Would you agree that UK retailers' attitude to HD has been woeful? The main High Street retailer in my area is Currys Digital and all the HD sets in the local shops are connected to an analogue component video SD source which at best looks very average. In addition, the sets themselves (especially the ones in the shop windows) are set up dreadfully (i.e. not at all) and actually look worse than my six-year-old Tosh CRT. There's no wonder that consumers are not excited by HD yet.
Some years ago I owned a Sony CD player and a Sony Minidisc player/recorder. The CD player and Minidisc were designed so that I could, with a single click of a remote control button (the button was called 'Sync Record' if memory serves), record the CD onto Minidisc without further intervention. This was a feature designed to simplify the copying of CDs to Minidisc and was documented as such in the Sony documentation.
I am sure there are a myriad of other examples of hardware and software manufacturer implementing features which expedite the 'illegal' copying of music and other software. I suppose what makes the Sony instance more interesting is that Sony operate a music label as well and are presumably part of the RIAA mafia.
No, I am not saying that at all. Clearly someone down the line either took the decision to send this data or approved its sending. They should and probably will be sacked.
As for ID cards I agree with you although I think that they were going to be shelved anyway, quietly or otherwise.
Going off-topic now. I disagree with you over Northern Rock. The consequences of doing nothing in that situation would have been disastrous. I don't think misappropriation took place. However, if in the long run, the taxpayer has to pay even a penny towards the 'propping up', then he definitely should resign. If there's any deficit to be made up then I hope the Government whack a bloody great tax on the banks.
"The Chancellor will try to evade responsibility..."
In what way could be held responsible? The data was copied and sent in clear breach of the agency's (and the Government's) rules. The last time I checked, it wasn't the Chancellor's responsibility to monitor personally all packages sent by Government agencies. Had the security breach happened due to actions which did NOT breach any rules then I might agree with you, however this is not the case here.
Put it this way: If ministerial resignation (and that is what you are implying should happen) is to follow every breach of security then that is a green light to every ne'er-do-well and Tory malcontent working in Government to start posting confidential data left, right and centre.
Amazon in the UK are selling the Eyeclops at £34.95. $40 US currently converts to around £19.50, give or take. I suppose we should be grateful that the £/$ parity phenomenon doesn't apply in this case, as so often it does elsewhere.
I think you are right. eBay has probably hundreds or thousands of bootlegs for sale at any one time. Does the RIAA/MPAA does anything? Nope. The Federation Against Copyright Theft in the UK are similarly not interested in going after eBay. The reason is obvious - companies have huge legal budgets to throw at any lawsuits coming from RIAA/MPAA and there is no certainty that the latter would win.
It's bizarre: distribute songs for nothing and get a $200,000 fine. Sell them and get away scot-free.
... And Canada will contribute to the project by creating the Stern Maiden Aunt of All Detonators.
...and England will create the Public School Headmaster of All Bombs. With a tweed cladding, the bomb will, upon detonating, not actually explode, but give its victims a severe lecture followed by Six Of The Best.
As well as using a slightly lower 'Baroque' tuning, orchestras have, over the past ten or twenty years, been experimenting with using a slightly higher reference. Apparently this gives the music slightly more dynamism and excitement.
I have often wondered if that is always what happens to civilisations (I am talking about putative ones on other worlds) at some point. I know there are numerous other good reasons why we appear to be the only intelligent life in this part of the universe but perhaps all intelligent life gets to a point where it becomes technologically feasible to wipe itself out and it does.
There are apparently already bacteriological/chemical/viral weapons which can target certain ethnic groups. For Americans it's called Saturated Fat.
In the 1980s (and probably subsequently) it was normal practice for Special Branch to inspect the ballot papers of those who voted for parties which were considered potentially subversive (Communists, BNP, National Front.) They could then match those voting papers to the voters (by dint of the fact that the voter's name was written on a list next to the voting paper number) and keep a handy database of undesirables.
We've had this in Central London for ages. It's called, slightly euphemistically, the Congestion Charge. All vehicles entering a zone in Central London have their registration plates recorded by cameras. It's no big deal.
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Would you agree that UK retailers' attitude to HD has been woeful? The main High Street retailer in my area is Currys Digital and all the HD sets in the local shops are connected to an analogue component video SD source which at best looks very average. In addition, the sets themselves (especially the ones in the shop windows) are set up dreadfully (i.e. not at all) and actually look worse than my six-year-old Tosh CRT. There's no wonder that consumers are not excited by HD yet.
Did they give them one of those plastic phones filled with Pez candies? No, an iPhone. *ducks*
Some years ago I owned a Sony CD player and a Sony Minidisc player/recorder. The CD player and Minidisc were designed so that I could, with a single click of a remote control button (the button was called 'Sync Record' if memory serves), record the CD onto Minidisc without further intervention. This was a feature designed to simplify the copying of CDs to Minidisc and was documented as such in the Sony documentation.
I am sure there are a myriad of other examples of hardware and software manufacturer implementing features which expedite the 'illegal' copying of music and other software. I suppose what makes the Sony instance more interesting is that Sony operate a music label as well and are presumably part of the RIAA mafia.
Not only is human evolution speeding up, but so is self-promotion, apparently.
No, I am not saying that at all. Clearly someone down the line either took the decision to send this data or approved its sending. They should and probably will be sacked.
As for ID cards I agree with you although I think that they were going to be shelved anyway, quietly or otherwise.
Going off-topic now. I disagree with you over Northern Rock. The consequences of doing nothing in that situation would have been disastrous. I don't think misappropriation took place. However, if in the long run, the taxpayer has to pay even a penny towards the 'propping up', then he definitely should resign. If there's any deficit to be made up then I hope the Government whack a bloody great tax on the banks.
"The Chancellor will try to evade responsibility..." In what way could be held responsible? The data was copied and sent in clear breach of the agency's (and the Government's) rules. The last time I checked, it wasn't the Chancellor's responsibility to monitor personally all packages sent by Government agencies. Had the security breach happened due to actions which did NOT breach any rules then I might agree with you, however this is not the case here. Put it this way: If ministerial resignation (and that is what you are implying should happen) is to follow every breach of security then that is a green light to every ne'er-do-well and Tory malcontent working in Government to start posting confidential data left, right and centre.
Amazon in the UK are selling the Eyeclops at £34.95. $40 US currently converts to around £19.50, give or take. I suppose we should be grateful that the £/$ parity phenomenon doesn't apply in this case, as so often it does elsewhere.
I think you are right. eBay has probably hundreds or thousands of bootlegs for sale at any one time. Does the RIAA/MPAA does anything? Nope. The Federation Against Copyright Theft in the UK are similarly not interested in going after eBay. The reason is obvious - companies have huge legal budgets to throw at any lawsuits coming from RIAA/MPAA and there is no certainty that the latter would win. It's bizarre: distribute songs for nothing and get a $200,000 fine. Sell them and get away scot-free.
As well as using a slightly lower 'Baroque' tuning, orchestras have, over the past ten or twenty years, been experimenting with using a slightly higher reference. Apparently this gives the music slightly more dynamism and excitement.
This will probably appear in my upcoming distribution Ye Olde Linuxe, complete with half-timbered desktop and a Plague Pit-shaped Recycling Bin.
I am looking forward to the 'Fairly Fair Scheduler.'
I have often wondered if that is always what happens to civilisations (I am talking about putative ones on other worlds) at some point. I know there are numerous other good reasons why we appear to be the only intelligent life in this part of the universe but perhaps all intelligent life gets to a point where it becomes technologically feasible to wipe itself out and it does. There are apparently already bacteriological/chemical/viral weapons which can target certain ethnic groups. For Americans it's called Saturated Fat.
You are correct insofar that I missed out a step, but the voter's unique number is written next to the ballot paper number and can be traced that way. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_voting#United_ Kingdom
In the 1980s (and probably subsequently) it was normal practice for Special Branch to inspect the ballot papers of those who voted for parties which were considered potentially subversive (Communists, BNP, National Front.) They could then match those voting papers to the voters (by dint of the fact that the voter's name was written on a list next to the voting paper number) and keep a handy database of undesirables.
We've had this in Central London for ages. It's called, slightly euphemistically, the Congestion Charge. All vehicles entering a zone in Central London have their registration plates recorded by cameras. It's no big deal.
In 'Outland' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082869/) de-pressurization meant instant death through rapid expansion/explosion. Movies, eh?