Evolution continues, species die out and other species are born. The speed this happens is so slow that even a [...]]]> What many do not realise is that evolution did not stop when the human species created our great society and started to control this planets resources and modify the direction of their own evolution.

Evolution continues, species die out and other species are born. The speed this happens is so slow that even a politician could keep up but nevertheless it continues. Our planet changes as it always has, from a molten rock to one large continent to the world as we know it and eventually on to a dry and arid end as the sun expands. All, currently, beyond the control and, to be honest, even the understanding of the common man.

We understand the concept of cause and effect. We know if we give people money for nothing then we offer a tempting route for those that have no aspirations or abilities. Sure a socialist state is a good idea but only if we all worked towards it. It requires those that can work to work for those that can’t and it requires certain moral traits that are missing from our species. We are not ants or the Borg (yet). It will never work while we are the independent thinkers that we are and so we adjust and tweak every aspect of our fellow mans lives to meet ideals that can never be achieved because we all dig our heels in when we are forced to work to keep others who can rob us and beat us up without punishment and live at a higher standard than we can despite us being the ones doing the hard work.

Eventually we snap. It takes a while but when we do it is a doozy. Not only do we take out the deserving of our wrath but also those who do not. Suspicious people like curtain twitchers or that odd guy down the road. But that is the way we work. A cleansing of the species. We will then set up a new order and, for a while anyway, we will have freedom and people will prosper. The weak, as always, will suffer. Then along will come another group who will want to control, for the good of the people, for the children and just add a few rules, who can object to that?

On the plus side we are now at the stage where our advances are not lost. Our medical and scientific knowledge is retained and thus we do not lose too much. Even the poor nowadays do not live in the squalor they once did. Our poor have electricity and running water although others do not yet. Our government’s attempts to stifle knowledge they do not like is wasted and knowledge goes on. I believe that in 100 years time people will look at the global warming swindle and laugh at our gullibility. How we even considered such a thing and the governments of our last 50 years will be known as the stupid, useless and most ineffectual since time began.

The only reason they won’t be hamstrung by socialist agendas is that by then, unless our lot screw it up too much before they are hung for the traitors they are, is that we are scientifically removing disease and genetic abnormalities such that there will be few deserving people requiring support and with machines doing the bulk of the manual work we won’t really have many expenses for basic living.

Of course there are alternatives. There is no guarantee that the human race will survive. Most of us are too dumb to survive on the planet now if it wasn’t for the infrastructure that greater minds have built up for our advancement. We have taken that and whilst living in a lifestyle that only 60 years ago was not even available to Kings and great leaders we have corrupted our evolution with whingy whiney ideas and thinking.

If we don’t take control and bring our species back on track we can be sure that Nature will show no mercy. Nature will not keep our homes heated while windmills vainly try and generate a fraction of the power our society needs to survive never mind grow and prosper. Nature that for thousands of years of trying to eradicate us, not because of malice but because that is how nature works, will find us totally unprepared and helpless. Nature can also claim us in other ways, we all know there are others of our species that would kill us in a heartbeat because we will not bow down to their sky fairy and their spiritual leader allegedly said a millennia ago those that do not must die. Nature has other ways to claim us and relegate us into the dustbin of history. To be some alien creatures fossil collection in their version of a history museum.

What we can control we have controlled for years, not perfectly, and were working on the rest and yet despite the fact they are clearly still a threat we are now looking at relaxing our guard and relying on some miracle to provide the protection we have performed ourselves in the past.

If you look back, IMO the best years for people in the West, were the 60s and the 70s, little government and a period of rapid medical and intellectual development. The 90s was the peak of our society but the cracks were widening. Since then we have become servants to our masters in government and little, if any real progress is being made in our society. Oh! Except we are enlightened enough to have a black leader of the Western world. If he can really be called a leader that is. Of course the seeds of socialism were sprouting even back in the 70s but they were not powerful enough to have reached most people although the welfare state and the NHS were being introduced in Great Britain. People felt good about themselves and human nature being what it was we were happy to reach out and feed the starving of the world. We want to help people it is in our nature. Although only in times of plenty do we see beyond family, neighbours and close friends. The latter part of last century was a time of plenty and we reached out to bring those who don’t have electricity and running water up to our minimum level. It was a start and was done with good intentions but where it all goes wrong is that there are always those that want more, always some to take advantage of a generous nature and always those that think we need to be controlled to do what they want. Those that think we should be punished for the lives and progress of our great great grandparents because they had different, olde worldy, morals and the balls to go out and do something instead of just existing like animals.

Thus we don’t end up doing what most of us want but end up doing what we have been pressed, and when that doesn’t work, forced into doing what a minority of do gooders want to do. It starts voluntarily and then becomes compulsory. Governed by self serving fools that care not for the damage they do to us as long as it furthers their chosen goals, and they personally benefit. No elected leaders ever did that in the past they all strove to get the most out of their country and they had rigid moral codes they worked to. Caught fiddling the books and they fell on their swords. Not our bunch of crooks though.

So instead of striving and reaching for the stars, still well out of our reach, and dragging the lowest on our planet up with us our, self styled, intellectual elite decide that the easiest way to gain control and provide equality, as we all clearly want, is to stop all of us accessing the gains of an advanced society. Make electrickery unaffordable and ration medicines and travel, except for them of course, and tax everything to death to make it work. Inevitable leading to disease, starvation and death but what the Hell. The rest of the world is already like that so it is our turn.

As the wheel turns and we move closer to this scenario. Let us gain hope that when we rise and the shackles are thrown off that before we get to the utopia of the 60s again, we have developed space travel where those with the balls can go and make a new civilisation leaving the dregs on Earth if they do not want to leave. Let’s see how they do without those forced to work for them. Although I am unlikely to be there I would love to see that chicken come home to roost. I was kind of hoping it would be this time around while I was around but our politicians have seen to that.

And this time, the planet of the future, make it such that your basic laws are defined in such a way they cannot be changed on a whim by scraping away at them as whingey whiney liberal socialists have done in America.

This leaves me awaiting calls I hope never happen but inevitably must where I must do my bit to make my children and their children’s lives worth living. In the meantime I’ll read the blogs and watch the world being led down the rabbit hole by government until the bulk of the population wake up. It’ll be when they realise that despite working 60 hours a week they are still hungry and cold and that Government is not the solution but the problem. Welcome to your socialist dream world. When you rise up remember that you allowed it to happen by inaction and, let’s face it, generally being stupid.

Boy, this was going to be a post on that large fox found in Maidstone, UK and how actions have consequences and it just kind of exploded. For my two loyal readers who got so far I thank you.

Wikileaks had one big problem in that it was hosted in the Cloud under Amazons watchful eye. Then all of a sudden it was discovered [...]]]> It seems that if you are powerful enough you can ‘nudge’ firms into doing the right thing. Even if the right thing is actually wrong. Cameron is watching carefully.

Wikileaks had one big problem in that it was hosted in the Cloud under Amazons watchful eye. Then all of a sudden it was discovered that the data being hosted broke Amazon’s T&Cs after a quick word from a politician and Amazon threw Wikileaks off its cloud servers. Wikileaks being the paranoid organisation it is had everything all prepared for a quick swap out. So all was not lost on the web side.

How about your organisation? You got a good backup plan? Still feel comfortable about being in the cloud where you could suddenly discover that it is no different from an ISP and that you can be kicked off at any time if you are deemed persona non grata and with no recourse what so ever?

When governments start interferring in this way and big corporates just roll over because they are scared they will be next then the Internet is already under government control.

That cannot be good.

Now, I know it is simply a USB hard drive. Just like the one we use to store data. You [...]]]> Here is something to make you more secure that I was looking at doing myself a few years ago but I was unable to get it working at the time. A portable OS.

Now, I know it is simply a USB hard drive. Just like the one we use to store data. You can now get them over 64Gb with 32Mb at a very reasonable price. More than enough to put an OS on and make your system secure.

Now, you can already download mini versions of most of the OS’s which are designed to be stored on USB sticks and booted from. There are even sites on how to set up bootable USB version like XP and Linux. Search and find one that works for your system. This means that as the systems HD is not used it does not contain any data or even history of your computer work. The history and the data are, of course, stored on the USB stick.

To use, simply insert the USB stick into a powered off system that allows boot from USB. Most modern systems allow this. Boot from the USB stick. Do your work ensuring you do not save to the HD and then shutdown as usual and remove the USB. This will leave no trace on the computers HD and you have the work you wanted on the USB.

What we should also do is to erase the USB every so often, and after every major bit of work, and delete the audit trail. Rebuild again with a fresh clean USB system. Preferably from a master USB for convenience.

Of course this leads to a minor bit of inconvenience as we lose all our favourites and set ups but as you are going to only use the USB drive for controversial work it isn’t that much of an issue. You use your main PC for everyday stuff and just ensure that anything controversial is stored on the USB sticks. If you must keep the data, keep them all in a secure box and don’t forget not all USB drives look like your standard USB drive. Take case with your selection.





Plod are going to have to take your entire house when they raid. Should keep them busy for a bit.

As an added bonus USB sticks are much easier to destroy than a HD and much quicker. If you are prepared you could do so within seconds. I tried several methods for a self destruct using various methods, mechanical, electrical and chemical. Some were better than others. In my experience working with classified material the approved way to destroy them was to disassemble the drives, sand blast the disk platters and then feed the remains into a ‘chomper’. This chomper cuts everything put into it into 2mm chunks. Overkill maybe, but certainly effective.

Like everything though there are disadvantages. USB sticks get lost or damaged easily and the media in them is only good for about 1000 rewrites. So after a while they will start to fail. If you have a master and rebuild regularly simply destroy them and build a new one.

Soon HDs will be a thing of the past. Everything will be SSD (Solid State Devices) and PCs will be much smaller. This whole thing could become much easier but what are the odds on manufacturers building the SSDs into the motherboards and armouring the cases meaning that we may have to continue with USB sticks for some time to come.

So when I read this about robots building real robots to perform tasks I start to get worried.

Sure, this one is computer controlled and at an early stage. [...]]]> I love technology but I’ve always been paranoid about where it can take us and do to us. We need to keep it under control.

So when I read this about robots building real robots to perform tasks I start to get worried.

Sure, this one is computer controlled and at an early stage. The program has been written by humans and the output thus restricted to what we are happy with. We are learning a lot about how to do things and how to get computers to build what is in their memory. A design and then out to a machine for building. That is starting down the road to what we watched on Iron Man. It will be a new renaissance and start a new era in employment. Few will ever again be employed in manufacturing. On the other hand components will be cheaper than ever before and think what people will be able to build their own home. Think of the innovation.

So, all in all a step forward.

However, think of the future. Once the system is connected up and people are selecting items to output. Some with rudimentary computer control. How long will it take before someone decides to build a more adaptable and intelligent robot. One for example that can handle itself where humans are not there to control what is going on.

Janina (Who pointed me to this) seems to think that ‘The one problem with robots is that there always has to be someone around who is capable of designing and making them’. Personally I don’t think that is a problem. I think that there is a problem the other way although those that develop these things seem to be agreeing with her.

I’m not so happy about computer control. Humans always need to be in control. In my view I can think of no reason why would ever develop a robot that could;
a) Create another robot with programming written by the robot.
b) Modify its own computer programming.

I have seen too many films and read too many books, like the Forbin Project among many, to believe that no matter how gifted a programmer or how honest the intentions that it would have no risk whatsoever and be of any real benefit to society anyway.

Call me a Luddite but I think this box is best left unopened. Hope you robot Phd’s are listening.

For over two decades now cars have being getting more and more electronic and more and more dependent on servicing by manufacturers and major garages, effectively driving out the [...]]]> I’ve talked before about how lately we seem to have moved into over engineering things instead of engineering new things. Remember I like things simple.

For over two decades now cars have being getting more and more electronic and more and more dependent on servicing by manufacturers and major garages, effectively driving out the old style mechanics and making home servicing or all intents and purposes impossible. No longer is there the possibility that your kid just leaving school can buy a decent fix it up motor and make it roadworthy. No points to learn and adjust, no simple distributor. All electronically controlled so you need a ton of electronic equipment just to give it a tune up and two tons if you have to do any diagnostic work.

All this is under the guise of improvements and yet as far as I can see cars still break down regularly and it seems to me that all the breakdowns are with the new improved parts. The replacement points work fine, the replacement LEDs instead of bulbs and so on are great. They have improved the parts that used to cause all the failures as they should but then they went on to complicate everything else and, IMO to increase maintenance revenues, they made the rest so complicated it screws up regularly. All the parts are return to factory swap out. Great for a garage. Less so for you when a faulty resistor for a light in the engine management system causes the system not to start until you hand over cash for a new motherboard and installation costs.

Under the guise of security they introduce immobilisers controlled by chips. The chips break and suddenly you can’t use your car. Doesn’t matter you have the key in your hand it just doesn’t work. You can no longer get a spare key from your local locksmith either. You have to pay £75 for a key instead of £5 and if you lose one you need to pay £400 for a new set of locks from the manufacturer. Now that isn’t what I call progress.

Now this isn’t just down to car manufacturers. Washing machines, dishwashers, boilers and most white goods and modern kit are built the same way. Disposable parts and nothing that can be repaired by someone outside the trade and it all costs. After all this allows manufacturers to hold courses training repairmen and only allowing spares to those that are trained and up to date. Easy money and the loser is the man on the street. This doesn’t much sound like progress to me.

And a final thought. If things go the way they seem to be going then many of these manufacturers will be going out of business or the man on the street will no longer be able to afford to spend £100 on a replacement board for his combi boiler. This means that for the want of a fix up you could be down a major item you need to live. Now let’s take that a step further and imagine you are getting in your car in the middle of the icy weather, the new global warming, and it won’t start. Do have the items in your freezing car to survive overnight when you can’t even start the engine to warm the car up.

The only problem is that they are all the same. Are any modern cars without sophisticated electronics? Looks like that 1965 Land Rover that Farmer Giles has is more practical than you think it is.

Now I always have concerns when I read of back doors like this. Back doors are always claimed to be for positive purposes and undoubtedly used for [...]]]> A hacker has identified a hack for every AMD chip that has been released in the last decade. The debugger hack is explained in the article here.

Now I always have concerns when I read of back doors like this. Back doors are always claimed to be for positive purposes and undoubtedly used for these purposes but are invariably more used for the exact opposite.

Especially in this modern age where our government looks at making manufacturers put backdoors into all our toys. Phones that can be silently remotely activated when off by the Stasi so they can listen in. Car navigation systems that track your every move and report back.

Now a simple bit of code could be being used to bypass your security even that written into a seemingly secure OS and pass data back to whoever wants it. For decades we have very experienced and competent people working for the government who with the support of our government and chip suppliers can bypass any security hardware or software solution you are using regardless of what it is.

There are very few chip providers in the market. It is not beyond the capability of our governments to force them to put backdoors into the processors and allow them access to everything. What backdoors are in Intel chips now? Then it is irrelevant if you use Windows, LINUX or even write your own OS. The only real way is to not connect it to the internet and ensure that it has no inbuilt WiFi or Bluetooth. I may even dust off my old 486DX2 with Windows 3.11. Does what I want and a lot more secure and keep a clean system purely for web browsing.

A bit paranoid you may think but I wouldn’t put anything past our government.

Although I suppose it was inevitable. DARPA has a good reputation as an innovator and it certainly has the brains in the [...]]]> I’m a bit apprehensive about DARPAs new role. It sounds like it is moving to support big brother under the guise of looking for terrorists. No change there then for big government.

Although I suppose it was inevitable. DARPA has a good reputation as an innovator and it certainly has the brains in the ranks.

Fingers crossed that when this project is complete that they get back to innovating progress and less on politics. Although I see the next phase as widening the scope of the searches and looking for terrorists in the general public which will be a bit of a problem for the US as it seems that being a patriot and a supporter of the consitution already mark you down as a terrorist. Ooops. Own goal there.

Over here in the UK it is much easier. Everyone is deemed to be a terrorist unless they are Lib/Dem/Con politicians, MI5 or Plod. Makes life much easier on deciding to pull the trigger or not. Not like our guys need to apply toomuch thinking there anyway. No repercussions.

New concept cars include these beauties. Click images for details.

It makes sense really they get the subsidies, the backing of the people [...]]]> It seems that many of our car manufacturers are going the hybrid route to an electric vehicle. Some are even starting to look good and have good performance.

New concept cars include these beauties. Click images for details.

It makes sense really they get the subsidies, the backing of the people and they also get to make cars that still work albeit with some changes so heir reputations are maintained.

I wonder how long it will be before the whingy whiney greens object to having petrol engines in these cars and they are forced to go electric only. I don’t think we are nearly ready for that yet.

However, I have to admit I didn’t think we were anywhere near cars like this yet. In 20 years time I think we will be all electric and petrol cars will cease to exist except in museums. There will be no fuel to run them. Until someone sets up conversion kits for them.

Petrol heads time seems to be coming to an end quicker than I thought it would and it isn’t consumers or peak oil that is making the change but politicians and people behind politicians. This must be the biggest change imposed on us this way. Makes me a little concerned about the rest of their agenda. Electric cars are a good idea, recycling what you can makes sense but the rest of their agenda isn’t so good. Will we stop in time?

All this and there are still areas that they cannot get into but never fear there is a proposal in the new Soviet [...]]]> Already the UK and the US sneakily and immorally, although borderline legally, tap into and record data on everyone’s browsing habits, Emails and contact details using the excuse of preventing terrorism.

All this and there are still areas that they cannot get into but never fear there is a proposal in the new Soviet State US that will correct this. It matters not that that will still leave holes and that the bad guys will use different ways. It isn’t their money they are wasting.

Of course we don’t need one in the UK because if this gets through then the US will share the data and if it doesn’t we don’t have the clout to get them to install the backdoors.

I wonder how long these governments can keep spending money they don’t have on systems that are there just to oppress their citizens in the current economic climate?

In the meantime though we need Phil Zimmerman, or someone like him, to get back working on his Zfone application and enhance it for our new generation of smart phones. The oppressed people of the world need it.