* Posts by Intractable Potsherd

4159 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Jun 2009

Latest bendy phone effort from coke empire spinoff Escobar Inc is a tinfoil-plated Samsung Galaxy Fold 'scam'

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Escobar response:

Better than the reporter's head in the bed of a horse!

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Not much to see here ...

I think it is money-laundering. 30%-ish is a good return on dirty money. The likely number of sales don't seem worth it, though.

Capita hops on UK's years-late, billions-over-budget Emergency Services Network to keep legacy system alive

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Crapita

All of them...

Intractable Potsherd

Poe's law applies, so have a downvote just in case you're serious.

UK.gov tells rebel MPs to go Huawei – but 5G Telecoms Security Bill was the price

Intractable Potsherd

Yep - it would be very interesting to see what "gifts" these MPs have been given recently. Promises of directorships once they are out of Parliament are a bit trickier to assess, though a look at who has been lobbying them might be very enlightening.

What's inside a tech freelancer's backpack? That's right, EVERYTHING

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Holby City cosplay

Isn't that playing "Doctors and Nurses" only with lots of frowning?

Former US Homeland Security Inspector General accused of stealing govt code and trying to resell it to... the US govt

Intractable Potsherd

Exponential from zero to small number doesn't really tell you anything.

Don't be fooled, experts warn, America's anti-child-abuse EARN IT Act could burn encryption to the ground

Intractable Potsherd

Re: *Always* Think of the children

It's called "life". There is no way to prevent [insert harm du jour here] in its entirety, so the question revolves around where the limits are, and how they should be policed. Personally, I think that the limits in the Western world are about right (and I have strong links with Rotherham) - what is needed is proper numbers of *well-trained* police both out on the streets and playing with computers.

Intractable Potsherd

Re: No rest for the wicked

@HildyJ: The question rarely asked is why they want all this information. We have our ideas about it, but how do the people behind the slurping justify it to themselves? I find it difficult to conceive of all of them as being acting in bad faith, so why do they think narcopaedoterrorists are such a threat to society that everyone needs surveilling?

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Fucking idiots.

Bob - I do have some sympathy with you, being well on the autistic spectrum too, but I've learned to re-read the more ludicrous posts on these threads. There are a lot of clever people who use sarcasm to make very valid points - the original post is one of the less subtle efforts.

Morrisons puts non-essential tech changes on ice as panic-stricken shoppers strip stores

Intractable Potsherd

Re: This is not a Morrisons initiative.

That sounds remarkably.foresighted for a government reaction - do you have a source for it?

FCC forced by court to ask the public (again) if they think tearing up net neutrality was a really good idea or not

Intractable Potsherd

Re: more than ignorance

Then the only answer we know of is war - is that what you are advocating?

Intractable Potsherd

Re: more than ignorance

Upvoted, Bob, because you are correct. However, the AC you replied to is correct, too. Until the ludicrous partisan politics of the USA is sorted out, it doesn't matter who is president - you are all fucked. Work towards building bridges between the two sides, and you might be on the way to where you want to be.

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Net Neutrality is to Free Open Internet as PATRIOT Act is to Patriotism

@TheSmokingArse: if there was the slightest reliable evidence of anything you cite, I'd have some sympathy. As it is, you do come across as a less than reliable source of opinion.

London's top cop dismisses 'highly inaccurate or ill informed' facial-recognition critics, possibly ironically

Intractable Potsherd

Re: How do we combat this?

@AC and HelpfulJohn: First, I'm not a bot - I've been posting here for many a long year now!

AC - when you can point me to a government that doesn't have similar issues (not in detail, then in type), then I'll take your comments seriously. Yes, in principle, all of these things should have been dealt with, but psychiatry is in crisis throughout the UK, not just in Scotland, and has been for decades (I quit working as an RMN in England in 2004 because the entire job consisted of containment, not treating people properly). Most of this is because there has been no investment in training psychiatrists and RMNs nationally. Don't blame the SNP and the Scottish government for this problem.

That doesn't mean everything is hunky dory - yes, the Carseview scandal is atrocious. The inevitable scandals due anytime regarding Ninewells hospital and Dundee University, for example, are going to seriously damage the Scottish government. But, again, show me any country that doesn't have these issues - England certainly does.

HelpfulJohn - I don't know what your thoughts on Brexit are, but there is far less thought about what is to be achieved with that than with a Scotland independent from Westminster. Policies set in London are almost always not aligned with Scotland. Immigration is a clear case in point at the moment - Scotland is an open, welcoming nation that is happy to have anyone from anywhere as long as they ate willing to integrate. No educational or income requirements are needed. The utter muppetry coming from Westminster is going to hurt Scotland hugely. There are lots more areas in which Westminster and the fucking Tories are going to damage Scotland to get their own way, but thus post is too long already, and won't be read anyway.

Intractable Potsherd

Re: How do we combat this?

Hmmmm - AC anti-Scot troll way off topic. Recommend s/he or it (could be a bit given the poor structure) is ignored.

Disk stuck in the drive? Don't dilly-Dali – get IT on the case!

Intractable Potsherd

Re: a melting mystery

There is still a scorch-mark on my mum's front-room window-sill caused by a 4"diameter crystal penguin. It has never been explained how the penguin got on to the window-sill, nor how I, at the age of 14, was so quickly able to diagnose what had happened...

Intractable Potsherd

Re: In my case

It is a constant source of amazement to me that people put devices capable of melting plastic close to their head!

Sadly, the web has brought a whole new meaning to the phrase 'nothing is true; everything is permitted'

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Penny for a cup of tea, guv?

@Rich 11: my philosophy exactly. If it's a small amount and I've got it (less likely these days due to rarely carrying cash), I'd rather take the risk I'm being scammed than risk not helping someone who needs it.

@sundog uk: more dog than human in your soul, I'm afraid. Compassion is not weakness.

HMRC claims victory in another IR35 dispute to sting Nationwide contractor for nearly £75k in back taxes

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Rigged definition of an employee

@NeilPost: "Self-evidently the “employer” is you."

Self-evidently, the employer in this case is the Nationwide - the court just said so. Therefore, it doesn't matter that neither the employer or the employee thought the relationship was different - they were wrong. The employee has a *right* under EU law to four weeks' holiday for every year he was employed, or pay in lieu. He was also entitled to sick pay at a rate not less than the statutory minimum, regardless of any insurance he had.

And what is it with you and Porsche Macans, FFS?

Alleged Vault 7 leaker trial finale: Want to know the CIA's password for its top-secret hacking tools? 123ABCdef

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Guilty? Possibly. Beyond a doubt? No Way!

... and how intelligent the jury is.

Brexit Britain changes its mind, says non, nein, no to Europe's unified patent court – potentially sealing its fate

Intractable Potsherd

Re: So

@codejunky: At last - something we agree on! It feels oddly satisfying...

Intractable Potsherd

Re: "clarified once the uncertain situation caused by Brexit has been resolved"

"... they just destroyed the political career of the trustworthy Prime Minister they had to deal with..."

I'm completely bemused by the positioning of "Theresa May" and "trustworthy* in the same sentence, unless you meant she could be trusted in the same way as a pissed-off cobra!

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Promises, promises...

If its in The Metro, it must be true. Wait, what??

MPs to grill Post Office and Fujitsu execs on Horizon IT scandal after workers jailed over accounting errors

Intractable Potsherd

Re: “Commit suicide”

Pedant alert! "Commit" here simply means "to act upon with no chance of return". No criminal implications at all.

Intractable Potsherd

Re: @ If they prove the system is flawed

Thanks, @HarryBl: I'd missed that judgment. One of the very good ones, in any different ways!

Maersk prepares to lay off the Maidenhead staffers who rescued it from NotPetya super-pwnage

Intractable Potsherd

Re: "they were entering into one-and-a-half month's of pre-redundancy consultation"

"If they jump before they are pushed, they would not be entitled to redundancy or unfair dismissal payments."

Yes, but a nasty cough should lead to self-isolation for two weeks, and then there are the contacts at work who should also look out for a nasty cough and then self-isolate. A couple of weeks getting very little exercise is going to see a huge increase of back injuries needing four weeks off. Oddly, that's a month-and-a-half gone!

Surprise! Plans for a Brexit version of the EU's Galileo have been delayed

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Good

@codejunky: "... it is a sad state to believe there is nothing better for you than whoring yourself out (the UK). I know it happened with the EU but that is not the only way to live."

That sounds awfully close to "You can live on your knees or die standing proudly." (Note: I definitely don't think we "whored" ourselves to the EU at all, but I do think that the shit-heads in Westminster will whore themselves to the USA once "standing proud" looks like losing them an election.)

If it's Goodenough for me, it's Goodenough for you: Canuck utility biz goes all in on solid-state glass battery boffinry

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Phrasing...

Some journals like the aurora to be on alphabetical order, not lead order. I had a law professor who pretended to be upset that he had never been first author for any of his major work, despite having "Bro" as the first letters of his name - he collaborated a great deal with "Ad" and "Bra"!!

Sure, check through my background records… but why are you looking at my record collection?

Intractable Potsherd

Re: "you can no longer laugh at Dance of the Vampires" ?

@John: Virtually everyone who has created something that you or someone else wants to watch, look at, read, or listen to has done something that you or someone else thinks is wrong. Murder, rape, assault, under-age sex, child abuse, bestiality, homosexuality, heterosexuality, adultery, bigamy, monogamy, political views, religious views, drugs, alcohol, misogyny, misandry, cruelty, forgiveness, road traffic offences, tax offences - they are just the ones I can think of amongst the people who have created things I like. I work on the principle that all artists seem to be flawed in some way. Their work is not the person, but the work would not be what it was without that person and their lived experiences. There are a few people, mainly authors, who I will not directly support (I buy their books second-hand), but, in general, I still watch the good stuff Polanski made, I read Heinlein's works regularly, and I specifically bought Rolf Harris and Michael Jackson CDs after the allegations began (I already have Gary Glitter records in my collection from when I were a lad). I'll still watch films produced by Weinstein as long as I like them (not LOTR, though <shudder>)

That's my rule - hope it helps!

Pope tells his followers to log off for Lent

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Down with this sort of thing

And the sending of bears to eat children who yell "Oi, baldy!"

Sophos was gearing up for a private life – then someone remembered the bike scheme

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Well that's embarrassing

@MJB7: "... adding another item to the "things to check when taking over a British company" "

How about making it more difficult to to sell British companies to overseas buyers? "Taking back control" could start to mean something, and be an advantage to real people, not the sharks at the top hoping to make a killing at the expense of everyone else.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to save data from a computer that should have died aeons ago

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Fettling

It is in regular use here at IP tenements - there is always something to fettled!

My children are funny when they get "fettle" and "furtle" mixed up, though!

HP Ink: No way, Xerox. We're not accepting your takeover. Well, we'd never say never. Maybe even maybe? Hello, you still there? Please?

Intractable Potsherd
Coffee/keyboard

Re: New entity called....

See icon - - - >

Don't worry, IT contractors. New UK chancellor says HMRC will be gentle pushing IR35 rules

Intractable Potsherd

Re: "People in this country have had enough of experts"

Being married to someone who happens to have a particular relative doesn't deny one being a non-entity. This buffoon is the definition of a non-entity.

California man served with restraining order for allegedly 'stalking' Apple CEO Tim Cook

Intractable Potsherd

Mental health care

In many countries, someone like Mr Sharma would be directed to mental health services quote a long time before he got to this stage. Unfortunately, neither the USA nor the UK seem to have this option available.

Ofcom measured UK's 5G radiation and found that, no, it won't give you cancer

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Who'd paid for the research...

This is (or at least should be) part of the evaluation of any academic paper, so you aren't saying anything ground-breaking.

Intractable Potsherd

Re: It's all perfectly safe.

"... rise in cancer among young people (a rise of 45% for young women), especially brain and intracranial tumours,"

Citations needed (preferably reliable), along with details of changes to diagnostic techniques (I see Mark has made this point too).

Intractable Potsherd

Re: So why is it different to WiFi/3G/4G....

@ticking AC: Do where are the data that show spikes in cancers that can be correlated to the increase in mobile phones? We should now have sufficient historical data in developed countries for this to be obvious, both longitudinally and in comparison with countries with less saturation of the relevant frequencies etc.

London's Metropolitan Police flip the switch: Smile, fellow citizens... you're undergoing Live Facial Recognition

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Big Brother is here and he isn't going away.

Why isn't it going to change? The police are there to look after us with our consent, even if they have forgotten that bit temporarily. Sufficient public pressure would put this crap back in its box.

Researchers trick Tesla into massively breaking the speed limit by sticking a 2-inch piece of electrical tape on a sign

Intractable Potsherd

Re: If a piece of tape can do it - what about dirt?

There are a lot of road signs around there parts where moss/lichen is growing in them.

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Sigh.

Just recently, there seem to be a lot of car drivers who think speed limit minus 25 per cent is appropriate on a clear road in good, daylight, dry conditions is appropriate, combined with driving as close to the centre of the road and braking into any vague deviation from the straight. I don't care what speed you want to do, but pay attention to your rear-view mirrors and pull over to let other road users go past.

Among those pardoned by Trump this week: Software maker ex-CEO who admitted hacking into rivals' systems

Intractable Potsherd

That is a very unpleasant image you you have conjured up - I need more mind-bleach!!!!

Intractable Potsherd

Re: King Trump

Elections should not be in the gift of the current government. The FTP Act was intended to remove the ability of governments to go to the polls when it suited them. I agree with this - calling an election should be a function of time, unless a majority (preferably, a super-majority) of MPs want one earlier. It would be even better if the electorate had some say, too, but that is a loooong way off (if ever).

Private equity ponies up £2m to help launch satellites from sunny Shetland by next year

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Dundee Space

Dundee Satellite Receiving Station is relocating to the former RAF Errol Airfield a few miles west of its current location - https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/dundee/1145293/dundee-satellite-station-given-green-light-to-move-to-perthshire-airfield/

Shipping is so insecure we could have driven off in an oil rig, says Pen Test Partners

Intractable Potsherd

@muscleguy: You beat me to it by 4 minutes!

Auf wiedersehen, pet: UK Deutsche Bank contractors plan to leave rather than take 25% pay cut for IR35 – report

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Alternatively

Good point, Alan. That realisation often comes too late for both groups, though.

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Alternatively

"... his son took his first year post law school job and earns more than 75K,"

I'm law lecturer, and I have to say this is incredibly rare. It shouldn't be taken as any sort of benchmark at all.

"... and my nephew made 200k inc bonuses at blackrock in his first year after university. "

Again so rare as to be hen's teeth.

Intractable Potsherd

Re: Alternatively

@RegGuy1: "We all should pay more tax -- all of us."

I've been saying the same to anyone who will listen for a long time, but no one is taking it on board. The Tory message the taxation is a bad thing, and the "libertarian" view that taxation is immoral, is too prevalent. These people want a shit hole country for reasons of their own - it keeps the peasants down (at least for now - of course, when the voiceless get pissed off, it all changes - they aren't allowed to "take back control".

Intractable Potsherd

What "tax breaks" do doctors have that you don't?

It would also be useful to have evidence that contractors have "ponced off tax payers" if you have it. To be honest, I'll not hold my breath waiting.