Posts by Mephistro

True. I'd also propose old legumes. When they're a few months old, the seed's "skin" produces some polysaccharides that somehow disrupt the gut flora and cause megaton-level farts. "New" legumes don't cause so many farts, but they're usually more expensive.

So this could be caused by a change in providers, a way of cutting corners or a simple lack of foresight by the company.

I also agree with other fellow commentards that pointed to the lack of quality control.

Re: Sounds like a token.

"This is about raising revenue from the fines"

And probably also about having another tool to investigate/harass dissidents.

Re: Not sure what these senators had to gain

" ...but why should US senators support Apple paying $14.5 billion less to the IRS?"

Though is not clear enough in the article (IMO), the speech the Competition Commissioner gave to the Copenhagen Business School says literally: "And it was their investigation into Apple - and US transparency rules - that tipped us off that the company might have received State aid."

So it's not that US senators contacted the EU Competition Commission and told them about the scam, just that the EU read the Senate investigation reports and used them as a base for their own investigation.

Regarding your first paragraph, I think the issue here is not those $14.5 billion not going to the US Treasury, but not a single $ reaching the US, unless the Government drops its pants and bends over by lowering the corporate tax to Third World levels, instead.

Of course, any honest Senator* could/should have called The EU Competition Commission and told them about this, but the Occam's Razor suggests that it's far more probable that the EU Commissioner read the reports and acted accordingly, without any need to include unicorns, fairies and honest Senators.;-)

Re: not really an adult conversation here

"are secure devices and communications worth it?"

No, they aren't. If we lose them, we only need to sacrifice very minor things like security, privacy, e-commerce, free speech in the web, banking -including teller machines and credit cards-...

</sarcasm>

FYI, your debate was probably carried out more than two millennia ago, and there was a clear winner.

Seriously now, this stupid debate would also be a massive exercise in futility, as the bad guys won't give a flying fuck about the outcome. They'll simply keep using cryptography themselves and robbing blind anyone who doesn't.

Re: I don't get it.(@ Luke Worm & AC)

I'd like to add that Eire also has laws against such "tax arrangements". Funny, the way politicians sometimes wipe they arses with their own countries laws and then shout bloody murder when they get caught.

Fuck'em all with a cactus!

Re: Change in contract terms ?

To those who disagree with Mr. alain williams comment:

I'd be really surprised if the cost of services 'over the bundle' wasn't clearly specified in the original contracts. If this was the case, the contract would be saying, basically: "We will charge you whatever we want for services not included in the bundle", which would make the contract invalid in most (civilized) countries.

Re: I've been dragging my heels over Skype...

The "Personal" version is free. The free trials are for the "Enterprise" paid versions. Not that this info is too easy to find on their site. ;-)

Crossing my fingers on that they'll keep the Personal version free, though.

Re: In the middle of the noughties...

That's true, but one would expect the managers or owners to perform some due diligence, find some geek consultant with good references and ask (and pay) for his/her advice. If you are unsatisfied with said advice, you can ask for a second opinion. To a different guy, of course! ;-)

Alas, even doing this would probably give them a 50-50 chance, as lots of the people who claim to be geek wizs shouldn't be left alone with any piece of machinery more complex than a baby rattle. ;-)

Re: Kudos, Kaspersky

"It takes a real human to apologize."

T,FTFY

Re: To think that... (VinceH)

Have you tried updating the BIOS? I remember having read about a similar problem in some forum a few years ago, and the guy fixed it with a BIOS update.*

*Note: Unless it's one of those Chinese no-brand laptops they sell in the 'net, in which case you're probably screwed.

Re: Gaping chasm

"...it's full of _____ and ________"

Yeah, the similarities with a brothel are just amazing!

Re: Already happening folks!

"Like the story of the ETIHAD crew visiting France..."

I found this regarding that incident. An interesting read. Lots of similar articles in aviation sites, if you care to Google them.