* Posts by Roland6

10619 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Apr 2010

HP to hike upfront price of printer hardware as ink biz growth runs dry

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Landfill

Basically, if the printer supports Network print using IPP/Bonjour etc. it will work and Mopria seems to do a better formatting job than iOS airprint.

Obviously, for some printers (both enterprise grade and consumer) that only support USB connectivity, the only solution is a third-party app/gismo such as HP's JetDirect or Collobos Presto (£ subscription) that puts an IPP/Bonjour interface on top of the existing print driver on a print server.

>The site wouldn't encourage me to use their drivers.

I'm finding that an increasingly common problem with many websites...

My kids school website has been redesigned, yes it looks pretty, but actually getting information out of it with anything other than a desktop with 4K screen connected using 20Mbps+ Internet...

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Landfill

Understand the sentiments, however the Mopria alliance now have a (near) universal printer app for Android and Windows (7 and later). MS first bundled it with the W10 October 2018 Update..

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Landfill

And not just Epson, there are CISS systems for HP printers...

Roland6 Silver badge

> they provide a postage paid reply envelope to send the used ink cartridges back

I think the prepaid envelope shouldn't be lightly dismissed.

It is definitely easier to send back used cartridges, if the prepaid envelopes are provided or you have a stack of envelopes. Particularly if you buy your ink online and don't drop by a shop/school with a used cartridge collection bin.

GNU means GNU's Not U: Stallman insists he's still Chief GNUisance while 18 maintainers want him out as leader

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: to recurse is godly

Yep, unstable "geniuses" like Stallman and Torvalds

Personally, I wouldn't put these two together and neither would I call them "geniuses".

Torvald, saw a need and went with it, he has shown much stubborn determination to keep Linux going and become what it is today. However, he has adapted as Linux has developed and become more mainstream.

I'm less certain about what Stallman has achieved since his early works on free software.

Having worked with both types of people in IT, I am more comfortable with Torvald's personality as I understand where his motivation and passion lies.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: People skills

I've often wondered how the open source/Free Software community might have fared if the people at the helm of various projects had actually understood how to get on with other people in society.

Also it really needed people at the helm who's livelihood and income is dependent on monies made from the sale of the free-software products they have contributed to through the labours of their own hands.

Promise of £5bn for rural fibre prompts Openreach to reach for the trench-digging diamond cutter

Roland6 Silver badge

Openreach engineering are probably now able to buy and play with the 'toys' because the bean counters are sure someone else (ie. taxpayers via the government) will be paying for the capital investment, so are now approving spend.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: "new tech"

>the call-centre bod insisted that we only had copper ADSL installed ... Basically 'computer says no'. So we had to order FTTP from scratch. Not too impressed!

Computer says no FTTP... In view of this, you did check (https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk/) whether you were eligible for a slice of monies to support the cost of new fibre connections, before you signed the order for FTTP?

Windows 10 update panic: Older VMware Workstation Pro app broken

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: 450MB/sec, 1GB/sec?

Bet MS thinks Hyper-V is superior to either ESX or Workstation and as it is bundled why would you not want to use it...

Here's that hippie, pro-privacy, pro-freedom Apple y'all so love: Hong Kong protest safety app banned from iOS store

Roland6 Silver badge

Fatal Flaw in the AppStore Walled Garden Business Model

It doesn't really matter if the Chinese authorities have had a quiet cough in Apple's corporate ear or not, the walled garden and app store model puts too much power in one place and a place with a clear conflict of interest: want to sell your devices in our market then you abide by our guidance about what can and in this case can not be in your app store.

Google, by allowing users to sideload app's may to a certain extent be able to avoid this problem, provided they don't have a means to remotely disable/uninstall sideloaded app's.

it is nice [ironic] to see a mega corp in "the land of the free" aiding and abetting the repressive government of a one party state...

Roland6 Silver badge

and so under the same logic, apps such as driving app Waze should also be banned.

That argument is obtuse of course given that the sole purpose of HKmap Live is to track police activity on the streets of Hong Kong and not to help people navigate to other locations. ...

A quick glance at Waze shows that argument isn't obtuse - waze allows a user to report the presence of police at a specific location. In fact it could be argued that the primary purpose of Waze is to permit users to report on 'activity' at a specific geo-location - the A-to-B routing capabilities enabling people to avoid reported 'activities' being a secondary feature ie. having collected all this geo-data what use can we put it to...

Google sounds the alarm over Android flaw being exploited in the wild, possibly by NSO

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Years Old Bug...

>It's a regression.

It is a lot worse than that:

"This issue was patched in Dec 2017 in the 4.14 LTS kernel, AOSP Android 3.18 kernel , AOSP Android 4.4 kernel , and AOSP Android 4.9 kernel," ie. There is no single master source repository.

If you really can't let go of Windows 7, Microsoft will keep things secure for another three years

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: 450MB/sec, 1GB/sec?

>Pack=Patch

In my view this is the case when the Pack is a KBnnnnnn download.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: 450MB/sec, 1GB/sec?

>Patch?

I thought that was the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack

IR35 blame game: Barclays to halt off-payroll contractors, goes directly to PAYE

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: 450MB/sec, 1GB/sec?

>for health and other insurance shop for quotes but I'm willing to bet it's not devastatingly expensive either, depends how much you are likely to earn, and the cover you want.

From experience the cost of these insurances is trip duration. If you are commuting on a monthly/bi-monthly basis then a policy that covers you for trips of up to 60 days will cover you.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: 450MB/sec, 1GB/sec?

>For a spell I did a weekly commute to N Ireland.

Well given Dublin is only around the hour from many UK airports, it is eminently commutable on a weekly basis. Something I did it for a couple of years, along with many others on the monday red-eye's out of East Midlands.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: 450MB/sec, 1GB/sec?

> in stark contrast to the UK government who have sent me, a UK citizen working abroad, precisely nothing.

Today I received my first text message from HMPassport:

Passport validity rules will change after Brexit, you may need to renew earlier than planned. Visit www.gov.uk/brexitcheckpassportsms

The fact that they can't give information that is actually helpful, beyond telling you whether for an specific country your passport may or may not valid or whether you will need to complete additional forms if your visit is for work, gives an indication of the minefield we are entering...

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: 450MB/sec, 1GB/sec?

>So, no, the UK being a 3rd country will have no effect whatsoever on Brits working in IT within the EU.

Your example, whilst of an EU nation, isn't really about the EU. Those 20 non-EU nationalities have simply passed the immigration requirements of whichever member country the company is based in, they haven't got EU "roaming rights" just rights to work in a single specific country.

So in some ways, specifically for permanent jobs, wholly based within a specific country what you say is correct. However, from the perspective of short-term contracting or maintaining a team based out of the UK where individuals will be roaming around the EU27, things are a little different and the UK being in or out does have an effect. Unfortunately HM Government is unable to tell me just what the situation will be because it is wholly dependent upon what deal (if any) the UK agrees with the EU...

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: 450MB/sec, 1GB/sec?

>You don't need to use a separate company to offer different benefits to different groups of employees. You just need to make it clear who is in which group

And the easiest way to do that is to have a separate 'contract services' operation, agree this doesn't actually need to be a separate Ltd, but given what the IT industry did in the 90's it makes sense for it to be a different Ltd. then the 'contractors' are effectively employees of Barclays own agency/services group, who can be sold into Barclays customers...

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: 450MB/sec, 1GB/sec?

>By the way my day rate just increased by 50%.

The laugh about this is that Barclays will continue to use off-payroll contractors from the big SI's/consulting firms.. they probably won't notice if you trebled your day rate...

How to lose a UK contractor in 10 days: Make them commit after upcoming IR35 tax upheaval, apparently

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Tax dodging contractors? It's not that simple

>Am I correct in assuming you have to also factor in Accounting fees?

Depends on how good you are at accounts and company's house filings, I know several contractors who don't actually use an accountant - as they use one of the many business accounting packages that create their books for them. However you do need company insurance...

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Tax dodging contractors? It's not that simple

>1) Pension contributions are entirely optional...

So you are suggesting that contractors shouldn't be making pension contributions...

So who do you think will be paying the contractors pension when they retire? or are you expecting contractors to only qualify for state pension benefits?

>2) The VAT...

If you had read the comment, you will see that VAT isn't mentioned, even though many contractors will derive a small taxable benefit from handling VAT payments, so don't see what point you were trying to make here.

>3) Corporate tax is on profits

If you had read the comment you would of seen that the poster had divided the £100k into £40k employee costs and £60k profits...

>So all a contractor earning 100K has to do is pay the whole lot to himself at standard tax rate and he'll be taking home probably 65-70K a year.

Whilst a contractor, through an umbrella company (or sole-trader) would have the entire 100K treated as salary, HMRC would demand it was taxed as salary and hence be liable for full PAYE/NI deductions at the higher rates...

Naturally, if you are not UK domicile for tax purposes then you can take advantage of off-shore accounts and arrangements to maximise the monies taken home, in those circumstances 70K plus take home isn't unreasonable...

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: It would be much easier if...

It already exists, its called a temp. or a locum. However, that person is employed by the agency not the client company (where the work is performed).

However, the problem with the "temporary permanent" employment - I think you are proposing, is that you can expect many employers to simply move staff on traditional permanent contracts to temporary permanent contracts. The only way to stop this would be to require employers to pay a premium (x2.5 permanent salary), a higher rate of employers NI and to specify both a minimum number of days per year that will be paid ie. the retainer and the maximum number of days (suggest 100) that can be worked.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: It's not that hard

>The law now says that you don't get to choose whether or not you are an employee. There are a series of tests. Either you are, or you aren't.

Not so simple, those tests aren't definitive and as many IR35 court cases over nearly two decades have shown, HMRC will happily deem contracts that satisfy those tests (and thus outside of IR35) as being within IR35...

From the nonsensical viewpoint you've pitched in several comments here, I can only conclude that you haven't really spent anytime understanding IR35, preferring to rely on the sort of half-arsed self-opinionated reporting common to the tabloids and august publications such as the Socialist Worker

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: It's not that hard

Even viewing your comment through the filter of the recent BBC case, I think you misunderstand matters.

In the BBC case, the BBC, effectively advertised for 'employees' but then got these prospective employees to contract as if they were 'contractors' - thus it wasn't the worker who was pretending to be a contractor, it was the BBC pretending it was engaging contractors and not employees for reasons revolving around tax efficiency to them. ie. tax evasion .

Viewing your comment through the typical IT contract engagement and it fails to make sense. Particularly as only HMRC can definitely determine if an engagement is or isn't IR35 compliant and even then it is largely some time after the work has been done.

Careful now, UK court ruling says email signature blocks can sign binding contracts

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: We have signed emails

>Although a contract signed on a stripper is a little harder to file

However, I suspect there would be no shortage of volunteers willing to try...

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: I thought emails could be held as binding for longer than this?

Not read the case doc's, but I note El Reg doesn't mention whether the solicitors were using consumer-grade email or one of the professional packages/service add-ons such as Egress Secure Email.

Thus a fraud concern has to be the ease with which the provenance of the email can be verified.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: We have signed emails

>Could you write a binding contract on a postcard?

Yes you can, a postcard is just a piece of paper... Going back to the 90's we had a salesman who returned to the office after wining and dining a client with an IT services contract on a napkin...

Roland6 Silver badge

>unless there's a disclaimer

Expect revised text for the disclaimer many attach to their emails...

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: We have signed emails

I suspect in reaching the decision, attention was also given to the email correspondence being between solicitors; who's word is supposed to be more trustworthy than mere mortals - hence why we tend to use them for large transactions...

Hacker House shoved under UK Parliament's spotlight following Boris Johnson funding allegs

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: "it might just have been the co-founders wearing both the owner and employee hats"

>I don't personally think so, as despite how good these lads are, it isn't going toward UK interests...

Given what diodesign has disclosed, I suggest things aren't so clear cut. It will only be by examining the details of the funding and HH's UK expenditure will it be possible to make a judgement call on that.

Suspect the real question is whether HH would have received the funding without Boris's behind the scenes involvement in the award process. In my books - because I've been there, I see nothing fundamentally wrong with Boris either encouraging HH to bid or advising HH on what their funding bid needs to include to improve its chances of success. However, it is wrong if Boris also gets involved in the bid assessment and award process and thus influence the selection of bids that will receive funding.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: "an accommodation address"

>That's basically what it was, a small infosec training outfit run out of a home office.

Yes, it is hard to get a handle on just how small "The team of Hacker House" were.

As you suggest it might just have been the co-founders wearing both the owner and employee hats.

No problems with the home office and (typically) using the accountants "accomodation address" for official/public purposes - its what I use.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: "an offshore company"

It also has a UK presence and has UK staff.

Looks like El Reg readers have located the current "UK presence"; an accommodation address.

However, as yet no UK staff have either come forward or been identified. Do El Reg readers have among their friends and contacts a Hacker House employee, who is currently avoiding the spotlight...

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: "an offshore company"

> It also has a UK presence and has UK staff.

From the various media reports, it seems people are having problems locating the current address of the UK operation.

Perhaps if someone actually knows where it is they can give the address here - there is bound to be one or more El Reg commentors living just around the corner and verify.

We're all doooooomed: Gloomy Brit workforce really isn't coping well with impending Brexit

Roland6 Silver badge

>I thought the debt was sold off to banks by slc

Yes, the SLC has been selling of chunks of debt, typically at 50% of face value, for which it has been criticized for not getting value for money. However, these sales don't change the arrangement between former student and SLC.

Roland6 Silver badge

>All you need is an axe to start with and soon you'll be generating your own renewable geothermal energy.

Trouble is those "geeky gamer types" will rapidly discover: wielding a real axe is very different to clicking buttons on a game controller to wield an axe - especially if you've never done any real physical activity...

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Come and have as much discussion as you like, off the record, for as long as you want."

And then all you have to do is to explain to the public what the difference is between "discussion... off the record" and ignoring the referendum result completely.

All D.Cameron had to do was to set up a Commission.

As we now know he could of populated it with the Brexiteers in the Conservative party and be sure they would never be able to reach agreement to be able to publish an actionable report.

Roland6 Silver badge

>But grads are paying 6% interest. To banks. So student fees are a way for banks to earn money without any risk.

Err no. Student Loans don't directly involve the high street banks. They are between a student and the Student Loan Company.

The banks only get involved when students take out additional, non-student loan borrowings.

Hinkley Point nuclear power station will be late and £2bn over budget

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Can someone explain to me..... Accounting...

What is not clear is where in the money chain these additional costs are occurring.

Given the contract was between the UK government and state-owned EDF of France and state-owned CGN of China, I suggest there is some fancy accounting going on.

The price increase is broadly consistent with the GBP falling by 12% against the Euro and 5% against the US Dollar since May 2016. So suspect EDF UK is picking up the bill (ie. adding the debit to their accounts) in GBP, but EDF and China are actually paying in Euros and USD.

Apple tells European Commission it's nutty for slapping €13bn tax bill on Irish subsidiary

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: 'defies reality and common sense'

>The trouble is you (corporations) NEVER use tax incentives for employees

Exhibit one: How many corporations have an HMRC approved employee profit distribution scheme and/or an employee stock/share scheme?

UK Supreme Court unprorogues Parliament

Roland6 Silver badge

But unsurprisingly progress in the services Single Market has been slow for decades now.

But compared to progress in the WTO on services...

Given services form a major part of UK exports, it just shows how ignorant those who parrot "we can trade on WTO rules" are.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Regardless of which side of the fence you are on.

This judgement will make it harder to secure a deal and he reminds us that there are forces in the country committed to thwarting Brexit.

Well there is the T.May deal on the table and given only 1-in-3 actually voted for Brexit, it would be normal to expect people would be thwarting Brexit? Just as there were forces in the country for several decades committed to thwarting the UK's participation in the EU...

I loved the interview with Charles Walker MP (Conservative & Chair of the 1922 Committee) on Radio 4 PM yesterday (circa 17:10~17:15) where he effectively said Mogg et al were "mascarding largely as leavers but are remainers", because they opposed their party's/government's Brexit deal.

Consumer campaign to keep receiving printed till receipts looks like a good move – on paper

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: And e-tickets

>I booked tickets for a local event. The email tells me I do not need to print this email just make a note of the booking reference.

The number of times, I've been glad I've just printed out the email receipt as it has contained a bar/QR code and the choice has been to either go through the door staff using readers or queue at the ticket desk where they will look up your booking...

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Paperless Office

>Result: more trees destroyed to make virgin white fanfold paper that mostly got immediately binned

This isn't a totally bad thing...

The Woodland Trust, whilst it maintains ancient woodlands, has recognised that for woodlands to exist, there is a certain amount of active management required. So using some paper means that someone is having to plant and maintain some commercial forestry.

Another example is the cork Oaks, with the increased usage of plastic corks many cork oaks are now effectively worthless and so get grubbed up...

Roland6 Silver badge

>I'm trying to remember the last time I actually needed a receipt and I'm coming up blank.

There are two things here, the times you've actually needed a receipt eg. return of goods, and those times where a receipt is useful, like when making an insurance claim - something you hope never to have to do, but...

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: The problem is there's no defined standard, so it's roll-your-own (again)

>4) It should need no more data from me beyond an email address.

Shouldn't need any data from me. It is a given that the person in possession of the receipt is either the original purchaser or their representative.

Currently, the receipt will give last four digits of the payment card or says 'cash'. This is currently sufficient for returns/refunds so don't see a need for any additional personal information.

5) It needs to be in a form that will readily satisfy expense claims and HMRC. ie. I hate having to print out a load of e-receipts to attach to expense claim.

6) Additionally, it would be useful to be able to file it with any associated paperwork eg. guarantee/warranty, support agreement...

The real problem with e-anything is that increasingly, it assumes a person will have their entire life in their pocket on a smart phone. Given smart phones (as generally known) are just over 12 years old, there is alot to be said for the humble paper receipt - I've got the original receipt for some furniture my grandparents purchased back in the 1920's - not much use? very useful for an insurance claim or evidencing providence for auction...

Tesco parking app hauled offline after exposing 10s of millions of Automatic Number Plate Recognition images

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Bastards

+1 for a supermarket that policed their disabled spots

>It's a special kind of twat who abuses those spaces.

It amuses me visiting my my local superstore at 11pm or some other unsocial hour and tossing a coin as to whether to bother with the 'rules' and avoid the vast area of empty disabled and parent & infant parking spaces, or just go "what the f*ck"...

Mind you I suspect some idiot parking company would chose to implement the rules, as at that time of night they would get clear cctv footage of the driver walking normally way from the car, which they would be unable to get during normal hours; which is when misuse of the bays is a problem...