Posts by Moonpig

Tories may scrap IR35 tax rules for contractors

Who introduced what?

As I remember...

back in 1996 I was working as an IT contractor for a building company working on Lords Cricket Ground Grandstand when the Tories brought in legislation to stop building sub-contractors being employed as limited companies. The deciding factors were the amount of risk taken by the subies and whose tools etc they used.

Much the same sort of rules as IR35 but in a different industry. At the time my boss remarked that it would be IT next then other self employed professionals.

During the election campaign in 1997 T. B. Liar and his gang promised to look at this ruling in much the same way as we are now being told IR35 may be looked at. Instead the ruiles were extended and became IR35.

Now which bunch of bandits should I believe?

Shower of shysters.

Paris 'cos she too knows when she's being fed a load of cock

Apple's iPad - fat iPhone without the phone

Stop this nonsense NOW!!

I have a laptop, a 5 year old Acer Travelmate, which allows me to write grumbly letters and e-mails, browse the reg and other news sources and do 'computery things, its very good at these tasks being a dedicated computery device. I have 2 cameras, one DSLR and one HDCamcorder for taking photos, they are also very good at performing their tasks being photography devices. I also (sadly) have a mobile phone, a Nokia 6310i also about 5 years old which allows other people to disturb me when I am doing computery or photoy things. It is very good at being a phone because it was built for that purpose. Similarly my mp3 player, which plays noises.

Why do I want a peice of crap which 'sort of' does computery things, sort of does musicy things, doesn't do photoy things, won't allow people to disturb my grumbly mutterings, is the size of a laptop weighs about the same as a laptop and has only 2 - 3 times the battery life of a laptop?

I DO want an e-book reader. It should display books, allow me to make annotations and bookmark the same, be expandable to hold all the books I will buy over the next 20 yeaars (like my analogue bookshelf) have a battery life to allow me to take it on holiday for 2-3 weeks, be light in weight, thin, have a touch screen UI and let me skip back and forth by page number. It doesn't need to try to be a phone/camera/laptop or for that matter a flaming supository. This is the last piece in my technology jigsaw.

Am I alone in the simplicity of my desires?

AND...

'According to Apple, the iPad syncs with Apple's iTunes software using the same 30-pin dock connector as does the iPhone and iPod. However, it remains unclear whether third-part accessories designed for those handhelds will work with the iPad.'

Like to see you shoehorn one of these johnnies into my third party accessory IPod dock.