Re: VAT
Don't forget that there's VAT on that fuel duty.
Just to clarify to non-Brits: you did read that right, we pay tax on our tax.
179 publicly visible posts • joined 28 Mar 2020
I often find that the password I try to use is rejected because the special characters chosen are too special and aren't from a very small subset that (if you're lucky) the site tells you to use. Why impose a limit on something that's supposed to be as varied as possible?
It's a shame your downvoter didn't comment: I'd like to hear their reasons.
Granted the exchange of one time pads is not always easy and, in this case you'd also need to prepare innocent messages so that both sides' versions agreed. (The real message would probably need to be padded to match length.) But it is a solution, albeit an ugly one.
A dial on the side?
How quaint. You use an app! Then, once the cost of running the servers gets a bit steep, you either offer a subscription service or brick it and sell them a new one.
Obviously they will need a broadband connection, but that is not your problem; I'm sure there will be a starlink offering.
... on the dark web.
>The letter said the tech company had hired a consultant to check data had not been sold on the dark web.
So that's OK then. Just like if someone holds a gun to your head: your're totally safe if an expert can find no evidence that the trigger has already been pulled.
I'm in a lot of people's contact lists. I would like to think that every one of them who installs Threads will ask me my permission for them to share my details with Threads before granting it access to their contact list.
Just like they did when installing Facebook. Not.
Don't forget post/deliveries.
I would always pop round to the post room in early December with a tub or two of chocolates and wish them "Merry Christmas" just before the annual "do not use the company address for personal deliveries" email came round.
They never delivered obvious Christmas purchases to my desk where the boss could see, instead a quiet phone call would advise me to bring my car to the delivery entrance at the end of the day and they'd help me load up.
I've posted this story before...
Many years ago (12+) I test drove a BMW 7 series with indicators that did not self-cancel mechanically by having the steering wheel reset the control stalk; instead the electronics cancelled them when it detected a big turn of the wheel.
The problem was that I couldn't figure out how to manually cancel when the auto cancel failed to detect gentle turns such as motorway lane changes: I kept setting off the opposite indicator and so I gave up using them.
No, I didn't buy the car.
I recently replaced two of these and set out to dispose of the old ones. My local council website does not differentiate different types of detector and says to use the metal and plastic wastebin.
When I phoned them I got the same answer; I tried to explain that they have a little radioactive warning sign on them but I don't think the lady believed me.
They're still in my garage.
Nematoad: make a small cut (5mm) in the edge of the card. This will break the antenna and disable the contactless feature. I do two opposite cuts to be sure; it's something I've been doing for years. I've never found typing in a PIN a big inconvenience.
I started because I knew two people who had their purses stolen and had the thieves go from shop to shop buying easily resellable goods (cigarettes and booze) with each card. They both got their money back, but it was a lot of hassle.
Mind you, after reading this, I may have a rethink.
I used to like the Samsung tune because I knew what it meant and didn't need to investigate which appliance wanted my attention.
However I echo the "don't buy Samsung" comment because it stopped working after about 5 years and every repair person that I phoned simply said "buy something else" as soon as I told them the brand.
I thought my washing machine had the right idea: it can be controlled using Bluetooth, so no internet access required.
The thing is, I downloaded the app and the first things it wants are internet connectivity and my email address. App deleted. I was only doing it out of curiosity and didn't even know the machine had Bluetooth when I bought it.
Two years earlier:-
Tech: So, in conclusion, factoring in design, planning, development, testing and installation this should cost $x. We then have added confidence that live and DR cannot degrade each other's performance. Does the panel have any questions?
Beancounter: surely it's cheaper just to write a line in a process document somewhere saying "do it like this" and file it in a locked filing cabinet in a disused lavatory...
I've almost* given up trying to tell people that. I inevitably get a reply along the lines of "So what? My life is not that interesting."
They don't realise that we all have different ideas about what's interesting. With this sort of attitude so prevalent, it's only going to get worse.
*If I had no children whose future I care for, I would give up.
If carrier B is terminating a call from carrier A, it doesn't need to know if the originating number is genuine (or even sent), it just needs to bill carrier A for its (B's) share of the bill. Billing the caller is carrier A's problem.
A may not be in the same juristiction as B so things get complicated.
With the redundancy used, I'm surprised they didn't put a bit of thought into the power distribution and connect each side to the mains with a separate plug. I appreciate that the setup may not deserve independently resilient redundant feeds but, with the design used, the fuse in the plug was a SPoF, sign or no sign.
> and it's (sic) companion app
I take it that you are using something to check what the app is really doing.
Since using Duck Duck Go's App Tracking Protection I find it quite shocking what unrelated* data some apps try to send to unrelated* destinations.
I say "try" because the tracking protection and I take steps to stop it.
*Unrelated to the apps's purpose
1. Point your watch's hour hand at the sun* and South then lies half way between the hour hand and noon (or 1 o' clock during BST).
2. Use the fact that Sky TV dishes point South. It used to be 22 degrees East of South if my 30 year-old memory of the time when I helped to install them is any good.
3. Use the fact that moss is usually found on the North side of trees. Is that really a thing?
*Yes, I know sun is a rare thing in the UK but I once used this trick quite a bit to help navigate whilst driving in Morocco from Fez to Tangier, all the while accompanied by a look from SWMBO that translated as "remind me again why you didn't pack the satnav".