Posts by JohnG 1635 publicly visible posts • joined 27 May 2007
Many popular satellite navigation systems include a function to warn when approaching certain categories of POI (Point Of Interest). As some of these allow the POI databases to be manipulated, speed camera updates can be downloaded for free from various websites - i.e no subscription needed.
This Coyote device seems to do less and cost more - or maybe I'm missing something.
"Hands-free is more dangerous than drink driving. 100% proven *FACT*."
Oh really? Proven by whom? Perhaps from the same source that told you Spain has safer roads. According to the EU....
(http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/observatory/statistics/reports_graphics_en.htm)
.... the UK still has the safest roads in the EU with 50 fatalities per year per head of popualtion. Spain has 86. If you look some more, you'll find that per person, per kilometres of road, per kilometres driven, the UK has the least fatalities and the least injuries of any country in the EU.
The government needs to stop hounding motorists and make some attempt to fix the economy.
While it is true that you can load an alternative OS (e.g. linux) on your netbook, notebook or whatever, many manufacturers will not not provide support if you do this. Some imply that they might not honour the warranty if you return a machine and have changed the pre-installed OS.
If it is anything like the Prius, it will aim to keep the batteries at about 2/3 charged, so it would take a while to drain. If the batteries are running low, the motor will be run at higher revs to add charge - some power to the wheels, some to the electric motor and some to the battery pack. Some of the Lexus range and the Toyota Estima also gain 4WD from the electric motors.
The Peugeot looks quite interesting.
.. is available for Windows Mobile devices. I understand Nokia has something similar for their Intellisync software. If the Blackberry salesmen told you different, you've been had.
Would an organisation in the EU using Blackberrys really be able to meet data privacy legislation if they don't know where RIM is storing their data? You might connect to a RIM server in the UK but that doesn't mean that's where the data is kept.
Then there's the issue of placing the Blackberry Enterprise Server in the internal network (there was a proof of concept trojan to allow proxy access through a Blackberry device via RIM and the BES into a corporate network).
It was Prius users in the USA that developed their own plug-in modifications and subsequently, one or more companies that sold the mod. Their idea was to reduce the dependence on petrol, not remove the need altogether. Toyota simply responded to the market (they had previously said they didn't see a need for plug-in charging). I guess Honda are doing the same.
For many commuters, a range of 20 - 30 Km might be enough - if they can charge up at work. If they can't, the car will simply revert to using petrol. Some guy at my last job used to charge his Renault Electrique for free every day from a socket in the company's underground car park.
The snag with hydrogen is that it isn't here now - there's nowhere you can fill up. It's a chicken and egg situation - no hydrogen refueling infrastructure, no hydrogen cars - which comes first.
.. and I have had several cases where people have walked out in front of the car when it is in electric mode, particularly in car parks. However, I have never run anyone over because I am aware that that pedestrians may not hear the car coming and drive more carefully in these situations. It's pretty simple really, much like being aware that children or animals might run into the road because they haven't got much road sense. Road users, whether driving, walking or cycling, all need to pay attention to what is going on around them. The idea that some artificial noise on electric vehicles will help anyone in a busy street surrounded by other noises from all directions is plain daft. Have you ever noticed how people in busy city streets cannot tell which direction approaching emergency vehicles are coming from from until they are almost on top of them?
The Labour supporters always seem to forget that Thatcher spent the Eighties righting the disaster left by the previous Labour government. Ironically, that also finished with power cuts - but also included rubbish in the streets, fireman on strike, inflation as high as a giraffe's arse and an enormous loan from the IMF. It was the IMF who dictated wage restraint and other elements of fiscal policy which got Labour voted out and made Thatcher so unpopular. Maybe this time the Tories should withdraw and let Labour sort out their own mess - or maybe the Liberals fancy a go.
Maybe a French takeover in Britain would be a good thing - at least they had the foresight to pepper their country with nuclear power stations and have plenty of electricity.
If I call the police here concerning a burglary, theft from a vehicle or even a dispute with a neighbour - they will actually turn up and address the issue. They don't spend their time harassing motorists and despite being routinely armed, don't intimidate the popualtion at large. Most Germans I know don't have an especially high opinion of the police - they just see them as public officials doing their job. Oh - I can take photos here without fear of arrest or detention, despite being a foreigner.
I just don't understand how the UK has managed to get so close to a police state.
They would not have to jam the entire spectrum. The frequency ranges available to domestic devices are relatively limited. It might not be that difficult to jam the necessary bands within a limited range of the jammer.
@Rich
"They wouldn't have the people who live there trying to kill them"
The people tring to kill them typically live next door in Pakistan and many of them hail from the middle east.
If the lawyer had simply looked up phone numbers and email addresses for the Japanese company he was supposedly doing business with, he could have uncovered the truth by contacting the actual company (if it exists). Given that he thought he was only paying $182,500 out of the $367,500, he was expecting to keep over half the money. That would be a bit high for simply cashing a cheque. It isn't credible that this would be a legitimate transaction - for all he knew, he could have been laundering drug money. If he had to explain to the police why he presented a forged cheque to a bank, it would be interesting to know how he would explain the nature of his services.
As if we don't spend enough money that others worked hard to earn, we would like a bigger wad of cash, even though there are fewer people with jobs to pay for it.
Personally, I'm a bit sceptical of people coming up with whacky plans when it isn't their own jobs/salary/homes on the line.
This was all the rage when I was young. I thought all the telephony hacking people had retired or moved on once modems and dialup were forgotten. Maybe the sale of VoIP minutes has made this interesting once more. I can only think of a couple of organisations for whom I have worked where there were people with the relevant skills to ensure that the PABX was maintained and correctly configured to avoid hacking.
A substantial proportion of computer and Internet users have no interest in the technology involved. They just want to be able to write letters and other documents, browse the web and send emails. It is very similar to the majority of car owners - they have no interest in what is under the bonnet, they want to be able to drive from A to B. This is true of nearly all the sysadmins and programmers I know - they drive cars without any interest in the mechanics. If linux is to take a chunk of Microsoft's position, the "you're too stupid to own a computer" attitude has to go.
Much of the problem is that computer hardware is relatively inexpensive and the after sales support provided by manufacturers tends to reflect this. However, if Dell decided to sell systems with Ubuntu, they should have anticipated issues like "I can't load Word" and "I can't get the Internet" and have been ready with answers (like "Openoffice writer can be used instead of Word").
Here in Germany, prostitution is legalised but under a number of constraints. These include that prostitutes may only work in licensed brothels, brothels may only be located in discrete locations, prostitutes must be regularly checked by a doctor, etc. As they are not demonised by the law, prostitutes can call on the police if they are assaulted and are not easily controlled by gangsters. Prostitutes have their own union, have health insurance and pension schemes.
Of course, gangsters then traffic women from abroad as they are easier to control due to their illegal status but punters don't need to risk going to these people as they can visit a legal brothel. Legalistion removes trade from the gangsters - so they are better off in Britain where everything is illegal and therefore, easier for the gangsters to control.
The other problem in the UK is that, despite assurances to the contrary, many foreign prostitutes who were trafficked are deported right back to their home countries and into the hands of the gangs who trafficked them in the first place.
Whilst the situation in Germany is probably not ideal, it is much better then that in the UK and I can only think that the the new UK legislation will make things worse.
...to be able to access the online services. That infrastructure still needs to be supported by some local IT staff.
There is a big snag with online services like Google's - if you are a manager responsible for the data protection and related issues, how can you be sure whether legal requirements in the UK are met if you are using online services located in the USA? Or is the data held in some offshore location elsewhere?
The police (at the behest of their bosses at the Home Office) have arrested an opposition MP for doing his job: demonstrating how the minister and the same public officials at the Home Office have failed to do their jobs properly and have then sought to hide the facts from voters that pay their salaries.
UK employers who employ illegals get substantial fines (10K per illegal) - does this mean we can look forward to Jackie Smith paying fines for the illegals working in government establishments?
The snag is that having a firewall is not enough. Typically, most domestic firewalls allow users to connect outwards using any protocol. This allows a trojan both to send smtp mail and to collect instructions from the botnet masters by making regular connections to a server (e.g. an IRC server).
Infection is also not affected by the presence of a firewall - typical vectors include malicious incoming emails and websites that host the trojans. In both cases, the user's system has initiated an outgoing connection.
It might be useful if ISPs didn't allow users to connect with unpatched systems (other than to the sites that provide the patches) - but do the ISPs care more about SPAM or their earnings?
Like others have said, non-technical users aren't going to manage all this stuff. I avoid sending sensitive stuff by email, much as I avoid sending cash in the post. If I really have to send something sensitive by email, I Zip it and then phone the recipient to give them the Zip password.
So if they forget to remove one of these tags, an enemy aircraft or air defense system might be able to use WLAN and RFID transponders to activate the tag. They might even be able to get track data straight from the onboard GPS. At the very least, they might be able to triangulate on a responding tag.
@AC "RFID is normally used for ranges around 10cm" Yeah - Passive RFID not usually good for more than 30cm. However, Active RFID tags might be good for more than 100m.
The WHO doesn't have many good things to say about cannabis:
http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/facts/cannabis/en/index.html
It probably isn't a good idea for people with mental illnesses like schizophrenia to use drugs such as cannabis or alcohol - especially if they are taking other drugs as part of their treatment.
Claiming that cannabis should be legalised because smoking and alcohol are worse is a bit daft. If either tobacco or alcohol were introduced as new products today, neither would be allowed.
I saw someone get caught doing this. The item rang up for a similar type of product that was much cheaper. The woman at the checkout just said "I know that's not right". The woman trying the scam tried to say she had no idea how the wrong label got there and then that she would leave the item but the shop assistant was having none of it and got security to stop her. I think they then called the police (I assume they had some video evidence of her tampering with the barcode).
The EU directive does allow for expulsion.....
"Union citizens or members of their family may be expelled from the host Member State on grounds of public policy, public security or public health"
but it doesn't say you can premptively refuse leave to enter - it only talks of expelling those who are already resident and have done something to warrant expulsion and....
"".... the individuals concerned have access to judicial review and, where appropriate, to administrative review in the host Member State."
Microsoft has lost the plot. As I see it, MS Office has been the main reason that most companies would not contemplate moving from Windows for desktops and notebooks. All they have to do is maintain Office in the number one slot - but if they fail to do this, then the ever-improving OpenOffice is waiting in the wings. I have been using OpenOffice at home for a few years now and have no problem swapping files with MS Office in use at work.
Some cloud issues: How many people or companies would trust Microsoft with thier data and that of their clients? Would European companies and other organisations be able to meet EU data protection laws if they allow data to be stored outside the EU? Could they be sure that the US authorities would not pry into sensitive data to benefit US competitors? When disk storage is so cheap, why would I want to store everything in a cloud, across an unreliable network over which I have no control? If Microsoft change the T&Cs of their cloud, will they allow/assist users to export their data?
From what I read many years ago, the equipment in the vans was supposed to detect the RF radiated from local oscillator in the receiver.
However, I am not convinced as these guys were forever coming to my parents' house asking about a TV because there were a couple of aerials on the roof installed in the 1960s (of the Band I and Band III types). My dad would let these jokers in and show them every room in the house to demonstrate that they really didn't have a TV.
Like Preston Crow said above, the coalition should setup it's own network. Better still, they should publicise that the network is available for free but only for grassing-up the Taliban and emergency calls. Locals would be able to connect, even without a SIM. The coalition could also use it to track Taliban whose phones have automatically connected when the commercial networks are offline.
My mother and other people I have met who are entitled to one of these badges tend to be travelling in only one vehicle. When I have taken my mother somewhere, I drop her off and then park "normally", paying if necessary.
Given the widespread abuse of this system, it would seem sensible to associate the rights with a specific vehicle - in which case it could be an addendum to a tax disc. No new database needed.
In the case of children and other non-driving disabled, it doesn't seem unreasonable to issue the privilege to their carer(s).
I'm just glad to live in Germany where planners ensure there is enough parking for every city centre development and it doesn't cost me a king's ransom to park. Better still, they have also built viable public transport.
A cursory search shows more than one online job advert from companies in Kentucky that are available for UK citizens to view but are clearly in breach of "The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006". Clearly the domains of these companies should all be seized by UK courts.
I guess the same adverts would be visible in Canada but are only in the English language when they should clearly also be available in French. So, maybe the Canadians should also be claiming these domains.
Given that the ITU organises things like radio frequency allocations and internaional telephony, it seems logical that they should have the responsibility for Internet related allocations such as domain names (and IP addressing). This would avoid the problems of a US-controlled body like ICANN. It's quite reasonable that the Yanks do what they like within their own country but it is not acceptable that they foist heir rules/views/morals on the rest of us.
I have a Prius and have had the silent running problem a couple of times in car parks: every so often, someone leaps out in front of me from between parked cars. I just drive extra slow in car parks.
Regenerative braking - also on the Prius (and most electric vehices, AFAIK).
I live in Germany - typical domestic installations have 3 phase (most German electric cookers can use 3 phase) and are rated rather higher than 100A.
One of the nice things about Windows Mobile is the abundance of tools not only to remove simlocks but to install what you like and even rebuild the entire rom - to include/exclude whatever you want/don't want. I suppose this will come to the iphone and others but there is some catching up to be done.
As a publicly funded body, one would have thought that Ofcom should be doing what is best for the country and it's citizens- and that is not necessarily coincident with selling off bandwidth to fill treasury coffers. They should ensure that publc services, the military and private citizens have access to the bandwidth they need. Commercial concerns should only be considered afterwards.
There are times when I get pissed off living here in Germany but I only have to read one of these stories about madness of the authorities in US or UK and I cheer up.
The funny thing is, teenage pregnancy rates are higher in the USA and UK than in France and Germany, despite (or perhaps, because of) their apparent liberal/immoral attitudes.
Short Selling is simply selling something you don't own in the hope that the price will go down by the time you have to settle. More than that, you can (illegally) spread false rumours to help the price go down to ensure you get a profit. There is plenty of evidence that the latter has been widespread but pinning it on anyone is difficult (especially if the regulators can't be bothered to look).
The original point of stock markets was to enable companies to raise capital and to provide investors with a sensible route to invest. Short selling (naked or otherwise) simply rapes this system of cash to the detriment of the companies and investors concerned. You can't blame the traders - they are supposed to do whatever is legal to make money for their employers and their clients. Short selling should be banned outright an the regulatoirs should d o more to stamp out the illeagl rumour mongering that has been used to artificially manipulate prices.
Given that laws in the UK are fairly puritanical, anything more than soft porn is hosted abroad. So how does this idiot think he is going to get cooperation from companies hosting hardcore porn in say, Russia? I can't see even the Germans or Scandinavians agreeing to this.
If they are so worried about making the Internet safe for kids, why don't they give a shit about the streets of major cities? If a child of mine saw some porn on the Internet, I wouldn't be quite as worried as if they got stabbed on the way home from school.
It is no use blaming traders for short selling - they are supposed to make as much profit for thier companies and clients as possible. As long as the methods they use are legal, they are doing their jobs. It is up to governments and regulatory bodies to create viable legal infrastructures that maintain stability and an environment in which people and organisations can borrow or invest money.
So this means that courts in EU countries can apply for control of domains in the US (and elsewhere) from which spammers tout fake Viagra and the like. Similarly, they should be able to grab the domains of those US companies who hold any personal data of EU citizens.
Would this also mean that Saudi authorites could apply for the domains of US churchs illegally (under Saudi law) promoting Christianity to Saudi citizens?
From the Council Directive 2004/83/EC, giving clarification as to who may be considered a refugee or persons needing international protection:
"A third country national or a stateless person is excluded from being a refugee where there are serious reasons for considering that:
<SNIP>.....
(b) he or she has committed a serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge prior to his or her admission as a refugee; which means the time of issuing a residence permit based on the granting of refugee status; particularly cruel actions, even if committed with an allegedly political objective, may be classified as serious non-political crimes;"
Maritime piracy has been considered a serious crime for long time and attacking one or more RN ships for such a purpose would surely be grounds to void any asylum claim.
You are not under any obligation to respond to threatening letters from companies or their lawyers. If you are being falsely accused, you can safely ignore everything - except communications from a court. You are not a Defendant or a Plaintiff if and until they have actually filed something.
Discoverabe Bluetooth cannot possibly mean "connect to me" if, according to the Plod, connecting to the WLAN equivalent (an open and unencrypted SSID) is worthy of criminal charges.
Whilst I expect to see advertising/marketing material in shops, I do not see why I should have to tolerate intrusion into my private life my phone, email, bluetooth, or any other medium. If I want to buy something, I'll go looking for products on my own terms. I assume that any company that resorts to pestering by phone or spam, their products or services must be utter crap.
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