Recent Posts

4901

Living Room / Re: DOTCOM saga - updates

« Last post by IainB on July 29, 2012, 02:49 AM »

..."Guilty, regardless of innocence"...

-TaoPhoenix (July 28, 2012, 09:05 PM)

Well, yes, that is rather what it looks like, but it might just be the symptomatic effects of something else - something causal.
Just as nasty pustules on the skin might look pretty bad, we now know you look for the underlying cause - it'll be (say) the smallpox virus, or something like that.
My reading between the lines in the Dotcom saga leads me to wonder whether the **AA are not - quite understandably - naturally and aggressively fighting to protect their very existence. Their existence would presumably depend on their business model continuing to be relevant and to operate lucratively.

Yet, apparently - according to Kim Dotcom and others - the implementation of the proposed Megabox business plan could make the **AA business model(s) - and the **AA corporate entities - not only irrelevant but also largely obsolete, and over a relatively short period of time too.

If you were a business under that kind of competitive threat (annihilation), and if you were a good psychopathic corporation, then there'd probably only be one option open to you: take them out - with prejudice - before they take you out.

Just supposing, if this were true, then any loss of legal rights or justice, etc. could thus arguably be just so much collateral damage. I would guess that no-one really is deliberately seeking to destroy these rights per se, but if they stand in the way as obstacles to the successful takedown of Dotcom, all their associates and especially of Megabox, then casualties they must be. Dotcom must be (already has been) made an example of, so that the market can be taught a lesson by the Big **AA.

Don't threaten our business model.

4902

Living Room / Re: DOTCOM saga - updates

« Last post by IainB on July 28, 2012, 12:55 PM »

Update via Slashdot:

US Gov't Says They Can Still Freeze Megaupload Assets If the Case Is Dismissed
Posted by Soulskill on Saturday July 28, @12:26AM
from the taking-your-toys-and-going-home dept.

The Megaupload case continues, and on Friday attorneys for the U.S. government made some interesting claims. They were in court to argue against a request to dismiss the indictment against Megaupload that was raised on the grounds that Megaupload has no U.S. address. After a debate about jurisdiction and precedent, this happened: "The government also argued that it could keep Megaupload in legal limbo indefinitely. 'None of the cases impose a time limit on service,' the government's attorney told the judge. Therefore, the government believes it can leave the indictment hanging over the company's head, and keep its assets frozen, indefinitely. Not only that, but the government believes it can continue to freeze Megaupload's assets and paralyze its operations even if the judge grants the motion to dismiss. That's because in the government's view, the assets are the proceeds of criminal activity and the prosecution against founder Kim Dotcom will still be pending. The fact that the assets are in the name of Megaupload rather than its founder is of no consequence, the government claimed."

4903

Clipboard Help+Spell / Re: CHS tip - retain last clip's formatting with an AutoHotKey workaround script

« Last post by IainB on July 28, 2012, 09:09 AM »

Thought I'd better post this as an update/correction.
I had been experiencing some episodic but erratic behaviour (time-delays and failure to complete) in the proper pasting of formatted and unformatted text - where sometimes quite large Clipboard contents were involved - using the above AHK script. It worked OK before.
Since I had not changed the script, I figured that changes from either/both of CHS updates or Win7-64 updates had altered the behind-the-scenes Clipboard process activity/timings.

This was the script from above:
;-------------------------------------------------------------------
UnformattedPaste:                    ; Text–only unformatted paste from ClipBoard
   ClipSaved := ClipboardAll       ; save original clipboard contents
   Clipboard = %Clipboard%      ; Convert to text + remove formatting
   Send ^v                               ; send the Ctrl+v command
   Clipboard := ClipSaved          ; restore the original clipboard contents
   ClipSaved =                          ; clear the variable
Return
;-------------------------------------------------------------------

I managed to fix it all up after reading through:

• the AHK documentation re Variables and Expressions
• the AHK forum re Paste plain text (and copy/cut)

- and by changing the above script to this:
;-------------------------------------------------------------------
UnformattedPaste:              ; MARK2 Text–only unformatted paste from ClipBoard
   ClipSaved = %ClipBoardAll%   ; save original clipboard contents
   ClipBoard = %ClipBoard%   ; Convert to text + remove formatting
   Send ^v                         ; For best compatibility: SendPlay
   Sleep 50                         ; Don't change clipboard while it is pasted! (Sleep > 0)
   ClipBoard = %ClipSaved%       ; Restore original ClipBoard
   VarSetCapacity(ClipSaved, 0)   ; Free memory
Return
;-------------------------------------------------------------------

The erratic behaviour seems to have completely gone away.

The MARK2 script may be faster (more efficient) because it stores values in variables as expressions:

Storing values in variables: To store a string or number in a variable, there are two methods: traditional and expression. The traditional method uses the equal sign operator (=) to assign unquoted literal strings or variables enclosed in percent signs.

- and tidier, because it uses arguably good/better practice to clear up and zeroise its ad hoc memory footprint.
However, I would suppose (have no proof) that the "Sleep 50" bit may be what fixed it though, allowing differences in CPU speed and memory speed to run their sequential course without interruption, where larger amounts of data are stored in the Clipboard.
It would be interesting to know exactly what had been going on in the CPU/RAM though.

The new MARK2 script is cribbed from the script posted by the most excellent Lazlo (Posted: July 29th, 2006, 3:20 pm) in the above AHK forum link.

4904

Living Room / Re: In search of ... cookie viewer w/create date

« Last post by IainB on July 27, 2012, 07:29 PM »

You could try Cookie Jar (for Firefox): http://cookie-jar.software.informer.com/
(I've not tried it out myself, but I might after this. It's shareware for $24.95.)
From the link:

Cookie Jar is a utility program to examine the contents of the cookie files on your computer. It can show you the cookies that have been set by web sites you have visited with your browser and allow you too see the details contained inside them. You can view, edit and even delete unwanted cookies. Shows when cookies were created and when they will expire.

(By the way, I found this quite quickly by googling "cookie analyzer", and then exploring the results and associated links and reading people's reviews. There seems to be quite a lot of software - FREE and otherwise - for cookie management and analysis out there.)

4905

Living Room / Re: bicycling suddenly a British speciality?!

« Last post by IainB on July 27, 2012, 06:55 PM »

Despite the hype, the British win is not all that spectacular.
For example, and to put it into perspective: Germany takes all-classes win of the 1940 Tour de France - and I don't think this earlier Tour de France shot was Photoshopped, either.

4906

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by IainB on July 27, 2012, 06:44 PM »

The writing's on the lawn.

A computer company arranged to hold its annual Christmas corporate function for staff at an old stately home in the hills of Scotland. The owner of the stately home was a Peer in the House of Lords, who had a much younger and very attractive wife.

Amongst the personnel of the computer company was a man called Alan, who was known for his womanising ways.

The computer company's corporate function went off extremely well, with much drinking, socialising and jollity.

The next year, the computer company CEO wrote to the Peer and asked if they could hold their next Christmas function there, since the first one had been such a success and they had all had such a great time. The Peer sent a letter back saying that he'd be very happy to oblige the request under the same terms as before, but asked that the company please refrain from sending any member of their staff who was called "Alan".

Intrigued, the CEO phoned up the Peer and asked, "What was the reason for your request not to send anyone called "Alan"? There is only one member of staff by that name."

The Peer replied, "Well, in the morning after your function, written in urine in the snow on the croquet lawn were the words, 'Piss off Bertie. Yours, Alan.' - and my name is Bertie, you see."

The CEO was acutely embarrassed, "Goodness me! I didn't realise that he had done that. What a rude thing to do! I do apologise. I shall speak with him about it."

The Peer replied, "Well, you don't need to tick him off about it - I didn't want him punished. It's just that I don't want him there, exposed to any further temptation. You see, I recognised it as being in my wife's handwriting!"

4907

Living Room / Re: [Security] issues with Vista & Win7 gadgets

« Last post by IainB on July 27, 2012, 10:35 AM »

Just a belated thanks for posting this.
I have disabled the gadgets on 2 laptops, using the disable FixIt on Microsoft's website.
I have also disabled the gadget service's communication via Windows 7 Firewall Control.

4908

Living Room / Re: Internet freedoms restrained - SOPA/PIPA/OPEN/ACTA/CETA/PrECISE-related updates

« Last post by IainB on July 26, 2012, 08:46 AM »

News from Techdirt about a potentially good move for Internet freedoms, albeit a bit belated: SOPA/PIPA Wakes Up Internet Giants To Realize They Need To Be More Engaged In DC
(Copied below sans embedded links.)

Spoiler

SOPA/PIPA Wakes Up Internet Giants To Realize They Need To Be More Engaged In DC
from the unfortunate-reality dept

Earlier today it was announced that a new industry trade association representing large internet companies, called The Internet Association, is going to be launching this fall, with Google, Amazon, eBay and Facebook as the charter members. Part of the thinking behind this group stemmed from the realization of how little influence various internet companies had in DC when SOPA/PIPA came along last year -- and a concerted effort to change that.

Former Congressional staffer Michael Beckerman was officially named this morning as the organization's president. I got to meet with Beckerman last week and hear some of the details about the group. To be honest, I have very mixed feelings about all of this. I tend to believe that this group will be a force for good in supporting an open internet and related issues. Beckerman was quite frank about why this new group absolutely needs to be focused on supporting the views of the public (because unlike in some other industries, when an internet company diverges from the public interest, it's very easy for its users/customers to go elsewhere). One of the major concerns we discussed was where the interests of internet users and the large internet companies might diverge, and how this organization would deal with those situations. He was pretty adamant that if they're not doing a good job representing the public's interest as well, then the organization isn't doing its job. Hopefully that is true, but obviously it's a claim that deserves close scrutiny as this organization ramps up. Hopefully, Beckerman will model the organization on the success of organizations like CEA, who have built up a very strong reputation in recognizing that by fighting to protect consumers they do the best in the long run for the electronics companies they represent. CEA has a long history of putting consumers first on various issues (even when you could make the argument that their own members feel differently), and it's done well for itself. The Internet Association would do good to follow that lead.

So while I think that this organization is likely to be very helpful in various fights to protect the open internet, I'm a bit disappointed that the state of politics today means that something like this is even needed. And, as always, I worry about large industry players working towards efforts to maintain their position, rather than supporting actual innovation. We've certainly seen large companies who were once innovative later turn around and fight against disruption and defend the status quo. Hopefully that's not what will happen with the Internet Association. Beckerman appears to have a good grasp on the issues, so I'm encouraged by the idea that there will be an organization like this in DC, focused exclusively on internet-related issues, even as I'm disappointed that it's necessary.

One bit of advice, since I know many folks here will automatically be allergic to the idea of any sort of new DC-based trade group, even if it's likely to be fighting against groups that seek to harm the open internet: one way to hopefully avoid a bad result is to engage with this new group. Help them continue to fight the good fight by working with them, rather than automatically dismissing them. Beckerman definitely seems interested in engaging people well beyond just the companies that are members of the association (which, as I understand it, is looking for additional members), and hopefully the more he engages with people who have a personal interest in an open internet, the more he'll be able to help.

Time will tell whether this initiative by "the large Internet companies" is genuine or has hidden agendas.

4909

General Software Discussion / Microsoft OneNote - some experiential Tips & Tricks

« Last post by IainB on July 25, 2012, 11:12 AM »

Welcome to this thread.
What originally started off as a simple initial post about unexplained behaviour in using OneNote 2007 has since developed into what I hope is a more generally useful discussion thread and set of notes about the idiosyncrasies of, and best ways of using OneNote - from shared experience.
The thread details various sources of useful information on OneNote, and there are discussions about different  user's problems with OneNote, or requirements for OneNote, and how they can be addressed.

Generally speaking, OneNote is a very powerful tool for collecting a library of one's notes, where the notes may consist of various data types, including:

• plain text form,
• RTF (Rich Text Format) form,
• formatted text copied/pasted from web pages,
• copied/pasted images of things,
• copied/pasted images containing text,
• perceptible words spoken in embedded audio recordings,
• perceptible words spoken in embedded videos.
• objects - OneNote employs OLE (Object Linking and embedding) - e.g., including Excel tables and files, any other files, and playable YouTube video windows (streams from YouTube, so the user is freed of the constraint of having to use the YouTube environment),

Notes in OneNote can hyperlinkd (including Wiki-like linking and URLs) and can be searched for:

• any words in any text form (plain text, Rich Text, etc.),
• any text captured by the OneNote OCR functionality from pasted images containing text (but not embedded image files),
• any perceived words in embedded audio/video tape files,
• any tags the user may have used.

There's a lot more to OneNotes though, and users can find out by:

• using the OneNotes documentation that they may have,
• searching this discussion thread,
• experimentation and trial-and-error (it's actually quite difficult to "break" anything in OneNote).

If you discover something "new" or that you find particularly useful about OneNote, or a problem or a limitation in OneNote, then please share by posting about it in this discussion thread. Someone else reading about it could find it very useful,

Thankyou,
           IainB.

======================================

Since OneNote 2007, there have been 3-yearly updates to MS Office (which contains OneNote) - so, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, etc.
The software has been progressively improved and features have been incrementally added/extended, usually for the better.
____________________________________________________
The original opening post as at 2012-07-25, 11:12:33 is copied in the quote below:

Still unresolved/unanswered:
Microsoft OneNote 2007 + CHS - a useful undocumented(?) feature
(Originally posted on: 2012-07-25, 11:12:33)

I made an accidental discovery today of what seems to be an undocumented feature in the OneNote SCT (Screen Clipping Tool):

• The SCT is loaded into the Systray and can be activated by the default key combo Win+S, whereupon the screen "freezes" and turns slightly opaque, and a cross-hairs appears on the screen under the mouse.
• By making a single first click and dragging (I use a tap and drag on my laptop Touchpad), a rectangle can be drawn around that part of the screen you want to clip an image of.
• If you then make a second click of the mouse (I use a tap on the Touchpad), the selected area is copied as an image to a new page in the OneNote Unfiled Notes.
• I have the SCT setting such that the image also goes to @mouser's CHS (Clipboard Help and Spell), and it also goes to my archive in Clipstory (which I have been trialling for a while now) - yes, belts-and-braces, I know.
• I have the Touchpad settings such that, if I hold down the LeftShift key before making the first click, then the mouse slows down to a crawl, so I can carefully make very precise clips at the start, then release the Shift key, move rapidly to the end point and press the Shift key again if I want precision at the cutoff point, then I release the Shift key, click the mouse again and that sends the clip image to OneNote.

I had tediously taken several clips in this way from a long scrolling browser window (because SSC scroll capture could not seem to cope with it), but then I clipped as per the last point above, except I did not release the Shift key before the last mouse click.
To my great surprise, instead of copying the image clipping to OneNote and then popping up the usual window saying that's what it had done, a different-looking window popped up saying "Copying clip to OneNote" or something, with a progress bar - which is what it typically does when you manually copy and paste a large/complex chunk of text and html and objects from a web page to OneNote.
The text was in Unfiled Notes - not the image - but the image was in CHS.

I was able to repeat this behaviour a second time, on a separate part of the same page (it was a report), which proved that it could be repeated on that web page at least.
However, I have not been able to repeat it yet, using other material. Am still experimenting.
The two times it worked was on a report from here: ICSI Netalyzr

What seems to have happened is that some of the defunct but great old "Send to OneNote" functionality may be operating - but I don't see how that could be as it had been disabled (made defunct) under Win7-64, so it shouldn't (it doesn't) work. The workaround for that deficiency is a very poor kludge, and I don't use it much.
Somehow the text and html and objects copied to OneNote bypassed CHS, which just retained the image.
What I would like to do is to be able to repeat this behaviour at will, because it would be very useful and a potentially huge timesaver. It's just what I want.

Any ideas?   

EDIT: 2014-09-09 - Thread title changed to "Microsoft OneNote - some experiential Tips & Tricks" (from "Microsoft OneNote 2007 - some experiential Tips & Tricks")

4910

Post New Requests Here / Re: Create a file list from multiple folders

« Last post by IainB on July 25, 2012, 04:44 AM »

@4wd: Thanks for the link - looks like an interesting find in its own right, as well as being a possible solution to the problem posed by @Contro.    
Downloading it now...

EDIT 2012-07-25 2219hrs: I took a look around that website - http://funk.eu/.
Very interesting software and other stuff - e.g., on the blog, a link to this superb trick cyclist video:

4911

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by IainB on July 23, 2012, 11:33 PM »

Here's a new "The Oatmeal" cartoon:
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/religion
On religion. And hilarious.

-Renegade (July 23, 2012, 08:47 PM)

They were good. Thanks.
In like kind, take a look at this clip of 3 rather interesting Candid Camera fake interviews, from an Egyptian TV channel.
One of them - the first - goes horribly wrong, and for a moment it looks like the guy is about to pull a gun on someone (though he ends up breaking furniture and punching the female interviewer and some of the offstage TV staff).
YouTube link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FBr_-v39vg

I've never seen anything like it before. A glimpse into another world.

4912

Living Room / Re: Internet freedoms restrained - SOPA/PIPA/OPEN/ACTA/CETA/PrECISE-related updates

« Last post by IainB on July 23, 2012, 08:03 PM »

As a timely reminder and example - if we needed one - as to why this subject is important to Internet users in the so-called "Free World", there is this post at Mashable: How Iran Silences Its Citizens on the Web
It's all about totalitarian Fascism and the negation of freedom and liberty. Read the full post at the link.
Therefore, the general objectives of the exercise would seem to be (as far Internet users in the so-called "Free World" are concerned):

• (a) to protect themselves from any and all government-driven statutory changes/initiatives to increase "cyber-security", implement DRM, copyright and expansion of same, reduce piracy, increase censorship or other means that would effectively lead to controls to govern, regulate or otherwise restrict the freedoms of use of the Internet.
• (b) to protect themselves from corporate lobby-driven statutory changes/initiatives to increase "cyber-security", implement DRM, copyright and expansion of same, reduce piracy, increase censorship or other means that would effectively lead to controls to govern, regulate or otherwise restrict the freedoms of use of the Internet.
• (c) to seek to change the arguably corrupt status quo where corporate lobbies have a stronger voice and a greater say in forming legislation that works towards their commercial/monopolistic advantage and against the interests of the people in general.

This Iranian situation is an example of one of many countries where a totalitarian Fascist regime prevails. The simple truth is that if a free people wish to avoid incremental moves in the same direction ("coming soon to a State near you"), then they will need to be vigilant and fight those people and their artefacts (statutes) that would take us there (QED).

In the case of Internet fredoms, the Mashable article finishes with this: (my emphasis)

...
People who work in the tech space in Iran acutely feel the threats posed by this environment. Take for instance the horror confronted by Saeed Malekpour, a Canadian-Iranian facing the death penalty because a file-sharing program he developed was used to upload pornography to the web. His innocuous programming is considered a crime because software developers can be held liable if consumers “inappropriately” use their products.

Being active online today in Iran is fraught with risks that most readers living in democratic societies cannot imagine. This may be the most important reason for world leaders and diplomatic representatives of the free world to put digital freedom on the agenda. Only with sustained pressure can Iran’s netizens get the tools they need to fight for a better future.

4913

Living Room / Re: Internet freedoms restrained - SOPA/PIPA/OPEN/ACTA/CETA/PrECISE-related updates

« Last post by IainB on July 23, 2012, 05:42 PM »

Copy of email from [email protected] Re: Cyber-security:
(If anyone reading this is keen to have their voice heard on this subject, then please register with demandprogress.org, then you can be kept informed directly.)

The Senate version of CISPA looks like it'll be voted on later THIS WEEK. We need senators to OPPOSE the bill, but SUPPORT pro-privacy amendments to it. 

Please click here email your Senators right away.

But let's highlight some good news: Our efforts to secure Internet freedom and privacy protections have largely worked -- and frankly, far better than we'd expected.  Provisions have been added to:

    Keep the data in the hands of civilian agencies (as opposed to the National Security Agency);
    Restrict the government's use of the information to cyber security issues and the prevention of immediate physical harm;
    Require annual reporting on the data's use;
    Let Americans sue the government for abuse; and
    A clandestine attack on Net Neutrality has been removed.

Now these changes are under attack by pro-surveillance forces. 

Please click here to urge your senators to vote no on the cyber-security bill, and to help us protect privacy rights.

And then use these links to share the image at right, so everybody knows how urgent this effort is:
[fb]    If you're already on Facebook, click here to share with your friends.
[fb]    If you're already on Twitter, click here to tweet about the campaign: Tweet

Thanks.

--Demand Progress

4914

General Software Discussion / Re: Open Source Smart Meter Hacking Framework Released

« Last post by IainB on July 22, 2012, 11:32 PM »

One woman pulled a gun...
...
...If they're that eager to install them, and start trespassing and pushing homeowners, I really doubt that there's anything good going on...

-Renegade (July 22, 2012, 11:05 PM)

Yup. I read about that too. Amazing.

4915

General Software Discussion / Re: Open Source Smart Meter Hacking Framework Released

« Last post by IainB on July 22, 2012, 10:43 PM »

...I wonder if you could use it to stop them from spying on you...

-Renegade (July 22, 2012, 08:51 PM)

Oooh! I never even thought of that!
No. That would be a bad thing to do. They wouldn't like it.

4916

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox 14.01

« Last post by IainB on July 22, 2012, 08:07 PM »

Fat Firefox (RAM usage)

-rgdot (July 22, 2012, 06:09 PM)

So where is the F in Chrome which eats more RAM than Firefox?

-Tuxman (July 22, 2012, 07:17 PM)

The "F" apparently makes up part of an important hexadecimal address (location) in RAM, for an array used to store certain data which has a corrupted index address. This is the location of the WOR ("Wordsworth's Overflow Register"). The WOR is an array which can be dynamically expanded to accommodate overflowed data.

Interestingly, the WOR was named in memory of the poet Wordsworth, as a tribute to his poem "Ode to the Number 27", where he wrote (from memory):

...something, something...
Then insert the middle digit
Where the midget
Fears to tread.

Wordsworth ascribed certain dark mystical properties to the number 27, which, as you may know,  is the first odd perfect cube, apart from 1 - which makes it a uniquely interesting number.
It is a little-known fact that Wordsworth was not only a great poet but also a a great mathematician (he was a polymath) and invented the hexadecimal system which he wrote down on the back of an envelope (and which after his death was discovered as a bookmark in his diary) to pass the time whilst waiting for an overdue coach at the old Warwick coach stop (now part of the Historical Places Trust). I think he had been on his way to Tintern Abbey at the time, intent on having a good hike when he got there.

Yet there is no "middle digit" in 27 - so it seems that Wordsworth had deliberately left a curious mathematical riddle for posterity to solve.
In fact, it was only many years later, after computers had been invented, that mathematicians were finally able to understand what Wordsworth had been on about and solve his riddle.
The "fears to tread" bit is presumed to relate to the "dark mystical properties" that W ascribed to the number 27 - an apt reference for the WOR, because we often do not fully understand how the data gets into the WOR in the first place.

Not a lot of people know that.

4917

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox 14.01

« Last post by IainB on July 22, 2012, 07:23 PM »

...
-I didn't understand this. As far as I know, https is only possible if the site's author has enabled it. So, if a site wants to be malicious, it would of course not support https in the first place. Then what is the point of this "https almost everywhere" feature?
Feel free to explain Https for dummies, please

-Curt (July 22, 2012, 08:53 AM)

I didn't understand it at first either, but the discussion in the thread I linked do helped to clarify things. Follow any links and discover!
EFF's "HTTPS Everywhere" (Firefox/Chrome add-on) - quick review

4918

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox 14.01

« Last post by IainB on July 22, 2012, 07:14 PM »

...The HTTPS Everywhere looks interesting. Are there really 3rd parties sniffing everything you do such as using search engines?...

-MilesAhead (July 22, 2012, 04:32 PM)

I don't know that for a fact, but have accepted EFF's recommendation as a good way to improve the security against the possibility.
Because the Internet runs along the lines of a highly commercialised model, your Internet traffic data is likely to be mined any which way, whether you like it or not. It's "fair game".

4919

Living Room / Re: 5-Speed Homopolar Motor Video

« Last post by IainB on July 22, 2012, 06:12 PM »

Thanks for finding that. My GF Alex took one look and...well...I get the feeling our AA battery budget is about to get shot to hell.
 

-40hz (July 22, 2012, 11:05 AM)

Yes, thanks for that @Renegade.
I almost wish you hadn't shown it to us. Fascinating and interesting. Fun!
Did you notice the other interesting video links associated with that video?
This one shows what looks like a more "elegant"(?) homopolar motor with NO wiring at all - just two bits of glass as a low-friction bearing, one magnet, and lots of stationary batteries of various types arranged in a circle.
I'm not sure I fully understand the physics of it. I have not assembled one, but I assume it's not a con.

4920

Living Room / Re: bicycling suddenly a British speciality?!

« Last post by IainB on July 22, 2012, 05:32 PM »

...I smell a doped rat - and it is speaking English!

-Curt (July 22, 2012, 01:31 PM)

Nonsense. Rat's don't speak - they squeak. Put those pills away before you do yourself some harm.   

4921

General Software Discussion / Open Source Smart Meter Hacking Framework Released

« Last post by IainB on July 22, 2012, 11:03 AM »

I live in NZ, and we don't have smart meters on the grid, yet. Nevertheless, for if/when we do, I was interested in this Slashdot article about hacking the meters:
Open Source Smart Meter Hacking Framework Released

Posted by timothy on Sunday July 22, @07:19AM
from the granular-snapshots dept.

wiredmikey writes "A researcher specializing in smart grids has released an open-source tool designed to assess the security of smart meters. Dubbed 'Termineter,' the framework would allow users, such as grid operators and administrators, to test smart meters for vulnerabilities. Termineter uses the serial port connection that interacts with the meter's optical infrared interface to give the user access to the smart meter's inner workings. The user interface is much like the interface used by the Metasploit penetration testing framework. It relies on modules to extend its testing capabilities. Spencer McIntyre, a member of SecureState's Research and Innovation Team, is scheduled to demonstrate Termineter in a session 'How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Smart Meter,' at Security B-Sides Vegas on July 25. The Termineter Framework can be downloaded here." As the recent lucky winner of a smart meter from the local gas company, I wish householder access to this data was easy and expected.

4922

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox 14.01

« Last post by IainB on July 22, 2012, 08:24 AM »

FF 15.0 (I'm using the ß channel) also sends google searches via https.

I have been using the EFF's HTTPS Everywhere (FF and Chrome/Chromium) for a while now anyway, so it's a bit belts-and-braces.

EDIT 2012-07-23 0127hrs (NZT): Oops. Forgot to provide this relevant link.
EFF's "HTTPS Everywhere" (Firefox/Chrome add-on) - quick review
(That link also contains a link to HTTPS Finder, which can be a useful adjunct to HTTPS Everywhere.)

4923

Living Room / Re: Internet freedoms restrained - SOPA/PIPA/OPEN/ACTA/CETA/PrECISE-related updates

« Last post by IainB on July 21, 2012, 02:32 PM »

Another one happening now.

-cmpm (July 21, 2012, 11:03 AM)

Blimey, yes, so there is. I think @Renegade's term - "like cockroaches" - could be applied.

4924

Living Room / Re: Google's "Take action" - Celebrate freedom. Support a free and open Internet.

« Last post by IainB on July 21, 2012, 03:13 AM »

...
...My guess is that the only reason no big tech company has hired Bernie Madoff as CFO is that he won't be free for the next 150 years.

-xtabber (July 20, 2012, 12:58 PM)

Very droll. You could well  be right, too.

4925

Living Room / Re: DOTCOM saga - updates

« Last post by IainB on July 19, 2012, 03:27 PM »

Techdirt has an interesting post (copied below) about the US DoJ "tapdancing".
You have to wonder, given the seemingly grotesque logical distortions being used by the DoJ apparently to rationalise an irrational judicial approach, how many in the DoJ are ex-officio lawyers who have acted on behalf of clients in the **AA and then went through a revolving door to the DoJ? I would suggest that the possibility of Dotcom getting anything close to "a fair trial" in such an environment would seem to be as close to zero as makes no difference.

As it says in arstechnica - here:

...
...Dotcom also expressed anger at how he has been treated.

"You can't just engage armed forces halfway around the world, rip a peaceful man from his family, throw him in jail, terminate his business without a trial, take everything he owns without a hearing, deprive him of a fair chance to defend himself, and do all that while your propaganda machine is destroying him in the media," Dotcom wrote.

Dotcom has a point. His company has been effectively moribund since January, despite the fact that he hasn't been convicted of any crime. And last month, a New Zealand court ruled that the raid on his home had been conducted with an invalid search warrant, rendering the action illegal. But it remains to be seen whether government missteps will be sufficient to save Dotcom from extradition and conviction.

Here's the Techdirt post on the DoJ:
(Read the post to see some very apposite comments.)

DOJ Tries To Explain How It Can Get Around Requirement To Serve Megaupload In The US
from the tapdancing dept

Back in April, a US judge pointed out that US criminal law requires serving those accused of criminal activities and Megaupload, as a foreign-based corporation, might not be subject to such service -- potentially killing the lawsuit against the company (though, not against the individuals who run the company). The Justice Department has now hit back with a filing mocking the idea that Megaupload could avoid criminal charges as a company (pdf and embedded below).

The filing focuses on how Megaupload had extensive operations in the US, including having many of its servers hosted here -- and even had two separate CEOs at various points who reside in the US (including Swizz Beatz, who the filing notes, has refused to cooperate). It further argues that there is no rush to serve the company, and that it can do so once the execs are extradited to the US -- or it can serve them at the office listed in Hong Kong. Admittedly, part of this fight is really about process technicalities, so I wouldn't make too big a deal of them. However, there are legitimate jurisdictional questions about what the standards are if the US can go after a company anywhere in the globe, just because it's online. That could certainly come back to haunt the US, as US companies are frequently targeted by other countries. Having a case like this could be used as justification to retaliate against US companies.

The filing also highlights something that is somewhat self-contradictory about the US's case. In an effort to argue US jurisdiction, the DOJ argues that Megaupload has been involved in civil lawsuits (on both sides) in the US. That is true... but that seems to weaken another contention in the DOJ's wider case: that it had to take the actions it did because Megaupload was somehow "unreachable" as an offshore "rogue site." The actual evidence, as noted by the DOJ itself in this filing, proves otherwise.