* Posts by Roj Blake

1654 publicly visible posts • joined 7 Aug 2013

UK's new Snoopers' Charter just passed an encryption backdoor law by the backdoor

Roj Blake Silver badge

You're implying that there are some good intentions behind this egregious travesty.

UK Parliament waves through 'porn-blocking' Digital Economy Bill

Roj Blake Silver badge

They can take my porn...

...from my cold, dead hands.

But it's not just porn that this will affect - it will also cover all sorts of other stuff.

Still, I'm alright, I have a VPN.

Confirmation of who constitutes average whisky consumer helps resolve dispute

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: Got hooked on Scotch with...

Glenmorangie is my go-to single malt, but I would also recommend Old Pulteney. It's kind of like a more maritime version of Glenmorangie.

Dell EMC UK and Ireland commercial boss quits

Roj Blake Silver badge

Great Bloke

I've met Tim a couple of times when at least one of us was drunk and on both occasions I came away with the impression that he's a great bloke.

I'm sorry to see him leave Dell.

Small ISPs 'probably' won't receive data retention order following IP Bill

Roj Blake Silver badge
Big Brother

Of course signing it may well put you on some sort of watch list.

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: Look at the details to find the devil

"Something I remember reading about this was a statement that the ISP retained data was 'simply' a record of which website you had visited, not any details of what you looked at."

____________________

So they know that you're a regular visitor to horseporn.com, but at least they don't know what sort of bridles you like.

So that's alright then!

CompSci Prof raises ballot hacking fears over strange pro-Trump voting patterns

Roj Blake Silver badge

History is a Bugger

Assuming that the voting machines were hacked, and assuming that Russia was behind it, it could be argued that it's fair payback for all of the times the US has previously intervened in the electoral process in countries throughout the Middle East, Asia, and South America.

Roj Blake Silver badge

Diebold

Hardly a new thing.

I recall that in the run-up to the 2004 election the CEO of Diebold pledged to win Ohio's electoral college votes for George W Bush.

Ohio was the key swing state in that election, and it used voting machines made by Diebold. Bush won the state and the presidency.

Samsung fires $70m at quantum televisions

Roj Blake Silver badge

CRTs

Since the emission of photons of a specific frequency from a material that's been struck by an electron is a quantum effect, surely old-school cathode ray tubes were quantum TVs?

Gov's industrial strategy: 'Look, we've changed the words above our door'

Roj Blake Silver badge

Dead Dove

At first I read the byline as "any rabbits in Hammond's hat, or just a dead Gove?"

Imagine my disappointment...

Trial date set for Brit police 'copter coppers over spying-on-doggers claims

Roj Blake Silver badge

IPB

And these are the people who will soon have access to your browsing history.

NASA trying to rein in next-generation super-heavy lifter costs

Roj Blake Silver badge
Headmaster

Re: James Hansen will be furious

Who made it NASA's job to promote the AGW swindle anyway? "

National AIR and Space Administration. The Space bit is about the only bit of NASA that makes the mainstream news. Maybe if you learned a bit about what NASA is and it's "mission" than you'd not look like such a twat.

__________________

National AERONAUTICS and Space Administration

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: James Hansen will be furious

"No govt. entity has ever been able to compete with private enterprise for long."

Unless you count utilities, military forces, health services, and transport organisations the world over.

NASA discovers mysterious super-fast electrons whizzing above Earth

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: Amazing there's still things to surprise us

"We still don't have a good model, quantum or classical, to describe the properties of water."

Yes we do.

UK warships to have less firepower than 19th century equivalents as missiles withdrawn

Roj Blake Silver badge

"How are we going to protect the Falklands?"

By stationing Typhoons down there.

Roj Blake Silver badge

No Need to Worry

I don't know what the fuss is about as modern naval warfare doctrine dictates that long range attacks using carrier-based warplanes are what it's all about.

So with the RN's impressive carrier fleet we'll be fine.

What's that you say? No carriers and no planes to put on them?

OK, we're stuffed.

UK Ministry of Defence splurges £280,000 on online 'good ideas' form

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: Is that just site cost, or staff cost?

"...but nobody asked me"

If only there was an online form you could use to send them your idea...

Panicked WH Smith kills website to stop sales of how-to terrorism manuals

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: TNT

Schools and universities generally use toluene rather than benzene because of the latter's carcinogenic properties, which presumably would be easier to turn into TNT.

Facebook 'fesses up to WhatsApp privacy blunder in UK

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: Just because its Data, it doesn't seem to have the same Gravitas.

Is your title a General Contact Unit or a General Systems Vehicle?

Browsers nix add-on after Web of Trust is caught selling users' browsing histories

Roj Blake Silver badge

You know something is really bad when McAfee is a better option.

Alleged ISIS member 'wore USB cufflink and trained terrorists in encryption'

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: IT security

Or Gareth Williams.

Northamber almost strikes cheery note, warns profit a year off

Roj Blake Silver badge

Excellent Company

I like Northamber, our account manager there is one of the most helpful people in the industry.

Accountant falls for sexy Nigerian email scammer, gives her £150k he cheated out of pal

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: Prime target

"The vicar that ran my Lutheran high school was done for some major embezzlement and land fraud."

He already explained that. The money was just resting in his account.

Iceland's Pirate Party tops polls ahead of national elections

Roj Blake Silver badge
Headmaster

Double Negatives Ahoy

"That won't be not enough for Píratar, the party's Icelandic name, to take government."

Isn't that the same as saying that it will be enough for them to form a government?

Job ad asks for 'detrimental' sysadmin

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: typo

There is a special place in Hull reserved for the inventor of autocorrect.

Britain's fight to get its F-35 aircraft carriers operational turns legal

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: Britannia Rules the......oh

The Typhoons stationed down there would presumably have a say in how things turn out as well.

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: Four dozen?

"Anchors?"

You forgot to spell it with the silent W.

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: It's like the blind leading the blind.

If fire fighters fight fires, and crime fighters fight crime, what do freedom fighters fight?

Skin tattoo will tell your phone when you've had a skinful

Roj Blake Silver badge
Coat

The police don't need gizmos to tell if you're over the limit...

- Would you like a kebab, Sir?

- Oooh, yes please officer

- You're nicked, son

Report: UK counter-terrorism plan Prevent is 'unjust', 'counterproductive'

Roj Blake Silver badge
Pint

Four Lions

Excellent choice of pic from the acclaimed documentary on the danger of radicalisation, Four Lions.

Court finds GCHQ and MI5 engaged in illegal bulk data collection

Roj Blake Silver badge

Compo

So where do I go to apply for my compensation?

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: hmmmm

You haven't misread it - they're already changed the law to make everything legal.

Facebook pays, er, nope, gets £11m credit from UK taxman HMRC...

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: That ship...

The ship reminds me of the Crimson Permanent Assurance...

It's fun to charter an accountant

And sail the wide accountancy,

To find, explore the funds offshore

And skirt the shoals of bankruptcy!

It can be manly in insurance.

We'll up your premium semi-annually.

It's all tax deductible.

We're fairly incorruptible,

We're sailing on the wide accountancy!

Dirty diesel backups will make Hinkley Point C look like a bargain

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: Greens just don't understand numbers

There are other methods of storing energy - such as using the surplus to convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into methane. It's not particularly efficient but at least you can use existing gas infrastructure to store, transport, and use it.

Hubble spies on Europa shooting alien juice from its southern pole

Roj Blake Silver badge
Headmaster

Re: The interstellar war would be very short

Interplanetary, not interstellar

Unlucky Luckey: Oculus developers invoke anti-douchebag clause, halt games for VR goggles

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: "Palmer acted independently in a personal capacity"

"First of all, if one minute of your jet costs less than one glass of Scotch, your jet ain't worth boasting about."

Or it could mean that your Scotch is really worth boasting about...

Days are numbered for the Czech Republic

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: CzechMate

Happisburgh (Haysbura) and Towcaster (Toaster) are also pitfalls for the unwary...

MI6 to hire another 1,000 bods 'cos of private surveillance tech

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: Dangerous work

Yeah, it's odd how people want to kill you when you bomb their part of the world for a few decades isn't it?

Windows 10 backlash: Which? demands compo for forced upgrades

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: Computer Misuse Act

The key word in the CMA is "unauthorised"

I wouldn't be surprised if you authorise MS to do this sort of thing when you sign up to their T&Cs.

She cannae take it, Captain Kirk! USS Zumwalt breaks down

Roj Blake Silver badge

HMS Cockchafer (an Insect-class gunboat from WW1) is still the finest name for a warship

Google's become an obsessive stalker and you can't get a restraining order

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: Sick and Tired

Do you have curtains or blinds on your windows?

If so, why? After all, you're not so important and/or special that your activities need to kept a secret. I for one couldn't give a fig what you do in your dull, uninteresting home, and I'm pretty sure no one else does either.

The next Bond – Basildon or Bass-Ass? YOU decide

Roj Blake Silver badge

Rupert Friend

Why no option for Rupert Friend on the poll?

I'm talking about the actor, not Bill Badger.

Hello, Star Trek? 25th Century here: It's time to move on

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: I have a speech...

"Well that was thinking until they found nearly every human had appreciable amounts of Strontium 90 in their bones for the first time in our species history."

At least Johnny Alpha and his fellow Strontium Dogs will save us.

Maybe the bigger hammer is Wulf Sternhammer!

Star Trek film theory: 50 years, 13 films, odds good, evens bad? Horta puckey!

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: ? Caption error ?

Evil Spock does have a goatee though.

Microsoft redfaced after Bing translation cockup enrages Saudis

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: A shame

They're probably using Bing maps...

Notting Hill Carnival spycams: Met Police rolls out real-time live face-spotting tech

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: Ahem!

440 arrests and a couple of stabbings out of a crowd at least hundreds of thousands strong is small change.

How many arrests do the Met make on a typical drunken friday night?

Top digital Eurocrat issues non-denial about hyperlink non-tax

Roj Blake Silver badge

Re: James 51

Gordon Brown was at least as elected as every British PM ever, as we don't have directly elected Prime Ministers.

Furthermore, it's not at all uncommon for a PM to take over mid-term. Four out of the last seven (Callaghan, Major, Brown, May) did exactly that.

Radicalisation? UK.gov gets itself in cluster-muddle over 'terrorism'

Roj Blake Silver badge

***** poor Muslim kids get a very mixed message from Sunday school saying one thing, non-Muslim authorities saying another, which is then easily proven wrong by the bad guys, "look in your Koran, these infidels lied to you". *****

I imagine that Muslim kids would get a mixed message from their Sunday Schools, but that what were the parents thinking when they signed them up to learn about Christianity?

Arthur C Clarke award won by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Roj Blake Silver badge

Nemesis the Warlock

You can add Nemesis the Warlock Book II to the list of stories that have featured talking spiders.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's... er, Graphene bubbles – 200 times stronger than Superman

Roj Blake Silver badge

Fullerenes

Aren't graphene balls technically fullerenes?