³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

The Glass Box for Wednesday

Comments

1. At 09:27 AM on 22 Nov 2007, Charlie wrote:

   
   "Comment on the programme here. All data will be shared with the Government."

   Presumably Eddie, you meant to continue along the lines...

   Provided our courier service doesn't mis-lay/mis-deliver the discs beforehand...

2. At 11:36 AM on 22 Nov 2007, wrote:

   OK then, own up. Who put the Glass Box in internal mail and lost it last night?

   So here's my ersatz glas box comment that ended up on the CDs thread:

   Yesterday I said this in the Revenue & Customs thread:
   "Sadly, I fully expect the government to parrot JohnP's tongue-in-cheek comments as if they were truth, and even more sadly, I think a lot of the population will swallow that."

   So I was doubly saddened to hear the first part come true on tonight's programme. I still maintain a spark of hope that the second part won't come true.

   In other news...

   Two separate mentions of fingerprint biometrics, but neither time was the obvious question asked: "How long do fingerprints remain useable on severed fingers?" because you *know* muggers are going to start chopping off digits if that becomes commonplace.

   Personally, I'd rather run the risk of losing a piece of plastic occasionally than losing bodyparts.
   

3. At 12:05 PM on 22 Nov 2007, wrote:

   What's so secure about biometrics if every day in my inbox I get offers to change mine?
   ;-)
   ed

4. At 12:20 PM on 22 Nov 2007, Chris Ghoti wrote:

   SSC @ 2, that worry about biometrics and how long a fingerprint lasts after the finger has been removed from its owner -- yes, well, when the scheme was first mooted, one of my children said she woud rather have her card stolen than have her hand cut off. So the idea can be seen through by a bright fifteen-year-old.

   I am told, though I don't know the details, that this has now been tried in South Korea and it was found that the victim didn't need to be present for the cash to be stolen from his account.

   Perhaps this needs a bit more thought from the government gonks? Even if it didn't work, hw many amputees would we get while the crooks made sure it didn't?

5. At 12:30 PM on 22 Nov 2007, wrote:

   As our American cousins sit down to roast turkey and a trade holiday before tomorrow's traditional retail pig-out and the start of the "Christmas Shopping Season" (also International Buy Nothing Day for us pathetic rebels), The Asian markets lodge another vote of no-confidence:
   

   
   Asian markets finished mostly lower. Japanese stocks rebounded from their lowest levels in months, but Hong Kong and Shanghai shares tumbled on U.S. economic concerns and a broader decline in Chinese markets.
   
   _______________________________
   MARKET INDEXES
   Australia All Ordinaries 6395.10 - 0.85%
   Bombay Sensex 18526.32 - 0.40%
   Hong Kong Hang Seng 26004.92 - 2.30%
   Japan Nikkei 14888.77 - 0.34%
   Shanghai Composite 4984.16 - 4.41%
   Singapore STI 3312.88 - 1.03%
   South Korea Composite 1799.02 - 0.44%
   Taiwan Weighted 8499.37 + 0.18%
   

   
   

   Happy Christmas!
   ed

   Don't go to bed with no price on your head.
   -- Baretta

6. At 12:38 PM on 22 Nov 2007, James wrote:

   i think it is highly suspicious that these Child Benefit CDs have gone 'missing' and the governments immediate response is to start telling us how much safer all our data will be in future once it is protected by the latest biometric ID Card security. now there's a thing... i seriously wonder if they ever went missing at all.

7. At 01:57 PM on 22 Nov 2007, Chrissie wrote:

   Fingerprints can be lifted and copied. Watch any forensic science program to see how they do it to identify criminals. So criminals can easily get a copy of a fingerprint from almost any surface and defraud you.
   Cash is the only safe method of payment!

8. At 02:16 PM on 22 Nov 2007, wrote:

   James (5),

   Maybe, but it's not the biometrics on the card that are at issue. It's the huge database that is behind it that is my problem, and just look how much security another government database has!

   Certainly pushing ID cards on the back of this fiasco is deliberately to spin away from the database issue here (and would also be involved for ID cards).

   I'm not keen on the fingerprint scheme either for the same reasons (a) database, (b) loosing the finger in a mugging.

9. At 02:45 PM on 22 Nov 2007, wrote:

   The Commandments of the EE:

   (1) Beware of lightning that lurketh in an uncharged condenser lest it cause thee to bounce upon thy buttocks in a most embarrassing manner.
   (2) Cause thou the switch that supplieth large quantities of juice to be opened and thusly tagged, that thy days may be long in this earthly vale of tears.
   (3) Prove to thyself that all circuits that radiateth, and upon which the worketh, are grounded and thusly tagged lest they lift thee to a radio frequency potential and causeth thee to make like a radiator too.
   (4) Tarry thou not amongst these fools that engage in intentional shocks for they are not long for this world and are surely unbelievers.
   

10. At 03:10 PM on 22 Nov 2007, wrote:

    The last message was in the namelink, and now there's another!
    ;-)
    ed

    Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
    It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
    -- William Pitt, 1783

11. At 03:38 PM on 22 Nov 2007, Chris Ghoti wrote:

    Ed, drat! I thought International Buy Nothing Day was today and I haven't, but tomorrow I shall need to get some milk because I didn't today.

    Is it allowable to ask the neighbours to get it for me and owe them the money till Saturday? Or do I have to fall back on powdered milk or black coffee?

12. At 04:20 PM on 22 Nov 2007, wrote:

    Chris (4):

    So the idea can be seen through by a bright fifteen-year-old.

    So beyond the wit of most of our politicians then?

13. At 04:29 PM on 22 Nov 2007, Little Miss Poppy wrote:

    Eddie lammy-pie

    Is it you in my Post Office that says..."Cashier number three please". It sounds like you. Is it?

    xxxx
    LMP

14. At 04:48 PM on 22 Nov 2007, Chris Ghoti wrote:

    Ed @ 9 & 10, your namelinks produce files that I can neither open to read nor delete to expunge. They are now sitting on my desktop sneering at me and telling me that they need me to add more of something I can't open either.

    I thought you might like to be aware of this, because I'm reasonably sure that you didn't mean to reduce me to a gibbering wreck. Not on a Thursday, anyhow.

15. At 04:48 PM on 22 Nov 2007, Richard In Wiltshire wrote:

    This is a little paranoid, but is it purly coincidence that England lost the football and another foot and mouth scare springs to the fore, just as Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown need to be knocked from the headlines?

16. At 05:19 PM on 22 Nov 2007, Unqualified Loon No 2 wrote:

    So Brits refuse to indulge in mass panic, do they, Sir Liam? (interview I've just heard about flu). 2 words spring to mind.

    Northern Rock.

17. At 05:22 PM on 22 Nov 2007, Chris Ghoti wrote:

    Chris (4):
    So the idea can be seen through by a bright fifteen-year-old.

    SSC @ 12:
    So beyond the wit of most of our politicians then?

    She's an airborne trolley-dolly now, so probably: the qualifications for being an airhostess include saying 'thank you' and sounding as if one means it.

18. At 05:23 PM on 22 Nov 2007, Jonathan wrote:

    I think the news script needs checking because the headlines read at 17:20 suggested the man who was killed was throwing chips at the killer's girlfriend.

19. At 05:59 PM on 22 Nov 2007, wrote:

    Hi Eddi,

    I have listened with interest to your comments concering the hardships of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In this context, could you please let me know how much the mausoleum to the revered leader Arafat cost. The source of this money would also be of interest.

    Dr. David Rose

20. At 06:21 PM on 22 Nov 2007, Chris Ghoti wrote:

    Jonathan @ 19, I noticed that. I thought it didn't merely suggest it, it downright said so, in fact.

21. At 07:06 PM on 22 Nov 2007, wrote:

    19 & 20,
    I heard it too. I thought "They clearly need the services of a Grammar Czar. I wonder where such a person might be found?"
    

22. At 09:29 PM on 22 Nov 2007, wrote:

    Chris (11, 14),

    You're OK tomorrow, as that's only US Buy Nothing Day. Saturday (Fifi's birthday) is INTERNATIONAL Buy Nothing Day.!

    As to the links, I've been languishing in "forbidden" territory.. The links are videos from Adbusters for Buy Nothing Day. I'd no idea they would jam up your system. They work fine with/for my linux and windoze systems.
    I don't know what else I can say

    xx
    ed

    Life is like an onion: you peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.
    -- Carl Sandburg
    

23. At 09:38 PM on 22 Nov 2007, Chris Ghoti wrote:

    Ah. Videos. I think this computer (or it may be iCab) hates videos. Thanks, Ed, I feel better now.

    I can get rid of them by moving them to the trash, turning everything off and unplugging it, sacrificing a black goat in case there is a scuzzy chain anywhere in the area, reciting Om for a bit and having supper so long as it includes bread. When I turn everything back on and empty the trash they go away...

    We'll have to help Fifi out on International Buy Nothing Day by making sure that we pander to her every whim so that she doesn't *need* to buy anything. It seems the least we can do, really.

24. At 04:08 PM on 28 Nov 2007, wrote:

    Looking at Brown’s front bench at PMQs- are these is country’s inspirational leaders?