* Posts by Insert sadsack pun here

450 publicly visible posts • joined 21 Nov 2017

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To the Moon? Emojis can be financial advice, says judge

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"Isn't the only reason people buy baseball cards as collectables is that they think they will go up?"

1) No. Some people just like to have them because they're fans. The name "collectable" as opposed to "sellable" is a bit of a clue.

2) in any case, the test is not whether the value of the thing will go up, but whether the buyer reasonably believed the value would go up as part of a common enterprise with the seller. Sotheby's will never promise that your Van Gogh will go up in value, and if it did, it's not because Sotheby's was going to be doing anything about it.

Uncle Sam to block Adobe absorption of Figma over monopoly fears

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Re: "Figma co-founder Dylan Field said this wouldn't happen"

Maybe Adobe should have bought Ligma instead.

Africa's internet registry has sometimes needed financial assistance to keep operating, could fail, warns ARIN head

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Re: Oh look, someting in Africa is being mismanaged.

Silly comment. Nominet just had its own governance problems. This is not an Africa-specific problem.

Wipro tells freshers a job awaits - if they accept a lower salary than first offered

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Headmaster

Re: lakh

Yes, exactly. Very disappointed* to see El Reg failing to use the appropriate ISO - lakh without specifying the currency, US$ instead of USD... tsk, tsk

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_4217

*okay, it's not the end of the world, but still.

Marketing company chases Twitter for $7,000 over 'swag gift box for Elon'

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"It probably depends on what "use" that swag was put to. Arguably, if it was used for marketing purposes, and raising "brand awareness" it could be said it wasn't wasted money..."

Swag is also given away to employees as a retention initiative (sometimes it's cheaper than paying them more). There is a certain Silicon Valley stereotype of boffins and tech bros being dressed in company-branded Patagonia jackets etc...

Americans have the right to livestream police traffic stops … probably

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Re: The EFF is nearly wrong..

First off, judges don't get qualified immunity.

Second, qualified immunity doesn't merely mean that employees can't be sued for their employer's mistakes or even the worker's own mistakes. No-one is suggesting that Johnny at the hardware store should be personally sued because he delivered the wrong paint.

Qualified immunity means that certain government officers can't be sued for personally and directly violating your rights except in narrow circumstances.

Meanwhile, if you punch someone in the face at work (or, less dramatically, crash your work van into someone's car), you and your employer can be sued.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/qualified_immunity

Bank of England won't call it Britcoin but says digital pound 'likely to be needed in future'

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Re: But why is this necessary?

"and thus drives inflation, because it devalues all the other currency by a tiny amount each time you do it"

Cryptoheads are massive fans of monetarist policy, despite it being totally discredited in the 80s.

Pakistan’s PM overturns Wikipedia ban, seeks end to whack-a-mole content blocks

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Re: Pointless

"It's a theocracy where the elite remain in power..."

No, it's not. It's an Islamic country, yes, but it's a parliamentary democracy with free-ish and contested-ish elections. None of the ministers is a cleric and no PM has ever been a cleric.

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It's odd that El Reg continues to cover this as if it's a genuine attempt to moderate content, however misplaced. This is nothing to do with content on Wikipedia and they don't actually care if the content is accessible or not - it's about rabble rousing by politicians and nutbars.

Twitch bans AI-generated Seinfeld show for making transphobic jokes

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Re: You can watch the bad stand-up scene below.

So you're saying...Down With This Sort Of Thing?

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Re: Is the intelligence really artificial?

To be fair, plenty of 90s sitcoms had some pretty ugly homophobic and transphobic storylines. The AI Seinfeld storyline could easily have made it to air.

Atos and Nest part company two years into 18-year £1.5bn contract

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Re: what a surprise ..... not !!!

I work in the private sector and the same thing happens here. It's just poor project management. Has it ever been done well, anywhere?

Wind, solar power outstrip fossil fuel generation for EU

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Re: Black is white and white is black

"I asked about energy insecurity, not prices."

The prices and the insecurity are two sides of the same coin: the EU depends on bad-tempered men who derive their power from selling fossil fuels. The price and supply of those fossil fuels has been largely in their gift - because what's the EU gonna down without them, freeze? That changes when (eventually) the EU is self-sufficient with renewable energy.

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Re: @Insert sadsack pun here - Black is white and white is black

Those are fair points, @AC, but the answer to "How is renewable energy is going to help us here ?" is not too complicated.

If the EU+UK could it supply its "fixed line" energy needs entirely with renewables (which is still far off), then it would have more than enough domestic fossil fuels for plastics and tank propulsion. There's a fair amount of oil and gas in non-Putin Europe, it's just that we are burning a lot of it for power that could be generated at a lower cost by renewables (and nuclear)!

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Re: Black is white and white is black

"skyrocketing electricity prices and energy insecurity" - how is it we see solar and wind at an all time high, yet the diagnosis is that it's fossil fuels that are causing energy insecurity?"

Because:

a) electricity prices are (primarily) determined by the level of demand; and

b) renewables supply is still much smaller than demand; so

c) we still need fossil fuels for a huge chunk of generation; and so

d) even a small change in fossil fuel supply or price can have a big impact on the total energy market, including renewables.

If the EU could supply its market entirely from renewables, then it could tell Putin (or Gadaffi, or MBS, or Teddy Obiang) to take his fossil fuels and do one. But it can't, so it doesn't.

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Re: Policy driven

"Russia did not cut off gas in response to sanctions, sanctions cut off gas..."

This is not correct. To Ukraine's dismay, gas purchases were excluded from sanctions precisely because the EU needed them. It still remains legal to buy Russian oil and gas in the EU - but since December there is a price cap on gas imports.

New York again mulls letting people pay the state in crypto

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Re: "States should be able to use the methods of value exchange that people are using today."

I have some passing sympathy for the legislator's suggestion that the state should at least consider taking Venmo, CashApp etc (there are plenty of people who are unbanked or keep most of their money on apps instead of bank accounts). I have no idea what the costs or practicalities would be.

But the idea that NYS should accept payment in another currency is putting it at real risk for no benefit. The forex risk could be significant. It would be nuts for a US agency to seek payment in a softer currency - this isn't Communist Bulgaria trying to earn some deutsche marks...

WFH can get you 40% salary boost in UK and US tech jobs

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" A government run by (checks notes) "the generation that came before generation X", if you don't like the term "boomers"."

Rishi Sunak was born 1980, he's a millennial...

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Re: That doesn't make sense

I would take a pay cut for WFH as I would move to a small town where housing costs 40% less and I wouldn't have to commute.

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You're gonna shit when you find out that 20% of UK pensioners live in poverty, and that poverty levels among single pensioners rose 22% over the pandemic. (The youngest boomer is 60 years old).

The idea that boomers are all living in fully paid-off 3 bedroom houses and enjoying luxurious defined benefits pensions is just pernicious bullshit sucked up by credulous morons.

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Re: Alright for now, but...

""Learning by osmosis" is also a way of being told "that's not the way things are done round here""

Not true. Sometimes it means "we don't really know what we do around here and we don't know how to train people on it in a structured way"...

Hundreds of Spotify staff stream out the door in latest layoffs

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It's an advertising and subscription business with a music department...

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"His letter didn't include plans to step down."

LOL (but really crying out loud)

Software devs targeted as British tax authority makes fraud allegations

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Re: HMRC doesn't have "clients"

"One of them is a large audit client in the software sector, with contracts with government bodies, so to accuse them of fraud is quite egregious."

Gosh, yes, you wouldn't ever want to accuse anyone who has contracts with government bodies of fraud, they're all such upstanding figures...

Serco/Deloitte: https://www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/serco-to-pay-23m-after-serious-fraud-office-probe-into-moj-electronic-tagging-scandal

G4S: https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/business/2020/jul/10/g4s-fined-44m-by-serious-office-over-electronic-tagging

Capita: https://www.times-series.co.uk/news/17318488.capita-rejects-report-2m-fraud-barnet-council/

Google dumps 12,000 employees after project probe

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Re: Working from Home might have a big advantage

"Let's try getting this working by making all the politicians and parliament workers start by working from home"

MPs have always worked in hybrid mode - part of the week in Westminster, part of the week in the constituency (and for some, part of the week "consulting" private equity firms and other dubious organisations).

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Re: Competition

"The non-compete clauses are typically unenforceable"

Not really talking about post-employment non-compete clauses here - more about employing people to keep them off the market

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Re: Competition

Just in case any big orgs are reading this: feel free to hire me at a vast wage to do nothing as part of your scheme to deprive competitors of my "talent"...

Netflix changes CEO-sharing arrangement, teases paid password-sharing

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Re: Netflix will die...

You've identified the right dynamic and drawn completely the wrong lesson. If streamers are just the intermediaries between content owners and consumers, then they just become Yodel for media files, and everyone knows what Yodel/Evri are like.

Producing original content is a way to differentiate the platform and win/retain subscribers. The reason why streamers have invested such a gigantic amount into content creation is because they want to reduce churn. It's not because they'll make money on that particular show. If streamers stop spending money on content, no-one else will take their place.

This is a VC- and debt-funded content bubble - sit back and enjoy the fruits while it lasts. We will be back to gruel soon enough

Bringing cakes into the office is killing your colleagues, says UK food watchdog boss

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Re: Free healthcare

There are very few "NHS dentists". Most dentists in the UK do both private and NHS work in varying proportions, and are private sector workers. Your friend might get their appointment subsidised by the NHS, but the next patient for the same dentist might be paying privately.

Microsoft axes 10,000, already breaking bad news to staff

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Re: Microsoft always follows IBM, with a 10-20 year delay.

"Those jobs will magically re-appear in India and other dirt-cheap labor markets."

Is India a dirt cheap labour market? Last time i looked into it, it was more expensive than you'd expect, difficult, and with a work culture that required a lot of management time. But that was pre-COVID...

AI lawyer to fight first legal case in court, startup claims

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"DoNotPay will pay any lawyer or person $1,000,000 with an upcoming case in front of the United States Supreme Court to wear AirPods and let our robot lawyer argue the case by repeating exactly what it says."

1) a lawyer is unlikely to take the $1m, not least because they have an obligation to the client to act in their best interests and an obligation to the court to act in the interests of justice. Neglecting those obligations and just repeating what a computer tells you because some dudebro paid you is bribery. This shows poor ethics and ignorance of the law on the part of DoNotPay. It's not a great start.

2) US Supreme Court cases have profound impacts on large numbers of people - sometimes they are literally and death matters: abortion, the death penalty, jury fixing. It would be wildly irresponsible to spin the roulette wheel and let some AI take a swing at it just for the lolz

Russians say they can grab software from Intel again

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Re: Reality is starting to bite...

"China, India and even Turkey standing firm with Putin."

India bought some cheap oil and then Modi told Putin in public that now is not the time for war. Turkey has allowed a stream of Bayraktars to flow to Ukraine - a few months after outmaneouvering Russia in a small victorious war in the Caucasus. And China has been rubbing its hands at the prospect of Russia becoming increasingly dependant on Chinese imports and investment on whatever terms Xi desires...

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Re: Warranty obligations ?

"I don't see that Russian citizens or corporations are in a position to sue anybody outside of Russia"

It ain't that simple, Hoss.

1) Intel and Microsoft almost certainly still have property, companies, bank accounts and employees in Russia. It takes YEARS to make everyone redundant and wind up companies, esp in current conditions. They are exposed in Russia. There may also be local distributors or intermediaries

2) There are many foreign courts that will enforce debt judgments issued by Russian courts.

3) There is nothing to stop Russian licensees suing in foreign courts (if the contract allows for it).

If "we" want US companies to stop trading with Russia, "we" should make it illegal for them to do so. Most trade with Russia remains perfectly legal - the sanctions are still pretty narrow in scope.

Third-party Twitter apps stopped dead with no explanation from El Musko

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Re: The meltdown continues

"Because Musk is capable of putting together some very clever people and then making things come to life."

Musk is certainly capable of it (just like Trump could have hired "all the best people", as he promised). But that doesn't seem to be his plan for Twitter.

Ex-Twitter Brits launch legal challenge against dismissal

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Headmaster

ACKCHUALLY

"The UK's Employment Tribunal presides over cases from employees..."

In fact here are many tribunals (not just one), and they aren't a UK body. The English and Welsh employment tribunals are different from those in Scotland, and Northern Ireland has both industrial tribunals and a fair employment tribunal.

https://www.judiciary.uk/courts-and-tribunals/tribunals/employment-tribunal/employment-tribunal-england-wales/work-of-the-employment-tribunal/what-is-the-employment-tribunal/

https://www.employmenttribunalsni.co.uk

Russian meddling in 2016 US presidential election was weak sauce

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Re: It doesn't have to influence by *much*

"The remainers have moaned and moaned about how they didn't actually lose the vote..."

This is rubbish. I am a remainer and a remoaner, but I have never seen anyone serious suggest that "we" didn't get fewer votes.

Larry Ellison mea culpa as traffic cop stops Big Red boss on own island

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"nothing changes for the inhabitants except the name on the cheque they write for their rent..."

That is NOT true for the residents of Lanai unfortunately: Larry Ellison is interfering in their private lives and using hia power as landlord and owner of almost every business on the island to do so.

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2022-oracle-larry-ellison-lanai-hawaii-plans-tourism/#xj4y7vzkg

Virgin Orbit doesn't

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Re: Had it been a success....

"and anybody else is either lucky or a world class con artist..."

But Branson is literally a con artist - convicted of defrauding the taxman for subsidies by lying about the origin and destination of LPs.

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"the UK Space Agency insisted they posed no danger and were expected to burn or break up over the north Atlantic..." https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jan/09/uks-first-orbital-rocket-mission-takes-off-from-cornwall

Ah well, what's a bit more Branson-generated e-waste in the ocean? They were so keen to have a "British" launch but were apparently much less bothered about the rubbish at sea.

US schools sue Meta, Google and friends over 'youth mental health crisis'

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Re: Its an update of an old custom

This is not a class action lawsuit. The rest of your conspiratorial wibblings can be safely ignored.

Twitter data dump: 200m+ account database now free to download

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The importance of Twitter depends on who you are and what you use it for. If you're a generic middle-aged IT drone whose opinions are the received consensus anyway, you probably do see it as just a bunch of crap. If you're a gay guy in an oppressive environment where you'd be ostracised (at best) for being open about it, Twitter is a lifeline - and being publicly connected to that account could be terrifying.

And that's not even mentioning various data streams and apps that rely on Twitter to spread useful info cheaply and quickly...

The CES tat bazaar: Bike desks, AI-powered bird feeders, and the smelloverse

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"that didn't stop it ambushing journalists at CES, including the BBC's Zoe Kleinman, with... well, I'm not sure what that is. An anchor?"

I think it's a letter W followed by an anchor. Not sure what that spells...

Forget the climate: Steep prices the biggest reason EV sales aren't higher

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Consumers' price expectations aren't unrealistic...

"Three quarters of US consumers want to spend less than $50k on their next vehicle..."

That's entirely realistic and not really a barrier for EV (or hybrid) sales: the average price of a new car in the US is already $48,000. (As an side - does anyone else think this is a HUGE amount of money? I consider myself very lucky to have a good job, but the idea of spending almost fifty grand on a new car is bewildering).

https://www.coxautoinc.com/market-insights/kbb-atp-september-2022/#:~:text=The%20average%20price%20paid%20for,Book%2C%20a%20Cox%20Automotive%20company.

India's fix for its online gaming indust... Oh. Self-regulation

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No copy of the actual rules available...?

The era of cloud colonialism has begun

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Re: So... What's your solution?

"it looks like the author will rather have those Africans go without internet access altogether than have them get access to GMail or Amazon services."

The author couldn't give a monkey's about African connectivity - it's just a smug wrapper for his disdain for big tech companies. And it's fine to criticise big tech, it does awful things, but spare us the concern trolling.

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Mushroom

This article is an abomination

The only colonialist things this article identifies are the smug prejudices that of Tobias Mann and The Register itself.

The story here is one of massive growth in demand for tech and connectivity in Africa and Lat Am. As even bloody Microsoft recognises, "one of the most important markets in the world, with the fastest growing population, projected to grow from 1.4 billion to almost 1.7 billion by 2030. It’s the youngest continent in the world with a median age of under 20 and 60% of the population under the age of 25." The projects announced are being executed in partnership with African tech companies and in response to African consumers' demand.

And yet Mann has written this article through the lens of colonialism (which ended 65 years ago in Ghana, where one of the projects is located) and presents African and Lat Am consumers and techies as mere unsophisticated objects, without agency, who will be grateful for blankets.

Did he bother speaking to any African tech companies that will be executing the projects? Did he seek comment from African techies about their markets? No, he just relied on press releases from Seattle and Silicon Valley. Perhaps if he HAD made the effort to speak to those people, he wouldn't have used such condescending, outdated, colonialist arseburgers.

Meet the merry pranksters who keep the workplace interesting, if not productive

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Re: Pranking is abuse

The sign of a fun prank is at the end of it, everyone including the target finds it genuinely amusing. But there are plenty of bullies, dipshits and YouTubers that think "c'mon, bro, it's a prank" is an excuse for bullying or abusive behaviour.

Crypto craziness craps out – and about time too

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Re: False arguments

"the way that it creates scarcity..."

This is 1980s monetarism reinvented (and it's still rubbish).

China reportedly bars export of homebrew Loongson chips to Russia – and everywhere else

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Re: How about some arithmetic

"these countries do not allow drugs dealers to poison their youth with fentanyl..."

I don't know about China, but there is a HUGE drug (and, in Russia, alcohol) addiction problem in Russia and Iran. Anyone with a passing familiarity with those countries knows this.

"Iran currently has one of the world’s highest rates of drug addiction. The United Nation’s Office on Drugs and Crime reports the country has the world’s second-highest rate of opium addiction and the highest rate of heroin and opium addiction per member of the population."

http://ijer.skums.ac.ir/article_21148_0.html

"Russia has one of the world’s biggest heroin problems, with up to three million addicts according to local non-governmental organizations...The Russian government estimates its citizens bought $17 billion worth of street-traded heroin last year -- about seven billion doses. The addiction kills at least 30,000 Russians a year, which is a third of the world’s total heroin-related deaths...so grave is the problem that President Dmitry Medvedev last year branded heroin a threat to national security."

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-heroin-idUSTRE70O22X20110125

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Re: Oh No! Anyway....

"Basing alot of their own military off a template of Soviet/Russia is seeming like a bad choice right now."

It's been a long time (maybe 60 years?) since China was dependent on whatever weapons Moscow allotted to it. They have their own massive defence sector.

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