* Posts by mrslappy

10 publicly visible posts • joined 11 Jan 2012

Crap London broadband gets the sewer treatment

mrslappy

We need more regulators!

I'd never heard of the Competition Appeal Tribunal before now. It turns out that they exist to hear appeals against decisions made by Ofcom.

Ofcom, of course, exists to regulate the activities of (amongst others) Internet Service Providers.

Personally, I think we are missing a level of oversight here. Who oversees the activities of the Competition Appeal Tribunal? Who keeps them on the straight and narrow?

We need another quango!

Can I suggest we call this one the Data Oversight Group?

Hells door-bells! Ring pieces paralyzed in horror during Halloween trick-or-treat rush

mrslappy

My Doorbell Backend

My doorbell backend is located in our hallway, and is connected to its front-end by a length of bell wire.

I am proud to report that it has achieved 100% continuous uptime since the day it was installed 15 years ago. Why would I want anything different?

Dead serious: How to haunt people after you've gone... using your smartphone

mrslappy

Re: Mis-spelled Names

That's my understanding too, except that it only applies when you are trying to trademark a word that relates to the thing you are selling.

That's how Apple were allowed to trademark their name for computers, but would not be allowed to trademark it for selling fruit.

IANAL also...

Leaks password, check. Leaks Wi-Fi password, check. Can be spoofed, check. Ding! We have an Internet of S**t winner

mrslappy

Excellent Case Study

This implementation would form an excellent case study for the Security module of a Computer Science course. Challenge the students to explain how they would have fixed it (or built it properly in the first place)

Crashed Schiaparelli lander's 'chute and shields spotted

mrslappy
Alien

Expectation of Privacy

It was obviously the Martian equivalent of this: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/30/man_arrested_shooting_camera_drone/

Vale, LOGO creator Seymour Papert, who taught us that code can be creative play

mrslappy

Re: Seymour Papert's "Mindstorms" - a good, no - a /great read/ ... inspirational ...

You are thinking of "Profession" by Isaac Asimov, published in 1957 according to Wikipedia

Samsung: Hackers can't pwn our NFC payment kit. No way, nuh-uh, not true (Well, OK, maybe)

mrslappy

Run for the Hills

>>> "Keeping payment information safe is a top priority for Samsung Pay which is why Samsung Pay is built with highly advanced security features," it said.

Whenever a company asserts that something is their "top priority" you know it's time to run for the hills.

Lester Haines: RIP

mrslappy
Unhappy

Sad News

I've been reading El Reg since its early days, and always found Lester's contributions informative and entertaining. He brightened up many a dull, dull day at the office, and because of Lester I know a lot more about IT - and lots of other subjects - than I otherwise would. So sorry to hear that he has gone, especially at such a young age. He will be hard to replace. I hope that the suggestion to fire him into space can be made to work.

UK Border Agency servers go titsup, thousands grounded

mrslappy
WTF?

Re: Being a civil serpent means you can mess with people

"The difference between public and private sector couldn't be more stark."

Have you ever actually worked in private sector? They're just much better at keeping their cock-ups secret, that's all.

Bond Blu-ray box set marks 50 years on film

mrslappy
Nor does it appear to feature the second, and arguably the best, Bond. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16443263