Posts by James 5

My god...

... I didn't realise I was buying that much from them!

But I stopped buying from them after they allowed a fraudster to set up an account using the same card as my actual account (PayPal won't allow this so why does Amazon?) and "reward" their criminal little student friends with goods from Amazon. A well known scam in fraud investigation circles, apparently: Criminals ask students to help them obtain credit card details and reward them by buying stuff off their wish lists - of course Amazon seems to be incapable or unwilling to spot and stop this behaviour.

So I have absolutely no sympathy with their situation...

Simples...

... just ignore the games.

Then you're not going to try to buy tickets . Hence no chance for rip-off.

If....

... there weren't idiots responding to the spam "adverts" there would be no spam...

Would...

.. you place your data into a data centre situated on a volcanically active island in the middle of the Atlantic? Nope, me neither!

Data Centres should be placed on tectonically stable areas, preferably well above current sea level - parts of the UK (Scotland) and Scandinavia may be suitable. And parts of the Canadian shield and a fair part of Africa. Not sure about the rest of the world just now !

Agree !

Good article and great point about the data (agree with Ben on this).

Recently investigated using an online (in the clouds!) accounts system. Looked good, does all that is needed BUT it does not produce a local copy of all the data files, nor does it allow local access (on the workstation) to the data. Yes, it exports data in various formats - but that's not the same as having local control.

Whilst I was doing that the BT broadband hubs in Scotland went AWOL for a few periods of 24 hours in a week....

Then I heard about the *possible* disruption of a whole series of electronic systems by sun activity in the coming years....

So, there is no way I would want my business data floating about in an inaccessible "cloud" when things go wrong.

I use Dropbox (a lot) because - as well as having the Great Data Pond in the Sky it also creates identical copies of all my files on my several computers that have Dropbox on them. This works for me.

Following Egypt and other places of unrest - I think we should treat the internet as a non-permanent service rather than something that's "fore-ever" and rock solid.

IMHO building business data in the cloud is a bit like building a skyscraper on quicksand - it may vanish in few seconds.....

Cherry picking ....?

"The human race has susceptibility to harm but Mr. Zuckerberg has attained an unenviable record: he has done more harm to the human race than anybody else his age." - Eben Moglen - reported in El Reg yesterday.

From the Scotsman (17 Feb)

"Research by psychologists at Edinburgh Napier University found interacting with people on the social network site (Facebook) is a major source of stress.

Despite being intended as a tool to help people stay in touch with friends, family and colleagues, the psychologists concluded that, for a significant number of the site's more than 500 million users worldwide, the negative effects of Facebook outweighed the benefits.

It found those who used the site the most were those most likely to suffer from Facebook-related anxiety."

So, in fact, those countries where it is NOT used are showing a degree of common sense.

And now I see the smiling, toadying little gremlin Zuckerberg is sucking up to Obama - any remaining respect I had for Mr Obama has just gone out the window.

Now where's the Mark Zuckerberg delete button ...?

Bonus?

"But that was blamed on "human error", which the exchange claimed was likely sabotage"

Just shows what happens when you don't pay the Greedy *ankers their bonuses.....

WiFi?

This phone sounds as though it's designed for work in the remote Tundras, Deserts, Mountains by exploration geologists (the people who really find PRIMARY wealth - not your "lets stay in the office and push buttons" Bankers and Clerks who are involved in Tertiary wealth production at the best) - these are places where WiFi is notable by it's absence. GPS on the other hand is more than useful.

Good stuff...

... looks like it's based on actual scientific work (getting and analysing samples) rather than creating fancy computer models.

Real science then, rather than play science! East Anglia Uni - take note!

Surely that should be iNdium....

... if it's for the iPad !

@ Symon: "What t'bloody hell's... ...computer-controlled hydraulic drills?"

Most drill rigs are controlled and powered by hydraulics. Usually by someone standing there and pulling levers, turning knobs and being in control of the actual drilling process.

Computer control may mean that computers control the entire process including adding the drill rods and performing the drilling. It could also mean that the drill rig is moved under computer control to each drill location (pre-programmed) in sequence to perform the aforementioned drilling.

Strange that Wikipedia doesn't have any info on them (just checked) - they've been around since the early 1990's

A bit like the report on the Beeb..

.. this morning where it seems that kids who eat lots of junk food in their formative years "become" less intelligent.

Of course - the research didn't consider that they may eat "junk" food because of their social background and therefore there may be many other factors in their lack of intelligence.

Junk food (physical garbage) = Facebook (virtual garbage) ?

Ahhh...

... the photo brought back memories of operating one of these at what was the SURRC at East Kilbride when I was a post grad. All those switches to play with......

Hmmm...

I thought Mubarak had found the answer. Just switch off the internet.

No Internet = No Cyber War.

But I guess that'd be cheating.

@JDX: 3D Video capture....

You're missing the point.

It'll be able to recognise it's owner using 3D face recognition technology.

So if you're not it's owner it'll just go blank. And you'll need to use chalk to write on it.

Read his article...

... before making comments.

1) He states he works in IT - is fully computer aware (he works in IT) - "In my day job I actually work as an IT Architect. I do designs on complex infrastructures, delivery processes and related stuff."

2) He does have back-ups of photographs - as has been said in other comments it's the years of comments, links etc. that he cannot re-build so quickly.

But, of course, the answer is easy as others have pointed out. Yahoo/Flickr just restore his profile /account the last back-up (presumably the previous day). If they aren't taking daily backups of all accounts and keeping at least six months worth then they cannot be taken seriously and should be avoided like the plague.

As someone else mentioned - multiple redundant backups...... Way to go...

So the mega FAIL for Flickr.

Personally I would never ever commit anything I rely on to the "cloud" UNLESS it provides one or more copies on a local computer under my control (Dropbox being a case in point).

So, let me get this straight...

... when "Anonymous" implements a Denial of Service it warrants police action against those involved, but when a government launches a Denial of Service attack against it's citizens its ok?

Seems to me the Egyptian government would have been better to leave the mobile network alone and employ "Mr Mudrock and his NOTW super-spook lackeys" to tap the mobiles !!

Underestimated ?

Can the Register find out if the £3.6bn includes the bonuses paid to the directors of the financial services industry?

Double standards....

... haven't seen the politicos kick up the same fuss about Tesco, Asda etc. affecting the smaller shops...

I'm shocked !

"but weak password security by the team of minions maintaining the page is the most likely explanation."

The master of social interf***ing doesn't write / secure his own page !

Whatever next ? You'll be telling me that Lloyd Grossman doesn't lovingly mix each jar of his sauces ....

Monodroid anyone ?

so you can use C# and Vis Studio 10 to get your Android Apps up and running.

and there's at least one implementation of "good ole" BASIC now for Android developers.

Budget ???

Perhaps we should define a budget level for a budget phone in these inflation and recession hit times:

I suggest anything under £40.00 is budget, £40-£100 is mid range, £100-£200 is upper range. Anything over £200 should be the "You've got to be joking" range. Maybe force the manufacturers to cut back on their "research costs" and develop long lasting smart phones in the spirit of the new age of austerity (Bankers excepted, of course).

Not surprising...

..given the great example set by the upper echelon of bankers.

Bankers Bonuses = Fraud perpetrated on the UK electorate.

So, soon it'll be common,,,,

.... to see Chinese garlic sellers on rickshaws replacing the French onion sellers on bikes......

Sign of the times!

Call in...

... the Silent Witness team. They'll have it solved in one episode (or maybe a 2 parter!).

But beware! This is what'll happen to anyone the Met Office considers a Man Made Climate Change Denier in the future!

40,000 sads..

"Love was evidently unimpressed with the claim, and on 17 March 2009 entertained her 40,000 Twitter followers "

40,000 of the sad wee beggers! Is it possible to have a group Darwin award?

Why...

.. are we still outsourcing call centres to this country?

When they have stopped all so-called "honour" killings then we, maybe, can talk to them again.

Why are none of the perpetrators of these murders being charged, convicted and shipped (naked) to Antarctica for six months without food? (Well, it sounds fair to me!)

Really?

In this respect, one speaker cited an ad for Mikado chocolate biscuits, which was described as a "pre-pubescent girl having her fanny photographed".

In which world is a 20 year old or more girl considered "pre-pubescent". I have to assume the use of Fanny is the American one. Unless the original commentator is privy to footage that was not broadcast.

Is this meaningful?

"The highest point on the Earth is at the summit of Mount Everest, which is 8,848 meters (29,029 feet) above sea level. The lunar high point is 1938 meters higher than that of the Earth!"

So to compare the highest point on the moon must be above Sea level - so where's the sea?

It must be more meaningful to compare the difference between the lowest solid surface point and the highest solid surface point on each sphere. I which case Everest to the Mariana Trench (depth approx 11.03 km). So combined "relief" is 19,881 which beats the moons bulge somewhat.

PS - I was expecting some spectacular side views of a towering mountain - not a wee arrow on an acned surface. Perhaps you can generate a Playmobil scene ?

The perfect excuse....

.. Why on earth didn't they just say that they were investment bankers who had driven their countries economy into the ground and the cash was their months bonus. They'd have had our fine politicians queuing up to get them off the hook and all charges and suspicions would have been dropped.

Why...

.. aren't all prospective parliamentary, local government etc. candidates given a series of examinations - on law, science, finance, art & culture, international relations, diplomacy, farm management, running small businesses, societies, etc. etc. If they fail even one then they're no longer eligible for election for a minimum of 5 years.

In this way we may just get people with a modicum of common sense and the depth or experience and knowledge that the job requires - rather than these idiots that haven't got the common sense of a gnat! (I'm probably doing gnats a disservice here - but you know what I mean!).

BUT ....

"As part of our work to provide people with control over their information, we've learned that the design and operation of the Internet doesn't always provide the greatest control that is technically possible. "

This has been known since the first days of the internet. If you're designing stuff to run on in it's your responsibility to make sure your system is watertight !

It's a bit like standing in a blizzard in your shorts and sunglasses and saying "we're learned that the operation of the weather system dosn't always conform to our idea of summer."

She's missed ...

... the boat. Latin American country of the moment is Chile - not Brazil!

Lets see....

... "Americans sustained 696 "video game-related injuries" during the period 2004 to 2009"

That's about 140 per year, out of a population of 310 million. That is 0.000047 percent of the population.

Why is this news? There are probably much much larger numbers of Americans who injure themselves running, playing tennis, sneezing, changing light bulbs etc.!