Posts by Greg 16

BAE Systems tosses its contractors a blanket... ban on off-payroll working under upcoming IR35 tax reforms

Re: I'm good

The higher rate of pay covers the benefits. Everyone should be taxed equally.

UK: From 5G in Tiree to the Isles of Ebony, carry me on the waves… Sail Huawei, sail Huawei, sail Huawei

Re: Exactly

On the WCML you're lucky to get a signal, nevermind good data speeds.

One of UK's largest pension funds goes to Hull, bids £504m for broadband firm KCOM

A lot of money

So £3500 per customer? Seems expensive.

Blade Runner 2049 review: Scott's vision versus Villeneuve's skill

I thought it was good, but not convinced it would have suffered much by being 45 minutes shorter.

No boxy Volvo: Chilling in the S60 D3 Manual R-Design Lux Nav

Volvo?

"Volvo has always been the marque you bought if you didn’t want to buy German."

I thought it was Jaguar that was taking a chunk of sales from the Germans?

So Quantitative Easing in the eurozone is working, then?

Don't forget the grotesque and exponentially increasing levels of wealth. The debt doesn't seem quite so bad then.

Sony's 4King with us now: Xperia Z5 mobe has UltraHD screen, cam

What the customer wants?

I've had a Z1 for a couple of years and I love it - it's the best phone I've ever owned and really can't see much reason to replace it any time soon.

Would a Z5 tempt me? Not with a fancier camera and fancier screen. However, if they had instead kept the specs the same, but instead focussed on extending the already fantastic battery life from a couple of days to four days, then yeah I'd be pretty tempted by that and it would be almost unique amongst current smartphones.

Re: Unfortunately...

My Z1 has hardly any bloat and the apps that it does have are actually often used and an improvement over vanilla android. As for the scratchable screen, I always buy a tempered glass screen protector whenever I buy a new phone. They're pretty much scratch-proof and also reduce the likelihood of you smashing the screen.

So, was it really the Commies that caused the early 20th Century inequality collapse?

Re: But without unions, taxes, controls...

Full employment is far more effective and sustainable than unions, if you want to achieve improved pay and conditions. And regarding ownership of businesses, the largest owners are pension funds and insurers - we all basically own a large part of them, but not directly.

Since the 80's

So what's changed? The main thing seems to be house prices, which kind of links to your recent article on land values in San Francisco. In the UK, until the 1980's houses could be thrown up pretty easily and infrastructure was built in the national interest with precedence over local concerns. I wonder how much nimbyism and it's effect on house building and infrastructure building, has acted as a brake on growth/competition and what effect this has had on inequality?

Also surely the massive increase in women entering the workforce has had an effect. In the 50's if you had two families, both with housewives, but one with an unemployed/low income male and one with an average income male, then the inequality isn't massive. In the 90's if you have two families, one with no earners and one with a male AND a female earner, then the inequality is far higher?

The good burghers of Palo Alto are entirely insane

Re: Nimbyism

I don't have to suck up anything - I live at the other end of the country and would never be foolish enough to live in that neck of the woods thanks. I just used Cambridge as a good example. And my point was never about half price houses - which I doubt very much would be the result anyway. The reason it should happen in various places is to help the UK economy, by allowing growth.

Re: Nimbyism

"Much of the value in Cambridge is because it is a very small very old city with excellent transport links to London, and almost unlimited supply of highly educated people wanting to make a home there due to the colleges. I can't afford to live there, but would love to do so. Double it in size and prices will drop like a rock - it won't be nice anymore and it won't be what it is today."

Mmm, so an "unlimited supply of highly educated people wanting to make a home there", but if you double it's size, prices will drop like a rock because no one will then longer want to live there? And thanks for pointing out that if you make changes "it won't be what it is today". Impressive - you're a Nimby and it's not even your back yard. The main built up area of Cambridge is about 6 sq miles, not much bigger than Heathrow airport. The sky would not fall in if there was (sympathetic) development. If it was well planned it would actually improve the town.

Re: Nimbyism

Obviously I wasn't suggesting doubling the size of Cambridge without any infrastructure to support that growth, but councils do charge developers money for infrastructure when they grant planning permission. Government would have to invest money outside this though, for the things that central government are responsible for.

Also I think you could double the size of Cambridge and not see any fall in house prices - you could make it ten times bigger and it would probably still lead to higher prices! The town loses out on a lot of investment due to the planning constraints making it unattractive to business (which is what my point was).

Nimbyism

The main problem in the UK is nimbyism. Cambridge is supposedly our silicon valley and produces a nice amount of GDP, but look on a map and it's not much bigger than a village. It could be doubled in size and it would still be a lot smaller than most towns. And yet if that was to happen there would be mass protests and accusations of concreting over the entire UK countryside.

A similar example that I saw on Countryfile yesterday, was company which is going to open a potash mine in North Yorkshire. The investment is £1.7 Billion (largest in the UK) and when opened it will employ 1000+ workers, account for 2.5% of all UK exports (not potash exports - ALL UK exports) and increase the productivity of every working person in Yorkshire by £1500 per year. The problem is that it's in a National Park, so they are hiding the whole thing and even transporting the potash to the ports in a 25 mile tunnel. Despite this, there are still campaigners protesting against it, because there will be machinery there for a few months while they build it!

Re: Free Market Consistency

Are the schools really that different, or does the wealth of the area lead to the good schools becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy? i.e. the area attracts parents who care about their kids education and are also presumably of above average intelligence themselves (they're high earners). That means the teachers will have a much easier job than teachers working in an 'average' school.

Canadians taking to spying on their spies

Re: Meanwhile in the US, voters are getting stupider all the time

"He's taking extreme positions and finding support, and some of the republican candidates are being forced to echo his positions. Others like Bush are trying to honestly state their position rather than seeing how extreme they need to be to win the primary, but Bush has said he'd risk losing the primary to win the election. "

That's pretty similar to the situation in the Labour leadership election if you ask me. Of course some will say that Corbyn's policies are not extreme, but whatever.

Re: Meanwhile in the US, voters are getting stupider all the time

Donald Trump and Jeremy Corbyn have a lot in common.

12 months ago, no one on earth could ever have expected that to be true.

Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell: El Reg on the hydrogen highway

Re: Green crap

1. Replace existing nuclear sites and double them up (which is already happening to an extent).

2. LED is the future. Just in my house, I replaced the 15 halogens in my kitchen with LED's 3 years ago. They're brighter than the halogens, not a single one has blown and the energy use has gone from 750w to 75w. Most councils are now doing the same with their street lights via a limited scale PFI, because it's an investment that is guaranteed to pay off. It's a no brainer, but regulation is needed to push it in homes and the private sector.

3. Some very old homes are amongst the most inefficient, but most of the 10% are actually concrete homes built after the war. This is the area in which I work and I can assure you that these homes are not in historic conservation areas. Some are currently being retrofitted, but the results are poor and the cost/waste is insane. These houses could be completely rebuilt for not much more money, which would make them far more energy efficient and have all kinds of other benefits and savings.

Green crap

As someone who works in the 'green industry' and can assure the author that the vast majority of it is indeed 'green crap'. Astronomical amounts of money are wasted. A cost effective and wholly achievable policy to massively reduce emissions would be the following 3 things:

1. Generate at least 75% of our electricity via nuclear and close down all coal fuelled power stations.

2. Promote energy efficient lighting, appliances and vehicles via scrappage schemes and regulation.

3. Tighten building regs and promote rebuilding of the 10% least insulated homes (which are generally concrete blocks which are falling down anyway).

Hey, folks. Meet the economics 'genius' behind Jeremy Corbyn

Re: European-style health system

Considering that BUPA is a not for profit business with no shareholders, any overcharging would ultimately lead to better healthcare.

ZTE Nubia Z9 Mini: The able Android smartie the company won't sell you

Re: I might have a look at one of these...

I had problems with my Z1 as well. The usual fantastic battery life went down to about 12 hrs off a full charge and the phone was often hot when not being used. It was also having regular problems connecting to the mail server and the internet.

I found that it was something to do with the mail apps - (I say apps, because I had recently received a notification to integrate gmail with my mail app in some way). I ended up un-installing the gmail and stock mail apps and then reinstalling the mail app - my phone is now back to normal.

Skills crisis? Not for long: More and more UK kids gain STEM quals

Re: A-Level results

Sales staff are well paid because they have the technical knowledge as well as a natural ability in sales, which cannot be taught. Experienced sales staff also have their existing customer base which is very attractive to new employers. It's all about supply and demand and also what you are worth to a company.

You might not think that sales staff are worth what they are paid, so if you was the boss, would you sack them all? Good luck to any business that tries that.

Re: Yes but no but...

"Good news, but how many of them will decide to waste their skills as accountants or bankers rather than going into IT or science research?"

Why is that a waste of their skills? Even allowing for the global financial crisis, the world of finance has been unbelievably profitable for the UK and makes up a very large part of our exports.

Re: "so-called" skills shortage is right ...

For that job in Business Sales, you will be expected to have the technical knowledge, high level customer facing skills, a large amount of contacts from previous employers and, most importantly, sales skills.

Supply and demand.

Re: Great news

In the last 40 years, the UK has seen 45 months of recession (80-81, 90-91, 08-09, 15 months each time). An 18 year old starting A-levels this year will have experienced 15 months recession.

A more likely reason for the change is the end of student grants at University. When a degree is going to cost you £60k, it makes you think a lot more about what career and salary it will lead to. This also leads them to think a lot more about what A-levels to choose, in order to gain entry onto 'profitable' degrees.

Amazon creating 500 ‘fulfilling’ jobs in the UK

Re: Creating

When the population is increasing by several hundred thousand a year and the economy is improving every year, I think it's fair to assume that retail sales are expanding. Though I take your point that new jobs for created by one company are often at the expense of the jobs of their competitors.

Sony phone chief vows to keep losing money forever and ever

Re: Would be a shame too

I've had a Z1C for a couple of years and it's so good I'm not sure i can justify an upgrade. Which is probably one of the reasons that the market for smartphones is nosediving - they're too good to replace!

Attention dunderheads: Taxpayers are NOT giving businesses £93bn

"Today it is clear to many that Nation States do not exist for citizens. Citizens are seen as expenses. Resources belong to corporations, who graciously share some of their value with citizens via jobs and even by paying a small overall tax rate."

What are corporations and who owns them? Do you have a pension?

Re: off-topic article request - Grexit

"I might also not be quite, exactly, the right person, as I'm an extremist even by Ukipper standards. Thinking as I do that the EU itself is a bad idea, let alone the euro. So my conclusion is pretty much ordained."

An article on the supposed 'costs' of us leaving the EU would be amusing. The Europhile view that every single job related to EU exports will be lost if we leave, is on about the same level of absurdity as the Guardian article.

Re: Let's see..

"What if the family were treated as guests of the company or were perpetually loaned the use of facilities etc or even paid a loan they never had to pay back?"

There was a similar tax loophole that has recently been closed:

http://www.accaglobal.com/za/en/technical-activities/technical-resources-search/2014/october/offshore-loan-schemes.html

Basically a 'business' could set up an offshore 'employee loan scheme' - which gave 'loans' that were never intended to be paid back.

Re: Facilitating Evasion - correction

Levying VAT is a requirement of being a member of the EU. Even more annoying is that the EU take a percentage cut of it. They also impose all kind of rules about how it is applied - for example, the UK wanted to make ECO products VAT free, by the EU said no.

Ten out of ten for trying, but....

Tim, I can understand your frustration, but it's best to just ignore them and let them live in their weird little world. They don't even understand the difference between profit and turnover, so despite how well you explained your point, their eyes will just glaze over and you'll be accused of being an evil racist kipper or something like that.

Hi-res audio folk to introduce new rules and weed out impure noises

Re: ASA - clearly muppets

They obviously don't seem to have a problem with gold plated 'high end' optical cables either.

Re: Religion

My friends Father owns a few high end horn gramophones. In the 90's he made quite a bit of money by renting them to a specialist CD company who were recording old 78 records. Surely the thing that your friends Father found pleasing was the fact that it was using a horn rather than speakers?

EU geo-blocking: Ansip's crusade liable to disappear through 'unjustifiable' loophole

Re: Sorry

"As Mage points out, they control the distribution, the EPG, the STBs, and do their own content/channels - that's one hell of a cliff to climb for any would be competitor."

That was one hell of a cliff to climb for Sky as well. Same with Virgin media. It's also the same cliff that BT is currently climbing. Anyone else with pockets deep enough is free to do the same.

I think you've totally misunderstood him and that he is in fact a Europhilian.

From Manchester to Microsoft – missing mum :-(

Re: Flay Otters

I do a lot of driving. Other than the occasional quiet residential street (where a top speed of 20mph is appropriate anyway), I can't remember the last time I drove over a pothole in the UK.

National Grid's new designer pylon is 'too white and boring' – Pylon Appreciation Society

Re: I hate pylons

And what does economic theory say about digging holes and filling them in again?

Re: I hate pylons

It's extremely difficult to build on green built nowadays, despite our desperate need for housing. Strangely the 'environmentalists' actively encourage wind turbines and the transmission lines required, which are often in the most beautiful areas of the country and yet they cry if a new housing estate is built on the edge of a town as 'it's destroying beautiful countryside'.

With some housing I would support a system of offset, where areas such as the Welsh valleys are 'depopulated' (I'm thinking rehoused, not gas chambers!) and new housing built in areas where they are needed and where they are jobs, even if it is greenbelt.

Going back to pylons, if it keeps the pylon fanatics happy I'd even go so far as to say that 25-50% of the total pylons could stay, for example in heavily industrialised areas. But across a ridge line in open countryside? No thanks.

Re: I hate pylons

A one off cost of £7.2 billion for removing a blight from massive areas of the UK as well as providing a more reliable system and creating a serious number of jobs?

Sounds like a better deal than the £20 billion cost of fitting smart meters to every UK home. Or the 30-40% added to every customers energy bill due to the various "green" schemes such as burning trees imported from the US, or the ludicrous wind turbine subsidies, or the fields of diesel generators paid to back up the wind turbines.

I hate pylons

I hate pylons with a passion. I don't care what it costs or how inefficient it is, I would vote for a political party based purely on a policy of burying the cables. And don't get me started on wind turbines!

I'm amazed by how few people have an appreciation of the beautiful British countryside and that we allow these damn things to be planted across pretty much any and every area of the UK.

UberPop granted temporary reprieve in France

Re: Funny isn't it?

I don't think he's trolling, because in the UK it's a commonly held belief that you can only have one insurance policy on each car.

In fact there's no law stopping you having as many policies as you like, but some companies have their own rules in place which prevent multiple policies and if you have a claim, then obvviously you can only claim on one policy.

Telly behemoths: Does size matter?

Re: are you sure ?

But how many TV's do most people have in their houses now? I'm sure I've read that it's 3 or 4, so presumably people have several smaller TV's in their bedrooms and then one large TV in the living room.

Crackdown on eBay sellers 'failing to display' VAT numbers

Re: Imports from outside the EU

Yeah course they do

Smartphones merge into homogeneous mass as 'flagship fatigue' bites

Re: Flappy Bird Syndrome

That's not quite true. It's only really in the last 18 months, than I could buy a phone that can run a sat-nav app smoothly at the same time as receiving e-mails/texts/calls.

What we're seeing is exactly what happened with digital cameras - rapid annual progress where it was worth upgrading almost every year, until they got so good that it's very difficult to justify upgrading at all.

Re: Shock! People on 24 month contract don't upgrade every 8 months

Sony released the Z1, Z2 and the Z3 in the space of 12 months!

I have a Z1 Compact and I love it - but it's so good that Sony will probably be up to the Z101 by the time I feel the need to replace it.

BAN email footers – they WASTE my INK, wails Ctrl+P MP

How much are they paying for ink?

I strongly suspect that the UK public sector pays more for it's ink that anywhere else on this planet, so maybe that should be looked at first?

Three expat Brits explain their move to Australia

Re: Grass always greener

Never knew that! I've travelled a bit and I know where most places are on the globe, but I was always under the impression that Bali to Aus was kind of like UK to Spain!

Little big phone: Sony Xperia Z3 Compact, a toothsome hand-fulla Android

Great phones

I have a Z1 compact - for my needs it's almost the perfect phone.

The Z3 seems very similar except for screen res and PS4 remote play, so if you aren't bothered about those things, it might be worth looking at a Z1. You can pick them up brand new for under £150 unlocked at the moment if you shop around.

I'M SO SORRY, sobs Rosetta Brit boffin in 'sexist' sexy shirt storm

Re: World, get over yourself

So it;s okay because he's a scientist? I'm not in the slightest bothered by the shirt, but I'm highly concerned by the double standards shown by Register commentards. If a UKIP candidate wore the shirt, would there be a similar outpouring of sympathy for the person in question to wear what they like?

I'm not a scientist or a UKIP supporter, but when it comes to "political correctness" the rules should apply to everyone equally. Isn't that the essence of equality?