Posts by a pressbutton

WikiLeaks boss Assange acted as a foreign spy, Uncle Sam exclaims in fresh rap sheet

Manning was pardoned.

Then a grand jury was constituted. Then she was jailed for refusing to testify. Then that jury ceased. Then she was released for a few days.

Then a grand jury was constituted. Then she was jailed for refusing to testify.

This is the nature of asymmetric 'justice' (well, it isnt really justice is it)

$ millions spent on prosecuting Assange / Manning

$0 on even investigating the things she leaked.

I used to think spending £191m on the Saville / Bloody sunday enquiry was wasted, but now I see it as a tribute to the quality of justice in the UK. Might not have made the republicans / army etc happy, but at least they had a good look at ourselves.

Hopefully there is enough 'cruel and unusual' in the US's treatment of Chelsea Manning - effectively imprisioning her until she agrees to testify against assange that the judges will stop extradition without this having to go to a politician.

No prospect of fair trial etc.

Land of the free...

... yuh.

I can't say Mike Lynch knew about Autonomy dodginess, star witness tells High Court

Re: Oh dear

I think the problem is that for a very long time, the American legal system has been stating that it is the American "justice" system.

There is a lot of evidence that this is not so but it is usually about poor people.

We are seeing the latest piece of data now because the defendant is v.v. rich - and white.

Airbnb host thrown in the clink after guest finds hidden camera inside Wi-Fi router

Realistic pics below headline pls

From the Article, the security researcher was a woman.

The photo is of a bloke pointing and a woman going 'oooh'

Would not normally point this out but it just feels not quite right in the context.

Now you can officially dox Scrabble players, thanks to the new dictionary definitions

We add rules in our family

a) dad is allowed to look up words on his turn

b) everyone else cannot look up at all and needs to know what their words mean

Huawei, Huawei. Huawei, Huawei. Feeling hot, hot, hot: US threatens to cut UK from intel sharing over Chinese tech giant

Re: Quite right too.

Inexpressible.

A grayling always evaluates to 0

as in 0 trains

or 0 ferries

Re: Quite right too.

With brexit costing us 1.3bn a week...

...Readers should be told that you are within +/- 1 Dianne Abbot of the correct value

Internet industry freaks out over proposed unlimited price hikes on .org domain names

Re: Can someone explain this to me?

erm

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=what+is+google%27s+ip+address

Microsoft debuts Bosque – a new programming language with no loops, inspired by TypeScript

Re: Ah, the loop

I think it uses a combination of

- a counter

- an if

- a goto

yes, it is gotos all the way down.

Easter is approaching – and British pr0n watchers still don't know how long before age-gates come into force

Re: I predict this will last

... Is that not the publicly available list of expenses our MPs have claimed for?

and has someone not been caught already?

IBM bid to unmask age discrimination whistleblower goes down in flames

They do not age

But they have a rather odd team portrait somewhere in the file storage.

French internet cops issue terrorist takedown for… Grateful Dead recordings?

Re: extinguishing four candles

... fork handles ?

I suppose you need to dispose of the bodies somehow.

Ex-Mozilla CTO: US border cops demanded I unlock my phone, laptop at SF airport – and I'm an American citizen

Re: Don't travel to the US.

well, the helicopter was invented by leonardo...

Gartner squints into its crystal ball: A pholdable phuture is very far away

Reminds me of 3d tv

That was the future once.

When I can walk around the back of the screen and see the back of the actors heads, i _might_ start thinking about getting one.

I have a note 8 (about all the large flagships are +/- 1cm on height / width) and it just fits in a pocket.

I can take it out of my pocket, unlock and activate using the fingerprint with right hand and then start using it.

No need for 2 hands

With a folding phone you probably need 2 hands to unfold and once unfolded it will invite a different mode of use - more like an ipad.

but I am an old fogey and am reminded that many people in asia and young people just have a phone - no laptop or tablet and so I do think the use will grow dramatically over the next few years - much more than 5% of flagships.

Capita: B is for Brexit, C is for cutting costs. Stock exchange: Yay! You guys are awesome

Want to get rid of outsourcers?

... stop changing things.

If things do not change, at some point the processes / tools get pretty much optimised(*1).

At that point you (or the govt) can take many(*2) of these outsourced areas in-house - cutting out the cost of their profits and management

(*1) curse my spell check for suggesting a z.

(*2) there are limits - if you only need half a cleaner, you will carry on outsourcing.

Sure, we've got a problem but we don't really want to spend any money on the tech guy you're sending to fix it

Reverse Penny-Pinching

Based in Bristol.

Between 2006-09 I did a lot of work for clients in london

We had to book the cheapest train ticket.

Quite a lot of the time (well, ok, about 30%), a first class ticket was the cheapest option on thetrainline.

free tea and biccys all round! (there is no cuppa tea icon)

(I drive now but saw this effect dry up after 2012)

IR35 contractor tax reforms crawl closer to UK private sector with second consultation

Re: Statistical Accuracy

Your powers of telepathy seem to have found the wrong person. I abhor all politicians:

- who stand up and pretend they have some knowledge of an issue, but are really just making things up

- who preach one thing and then do the opposite

- who think that because they are public figures they should be trusted and not questioned

- who do not answer the ******* question in an interview

Diane scores 4 billion / 4 on that

in the interests of balance,

Rees-Moogg and BJ score 4/4 as well

Statistical Accuracy

i am sure you are within a Diane Abbot of the correct value

We're not throttling you, says Vodafone, claiming slow vid streaming is down to the 'cards'

Elegant Solution

One example of an elegant solution to bandwidth issues caused by millions watching live tv over the internet

... would be to turn the TV on - if they have one.

The trouble is that I suspect most people do not actually watch live TV live - they willl pause it to write a text (if you are over 30) or a snapbook post (if under) etc and also rewind to the good bits.

The definition of 'live' is more like 'what I am seeing'- a 'smear' of time

Actually I propose a 'smear' of time as a new el reg measurement unit

On audio

1 audio smear = the lag between live FM radio and the same radio over a broadband connection

On TV

1 video smear = the lag between live TV and the same TV over a broadband connection

Queue comments on 'how many smears before you need to wipe'

Foldables herald the beginning of the end of the smartphone fetish

Re: Yeah I can see it

... they called it NT4 for a reason.

Court sees Morissette Meter flip out as Oracle assumes anti-arbitration stance in pay dispute

the song "Ironic", which lists a series of unfortunate events, none of which are ironic.

.. perhaps that is why it is ironic?

Why does that website take forever to load? Clues: Three syllables, starts with a J, rhymes with crock of sh...

Re: Sites need revenue

popbitch goes on about something called an agate wallet

I do not have one.

Blockchain is bullsh!t, prove me wrong meets 'chain gang fans at tech confab

Re: @Politicians: Blockchain = public audit trail

well, that depends on who controls the blockchain...

Re: I've yet to hear of an actual, real application of blockchain

...

or you could print out the contract twice, both of you sign it and keep them in different fireproof safes.

or a drawer

If you want a vision of the future, imagine not a boot stamping on a face, but keystroke logging on govt contractors' PCs

Sauce Goose Gander

I look forwards to the proposed monitoring software being used through the course of the deliberative process / public hearings.

A taxpayer can use it to monitor the work rate / value add of the members of the panel.

It may well return a value of 0

Cop films chap on body-worn cam because he 'complains about cops a lot'. Chap complains

Re: I'm actually half on the officer's side here

DCI Plod to PC Plod:

Go and wander around that place where we we have been refused a search warrant. Leave your camera on.

PC Plod to DCI Plod:

will it be used for surveillance

DCI Plod to PC Plod:

No.

PC Plod can now honestly say that data will not be used for surveillance.

HMRC: We 'rigorously tested' IR35 tax-check tool... but have almost nothing to show for it

Re: CEST is fundamentally flawed because....

sir, have my upvote for

(BTW I hate the new Reg design. I'm down from several visits daily to once a week.)

The lighter side of HMRC: We want your money, but we also want to make you laugh

re: The beatings will continue until moral improves.

Does repeated beating improve morels?

Time for lunch. Fancy an omlette

Re: If we taxed the rich properly

... the meaning of 'Properly' will depend on whether you are

that rich person who has his (for is is usually a he) own subway system / private island

or

that not so rich person who has his or her own cardboard box.

(imo, in a rich, civilised society, not having somewhere warm and dry to sleep should be v.v. rare)

The Large Hadron Collider is small beer. Give us billions more for bigger kit, say boffins

Re: New name needed - so what will "Bosonics" bring ?

... overpriced headphones?

IBM insists it's not deliberately axing older staff. Internal secret docs state otherwise...

You might be onto something here,

according to rumor they have not been doing so well for the last few years...

(ZDNet

IBM increased revenues by a real 1 percent in its latest financial quarter, but annual results were down for the sixth year in a row. The company is almost back to where it was 20 years ago, excluding inflation.)

Re: Can someone explain this to me?

Nah

You should have learnt COBOL

Total Inability To Support User Phones: O2 fries, burning data for 32 million Brits

Nigel from O2 on DownDetector

Cracking...

... and his handle is N-O2

aka Laughing Gas.

Microsoft polishes up Chromium as EdgeHTML peers into the abyss

No, turning windows 10 into Windows 7 would be good enough for me

.. or even better XP

Consultant misreads advice, ends up on a 200km journey to the Exchange expert

Re: Bad advice

I hope anon gave them a really hard stare

Bean-counting outfit Sage appoints bean-counter as new CEO

Re: Perhaps

I work with colleagues who maintain an XML based interface to HMRC that is used to pass payroll information (RTI)

It changes every year.

The changes are not well documented

Edge cases are not properly thought through (not all payrolls are weekly or monthly), so there are often late-breaking changes.

In short, you are largely correct, there is no real reason for the API to change,

but it does, and keeping in step costs.

Dot-com web addresses prices to swell, thanks to sweetheart deal between Uncle Sam, Verisign

Re: Can someone explain this to me?

well, that drainey swampey thing seems to be going just fine so far in the us

... if you live in a swamp and like being wet.

Should a robo-car run over a kid or a grandad? Healthy or ill person? Let's get millions of folks to decide for AI...

Dumb question

Simple

A

the car detects one or more people it _might_ injure

- how about slowing down so the probability of any injury is < x%

B

the car detects one or more people it _will_ injure (for whatever reason)

- it should not have been going that fast - you (the human in the car) are about to commit GBH / manslaughter

C

the car does not detect one or more people it _will_ injure (for whatever reason)

- see B and as the car did not detect anyone, there is no decision tree to traverse.

queue bunfight over what x% is.

Re: Who's gonna buy it?

If the car has radar, it will favour people with metal implants / fillings?

Morrisons supermarket: We're taking payroll leak liability fight to UK Supreme Court

Re: I expect to be flamed

well, you pretty much do that every time you pay them.

the point is procedures / safeguards / security and control (as others have said)

Watch Series 4: What price 'freedom'? About as much as you'd expect from an Apple product

Apple Watch:-

"

It seems you have just stopped making rythmic motions at about 120bpm

Do you want me to

- play "Sandstorm"

- launch pornhub

- book a uber home

"

Linux kernel's Torvalds: 'I am truly sorry' for my 'unprofessional' rants, I need a break to get help

Best of luck to him

He may not be as rich as Bill G (who was reportedly also v. foul mouthed at times), but should have as much or more respect.

The only thing he should have done imo is to have a named 'understudy' in place a couple of years ago.

You need something like that- after all he could (literally) have fallen under a bus etc and on a project like this you cannot really just stop while the new person learns the ropes.

Hope the new person understands that.

Lenovo Thinkpad X280: Choosing a light luggable isn't so easy

X220

The last one that had a proper keyboard.

Built like a tank

Still in use

... Love it.

But...

The only signature characteristics retained are the distinctive air vent and hinges - and the massive bezel around the display.

reminds me that the X220 vent is about 80% blocked when you plug it into the docking station.

wabi-sabi.

Raspberry Pi supremo Eben Upton talks to The Reg about Pi PoE woes

Re: Another option (USB over PoE)

... surely cold custard

Chromebooks gain faff-free access to Windows file shares via Samba

Re: DFS

Will it always be in a half price sale?

Will it get a bit shabby quite quickly?

Expanding Right To Be Forgotten slippery slope to global censorship, warn free speech fans

Re: "should not be allowed to decide what Internet users around the world find"

And should Google be allowed?

Yes.

You do not have to use google.

The other side of the point is that if you do not use google, or similar which will also be subject to the same rulings, you will not find it.

Neutron star crash in a galaxy far, far... far away spews 'faster than light' radio signal jets at Earth

Call me old fashioned

..But i am pretty newtonian until my chips are about 7nm

AI image recognition systems can be tricked by copying and pasting random objects

I can see the future

In 2022 you will see people wearing well-crafted images on their t-shirts that have the effect of causing any autonomous vehicle to halt.

Of course Toyota (other manufacturers are available) will then update their firmware.

And then someone will come up with a new image. (The image will be subject to 1st amendment rights - you cannot stop this)

new t-shirts will be produced.

Rinse.

Repeat.

Pretty obvious really

Humans look at something and recognise the things in the picture

This is done by recognising _all the things they look like_ and then choosing the most likely in the context.

AI currently just says chair / not chair and that is why it is so easily spoofed.

Part of the problem is - what is a chair?

US voting systems: Full of holes, loaded with pop music, and 'hacked' by an 11-year-old

It suits the current political agenda to have insecure voting machines.

(easy to point fingers at the Republicans but Dems do not have clean hands)

If you win, there was 'no significant' tampering and 'no evidence' of interference

If you lose - we was robbed!!!!

It is a symptom in the growth of distrust in the US and I can see someone just not accepting the result of an election over t he next 20-30 years

After all the alternative facts are out there....