Posts by Charlie Clark

Re: Strangely in the last week or so....

Does seem stupid that leaders of the 3 main(tory, labour SNP) parties voted to remain but still we plough on for a minority vote to leave.

Not really. It's the role of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition to oppose the government. The Tory party is as divided over the issue as it has been for the last 30 years, which is basically why, instead of taking responsibility for policy, Cameron abrogated it in a referendum, which unsurprisingly failed to resolve the problem.

Labour might fancy a general election but Corbyn doesn't really want to take responsibility for anything. I suspect that, should Labour win a general election, we'll see exactly the same kind of splits that we're seeing in the Tories. The SNP probably doesn't want an election (fewer seats for Scotland but also likely to lose more to both the Tories and Labour) but has also consistently argued to keep the status quo.

In other words: SNAFU.

Re: Strangely in the last week or so....

she reluctantly calls a second referendum to break the impasse, at which point the slim majority of the country that can perform basic maths

I'm not sure there'e time for a referendum. And, even if there was, what would the question be? and what makes you think the public would behave differently than in 2016? I suspect turnout might be lower but a lot of people would vote for it to happen, whatever it is. I see images of buses covered with ads for large turkey dinners with £350 per turkey per day if only they vote for Christmas.

No, this is a mess that parliament created and that parliament should sort out. That is what responsibility means and the basis for parliament's sovereignty.

Re: Strangely in the last week or so....

...my respect for Mrs. May has actually risen.

Mine is still below when, as chairman of the Tories, she told conference the party was known as the nasty party. That said, she now seems to be a bit surer of herself since the damp squib of the leadership challenge.

The deal is more or less was the EU proposed from the outset with some fudging that is supposed to help it pass parliament. It's miles from May's chequers plan and basically documents the possible: enough to claim some degree of independence while maintaining access to the single market. A few ministers have decided it's easier to join the backbenches than take collective responsibility for something they're all more or less agreed to at one point or another.

The whips now have the job of convincing their MPs that they've had a good run and that it's now time to put country before party. But you still hear people talking about brinksmanship being the way to get a better deal. That would be more of the brinksmanship that got Britain this far…

The EU will say the door is always open while continuing not to move an inch. Practically there is nothing that can be done that wouldn't need ratification by member states (the current deal fudges this as well) which certainly can't be done before the end of March 2019.

And in any case, migration from other member states continues to fall, while migration from outside the EU has actually risen over the last couple of years.

In summary, a lot of MPs think that they personally stand to gain by dragging this out.

Re: There's a non filler talk on that topic

Thanks for the link. Not sure what a non-filler is but the slides are nicely done.

Re: Who needs analysts?

Once people get sick of paying well over the odds for average technology then paying even more for Apple care then they will be finished. That day isn't too far away.

People overpay for the "average" technology all the time: just look at the car industry. The I-Phone has always charged a premium in comparison with other similar specced phones; memory has traditionally had the highest margin. And customers have been happy with the overall value proposition. Apple's biggest worry isn't really the prices they charge, it's customers thinking the phone they already have is good enough and that they'd rather spend their money on something else. The most recent highend I-Phones are stuffed with stuff no one apart from Apple bloggers really cares about. And then there's the fucking notch.

Not that this implies impending doom for Apple, they'll adjust the portfolio, like they did with the "c" models that didn't sell well, and present a new model, presumably without a notch and perhaps ever so slightly less expensive and it will sell like hot cakes. And it will continue its push into services.

Re: Apple's problem

Is that the OLED display adds a ton of cost

I suspect the BOM won't really back that up and phones with similar screens from Shenzen are cheaper.

Apple probably doesn't mind the stock drop though - they still have $150 billion in stock buybacks planned over the next few years so having the stock fall by 25% means the buybacks are a better deal.

For whom? Share buybacks are generally considered to be the least efficient uses of cash. Sure, if the stock price falls then a company can buy more of its shares back. But, if the idea is to reward shareholders, their "reward" is worth less so the benefits are moot.

People pay too much attention to share prices both as auguries and assets which is why it's also important that companies pay dividends.

Re: Well, who'd have thought it?

Greece joined the EU in 1982. Spain in 86. Croatia a mere 5 years ago. People were going to these places long before they were in the union.

Visa-free travel was largely driven by the EU. The Open Skies programme has been a key driver of opening up the flights market in Europe. Yes, people were going somewhere foreign for their holidays before the Treaty of Luxemburg but the rolling back of borders certainly accelerated the trend.

Re: Paying taxes on credit *can* be a good idea

In most countries it isn't an option. Talking to the taxman is almost always the best option, most will happily offer plans or delays as cheaper and more efficient than chasing up outstanding amounts.

Re: Relief

I thought Germany had strict laws on sales - as to what prices you could charge and how often you could have them.

It used to: sales were limited to winter and summer but the rules were relaxed about 20 years ago so it's pretty much like the UK with sales all the time, with the best deals obtained outside the sale period…

Why? That just means selling less at other times and selling the stuff for less: cashflow now at the expense of profits. Sales should be about clearing inventory such as last year's models to make room for new magical tat.

Re: Whitespace

There's a reason why many embedded devices have crap software - the programmers have never learned the necessary skills.

That, and the fact that managers have often pushed for features and releases and not given a shit about quality or security.

Re: Whitespace

Are there many such people outside of an obfuscated code contest? That's an entirely different thing from preferring flexibility in the use of whitespace, rather than have its use forced by the language.

Not really, Python's use of whitespace makes it unambiguous This is big plus when reading code even if it is an unwelcome challenge from those coming from different conventions.

The compiler doesn't care whether brackets or whitespace are used for structure so the arguments are really those of personal preference or possibly psychometrics of people reading code. Haven't seen any of these recently but I seem to remember that they favoured whitespace for structure.

Whatever, if you don't like Python because of the whitespace then it's your loss as it's becoming the first computer language for a whole generation of non-programmers. Is this merely a coincidence?

Any language where the amount and flavour of whitespace is significant should be strangled at birth.

Because…

Re: Makes me pine for the days of XML...

Which problems did XML actually solve? And which ones did it create?

Re: After the Google acquisition, it completely clammed up

Boston Dynamics was sold off. Google/Alphabet really doesn't seem to be interested in the war machine stuff. Presumably it's taken the IP it wants for Waymo and other bets.

Re: Power efficiency difference

I think OLEDs are inherently more power hungry, presumably due to the discrete lighting. But, 10-bit colour in a consumer device? Who needs it? It's like some of the hifi stuff out there: technically superb but practically unnoticeable.

Re: Not me

Put your phone in a case and apply a toughened glass screen protector.

Ie. the device, as sold, is not fit for purpose as the OP says: stupid design choice makes the device inherently susceptible to breakages.

Re: Confused

I'm told Apples suppliers are reducing the number of conveyor belts coughing out the XR parts

Interesting. I guess this could be similar to the S6 / S6 Edge thing where people preferred the more expensive model. Of course, at these prices Apple can't really lose.