What the Heck?! Thread (Closed)

[delft]

I will never use my cellular phone again

'State of Surveillance' with Edward Snowden and Shane Smith

Some twenty years ago an acquaintance who had been a police officer in The Hague told me that because all criminals carried mobile phones some aspects of policing had become much easier. So with Big Data technology and a vast increase in computing power surveillance of everybody is easily within reach of even moderately affluent spying agencies. It is necessary to develop a political system that prevent these excesses. However in the countries we know best this seems to be extremely difficult.

 

[delft]

If you ask where is this photo? it was taken yesterday, 26 Aug 2016, at Tan Son Nhat international airport in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. hundred of flights have been diverted or cancelled because the runway was flooded. It's not the first time this airport was flooded, last year there was a similar accident.

What is Cheaper - moving the airport to a safer place or building a wall around it and providing pumping power to keep it dry. You might reduce the pumping power by providing lakes with a low water level within or adjacent to the walled area, if that is possible seeing the local geology.

 

[Janiz]

Some twenty years ago an acquaintance who had been a police officer in The Hague told me that because all criminals carried mobile phones some aspects of policing had become much easier.

You know, criminals use the old phones, not smartphones. Old Nokias like 3510i or 3410 still rock in the underworld. Registered pre paid cards? They go to some school boys, tell them, 'Guy, do you want 10 Euros for 5 minutes of 'work'? and buy numbers like 10, 20 or 50 in one go. And they're logged to the net only for a single phone call. They have tons of those old mobile phones and tens of those cards which they use for their 'bussiness'. Sophistication of nowadays technology isn't too revelant to the real crime as they're getting smarter with every case which lands in the courts. Good luck for any prosecutor trying to get someone sent to the prison only on the basis of a few (even recorded) calls... It's good for civilians but not for organised crime organizations.

 

[delft]

You know, criminals use the old phones, not smartphones. Old Nokias like 3510i or 3410 still rock in the underworld. Registered pre paid cards? They go to some school boys, tell them, 'Guy, do you want 10 Euros for 5 minutes of 'work'? and buy numbers like 10, 20 or 50 in one go. And they're logged to the net only for a single phone call. They have tons of those old mobile phones and tens of those cards which they use for their 'bussiness'. Sophistication of nowadays technology isn't too revelant to the real crime as they're getting smarter with every case which lands in the courts. Good luck for any prosecutor trying to get someone sent to the prison only on the basis of a few (even recorded) calls... It's good for civilians but not for organised crime organizations.

Quite so. It took criminals, not the brightest of people, several years to get wise on these matters. The more professional "enemies of the state" will not be caught by mass surveillance so this is only directed at the citizen cattle.

 

[B.I.B.]

You know, criminals use the old phones, not smartphones. Old Nokias like 3510i or 3410 still rock in the underworld. Registered pre paid cards? They go to some school boys, tell them, 'Guy, do you want 10 Euros for 5 minutes of 'work'? and buy numbers like 10, 20 or 50 in one go. And they're logged to the net only for a single phone call. They have tons of those old mobile phones and tens of those cards which they use for their 'bussiness'. Sophistication of nowadays technology isn't too revelant to the real crime as they're getting smarter with every case which lands in the courts. Good luck for any prosecutor trying to get someone sent to the prison only on the basis of a few (even recorded) calls... It's good for civilians but not for organised crime organizations.

I know sweet f.a. about cell phones, but supposing these cell phones were of the 2g variety and that network gets phased out as 4/5g became the default standard.
my cellphone salesman in nz tells me all NZ 2g networks are supposed to phased out by the end of this year.

 

[SteelBird]

What is Cheaper - moving the airport to a safer place or building a wall around it and providing pumping power to keep it dry. You might reduce the pumping power by providing lakes with a low water level within or adjacent to the walled area, if that is possible seeing the local geology.

Do you know what's the reason that cause flooding in the airport? All lakes surrounding the airport have been reclaimed and build residential building. What's more serious is a golf field newly built next to the airport (some says it was built on reserve land of the airport).

Golf field is clearly seen next to the runway of Tan Son Nhat airport

 

[delft]

Do you know what's the reason that cause flooding in the airport? All lakes surrounding the airport have been reclaimed and build residential building. What's more serious is a golf field newly built next to the airport (some says it was built on reserve land of the airport).

Golf field is clearly seen next to the runway of Tan Son Nhat airport

It is not really something to like. It would be best if the golf course were dug away to make a nice lake and let the golfers fly to some even nicer golf course 200 km away.
When the air port was inundated was the same happening to the built up areas around?

 

[SteelBird]

It is not really something to like. It would be best if the golf course were dug away to make a nice lake and let the golfers fly to some even nicer golf course 200 km away.
When the air port was inundated was the same happening to the built up areas around?

Actually, the heavy rain in the evening of the 26th Aug created a chaos in Ho Chi Minh city. Not only the air field but many residential areas are flooded as well. Some condo's basement parking area were flooded and vehicles drown.

The golf course was newly built, some Vietnamese netizens suggest that the official who signed approve that golf course should be charged and put in jail.

 

[delft]

I complained to the BBC about a news item and got this answer:

I was sorry to read you were unhappy with Radio 4's 'Today' on 23 August. I understand you felt the programme should have challenged a guest on an assertion made regarding the Houthis receiving support from Al-Qaeda.

I've reviewed the programme in light of your concern and believe I have found the comment you refer to.

This item was regarding news that Britain, the United States and France are facing criticism at a meeting in Geneva of signatory states of the Arms Trade Treaty, with Human rights groups saying massive arms sales to Saudi Arabia are fuelling the conflict in Yemen. Commenting on the item we had Sally Copley, director of policy and campaigns for Oxfam, and Colonel Bob Stewart, Conservative MP and member of the Defence Committee.

During the item Colonel Stewart stated: "The Houthis are quite ghastly. They are of course supported by Iran and in some parts by Al-Qaeda. I mean I have lived in Yemen..."

In interviewer, Simon Jack then interjected "That's not the point though is it? This is about the rules of the treaty. It's not about whether you like one side or the other in a conflict. It's about the rules of a treaty regarding civilians and the use of British sold weapons in a conflict where they are used on civilians."

Colonel Stewart responded: "Ok, well I'm not here to justify the government. I'm here as a backbencher, I'm also here speaking on my own - not for the Defence Committee. Having witnessed what is happening I can tell you this; the Saudis are extremely conscious that they shouldn't breach such treaties and they're doing their level best to sort it out and I've seen that with my own eyes when I was in Riyadh."

While Colonel Stewart could have been challenged on this point and I appreciate you feel he should have been, the interviewer cannot possibly challenge every point a guest makes. Doing so can lead to the conversation going off track and straying from the original topic which can lead to it being difficult to return to. This is especially key on a programme like Today when time for each item is limited.

On this occasion, keeping the debate on track is exactly what the interviewer is doing as they felt Colonel Stewart was diverging from the topic at hand and into a debate on who is right and who is wrong in terms of the conflict itself.

That said, we do value your feedback strongly and I'll make the relevant production team aware of your concerns.

Either Colonel Bob Stewart MP is an ignoramus or he is spreading propaganda but we must notice that by the BBC he is considered to be an expert.

 

[taxiya]

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LOL, teenagers!

haha, the parents are lucky that the police did not take it further. I don't know about Canada, but at least in China, making a false report of emergency is a criminal offence and punishable by administrative detention, since the "trouble" maker is a minor, the guardians (the parents) would be punishable for the "crime". So the poor parents being "back-stabbed" by the teen would have to pay for the guilt of the "back-stabber". The teen must be a very clever one, if his/her plan worked, the parents would have ended up in jail for few days and he/she would have finished the unpleasant vacation earlier.