Need To Know 2004-01-30

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NTK 2007

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NTK 2005

2004-12-10
#350
Patents, presents, privacy

2004-11-26
#349
Google recruits, history refuted

2004-11-12
#348
Geowanking for plugins

2004-10-29
#347
McCandless and Brooker - together at last

2004-10-15
#346
Web 2.0, Stirling Albion - Nil

2004-10-01
#345
Jumping the shark, gun

2004-09-17
#344
Foo, Foo, Alan Sugar, McGrew

2004-09-03
#343
Piracy good, not bad like you thought

2004-08-20
#342
Google boner, kick out the MD5

2004-08-06
#341
Yo Robot, Carry On Camping

2004-07-23
#340
from Odeon to Od-Iain

2004-07-09
#339
Browser Wars II - Electric Boogaloo

2004-06-04
MiniNTK #30
Not the NotCon final Schedule

2004-05-28
#338
Peek-a-boo Barney, Charles III "in charge"

2004-05-21
#337
Hey, Hey, Software Pa(tents) - slight reprise

2004-05-14
#336
A wip-woawing Widdecombe wollercoaster wide

2004-05-07
#335
A prawn sandwich and a BBC Micro

2004-04-30
#334
Eternal Sunshine of the Wireless Find

2004-04-23
#333
PayPal, piracy to "destroy society"

2004-04-16
#332
Loads more Gatesions, all-geek radio

2004-04-09
#331
Easter NotCon speaker hunt

2004-04-02
#330
The mass Onion-isation of pretty much everybody

2004-03-26
#329
LOAFs of spam, wifi settees

2004-03-19
#328
state of the "nanny state" nation

2004-03-12
#327
EU Ew-yew, pseudo- edutainment

2004-03-05
#326
SCO bandits, eBaywatch

2004-02-27
#325
Tidgy fridges, didgeridoos

2004-02-20
#324
ConConUK, Space 0.64 miles per second

2004-02-13
#323
All Tim O'Reilly, all the time

2004-02-06
#322
info on ebay scams only $10

2004-01-30
#321
the site now running on platform - well, whatever platform you like...

2004-01-23
#320
spam vs spam, Lisp to Perl

2004-01-16
#319
Name-calling, nuclear lan parties

2004-01-09
MiniNTK #24
Even more unpopular answers

2004-01-02
MiniNTK #23
Unpop quiz

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"Where Labour leads, others will follow. Every so often some issue turns into a race between political parties desperate to give us more of something - dreadnoughts before the first world war, housing after WW2, why not connectivity and interactivity for this generation?" http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,7558,1130925,00.html - broadband fanatic David Docherty unveils Conservatives' new "Dialup isn't working" election campaign >> HARD NEWS << choo-choo-choos It's not looking good for any of the BBC right now - least of all for its scraggy Internet end. Greg Dyke and Gavyn Davies were two of the BBC's Secret Masters who got the Net at least partially. It was Dyke who geed up the Creative Archive, that theoretical GPLing of times past; it was Davies who pushed the Directors to consider using the Net as a serious part of the BBC's public service. Years of careful tutoring by the quiet tech advocates in the syrupy slow world of the Beeb - gone. And now that the BBC's hands are shaking so much they can barely write their new charter, , will the corporation really be brave enough to try anything new or exciting on the Web? And if there are crowing uk netmedia types rubbing their hands at the idea of a less invasive BBCi in the online world: you'll be amazed at how much more damage a rearing, blinded bull in a still small farm can do. And then, while it thrashes, the nastier beasts of the jungle slide into your stalls. http://b3ta.com/board/2688682 - that b3ta coverage in full http://lists.gllug.org.uk/pipermail/gllug/2004-January/041215.html - and is there Ogg still, over RTSP? GOD EMPEROR of WEBSCRAPING MATTHEW SOMERVILLE has announced that his first class remaking of our appalling national railway Websites is now in. "It should cope with everything from misspelt stations, to weird single tickets, to unorthodox matrix results", writes Matthew, as he steps out onto the running plate of his new creation, his automated scripts stoking the copper firebox within. Slip into your browser, hand your URL ticket to the location bar, shut the door, and luxuriate in the fine upholstery of Somerville's site (with its lack of javascript, frames, long unnecessary pauses and general inaccessibility of the original). Then buy a ticket from the people who run the dreadful original sites, we guess. Once again, we reward those who hurt us the most. Doh! http://www.dracos.co.uk/railway/timetable/ - wait all year for a new timetable site to arrive... http://www.newearth.demon.co.uk/rail/odb/odb.htm - ...then two of them come along at the same time Our latest self-defeating competition, "Buy A Dumb Domain and Show .name How Foolish They Are By Paying Them" seems to be ticking along just fine. Subscriber NICK CROSSLAND took out "madeup.domain.name", so he can be madeup.email.address at madeup.domain.name. DAVID BARTON got as far as the credit card page before balking at "name.name.name". CHRIS SHEA also stepped away from the vehicle before purchasing dubya.wanker.name. Suitably inspired, however, he went on to buy dodgy.name and dubious.name. But we think MARK HEALEY wins the nominal prize this week, being the proud owner "dot.dot.name". Now I can be emailed at "dot.dot at dot.dot.name", he writes, seemingly in morse. http://www.thisishell.co.uk/cgi-bin/whois.cgi?domain=dot.dot.name - remember, these are all bona-fide real names, just like .name promised >> ANTI-NEWS << berating the obvious McMURPHY!: http://www.ntk.net/2004/01/30/dohnich.gif ... MS taking no chances: http://www.ntk.net/2004/01/30/dohrowe.gif ... not having quite as much luck with their HTML-entity encoding though: http://www.ntk.net/2004/01/23/dohgt.gif ... nice targeting: http://qwer.org/IETFAntiSpamList.html ... most illuminating: http://qwer.org/NoMeaning.html ... The Studio Cut?: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008FEEA/ ... return of double-URLtendres: http://www.analternative.org/ , www.ChildrenSwear.co.uk , www.cummingfirst.com/organ.html ... you may need to download Adobe Acrobat to display this 404: http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/37979/37979.pdf ... Scottish skiers looking forward to next decade's ice age: http://www.ntk.net/2004/01/30/dohnevis.gif ... exaggerated marketing claims: http://www.ntk.net/2004/01/30/dohonly.gif - vs some humility: http://www.ntk.net/2004/01/30/doh1and1.gif ... been putting it off even longer than Adam Hart-Davis realised?: http://www.ntk.net/2004/01/30/dohinland.gif ... >> EVENT QUEUE << GOTOs considered non-harmful This year's SCI-FI LONDON FESTIVAL continues to emphasise its "strictly non-geeky" stance with attractions including flying turtle tosh "Gamera 2: Attack of Legion", an Anime Allnighter, plus "Dean Haglund's X-Files Improv" (festival started 10am today, to this Sunday 2004-01-02, various prices and central London venues). And their annual DOUGLAS ADAMS MEMORIAL DEBATE (5pm tomorrow Saturday 2004-01-31, Curzon Soho cinema, UKP6) will be tackling the thorny question of "How Much Does Sex Drive Technology?", in the company of bonkers Aussie cyborg Stelarc, Mark "Black Ice" Bennett, Orlan collaborator Dr Rachel Armstrong, and NTK's "Dave Green", the latter firmly on the "Well, not very much when you think about it" side. http://www.sci-fi-london.com/2004web/programme.htm - vs http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=clunkies http://www.ukuug.org/events/winter2004/ - "early bird" deadline today for UK Unix conference in Feb http://www.codecon.org/2004/ - ditto for CodeCon 2004, from 20th Feb in San Francisco http://gamesmeet.darkspace.org.uk/cgi-bin/gwi?mode=page&pg=g2k4 - G2K4 Essex bunker LAN party starts 5.30pm tonight >> TRACKING << sufficiently advanced technology : the gathering PHONEBOOK is an ongoing, alpha-level crypto project that you pray will carry on past the proof of concept phase, through the pain barrier onto the stable-enough-to-use level, then further to the triumphant "strangers write a decent UI for this craziness" zone. It's Python-and-userfs implementation of a plausible deniability filing system. In other words, it lets you create a encrypted directory full of secret files, protect them with a passphrase, then create another encrypted directory full of secret-*looking* files, protected with another passphrase. The two (or more) directories are stored in the same gibberish-filled data files. When the bad guys demand that you hand over your password (and wield rubber-hoses to ensure you do), you give them the second less-incriminating password. There's no way to find out there's another *really* secret vault hiding under that. Phonebook supports multiple layers, all kinds of chaff, and enough gritty attitude to make this usable for everyone. One day: for now, expect some kernel meddling and bug reporting. Or decent UI designing, even. http://www.freenet.org.nz/python/phonebook/ - so paranoid, you begin to get a bit suspicious >> MEMEPOOL << contains a source of http://snackspot.org/ http://www.breedar.co.uk/news.bbc.co.uk/1/uk_politics/3441181.html vs http://tinyurl.com/2wcf7 , http://tinyurl.com/3gn5l ... ironically, now trying to detect very faint traces of past off old hard drive: http://www.ghoststudy.com/fresh.html ... won't just be their DVD-Rs with a "purple bottom" if FAST get hold of: http://www.krammit.com/ ... existential reader reviews: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/driving/bigrigsotrr/reader_review.html?id=1577516 ... the first point to make is - this isn't pyramid selling: http://www.hyperbrain.me.uk/gadgets/how.htm ... usable URL: www.doorsdirect.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_copy_of_copy_of_Pan_Drawers.html ... one of these pics is not safe for work like the others: http://images.google.com/images?q=vodka ... you know you're addicted to ebay #1: when you're popping down to the corner shop to get a pint of milk and catch yourself thinking "I bet someone's selling it cheaper online"... avoid Pseud's Corner/ Wankometer by sticking "name" and "logo" designerbollocks in Flash page: http://www.total.com/identite/siteevt/en/ ... >> GEEK MEDIA << get out less TV>> yes, someone does still make "these sorts of programmes", confirms C4 with new series of SEX AND THE CITY (10pm, Fri, C4), NY GRAHAM NORTON (10.35pm, Fri, C4), BANZAI (11.45pm, Fri, C4) - and a one-off special INVADING IRAQ: HOW BRITAIN AND AMERICA GOT IT WRONG (7pm, Sat, C4)... the BBC present their own belated version of C4's "100 Greatest TV Treats Of 2003", aka 2003 TV MOMENTS (9pm, Sat, BBC1)... and Paris Hilton pops up in a different kind of reality show in THE SIMPLE LIFE (1pm, Sun, C4)... reader Robert Carnegie showed an unexpected enthusiasm for debating the limits of hypothetical omnipotent beings by mailing to say it would be impossible for Jodie Foster to find a "hidden message" in the digits of pi in the book version of CONTACT (8pm, Sun, C4) "because even God cannot make pi other than pi. It's like 1+1=2. It's absolute" - OK, Robert, but what if everything you've ever perceived (including this issue of NTK) was a Matrix-style illusion? What of your mathematical absolutes then?... more practical philosophical problems underlie Ben Stiller religious comedy KEEPING THE FAITH (10pm, Sun, BBC2)... and the BBC boldly schedules Superbowl terrorist thriller BLACK SUNDAY (11.55pm, Sun, BBC1) against the real SUPERBOWL XXXVIII (11.10pm, Sun, C5)... Brit X-Files clone SEA OF SOULS (9pm, Mon-Tue, BBC1) misses the bandwagon by a good few years... Feb 2nd is the actual date of GROUNDHOG DAY (9pm, Mon, C5)... and pointless makeover show FAKING IT (9pm, Tue, C4) goes head to head against FEMA-style scenarios in CRISIS COMMAND: COULD YOU RUN THE COUNTRY? (9pm, Tue, BBC2)... Google and - in its own way - the no-less-revolutionary Amplebosom.com trumpet the ecommerce revival in 8-part docu DOTCOMS BOUNCE BACK (7.30pm, Wed, BBC2)... while HORIZON (9pm, Thu, BBC2) suggests the advent of nanotechnology may be closer than you'd think - in other words, still not very close at all... FILM>> is it really too much to ask that films about poets should have them talking in rhyme all the time? - clearly a missed opportunity in Sylvia Plath/ Ted Hughes tragedy SYLVIA ( http://www.cndb.com/movie.html?title=Sylvia+%282003%29 : In the first scene [Gwyneth Paltrow] lies on top of a guy as they have sex and you can see that she is nude. You see part of her awesomely shaped butt)... Sharon Stone takes on dodgy lodgers Stephen Dorff and Juliette Lewis down at her COLD CREEK MANOR ( http://www.ahafilm.info/movies/moviereviews.phtml?fid=7537 : Mild live horse action, including a fake dead horse that floats in the pool in one scene. One scene of intense snake action and a simulated death of a snake. One scene appearing to put a deer in jeopardy)... a bunch of British actors put on odd American accents in Tim Burton's latest whimsy BIG FISH ( http://www.cndb.com/movie.html?title=Big+Fish+%282003%29 : [Bevin Kaye] only gets 2 stars because the lighting is never satisfying and you never see her face)... for real limited- release arthouse antics, there's always Gus Van Sant's "Dazed And Columbined" subdued high-school shoot-'em-up ELEPHANT ( www.bbfc.co.uk : Contains strong violence and language)... or the history-comedy for which we suggested the alternative titles "Napoleon Complex" and "My Own Private Waterloo" at a test screening, but they stuck with THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES ( http://www.screenit.com/movies/2002/the_emperor's_new_clothes.html : We hear [Iam Holm] urinating outside; We see [Iam Holm] wake up in bed with [Iben "High Fidelity" Hjejle] - both are in their nightclothes - but there's no indication of whether they had sex. We later see them in bed together, but again nothing is happening and there's no indication either way regarding possible sex)... CONFECTIONERY THEORY>> with just 72 shopping days left until Easter, Masterfoods and Terry's and are wasting no time in unleashing their respective MARS MINI EGGS and CHOCOLATE ORANGE MINI EGGS SEGSATIONS (both around 99p) - Terry's even appear to have responded to our 2002 criticisms of their CHOCOLATE ORANGE EGG & SPOON ("the most sickly thing I have ever eaten", "disgusting", etc) by writing "Now deliciously fluffier!" on the front. Nestle's DOUBLE CREAM EGG (39p) has already received plaudits over at snackspot.org for its "pieces of roasted cocoa nibs" and "Walnut Whip"-style centre, but mainly for its innovative plastic-bag packaging, forcing reader MIKE GRAY to "look elsewhere" for the "RDA of little bits of silver foil" he'd normally consume after "unwrapping" Cadbury's Creme Egg classic. And something we plan to do every year but this time are determined to finally get round to - next time you buy a bag of "mini eggs", please make a note of how much you paid for how many eggs, and we'll collate the results to work out which brands represent the "best buy": http://www.snackspot.org/thread.php?story=0401141609sbc ... other New Year novelties have included SPICY THAI SWEET CHICKEN THE REAL MCCOY'S (approx 45p - merely "a simple rebranding of the Firecracker Chicken Spicy McCoys", argued MATT), Coca- Cola's DASANI foray into bottled water ("tastes awful, like Vittel but even nastier" - "SM") - and, from the very same company, FANTA APPLE (KIWI AND LIME) SPLASH, described by DIARMUID MALLON as having "No hint of the kiwi or lime at all", but nonetheless heralding the arrival in the UK of the new "mid-calorie" soft drinks craze ("Mid-Coke" coming soon?) http://www.snackspot.org/thread.php?story=0401201844daa ... other new products to look out for include Nestle's revived milk and white chocolate Minstrel-alikes VICE VERSAS (around 40p, collect ones you don't like to swap online with friends: http://www.snackspot.org/thread.php?story=0401121255sbc ) and "SHAKE 2 FLAVA" CHICKEN HULA HOOPS, while we're still awaiting confirmed sightings of both CHUPA CHUPS' CREMOSA sugar-free lollies, and the Ireland-based test of "lighter in texture" MARS DELIGHT - despite the fact that Mars offshoots like "The Positive Food Company" http://www.positivefood.co.uk/faqs.htm make little mention of their illustrious parent company... >> SMALL PRINT << Need to Know is a useful and interesting UK digest of things that happened last week or might happen next week. You can read it on Friday afternoon or print it out then take it home if you have nothing better to do. It is compiled by NTK from stuff they get sent. Registered at the Post Office as "a little disappointing" http://www.livejournal.com/users/malenfant/49768.html NEED TO KNOW THEY STOLE OUR REVOLUTION. NOW WE'RE STEALING IT BACK. Archive - http://www.ntk.net/ Unsubscribe or subscribe at http://lists.ntk.net/ NTK now is supported by UNFORTU.NET, and by you: http://www.ntkmart.com/ (K) 2004 Special Projects. Copying is fine, but include URL: http://www.ntk.net/ Full license at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/1.0 Tips, news and gossip to tips@spesh.com All communication is for publication, unless you beg. Remember: Your work email may be monitored if sending sensitive material. Sending >500KB attachments is forbidden by the Geneva Convention. Your country may be at risk if you fail to comply.