Posts by LyingMan

Palantir declares itself the guardian of Americans' rights

Impregnating institutions

Knowing thiel and epstein were close, this takes a new meaning

UK watchdog to rule on £142M Post Office subsidy over Horizon scandal and IR35

Re: Truth

Mostly agree but having company email is not a privilege, is it? What next, not log into their cloud tenancy but do in your own tenancy?

A true business will do that, agree. But contractors are neither here nor there.

Am ideal situation will be to create a tax plan for contractors 25 to 30% Corp tax (and don't touch the dividends) and apply the rest of the rules.

Contractors (non ir35), end up with Corp tax and dividend tax but not treated with litigation threat by hmrc at least. The current rule, in a way is better that way. Whereas in-IR35 (under umbrella) lose a lot to the umbrellas(run by politicians and crooked lawyers) and also under litigation threat any time because those umbrellas.

Last time I checked HMRC is still not ready to regulate the umbrellas. Why?

Azure VMs ruined by CrowdStrike patchpocalypse? Microsoft has recovery tips

Us too. Some of ours are in Azure as SaaS (managed instances of sql server and a bunch of small sql dbs) and the rest are on-prem (application and database servers)

Azure ones survived and a few in on-prem died. Yet to check why they survived but the dead ones were revived by restoring the OS disk. Worked a treat.

Kudos to the consultant who did it that way.

Sunak's defunct SaaS scheme spent seven percent of budget designed to help 100,000 SMEs

Re: One for the how not to text books

They have abundant incompetence but that's eclipsed by corruption

See that last line in the access list? Yeah, that means you don't have an access list

Re: Oh yes!

Hmm.. How come that's acceptable business practice but not acceptable for ir35?

UK government puts IR35 tax reforms on hold for a year in wake of coronavirus crisis

Re: One-nation Barmy

And don't forget locum doctors!!! There is a big bunch of them..

UK contractors planning 'mass exodus' ahead of IR35 tax clampdown – survey

Re: Anonymous Contractor

Only question is --> why was the contractor there? If you are doing all that job very well...

Auf wiedersehen, pet: UK Deutsche Bank contractors plan to leave rather than take 25% pay cut for IR35 – report

Re: I do wonder..m

Exactly this is what BoJo meant when he said 'Fsck Business!'

Re: I currently collect £24k VAT

Compare apples and apples. If he is working as a permie, he won't get 120k. He would get 60k. That is the argument.

Re: Alternatively

Did you hear about the consultants who are reducing their contractual working hours because of an IR35-eque law asking for more tax if they work over a threshold?

Literally rings our bell: Scottish eggheads snap quantum entanglement for the first time

Re: How entanglement really works, how to prove it

If your two ways of disproving quantum entanglement are that straightforward, why no scientist / lab is performing them to disprove? I can see you are but you can't be the only one.

I remember the aether as medium for light propagation theories which got disproved over time. But there were several people making noises against it. I haven't heard anyone suggest quantum entanglement yet.

Front-end dev cops to billing NSA $220,000 for hours he didn't work

Who is the real culprit

I have seen with one of our sub contractors that they bill for x number of people for that day while we actually have not seen all of them working from the logs. The usual answer from the sub contractor when my boss pushed a bit is they are involved in is that they are doing internal code review / mentoring to improve delivery quality etc .. anymore from my boss won't work as his boss would get upset about the engagement.

Some agencies in between the actual bod and the client milk a 'little bit more' if the client is naive or has 'relationships'. Don't know what really happened here!

Trump: Huawei ban will be lifted!
US Commerce Dept.: Yeah, about that…

Re: US economic dominance --

Hi Bob,

The planet you live is so fantastic! Wish we all could be transported there. But we need to drink so much kool aid to reach there, it is physically not possible for us mere mortals. We do aspire to be like you one day!

Until then you stay on that planet please and don't return to earth.

Cheers

Bug-hunter reveals another 'make me admin' Windows 10 zero-day – and vows: 'There's more where that came from'

Did you refer to POTUS?

BA's 'global IT system failure' was due to 'power surge'

Well.. that was eons ago.. Now there are two significant changes..

1. Brightness has faded.. The recruitment is focusing on the cheap and easy but not so bright, who wont jump ship after gaining three or four years of experience. This has been going on for the last 10 to 11 years but accelerated in the last 6 years

2. The culture within TCS has also changed. Previously as many mentioned it was 'Customer is the king'. Now, it is pass the ball back to the customer with more questions. If the customer asks for a change, ask repeatedly about the specification until the customer cannot answer in any clear form and then implement something minimal that the customer cannot complain as not meeting the requirements. And in the meantime grill the customer for test cases so that the customer loses the will to live (remember that in most of the companies the business team's turn over is so much that if you ask questions for sufficient time, the person who asks the question would have left the team before it comes around to implement!) and bake in the code for the test cases to pass.

Loss of 'wind'

I thought all of them are full of 'hot air' and capable of discharging said air appropriately and effectively!

Re: Insurance and lack of competiton

I have heard that as a bigger supportive argument in many of the big IT outsourcing agreements.

But in this instance, tangible losses might amount to 100m to 150m (compensation etc) but the impact on brand / loyalty etc how could that be costed? And how much will the insurance cover?

For a PLC, it may be possible to incur a loss of that proportion and use the insurance to recover out of the same.. But if a SME encountered a significant loss like that, the insurance might not cover the loss of customers or folding down of the business at the extreme.

DEATH-PROOF your old XP netbook: 5 OSes to bring it back to life

ebay and thinkpads

Got 3 T420 thinkpads i5 2520 for £250 each from ebay with 1600 x 900 resolution and while the videos look horrible the text and 2d performance blows everything else away.. even the sd card slot supports sdxc!!

Boffins: Bonkless Brits fondling slabs, not each other

Re: No surprise

Hmm.. my phone mildly vibrates when I push the (keyboard) buttons... and she is not called siri!

Swedish teen's sex video fine slashed: Unwilling co-star girlfriend furious

Re: Mixed signals regarding privacy (xyz)

You are not the yardstick here, Irongut... in a population, you are expected to have a good distribution...

Windows 8.1: Read this BEFORE updating - especially you, IT admins

Re: from the Windows Store

There are still households running with 2 gb limit broadband... and bought a new laptop for their son or daughter last Xmas... I cry for them when heir downloads get interrupted twice or more and then finally they get updated.. the cost 10p per mb with BT... face palm...

Re: No ISO?

Absolutely... Google and apple must be choking with laughter...

New iPhones: C certainly DOESN'T stand for 'Cheap'

Re: Delusion much? Nate Amsden

Well.. For a company with such brilliant engineering minds and consumer focused managers, they should have addressed the two major issues in the mobile phone market... well f**k it .. just the one.. BATTERY LIFE.. If they had innovated there and delivered a two days - no charging needed battery life phone, I will sell my first born to buy that one..

But hey wait, I have bought a Nokia Asha 210 and it already does it! along with whatsapp! That is my main phone and my media player will be the Note 3 when it sells a bit cheaper than £599 to replace my original note...

Lord Elpuss

Aha.. you missed another innovation! Apple this time has invented pastel and metallic colours! Wowweeee!!!

Re: Does Samsung info get leaked?

for anyone talking about android is not in the web browsing market.. Been to India last month and the retailers are saying that the whole nation is starting to get into the smartphone market and they do not look like buying iPhones. Instead all Androids (locally made to Sammy's) are the craze.. Aaaannnddd.. they do browse! That will be a huge number in the web traffic which can trounce easily the numbers.. keep watching..

Re: The price of last year's iPhone is eye watering

they don't have mine!

Re: Affordability my arse

>>>Fingerprint sensor that looks like it might actually be useful (for unlock and app purchasing) - AND might actually work,

>> Rather than pins, passwords, gestures, etc... which all DO actually work?

>.. and which are forgotten, copied, written on sticky pads etc etc. Usual for and against arguments apply.

... ah, iUsers.. Forgot all about them ... Sorry!

Camera Stabilisation -

-.. is a misnomer as neither the camera nor the optical system is stabilised.

If there is motion, the photos could be messed up regardless of the motion chip captured data. 'Cos, motion chip just captures data, does not apply corrections!

Also you have not used a recent £150 (well, I am a Brit!) compact.. Takes really good pictures nowadays.. Welcome to the present! One can even get a optical image stabilizer with optical zoom if one looks for even the £80 compacts! Don't you come here badmouthing the compacts, you Villain!

Key evidence in Assange case dissolves

Matt Bryant

I have been following your arguments against others in this but one stood out for me.. "You see, if he had maintained his popularity in Sweden and the Yanks had made an extradition request then there would have been popular support for not extraditing him" -- After reading this I understood how deluded you are.. Or may be so strong in your beliefs that you are out of touch with something called reality..

Tablets need permanent Black Friday price slash to triumph

me and my fondleslab

got a hp touchpad 32 gb for 200 quid (with the mandatory touchstone and case) and dualboot with cyanogen android rom and am happy as a bunny. Webos is fantastic for music, browsing and when I want to read docs or cache news to read while out of connection I pop over to android.. Cool.. Cannot have asked for more. I sold my iphone after went mental with itunes.. Won't buy an apple product ever anymore..

Adobe confirms mobile Flash Player's race is run

less creepy? :-)

BOFH: We don't need no stinkin' upgrade

good..

not one of the violent frenzied attacks.. but good to read.. thanks..

Apple's US bid to ban Samsung tabs hinges on design

the real thing is misleading customers and thereby getting sales.. No one is buying galaxy phones or tablets thinking they are iphones or ipads.. If galaxy family of products are banned then that is not exactly going to translate to apple sales.. Instead it could be htc or motorola sales.. What part of this the judges need to be told?

Vodafone knocks over £120 off iPhone 4S

You are right..

.. Yes, if iPhone prices are dropped actually most of the other phones will not sell at all.. (well, the geeks and nerds - and me too ) will still get one of the others - androids, win-phos etc..

Mythical Reasons for people happy to stay with iPhone --

1. Reliability - It is half a myth.. You drop it once and the glass shatters before you can take a breath.. Regardless of the app test team doing a great job, apps still fail and crash and stay unresponsive etc.. One only has to look at Apple forums for complaints..

2. Apps & Games -- Again at this stage it is half a myth..--- You get angry birds free and also at HD resolution in a bigger screen in Android and loads of other games in all devices (heck, I got angry birds HD in my touchpad and angry birds in pre3! A system that is DOA in its truest sense..) A number of games are still uniquely iPhone/iPad -- monopoly comes to mind.. (Primary reason for me to leave iPhone - spent so much time on monopoly that the only way I can cure my addiction was to sell it and go away from it)

Real reasons why people are staying with iPhone (iPad ) --

1. Intuitive and Ease of use - The interface is really good (atleast from 3G onwards) and very usable.. No need to read the manual. (except in some cases.. compare that to playbook where I was waiting in Dixons for 10 minutes to find how to get out of the photo app)

2. Walled Garden + Addiction -- Yes.. People stay inside the garden as long as they are well fed and watered.. Let me list them out..

a) you can buy almost all the software for small change and you cna download the same in all devices you use (with the same apple id)

b) You can buy all media (songs and videos) / rent videos for small change again.. and they are available in all devices you use (with the same apple id)

c) once you have developed addiction to the games and apps and also built up a sizeable chunk of digital assets in Apple Stores, you cannot leave the platform without losing them as well. And that can make a grown man shake and weep.. Addiction is very difficult to cure..

The one place where Apple still not delivering was iTunes (the only product of recent times from them to be absolutely hated even by fanboys) and as that is sorted now with the iCloud, most of the customers will NEVER EVER think about leaving iPhone / iPad products..

And those customers will upgrade every time a new iPhone comes out and the pre-orders will be more than a million easily.. I am looking forward to the next iPhone release when all 18 million iPhone users all apply for upgrade on the same day.. There is no guarantee it will not happen..

If and only if M$oft delivered something similar on the win phones by version 6 there may be some difference. But they had no clue, absolutely none.. No one else was in the picture then and no one else now to keep the customers in such a stranglehold..

a million pre-orders..

.. Getting a phone for the first time is ***very*** different from renewing a contract..

the millions already owning iphone 3gs who are coming out of contract and holding on from entering a new one waiting for the new iphone (regardless of 5 or 4 S or 4GS etc) are the ones who are doing the majority of the pre-orders..

The true sale levels will be known once the initial sales are complete (atleast six weeks) and then the monthly regular volumes will come into place.. It would be atleast equal to the current iPhone 4 volumes and should not be massively high or low.. (For example, every time I speak with Vodafone customer service they are always ready to throw in a 16GB iphone 4 for free in a 30 or 35 pound contract.. Who will not buy one at that deal? They will continue with 4S now.. And the sales volume will be steady.. )

But if Apple had delivered an iPhone with some popular features (at leaas a bigger screen - the most popular request ever) then the pre-orders would include people who were on the fence and whether that volume would be significantly better than the current pre-orders volume or not is a question the sales analysts will be pondering over in the coming months..

Dubstep ringtone wins Nokia compo

.. now I understand..

.. Nokia have been planning for the future (assuming they have any).. This tone is to come in 2024 when they finally release theie win-phones and the current 7 and 10 year olds are old enough to buy the phones themselves.. until then no worries mates.. phew..

Stallman: Jobs exerted 'malign influence' on computing

Not many people understand the DRM lock-in of iTunes purchases. Especially most of the non-tech people who buy into iOS eco system.

Apps, you can play games / use apps and then grow out of them. Serious apps give you a way of migrating data from iOS to elsewhere if they are cross platform. But progress in games cannot be migrated as far as I know. (I completed all levels in angry birds and got the golden eggs in iphone 3 GS but now have a android and am stuck on a earlier level and not have enough time to play and move on!)

But media - songs and video, I know of a number of people who bought from iTunes as it was 'very convenient' and 'cheap' and now are not even able to think about moving from iphone even though they like big screens and Android tablets. Just media.. and not able to move out. That is the biggest walled garden and if not what else it is?

Google breaks South African embargo on Dalai Lama

Buddhism might be benign but buddhists...?

Well, Dalai Lama is from a oppressed buddhist sect but anyone heard or listened to them from Sri Lanka? The whole civil war erupted when the monks of the aforesaid sect decided that only Sinhalese could be the ruling party, only Sinhalese could be the national language (and no other will be recognised) and so on.. That fact is not anywhere officially recognised.. but go and talk to any civil servant / politician in Sri Lanka (not necessarily the oppressed side but the oppressing side as well)..

What's not in the iPhone 4S ... and why

sensible Android users..

.. are not speaking to their phones but speak to people using their phones..

Windows 8: First contact with Microsoft Touch

Spot On

Yep.. Remember the the day iPad was announced.. All the techno-nerds (fantastic word this is..) were expecting a OSX tablet and when it became clearer that it will be a big iPhone, they were literally crying..

Though the target market for this iteration may not be the common denomination user (my mum , grandma and all the related folks), I love the interface, dual touch - desktop combo and the pretty accurate pen based input.. Not an MS fan but a tablet fan.. Have not been this much excited after tc1100.. bring it on guys.. bring it on with light weight and a longer battery life.. I will buy two.. already starting to look at develping some cool apps for this...

iPhones secretly track 'scary amount' of your movements

Steve..

.. The point is that the data collection itself is not opted in.. The right way for the collection is to be opted in.. not default as 'opt in'..

Creepy as hell: Facebook developers get to know you better

I did too.. but..

then my friends wished me happy b****day on the day quite promptly and f**ked it up...

ISPs under pressure to control online porn

well..

.. that was after they had that apple.. until then they were in 'God's image'!... God is naked, isn't (s)he / it? ..

being strict..

.. would more alienate you from your child and feel resentful .. and once she becomes 16 (which is not too far by the looks of your post) and moves out) she would be only too happy to binge on what you made her feel missed.. .. you were a child once and what would you feel about your parent if they did that..

The best route would be to discuss with your child and make sure your child does not need that excitement and the pitfalls of moving around in the real and online world without precautions and caution.. pure exercise of power never works whether it is home or country..

Calls for US nudie perv scanner 'opt-out day'

airport workers == Doctors or Nurses ? FAIL

Just a sample -- 2007 August.. single handluggage has been introduced again and laptops to be taken out of bags.. I am entering Heathrow T1 domestic and pulled out the laptop from the bag as I am entering the security and the 'Airport Safety Co-Ordinator' says 'Put the laptop in the bag..' I say ' the laptop would come out before I proceed less than 10 feet and there is enough space in the bag to put it in'. And his voice raises. 'Sir, you NEED TO PUT THAT IN THE BAG'. Everyone looks at me and I say 'can I speak to your boss?' And he still goes high voice 'SIR. IF YOU ARE NOT PUTTING THE COMPUTER IN THE BAG PLEASE LEAVE THE QUEUE. ONLY ONE BAG ALLOWED'. I hit my head couple of times put the laptop in the bag, zip it up and then take ten steps and then have to take off my laptop, shoe, belt, glasses, watch all out. Anger and irritation stayed in though.

Can't ever think of a Doctor or Nurse being that thick headed and arrogant.. Atleast all the ones I have met in my life..

Paris because she would understand rules better than those thickheads..

BOFH: BOFH vs Bot: Ultimate Smackdown

PRINCE 2

Well, not the prince of persia fame but the guys who have done the Prince 2 exams and then come as bosses.. Them and IT are not just opposites.. they are electromagnetic opposite poles.. actively repelling each other.. not a hyped up comment.. experience from the last 3 projects spanning 18 months.. and oh yes, not millions involved but altogether more than a million pounds in those 18 months.. and every meeting was a BOFH installment and that too on Friday mornings!

Paris because she would like PRINCE!

Asus will hit e-pad market this year

patents.. patents.. patents...

How many of Apple's patents protect the iPad interface / usage mechanism etc and when would Apple start suing?

PS- - Need an icon (or two!) with Job's face adorned with horns / halo, please...