If you give DALLE-2 an image, then ask it to produce a variant, it will give you six. If you choose one of the six, then ask it to vary THAT, it will do so in the same way. If you repeat the process hundreds or thousands of times, then string the images together, you get this
Is this the vague beginnings of a new art form? Or an uncanny simulacrum of a DMT trip? Can’t decide
Incidentally the initiating image is the first photo ever taken. Which is neat
Choosing the images to feed back in makes it less interesting. What would it look like had DALLE-2 made its own choices ?
Yes, I had the same thought
Even better, get GPT3 to choose. Two AIs bouncing off each other. Leave them to it for a day. Imagine
That video you linked to starts with a real photo of a building and it got turned into a graphic of a ball on top of a cone.
That's the one my dog would have chosen.
The initial image is actually the first photo ever taken - by a human
I appreciate most of this is totally lost on PB-ers, but I’m happy to educate
Go on then, because although I enjoyed the montage it was nothing more than images changing but containing a certain percentage of the elements of the previous image.
Nothing more than that, although I would appreciate viewing @IanB2 dog's efforts.
@kle4 I believe it was you who claimed to have conspired with my dog to destroy my wallet the other day. So was it you that encouraged him to steal my toast and marmalade this morning? I need to know.
Same tactics used: Bolt for the door and run around in circles in the garden with said plunder handing from his mouth.
Generally speaking I work on the principle that the less we hear from Ukraine the less well it's going.
I don't think it's that simple, but it's clearly true that Ukraine is being overmatched in the battles in the east. Much depends on how much heavy artillery is delivered to Ukraine over the next month or so. Half a dozen HIMARS or equivalent won't turn the tide. Several dozen might well.
It may well be too late now. The Ukranian army has been crushed by artillery fire for more than a month now with very heavy casualties. The units in the Donbas were described as their best and they will be largely ineffective now. Will there be enough forces left by the time that the artillery is equalised? It's looking doubtful. Now that the Russians have learned from their painfully inept tactics in the first weeks of the war the laws of numbers are reasserting themselves and have been since late May.
With respect, I don't think there's any evidence for that, As far as numbers are concerned, the only significant disparity is in artillery. Something the west could fix within weeks if it were sufficiently determined.
The Ukranians seemed to withdraw from Lysychansk in good order, and the Russians have not been parading loads of prisoners, like they did at Mariopol. That is not a sign of a rout like defeat.
I think the problem of the artillery is mostly one of ammo and logistics. Big guns and rocket systems need a lot of supply. A couple of HIMARS could cover the whole Kherson front in terms of range, and they reload fairly quickly, but the numbers of rocket six-packs needed is huge.
Interesting twitter thread here on the destruction of Russian supply dumps, and the Donetsk railway station and Melitopol airfield, all it seems by HIMARS.
The big issue is that the West was expecting to be supporting an insurgency by now, so instead they're having to make things up as they go along. As Ukraine uses its stocks of Soviet-era equipment and ammunition it requires a lot of support from the West just to stand still.
The recent announcement of British military training for Ukrainian troops is an example of this, where we clearly didn't expect Ukraine to require conventional military training. Air defence and armoured vehicles are other obvious gaps where they are capability required by a conventional military, but not by an insurgency, and this is why support in those areas is still a bit haphazard.
I think things are generally moving in the right direction, but there's a lot of fighting left in the Russians and this isn't going to be over by Christmas (Western or Orthodox).
Yes - no one thought that the Ukrainians would actually hold off the Russians. Pushing them back from advance on Kyiv was something that no-one predicted before the war as a possibility.
is the best and most recent summary in a map form I can find - The Ukrainian moves in the South go some way to explain the comments from Russia about an escalation if Crimea is "attacked".
I have backed Raab as next leader and have found him (alone, perhaps) to be an impressive - and coherent - performer throughout.
Not today. Today the overwhelming message which came out of his interview is that he is part of a government that is full of lying scumbags.
I mean not that this is a surprise, just that I had thought Raab better than some at covering it up hitherto.
Raab was on holiday when Afghanstan blow up and did nothing to help. He also didn't understand how important Dover was (something that I imagine would have caused his (and my) Geography teachers to turn in their graves).
Yes the holiday thing was bad. As for Dover I think he knew perfectly well but would rather have been thought of as incompetent rather than the likely truth which is that he knew exactly the strategic importance of Dover.
But his biggest flaw in what he said was not that he didn't know where Dover/Calais was (mind boggling as that may seem) but he clearly had no idea what JIT was. He genuinely thought it was about getting fruit and flowers to the customer before they rot/wilt.
And these were the people making decisions on Brexit!
Yes, but look at his career path - after university Raab continued with his legal training, became a solicitor in 2000 but spent most of his few years of actual work seconded to a campaign group or working with the EU, then he's in parliament and it's full-time politics until today. His experience of actually managing - and of the sorts of factors and pitfalls you have to consider when taking decisions on anything remotely complex involving real people and companies is close to nil.
And that's not a party political point - Streeting for Labour is exactly the same - student politics, pressure groups, advisor, and into parliament.
The Boris fans are fascinating to listen to. "Thank goodness for Boris. When he's gone you'll realise what you had. The country is doing great." Says 5 Live caller. He's a big personality with a big majority appears to be the sum of it. The psychology is interesting.
Dont it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got Till it's gone They heard all his lies And yet still they won't get shot
The Boris fans are fascinating to listen to. "Thank goodness for Boris. When he's gone you'll realise what you had. The country is doing great." Says 5 Live caller. He's a big personality with a big majority appears to be the sum of it. The psychology is interesting.
There's danger for Starmer in this, if Labour do get into government next time. Look at Biden, and how quickly a voting population forgets the excruciating experience of having an idiot on the throne. A few months of dull and apparently directionless government and they will be getting cravings for more of the bumptious fun they had got used to.
The fact the current government is also directionless, but corrupt at the same time, is in danger of passing people by. Labour need to hit this point repeatedly: the government has run out of ideas, it is directionless, it hasn't even got Brexit done. The Tories are perfectly capable of doing the "look what corrupt liars we are" bit on their own. But this strategy requires Keir to have some clearly articulated strategies and direction.
Huge mistake to let cameras into cabinet meeting today. Look at the grim faces around that table. Compare to previous occasions. Look at Javid, Coffey - one of the ministers sent out with a misleading briefing. Look at Gove! Even Dorries knows the gig is up. NOT a happy ship. ~AA https://twitter.com/BestForBritain/status/1544245691215757312/video/1
Generally speaking I work on the principle that the less we hear from Ukraine the less well it's going.
I don't think it's that simple, but it's clearly true that Ukraine is being overmatched in the battles in the east. Much depends on how much heavy artillery is delivered to Ukraine over the next month or so. Half a dozen HIMARS or equivalent won't turn the tide. Several dozen might well.
It may well be too late now. The Ukranian army has been crushed by artillery fire for more than a month now with very heavy casualties. The units in the Donbas were described as their best and they will be largely ineffective now. Will there be enough forces left by the time that the artillery is equalised? It's looking doubtful. Now that the Russians have learned from their painfully inept tactics in the first weeks of the war the laws of numbers are reasserting themselves and have been since late May.
With respect, I don't think there's any evidence for that, As far as numbers are concerned, the only significant disparity is in artillery. Something the west could fix within weeks if it were sufficiently determined.
The Ukranians seemed to withdraw from Lysychansk in good order, and the Russians have not been parading loads of prisoners, like they did at Mariopol. That is not a sign of a rout like defeat.
I think the problem of the artillery is mostly one of ammo and logistics. Big guns and rocket systems need a lot of supply. A couple of HIMARS could cover the whole Kherson front in terms of range, and they reload fairly quickly, but the numbers of rocket six-packs needed is huge.
Interesting twitter thread here on the destruction of Russian supply dumps, and the Donetsk railway station and Melitopol airfield, all it seems by HIMARS.
The big issue is that the West was expecting to be supporting an insurgency by now, so instead they're having to make things up as they go along. As Ukraine uses its stocks of Soviet-era equipment and ammunition it requires a lot of support from the West just to stand still...
All of that, though, ought to have been fairly obvious to our militaries once the attempt ti capture Kiev failed. And Ukraine's message about their weapons requirements has been consistent for months.
...Viazovska and her collaborators emerged from the sphere-packing work with a higher ambition. Mathematicians had long suspected that E8 and the Leech lattice are much more than just the best way to pack spheres. These two lattices, mathematicians hypothesized, are “universally optimal,” meaning that they are the best arrangements according to a host of criteria — for example, the lowest-energy way to position mutually repelling electrons in space or twisty polymers in a solution.... ...The resulting paper, said Sylvia Serfaty of New York University, is on a par with the great breakthroughs of the 19th century, when mathematicians solved many of the problems that had confounded their predecessors for centuries. “This paper is really a great advancement of science,” she told Quanta at the time. “To know that the human brain is able to produce a proof of something like that, to me it’s a really remarkable fact.”
The story of another of this year's Field's Medallists is rather more remarkable.
If you give DALLE-2 an image, then ask it to produce a variant, it will give you six. If you choose one of the six, then ask it to vary THAT, it will do so in the same way. If you repeat the process hundreds or thousands of times, then string the images together, you get this
Is this the vague beginnings of a new art form? Or an uncanny simulacrum of a DMT trip? Can’t decide
Incidentally the initiating image is the first photo ever taken. Which is neat
Choosing the images to feed back in makes it less interesting. What would it look like had DALLE-2 made its own choices ?
Yes, I had the same thought
Even better, get GPT3 to choose. Two AIs bouncing off each other. Leave them to it for a day. Imagine
One thing I noticed from the video is that there were lots of circles. This might be a mathematical thing, in that if you tweak lots of shapes in random ways you are most likely to end up with a circle, or it might reflect a preponderance of circles in the training database.
It put me in mind of an attractor in a chaotic phase space.
I think that if you hooked up the two algorithms in the way you propose there's a possibility that they would settle into a minimum-energy space and so stop producing anything different. It depends how dispersive they are. It's not like they're capable of becoming bored.
Huge mistake to let cameras into cabinet meeting today. Look at the grim faces around that table. Compare to previous occasions. Look at Javid, Coffey - one of the ministers sent out with a misleading briefing. Look at Gove! Even Dorries knows the gig is up. NOT a happy ship. ~AA https://twitter.com/BestForBritain/status/1544245691215757312/video/1
Huge mistake to let cameras into cabinet meeting today. Look at the grim faces around that table. Compare to previous occasions. Look at Javid, Coffey - one of the ministers sent out with a misleading briefing. Look at Gove! Even Dorries knows the gig is up. NOT a happy ship. ~AA https://twitter.com/BestForBritain/status/1544245691215757312/video/1
Dead behind the eyes, the lot of them - except for Zahawi, who looks quite chipper for some reason.
I have backed Raab as next leader and have found him (alone, perhaps) to be an impressive - and coherent - performer throughout.
Not today. Today the overwhelming message which came out of his interview is that he is part of a government that is full of lying scumbags.
I mean not that this is a surprise, just that I had thought Raab better than some at covering it up hitherto.
Raab was on holiday when Afghanstan blow up and did nothing to help. He also didn't understand how important Dover was (something that I imagine would have caused his (and my) Geography teachers to turn in their graves).
Yes the holiday thing was bad. As for Dover I think he knew perfectly well but would rather have been thought of as incompetent rather than the likely truth which is that he knew exactly the strategic importance of Dover.
But his biggest flaw in what he said was not that he didn't know where Dover/Calais was (mind boggling as that may seem) but he clearly had no idea what JIT was. He genuinely thought it was about getting fruit and flowers to the customer before they rot/wilt.
And these were the people making decisions on Brexit!
Incurious is the word that springs to mind about this Cabinet. They may know little but have even less desire to find out about their new responsibilities. Raab knows nothing of international trade; Nadine Dorries can't be bothered to look up the ownership structure of Channel 4 even while privatising it; Boris casually plonks a border down the Irish Sea, and gets Nazanin a few more years of Iranian prison because he opines without finding out what she is charged with. Well, one of the words.
If you give DALLE-2 an image, then ask it to produce a variant, it will give you six. If you choose one of the six, then ask it to vary THAT, it will do so in the same way. If you repeat the process hundreds or thousands of times, then string the images together, you get this
Is this the vague beginnings of a new art form? Or an uncanny simulacrum of a DMT trip? Can’t decide
Incidentally the initiating image is the first photo ever taken. Which is neat
Choosing the images to feed back in makes it less interesting. What would it look like had DALLE-2 made its own choices ?
Yes, I had the same thought
Even better, get GPT3 to choose. Two AIs bouncing off each other. Leave them to it for a day. Imagine
That video you linked to starts with a real photo of a building and it got turned into a graphic of a ball on top of a cone.
That's the one my dog would have chosen.
The initial image is actually the first photo ever taken - by a human
I appreciate most of this is totally lost on PB-ers, but I’m happy to educate
Go on then, because although I enjoyed the montage it was nothing more than images changing but containing a certain percentage of the elements of the previous image.
Nothing more than that, although I would appreciate viewing @IanB2 dog's efforts.
It would just be the one that looked most like a ball, over and over.
Like that cartoon of the dog sitting next to a lamp and two balls, with the genie above him saying "why don't you have a think before making your third wish?"
If you give DALLE-2 an image, then ask it to produce a variant, it will give you six. If you choose one of the six, then ask it to vary THAT, it will do so in the same way. If you repeat the process hundreds or thousands of times, then string the images together, you get this
Is this the vague beginnings of a new art form? Or an uncanny simulacrum of a DMT trip? Can’t decide
Incidentally the initiating image is the first photo ever taken. Which is neat
Choosing the images to feed back in makes it less interesting. What would it look like had DALLE-2 made its own choices ?
Yes, I had the same thought
Even better, get GPT3 to choose. Two AIs bouncing off each other. Leave them to it for a day. Imagine
One thing I noticed from the video is that there were lots of circles. This might be a mathematical thing, in that if you tweak lots of shapes in random ways you are most likely to end up with a circle, or it might reflect a preponderance of circles in the training database.
It put me in mind of an attractor in a chaotic phase space.
I think that if you hooked up the two algorithms in the way you propose there's a possibility that they would settle into a minimum-energy space and so stop producing anything different. It depends how dispersive they are. It's not like they're capable of becoming bored.
Yes. It also reminds me, strangely, of accelerated iterations of Conway’s “Game of Life” - which also has a tendency to settle into dull repeated patterns - indeed maybe all of them end up in a steady state? Can’t remember
But you could probably tweak the GPT algorithm to “demand innovation” and avoid that. Where would it go then?
Overheard in parliament: One MP says "I've just been asked to go on BBC radio and defend the Government's handling of the Chris Pincher affair. I'D RATHER DIP MY HEAD IN A BUCKET OF SICK." https://twitter.com/camillahmturner/status/1544249425014525952
Generally speaking I work on the principle that the less we hear from Ukraine the less well it's going.
I don't think it's that simple, but it's clearly true that Ukraine is being overmatched in the battles in the east. Much depends on how much heavy artillery is delivered to Ukraine over the next month or so. Half a dozen HIMARS or equivalent won't turn the tide. Several dozen might well.
It may well be too late now. The Ukranian army has been crushed by artillery fire for more than a month now with very heavy casualties. The units in the Donbas were described as their best and they will be largely ineffective now. Will there be enough forces left by the time that the artillery is equalised? It's looking doubtful. Now that the Russians have learned from their painfully inept tactics in the first weeks of the war the laws of numbers are reasserting themselves and have been since late May.
With respect, I don't think there's any evidence for that, As far as numbers are concerned, the only significant disparity is in artillery. Something the west could fix within weeks if it were sufficiently determined.
The Ukranians seemed to withdraw from Lysychansk in good order, and the Russians have not been parading loads of prisoners, like they did at Mariopol. That is not a sign of a rout like defeat.
I think the problem of the artillery is mostly one of ammo and logistics. Big guns and rocket systems need a lot of supply. A couple of HIMARS could cover the whole Kherson front in terms of range, and they reload fairly quickly, but the numbers of rocket six-packs needed is huge.
Interesting twitter thread here on the destruction of Russian supply dumps, and the Donetsk railway station and Melitopol airfield, all it seems by HIMARS.
The big issue is that the West was expecting to be supporting an insurgency by now, so instead they're having to make things up as they go along. As Ukraine uses its stocks of Soviet-era equipment and ammunition it requires a lot of support from the West just to stand still...
All of that, though, ought to have been fairly obvious to our militaries once the attempt ti capture Kiev failed. And Ukraine's message about their weapons requirements has been consistent for months.
While that's true I think this is one of those situations where the end-state has to be approached in small steps. I don't think they could have simply started sending HIMARS to Ukraine at the end of March.
One of the other big problems we seem to have is that the defence industry isn't capable of supporting an extended high-intensity war. The Chief of the Defence Staff was talking about a period of five years to rebuild our stocks of weapons that we've sent to Ukraine, but that seems to imply we'll have nothing left to send them if the war continues into 2023.
There was some armoured vehicle procurement program for the British Army that might not now deliver until the 2030s, but the Ukrainians are going to need more armoured vehicles throughout this year and next. Where will they come from? Who will make them?
Its easy to mock Fabricant, who gave an interview on R5 this morning, outraging the audience (as curated by the BBC). He partially blamed the long hours. Long hours don't justify getting drunk and making a prat of yourself, but its time to ask if the Westminster culture is fit for a modern 21st century democracy. The nonsense around question time, the stupid formalities of 'right honorable' bullshit, the speakers outdated costume (that's what it is), the evening debates and votes - start earlier FFS.
Time to change.
I don't really buy this, having been immersed in it for 13 years. The formalities are just background - you're barely aware they're there, and My Honourable Friend etc. is just like saying Mit herzlichem Gruss in a German letter - you don't actually mean you're sending hearty greetings, it's just the usual form. As for the hours, the basic fact is that you work all day, every day, unless you explicitly carve out relaxation time, and whatever you do it won't be all you wanted to do. The morning has 100 emails and committee meetings twice a week. Then there's question times for each ministry, then there's more committee and more debates, then there's all-party meetings and yet more debate, then there's votes, and you have to fit in research and eating and whatever else you want. In those 13 years I went to the theatre once.
A minority of MPs react to all this by giving up and getting pissed every night. Most MPs just enjoy it - they're the ones you don't read about. I didn't have time to spend in the Strangers' Bar groping people even if I'd wanted to - there was always something interesting to do.
Sorry Nick, I don't agree. I think it is time for a more grown up parliament. None of this nonsense of baying MP's etc. Stop the ludicrous 'background' formalities as you call it. Look at other parliaments around the world. What is done well elsewhere? Can we be better?
Is business workspace in London in desperate short supply just now?
There is a fair amount of turnover into newer, better offices, if nothing else. Quite a few companies still consolidating to a single office in Canary Wharf, for example - good location, high spec, purpose built buildings.
Its easy to mock Fabricant, who gave an interview on R5 this morning, outraging the audience (as curated by the BBC). He partially blamed the long hours. Long hours don't justify getting drunk and making a prat of yourself, but its time to ask if the Westminster culture is fit for a modern 21st century democracy. The nonsense around question time, the stupid formalities of 'right honorable' bullshit, the speakers outdated costume (that's what it is), the evening debates and votes - start earlier FFS.
Time to change.
I don't really buy this, having been immersed in it for 13 years. The formalities are just background - you're barely aware they're there, and My Honourable Friend etc. is just like saying Mit herzlichem Gruss in a German letter - you don't actually mean you're sending hearty greetings, it's just the usual form. As for the hours, the basic fact is that you work all day, every day, unless you explicitly carve out relaxation time, and whatever you do it won't be all you wanted to do. The morning has 100 emails and committee meetings twice a week. Then there's question times for each ministry, then there's more committee and more debates, then there's all-party meetings and yet more debate, then there's votes, and you have to fit in research and eating and whatever else you want. In those 13 years I went to the theatre once.
A minority of MPs react to all this by giving up and getting pissed every night. Most MPs just enjoy it - they're the ones you don't read about. I didn't have time to spend in the Strangers' Bar groping people even if I'd wanted to - there was always something interesting to do.
Sorry Nick, I don't agree. I think it is time for a more grown up parliament. None of this nonsense of baying MP's etc. Stop the ludicrous 'background' formalities as you call it. Look at other parliaments around the world. What is done well elsewhere? Can we be better?
What does the public think of it?
Parliament is from a different (Victorian???) era where Gentlemen went from their work to their club...
We really do need to redesign the whole of how Parliament works for the 21st century and the best way of doing that would be to relocate it elsewhere....
And while I have a problem with locating an HQ based on public vote I have zero problem moving Parliament elsewhere based on a public vote - the only restriction I would add is to an area where average income is less than the national average for levelling up reasons.
Its easy to mock Fabricant, who gave an interview on R5 this morning, outraging the audience (as curated by the BBC). He partially blamed the long hours. Long hours don't justify getting drunk and making a prat of yourself, but its time to ask if the Westminster culture is fit for a modern 21st century democracy. The nonsense around question time, the stupid formalities of 'right honorable' bullshit, the speakers outdated costume (that's what it is), the evening debates and votes - start earlier FFS.
Time to change.
I don't really buy this, having been immersed in it for 13 years. The formalities are just background - you're barely aware they're there, and My Honourable Friend etc. is just like saying Mit herzlichem Gruss in a German letter - you don't actually mean you're sending hearty greetings, it's just the usual form. As for the hours, the basic fact is that you work all day, every day, unless you explicitly carve out relaxation time, and whatever you do it won't be all you wanted to do. The morning has 100 emails and committee meetings twice a week. Then there's question times for each ministry, then there's more committee and more debates, then there's all-party meetings and yet more debate, then there's votes, and you have to fit in research and eating and whatever else you want. In those 13 years I went to the theatre once.
A minority of MPs react to all this by giving up and getting pissed every night. Most MPs just enjoy it - they're the ones you don't read about. I didn't have time to spend in the Strangers' Bar groping people even if I'd wanted to - there was always something interesting to do.
Sorry Nick, I don't agree. I think it is time for a more grown up parliament. None of this nonsense of baying MP's etc. Stop the ludicrous 'background' formalities as you call it. Look at other parliaments around the world. What is done well elsewhere? Can we be better?
What does the public think of it?
Parliament is from a different (Victorian???) era where Gentlemen went from their work to their club...
We really do need to redesign the whole of how Parliament works for the 21st century and the best way of doing that would be to relocate it elsewhere....
And lay it out in a sensible horseshow shape with everyone facing the speaker, and with proper desks. Cramming them all onto two rows of opposing benches in that bearpit generates much of the childish behaviour.
Overheard in parliament: One MP says "I've just been asked to go on BBC radio and defend the Government's handling of the Chris Pincher affair. I'D RATHER DIP MY HEAD IN A BUCKET OF SICK." https://twitter.com/camillahmturner/status/1544249425014525952
If you give DALLE-2 an image, then ask it to produce a variant, it will give you six. If you choose one of the six, then ask it to vary THAT, it will do so in the same way. If you repeat the process hundreds or thousands of times, then string the images together, you get this
The cabinet absolutely loathe the guy. And it is wonderful to see
Not enough to quit though
There must be some game theory applicable to this. "The Cabinet Ministers Dilemma." They are rivals, the first to resign fears the legend of Heseletine will apply. Can they act collectively? Can they trust one another?
This is an opportunity for Gove and others who know they are not in the running to be PM.
Bit worried that an England win is being taken as read.
I'd like a thrilling denouement. England collapse. Nine wickets down, ten to win. Jimmy Anderson to get the winning runs with an edge through the slips. Let's have some drama - more fun than England cruising to victory.
Its easy to mock Fabricant, who gave an interview on R5 this morning, outraging the audience (as curated by the BBC). He partially blamed the long hours. Long hours don't justify getting drunk and making a prat of yourself, but its time to ask if the Westminster culture is fit for a modern 21st century democracy. The nonsense around question time, the stupid formalities of 'right honorable' bullshit, the speakers outdated costume (that's what it is), the evening debates and votes - start earlier FFS.
Time to change.
I don't really buy this, having been immersed in it for 13 years. The formalities are just background - you're barely aware they're there, and My Honourable Friend etc. is just like saying Mit herzlichem Gruss in a German letter - you don't actually mean you're sending hearty greetings, it's just the usual form. As for the hours, the basic fact is that you work all day, every day, unless you explicitly carve out relaxation time, and whatever you do it won't be all you wanted to do. The morning has 100 emails and committee meetings twice a week. Then there's question times for each ministry, then there's more committee and more debates, then there's all-party meetings and yet more debate, then there's votes, and you have to fit in research and eating and whatever else you want. In those 13 years I went to the theatre once.
A minority of MPs react to all this by giving up and getting pissed every night. Most MPs just enjoy it - they're the ones you don't read about. I didn't have time to spend in the Strangers' Bar groping people even if I'd wanted to - there was always something interesting to do.
Sorry Nick, I don't agree. I think it is time for a more grown up parliament. None of this nonsense of baying MP's etc. Stop the ludicrous 'background' formalities as you call it. Look at other parliaments around the world. What is done well elsewhere? Can we be better?
What does the public think of it?
Parliament is from a different (Victorian???) era where Gentlemen went from their work to their club...
We really do need to redesign the whole of how Parliament works for the 21st century and the best way of doing that would be to relocate it elsewhere....
And lay it out in a sensible horseshow shape with everyone facing the speaker, and with proper desks. Cramming them all onto two rows of opposing benches in that bearpit generates much of the childish behaviour.
No it doesn't. What generates that appalling behaviour at PMQs is Conservative whips. The barracking is not spontaneous. It began as a tactic to buoy up Mrs Thatcher against Jim Callaghan.
Huge mistake to let cameras into cabinet meeting today. Look at the grim faces around that table. Compare to previous occasions. Look at Javid, Coffey - one of the ministers sent out with a misleading briefing. Look at Gove! Even Dorries knows the gig is up. NOT a happy ship. ~AA https://twitter.com/BestForBritain/status/1544245691215757312/video/1
Dead behind the eyes, the lot of them - except for Zahawi, who looks quite chipper for some reason.
Zahawi was reading about his chances of becoming PM on PB yesterday.
There must be some game theory applicable to this. "The Cabinet Ministers Dilemma." They are rivals, the first to resign fears the legend of Heseletine will apply. Can they act collectively? Can they trust one another?
This is an opportunity for Gove and others who know they are not in the running to be PM.
Someone pointed out that Heseltine was rehabilitated in Major's cabinet after dethroning Thatcher.
Ah, dips in to find it’s another one of those days when David Cameron’s maxim about Twitter applies.
Do the ladies and gentlemen of the Lobby, really not get how bad all this inside baseball crap looks on them, when petrol is £2 a litre and fuel bills heading over £2,000?
Right, off to watch the cricket, on what could be an historic day. Come on England!
WTF is it a vote - surely you pick a HQ based on sane reasons such as existing workforces (which would imply York)..
I'd go for Derby (I would, wouldn't I?). Already a hub for rail work of all sorts, from construction to R&D. The area around the station is going to be redeveloped (*), and there will be plenty of space for offices slap-bang by the station. A very central location, with easy access to London, Birmingham, York, and even Manchester. An easy commute from Nottingham, Sheffield and Birmingham.
But Derby always seems to get missed on these things. Anecdote has it that the research division only stayed in Derby in the 1950s because a senior manager refused to move to Crewe.
(*) Good for us in one way, as we own a small bit of it. Bad in another as it means some buildings my dad built will be coming down. Sobs...
Bit worried that an England win is being taken as read.
I'd like a thrilling denouement. England collapse. Nine wickets down, ten to win. Jimmy Anderson to get the winning runs with an edge through the slips. Let's have some drama - more fun than England cruising to victory.
Another big moment. The ball is getting changed. The last change brought India three quick wickets
Its easy to mock Fabricant, who gave an interview on R5 this morning, outraging the audience (as curated by the BBC). He partially blamed the long hours. Long hours don't justify getting drunk and making a prat of yourself, but its time to ask if the Westminster culture is fit for a modern 21st century democracy. The nonsense around question time, the stupid formalities of 'right honorable' bullshit, the speakers outdated costume (that's what it is), the evening debates and votes - start earlier FFS.
Time to change.
I don't really buy this, having been immersed in it for 13 years. The formalities are just background - you're barely aware they're there, and My Honourable Friend etc. is just like saying Mit herzlichem Gruss in a German letter - you don't actually mean you're sending hearty greetings, it's just the usual form. As for the hours, the basic fact is that you work all day, every day, unless you explicitly carve out relaxation time, and whatever you do it won't be all you wanted to do. The morning has 100 emails and committee meetings twice a week. Then there's question times for each ministry, then there's more committee and more debates, then there's all-party meetings and yet more debate, then there's votes, and you have to fit in research and eating and whatever else you want. In those 13 years I went to the theatre once.
A minority of MPs react to all this by giving up and getting pissed every night. Most MPs just enjoy it - they're the ones you don't read about. I didn't have time to spend in the Strangers' Bar groping people even if I'd wanted to - there was always something interesting to do.
Sorry Nick, I don't agree. I think it is time for a more grown up parliament. None of this nonsense of baying MP's etc. Stop the ludicrous 'background' formalities as you call it. Look at other parliaments around the world. What is done well elsewhere? Can we be better?
What does the public think of it?
Parliament is from a different (Victorian???) era where Gentlemen went from their work to their club...
We really do need to redesign the whole of how Parliament works for the 21st century and the best way of doing that would be to relocate it elsewhere....
And lay it out in a sensible horseshow shape with everyone facing the speaker, and with proper desks. Cramming them all onto two rows of opposing benches in that bearpit generates much of the childish behaviour.
It used to work like that in the Scottish Parliament until a few years ago. Since then it has descended into the Westminster style of boorish behaviour. It may not be a coincidence that ex Westminster MPs who lost their seats have been appointed as list MSPs.
Bit worried that an England win is being taken as read.
I'd like a thrilling denouement. England collapse. Nine wickets down, ten to win. Jimmy Anderson to get the winning runs with an edge through the slips. Let's have some drama - more fun than England cruising to victory.
Another big moment. The ball is getting changed. The last change brought India three quick wickets
Bairstow doing his best to knock this one out of shape, too. Shami looking dangerous, though.
Ah, dips in to find it’s another one of those days when David Cameron’s maxim about Twitter applies.
Do the ladies and gentlemen of the Lobby, really not get how bad all this inside baseball crap looks on them, when petrol is £2 a litre and fuel bills heading over £2,000?
Right, off to watch the cricket, on what could be an historic day. Come on England!
The worse things are, the less one wants a corrupt lying cynical self promoting narcissist in charge of putting them to rights. How hard is this to understand?
Huge mistake to let cameras into cabinet meeting today. Look at the grim faces around that table. Compare to previous occasions. Look at Javid, Coffey - one of the ministers sent out with a misleading briefing. Look at Gove! Even Dorries knows the gig is up. NOT a happy ship. ~AA https://twitter.com/BestForBritain/status/1544245691215757312/video/1
Or - Ministers realize the nation is in very very tricky times, and adopt the appropriate serious tone.
If you give DALLE-2 an image, then ask it to produce a variant, it will give you six. If you choose one of the six, then ask it to vary THAT, it will do so in the same way. If you repeat the process hundreds or thousands of times, then string the images together, you get this
Is this the vague beginnings of a new art form? Or an uncanny simulacrum of a DMT trip? Can’t decide
Incidentally the initiating image is the first photo ever taken. Which is neat
Choosing the images to feed back in makes it less interesting. What would it look like had DALLE-2 made its own choices ?
Yes, I had the same thought
Even better, get GPT3 to choose. Two AIs bouncing off each other. Leave them to it for a day. Imagine
That video you linked to starts with a real photo of a building and it got turned into a graphic of a ball on top of a cone.
That's the one my dog would have chosen.
The initial image is actually the first photo ever taken - by a human
I appreciate most of this is totally lost on PB-ers, but I’m happy to educate
Why are you so unable to accept that people can look at evidence and come to different conclusions?
Er, what?
What conclusions am I dismissing?
I’m just pointing PB to some fascinating developments in AI and ML. Maybe repetitively, but I aver it is still more interesting than the 178th debate about Tory sleaze
But both have their place in the diverse garden of PB. Each to their own
Off topic but I know a number of PBers are avid weather model watchers like me and it won't have passed them by that in mid July we may - not certain, but may - see a heatwave in France, Southern Britain and the low countries that would unprecedented in ferocity. If so it will be leading the headlines.
There are several runs showing up from multiple agencies putting temperatures in the South of England up to or above 40C, and one or two that suggest 47-48C in Western France. The latter would wipe out most sensitive crops as well as much of the Bordeaux and Loire grape harvest. Both would send a lot of elderly people to A&E.
Smart opposition politicians might want to treat this week as climate change week and announce a range of energy security, insulation and renewables policies while tempting a few Tory backbenchers to rubbish global warming as a hoax.
Its easy to mock Fabricant, who gave an interview on R5 this morning, outraging the audience (as curated by the BBC). He partially blamed the long hours. Long hours don't justify getting drunk and making a prat of yourself, but its time to ask if the Westminster culture is fit for a modern 21st century democracy. The nonsense around question time, the stupid formalities of 'right honorable' bullshit, the speakers outdated costume (that's what it is), the evening debates and votes - start earlier FFS.
Time to change.
I don't really buy this, having been immersed in it for 13 years. The formalities are just background - you're barely aware they're there, and My Honourable Friend etc. is just like saying Mit herzlichem Gruss in a German letter - you don't actually mean you're sending hearty greetings, it's just the usual form. As for the hours, the basic fact is that you work all day, every day, unless you explicitly carve out relaxation time, and whatever you do it won't be all you wanted to do. The morning has 100 emails and committee meetings twice a week. Then there's question times for each ministry, then there's more committee and more debates, then there's all-party meetings and yet more debate, then there's votes, and you have to fit in research and eating and whatever else you want. In those 13 years I went to the theatre once.
A minority of MPs react to all this by giving up and getting pissed every night. Most MPs just enjoy it - they're the ones you don't read about. I didn't have time to spend in the Strangers' Bar groping people even if I'd wanted to - there was always something interesting to do.
Sorry Nick, I don't agree. I think it is time for a more grown up parliament. None of this nonsense of baying MP's etc. Stop the ludicrous 'background' formalities as you call it. Look at other parliaments around the world. What is done well elsewhere? Can we be better?
What does the public think of it?
Parliament is from a different (Victorian???) era where Gentlemen went from their work to their club...
We really do need to redesign the whole of how Parliament works for the 21st century and the best way of doing that would be to relocate it elsewhere....
And while I have a problem with locating an HQ based on public vote I have zero problem moving Parliament elsewhere based on a public vote - the only restriction I would add is to an area where average income is less than the national average for levelling up reasons.
More importantly, Parliament was a part time & unpaid. Which has now had the idea of full time professional politics plastered on top.
If you give DALLE-2 an image, then ask it to produce a variant, it will give you six. If you choose one of the six, then ask it to vary THAT, it will do so in the same way. If you repeat the process hundreds or thousands of times, then string the images together, you get this
Is this the vague beginnings of a new art form? Or an uncanny simulacrum of a DMT trip? Can’t decide
Incidentally the initiating image is the first photo ever taken. Which is neat
Choosing the images to feed back in makes it less interesting. What would it look like had DALLE-2 made its own choices ?
Yes, I had the same thought
Even better, get GPT3 to choose. Two AIs bouncing off each other. Leave them to it for a day. Imagine
That video you linked to starts with a real photo of a building and it got turned into a graphic of a ball on top of a cone.
That's the one my dog would have chosen.
The initial image is actually the first photo ever taken - by a human
I appreciate most of this is totally lost on PB-ers, but I’m happy to educate
Why are you so unable to accept that people can look at evidence and come to different conclusions?
Er, what?
What conclusions am I dismissing?
I’m just pointing PB to some fascinating developments in AI and ML. Maybe repetitively, but I aver it is still more interesting than the 178th debate about Tory sleaze
But both have their place in the diverse garden of PB. Each to their own
Your disdain for those who don't accept that this is sentient AI, which you've been banging the drum for ages. probably this stuff today is not the best example of your work on that front. You routinely suggest that anyone not agreeing with your view is too limited to accept reality.
Bit worried that an England win is being taken as read.
I'd like a thrilling denouement. England collapse. Nine wickets down, ten to win. Jimmy Anderson to get the winning runs with an edge through the slips. Let's have some drama - more fun than England cruising to victory.
...Viazovska and her collaborators emerged from the sphere-packing work with a higher ambition. Mathematicians had long suspected that E8 and the Leech lattice are much more than just the best way to pack spheres. These two lattices, mathematicians hypothesized, are “universally optimal,” meaning that they are the best arrangements according to a host of criteria — for example, the lowest-energy way to position mutually repelling electrons in space or twisty polymers in a solution.... ...The resulting paper, said Sylvia Serfaty of New York University, is on a par with the great breakthroughs of the 19th century, when mathematicians solved many of the problems that had confounded their predecessors for centuries. “This paper is really a great advancement of science,” she told Quanta at the time. “To know that the human brain is able to produce a proof of something like that, to me it’s a really remarkable fact.”
The story of another of this year's Field's Medallists is rather more remarkable.
As a slogger on the coalface of academia, I do hate these geniuses who work three hours a day and make prof in their 30s
He sounds pretty unusual, though.
Just wait till he's landed with preparing for the next Research Excellence Framework for his school (or whatever the major subdivision is called in his uni).
Its easy to mock Fabricant, who gave an interview on R5 this morning, outraging the audience (as curated by the BBC). He partially blamed the long hours. Long hours don't justify getting drunk and making a prat of yourself, but its time to ask if the Westminster culture is fit for a modern 21st century democracy. The nonsense around question time, the stupid formalities of 'right honorable' bullshit, the speakers outdated costume (that's what it is), the evening debates and votes - start earlier FFS.
Time to change.
I don't really buy this, having been immersed in it for 13 years. The formalities are just background - you're barely aware they're there, and My Honourable Friend etc. is just like saying Mit herzlichem Gruss in a German letter - you don't actually mean you're sending hearty greetings, it's just the usual form. As for the hours, the basic fact is that you work all day, every day, unless you explicitly carve out relaxation time, and whatever you do it won't be all you wanted to do. The morning has 100 emails and committee meetings twice a week. Then there's question times for each ministry, then there's more committee and more debates, then there's all-party meetings and yet more debate, then there's votes, and you have to fit in research and eating and whatever else you want. In those 13 years I went to the theatre once.
A minority of MPs react to all this by giving up and getting pissed every night. Most MPs just enjoy it - they're the ones you don't read about. I didn't have time to spend in the Strangers' Bar groping people even if I'd wanted to - there was always something interesting to do.
Sorry Nick, I don't agree. I think it is time for a more grown up parliament. None of this nonsense of baying MP's etc. Stop the ludicrous 'background' formalities as you call it. Look at other parliaments around the world. What is done well elsewhere? Can we be better?
What does the public think of it?
Parliament is from a different (Victorian???) era where Gentlemen went from their work to their club...
We really do need to redesign the whole of how Parliament works for the 21st century and the best way of doing that would be to relocate it elsewhere....
And lay it out in a sensible horseshow shape with everyone facing the speaker, and with proper desks. Cramming them all onto two rows of opposing benches in that bearpit generates much of the childish behaviour.
It used to work like that in the Scottish Parliament until a few years ago. Since then it has descended into the Westminster style of boorish behaviour. It may not be a coincidence that ex Westminster MPs who lost their seats have been appointed as list MSPs.
I believe that after the chamber was bombed during the war the renovators suggested a horseshoe shaped chamber but the prime minister of the day, one Winston Churchill, was vehemently against it. Tradition or something! So we persist with for and against, two swords lengths apart!
Off topic but I know a number of PBers are avid weather model watchers like me and it won't have passed them by that in mid July we may - not certain, but may - see a heatwave in France, Southern Britain and the low countries that would unprecedented in ferocity. If so it will be leading the headlines.
There are several runs showing up from multiple agencies putting temperatures in the South of England up to or above 40C, and one or two that suggest 47-48C in Western France. The latter would wipe out most sensitive crops as well as much of the Bordeaux and Loire grape harvest. Both would send a lot of elderly people to A&E.
Smart opposition politicians might want to treat this week as climate change week and announce a range of energy security, insulation and renewables policies while tempting a few Tory backbenchers to rubbish global warming as a hoax.
48C is an abomination. The end times indeed
I’ve experienced 46C in Darfur, Ethiopia. An awful stifling sensation, a heat you have to escape - like being waterboarded maybe
There must be some game theory applicable to this. "The Cabinet Ministers Dilemma." They are rivals, the first to resign fears the legend of Heseletine will apply. Can they act collectively? Can they trust one another?
This is an opportunity for Gove and others who know they are not in the running to be PM.
Someone pointed out that Heseltine was rehabilitated in Major's cabinet after dethroning Thatcher.
But he wasn't a lightweight lickspittle
Heseltine was also seen as completely unprincipled and utterly devoted to Heseltine.
Its easy to mock Fabricant, who gave an interview on R5 this morning, outraging the audience (as curated by the BBC). He partially blamed the long hours. Long hours don't justify getting drunk and making a prat of yourself, but its time to ask if the Westminster culture is fit for a modern 21st century democracy. The nonsense around question time, the stupid formalities of 'right honorable' bullshit, the speakers outdated costume (that's what it is), the evening debates and votes - start earlier FFS.
Time to change.
I don't really buy this, having been immersed in it for 13 years. The formalities are just background - you're barely aware they're there, and My Honourable Friend etc. is just like saying Mit herzlichem Gruss in a German letter - you don't actually mean you're sending hearty greetings, it's just the usual form. As for the hours, the basic fact is that you work all day, every day, unless you explicitly carve out relaxation time, and whatever you do it won't be all you wanted to do. The morning has 100 emails and committee meetings twice a week. Then there's question times for each ministry, then there's more committee and more debates, then there's all-party meetings and yet more debate, then there's votes, and you have to fit in research and eating and whatever else you want. In those 13 years I went to the theatre once.
A minority of MPs react to all this by giving up and getting pissed every night. Most MPs just enjoy it - they're the ones you don't read about. I didn't have time to spend in the Strangers' Bar groping people even if I'd wanted to - there was always something interesting to do.
Sorry Nick, I don't agree. I think it is time for a more grown up parliament. None of this nonsense of baying MP's etc. Stop the ludicrous 'background' formalities as you call it. Look at other parliaments around the world. What is done well elsewhere? Can we be better?
What does the public think of it?
Parliament is from a different (Victorian???) era where Gentlemen went from their work to their club...
We really do need to redesign the whole of how Parliament works for the 21st century and the best way of doing that would be to relocate it elsewhere....
And lay it out in a sensible horseshow shape with everyone facing the speaker, and with proper desks. Cramming them all onto two rows of opposing benches in that bearpit generates much of the childish behaviour.
It used to work like that in the Scottish Parliament until a few years ago. Since then it has descended into the Westminster style of boorish behaviour. It may not be a coincidence that ex Westminster MPs who lost their seats have been appointed as list MSPs.
I believe that after the chamber was bombed during the war the renovators suggested a horseshoe shaped chamber but the prime minister of the day, one Winston Churchill, was vehemently against it. Tradition or something! So we persist with for and against, two swords lengths apart!
Also smaller capacity than needed to seat everyone. Also down to him.
WTF is it a vote - surely you pick a HQ based on sane reasons such as existing workforces (which would imply York)..
I'd go for Derby (I would, wouldn't I?). Already a hub for rail work of all sorts, from construction to R&D. The area around the station is going to be redeveloped (*), and there will be plenty of space for offices slap-bang by the station. A very central location, with easy access to London, Birmingham, York, and even Manchester. An easy commute from Nottingham, Sheffield and Birmingham.
But Derby always seems to get missed on these things. Anecdote has it that the research division only stayed in Derby in the 1950s because a senior manager refused to move to Crewe.
(*) Good for us in one way, as we own a small bit of it. Bad in another as it means some buildings my dad built will be coming down. Sobs...
It's rather a boring town though, Derby. Newcastle looks a good candidate from that list – one of the best cities in the UK and Central Station is a handsome jewel of the railway.
Apparently its been rather disruptive - they are not attending to watch the film, its more some tiktok bullshit. Cinema owner on the radio this morning saying that when trouble makers were asked to leave they said 'you have no authority to make me go' or something, which no only rude, but factually incorrect. Idiots.
What effing nonsense is this? 'Near silence outside No10'? What is there supposed to be ffs?
I have never seen the sense of the rather childish practice of some reporters of standing outside Downing Street and shouting questions at people who left the building!
Its easy to mock Fabricant, who gave an interview on R5 this morning, outraging the audience (as curated by the BBC). He partially blamed the long hours. Long hours don't justify getting drunk and making a prat of yourself, but its time to ask if the Westminster culture is fit for a modern 21st century democracy. The nonsense around question time, the stupid formalities of 'right honorable' bullshit, the speakers outdated costume (that's what it is), the evening debates and votes - start earlier FFS.
Time to change.
I don't really buy this, having been immersed in it for 13 years. The formalities are just background - you're barely aware they're there, and My Honourable Friend etc. is just like saying Mit herzlichem Gruss in a German letter - you don't actually mean you're sending hearty greetings, it's just the usual form. As for the hours, the basic fact is that you work all day, every day, unless you explicitly carve out relaxation time, and whatever you do it won't be all you wanted to do. The morning has 100 emails and committee meetings twice a week. Then there's question times for each ministry, then there's more committee and more debates, then there's all-party meetings and yet more debate, then there's votes, and you have to fit in research and eating and whatever else you want. In those 13 years I went to the theatre once.
A minority of MPs react to all this by giving up and getting pissed every night. Most MPs just enjoy it - they're the ones you don't read about. I didn't have time to spend in the Strangers' Bar groping people even if I'd wanted to - there was always something interesting to do.
Sorry Nick, I don't agree. I think it is time for a more grown up parliament. None of this nonsense of baying MP's etc. Stop the ludicrous 'background' formalities as you call it. Look at other parliaments around the world. What is done well elsewhere? Can we be better?
What does the public think of it?
Parliament is from a different (Victorian???) era where Gentlemen went from their work to their club...
We really do need to redesign the whole of how Parliament works for the 21st century and the best way of doing that would be to relocate it elsewhere....
And lay it out in a sensible horseshow shape with everyone facing the speaker, and with proper desks. Cramming them all onto two rows of opposing benches in that bearpit generates much of the childish behaviour.
It used to work like that in the Scottish Parliament until a few years ago. Since then it has descended into the Westminster style of boorish behaviour. It may not be a coincidence that ex Westminster MPs who lost their seats have been appointed as list MSPs.
TBF some came in in the early days when the Parliament was reconvened, back in the Pre-Cameronene Period. But a proportion ran foul of the stricter expenses rules ...
If you give DALLE-2 an image, then ask it to produce a variant, it will give you six. If you choose one of the six, then ask it to vary THAT, it will do so in the same way. If you repeat the process hundreds or thousands of times, then string the images together, you get this
Is this the vague beginnings of a new art form? Or an uncanny simulacrum of a DMT trip? Can’t decide
Incidentally the initiating image is the first photo ever taken. Which is neat
Choosing the images to feed back in makes it less interesting. What would it look like had DALLE-2 made its own choices ?
Yes, I had the same thought
Even better, get GPT3 to choose. Two AIs bouncing off each other. Leave them to it for a day. Imagine
That video you linked to starts with a real photo of a building and it got turned into a graphic of a ball on top of a cone.
That's the one my dog would have chosen.
The initial image is actually the first photo ever taken - by a human
I appreciate most of this is totally lost on PB-ers, but I’m happy to educate
Why are you so unable to accept that people can look at evidence and come to different conclusions?
Er, what?
What conclusions am I dismissing?
I’m just pointing PB to some fascinating developments in AI and ML. Maybe repetitively, but I aver it is still more interesting than the 178th debate about Tory sleaze
But both have their place in the diverse garden of PB. Each to their own
Your disdain for those who don't accept that this is sentient AI, which you've been banging the drum for ages. probably this stuff today is not the best example of your work on that front. You routinely suggest that anyone not agreeing with your view is too limited to accept reality.
Read the thread. Any rancour initially comes from others. Sometimes I respond, a little
Tho I do believe that anyone not fascinated by this lacks imagination, at the very least
But it is the nature of PB that it attracts more technically minded, less imaginative types? That is not an insult. I could never build a car - or code a computer: skills I would like to have
Its easy to mock Fabricant, who gave an interview on R5 this morning, outraging the audience (as curated by the BBC). He partially blamed the long hours. Long hours don't justify getting drunk and making a prat of yourself, but its time to ask if the Westminster culture is fit for a modern 21st century democracy. The nonsense around question time, the stupid formalities of 'right honorable' bullshit, the speakers outdated costume (that's what it is), the evening debates and votes - start earlier FFS.
Time to change.
I don't really buy this, having been immersed in it for 13 years. The formalities are just background - you're barely aware they're there, and My Honourable Friend etc. is just like saying Mit herzlichem Gruss in a German letter - you don't actually mean you're sending hearty greetings, it's just the usual form. As for the hours, the basic fact is that you work all day, every day, unless you explicitly carve out relaxation time, and whatever you do it won't be all you wanted to do. The morning has 100 emails and committee meetings twice a week. Then there's question times for each ministry, then there's more committee and more debates, then there's all-party meetings and yet more debate, then there's votes, and you have to fit in research and eating and whatever else you want. In those 13 years I went to the theatre once.
A minority of MPs react to all this by giving up and getting pissed every night. Most MPs just enjoy it - they're the ones you don't read about. I didn't have time to spend in the Strangers' Bar groping people even if I'd wanted to - there was always something interesting to do.
Sorry Nick, I don't agree. I think it is time for a more grown up parliament. None of this nonsense of baying MP's etc. Stop the ludicrous 'background' formalities as you call it. Look at other parliaments around the world. What is done well elsewhere? Can we be better?
What does the public think of it?
Parliament is from a different (Victorian???) era where Gentlemen went from their work to their club...
We really do need to redesign the whole of how Parliament works for the 21st century and the best way of doing that would be to relocate it elsewhere....
And lay it out in a sensible horseshow shape with everyone facing the speaker, and with proper desks. Cramming them all onto two rows of opposing benches in that bearpit generates much of the childish behaviour.
I'm not sure that's true as the Australian House of Representatives is in an elongated horseshoe shape and has far more of a bearpit atmosphere than even our House of Commons and the Canadian House of Commons is reasonably polite in comparison but the government and opposition are seated opposite each other. I think it's the rules of the place and what people are prepared to tolerate that drives what people think they can get away with and therefore what they do, not the structure of the chamber.
WTF is it a vote - surely you pick a HQ based on sane reasons such as existing workforces (which would imply York)..
I'd go for Derby (I would, wouldn't I?). Already a hub for rail work of all sorts, from construction to R&D. The area around the station is going to be redeveloped (*), and there will be plenty of space for offices slap-bang by the station. A very central location, with easy access to London, Birmingham, York, and even Manchester. An easy commute from Nottingham, Sheffield and Birmingham.
But Derby always seems to get missed on these things. Anecdote has it that the research division only stayed in Derby in the 1950s because a senior manager refused to move to Crewe.
(*) Good for us in one way, as we own a small bit of it. Bad in another as it means some buildings my dad built will be coming down. Sobs...
It's rather a boring town though, Derby. Newcastle looks a good candidate from that list – one of the best cities in the UK and Central Station is a handsome jewel of the railway.
Some nice new housing being built nearby too, and of course glorious countryside not very far away!
...Viazovska and her collaborators emerged from the sphere-packing work with a higher ambition. Mathematicians had long suspected that E8 and the Leech lattice are much more than just the best way to pack spheres. These two lattices, mathematicians hypothesized, are “universally optimal,” meaning that they are the best arrangements according to a host of criteria — for example, the lowest-energy way to position mutually repelling electrons in space or twisty polymers in a solution.... ...The resulting paper, said Sylvia Serfaty of New York University, is on a par with the great breakthroughs of the 19th century, when mathematicians solved many of the problems that had confounded their predecessors for centuries. “This paper is really a great advancement of science,” she told Quanta at the time. “To know that the human brain is able to produce a proof of something like that, to me it’s a really remarkable fact.”
The story of another of this year's Field's Medallists is rather more remarkable.
As a slogger on the coalface of academia, I do hate these geniuses who work three hours a day and make prof in their 30s
He sounds pretty unusual, though.
Just wait till he's landed with preparing for the next Research Excellence Framework for his school (or whatever the major subdivision is called in his uni).
Somehow I don't think he's going to be beating a path to the UK. Though I note one of this year's four is an Oxford mathematician.
My son is planning to do this later this week I think. He promises that his group won't be disruptive (I believe him, he and his friends are a fairly meek bunch). Of course it seems pointless like all youth culture does to grown ups but it seems to be essentially harmless fun.
Apparently its been rather disruptive - they are not attending to watch the film, its more some tiktok bullshit. Cinema owner on the radio this morning saying that when trouble makers were asked to leave they said 'you have no authority to make me go' or something, which no only rude, but factually incorrect. Idiots.
Off topic but I know a number of PBers are avid weather model watchers like me and it won't have passed them by that in mid July we may - not certain, but may - see a heatwave in France, Southern Britain and the low countries that would unprecedented in ferocity. If so it will be leading the headlines.
There are several runs showing up from multiple agencies putting temperatures in the South of England up to or above 40C, and one or two that suggest 47-48C in Western France. The latter would wipe out most sensitive crops as well as much of the Bordeaux and Loire grape harvest. Both would send a lot of elderly people to A&E.
Smart opposition politicians might want to treat this week as climate change week and announce a range of energy security, insulation and renewables policies while tempting a few Tory backbenchers to rubbish global warming as a hoax.
48C is an abomination. The end times indeed
I’ve experienced 46C in Darfur, Ethiopia. An awful stifling sensation, a heat you have to escape - like being waterboarded maybe
I'll believe the forecast of 40 deg plus when it enters the reliable time-frame. At the moment we are talking 12 days hence. Computer models typically spit out more extreme solutions at later dates that moderate closer to the time.
Apparently its been rather disruptive - they are not attending to watch the film, its more some tiktok bullshit. Cinema owner on the radio this morning saying that when trouble makers were asked to leave they said 'you have no authority to make me go' or something, which no only rude, but factually incorrect. Idiots.
There must be some game theory applicable to this. "The Cabinet Ministers Dilemma." They are rivals, the first to resign fears the legend of Heseletine will apply. Can they act collectively? Can they trust one another?
This is an opportunity for Gove and others who know they are not in the running to be PM.
Someone pointed out that Heseltine was rehabilitated in Major's cabinet after dethroning Thatcher.
But he wasn't a lightweight lickspittle
Heseltine was also seen as completely unprincipled and utterly devoted to Heseltine.
WTF is it a vote - surely you pick a HQ based on sane reasons such as existing workforces (which would imply York)..
I'd go for Derby (I would, wouldn't I?). Already a hub for rail work of all sorts, from construction to R&D. The area around the station is going to be redeveloped (*), and there will be plenty of space for offices slap-bang by the station. A very central location, with easy access to London, Birmingham, York, and even Manchester. An easy commute from Nottingham, Sheffield and Birmingham.
But Derby always seems to get missed on these things. Anecdote has it that the research division only stayed in Derby in the 1950s because a senior manager refused to move to Crewe.
(*) Good for us in one way, as we own a small bit of it. Bad in another as it means some buildings my dad built will be coming down. Sobs...
It's rather a boring town though, Derby. Newcastle looks a good candidate from that list – one of the best cities in the UK and Central Station is a handsome jewel of the railway.
Some nice new housing being built nearby too, and of course glorious countryside not very far away!
If you give DALLE-2 an image, then ask it to produce a variant, it will give you six. If you choose one of the six, then ask it to vary THAT, it will do so in the same way. If you repeat the process hundreds or thousands of times, then string the images together, you get this
Is this the vague beginnings of a new art form? Or an uncanny simulacrum of a DMT trip? Can’t decide
Incidentally the initiating image is the first photo ever taken. Which is neat
Choosing the images to feed back in makes it less interesting. What would it look like had DALLE-2 made its own choices ?
Yes, I had the same thought
Even better, get GPT3 to choose. Two AIs bouncing off each other. Leave them to it for a day. Imagine
That video you linked to starts with a real photo of a building and it got turned into a graphic of a ball on top of a cone.
That's the one my dog would have chosen.
The initial image is actually the first photo ever taken - by a human
I appreciate most of this is totally lost on PB-ers, but I’m happy to educate
Why are you so unable to accept that people can look at evidence and come to different conclusions?
Er, what?
What conclusions am I dismissing?
I’m just pointing PB to some fascinating developments in AI and ML. Maybe repetitively, but I aver it is still more interesting than the 178th debate about Tory sleaze
But both have their place in the diverse garden of PB. Each to their own
Your disdain for those who don't accept that this is sentient AI, which you've been banging the drum for ages. probably this stuff today is not the best example of your work on that front. You routinely suggest that anyone not agreeing with your view is too limited to accept reality.
Read the thread. Any rancour initially comes from others. Sometimes I respond, a little
Tho I do believe that anyone not fascinated by this lacks imagination, at the very least
But it is the nature of PB that it attracts more technically minded, less imaginative types? That is not an insult. I could never build a car - or code a computer: skills I would like to have
I think its a false dichotomy - technical people can be incredibly creative too. I work in academia and see amazing creativity coupled with technical excellence all the time.
His contention was that: "This time next year, the Russian armed forces will be be equipped with simpler and less variety of equipment with a lot of Chinese/Indian/Israeli electronics but there is no doubt there will be a lot of it."
That might happen, and quantity does have a quality all of its own. But whilst India and China are quite happy to take cheap hydrocarbons from Russia, giving Russia lots of high-tech stuff carries other concerns.
Then there's the track record. in the 1950s to early 1980s, Russia could crank out tens of thousands of pieces of military equipment a year. A prodigious amount of tanks, AFVs, planes, missiles and everything else. But their recent track record is less impressive. Their recently-updated tanks have proved to be Ronsons, and their clean-sheet design, the T-14, did not perform well in Syria and is available in tiny numbers.
Does Russia actually have the manufacturing capability of making even (say) the T-80U in vast enough numbers to make a difference? Thousands of AFVs? Thousands of missiles that actually hit a target? They're not exactly making a lot of the T-14s recently. And many of their 'new' tanks are actually renewed older tanks.
According to Oryx, Russia has lost 830 tanks in the first four months of this war. That's a heck of a lot to re-equip.
Note: I'm not saying it's not possible. I'm casting doubt on whether the corruption-ridden Russian system will actually be able to do it.
If you give DALLE-2 an image, then ask it to produce a variant, it will give you six. If you choose one of the six, then ask it to vary THAT, it will do so in the same way. If you repeat the process hundreds or thousands of times, then string the images together, you get this
Is this the vague beginnings of a new art form? Or an uncanny simulacrum of a DMT trip? Can’t decide
Incidentally the initiating image is the first photo ever taken. Which is neat
Choosing the images to feed back in makes it less interesting. What would it look like had DALLE-2 made its own choices ?
Yes, I had the same thought
Even better, get GPT3 to choose. Two AIs bouncing off each other. Leave them to it for a day. Imagine
That video you linked to starts with a real photo of a building and it got turned into a graphic of a ball on top of a cone.
That's the one my dog would have chosen.
The initial image is actually the first photo ever taken - by a human
I appreciate most of this is totally lost on PB-ers, but I’m happy to educate
Why are you so unable to accept that people can look at evidence and come to different conclusions?
Er, what?
What conclusions am I dismissing?
I’m just pointing PB to some fascinating developments in AI and ML. Maybe repetitively, but I aver it is still more interesting than the 178th debate about Tory sleaze
But both have their place in the diverse garden of PB. Each to their own
Your disdain for those who don't accept that this is sentient AI, which you've been banging the drum for ages. probably this stuff today is not the best example of your work on that front. You routinely suggest that anyone not agreeing with your view is too limited to accept reality.
Read the thread. Any rancour initially comes from others. Sometimes I respond, a little
Tho I do believe that anyone not fascinated by this lacks imagination, at the very least
But it is the nature of PB that it attracts more technically minded, less imaginative types? That is not an insult. I could never build a car - or code a computer: skills I would like to have
I think its a false dichotomy - technical people can be incredibly creative too. I work in academia and see amazing creativity coupled with technical excellence all the time.
Its easy to mock Fabricant, who gave an interview on R5 this morning, outraging the audience (as curated by the BBC). He partially blamed the long hours. Long hours don't justify getting drunk and making a prat of yourself, but its time to ask if the Westminster culture is fit for a modern 21st century democracy. The nonsense around question time, the stupid formalities of 'right honorable' bullshit, the speakers outdated costume (that's what it is), the evening debates and votes - start earlier FFS.
Time to change.
I don't really buy this, having been immersed in it for 13 years. The formalities are just background - you're barely aware they're there, and My Honourable Friend etc. is just like saying Mit herzlichem Gruss in a German letter - you don't actually mean you're sending hearty greetings, it's just the usual form. As for the hours, the basic fact is that you work all day, every day, unless you explicitly carve out relaxation time, and whatever you do it won't be all you wanted to do. The morning has 100 emails and committee meetings twice a week. Then there's question times for each ministry, then there's more committee and more debates, then there's all-party meetings and yet more debate, then there's votes, and you have to fit in research and eating and whatever else you want. In those 13 years I went to the theatre once.
A minority of MPs react to all this by giving up and getting pissed every night. Most MPs just enjoy it - they're the ones you don't read about. I didn't have time to spend in the Strangers' Bar groping people even if I'd wanted to - there was always something interesting to do.
Sorry Nick, I don't agree. I think it is time for a more grown up parliament. None of this nonsense of baying MP's etc. Stop the ludicrous 'background' formalities as you call it. Look at other parliaments around the world. What is done well elsewhere? Can we be better?
What does the public think of it?
Oh, yes, the baying is nonsense knockabout (though curiously one aspect of Parliament that many foreigners admire, by contrast to the respectful silence they're used to).
The cabinet absolutely loathe the guy. And it is wonderful to see
Not enough to quit though
There must be some game theory applicable to this. "The Cabinet Ministers Dilemma." They are rivals, the first to resign fears the legend of Heseletine will apply. Can they act collectively? Can they trust one another?
This is an opportunity for Gove and others who know they are not in the running to be PM.
But Dowden has already resigned, which could have been the first drip in the torrent.
Nobody followed him.
Wallace and Zahawi might be competent eggs, but they are putting up with all of this, which means they are terrible people.
Comments
Nothing more than that, although I would appreciate viewing @IanB2 dog's efforts.
Same tactics used: Bolt for the door and run around in circles in the garden with said plunder handing from his mouth.
is the best and most recent summary in a map form I can find - The Ukrainian moves in the South go some way to explain the comments from Russia about an escalation if Crimea is "attacked".
And that's not a party political point - Streeting for Labour is exactly the same - student politics, pressure groups, advisor, and into parliament.
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They heard all his lies
And yet still they won't get shot
The fact the current government is also directionless, but corrupt at the same time, is in danger of passing people by. Labour need to hit this point repeatedly: the government has run out of ideas, it is directionless, it hasn't even got Brexit done. The Tories are perfectly capable of doing the "look what corrupt liars we are" bit on their own. But this strategy requires Keir to have some clearly articulated strategies and direction.
And Ukraine's message about their weapons requirements has been consistent for months.
"The current one is the absolute worst, there’s no discipline, no strategy and no one seeing obvious problems ahead"
https://www.ft.com/content/8f9034da-7582-47dd-abeb-20f386b1e87a
It put me in mind of an attractor in a chaotic phase space.
I think that if you hooked up the two algorithms in the way you propose there's a possibility that they would settle into a minimum-energy space and so stop producing anything different. It depends how dispersive they are. It's not like they're capable of becoming bored.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-pledges-233-million-infrastructure-funding-to-bring-dockland-site-back-to-life
Like that cartoon of the dog sitting next to a lamp and two balls, with the genie above him saying "why don't you have a think before making your third wish?"
Susanna Reid: How does someone who is found guilty by an internal investigation.. get to be deputy chief whip?
Dominic Raab: You say found guilty
SR: An investigation upheld the complaint
DR: Using the word guilty is wrong
SR: So what does an upheld investigation mean?
#GMB https://twitter.com/Haggis_UK/status/1544228692297138176/video/1
But you could probably tweak the GPT algorithm to “demand innovation” and avoid that. Where would it go then?
Have you ever watched the TV show Lie to Me? It is based a real life scientist who studies microexpressions to determine what people are thinking.
I wonder what he would make of this...
https://twitter.com/camillahmturner/status/1544249425014525952
One of the other big problems we seem to have is that the defence industry isn't capable of supporting an extended high-intensity war. The Chief of the Defence Staff was talking about a period of five years to rebuild our stocks of weapons that we've sent to Ukraine, but that seems to imply we'll have nothing left to send them if the war continues into 2023.
There was some armoured vehicle procurement program for the British Army that might not now deliver until the 2030s, but the Ukrainians are going to need more armoured vehicles throughout this year and next. Where will they come from? Who will make them?
What does the public think of it?
The shortlist for GBR HQ has been confirmed as: Birmingham, Crewe, Derby, Doncaster, Newcastle and York. Public voting is now open.
https://twitter.com/Clinnick1/status/1544233739580063745
WTF is it a vote - surely you pick a HQ based on sane reasons such as existing workforces (which would imply York)..
@BorisJohnson pays tribute to minister Therese Coffey at this morning's Cabinet meeting as he seeks to move on from the Chris Pincher controversy https://www.itv.com/news/2022-07-05/pm-briefing-in-person-about-complaint-against-pincher-before-whip-appointment https://twitter.com/ITVNewsPolitics/status/1544247994387775488/video/1
We really do need to redesign the whole of how Parliament works for the 21st century and the best way of doing that would be to relocate it elsewhere....
And while I have a problem with locating an HQ based on public vote I have zero problem moving Parliament elsewhere based on a public vote - the only restriction I would add is to an area where average income is less than the national average for levelling up reasons.
https://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/
Nervy start
This is an opportunity for Gove and others who know they are not in the running to be PM.
But he wasn't a lightweight lickspittle
Do the ladies and gentlemen of the Lobby, really not get how bad all this inside baseball crap looks on them, when petrol is £2 a litre and fuel bills heading over £2,000?
Right, off to watch the cricket, on what could be an historic day. Come on England!
But Derby always seems to get missed on these things. Anecdote has it that the research division only stayed in Derby in the 1950s because a senior manager refused to move to Crewe.
(*) Good for us in one way, as we own a small bit of it. Bad in another as it means some buildings my dad built will be coming down. Sobs...
Shami looking dangerous, though.
What conclusions am I dismissing?
I’m just pointing PB to some fascinating developments in AI and ML. Maybe repetitively, but I aver it is still more interesting than the 178th debate about Tory sleaze
But both have their place in the diverse garden of PB. Each to their own
There are several runs showing up from multiple agencies putting temperatures in the South of England up to or above 40C, and one or two that suggest 47-48C in Western France. The latter would wipe out most sensitive crops as well as much of the Bordeaux and Loire grape harvest. Both would send a lot of elderly people to A&E.
Smart opposition politicians might want to treat this week as climate change week and announce a range of energy security, insulation and renewables policies while tempting a few Tory backbenchers to rubbish global warming as a hoax.
On such fine margins can games change ...
The sad reality is that many of us end up with someone who looks at us like Theresa Coffey looks at Boris Johnson.
I’m told the PM’s mood has been “irrepressibly cheerful” after more than a week overseas with other world leaders https://twitter.com/SamCoatesSky/status/1544255744165511172/video/1
...children wearing suits.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jul/04/uk-cinemas-ban-fans-in-suits-from-minions-the-rise-of-gru
So we persist with for and against, two swords lengths apart!
I’ve experienced 46C in Darfur, Ethiopia. An awful stifling sensation, a heat you have to escape - like being waterboarded maybe
If they want to ban rowdy people who wear suits then MPs who attend PMQs would be banned as well
Cinema owner on the radio this morning saying that when trouble makers were asked to leave they said 'you have no authority to make me go' or something, which no only rude, but factually incorrect. Idiots.
Not exactly a new one either, as much as this one might have TikTok and suits involved.
Tho I do believe that anyone not fascinated by this lacks imagination, at the very least
But it is the nature of PB that it attracts more technically minded, less imaginative types? That is not an insult. I could never build a car - or code a computer: skills I would like to have
Though I note one of this year's four is an Oxford mathematician.
Angela Rayner MP - To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will make a statement on the mechanisms for upholding standards in public life.
https://twitter.com/PickardJE/status/1544258587416985600
His contention was that: "This time next year, the Russian armed forces will be be equipped with simpler and less variety of equipment with a lot of Chinese/Indian/Israeli electronics but there is no doubt there will be a lot of it."
That might happen, and quantity does have a quality all of its own. But whilst India and China are quite happy to take cheap hydrocarbons from Russia, giving Russia lots of high-tech stuff carries other concerns.
Then there's the track record. in the 1950s to early 1980s, Russia could crank out tens of thousands of pieces of military equipment a year. A prodigious amount of tanks, AFVs, planes, missiles and everything else. But their recent track record is less impressive. Their recently-updated tanks have proved to be Ronsons, and their clean-sheet design, the T-14, did not perform well in Syria and is available in tiny numbers.
Does Russia actually have the manufacturing capability of making even (say) the T-80U in vast enough numbers to make a difference? Thousands of AFVs? Thousands of missiles that actually hit a target? They're not exactly making a lot of the T-14s recently. And many of their 'new' tanks are actually renewed older tanks.
According to Oryx, Russia has lost 830 tanks in the first four months of this war. That's a heck of a lot to re-equip.
Note: I'm not saying it's not possible. I'm casting doubt on whether the corruption-ridden Russian system will actually be able to do it.
No sign of others - Sunak, Heaton-Harris, Hart (who did Friday’s tricky media round), Coffey (who did Sunday’s tricky media round) haven’t left thru No10 so far
https://twitter.com/SamCoatesSky/status/1544259585376194561
Nobody followed him.
Wallace and Zahawi might be competent eggs, but they are putting up with all of this, which means they are terrible people.