@AC
I think you meant "Schiebt Euch Eure..."
Well if you're gonna be clever...
(Dons flame-proof vest)
Posts by Matt
16 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Jul 2007
Microsoft hit with €9m fine over German pricing
Irish cops tripped up by Prawo Jazdy dragnet
Thursday 19th February 2009 14:12 GMT
Commentard Cliché alert!
I hesitate to say it but: FAIL
The top of my (UK) driving licence bears the words....Driving Licence
My Surname and name are listed underneath, next to my at-the-time-pimply-17-year-old mugshot.
I thought the whole point of these EU driving licences was that they were all the same format, so couldn't be confuddled. Come on Garda, wake up!
Off-topic I know, but my Swedish friend has been refused entry to clubs when visiting me in Cardiff, because the bouncers couldn't fathom her Swedish driving licence - which again is in the same format as the UK ones...Honestly, ex-rock-ape bouncers I can forgive, but trained Police Officers?
What's the world coming to, we're going to hell in a handcart...etc, etc. Mine's the one with a copy of the Daily Mail in the pocket.
Scotland Mountain Rescue turns on Ofcom
Sunday 12th October 2008 12:55 GMT 
For the record
Guys....
It's worth pointing out that RNLI have actually refused government funding, precisely because they don't want to be subject to government targets and other civil service bullshit.
The 156 MHz referred to in the article is known to yachties as channel 0, which is illegal to listen to in UK waters, and is used by RNLI, the coastguard, RAF and RN air sea rescue to dicsuss 'sensitive' matters (e.g. can we have a body bag for the deceased). Why should the RNLI even have to pay for use of this part of this spectrum - they don't use it excusively. FFS Ofcom, tune into sanity FM!
iPhone auto-correct puts Euro tongues out of joint
Thursday 18th September 2008 14:06 GMT
@Ac
The Swiss, being a polyglot bunch, have taken to adopting French and English words in Swiss German where the High German speakers would use a German word. E.g. "Das Fahrrad" becomes "ds Velo", as well as apparently English phrases ('handy', 'foode') -which a normal German dictionary won't recognise.
Also, many national and multi-national Swiss companies, rather than attempt to deal with four national languages adopt English as their lingua franca on their IT systems, but the staff will, amongst themselves, communicate in their native tongue.
No wonder the Swiss are being driven crazy by the Jesus phone if that's the extent of the language options. I would consider the ability to turn off the recognition within the confines of the text message screen vital were I a busy Swiss new-medja-type with a Jesus phone.
Then you get flash git-ettes like my sister, who will send me a text in Swiss German, then, to re-inforce the point, switch to English half way through.
Coat. Tuer.
Yes! It's the Knight Rider satnav!
Geordie cops arrest two for Wi-Fi squatting
Thursday 21st February 2008 22:30 GMT 
And I thought the Reg was read by IT pros....
@the other Steve
Thank you! You've saved me typing the exact same thing. It's an offence to connect to a network which you don't have explicit permission to connect to. End of. What about the wireless telegraphy act, doesn't that have some bearing on this case too?
As for the Police setting their own priorities -part of the problem with UK policing is that increasingly government does NOT trust them to use their judgement (not that doing 65mph on a deserted 50mph-limit dual carriageway at 2am should ever be a priority but I digress!)
@James Hunter
No, no, no, no again. Read the other Steve's post. Most protocols feature some form of 'handshake' - at whatever layer, be it DHCP, HTTP, FTP, whatever. If you handshake and/OR fool it into handshaking with you when you're not allowed/don't have permission to then as I read it you are breaking the CMA. Just because the computer has given you permission doesn't make it OK until its owner has done so.
I, as a non-IT professional welcome this because I'm sick and tired of friends/relatives leaving their routers wide open and thus leaving themselves open to all sorts of kiddie porn/warez/bittorrents flying across their connection (Even if only by next door's spotty teenager). If I can 'scare' my more IT-illiterate chums into turning on their WPA(or asking me to do it) by saying "People have been arrested for this you know", then so much the better...
@Nestor Fylaktos
Just keep in mind that the POP email protocol sends your email password across the net in plain text...
@cor
Don't forget ping is short for Packet INternet Groper - it can be used as hacking tool - remember the ping of death attacks. Many public facing computers have ping response turned off for that reason, even if it is useful for fault finding. But also, I don't think anyone has been prosecuted anywhere for pinging a computer
Also, as far as I'm aware, there's no such concept of 'entrapment' in English law - it's an Americanism. There's incitement to commit a crime, there's something called agent provocateur , maybe a legal bod could set us right?
Ban booze in supermarkets, says health adviser
Thursday 21st February 2008 00:00 GMT 
Not enough angry ranting
Lemme make a few predictions here:
1) Price of booze will be put up by British retailers, whether offie, pub or 'liquor store'. This is rip-off Britain.
2) Sheeple of Britain will accept it as 'the right thing to do'
3) Cue introduction of 'alcohol duty escalator' - forget 1-2p/pint price hikes every Budget, we're talking 20-40p here
4) Repeat 1-3 ad nauseum
I'm not sure who is the worst at serving underage kids with Booze - Offies or supermarkets - but like previous posters I've seen 45yr-olds being IDed in ASDA. Booze IS expensive in this country - and not just in pubs. Ironically it's ONLY the vile White lightening teenager fuel that is reasonably priced. More than enough laws do exist in this country to curb anti-social behaviour and the like - the only possible additional law needed is a "Make parents criminally responsible for their underage kids Bill" - almost unenforceable but that rarely seems to be a consideration these days!
FFS why are arseholes like this guy given the oxygen of publicity (or even just plain oxygen...), if he looked at the evidence from all over the world he'd notice that:
a) State run stores don't curb alcoholism, they're just cash-cows for the government
b) Ever harsher laws with respect to alcohol tend to move the problem around, states with laxer laws tend have less problems because they tend to foster sensible drinking
c) If he or anyone else thinks that Europe with its so-called café culture doesn't have problems with underage drinking, drunks and alcohol-related violence clearly needs to wake up and smell the puke. In the UK we tend not to have too many Alcohol fuelled Neo-Nazis roaming the city-centre. Ok, so extreme example, but you get the picture (Personal experience from Switzerland since you ask...)
US man threatens TV repairman with shotgun
US-Iranian naval clash: Radio trolls probably to blame
Polish teen derails tram after hacking train network
Saturday 12th January 2008 14:06 GMT 
@Jergosh
My bad - though in fairness I've found the 'w'/Łó is hard to hear to someone used to Germanic languages (English, French, German), as opposed Slavic ones.
Loved the city, by the way (not necessarily the architecture! ;-) ). Was impressed that the road and tram network is being modernised at the time, meaning that although you guys are suffering traffic chaos at the moment, at least you'll get the pain over in one big hit. No-way could any city authority in the UK ever be that coordinated!
@Mitch
I grew up near Bern in Switzerland. On the 'inter-urban' routes (I.e. where the tram runs on dedicated tracks, not on a tracks in the road surface), they regularly hit 80km/h (50mph)- just don't hit the emergency stop (as some 14 yr olds are apt to do...) or the last thing to go through your head will be your arse!
Paris Hilton icon 'cos the girls in Łódź are far cuter....
Friday 11th January 2008 23:04 GMT
@all those 'kid today, in my day....' moaners
To all those of you saying: "The kid should be tied to a train track and then shot" & "in my day..." , my missus comes from Łódź (pronounced "ooch", as in "hooch") and from what she tells me the police there are definitely of the "Don't f**k with me if you value your knee-caps" variety.
When I was over there in November the tram drivers all drove like nutters and left the braking very late - more than once I saw a tram nearly rear-end another at a stop!
Remember points (or 'turnouts' for our colonial cousins) have a max speed at which they can be negotiated. Attempt to take one too fast and you_will_leave the track!
The coat with the mittens on a bit of string is mine...thank you
The Electric Car Conspiracy ... that never was
Wednesday 2nd January 2008 06:57 GMT
@ Roland
@ Roland:
"Check the calculations please" - May I politely suggest you do so too? Neil Robertson was talking about UK Gallons, which are larger than US Gallons (4.54L vs 3.78L), giving far higher MPG figures. It's an elementary mistake that even respectable motoring journals make (In the UK, the BBC's "Top Gear"* committed a US/UK Gallon howler a few weeks ago).
E.g. the said 25 MPG for your car would equate to 30.0 MPG in the UK.
His 50 MPG Volvo would return 41.6 MPG were he to fill up in the US.
(I suspect Neil has a diesel Volvo, which gives a better MPG than a similar-sized petrol engine).
As for different driving conditions in the US: An old girlfriend's parents lived in the middle of rural Wales. Pothole heaven, very rarely was the road gritted and a 40 Mile round-trip to the store was not uncommon. In order to get to work, her dad needed a something with a powerful engine, and lots of lovely ground clearance. Wales may fit several times over in one county in the US, but the driving conditions in the more rural parts of the UK aren't that dissimilar.
One thing that does contribute to the fuel economy of 'European' cars, however, is what you guys in the US call 'stick shift'. Before you all flame me, yes, theoretically automatic transmission should be easier on the fuel consumption. But it isn't because it encourages late braking and harsh acceleration/deceleration, and of course you are permanently using the engine to brake (Engine braking is a useful technique, as practised by Police response drivers, but boy does hit the fuel bill hard). Whenever I visit the US, I notice how late drivers tend to leave slowing down, e.g. before a stop/traffic light, compared with the way European drivers have to move down through the gears and gently bring themselves to a stop.
Also, as mentioned, in Europe we drive Diesels a lot, which are generally more efficient (converting fuel stored in tank to useful output at the crank) than their petrol brethren, despite the increased weight. Another reason for this is the fact that diesel fuel is cheaper than petrol (Except in the UK, due to lack of refinery capacity. Bastards!).
@Don Mitchell
"If you really cared about efficiency, you would focus on turning fuel into mechanical energy directly and more efficiently. For example, the use of a turbine engine instead of a piston engine." They tried this. Unfortunately, turbine engines have a power/rev curve that make them totally unsuitable for use in a car. They like high revs and don't like heavy, moving off from the lights pulling a trailer, kind of loads. Don't get me wrong, a turbine-powered car nearly won Le Mans in 1965, but their power curve keeps them more suited to helicopters rather than cars. Now a hybrid powered by a turbine, that's a different proposition...
Right, geek-out over. That coat with the mittens on a bit of string's mine...
*Cue flame war on whether Clarkson, Hammond et al constitute a 'respectable motoring journal'.
Smurf gives Paris Hilton a mouthful
Wednesday 19th December 2007 23:16 GMT
Shameless Family Reference Part 2
I think the 2 dwar....er, sorry, little people missed out on a trick here. If only Grouchy had kept his cool, he could have got her number:
Smurf1: Hey heard you hate a date with that Paris Hilton chick last night!
Smurf2: Yea, man, she was un-smurfing-believable!
S1: Did you smurf her?
S2: All smurfing night!
S1: No smurfing way!
S2: She was un-smurfing-believable!
S1: Did she...<pointing motion>
S2: Oh yea!
S1: You mean she?
S2: Yea man! She took it up the smurf!!
I'll get me coat.
El Reg deploys (extra) comment icons
Motorbike crash man fails to notice loss of leg
Facebook buys Firefox startup
Monday 23rd July 2007 13:57 GMT
Friends?
Anyone who uses Facebook for business purposes needs their head examining - it looks about as professional as my spelling!
Whether or not AlfieGoodrich is a billy-no-mates ain't the issue - Stalkboo... sorry, Facebook only works if you add people you know IRL - it's not a place to meet people online, more a means of keeping in touch with friends old and new.
And yes, some people, especially university students, use it to organise their social life* to such an extent that they no longer bother with, say, text messages (SMS to you continentals) - they're sooo 2002!
As for groups -nobody contributes to them - they're for joining and that's it. The exception to this rule is the (now sadly deceased) 'Boob Appreciation Society' (Possibly after complaints from German bus drivers).
*E.g. "Party in the Engineering block, bring beer. And girls." Well, they are engineers - they can hope. Or was that just my uni days?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
