Archives: rant

Direct Line Motor Insurance – Computer Says No

June 27, 2012 | By Paul Mackenzie Ross | No Comments | Filed in: business, finance, random.

When I clocked off working from home this evening, I decided to call Direct Line and renew the motor insurance on my Mercedes C230 estate. I double-checked to see if they’d spelled my wife’s name correctly on the policy (a common mistake) and they hadn’t spelled it right so that was sorted out. I also • Read More »

Another Open Letter to the CEO of Dixons/ PC World/ KnowHow

December 20, 2011 | By Paul Mackenzie Ross | 5 Comments | Filed in: tech.

[NOTE: John Browett is no longer the CEO of Dixons Group. As of January 2012 it has been reported that he has joined, of all places, Apple!] Dear Mr Browett, I know you haven’t responded personally to any of my previous emails but I’m starting to feel very familiar with this ongoing relationship, so do you • Read More »

George Osborne Flogs Northern Rock to Virgin

November 17, 2011 | By Paul Mackenzie Ross | No Comments | Filed in: finance, politics.

I just read this story on the BBC – Northern Rock sold to Virgin Money If you watch the BBC’s clip and listen to George Osborne,  he says: …I think this is going to be a good thing for British Consumers… Possibly. Then he goes on to mention: …It’s also good for British taxpayers, we’re getting • Read More »

An Open Letter to the CEO of Dixons/ PC World/ KnowHow

September 18, 2011 | By Paul Mackenzie Ross | 55 Comments | Filed in: business, tech.

[NOTE: John Browett is no longer the CEO of Dixons Group. As of January 2012 it was reported that he joined, of all places, Apple! But then he only lasted until October 2012. Sebastian James is the current CEO of DSG Retail, including PC World] Dear Mr Browett, Last year I was looking for a new • Read More »

The PC World Update

July 20, 2011 | By Paul Mackenzie Ross | 1 Comment | Filed in: tech.

Their TV ads are for three hundred, four hundred and five hundred pound laptops. I didn’t want one of those notebooks, that’s the value of the 2008 model I’m working on now and it doesn’t have the RAM, the desktop resolution, the LED display nor the quadcore processor amongst other little bonuses. That’s why I • Read More »

How much is 700 billion Dollars?

September 26, 2008 | By Paul Mackenzie Ross | 2 Comments | Filed in: finance, politics.

Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke want the $700bn bail-out of greedy banks to be approved so that the financial system in the United States doesn’t collapse, because if it does collapse then a lot of Americans will be in the shit and it will have a knock-on affect here in Britain too. So how much • Read More »

Rip-off Britain

May 31, 2008 | By Paul Mackenzie Ross | 2 Comments | Filed in: economics.

I’ve been thinking about the current worldwide price rises in food, oil and energy and in the cost of living and credit going up. It’s happening in a lot of places in the world and for months the UK seemed to be largely unaffected, especially since the USA seemed to bearing the brunt of the • Read More »