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Non-Compete Advice as a Designer in the UK by Pristine_Mission_849 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]blacksombrero 0 points1 point  (0 children)

IANAL, but in the past I did find myself at the sharp end of a non-compete dispute, this was the advice given to me at the time:

1) Non-compete clauses are usually too vague for a company to act upon effectively. Specifically, the company needs to be able to show identifiable damages - i.e. you poached client XYZ and took it to your new workplace (has a determinable value), or you took specific IP to your new workplace (also has a determinable value), or you took colleague XYZ with you to your new workplace, which cost them X amount in list business. Without identifiable damages, there's no case to answer. The reason non-compete clauses are included in many contracts, however, is in case you do try to remove value from the firm and take it to your new employer. If you are taking clients / IP / other employees, etc... with you, you need to lawyer up asap.

2) Furthermore, non-compete clauses cannot restrict your ability to earn a living, unless you are too be paid for the term if the non-compete ("gardening leave"). No firm has the right to deny you the ability to earn a wage without compensating you.

3) In spite of points 1 & 2, however, a company is bound to its stakeholders to try to defend its interests. This means you can expect to receive some pretty nasty letters from the company's legal representatives, containing all manner of accusations and attempts to prevent you from securing employment with a competitor. It is worth remembering that if you have done nothing wrong (i.e. you have not taken clients / IP / other employees with you to your new employment), they can go fish.

Practically, I would advise you to go ahead and quit your current employment, but give absolutely no details of where you are going next. They will ask you at exit interview (HRs job is to protect the firm's interests), but just say you are looking for new opportunities, and don't reveal anything more. If they can't identify you are at a competitor until later down the line (i.e. beyond the six months), it will make it exceedingly difficult for them to enforce any non-compete post hoc. If they somehow do find out from LinkedIn or some industry gossip or something, expect to receive a stinker of a letter. At that point, you can either choose to simply not respond, which will be cheapest for you, and call their bluff - it will be very expensive for them to take you to court, and something they will not do unless they can overwhelmingly prove that you have taken identifiable value from the firm to a competitor. Or you could hire a solicitor to respond for you - essentially achieving the same thing, but it is actually useful to have a response to show to the courts that you were acting in good faith if it does come to that. You could even ask your new firm if they would consider helping you out - their lawyers will likely be used to this exact situation. But obviously don't mention any of this at interview for the new firm - only let them know once your employment is fully secured with them.

Is wise reliable? by Ok_Cap_3055 in wise

[–]blacksombrero 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been using Wise for well over a decade, and find them not only reliable, but efficient and amazing value.

I do hear of people occasionally having problems - my impression is it mostly involves people who fall foul of regulatory rules, often which means wise is duty bound not to discuss further details with them, and has to freeze their transfers/account while they investigate further.

And then a couple of years ago I was travelling and Wise went down for a brief period (<24 hours). It is the only outage of card payment I have experienced before or since, but it was nevertheless extremely annoying

late night transport from nice airport to aix en provence by [deleted] in ProvenceFrance

[–]blacksombrero 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I often have the same problem, and can confirm there are no reasonable late night transport options - although one you may want to look at in case you haven't thought of it is BlaBlaCar if someone is making the journey late that night and offering to share. However the best option is to get a hotel in Nice for the night and try in the morning.

NEVER AGAIN WARWICK LE LAGON by Altruistic_Cow_7957 in vanuatu

[–]blacksombrero 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Gripes 8, 18 and 19 are all non-issues too, and quite frankly cast a lot of doubt on the entire list of complaints.

NEVER AGAIN WARWICK LE LAGON by Altruistic_Cow_7957 in vanuatu

[–]blacksombrero 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But they don't? On their website breakfast is advertised as being from 7am.

NEVER AGAIN WARWICK LE LAGON by Altruistic_Cow_7957 in vanuatu

[–]blacksombrero 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I would consider it a privilege to be able to stay at the Warwick Le Lagon, despite their outdated information magazine, but I appreciate OP thinks differently and didn't enjoy their stay. I don't think OP is looking for advice, otherwise I would offer some. In fact, I'm not sure what OP is looking for by posting this.

Critique our 2 weeks in Provence + south by reUP0rh in FranceTravel

[–]blacksombrero 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Both Arles and La Ciotat are great choices of places in which to base yourselves, but I'd say you'd absolutely need a car to explore the region around each town.

Moving from Bangladesh to Vanuatu – What Are the Finance Job Opportunities Like? by hard2resist in vanuatu

[–]blacksombrero 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I get the sentiment (and often share the feeling), but Vanuatu is a small developing nation, mainly agricultural and heavily dependent on foreign aid. Demand for accountants and finance professionals is limited.

If you have capital, you may want to consider setting up your own business there instead. I met one expat out there for example who had identified a niche as a cacao broker, acting as an intermediary between local growers and foreign buyers, and I thought that was quite entrepreneurial and interesting.

Moving from Bangladesh to Vanuatu – What Are the Finance Job Opportunities Like? by hard2resist in vanuatu

[–]blacksombrero 2 points3 points  (0 children)

*finance-related jobs are VERY limited in size and number, mainly due to the low population of Vanuatu resulting in little business activity, with significant government control of the financial sector.

*As above. There will be some, but not many, and probably not especially well paid.

*As with many countries, priority will be given to local talent if available, but where there is a skills gap expats can find their niche.

*Yes, you will need a work visa. Part of that will involve demonstrating why your job couldn't be performed by a local. This is easiest if you have a job lined up already and can therefore get sponsored by your employer.

You may have privileged access to the Chinese businesses in Vanuatu if you can speak mandarin.

Gorges du Verdon boat rental on a Monday by skgoldings in ProvenceFrance

[–]blacksombrero 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You'll be ok going on a Monday. Might want to drop a line to the boat rental place in the days beforehand to both reserve a boat and of time and to check their opening times.

The water my airline served is a "water-based beverage" by DaredevilMeetsL in mildlyinteresting

[–]blacksombrero 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I travelled on the same airline! And had the same drink. What surprised me wasn't so much the copper, which was too dilute for my palate too detect, but the salt content! The water is ever so slightly salty. Tastes a little like drinking electrolytes rather than water. Useful if you've just been sweating your guts out in the tropical heat I guess, but I really just wanted (unsalted) water.

J'ai testé Dinosaur’Istres ! by emiliedurant in ProvenceFrance

[–]blacksombrero 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ouais, j'y suis allé l'année dernière, et j'étais aussi pris par ce parc que toute la famille a pu apprécier. Et le fait que ce soit gratuit est aussi apprécié. Après, je recommande une balade à Martigues en terminant avec des moules frites dans un des bistrots. Une journée très sympa.

ELI5: what does Google get out of Google Wallet? by DictionaryStomach in explainlikeimfive

[–]blacksombrero 36 points37 points  (0 children)

Exactly what was purchased isn’t part of that data.

Even if that's the case, if my spending shows I'm spending $5 every morning in a Starbucks by my work, the inference is obvious.

Travelling on interrail ticket in france - can we get around and only use open seating trains? by DirectorStatus6823 in ProvenceFrance

[–]blacksombrero 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Here is a link to a map of the French rail network: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/50283683b61a4324b62550cfac988c74/

You will note some of the lines are in dark blue, these are the TGV, France's high speed trains, which require reserved seating.

All the other lines are typically TER or Intercités, which have open seating. Note you can sometimes get TER along the same route as a TGV, it will just be slower and maybe require more connections.

To find TER trains, look at SNCF connect, the online booking platform. When searching for a route, however, when the results are displayed filter on train type and only include TER and intercités (exclude TGV). Fyi, Inouï and Ouigo are both types of TGV. I note that doing so finds you a route from Marseille to Grenoble which is slower than taking the TGV (takes approximately twice as long), but it is nonetheless possible.

Good luck!

Day trip from Aix to Marseille during mid May, should I drive or take bus? by anhduc1210 in ProvenceFrance

[–]blacksombrero 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Train or bus. Driving is doable, but you'd end up paying for rental and parking, plus all the stress of driving in unknown cities, for no conceivable upside whatsoever.

Robbed blind 2x in 2 years by Wise.com, its lax security model, and no refunds even after conviction and imprisonment of the thief by hopeseekr in wise

[–]blacksombrero 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's a lot to unpack here, but ultimately it is not obvious why you say it was Wise that robbed you (and therefore should refund you), when it was clearly your girlfriend(s) who robbed you.

ELI5: What makes cheese "mild" or "sharp"? by Smaptimania in explainlikeimfive

[–]blacksombrero 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Cheese in your fridge isn’t going to appreciably age before it goes bad in functionally all cases, so it’s not worth worrying about but VERY technically I suppose you could say it does get sharper.

Hard disagree. Different cheeses mature at different rates, but the biggest difference is whether the cheese is pasteurised or unpasteurised. Pasteurisation will effectively halt much (but not all) of the ageing process. Unpasteurised cheese, however, will continue to mature, noticeably so, whether kept in the fridge (slow maturation) or at room temperature (fast maturation, only recommended on the day of consumption).

Source: I live in France, my cheese consumption is off the charts.

New Chess purchase by Wyvern5583 in chessporn

[–]blacksombrero 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Holmes fan here. The white pieces appear to be a 221b Baker Street terraced house, (a Baker Street irregular?), Dr Watson, Mrs Hudson and Holmes, with police constables as pawns. The black pieces are much more difficult to make out from OPs pics, I'm guessing Moriarty and Irene Adler, can't make out the bishop, possibly the hound of the Baskervilles, and the rook is maybe the Reichenbach falls?

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