* Posts by Jorba

13 publicly visible posts • joined 1 Feb 2012

How much of one year's Californian energy use would wipe out the drought?

Jorba

Alternatively...

They could stop growing monsoon crops in the desert.

California rice?

'It's NOT FAIR!' yell RICH KIDS ... and that's a GOOD THING

Jorba

Re: Experimental design

These two variables do tend to change together ;o)

CONSUMERISM IS PAST ITS SELL-BY DATE: Die now, pay later

Jorba

We need a Worstall response

Makes some points, but there are some serious economic flaws here.

US Republican enviro-vets: 'Climate change is real. Deal with it'

Jorba

Rucklehaus, you've got to be kidding

This is the guy who gave us the second hand smoke rubbish. Saying, in effect, at that hearing that the second hand smoke crowd hadn't proved their point scientifically, but he was going to find for them anyway.

And we're supposed to believe him now?

These are exactly the sort of chicken little alarmists who cause the problem, they're not getting paid off (except for their EPA salaries and the consequent increase in it's range and power, and by extension their own). But they still have an agenda and a willingness to cast the truth aside when it doesnt suit their purposes.

NSA Prism: Why I'm boycotting US cloud tech - and you should too

Jorba

Generally agree with your points, but if you think that the UK is any better, or that capture by "agendas" is any better than capture by the "almighty dollar" then you need to think again. This trashing of basic concepts has been going on for the last century as all western governments have been subverting the threat posed to them by democracy by teaching the man in the street that they are dependent on the the government.

It is actually a credit to the US, that this sort of thing still raises such a furor. The reaction to the snoopers charter in the UK is negligible by comparison. Whether it actually makes a difference is another question.

And the ECHR being the most important document in history? Thats just bent.

Warming: 6°C unlikely, 2°C nearly certain

Jorba

But it's not certain there's even a trend

No one seems to have taken notice of the fact that the (UK) Met office was forced recently to admit to parliament that there has been no statistically significant warming trend since 1880.

i.e. there's no trend, there's nothing to suggest temperatures will increase. It's all random natural variability.

Huawei: 'trust us, we are being transparent'

Jorba

missing the point

It's not about percentages, or using the same suppliers as anyone else. I dont know enough about chip design to comment, but a "sneak" circuit will take, what, 2%, .0.2% 0.0000001% who knows.The problem is simple. People, with good reason, don't trust the Chinese govt, who can say "do whatever" and Huaiwei doesn't have a choice. The same people don't trust the US or UK governments either. What they do trust is that neither of the latter can tell anyone to do anything nasty without a public hue and cry.

So it's not actually about trust. It's about a scenario where trust is even an option. China doesnt cut it. Frankly neither does Iran or Saudi (NK is a given).

The ironic thing is that these are the factors that will bring down the chinese, iranian, saudi and N Korean govts within the next fifty years. It will also issue, at some point, a sharp reversal to the western world, where the out of touch leaders are content to piss all over free speech/constitution/plain common sense etc

This is not just my preference. Liberty has an economic value - the reason why the west is ahead of the rest of the world, over the last 200 years.

Messy times ahead

Jorb

And the latest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize is ... the EU?

Jorba
Angel

Had to happen now

Not really the sort of thing they can do posthumously.

Senate hears Microsoft and HP avoided billions in US taxes

Jorba
FAIL

Perfect Example

This comment section plus the authors attitude is a perfect example of why we find ourselves in such a dire situation globally in the first place. The idea that governments do, and should, provide everything is hopelessly flawed.

Communications infrastructure is not supplied by government but by a plethora of private companies working both in cooperation and competition. Education is supplied mostly by government only because they've forced themselves in their and effectively removed most of the competition. And then consider the fact that the population is NOT generally well educated. Pretty much everything government does, it does badly. The NHS or the BBC provide further glaring examples.

Government finances are in such an abysmal state not because people haven't paid more tax. The strategies outlined in the article are nothing new and the tax take has not fallen prodigiously in recent years. Rather, it's because the government themselves have been pissing money away at an inconceivable rate. If you or I behaved the way they do - with a complete disregard for reality - we'd be broke within a year. Considering the way it's often done, probably in gaol too.

Government, in the form of taxes, regulation and outright stupidity, are not the enablers of a successful economy, they are a drag on it. The most successful economies are the ones where government limits it's involvement and lets people get on with it. Singapore, mentioned in the article, is a perfect example. The tax rates are lower and the services - mostly privately provided - are cheaper and FAR superior to anything government provided elsewhere in the world.

The only ethical obligation one has regarding tax is to minimise the amount of it you pay. Quite apart from the personal incentive, it limits how much money they have to play with and therefore the damage they can do.

And in answer to the question about service companies - having your money paid offshore and borrowing it back falls, unfortunately, under the heading of "its not illegal until you get caught". In order to do the things that MS etc are doing you need an international revenue base and don't bring it all back onshore. If you're on a paycheck or a small operator, your only option is to move yourself to a lower tax regime (i.e. country). I've done it. It's very liberating.

Who queues for an iPhone 5? Protesters, hipsters and the jobless

Jorba

Intl. talk like a pirate day?

Is this in support of pirate bay, or have youjust hired a cornish editor?

All your staplines have a parrot on their shoulder.

wtf

Why don't the best techies work in the channel?

Jorba

Dom - always a pleasure

I'm a died in the wool techie, but with aspirations to not be completely antisocial ;o) Your articles are always a joy to read. However you miss one important point, as people who have followed the money always do. The diametric here is doing a good job (most techies) vs making more money and bugger what it actually means/costs (everybody else). How do you bridge the gap so you can make money by doing a good job. In the larger world look at amazon - better prices and service - vs any large consulting outfit - there's more money to be made prolonging a problem than fixing it. There is a way - amazon, oreilly, dell (but not for the past 10 years) etc. What is it?

Why I'd pay Apple more to give iPad factory workers a break

Jorba
FAIL

Anyone get basic economics?

If you really want to object to Apple (which I have no problem with) then you should be taking issue with their walled garden philosophy. The conditions at the Foxconn factories are already far better than the Chinese average. Should this stupidity actually gain any traction it will actually hurt workers/conditions in China by slowing/reversing conditions.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/01/30/the-apple-boycott-graphically-explained/

Jorba
Thumb Down

Apple Margin

Apples margin for the entire company (profit/revenue) is 44.7%. This is not unit margin, this is after all the overheads and indirect costs are taken into account. So the unit margin (gross profit/revenue) will be considerably higher. It's all in their last annual report.

As for the cloners. There are two big differences between Apple and the PC world.

1. Superior design and marketing - no one's been able to match their products, although the various android vendors are getting closer

2. IP and patents - which Apple guard viciously. Just ask Samsung