Charles on… anything that comes along

So first the iPod (and similar devices) were being banned - see Yahoo! News - British Military: iPods Pose Security Risk. Then they weren’t.

What’s the story? The story is that this angle was being pushed a little by Gartner, and then a bit harder by a company called Reflex Magnetics - which surveyed 200 companies (nearly large enough to be representative, but to be honest not that informative; and how many companies really know whether something’s being used as a security circumvention or not?) and found them being worried.

What this really tells us is that the iPod is beginning to acquire the aura of an urban-legendary object: read tales of its incredible power to undermine company security! Nobody sees them and yet they’re everywhere! They can take over your mind! Etc. USB flash keys are a far bigger risk (because they’re smaller and don’t need a cable), but they don’t have a convenient brand name, of course. How long before you hear about friends of friends who picked up this hitchhiker who was wearing an iPod, and then when they turned around….

These posts might be related (the database thinks..):
• Lottery and laptop scams (15 September 2004; score: 50.67%)
• John Naughton and the urban myths (25 May 2007; score: 49%)
• Arguments against speed cameras demolished wholesale (10 October 2004; score: 35.97%)

I thought I’d see if Barclaycard had got their act together at all since yesterday. First, I used the Safari Debug menu (enable it thus; it’s very useful and you can change it back if you want) to masquerade as Internet Explorer 6 on Windows to use the site. Which worked fine - could browse my statement, transactions, and so on.

So then I changed the browser back to “Automatically Chosen”, which should tell the site it’s Mozilla/Safari. And guess what? Works perfectly too.

Either someone had a programming epiphany some time yesterday, or it was a lot simpler to fix than they’d been making out.

These posts might be related (the database thinks..):
• How editors think the newsroom works, and how it really does (8 November 2006; score: 44.47%)
• "We changed the logo and now it doesn't work with Macs" (13 July 2004; score: 39.43%)
• And like magic, the phone disappears! (27 August 2004; score: 36.71%)

Readers of the Daily Mail (obviously, you didn’t pay for it) will have noticed that many of the stories have email addresses for the reporters at the end, in the form a.reporter@dailymail.co.uk. And probably thought those were a great way to personally tell that reporter some news tip, or upbraid them for completely ignoring the facts demonstrating, say, that the Bible Code is a load of rubbish.

Ooh no. Turns out that if you email that address then apart from getting a form response (”Thank you for your email.. cannot reply to all…”) it also goes forward into a completely open queue that the news desk can also read. So mates of said reporter are warned not to send anything in the least bit personal in case it gets used against them by the news desk, as it undoubtedly will; one person was given a formal warning at Associated Newspapers (the Mail’s parent) for smiling. And, as I recall, writing a cheque for their gas bill.

As it happens, there will be an opening - or at least a vacancy - for a science reporter at the Daily Mail from September. I’m definitely not applying for that one.

These posts might be related (the database thinks..):
• What the 42-years-deaf person said about her cochlear implant (1 September 2006; score: 30.85%)
• Thought for the day: an Eastender's email (20 February 2005; score: 30.69%)
• It seemed like a good title at the time (15 July 2004; score: 29.49%)

If you’ve come here via The Independent website - welcome. Please look around and comment where you see fit; you don’t have to register (though it’s a nice touch).

If you’re just browsing, the latest Network section published today is online. Read about:
Attack of the Killer Vacuum Cleaners - “Remember when robots were going to take over the world or, at the very least, bring you a cup of tea in bed?” - by me, and In The Beginning was Word - “When schools buy software, there seems to be only one choice: Microsoft. Why don’t more of them use Linux? It can do most of the work, it’s more secure and it’s free” - by Michael Pollitt.

In the meantime, if anyone has changed from using Apple systems to Windows (through choice, rather than “the company made me”) could you get in touch? network@independent.co.uk is the address.

These posts might be related (the database thinks..):
• What's wrong (and could be right) with feed readers, aka aggregators (7 September 2004; score: 22.88%)
• The downward spiral begins when you shrink.. like the Sunday Independent (updated) (31 May 2007; score: 19.01%)
• Slashdot gets sniffy: doesn't like its RSS feed getting slashdotted (21 February 2005; score: 19.01%)