End of an era

Posted on 14-Nov-2017 by Richard Carter

BBC: Old £10 note to disappear next year
If you still have any old £10 notes, make sure you spend them before 1 March next year.
The Bank of England has announced that the old paper notes, featuring naturalist Charles Darwin, will no longer be legal tender after that date.

So, the Darwin tenner will become extinct next March. It had a good run, and was superior in all respects to the Jane Austen note that's replacing it.

Jen's brother almost hit the nail on the head the other week. He complained that the newfangled plastic notes can't be folded properly to slip into his pocket. Being plastic, they keep trying to unfold.

Close, but no banana.

The real reason the new plastic notes are so dreadful is that they frequently won't slip nicely into your wallet because some animal without fully opposable thumbs has tried to fold it to slip inside their walletless pocket.

So, everyone loses.

Memory bank

Posted on 22-Oct-2015 by Richard Carter

Things my bank expects me to remember when using their machines/online banking facilities:

Account No
Sort Code
Bank card PIN
Internet Banking ID
Internet Banking Password
Answer to ridiculously obscure security question 1
Answer to ridiculously obscure security question 2
Answer to ridiculously obscure security question 3
Answer to ridiculously obscure security question 4
Special Visa password for purchasing stuff online
Mobile app password
Security key fob PIN
Where I put the bloody security key fob.

And I mustn't write any of these things down anywhere, because that wouldn't be secure.

But it's OK, because they've now simplified matters by allowing me (or anyone else in possession of my card) to buy stuff simply by waving my card at some detector by the checkout.

Bill Gates' Cost-Benefit Calculation

Posted on 27-Jun-2001 by Richard Carter

During one of my many idle moments last week, I wondered how much money Bill Gates would have to drop before it was worth his while bending over to pick it up.

During one of my many idle moments this week, I decided to work it out…

Assumptions made:

Bill Gates' personal worth is approximately $78.74 billion.
Even if he doesn't sell a single Microsoft product ever again, with this kind of money in the bank, Bill can expect to earn at least 10% p.a. in interest.
It would take Bill 2 seconds to pick up the carelessly dropped money.
There are approximately 31,557,600 seconds in a year.

Calculation:

Interest earned by Bill Gates in 2 seconds =

($78.74 billion X 10% ÷ 31,557,600) X 2 =

$499

i.e. In answer to my original question, Bill Gates has to drop at least $500 before it is worth his while bending over to pick it up.

… And the nutter still works for a living!