Posts by ShabWeasel

The ideal sat-nav is one that stops the car, winds down the window, and asks directions

It's not quite a Jag-you-arr

Damn you, now I've got the Flanders & Swann song in my head!!

Assange psychiatrist misled judge over parentage of his kids, US tells High Court

Pretty much the difference between receiving psychiatric care or killing yourself in a prison cell (possibly at a US black site).

As with those judged 'criminally insane' (excuse the term - I don't know what the current terminology is), if his mental state is considered to have improved sufficiently in the future then he can stand trial for his supposed crimes.

Just because a person is accused (or even convicted) of a crime, it doesn't justify depriving them of simple compassion and necessary healthcare.

Nobody cares about DAB radio – so let's force it onto smart speakers, suggests UK govt review

Could be worse...

They could be sending some idiot round to demand money for a service you have no interest in using...

...

...

... Oh!

UK artists seek 'luvvie levy' on new gadgets to make up for all the media that consumers access online

Re: A fiddle

Hold up - that's the Conservative manifesto....

Ganja believe it? Police make hash of suspected weed farm raid, pot Bitcoin mine instead

Re: Is massive amount of excessive heat still a sign of cannabis cultivation?

"Cannabis needs heat to grow..."

As long as it's not freezing, most varieties aren't too bothered by lower temps - the Sativa strains originate from high altitude areas so overnight temps of 10c are fine. You'll likely get a slightly lower yield but nothing huge.

Even with LED lighting, you'll still get a surprising amount of heat though and this is where the problems originate from (from literally 'toasting' plants or encouraging mould growth). Most growers work hard to keep the temps down - I even remember seeing water cooled lighting many years ago (for use with sodium or mercury bulbs). If you're running a grow at 30c, you've got serious ventilation problems.

(Used to work in a Hydro shop so picked up a few things lol)

Re: LACK of smell???

Given how good carbon air filters are these days, you could be living next door to a grower and never smell a thing.....

Bank of England ponders minting 'Britcoin' to sit alongside the Pound

Re: Shitcoin.....

Tax dodging - easier and less volatile with a good accountant....

As for best way to carry out a criminal transaction, I'd say get a government contract/Boris' phone number.

Re: Shitcoin.....

Given the traceability of Bitcoin - the blockchain contains records of all transactions - the criminal uses will likely decline as people become more aware of it's privacy implications (as others have stated regarding the 'Britcoin', provides a lovely data set to the Gov on who's spending what and where)

For 'Britcoin' to exist alongside the pound with value based off taxation/economy, the pound would necessarily have to be devalued in response - after all, both would be fiat currencies with their value would be derived from the same source. There's only so much 'quantitive easing' - whether physical or digital - a currency can withstand before it loses value.

As for cash withdrawal tax, that's a terrible idea that will massively hurt those with lower incomes as well as small traders, pubs, etc.. To make paying with cash more expensive will destroy local markets and others who rely on cash transactions.

Shitcoin.....

I'm wondering where the actual value of the 'Britcoin' would be derived from.

Bitcoin has scarcity (as well as being the first successful crypto)

Etherium gains it from allowing traceable ownership of digital goods (more to it than that, I know...).

Maybe they're going to base it on Boris' trustworthiness....... lol

Prince Philip, inadvertent father of the Computer Misuse Act, dies aged 99

Weekend at Bernie's

I still think they've been pulling a 'Weekend at Bernie's' with him for the past couple of weeks - now they've got bored so announced it....

You put Marmite where? Google unveils its latest AI wizardry: A cake made of Maltesers and the pungent black tar

Re: Blancmange

Good for the kilt industry though....

Marmite Icing

Kinda fits with the current trend of putting the ghastly stuff into anything the manufacturers can get away with.

Marmite chocolate - sure!

Marmite crisps - why not?

Marmite biscuits - what the hell?

Marmite humus - Dave, you feeling ok?

Marmite Lynx Africa - WTF! (honestly, this exists!)

Much prefer the precursor (hence the icon) to the devil's diarrhoea....

Scotch eggs ascend to the 'substantial meal' pantheon as means to pop to pub for a pint during pernicious pandemic

Re: "has only left people scratching their heads"

It's bloody awful stuff, but it does contain 'actual' tequila IE: raw spirit as the regulations proscribe. It's a technicality, but still a potential issue.

I'd just say that the contradictions in what does and doesn't 'officially' apply are just leaving the door open for abuse and/or giving undefined enforcement powers to petty officials.

IMHO, the entire government's approach has been vague and useless - kind of like the government themselves lol

Re: "has only left people scratching their heads"

I think the fact that even the licensing teaching materials and examination never define what constitutes a 'substantial meal' doesn't really help much.

A lot of the rules are based around 'reasonable' behaviour such as when you 'reasonably' think a person is drunk, meaning you aren't allowed to serve them any more. Technically anyone is 'drunk' after 2 drinks; not many landlords out there refusing to sell someone a third pint though....

There's also some funny quirks that are generally ignored - quite a lot of places will happily serve Desperados beer/lager to a 16 year old with a meal, despite the fact that spirits such as tequila are absolutely not allowed to be served to under 18s even with food.

With so much of the rule being up to the judgement of the landlord/barstaff I fully agree that clarification is needed, especially with the overall vagueness of new restrictions and the potential penalties for being wrong.

Cyberup campaign: 80% of infosec pros fear they might fall foul of UK's outdated Computer Misuse Act

At the same time though, that 'unauthorised' testing could have discovered the vuln that took down the hospital systems. Simply a concerned individual ensuring those in charge have properly protected vital infrastructure.....

.... and was anyone in management held responsible for the poor security that allowed the systems to be taken down when they were? Was anyone in management fined for allowing the NHS system to be so susceptible to such a simple attack?

HP: That print-free-for-life deal we promised you? Well, now it's pay-per-month to continue using your printer ink

Re: How the mighty has fallen

A side-trip during that search led me to read that a group of ferrets is called a "Business" or Busyness"

And the name 'ferret' literally means 'little thief' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferret)