Posts by StewieGriffin

Japan makes online insults a crime that can earn a year in jail

Re: I approve

I get what you're getting at but I think it's fair to say that a lot of people who are currently the biggest advocates of free speech, want free speech but don't want to own the consequences of their words. They also seem to want to suppress others free speech. I see this on both sides of the political divide so I'm not pointing fingers.

However this is an interesting law. Is it a step too far? Probably, but ultimately it comes down to the enforcement and how it is applied (as with all legislation). Very interested to see how this goes.

Personally I would like to see an internet where intelligent debate is not shutdown by mobs who just lob insults at people who create intelligent, factually correct and insightful posts. It amazes me how an effective technique it seems to be for shutting people down even when the insult is a cliche or just completely ludicrous.

RIP Bernie Drummond: Celebrated ZX Spectrum artist and programmer on Batman, Head Over Heels, Match Day II

Re: Ahead of his time...

I had an Amstrad CPC 464 (the one green screen tube) when I was a nipper and would take this to my Grans and play HoH for hours sitting in her comfy chair.

I could get Head & Heels to meet up but couldn't get much further than that. A brilliant, absorbing game that, I think, would be the last adventure game I played on any computer.

Thankyou sir. Truly nice to learn about you and rekindle those happy memories.

Ofcom unveils broadband switching plans, but providers claim it's not so easy

Re: Virgin Media

Yep I suspect you're right. That was an old Cable and Wireless network in Perth. From reading the reg over the years I know some people have no issues with them (like you) but I have never experienced a worse service.

Even transferring emails from my Inbox to folders on webmail was impossible. My client wouldn't even work.

Virgin Media

I know some guys on here use Virgin Fibre and are pretty pleased with it. Some.

I have to, however, say that my experience was very different and it comes as no surprise that they are not keen on anything that makes it easier for a customer to switch.

e.g. I moved to Perth (Scotland) years ago and thought I would take advantage of the Virgin fibre network area in the area. I had been a copper SKY customer previously - and am again. Virgin were fuckin' terrible. Dropouts, throttling all the time, TV didn't work. Phoned them up and told them I was cancelling and was told that I would be liable for they yearly bill (some £400+). Told them to cancel anyway and that they would have to take me to court then and hung up.

Now this was on day 15 of my contract. After some detective work I found that the cooling off period was 28 days and called and spoke to an advisor who told me that I was correct. I still wonder to this day if the previous advisor just didn't know or was trying to keep her stats good.

The impression I was left with is that they are just a bunch of chancers.

Nearly 140 nations – from US and UK to EU, China and India – back 15% minimum corporate tax rate

You don't actually need to move the operation. Just get a postbox in the country. It's how its been done for years. Will this stop that method? Who knows.

It'll be interesting to see how it works in practice.

I bet PwC, Ernst & Young et al. are on the case.

Re: And I don't.

Sure, I know that but I mean not BUYING any services from them. How are they going to charge me more (as an end user) when they monitise my data (well as far as they can) in lieu of a cash transaction

I suppose they could start charging for certain services but if they do their end user count will surely go down. Less data to monitise and since this is their primary business model they are unlikely to go down that route (at least in the short term)

Re: And who pays those corporate taxes?

"Of course the costs are passed down to the point of sale. That's how money works"

Absolutely, but this is a very simple interpretation of what, you point out yourself, is a complex issue.

Just my two cents but, if a company making a product increases prices then it is more than likely it will hurt demand. At that point you have to look at your accounts/sales and decide whether it is better to make savings elsewhere to mitigate the hit, cut dividends to shareholders, etc. You can't just rely on punters having more cash to spend because they've had a pay rise.

Case in point. I bought a Dell Ultrasharp during lockdown, I see the price has increased from around £180 to over £250 from the same retailer. (I was checking my warranty status because I discovered a dead pixel) Would I have bought it @ £250. No. It's that simple.

Sometimes costs have to be absorbed by business to protect profitability. That's how money works as well.

I suspect though, that for some items, you are right. Goods where we don't have a choice but to buy them. E.g. Food as we are seeing in the UK at the moment. Increased cost of recruiting HGV driver passed down the line to consumer.

Re: And who pays those corporate taxes?

Not if I don't use their services I don't. And I don't.

Amazon's AI chips find their way into Astro butler bot, latest wall-hanging display

Re: No thank you!

Totally agree - You only find sanity on the reg!!!

These things will fly off the shelf though. New shiny innit!!

Ofcom swears at the general public for five days during obscenity survey

Scottish Swearing

To contradict the report calling someone a "clever c**t" in Scotland is not necessarily a term of endearment. Not in my neck of the woods anyway.

I'm surprised the report didn't mention the more useful word "fuckin'" in the Scottish context. As Frankie Boyle says, "In Scotland, the word fuckin' is just a warning that a noun is on the way".

Very true. Amongst the blokes anyway.

Australia rules Facebook page operators are legally liable for user comments under posts

Re: NETIZEN IN READER 'RIOT' STORM

"Woke losing a debate so they try censorship"

From my experience reading the comments in the daily rags in the UK I have to say that for the apparently "non-woke" commenters, "winning" quite often involves insulting someone who has raised a perfectly valid criticism/point/fact/perspective and various degrees on the spectrum above. You can almost hear them with their fingers in their ears going "La la la, I'm not listening to you, you are threatening my belief system!!! you dick - fuck off".

This type of behaviour obviously exists on the other side of the political divide but I feel I see it more keenly utilised on the right.

E.g. Since I'm Scottish (and have a lifetime interest in Scottish Politics) the Daily Mail is treasure trove of anti Scottish Government commenters and stories and I have noticed that, by and large, the biggest and most venomous opinions come from those who have next to no understanding of what they are talking about other than the snippets (and opinions) fed to them by the poisonous rag in question.

To have one floppy failure is unlucky. To have 20 implies evil magic or a very silly user

Re: if it works...

Saw that as well. Told my 72 year mother (who has a couple of high spec power washers) about it and she was aghast. "Why would you want that?", I couldn't (and still can't) think of a good reason.

Twitter sues Texas AG to halt 'retaliatory' demand for internal content-moderation rulebook in wake of Trump ban

Re: the far-right Twitter-a-like Parler

Eh?

What's been going on at El Reg? I haven't been here for a while (new user name) and the first comment I read is someone upset at Parler being allegedly "libelled". Wow. I mean just, wow!

Still it's going to be a good show this. My first amendment rights versus your first amendment rights it seems like. Although I do admit to being confused here, probably because I'm not a lawyer (phew!) but in the past certain political groups have wanted businesses to be able to refuse service on the basis of religion, sexual orientation or whatever and now the reverse seems to be true. Apparently on-line comment farms should take all comers regardless of whether or not they want to post extreme political views. I know that's not necessarily the immediate outcome here but it would seem to be the endgame.

Whatever happened to "we reserve the right to refuse service?" once championed by certain political groups.

Funny how time likes to flip context on people with big opinions.