Labour says it has obtained a leaked DfT document showing that HS2 delay will increase costs, lead to job cuts and could see construction firms go bust
The depressing thing is that this is barely even a surprise.
"terminate on the outskirts of London"
So a high speed line starting at Euston and finishing at Old Oak Common?
With stop at Mornington Crescent?
More we know, the more MY scheme (he-he-he) for a PNEUMATIC TUBE system linking all parts of the UK with each other, is THE way to go.
Imagine talking the PNTUBE (pronounced "pee-in-toob"?) from the Isle of Wight to Wick and back (via Woolwich, West Bromwich & Wolverhampton) in just 6 minutes!
WOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSHHHHHHH!!!!!
Compressing all the air in your 600 mile PNTUBE to get the carriage moving might prove a little tricky.
Perhaps Malmesbury could contribute a device to create a suitable pressure wave?
A linear motor and a vacuum tube might work better but I get the impression Elon isn't serious about his version, so someone else may be needed to do it properly.
Operation Plumbob says hi. Now, just stand on this manhole cover…
Various groups are working on Hyperloop/vactrain concepts. I think someone got past 250mph a while back.
Pascal-B? 240,000km/h seems a bit over-quick even for a trip to Wick. Suggest moderating the charge a bit.
ChatGPT says it can't play chess but I'm 7 moves deep with it's first suggestion and it's still going...
One thing we know computers are really, really good at, is playing chess. My phone can play at International Master level offline, and a decent computer will beat Magnus any day of the week.
Computers have been able to beat the average chess player since about 1985 IIRC.
Yes, I had an old hardware chess computer in the late ‘80s that could beat a teenage me, who was about 700 in modern ranking points.
The real breakthrough was when IBM’s Deep Blue beat world champion Kasparov in 1996. Since then, the computer required to beat the world champion has moved from a supercomputer to a good laptop!
My ipad chess program on hard level can beat me now, although I play a lot less than i did as a teenager. Chess.com has programmed bots that can play online chess at GM level, and even bots that replicate the styles of individual Masters.
Want to play a bot that plays like Magnus Carlson, and is rated 2800, you can. And it will beat you, every time!
It is a big problem in chess now that anyone with access to a mobile phone can win no matter who they are playing. Hence there have been accusations of cheating at all levels.
We had a hardware chess computer at home in the mid 1980s too - I had the better of it as a teenager but from about 1990 onwards that game was done.
Sadly I'm probably no better than I was then now - about 1850 - although I stopped playing at the beginning of the pandemic - I'm not a big fan of online chess. Yet to restart although many of the over the board chess leagues were already on their last legs before 2020 and there probably aren't many players left.
Congresses seem to be still going although quite a few may stop when the generation currently running them give up.
Sad really.
On the positive side, there’s good chess communities on the various social media, and a lot of GMs who have good social media profiles. The world champion can turn up drunk on Twitch or Youtube, and play a bunch of one-minute games against allcomers.
There might not be as much local community over-the-board chess in the future, but the large conventions will still happen, and a lot more people will play other humans more often. There’s also bots developed as trainers, that can play at slightly above your current level while giving hints and tips - invaluable for a lot of improving players.
1850 is a serious tournament player level, well done.
Comments
The main point is to provide extra capacity on the WCML.
There might not be as much local community over-the-board chess in the future, but the large conventions will still happen, and a lot more people will play other humans more often. There’s also bots developed as trainers, that can play at slightly above your current level while giving hints and tips - invaluable for a lot of improving players.
1850 is a serious tournament player level, well done.