Posts by IT Hack

Stephen Fry explains… Alan Turing's amazing computer

Re: What has this got to do with a Supernova?

Tommy Flowers -

A fucking national hero and that he's not recoginsed as such is a fucking national disgrace.

Dongle smut Twitstorm claims second scalp

Dev Evangelist

So...a media whore being a....media whore.

Next at 11...Sex Sells!

Victoria and Albert museum in narrow escape from Napalm Death

Re: In case of Sonic Attack on your district....

Way things are going Damnation Alley is far more apt I reckon...mind you Needle Gun is a rather enjoyable ditty....

TeamSpy snooped on governments, big biz undetected for 10 years

Me - so we've noticed that we have servers that are effectively unpatched.

Techies - no...we patch them on a regular basis

me - so when did you go through your last cycle of patching?

Techies - about five years ago

me - Nice!

Researcher sets up illegal 420,000 node botnet for IPv4 internet map

Re: Network Analysis

Yes. It was not really meant to be taken THAT seriously. It was more a comment on the IT knowledge of the courts.

In other words my friend...a joke ;)

Network Analysis

So how long before doing a tracert gets you in pokey?

Pint while I wait for the day in court. Should be quite amusing.

Feds cuff ex-NASA boffin at airport amid state-secret leak scare

More to the point

He did this before??? And he was allowed to return?

Well that's either a gross oversight by NASA and heads will/should/must roll or its a double bluff by a US intelligence agency that's gone badly wrong.

Is UK web speech regulated? No.10: Er. We’ll get back to you

Re: Scallywag

I wonder what Mr Hislop is thinking about this...

Train wreck

It is quite clear that Westminster exists in own little world. I call it Arseholeville.

Weev gets 41 months in prison for exposing iPad strokers' privates

Re: Big People

@ Mr Flintstone

Whew! I'm not the only one! I've been leaving out entire words recently...must lay off the pints ;)

It's not easy to show remorse for something that really wasn't bad as such. He should have tempered his language though. Either way though it is still an entirely over the top sentence. Ultimately the only thing he really did wrong was going about his research the wrong way...and ending up in a court with a judge who is not tech savvy to the extent that the intricacies of this kind of work is understood.

I reckon the AT&T fine was just putting the boot in for the hell of it.

Re: Big People

Firstly I feel I need to apologise for the above horror show of a post. Not in terms of spelling mistakes but rather missing entire letters out! Not good.

I also failed to be clear what my actual objection was.

The length of the jail sentence is far too extreme for the level of the "crime". Given that the data was available on a open web server. Rather than censuring AT&T for lax security the judge and prosecutors went after the security researcher. Not that he is entirely innocent...but at most he's guilty of foolishly not thinking through how to report his findings in a more...professional manner.

The only reason the guy was sentenced to a ridiculously long amount of time, and fined to boot, was because he made AT&T look foolish, and had emails of people in positions of influence and power. If all those emails had been ordinary folk I bet you he'd have never been sentenced to such a long time in prison.

Of course this is only my opinion and I could well be wrong and you would be right in presuming that I am typing this in a ranty rage. However it is quite clear that when it comes to computer "crimes" the US does tend to take things to an extreme...it either being driven by prosecutors wanting to make a name for themselves (and judges) or powerful people able to hire suits that the defendant just does not have the resources to compete against.

Pint coz well ranty rages are a thirsty business, right? ;)

Big People

And yet again the US judiciary and public attorneys so that they are not interested in the safety of the plebs who use the net...but only the big boys.

These stories do nothing but reinforce my reticence to ever go back to the US...

Rackspace: Why we're designing our own cloud servers

Its all marketing guff

I would totally lurve to hear Engates define "cloud".

Pint to make me less liable to laugh. Well we are talking about "cloud" right?

Google Drive goes titsup for MILLIONS of users

Re: Cloud is here to stay...coz well its really not freakn new

A shipping container too far?

Cloud is here to stay...coz well its really not freakn new

This has nothing to do with cloud as such but rather the way corps architect their solutions. If you do it on the cheap you'll get shit like this.

CCTV hack takes casino for $33 MILLION in poker losses

Measure Twice Cut Once

A perfect example why any security system needs to be evaluated (read - hammered to shit) by an external source that is trustworthy before going live.

Pint while I wait for the call that will never come.

Outages plague Hotmail and Outlook users

Marketing wankery

High availability isn't just a phrase...

Nice pint while watching the bean counters continue cocking things up

Hitachi and Siemens data-stalking firm not bugged by security bods' report

Head in the Sand

When I'm looking to purchase new resources one of the first things on my mind is availability. Second in line is usually security. If a product, that has unfettered access to production environments, is not secure or is not able to show how secure it is then it just is not on the table as a viable option.

This not only includes the usual coding to secure standards but also support and the vendors incident response capabilities.

Seem to me that these guys fail pretty much on all fronts.

Easy solution? Give your techies the time and ability to thoroughly rip it to shreds and put it together again. Research the company and and reference sites as well as customers and see if they've had issues.

Cowboys in IT...do no one any favours.

Study: Megaupload closure boosted Hollywood sales 10%

Utter Beaver Tail

So the department doing the "research" was set up by the MPAA. It then publishes results that the studios are negatively impacted by a notorious cloud storage host.

Next up - Sex sells. More at 11.

'Mainframe blowout' knackered millions of RBS, NatWest accounts

Re: I reckon the other source had it spot on

AC 15:24 - this.

Not only financial services btw.

I'm not sure miss those midnight calls...in some ways quite fun to sort shit out but on the flip side the pressure to get it right first time is immense.

However its not only just flipping the bit..its also very much understanding the impact of that decision. If you fail over an entire DC you need to really be able to explain why...

Re: I doubt it

Indeed. My point re ITIL...

It beggars belief that this has happened. Oh wait...no actually it doesn't. Seen a simple electrical fault take down a Tier Two dc...hit 6 companies hosting live revenue generating services. One company nearly went tits up.

Of course at RBS I expect a director to be promoted to a VP type position for this cock up.

Nice to see RBS not using ITIL. *cough*

No M&S vouchers for CSC staff as awards scrapped to save costs

Money Money Money

So any driving out of costs from Director (and above) bonuses or other spend to keep them happy? No? Now there's a surprise!

DWP denies major IT problems with One Dole To Rule Them All system

Re: Situation normal

Well not quite...according to the new Digital Overlords in the Cabinet Office small companies are encouraged to bid for work like this. If the bid is blocked due to "the stupid it burns" you are also encouraged to complain to the CO. The idea is that gov wants to move away from the big rip off merchants to regional SME's that actually have specific skills. Well...that is the plan.

Whether or not Maxwell et al survive the experience is yet to be seen.

Tito's Mars mission to use HUMAN WASTE as radiation shield

Divorce Court In Spaaaaaaace!

Health pros: Alcohol is EVIL – raise its price, ban its ads

Why stop at advertising booze? Make it across the board - ban ALL advertising. That I would happily support. My life would be far happier as well. The health benefits of a happy human compared to one under the kosh to buy this and that and whaterver else is really rather well known.

Pint coz I want one...and one not driven by advertising.

One titsup server kills Brit-hosted Donhost websites for THREE DAYS

And this was their "Premier" service offering? Oh dear.

Arise, Lord BONG

Met that Maxwell fellow a while ago. You know, the governments "CTO"...used to run his own recruitment agency? Yeah.

We are so fucked.

Pint coz...well the idiots have clearly taken over.

Samsung's squillionaire supremo scuttles siblings' shares snatch

And all through an amusement park. Hilarious.

http://dawn.com/2013/02/01/samsung-electronics-chairman-wins-4-billion-court-feud-over-family-fortune/

Everland being the amusement park....

Pint coz yes...they have pubs on site.

Beware the coming of the ROGUE CLOUDS, wails Symantec

BYOC

I shit you not. Bring Your Own Cloud...soon to replace Bring Your Own Device in the world of buzzwords...

http://www.zdnet.com/how-bring-your-own-cloud-could-kill-byod-7000010013/

Pint - coz...well why the fuck not, right?

Ballmer now flings out work rivals, rather than chairs, claims ex-Microsoftie

Re: Actually, the real problem.....

More like he's a sales guy who has a bit of numbers talent who thinks he understands technology and has the vision to take us all there.

Pint - just to celebrate his chucking someone out of a window...har! I slay me. :/

'Red October' has been spying on WORLD LEADERS for 5 years - researchers

Love it...I mean...who the fuck needs security policies let alone enforcement right?

I reckon it was the Norks...

Or the Frogs etc...possibly bonobos. Actually my money's on the apes.

*cough*

Pint coz well its all a bit much otherwise right?

Google boss lands in North Korea for humanitarian mission

Can Google successfully manage a buy out of a country? Wonder what price Kim the Youngest...

Hm, nice idea that. But somebody's already doing it less well

Re: Too Big to Fail.

Whjy did he bow to the king of Saudi Arabia?

So what did you make of Shrub near as dammit shoving his tongue down King Abdullah's throat?

Pint cos it'll take a one to deal with whatever bollocks answer you come up with.

Re: re: Why is this drivel allowed on el reg?

Western Market Capitalism is perfect, it's your perception of economic stagnation and a tech sector litigating itself to death that's faulty.

My god yer right! WMC is perfect...what with governments bailing out major corporations that love to trumpet how bad government is for business. I also love how the corps bleat about the "free market model", which when it goes tits up then demand that the government bail them out...which is the exact opposite of the model they profess to support. Of course its all bollocks because the corps will cry that they are too big to fail...well...perhaps if you followed a different model, had proper compliancy controls in place, auditors who would be legally obligated to report corp malfeasance to regulators for example, corporate officers held responsible for illegal acts (prison time for you Mr Money Launderer/LIBOR fixer et al), MBA's who are taught to run a business....not monetize everything within an inch of its life. I happen to believe that capitalism is a great model only when it is going hand in hand with a good and decent policy of social responsibility. Otherwise its a monster that will eat all in its path....led by a handful of sociopathic bastards.

/rant

The litigation/patent troll thing is frankly totally out of hand and does no one any favours besides short sighted lawyer types and VP's who can't see more than a half move ahead.

Pint for us all surviving the "Mayan Apocalypse".

Re: Ikea Selling food - Innovation?

WTF has Ikea selling food got to do with innovation?

I know! Absolutely fuck all!

Oh great. Yet another article by some wannabe economic expert on a tech forum.

Why is this drivel allowed on el reg...a technology site?

Pint ready in celebration when "Tim" buggers off with his utterly infantile "articles".

Feeling poor? WHO took all your money? NOT capitalist bastards?

Why the fuck is this shit being published on el reg? What part of this partisan fuckwittery has anything to do with IT?

I know! Absolutely fuck all. Not only that but it is blatant bollocks to boot, as has been shown by quite a few commentards so far. Both for and against.

Hopefully this is the last piece of "economic" reporting from Mr Worstall.

Pint for the remembering to close the door on yer way out.

UK.gov hires data-handling privatisation point man as CTO

Strategic Shift?

So this would be a "strategic shift" so commercial organisations can data mine our private information?

Errr frankly fuck off.

Pint as a last toast to anything sensible ever happening ever again.

Google, Apple, eBay shouldn't pay taxes - people should pay taxes

No corporation tax? Really?

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/corp.htm

As for the morality ( because that is what you are arguing...an opinion and not fact)s you can take your Randiod bollocks and shove it where the sun don't shine.

Your 'article' is one of the most pathetic sophomoric pieces I've read in a long time. Even UKIP policy papers contain more intelligence than the tripe you're peddling.

Geneva devastated by monster tsunami, millions at risk

Re: I think the Canary Islands maths has been discredited

Indeed...I remember the programme..."Superwaves" on the beeb - broadcast back in the early 2000's I think.

Some of the prog was pretty spot on...that rogue waves are a reality and far more common than originally thought. Then in a fit of Discovery Channel inspired sensationalism they went slightly OOT about the Canaries and the "Superwave"...1000 metres high travelling at 600Km per hour...utter bollocks.

I really hate Discovery Channel.

Forstall ousted from Apple after refusing to apologise for Maps

Re: There's two sides to every story.

@ wowfood - funny that....every time I've done the same I've ended up getting kicked...D/N/T speed to market...fuck quality.

So much for integrity neh?

/feeling quite cynical today...no beer.

'Regular' PS3 gamers who've cancelled credit cards? You FOOLS!

Trust Sony? You have got to jesting...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/vonbek/most_people_shirt.jpg

Pint coz its Friday

Campaigners roll out political-correctness Voight-Kampff CAPTCHAs

Oh god I thought the silly season finished in August!

Pint coz well fuck it.

Inside the real-world Double-O section of Her Majesty's Secret Service

Next time our American colleagues attempt a higher than thou stance when it come to intelligence agencies just point out that without Ian Fleming there would be no CIA. That would be the proper CIA...not the political tool after the the USAF/CIA pig fight...where the CIA disputed the number of Sov bombers when the USAF was looking at presenting a new budget. A few years later the CIA learned its lesson and played the game in the "missile gap" controversy.

Pint coz it makes it easier to digest bollocks politics.

Hey, Third World! We know what you need: Mmm, patent wars

Would I be wrong in viewing them (IPO) as shysters or enablers of shysterism?

Pint coz a pint is a pint and....oh...bollocks :(

Rapper rips up Microsoft's Atlanta store during performance

ahhh hahahahahahahaha ha. hahahahahaha haaaahahaha etc...

Tim Cook: 'So sorry for Apple's crap maps app - try Bing or Nokia'

Every time someone says the phrase "world class" a cpu dies.

Verizon CFO: 'Unlimited' data is just a word

Cunt is also just a word right?

Also how is that not misrepresentation? Surely the fine print invalidating the sales pitch counts as misrepresentation? Then again I'm not a lowlife lawyer/marketer...so I guess I will never understand the mindset of these "people".