* Posts by JohnG

1639 publicly visible posts • joined 27 May 2007

Election promises: Wi-Fi chain gangs and maximum wage

JohnG

Maximum wage

People at the top tend to receive substantial sums via share options and the associated dividends. As dividends are unearned income, these would be as exempt from a maximum salary law as they are from National Insurance.

Aside from bonuses, some employees might also receive allowances for accommodation, travel, security, communications, etc.

Of course, those very wealthy people who take no salary but have only unearned income and capital gains would be entirely unaffected.

Nice to see the Greens looking after the very rich.

Hentai malware publishes web history of marks online

JohnG

Registering ripped off software

"Some bogus files posing as games from Abel software attempt to trick victims into handing over personal information as part of a supposed game registration process"

What kind of idiot would give real personal data to register software they have ripped off? Unaware of the malware, they would have to believe they were handing their real personal information directly to the people they are ripping off.

Blighty's first home grown war robot takes to Welsh skies!

JohnG

Buying American

Taking these sort of "buy American" arguments to their logical conclusion, the smartest thing would be to leave the Americans to fight their own wars. This means they could pay their own soldiers to use their own kit and we would have to pay for neither the equipment nor the soldiers.

The French seem to have taken a different view, sticking to making their own kit, despite the availability of cheaper/better choices from other countries. Perhaps that's why what remains of our defence industry is called "Thales".

Israel confiscates visiting iPads

JohnG

Not that odd

Most countries require equipment which includes any RF transmitting elements to comply with local regulations and this is typically demonstrated by the presence of sticker indicating the relevant compliance: CE, FCC, etc.

Many countries don't check equipment carried by individual travellers but the Israelis may have taken the view that as they are new and sought after, iPads without the necessary channel or power constraints and corresponding approval are likely to be sold for use if allowed into the country.

Perhaps Apple's decision to restrict iPad sales to the USA for the time being relates to issues with compliance in other markets.

Steve Jobs: 'Pad? That's my word'

JohnG

"... the free-thinking, freedom loving, alternative type of outfit..."

Are you having a laugh? The last time Apple was into freedom was when they were selling the Apple II. Ever since the Macintosh, they wanted to control every aspect - hardware, O/S and applications.

Tories put ID cards, Contactpoint on manifesto hit list

JohnG

Implementation of ECHR could be better

The UK's implementation of human rights seems to be a bit daft when compared with other EU states.

Bribery Act passed by Parliament

JohnG

Title

When I read the title, I assumed this bill would serve as guidance for American media tycoons, Indian arms dealers and Russian oligarchs in their dealings with our politicians and government officials. I thought it would set out details like where bribery lunches can be held, the minimum length of an oligarch's yacht for bribery events , the regulation envelope and briefcase sizes for cash bribes and so on.

Despite the exemption of law enforcement and the like, the risk with this sort of legislation is that it might be used by a new government against former ministers of a previous government in their new careers as consultants to various companies would need to know who to bribe^H^H^H^H^H^H^H how to lobby government.

Google tweaks search results with mystery site speedometer

JohnG

Google's choice

If users find that Google's search results are not relevant and other engines provide more relevant results, then they will undoubtedly switch and Google would fall by the wayside like so many previous search engine champions. It's Google's choice to select what gives them the best balance between results that users want to see and results that generate revenue.

Personally, I'd be happy to see faster web sites with less unnecessary active content. I particularly don't understand why the B2B sections of some corporate websites are choked with so many animations, videos and the like that it takes ages to actually get to where you can select products. Have they considered that some of their customers might be stuck with a corporate desktop image using old versions of browsers, Java and Flash?

Austrian takes pickaxe to Street View spymobile

JohnG

South-East

Australia is also South-East of Germany - albeit, a bit further away.

'Virtual sit-in' tests line between DDoS and free speech

JohnG

DoS

"In order for there to be a computer crime, there has to be either an intentional denial-of-service ....."

".... merely going to the website repeatedly is many, many authorized accesses, not an unauthorized access."

Connecting to a website repeatedly is pretty much the definition of a denial-of-service attack. getting many people to do it adds the word "Distributed". He has also done this to his own employers - is he a bit thick?

Brown promises no change to basic tax rate

JohnG

Semantics

GB's promise is exactly the same promise as made by TB = not to increase the basic rate of income tax. They kept this promise in that the basic rate is still 20% but the pair of them increased overall income tax by altering other rates, fiddling with NI and not keeping the tax allowances in line with inflation. If you check, TB never answered the question about increasing income tax directly - he always reverted to the statement about not increasing the basic rate. Watch GB do the same in this election campaign.

Lower termination rates will bring pricey data

JohnG

Charging other networks' customers

With special prices or flat rates for calls made within a customer's home network, termination charges are really a measure of how much a network can charge the customers of other networks.

I never understood why the operators paid so much for 3G frequencies when surveys suggested that customers would not accept higher monthly charges, expecting their monthly outlay to remain the same with new technologies offering them more features for the same money.

Apple uncloaks deep details of its 11 iPad apps

JohnG

Looks like an expensive updated Simpad

Siemens tried selling Simpads largely as armchair Internet access devices about a decade ago. These ran WinCE, had the always on/fast boot feature some of the Apple fans seem to like and actually worked quite well but they never caught on. I used to use one of these as a programmable remote control for a while. I tried using one as navigator because the large screen made for a nice map display but it was a bit of a stretch for the CPU and memory.

P.S. For the Apple fan above asking how one uses a mouse from your armchair: Many folk use touchpads on netbooks and even Macbooks.

Blue Coat virtualizes WAN appliance

JohnG

Latency

If you already have the servers needed to support the virtualised WAN optimisation in the branch office, why not instead just move whatever the branch office users are connecting with to a local server instead of have them connecting around the world? They then get low latency LAN connections to a local server and the WAN can be used for replication back to head office. The added bonus is that users can then continue working even if the WAN is down.

Legal high fire sale starts now

JohnG

Selling drugs

Presumably, most of you would agree that it should be illegal for any idiot to sell painkillers or antibiotics from dubious suppliers in China - but many of you seem happy for the same type of idiot to sell legal highs from the same sort of dubious Chinese supplier. Personally, I don't see the difference, other than that many of the legal highs have little or no research performed into their short, medium or long term effects.

Woman finds Romanian living in shed

JohnG

Why not...

...just let him stay with you? Or does your generosity only work on behalf of others?

Lords: Analogue radio must die

JohnG

World, not just UK

It may have escaped the Lords' attention but FM receivers are used worldwide and are built into various devices designed and manufactured for a global market. I have FM receivers in two MP3 players, my mobile phone, two Internet radios, my car. Additionally, my navigation system has an FM receiver which retrieves TMC data from various radio stations here in Germany and also in France, Belgium, etc.

Conversely, I don't know anyone with a DAB receiver or plans to buy one.

Is iFlorist the greatest website in the universe, ever?

JohnG

EU Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices

If these guys have been posting fake reviews to boost their own business within the EU, they would presumably fall foul of the EU Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices. As the .uk website lists a UK address, they should come under the remit of the OFT....

Court bars charges against teen who posed semi-nude

JohnG

Don't be daft

We aren't talking about 4 year olds here, we are talking about teenagers. Surprisingly enough, having reached puberty, teenagers develop an interest in sex - it's called growing up. Additional aspects of teenage development include rebellion against parents and other authority figures - and the experimentation with all kinds of things which they have been told to no to do. Maybe it is the refusal to acknowledge this that gives the USA and UK the highest teenage pregnancy rates amongst developed nations.

For the record, the case did not concern home computers but mobile phones and pictures sent between some teenage friends. The DA didn't care about moral standards or rights - he tried to blackmail these teenagers with the threat of convictions that would leave them as marked paedophiles for life. It was wrong and an abuse of power.

Facebook stands up to UK.gov's cyberbullying

JohnG

Ashleigh Hall case proves the red button is useless

As I understand it, Ashleigh Hall and Peter Chapman chatted using MSN. MSN has the red button, so this case proves just how utterly useless the red button really is. It is just self promotion for a useless organisation to acquire more budget.

Note: CEOP is a good candidate to be disbanded following the election as part of measures to get the public spending deficit down.

Madoff geeks charged for writing book-cooking code

JohnG

Simulation

Whilst this pair may or may not be guilty as charged, it is worth considering how often simulations are used for development and training purposes, often using real world data.

Muso turfed off train for 'suspicious' set list

JohnG

Privacy

Under what powers were they reading his private writings?

El Reg insults 'millions of Irish Catholics'

JohnG

Offended by a colour?

I can understand people being offended by symbols (the Nazi Swastika springs to mind) but anyone who is offended solely by the presence of one colour and/or the absence of another probably needs some kind of treatment/medication.

Virgin signals start of telegraph pole broadband test

JohnG

National monopoly

If we had the same national monopoly we had 25 years ago, we would still be using dial-up at 9600 baud but you would be able to opt to use your own 56K modem for an extra £75 per quarter.

Sarah Palin to testify in email hack trial

JohnG

Skirted laws = Broken laws

"The admission supports claims she may have skirted state laws requiring official business to be carried out using email accounts maintained by the government."

For "skirted" read "broken".

Government business is supposed to be carried out using official means of communication in order to provide traceability. Palin has claimed that her private email accounts should not be subject to freedom of information claims but also admits using them for government business - as has been demonstrated by the "hack".

UK pol touts canine chip implants

JohnG

Microchip and cheap license but not insurance

A sensible course might be to require all dogs to be microchipped by a local vet. A simple and cheap license should then link the microchip with an owner and their address. The police or RSPCA should seize any dog without a microchip or a current license and then give the owners a couple of weeks to resolve any discrepancy. It would probably be a good idea to ban those convicted of crimes like drug dealing from dog ownership.

The insurance idea is daft. As with cars, those with no regard for the law will simply not bother to insure their dog(s).

Mobile-phone wallet stymied by lack of understanding

JohnG

Electronic cash trail

Apart from making mugging more instantly successful (they get your electronic cash along with your mobile instead of just the mobile and missing the cash in your sock, pants, wherever), the other huge benefit for the lucky consumer is that the operators will have much more information about your habits. They will be able to track where you are, what you are buying and for how much. Better still, the government will also be able to lay their hands on this information, all in the interests of making the country a safer place. This is obviously much better than the nasty uncontrolled world of cash....

Tories promise medals not money for science and R&D

JohnG

Muttley crew

So kids, bankers, lawyers, accountants, TV presenters and the like all get paid large salaries. Engineers and scientists will continue to be paid much less but they will get medals. What do you want to be when you grow up?

UK.gov urged to slash DNA retention plan

JohnG

Halving the duration turns wrong into right

Recommendation: We'll only breach our citizens' human rights for three years instead of six years, in contravention of a treaty to which we are bound.

So, by the same token, would it be OK if I evaded income tax for only three years instead of six years? The reduced duration of law breaking would make everything OK would it?

Whatever happened to the email app?

JohnG

Outlook

Outlook should not be excluded - it is available as a standalone product, as well as part of MSOffice, although an expensive choice. Many people use it because it is often the only option available for Windows users that allows synchronisation between various mobile phones or similar gadgets. Occasionally, Outlook may even be bundled with such a gadget, as was the case with an old HP PDA I used to use.

Mozilla lays foundation for web's next 100 years

JohnG

100 years?

They'll be lucky if anything they do survives 10 years.

Has this bloke not seen any of those Tomorrow's World clips where they were predicting all kinds of nonsense, like how we were all going to be flying around in flying cars (Puffins?) and have much more leisure time because most of our work would be done by computers?

EU ministers want new life for IP enforcement

JohnG

Wait and see

It would be nice to think that it will protect everyone's IP rights but it might just give them to a bunch of sneaky lawyers instead. All your ideas are belong to US(A).

Microsoft sends flowers to IE6 funeral

JohnG

Updates disabled

I think you may find that many of those still using IE6 are doing so in corporate environments where the browser is part of some standard build that won't get changed until someone finds the necessary budget. In such environments, it is common for windows updates to be disabled for normal users, along with admin privileges.

Street View threatens to throw Eurostrop

JohnG

Choice not paranoia

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but it should be up the individual if they want photos of their own property online, not Google or anyone else.

You only have to look at a few residential areas of London on Streetview to realise that, contrary to your assertion, it is quite easy to spot burglar alarms and in some cases, the type of locks fitted to the front door or if alarm sensors are fitted to windows.

JohnG

Security

If someone comes around to my house and starts taking photos, with a view to establishing the best means of unauthorised entry, either I or one of my neighbours will call the police. Living in Germany, I know that the police will actually take an interest, come out to see me and find out what the individual concerned was doing, check his ID, etc. Streetview would remove this risk for the prospective burglar. That's the difference.

If you are unlucky enough to live in a country where your neighbours don't give a shit and the police wouldn't show up anyway, then Streetview is unlikely to make a difference either way.

Street View spymobiles invade CeBIT

JohnG

Lebensraum

No, I don't think he meant "Wohnzimmer" - "Lebensraum" has a different meaning (and history). Google it.

Oz watchdog nips Pammie Anderson's bikini-clad ass

JohnG

Smart strategy

- Make a naughty advert

- Ad gets banned from TV

- Blog and otherwise spread news of the ban online

- The target demographic all view the ad online => Job done

They had to pay Pam and the production company but not the TV stations.

US school comes out fighting over webcam spy claim

JohnG

Why/When did the school start taking photos?

Given that the student in question was not accused of stealing another student's laptop, then the school's statement is utter nonsense. This then begs the question: when and why did they really start taking photos of their students?

As the police now know that school employees have taken at least one photo of a minor in his own bedroom, taken without permission, it has to be worth a visit to check the personal computers, usb sticks and Internet activities of all school employees who might have been involved in such activities. As the school has not provided a satisfactory explanation as to why they were taking such photos in the first place, it is not unreasonable to check if the reason was to satisfy the unpleasant urges of one or more members of school staff.

Apple strips top shelf, leaves corporate smut in place

JohnG

Hate to say it, but...

Not big brands but expensive lawyers.

"The difference is this is a well-known company with previously published material available broadly in a well-accepted format."

Translated:

"We are frightened at the prospect of lawsuits from big corporates as they can afford expensive lawyers (and possibly a few politicians) to fight for them. Conversely, we are not all at frightened by the small fry, our lawyers will simply use the "think of the children" gambit."

Lost Nazi nuke-project uranium found in Dutch scrapyard

JohnG

Reactor

According to a local historian, a research facility in Darmstadt had a working nuclear reactor in 1943. The technical university here has a reactor today and remains a centre of such research in Germany. The Germans had the same problem that Britain feared - bombing disrupted facilities and infrastructure needed for large scale projects.

From what I understand, Hitler considered the area of atomic research as "Jewish science" due to the proportion of Jewish experts in this field - and his attitude diverted resources to other areas, such as the V2.

Note to Captain Kirk: Warp speed will kill you

JohnG

Warp bubble

Wouldn't the hydrogen atoms (and anything else in the ship's path) be pushed aside by the warp field? The ship sits in a bubble of normal space surrounded by the warp field, which distorts spacetime outside the bubble, thus creating motion.

Such matter could actually be useful as fodder for a more conventional MHD drive.

RIM unveils free BlackBerry server

JohnG

Free Blackberry server

You too can have a VPN tunnelled through your firewall and terminated in your internal network.

Women face 'glass cliff' after breaking glass ceiling

JohnG

Naive

On their way up to the upper echelons, anyone (male or female) should acquire experience of the nasty political manoeuvres that may befall them or those around them. Anyone naive enough to take a promotion without questioning the motives of those around them is too naive for such lofty office.

Cyclist Floyd Landis accused of hacking into doping lab

JohnG

French rules

"Someone besides the French should be in charge of this."

Why? It is their race, their laboratory and their rules.

UK universities being broken by border control measures

JohnG

If the universities don't like it..

...they should have clamped down on staff selling places to people not qualified to take the courses concerned (e.g. not speaking any English) - like those coming for free NHS treatment for some pre-existing condition and never attending the course.

MPs, Lords ask if Mandybill is human rights friendly

JohnG

Fair trial, presumption of innocence and collective punishment

It seems fairly obvious that this legislation has been promoted by the media organisations as they have found that civil actions requiring evidence are cumbersome and they would prefer a mechanism where a series of accusations is sufficient to ensure their desired outcome. However, it seems to have escaped Mandy's attention that there are now many lawyers in the UK specialising in human rights law - not least his cabinet colleague, the Attorney General, Baroness Scotland. The lack of a fair trial, including the presumption of innocence and the presentation of viable evidence and the collective punishment of innocent family members are likely to see this legislation discredited if ever used.

Westminster politicos told to grasp Vista nettle

JohnG

Linux fanbois: Office?

Aside from the cost of any migration from Windows to Linux, the fundamental reason why Linux is unsuitable is because it does not support required applications, the first of which will be MS Office. Open Office is nice (I use it myself) but it is not a plug in replacement for MS Office.

Paris Hilton canes the Brazilian lager

JohnG

Paid to party

A good gig if you can get it. The rest of us have to earn our paltry salaries in more mundane pursuits, in between posting on El Reg.

Jedi chapter seeks leader after master resigns

JohnG

Jedi not an official religion

That is correct, although 390000 people put "Jedi" as their religion on their 2001 census forms, the government decided to rank them with "Other". A mere 267000 listed their religion as "Jewish".

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=297

JohnG

Pedantic

"..... tell 'em their thick.... " </pedant>

".....tell 'em they're thick...." FFS