Posts by slarty
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Hard News: The United States of Surveillance?, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
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public sector CEs are deemed to have TS clearance by default. have a look at SIGS
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Hard News: The United States of Surveillance?, in reply to Russell Brown,
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Google "intelligence led policing". And look at popcenter.org
Its not about the data so much as applying some thought. Extreme surveillance is lazy and counterproductive: 9/11 happened despite all the data being known to the FBI. Giving more to organisations that cannot handle what they already have just makes it worse... -
Hard News: The United States of Surveillance?, in reply to BenWilson,
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I love it when you get all operational. Far too much CSI driven policy nowadays... good to remember most of this stuff is about analysis and graft...
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Hard News: The United States of Surveillance?,
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In the end, WebFountain didn’t go far
Maybe...
Anyway, if the purpose of an activity would be defeated by making it public, then there is a long standing principle of law enforcement that secrecy can be required. Such powers were traditionally strongest in matters of national security.
I have observed these to include requiring a staff member to keep a matter from their superiors. So don't be too harsh on firms that may well try not to be evil. It could be that their security staff (often recruited from the public sector) may simply not have told anyone.
Of course Open Source platforms are a good defence (e.g. Truecrypt...) - sunlight...
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Hard News: SpinCity, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
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Some firms can't work here because we have quaint old-fashioned beliefs such as requiring businesses to pay tax. Our almost unique general anti-avoidance provision fends off firms that have been said to be a bit aggressive in such areas...
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Hard News: Done like a dinner, in reply to Russell Brown,
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Back in the day there was allegedly a clause that meant Rio would have to pay to connect Manapouri to the grid if they ever left (as consideration for the taxpayer subsidy that it has received since it was built).
I suspect the tragedy is that this has gone too.
I long for the day when we had a PM with testicles. Clark stared down SQ and BRY over AirNZ... if only that story were better understood.
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Cracker: Review: The Oyster Inn, Waiheke…,
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... I've been there a couple of times now. It's nicely done, but that location has always struggled, so it will be interesting to see how it manages through the off season when you are more dependent on a price-sensitive local audience.
I reckon the brilliant Perry will set a good standard for the wait-crew!
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Cracker: Review: The Oyster Inn, Waiheke…, in reply to Sacha,
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50%...
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Hard News: Triangulated by Fools,
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I wonder if I could randomly point out two little frustrations being poorly communicated. I've tried to frame them using the approach Neville G. gave me one day:
I mention these because they are likely to cause serious strategic damage to our nation in the long term. I don't understand why Labour aren't all over them as they are real hearts and minds stuff - one will impoverish people right smack in the middle of our retirement funding crisis, the other will ensure an underclass.
PPP's aka PFI's. Complete mess in the UK, going to cost billions, money long gone. Issue: they rarely work. At the very best they are an expensive way of borrowing. No net shift in sovereign debt but looks better due to an accounting technicality. Villain: ideological ignorance. Hero: ???
Even the Telegraph agrees.... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9362658/PFI-is-the-boondoggle-to-end-them-all.html
2. Introduction of student testing. Britain have pretty much admitted its introduction in the nineties has been a disaster. I'm sure it's coincidence that the first generation to fully go through this nonsense is the one that rioted.
Issue: national standards will drive our education system into the ground. Villain: baby boomers who think that just because they did tests, kids today should. Hero: teachers who manage to deliver a decent education despite the ideological garbage.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/16/schools-exam-system-not-fit
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Nice work.
Thank you all for the stimulation over the years... for me my lurk-quotient has fluctuated depending on the sensitivity of my day job :p