* Posts by Keith T

617 publicly visible posts • joined 31 Jan 2007

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Google Oompa-Loompas dream of virus-free OS

Keith T
Troll

Sales people dreams. Are these guys qualified?

What about trojans?

What about the software that will run under the OS?

The only OS's that are invulnerable to viruses are ones so primitive they only accept programs via toggle switch on the CPU face.

Met warns officers off photographers

Keith T

A good start, but ...

as John Dee says, shouldn't there now be a fair few prosecutions for unlawful arrest, harassment, assault, destruction of property, etc against various members of the constabulary?

Easter Island dirt may hold key to longer life

Keith T
Headmaster

It is pretty easy to extend the life of mice.

Animals that only live a couple of years aren't fine tuned for longevity. They are tuned for reproduction, hiding, hunting, ability to eat rotten food, etc., but not longevity.

It is much easier to extend their life expectancy.

You can reduce the temperature of their living environment, or vastly restrict the calories in their diet, cut this or that out of their diet. There are many blind stabs in the dark that will extend their life spans.

It is not so easy with animals like humans that are already tuned for longevity.

Shell issues 12% pay cut ultimatum to IT contractors

Keith T
Paris Hilton

There isn't an IT union because we're chicken

OG NP, there isn't a union or union-like (BMA) type association because we're chicken.

We are chicken executives will move our work to India or China. The reality is, executives aren't our friends, and if it was more cost effective to have the work done in India or China, they'd have already moved it.

And because we're chicken, executives, businesses and other professions will take advantage of us.

I'm amazed Shell isn't asking IT contractors to work for free.

See the article on Google looking to have us write them an operating system for them for free. Or look at the free programming we do for Mozzilla, and for IBM (through Unix), etc.

Paris, because Paris is smart enough not to work for free.

Schneier says he was 'probably wrong' on masked passwords

Keith T

Depends on the screen size

The risks of shoulder surfing are small for phones with tiny screens. Perhaps password masking should be turned off on them.

But shoulder surfing is a real problem for full size computer screens in offices and multi-person homes.

'Get cameraphones out of nurseries' plea

Keith T
FAIL

This would obstruct justice

Enacting any proposal to limit camera phones would obstruct justice by reducing the number of people with camera phones on the street and in workplaces.

The camera phones are needed to record illegal events, such as police officers or others beating people, automobile accidents, etc.

Ecopocalypse causes giant fish ears

Keith T

Obviously has affected Obama and Prince Charles

Obviously.

IT contractors demand overhaul of company transfer visas

Keith T

Simple solution

Contractors on work permits, no matter who they work for, should have to receive at least 120% of the pay of resident workers doing similar work.

And by receive, I mean receive and keep, not pay in commissions or finders fees.

MPs turn to Black Blob to preserve their dignity

Keith T

how is the county personally identifiable information?

I can see censoring the street name, house number, and post code.

But how is the county personally identifiable information? The county only narrows it down to hundreds of thousands of people.

Keith T

Burnham's Beds

Could be orchid beds too.

Or ostrich beds.

Or beds of nails, for use by visiting journalists.

Microsoft forbids changes to Windows 7 netbook wallpaper

Keith T

I'm sure Acer will pay the extra few cents for the variance

Anything can be negotiated for a price. OEMs just have to pay a little for a license variance allowing customization.

"OEMs must not modify or replace the Windows-provided background for Windows Welcome, the logon screen, or the desktop."

Samsung demos OLED security card

Keith T

Just because it is powered by an RFID electric field doesn't mean it has an RFID chip.

Just because it is powered by an RFID electric field doesn't mean it has an RFID chip.

It could just use the induced current to power the display, meaning it would just have the antenna function, not the ID function.

US net nanny ratchets Chinese censorware spat

Keith T
Happy

I hope that one day the Chinese government stops discriminating against Chinese people

There is no reason for the Chinese government to deny Chinese people living in China the same rights and freedoms that people of other nationalities and races have.

Chinese people are as intelligent and hardworking as people from any other nation, and they deserve the right to pick and choose what they view to the extent people of other nations do (e.g. no kiddie porn).

My heart and best wishes go out to the Chinese people.

Canadian bill forces personal data from ISPs sans warrant

Keith T
Paris Hilton

I'm a Canadian and I don't have a problem

I'm a Canadian and I don't have a problem with ISPs having to hand over the name and address of the person or company using an IP address or web domain to police without a warrant.

After all, I drive around in a car with a license plate on the back and police can look up my name and address from it.

Police monitoring internet communications without a warrant -- that I would have a really big problem with.

Intelligence agencies monitoring internet communications without a warrant -- I mostly surf to sites in the USA and UK, so international communications. I'm sure it is all monitored already. I wish it wasn't, but I don't get to vote in US and UK elections. If Canadian intelligence agencies monitored it too, would it matter?

I'm definitely against Canada following the precedents set by Tony Blair and George Bush.

There is a high likelihood that Michael ("Lesser Evil") Ignatieff will (long time US and UK academic and pundit, apologist for US imperialism and torture) having now returned to Canada to lead The Liberal Party of Canada, will become our next prime minister.

If "Lesser Evil" does become our PM, I have little doubt that he will be a "New Liberal" in the same authoritarian my-way-or-the-highway sense that Tony Blair was "New Labour" and George Bush was a "Neo-Con".

Paris, because Paris's beautiful face will momentarily take my mind off the disasters facing western democracies as we increasing become vassal states of the USA.

Microsoft bribes Oz to ditch Firefox

Keith T
Thumb Up

I could use the money. Mozilla, Apple and Opera should run their own contests.

Mozilla, Apple and Opera should run their own contests.

Competition is what freedom of choice is all about.

9/11 hero mutt cloned

Keith T
Thumb Up

Trackr died of lung disease contracted during the search of the WTC

Trackr died of lung disease contracted during the search of the WTC post 9-11. He was 11 or 12 at the time.

Hulu headed for subscription service scheme?

Keith T

subscription based high definition version?

Might it be possible to have a subscription based high definition version?

Low definition free.

BT slammed for 'importing' cheap Indian contractors

Keith T
Stop

Savings mean more money for freebies, bribes and kickbacks

"- the NHS project, workers from TechMahindra, earn about £220 a day, versus £400 a day for a UK contractors. The contractor told the BBC's File on 4 it was a cost-cutting move. He said he'd got the figures from his line manager."

No savings for the taxpayer. Instead, savings for BT, which mean higher commissions for the sales people and more money for freebies, bribes and kickbacks to hiring managers and executives of customer firms.

I'd like to know how many years experience these imports have in the technology they'll be using.

And is it a matter of the lame, "we can't find British residents with experience in version 7, only version 6, so we had no choice but to import" -- using minor educational requirements of a few person days to scam officials into putting British citizens and residents out of work.

US Federal Trade Commission shuts down ISP

Keith T

It is good to see somebody's government doing its job

Good work FTC.

HMRC goes underground to find new tech boss

Keith T
Unhappy

So he is a salesman by profession?

"Pavitt was a non-exec director of a recruitment firm which found contractors for TfL."

So he is a salesman by profession?

Microsoft guns down 13 unlucky products

Keith T
Paris Hilton

Factual error

"following a profits dive at the company that led to job cuts."

Companies cut jobs whenever they can, regardless of profits going up or down.

ISPs frosty on Jacqui's comms surveillance plan

Keith T

Politicians are the ones who will pay the price for this spying

Politicians are the ones who will pay the price for this spying -- not just opposition politicians, not just future politicians, but even current politicians from the government party.

This spying will make them vulnerable to blackmail by police and intelligence agencies.

Read up on former long-time FBI director J. Edgar Hoover for an example of how successful this can be, and how long it can endure without the public knowing.

Of course this assumes that police and intelligence agencies aren't using blackmail to get this surveillance put in place. Maybe it is already too late.

Acer intros 'pro' netbook

Keith T
Alert

Netbook benchmark suggestion ---

Why not benchmark these netbooks by seeing how many Facebook and MySpace tabs you can simultaneously have open and still get good response.

And make it a realistic test, with all the standard updates for the O/S, and an up-to-date anti-virus installed.

If you get a netbook with 1GB of memory you are going to wish you had 2GB of memory by the end of the second week.

Non-beta Google betas may lose beta tags

Keith T
Boffin

It is cowardly and unprofessional to avoid legal liability by mis-using the beta label

I think all the other IT professionals out there will agree that people should not install beta versions of software on computers they need for work or school.

Beta version are test versions.

So it is dangerous and unprofessional for IT professionals to encourage the public to regard betas as production releases.

Betas are for testing. There is no promise that they won't totally mess up your computer necessitating a re-format and re-install.

But Google, has been using its own definition of "beta".

I am guessing that Google is keeps its products in beta for legal reasons, to avoid legal liability if its products cause problems for users.

If so, it is cowardly. A professional stands behind his or her products.

Wolfram Alpha - a new kind of Fail

Keith T
Thumb Down

Would you expect your Word Processor to be a Search Engine?

Ignore the media reports and just read Wolfram Alpha's FAQ.

It clearly states it is not a search engine.

Don't expect it to work like a search engine. Don't expect it to search the web.

Wolfram Alpha does mathematics, and it has a big database of constants and measurements. It uses those to do mathematics, calculations and graphs.

It is like a computerized CRC Tables (the reference book we used as engineering students with tables of formulae and charts of constants).

But the author is correct, Wolfram Alpha will only be of use to scientists, engineers, and university students.

It is not the new Google, and the hype surrounding it was stupid.

Taking a first bite out of Wolfram Alpha

Keith T
Thumb Down

Why do journalists not read the FAQs?

Why do journalists not read the FAQs?

Wolfram's FAQs specifically point out that that it is not a search engine and does not index web pages.

It is like saying Open Office will drive Firefox out of business -- Wolfram Alpha and Google Search do almost entirely different things.

Google Search is a search engine.

Wolfram Alpha is a database.

EU urges US to drop ICANN

Keith T
Thumb Up

Might as well let the EU or UN take it over

Obviously some government or government-like agency needs to oversee ICANN -- they have not been very responsive to the needs of internet users.

People are trying to do commerce on the internet, exchange academic ideas, and have reliable trustworthy secure 2-way communication.

ICANN has done nothing to support this in the areas of registration or security.

It isn't as if ICANN pays for the internet or physically built it or anything. They just sit there and preempt any other agency ending the insecure anarchy that is the current internet.

Army officer tossed laptops into the sea

Keith T
Black Helicopters

Zero honesty = Zero ability to be an officer

First off, Captain James Rands should be "former Captain James Rands" by now.

He's basically admitted he has no sense of moral perspective, no honesty, and thus has zero leadership capabilities.

Being such a hopelessly transparent lier doesn't help either.

After sacking, he should be charged with obstruction of justice.

And then the broader enquiry should proceed.

US lawmakers to de-silence electric cars

Keith T
Go

I have a blind friend and this is a big concern for them.

I have a blind friend and this is a big concern for them.

Hybrid cars are already a serious hazard for him.

It is sufficient if electric vehicles are as quiet as the quietest normal internal combustion powered vehicles. With study and experiments, it may be possible to make them quieter, but still give enough locatable noise to be safe.

Keith T
Go

It requires courage to walk city streets when blind

It requires immense courage to walk city streets when totally or near totally blind. I doubt I would have enough.

The protocol for crossing a city street with traffic lights is go to the corner and listen for traffic to stop.

If hear no traffic, you wait until there is some, or until someone comes by to help you. (This can be a problem in the late evening.)

With a few hybrids, silent vehicles are not common enough to present an immense problem. But when electric cars predominate, if they are almost totally silent, this technique just won't work.

As for the wag who suggested bicycles aren't a problem for blind people, oh yes they are.

But the damage a bicycle can do when in a collision is limited by its gross weight and speed.

You just don't see many 1 tonne bicycles doing 30 mph in cities.

(And of course cyclists have much better awareness of what is going on around them, not being enclosed in a cab.)

Microsoft names Windows 7 RC1 dates

Keith T
Paris Hilton

Who cares about initial sales? Instead we want a great OS.

The important thing isn't when Windows 7 is released or how initial sales are. After all, it will be on sale and installed in new computers for perhaps 5 years.

The important thing is that Windows 7 be secure, stable, efficient and easy to maintain and use.

(Paris because stability and security are 2 things she looks for in her operating systems.)

More IBM contractors get rates cut

Keith T
Flame

IBM customers will probably pay the price for his disgusting win-loose non-negotiation

Disgusting lack of business ethics to change rates mid-contract when the other party has done no wrong.

It is on a par with quitting mid-contract or go-slow campaigns mid-contract for no reason.

I predict declining product quality as a result. IBM customers will pay the price of this win-loose non-negotiation.

If people can find better paying work elsewhere, they should take it. Since the other party has unilaterally broken the contract, contract workers should feel free to do so at any time now.

Businesses will postpone Windows 7 rollouts

Keith T
Coat

Conservative caution in IT long pre-dates Vista

"Windows Vista's left such a bad taste in the mouth it's become one reason most organizations won't be moving to Windows 7 next year."

Nonsense. The fact most companies are conservative on rolling out new operating systems pre-dates the PC, let alone Windows Vista.

No sensible IT manager wants to be on the bleeding edge of technology unless there is a desperate business reason.

Microsoft: have it your way on IE 8

Keith T
Unhappy

Firefox has me by the short and curlies

My big problem is I switched over to Firefox when its first production release came out, and now Firefox has all my passwords.

So I'm stuck.

I'd love to switch back to MSIE, because all the security updates Firefox needed have made its code run slow as heck.

I tried using LastPass, which can read Firefox passwords and manage them securely for use by any browser, but it isn't quite there yet. (It somehow found multiple passwords for my regular sites, which is another way of saying it didn't insert the one password I needed.)

Photocops: Home Office concedes concern

Keith T
Black Helicopters

"over-zealous policing"? Is that what they call it when police terrorise the public?

"over-zealous policing"? Is that what they call it when police terrorise the public?

IBM joins rivals in cutting contractor rates

Keith T
Jobs Horns

There is no harm in asking

If the contractors take 10% less, that means several times more money for the salesmen and bosses. So why wouldn't they ask? Loyalty? The sanctity of contracts? Those are concept for the little people.

But if you are valued contractor you can say no.

HP skims another 10% off some EDS workers' pay packets

Keith T
Unhappy

The EDS track record is catching up to it

If we look at the sort of results EDS has delivered clients, we can see management's motivation. In a severe economic downturn you can't get customers by buying client managers "trips to conferences" and so on. Project results count more.

EDS management wants to downsize staff because they don't think they will have enough billable work coming in.

The pay cuts are attempts to avoid having to pay severance pay.

If insufficient people choose to leave of their own accord, there will be lay-offs.

However, in programming, the best people are the ones who have the easiest time finding new jobs.

Which means EDS will see its talent pool eroded, more dissatisfied customers in the future, and even less work coming in.

MS security chief becomes DHS cybersecurity boss

Keith T
Boffin

Best candidates ineligible

Sadly, most of the best candidates for the job are obviously ineligible because they are not US citizens.

Obama CIO on leave after cuffing of former employee

Keith T
Unhappy

Mountain out of a mole hill?

Are cabinet members going to be suspended every time a staff member is arrested?

With hundreds of thousands of people working in some departments, arrests are a daily occurrence.

Unless there is more to this than they are letting on, the Obama administration is making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Keith T
Alert

How much more different can the new boss be from the old boss?

@Michael Habel -- no this is not why they tried to impeach Nixon

The Watergate Committee sent the act of impeachment for Nixon to the US Congress with a recommendation for approval because of acts Nixon himself committed, including his commission of the crime of obstruction of justice which was recorded on White House audio tapes. Even Paris knows that.

US Presidents have never been held to account for unauthorized crimes committed by government workers before they were hired, especially not when the government workers are a few levels below them in the hierarchy.

Whereas many Republican presidents would order the commission of acts generally considered to break US and/or international law, and then generally shelter their staffs from investigation prosecution, Obama is holding his staff to account for crimes, at least in this incidence.

How much more different can the new boss be from the old boss?

Restoring national honor can't be done by simply ceasing in the commission of further rogue state acts. Past acts must be atoned for.

Obama could start by restoring the US as a signatory to the Geneva Conventions after GW Bush abrogated US signatures on those conventions, and removed US troops from the protection of those conventions (as many US generals warned would happen).

Restoring the US as a signatory would require the US to apply those Geneva Conventions which it has signed, to its own citizens and soldiers as is required of all signatories to the Geneva Conventions. That means either bringing alleged major US war criminals (Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld, etc.) to a fair trial, or sending them to another country or the ICC, for trial.

Obama might be a great leader, but I don't think even he is so great as to be able to lead the people of the USA to truly make the actual effort required to restore their nation's honor. Instead we'll get words. (Which is a shame for those many Americans who are personally honorable.)

BBC botnet investigation turns hacks into hackers

Keith T
Stop

Your solicitors need to lookup the definition of "solicit".

You can't send Unsolicited Commercial Email (spam) to yourself.

Your solicitors need to lookup the definition of the word "solicit".

Firefox went ton up in bugs in 2008

Keith T
Paris Hilton

Haste makes waste?

I wonder if the haste with which the FF folks fix bugs introduces new bugs.

MS warns testers to activate Windows 7 beta

Keith T
Coat

How many of these so-called beta testers have a clue what they are doing?

1. "Thought MS would have go the hang of all this product activation by now..."

What kind of tester ever assumes the analysts and programmers got it right?

2. "But Windows 7 is more secure and less vulnerable to malware, right? So then it's entirely safe to crack the activation, isn't it?"

It is so secure it "fails safe" by doing a security erase the hard drives of any such malicious hacker (at least I wish it did). It then calls Redmond to arrange a UFO to abduct the hacker and transport them to the Andromeda Galaxy.

If you want a free OS, why not install an OS whose makers offer it for free instead of stealing one?

3. If there is a bug or vulnerability in the production version that wasn't reported during the beta test, that is a fault and error on the part of the beta testers. Beta testers share in the responsibility for bugs and vulnerabilities left in the production version.

I don't want any testers complaining about bugs. Your job is to find bugs and report them to the vendor so they don't get into the production version.

4. Microsoft (like other software vendors) is going to wrongly get a false sense that proper testing has been done by using such a lame method of selecting beta test volunteers.

Volume doesn't not replace quality.

It might not be 100% true for software, but for human testers it is: With free you get what you pay for.

5. Have fun.

Brits and Yanks struck with embarasment embarrassment

Keith T
Thumb Up

I'd love to see us switch to a phonetic system.

Spelling in our language definitely needs a massive overhaul. I'd love to see us switch to a phonetic system.

For a native English speaker who has taken a couple of years of German, it is easier to spell dictated haupt deutsch than my mother tongue.

Brits 'a bunch of yellow bastards', says irate Yank

Keith T
Coat

The meaning of CAAF? Here you go (maybe)

You guys overseas probably aren't familiar with this, but in *some* parts of the USA you are a bastard if your father is not also either your brother and uncle.

And if the USA means US Army, then that means Peter Kelly couldn't get into the US Marines.

The meaning of CAAF? Here you go (maybe):

http://caaflog.blogspot.com/2006/09/golden-caaf-award.html

Keith CANADA

Keith T
Jobs Horns

Americans still think they and Napoleon won the War of 1812.

"We kicked your ass in 2 wars"

Americans still think they and Napoleon won the War of 1812.

Superworm seizes 9m PCs, 'stunned' researchers say

Keith T
Black Helicopters

Where is government ? Where are the lawyers?

We all know our various governments spy on various percentages of emails and other web traffic, especially those that cross national borders. And perhaps/probably this spying is excessive.

For the cost to privacy of this major intrusion, it certainly does not seem to be helping national security or individual security in any meaningful way -- if it did the authors of this worm would be locked up right now.

Why isn't protecting the public and the nation when the public can't protect itself the purpose of government?

For example, why is proof of identification not required to register a domain name?

A domain name on the internet is published, so it is public. I can see keeping the identification of the domain owner confidential between the registrar and the domain owner, but only until a valid court order is produced.

So here we have an example of a simple non-intrusive security measure that would be effective: requiring valid personal identification. Does the fact it is non-intrusive makes it unattractive to the law enforcement and the intelligence community?

For nobody, not even the registrar, to know who the owner is, is an abdication of responsibility bordering on, and maybe surpassing, gross negligence.

Such gross negligence on the parts of registrars and ISPs is causing us all to run more and more expensive (in terms of computer resources) anti-malware tools and operating systems. (Yes, invulnerable sections of code require more resources.)

I'd really like to see some lawyer types in a major jurisdiction launch some class action lawsuits on this.

I (and much of the public) malign lawyers and law enforcement, but this is a situation where they could easily step in, and where they should step in, because this worm and malware in general is a gross threat to the privacy of us all as individuals, and is a threat to economic and national security.

Cows can't detect earthquakes: Official

Keith T
Happy

The cows all selected safe locations to be in during the quake

The cows all lived through the earth quake, proving they selected safe places to be during the event.

NY policeman plunders US terror watchlist

Keith T
Alert

How many times does this happen but go undetected?

This was detected because the stolen info was used in a court filing.

Who knows how many thousand times such abuse happens, but goes undetected?

Microsoft disables automatic IE 8 downloads

Keith T
Coat

IE8 blocker toolkit won't install automatically

One: I think the article has it wrong: Specifically the IE8 blocker toolkit won't install automatically or with the regular Windows Update. Someone will have to trigger its installation.

Therefore home users will get the IE8 update as a regular high priority update.

Therefore professional web developers and their managers should do their jobs and be prepared to serve their clients, customers, and their clients' customers.

Two: Its a shame that *some* professional web developers think displaying properly on Firefox guarantees meeting W3C. You'd think they'd be better informed.

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