* Posts by Cameron Colley

2226 publicly visible posts • joined 13 Jun 2007

Bish says sorry for right royal Facebook rant

Cameron Colley

Does the man not know his history or something?

Or does he have some clever way of explaining why a republican should be a high-up member of a church separated from Rome by a monarch who wanted to move on to another receptacle for the royal sperm on the off chance a male child would be born?

Aside from that, I tend to agree with him about the nonsense surrounding the engagement -- and I'm not even a republican.

Indonesian smut vid star's arse hauled into court

Cameron Colley

RE: Quick Question

Of course I had heard of Indonesia and I knew that they (culturally at least) don't seem to like homosexuality much -- but since I don't have an encyclopaedic knowledge of all the worlds countries, know that official religions include Catholicism, and that it is not an Islamic country as such, I had taken the place for a more enlightened country than it actually is.

Perhaps my post could have been better phrased -- the point being I wouldn't expect most people to take a great deal of interest in Indonesia* and now they've been publicly outed as one of the countries who decided civilisation is not for them.

*due to the size of the world and not anything in particular about Indonesia.

Cameron Colley
Unhappy

Wow, the civilised world gets smaller by the day.

It never ceases to amaze me how many of these pathetic small-minded nations exist in the world. China, Australia, heck even the UK we know about but more and more prudish, pathetic, uncivilised and backward countries are brought to the attention of the world every day.

Is there a list somewhere of countries where you can't be thrown into jail for doing something every human being should have a right to be able to do?

Angry Birds struggle to take on Androids

Cameron Colley

You get this on PCs too.

Unless Google are going to pretty much ape Apple and bring out only on specific phone that can run android you are bound to get this. In fact, I would be very pissed off if I spent £600 on a spankingly good Android phone only to discover that a phone for £200 would run all the same apps.

To my mind this is good -- though perhaps some kind of "grading" may be in order so htat people can compare the devices when they buy them.

Virgin demands ISPs end broadband speed 'con'

Cameron Colley

@Llyander

When you say "Most days my connection wobbles anywhere between 11Mb and 40Mb depending on the time of day and the site I'm trying to access." do you mean that some sites are slower at some times of day? Also, how are you measuring download speed when accessing these sites -- do you take into account the latency from when you first click to the site replying, for example?

Sorry to pick on your post specifically, but in my experience (and that of people I know), the limiting factor for downloading from one site or downloading a torrent can often be the speed at which the site or seeds can upload and not the download speed of the provider -- this is especially relevant as your download speed increases (a colleague on 50Mb tell me he hardly ever manages to max out his broadband from one site, for example).

I hate to sound like a VM apologist -- I assure you I am not -- but I do get very sceptical of claims that broadband speed is very slow "for some sites" and similar claims. The only real way to tell how fast your broadband is at a given time is to download something like Google Earth and the latest Microsoft patches -- i.e. sites that stand a chance of providing you with data as fast as your connection can take.

Na'vi on your sat-navatar

Cameron Colley

I demand Clanger and Oddle Poddle!

If we're going to have pointless languages let's at least go for classics.

I can't help thinking though that those learning these conlangs would find their time better spent learning a real language -- they might actually get girlfriends then too.

Europe questions move to block child sex abuse images

Cameron Colley

OK, what is a child and what is CP?

The definition will be different across different EU states, from the UK where a picture of your own child on the beach could get you into hot water to some places where having sex with a 12 year old is OK. The definition of child pornography in the UK includes anything which looks like it is supposed to depict a child sexually including, but not limited to, cartoons and photographs of strategically shaved adults.

Then there are countries where you can't censor everything you feel like with no good reason.

Perhaps Europe should do what Australia are in the process of doing and ban everything that might seem like it alludes to something which could, in the most depraved of minds, be construed as something that hints at child pornography?

Or, perhaps, things should be left roughly as they are, with each country looking after its own blocking, and the police forces across Europe could try and find the abusers and target them.

Global warming is actually good for rainforests, say boffins

Cameron Colley

This is clearly bollocks!

We all know that the rainforests will die, all the glaciers will melt and puppies will drown!

Cloud Engines Pogoplug Pro DIY cloud box

Cameron Colley

Only 1GB?

Perhaps that answers the question -- how would that help me host my 1TB of movies and music? Also, how would they help me print when I am at home? Oh, and how much more would it cost to get a VPN setup so I could feel safe in an internet cafe?

This is a solution to the problem that your home server is using too much power (and a few other things too).

Tory councillor arrested over 'stoning to death' tweet

Cameron Colley

Another reason to hate being british.

I feel more and more depressed every day that I didn't take a language course while young enough to absorb it properly and that I foolishly thought being employable on this island of my birth would see me through to old age. The dogs have done with this country and it's now the cockroaches that are feeding off us.

Motorola lands 16-patent countersuit on Microsoft

Cameron Colley

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

The rest of the world should start seriously considering dropping out of the US and the US technology markets until they sort out their pathetic excuse for a patent system.

Without the burden of the US patent system companies like TomTom and Nokia and countless Asian companies could be providing the rest of the world with competitively priced and innovative technology.

I think the rest of the world should boycott the US until they decide to stop this nonsense.

Lincs authority lets schools decide on Pagan lessons

Cameron Colley

re: Dear Conservative govt

There was a time when I would have agreed with you.

However, I think there is a place in schools for "cultural studies" and a very big part of some cultures is their religion. Knowing about religions can be of use when making friends and interacting with colleagues, for example. Or, if you want an extreme example (which I'll admit is a little tenuous and silly), if you happen to visit an Islamic country* you will at least know that drinking, eating pig meat, public displays of affection or nudity and calling teddy bears "Mohammed" is likely to be frowned upon.

I should point out that I don't think children should be taught to believe in any particular religion (even by their parents but that's another matter), but I think knowledge of religions, even if it's just for historical reasons, has a valid place on the curriculum.

For the record I'm an atheist.

*easy example, I'm sure people can think of ones for bible-belt US and similar.

Oil heir loses $6m in 'CIA-Opus-Dei' malware murder scam

Cameron Colley

Is the guy receiving psychiatric help, or did he just not care?

FBI plot aside, if my granny took her kitten to the vet because he was ill I would not expect her to be gullible enough to give him compensation for other infected kitties. This sounds less like a clever "technology" based scam and more like a mentally ill individual being controlled or someone acting under duress.

I'll admit my experience is limited -- but I'd say the older and less techy people I know would spot a "high tech" scam as well or better than the younger "more technologically literate" ones.

World's largest pilot union shuns full-body scanners

Cameron Colley

X Rays?

Are they actually X Rays in these things? If so I would like to know so I can ask the appropriate questions next time I fly.

I was under the impression they were a different wavelength. I also thought that they had to not dump energy into the skin if they were to penetrate it.

Co-op cashier's breasts overcharged for fruit and veg

Cameron Colley

Reminds me of the stories about women...

... whose space bars kept malfunctioning and typing rows of spaces when they shouldn't.

Harrods blings up Android tablet, quintuples price

Cameron Colley

Wow!

Something that makes the "bling" iDevices look tasteful.

Phosphor World Time Curved E Ink watch

Cameron Colley

Oh, you're on of those people...

...who has to get their phone out of their pocket every five minutes when they're running late rather than simply glancing at their wrist?

Facetiousness aside there are many times, such as walking somewhere in the pouring rain or sitting on an aircraft, when getting your phone out to tell the time can be a pain -- for those times having a watch on can be useful.

The 99p mobile phone: What's the catch?

Cameron Colley

The real cost of this phone...

For those asking how come other phones are so expensive when this phone only costs £0.90 -- the reason is simple: it doesn't cost £0.90 to make at all -- probably more like £49*. This is what supermarkets like to call a "loss leader" and is sold for such a low price hoping that people will either buy it and spend more on profit or go in to look and decide to part with a little more for a better phone.

*A guess, so I'm sure someone more in the know can correct me.

Brussels blocks UK from biometric superdatabase

Cameron Colley

@Dave 129

Things are as the the government's friends in the security and IT businesses say they are -- otherwise how will they get money back for the payments they make to MPs to plant bombers on planes?

If they want to terrorists will blow up planes -- the only answer being to not ever allow anyone or anything on a plane.

All these measures are about is stopping the staged "terrorist plots" by spending more money with the "friends" of government ministers or with companies ministers or civil servants wish to work for.

Pure Oasis Flow weatherproof DAB and Internet radio

Cameron Colley

So you can't get a mono shower radio for under £170?

If you are in the tropics without DAB then why would you buy a DAB radio for £170 when shower radios are available for £10? Also, if you're wealthy enough to buy a £170 radio and have an internet connection then why can't you afford a tent or a plastic bag (beloved of wildlife camera men I believe) or somesuch?

Cameron Colley

Why are DABs always mono?

Surely for this kind of money they could work out a way to add another speaker?

Also, are these mono devices playing back only one of the two stereo tracks, which would make older music sound horrendous, or do they play both tracks through the same speaker, which would make some modern "out of phase" stuff sound horrendous?

DDoS attacks take out Asian nation

Cameron Colley

Add another vote for "Burma" not "Myanmar".

They may, etymologically speaking, mean the same thing -- but until the name is legitimately changed by a real government it's still Burma.

Aircraft bombs may mean end to in-flight Wi-Fi, mobile

Cameron Colley

That's it, they've lost me.

After this latest "terror threat" coming after calls fo less paranoid screening I have oficially stopped believing any of the shit the news channels are told to report.

Well done to whichever security vendor or payrolled politician arranged this latest piece of fiction.

Mac market share slips worldwide

Cameron Colley

Partly due to Apple shills?

Perhaps the US market is helped by all the shills on schoolboards and the like who all-but force Apple products on pupils?

Nokia N8 smartphone

Cameron Colley

"...designed for servers..."? Really?

I was under the impression that Linus designed Linux to run on a fairly old x86 desktop so that he could play with a Unix type OS cheaply?

That pedantry aside though I agree -- the processor on this phone is only running an OS designed for minimal processor overhead from the outset so it is probably well worth the "performance hit" which will probably not be seen to get slightly better battery life.

Child porn victims seek multimillion-dollar payouts

Cameron Colley

What absolute shite.

I don't believe for one second that the abuse would not have taken place if there weren't people there to look at the images on the internet. That's not to say that the availability of the images doesn't cause harm to the victims, just that the abuse would have taken place anyhow.

So, perhaps, make the distributors of these images pay restitution for the hurt caused, in the same way that those who slander and suchlike pay (though perhaps they ought to pay more).

I also notice that the abusers have not been mentioned here -- how were they made to pay compensation, are they being forced to do anything they can to raise money to support the victim and, if not, why not? Heck, if they were healthy at the time of conviction I dare say that their heart, lungs, liver and kidneys would get a fair price if they were unable or unwilling to get the money any other way.

Top Ten Retro PC Games

Cameron Colley

I was in the war!

Moooaarrghhh!

M-m-m-m-m-m-Onster-kil-kill-ill!!!

Gotta love those cunning stunts.

Cameron Colley

Snipes rules (look it up if you don't know what we mean).

I think I am right in saying that nlsnipes (the one you want, by the way, Ralph) was the first multiplayer network game -- many a fun hour was spent in the school computer lab competing with up to a dozen other people, before a great many people even knew what a network was.

iPhone alarm bug: now it's the UK's turn

Cameron Colley

Wow, way to fail inelegantly.

On first read I thought that it must mean the alarms went off an hour early which, while a little annoying, should at least not make you late and is "what is expected" from the days of more dumb devices (am I the only person who has an actual alarm clock, rather than relying on my phone?).

This, on the other hand is a pretty inelegant, and potentially costly to the owner, fail -- though not as bad as the device (which I cannot recall) which just crashed when the clocks changed or the old Windows devices I've had which would fail to wake from hibernation randomly.

In conclusion -- just buy a couple of cheap alarms, one mains and one battery, if you really want to ensure you wake in time.

The terabyte iPad is coming

Cameron Colley

How much does it cost to recover data from flash?

Assuming the main board on your tablet is fried by a faulty mains adapter, or you drop it down the loo, how much will it cost you to get your data back and can you do so?

Also, is it the controllers in flash chips that make them more reliable than spinning disks? I ask because I'm sure many spinny drives have been lost to controller failure -- so what's to stop your flash controller mangling your data? Are there firms out there that can take apart flash drives with faulty controllers and some corrupt data and still get a lot of things back, as can be done with hard drives?

Boffins mount campaign against France's official kilogramme

Cameron Colley

Pah!

They should use a definition based upon the Hubble constant -- would be far more accurate.

Duracell MyGrid cable-free gadget charger

Cameron Colley
FAIL

Still pointless.

A "triple adaptor" plug socket is much, much cheaper and will allow you to charge three devices simultaneously using the adaptors you already have -- so no stupid stick-on "adaptor".

Since most, if not all, new smart-phones will be chargeable using a micro USB charger you should soon be able to use the adaptor for any phone to charge any other -- so even in a family or office situation this just won't be needed.

As has been mentioned before in comments -- inductive charging is only a good thing for sealed devices such as toothbrushes.

Still, I suspect that the manufacturers will manage to con enough people into buying things like this that in a few years you'll have to buy an inductive charge phone, for more money than it would hvea cost if it weren't, whether you like it or not.

Credit card 'flash attack' steals up to $500,000 a month

Cameron Colley

You pay to be their bitch.

They pay the government to be allowed to take your money. If the credit company does fuck up, they just get the government to sort it out.

Fun, isn't it?

UK border police seize £500k from Nigerians' hand luggage

Cameron Colley

"... go somewhere else..."

Is more easily said than done, as has been mentioned above and, as has also been mentioned above, I shouldn't have to.

That said, given the opportunity (which I hope to have soon) I will leave.

Cameron Colley

Simple answer -- don't visit the Shithole that is the UK.

I can think of better places to buy cheaper goods than the UK, if that's why you'd come here, and we don't really have anything else worth coming here for. Heck, you could even be arrested just for taking pictures of the, generally rather dull, famous buildings we do have.

My advice: spend your money in a country that's less of a shithole -- there are many to choose from throughout Europe (and probably other continents too).

iPhoto 11 ate my library, say users

Cameron Colley

re: because it's slow

Eh? It's too slow to pull a folder from one place to another, do something else while they copy, then click "update collection"? Yes it's fast to pull the files across and wait the same amount of time for the data to move and the database to repopulate?

I realise my technical knowledge of the application may be flawed -- but the article stated that files would have to be restored form backup so I was thinking this sounded an awful lot like the old "sync tunes to ipod->take away ipod and wipe it (for whatever reason)->plug ipod in and loose music" problem which a few people I know moaned about before they found the correct tick boxes.

Cameron Colley

That's what you get when things are too easy.

What's wrong with opening a file manager and dropping photographs into a folder, then letting your photo "management" app simply index them? A similar approach is taken in many media players, for example, and means the app writer would have to fuck up royally and encode "search and destroy" media into the app in order to remove your collection.

Using an application to manage and index your collection of anything leaves you open to this kind of problem and is one reason I can't help but feel computers are "too easy" to use nowadays.

Trucker jailed for deadly motorway gamble

Cameron Colley

Does everyone have indecent images nowadays?

Or is it just that things like this wouldn't be reported otherwise?

Perhaps it's just me but every single story involving someone's computer being searched after arrest seems to result in the finding of child pornography. I'm beginning to wonder whether every site you go to has child porn loading in the background or something.

@Rogerborg: Piss of you dull troll -- this has nothing to do with using SSL and proxies and everything to do with a piece of excrement who thought gambling more important than the lives of those around him. Using swanky software wouldn't have stopped this fucktard getting court.

EU to lift flight ban on carry-on liquids

Cameron Colley
FAIL

So nothing changes until 2013 then?

I have flown a few times within Europe with large bottles of "duty-free" booze this year alone and had no problems -- because they have these magical things called "sealed bags" or something.

So, in effect, they are just saying that until 2013 the situation will be no different and, after that date, they will have paid some of their mates in the detection industry for some more pointless shit to use to slow down passengers at the gate.

Why the fuck are these people still bleating on about the threat of liquids? Are they really being paid that much in backhanders by the liquid scanner companies?

Seagate sued for 'fraudulently hiring engineer'

Cameron Colley

@Gordon Pryra

But permanent work is different to contracting -- you generally get paid less but, in doing so, are supposed to have a contract of employment and certain rights. It seems this guy was treated like a contractor when he was a permanent employee -- and possibly even induced to sign a fraudulent contract.

As for burning bridges -- simply leaving many companies will do that, at least to a degree, if you are a permanent member of staff. Again, this differs from contractors who are expected to "chase the money" a little since they're not expected to be loyal employees.

Wikileaks outs 400,000 classified Iraq War docs

Cameron Colley
Grenade

Is it a US idea that he is your friend?

I seem to recall hearing someone blaming the whole "the enemy of your enemy is your friend" bollocks on Sun Tzu, but it doesn't appear in the translation I have read at least. It also doesn't sound like something I'd expect from Clausewitz or Machiavelli -- so is it a US invention?

If it is a US invention it seems Alanisly ironic since their military seem to be one of the best demonstrations of how even your friends aren't all that good to have around at times...

Drug-addled scooter twock teen hit with bizarre crypto ban

Cameron Colley

So now he's even more restricted?

Because now he can't even use a computer for school work (since they removed the bit where that's allowed) and most computers he'll come across will have crypto on them.

Someone ought to sack this judge until he either stops getting involved in things he obviously knows fuck-all about, or passes a basic IT course.

XP? Thanks for the memories

Cameron Colley

But we're talking *enterprise* here.

"Ubuntu is a more interesting upgrade for XP users than Win7 unless your PC is an expensive game console.". But this isn't about being interesting it's about getting your work done.

If you run an enterprise estate based on MS technology you *have to* upgrade from XP soon or you'll run into support and possibly even regulatory problems. That means going to Windows 7, if you're replacing your PC estate, and so it makes sense to go 64bit so that, in five years time when you're still on the same hardware, you'll be able to whack 4GB or more RAM in if needed to get a bit more time out of your kit.

I keep seeing this "Most ordinary people don't need 64bit windows. It's less efficient." in relation to Linux as well -- but I'm not sure I've seen any figures to back it up. Though I'll admit I found it odd that the article suggests 64bit is *more* efficient.

Cinema iPhone pirate escapes jail in test case appeal

Cameron Colley

I still don't understand how it's fraud?

If someone posts "Alice In Wonderland CAM" on TPB, for example, then how is that fraud? Surely anyone going to the site and downloading it knows what it is: A copyright-breaking bad-quality camcorder recording?* If he was caught flogging DVDs labelled as the real thing then fine, it's fraud, even if someone of average intelligence ought to be asking how he could produce copies of a blockbuster early for £5 or whatever.

As things stand, why was it even possible to bring a fraud case?

*another thing that amazes me is that people watch these -- but that's another question.

DARPA orders miracle motor for its flying car

Cameron Colley

When was the last time an airliner had to dodge a tree or another plane?

In case you didn't realise many airliners are probably flying themselves most of the time, and an awful lot of planes can land themselves without human input.

Just because the hectic conditions of road traffic are tough for robots doesn't mean the same if true for flying.

Apple signals disk free notebooks way to go

Cameron Colley

Why are Apple getting any credit?

My couple-of-year old EEEPC has flash storage only, and a quick google tells me Sony have had flash-based notebooks out since at least 2007.

As has been mentioned above, the move to flash was obvious for all to see -- the only reason netbooks don't now hve flash by default is that windows is bloated and crap, otherwise you can bet that most would be shipping with flash storage already.

Steve Jobs did not predict anything here and is not leading in any way. Why is it that anyone believes that Apple innovate when all they do is follow market trends in a clever way?

Green light for spooks' net snoop plan

Cameron Colley

Police state it is then.

It's a shame, I had doped that this lot were slightly less cuntish than the last ones but, alas, it would seem now.

Hand over illegal porn at the border, please

Cameron Colley

@Semaj

While you are, of course, correct the devil is in the detail here. I think most people will know the "headline laws" of countries so, for example, they will probably realise not to take porn to Pakistan -- but knowing what is and isn't legal porn in a more permissive country is something even a specialist lawyer in that country doesn't always know until the trial is over.

BT quietly recalls shocky adapters

Cameron Colley
Joke

RAPEX, really?

I don't think they thought that name through. Perhaps I can suggest the slightly less menacing SURPRISESEX?

Man wins $650k for stripper shoe eye snafu

Cameron Colley

Probably too late now.

But in reply to AC above and others who may not have read my post properly.

I said "If someone" not "if I" -- this woman kicked a man in the face because an unknown person slapped her behind -- in fact, the story even suggests that her victim was not the perpetrator.

I do have some sympathy for the woman -- but that doesn't change the fact she seriously assaulted someone who had done nothing to her (if the story is to be believed).