Posts by Cereberus

Big Tech files anti-Trump brief: Immigration ban illegal and damaging to business

Re: ...

There is also a lot of terrorist related activity in each of these countries. Some caution on folks arriving from there would seem reasonable.

Leaving out the likes of Daesh are all these 'terrorists' actually terrorists? Not trolling here but a genuine question. When we went to Iraq we were fighting terrorists, when we went to Afghanistan it was the same.

No doubt there may be some terrorist groups but how many? To put it another way how many groups are freedom fighters, fighting for their country but unable to do so in massed face each other across an open field manner because of lack of resources, training, equipment etc.

You could argue they are being misled but just because when we invade their country they hide and use guerilla tactics it does not follow they are terrorists.

One other question - how many of these terrorists (assuming they are) have gone to America, or Britain, or elsewhere and how many of the terror acts have been performed by home grown people who have been radicalized?

It seems to be to easy to say you don't agree with me so you are a terrorist and I can therefore do anything I want to you and am totally justified. This will of course teach you a lesson, and not help you want to fight against my tyranny of your country using terror or guerilla tactics. Oh by the way it is only guerilla tactics if I agree with you, because then you are obviously fighting on behalf of good whereas if you disagree with me you are obviously evil.

'Completely offended' Sheila calls cops over price-gouging ganja dealer

We have OFWAT, OFCOM, OFSTED.......

Oz should follow suit then refer her to OFDRUG, or would that be OZDRUG

Protest against Trump's US travel ban leaves ‪PasswordsCon‬ in limbo

I have to agree with (although I hate doing so with an AC) the comments about being able to protest.

I didn't vote for or against Brexit for the simple reason I had insufficient information to make an informed decision but if I had been forced (democratically) to cast a vote I would probably have gone for Brexit.

Demonstrations and protests are a method of letting people know how you feel, and to some extent the number of people attending demonstrates the strength of feeling overall. If one person protests then who cares, if one million people do so you need to start taking some notice.

In an ideal world protests and demonstrations wouldn't be needed because the overall view of constituents (in UK) would be represented by the elected official, or MP. Unfortunately this isn't the case and the representation is made based on the party view.

If true democracy took place then the MP would be voted in based on their general views but would then continue to do so. This would be impossible though and as a result you have a group of fools who purportedly represent your views when in reality it is anything but your views because it is 'in the best interests of the country, or think of the children, or we know best.....' and certainly nothing to do with what is in their best interest.

This then means people protest and demonstrate and sign petitions to show the establishment how they feel - which may or may not then have an effect on decisions that are made.

Brexit was a close run thing, so it is reasonable that all views should be considered and not just written off as you lost / we won so there. This should then influence how we proceed with negotiations in the coming years.

Trump's FBI boss, Attorney General picks reckon your encryption's getting backdoored

Re: I'm all for it

"When everyone from the local mayor to the president has email and a cellphone that can be remotely hacked from Russia/China/Craggy Island - I'm looking forward to reading the daily wikileaks"

Not going to happen if the UK snoopers charter is anything to go by. Everyone in the world (or at least in the U.S.) will have to use backdoor encryption with one select group given an exemption - anyone in public office in the US of A who will have totally leak proof encryption.

That is basically what they have done with the snoopers charter. Everything has to be tracked for everybody everywhere in the UK, except those in government linked roles because of course they would never do anything to harm the country or it's citizens - honest guv, would I lie to you. How about a new watch, genuine Rolex it is, got is from a friend after it fell off a lorry. Special deal today only - don't worry about the Made in China sticker, that's only to reduce the import tax.

Phoney McPhoneface: The thrilling tale of ZTE's crowdsourced mobe

Re: Excellent idea!

<

Excellent idea!

Buy a phone for next year now, before the pound crashes even further!

>

I can't wait to get an article which doesn't at some stage have a comment about either Brexit and how the pound will die, or Trump included somewhere regardless of how tenuous a link there is, and how it will spell doom, Doom I tell you, DOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!!.

HMRC IT cockup misses nearly 1m Scottish taxpayers for devo PAYE letters

Slightly disgruntled still that my local branch is in Carlisle.

Same here for the opposite reason - account originally with Lloyds, then Lloyds TSB, then when they split moved to TSB. Live in Carlisle, nearest branch in Wigton

MPs suggest introducing web blocking to tackle suicide rates in UK

Re: Sites that act as a catalyst for bullying...

Ken, you were close but didn't go that extra step required:

'The action of "unfriending" someone needs to carry a Government Health Warning: "Are you sure this person can handle your pressing of this button? Are they going through a difficult time? Do they need your support?"'

After they are 'unfriended' and attempt suicide, you will be arrested because you caused them to commit the act and so are guilty of murder - you did select Unfriend after thinking about it so it is premeditated.

'Of course we know you were the person who caused it because your act was the last one before they took their life so it must be your fault and not the fact that they had no job, life, partner and suffered from a terminal illness which would have killed them in 2 years anyway. How do we know this? We monitor everything you do and every webs site you go to except when you do it through a VPN which means it must be an illegal site or why would you hide it?

'No, looking up signs of suicidal thoughts and how to help is not relevant - we banned everything to do with suicide years ago, after child porn, extreme porn as defined by the BBFC 60 years ago, looking at a naked back last year and looking at naked ankles last week.'

As has been mentioned several times, look at the cause not the symptoms - banning doesn't solve anything. All it does is make people into potential criminals because they don't accept or know about the ban which served no purpose. The next step will be an extension of a work place filter. Trigger enough 'illegal' searches and you will be pulled in to explain yourself, and you better have a good reason......

It's now illegal in the US to punish customers for posting bad web reviews

Re: My approach

I hardly post reviews on line because I got what I paid for nothing more and nothing less. If I get especially good or bad service / products etc. then I will post.

When I look at review posts for a product I always expect there to be a certain amount of bad feedback because that is life. Some people demand more than they should reasonably expect and post a bad review because of it whilst other people would think the same service or product is excellent - it is a personal view after all. Ultimately though I look to see what the balance of good and bad is and what happens when it goes bad.

If I get a product which isn't fit for purpose I shouldn't be afraid to say so. At the same time if I take it back and get it replaced for one that is fit for purpose and have posted a comment then I should update the comment to show it was a one off. After all nothing is guaranteed so if I get good after sales service to help solve a failing in a product I can accept the little bit of hassle of having to return and get a replacement and won't slam the product as a result or supplier as a result.

I also hate anonymous cowards and tend to ignore their views as probably being trolls (some cases are different where they could be putting themselves at risk but otherwise....). If you write something because you mean it then you should have the guts to put your name (or user ID) against it and not hide behind anonymity.

Investigatory Powers Act signed into UK law by Queen

Who do I sue?

As mentioned in previous comments someone somewhere will hack in and obtain all this stored info. The question is who do I sue for failing to keep my data safe?

a) The ISP because they suffered the data breach

b )The government because they forced the ISP to retain this information

c) Myself because the above will have iron clad protection from being responsible for any loss of data and I should have used Tor and a VPN running through another VPN to a satellite that encrypts the encrypted data and downloads it to another PC through another VPN (can't have too many), 3 decryption programs, back through TOR and then to my PC - so it is all my fault.

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

Does he really deserve jail?

Whilst I don't agree with what he did, lying to a friend / client to get the money I have to ask if 18 months jail time is really appropriate for a 79 year old. By all accounts he was totally taken in by the scam and then abused contacts he had to get the money but this was to the point he was going to sell his own house so it could easily be argued malicious intent wasn't present.

Arguably he should know better, but how many pensioners are taken in by phone scams, etc. every day. Ultimately his was a minor role (albeit expensive) in a friend paying out a large amount of money - should the friend not have checked more thoroughly before handing that much money over and at least share some responsibility.

Yeah, he is guilty of fraud but many people do much worse and get less jail time.

Democralypse Now? US election first battle in new age of cyberwarfare

Re: But surely

"I would argue how utterly stupid the statement that people shouldn't vote is, but then I realised that if you have taken that position then you wouldn't be able to understand any of those arguments anyway." would indicate how utterly stupid someone must be to make the statement in the first place.

I don't vote for 2 primary reasons:

1) There is no / limited factual evidence to make an informed comparison of different political groups

2) There is a lot of evidence supporting the fact these groups will say what they feel is necessary to get a vote regardless of how valid and accurate the statement is.

In short I don't vote because there is no select-able option on ballot forms which states I wish to register my wish not to be governed (as an election example) by any of the lying, cheating, self-absorbed, self-aggrandizing <insult of your choice> above.

Should Computer Misuse Act offences committed in UK be prosecuted in UK?

Stand up and be counted by being sensible

Just keep it simple. The offense was allegedly committed in the UK by someone in the UK. Any criminal proceedings should be delay with in the UK. We should co-operate with other governments of course as part of international relations so we agree an offense may have been committed by a person here.

Please Mr USA, if you believe an offense has been committed against you send us the evidence, we will review it along with any other submissions and then make an informed decision on whether there is a case to answer. Oh, you don't want to send us the information because of <state reason>? In that case, as we can't find sufficient evidence to build a case to prosecute there is no case to answer so we will not take it any further. Sorry, you want us to send the person to you so you can prosecute them for an offense committed in our country. OK we can do that after you have sent (using comments on this thread) all the US citizens who drink alcohol to Saudi Arabia for trial as they have breached their laws.

I misunderstood I think - alcohol drinkers haven't committed an offense? Well they have under Saudi law. Just because they haven't been in Saudi when the offense was committed doesn't make them any less guilty does it? Surely you wouldn't want to use double standards here. Oh, and by the way can you send all your gun carriers who don't have a justifiable holders permit under UK law here so we can prosecute them. Don't worry, we won't use any underhand tactics like plea bargaining, we won't even send them to jail if found guilty - we'll just fine them and send them back to you - or Saudi if you prefer.

In short the alleged crime is committed here, regardless of who it is against, the person should be prosecuted here. If you won't provide the evidence to back up your claim, go away and stop whining - you do not decide our laws, or when you can supersede them because you feel like it Mr USA. You make think you are the world's police but you still have to follow the rule - innocent until proven guilty - in line with the law of the country where the offense was committed, not where it impacted. we won't discuss how secure your systems were, but don't complain if they are not secure and someone gets access.

Vodafone UK blocks bulk nuisance calls. Hurrah!

Scaring the scammer

My tactic has always been to answer the phone and when I ask who is calling and they tell me I was in a car accident in the last 5 years (or whatever) I just ask them why they are calling the Air Ambulance emergency support line and do they realise someone could die because they are blocking the line. In the space of 2 weeks the number of calls I got dropped through the floor.

If I am bored I ask them to give me the details and how they found out I had PPI / was in an accident / have a problem with my PC etc. I once strung out a call for 45 minutes about a car accident - so how did you get my info, when was the accident which you must know if you know I was in an accident and have been given that information, where was it.........

Worst case it was a frivolous use of my time - best case it stopped another 30 or 40 people having to speak to these idiots.

Sex ban IT man loses appeal – but judge labels order 'unpoliceable'

A man goes to the doctor...

and admits he may have a psycho-sexual problem. He admits an incident where he may 'have gone further than intended' to the extent it potentially could be rape.

How to react:

1) Check the details and if it was consensual - no case to answer and lets address how the guy feels to stop him getting any worse to the point where he may commit a crime - possibly arranging psychiatric help

2) Check the details and find it was rape, already stated as possible by the 'defendant' - gather evidence, go to court and convict him. Assess if he should go to prison or a psychiatric hospital for treatment

3) Persecute him and put in place an order which will impact every area of his life to the point he becomes homeless even though he hasn't officially committed an offense in law. He can't get help and support into work under a rehabilitation act be cause he hasn't been found guilty of anything.

Would you employ someone who says I have no criminal record but the police need to be able to access my work computer anytime they want. Why? Well, I have this urge when having sex to make my partner afraid of me. I like S&M - and when I say like I mean LIKE. But I am not going to jump on a woman at work and strangle her whilst raping her, honest.

If anything the order should state that he has to report any sexual contact as soon after the event as possible so that the police can covertly, then if necessary overtly, investigate if anything happened that shouldn't and build the necessary case for court action. From the reports this guy seems to really like S&M, and if the partner is willing (and there are men and women who like being subservient to the point of fear) then that is their choice.

Forgot option 4) Assume everyone is guilty of breaking the law and arrest us all before throwing us all in jail for life - which won't be for long as we'll all starve / dehydrate and eat each other because there is no one outside to cook, bring food, etc. - they'll all be inside as well.

Breaking 350 million: What's next for Windows 10?

It's not all bad

I recently got a new PC because of the cost of upgrading which I had to do anyway (nothing to do with the OS). To be honest, apart from a minor learning curve from the move to Win 10 from Win 7 I haven't had any problems.

It runs faster (of course this needs a pinch of salt when comparing to a 6 year old Win 7 box with loads of crap installed and then removed again over the years), is easier (for me) to navigate settings and so on and the only time I get intrusive adverts is if I want to play Solitaire or Mahjong - although it does get annoying when you have an advert for something already installed.

I can't speak for up-graders but I have no problems on a new machine. The only exception would be the privacy settings, but then I have that locked down. Wouldn't be so easy for a basic word processor / web surfer, but many of them just click yes whatever you put on the screen.

*** I have my flame proof, troll blanking outfit on in preparation for replies

Cheer up songwriters, there's shedloads of money rolling in

She might not have to worry but

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