* Posts by Ponmyword

41 publicly visible posts • joined 30 Jan 2008

Boffins hampered by the ampere hanker for a quantum answer

Ponmyword
Boffin

Re: Is this the 21st Century equivalent

One of Feynman's postulates was that there is only one electron in the universe, and it is jolly busy.

Microsoft blasts PC makers: It's YOUR fault Windows 8 crash landed

Ponmyword
Boffin

Re: Let me get this right...

There are plenty of SMEs doing custom build jobs with bought in h/w, who will give you a choice of the available MS OSs or a "none" option for people to put Linux/BSD on. The "none" option is usually the cheapest version of the MS home OS with the proviso that it is wiped, so the m/c will have been tested before dispatch and can be started when it arrives.

Oh, those crazy Frenchies: Facebook faces family photo tax in France

Ponmyword
Paris Hilton

French socialists ...

even crazier than British ones.

"If you drive a car, I'll tax the street,

If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat.

If you get too cold I'll tax the heat,

If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet.

Don't ask me what I want it for

If you don't want to pay some more

'Cause I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman"

George Harrison et al.

Paris because ...

Here we go again: New NHS patient database plan sets off alarm bells

Ponmyword
Big Brother

Arrested for demanding a copy of her medical notes

"A 67-year-old retired scientist was escorted handcuffed from a doctor's surgery in Bedfordshire on Thursday for demanding a copy of her medical notes"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-20817107

This is only the beginning

Latest Java patch is not enough, warns US gov: Axe plugins NOW

Ponmyword

Re: My new invention

You could call it a smart terminal as it's smart enough not to be a security problem.

'Not even Santa could save Microsoft's Windows 8'

Ponmyword

Anything but

Corporates have no reason to "upgrade" from Windows 7, indeed W8 is a disincentive. Laptoppers similarly. Those using iPads or Android equivalents wouldn't want W8 on anything. Netbooks are ok with Linux.

There is no real market for W8 (except for a few fanbois and microserfs).

Shame (+irony).

Wind, solar could provide 99.9% of ALL POWER by 2030

Ponmyword

A model is not reality

Wind & Solar outputs are not predictable in the medium term, let alone the long term. Extrapolation is not the same thing as a trend.

Unpredictable acts of nature such as volcanoes, meteorites & global warm changing climate could arise at any time to render extrapolations redundant.

Would you want to bet your future, possibly your life, on a model? I would not.

Why women won't apply for IT jobs

Ponmyword
Paris Hilton

Women want better

A lot of women want more interesting careers than sitting in front of a monitor for 37.5 hours a week for the foreseeable future and telling a computer how to add 1 to a variable.

Who can blame them.

UK student faces extradition to US after piracy case ruling

Ponmyword
Flame

British politicians standing up for British people?

As far as justice is concerned, the USA ought to be considered a pariah state by any European country.

The draconian "3 strikes" legal framework, means a person can be sentenced to 20 years in prison for stealing a postage stamp.

Once in prison, they are forced to produce saleable items and if they refuse are kept in solitary confinement, despite the supposed constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment. The saleable items are sold by various corporations who of course pocket the profit. This is slavery.

And of course, there is the systematic use of torture in Guantanamo.

Only proven terrorists should be liable for extradition to the USA (bearing in mind the USA funded anti-British terrorism for years).

Of course this will depend on British politicians standing up for British people.

Tax tribunal finds contractor wasn't employee

Ponmyword
FAIL

IR35 - legislation of Beelzebub

"Whether or not a worker is an employee of a company or not can only be decided by looking at a wide range of facts related to their working life"

Rubbish - everyone knows who is a contractor and who is not, it's only the dodgey laws passed in haste by an incompetent and malicious government that cause the problem.

The only times this is debatable is when someone is trying to screw someone else.

Either HMRC trying to screw the contractor for extra taxes he or she does not actually owe, or a contractor trying to screw their client for employee benefits they are not entitled to.

Mainly it's HMRC acting badly.

Microsoft's fear of an OpenOffice

Ponmyword
Jobs Horns

MS has 2 things going for it

MS has 2 things going for it - their OS and Office.

Their OS is vulnerable to Linux and Apple. Office is vulnerable to OpenOffice and GoogleDocs.

All the rest of the MS stuff is predicated on maintaining the majority market share of either or both of the above.

That's why Bulliboy is crapping himself.

Bromsgrove lass slapped with Boozbo

Ponmyword
Big Brother

House buying asbo

If they can do that to her, then they can slap a house-purchase ban on all those troughing MPs who flipped their second homes at the tax-payers' expense. Let the bastards live in tents in the woods.

How did a useless fat fecker like Prescott come to own five houses??

Microsoft, 'open' data, and the curse of open source

Ponmyword
Badgers

Manic Minotaur

V. Disappointed to learn that Ubuntu is integrating <temporary and fading fashionable web-junk> into the next version.

Keep it simple, stupid.

Drought effect on rainforests is negligible

Ponmyword
WTF?

El-Reg up/down voting

It's irritating that when you rate a post up or down, you get taken to another page, then have to click to get back again.

There are plenty of sites around where a vote click doesn't take you to another page - check out the various uk newspaper sites, e.g. guardian, daily mail.

p.s.

Did it really seem a good idea at the time, for the IPCC to take their facts from a bunch of anarcho-eco-weenies at an environmental "charity" such as the WWF? Unbelievable - except that it is.

ID minister promises virtual immortality for all Britons

Ponmyword
Big Brother

no2id

"(I'm asian - police and airport security officials automatically assume you're a muslim if you have brown skin)"

It will only take one mistake by some under-educated government lacky to accidentally put "muslim" on your ID database entry and you'll have 10 times the grief you get already.

Save DAB! Send FM radios to Africa

Ponmyword
Big Brother

Dab is dead

It's poor technology which is already out-dated, it has next to no take-up and anyway why pay 10 times as much as an FM radio which will be smaller, more energy efficient and more portable (if that's your bag daddy-o).

DAB take-up is what the lefties at the BBC want.

Google boss worries about the future of reading

Ponmyword
WTF?

Re Prof Bell

Does anyone seriously believe that reading a .pdf printed on paper is so much better for your brain than reading the same .pdf on a screen?

Ponmyword
Headmaster

Reading

I've been to Reading, we should be worried.

British poshos outdrink chavs

Ponmyword
Pint

The Labour Government drove me to drink

I'd have thanked them if they hadn't put so much tax on my booze.

Danes ditch Microsoft, take ODF road - at last

Ponmyword
Boffin

Euro

Not adopting the Euro was an intelligent decision too.

Nation's parents prepare to be vetted

Ponmyword
Big Brother

Ofsted - who do they think they are?

Ofsted, a quasi-autonomous governmental organisation, was created originally to be the watchdog for standards in school education.

Who's idea was it to give it the power to snoop on families' child-minding arrangements?

Brave new Britain.

Ammo rationing at Wal-Mart as panic buying sweeps US

Ponmyword
Pirate

What is it with septics and guns?

Guns are for girlies

Real men use axes or swords

Post Office will snap and dab for ID card scheme

Ponmyword
Grenade

Dingos' Kidneys

If nulabour get back in after the next general election (assuming they hold one), it will only be a matter of time before the post office opens up an execution and organ harvesting facility, like they have in China.

Mozilla plans to tie Firefox 3.7 pigtails in pretty Ribbon

Ponmyword
Gates Horns

Ribbons for Gibbons

The ribbon is shite-tastic as a user interface.

It will probably make FF even more bloated.

FF you are heading in the wrong direction!

Keep it simple, stupid.

Lad passes gruelling 'getting on bus' test

Ponmyword
Headmaster

You lot can scoff

... but I bet Gordon Brown couldn't achieve this.

Johnson signs off ID card for UK citizenry

Ponmyword
Big Brother

Alternative implementation

Any MP who voted for ID cards ought to have it branded onto their forehead and the RFID chip surgically implanted into their rectum.

Not too extreme, surely?

Small biz warns on contractor law

Ponmyword
FAIL

Economics 101

"contractors ... <snip> ... are often paid better than permanent employees in order to compensate them for reduced benefits in terms of holidays, sick pay and pensions."

No - It is simply supply and demand that drives fees charged by contractors.

Most people don't want the risks that come with being a contractor, so contractors are in relatively short supply and that drives fees up.

At the moment, there are more contractors available than contracts available and that is driving down fees.

This has been economics 101. Thank you.

p.s.

If anyone in the Labour party is reading this, please inform Gordon.

IT's recession could be bottoming out

Ponmyword
Grenade

Shame on nulabour

"a report from Gartner released yesterday, which also suggests the recovery will be driven by software firms"

Some might say it's a shame that the Labour party have given our IT industry to India.

p.s.

hand grenade for Gordon

Riot police raid birthday barbecue for 'all-night' Facebook tag

Ponmyword
Big Brother

Shariah Plod?

Must have been the new UK Shariah plod force - if there's one thing they hate it's people drinking alcohol and having a good time.

Is there a single plod left in the country with an ounce of intelligence?

IT contractors demand overhaul of company transfer visas

Ponmyword
Big Brother

Offshoring vs Immigration Abuse

Offshoring is one thing, abusing the immigration rules is another.

It's not about protectionism - if companies want to offshore then good luck to them, but abusing the immigration rules is a different thing entirely.

Indian staff brought into the UK on "Intra-Company Transfers" also get tax free allowances, making it impossible for UK staff, whether perm or contract, to compete with them.

See http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=39680&highlight=allowance

When are our government going to stop throwing yet another industry away?!

IR35 tax is a huge failure

Ponmyword
Thumb Up

@AC: Whining Permies

@AC: Whining Permies

By Anonymous Coward Posted Friday 22nd May 2009 15:35 GMT

"You don't think some permies just want to be honest non-selfish citizens?

You're position assumes everybody should be selfish and try to screw everybody else."

He said nothing of the sort. Contractors can charge higher fees because of supply and demand, it's a simple as that.

If contracting is so great, everyone would do it, but it does not suit everyone for a number of reasons. Having the balls to face being without fee-earning work for months on end, especially now, is one reason why most prefer permanent employment.

Ponmyword
Stop

Myths

Re - Anonymous Coward Posted Friday 22nd May 2009 09:34 GMT

"I know of at least one person who used to do the same job as me (a fully-taxed employee) but as a contractor who also paid themselves a low enough wage from their one-man 'company' that they could claim housing benefit. I don't think they were the only one."

But that's bollox because the Gov housing benefit web-site says:

"You may get Housing Benefit if you pay rent and your income ***and capital (savings and investments) *** are below a certain level."

Ponmyword
Thumb Up

Re: Dawn Primarollo public flogging anyone?

By Anonymous Coward Posted Friday 22nd May 2009 10:39 GMT

Yes!

And she mislead the House of Commons on 06-Jan-2004 when she said that she could not give these figures because HMRC did not keep them.

Is crucifixion really too severe?

BBC Trust moots new licence laws to cope with net

Ponmyword
Thumb Down

bbc and gov conspiracy

We need to keep an eye on this.

Wacky Jacui Smith (the second-Home Secretary) would love to control our net access and the bbc could give her the excuse.

Of course the best thing would be to scrap the licence fee altogether and for the bbc to try to scrape a living by subscription.

I wonder how popular eastenders will be when people have to choose to pay for it.

Lucky Mancs could get ID cards first, Jacqui declares

Ponmyword
Paris Hilton

Help! There's a twat in power

Can't we get some Italians or Portugese to take over her job?

At least she'd be free to get nailed to a tree.

p.s.

Paris wouldn't talk that kind of bollox and she's sweet

mind you, she doesn't want my dna :-(

Mandelson puts reassuring arm around small firms

Ponmyword
Paris Hilton

NuLab having a laugh

NuLab care so much about small business that they *increased* the Corporation Tax rate of small businesses by 1% while *reducing* Corporation Tax rate of large businesses by 2%.

That was bloody helpful :(

Paris would know it's not right.

Bugs casts shadow over Firefox 3

Ponmyword
Alert

News just in - software has bug shock

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Brits vote for useless gadgets

Ponmyword
Gates Horns

Does software count?

I'd like to nominate Vista.

Ryanair battles ASA over 'saucy schoolgirl' ad

Ponmyword
Go

The ulterior motive

It's the crusty, lefty, eco-mentalists who are behind all attacks on Ryanair et al.

They (the former) are more full of green bollox than a Leprechaun's underpants.