What bemused you today?

[Mick]

Yet another reason to avoid DCM : http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/26/techradar_data_breach/

If you use the same password on other sites as you do on DCM, better change it/them just to err on the side of caution.

I was just reading this on the techradar site.  http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/techradars-registration-database-compromised-1086924

Thanks for the heads up. 

Wonder if the other 32 domains hosted on that server will have problems, or just techradar?

"TechRadar includes a number of old Future Publishing computing magazine forums that were migrated onto the TechRadar forum software a while ago, so if you have received the TechRadar Support alert email, it will be because you have an account with us, whether current or unused. So do please follow the advice outlined in the email and above."
 

[Hinfrance]

The Barclays fine.

I don't understand, at all. The bank (and no doubt others in due course) has been fined for negotiating with other banks the two key interbank lending rates.

Here's what puzzles me: interbank rates are just that, they are rates agreed between the banks themselves. No-one else is involved or has any influence on these rates other than the participating banks. And moreover they do not automatically use these rates in transactions between them, they are simply a starting point for negotiation.

I think what we are seeing here is a grumpy government that doesn't like the fact the one bank told them to take a hike when the bailouts were in full swing.

[Jonathan]

Here's what puzzles me: interbank rates are just that, they are rates agreed between the banks themselves. No-one else is involved or has any influence on these rates other than the participating banks.

Commercial mortgages are often based on LIBOR rather than base.  Plus the dealing rooms etc all work off LIBOR.  They stitched up people who have money - which never ends well

Plus the government get to tax, um I mean "fine", a group of people nobody likes for something nobody understands but that seems like it would be bad.  And dominate the news for the next 2 - 3 cycles.  That's not just win:win it's win:win:win:win.

ETA: on R4 this morning they pointed out that you can't conspire on your own.  So we know that at least one (probably all) other bank is involved.  And everybody hates Bob Diamond.  So much so that they had the boss of RBS on and didn't even mention computers, outsourcing or proper control of financial data.  Which was slightly odd considering the past week.

[Hinfrance]

I know what you mean Jonathan.

There are a lot of loans linked to LIBOR and EIBOR too, so the big borrowers would have benefited too.

I just think it's silly to penalise people/companies for trying to make the best of a bad job. When you go to buy a car you don't just walk in and say 'yep I'll pay the full price', you argue a bit to get a better price.

So true about RBS: the tax payer must have had to bail them out last week. The rule of thumb is that a commercial bank can last for three days max if they cannot settle their interbank and BoE positions at the end of the day. And if RBS couldn't process credits that would definitely apply to them.

As for the Beeb not mentioning the RBS situation; it's the Beeb - the Biased Broadcasting Company. Has been for years, alas.

[skellum]

Decided to order some more Ram for my studio computer yesterday and ordered it from Scan Computers ( Horwich ) near Chorley which is not very far from us but I did not have the time to get over there so I opted for next day delivery.
This morning just out of interest I checked the tracking service and found that at 23.38 pm it had arrived at Hub 3 Birmingham ( about 100 miles from us ) then arrived at Preston Depot this morning 06.05 am and is now out for delivery.
Just had a text message from the delivery driver to say it will arrive between 14.35 - 15.35.  Could of nipped over to Horwich myself this morning 

[Jonathan]

I just think it's silly to penalise people/companies for trying to make the best of a bad job. When you go to buy a car you don't just walk in and say 'yep I'll pay the full price', you argue a bit to get a better price.

Absolutely and this is what annoys me about all this "bank misselling" malarky.  I'm not stupid.  So I have never bought PPI.  Anybody who looks at it closely can tell it's a terrible buy.  But now my bank (i.e. me) has to pay money back to idiots who bought it.  Apparently one person has had £27,000 paid back.  Yes THEY PAID TWENTY SEVEN THOUSAND POUNDS as a premium against losing their job.  What an idiot.

The latest thing is that apparently SMEs that took out finance were sold some "complex products" to hedge against interest rates going up.  (Pretty much insurance against interest rate rises but said to be a lot more complicated so we feel sorry for them not understanding them.)  Well guess what - as the entire western world knew for a moral certainty, interest rates didn't go up, they went down.  A lot. (srsly - how can people borrowing money to run a business not look into these things???).  So now the banks (aka you and I) have to pay them back the money they have spent.

This is almost exactly the same as putting up your insurance premium to pay me back the money I paid in insurance that it turns out I didn't need because I wasn't burgled.  Or the casino refunding me the money I put on black at the roulette table because it actually came up red.

Really, people need to take responsibility for their actions.

[spinner]

Ordered some bulk CD cases from a site in California. They're specifically designed to be a desk calendar stand. A box of 100 was $30. They only offered UPS as a shipping option. Took the "cross country by mule" option as it was cheapest. Still cost me $36 to ship a $30 item. Got a call from UPS, before they'll bring it across the border into Canada, I have to pay, brokerage fee and account set up fee and some other fee. It's going to end up costing over $60 in shipping for this $30 package. Contacted customer service, at the CD supplier, told them I don't hold them to account for UPS, BUT if they don't offer U.S. Postal service, I won't be buying from them again. That was a week ago, they never even acknowledged my email. So I guess that decision's been made.

[ABERS]

Busy, Busy, Busy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18668643

Makes you wonder when he sleeps. I bet the missus never knows when to get the dinner on!

[ABERS]

This

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18696886

Bloke down the pub,Charlie Higgs, his missus has two enormous ones, what's all the fuss about? 

[spinner]

I was using my wife's lappy tonight, I'd given it to her as a handmedown a couple of years ago. I was trying to find a bookmark for Hotmail when I noticed one for Flickr. I'd completely forgotten I had a Flickr account. 

[ABERS]

Hearing that there were still some 400,000 Olympic tickets unsold I decided to see what was available for the Football tournament at Wembly. All I was offered was the Korea v Gabon match, one of the early rounds, and I could purchase up to 30 tickets. I'm a bit bemused as to why this match isn't a sell-out.

I also looked to see what Handball is, since football seems to be off the agenda. It looks like a game for those that are not very good at football, basketball and netball combined, but gives them an opportunity to run around a smallish indoor pitch scoring at least a goal a minute. In the short film I watched the goalkeepers never made one save and at half time the score was 11-11. The moral being that if you're not too good at the aforementioned games, it looks like Handball is the game for you, providing you can keep count!

P.S. I wonder if you can get sent off for a deliberate foot ball

[Sarasocke]

It's always interesting to see what games are played in diferent countries. Netball is completely unknown here but handball is a national sport. Actually it's quite a hard and fast game and injuries are common. Looking back to my netball days at school, I can't remember any getting injured, apart from maybe frostbite standing around in the cold, it not being allowed to move if you have the ball. A daft game really to be played outside in winter in the north of England.

[irv_b]

Well what sadddened me really as it is about my football team (Pompey) that have a piece of my heart but is getting less each time I hear about this kind of thing.
It a bit long winded but needs to be read!

Nicked from FOL, a reminder to the myopic ones regarding the effect of the clubs irresponsible attitude to fans.

I saw this on Facebook and thought it worth pasting to here. This shows just how sick football is and makes me believe that the only way we'll be able to hold our heads high in our community again is to liquidate the current club and start again.

"A letter from a Pompey Fan:

Dear Pompey (whatever comany you are this 1/4er)

Your urgent request poped up on my RSS feed calling for CVA 2010 creditors to get in touch, so I felt obliged to contact you, although im not sure why really after the way PFC treats its local community, business partners and sponsors.

( http://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/Latest...tors-3538.aspx )

So, you want me to confirm I am satisfied that the club I used to love ruined my life? How about a little background...

I would like to point out that I was a victim in the previous Portsmouth 2010 administration, and as such I no longer run my freelance photography business as a result of the clubs collapse. A few thousand pounds may not mean much in the world of football but to a one man band like myself it is enough to ruin you. I now work in a shop, but at least I managed to keep my mortgage repayments up.

Now, as you are aware us creditors were pushed (I wont go as far as blackmailed) into accepting a CVA which payed a dividend of 20% of the original debt. The payment schedule was over a period of five years, however our first installment was pushed back to 2012. This was never going to solve the problems this administration had placed on my business, as a sole trader I knew it would finish me off either way and as such I simply voted with little care for myself.

Whilst I found it incredibly disturbing and deeply insulting to see the club continuing to sanction player purchases and associated salaries, I understand football and the nature of the beast of remaining competitive so it was something I had to accept, even though I was unable to continue my freelance work with the club.

To see the club go back into administration again this season was simply staggering, and discovering they had racked up more dozens of millions of debt, whilst never getting round to paying mine or any other poor souls from the creditors meetings a penny of our dividend, left me in a state of almost shock.

I am currently receiving correspondence from PKF regarding the 2012 administration (despite having to wind my business up), and I am told the original 2010 CVA debt will now be diluted into a 2012 CVA, and as such the 20% dividend will now be 2% of 20%.

What a generous offer from Mr Chainrai!

As a result my original debt in full will have gone from approximately £3000 to £12, and more importantly without my consent this time round. Not that I really had a say last time round, as Andronikou kept finding more debts to the point he magically produced the 75% he needed to stop HMRC liquidating the club.

That is absolutely scandalous and I cant help but think that if I tried to behave like that, I would be in prison by now!

As I have mentioned, I had to wind my business (and dreams) up so the debts owed to me are irrelevant what ever percentage they finally decide this time round.


So thats my background. Now I will consider your question again, am I in favour of CVA MKI being diluted into CVA MKII without my consent?

Let me highlight the financial consideration again: £3000 * 20% * 2% = £12 (with no consent)

How about you go and choke. You can shove your CVA and stick your proposals on an expensive trip to Gibraltar. My life is in ruins because of your behaviour, I want to see PFC struck right down to the lowest level of the game, only then will I continue to support the club I formerly loved that destroyed everything I had built up.

I sincerely hope you can understand quite how much distress this has cause myself and my family.

Regards

P*** ******

PFC fan 1965 - 2010"

[jinky]

My old boss was a Pompey fan and my heart bleeds for them all. I have to say that I am almost relieved that Ashley, much as I hate him for the terrible PR gaffs he makes, has thus far saved my club Newcastle from going the same way by modifying the excesses of spending and being lucky with it along the way thanks to a couple of excellent managers and scouts.

I must say in the case above that if a £3k debt was enough to make the guy wind up his business he was obviously on  shaky ground to start with but it does not stop the hurt of losing that amount to a gang of crooks.

[donoreo]

I am now able to access the site from work again.  Due to some changes being made, I can now access CC again.