In 1994, HM Customs & Excise decided that since the introduction of VAT in 1973, they had been wrong to categorise Marks & Spencer's tea cakes as 'biscuits wholly covered in chocolate' (hence liable to the full rate of VAT) … Continue reading
"Wigan have had a dream start. They were at two games and no points and if that run had continued they would've been in a bit of trouble." Let's look at that… Wigan's 'dream start' consisted of them losing their … Continue reading
I hope someone asks him if he regrets not contesting the previous one. I still think a) he knows that had he stood, he would have beaten Michael Howard but b) he chose to step aside then because he knew … Continue reading
It'd have helped if Partition Magic was honest about what its system requirements really were, but a theoretically simple upgrade managed to stop my PC from booting thanks it to going 'oooh, there's something odd about the partition table' and … Continue reading
"A few years back, Mr Mandela arrived at the restaurant I worked at in Westminster. It was my job to serve him his carrots. While doing so, I felt compelled to ask him a personal question – a once in … Continue reading
The free oyster money has reminded me of a vending machine at the Students Union at Reading which, one of the games group discovered, would treat the fifth 2p coin given to it in any one transaction as a 10p. … Continue reading
If you use pre-pay oyster on London's transport network, you've probably seen the news that if you set up 'auto top-up' (when you're using the Underground and the balance goes below a fiver, £20 will automagically be extracted from your … Continue reading
Today's was from someone who's being charged under section nine of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. While talking to them, I check just what that is… ah, sexual activity with a child. Just let me run this past you to … Continue reading
Work has a phone line for an alarm system to call out and go 'help help, the place is being burgled!!'. It also doubles as the line for clients' internet access (we reckon that as the alarm is off while … Continue reading
I remember using it when it was very much in 'beta' (a habit they've kept!) following a recommendation on cix. At the time Alta Vista – which was then something like www.altavista.digital.com – had been the most useful search engine, … Continue reading