There is a Black Market for the New iPad
I’ve never got this thing about Apple products. So when I see there’s now a black market for iPads in last night’s Evening Standard, I’m reminded of the phrase about there’s one born every minute.
The full article is here.
What happens if the computer you buy, is the rare one that fails?
I sometimes think that the only good thing about Apple is that every product sold means a royalty for a company called ARM in Cambridge. And that can’t hurt the British economy!
Has ARM Cracked the Internet of Things?
Probably not yet, but reports like this one are circulating on the Web, that they’ve made a good start on the problem of solving the Internet of Things.
To crack the problem, you need a very small chip, which uses virtually no power. Both of these are ARM‘s specialities.
Buy Your iPad From Tesco
You can get one for £49.99 from Tesco according to this story on the BBC.
But you had better hurry, before they rectify their mistake.
I shall not be buying, as I don’t like apple products or Tesco.
The Reliability of Zopa
Every morning I check the status of my Zopa and normal bank accounts.
Zopa was fine today, but my bank account was inaccessible for routine maintenance from midnight yesterday until eight this morning.
It got me thinking that I don’t think in the over four years, I have used Zopa, I’ve never not been able to access the system.
To be fair though, I have hit a couple of bugs in the past, which have resulted in say the system hanging until I have logged back in, but I certainly haven’t had a problem in the last couple of years, when my use of the system has been heaviest.
So if you worry about Zopa’s reliability, I’d say it’s probably up there with the best financial institutions.
On the related subject of fraud on Zopa, I found this article on the web. The writer makes a lot of sound points.
Angela Merkel on Greece
Well not really, but someone purporting to be her has tweeted.
I’m glad I’ve solved the Greek crisis and I look forward to solving it again next week.
Very funny! But it may well be true!
Web Programmer At Risk of Execution In Iran
This is from Amnesty International.
Web programmer Saeed Malekpour could be executed at any time in Iran. His death sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court on 17 January 2012 and a court official has indicated that his death sentence may have now been sent for implementation.
Saeed Malekpour, a resident of Canada and Iranian national, aged 36, was again sentenced to death on 19 October 2011 by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, and it was confirmed by Branch 32 of the Supreme Court on 17 January 2012. On 14 February 2012, one of Saeed Malekpour’s lawyers visited both courts to ask about his case, but learned that the file was being held at neither court. Comments from a court official suggested that this is because Saeed Malekpour’s file has been sent to the Office of Implementation of Sentences.
Saeed Malekpour was sentenced to death for “insulting and desecrating Islam” after a program he had developed for uploading photos online had been used to post pornographic images without his knowledge. Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced him to death in October 2010 following a trial that reportedly only lasted 15 minutes. After a June 2011 announcement that the Supreme Court had returned the case for further review, Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court imposed again the death sentence as well as prison sentence of seven and a-half years. Amnesty International understands that although he has legal representation now, for much of his detention Saeed Malekpour has had no access to legal counsel.
Saeed Malekpour had been living in Canada since 2005, but was arrested in October 2008 while visiting his family in Iran. He was allegedly tortured while held for over a year in solitary confinement in Tehran’s Evin prison. In 2009, Iranian state television repeatedly aired a “confession” by Saeed. In an open letter dated March 2010, Saeed Malekpour stated his “confession” was extracted after prolonged torture following orders by Revolutionary Guard interrogators.
I see many e-mails like this. To the Iranians justice seems to be a word with seven-letters and that is all.
This one touched me, as I’ve written programs to upload pictures and othe files to the Internet. As far as I know no-one has used them for any illicit purposes.
Type Santorum into Google
This idea was broadcast on Fighting Talk this morning. You don’t get what you expect, but the result of a spat between Rick Santorum and someone who disagrees with his views.
It is a masterful illustration of how to use the power of Google.
If you have a nervous disposition, make sure you have a small glass of Scotland’s finest to hand.
Spam in Blogs
Every morning, I empty the spam out of my blog. usually, it’s a dozen or so messages and I’ve commemted about it before.
It seems to have changed since that last comment, in that now a lot seems to be trying to sell me virus protection programs, with a rather verbose script, that only deserves one action; to be trashed.
You’d think people had better things to do with their time.
Especially, as the spam filter used by WordPress seems to be as reliable and accurate as an SAS-trained marksman.
Leaving Facebook
I never use the site and although I had a profile, I was getting a bit fed up with some messages the site was sending me. I should say there was nothing offensive, but I prefer to deal privately with people or through LinkedIn. So I decided to leave,logged in and looked for the Delete Profile button.
There isn’t an obvious one and I had to use Google to search for how to do it. But once I found a page on Yahoo, it was pretty much plain sailing. But one typing mistake would have meant my profile stayed.
All of these networking sites, should be obvious and easy to leave, so that those perhaps having unwanted messages can protect themselves virtually instantly.
I shall report, if I get any more communications from Facebook.
The Americans Don’t Have A Sense of Humour
It’s all here.
I rest my case!
Now we have even more reasons to not visit the Land of the Hi-tech Death Penalty!
The Anonymous Widower 