Posts by LucreLout

Give nerds their own PRIVATE TRAIN CARRIAGES, say boffins

Re: Garland of Flowers

I mean what the fuck are these people smoking? Have they actually been on a train before, or just seen them from a distance? Wave at big screen. Jeez.

This is the inevitable result of allowing civil servants and think tank staffers to ride around first class. They actually think that's what the other carriages look like.

We could better leverage our train capacity by doing the following:

1) Remove all first class carriages. Capacity would then increase by roughly 80 people per train due to being allowed to stand between the seats.

2) Install free wifi on every train. Seriously - its like the dark ages on there.

3) Ensure a stable signal such that a phone call can be had, where necessary, out of main line stations and into the suburbs without 30 disconnections. If you wanted to be radical, you should be able to begin a call in Epsom, use the Tube, and finish your call in Cambridge without ever being cut off. I make no comment on necessity of the call.

Improvements to our GDP would begin immediately, and would compund up nicely over time. Better than funding some mobile dream machine with an investment return somewhere close to never. We could even look at putting in air conditioning or turning off the heating in summer, but those are just pipe dreams.

Man asks internet for $1k for pebbles. INTERNET SAYS YES

If you need to chill your whisk(e)y to enjoy it then it's either very bad whisk(e)y or you don't actually like whisk(e)y.

Or its a proper cask strength and what you're doing with just one icecube is slowly watering it while drinking. Cask at 60 or 70% vol tastes very different to bottle strength at 40%. Both are pleasant, and while enjoying a cask strength single malt with the correct balance of icecubes, you get to enjoy the transitions between the two.

Hawking: RISE of the MACHINES could DESTROY HUMANITY

Re: A happy AI

@Charles

This utopian ideal always hits a snag: these robots will have owners, and these owners will be wondering about their production, maintenance, and upkeep. Eventually, they'll start thinking, "Why do we need these many people in the first place?"

I agree, which is why the first of the two opposing possibilities I gave took this view. Indeed, I believe their actual thought process would be more akin to "Wouldn't my life be better if I didn't have to worry about the 90% who don't have a stake in the future?" After all, they'd have more space for a bigger house or garden.

For as long as people like Hawking are derided for considering possible futures, we're more likely to sleep walk into that being the actual future. Better to debate the possibilities now and ensure whatever societal changes are needed take place in lockstep with developments in AI. If the critics are right, any change is likely to be minimal for the next few decades, so we lose nothing.

An ability to artificially make humans smarter would, however, likely be one that came at a hefty price and thus could only be afforded by the well off

I can see where you're going with this but disagree. For decades we've had steroids that can make us stronger, and plastic surgery that can make us more attractive. Neither is particularly expensive anymore nor are they the preserve of the rich.

you would end up with a much bigger divide than we have now, where some people, due to family wealth, simply had more potential for intelligence then poorer people

We already have that now. Wealthier people can privately educate their children or buy houses close to better schools to increase the educational potential of their children. The rich can pay for private tutors or private schooling, whichever they feel gives their offspring the best chances.

The best university placements and highest paid jobs would go to those people, perpetuating the cycle.

I was the first generation of my family to attend university. I may have only managed grades to gain entry to a regional seat of learning rather than oxbridge or Durham, but graduating gave me opportunities to move my family up the wealth scale a notch or two.

My children will as a result be able to attend a better school than I did, and hopefully gain entry to a more prestigeous university. Assuming they are in any way academic, otherwise I can help them train for a trade and setup in business after a few years as an employee.

Parents with an interest in their children, regardless of fiscal attainment, will always find ways to improve their potential intelligence within their physical limits. To me, the original poster seemed to find ethical dilemma not in that, but in tweaking (scientifically or artificially) a persons maximum capacity for intelligence. I still see nothing wrong with that, and would expect it to drop quickly in price such that all can afford it. I'd certainly see value in it.

Genetics must surely play a part in IQ, more so than money in my view. Wayne Rooney is not smarter than I, and I'd bet every penny I have that his children won't be smarter than mine.

Re: A happy AI

Automation is great when there is a shortage of labour, but not so much when there isn't. AI could be used to replace a lot of low to medium paid jobs, but the you have to have all those people do something.

I tend to agree, but remain unconvinced.

Once people are not required for economic growth, why do you 'need' the people at all? Would we not be forced to curtail child related benefits to reduce the idle population? Perhaps even a one child per couple policy.

Obviously, not all child benefit recipients and their offspring are idle, that would be silly, for now. In future we may all be idle. Think of a possible future where we simply need fewer people. If society struggles to find meaningful roles for the population level it has, the logical solution becomes to reduce the population level going forwards. China's one child policy certainly produced some... unethical outcomes, due to the preference for having sons over daughters.

Alternatively, we could free ourselves from the very concept of work, and with machines to cater for our actual needs, we could use our time to pursue a more educated, artistic, hopeful future. I'd certainly like more time to spend with family and time to pursue a whole range of study I'll probably not have time for due to work and commuting taking up most of my time.

the man's a genius, I'd at least be open minded and ponder the things he says.

I agree with this. His ability to apply critical thought to complex data and algorithms sort of implies he's probably considered his opinion more than the average commentard.

is it sentient AI that you have a problem with, or the notion that sentient AI could eventually have IQ's well in excess or our own

There seems to me less point in building AI's if we're going to cap them at the human average of 100 IQ points. Surely they're striving for more?

I'm all for making smart AI's so long as we're all comfortable boosting our own intelligence. Yet another ethical minefield of a conversation.

Sorry, you've lost me here. Assuming it could be done without any health issues, why wouldn't people want to boost their intelligence? What would be the downside that makes it possibly unethical? I'd certainly value another 100 IQ points..... if only because I'm sick of my dog beating me at chess.

Is EU right to expand 'right to be forgotten' to Google.com?

Re: Where the browser is ...

I do sometimes wonder if anyone in the EU understands either law making or technology.

Here we seemingly have the situation that "Where the browser is" determines where the data it renders is legally published. Yet, on the other hand, large corporates skirt around the EU safe harbour regulations by having most of India process peoples data using virtual machines running on servers within the EU. Surely one view contradicts the other? Either it is where material is hosted that determines jurisdiction, or it is where material is viewed - at the present we have a logical fallacy.

I once got my head stuck in railings and the press had a field day, but it was fifteen years ago and it shouldn't be the first thing that appears when everyone Googles me

Why? What other noteworthy thing have you done that better deserves to come first?

Did you not get your head stuck? Is it not part of your history? Are you sure that rewriting or otherwise censoring history is a good idea, merely because you find it convenient just now?

Things happen; Learn from them and move on. You've no right to demand the rest of us forget something simply because you would prefer that we did.

Bloke, 36, in the cooler for leaking ex's topless pics on Facebook

Re: Good, good

How do we know the photo subject wasn't the one getting revenge by privately agreeing to the photo upload and then denying it afterwards?

I'd imagine, in cases such as that, the person would remove the posting where possible at the first time of asking. I also expect that the first time that line of defence is tried in court, without any other aggravating factors, that the jury will find the defendant not guilty and further cases will be unlikely to be tried.

Alternatively of course, the next time a girl actually says to you "Here's a naked picture of me, please spread it over as much of the internet as you feel able", you can defend yourself by asking her to send you an email/text or post the picture herself. It's not difficult.

I think in many cases though the ass hats uploading the pictures admit to it when challenged by police.

I'd imagine they either admit to it, or simply never stopped to take precautions before posting it.

Fingerprints have been used in criminal investigations for over a hundred years and still so many criminals don't bother to wear gloves when committing crime. Donning a pair of gloves requires minimal intelligence or planning, effectively hiding your identity from law enforcement while posting surely requires a few extra IQ points?

Paris because some recreational video sites indicate she too may not always take precautions. Allegedly.

Orion: To Mars, the Moon and beyond... but first, a test flight through Van Allen belt

And there, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the proof that they never went to the moon.

If they are trying to figure out how to get astronauts through the VARB then it is because they have never done it before.

That thought occurred to me too, very quickly followed by its dismissal. We know how to make a car go through the sound barrier, for a very short time... but what if I redesign it to do so for 2 hours? Would you drive/pilot it without further testing just because Thrust SSC had previously been past the sound barrier?

We know how to make planes fly, but we still stuff test pilots in each new design before we go full retard with long distance passenger flights.

NASA have to test the new design as though it was the first time they tested it.... because it is. The moon and mars are two very different propositions.

FBI warns of disk NUKE malware after Sony Pictures megahack

This poor choice of OS could quite possibly send even a large business to the wall.

The problem isn't the OS its the corporate shennanigans that go with configuring it. My home Windows boxes have never had an issue with intrusion, malware, or viruses, because they are properly configured and maintained. My works PC takes those decisions out of my hands and turns them over to a comittee of admins.

The OS that comittee configures is less relevant to how secure I'll be at work, than their ability to correctly balance the intrusion risk vs productivity equation. It's not wholly their fault either, given they have one security policy that has to work for skilled developers all the way down to a 17 year old PA working her first proper computer (having only ever used an iPad before).

Windows and Linux have both had rather too many security breaches and complications this past two years for any stack to be slinging brickbats at the other.

The mud slinging should be reserved for use against the proposed anti-hacking laws that could see anyone doing anything slightly dubious locked up for rather longer than violent criminals. I mean, it's not like you can use those laws against the Norks, their being the nuclear part of the axis of evil n all. I'm not saying hacking into corporate networls should be a free pass, but leaving without damaging or stealing anything hardly warrants jail time - especially if you're willing to co-operate with the targets admins to fix their vulnerability.

Sony Pictures hires Mandiant, asks FBI for help after massive cyber attack

So what was the 4th film?

Hackers II

Don't you just love cost savings...

Sony execs could best spend the Christmas period reflecting not on how much IT costs their business, but upon how much they have cost their business by trying to cut costs in IT.

Efficiency is good; everyone should strive for that. Just be aware that the same reasons you don't send your wife/mistress/gf to a cheap plastic surgeon are the same reasons you shouldn't be trying to do IT on the cheap. Cut price oncologist anyone?

UK national mobile roaming: A stupid idea that'll never work

Voda must be joking!

"There's also too many restrictions here that landlords can apply, so the solution would be to declare us [the mobile telecoms industry] a critical infrastructure, allowing us to put up whatever."

Sorry Vinny, but there's a reason that despite owning a mobile for 20 years, I've been a vodafone cutomer for just 2 hours of it. And no, it wasn't an issue of dealing only with low level grunts, because I contacted you directly and you too were useless.

The idea that you should be allowed to "put up whatever" is a total nonstarter until you can get a grip on your company such that it can provide even rudimentary service to the paying public.

Until my train to work is critical infrastructure (and that means no strikes), there's a lengthy queue ahead of my mobile provider for that partciular designation. Worst case is I live without my phone for a few days.... which, funilly enough, is what happened when I ported my number to your network and due to the inability of your staff, I was left with a non-functioning number for 7 days. It's also how I lived the first 20 years of my life and nobody died! You're just not that important.

Get your staff working on the move: Develop that app for mobile

Life in large comapnies can be stale. The chance of me getting to write commercial mobile apps is limited to say the least.

While the article has some.... deficiencies, pointed out by other posters, it has got me wondering how strong the market is for someone that can code across the 2.5 main OSes, and if that might be a decent way to diversify skills-wise.

Amazon DROPS next day delivery amid Cyber Monday MADNESS

Re: never used Amazon

Don't like contributing to any slave labour regime really, partiicularly U.S. ones.

The thread is about commerce, asshat, not politics. Please go moan about the unfairness of capitalism over on the Guardian. Or Mumsnet.

Kim Dotcom Dotcan remain on bail, despite Fed protests

Hmmmmm

I'm not sure anyone previously worth USD 10M ever really goes broke, at least not broke as in how I think of as broke.

Musicians sue UK.gov over 'zero pay' copyright fix

Re: Makes sense

"Here we are talking about charging twice."

You might be - nobody else is.

I've bought "Bat outta hell" by Meatloaf on vinyl, cassette and CD. How many more formats is it reasonable for Mr Loaf to expect me to buy before we both just accept that I've paid him enough for the music?

I should be allowed to create backup copies and change formats as best fits my needs. Piracy means the aritst doesn't get paid, but backups and format changes mean they do get paid, but only once - which in a neat little bout of cosmic justice, is how many times they put the work into producing it.

The gender imbalance in IT is real, ongoing and ridiculous

Re: The author is the problem, not the industry

I think I disagreed with you once. I was probably right but I take it back anyway.

Hope you don't mind but I've printed and laminated that.

Re: Argument is fundamentally misguided

Maybe instead of trying to pull girls down into our social strata, we should be trying to figure out how to get into theirs.

It wasn't their social strata I spent my youth trying to get into, but I take your point.

Lord knows as soon as I tell anybody at a party that I'm in IT, they stop talking to me almost immediately (which is why I stopped telling people years ago).

I figured out a long time ago that's a great way to disperse a crowd. Nowadays I just tell people I'm Johnny Vegas body double in most of his shows. Seems to work ok, with the added bonus that nobody whips out an iDroid phablet and asks me to fix it for them.

@Jagged well then you are a fool because currently IT has a shortage of skilled workers and demand is very high. It is one of the few professions that completely bucked the recession.

The idea that IT bucked the recession in the UK is frankly laughable. I know so many people that lost their jobs, and many many more that haven't seen a payrise in 5 years. Good people, not just those making up numbers.

I am currently discouraging my son from having a career anything to do with IT as there are too many people going for too few under valued jobs.

Yes, due to the wholesale offshoring of jobs in an industry the government very much pushed generation X to move into, I will be doing something similar. I'll teach my children technology, coding etc, but I won't be encouraging them to follow me into the field. I'd rather they became vets or doctors - something that can't be outsourced.

If the government are still serious about the T part of stem, then they need to take a lead here. If you allow all the jobs to be offshored or flood the market with imports, and you very much are doing both of those, then nobody will view IT as a serious option. If little Timmy or Sarah see daddy struggling for work by the time he's 50, despite having solid technical skills, the message that will send is not "IT is a good career option".

Ageism and offshoring. These are the biggest issues facing IT not gender discrimination.

The author is the problem, not the industry

Oh dear. The whole article starts with a flawed premise, then spends the rest of its time spinning any data that could conceivably back it up.

And not just male-dominated, but something just on this side of misogynistic.

Speak for yourself. My female colleagues have always been subjected to the same respect or derision as my male colleagues based solely upon their skills and quality of output.

In 1983’s War Games, Matthew Broderick hacks into WOPR while Ally Sheedy looks on in wonder. That’s Hollywood telling women they don’t have a meaningful role in IT.

No, it’s Hollywood telling you her character doesn’t have a role in IT. She’s not in the military either, so does that suggest to you that Hollywood thinks women shouldn’t enlist? Do you presume that since McKittrick is also not a hacker that Hollywood is telling men that their careers in computing should end before 40? That’s actually a far bigger real world problem than the gender issue, but amazingly gets almost no press time.

leads to a defensive claim: “I’d hire more women - but so few apply.”

So few apply because the discrimination against women in IT is systemic, pervasive, and (insofar as we can put a pin down) begins in secondary school.

Utter rubbish I’m afraid. So few maintain an interest in technology or desire a career in IT. Do you perceive the lack of male teachers at primary school a problem? So few men teach that age because they aren’t interested in doing so, not because they can’t land a job due to the possession of a penis.

It’s up to us to fix this. If, like me, you’re in your 40s or 50s, you grew up with microcomputers and into an exclusively male culture of IT. Now we control the levers of power, and if we want to ensure that our daughters and granddaughters have the same opportunities we have enjoyed, we need to begin changing things – today.

Yep, I am and I did. And yes, I do want that too. Things have already changed. You’re fighting an imagined battle from your youth that simply doesn’t exist any longer, if it ever did. Some of the best techies I know are women and that’s been a constant throughout my career. So are some of the worst. Same as us men really.

We already have the situation of major employers insisting on greater representation of women in senior posts, which when you think it through, has got to lead to some women being promoted because of their gender as opposed to their talents, while simultaneously holding some men back because of their gender and not their talents, which has got to be wrong. Roles should go to the best person to do them – black or white, male or female, gay or straight – it shouldn’t matter. It’s never mattered to me when I hire people.

So have a look around your office. Seeing mostly men? Then you’re the problem.

It’d be awfully convenient for your flawed hypothesis for that to be the case, but I’m not the problem. Never in my whole career have I refused to interview someone because of their gender, and I certainly haven’t passed over the best candidate because they had breasts. If you have, you’re an idiot, and you should seek help. Don’t defray your guilt by pretending that we all have a problem.

Most women don’t want to surround themselves with furry toothed sandal wearing unix geeks. That image, which has always been a dated and invalid stereotype, is what puts many people, both men and women, off a career in IT. The industry needs better PR not positive discrimination, which is as always, just discrimination. War games showed people that computers could be interesting. The Matrix made them cool. The reality of life in IT is poles apart from what youngsters think it is – I’ve never seen socks & sandals in the office, but equally, we’re not all app millionaires – and until the industry has a more realistic focus on PR, little will change.

Hacker dodges FOUR HUNDRED YEARS in cooler for SCANNING sites

Re: Too subtle for me.

Would you brush off an incident where someone was outside your house for a few days trying all the door and windows, then sitting at the front door and trying 1000s of keys in the lock to see which one worked?

No, I'd not brush it off, but I'd not expect the guy to be facing 440 years in jail at any stage of proceedings. Would you?

New job in 2015? The Reg guide to getting out and moving on

For the record, when I'm hiring, I establish a fixed criteria beforehand and I do keep notes on everyone I reject, in case they ask. It's professional courtesy.

I work for a large enough corporate that you'd have heard of it. We're specifically forbidden from taking written notes on candidates due to their being entitled to demand those notes via DPA S7 requests.

I'd genuinely love to provide written feedback to every CV I review or interview I conduct, but I don't have the time professsionally - I see hundreds a year. I'd make the time personally, particularly where obvious effort has gone into a CV but it still needs simple changes to make it work better, but I'm forbidden from doing that by my employer. It's not that they're a bad company or place no value on those rejected at various stages, it's just that they're afraid of lawyers.

Snowden doc leak lists submarine'd cables tapped by spooks

All this surveillance, and they still want Facebook to notify them when they shut an account for terrorism.

Well, yes. It avoids the whole Coventry situation if FB just declare it upfront.

Re: Bullet

Put a bullet in the little traitor.

While I don't agree with what Snowden did, or at least with how he did it, to suggest that he deserves to die for it is outrageous.

Looking objectively at what has changed since his revelations, you'd have to say very little has truly changed. He confirmed that spy agencies were doing what I think most people had assumed they were doing anyway: it's why they're called spy agencies. It hasn't resulted in a cultural shift, and it hasn't resulted in any heads rolling. Very little seems to have changed.

To affect that small level of change, I'm not sure Snowden needed to give away quite as much information as he did, though obviously, he had no way of knowing in advance what the impact of his leaks would actually be other than greater awareness. That, Ian, is most definitely not deserving of a bullet.

Re: Bullet

In that case, he's in even more danger from America's enemies

Chances are good he simply dumped everything he had into the groans lap and moved on with his life. There's no value in America killing him if it can't prevent further leaks, or in their enemies doing so if that won't cause more leaks.

I think it incredibly unlikely any state wants to kill Snowden; He'd be at greater risk from a lone nutter. That being said, Ed probably shouldn't be planning any holidays out of Russia for the rest of his days, because I'd imagine the US would want to extradite him for trial.

South Londoner wins Reddit MILLIONAIRE not-a-lottery lottery

Re: Do not give money

So he can join all the other annoying dicks on the water? Clueless!

Easy on the jealousy there Meg. He's already suggested some of it will be going to childrens charities. Doubtless if whoever it is that won gave all the money away to charity, you'd still be calling them names if they wrote and sold a book about doing it.

Bank of England: What's all this then, CHAPS? Review to get a grip on IT cockup

CHAPS is a 30-year-old system

I'll take a wild guess that some or all of the system has been outsourced or offshored, and that ultimately this is the cause of the outage. In the unlikely event it isn't that, then it's probably still running on whatever hardware it was originally installed on, because nobody really understands it anymore, and something finally failed.

Here's a clue corporates - comuters and programs are not like buildings. You can't use them until they fall apart, you can only use them for as long as skills and experience are available in the market.

And the award for the world's most tech-savvy country goes to …

Tillykke Danmark!

Enhver chance for en bevilling til at studere forholdet mellem blonde kvinder og IT?

Two driverless cars stuffed with passengers are ABOUT TO CRASH - who should take the hit?

Re: collision detection systems can't currently see around corners

It is easy - car slows down to a speed where it knows it can stop within half the distance it can see, unlike human drivers the computer won't get impatient and start taking risks if that is 5mph.

Yes, the Golden Rule. So simple, so guaranteed, and yet so many people seem utterly incapable of following it.

The sooner we have driverless cars, the sooner we can make the driving test properly hard. Can't pass? Ok, buy yourself a JohnnyCab or take the bus.

Re: Ethics vary from one culture to another

I believe we shouldn't base this on gender, age, job... a person is a person.

I'm sure you knew someone would disagree with this, so, allow me....

An 80 year old can't be considered worth the same in human terms as a child or 20 something. One has had most of their life, the other barely started. The minimum possible amount of harm would have to reflect the number of years of life lost as well as the number of people.

It could be one car would sacrifice himself.

Mine won't be making that choice. If/when these hit the road, I'll be reprogramming mine to maximise my childs survival chances, and I won't be alone in this. If the other guys car decides to go off the cliff, so be it, but I'd never allow something I own (or can exert control over) to wipe out my family because it suited someone elses ethical view. I think it would be such a common position, in fact, that both vehicles would be programmed from the factory to have the accident - as would happen with humans driving anyway.

Assange™ slumps back on Ecuador's sofa after detention appeal binned

Re: dan1980

Why? BECAUSE HE'S NOT GOING TO LEAVE THE FUCKING ECUADORIAN EMBASSY!!!

Firstly, I can't imagine why you would begin to think that would cause Sweden any problems. And secondly, he will leave eventually. Even Assange is smart enough to figure out that once his legal wrangling is complete and the interview and extradition still stands, he either lives & dies on the couch, or he comes out to face the music.

HE IS NOT LEAVING. You can say WHATEVER you want but he is NOT LEAVING..

See above. The UK will run up significant charges for policing the situation, but quite why anyone else would have any issue at all if Assange chooses to grow old on the Ecuadorian couch is beyond me. His rights certainly aren't being violated and he is free to leave at any time.

Fleeing incarceration by incarcerating yourself is the logic of an idiot.

are you really telling me that the best thing they can do is insist on a course of action that they have all the reason in the world to believe will be utterly ineffective?

Time is on their side. Best case for Assange and there is some statue of limitations on the case, he still faces immediate incarceration in the UK for crimes committed here, and we still have that extradition treaty with the USA. He will eventually understand that he isn't achieving anything.

You let me know when that changes the equation as it stands now. He is holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy and he is not going to Sweden to answer questions.

Still missing the point. Nothing need change. The only ones suffering from the situation are Assange and his children. How long he chooses to make them suffer is up to him.

ETA: His victims would have wanted him imprisoned. Swedish jails are likely no worse than his current conditions, in which he is effectively incarcerated - he has no freedom. He's already served longer than he would have done had he been found guilty, with the added bonus that the charges will be waiting for him when he comes out. Even if he times them out, which will be a long time coming, he still faces jail in the UK for bail jumping and PCOJ, and he will then be extradited to America, should they actually request him.... and lets face it, he's not going to be given bail while he wastes 10 years fighting it, is he?

Re: "select markets"

Given - again - that extradition to Sweden is not a legally-necessary pre-condition for conducting a formal interview, this clearly raises questions as to the motives behind the insistence that he be extradited.

Dan, I think you may be missing the point. He was at large in the UK. We very much have an extradition treaty with the States and had they asked, he'd have been sent there for trial. He might have spun it into a lengthy leagal process, but one year or another, he'd have been on a plane.

His refusal to go to Sweden because he can be extradited simply doesn't hold water. He's in at least a greater danger in the UK and he always was. Skipping bail automatically makes him a criminal and will require his detention - that isn't in debate or doubt. If Sweden dropped the charges, and he left the embassy, we'd lock him up. America would have plenty of opportunity to request his presence, and unlike McKinnon, he really doesn't have a reason not to go.

So why hide from the charges? Potential answers include:

- He's guilty of rape.

- He gave one or both women an STD and is trying to hide the fact (I'm thinking one that doesn't go away as this is way more trouble than a little penicillin is worth)

- He's afraid America WON'T deport him, and that the world just won't care. "Erm, sorry kids, daddy's PR stunt sort of back fired and erm, sorry for missing out on half your lives to date".

Re: dan1980

why can't they question him in the UK?

Why should they? He (allegedly) committed an offence in Sweden, against Swedish nationals, before fleeing Sweden. Why should the prosecutors office send someone to follow him around the world while he attempts to subvert their justice system?

Assange isn't afraid that America might go to great lengths to have him deported and stuffed in a cell for all eternity next to Brad Manning. He's afraid they won't. He's afraid that he's simply not relevant anymore, if he ever was. Snowden, yes, he really is in hot water if he leaves hiding, but Assange? Why bother with him? He's made himself a credibility free joke.

The chances are good that he'll die a lonely old man, on Ecuadors couch, with nobody remembering his name. Manning got 35 years, right or wrong, that's what he got. Assange has already done 7% of that sofa surfing - his only problem is that it doesn't count.

Forget the climate: Fatties are a much bigger problem - study

Re: Time to start taxing these lard buckets

I'm for the "Logans Run" option

The irony being that the movie itself is a "runner" and was scheduled for deletion a long time back. Great movie though!

'Cleantech' a dirty word for VCs? RUBBISH!

Re: VCs have lost money in greentech

Some VC funds have gone big on greentech, and have lost lots of money for investors. Others have made modest investments so their losses in greentech are absorbed by gains elsewhere.

I too invested in green tech back in 200x. I've not really lost money, but despite the mahoosive subsidies being thrown at it, have just about broken even. I don't believe the IPCC and don't believe in global warming, but am perfectly happy to be wrong from time to time.

My central problem with taxing CO2 is that it doesn't work. Every remaining barrel of oil will be dug up and consumed as fast as possible, or as fast as the economy requires, until we find a better fuel. Taxing it heavily in one jurisdiction to reduce consumption simply subsidises its use in another due to falling market price. It could not be otherwise.

The UK has already endured 20 years of environmental taxes crippling our economy vs our competitors who don't have such taxes. Should old mrs miggins really be paying prohibitively high taxes to drive her sub 1L micra to the shops when all its doing is subsidising Joe Texan to mooch about the states in a 5L V8?

A unified global rate of taxation is politically impossible to achieve. If we want to reduce or hold steady CO2 levels, then we need to invest in carbon capture, sustainable forrestry [with burrial of the wood produced], and nuclear power to replace coal and gas fired power stations. As I said, I don't believe in AGW, so I'm fine if we do nothing, but surely those who do believe in it should want to do something that works, rather than persisting with something that hasn't?

LIFE, JIM? Comet probot lander found 'ORGANICS' on far-off iceball

If...

If you take the view that Earth is the only place life exists, and if you also take the view that the planet is eventually doomed due to the sun expiring or a big meteor hit…. Then doesn’t it start to seem logical to seed some other planets in other galaxies with microbial life from earth, using satellites as manmade comets to target planets potentially capable of sustaining life? Maybe it’s just me, but I think the universe would seem fairly pointless if everything is dead.

Of course, if you take that view then it's certainly possible to understand that life on earth may not be an accident and at the same time may not be the work of any supreme being.... just a scientific longshot by a long dead world.

GT sapphire glaziers: You signed WHAT deal with Apple?

Re: Been there, done that.

To put it simply, [the efficiency gain is] because the company accumulates people with years of experience and who know what they're doing. You know, the sort of people the MBAs are anxious to get rid of these days because they cost too much money?

Words to that effect should be mandatory reading on every MBA. The world would become a better place. And the MBA would become less of a laughing stock amongst... well, everyone who hasn't been duped into doing one.

Microsoft: It's TIME at LAST. Yes - .NET is going OPEN and X-PLATFORM

Re: So it works as well as Flash on OS/X ?

There's always been a fear that they will, purely from their track record.

I'm not sure there has. There's always been an accusation of fear, from Java developers mostly, but no actual fear. I've been hearing the same rumour professionally since sometime around version 2.0 and yet here we are, still more spend, more R&D, and a greater embedding in Microsofts own products.

Cross platforming this and making (some of) the toolset free will massively reset the market. Most companies that use Java use it because it's free not because it's the best framework.... it just costs nothing to use running on linux. Free is a powerful motivator for a start up.

Personally, I hope neither Java nor .Net become dominant, as competition between them will produce the best results for us all.

RBS's Ulster Bank whacked with enormous IT cock-up fine

Re: About £4.60 per customer affected

And for a 28 day period. That's a little over 16 pence per customer per day. In other words, nothing.

Until the size of the fines outweighs the cost savings from offshoring the jobs, then literally nothing will change.

My HOUSE used to be a PUB: How to save the UK high street

Re: "Crimbo" please don't!

I suspect if Jesus returned today, it would not be moneychangers in the temple that he'd take against. Bankers and big retailers more likely.

I personally think he'd start with healing the sick. Abolishing incapacity benefit would cure more than half the long term sick. The rest he'd actually have to heal.

Re: Tax Vacant Property the Highest!

All vacant property does is to bring down the value of neighboring buildings and attract breakins and vandalism. If it stays vacant after say 6 months, I say double the property taxes.

Please define vacant?

I'm asking because if you define it as utterly unoccupied for the whole time, then the landlord will simply stay over two nights a year to avoid the additional tax. If you set a lower threshold, you can have problems during renovations, or if the owner is hospitalised for a time, while still not preventing the landlord leaving it empty most of the time.

Vacant houses seem inefficient to me - they could be attracting rent, or sold to a buyer with the proceeds earning interest or dividends. I suspect we agree that unused housing seems wrong, though perhaps not for the same underlying reasons. That being said, is it not your right to buy what you will with your hard earned post tax money, and to leave it unused if you so wish? I'll freely admit to not thinking that balance through, which is why I asked the question. If we apply it to houses, what else should it apply to? Cars perhaps? Tools? Factory units? Does it apply to my spare box room?

I'm not trying to pick an argument, I'm just interested, and would like to better understand how far you'd extend your line of reasoning.

If only 0.006% care about BLOOD-SOAKED METAL ... why are we spending all this cash?

@AC

Let's be quite clear, fair trade has nothing to do with fairness and everything to do with moral posturing.

I'm not sure you're right about fair trade. Please explain why it is it is largely a negative as I'd like to better understand?

I might have misunderstood, but I thought it was about putting a flaw under the prices paid to those at the start of the commodity chain, even if that results (inevitably) in a higher price for the products end consumer - which, yes, may make it inferior quality to something available at the equivalent price. Isn't that considered a fair trade, for those with that ethical viewpoint? (there may be others)

Re: Would you care enough to pay more for ...

So now in the US they pay slaves, but just enough so that they can administer their own slave quarters.... This benefits other country-club attendees as well, landlords, utility providers, used car dealers, payday lenders, etc. It has the thin sheen of liberty, but there is absolutely no wiggle room, no one is going far from their quarters. And if they do, they'll spend it on another country clubber's enterprise, like a tavern.

If you don't see that being low paid has absolutely no equivalence with slavery, then either you're an idiot, or you're being misled by some idiots propaganda.

I've been low paid - far below minimum wage at a time before such a thing existed. I'm not now of course, because while I was once someones very low paid employee, I've never been anyones slave. The idea is highly offensive on a personal level, and its a big insult to all those that actually do endure slavery.

I was always free to take on more work, which I did. I was free to persue a better education, which I did. And I was free to move around the country, or even abroad, for better work. Again, that I did. I might not be in anyones country club, but I can certainly afford to buy a very nice tavern. I'm not the only formerly low paid person I know that could buy a tavern either.... perhaps we should start a pub chain?

Absent any laws preventing it, the only possible reason I'd buy a slave would be to set them free. I'd actively refuse any contact - personal, professional, or financial, with anyone who felt it proper to own another. I dearly hope the rest of the country would join me in that.

Rich techbro CEOs told to sleep rough before slamming the poor

Re: New depths of stupid plumbed by ... the above

They don't offer affordable housing. Especially not once the cost of transit is factored in.

And you think all those tens of thousands of people workingin retail in SF earning about 30,00 USD are what? All homeless? All living at home with mum? Don't be so stupid. You took a short sighted positiont hat was readily demonstratable as utter bollocks and you got called out on it. Grow the fuck up and stop trying to pretend black is white.

What well staffed coffee shops, bars and newsagents? As a general rule, they struggle to find staff they can afford and regularly go out of business.

No staff == no business. Amazingly, there's plenty of business going on, so from that you can draw the only logical conclusion, that they have staff. Given their average rate of pay, it must be perfectly possible to live and work in the bay area on a lot less than you think it is. Perhaps that is because you're from the "right on" section of the entitled fuckbag community, no?

The average bay area retail wage is higher - much higher - than 30K. Yes, it's about 33k. Google is your friend here, so do some research before spouting off again.

I'm an idiot

Yes, you are. Unreservedly so, and seemingly proud of it. May I ask whom it was dressed you for work today?

Re: New depths of stupid plumbed by ... the above

Bus from fucking where, you entitled prick? There's no place in the bay area that has affordable housing. There's no place for them to go, and commute from.

Look at a map bellend. See much affordability near Mayfair?

No place near the bay area that has affordable housing? Oakland doesn't exist then? Santa Clara a blank spot for you? Sacramento not a place anymore? Hell, within 50 miles you can get as far out as San Jose.... which is the mayfair equaivalent of commuting from Luton to Mayfair. Not unreasonable - I know because that is my daily commute.

And if you make less than $60K/year you won't find anything to live in. Not even a fucking closet with a bathroom shared with 7 other tenements.

The well staffed coffee shops, bars, newsagents all disagree with you. Just because you feel entitled to better than you can afford does not mean you can't afford to live in the bay area. Grow the fuck up and stop having a tantrum.

Funny, everything you write positively drips of victim blaming. It's their fault, they're lazy, if only there were more like you...etc.

Me?! You're the one desperate to create victims and blame everyone for their misfortune. 60,000 USD is not the earnings of a lazy man. Nor does it mean you can't afford to live in the bay area. The average salary in retail is less than half that amount, and quelle suprise, they all have a place to live!

You're a bad person.

And you're an idiot, with no knowledge of finance. Hopefully you don't actually do anything with computers, because you wouldn't be safe with them. Better for us all if you stick to drawing pictures in powerpoint.

Re: New depths of stupid plumbed by ... the above

*yawn*

There are plenty of people in the SF bay area that have jobs and cannot find a place to live.

There's plenty of people have jobs in Mayfair that can't afford to live there. Most of them in fact. What they do, and I realise this concept will fill you with horror, is they get a bus between where they work and where they can afford to live. You'll find that more than half the people working in the City do the same: I am one of them, because I too cannot afford to live in Mayfair, Hampstead, Wapping etc. So blow that "out your ass: you know not of what you speak."

I have, and sock and fucking horror they aren't stupid, drug addicted or any of the other things we ascribe to people down on their luck.

There's no we. You may ascribe those things to people down on their luck, but that's a you issue, I certainly don't agree with you. You're coming across as a sanctimonious bellend. You should work on that.