Yes that's correct, most would not have put their credit card information up there...unless they bought stuff online from them. *If* you've been through the sign-up procedure with them you'll know that they require a LOT of information. I was concerned at the time I signed up for this very reason. There was information that could help someone pretend to be me to the bank over the phone or to identify all the home addresses with PS3's to go get them.

I ended up creating a bogus person - I am now glad I did and don't feel like such a paranoid dick any more. - In fact this caused me to start a standard fake person for all sign on ID's.

Companies that require all this information to use their services should really consider what information they really need and what information are they willing to be responsible for. I tell you what, if people start getting scammed or ID stolen as a result of this, Sony better be willing cough up every last cent in compensation. Sure someone attacked their network, but by *requiring* people to enter this information they are assuming responsibility for protecting it. (I bet the expansive EULA and privacy statement say nothing about this).

Yeah I read the article and I can't get all the bits of the story to fit together properly.

For this story to be 100% true as told we need to make some assumptions.

Assumption 1). ONE computer system needs to have control of the lights, door locks and registers.- or each of the separate computer systems together are coordinated and have control of the above items.
Assumption 2). The self-checkout registers were on and were pre-set to auto-start at a given time of day or "ready-to-go" state even though they were "cashed up" at the end of the previous day. - (read cash removed and tallied at the end of the previous day).
Assumption 2.1). The self-checkout registers have the ability to log on in the morning with no manager authorisation including connecting to the bank for the EFT/Credit machines.
Assumption 3. As NZ was an early adopter for EFTPOS so no one tried to pay with cash and expect change before someone tried to buy alcohol.

Reasoning 1). Unlikely. - More likely given the type of shop it is - the duty manager would have to do all of the above manually. Besides the duty manager would need to select what registers would be on at the beginning of the day.
Reasoning 2). No cash would be left in the machines overnight. - Therefore it's More than likely the machines turned off after cashing up was complete.
Reasoning 2.1). Again because the manager would select which registers would be active during the day I doubt the registers would be setup to do this automatically.
Reasoning 3). - Possible but unlikely.

I think the real story is something like, legislation prevents the shop opening on "Good Friday".
See: http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/wanaka/157571/businesses-defy-easter-law-again

More likely than the above: One manager figures he's being clever by not having the shop staffed and blaming it on a computer glitch.

Yeah Absolutely. it should be .... ummm 60 times better perhaps? - and no, 59 times better in technology and same game-play isn't going to count.

A new slogan

"Fuck you, buy it new!"

HL2 was fantastic and my wife endured a few weeks as a gaming widow while I played it through.

I got Ep 1 and was disappointed at how short it was. It was priced like a full length game. I felt burned and I lost interest before Ep2 got onto the shelves.

I think the "Human Control Factor" will work in a different way. - People will want to drive.

My opinion is most drivers are poor drivers (with respect to road safety). - They take chances, cut people off, run red lights (or push the amber), travel too close, travel too fast, etc, all in the name of getting from A to B as fast as possible.

People will get a Self driving car then get frustrated at how slow and tedious the drive is as the auto-driver will not take *any* chances.

Result is that people will take control.

Pretty sweeping statement....Almost like an advertisers introduction....

Because of peoples careless claims I cannot have a serious debate about this at work. Too many guys have already used 2 monitors as a status symbol and have poisoned the minds of the managers who'd have to pay for them.

Anyone noticed there is no data from around the Hiroshima area?

Just a curious observation....not radiation detectors there?...No one wants to submit their results?

Hmmm that sounds like fun.

Any hints on how to identify bot miners?

Would train up a bot hunting alt for this!! ;)

Agree - and this makes me think that we are going backwards as a society. Less egalitarian and less pooling of resources for the common good.

Absolutely agree,
This is against the basic idea of libraries. These publishers are seeing an opportunity to add yet more control and bring in additional revenue streams. This is just stupid greed.

Personally I hate the idea that any third party can kill a book once purchased. To me, it gives too much power for evil.

Well this is probably the sensible direction - Mandating efficiency standards.

How much does lighting contribute to a household's energy requirements. I remember hearing it was in the single digit percentage or at least low (less than 20% of the over all energy requirements of a house. Sure it's worth having a look at but why is it such a high priority?

Governments do this type of thing to show voters they care. - It's easy, it's lazy and is a good greenwash.

I'd prefer to see requirements (or at least ratings) on both operating and vampire power of household equipment. I work in an industry where minimal current draw from a battery is major requirement. Applying this thought to mains power devices would have a significant benefit. Many of us now run more than on PC at home of reasonable power, a cable modem/network hub, a big ass TV (LED / LCD or plasma). How often are these devices on....All the time?...do we use them all the time too? Certainly our behaviour can contribute a lot, however I also see that manufacturers should be designing with minimal power draw as one of their primary requirements. - I'm shocked to see how many of them have very high energy draw in both operating and standby modes...(yes I look at that when selecting a new device).

I also have a sense of pessimism here too. - As people become more efficient in their power use, power companies will start to increase their electricity prices to cover the short fall. In the end the consumer will do more to use less, and pay the same or more for the privilege. In the end the financial benefit of being more efficient will evaporate. With that in mind, most people will stop caring. - This world is so f*cked up some times.

Some people fail to pass themselves off as a thinking people.

For God's sake, I've called IT help desks and call centres and had people so inept and keen to keep to their scripts that they ignore what I say. - Yes I do have examples.

On talking to machines, I admit to not having a lot of experience here - mostly by choice. I find commands generally faster to click the buttons. (eg voice dial on my phone is much slower than finding the name in address book). As for dictation of documents....I also find the longer path from brain to my fingers gives me time to think about what I'm trying to say rather than my usual vocal ramblings.