Posts by Norm DePlume

I have a bad feeling about this...

But ...

We've seen with the rail regulators that the government can get it badly wrong, so some legal redress is necessary. It's just a pity that it then involves large sums of money disappearing off to lawyers.

So will the machines be our overlords before or after The Zombie Apocalypse? One wonders what they will make of each other.

Last photo

Has someone forgotten to do some red-eye reduction or does Clare Loxley really have eyes that colour?

Is he making his own job harder...

... or does he know that at the end of the day much of this stuff comes down to the time and money an organisation is prepared to devote to IT security, which is not going to change?

Still, I'd rather have him out there saying this stuff.

Balance

So, in the modern era, is it the case that you know a decision is fairly balanced if both opposing sides appeal it?

Black list for white hats

So if you annoy the vermin, they make sure you're not pestered again in future? Win-win!

Wow. I assumed the black helicopters would have got Duncan Campbell by now (he's been embarrassing the more sensitive branches of government for decades). Glad to see they haven't.

Next up: those people who wrote the constitution

Foolish, foolish people.

It's fascinating the things that need addressing. Thinking about this and other, less pratical, mitigation strategies has made me realise for the first time that, in a centrifuge hotter air must 'gravitate' (for want of a better term) towards the centre.

I wonder, on a purely academic level, how much of the data that intelligence agencies collect is actually used.

Last week Andrew Orlowski published something I agree with and now Steve Ballmer is talking sense. Have I connected to an alternate reality?

And, of course, I'm sure Kazakhstan has the technical resources to prevent attacks on its own systems compromising those certs and leading to anyone being able to decode anything sent in the country.

Kids in a playground

"He hit me first."

"No, he hit me."

Still, I'm sure the diplomats will appreciate sorting it out when the proverbial hits the fan and some large corp is caught hacking something sensitive in China.

Bowmore have been heating the next door swimming pool with the waste heat from the distillery for years. The IT connection? Apparently it's computer controlled.

Only me

Call me a pedant (I know you want to), but how do you get a heater with low efficiency? Everything ends up as heat eventually, even matter.

So, in Vulture Central Units, that's between 7 linguine and 9 double-decker buses? Or somewhere between the length of a wolf and an Olympic swimming pool. Good to know they can narrow it down so much.

Great news

However, I do wonder how much of it is actually due to the fact these children have spent much of their lives in a recession and would like to be employable at the end of their education.

Alien vs

So how will those future Aliens get along with our machine overlords?

Fixing beebs

I once did some voluntary work at a special school fixing beebs. I cannibalised 15 non-functional machines to get 14 working. If that figure sounds high, it's because mostly the faults were that some ingenious s*d had got inside many of them and reversed connectors to the board. Tough old things worked fine when put back the right way.

Sadly I live too far away to help this time.

I am suprised, nay, astounded that anyone in the intelligence community could have behaved unethically.

Ah ... wait ...

PAYG wins

Strangely they don't put much effort in if you want a PAC when you're on PAYG. Orange just sent it me, no hassle. Now I'm with 3 and enjoying the appalling notoriety EE seem to be getting themselves these days.

A good Freya's Day article.

Bizarrely it's Saturn's day tomorrow.

The solution

So all I need to do is make my computer look like a virus researcher's machine and viruses will turn benign?

Avian dinosaurs and mammals

Surely these days the interesting question is not "why did dinosaurs die out", but "how did other higher life-forms survive". Warm blood? Small size? Mobility?

Weasel words

"It is unfortunate that the allegation surfaced despite Samsung’s efforts to prevent child labor at its suppliers," Samsung said.

So it's unfortunate that the allegations surfaced, not that they might be true?

Considering how long crustaceans and sponges have been around, it'd almost be surprising if shrimp-eating sponges originated as late as the Jurassic.

The power of misinformation

On the Internet, no one knows you're a dog, two cats and a goldfish.

I had a number of lesser issues with Orange after they became part of EE. I think EE may have dropped the ball whilst concentrating on integrating the two companies.

I wonder whether this comes pre-compromised by the NSA or is on their to-do list.

Bob Godfrey

Anyone else got theme tunes from 70s children's TV shows suddenly going 'round their heads?

Oh you have now.