* Posts by Sir Runcible Spoon

5770 publicly visible posts • joined 29 May 2007

BT cutting contractors' rates by a fifth and halving notice period because 'coronavirus'

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: What's the point of a "contract"

This scenario can cut both ways. I contracted at one place that decided to terminate all contracts and re-instate them from a standardised renewal date and aligned all the notice periods etc. I took the opportunity to negotiate an increase in my day rate for the new contract.

When someone complained and said that I was doing the same work, I just told them it wasn't my idea to terminate my contract for no good reason, and you gave me an opportunity to re-negotiate. It's a question of timing. Similary another firm cut contractor rates by 10% across the board, I negotiated a 10% increase instead.

If BT have got their timing right they'll get away with this and not lose too many 'tractors. Considering the current jobs climate, I'm pretty sure people are going to be grateful to *have* a contract. Personally if I was at BT and my skills were in demand, I'd be asking for a longer renewal period than usual to offset the rate cut, but that's just me.

What the duck? Bloke keeps getting sent bathtime toys in the post – and Amazon won't say who's responsible

Sir Runcible Spoon
Thumb Up

Re: Were they lost from a catainer in the Pacific?

I'm ashamed to admit that took me a moment to work out, nice one

Sir Runcible Spoon
Thumb Up

Re: I did something similar once...

"a fact that his wife was Not Happy about"

Why does that conjure an image so succinctly, and why do I get the feeling that just about all the blokes on this site know exactly what you mean?

Seven 'no log' VPN providers accused of leaking – yup, you guessed it – 1.2TB of user logs onto the internet

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: We can't have good things

Personally I'm ok with a company being able to identify a VPN user after being served a lawful warrant to that effect. It's the casual 'spying on everyone because we can' that I object to, it changes the nature of the relationship between people and the state (i.e. nothing to do with that 'nothing to hide, nothing to fear' bollocks).

You call Verizon. A Google bot answers. You demand a human. The human is told what to say by the bot

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Daisy?

We could also try asking it to divide by zero for a laugh.

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: I can hear the conversations already

[Client]: I can't access to the internet

[System]: I can direct you to our service outage web page which will highlight any service affecting outages in your area

[Client]: ..but I can't connect to the internet

[System]: Have you really tried? I mean, *really* tried?

[Client]: Fuck you, you robotic moron

[System]: I will not tolerate techno-phobic comments, you have been reported for crimes against technology, a re-education center official will be in touch shortly, please hold the line.

If the Solar System's 'Planet Nine' is actually a small black hole, here's how we could detect it... wait, what?

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: The thing about a black hole...

Yep, Space is transparent

Detroit cops employed facial recognition algos that only misidentifies suspects 96 per cent of the time

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Not surprised

You are overlooking opportunism as a motive, rather than premeditated malice.

Sir Runcible Spoon
Headmaster

That depends on whether or not you wish to include grammar and punctuation.

I'm no expert, but I believe your question should have looked something like:-

"Regarding Google's new hotness, will that be translation into American or real English?"

Sir Runcible Spoon
Joke

Re: Dumb question

This technology is vastly more proficient at producing false positives than the mk1 eyeball.

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Not surprised

Whilst the chances of it happening are small, the impact on you would be huge. Risk analysis is based on both factors.

For example, if something is likely to happen, but the impact is low (such as a <1kg meteor entering the atmosphere) it can be considered a lower risk that something that is unlikely to happen, but the impact is huge (such as a >1 tonne meteor entering the atmosphere).

We don't lose sleep over the latter (rightly so) but it *is* still a risk.

Capita Consulting ditching more than a quarter of its workforce 45 days after consultations with consultants

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: AIrcrew redundancies willbe far higher than reported so far

To be fair, the OP acknowledged that lack of access to public funds, I didn't read the comment as a complaint per se, more of a 'challenging times ahead for <reasons>' kind of thing.

ymmv of course.

Brit MPs vote down bid to delay IR35 reforms, press ahead with new tax rules for private-sector contractors

Sir Runcible Spoon

"it should be clear enough."

Some people might not have realised, hence my helpful reminder :P

Sir Runcible Spoon
Trollface

"the employer who has kindly provided them with a job"

Obvious troll is obvious.

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: The big consultancy firms want IR35

It's not unusual, but you can bet that a big IT-Con. firm will put in an employee wherever possible as they charge the client the same amount either way,and of course an employee costs far less to them.

Putting in contractors only usually happens when they can't find the required skill-set in their permanent staff.

Sir Runcible Spoon
Holmes

Re: If you keep poking the pig with a stick

Full disclosure: I'm a well paid contractor.

The main issue for me with ir35 isn't the additional tax burden or even lack of employee rights, it's a combination of that change in the client->contractor relationship and the effect it has on my business.

For example, I don't like being told how to work. I'm good at what I do for a reason, and that reason isn't that I do exactly what some clueless middle management tool tells me to do. They give me work, and I do it, I even help others do their bit (especially if it supports me completing my work).

Converting to an umbrella company and pseudo-employee status appears to be giving the managers of my clients the impression that I suddenly work for them as a regular employee. Sure I still have the right to bugger off as I always did, but this has really confused the relationship.

I also had plans for my business, to grow it and branch out into other areas, mainly funded by the contract income from my clients. By forcing me to take all that income as PAYE into my personal account immediately starves my company of funds and effectively shuts it down.

I'm left with the option of either a) trying to find another role that is outside ir35 or b) close my business and throw all my plans in the bin.

It *is* poorly thought out and implemented - there are many 'blanket' appraisals going around under the guise of individual assessments as well, which is against HMRC policy - but clients don't seem to mind breaking *that* rule.

It's National Cream Tea Day and this time we end the age-old debate once and for all: How do you eat yours?

Sir Runcible Spoon
WTF?

Re: Too much arguing = not enough eating

omg, you mean you eat your like a sandwich!? You filthy, filthy beast.

UK police's face recognition tech breaks human rights laws. Outlaw it, civil rights group urges Court of Appeal

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: What's a "Human Right"?

That's fine, I'm not talking about the Police not being able to work out where I was if they are investigating a crime, but that's a world away from live facial recognition.

How can you not see that?

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: What's a "Human Right"?

So if I borrow my mates car (legally) I have to register it with DVLA? Don't be absurd.

The objection is about real-time tracking using a metric which cannot (reasonably) be changed.

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: What's a "Human Right"?

The difference between ANPR and AFR is that you can change your vehicle quite easily, not so easy to change your face.

iPadOS 14: Apple's attempt to pry fondleslab from toddlers' mitts and make it more businesslike

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: The image that it's just a large phone

It feels like the browser is the de-facto killer app on iPads, it's just too useful to be able to pick up my ipad mini and browse for something instantly.

Ah lovely, here's something you can do with those Raspberry Pis, NUC PCs in the bottom of the drawer: Run Ubuntu Appliances on them

Sir Runcible Spoon
Facepalm

I think so, I heard something about it on Linux (Chimney) Stack

Sir Runcible Spoon
Coat

Isn't that only available around Christmas?

If Daddy doesn't want me to touch the buttons, why did they make them so colourful?

Sir Runcible Spoon
Paris Hilton

Re: Not IT, but...

"Fortunately, the Director and I had known each other for a long time and had done fieldwork together"

..and just how long had he worked with your wife?

Sir Runcible Spoon
Facepalm

Re: I'll just leave this here.

omg, I never knew our standard OP had a name! :D

Legal complaint lodged with UK data watchdog over claims coronavirus Test and Trace programme flouts GDPR

Sir Runcible Spoon
Thumb Up

Re: The tracking is important, the tracing, nope.

I'm pretty sure that most commentards could have guessed most of this, but it's always nice to see that our cynicism is well founded - thanks for posting.

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: So what's the problem?

"they are not going to stop no matter what you think."

That doesn't appear to be a valid reason to stop fighting it every step of the way though, but that's just my opinion.

Contact-tracer spoofing is already happening – and it's dangerously simple to do

Sir Runcible Spoon
Trollface

"they confirmed my address."

So you told them your address and they said 'yep, that's correct' ?

Ever felt down after staring at your phone late in bed? It's not just you – mice do too

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: mice are currently unaware

We are being controlled by these mice deciding to get depressed under controlled circumstances, it's a ploy to stop us playing games at night.

Nokia's reboot of the 5310 is a blissfully dumb phone that will lug some mp3s about just fine

Sir Runcible Spoon

re:podcast

That always used to confuse me, especially when it first started being used, a bit like 'the cloud'.

Basically it's stuff we are already familiar with (as techies) but re-branded for the great unwashed.

Sir Runcible Spoon
Coat

Re: Would this be a good 'phone to have ...

'shit down'.....sounded like an australian saying 'shut down' to me.

UK COVID-19 contact-tracing app data may be kept for 'research' after crisis ends, MPs told

Sir Runcible Spoon
Alien

Re: Well that's great confidence from GCHQ

Can you steal something that someone literally threw away?

Also, very secure from theft *from Earthlings*. AMFM has plans for a free Tesla apparently.

What's worse than an annoying internet filter? How about one with a pre-auth remote-command execution hole and there's no patch?

Sir Runcible Spoon
Headmaster

Re: It wouldn't make the slightest difference.

"I note my critic has removed they're post!"

Please don't keep doing that, I'm at my whitsend with all these grammarly mistakes.

Sir Runcible Spoon
Coat

Re: It wouldn't make the slightest difference.

Don't you mean moist octopus? Plus your!=you're

Florida man might just stick it to HP for injecting sneaky DRM update into his printers that rejected non-HP ink

Sir Runcible Spoon

I've gone back to using a safety razor.

£2 for 20 blades, and one blade lasts around 5-10 shaves, especially if I shave after a shower when the whiskers are a lot softer.

That's a minimum cost of £2 for 100 shaves! (I hope I got my maths right there)

Star's rosette orbit around our supermassive black hole proves Einstein's Theory of General Relativity correct

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Wow

A fair point, especially the use of other materials.

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Wow

If there was no Sun, then the water would be frozen and you couldn't have tidal power at all.

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Trantor

They probably used blacks holes as corner pockets for inter-galactic billiards contests.

They also make great trash compactors.

Sir Runcible Spoon
Flame

Wow

3 percent of the speed of light! Holy shit. That must look awesome from up close*

If we ever want unlimited free energy, we really need to harness gravity - it just doesn't seem to run out, certainly not on the scale that we can use it.

Our current technology is still -->

*Say, 6 trillion miles, with suitable radiation shields

Watch now the three UFO videos uncovered by Blink-182 star – and today officially released by the Pentagon

Sir Runcible Spoon
Alien

optional?

Thry could have given you a better memory than that :)

Getting a pizza the action, AS/400 style

Sir Runcible Spoon
Facepalm

Re: "Hopefully he also added a bit of text along the lines"

Doesn't 'cd ~' change the prompt (assuming you have the path displayed in the prompt of course)?

Sir Runcible Spoon
Trollface

Re: "Hopefully he also added a bit of text along the lines"

Computers like feedback too, or your browser session would still be running on udp.

20 years deep into a '2-year' mission: How ESA keeps Cluster flying

Sir Runcible Spoon
Pint

A very fine example of the truism..

Necessity is the mother of invention.

Well done those boffins, have a cup of Brownian motion on me (cunningly disguised as beer!)

That critical VMware vuln allowed anyone on your network to create new admin users, no creds needed

Sir Runcible Spoon
Big Brother

Re: Wow, I am sure it was not a backdoor type thing

"Giggling"

Medication time perhaps?

UK Information Commissioner OKs use of phone data to track coronavirus spread

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Wedge

I'm beginning to think they might have had a point though. Human nature encompasses a wide variety of persona's, the worst of which tend to gravitate to positions of power. Technology amplifies that power. Oh well, at least we can all work towards a gilded cage these days.

Sir Runcible Spoon
Paris Hilton

Re: Wedge

So..Luddite is worse than drug dealer - who knew!?

Sir Runcible Spoon

Re: Wedge

If you don't possess a 'smart' phone do they forcibly give you (or make you pay for) one?

Infosys fires employee who Facebooked 'let's hold hands and share coronavirus'

Sir Runcible Spoon
Coat

Re: Ah, that old chestnut.

Overzealous policing at its finest..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teSPN8sVbFU

Of course Rowan does say that it isn't an offence to cough without due care and attention - which it obviously is now.

Sir Runcible Spoon
Joke

"Opinions are like arseholes, everybody's got one."

You forgot to add:- "and they all stink (except for mine, coz I shit rose petal scented nuggets of a uniform size, which require minimal subsequent use of loo roll."

Hey, China. Maybe you should have held your hackers off for a bit while COVID-19 ravaged the planet. Just a suggestion

Sir Runcible Spoon
Trollface

Re: Cisco Kit

Made, or coded?