Forgive me Jane, but please just f**k off? You've caused enough trouble as it is already.

Handover Finance.

Nice. Hand over fist I'd say.

Hanover was a respected company before Hotchin and Watson took over

My son thought that the weather updates on TV were sponsored by Handover Finance. He was on to something back then, but we didn't know it!

You're right, RoO; just looked it up and apparently Flac can handle up to 32 bits per sample, up to 1,048 Khz sampling rate, and up to 8 channels, which is to say (by my rough calculations) about 400 times as much as CD audio.

then you can sell it…

I think people assumed that there were laws in place that protected them from simply having their money stolen from them by their financial agents.

I'd support that law being passed. Under urgency, or otherwise.

I don't know if it passed under urgency, but fraud and theft by a trustee…

Hanover was a respected company before Hotchin and Watson took over

Top tip. When a financial institution copies the name of a (former) much larger, established bank, they're up to dodginess.

I think people assumed that there were laws in place that protected them from simply having their money stolen from them by their financial agents.

I'd support that law being passed. Under urgency, or otherwise.

"If I make an original track in Ableton, then the WAV/Flac export is the definitive version"

You're right, RoO; just looked it up and apparently Flac can handle up to 32 bits per sample, up to 1,048 Khz sampling rate, and up to 8 channels, which is to say (by…

Also we weren't supposed to warn people that the companies might collapse, because that would have caused a loss of confidence, and then they could have collapsed.

The economy is just a big pyramid scheme, isn't it? You've all been trying to keep this revelation from me with smoke and…

It's going to make managing retirement villages an unhappy task if a quarter or more of the residents have net eggs in danger.

New Zealander's have lost about 1.5 billion dollars to the finance companies in the last year. It represents a fairly large chunk of the retirement savings of…

Sorry to think your Mum got sucked in by these swine Russell, the ads were very persuasive

I should emphasise that she's not greatly in the hole with Hanover, but a lot of her peers are. It's going to make managing retirement villages an unhappy task if a quarter or…

If the purchases are disguised, then it's either illegal or should be so.

In this sense "lossless" means no loss in relation to CD audio.

in this sense waterboarding≠torture

u helped to redefine 'less loss' as 'lossless.'
disband the ministry of truth.

"If I make an original track in Ableton, then the WAV/Flac export is the definitive version"

Unfortunately there's next to no…

One thing…

I just suspect that wasn't the plan here, it was only sold once things started to fall over for them and it became obvious what they were doing.

I'm still kind of stuck on RoOz's ruse that any kind of digital audio could be lossless

Or even any kind of analog audio.

I reckon it depends on how the content was created. If I make an original track in Ableton, then the WAV/Flac export is the definitive version.…

"I really despair at the base level of intellect of these old dumb wits.

"My new rule is, I'm not going to spend any time with anyone aged over 60…

I'm still kind of stuck on RoOz's ruse that any kind of digital audio could be lossless.

In this sense "lossless" means no loss in relation to CD audio.

http://www.abc.net.au/dig/stories/s2316266.htm

the magic of compound interest is like the magic of perpetually rising property prices or…

"When you witness the herd of suicidal wilderbeast following the instructions of the crocodiles in how to cross the river…

The Maori Party says it cannot support the Government's controversial employment bill as it will hurt workers ... The Maori Party's employment spokesman, Hone Harawira, said the bill was essentially the same as the bill put up by National MP Wayne…

Maori to oppose Govt's controversial employment law
6:07PM Wednesday Dec 10, 2008
The Maori Party will support the Government's controversial employment law which makes it easier for workers to be…

Yachts DON'T inflate...

Unless they're of a very different model than the one pictured.

Yet this is clearly what the impressionable are being taught by the latest Pump Water "Pump Up Your Pay" TV spots (click here for Interwebby version).

Hell, they blame television's influence for everything else from ADHD…

Unless they're of a very different model than the one pictured.

Isn't that what all those people with "investment properties" are trying to do?

Yachts down inflate in value like a house does. They require tremendous maintenance to increase their value because everything on a yacht costs 2 – 10 times as much as it would on land.

Which would be…

In fact, you should probably get another one now and mirror them

The first goal is to make sure that I put the keyboard in a drawer and run the computer by remote/the buttons on the front. Backing up certainly has a lot to be said for it. Considering buying…

Beneficiaries…

If we followed the Koran charging and therefore profiting or losing from interest would not happen. I think so anyway?

Not really, while the degree of leverage may be lower, the principles of having to pay more for something over a long period of time mean that other methods are…

Kyle, that's not true at all. You can make money renting out yachts. Just as Hertz makes plenty of money buying brand new sedan cars as investments.

Technically the same, but from what I understand the super yacht business doesn't stack up the way.
The vast majority of them are…

Isn't that what all those people with "investment properties" are trying to do?

Well in recent times the rental yield doesn't cover the mortgage, so any gain relies on asset inflation more than covering the loss.

Yes, you can make money off an asset by renting it out, that's stretching 'investment' a long way.

Really?

Isn't that what all those people with "investment properties" are trying to do?

I'd recommend FLAC. It's lossless, which means the sound will be stored exactly as in the original data.

I'm not planning on getting rid of the original sources. Just my CDs are getting a bit scratched, and it is often very hard to find the one I want, or the…

Yes, you can make money off an asset by renting it out, that's stretching 'investment' a long way.

My late grandmother made all her "investments" at the TAB, bless her.

Kyle, that's not true at all. You can make money renting out yachts. Just as Hertz makes plenty of money buying brand new sedan cars as investments.

I don't think Hertz will call their cars investments, in the same way that you'd call putting money in a bank an investment.…

Yachts are money sinks. You buy them because you love what they give you, and don't mind the thousands of dollars they cost to keep 'ship-shape'.

A friend of mine once had an ocean going yacht he named 'Penury' to remind himself where it was taking him.

Danyl, it's all well and fine to be critical after the shit has publicly hit the fan, but where was the coverage before now?

Chris Lee, the Kapiti Coast investment adviser has been on the finance companies case for years.

Just a random click on his September 2007 archive…

Yachts are money sinks.

Helps if one works for the Hospital, Kyle...;-)

Buying a yacht as an investment is just a risky venture.

Buying a yacht as an investment is just silly. Yachts are money sinks. You buy them because you love what they give you, and don't mind the thousands of dollars they cost to keep 'ship-shape'.

Buying a brand new…

WINEBOX WINNERS AND LOSERS. By BRIAN GAYNOR.

28 August 1999. New Zealand Herald

Revenue Minister Sir William Birch made depressing comments after last week's High Court verdict that overturned key findings in the Winebox inquiry. He claimed that…

I used to claim that I couldn't hear the difference between a decent AAC and a .wav file but actually that was rubbish. No form of digital compression sounds as good as full audio. And as for like 128 mp3s, eeek they…

I tend to agree that people who get scammed are never themselves blameless. But financial literacy…

You can always batch convert the files to MP3 or Vorbis to…

beneficiary's as usual miss out on everything as the undeserving poor they never get tax cuts, as the govt lowers the base rate

Does anyone believe this?

So "beneficiary's" had a good run under Labour...obviously on the flipside someone else was having not such a good run and now that…

which they?

They as in the investors, I'd have thought that was obvious from the context.

any time someone loses your money they are incompetent and possibly crooked

Why? investments have risk. If you put money into a startup venture, for instance, then you will probably lose it, even if…

Not quite the only crookedness: using your finance company to buy yourself a yacht is pretty crooked; not necessarily illegal, but certainly crooked.

Buy oneself a yacht is crooked. Buying a yacht as an investment is just a risky venture. Very risky, I'd say, but if it's a small part…

whilst enjoying the freedom of getting a bit hot under the collar about things, when we find we need to replace the needle.

Or by a new record. On the quality, I tend to agree that a brand new vinyl did sometimes sound better than a CD. But my old…

Anger well..
When we live in a world we're we sincerely celebrate being…

It's not as if the business media are likely to start telling investors what scumbags these guys are any time soon.

I haven't been reading the NBR, but the business writers in the Herald and Dom-Post have been intensely critical of Hanover.

So what’s your plan for when you jack in (or are unable to continue) the day job?

My plan is to own a house, and put my savings in the bank. In that order, since mortgage rates are higher than savings interest and paying off debt is tax-exempt. It's pretty…

They're no better off with the bailout plan

Again, which they? And I'd rather see our white collar crims in jail, thanks. It's not as if the business media are likely to start telling investors what scumbags these guys are any time soon.

Some decent jailings are long overdue for these corporate crooks

The jails are full and just make bad people worse.

Perpetual bankruptcy would be a more fitting punishment.

I did the sums on the Hanover one, comparing (i) the bailout succeeding and paying out the amounts specified with (ii) the firm being liquidated and the investor putting the cash in a bank deposit.…

wonder if anything had been learnt by the 'Giants' of New Zealand's business community over the last ten years

Surely you don't think they ever intended to do any differently than pillage with the full blessing of our lax business governance and enforcement systems?…

Are you really that partisan that you see equivalence here?

I do see equivalency between passage under urgency and passage under urgency. I am that partisan.

Wow, priceless.

Are you really that partisan that you see equivalence here?

I do see equivalency between passage under urgency and passage under urgency. I am that partisan.

__In one telling statistic, it found that our tax treatment…

Most of the bills being dealt with are non-controversial and will be sent to select committees for the next Parliament to deal with.

A respected commentator (at the time) found surprise that a bill of significant public interest were being passed under urgency, but concluded the tactic to be good…

"and nothing about the $200 million in cash the two men have taken out of the company since they bought it for less than $10 million."

Reminded me of your Scoop posting in 5 September 1999 'Who needs Lotto when you're Michael Fay'.

Sorry, can't embed the…

It was basically a personal bank. The issue is that…

If this is what National calls governing from the centre, you have to wonder where that centre is.

Same place it was in September – Wellington.

As an example a reputable bank has offered to look after my savings for.......$25,000 per year and meantime I take all the risk

Not sure how these particular experts…

beneficiary's as usual miss out on everything as the undeserving poor they never get tax cuts, as the govt lowers the base rate.