* Posts by TK

18 publicly visible posts • joined 29 May 2007

US laptops-on-planes ban may extend to flights from ALL nations

TK

After seeing the way airlines throw luggage, I'd be loathe to check a laptop. But even if folks did, what's to keep a baddie from checking the machine in their luggage, flying to some other location for the day, then catching a domestic business shuttle to their "final destination"?

I'm all for being safe, that's great, but this is getting increasingly stupid.

Wait – we can explain, says Moby, er, Docker amid rebrand meltdown

TK

Well that was disappointing

This was about neither pants or dodgy electronic music.

Panicked WH Smith kills website to stop sales of how-to terrorism manuals

TK

Well that was easy

After I saw the article, I searched for Improvised Munitions online just to see if an Amazon link came up. Instead I found it as a free pdf.

I don't know about your UK bookstore, but it's easy enough to grab.

Best Buy opens first UK store tomorrow

TK
Gates Horns

Why couldn't we export something good?

Definitely do your research on how BB acts here in the US. Between the craziness of the Geek Squad employee's behavior, getting caught having two sites (external and internal to the store) that showed different prices, 'optimization' of computers, and the nightmare around their price matching policy, I wish the people of the UK good luck.

As another poster mentioned, consumerist.com has a whole slew of stories about BB and their ilk.

Radical hypersonic glider vanishes above Pacific

TK

Ummmm

Shouldn't that fancy shmancy missile shield have been able to pick it up on re-entry and shot it down?

Apple yanks Wi-Fi detectors from iTunes

TK

One possible reason

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There was an article that came out yesterday, on Lifehacker maybe(?), about thieves using wi-fi radio detectors to find laptops that folks had just shutdown and put into their cars.

If a machine were set up with connection sharing (sharing the wi-fi connection for example), a wi-fi detecting app would make an ipod a quick and cheap way to find such laptops.

Just a guess.

Craigslist founder defends 'erotic' listings

TK
Jobs Horns

Blumenthal's a camera whore

He's one of those state attorney general's that jumps in front of a lens at any chance, only doing good about half of the time.

I'm sure if Craiglist was willing to take Blumenthal's suggestions then Blumenthal won't mind if Craigslist tells him how to prosecute cases. Right?

The erotic services listings are no different than the free rags like The Phoenix or The Advocate that have adult services ads in the back.

Enormous pain-ray patio heater towers erected in California

TK
Dead Vulture

Yikes

So now migrant workers not only have to worry about illegal carcinogenic pesticides being used while the inspectors look the other way, but they also have to worry about being cooked alive when one of these shorts or takes a spike from the grid.

Not to mention that there's some investigation as to whether the increase in microwave towers like cell repeaters are contributing to the bees wandering off and not returning. I'd assume these wouldn't be running during polination season, but if they were, it could add to *that* problem.

Could the Airbus A380 be the new Air Force One?

TK
Pirate

I doubt it'll be a A380

There are a few problems....

As Torben pointed out, there are airport concerns with the aircraft. The A380 is so large that it's currently fairly limited in the number of airports it can arrive and depart from, though many airports are in the process of upgrading. However, the same way that the plane is designed to stay up indefinitely if need be, it needs to be able to come down as quickly and if the nearest airport can't support that, it'll be a bad security choice, effectively knocking it off the table.

The second problem would be with fueling. While Airbus could reconfigure the fill (or add an extra) to allow for in flight refueling, there aren't a lot of planes that can carry the weight of the fuel that a A380 would require. It's the Hummer of the skys.

Finally, in the current economy, it would be political suicide for the Congress to allow the deal to go overseas, particularly when the daily drum beat revolves around stimulating the domestic manufacturing chain.

While it's remotely possible, and I think the A380 is a pretty cool piece of kit, I don't think it's very likely.

Judge says tech-addled jurors undermine justice

TK

easy enough solution

Sequester the jury in the room next door, live cast the trial on youtube and make them click an ad once in a while. That way they'll pay attention.

The war on photographers - you're all al Qaeda suspects now

TK
Unhappy

So much for that holiday destination

I'm just guessing the police don't often chat with the folks at travel and tourism? I'm not saying our own George W Stalin has done much to make the US inviting as a travel destination, but I used to view England as a place I'd love to return to for a holiday. It sounds like it's getting almost as bad there as it is here.

I'm just waiting for the day DARPA comes up with the image erasing brain ray to make sure we don't record any mental images as well.

Gov. war gamers hack servers to stay ahead

TK

Umm...wait a minute

Isn't the point of these "games" to find potential weak points? If the systems running these simulations can be hacked then that's a valid problem.

Further, I don't think the location of rail cars with something nasty in them is really classified. Maybe trips with radioactive waste is on the list of things not to be spoken of, but most budding terrorists can do just as well blowing up a chlorine laden rail car. And honestly, there's a rail yard just down the road from me where I could just walk right up to a rail car and give it a big ole' wet smooch if I wanted, let alone leave something that goes boom. Cars with hazardous chemicals in them are usually marked for safety reasons (i.e. one jumps the track and first responders need to know what's in them).

For the benefit of the nice US SS man reading this, no, I don't have any intention (or time for that matter) to go blow something up.

SaveTheInterneters to save the internet from Comcast

TK

I'm just sayin'....

I don't know about Comcast's TOS, but assuming they use the same boiler plate as Charter, the TOS specifically forbids the operation of a server on a residential account. Given that in order to function properly the P2P services have to function as a server, Comcast might be within their rights to not only limit the traffic but to cancel the offending user's account.

Having said that, the insertion of the false packets to mimic the user's traffic and thereby disrupt it is a pretty clear no-no. Of course I'm sure if people sent in lower amount checks to Comcast so that the user could limit the impact on his/her bank account for the good of all their creditors Comcast would understand, right?

Best Buy adds disclaimer to 'secret website'

TK

As luck would have it....

My phone makes a lovely modem in a pinch and coupled with my laptop conveniently stashed in my backpack I could very easily show the nice pimply faced manager the deal and tell him to stuff it and ring the purchase properly.

TK

One other thing...

I don't know about best buy specifically, but in the US a lot of retail companies are completely separate entities from their web version for tax purposes. I ran into this when looking for something from Ritz camera and most recently with a squabble over a rebate from Vonage. I bought a router at Circuit City (the physical store). My 175.00 rebate was denied because I didn't buy from a valid retailer. The retailer on the rebate form? circuitcity.com.

The upside is that there was a stipulation I had to be a customer of Vonage for 2 years to be eligible for the full rebate amount. I now have even less reason to stick with them.

Nicole Richie does 82 minutes hard time

TK

Sheesh

They may as well have just made her wait on line to get her license renewed for all the time it took. I was sentenced to two hours at the local motor vehicle registry recently. My crime? I wanted to get a trailer registered. Where's the justice???

Bait and switch? Not us, says Best Buy

TK

Jeez, no where to shop

Circuit city is bad because they fire their employees just because they've been there too long and got one to many raises.

Best Buy is using bait and switch

Walmart is a price forcing behemoth

Target never has anything in stock that a reasonable person might actually wish to buy.

Maybe it's time to start that goat farm I've been thinking of.

Notorious car clamper facing Asbo

TK

Easy enough solution

Get a power inverter for your car, keep an angle grinder in the back with a cutoff wheel, remove the clamp.

Or just don't screw up in the first place to get one.