alphaxion › Comments

"Passengers on US-bound flights from Britain are facing delays and extra security measures after a man was charged with trying to blow up a plane. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, a former UK student from Nigeria, is alleged to have hidden explosives in his clothes." - alphaxion from Bookmarklet

You'd think we never learned a thing from the days of the IRA. And yeah, it's sad that such reactions even happen - sometimes I think we're living in a giant version of the movie airplane >.< - alphaxion

"A UK academic has some very bad news for those who believe they'll one day be fluttering through the pearly gates, because unless they're carrying some form of heavenly jet pack, their appointment with Saint Peter is definitely cancelled. The reason? Angels can't actually fly, according to University College London's Roger Wotton. The good Professor of Biology examined pictures of angels and cherubs, and arrived at the shock conclusion that they structurally aren't up to the job." - alphaxion from Bookmarklet

"Israel has admitted pathologists harvested organs from dead Palestinians, and others, without the consent of their families – a practice it said ended in the 1990s – it emerged at the weekend. The admission, by the former head of the country's forensic institute, followed a furious row prompted by a Swedish newspaper reporting that Israel was killing Palestinians in order to use their organs – a charge that Israel denied and called "antisemitic"." - alphaxion from Bookmarklet

"Police will continue to retain the personal details of everyone they arrest, despite a human rights ruling meaning the DNA profiles they are linked to must be deleted. The European Court of Human Rights said last year that DNA data should not be indefinitely retained from those who have not been charged or convicted. The government plans to delete some such profiles, hoping to bring the UK into line with the law, but it's emerged they do not plan to delete the accompanying identity data on the Police National Computer." - alphaxion from Bookmarklet

ha ha :) - Bindu Reddy

this may hold a greater ring of truth to it than you think http://friendfeed.com/alphaxi... - alphaxion

"The Australian company that runs the .com.au domain registry has been accused of abandoning its own procedures to censor a website satirising communications minister Stephen Conroy's ISP filtering regime. On Friday afternoon, Sapia Pty Ltd, the company behind stephenconroy.com.au, was told by auDA that they had three hours to explain its use of the domain or it would be withdrawn. "After several attempts at convincing them to give us reasonable time to reply we made a last-ditch attempt at 4.10pm stating that we provide a consultancy product with 'Stephen Conroy' in it's name," the firm said on its new site stephen-conroy.com." - alphaxion from Bookmarklet

well, that's it... we've seen the golden age of the free internet. Slowly, the internet will ripple around the world into a sandboxed den of perez hilton retardo-non-news bollocks. Any thinking citizens will be forced into using an undernet for real info and news. I wish I were being melodramatic, but with the way many developed nations are pressing ahead with regulations and laws... more... - alphaxion

Kol Tregaskes (used to work in the industry, now a casual gamer) - http://friendfeed.com/koltreg... (add yourself below) - Kol Tregaskes

Bumped. - Kol Tregaskes

"Durham police last week put the final nail in the coffin of the Home Office mantra "nothing to hide, nothing to fear", with a clear announcement that DNA and fingerprinting could harm an individual’s career prospects – even if they are otherwise totally innocent. The warning came in a press release relating to mephedrone, which began by establishing that the substance remains legal to possess – until the government determines otherwise – but illegal to sell for medicinal purposes" - alphaxion from Bookmarklet

"Boffins in Minnesota have a message for young adults: sleeping around is OK. Your prospects in terms of psychological health should you indulge in casual flings are every bit as good as they would be if you bizarrely chose to waste your wild-oats years in one or more doleful and ultimately doomed monogamous relationships." - alphaxion from Bookmarklet

"Slang is sabotaging language, with some teenagers unable to speak in any other way, say critics. So should it be banned in schools? From the Cockney rhyming calls of London's East End traders to teen speak, slang has always been part of Britain's rich and diverse language. But young people are increasingly unable to distinguish when it's appropriate to use it, say some linguists. Their language is becoming saturated by slang, leaving them ill-equipped to communicate in the wider world. Paul Kerswill, professor of sociolinguistics at Lancaster University, is studying street language in London. He says an entirely new dialect is emerging." - alphaxion from Bookmarklet

When I worked at the staffing agency, it was amazing to see people who came in for interviews slip into another language/dialect when they saw someone who looked like them. One time, one black guy was interviewing another and he said that the guy then proceeded to slip into ghetto slang with him during the interview. He cut the interview short and told the guy that there's no way he's placing him just because of that familiarity. - Admiral Anika

Take the upgrade. Even if you decide to use it in a VM you can't beat the price. - Kenton

make the break and take a clean departure, unless you need something that cannot be run in wine. Tho, if you think you might need to use windows for some reason - testing for example - then take the offer - alphaxion

haha now, where's the look a like of the old man, I'll bet that would be funny as well - Ibrahim El Issaoui

That's such an awesome lookalike. The real model for the old man was Spencer Tracy, right? - Carl Cabading

This is really happening and the results are thousands of working printers going to landfills. It's a situation brought on by the lousy business models of the OEMs. - Jack (a.k.a. Jeber)

This is why I've pretty much abandoned printing at home. - John (a.k.a. dendroica)

Not to be used with the Mac Pro. - Akiva Moskovitz

Yeah, the problems reported have been intermittent. It worked flawlessly for the first couple of days and then began to have connectivity issues. Sometimes it wouldn't scroll properly, sometimes the mouse was erratic, and then sometimes it'd just lose it all together. I was also disappointed that there weren't more gestures available. - Akiva Moskovitz

Yes, my disgust for Sarah Palin just went up. - teh Dork Knight aka Kenny from Bookmarklet

I used to go to an NA meeting in the oldest black town in America. Not only was I the only white person there, but there were a variety of NoI (sorry, Nation of Islam) guys in there who wouldn't give me the time of day. Uncomfortable? Yes, but I thought it was a valuable experience. My whole life I went to schools with 1, maybe 2 black kids and didn't put enough thought into how that might feel. - Lo

If I put the two apps in one of the startup folders they don't load up at all, if I put them in the other startup folder I get them twice. I've cleaned up the startup apps with msconfig too but no joy. - Kol Tregaskes

Thanks, alpha. already looked there. The registry edit I'm after was to edit a folder name, I'm pretty sure of that. - Kol Tregaskes

"Massive increases in data processing and storage capabilities have allowed advertisers to track, collect and aggregate information about consumersʼ Web browsing activities and compile individual profiles used to match advertisements to consumersʼ interests. All of this is happening in the context of an online environment where more data is collected – and retained for longer periods – than ever before… although progress has been made in expanding self- regulatory efforts, self-regulation alone will continue to be insufficient to adequately protect consumers in regards to behavioral advertising. Not only do recently revised self- regulatory principles still fall short even as written, but the online advertising industry has historically failed to fully implement its self-regulatory principles. Moreover, no self- regulatory system is likely to cover or be enforced against all entities, especially when new participants enter and leave the scene." - LogEx

I'm definitely concerned about both online and offline, as are the FTC roundtables. Merging data from the two raises lots of issues. Retail loyalty cards, credit card tracking, health and prescription records, motor vehicle records, travel records (particularly nasty and completely unprotected), RFID, increasing public and private surveillance, etc., etc.,... all of these things are related to an ongoing need for protection of basic human rights. - LogEx

"I guess on the flip side there are some people who are born good =)" - Shevonne

what if it's a combination of genetics, environment and whatever they were subjected to in the womb during gestation? Is "being evil" merely the result of a mental health issue or a congenial affliction similar to how downs syndrome is acquired? We know some people are drawn to violent content and have a greater tendency towards committing violent acts themselves. There is prolly a... more... - alphaxion

that first guy looks nothing like an emo... - alphaxion

At least it wasn't deep enough to require the snow blower this morning. - Harold from fftogo

:( *sigh*. It had to happen eventually. - Kamilah Gill

rain here... Britain sucks for its 12 months of Autumn - alphaxion

I'm waiting for someone at an awards ceremony to go "and the om nom nominees are..." >.< - alphaxion

I couldn't possibly have gone back to sleep at 11.30 as I didn't wake up until 9am this morning! - Ian May

Ah... well, now I finally have the sore throat, nasal congestion, and can't-get-warm-to-save-my-life symptoms, in addition to the fatigue. 8 hours of napping over a typical weekend isn't exactly normal for me. - Ladybug Heather

it's a recharge so you have enough energy for your main snooze later on... following cat logic ;) - alphaxion

"Microsoft has left children across the US tearful and upset after pulling the Windows 7 Family Pack offer that promised the whole family could enjoy the upgrade to Vista. However, UK customers can continue to enjoy the benefit of the package - for now anyway. Windows 7 Family Pack gave US consumers three licences for Home Premium for a single price of $149.99. The equivalent in the UK costs £149.99." - alphaxion from Bookmarklet

"The Psion-sized PC is back, in the form of an Atom-based pocket computer. The return is thanks to two names familiar to the Epoc community - former Psion employee Paul Pinnock of Croydon repair shop POS Ltd, and broadcaster Ewan Spence, an editor at AllAboutSymbian. Or as we still fondly think of it, AllAboutER6. The first offering from the new company, the Psi)(pda (easier written and pronounced as PsiXpda), is certainly Psion-sized, if not quite the legendary form factor. It's a slide-up, rather than a fold-out "spectacle case" hinge - so the keyboard isn't quite of the Psion vintage - it looks like the WinCE Psion knock-offs, or the larger Nokia Communicators." - alphaxion from Bookmarklet

Why is it we brits feel the need to try and sabotage our every attempt at success? Surely they could have come up with a better name for both the device (hardly rolls off the tongue, it's like we're back in the 80's/90's for naming conventions!) and their company name hardly inspires confidence.. POS Ltd... Piece Of Shit Limited? Pay a bit of good money on a marketing dept... please, I'd so love to see a resurgence in the UK hardware space for British genius to shake up electronics markets once again! - alphaxion

“It’s her. It’s her. It’s still her. The same person, but different breasts each time!” For every woman who has ever regretted waking up in the morning with the same size breasts she had the night before, this Chinese TV commercial wants you to know your troubles are finally over! According to this announcer, at least, it’s every woman’s dream to have a bigger cup size. Now, with the amazing She’s Mine bra, you can turn that dream into a reality. Not only does it increase your cup size, but it lets you change it to suit your mood. Need some guidelines? The commercial suggests “a B-cup for work, a C-cup for shopping, and a D-cup for partying.” ... (from http://www.weirdasianews.com/2009...) - Ladybug Heather

So wait, the "Gods Hand" is under vacuum? How do you get the air back out and restore the vacuum? Or is this a one-time use item? - Miss Elle

Big surprise there. It will die anyhow. - Alex Scoble

Sony should embrace the homebrew scene and open up the PSP to allowing indie titles.. they could even use the PSN as a form of apps store if they wish. - alphaxion

"A Canadian prof, after a great deal of painstaking research, has found that looking at porn has no measurable negative effects on men's psychology. "We started our research seeking men in their twenties who had never consumed pornography. We couldn't find any," says Simon Louis Lajeunesse of the Université de Montréal." - alphaxion from Bookmarklet

"Aggressors don't need pornography to be violent," he states uncompromisingly. "If pornography had the impact that many claim it has, you would just have to show heterosexual films to a homosexual to change his sexual orientation." Thank you, thank you, thank you... This is a conclusion I had arrived at myself years ago. The media a person consumes DOES NOT cause a person to deviate... more... - alphaxion

"The government’s own anti-terror advisor, Lord Carlile of Berriew, believes that the police are over-using and misusing anti-terror laws to crack down on photographers. Speaking to the Independent this week, he warned that officers who make use of Section 44 powers to stop and search anyone in a designated "authorisation zone" without giving a reason need to be aware that the simple act of taking a photograph is not a good enough reason to detain the photographer." - alphaxion from Bookmarklet

"It’s been over four years since we published version one of the UK photographers rights guide. We’re now very happy to be able to publish version 2 of the guide. This is intended to provide a short UK guide to the main legal restrictions on the right to take photographs and the right to publish photographs that have been taken." - alphaxion from Bookmarklet

"A group of photographers plan to stage a protest outside the Tate Modern gallery in London tomorrow over their right to take pictures in public. The gathering, which is being co-ordinated by photographers through the blogging site Twitter, takes place at 3.30pm on Saturday 5 December." - alphaxion from Bookmarklet