Posts by Velv 2756 publicly visible posts • joined 21 Jan 2010
"Apple said it was concerned that a single charging standard would stifle innovation"
Apple is a member of the appropriate USB bodies, it can contribute all the innovation it feels would be useful to the consumer, the only thing this agreement does is limit Apple's ability to exploit that innovation for its own profit (or anyone else for that matter).
"The objectionable part is paying the employer's costs"
And if you were outside IR35 you would be the director of a Limited Company and, wait for it, you would still have to pay all the Employer portions of the employment as well as your Insurance and probably an accountant, along with all the Pension contributions.
Limited Company does give Directors some flexibility in how they structure their employment and tax status (e.g. paying via dividends is more tax efficient than PAYE), but it is still the same rules that apply to everyone, and one way or another HMRC will get the money the country is owed.
"all to give corporations like Infosys a competitive advantage"
Surely not. There can't be any big consulting companies with access to Treasury Executives, Ministers, Chancellors or even Prime Ministers who could possibly influence how HMRC created rules that favour the big international corporations over British workers.
"Nuclear will be so cheap we won't need to meter it"
And yet we have nearly a £10,000,000,000 deficit in the money required to maintain and decommission the nuclear we already own. We might not be paying directly today, but our children and grandchildren are going to be footing our bill for decades to come.
China will build their 150 reactors quit easily, because they don't suffer from pesky environmental controls and troublesome protestors.
You think the current anti-oil campaigners are causing disruption, wait until the anti nuclear protestors start blocking the streets. Or is the UK Home Office going to disappear protestors to Rwanda along with the asylum seekers?
I only see one benefit to device holding credentials for other things - a backup to the primary.
Two of my friends hold a set of my house keys, in case I ever lose the set I carry. I could have put a key box on the property, but that then makes it look like an AirBnB and is more susceptible to theft or break in. I'm less likely to lose both my keys and my phone, so a backup on me would potentially be a good thing. I'm certainly not going to replace one easily lost item with an "all my eggs in one basket" item that's just as easily lost item (if not more so given I take it out my pocket far more often).
Looks like Motorola have taken the piss above and beyond even the best expectations of a Tory.
If you're not part of the solution there's money to be made prolonging the problem.
Turns out if you are part of the solution there's still money to be made prolonging the problem.
This is complete and utter rubbish.
If you are supplying software or any other goods then that is not fees for professional services and you are clearly operating that part of your business outside IR35.
If you are providing professional services via an umbrella and classed by the client as inside IR35 then you should not be supplying goods, you can make a recommendation and the client makes their own purchase.
I also know my umbrella has a mechanism for claiming back expenses from the client outside of any professional services fees. Nobody likes it, expenses are discouraged, but it's there just in case something must be purchased. (Last time I was asked to work away the client provided the travel and accommodation because it was easier than me expensing it).
"Which means that they are allowed to pull anyone over, at any time. And they do."
Which, to some extent, is true. But they're usually too busy to just pull over a random car. There are certain things attract the attention, get their "Spidey senses" tingling, lead them to decide to stop a car and investigate further. And in many cases it proves fruitful.
We don't tend to see road blocks in the UK where all vehicles are checked. Most common are truck checks or maybe vans, but its rare for cars. OP uses the term "DUI", driving under (the) influence, the common term in the USA, you know, land of the free, home of the cops are out to get you.
What we need is for a company to produce an App that does exactly what they're asking. It encrypts to an extent, but has a back door that the company actively use to monitor the communications of its users.
Users know up front they are being monitored, and exactly what content is being looked for and flagged to the authorities. If you've nothing to hide you've nothing to fear using that App, and by using that App your friends and colleagues get some reassurance you're not breaking the law (at least not through that App).
I think it might attract half a dozen users before it dies a death...
Another fallacy. Companies earn income. People earn income. The two are distinct entities when it comes to tax.
Companies declare a profit, and pay a tax on that profit. That is part of the company accounts.
People earn income, you are liable to pay income tax on all the income you make.
You cannot transfer money from one to the other without there being tax implications, especially from Company to Person, which is income, adds to your total annual income, and is taxed at the same rates as everyone else.
Dividends are paid out of post tax profits, so have already been taxed at the corporate rate. This is why they appear to get a preferential rate when added to income. But that "relief" is only equivalent to the tax already paid in the company profits. If you receive dividends over your personal tax allowance you are taxed fully on the portion over your allowance, same as all tax allowances.
Now, if you want to take "pay" out of the company without paying the appropriate income tax, be prepared for a long stay at Her Majesty's pleasure, that is tax evasion.
"Nuclear power is cheap ..."
comparatively, to build and operate on a per unit produced basis.
Total cost of ownership from concept through to returning a green field, not so much. Some of the waste has a half life in the thousands of years, not just your grandchildren who are going to be paying to look after it.
IT Contractors UK had this to say on the subject:
There are approximately 2 million self-employed professionals working in the UK. Out of which, approximately 1.77 million working as full-time contractors and about 234,000 working on a self-employed basis as their second job.
Number of self-employed professionals in the UK has increased by 43% approximately. The overall contribution to the UK economy by freelancing professionals is around £119 billion.
I think that's a more believable number. I would point out however that these 1.77 million people are not all about to stop working and the revenue will continue if they go permanent, so to say "worth £300billion to the economy" is bullshit.
"I'd hang on for redundancy and then take a break while looking for that next role."
Given Metro Bank was founded in 2010, and the terms are allegedly "not very good", how many of those impacted actually have enough years of service to take the risk of being out of work. Market does appear to be buoyant, but given the rest of the omnishambles hitting the country, how long will that last...
Not so long ago the redundancy terms in the Financial Services sector were extremely generous. I know RBS was 4 weeks for each year of service when I joined, and prior to the takeover by RBS, some NatWest employees were on 8 weeks for each year of service, and I'm not talking Managers, "Appointed" grades (that's middle level techies and many other back office roles) were on these terms. Other Financial Services companies I interviewed with or worked as a contractor offered similar terms.
So "industry standard" was a thing
Times have moved on, and those who have started more recently do not get such good terms, but as an industry Financial Service was at one time a good place to be.
Perhaps we've become too reliant on the 24/7 nature of everything these days and need our expectations reset.
Outages should be expected. It sucks when it happens to you, but you should have planned for it. Time for people to take more responsibility for their own lives and look to have contingency in place.
I'm not really proposing this is either right or good, but there are some entitled people who think the world owes them everything for no effort on their part, and sadly the world is flawed, it does break, and we need to at least understand that fact.
"Also, the routers are often key components for the ISP's service so can't be easily switched out (1:1) for "real" networking kit. Bloody DOCSIS >:|"
However most I've come across have the option to become "cable modem only", and you can install your own kit on your side of the network. The ISP provided device just becomes the NTE of the external connection, and you take ownership of securing everything inside.
The real potential use here is to provide two factor identification to cards.
Yes, sell it as making it more convenient to the customer, you don't need to enter your PIN.
But the real win is reduced fraud by not only requiring the person having the card to known the PIN, but also to identify themselves as the owner of the card. There was a time RBS were putting photos on cards so shops could verify the correct "name" was presenting the card.
Card and fingerprint says I have the right to use this card, PIN entered means I authorise this transaction.
No, pretty sure exposing a Minster of the Government breaking the law is in the public interest. If I were in his constituency I'd be organising the petition to have him recalled and hold a by-election.
Not to mention the untrustworthiness of cheating on his wife and three children, although that seems to be a desirable attribute to qualify for election these days.
"Even if the UK release him, he'll never be able to leave because the US will grab him as soon as he crosses a border, or they will engineer another false charge or accusation."
If/when the UK release him he will be ejected from the UK and put on a flight to Australia. Are you suggesting the US will do a Belarus and intercept and divert the flight?
It is then up the the US to raise any charges in Australia and for the Australian Government and Courts to conduct due process.
Not sure why you're being downvoted, he should be tried for the alleged crime, and convicted or freed by a jury based on the evidence. As soon as you introduce excuses for not facing trial you've broken the justice system.
What happens after the trial is a different problem, and cannot be used as an excuse not to face trial.
"the commissioner found that 11,489,873 were made for the purposes of marketing "claims management services" leading to 316 complaints to the ICO and TPS."
So only 316 people bothered to complain, a simple form on the ICO website. Seems the ICO needs to do more to publicise complaining about telephone spam and make the public more aware they shouldnt expect to put up with these calls
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