Sometimes you hear of someone doing a ‘study’ of something so stupid you wonder just who is paying for the wasted time – this is one such case.

Games ‘permit’ virtual war crimes

In this little story people have sat down, played some online war-games next to human rights lawyers, and asked “is it legal if I do this..? [presumably shooting some 'prisoner of war'].
Oddly the lawyers said ‘No!’ (maybe this award should be the ‘No s*it Sherlock award’?)

This is a ridiculous venture ~ can’t they see that this ENTIRE GAME is fantasy??
Maybe we should contact the makers of Warcraft to issue a warning to all it’s players stating “It is against the ‘Goblin Rights Act 2009′ to brandish anything bigger than a paper knife in the company of anything of an enemy persuasion”.

Maybe a similar warning to the players of Online space simulations, stating that the rights of millions of alien beings had been violated once their planet was destroyed. “Please consider the safe use of your quantum planet buster technology”.

Do they REALLY think that the players of these games cannot distinguish fact from fantasy?
The quote “”For all those who mowed down citizens in Modern Warfare 2′s controversial airport level, I have the sneaking suspicion that not a great deal of them think this is lawful, nor appropriate, behaviour.” from the article, kinda sums it up. Credit gamers with SOME sense please.

Although I DO wish that I had my trusty +6 Demon Vorpal Sword of Ultimate Death in my tool kit sometimes, and it would be REALLY useful to outfit my car with the Extreme Destructo Ray of Annihilation, I realise that these are but the whimsical products of my fevered imagination and as such belong to the realm of fantasy.

Taking this to the logical extreme, I had an interesting dream involving Katie Melua, a large tub of Haagan Dazs and about 3 hours of fun – should I hand myself over to the CPS already? I’m sure I MUST have violated something along the way… (Katie, if you are reading this ~ CALL ME!)

When are these clowns going to learn ~ In games, asking the great alien king Zorg to please stop invading our planet and pop off home, will not get you as many points as ‘capping’ the enemy general with a sniper rifle from ½ the battlefield away. The fact that it’s illegal is irrelevant, IT’S NOT REAL!

Maybe these games DO allow a level of violence inappropriate in today’s ridiculously politically correct society, and maybe the emphasis is on game play rather than the ‘reality’ of the scenario ~ but since when, after shooting an unarmed prisoner in the head, did they ‘respawn’ back at base in real life?

Just one final word – did anyone managed to get the names of these idiots online avatars? I’d LOVE to give them a piece of my ‘Super Ultra Mega Chaingun of DoGooder Violation‘

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It’s my birthday :)

I’m getting closer to retirement age as we speak – Well, as I type, that is…

So far we’ve gained a Transformers version of Risk ~ Laser Death Robots rule
A lovely bottle of wine from my favourite vintner ~ sozzled
A new USB memory stick ~ mainly ‘cos the person I lent mine to lost it, so I guess technically it’s a replacement but I’ll take anything I can get

Saturday is beckoning for a celebratory meal out, leaving the weekend to recover from the alcoholic stupor…

All in all it’s been quite a good day

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So a young boy in the prime of his life (that’s me if you thought the description was a little hard to fathom ), travels home to get some lunch after a battle with a wireless network printer in Derby.

Thoughts of the delicious turkey breast rolls drifting across his consciousness…

Driving along the road I stop a young guy (mid 20s) dragging an older (late 50s to 60) guy toward himself with his fist raised.
Not an everyday occurrence for me to see this kind of thing but I pulled over the car to make sure IF anything happens, there would be witnesses.

Aggressor pauses…
Aggressor swings at older guy..!

I get out of the car and position myself between them ~ the younger guy is almost foaming at the mouth, obscenities flying.
Lots more shouting and lots more people later, after the young guy has launched himself at the older guy a few more times, the Police arrive and I’m asked to give a statement at the station.

Long discussion with the Policeman… Not a nice way to spend ones afternoon.
Back to work – starving hungry, having missed my butties!

I abhor violence and will always do what I think is right to stop it happening.
There was NO need for such an aggressive assault on someone who was probably about 3x this guys age; apparently it all started with a minor traffic altercation. I was shocked by the amount of hatred coming off this young guy ~ and I’m not one to be shocked easily.
Now I’m having a sleepless one as I realised BOTH of us (myself and older guy) could well have been left bleeding on the floor with serious injuries.

What is our society turning in to? :eek:

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Worm attack bites at Apple iPhone

Now I’m not one to be smug (!), but when the people who ‘claim’ Apple computers are more secure than the generic Windows PC, I like to point out simple facts like the above.

ALL computers are prone to malicious attack from viruses / worm / hacking etc…
It’s just the size of the target you offer that changes.

The article does say that the malicious code only effects ‘jail-broken’ iPhones (that is to say ones that have had the Apple security stuff removed in an attempt to run apps), but that it exists at all is a worrying thing.

As evidenced by a client recently, people in general are ignorant of both the threat, AND the potential harm things like this can cause.
The old argument we constantly hear is “but why would they WANT my data?”.
The answer is simple ~ because they can!
It’s not a case of wanting to target Joe Blogs company as such (though sometime it IS), but if you leave the door open, someone will come around sooner or later. That they can’t find anything of value is irrelevant, if they can cause some change/damage, then that is reward enough.

Now I don’t claim to be a network security guru, but the client in question watched me crack their WEP (Wireless Encryption Protocol) password in about 3 minutes from a standing start ~ slow by some standards! (BTW I DO know a security guru ~ call me!). Suffice to say they were a little taken aback at the lack of security on their systems, more so when I told them what was possible once this little hurdle (the WEP key) was out of the way.

It’s possibly poetic justice that the people who wish to remove ‘protection’ from their systems get infected, but sometimes it’s those very protection systems which cause the most problems ~ the Symantec protection softwares spring to mind. This is the main reason people remove them; if they cause more issues than a ‘potential’ threat, why bother? Surely it’s worth taking the risk if it might never happen??
A glowing example of false economy if ever there was!

One would also think that the urban myth of Apple equipment being secure was also a contributing factor in the propagation of this worm. People believing that the iPhone, being of Apple origin, was immune to such threats. :oops:

I would think it’s only a matter of time before we see something truely nasty hitting the iPhone specifically, but also some of the recent smart phones too.

Watch this space…

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I’ve been neglecting the blog recently…
To be honest, I’ve been a little too busy (resulting in fatigue) to get my *rse in gear and write something interesting.

Still, let’s give it a whirl

The image is from the BBCs news site and shows the new T27 electric car (click to enlarge it), designed by the guy who brought us the Mclaren F1 (the link goes to a site with a picture of the beast).
Now, call me a cynic if you will but that’s one seriously UGLY car! (The BBC article does say it’s only a prototype but still..!)
It’s supposed to replace the school run / nip to the shops vehicle we all have sitting on our drives, just for when the opportunity to look like an idiot arises.

The car does however, prove the new iStream manufacturing process ~ developed by Mr Murray and co. ~ which uses the ‘radical’ approach of welding the sections of the car together
Apparently this is unusual, as modern cars simply stamp out the parts from sheet metal and then welds them together ~ not such a quantum leap then..!

On the + side I’m all for electric cars, clean AND quiet :)
That gives me plenty of opportunity to clearly hear the idiot teenagers overly loud music when I’m sat at the traffic lights, and silently creep up on unsuspecting people walking on the road, ready to unleash my “get out of the effin’ way” horn at them :evil:
I also like the idea of plugging my car into the mains over night ~ just like that rechargeable toy car I had when I was a lad

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Not much to say on the R&A front really.
Chris is getting along fine (I think MOST of the clients have met him already);
Tor’s looking like an inflatable caricature of her self (she’s preggers again for those who don’t know – late February for the launch date I believe);
My toe has receded from the AAARRRGGGHHH feeling to the throbbing ache stage, until I knock it that is.

It seems like such little has actually happened ~ I DO live a boring life after all!

By The Way – Nearly forgot, but the Police were doing another purge of license, tax and insurance today, they pulled LOTS of cars
GOOD!!!

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