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Why I am now betting on LAB not getting a majority – politicalbetting.com

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  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,344

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
  • Would the arrest of Nicola Sturgeon warrant a KA-BOOOOM!!!!! with five exclamation marks?

    I’ve got a fantastic pun lined up if that happens
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 6,723

    Would the arrest of Nicola Sturgeon warrant a KA-BOOOOM!!!!! with five exclamation marks?

    It would send my schadenfreude levels off the scale.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,675
    SNP Treasurer

    Beattie 2004 - 2020

    Chapman 2020 - 2021. Resigns as does not have sufficient access to the numbers to perform duties

    Beattie 2021 - present
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 22,827
    All this woke changing of names is ridiculous. Next they will not only want me to call plain old Stanley Johnson, Sir Stanley Johnson but also call Camilla, Queenie. Time for all right thinking patriots to put an end to this nonsense.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,978

    KA - BOOM!

    SNP treasurer arrested in party funding investigation
    Colin Beattie is in custody and being questioned by detectives, says Police Scotland

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/apr/18/man-71-arrested-in-connection-with-snp-funding-investigation-say-police

    Lol, the law of diminishing kabooms.

    Sky just saying the SNP treasurer has ben arrested.

    Nigelb said:

    Police arrest SNP treasurer in finance probe
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-65309791

    carnforth said:

    Fair enough. I dip in and out and didn't see the previous posts. Even so the meltdown in the SNP is surely imperilling the polar icecaps.
    The frenetic activity of PB gammonry commenting on someone whose existence they weren't previously aware of in a country in which they don't live won't be helping the icecaps. Not being allowed to indulge in ill informed speculation must be very frustrating.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,192

    Cookie said:

    kinabalu said:

    I'm one of those prior Tory don't knows, but after getting my local elections materials I've decided for the first time ever I'm going to vote Lib Dem in the upcoming local elections.

    The Tories don't deserve my vote. And the Lib Dems have always put me off with their NIMBYism, but the material I received had not a single hint of NIMBYism on it, so I'm going to give them a chance this time.

    Though I do wonder whether the election leaflets that they send out are adjusted depending upon the demographics of where they're sending it. I live on a new build estate, so anyone on this estate probably isn't a NIMBY - I wonder whether more NIMBYish material is being sent to other addresses instead, or whether the local candidate genuinely isn't playing on NIMBYism which I respect if so?

    Isn't Nigel Farage your usual choice of protest vote? Still, ok, Lib Dems, yes why not. Much better actually. They're a decent bunch. And it's nothing sinister to finetune your election material to who's receiving it. They all do this.
    Yes they do, but I don't think Bart need worry about that in this instance. If I was a party finetuner looking only to cynically maximise my vote share, I'd be headlining on 'no further development' on his estate - my view is that those on the edges of town - which tends to be the new build estates - tend to feel strongest about opposing the edge of town moving further out. So if the LDs aren't saying it to Bart, they probably aren't saying it to anyone in his town.
    I think that's right. I've been visiting a friend in a village in rural Oxfordshire and I'm struck by the number of euphemisms used by all candidates to appeal to NIMBYs without saying they're against more housing - "We need the right kind of development, not the kind they've proposed", "We want to keep our area rural", "I opposed the local plan because of its indiscriminate housing". My friend is normally LibDem but annoyed by the LibDem leaflet barchart, which as usual shows all parties wildly disproportionate to their actual votes - she's irritated that her preferred candidate is trying to deceive her. I've urged her to vote for someone else and tell the LibDems why - it's only if they actually lose votes by deception that they'll stop doing it.
    Those statements are a series of NIMBY tapes.

    What will happen is that build targets will return in one form or another whoever wins the next election, because they are necessary, and there's no realistic alternative,

    In my area there is still not a local plan, despite my having rushed through a small development in 2013 because one was going to imminently appear.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,559
    edited April 2023
    Another SNP arrest. This is surely going to affect their support in the opinion polls, rightly or wrongly.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,310
    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Bit of ethnic cleansing now being espoused by our resident amoeba brained saltire-waving fascist
  • malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Unfortunately for Wales, that's what a lot of young people have to do to get a job.
  • WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 9,159
    edited April 2023

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Unfortunately for Wales, that's what a lot of young people have to do to get a job.
    Hence London, Liverpool, Manchester, and other cities, having a lot of Welsh and Irish people as far as back as the 17th and 18th centuries.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,792
    Ghedebrav said:

    kjh said:

    Cookie said:

    kjh said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    kjh said:

    Jonathan said:

    Andy_JS said:

    O/T

    I've just been watching the BBC idents that were used between 2002 and 2006, and the interesting thing about them is that they celebrate just about everything except anything that might be described as "provincial/rural England".

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydqN-yo_2B4

    That's the BBC for you.

    Utterly Met in every way.
    A highly niche whinge there not actually true if you view the clip. Cornwall is pretty provincial. If you like green stuff, look at the previous idents.

    https://youtu.be/KwNBDbMqOA8
    Any mention of the BBC will have the snowflakes racing each other to find the most faux offence.
    You have to admire the determination to be outraged. It must be exhausting to live life on kind of hair trigger.
    Rather ironic given the endless amount of stuff that wokesters seem to get wound up about...
    Really? Name one here? Yet we get bombarded by the small anti woke brigade here endlessly.
    Yesterday we had the stupidity of the Woke renaming the Brecon Beacons to virture-signal about climate change, because beacons burn and emit carbon or something.

    They are quite batshit.
    The *Welsh* didn't rename anything - that name already existed. They have just declared they will exclusively use the Welsh name and not the English name.

    Is Wales now "woke" because it wants to promote its own language? Naming things in Wales in Welsh is "woke"? Really?
    The reason given for the name change is that 'Beacons' isn't a good look because it implies burning things which implies climate change. Which strikes me as pretty woke.

    I'd also suggest the number of Welsh speakers in the Brecon Beacons is pretty low.
    Isn't it full of Squaddies training?
    As with most National Parks, very few people actually live there at all - the boundaries tend to exclude the towns. But even if you include the 'just outside' towns like Brecon and Abergavenny, this is one of the less Welsh-speaking areas of Wales. I can see the argument for renaming Snowdonia, but this just seems daft.
    Marketing. It is working.
    Is it? Personally, I'd quite fancy a trip to the Brecon Beacons. Sounds delightful. Even before you get into the political reasons for the name change, Bannau Brycheiniog is much less appealing to my eyes.
    Maybe it's all the first part of a big ruse like when the Post Office changed its name to something terrible in order to then get the positive PR when it changed it back?
    I think it comes into the 'No publicity is bad publicity category'. Everyone is talking about it. The Brecon Beacon wouldn't have crossed most people's minds. Now people who are thinking of taking a short break have that as an option on their list. Except Casino of course.
    Side note, but there are plenty of examples of bad publicity being bad publicity.
    Can't think what you mean. I'm sure Gerald Ratner hasn't a clue either.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,440

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Unfortunately for Wales, that's what a lot of young people have to do to get a job.
    Hence London, Liverpool, Manchester, and other cities, having a lot of Welsh and Irish people as far as back as the 17th and 18th centuries.
    And Essex. Like my father. He and his compatriot teacher friends could have made quite a decent rugby team at one time!
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,440

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Bit of ethnic cleansing now being espoused by our resident amoeba brained saltire-waving fascist
    Has Malc upset you?
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,675
    Why is everyone making a fuss about the Welsh renaming their National Parks? Part of the attraction is the distinct culture and language, and I love hearing Welsh in what I call Snowdonia.

    When you pop over the Minch no cares if you call it the Western Isles, Uist or whatever. But having the Gaelic reminds us that the whole idea of the place is different to Moray or the central belt or England or whatever.

    I'd also encourage learning some basic Welsh/Gaelic (colours etc). Adds lots to your enjoyment and understanding of those places. "Buachaille Etive Mor" - what a brilliant, romantic name for that mountain.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,310

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Bit of ethnic cleansing now being espoused by our resident amoeba brained saltire-waving fascist
    Has Malc upset you?
    He is a nasty Anglophobic little fascist who thinks rudeness is a form of debate. He ensures that if anyone disagrees with his highly simplistic world view he will bully them with abuse to shout them down. He is a highly obnoxious individual. The fact that he idolises Alex Salmond tells you everything you need to know.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,303

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Unfortunately for Wales, that's what a lot of young people have to do to get a job.
    Welcome to PB. Here is the Questionnaire -

    1) Pineapple on Pizza? Ok or War Crime?
    2) AV - is it a good idea?
    3) BA pilots are all dead from COVID vaccines - true/false?
    4) Python - programming language of the future, or the work of the devil?
    5) What do you think of Radiohead?
    6) Die Hard - Christmas movie or not?
    7) Ukraine - whose fault is it?
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,195
    Driver said:

    kamski said:

    Nigelb said:

    R4 had a piece on the bloke who won a Sony Creative prize for photography with an AI generated image. I did a search on twitter and initially it came with a load of unfeasibly large breasted women with the faces of 12 year olds but I eventually found the actual pic.
    Impossible to tell with hindsight but is there a touch of tell tale exaggeration and caricature in the image?


    Leon posted the story days ago. Look at the hands. AI can't draw hands for who knows what reason. A lot of human artists too, so maybe that is the reason.
    I posted it; Leon commented.
    I suspect the whole thing is just a publicity stunt. The judges knew it was AI, and knew if they gave it a prize people would be talking about these awards that otherwise don't get any attention.
    That was my initial cynical assumption.

    My second cynical assumption was that one of the AI firms paid them off to do it, but that's probably a consipiracy theory too far...
    I've always considered in the art world a possible route to riches could be the following.

    Produce a work which a chimp or two year old could do.
    "Sell" said artwork to rich loaded friend for £10 million. No money actually changes hands.
    Get publicity off said sale. Journos these days probably won't work out the sale was a sham.
    Sell prints of said artwork and a few more pieces now you're "known" for decent money, because the perception is your work is now "valuable".
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,577
    carnforth said:

    Would the arrest of Nicola Sturgeon warrant a KA-BOOOOM!!!!! with five exclamation marks?

    What if there turn out to be no charges? Is the SNP less screwed, or is this an electoral sea-change either way?
    Fair or not, the SNP now fails any smell test you want to impose.

    The fish rots from the head down, whether it's a Salmond or a Sturgeon.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,577

    All this woke changing of names is ridiculous. Next they will not only want me to call plain old Stanley Johnson, Sir Stanley Johnson but also call Camilla, Queenie. Time for all right thinking patriots to put an end to this nonsense.

    By an anarchosyndicalist commune, comrade?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,303
    Pulpstar said:

    Driver said:

    kamski said:

    Nigelb said:

    R4 had a piece on the bloke who won a Sony Creative prize for photography with an AI generated image. I did a search on twitter and initially it came with a load of unfeasibly large breasted women with the faces of 12 year olds but I eventually found the actual pic.
    Impossible to tell with hindsight but is there a touch of tell tale exaggeration and caricature in the image?


    Leon posted the story days ago. Look at the hands. AI can't draw hands for who knows what reason. A lot of human artists too, so maybe that is the reason.
    I posted it; Leon commented.
    I suspect the whole thing is just a publicity stunt. The judges knew it was AI, and knew if they gave it a prize people would be talking about these awards that otherwise don't get any attention.
    That was my initial cynical assumption.

    My second cynical assumption was that one of the AI firms paid them off to do it, but that's probably a consipiracy theory too far...
    I've always considered in the art world a possible route to riches could be the following.

    Produce a work which a chimp or two year old could do.
    "Sell" said artwork to rich loaded friend for £10 million. No money actually changes hands.
    Get publicity off said sale. Journos these days probably won't work out the sale was a sham.
    Sell prints of said artwork and a few more pieces now you're "known" for decent money, because the perception is your work is now "valuable".
    So you aren't aware that this has been done, many times, in art over the years?
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,310

    carnforth said:

    Would the arrest of Nicola Sturgeon warrant a KA-BOOOOM!!!!! with five exclamation marks?

    What if there turn out to be no charges? Is the SNP less screwed, or is this an electoral sea-change either way?
    Fair or not, the SNP now fails any smell test you want to impose.

    The fish rots from the head down, whether it's a Salmond or a Sturgeon.
    Which do you think was worse on a SCALE of one to ten?
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,577

    carnforth said:

    Would the arrest of Nicola Sturgeon warrant a KA-BOOOOM!!!!! with five exclamation marks?

    What if there turn out to be no charges? Is the SNP less screwed, or is this an electoral sea-change either way?
    Fair or not, the SNP now fails any smell test you want to impose.

    The fish rots from the head down, whether it's a Salmond or a Sturgeon.
    Which do you think was worse on a SCALE of one to ten?
    I think Sturgeon will represent the fin de siecle....
  • WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 9,159
    edited April 2023
    As I mentioned, the dissonance with Sturgeon's public image, for me, is somehow greater than with Salmond's. Her public style is almost religious, or missionary, somehow, even though I understand she's nothing like Kate Forbes in this respect.

    She's like a fiery bluestocking teacher. Now mentioned in the same breath as police investigations ?
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,978
    edited April 2023

    Foss said:

    A name that can be easily pronounced after a couple of glasses of wine would likely make tourism easier.

    "ILoveYouMate National Park"
    Please respect cultural differences.

    "Whoareyoufuckinglookingat area of outstanding natural beauty'
  • malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Unfortunately for Wales, that's what a lot of young people have to do to get a job.
    Welcome to PB. Here is the Questionnaire -

    1) Pineapple on Pizza? Ok or War Crime?
    2) AV - is it a good idea?
    3) BA pilots are all dead from COVID vaccines - true/false?
    4) Python - programming language of the future, or the work of the devil?
    5) What do you think of Radiohead?
    6) Die Hard - Christmas movie or not?
    7) Ukraine - whose fault is it?

    Many thanks:

    1) Pineapple on Pizza? Ok or War Crime? War crime punishable by firing squad
    2) AV - is it a good idea? I'd just mark X
    3) BA pilots are all dead from COVID vaccines - true/false? I mean, have you personally seen anyone flying planes??
    4) Python - programming language of the future, or the work of the devil? Bit last year for me
    5) What do you think of Radiohead? Meh
    6) Die Hard - Christmas movie or not? His wife's name is Holly!
    7) Ukraine - whose fault is it? Lord Cardigan
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    Received my local election postal vote - so far the only communication is from an Independent who actually has some good ideas that could be implemented - so he might get one of my votes.
  • edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,708
    Pulpstar said:

    Driver said:

    kamski said:

    Nigelb said:

    R4 had a piece on the bloke who won a Sony Creative prize for photography with an AI generated image. I did a search on twitter and initially it came with a load of unfeasibly large breasted women with the faces of 12 year olds but I eventually found the actual pic.
    Impossible to tell with hindsight but is there a touch of tell tale exaggeration and caricature in the image?


    Leon posted the story days ago. Look at the hands. AI can't draw hands for who knows what reason. A lot of human artists too, so maybe that is the reason.
    I posted it; Leon commented.
    I suspect the whole thing is just a publicity stunt. The judges knew it was AI, and knew if they gave it a prize people would be talking about these awards that otherwise don't get any attention.
    That was my initial cynical assumption.

    My second cynical assumption was that one of the AI firms paid them off to do it, but that's probably a consipiracy theory too far...
    I've always considered in the art world a possible route to riches could be the following.

    Produce a work which a chimp or two year old could do.
    "Sell" said artwork to rich loaded friend for £10 million. No money actually changes hands.
    Get publicity off said sale. Journos these days probably won't work out the sale was a sham.
    Sell prints of said artwork and a few more pieces now you're "known" for decent money, because the perception is your work is now "valuable".
    This is exactly how the NFT market works. The twist is that the buyer address and the seller address can both be the same person, no need for a friend.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,303

    As I mentioned, the dissonance with Sturgeon's public image for me is somehow greater than with Salmond's. Her public style is almost religious, or missionary, somehow, even though I understand she's nothing like Kate Forbes, in this respect.

    She's like a fiery bluestocking teacher. Now mentioned in the same breath as police investigations ?

    The SNP's pitch was that they were the "honest, sensible people" unlike the "crooks from Westminster and their puppet local parties"
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,586

    All this woke changing of names is ridiculous. Next they will not only want me to call plain old Stanley Johnson, Sir Stanley Johnson but also call Camilla, Queenie. Time for all right thinking patriots to put an end to this nonsense.

    I’ll admit to being briefly confused by “Duchess of Edinburgh” the other day.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,625
    Eabhal said:

    Why is everyone making a fuss about the Welsh renaming their National Parks? Part of the attraction is the distinct culture and language, and I love hearing Welsh in what I call Snowdonia.

    When you pop over the Minch no cares if you call it the Western Isles, Uist or whatever. But having the Gaelic reminds us that the whole idea of the place is different to Moray or the central belt or England or whatever.

    I'd also encourage learning some basic Welsh/Gaelic (colours etc). Adds lots to your enjoyment and understanding of those places. "Buachaille Etive Mor" - what a brilliant, romantic name for that mountain.

    "Buachaille Etive Mor" was my first munro, climbed at age 17 one early May, with snow still on the slopes. Part of our long DofE gold award expedition.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,310

    carnforth said:

    Would the arrest of Nicola Sturgeon warrant a KA-BOOOOM!!!!! with five exclamation marks?

    What if there turn out to be no charges? Is the SNP less screwed, or is this an electoral sea-change either way?
    Fair or not, the SNP now fails any smell test you want to impose.

    The fish rots from the head down, whether it's a Salmond or a Sturgeon.
    Which do you think was worse on a SCALE of one to ten?
    I think Sturgeon will represent the fin de siecle....
    A little bit of a barbed comment if you don't mind me saying, even for this plaice.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,195

    Pulpstar said:

    Driver said:

    kamski said:

    Nigelb said:

    R4 had a piece on the bloke who won a Sony Creative prize for photography with an AI generated image. I did a search on twitter and initially it came with a load of unfeasibly large breasted women with the faces of 12 year olds but I eventually found the actual pic.
    Impossible to tell with hindsight but is there a touch of tell tale exaggeration and caricature in the image?


    Leon posted the story days ago. Look at the hands. AI can't draw hands for who knows what reason. A lot of human artists too, so maybe that is the reason.
    I posted it; Leon commented.
    I suspect the whole thing is just a publicity stunt. The judges knew it was AI, and knew if they gave it a prize people would be talking about these awards that otherwise don't get any attention.
    That was my initial cynical assumption.

    My second cynical assumption was that one of the AI firms paid them off to do it, but that's probably a consipiracy theory too far...
    I've always considered in the art world a possible route to riches could be the following.

    Produce a work which a chimp or two year old could do.
    "Sell" said artwork to rich loaded friend for £10 million. No money actually changes hands.
    Get publicity off said sale. Journos these days probably won't work out the sale was a sham.
    Sell prints of said artwork and a few more pieces now you're "known" for decent money, because the perception is your work is now "valuable".
    So you aren't aware that this has been done, many times, in art over the years?
    The thought has crossed my mind with some of the more "modern" artists. I doubt any of the artists featured in the Alte Pinothek when I went to Munich a few years back had to resort to such tactics though (Rubens, Durer, Da Vinci)
  • eekeek Posts: 28,377

    Pulpstar said:

    Driver said:

    kamski said:

    Nigelb said:

    R4 had a piece on the bloke who won a Sony Creative prize for photography with an AI generated image. I did a search on twitter and initially it came with a load of unfeasibly large breasted women with the faces of 12 year olds but I eventually found the actual pic.
    Impossible to tell with hindsight but is there a touch of tell tale exaggeration and caricature in the image?


    Leon posted the story days ago. Look at the hands. AI can't draw hands for who knows what reason. A lot of human artists too, so maybe that is the reason.
    I posted it; Leon commented.
    I suspect the whole thing is just a publicity stunt. The judges knew it was AI, and knew if they gave it a prize people would be talking about these awards that otherwise don't get any attention.
    That was my initial cynical assumption.

    My second cynical assumption was that one of the AI firms paid them off to do it, but that's probably a consipiracy theory too far...
    I've always considered in the art world a possible route to riches could be the following.

    Produce a work which a chimp or two year old could do.
    "Sell" said artwork to rich loaded friend for £10 million. No money actually changes hands.
    Get publicity off said sale. Journos these days probably won't work out the sale was a sham.
    Sell prints of said artwork and a few more pieces now you're "known" for decent money, because the perception is your work is now "valuable".
    This is exactly how the NFT market works. The twist is that the buyer address and the seller address can both be the same person, no need for a friend.
    Wouldn't recommend doing that in the UK, HMRC will be asking where the tax on the money from the sale is...
  • mwadamsmwadams Posts: 3,595
    Ghedebrav said:

    Ghedebrav said:

    mwadams said:

    Ghedebrav said:

    felix said:

    Scott_xP said:

    No matter that the current incumbent had a maths geek past; that just makes him the sort of guy whose political bedfellows, probably while wearing tailcoats, would have thrown in a pond. Never have the sniggeringly innumerate been more powerful than they have been for the past decade. And never have those in power been more inclined to ignore or disparage anyone who told them the numbers just didn’t add up.

    I don’t want to bang on about Brexit. We’re over Brexit. Recall, though, that every credible economist in the world told us how much it would hurt, and the winning side got away with telling them to bog off back to their spreadsheets. And it didn’t end there. Would a party that valued the ability to count have elected a bumbling Balliol Classicist who had to text his chief science adviser, as Johnson did mid-pandemic, to learn the difference between a ratio and a percentage? Would it have replaced him with Liz Truss?

    Does the maths of small boats — 45,756 arrivals in 2022 — offer any justification for putting 500 people on a barge, or one day sending a couple of hundred more to Rwanda?


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/its-ministers-who-have-the-anti-maths-mindset-7ldr5ht3s

    "I don't want to bang on about Brexit ' but.,,....................,.
    .........bang.......bang......bang......
    Getting lectured in numeracy bu someone who thinks that 4% and 0.08% are the same is kind of galling.
    I do understand a bit of the impetus behind 'maths to 18', but (setting aside the chronic shortage of maths teachers), it's things like ratios, logic, statistics etc. that seem most relevant and helpful in everyday life (that and working our darts finishes). Strikes me maybe as an curriculum issue in the KS2/3/4 rather than 'do two more years of trig'.

    In passing, I've no doubt that I learned more useful maths in my archaeology degree - a module on applied use of statistics - than I did in my GCSE maths.
    Archaeology, along with geography, is one of the few superpower degrees. If I have an opportunity to hire a grad in those subjects, I jump at it. Most are maths literate, critical thinkers with an ability to solve both practical & theoretical problems, work in teams, and string a sentence together.
    mwadams said:

    Ghedebrav said:

    felix said:

    Scott_xP said:

    No matter that the current incumbent had a maths geek past; that just makes him the sort of guy whose political bedfellows, probably while wearing tailcoats, would have thrown in a pond. Never have the sniggeringly innumerate been more powerful than they have been for the past decade. And never have those in power been more inclined to ignore or disparage anyone who told them the numbers just didn’t add up.

    I don’t want to bang on about Brexit. We’re over Brexit. Recall, though, that every credible economist in the world told us how much it would hurt, and the winning side got away with telling them to bog off back to their spreadsheets. And it didn’t end there. Would a party that valued the ability to count have elected a bumbling Balliol Classicist who had to text his chief science adviser, as Johnson did mid-pandemic, to learn the difference between a ratio and a percentage? Would it have replaced him with Liz Truss?

    Does the maths of small boats — 45,756 arrivals in 2022 — offer any justification for putting 500 people on a barge, or one day sending a couple of hundred more to Rwanda?


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/its-ministers-who-have-the-anti-maths-mindset-7ldr5ht3s

    "I don't want to bang on about Brexit ' but.,,....................,.
    .........bang.......bang......bang......
    Getting lectured in numeracy bu someone who thinks that 4% and 0.08% are the same is kind of galling.
    I do understand a bit of the impetus behind 'maths to 18', but (setting aside the chronic shortage of maths teachers), it's things like ratios, logic, statistics etc. that seem most relevant and helpful in everyday life (that and working our darts finishes). Strikes me maybe as an curriculum issue in the KS2/3/4 rather than 'do two more years of trig'.

    In passing, I've no doubt that I learned more useful maths in my archaeology degree - a module on applied use of statistics - than I did in my GCSE maths.
    Archaeology, along with geography, is one of the few superpower degrees. If I have an opportunity to hire a grad in those subjects, I jump at it. Most are maths literate, critical thinkers with an ability to solve both practical & theoretical problems, work in teams, and string a sentence together.
    Good morning.
    Interesting post; thanks. Granddaughter Two is considering her options for uni and archaeology is high on the list. She’s 18 next year, so a decision about uni will have to be made shortly.
    For what it's worth, I would look to see how practically-focused the departments are (the more so, the better). A BSc rather than BA is a good sign, but plenty of BAs will also offer extensive field and lab work. I'd be wary of too much expositionary teaching 'e.g. Roman Britain 100-300 AD' and similarly too much focus on theory. Both have their place (and indeed you need a context for your practical work), but archaeology is a VAST subject and it's the undergrad ought to be more about the fundamentals before specialising at postgrad.
    Oh, and really look beyond the 'name value' of the university if she is looking to potentially build a career in archaeology. Places like Bradford and Lampeter have (or at least, had, I don't really know now) excellent departments that really taught the practice of archaeology better than many of the Russell Group.
    (And look for departments with strong connections to commercial archaeology operations.)
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,344

    malcolmg said:

    eek said:

    Jonathan said:

    MaxPB said:

    Employment up another 160k, private sector pay up 6.9%, what recession?

    Private sector driving inflation?
    Not driving inflation because that’s 13% but easily putting a limit on the level it can fall to because of the cost impacts 7% increases will be having.

    Remember the only way to kill inflation is to destroy the reason why costs are rising (via high unemployment that allows wages to remain stagnant and fall in real terms) and the conditions for that clearly don’t exist at the moment.
    \it’s weird though as IT investment spending seems to have fallen off a cliff..
    Meanwhile,

    Food inflation increased to 17.2 per cent on average in the year to March, up from 16.5 per cent in the year to February, the consumer group Which? said.

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/d51dc7ac-dd62-11ed-9cc2-0f7e26ed83eb?shareToken=72aab801645b0097cdf730526c8d65b3

    There's something curious going on where prices are rising faster than wages, are still accelerating in some cases, and yet some commentators are saying "this is fine".

    Two nations and all that, but how is this compatible with rising living standards? Experienced GDP vs. statistical GDP, if you like.
    Food inflation will have somewhat of a lag effect because of items like fertiliser - 2022 food was produced using fertiliser bought in 2021, 2023 food is being used with fertiliser bought in 2022 and the price of the latter surged because of the effects of the Russian-Ukraine conflict. How much of the current price rises is down to the fertiliser effect, I'm not sure but I would imagine it is significant.
    Meat prices are sky high and getting ever higher.
    Yet you can buy 95g sausages for 30p at the Morrisons butchers counter.

    Or 3x300g Denver Steaks for £10.
    Have the sausages seen a pig though and WTF is a Denver steak
    I'd trust Morrisons on meat more than the other supermarkets.

    Denver Steak:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDp6Dtss2Hw

    Tender, great taste and great value.
    Cheers on the Denver steak info , first time I have heard of it. @another_richard
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,992
    @BrianSpanner1
    Maelstrom in every major media centre in London as the Westminster press pack learn that Wee Jimmy Krankie is not a cheeky wee boy but a grown woman taking the piss.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,344
    Eabhal said:

    SNP Treasurer

    Beattie 2004 - 2020

    Chapman 2020 - 2021. Resigns as does not have sufficient access to the numbers to perform duties

    Beattie 2021 - present

    Beattie was a sockpuppet who just did what Murrell ordered.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,303
    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Driver said:

    kamski said:

    Nigelb said:

    R4 had a piece on the bloke who won a Sony Creative prize for photography with an AI generated image. I did a search on twitter and initially it came with a load of unfeasibly large breasted women with the faces of 12 year olds but I eventually found the actual pic.
    Impossible to tell with hindsight but is there a touch of tell tale exaggeration and caricature in the image?


    Leon posted the story days ago. Look at the hands. AI can't draw hands for who knows what reason. A lot of human artists too, so maybe that is the reason.
    I posted it; Leon commented.
    I suspect the whole thing is just a publicity stunt. The judges knew it was AI, and knew if they gave it a prize people would be talking about these awards that otherwise don't get any attention.
    That was my initial cynical assumption.

    My second cynical assumption was that one of the AI firms paid them off to do it, but that's probably a consipiracy theory too far...
    I've always considered in the art world a possible route to riches could be the following.

    Produce a work which a chimp or two year old could do.
    "Sell" said artwork to rich loaded friend for £10 million. No money actually changes hands.
    Get publicity off said sale. Journos these days probably won't work out the sale was a sham.
    Sell prints of said artwork and a few more pieces now you're "known" for decent money, because the perception is your work is now "valuable".
    So you aren't aware that this has been done, many times, in art over the years?
    The thought has crossed my mind with some of the more "modern" artists. I doubt any of the artists featured in the Alte Pinothek when I went to Munich a few years back had to resort to such tactics though (Rubens, Durer, Da Vinci)
    Given the patrons they had, I'm sure that all kinds of fun went on with padded billing, prices etc.

    Some years ago, I went to an Impressionist exhibition. I think it may have been at the National Gallery. The machinations of one of the key art dealers in boosting Impressionism and inflating the prices was described in unabashed detail. This included sales where money didn't actually change etc...
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,373

    Would the arrest of Nicola Sturgeon warrant a KA-BOOOOM!!!!! with five exclamation marks?

    It would be distinctly amusing.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,303

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Unfortunately for Wales, that's what a lot of young people have to do to get a job.
    Welcome to PB. Here is the Questionnaire -

    1) Pineapple on Pizza? Ok or War Crime?
    2) AV - is it a good idea?
    3) BA pilots are all dead from COVID vaccines - true/false?
    4) Python - programming language of the future, or the work of the devil?
    5) What do you think of Radiohead?
    6) Die Hard - Christmas movie or not?
    7) Ukraine - whose fault is it?

    Many thanks:

    1) Pineapple on Pizza? Ok or War Crime? War crime punishable by firing squad
    2) AV - is it a good idea? I'd just mark X
    3) BA pilots are all dead from COVID vaccines - true/false? I mean, have you personally seen anyone flying planes??
    4) Python - programming language of the future, or the work of the devil? Bit last year for me
    5) What do you think of Radiohead? Meh
    6) Die Hard - Christmas movie or not? His wife's name is Holly!
    7) Ukraine - whose fault is it? Lord Cardigan
    8/7 - some very original answers there

    Your answer to 7) is good. But I blame Nolan....
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,344

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Bit of ethnic cleansing now being espoused by our resident amoeba brained saltire-waving fascist
    Has Malc upset you?
    He is a nasty Anglophobic little fascist who thinks rudeness is a form of debate. He ensures that if anyone disagrees with his highly simplistic world view he will bully them with abuse to shout them down. He is a highly obnoxious individual. The fact that he idolises Alex Salmond tells you everything you need to know.
    Foreskin appears, slavering and dribbling as ever...saddo

  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,195

    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Driver said:

    kamski said:

    Nigelb said:

    R4 had a piece on the bloke who won a Sony Creative prize for photography with an AI generated image. I did a search on twitter and initially it came with a load of unfeasibly large breasted women with the faces of 12 year olds but I eventually found the actual pic.
    Impossible to tell with hindsight but is there a touch of tell tale exaggeration and caricature in the image?


    Leon posted the story days ago. Look at the hands. AI can't draw hands for who knows what reason. A lot of human artists too, so maybe that is the reason.
    I posted it; Leon commented.
    I suspect the whole thing is just a publicity stunt. The judges knew it was AI, and knew if they gave it a prize people would be talking about these awards that otherwise don't get any attention.
    That was my initial cynical assumption.

    My second cynical assumption was that one of the AI firms paid them off to do it, but that's probably a consipiracy theory too far...
    I've always considered in the art world a possible route to riches could be the following.

    Produce a work which a chimp or two year old could do.
    "Sell" said artwork to rich loaded friend for £10 million. No money actually changes hands.
    Get publicity off said sale. Journos these days probably won't work out the sale was a sham.
    Sell prints of said artwork and a few more pieces now you're "known" for decent money, because the perception is your work is now "valuable".
    So you aren't aware that this has been done, many times, in art over the years?
    The thought has crossed my mind with some of the more "modern" artists. I doubt any of the artists featured in the Alte Pinothek when I went to Munich a few years back had to resort to such tactics though (Rubens, Durer, Da Vinci)
    Given the patrons they had, I'm sure that all kinds of fun went on with padded billing, prices etc.

    Some years ago, I went to an Impressionist exhibition. I think it may have been at the National Gallery. The machinations of one of the key art dealers in boosting Impressionism and inflating the prices was described in unabashed detail. This included sales where money didn't actually change etc...
    Sure but fundamentally it'd be a bit of inflating & padding round the edges, not the main thrust of getting a piece of junk from zero to a million bucks or some such.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,625

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Unfortunately for Wales, that's what a lot of young people have to do to get a job.
    Welcome to PB. Here is the Questionnaire -

    1) Pineapple on Pizza? Ok or War Crime?
    2) AV - is it a good idea?
    3) BA pilots are all dead from COVID vaccines - true/false?
    4) Python - programming language of the future, or the work of the devil?
    5) What do you think of Radiohead?
    6) Die Hard - Christmas movie or not?
    7) Ukraine - whose fault is it?
    1) Not my thing, but if others like it, who cares?
    2) Depends.
    3) True, obvs. I haven't flown BA for years, so I've not see any BA pilots. Therefore they all must be dead.
    4) Not my thing, but if others like it, who cares?
    5) Not my thing, but if others like it, who cares?
    6) Who cares?
    7) Mine. Oh darned it, I've let my secret out. I was the one secretly poking Russia with my NATO membership card.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,344

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Bit of ethnic cleansing now being espoused by our resident amoeba brained saltire-waving fascist
    Has Malc upset you?
    OKC , He is a whacko stalker, obsessed with me , a mid life crush I think.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,373

    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Driver said:

    kamski said:

    Nigelb said:

    R4 had a piece on the bloke who won a Sony Creative prize for photography with an AI generated image. I did a search on twitter and initially it came with a load of unfeasibly large breasted women with the faces of 12 year olds but I eventually found the actual pic.
    Impossible to tell with hindsight but is there a touch of tell tale exaggeration and caricature in the image?


    Leon posted the story days ago. Look at the hands. AI can't draw hands for who knows what reason. A lot of human artists too, so maybe that is the reason.
    I posted it; Leon commented.
    I suspect the whole thing is just a publicity stunt. The judges knew it was AI, and knew if they gave it a prize people would be talking about these awards that otherwise don't get any attention.
    That was my initial cynical assumption.

    My second cynical assumption was that one of the AI firms paid them off to do it, but that's probably a consipiracy theory too far...
    I've always considered in the art world a possible route to riches could be the following.

    Produce a work which a chimp or two year old could do.
    "Sell" said artwork to rich loaded friend for £10 million. No money actually changes hands.
    Get publicity off said sale. Journos these days probably won't work out the sale was a sham.
    Sell prints of said artwork and a few more pieces now you're "known" for decent money, because the perception is your work is now "valuable".
    So you aren't aware that this has been done, many times, in art over the years?
    The thought has crossed my mind with some of the more "modern" artists. I doubt any of the artists featured in the Alte Pinothek when I went to Munich a few years back had to resort to such tactics though (Rubens, Durer, Da Vinci)
    Given the patrons they had, I'm sure that all kinds of fun went on with padded billing, prices etc.

    Some years ago, I went to an Impressionist exhibition. I think it may have been at the National Gallery. The machinations of one of the key art dealers in boosting Impressionism and inflating the prices was described in unabashed detail. This included sales where money didn't actually change etc...
    When Saatchi's warehouse full of junk art went up in flames a few years ago, I thought it was good news.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,344

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Unfortunately for Wales, that's what a lot of young people have to do to get a job.
    We are no different
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,310
    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Bit of ethnic cleansing now being espoused by our resident amoeba brained saltire-waving fascist
    Has Malc upset you?
    He is a nasty Anglophobic little fascist who thinks rudeness is a form of debate. He ensures that if anyone disagrees with his highly simplistic world view he will bully them with abuse to shout them down. He is a highly obnoxious individual. The fact that he idolises Alex Salmond tells you everything you need to know.
    Foreskin appears, slavering and dribbling as ever...saddo

    That is exactly how I imagine you Malcolm. Great self-portrait. Can't quite see how short you are though. What are you? About 5'5?

    How is the trolley operative job at Tesco's going or have you been fired for abusing the customers?

    Always amusing how long it takes you to respond with predictable abuse when I call you out. I used to think it was because of your very slow brain, but maybe like all bullies you hope that maybe I have left before you launch your tirade?

    Sad little fascist tw*t.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,805
    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Unfortunately for Wales, that's what a lot of young people have to do to get a job.
    We are no different
    Malc - surely you'd bridle somewhat as (I presume) a monoglot Anglophone Scot if you were excluded from jobs if you didn't speak Gaelic - and you were told to move to England if you wanted to speak English?
  • WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 9,159
    edited April 2023
    I think Nigel and Malcolm need to go on a 3-day camping holiday together to the Brecon Brycheiniog. All expenses, sandwiches and drinks to be paid for by PB regulars, plus experienced negotiators and mediators to be on site.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,310

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Bit of ethnic cleansing now being espoused by our resident amoeba brained saltire-waving fascist
    Has Malc upset you?
    He is a nasty Anglophobic little fascist who thinks rudeness is a form of debate. He ensures that if anyone disagrees with his highly simplistic world view he will bully them with abuse to shout them down. He is a highly obnoxious individual. The fact that he idolises Alex Salmond tells you everything you need to know.
    Foreskin appears, slavering and dribbling as ever...saddo

    That is exactly how I imagine you Malcolm. Great self-portrait. Can't quite see how short you are though. What are you? About 5'5?

    How is the trolley operative job at Tesco's going or have you been fired for abusing the customers?

    Always amusing how long it takes you to respond with predictable abuse when I call you out. I used to think it was because of your very slow brain, but maybe like all bullies you hope that maybe I have left before you launch your tirade?

    Sad little fascist tw*t.
    These are your people @malcolmg . Fascist bullies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPv59649LE4
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,675

    I think Nigel and Malcolm need to go on a 3-day camping holiday together to the Brecon Brycheiniog. All expenses, sandwiches and drinks to be paid for by PB regulars, plus mediators to be on site.

    I'll provide the venison.
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,749
    Interesting story about the banning of a song produced by generative AI, trained to imitate the voices of particular singers:
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65309313

    It's claimed that the training process violates copyright, which I can understand.

    But can it be claimed that the song itself violates copyright? If it had been produced by a very talented human mimic who had just sat and listened to other songs by these singers, I can't see how it would. Surely there's a difference between copyright being violated as part of the process of producing something, and that thing itself violating copyright?

  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,727
    Eabhal said:

    Why is everyone making a fuss about the Welsh renaming their National Parks? Part of the attraction is the distinct culture and language, and I love hearing Welsh in what I call Snowdonia.

    When you pop over the Minch no cares if you call it the Western Isles, Uist or whatever. But having the Gaelic reminds us that the whole idea of the place is different to Moray or the central belt or England or whatever.

    I'd also encourage learning some basic Welsh/Gaelic (colours etc). Adds lots to your enjoyment and understanding of those places. "Buachaille Etive Mor" - what a brilliant, romantic name for that mountain.

    Basic numbers also useful - as I found when living in Cardiff and the (fairly frequent) platform changes were announced first in Welsh. Gave one the drop on the steadfastly monolingual :smile:

    Seriously though, agree completely. And not just in Wales and Scotland - there's plenty of local dialect (or historical language influence) in place names in England that unlocks extra context and understanding.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,310

    I think Nigel and Malcolm need to go on a 3-day camping holiday together to the Brecon Brycheiniog. All expenses, sandwiches and drinks to be paid for by PB regulars, plus mediators to be on site.

    He wouldn't be able to cope without his wife to make him his jam sandwiches every day and check that he hasn't soiled his enormous Y-fronts. I also suspect the great outdoors is not really his thing. Not being able to slouch on the sofa and shout abuse at the telly for more than a day would be completely intolerable.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,805

    Cookie said:

    kjh said:

    Jonathan said:

    Andy_JS said:

    O/T

    I've just been watching the BBC idents that were used between 2002 and 2006, and the interesting thing about them is that they celebrate just about everything except anything that might be described as "provincial/rural England".

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydqN-yo_2B4

    That's the BBC for you.

    Utterly Met in every way.
    A highly niche whinge there not actually true if you view the clip. Cornwall is pretty provincial. If you like green stuff, look at the previous idents.

    https://youtu.be/KwNBDbMqOA8
    Any mention of the BBC will have the snowflakes racing each other to find the most faux offence.
    You have to admire the determination to be outraged. It must be exhausting to live life on kind of hair trigger.
    Rather ironic given the endless amount of stuff that wokesters seem to get wound up about...
    Really? Name one here? Yet we get bombarded by the small anti woke brigade here endlessly.
    Yesterday we had the stupidity of the Woke renaming the Brecon Beacons to virture-signal about climate change, because beacons burn and emit carbon or something.

    They are quite batshit.
    The *Welsh* didn't rename anything - that name already existed. They have just declared they will exclusively use the Welsh name and not the English name.

    Is Wales now "woke" because it wants to promote its own language? Naming things in Wales in Welsh is "woke"? Really?
    The reason given for the name change is that 'Beacons' isn't a good look because it implies burning things which implies climate change. Which strikes me as pretty woke.

    I'd also suggest the number of Welsh speakers in the Brecon Beacons is pretty low.
    That's the whole point. The number of Welsh speakers is low in many parts of Wales due to the 19th Century policy of eradicating it by, for example, punishing school children who were heard to use it. The suppression of 'inappropriate' language was the woke campaign of its day and it very nearly succeeded.
    Though I believe it's something of a myth that this was a result of the pernicious English; and that it was in fact pressure from Welsh parents who wanted Anglophone children for the opportunities that would afford them?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,197

    kinabalu said:

    I'm one of those prior Tory don't knows, but after getting my local elections materials I've decided for the first time ever I'm going to vote Lib Dem in the upcoming local elections.

    The Tories don't deserve my vote. And the Lib Dems have always put me off with their NIMBYism, but the material I received had not a single hint of NIMBYism on it, so I'm going to give them a chance this time.

    Though I do wonder whether the election leaflets that they send out are adjusted depending upon the demographics of where they're sending it. I live on a new build estate, so anyone on this estate probably isn't a NIMBY - I wonder whether more NIMBYish material is being sent to other addresses instead, or whether the local candidate genuinely isn't playing on NIMBYism which I respect if so?

    Isn't Nigel Farage your usual choice of protest vote? Still, ok, Lib Dems, yes why not. Much better actually. They're a decent bunch. And it's nothing sinister to finetune your election material to who's receiving it. They all do this.
    No, I quite openly despise Farage, and I have never ever cast a vote for him or a member of his party to be elected to serve time in office. Never would. I've previously voted to kick him out of a Parliament, hopefully he never gets in one again.

    So I don't know why you feel the need to get nasty with me with this comment, seems rather desperate.
    I can forget or I can forgive. Just say which you prefer.

    My main point, though, is that this exciting LD news from you isn't really so exciting because it's a PROTEST vote and you'll be back to the Cons at the GE. That's fair, isn't it?
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,310
    Cookie said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Unfortunately for Wales, that's what a lot of young people have to do to get a job.
    We are no different
    Malc - surely you'd bridle somewhat as (I presume) a monoglot Anglophone Scot if you were excluded from jobs if you didn't speak Gaelic - and you were told to move to England if you wanted to speak English?
    He has pretty poor command of English, so I doubt he'd stand much chance speaking anything else. Neanderthal is a possibility though.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,586
    edited April 2023
    Chris said:

    Interesting story about the banning of a song produced by generative AI, trained to imitate the voices of particular singers:
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65309313

    It's claimed that the training process violates copyright, which I can understand.

    But can it be claimed that the song itself violates copyright? If it had been produced by a very talented human mimic who had just sat and listened to other songs by these singers, I can't see how it would. Surely there's a difference between copyright being violated as part of the process of producing something, and that thing itself violating copyright?

    The record labels are getting their massive lawsuit in early, before the technology makes them totally redundant.

    There will undoubtedly be a whole load of similar lawsuits coming, as established players seek to limit the scope of the technology before the cat gets out of the bag.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,727
    Eabhal said:

    I think Nigel and Malcolm need to go on a 3-day camping holiday together to the Brecon Brycheiniog. All expenses, sandwiches and drinks to be paid for by PB regulars, plus mediators to be on site.

    I'll provide the venison.
    I'll sell the format to Netflix.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,377
    malcolmg said:

    Eabhal said:

    SNP Treasurer

    Beattie 2004 - 2020

    Chapman 2020 - 2021. Resigns as does not have sufficient access to the numbers to perform duties

    Beattie 2021 - present

    Beattie was a sockpuppet who just did what Murrell ordered.
    Yep he's going to regret being stupid enough to return in 2021 especially given the reason for the Chapman's resignation.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,727
    Sandpit said:

    Chris said:

    Interesting story about the banning of a song produced by generative AI, trained to imitate the voices of particular singers:
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65309313

    It's claimed that the training process violates copyright, which I can understand.

    But can it be claimed that the song itself violates copyright? If it had been produced by a very talented human mimic who had just sat and listened to other songs by these singers, I can't see how it would. Surely there's a difference between copyright being violated as part of the process of producing something, and that thing itself violating copyright?

    The record labels are getting their massive lawsuit in early, before the technology makes them totally redundant.
    I just hope* it goes before judges who are able to understand (with appropriate advice/education) the technology. One can't answer the question without understanding how you go from training material to the final output.

    *Im ever the optimist, clearly.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,805
    Eabhal said:

    Why is everyone making a fuss about the Welsh renaming their National Parks? Part of the attraction is the distinct culture and language, and I love hearing Welsh in what I call Snowdonia.

    When you pop over the Minch no cares if you call it the Western Isles, Uist or whatever. But having the Gaelic reminds us that the whole idea of the place is different to Moray or the central belt or England or whatever.

    I'd also encourage learning some basic Welsh/Gaelic (colours etc). Adds lots to your enjoyment and understanding of those places. "Buachaille Etive Mor" - what a brilliant, romantic name for that mountain.

    What does Buachaille Etive Mor mean?
    For an English speaker, it has an advantage over other peaks of having a name one can have a stab at (even if wrongly).
    I don't know if this is true, but my understanding is that words for colours in Scots Gaelic are rather idionsyncratic - the word for 'red' actually describes a sort of reddy brown; for 'blue' a sort of aquamarine. If you were going to describe a primary colour, you'd have to add qualifiers. Or something. Is that true?
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 4,669
    Eabhal said:

    Why is everyone making a fuss about the Welsh renaming their National Parks? Part of the attraction is the distinct culture and language, and I love hearing Welsh in what I call Snowdonia.

    When you pop over the Minch no cares if you call it the Western Isles, Uist or whatever. But having the Gaelic reminds us that the whole idea of the place is different to Moray or the central belt or England or whatever.

    I'd also encourage learning some basic Welsh/Gaelic (colours etc). Adds lots to your enjoyment and understanding of those places. "Buachaille Etive Mor" - what a brilliant, romantic name for that mountain.

    The umpteenth Geal Charn or Ben More/Beinn Mhór is not so exciting though!
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    Two out of 3 arrested....so far....

    The named officers on @thesnp accounts filed with the Electoral Commission - Peter Murrell, Colin Beattie and Nicola Sturgeon.

    https://twitter.com/johncferguson/status/1648264210051215361?s=20
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,675
    edited April 2023
    Cookie said:

    Eabhal said:

    Why is everyone making a fuss about the Welsh renaming their National Parks? Part of the attraction is the distinct culture and language, and I love hearing Welsh in what I call Snowdonia.

    When you pop over the Minch no cares if you call it the Western Isles, Uist or whatever. But having the Gaelic reminds us that the whole idea of the place is different to Moray or the central belt or England or whatever.

    I'd also encourage learning some basic Welsh/Gaelic (colours etc). Adds lots to your enjoyment and understanding of those places. "Buachaille Etive Mor" - what a brilliant, romantic name for that mountain.

    What does Buachaille Etive Mor mean?
    For an English speaker, it has an advantage over other peaks of having a name one can have a stab at (even if wrongly).
    I don't know if this is true, but my understanding is that words for colours in Scots Gaelic are rather idionsyncratic - the word for 'red' actually describes a sort of reddy brown; for 'blue' a sort of aquamarine. If you were going to describe a primary colour, you'd have to add qualifiers. Or something. Is that true?
    Great Shepherd of Etive. It works really well, when you see the east face from the road.

    "Glas" is a good example. A sort of grey/green. I still don't really know what it looks like - you need someone who grew up with Gaelic to confirm.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,805

    I think Nigel and Malcolm need to go on a 3-day camping holiday together to the Brecon Brycheiniog. All expenses, sandwiches and drinks to be paid for by PB regulars, plus experienced negotiators and mediators to be on site.

    Followed by a luxury overnight stay in Newent.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,103
    edited April 2023

    mwadams said:

    Ghedebrav said:

    felix said:

    Scott_xP said:

    No matter that the current incumbent had a maths geek past; that just makes him the sort of guy whose political bedfellows, probably while wearing tailcoats, would have thrown in a pond. Never have the sniggeringly innumerate been more powerful than they have been for the past decade. And never have those in power been more inclined to ignore or disparage anyone who told them the numbers just didn’t add up.

    I don’t want to bang on about Brexit. We’re over Brexit. Recall, though, that every credible economist in the world told us how much it would hurt, and the winning side got away with telling them to bog off back to their spreadsheets. And it didn’t end there. Would a party that valued the ability to count have elected a bumbling Balliol Classicist who had to text his chief science adviser, as Johnson did mid-pandemic, to learn the difference between a ratio and a percentage? Would it have replaced him with Liz Truss?

    Does the maths of small boats — 45,756 arrivals in 2022 — offer any justification for putting 500 people on a barge, or one day sending a couple of hundred more to Rwanda?


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/its-ministers-who-have-the-anti-maths-mindset-7ldr5ht3s

    "I don't want to bang on about Brexit ' but.,,....................,.
    .........bang.......bang......bang......
    Getting lectured in numeracy bu someone who thinks that 4% and 0.08% are the same is kind of galling.
    I do understand a bit of the impetus behind 'maths to 18', but (setting aside the chronic shortage of maths teachers), it's things like ratios, logic, statistics etc. that seem most relevant and helpful in everyday life (that and working our darts finishes). Strikes me maybe as an curriculum issue in the KS2/3/4 rather than 'do two more years of trig'.

    In passing, I've no doubt that I learned more useful maths in my archaeology degree - a module on applied use of statistics - than I did in my GCSE maths.
    Archaeology, along with geography, is one of the few superpower degrees. If I have an opportunity to hire a grad in those subjects, I jump at it. Most are maths literate, critical thinkers with an ability to solve both practical & theoretical problems, work in teams, and string a sentence together.
    The case for the prosecution offers up Neil Oliver..
    He went off the rails after he stopped doing archaeology perhaps?
    kjh said:

    kjh said:

    Jonathan said:

    Andy_JS said:

    O/T

    I've just been watching the BBC idents that were used between 2002 and 2006, and the interesting thing about them is that they celebrate just about everything except anything that might be described as "provincial/rural England".

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydqN-yo_2B4

    That's the BBC for you.

    Utterly Met in every way.
    A highly niche whinge there not actually true if you view the clip. Cornwall is pretty provincial. If you like green stuff, look at the previous idents.

    https://youtu.be/KwNBDbMqOA8
    Any mention of the BBC will have the snowflakes racing each other to find the most faux offence.
    You have to admire the determination to be outraged. It must be exhausting to live life on kind of hair trigger.
    Rather ironic given the endless amount of stuff that wokesters seem to get wound up about...
    Really? Name one here? Yet we get bombarded by the small anti woke brigade here endlessly.
    Yesterday we had the stupidity of the Woke renaming the Brecon Beacons to virture-signal about climate change, because beacons burn and emit carbon or something.

    They are quite batshit.
    But my point stands. There is no one here promoting woke.
    people go back and forth on that. Sometimes its claimed not to be a thing, othertimes that its good, selecting either the difficulties of precise definition "what is it, someone tell me" or "who would want to be x" depending on the choice.

    It's a term that has become overused and now generally used by opponents rather than initial adherents, but I think it can generally be excepted both that it does denote a specific trend that many oppose, but also people get too snowflakey about it.

    P
  • Recently read Nan Shepherd's Living Mountain. What a book.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,303
    Cookie said:

    I think Nigel and Malcolm need to go on a 3-day camping holiday together to the Brecon Brycheiniog. All expenses, sandwiches and drinks to be paid for by PB regulars, plus experienced negotiators and mediators to be on site.

    Followed by a luxury overnight stay in Newent.
    I understand that there is a luxury camping vehicle (low mileage) that may be available soon.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,586

    Two out of 3 arrested....so far....

    The named officers on @thesnp accounts filed with the Electoral Commission - Peter Murrell, Colin Beattie and Nicola Sturgeon.

    https://twitter.com/johncferguson/status/1648264210051215361?s=20

    They don’t even have a campervan to show for it!
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,559
    edited April 2023
    Eabhal said:

    Why is everyone making a fuss about the Welsh renaming their National Parks? Part of the attraction is the distinct culture and language, and I love hearing Welsh in what I call Snowdonia.

    When you pop over the Minch no cares if you call it the Western Isles, Uist or whatever. But having the Gaelic reminds us that the whole idea of the place is different to Moray or the central belt or England or whatever.

    I'd also encourage learning some basic Welsh/Gaelic (colours etc). Adds lots to your enjoyment and understanding of those places. "Buachaille Etive Mor" - what a brilliant, romantic name for that mountain.

    Because diversity is a strength.

    Nothing wrong with having a Welsh and English name for the Brecon Beacons, instead of just a Welsh name.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,852
    Eabhal said:

    Why is everyone making a fuss about the Welsh renaming their National Parks? Part of the attraction is the distinct culture and language, and I love hearing Welsh in what I call Snowdonia.

    When you pop over the Minch no cares if you call it the Western Isles, Uist or whatever. But having the Gaelic reminds us that the whole idea of the place is different to Moray or the central belt or England or whatever.

    I'd also encourage learning some basic Welsh/Gaelic (colours etc). Adds lots to your enjoyment and understanding of those places. "Buachaille Etive Mor" - what a brilliant, romantic name for that mountain.

    Quite, it's remarkable how some folk seem to take it as a personal insult to have an old mistranslation corrected!
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,303
    eek said:

    malcolmg said:

    Eabhal said:

    SNP Treasurer

    Beattie 2004 - 2020

    Chapman 2020 - 2021. Resigns as does not have sufficient access to the numbers to perform duties

    Beattie 2021 - present

    Beattie was a sockpuppet who just did what Murrell ordered.
    Yep he's going to regret being stupid enough to return in 2021 especially given the reason for the Chapman's resignation.
    I the didn't demand and get full access to the accounts, for he re-appointment, then stupid is not the word.

    Wilful self harm is the term that comes to mind.
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 6,723
    edited April 2023

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Bit of ethnic cleansing now being espoused by our resident amoeba brained saltire-waving fascist
    Has Malc upset you?
    He is a nasty Anglophobic little fascist who thinks rudeness is a form of debate. He ensures that if anyone disagrees with his highly simplistic world view he will bully them with abuse to shout them down. He is a highly obnoxious individual. The fact that he idolises Alex Salmond tells you everything you need to know.
    You are hardly the politest contributer on PB. Let him or her without sin cast the first stone.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,103

    mwadams said:

    Ghedebrav said:

    felix said:

    Scott_xP said:

    No matter that the current incumbent had a maths geek past; that just makes him the sort of guy whose political bedfellows, probably while wearing tailcoats, would have thrown in a pond. Never have the sniggeringly innumerate been more powerful than they have been for the past decade. And never have those in power been more inclined to ignore or disparage anyone who told them the numbers just didn’t add up.

    I don’t want to bang on about Brexit. We’re over Brexit. Recall, though, that every credible economist in the world told us how much it would hurt, and the winning side got away with telling them to bog off back to their spreadsheets. And it didn’t end there. Would a party that valued the ability to count have elected a bumbling Balliol Classicist who had to text his chief science adviser, as Johnson did mid-pandemic, to learn the difference between a ratio and a percentage? Would it have replaced him with Liz Truss?

    Does the maths of small boats — 45,756 arrivals in 2022 — offer any justification for putting 500 people on a barge, or one day sending a couple of hundred more to Rwanda?


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/its-ministers-who-have-the-anti-maths-mindset-7ldr5ht3s

    "I don't want to bang on about Brexit ' but.,,....................,.
    .........bang.......bang......bang......
    Getting lectured in numeracy bu someone who thinks that 4% and 0.08% are the same is kind of galling.
    I do understand a bit of the impetus behind 'maths to 18', but (setting aside the chronic shortage of maths teachers), it's things like ratios, logic, statistics etc. that seem most relevant and helpful in everyday life (that and working our darts finishes). Strikes me maybe as an curriculum issue in the KS2/3/4 rather than 'do two more years of trig'.

    In passing, I've no doubt that I learned more useful maths in my archaeology degree - a module on applied use of statistics - than I did in my GCSE maths.
    Archaeology, along with geography, is one of the few superpower degrees. If I have an opportunity to hire a grad in those subjects, I jump at it. Most are maths literate, critical thinkers with an ability to solve both practical & theoretical problems, work in teams, and string a sentence together.
    The case for the prosecution offers up Neil Oliver..
    He went off the rails after he stopped doing archaeology perhaps?
    Andy_JS said:

    Eabhal said:

    Why is everyone making a fuss about the Welsh renaming their National Parks? Part of the attraction is the distinct culture and language, and I love hearing Welsh in what I call Snowdonia.

    When you pop over the Minch no cares if you call it the Western Isles, Uist or whatever. But having the Gaelic reminds us that the whole idea of the place is different to Moray or the central belt or England or whatever.

    I'd also encourage learning some basic Welsh/Gaelic (colours etc). Adds lots to your enjoyment and understanding of those places. "Buachaille Etive Mor" - what a brilliant, romantic name for that mountain.

    Because diversity is a strength.

    Nothing wrong with having a Welsh and English name for the Brecon Beacons, instead of just a Welsh name.
    It's an interesting choice not to use both. Possibly a branding thing, strengthens the overall Welsh brand to do so, which makes sense.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,667
    Stark difference between using Mean or Median Poll Analysis

    11 Polls with fieldwork entirely in April

    LAB Ave. 44.45 (45,44,45,41,46,44,44,48,45,42,44)

    CON Ave 28.73 ( 28,27,30,30,26,30,30,25,30,28,32)

    LAB Lead 15.72

    Polls with fieldwork in previous 2 weeks (late March)

    LAB Ave. 46.63 (48,45,45,44,46,46,50,49)

    CON Ave. 26.25 (27,27,29,22,26,26,27,26)

    LAB Lead 18.38

    Reduction in LAB Lead 2.66

    MEDIAN April LAB 44 CON 30 LAB Median Lead 14
    MEDIAN Late March LAB 46 CON 26.5 LAB Median Lead 19.5
    MEDIAN Reduction in Lab Lead 5.5
  • NEW THREAD

  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,586
    Selebian said:

    Sandpit said:

    Chris said:

    Interesting story about the banning of a song produced by generative AI, trained to imitate the voices of particular singers:
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65309313

    It's claimed that the training process violates copyright, which I can understand.

    But can it be claimed that the song itself violates copyright? If it had been produced by a very talented human mimic who had just sat and listened to other songs by these singers, I can't see how it would. Surely there's a difference between copyright being violated as part of the process of producing something, and that thing itself violating copyright?

    The record labels are getting their massive lawsuit in early, before the technology makes them totally redundant.
    I just hope* it goes before judges who are able to understand (with appropriate advice/education) the technology. One can't answer the question without understanding how you go from training material to the final output.

    *Im ever the optimist, clearly.
    They’re going down the route of saying that they don’t have permission to train AI using copywrited material, and the AI companies are going to argue that the inputs are fair use and the outputs non-infringing.

    It’s actually a genuinely new point of law that needs to be worked through, at least in the Western world. The Chinese will continue to do it their way.

    If the AI companies win, we’ll be very close to the AI taking five minutes to write a 100,000 novel, with the premise of the life and times of a travelling dildo-making flint-knapper, in the style of a Tom Knox novel. And that will be the end of the world!
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,197

    carnforth said:

    Would the arrest of Nicola Sturgeon warrant a KA-BOOOOM!!!!! with five exclamation marks?

    What if there turn out to be no charges? Is the SNP less screwed, or is this an electoral sea-change either way?
    Fair or not, the SNP now fails any smell test you want to impose.

    The fish rots from the head down, whether it's a Salmond or a Sturgeon.
    No fish pun available but the Tories after Johnson and Truss must therefore be unfit for consumption for decades.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,103
    malcolmg said:

    Eabhal said:

    SNP Treasurer

    Beattie 2004 - 2020

    Chapman 2020 - 2021. Resigns as does not have sufficient access to the numbers to perform duties

    Beattie 2021 - present

    Beattie was a sockpuppet who just did what Murrell ordered.
    At the very least, assuming no deliberate wrongdoing, the scandals of the last year or so show why its probably a good idea to replace your top officers a bit more frequently (though not football manager frequently). They might be doing a terrible job but you just default to assuming otherwise.

    Of course, one of them being married to the leader does make that harder, so I suggest Yousaf not divorce his wife and marry the next chief exec.
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 4,669
    Eabhal said:

    Cookie said:

    Eabhal said:

    Why is everyone making a fuss about the Welsh renaming their National Parks? Part of the attraction is the distinct culture and language, and I love hearing Welsh in what I call Snowdonia.

    When you pop over the Minch no cares if you call it the Western Isles, Uist or whatever. But having the Gaelic reminds us that the whole idea of the place is different to Moray or the central belt or England or whatever.

    I'd also encourage learning some basic Welsh/Gaelic (colours etc). Adds lots to your enjoyment and understanding of those places. "Buachaille Etive Mor" - what a brilliant, romantic name for that mountain.

    What does Buachaille Etive Mor mean?
    For an English speaker, it has an advantage over other peaks of having a name one can have a stab at (even if wrongly).
    I don't know if this is true, but my understanding is that words for colours in Scots Gaelic are rather idionsyncratic - the word for 'red' actually describes a sort of reddy brown; for 'blue' a sort of aquamarine. If you were going to describe a primary colour, you'd have to add qualifiers. Or something. Is that true?
    Great Shepherd of Etive.

    "Glas" is a good example. A sort of grey/green. I still don't really know what it looks like - you need someone who grew up with Gaelic to confirm.
    I think it often refers to vegetation types on hills.

    Bhuidhe - "yellow" - is probably the colour of Nardus stricta (Mat-grass) which is a yellowish shade of green, even if it isn't actually yellow as we would describe it in English.

    Glas may be referring to Reindeer moss communities - I'm not sure. They are certainly greyish-green from a distance.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,852
    edited April 2023
    Eabhal said:

    Cookie said:

    Eabhal said:

    Why is everyone making a fuss about the Welsh renaming their National Parks? Part of the attraction is the distinct culture and language, and I love hearing Welsh in what I call Snowdonia.

    When you pop over the Minch no cares if you call it the Western Isles, Uist or whatever. But having the Gaelic reminds us that the whole idea of the place is different to Moray or the central belt or England or whatever.

    I'd also encourage learning some basic Welsh/Gaelic (colours etc). Adds lots to your enjoyment and understanding of those places. "Buachaille Etive Mor" - what a brilliant, romantic name for that mountain.

    What does Buachaille Etive Mor mean?
    For an English speaker, it has an advantage over other peaks of having a name one can have a stab at (even if wrongly).
    I don't know if this is true, but my understanding is that words for colours in Scots Gaelic are rather idionsyncratic - the word for 'red' actually describes a sort of reddy brown; for 'blue' a sort of aquamarine. If you were going to describe a primary colour, you'd have to add qualifiers. Or something. Is that true?
    Great Shepherd of Etive. It works really well, when you see the east face from the road.

    "Glas" is a good example. A sort of grey/green. I still don't really know what it looks like - you need someone who grew up with Gaelic to confirm.
    Another nice example - Rum (sorry, can't get the accent on this thing). Most of the place names are in the Gaelic - such as Port nan Cairanean (or similar) for the Cleared settlement on the coast (edit: = Harbour of the Windings IIRC, with a convoluted approach channel!) but the higher hills are in Norse - Allival, Askival, Orval - as ther overlords named them for their navigation marks. Or so it was said anyway.

    The Scottish Place Names database is very useful for hunting down old place names and the informants' reasons - but of course is limited by the information available to the surveyors and who they talked to. I'm not sure how complete the recording in Gaelic was?

    https://scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/ is the site - tho the interface needs some getting used to.

    For instance Eagle Rock and Three Stones Point on the isolated NE coast of Eigg

    https://scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/digital-volumes/ordnance-survey-name-books/inverness-shire-os-name-books-1876-1878/inverness-shire-skye-volume-13/11
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,164

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Bit of ethnic cleansing now being espoused by our resident amoeba brained saltire-waving fascist
    Has Malc upset you?
    He is a nasty Anglophobic little fascist who thinks rudeness is a form of debate. He ensures that if anyone disagrees with his highly simplistic world view he will bully them with abuse to shout them down. He is a highly obnoxious individual. The fact that he idolises Alex Salmond tells you everything you need to know.
    You are hardly the politest contributer on PB. Let him or her without sin cast the first stone.
    You wanna close down the site?!?!
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,103

    mwadams said:

    Ghedebrav said:

    felix said:

    Scott_xP said:

    No matter that the current incumbent had a maths geek past; that just makes him the sort of guy whose political bedfellows, probably while wearing tailcoats, would have thrown in a pond. Never have the sniggeringly innumerate been more powerful than they have been for the past decade. And never have those in power been more inclined to ignore or disparage anyone who told them the numbers just didn’t add up.

    I don’t want to bang on about Brexit. We’re over Brexit. Recall, though, that every credible economist in the world told us how much it would hurt, and the winning side got away with telling them to bog off back to their spreadsheets. And it didn’t end there. Would a party that valued the ability to count have elected a bumbling Balliol Classicist who had to text his chief science adviser, as Johnson did mid-pandemic, to learn the difference between a ratio and a percentage? Would it have replaced him with Liz Truss?

    Does the maths of small boats — 45,756 arrivals in 2022 — offer any justification for putting 500 people on a barge, or one day sending a couple of hundred more to Rwanda?


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/its-ministers-who-have-the-anti-maths-mindset-7ldr5ht3s

    "I don't want to bang on about Brexit ' but.,,....................,.
    .........bang.......bang......bang......
    Getting lectured in numeracy bu someone who thinks that 4% and 0.08% are the same is kind of galling.
    I do understand a bit of the impetus behind 'maths to 18', but (setting aside the chronic shortage of maths teachers), it's things like ratios, logic, statistics etc. that seem most relevant and helpful in everyday life (that and working our darts finishes). Strikes me maybe as an curriculum issue in the KS2/3/4 rather than 'do two more years of trig'.

    In passing, I've no doubt that I learned more useful maths in my archaeology degree - a module on applied use of statistics - than I did in my GCSE maths.
    Archaeology, along with geography, is one of the few superpower degrees. If I have an opportunity to hire a grad in those subjects, I jump at it. Most are maths literate, critical thinkers with an ability to solve both practical & theoretical problems, work in teams, and string a sentence together.
    The case for the prosecution offers up Neil Oliver..
    He went off the rails after he stopped doing archaeology perhaps?

    Time for India to revert to Bombay and Calcutta, as they were much easier for us to say and spell.

    Meanwhile, I gather that John Redwood is seeking to get his constituency name changed. Wokingham is apparently beyond the pale.

    The only chap I ever knew from Bombay did still call it that. Just didn't agree with it I guess, it's not like there was any major settlement there initially.
  • eristdooferistdoof Posts: 5,065
    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    kjh said:

    Jonathan said:

    Andy_JS said:

    O/T

    I've just been watching the BBC idents that were used between 2002 and 2006, and the interesting thing about them is that they celebrate just about everything except anything that might be described as "provincial/rural England".

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydqN-yo_2B4

    That's the BBC for you.

    Utterly Met in every way.
    A highly niche whinge there not actually true if you view the clip. Cornwall is pretty provincial. If you like green stuff, look at the previous idents.

    https://youtu.be/KwNBDbMqOA8
    Any mention of the BBC will have the snowflakes racing each other to find the most faux offence.
    You have to admire the determination to be outraged. It must be exhausting to live life on kind of hair trigger.
    Rather ironic given the endless amount of stuff that wokesters seem to get wound up about...
    Really? Name one here? Yet we get bombarded by the small anti woke brigade here endlessly.
    Yesterday we had the stupidity of the Woke renaming the Brecon Beacons to virture-signal about climate change, because beacons burn and emit carbon or something.

    They are quite batshit.
    The *Welsh* didn't rename anything - that name already existed. They have just declared they will exclusively use the Welsh name and not the English name.

    Is Wales now "woke" because it wants to promote its own language? Naming things in Wales in Welsh is "woke"? Really?
    The reason given for the name change is that 'Beacons' isn't a good look because it implies burning things which implies climate change. Which strikes me as pretty woke.

    I'd also suggest the number of Welsh speakers in the Brecon Beacons is pretty low.
    That's the whole point. The number of Welsh speakers is low in many parts of Wales due to the 19th Century policy of eradicating it by, for example, punishing school children who were heard to use it. The suppression of 'inappropriate' language was the woke campaign of its day and it very nearly succeeded.
    Though I believe it's something of a myth that this was a result of the pernicious English; and that it was in fact pressure from Welsh parents who wanted Anglophone children for the opportunities that would afford them?
    This seems unlikely to me. It is clear that children who grow up around two languages learn those two languages naturally. This might not have been appreciated in England, but would be common knowledge in any place where two languages were common, like most of Wales in the 19th C. I can believe parental pressure to learn English, but not parental pressure to not learn Welsh.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,344
    Cookie said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Unfortunately for Wales, that's what a lot of young people have to do to get a job.
    We are no different
    Malc - surely you'd bridle somewhat as (I presume) a monoglot Anglophone Scot if you were excluded from jobs if you didn't speak Gaelic - and you were told to move to England if you wanted to speak English?
    As long as they allowed Scots, but of course most businesses converse in English. I work for a global company and they all have to converse in English.
    I was only jesting earlier of course.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,344
    felix said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Mr. G, Wales isn't another country, and it is at least bilingual.

    Not sure it's clever for the Welsh to try and reduce employment possibilities, though. The headteacher of my primary school retired to Wales, got a bit bored and thought of re-entering teaching but Welsh was so difficult to learn he had to abandon the idea.

    It is Wales though and NOT England, no compulsion to have names that suit England.
    The vast majority of us in Wales are Welsh and only speak English, nothing to do with England. If the Welsh speakers want to speak Welsh good luck to them, we just want the same respect.
    Move to England then.
    Bit of ethnic cleansing now being espoused by our resident amoeba brained saltire-waving fascist
    Has Malc upset you?
    He is a nasty Anglophobic little fascist who thinks rudeness is a form of debate. He ensures that if anyone disagrees with his highly simplistic world view he will bully them with abuse to shout them down. He is a highly obnoxious individual. The fact that he idolises Alex Salmond tells you everything you need to know.
    You are hardly the politest contributer on PB. Let him or her without sin cast the first stone.
    You wanna close down the site?!?!
    He is just a sad clown
  • Cookie said:

    Eabhal said:

    Why is everyone making a fuss about the Welsh renaming their National Parks? Part of the attraction is the distinct culture and language, and I love hearing Welsh in what I call Snowdonia.

    When you pop over the Minch no cares if you call it the Western Isles, Uist or whatever. But having the Gaelic reminds us that the whole idea of the place is different to Moray or the central belt or England or whatever.

    I'd also encourage learning some basic Welsh/Gaelic (colours etc). Adds lots to your enjoyment and understanding of those places. "Buachaille Etive Mor" - what a brilliant, romantic name for that mountain.

    What does Buachaille Etive Mor mean?
    For an English speaker, it has an advantage over other peaks of having a name one can have a stab at (even if wrongly).
    I don't know if this is true, but my understanding is that words for colours in Scots Gaelic are rather idionsyncratic - the word for 'red' actually describes a sort of reddy brown; for 'blue' a sort of aquamarine. If you were going to describe a primary colour, you'd have to add qualifiers. Or something. Is that true?
    Colour and language are curious.
    Japan didn't have green until recently
    IIRC they thought it was blue.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,904
    Pulpstar said:

    Driver said:

    kamski said:

    Nigelb said:

    R4 had a piece on the bloke who won a Sony Creative prize for photography with an AI generated image. I did a search on twitter and initially it came with a load of unfeasibly large breasted women with the faces of 12 year olds but I eventually found the actual pic.
    Impossible to tell with hindsight but is there a touch of tell tale exaggeration and caricature in the image?


    Leon posted the story days ago. Look at the hands. AI can't draw hands for who knows what reason. A lot of human artists too, so maybe that is the reason.
    I posted it; Leon commented.
    I suspect the whole thing is just a publicity stunt. The judges knew it was AI, and knew if they gave it a prize people would be talking about these awards that otherwise don't get any attention.
    That was my initial cynical assumption.

    My second cynical assumption was that one of the AI firms paid them off to do it, but that's probably a consipiracy theory too far...
    I've always considered in the art world a possible route to riches could be the following.

    Produce a work which a chimp or two year old could do.
    "Sell" said artwork to rich loaded friend for £10 million. No money actually changes hands.
    Get publicity off said sale. Journos these days probably won't work out the sale was a sham.
    Sell prints of said artwork and a few more pieces now you're "known" for decent money, because the perception is your work is now "valuable".
    Charles Saatchi did pay real money but otherwise that sounds like Damien Hirst's route to fame. During the cold war, the CIA made Jackson Pollock a star in much the same way. Maybe the art world has always been thus.
This discussion has been closed.