Posts by Doctor Syntax

Re: "Has whoever sold the domain actually got the money?"

"MicroStrategy received the money in cash on May 30"

They're probably still staring at each other saying "Did we really just do that?".

Re: Dunning Krugerands

Credit actually due to another commentard a few weeks ago. Unfortunately I can't remember who.

Re: Disappointing

Gotta leave something on the table for commentards.

Re: Good reason

GE marketing?

The guy who thought it up?

Some guilt there, I would think.

Re: What about if, during the fourth cycle, you panicked and turned it off after just seven seconds?

And what about when you get to seven in the fourth cycle & start to think you might have missed three back in the second cycle?

Re: Well, yes.

people who purchase so-called "smart" thingies are rarely actually smart

That's because the thingies are only smart by comparison.

Re: I'm confused

"being conned doesn't mean you deserve to lose your money."

AIUI HP were bidding (or at least Leo was bidding) against Larry. When you outbid another would-be buyer you set the price. It looks as if the price he they decided to bid was based on the value that they hoped to gain by integrating into their product line rather than on past sales.

Re: "why don't I just continue using Chrome then"

How about a combination of both?

"lower middle class and working class people "

They're also the people who'll complain when the price of stuff they buy goes up.

Re: Today's lesson is:

Today's and everyday's.

Re: um

Presumably the judge has the ability not to grant protection. Has anyone out there sufficient knowledge of US law to say whether that would be the appropriate course of action in this case?

Re: I am HMRC's target

"Two taxation systems.

That is the essential problem.

People are taxed one way, and companies a completely different way"

Not really a problem, just a reflection of different modes of operation.

If you operate a freelancing company you should run it as a company. It's not, or shouldn't be, a conduit for cash straight to the worker's pocket, nor should it be a vehicle for strange financial shenanigans involving loans with peculiar T&Cs or the like. I don't have too much sympathy with those who run into problems with doing the latter. A little sympathy if they were suckered into it by some smart salesman pushing a financial package to make a commission but they should remember if it looks too good to be true it probably is.

If you're an employee of a company that you don't own you'll expect your employee to take incoming cash, pay your salary, employer's NI, put aside cash to pay your holiday, sick pay, [mp]aternal leave and any employer's pension contributions. Also to continue paying your salary if things get a bit slack. A freelancer's company should so just that. In particular the client pays for instant availability - the regular greeting of an agent is "Are you available?". "Available" almost invariably means out of contract and possibly having been so for some considerable time. Providing that availability is an overhead for the the business.

Envious of freelancers? If you think you can hack it, including providing the availability, join in. If you can't, keep quiet, the freelancers are doing things differently to the way you choose to do them.

Re: IR35 Exemptions

"a special arrangement with HMRC whereby their contractors were exempt from IR35"

If it were me I'd want to go through the documentation with a fine tooth comb before believing it.

Re: Obviously the offshorers and integrators will love this

"get some more TCS/WIPRO/MASTEK/Capita/Generic Body shop people"

Then they'll need some more good freelancers to repair the damage and integrate the repaired product into the business.

Re: Bound to fail

he left to go contracting because his "developer" job consisted of nothing but interviewing people.

It depends on who he was interviewing. If you mean interviewing new recruits, maybe he was right. If it was interviewing users to find out what was needed then maybe he needs to widen his view of development.

A clear admission of how big a mistake it was combined with being a poor loser.

Re: I guess I misunderstood the situation

"Define economy. EU has exclusive (in)competence in a lot of political and economic areas, not all of which serve UK economic interests."

The EU isn't them, it's us, or at least has been for a few decades. As long as we've been in the EU we've been in the decision making process.

"Brexit just means having UK hands on those levers, and less money flowing to the EU to bankroll EUrocrat's lifestyles"

Brexit means taking our hands off those levers. The impact of that depends on the role the EU continues to play as a suppler and customer. There are a couple of alternative outcomes after the transition period (if any). One is that they don't in which case you'd better hope those unicorns come galloping over the horizon otherwise a good deal of the economy is goingto go the same way as Honda and Scunthorpe steel works. The other is that they continue to be a significant part of the economy in which case you might then start wondering just why it was that we took our hands off those levers.