping bail, or even be extradited to Sweden, as long as he is assured he will not be extradited to the US which has a long and ongoing history of political show trials [Manning, Winner, and potentially Snowden].

I'm not an Assange fanbois, I think he disgraced Wikileaks with his attempt at election meddling, but I resent the expense of policing him in the embassy and wish a sensible UK politician or judge would guarantee no extradition to the US as a compromise out of this ridiculous stalemate. Even Soviet Hungary eventually gave József Mindszenty safe passage

Danny 2

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) is currently waiting on District Judge Leonie Brinkema deciding whether charges against Assange in the US should be declassified.

The Ecuador/UK deal is a distraction because the real threat Assange faces in the US is not the death penalty, but unjust and disproportionate prison. You don't have to like the guy to recognise that the only solution is for the UK government to promise not to extradite him to the US.

Oh, and the cat is out and being cared for by his family. It was an utterly dick move by the Ecuadoreans to falsely imply he'd mistreated it and threaten to give it away.

'Say hello to my little vacuum cleaner!' US drug squad puts spycams in cleaner's kit

Danny 2

I am not an imaginary number

In the late '80s I lived in a tiny village, one row of miners' cottages - 102 people, 200ish cats, 50ish dogs.

The village 'council' proposed a development project which would build two new houses, and a car rally track around us plus a motor sports facility on the local reservoir which was a home to migratory birds.

The corrupt head of the local village council had been bribed by the developer to push it through with the promise of a free new luxury home. And she nearly managed it except for some pesky kids bothered by the fact it was a SSSI for migratory birds.

The developer had serious backing, from a Scottish world rally champion plus loads o' money. The turning point was a public meeting when a click in her handbag revealed she was secretly recording everyone on a Walkman.

The moment I heard that click I realised as an electronics guy with shared loft space I could bug every house in the village, and none of them would ever know.

And then I thought about having to listen to my neighbours private conversations, and I appalled myself. It was bad enough having to endure their public conversations. The idea of spying on people was even more repugnant than being spied upon by idiots.

The morality of GCHQ/NSA/Amazon/Google (ad nauseum) employees who feel justified in spying on the rest of us, you are beyond redemption. You are not the same species as the rest of us. You are the one or two percent of psychopaths in our midst, and eventually we will hear your Walkman go click.

Brit bomb hoax teen who fantasised about being a notorious hacker cops 3 years in jail

Danny 2

@Teiwaz

Why can't we bid on his devices yet we can buy a gunman's gutties?

Gunman's designer trainers up for auction

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-46493486

Danny 2

"His computers and devices were ordered to be destroyed"

When did courts start euthanising electronics?

UK spies: You know how we said bulk device hacking would be used sparingly? Well, things have 'evolved'...

Danny 2

"the same does not apply to the EU parliament and EU"

NATO and SWIFT are maybe more concerning than the EU, and they're HQed in Belgium too.

Sysadmin’s plan to manage system config changes backfires spectacularly

Danny 2

Re: Other screw-ups

One of my most embarrassing mistakes was working at a Cisco-kid software testing on Solaris.

One young tester was distractingly chatting away while typing about how some idiot at his university had rm -rf'ed and ruined his project. And as he was telling the anecdote the young tester rm -rf'ed his own work, and admitted it.

I was trying to tune out his monologue but thought, "What a bloody idiot". And then I rm -rf'ed my own system.

Warnings are like ear-worms, they sink into your subconscious. When you are not paying full attention and you hear the last thing you want to do, it becomes the thing you do next.

Danny 2

Re: Script deleting HR accounts

Welcome to Brazil, Where a Computer Bug Condemns a Man to Death

https://gizmodo.com/welcome-to-brazil-where-a-computer-bug-condemns-a-man-1659912414

The first computer bug, the story goes, was a moth squashed inside an old electromechanical computer. In Terry Gilliam's Brazil, one such bug gets stuck in a printer, resulting in a typo that leads to the killing of poor innocent Archibald Buttle, a cobbler, rather than alleged terrorist Archibald Tuttle.

GTA gamer cuffed, charged after PS4 live mic allegedly overheard him raping teen girl

Danny 2

Meanwhile in England

One of the Rotherham child rapists has been given parental rights over a child one of his victims conceived, including expecting visits from the child. No tech angle, just an example of how ridiculous the law is.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-46368991

What the #!/%* is that rogue Raspberry Pi doing plugged into my company's server room, sysadmin despairs

Danny 2

Heist: XKCD

https://xkcd.com/2077/

Shocker: UK smart meter rollout is crap, late and £500m over budget

Danny 2

I moved into a flat with a Pay As You Go gas and electricity meter, which charge far higher rates for the poor people who choose them than normal payment meters. I asked Scottish Power to swap to a regular meter but couldn't as they wanted to charge me £80 a meter They also charged a monthly service charge whether or not I used any energy. I'd been homeless so I never used the gas at all and used next to no electricity, just for a kettle, microwave, charging batteries, and lights I replaced with LEDs. The 'nominal' service charges were now my biggest expense, so I swapped to a provider that charged slightly more per unit but without any service charges.

I was then phoned by the new provider urging me to let them install a smart meter. I knew I'd get no benefit from it but also no real risk to me so I agreed just out of gratitude. I regretted that when I got the appointment letter stating if I wasn't in on the appointed date then they'd fine me £10,000 - totally illegal I know, but an unfriendly and intimidatory measure. I was tempted to miss the appointment out of spite but I went ahead just so I don't have to let them in ever again. I use the small display over the toilet so I can pee accurately in the middle of the night without turning on a light. - they should mention that use in their advertising.

Court doc typo 'reveals' Julian Assange may have been charged in US

Danny 2

Re: For what it is worth

You are correct, I didn't endure a 20 month trial, I did have a trial which spanned 20 months. 13 times I had to appear, three days I had to sit in gaol, I got no expenses and had to pay for my travel, and it was dismissed the first time I was allowed to talk. You'll be pleased to learn that after advice from this forum I am about to be a juror on a serious case, although I won't be compensated financially.

I don't think you've proved your case on Assange, and I note other people have voted you down - I won't because you put some thought into your reply even if you are incorrect.

Cops are obviously watching Assange, rightly or wrongly or remotely, at cost to the UK tax payer. If I was Home Secretary then I'd assure him he wouldn't be deported to the insane and barbaric US 'justice' system, and would only have to sit in a UK prison for a few weeks, that'd save us all a wad. As is though, if I were him then I'd stay put.

Danny 2

Re: For what it is worth

Hiya Andrew,

I'm a Scot and I do not know US law at all. I recently decided to go to jury duty for the first time and I'm busy researching Scottish law - the history of the 'not proven' verdict is mind blowing. The Killing Time? My school history skipped the 17th century.

That's an aside. Yes, I do believe that a secret grand jury charged Assange in 2010, and I see no reason why that indictment lapsed or was withdrawn. Perhaps it has been reinvigorated by Mueller, and perhaps for good reason - Assange has made a series of poor choices, to put it charitably.

My point is the unstated US charges against him will be against his journalism, and that is not good enough. This indictment presents a risk to every journalist, and therefore a risk to every democracy.

You have to protect your journalists, even the scummy ones, maybe especially the scummy ones.

Also, don't believe the press! I read about the UKs longest trial, lasting twenty months, just after I endured a twenty month trial.

I knew of Assange long before Wikileaks, I used to use one of his network stressing tools to help secure my employers networks. I am dismayed by some of his subsequent behaviour but am more dismayed by my governments response and think the sensible path is to deport him to Australia or Ecuador rather than waste more MET police time on him. You have a knife crime epidemic in London and cops are still tied up watching him? Daft.

No disrespect to you, I enjoy your comments here.

Dan

Danny 2

For what it is worth

The secret US indictment isn't about Swedish allegations of sexual misconduct. It isn't about helping Trump or hacking the DNC emails. There was a secret federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, all over him since 2010. This is just confirmation of that.

It's about Wikileaks releasing important factual information about the Afghan and Iraq occupations. That is journalism, as used by international media such as The Guardian, The New York Times, Der Spiegel, etc. You might not like Assange, understandably, but if Trump gets to imprison him then the next week it will be Jim Acosta, or Serge Kovaleski, or Ben Jacobs.

Microsoft sysadmin hired for fake NetWare skills keeps job despite twitchy trigger finger

Danny 2

I'm not sure why folk aren't naming names. I was wrongly blacklisted as a peace-protestor by Search Recruitment for dropping off a hitch hiker at a peace camp.

Before that, in 1990, my first experience of "recruitment consultants" was when my electronics division was laid off. I'd listed two microprocessors on my CV, because I'd been trained on them and knew them in and out. The consultant asked me what other microprocessors I'd ever touched, so I listed another six and he added them to my CV.

Alexander Mann - utter cnuts. Lying, nasty, incompetent expletives.

I can't actually name a decent recruitment or contracting agency so maybe best ignore my cynicism. There was one good one in the Netherlands, not one of the big ones, but the ones in Britain and Ireland are all awful, truth is they are criminal, abusive.

I urge any of you who are footloose to get work in Germany while you still can. There are plenty of English speaking companies there and the work environment is the best I've experienced.

Up to three million kids' GPS watches can be tracked by parents... and any miscreant: Flaws spill pick-and-choose catalog for perverts

Danny 2

Get Smart

Years ago I advised my old mum not to get a smart phone because the police could track her. She replied she'd like the police to be able to track her. We both bought smart phones.

There is an interesting/scary article on the BBC Scotland website today:

Police Scotland cyber kiosks 'could be unlawful'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-46225771

The introduction of technology allowing the police to gather data from mobile phones or laptops looks set to be delayed following concerns its use may be unlawful.

Police Scotland has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds buying 41 "cyber kiosks" - which can override passwords - from an Israeli firm.

The plan was to deploy them around the country next month.

But concerns have been raised that using the technology could be illegal.

The digital forensic devices can rapidly search electronic devices to look for evidence, helping police at the early stage of investigations.

John McAfee is 'liable' for 2012 death of Belize neighbour, rules court

Danny 2

The NYT headline is about Assange

Off topic, but another mentally different high profile techie is being prosecuted.

Prosecutors Have Prepared Indictment of Julian Assange, a Filing Reveals

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/16/us/politics/julian-assange-indictment-wikileaks.html

We've all enjoyed mocking him but he is correct to stay in the Ecuadorean Embassy for now, albeit having to clean the bathroom and change the cat litter.

Six critical systems, four months to Brexit – and no completed testing

Danny 2

What does Brexit mean?

I've been out of IT too long, is Brexit an OS or a pantomime? It's behind you! Oh no she didn't!

Parliament this morning reminds me of the Millennium bug testing that we thought we'd fixed - until all these damned millennials showed up.

Scumbag who phoned in a Call of Duty 'swatting' that ended in death pleads guilty to dozens of criminal charges

Danny 2

Re: This is what happens when there is no accountability on the part of the police

I fell out for a few years with a left-wing US ex when she bought herself a gun. She rationalised that "Every idiot here has a gun so I need one too."

To be fair she was in Arizona at the time. I learned to shoot a rifle aged 11 in the centre of Edinburgh, but we didn't get to take our guns off range. I've always opposed British cops being armed routinely because USA, but lately with guns coming into the criminal and terrorist communities from Europe I support limited police increased armament when the officers pass regular psychological and marksmanship tests.

There is a weird yet relevant 1994 album that is worth a listen:

S.W.A.T.: Deep Inside A Cop's Mind - Cops Are The Only Real People Left

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KbJoTg_eag

Danny 2

Fractured

I noticed one statistic on the most recent Californian mass shooting reportage. California has tighter gun controls than most US states, and only 14% of Californians own a gun. Most of them only own one gun, but 10% of the Californian gun owners own more than ten guns, so 50% of guns in California are owned by 1.4% of Californians.

When 1.4% of a society owns 50% of the guns then that is a rational reason for enhanced 'stop and search' every time they leave their bunkers / compounds.

Danny 2

@AnonCow

"Despite hysteria, mass shootings aren't a real problem though - they are completely buried by background noise. For USA in 2016:"

For a start, that is a distraction fallacy since this story isn't about mass shootings, it is about SWATting.

Secondly, I challenge the BBC sources for 2016 as inaccurate. The BBC cite the CDC and Mother Jones for 2016 mass shootings without a supporting link. The CDC, while normally highly credible, is specifically banned from researching gun violence. They have no especial authority or credibility in this area, due to legal constraints designed by NRA funded politicians. And Mother Jones is meh.

The Gun Violence Archive lists 382 reported and verified mass shootings in 2016. Why the discrepancy? Presumably definition. The official definition of mass shootings had recently changed from four or more deaths to three or more deaths. https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/past-tolls

You'll note that the total number of gun deaths in the US reported by the GVA is far lower than the BBC unlinked CDC/Mother Jones figures. That again will be methodology - the GVA relies on "reported and verified". It is the 'Iraq Body Count' of US gun deaths. The true, higher, figure would require an epidemiological study which the CDC is capable of but legally unable to do.

Your link also minimises total gun deaths as often suicides. I would argue that gun ownership increases suicides due to it's easy, convenient and often instant attributes, so that is still an argument against gun ownership. Several times I have thought, "Just shoot me / Put a bullet in my head", and if I had a gun to hand then I would have. Other methods are slightly more off putting - the prolonged agony of hanging or even more prolonged slitting of wrists; the pain of gas poisoning; the social distress and risk to others of a traffic death, well, the knowledge of those things gives pause for thought. And even a slight pause for thought can save a life.

I support voluntary euthanasia as some European nations permit it - after a period of commitment and with drugs rendering the suicide unconscious.

This level of detail is distraction from the ongoing mass slaughter in the US which is unique in the developed world. It is wrong to call the US a third world or developing country, but you are a fractured nation whose allegiance to a misinterpretation of a poorly worded historic document helps slaughter an amazing amount of yourselves each year.

There was a tendency in the UK to ignore US suicidal/homicidal stupidity as 'yank on yank violence', and that was a mistake. Your current idiot in chief has inspired the pseudo-fascist Italian government to lower gun controls, and currently Italians can travel to the UK.

Nikola Tesla's greatest challenge: He could measure electricity but not stupidity

Danny 2

Re: Fifty Pound Note

We put up a statue to James Clerk Maxwell a decade ago and the pigeons just shit on it.

Which is a lot better than Tesla who wanted to marry a pigeon.

http://www.cityofliterature.com/a-to-z/james-clerk-maxwell-statue/

Danny 2

Who should an autonomous vehicle kill in an avoidable crash?

I have a list of ten former colleagues and 'friends', and as soon as I can hack their vehicles then that's my bucket list.

Autonomous vehicular murder seems such a promising new field that I'm abandoning my research into a knife that can stab people through the internet.

Talking about vehicular murder, did anyone else notice the bus driver deliberately caused the Chongqing bus plunge? The person attacking him was blamed by the BBC, but the footage clearly shows him pulling the wheel for no sane reason.

Danny 2

Re: Noted scientists

@Symon,

James Clerk Maxwell may not have been "gay, disabled or a woman", but he was a Scot and Scots are a persecuted minority. Might be odd on an English banknote but a Scot founded the Bank of England.

"It'd be the BC"

Brian Cox? I would vote for Brian Cox, but we'd have to kill him first. The Queen is the only living person allowed on a British banknote.

Need electric propulsion for your satellite? Want a 'made in Britain' sticker? Step right this way...

Danny 2

Thales kills whales

Thales make the LFAS (low frequency active sonar) that various navies, including the RN, use to detect quiet submarines and to kill whales. A deaf whale is a dead whale.

I'd seen too many beachings around QinetiQ at Kyle, and reports from everywhere it was being tested.

I was a peace protester at the time, so I campaigned against LFAS. 'Save the whales' seemed too 1970s a slogan so I came up with "Thales Kills Whales", which didn't fly because Thales is pronounced 'thall ess'.

I had a cunning plan though.

I bought two six foot plastic inflatable whales, rigged them with rape alarms tied to a string that was going to anchor them to the ground outside the Thales office in Govan. My idea was to fill them with helium and let the Thales security folk set the rape alarms off accidentally while trying to pull the floating whales down, creating hugely disturbing noise for the office workers inside the building as the deafening whales floated around, while filming it.

It didn't work. No amount of helium would lift the whales let alone the rape alarms off the ground. Helium was the major expense in the plan, £1 rape alarms and £8 whales. Wile E Coyote thwarted once again by ACME plastic whales.

I can see now I should have kept it simple. A graffiti of a whale on their walls with radio controlled alarms.

A year later I met a young mother on a beach at Coulport, and I told her I had an unwanted six foot inflatable whale in my car if she wanted to play with it. She replied, "I bet you say that to all the girls". I was not sexually active at the time but I loved her crude innuendo.

Sadly now, I shower alone in a three foot bath with a six foot inflatable whale. The other six foot inflatable whale went to a good home.

Learning points:

1) Thales kills whales (even if they don't rhyme)

2) Helium is not all powerful

3) Keep it simple, stupid

Watchdog sceptical UK.gov's Universal Credit can handle 8.5m benefits claimants

Danny 2

Re: Jury 'duty' moral quandary

HIya Cynic_999,

I got the low down on the Scottish courts / English courts differences today from my Scottish sis who is an English lawyer. You are correct. In Scotland we have Sheriff Courts for criminals like me, and High Courts for criminals that criminals like me would not want to ever meet. I've never even attended a jury trial before, and I've attended trials where military fighter jets had admittedly been smashed (not by me).

I'm facing a rape or a murder trial, but you ken, it's Scotland so it could be both or worse. I would kill for a copyright lawsuit case, if I knew who to kill.

They do not sift any more. I did not know that. They might not take me if they have enough jurors, but they literally take anyone - even lawyers and judges can be called for jury duty now in England at least. I mentioned I was too deaf to follow a court case closely and my sister said that wasn't important, someone on her jury was Turkish and didn't even speak any English, yet he'd already sat on one trial before they let him go, without mentioning that oversight to the defence.

My friend was called as a juror for three days in a row, but never actually sat as a juror. They call more jurors than they need in case someone fails to turn up or gets sick or whatever.

I will not get paid for my time even if it lasts for twenty months. I will get my bus fare and lunch money, and my very rich sister said, "Well, that's something, isn't it?"

I am going to have to argue with utter idiots that are being paid vastly more than me for doing the same role just because they are employed. That is unjust.

I am a frigging anarchist. Yet if I go to jury selection wearing an anarchist T shirt I will be in contempt of court and liable to arrest.

It's a trap!