15 Feb 2009
Eternal revenue

The man has a point ...

Of all the things I miss about home, I never thought I would feel nostalgic about Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

And I also muse on one of the many paradoxes of this country. It fought for its independence from the British Crown to escape the burden of unfair taxes. Now it has one of the most complicated tax codes in the world.

The new Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, said he had made a "careless mistake" in not declaring $34,000 (£23,000) in back taxes.

How could that be? One of the sharpest minds in finance, co-author of the hugely complex and expensive bailout plan for the US banks, and he cannot even fill in a tax form accurately?

I used to have my doubts. But now I am inclined to believe him.

(link) [BBC News]

10:44 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Happy Birthday, Delphi!

Borland Delphi 1Fourteen years since 1995, and the introduction of what's still, in my not so humble opinion, the finest RAD toolset on the market. I'm still using Delphi, and even more it's C++ Builder cousin, although I daresay it's come a long way since it's 16 bit, Windows 3.1 origins.

Sure I bitch about it at times, and moan about various new "features" added that I feel detract from the product. But I still use it daily to write more code faster, with better code quality, than I could do with any other tool out there. And that counts for alot in todays environment.

00:17 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Happy Birthday, Ravenswood!

1993 was a long time ago. And much has changed. But some things have not, and Ravenswood is one of them. There are new members, to be sure, and some of the old ones (including two of the founding members) have left. But Ravenswood itself remains. And today we gathered for the 17th time to celebrate the Feast of Vali.

And it pleases me to announce that Lorraine Haxton, my lovely wife and the love of my life, was today oathed to the Kindred of Ravenswood. Hail Ravenswood! Hail Lorraine! (And on a more secular note, Happy Valentines Day, honey!)

00:12 /Asatru | 2 comments | permanent link