Saturday, April 17, 2004



posted by meau meau , 7:12 PM Þ 

Opening a bank account is a simple matter of creating a record against a name

I think this is over-simplified. Yes, you're right, but then when you start thinking about the extended services banks provide such as money-lending (loans, overdrafts, mortgages, etc) you see that they need security and 'a name' isn't security enough.

That's why they need to see proof of your address and perhaps some photo-id (passport / driving license) to check that this address does indeed belong to you.

This also shows that a passport or driving license are indeed adequate forms of identification. But what if you have neither. Perhaps you're too young? Your parents could vouch for you, and I believe they have to under the age of 16. But what if you're an adult with no driving license nor passport, I guess they have other means of identification. A birth certificate perhaps?
posted by alex_tea , 7:07 PM Þ 



posted by meau meau , 6:57 PM Þ 

Banks could well ask for an identity card and refuse an application if it didn't seem to match

This is of course, nonsense. Opening a bank account is a simple matter of creating a record against a name or number. If monies are transferred into that account, it is the responsibility of the owner of the account not to allow her money to be stolen from her. She can co-operate with her bank and their security proceedures, if they are to her liking. Did you know that you can authorize your bank to make transfers from your account via a voice telephone call? You ask for this service, fill out a form and the banks security measures are changed to suit your needs.

Wether you open an account in your own name or another name or a number is irrelevant; the banks job is to store your money for you and make it accessible to you, on terms that are acceptable to you. That is all. The Swiss understand this completely.

You are completely right to ask for the question that elicited an 85% positive response M2. They never give these crucial facts when they quote bogus polls, but we understand that this is not journalism; its propaganda, and propaganda has nothing to do with integrity, standards or the truth.

But you know this.

And you also know that The Guardian has a blind spot when it comes to logic and the implication of computers on everyday life.
posted by Irdial , 1:20 PM Þ 

An ID story in the guardian. Tellingly it it is the money section.

"There will be occasions when it will be of benefit, such as a face-to-face transaction or where an account is being opened. Banks could well ask for an identity card and refuse an application if it didn't seem to match," says Peter Brooker, spokesman for credit reference agency, Experian. "But a lot of fraud is online - and I don't know how an identity card would work for an online transaction."

Experian says it has been taken by surprise by the findings of its own public opinion research which shows a surge in approval for identity cards - rising to 85% - which is much higher than previous years. It looks increasingly likely changes are on the cards.

I can't believe this. And definitely want to find out what the question was. The story is a mish mash of contaradictions (naturally as the arguments will never stack up)

CREDIT FRAUD IS NOT IDENTITY THEFT

posted by meau meau , 12:32 PM Þ 
Friday, April 16, 2004

posted by Irdial , 10:06 PM Þ 
posted by Ken , 8:56 PM Þ 

...we will redouble our efforts to rebuild...

I've heard that somewhere before...


disclaimer: i swear it's 'redouble our efforts' in the film. anyone with the dvd like to check?
posted by alex_tea , 8:04 PM Þ 

Mr Blair said that the coalition had a clear political and military strategy. "First, we will stand firm. We will do what it takes to win this struggle," he said. "We will not yield. We will not back down in the face of attacks either on us or on defenceless civilians.

Bush declared the struggle won a year ago. Or was that another struggle? And this comes on a day when it's anounced that troop numbers in Afghanistan will be reduced. Remember Afghanistan? Where the trrrrsts come from? Or is that Saudi Arabia? Or Iran? Syria? Dang, must be Palestine... oh no, that doesn't exist, does it. No wonder Bush always looks confused.

"Secondly, we hold absolutely to the June 30 timetable for the handover of sovereignty to the Iraqis themselves.

...otherwise my friend Big G will be handing over some sovereignty of his own. Comprendez?

"Third, we will redouble our efforts to rebuild the necessary capability of the Iraqis themselves to take increased responsibility for security and law and order. "The measures for recruiting, training and equipping Iraqi police and civil defence corps will be intensified.

Wrong again, boy. Wrong target in your sights as usual. As witnessed recently, Iraqi police won't fight Iraqi insurgents, and the insurgents aren't there because there's not enough police, but because YOU are there (in spirit, natch).

"Fourth, we will carry forward the plan for reconstruction and investment in Iraq so that all parts of Iraq - Sunni, Shia and Kurdish - know that they have a place and a future in the new Iraq that is being created.

Reconstruction and investment? You did say that right? You mean you bomb the place to bits, then give your countries, and ONLY your countries, first whack at building stuff no Iraqi has said they want yet, and then you charge top DOLLAR for doing so, and rape the oil revenues of Iraq for the rest of the century to pay yourselves off. Easy money! How long until we sell the New Free Iraq it's first arms package?

"Fifth, the UN will have a central role, as now, in developing the programme and machinery for political transition to full Iraqi democracy."And we will seek a new security council resolution to embody the political and security way forward."

Fifth, pleeeeease pass down a rope. We seem to be in a big hole full of stinking bodies and can't seem to dig our way out without piling more bodies on top.



Blair, you represent nothing more than your own misguided beliefs, the arrogant cowardice of a man unwilling to admit he was wrong, and unwilling to ask for the necessary help in a manner that could be construed as... fuck, I would put humble, but even polite would do.
posted by Alun , 6:52 PM Þ 



iCommune is a standalone open source application for Mac OS X that extends Apple's iTunes to share your music over a network. You can share the music in your iTunes library and access other iCommune music collections. iCommune music collections appear as playlists in your iTunes window. You can browse through them, and choose to stream or download the music they contain.

http://icommune.sourceforge.net/download/
posted by Irdial , 6:39 PM Þ 

I dont know how many of you are running Electric Sheep, but quite honestly, it is the most fascinating genetic fractal program that I have ever seen. Since they implimented the up/down keys so that you can influence the next generation, its gone simply wild with color and variety.
posted by Irdial , 4:56 PM Þ 

My word...
posted by Irdial , 2:03 PM Þ 
posted by Alun , 1:37 PM Þ 

Follow up your Old Peculiar with a pint of Black Sheep, made by one of Theakstons sons because he disagreed with the way the company was being run as it was sold of to a major. In particular he thought you couldn't have Old Peculiar 'brewed under licence', as that isn't Masham's Old Peculiar any more.

Cast adrift and alone, the Black Sheep of the family has made a fantastic ale with local roots, not to be missed out on.


Kendal Mint Cake had a legend (or myth) when I was a kid that if you broke a bar in the dark you could see a spark, some kind of luminescent output...
posted by Alun , 12:09 PM Þ 

Ouch!

One thing is for certain, though, about me, and the world has learned this: When I say something, I mean it. And the credibility of the United States is incredibly important for keeping world peace and freedom.

That's the summation President Bush delivered as he wrapped up his press conference Tuesday night. It's the message he emphasized throughout: Our commitment. Our pledge. Our word. My conviction. Given the stakes in Iraq and the war against terrorism, it would be petty to poke fun at Bush for calling credibility "incredibly important." His routine misuse of the word "incredible," while illiterate, is harmless. His misunderstanding of the word "credible," however, isn't harmless. It's catastrophic.

To Bush, credibility means that you keep saying today what you said yesterday, and that you do today what you promised yesterday. "A free Iraq will confirm to a watching world that America's word, once given, can be relied upon," he argued Tuesday night. When the situation is clear and requires pure courage, this steadfastness is Bush's most useful trait. But when the situation is unclear, Bush's notion of credibility turns out to be dangerously unhinged. The only words and deeds that have to match are his. No correspondence to reality is required. Bush can say today what he said yesterday, and do today what he promised yesterday, even if nothing he believes about the rest of the world is true. [...]

From Slate, which I normally wouldnt link pump, but this is just too good!
posted by Irdial , 11:38 AM Þ 

Of course they would argue that this:
...In some cases the names of those being vetted by the bureau were similar or identical to those of actual criminals. [...]
would cease to happen because the biometrics are "infallable". Its all nonsense of course.
posted by Irdial , 10:55 AM Þ 

And you must try the Kendal Mint Cake - it is a fine, fine delicacy - other local dishes are Westmorland Parkin and Grasmere Gingerbread. Keswick, near Castlerigg has a 'pencil museum', if you are so inclined.
posted by meau meau , 10:50 AM Þ 

Barry, when visiting the lakes you must visit a pub and sample Theakston's Old Peculiar ... for full effect, try it after a walk on an empty stomach ... I first tried it when, after a few hours stumbling about in the cloudy fells, cold & hungry, we arrived arrived at a pub after they had stopped taking food orders, so had to make do with some chocolate and a pint of the above ... being thirsty, and unaware of the strength of the fine liquorice brew, we finished the first fairly quickly, and replaced it with a second before last orders was called, then headed off back into the fells to try to find the car, the effects of the beer fast taking hold ... climbing steep scree tracks has rarely been as much fun
posted by a hymn in g to nann , 10:46 AM Þ 

This number would be magnified greatly if an ID database were implemented, firstly through an increased number of people coming into contact with the system, and secondly the invasive profiling (they say 'patterns') the government wish to employ - coupled with the inevitable offences to do with witholding ID etc.
posted by meau meau , 10:25 AM Þ 

Looking to go to Gunnerkeld or Castelrigg, but I kind of want to see Sunkenkirk as well. Don't know how much time we'll have. We'll be around the Lakes for a bit but I don't know how keen anyone else would be on seeing amazing rocks (what sane person wouldn't though?!).
I leave for the UK on the 20th. I just finished up school today. The stress has put me in a pretty deep depression but hopefully I'll lull out of it....
I go to London pretty much whenever we feel like it. Wonder if there'll be a good music show when I'm there?

The signal carries one-time encrypted information to the server in order to identify the user
That sounds sort of like a one-time-pad! I wonder if it would change every single time the card is used. Wish that page was more informative.
posted by Barrie , 7:36 AM Þ 

Word up. Do you like my new vest?
posted by alex_tea , 1:47 AM Þ 
Thursday, April 15, 2004



me and alex tea getting a bite to eat
posted by Ken , 10:39 PM Þ 
posted by Ken , 9:12 PM Þ 
posted by Irdial , 6:52 PM Þ 
posted by meau meau , 4:29 PM Þ 

UK, EU reject Adam's peace offer

AGENCIES[ THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2004 05:24:49 PM ]

LONDON: Britain rejected Thursday an offer of a truce with European nations attributed to IRA leader Gerry Adams, saying the notion of an armistice with terrorists was "an absurdity".

The offer of peace if European countries withdrew troops from Northern Ireland, made in an audio tape purportedly from Gerry Adams, was "a cynical ploy", a Foreign Office spokesman said.

"The idea of an armistice with a group that defines itself by violence is an absurdity," he said.

"To have a foreign policy dictated by fear of reprisal from Irish terrorism would be to have a British foreign policy written by Gerry Addams." [...]


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow/618328.cms
posted by Irdial , 2:09 PM Þ 

In December 1993, the British Prime Minister, John Major (1943- ), and the Irish taoiseach, Albert Reynolds (1932- ), issued their Joint Declaration that `it is for the people of Ireland alone, by agreement between the two parts respectively, to exercise their right of self-determination on the basis of consent, freely and concurrently given, North and South, to bring about a united Ireland, if that is their wish.' The 1993 Declaration also emphasized the need for all interested parties (including those in Britain and the United States) to have `full respect for the rights and identities of both traditions in Ireland'. This was welcomed by constitutional nationalists, who saw the British withdrawal from specific interest in Northern Ireland as a positive step forward. [...]

A Cache

Compare and contrast:

LONDON, April 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Britain on Thursday ruled out any deal with Osama bin Laden after a tape purportedly from him offered a possible truce with European countries.

"We can't negotiate with Al Qaida... Their attacks are against the very idea of co-existence," the British Foreign Office said. "The right response is to continue to confront terrorism, not give in to its demands."

Two Arab television channels have broadcast an audiotape said to be from bin Laden in which he offers Europe a truce if it "stops attacking Muslims".

The BBC quoted Michael Ancram, foreign affairs spokesman for the major opposition Conservative Party, as saying that the alleged bin Laden truce offer was "obviously an attempt by Al Qaida or the associates of Al Qaida, to try and drive a wedge between the coalition."

"I think we have got to make absolutely sure that we stand shoulder to shoulder within the coalition in the fight against bin Laden, Al Qaida and international terrorism," Ancram told the BBC. [...]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-04/15/content_1422068.htm

So, on the one hand, "giving in to the demands" of the IRA is OK, but pulling out troops from where no one wants them and "giving in to the demands" of OBL is NOT OK. Hmmmmmmm

Those cowards, or the next set of cowards, will have to understand that they MUST achieve peace, or be prepared for an end to the way that they live. The IRA problem, which went on for far too long, was solved by taking the gags off, sitting down, talking and then GIVING THEM WHAT THEY WANT, in other words, to be left IN PEACE, ALONE.

Everyone in the UK is now used to the IRA business being over. Its nice. It doesnt take any imagination at all to see that keeping all your marbles (and blood) is in no way "giving in" to anything. This problem can be solved, and talking like you have a pair isnt the way to do it.
posted by Irdial , 1:53 PM Þ 

posted by Irdial , 1:28 PM Þ 

I remember Harvey Jacobs' book 'Beautiful Soup' from years ago, based on the premise that everyone had a barcode stamped on their foreheads denoting their social and monetary status. The main protagonist slips in a queue at the supermarket and bangs his head on a scanner, altering his barcode to that of Pea Soup, and altering his life irredeemably.

It was a quirky vision at the time.
posted by Alun , 1:06 PM Þ 

How does it work?

* Squeezing the button on the card sends a signal through the standard microphone of the computer
* The signal carries one-time encrypted information to the server in order to identify the user


http://www.beepcard.com/test/orderinfo.html
posted by Irdial , 1:01 PM Þ 

In case you missed it:

But my primary objection isn't the totalitarian potential of national IDs, nor the likelihood that they'll create a whole immense new class of social and economic dislocations. Nor is it the opportunities they will create for colossal boondoggles by government contractors. My objection to the national ID card, at least for the purposes of this essay, is much simpler.

It won't work. It won't make us more secure. [...]

It doesn't really matter how well an ID card works when used by the hundreds of millions of honest people that would carry it. What matters is how the system might fail when used by someone intent on subverting that system: how it fails naturally, how it can be made to fail, and how failures might be exploited. [...]

...when someone asks me to rate the security of a national ID card on a scale of one to 10, I can't give an answer. It doesn't even belong on a scale. [...]

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/4698350.html
posted by Irdial , 12:47 PM Þ 

Lots of words are censored. Including warez, porn, blowjob, etc.

I haven't used it, somewhat perturbed by their 'Search history' feature. I wouldn't mind so much if it was kept in a cookie, or tied to one computer, but tied to my Amazon account and my credit card / address details. That is frankly worrying. And so is they way they pass the information around, unencrypted.

The censorship will no doubt be seen as A Good Thing by dumb parents/schools/religious groups, this is quite worrying too.

Also their javascripts break functionality / accessibility. Not nice.
posted by alex_tea , 12:24 PM Þ 

Moreover, the examining of the developments that have been taking place, in terms of killings in our countries and your countries, will make clear an important fact; namely, that injustice is inflicted on us and on you by your politicians, who send your sons - although you are opposed to this - to our countries to kill and be killed.

Therefore, it is in both sides' interest to curb the plans of those who shed the blood of peoples for their narrow personal interest and subservience to the White House gang. [...]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3628069.stm
posted by Irdial , 12:18 PM Þ 

More on Israel: I've read on several news/analysis sites statements claiming "the concessions made by Mr Bush to Israel here will be difficult if not impossible for any future American President to repudiate. That would be political suicide."

WTF?

1st: Is this an Israeli:Palestinian conflict or, in reality, a US:Palestinian conflict? If the former, then why is the US being allowed to dictate what happens? Where is the UN? Where are Syrian, Jordanian, Egyptian voices with weight as those directly affected by this conflict?
We know the answers.

2nd: Has Isreal been incorporated as a de facto 51st State of the Union? And what's with this seeming 'presidential infallibility' on statements concerning Israel? Why are American voters and politicians dictated to by one customer, sorry, thug, above others?

Today I can't get past the questions. I can't understand some humans at all.

meaumeau, another analogy.

posted by Alun , 11:42 AM Þ 

Try a search for "Fuck" on a9.com

There are many other words that have results blocked....can censoring be turned off at a9? It had better be possible, otherwise, its dead in the water.
posted by Irdial , 11:24 AM Þ 

generic.a9.com
If you would prefer not to be recognized on our site, we recommend that you use our alternate service located at generic.A9.com. On generic.a9.com, we will not recognize your A9.com or Amazon.com cookie. Information we gather on generic.a9.com will not be used in our data analysis (other than to detect abuse) and will not be used to personalize the services we offer you.

-

The palestinian spokesman on the news last night said (approximately, refering to their 'role' in Sharon's 'plan'), "It is as though [the Palestinians] decided to give Wales to Ireland".
posted by meau meau , 11:08 AM Þ 

"Stop spilling our blood so we can stop spilling your blood,"

"This is a difficult but easy equation."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,12469,1192341,00.html
posted by Irdial , 11:01 AM Þ 



Two men are pressing ahead with the ghettoisation of a people persecuted, in truth, for their belief in a homeland overlapping that of a second people. Two men are collaborating in denying a people their right to return to land taken from them by force, and denying them any right to contest these denials.
When a people has suffered so badly, and knows, truly knows and feels, the hurt that can be inflicted through denial of rights, subjugation, negation, through subhumanization and daily degradation on the basis of faith, of creed... how can that people not only allow such a process to be repeated, but allow themselves to be cast as subjugator?
What will Blair do today, acting, as he is, on my behalf? Will he speak out against a wrong? Will he stop and imagine how he would feel were it his people? Or will he, in current speak, stand up proudly as an appeaser of bullies, as an apologist for fundamentalism?

Today I am dismayed.

posted by Alun , 9:56 AM Þ 
Wednesday, April 14, 2004

OMG Amazon goes into the serach business, yes serach!!!!!

http://a9.com/
posted by Irdial , 10:16 PM Þ 

I now have an overwhelming urge to build a pond in my backyard ...
posted by mary13 , 6:49 PM Þ 

Love your smileys Cap D. I just bought the latest Stereo Lab vinyl and it made me think of you Davros...
62% on the test...
posted by Alison , 5:29 PM Þ 

“A Punch In The Gut”
In December of 1996, you didn’t want Special Agent Joe Banister knocking on your door. A visit from Banister, a criminal investigator for the Internal Revenue Service, usually meant that you were in big trouble; money laundering and tax evasion were his beat, and – like most IRS agents – he always got his man.

But it was in that month that Banister flipped on his radio and heard something that changed his life. His favorite radio host, Geoff Metcalf (then a personality on KSFO) was interviewing a woman who claimed the income tax system was illegal, the IRS had no authority based in law and that filing the dreaded 1040 every year was a completely optional procedure.

“I was taken aback by what I was hearing,” says Banister. “I’d always thought Geoff Metcalf was on the level and now he’s having this kooky lady talking about these crazy subjects like the income tax being voluntary.”

Intrigued by the discussion and hell-bent on proving Metcalf’s in-studio guest wrong, Banister ordered several of the anti-tax booklets the woman was selling. His intention was to disprove her ridiculous claims and set the record straight. But what followed surprised even Banister.

“I truly expected that I would get the information and I’d be able to dismiss it very quickly. I believed that this stuff can’t be true,” he recalls. “So I began reading, researching, taking trips to the law library and investigating her claims. I expected with the next turn of the page, I’d say, ‘Oh, there’s the baloney.’ And it’d be done. But after months and months of research, I started to abandon the hope that I was going to find something that was going to pierce these issues.”

After a year and a half of fact-finding, Banister was persuaded – some might say confused – by a tidal wave of legal analyses, statutory dissections and judicial reviews that suggested, often vaguely, that the income tax was illegal. Disillusioned, the husband and father of two then did the unthinkable: He resigned from his $80,000 a year job at the IRS.“My whole life – the accounting degree, working for a Big Eight [firm] at KPMG, my CPA certificate, working for the IRS – everything professionally revolved around the income tax and its legitimacy,” says Banister. “I never even questioned it. It was like getting a punch in the gut, it was just devastating.” [...]

“Income tax represents the greatest program of organized extortion,” said Schiff in a telephone interview from his Las Vegas headquarters. “The government is involved in blackmail. When you deal with the government, you’re dealing with organized crime!” [...]

http://www.thewavemag.com/printarticle.php?articleid=24785
posted by Irdial , 5:18 PM Þ 

This picture is wrong.
posted by Irdial , 5:12 PM Þ 



Courtesy of "internet hooligan" Mr.Drudge!
posted by Irdial , 4:19 PM Þ 

posted by captain davros , 11:36 AM Þ 
posted by Ken , 1:47 AM Þ 
posted by Ken , 1:38 AM Þ 
Tuesday, April 13, 2004

85%

Disturbing.
posted by alex_tea , 10:21 PM Þ 
posted by Ken , 5:19 PM Þ 
posted by meau meau , 4:53 PM Þ 

62%
posted by Irdial , 4:32 PM Þ 
Monday, April 12, 2004

Thy has a problem with Hans Reichel? He's exceptionally cool. Explain the dear oh dear please (bear in mind I'm on 56k with no shockwave, so if there was something in the links, I missed it).
posted by captain davros , 10:13 PM Þ 

My oh my....
http://daxo.de/

Dear oh dear...
posted by Irdial , 2:11 PM Þ 
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