Mariolatory (a portmanteau of Mariology and idolatry) is usual accusation.

I wasn't making an assumption regarding his competence, I inferred he's less than technically competent given the two facts stated - he's already had a nastygram and he's still doing nothing to mask his activity. As to the ports, AC below has the right idea - just block all outbound connections but web and SSL from his MAC address. Heck, block every site but iTunes to this dick.

Technical: Block the standard ports for bittorrent at your router and tell him it's your ISP doing it. Change the password to the router and say the ISP did that remotely because of new T&Cs too. If he's such a low-watt bulb that he doesn't know to download and use PeerBlock or Blocklist Manager, it'd be a stretch to think he'd be able to unravel that cunningly crafted web of deceit.

Manly: Cut him loose. He couldn't give two shits about how his behaviour affects you. You could be a pussy about it and hope you find a conveniently non-confrontational legal loophole so you never have to take any form of stand against his irresponsibility. Or you could relocate your balls and tell him to take a hike because you're not going to be liable for his douchebaggery.

Your choice.

My MacBook Pro is over 4 years old now and it still keeps up with the kids (even without an SSD). It was top-of-the-line when I bought it, but it has weathered well and I don't see any point in replacing it any time soon. The way I see it, I'd rather pay for a Rolls Royce and have it for 20 years than buy a Ford Fiesta and replace it in 18 months. GP's mac book is the Ford Fiesta.

In the case of banking info, I'd assume it was the bank that issued the SecurID token to be RSA's customer. So all those tokens will be getting replaced. At least that's how it works in the UK. If a bank told me to I had to pay for their mandated authentication hardware, I'd tell them to get stuffed.

Looks like that move to HSBC is off for the moment. Their internet banking was crappy anyway.

You're trying to make it sound like sarcasm but you're spot on. If the ROI's too low because of legal barriers to entry, then why bother? Especially when there's a richer market a 7-hour flight away. Localisation and translation (because all those pesky Euros will insist on not speaking English) are small burdens to take on if it means that your innovative new application doesn't have a 99% chance of being a millstone round your neck instead of your ticket to Ferraris and EUR2000/night hookers. Offshoring doesn't just mean to India and China, you know.

During my engineering degree in the UK (still a part of Europe - for now...), we had a couple of students in my courses who hadn't got the requisite qualifications for course entry in high school but went to local colleges (only universities grant degrees in the UK), got Higher National qualifications and used those to apply to university. They got grants (not worth very much but we had them then) and student loans no problem, and they had a base of significantly better maths and electronics ability than the people who came straight from high school (like me). The two things I learned are 1) never look down on someone just cos they didn't get into the degree course first time, and 2) sometimes a second chance can salvage some very talented people.

Okeydoke, I'll take that one on the chin - I was wrong. I was a subject when I was born but now I'm a citizen. Good to know. Doesn't really change anything unless we've stopped living in a constitutional monarchy though. And, from the British subject article

Although the term "British subject" now has a very restrictive statutory definition in the United Kingdom, and it would therefore be incorrect to describe a British citizen as a British subject, the concept of a "subject" is still recognised by the law, and the terms "the Queen's subjects", "Her Majesty's subjects", etc., continue to be used in British legal discourse.

So very wrong. United Kingdom = state. England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland = countries. Ulster (Northern Ireland + 3 counties in Eire) = province. Great Britain (or just Britain as we're not so big-headed these days) = England + Scotland + Wales + islands (but not Northern Ireland, and definitely not Eire). Nationality of a UK subject - as we're subjects of the Crown rather than citizens of the state - is British.

Hope this clears up the confusion.

Anywhere but here? "Honey, you know how you were saying you were working late on Thursday night? How come facebook says you were haggling for a sniff in the fleshpots of Marrakesh?"

It's also Republic Day here in India too, celebrating them (I'm just visiting from London) finally ratifying their own constitution and throwing off the last of the laws imposed on them by the perfidious British oppressors. Having witnessed the independence of spirit and disdain for tyrannical rules most Indians exhibit on the road first-hand (like, you know, all driving the same way along a carriageway), I'm frankly amazed the Raj lasted longer than a day and a half.

OK, so maybe the phone won't take down the plane but, if I'm stuck in an aluminium tube for 8 hours with some nitwit with verbal diarrhoea, then I'm going to get peeved. I can understand that people have different coping mechanisms for dealing with the forced confinement but you've got to give it a rest at some point - the world won't end if a call goes unmade or unanswered. If an action is likely to increases the stress levels of your fellow travelers, then you probably shouldn't do it.

In Ariana Huffington's case, I think the point could be made by asking her to move so she's not in aisle seat - and tell her it's because I wouldn't want to be stuck behind her ignorant, dithering fat ass in case of an emergency.

So poison it with something that will cause regulators a headache. In the UK set your address and telephone number to the contact information for the Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF

+44 303 123 1113

I imagine after a couple of thousand automated calls from off-shore call centers they may get round to tightening up those regulations.

Meh - the ZX81 16K RAM pack cost £50 in 1982, or $87.53 in Freedom Money. Adjusting for inflation, that's $191 (or $12,224/MB) in today's money.