Posts by John Brown (no body)

Re: Cat ... bag ...

"Is this option still available to the UK tax payer?"

Yes. They even send you a letter some years before state retirement age to let you know that you are behind on payments so you can decide if it's worth buying back the "missing years". My wife got that letter as she was 4 years down from being entitled to a full state pension. We decided it was worth paying the missing bit and now she gets full pension.

Re: HMRC RTI

Could the pitfalls of IR35 apply?

Re: even by the standards of 1600s - FFS

"What do they call 20th Century Fox now??"

Disney :-)

Re: ..a gut-wrenching decision for White Castle's legal team..

"Environmental Health dept,"

Thanks! I was having a brain fart and for the life of me could not remember the department name and wasn't making the assumption you were in the UK either.

And ta for the fuller explanation of what happened despite the almost "too much detail" :-)))

If you use commodity fingerprint readers with commodity software and it happens to be or become a popular system then miscreants gaining access to that database of fingerprint hashes could probably find a way to inject the hashes into other systems using the same h/w & s/w to gain access as that person.

Fortunately, as yet, there are not that many occasions where a person is expected to use a fingerprint scan for access to system so it's unlikely they will beusing the same type of system at multiple locations/organisations. In effect, it's currently security by obscurity, which we all know is not good security.

Re: ...and just how are people expected to log into a system?

"but try getting a signature from a dead guy!"

Trump, and some of his cronies, seemed to think that was quite a significant issue at the last election and caused their "not really defeat, it was really a win" result, even without evidence.

Re: I'll take two.

limited liability only relates the liability of the owners in relation to debts the company may have. It's nothing to do with the company liability to illegal or criminal actions. At best, it might partially protect the owners from bankruptcy inducing levels of fines, but that depends on the why the fines were levied and if the court decides the owners may be personally responsible.

Re: ..a gut-wrenching decision for White Castle's legal team..

If there were multiple people having the same illness from eating certain foods, you really ought have reported that to whatever the local equivalent of Trading Standards, Food Standards Agency or local council department responsible for food sellers. Just being greasy doesn't usually cause the shits. That's most likely some variant of food poisoning.

Re: Avalanche

"Good to see some are being taken to task over their total failing to follow the law."

Yes, but this isn't law enforcement, the justice system or the regulators doing something. This is individuals kicking up a stink, gaining publicity, forming class actions etc.

"The case, brought by an Illinois woman...". So not even a case of reporting it to the authorities to start the action. She had to actually bring her own case to court before the legal system actually took notice. So how much else is going where people have neither the funds or ability to start an "action" and are being ignored when reporting it?

Re: Only the first one counts?

I wonder why so many are jumping on the less useful murder analogy and ignoring the far more pertinent robbery analogy? Are there vested interests or other motives behind it?

Re: Is privacy really the issue?

There's already gait analysis. The real question in my mind though is WHY does a VR headset need to send back such an enormous amount of telemetry on even the slightest movement or interaction? But then I stop and think about who it is collecting the data and realise they don't care. They just collect EVERYTHING and then find a use for it afterwards, however creepy that may be. Linking VR identity data to a specific person is probably the easiest part of it considering what's already been collected on you even before you first attach a VR headset.

Re: air CON

Go easy on him, he's only been here just under two years. He's still a n00b ;-)

Re: OTA updates of safety related software?

I see where you are coming from, but in this case they are updating to a precisely known platform, both in terms of hardware and soft/firmware with no additional user installed 3rd party apps or miscellaneous 3rd party hardware and drivers. Assuming they don't cock up and push an update intended for the wrong platform/software version :-)

Re: Complete stop

usually at high speed with entire disregard for the junction because it has "right of way"

A nice and proper use of quotes there to highlight some peoples (mis)understanding of but not realty of roundabout usage :-)

Surprisingly few people understand that "right of way" on a roundabout is given to those already ON the roundabout, not just to those coming from the right.

Re: Complete stop

That happens on mini roundabouts too. There used to be a three way one on my route. It got to the point where so many people were being timid about "who goes first" that I almost always went first. Never had a bump or caused a bump there and, of course, once I went over, the guy to the right of me could also go 'cos the guy on the left now had to give way to me so we all got moving again :-)

(It was basically a T junction, my direction being straight over the "cross bar" of the T and the majority of the traffic coming the other way over the T crossbar was also going straight over, so careful watching of indicators and drivers faces at all times :-))

Re: Complete stop

"while most junctions use 'give way', not 'Stop'"

Yes, "most". I don't know about the rest of Europe, but in the UK there are both Give Way and Stop junctions, Give Way being in the majority. Broken "give way" lines + Give Way signs and solid "stop" lines with Stop signs.

Highway Code Rule 171

You MUST stop behind the line at a junction with a ‘Stop’ sign and a solid white line across the road. Wait for a safe gap in the traffic before you move off.

Re: FSD - No chance

"Doesn't even know the speed limit for a significant proportion of the time."

Really? That's pretty piss poor. My unconnected but regularly updated satNav rarely shows an incorrect speed limit on the display. Usually, it's because the map update lags the real world changes, as you'd expect, but this attentive and human driver can read the road signs. But a car with cameras AND a built-in, internet connected SatNav should have the most recent mapping data AND be able to detect and read speed limit signs. The only excuse ought to be where there are changed speed limits AND the signs are missing or obscured.

Re: Recall is right..

It's quite likely also that "recall" may have some legal (IANAL!!) ramifications too in that it's a (now) known manufacturing defect which has safety implications and therefore MUST be attended to within some time limits set out in the certification of the vehicle.

And as the other poster said, it's also about customer perception, something Musk is well aware of with his use of "Full Self Driving" and "Autopilot" that was and is clearly aimed at setting a certain level of perception that "Driver assist" or "Advanced Cruise Control" might not.

Re: Pop-corn shortage

"It was good for the first few metric tonnes..."

I always find that an odd phrase. It's usually Americans who use it, but not always. In almost the entire world, a "metric ton" is just a ton because we all use metric anyway. Worse, the implication of "metric ton" in the way it's commonly stated, it's a BIG amount. And yet, a metric ton is smaller than the commonly used US ton.

Re: Pop-corn shortage

Oh. I was expecting you to tell us Olympus Mons was the Solar Systems biggest popcorn maker :-)

Re: Get the USB or HDMI standards people to sort this

So? RS232 and similar were doing that decades before USB or HDMI were even invented :-)

Ditto BNC plugs. Network? Video? If video, is it R, G, B, Hsync, Vsync, Sync on Composite? Plug it in and hope, wonder if the coloured cables actually match the function.

And let's not even go NEAR the many and varied DIN plugs used for so many and varied functions, often wired differently even for the same function because of different manufactures kit.

Re: Why Does it Need an App

"your individual card becoming worn and unreliable to read."

Are you still "swiping" mag-stripe cards or something? I've never had a modern chip'n'PIN card fail to read other than rare occasions when maybe a quick wipe of the contacts is needed. Mine have never reached the stage where I'd call it unreliable before the replacement/expiry date.

Re: Dollar vs Gold

The graph for "All data"! has a remarkably similar shape to the one for the value for bitcoin over it's lifespan. So other than Bitcoin being more volatile, I can't see what point you are making. Care to elaborate?

Re: Not a very good exchange token

...or a fire hose :-)

Post-apocalypse, the last place you want to be visiting is the environs of a large city anyway. Everyone knows that's where the zombie come from! And/or very hungry survivors, possibly masses of them, looking for rural types like you who have food :-)