Posts by Craig Manson

Do we need computer competence tests?

Easy way to test users

There is an easy way to test users: develop malware the sole purpose of which is to report the numpties who infected themselves with it. Then go to the ISP and explain to them that these people are too stupid to be allowed on the net.

'Heavy' handset challenges all comers to prove its mettle

1.65m?!

Surely if it can only survive a drop of 1.65m then there's a lot of 6ft and taller people who'd break it if they dropped it whilst using it?

US mercenary outfit shoots 11 Iraqis - and self in foot

Unlawful combatants?

If they're not the American army and not civilians then surely they're unlawful combatants and should be taken to Guantánamo!

Daily Mail slammed for online bingo hypocrisy

Please call it gambling!

As someone who spent a lot of time playing online computer games I really hate the way online gambling is referred to as online gaming! Sure it's in the dictionary but grumble grumble moan moan......

Net radio saved from certain death

Prevent stream ripping the radio way!

Just have a DJ talk through the first and last 15 seconds of the track. Whilst cross fading still allows you to automatically rip with a few seconds of garbage at either end it would be pretty hard to put up with 15 seconds of arsehole at either end.....

Manhunt 2 rated 18+ in US

How real can games get?

What will happen when the physics model in games and their complexity reach a point where almost any conceivable action can be carried out? Surely in such circumstances anyone who 'cut upward into a foe's groin and buttocks, motioning forward and backward with the Wii remote as you go' is just a sick twisted individual rather than the game being at fault.

In the future will we have to have games censored for perverted actions?! Or will it automatically report you to the police.

Surely killing someone with a gun in a computer game (think every WW2 game from the last 10 years) is as likely as killing someone graphically with a chainsaw to cause the individual involved to carry out such an action in real life. The outcome is still a dead person - what's the difference?

Internet users unfazed by spam: study

Why not honeypot email addresses?

Why don't Microsoft and other major email service providers create honeypot email addresses. These would exist purely to recieve spam (what other kind of mail could they recieve?). The messages these accounts recieve could then be used to more effectively detect similar spam recieved by legitimate accounts.