And The Interception of Communications Commissioner Sir Paul Kennedy, thinks this is a good thing. The number completey startles me. Do they have that many people working in the secret services that can process all this?!
Yup, when big, centralised databases get made, it just gives you so much more information to sell or misuse. Here we have a corrupt customs agent sellling data to drug dealers. We also have people tracking ex-girlfriends. Yup, great, having no privacy.
The UK has managed to lose two CDs with lots of very private information on around 15 million of its subjects. These CDs contained the personal information of all people collecting child benefits and were lost as a result of them being sent untracked by courier. They never arrived at their destination and were sent Read more about When you lose a database[…]
If you buy a PC nowadays, it’ll come loaded with loads of crap you may or may not want: trial versions of software with nag screens after a period of time, the system builder’s own software, stuff that shows you ads, google desktop and toolbar etc etc etc. PC World has a good article on Read more about The Junk on New Build PCs[…]
Apparently it’s legal in the US to discriminate against smokers. So Florida’s largest employer has decided to not hire smokers and mentions them in the same sentence as drug users in their policy. Now Florida is fairly anti-smoking, but this is pushing the line way beyond what people are willing to accept.
Stichting Brein has the power to have websites taken down at will and without any need for reasoning. Leaseweb is contending this.
So… then what are they for?
Not only that, they should mark each others’ tests as well. No, seriously. This is what the UK National Curriculum advice is for this year. First the UK has managed to scare the people into doing whatever it wants in the name of security, then it created a nanny state, and now it’s dumbing the Read more about Kids ‘should set tests’ – Education – News – Manchester Evening News[…]
The US Fearmongering has gone onto a totally new track – men are becoming afraid of children there, as they are likely to be seen as paedophile if they interact with them in any way.
Not only do the authorities not clear the DNA database of people who are not charged or are considered innocent, it now turns out that 1/8th of the data in the database is wrong.
Fox is starting the drumbeat to war on Iran and it looks an incredible amount like the drumbeat for war on Iraq. This guy has made a little movie, comparing footage to both. Well worth looking at.
Universal Music Group is to sell thousands of tracks DRM free untill 1/8, none of which on the iTunes store in an attempt to measure if DRM sells better or worse. Or if the iTunes store sells poorly. Or whatever. Probably just to piss Apple off really. And to see if people will really want Read more about Vivendi tries DRM free sales through Universal[…]
How ugly can competition become? AMD has set up a special website slamming Intel, using the material it’s using in the EC antitrust case (which hasn’t been proved at all yet).
Now in the UK, Southampton, the Wellington Arms has allready become a consulate for the Island of Redonda. It’s now trying to become an embassy, in order to escape VAT and most importantly, the bans on smoking that will be in effect from 1/7 in England. Smokers will continue the fight!
Against the wishes of the EU European Data Protection Supervisor, police will share data about DNA, fingerprints and licence plates all over the EU. The problem is that whichever country has the least security on their systems, will be an automatic easy entry point to all this data. I don’t want my DNA in any Read more about EU shares police data across the board[…]
Yup, if you want to make international bank transfers, you have to use Swift. If you want to use swift you have to sign a waiver saying that it’s OK for them to do whatever they want with your personal details for any random reason (OK, to fight terrorism is what it says, but that Read more about SWIFT hates your privacy[…]
It doesn’t matter that we voted the “constitution” down with a resounding round of referenda across the EU, Merkel literally says that they should change the presentation or “to use different terminology without changing the legal substance” in order to ram the unwieldy thing down our gullets.
The AMD rep spelled it out in words that would have been undiplomatic coming from me: He said that the new chips will “block unauthorized access to the frame buffer.” In short, that means an unauthorized party can’t save the contents of the display to a file on disk unless the content owner approves it.
Because being able to watch your citizens in an Orwellian way isn’t enough, Britain’s latest addition to the surveillance society is to make it interactive. Unknown people with their voices modified to sound freakily like schoolchildren will be able to shout directives at you from the camera’s all over the country now.
Apparently a whole load of procedural mistakes are made when issuing traffic tickets, such as when you’ve been flashed by a camera, the picture is supposed to be in your mailbox within six weeks time. If this doesn’t happen, the ticket is anulled. This company will fight your ticket for you for EUR. 6,99 (incl. Read more about Fight your traffic tickets in NL[…]
The Qflix system developed by Sonic Solutions Inc works by putting a content scrambling system lock on the burnt DVD. Each DVD player has a key to unencrypt the DVD. Or at least, they will have. Maybe. How you’re supposed to match your DVD player key to a DVD burnt in a kiosk is still Read more about Hollywood OKs DRM solution[…]
One of the reasons that Britain has been running behind the U.S. arse is that they owe the U.S. a huge amount of money for saving the rest of Europe from Hitler. Not that the rest of Europe is helping GB to pay it off. Now the interest on that loan is very very small Read more about Britain finally pays of WWII loan[…]
Harrr! His ‘n hers! http://www.zoogstercostumes.com/landing/pirate.php. Help combat global warming and get yours today!
Four intrepid MIT scientists have taken an empirical look at the effectiveness of tin foil hats at stopping dangerous radio signals from penentrating the brain. Using three different models of tin foil hats, they used a network analyser to determine that these hats in fact greatly amplify certain frequencies into your brain. Coincidentally the frequencies Read more about Tin Foil Hats enhance death rays![…]
They want a permanent base staffed and ready in 2024 as a test to see if we can rough it on the moon for a bit before doing more space exploration from there. It will be solar powered and probably placed on one of the moons poles. They plan to start construction in 2020. Everyone Read more about NASA to build moon base[…]