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The by-election betting – a LAB gain and CON hold – politicalbetting.com

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  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,352

    Leon said:

    How much do we reckon Bozza is getting for spaffing out 500-1000 words a week for the Daily Mail?

    £100-200k
    He used to get £250k from Telegraph, I imagine its more than that, especially as Mail has a massive online footprint and I imagine they hope to get the likes of US clicking to read the "Eccentric" British posh bloke ramblings.
    If they hope for that, they are deluded.

    Boris’s “writing” really doesn’t travel beyond a certain niche of British society, one that is largely ageing and provincial.

    He makes sense for the Telegraph, and perhaps even for the Mail, in terms of appealing to their existing audience, but not in attracting new ones and certainly none outside a rather claustrophobic culture which finds the word, “japes”, inherently amusing.
    I suspect someone will tell him about ChatGPT, he will change a word or two and put his name to it.

    "ChatGPT, write me an article in the style of Boris Johnson on why Brexit is good for Britain and why Boris Johnson is a genius"
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,981
    eek said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The perils of working from home.

    A senior Goldman Sachs banker allegedly agreed a multimillion-dollar settlement with a more junior female employee after he accidentally sent her a sexually explicit clip.

    Adam Dell, 53, who is the brother of the billionaire computer tycoon Michael Dell, was recording himself for a work project while working remotely in 2020 but left the camera on by accident, according to Bloomberg.

    He is said to have sent the entire video file, including footage of explicit activity, to a junior colleague who subsequently hired a lawyer who sought $30 million for her, Bloomberg said. Dell agreed to a settlement for a lower amount, it alleged.

    The incident was said to have been so serious that it led to an internal review that involved David Solomon, the boss of the New York-based Goldman and one of the most powerful executives on Wall Street.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/goldman-sachs-banker-adam-dell-sent-explicit-tape-to-junior-colleague-d8bgjtsqk

    Seems an enormous amount of money for what appears to be a likely honest fuck up.
    Simple rule - don't do porn on anything even incredibly loosely connected to working..
    Especially when your brother is a billionaire.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,468
    Leon said:

    eek said:

    Leon said:

    How much do we reckon Bozza is getting for spaffing out 500-1000 words a week for the Daily Mail?

    £100k
    and the rest - wasn't he on twice that at the Telegraph
    I’ve revised my estimate to £100-200k

    He’s now an ex PM, at the other end of his career and influence; it’s only a short column, I don’t think he’ll get insane money (£1m is ridic)

    And I rightly predicted he would get many millions for the memoir

    But remember he could easily write for other papers as well (this doesn’t sound exclusive); he’ll be on TV; his speeches will make £££££

    He’s going to be earning 7 figures a year, so there’s no need for PB-ers to worry about Boris’ welfare, as they often do
    Not his temporal welfare, anyway.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,606

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Will Boris primarily use his column as a platform from which to bring about Rishi's destruction? That's what we need to establish.

    The more important thing is will the Telegraph remain on team Boris now he's fucked off to the Mail?

    What's the point of pimping for the Mail's columnist?
    Haven't Telegraph got bigger worries at the moment i.e. they are bust and who will actually want to buy them.
    Completely wrong. The Telegraph is notably profitable (as is the Spectator). It’s the owners - the Barclay brothers - who have a dispute about debt with their bankers who are being forced to sell

    “Telegraph hits a record 740,000 subscribers as profits surge
    Telegraph Media Group continues transformation to
    a subscription-led digital business”


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/05/25/telegraph-hits-record-740000-subscribers-profits-surge/
    I stand corrected. Who the bloody hell is subscribing to the Telegraph these days, its absolutely shit offering these days. Other than the genius Matt cartoon (which you can get for free), we were only saying the other week how clickbaity a lot of their articles are now and they lost most of their big name columnists.
    I subscribe to the digital edition. Coz it’s really cheap (if you catch one of their special offers) and they have just enough clicky articles that make me want to read

    I think I’m paying £2 a week. I probably read 20 telegraph articles a week. That’s 10p an article. That’s fine. I am happy to support journalism and I’m hardly being robbed in daylight
    I am fascinated that this actually ends up profitable for the Telegraph.

    The Athletic has basically the same "the price is never really the price" model, where you can always get your yearly sub for £10-20, and they were burning through venture capital money until they sold to NYT. The long term plan was always become the sports outlet, get everybody used to paying a bit for it, then charge £5-10 a month for it.
    I have a friend who is quite senior at the Tele. What you don’t see is all the money they (and other papers) are now making through different revenue streams. Online ads. Advertorial. Special offers to subscribers. Social media weirdness

    They’re minting it by diversifying

    It’s no longer about the guy who gets it delivered daily to Tunbridge wells
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,238

    Finally.

    Rip-off food and drink prices at railway stations are being investigated by regulators amid fears retailers are forcing passengers to pay extortionate amounts for everyday essentials.

    Rail passengers, already suffering after a year of disruption from strikes, are spending more than £1bn every year on everything from bottled water to burgers.

    The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said that “preliminary research and investigations” had identified significantly higher prices in stations compared to the high street.

    The regulator has now launched a full investigation into how passengers are paying over the odds.


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/06/16/rail-station-prices-investigated-food-drink-ripoff/

    This is simply the time-cost-quality triangle in action. You're at the station, you want a snack now, you pay more for a Ginster's pasty from WH Smith. You want to pay less, arrive earlier, walk up the Tesco in town and buy it there. You want quality, you go to Greggs on the way.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 50,164
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Will Boris primarily use his column as a platform from which to bring about Rishi's destruction? That's what we need to establish.

    The more important thing is will the Telegraph remain on team Boris now he's fucked off to the Mail?

    What's the point of pimping for the Mail's columnist?
    Haven't Telegraph got bigger worries at the moment i.e. they are bust and who will actually want to buy them.
    Completely wrong. The Telegraph is notably profitable (as is the Spectator). It’s the owners - the Barclay brothers - who have a dispute about debt with their bankers who are being forced to sell

    “Telegraph hits a record 740,000 subscribers as profits surge
    Telegraph Media Group continues transformation to
    a subscription-led digital business”


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/05/25/telegraph-hits-record-740000-subscribers-profits-surge/
    I stand corrected. Who the bloody hell is subscribing to the Telegraph these days, its absolutely shit offering these days. Other than the genius Matt cartoon (which you can get for free), we were only saying the other week how clickbaity a lot of their articles are now and they lost most of their big name columnists.
    I subscribe to the digital edition. Coz it’s really cheap (if you catch one of their special offers) and they have just enough clicky articles that make me want to read

    I think I’m paying £2 a week. I probably read 20 telegraph articles a week. That’s 10p an article. That’s fine. I am happy to support journalism and I’m hardly being robbed in daylight
    Supporting decent journalism would be a better call.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,049
    edited June 2023
    Do we really have to go over this again? Jeez. OK well here we go:

    Media outlets only make money because people consume the contents. If they didn't like the contents (Socialist Worker, Railways Today*) then they would not buy or consume the contents and that media's presence would be tiny and insignificant.

    It is not "The Mail" or "The Telegraph" or "The Right Wing Media". It is the consumers of it all.

    *have not looked into the circulation figures of Railways Today.
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,779

    This is going well.
    That was unlucky.
    It is a good job that England bat deep. We are here.

    Somethings never change.....Boris Johnson telling porkies and getting rewarded with an extremely well paid writing gig (so much for rise of the AI writers), and England collapso in the Ashes.
    But he'll be screwed once they perfect Artificial Stupidity.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,533
    eek said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The perils of working from home.

    A senior Goldman Sachs banker allegedly agreed a multimillion-dollar settlement with a more junior female employee after he accidentally sent her a sexually explicit clip.

    Adam Dell, 53, who is the brother of the billionaire computer tycoon Michael Dell, was recording himself for a work project while working remotely in 2020 but left the camera on by accident, according to Bloomberg.

    He is said to have sent the entire video file, including footage of explicit activity, to a junior colleague who subsequently hired a lawyer who sought $30 million for her, Bloomberg said. Dell agreed to a settlement for a lower amount, it alleged.

    The incident was said to have been so serious that it led to an internal review that involved David Solomon, the boss of the New York-based Goldman and one of the most powerful executives on Wall Street.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/goldman-sachs-banker-adam-dell-sent-explicit-tape-to-junior-colleague-d8bgjtsqk

    Seems an enormous amount of money for what appears to be a likely honest fuck up.
    Simple rule - don't do porn on anything even incredibly loosely connected to working..
    I think it quite mind blowing that anybody senior in a company doesn't have a dedicated work computer / phone etc and they don't mix that with the personal. Not only to avoid these kind of "mishaps", but also from security perspective.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,961
    If England carry on with this run-rate after tea they'll reach 415 after 90 overs.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,352

    Leon said:

    How much do we reckon Bozza is getting for spaffing out 500-1000 words a week for the Daily Mail?

    £100-200k
    He used to get £250k from Telegraph, I imagine its more than that, especially as Mail has a massive online footprint and I imagine they hope to get the likes of US clicking to read the "Eccentric" British posh bloke ramblings.
    If they hope for that, they are deluded.

    Boris’s “writing” really doesn’t travel beyond a certain niche of British society, one that is largely ageing and provincial.

    He makes sense for the Telegraph, and perhaps even for the Mail, in terms of appealing to their existing audience, but not in attracting new ones and certainly none outside a rather claustrophobic culture which finds the word, “japes”, inherently amusing.
    I suspect someone will tell him about ChatGPT, he will change a word or two and put his name to it.

    "ChatGPT, write me an article in the style of Boris Johnson on why Brexit is good for Britain and why Boris Johnson is a genius"
    Lol. I just decided to do it:

    Ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you today with a great sense of excitement and anticipation for the future of Great Britain. We have finally taken back control with Brexit and I truly believe that it will be the best thing for our great nation.

    Firstly, let's talk about immigration. It is about time that we put an end to the influx of people coming into our country without proper vetting or control. With Brexit, we will have full control over our borders and will be able to welcome those who will contribute to our economy and society, while putting an end to those who wish to take advantage of our welfare system.

    Secondly, we will be able to negotiate our own trade deals. No longer will we be shackled to the bureaucratic constraints of the European Union. We will be able to tailor our trade agreements to our specific needs and forge new partnerships with countries across the globe. This will strengthen our economy, create jobs and put Great Britain back on the map as a global heavyweight.

    Now let's talk about the man who made it all possible - Boris Johnson. Many have called him reckless and unsteady, but I believe he is a visionary and a genius. He had the courage to lead the campaign for Brexit and now has the determination to see it through. Boris has shown time and time again that he has the leadership skills necessary to guide our country through these turbulent times.

    He has already begun to lay the groundwork for a brighter future. He has committed funds to the NHS, pledged to boost infrastructure and invested in cutting-edge technology to ensure that Great Britain remains at the forefront of innovation.

    In conclusion, Brexit is a good thing for Great Britain and Boris Johnson is the man we need to lead us through this transition. With his can-do attitude and fearless leadership, we will emerge from this stronger and more prosperous than ever before. So let us embrace this new chapter in our history and move forward with boldness and confidence. Thank you.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 14,081
    nico679 said:

    Leon said:

    Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.

    Boris has long been a hollow mockery.
    And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.

    Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
    One of the most read websites in the world...I don't think all of them are as you describe. A bit like the sidebar of shame, I imagine there are people who enjoy the word salad nonsense, safe in the knowledge its nonsense, in the same way when I worked in academia I used to chuckle how many people you would catch having a sneaky look at all the gossip on there (despite I imagine never agreeing with the news agenda).

    Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.

    Boris has long been a hollow mockery.
    And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.

    Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
    One of the most read websites in the world...I don't think all of them are as you describe. A bit like the sidebar of shame, I imagine there are people who enjoy the word salad nonsense, safe in the knowledge its nonsense, in the same way when I worked in academia I used to chuckle how many people you would catch having a sneaky look at all the gossip on there (despite I imagine never agreeing with the news agenda).
    The Daily Mail is the most influential British newspaper in America because

    1. It’s huge online

    2. It’s brilliant at breaking stories and stirring up controversy

    It really isn’t “just gossip”. It IS good at gossip but it is good at much other stuff, too

    We should be proud of it. A great UK export
    Have you been drinking again . So you’re proud of a paper that just peddles hate .
    I've just had a quick look at the Daily Mail site to test this.

    AAARGH, MY EYES!
    There is FAR TOO MUCH going on on that site.

    But I wouldn't say it's 'just' peddling hate. From the 20 seconds I could bare, I couldn't see any more hate being peddled than by the Telegraph or the Guardian or the BBC. It just seems to be peddling news. In a really visually unappealing way. (That said, the Manchester Evening News is at least as ugly. Any y'know, these are commercial outfits - presumably they know how to do these things.)
    No doubt there's some hate in there somewhere. But it's certainly not the case that that's ALL it's doing.

  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,417
    edited June 2023
    Andy_JS said:

    If England carry on with this run-rate after tea they'll reach 415 after 90 overs.

    Zero chance of Australia bowling another 38 overs today.

    England used to be the worst by some stretch for terrible over rates but Australia and India are just as bad now too.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,533
    edited June 2023
    Cookie said:

    nico679 said:

    Leon said:

    Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.

    Boris has long been a hollow mockery.
    And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.

    Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
    One of the most read websites in the world...I don't think all of them are as you describe. A bit like the sidebar of shame, I imagine there are people who enjoy the word salad nonsense, safe in the knowledge its nonsense, in the same way when I worked in academia I used to chuckle how many people you would catch having a sneaky look at all the gossip on there (despite I imagine never agreeing with the news agenda).

    Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.

    Boris has long been a hollow mockery.
    And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.

    Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
    One of the most read websites in the world...I don't think all of them are as you describe. A bit like the sidebar of shame, I imagine there are people who enjoy the word salad nonsense, safe in the knowledge its nonsense, in the same way when I worked in academia I used to chuckle how many people you would catch having a sneaky look at all the gossip on there (despite I imagine never agreeing with the news agenda).
    The Daily Mail is the most influential British newspaper in America because

    1. It’s huge online

    2. It’s brilliant at breaking stories and stirring up controversy

    It really isn’t “just gossip”. It IS good at gossip but it is good at much other stuff, too

    We should be proud of it. A great UK export
    Have you been drinking again . So you’re proud of a paper that just peddles hate .
    I've just had a quick look at the Daily Mail site to test this.

    AAARGH, MY EYES!
    There is FAR TOO MUCH going on on that site.

    But I wouldn't say it's 'just' peddling hate. From the 20 seconds I could bare, I couldn't see any more hate being peddled than by the Telegraph or the Guardian or the BBC. It just seems to be peddling news. In a really visually unappealing way. (That said, the Manchester Evening News is at least as ugly. Any y'know, these are commercial outfits - presumably they know how to do these things.)
    No doubt there's some hate in there somewhere. But it's certainly not the case that that's ALL it's doing.

    They work on a model of "writing" 100s of articles every day, most of which never make the physical paper. The idea is constant new "news" means people keep coming back to your site several times a day, and if you throw it all together, something will attract the visitor to click on something and then you got them, advert showed etc etc etc.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 52,303
    Cookie said:

    nico679 said:

    Leon said:

    Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.

    Boris has long been a hollow mockery.
    And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.

    Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
    One of the most read websites in the world...I don't think all of them are as you describe. A bit like the sidebar of shame, I imagine there are people who enjoy the word salad nonsense, safe in the knowledge its nonsense, in the same way when I worked in academia I used to chuckle how many people you would catch having a sneaky look at all the gossip on there (despite I imagine never agreeing with the news agenda).

    Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.

    Boris has long been a hollow mockery.
    And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.

    Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
    One of the most read websites in the world...I don't think all of them are as you describe. A bit like the sidebar of shame, I imagine there are people who enjoy the word salad nonsense, safe in the knowledge its nonsense, in the same way when I worked in academia I used to chuckle how many people you would catch having a sneaky look at all the gossip on there (despite I imagine never agreeing with the news agenda).
    The Daily Mail is the most influential British newspaper in America because

    1. It’s huge online

    2. It’s brilliant at breaking stories and stirring up controversy

    It really isn’t “just gossip”. It IS good at gossip but it is good at much other stuff, too

    We should be proud of it. A great UK export
    Have you been drinking again . So you’re proud of a paper that just peddles hate .
    I've just had a quick look at the Daily Mail site to test this.

    AAARGH, MY EYES!
    There is FAR TOO MUCH going on on that site.

    But I wouldn't say it's 'just' peddling hate. From the 20 seconds I could bare, I couldn't see any more hate being peddled than by the Telegraph or the Guardian or the BBC. It just seems to be peddling news. In a really visually unappealing way. (That said, the Manchester Evening News is at least as ugly. Any y'know, these are commercial outfits - presumably they know how to do these things.)
    No doubt there's some hate in there somewhere. But it's certainly not the case that that's ALL it's doing.
    The amount of bloat on the Daily Mail website is probably contributing to global warming by making people's computers overheat.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,478
    TOPPING said:

    Do we really have to go over this again? Jeez. OK well here we go:

    Media outlets only make money because people consume the contents. If they didn't like the contents (Socialist Worker, Railways Today*) then they would not buy or consume the contents and that media's presence would be tiny and insignificant.

    It is not "The Mail" or "The Telegraph" or "The Right Wing Media". It is the consumers of it all.

    *have not looked into the circulation figures of Railways Today.

    Railways Today is frequently cancelled and/or arrives in the shop too late to be of any use.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 28,443
    Taz said:

    CatMan said:

    Cookie said:

    I thought the Two Ronnies were very funny.

    Comedy doesn't always age terribly well. I thought the Two Ronnies was funny in the 80s, but watching reruns it doesn't really work as well. No criticism of them - they are both funny men - but the material we find funny changes. I don't know why that should be so, but it does. It's not even that different generations find different things funny: things which are funny then are often just not funny now. Nothing to do with woke - just our collective tastes change. I guess something to do with humour being a defying of expectations; if you know the sort of thing to expect, maybe that takes away some of the humour.
    I still find them enjoyably clever sometimes, though (which is almost, but not quite, the same thing), like the Mastermind 'answering the previous question' specialist subject. And I find Ronnie Corbett's monologues funnier now than I did then.
    Monty Python, OTOH, I think has aged very well indeed and is almost as good now as it was back then.
    Dad’s Army is still good.
    (I think, I haven’t seen an episode in about 20 years).

    I saw an episode of It Ain’t Half Hot Mum about ten years ago and I thought it was actually pretty good, all things considered.

    Sitcoms date OK, the good ones anyway.
    It Ain't Half Hot Mum isn't as bad as Curry & Chips. My god that was...something else
    Sitcoms set in history hold up very well. Dad's Army is gentle humour, with affection for all of the cast. In real life you should hate the spiv, but here he's likeable. Mainwaring is a figure of fun, pompous, just assumes he should be in charge, but utterly brave and wants to do his duty. I have no doubt he would have given his life if required.

    In recent times Upstart Crow has mined the same period as Blackadder 2, but in a very different way. Blackadder could be a lot more cruel, whereas Upstart Crow rarely is. And Upstart Crow has had pathos too, with the death of the son.
    There was one episode, wasn't there, when the platoon believes the Germans have invaded and the platoon shoots at them from a couple of cottages (the joke being that Mainwaring and Wilson's sections are firing at each other) where Mainwaring, asking for volunteers to hold up the German army, says something like "it will mean the end for us, of course" or am I horribly misremembering?

    Or the film, when the platoon retakes the church hall? Of course, the whole set-up was that most of the Home Guard were veterans of earlier wars. Some of the actors too.
    There was a fab episode where they found out Godfrey was a conscientious objector in WW1 and the platoon, especially Mainwaring, gave him a really hard time about it. It turned out he was in the RAMC and won honours for rescuing people from No Mans Land which left Mainwaring somewhat embarrassed and Wilson feeling a little self satisfied at not being so judgemental.

    In real life Arnold Ridley had been a world war 1 soldier and a rather accomplished one too.
    Yes, from Wikipedia:-
    In December 1915, [Arnold Ridley] enlisted as a private with the Somerset Light Infantry, British Army. He saw active service in the war, sustaining several wounds in close-quarter battle. His left hand was left virtually useless by wounds sustained on the Somme; his legs were riddled with shrapnel; he received a bayonet wound in the groin; and the legacy of a blow to the head from a German soldier's rifle butt left him prone to blackouts after the war.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Ridley

    Ironically, at the start of the war when the army was rushed off its feet by volunteers, Ridley had been turned down by an army medical board on account of his hammer toe. He also served in both the army and Home Guard in the second world war.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,352
    I just tried this one too lol: Write me the first page of an historical novel in the style of British author Sean Thomas
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,401
    TOPPING said:

    Do we really have to go over this again? Jeez. OK well here we go:

    Media outlets only make money because people consume the contents. If they didn't like the contents (Socialist Worker, Railways Today*) then they would not buy or consume the contents and that media's presence would be tiny and insignificant.

    It is not "The Mail" or "The Telegraph" or "The Right Wing Media". It is the consumers of it all.

    *have not looked into the circulation figures of Railways Today.

    Maybe you mean Modern Railways. Since you asked, I started wondering. It's said to be 16K and that won't be inflated by being given away free with bottles of mineral water at railway (!) stations and airports etc.
  • sarissasarissa Posts: 2,004
    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Cookie said:

    A hose pipe ban. We are an island surrounded by water.

    Nationalise these scum agents

    Is there any problem facing the nation that you don't think nationalise is the answer?

    We've always had hosepipe bans. Its a feature of inconsistent rainfall AND a failure to have enough capacity for the increased demand. There is no doubt that more investment is needed into the water and sewerage system. How that is paid for is up for debate. If you have private pension you may well be benefitting from the privatised water companies.
    Also worth noting that nationalised companies will find it politically even more difficult to address the #1 issue leading to hosepipe bans, which is the need for more reservoirs.
    The average person in the UK uses about 50 tons of water a year. Imagine a cube 3.68 meters on a side.

    According to https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/documents/f5a7d56c-cea0-4f00-b159-c3788a3b2b38

    we have 5,602,088 Megaliters of large reservoirs.

    1 megaliter is 982 tons....
    We should be good for a population up to 110 million then.
    If it is all usable - which I rather suspect is not. You certainly can't drain a reservoir easily, without damage.

    There is also industrial use of water to consider. And location.

    I would suspect that most of the issue is that you have the reservoirs for hydroelectric schemes in the "wrong" place.
    The issue is our population has grown by 20% in a generation, and how many new reservoirs have been built in that time?

    Not that nationalisation is the solution, all the evidence is the situation was far, far worse then.
    Are you sure ?

    Water was nationalised in 1989, here's the built reservoir capacity by decade:

    59,700,000 1880s
    40,714,999 1890s
    46,011,000 1900s
    13,970,000 1910s
    63,394,200 1920s
    174,667,000 1930s
    46,532,000 1940s
    152,955,000 1950s
    360,431,850 1960s
    425,850,486 1970s
    287,210,000 1980s
    36,331,000 1990s
    0 2000s
    0 2010s

    The introduction of water meters, especially for domestic properties, has significantly checked demand.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,281
    Intel Set to Gain $11 Billion Subsidy for German Chip Plant
    https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/intel-set-gain-11-billion-205155868.html
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,352

    I just tried this one too lol: Write me the first page of an historical novel in the style of British author Sean Thomas

    The mist hung thick and heavy over the Hudson River, shrouding the hulking shapes of the ships that lined its banks. The wind whipped through the empty streets of Manhattan, carrying with it the sharp tang of salt and the distant sound of church bells.

    Maggie O'Sullivan pulled her woolen shawl tighter around her shoulders as she picked her way carefully through the cobbled streets. She had always loved the early mornings, before the city had fully woken up and the chaos of the day had set in. There was something peaceful, almost sacred, about the way the light filtered through the trees and the quiet hum of life that seemed to pulse through the very heart of the city.

    But this morning was different. This morning, there was a tension in the air that Maggie could feel like a weight on her chest. The news had spread like wildfire through the city the night before, and the fear that spread with it was almost palpable.

    The British army was coming.

    For months now, tensions had been building between the colonists and the British government. Maggie had followed the news stories closely, and she knew that the war of words that had been raging across the ocean was about to boil over into something far more deadly.

    She had heard the rumors of troop movements, of soldiers landing at Boston and Charleston. But it was one thing to hear about it, and quite another to feel the tramp of boots on the ground, to see the red coats marching through the streets of her beloved city.

    Maggie knew that she, like so many others, would have to choose a side. And as she walked through the misty dawn, she couldn't help but wonder where her loyalties lay.
  • WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 9,260
    edited June 2023
    This is much the same discussion as the one we had on whether any other options than current bargain-basement approaches to British TV can be potential popular ones.

    People are informed by their tastes, but the media also form them. There's nothing too complex, surprising or radically new as an idea, in this.
  • CorrectHorseBatCorrectHorseBat Posts: 1,761
    Privatisation has been a complete and utter waste of time.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 14,081

    eek said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The perils of working from home.

    A senior Goldman Sachs banker allegedly agreed a multimillion-dollar settlement with a more junior female employee after he accidentally sent her a sexually explicit clip.

    Adam Dell, 53, who is the brother of the billionaire computer tycoon Michael Dell, was recording himself for a work project while working remotely in 2020 but left the camera on by accident, according to Bloomberg.

    He is said to have sent the entire video file, including footage of explicit activity, to a junior colleague who subsequently hired a lawyer who sought $30 million for her, Bloomberg said. Dell agreed to a settlement for a lower amount, it alleged.

    The incident was said to have been so serious that it led to an internal review that involved David Solomon, the boss of the New York-based Goldman and one of the most powerful executives on Wall Street.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/goldman-sachs-banker-adam-dell-sent-explicit-tape-to-junior-colleague-d8bgjtsqk

    Seems an enormous amount of money for what appears to be a likely honest fuck up.
    Simple rule - don't do porn on anything even incredibly loosely connected to working..
    I think it quite mind blowing that anybody senior in a company doesn't have a dedicated work computer / phone etc and they don't mix that with the personal. Not only to avoid these kind of "mishaps", but also from security perspective.
    I was once told the story by a man from IT from a county council. A teacher at one of the county's schools had been sacked for using one of the film's computers to film himself being sodomised by an unnamed third party. The teacher - along with his union representative - contested the claim, and it had been this individual from IT's role to recover the deleted file such that the film could be played back to him, and the union rep, and the HR department in order to prove the county's case. Not the most comfortable five minutes of the life of anyone concerned.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 52,303

    Privatisation has been a complete and utter waste of time.

    Would you have liked British Telecom to remain a public utility?
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,049
    I APOLOGISE

    I meant of course Modern Railways.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,281

    I just tried this one too lol: Write me the first page of an historical novel in the style of British author Sean Thomas

    The mist hung thick and heavy over the Hudson River, shrouding the hulking shapes of the ships that lined its banks. The wind whipped through the empty streets of Manhattan, carrying with it the sharp tang of salt and the distant sound of church bells.

    Maggie O'Sullivan pulled her woolen shawl tighter around her shoulders as she picked her way carefully....
    Is Sean T really that bad, or is GPT just rubbish ?
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 28,443
    edited June 2023
    sarissa said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Cookie said:

    A hose pipe ban. We are an island surrounded by water.

    Nationalise these scum agents

    Is there any problem facing the nation that you don't think nationalise is the answer?

    We've always had hosepipe bans. Its a feature of inconsistent rainfall AND a failure to have enough capacity for the increased demand. There is no doubt that more investment is needed into the water and sewerage system. How that is paid for is up for debate. If you have private pension you may well be benefitting from the privatised water companies.
    Also worth noting that nationalised companies will find it politically even more difficult to address the #1 issue leading to hosepipe bans, which is the need for more reservoirs.
    The average person in the UK uses about 50 tons of water a year. Imagine a cube 3.68 meters on a side.

    According to https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/documents/f5a7d56c-cea0-4f00-b159-c3788a3b2b38

    we have 5,602,088 Megaliters of large reservoirs.

    1 megaliter is 982 tons....
    We should be good for a population up to 110 million then.
    If it is all usable - which I rather suspect is not. You certainly can't drain a reservoir easily, without damage.

    There is also industrial use of water to consider. And location.

    I would suspect that most of the issue is that you have the reservoirs for hydroelectric schemes in the "wrong" place.
    The issue is our population has grown by 20% in a generation, and how many new reservoirs have been built in that time?

    Not that nationalisation is the solution, all the evidence is the situation was far, far worse then.
    Are you sure ?

    Water was nationalised in 1989, here's the built reservoir capacity by decade:

    59,700,000 1880s
    40,714,999 1890s
    46,011,000 1900s
    13,970,000 1910s
    63,394,200 1920s
    174,667,000 1930s
    46,532,000 1940s
    152,955,000 1950s
    360,431,850 1960s
    425,850,486 1970s
    287,210,000 1980s
    36,331,000 1990s
    0 2000s
    0 2010s

    The introduction of water meters, especially for domestic properties, has significantly checked demand.
    Water meters? Showers replacing baths is perhaps more likely.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,417
    Cookie said:

    eek said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The perils of working from home.

    A senior Goldman Sachs banker allegedly agreed a multimillion-dollar settlement with a more junior female employee after he accidentally sent her a sexually explicit clip.

    Adam Dell, 53, who is the brother of the billionaire computer tycoon Michael Dell, was recording himself for a work project while working remotely in 2020 but left the camera on by accident, according to Bloomberg.

    He is said to have sent the entire video file, including footage of explicit activity, to a junior colleague who subsequently hired a lawyer who sought $30 million for her, Bloomberg said. Dell agreed to a settlement for a lower amount, it alleged.

    The incident was said to have been so serious that it led to an internal review that involved David Solomon, the boss of the New York-based Goldman and one of the most powerful executives on Wall Street.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/goldman-sachs-banker-adam-dell-sent-explicit-tape-to-junior-colleague-d8bgjtsqk

    Seems an enormous amount of money for what appears to be a likely honest fuck up.
    Simple rule - don't do porn on anything even incredibly loosely connected to working..
    I think it quite mind blowing that anybody senior in a company doesn't have a dedicated work computer / phone etc and they don't mix that with the personal. Not only to avoid these kind of "mishaps", but also from security perspective.
    I was once told the story by a man from IT from a county council. A teacher at one of the county's schools had been sacked for using one of the film's computers to film himself being sodomised by an unnamed third party. The teacher - along with his union representative - contested the claim, and it had been this individual from IT's role to recover the deleted file such that the film could be played back to him, and the union rep, and the HR department in order to prove the county's case. Not the most comfortable five minutes of the life of anyone concerned.
    Oh sure, a sacking must surely follow - it's the $30M that seems a bit high. He seems to have comitted the crime of being rich and careless.
  • TazTaz Posts: 15,049

    Taz said:

    CatMan said:

    Cookie said:

    I thought the Two Ronnies were very funny.

    Comedy doesn't always age terribly well. I thought the Two Ronnies was funny in the 80s, but watching reruns it doesn't really work as well. No criticism of them - they are both funny men - but the material we find funny changes. I don't know why that should be so, but it does. It's not even that different generations find different things funny: things which are funny then are often just not funny now. Nothing to do with woke - just our collective tastes change. I guess something to do with humour being a defying of expectations; if you know the sort of thing to expect, maybe that takes away some of the humour.
    I still find them enjoyably clever sometimes, though (which is almost, but not quite, the same thing), like the Mastermind 'answering the previous question' specialist subject. And I find Ronnie Corbett's monologues funnier now than I did then.
    Monty Python, OTOH, I think has aged very well indeed and is almost as good now as it was back then.
    Dad’s Army is still good.
    (I think, I haven’t seen an episode in about 20 years).

    I saw an episode of It Ain’t Half Hot Mum about ten years ago and I thought it was actually pretty good, all things considered.

    Sitcoms date OK, the good ones anyway.
    It Ain't Half Hot Mum isn't as bad as Curry & Chips. My god that was...something else
    Sitcoms set in history hold up very well. Dad's Army is gentle humour, with affection for all of the cast. In real life you should hate the spiv, but here he's likeable. Mainwaring is a figure of fun, pompous, just assumes he should be in charge, but utterly brave and wants to do his duty. I have no doubt he would have given his life if required.

    In recent times Upstart Crow has mined the same period as Blackadder 2, but in a very different way. Blackadder could be a lot more cruel, whereas Upstart Crow rarely is. And Upstart Crow has had pathos too, with the death of the son.
    There was one episode, wasn't there, when the platoon believes the Germans have invaded and the platoon shoots at them from a couple of cottages (the joke being that Mainwaring and Wilson's sections are firing at each other) where Mainwaring, asking for volunteers to hold up the German army, says something like "it will mean the end for us, of course" or am I horribly misremembering?

    Or the film, when the platoon retakes the church hall? Of course, the whole set-up was that most of the Home Guard were veterans of earlier wars. Some of the actors too.
    There was a fab episode where they found out Godfrey was a conscientious objector in WW1 and the platoon, especially Mainwaring, gave him a really hard time about it. It turned out he was in the RAMC and won honours for rescuing people from No Mans Land which left Mainwaring somewhat embarrassed and Wilson feeling a little self satisfied at not being so judgemental.

    In real life Arnold Ridley had been a world war 1 soldier and a rather accomplished one too.
    Yes, from Wikipedia:-
    In December 1915, [Arnold Ridley] enlisted as a private with the Somerset Light Infantry, British Army. He saw active service in the war, sustaining several wounds in close-quarter battle. His left hand was left virtually useless by wounds sustained on the Somme; his legs were riddled with shrapnel; he received a bayonet wound in the groin; and the legacy of a blow to the head from a German soldier's rifle butt left him prone to blackouts after the war.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Ridley

    Ironically, at the start of the war when the army was rushed off its feet by volunteers, Ridley had been turned down by an army medical board on account of his hammer toe. He also served in both the army and Home Guard in the second world war.
    That’s mighty impressive. I never realised it was quite that level of bravery and service.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,352

    Privatisation has been a complete and utter waste of time.

    Of course it has lol. Tell that to every other European country that has also followed it. Did you know that even Pickfords used to be nationalised? Yes you used to have to book your move with the union brotherhood months in advance in the desperate hope that they didn't go on strike when you were due to move house.

    Privatisation is not perfect, but it is a fucking massive improvement on nationalised industries.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,417
    Sneak preview of Boris' column:

    Wokeness, my friends, is a corrosive force that claims to champion social justice while subverting the very essence of fairness and equality. It is a doctrine that deems itself infallible, seeking to dictate what we can say, think, and even how we must live. This ideology, propagated by the self-appointed guardians of morality, has spawned an insidious blob that engulfs our institutions, stifles dissent, and perpetuates a climate of fear and self-censorship.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 28,443

    Privatisation has been a complete and utter waste of time.

    Would you have liked British Telecom to remain a public utility?
    Yeah because in the old days it took 100 years and ... FFS it was technological improvements not privatisation that made the difference.
  • CorrectHorseBatCorrectHorseBat Posts: 1,761

    Privatisation has been a complete and utter waste of time.

    Would you have liked British Telecom to remain a public utility?
    I think until very recently yes, because Openreach was a complete farce. But strong regulation has resolved much the issues I had.

    I will concede to privatisation but only with very strong regulation. Which we don't have.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 14,081
    Pulpstar said:

    Cookie said:

    eek said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The perils of working from home.

    A senior Goldman Sachs banker allegedly agreed a multimillion-dollar settlement with a more junior female employee after he accidentally sent her a sexually explicit clip.

    Adam Dell, 53, who is the brother of the billionaire computer tycoon Michael Dell, was recording himself for a work project while working remotely in 2020 but left the camera on by accident, according to Bloomberg.

    He is said to have sent the entire video file, including footage of explicit activity, to a junior colleague who subsequently hired a lawyer who sought $30 million for her, Bloomberg said. Dell agreed to a settlement for a lower amount, it alleged.

    The incident was said to have been so serious that it led to an internal review that involved David Solomon, the boss of the New York-based Goldman and one of the most powerful executives on Wall Street.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/goldman-sachs-banker-adam-dell-sent-explicit-tape-to-junior-colleague-d8bgjtsqk

    Seems an enormous amount of money for what appears to be a likely honest fuck up.
    Simple rule - don't do porn on anything even incredibly loosely connected to working..
    I think it quite mind blowing that anybody senior in a company doesn't have a dedicated work computer / phone etc and they don't mix that with the personal. Not only to avoid these kind of "mishaps", but also from security perspective.
    I was once told the story by a man from IT from a county council. A teacher at one of the county's schools had been sacked for using one of the film's computers to film himself being sodomised by an unnamed third party. The teacher - along with his union representative - contested the claim, and it had been this individual from IT's role to recover the deleted file such that the film could be played back to him, and the union rep, and the HR department in order to prove the county's case. Not the most comfortable five minutes of the life of anyone concerned.
    Oh sure, a sacking must surely follow - it's the $30M that seems a bit high. He seems to have comitted the crime of being rich and careless.
    Oh, I entirely agree. A ludicrous amount for a rather trifling inconvenience. I was just taking the opportunity to air an anecdote which had come to mind.
  • sarissasarissa Posts: 2,004
    edited June 2023
    The reasons for this are complex and include an increased awareness of the environmental
    consequences of large construction schemes in general, and of the loss of flooded land in
    particular; expressions of public concern; considerable effort on reducing leakage, increased
    metering, increased efficiency of water using appliances, Code for sustainable homes, greater
    demand management; availability of other feasible options and improved regulation of the
    water environment.

    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Cookie said:

    A hose pipe ban. We are an island surrounded by water.

    Nationalise these scum agents

    Is there any problem facing the nation that you don't think nationalise is the answer?

    We've always had hosepipe bans. Its a feature of inconsistent rainfall AND a failure to have enough capacity for the increased demand. There is no doubt that more investment is needed into the water and sewerage system. How that is paid for is up for debate. If you have private pension you may well be benefitting from the privatised water companies.
    Also worth noting that nationalised companies will find it politically even more difficult to address the #1 issue leading to hosepipe bans, which is the need for more reservoirs.
    The average person in the UK uses about 50 tons of water a year. Imagine a cube 3.68 meters on a side.

    According to https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/documents/f5a7d56c-cea0-4f00-b159-c3788a3b2b38

    we have 5,602,088 Megaliters of large reservoirs.

    1 megaliter is 982 tons....
    We should be good for a population up to 110 million then.
    If it is all usable - which I rather suspect is not. You certainly can't drain a reservoir easily, without damage.

    There is also industrial use of water to consider. And location.

    I would suspect that most of the issue is that you have the reservoirs for hydroelectric schemes in the "wrong" place.
    The issue is our population has grown by 20% in a generation, and how many new reservoirs have been built in that time?

    Not that nationalisation is the solution, all the evidence is the situation was far, far worse then.
    Are you sure ?

    Water was nationalised in 1989, here's the built reservoir capacity by decade:

    59,700,000 1880s
    40,714,999 1890s
    46,011,000 1900s
    13,970,000 1910s
    63,394,200 1920s
    174,667,000 1930s
    46,532,000 1940s
    152,955,000 1950s
    360,431,850 1960s
    425,850,486 1970s
    287,210,000 1980s
    36,331,000 1990s
    0 2000s
    0 2010s

    I assume you didn't mean to get that the wrong way around, so I'll repost it for you.

    Water was privatised in 1989, here's the built reservoir capacity by decade:

    59,700,000 1880s
    40,714,999 1890s
    46,011,000 1900s
    13,970,000 1910s
    63,394,200 1920s
    174,667,000 1930s
    46,532,000 1940s
    152,955,000 1950s
    360,431,850 1960s
    425,850,486 1970s
    287,210,000 1980s
    36,331,000 1990s
    0 2000s
    0 2010s
    Is this lack of investment, or is it that it is a lot easier to get planning permission as a nationalised industry?

    A private company surely couldn't flood out Welsh villages for profit.
    The reasons for (lack of new reservoirs) are complex and include an increased awareness of the environmental
    consequences of large construction schemes in general, and of the loss of flooded land in
    particular; expressions of public concern; considerable effort on reducing leakage, increased
    metering, increased efficiency of water using appliances, Code for sustainable homes, greater
    demand management; availability of other feasible options and improved regulation of the
    water environment


    Depressingly little has happened since this 2011 report:

    https://www.ciwem.org/assets/pdf/Policy/Policy Position Statement/New-public-water-supply-reservoirs.pdf
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,352
    Nigelb said:

    I just tried this one too lol: Write me the first page of an historical novel in the style of British author Sean Thomas

    The mist hung thick and heavy over the Hudson River, shrouding the hulking shapes of the ships that lined its banks. The wind whipped through the empty streets of Manhattan, carrying with it the sharp tang of salt and the distant sound of church bells.

    Maggie O'Sullivan pulled her woolen shawl tighter around her shoulders as she picked her way carefully....
    Is Sean T really that bad, or is GPT just rubbish ?
    No comment
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,468
    TOPPING said:

    Do we really have to go over this again? Jeez. OK well here we go:

    Media outlets only make money because people consume the contents. If they didn't like the contents (Socialist Worker, Railways Today*) then they would not buy or consume the contents and that media's presence would be tiny and insignificant.

    It is not "The Mail" or "The Telegraph" or "The Right Wing Media". It is the consumers of it all.

    *have not looked into the circulation figures of Railways Today.

    With a couple of added twists.

    The first, which is definitely relevant for the Boris thing, is that you don't need that many customers to make a viable business. More than GB News, sure, but not that many more. (And if you are a shadowy squillionaire, dropping 30 million a year on a TV station isn't that much money.) The minority of Conservatives who think Boris was hard done by is still a viable audience to chase. That's a bit of a mare for everyone else who would like to pretend Boris doesn't exist, but tough. Like the current government.

    Second, news media have always been an tricky balance of giving the public what they ought to want and what they actually want. Great popular media suceed in doing both (think the glory days of News at Ten, or when the tabloids sold multi-millions, or the Telegraph when it was good). Right now, the commercial pressures as so strong and the marketing processes are so efficient that the first is too much of a luxury.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 28,443
    Nigelb said:

    Intel Set to Gain $11 Billion Subsidy for German Chip Plant
    https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/intel-set-gain-11-billion-205155868.html

    We have a bizarre 21st century capitalism where firms make money not by developing superior products but by playing states off against each other for higher and higher subsidies.
  • CatManCatMan Posts: 3,069
    I'm told that there's an addon for your browser that lets you read Telegraph and Spectator articles for free. Not that I would use it of course...
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,533
    edited June 2023
    Sir Geoffrey Boycott will be having a heart attack seeing Joe Root reverse scoop a fast bowler for 6 with a test match innings in the balance.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,533
    edited June 2023
    CatMan said:

    I'm told that there's an addon for your browser that lets you read Telegraph and Spectator articles for free. Not that I would use it of course...

    The Telegraph paywall is about as robust as UK defences against small boats arriving.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,352
    Nigelb said:

    I just tried this one too lol: Write me the first page of an historical novel in the style of British author Sean Thomas

    The mist hung thick and heavy over the Hudson River, shrouding the hulking shapes of the ships that lined its banks. The wind whipped through the empty streets of Manhattan, carrying with it the sharp tang of salt and the distant sound of church bells.

    Maggie O'Sullivan pulled her woolen shawl tighter around her shoulders as she picked her way carefully....
    Is Sean T really that bad, or is GPT just rubbish ?
    Actually Sean T might be interested to know that he could take one of his "works" (do you reject SeanT and all his works?) and submit it to ChatGPT and ask that it be recrafted in the style of Shakespeare or Dickens...in fact I might give that a go!
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,319
    edited June 2023
    I’m actually impressed that both the Telegraph and the Sun have managed to generate growth and profit.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,504
    Putin doing a sterling job in attracting international investment:

    "Putin, asked why he keeps calling Zelensky a Nazi: "I have a lot of Jewish friends, since childhood. They say Zelensky isn't a Jew. He is a disgrace to the Jewish people.""

    https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1669700531655262209
  • WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 9,260
    edited June 2023
    The Telegraph is often a depressingly predictable read these days, as the Guardian sometimes has been too often recently, too.

    No wonder the Barclays wanted to get rid of it, although I'm surprised if it's making a profit.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,592

    CatMan said:

    I'm told that there's an addon for your browser that lets you read Telegraph and Spectator articles for free. Not that I would use it of course...

    The Telegraph paywall is about as robust as UK defences against small boats arriving.
    Depends - you can't bypass it on an iPad or iPhone but anything else a two year old could get round it.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,281

    Nigelb said:

    Intel Set to Gain $11 Billion Subsidy for German Chip Plant
    https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/intel-set-gain-11-billion-205155868.html

    We have a bizarre 21st century capitalism where firms make money not by developing superior products but by playing states off against each other for higher and higher subsidies.
    Strategic industries.
    Far better value bunging a few billion at a high end chip plant, or a couple of gigafactories, than building a couple of carriers which don't work.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,352

    Nigelb said:

    I just tried this one too lol: Write me the first page of an historical novel in the style of British author Sean Thomas

    The mist hung thick and heavy over the Hudson River, shrouding the hulking shapes of the ships that lined its banks. The wind whipped through the empty streets of Manhattan, carrying with it the sharp tang of salt and the distant sound of church bells.

    Maggie O'Sullivan pulled her woolen shawl tighter around her shoulders as she picked her way carefully....
    Is Sean T really that bad, or is GPT just rubbish ?
    Actually Sean T might be interested to know that he could take one of his "works" (do you reject SeanT and all his works?) and submit it to ChatGPT and ask that it be recrafted in the style of Shakespeare or Dickens...in fact I might give that a go!
    In fair Verona where we lay our scene,

    There lived a man called Sean Thomas, bold and keen.

    His wit and wisdom unmatched in the land,

    And the great Bard himself would take him by the hand.

    A scholar gifted, he delved in history's ways,

    And read each tome to learn of bygone days.

    Through lessons learned, he sought the path to wisdom,

    And brought light to futures that would come.

    With prose and verse, he did captivate,

    His works unmatched in valor and weight.

    Heard high from mountaintops to depths below,

    Makes hearts to weep and fair maidens glow.

    In this fair realm of literature grand,

    None do surpass Sean Thomas's hand.

    Along with Shakespeare himself, he's praised,

    His worth and skill forever to be raised.

    So let not time nor tide hold him in check,

    For his talents breathe life in his text.

    May he continue to thrive and flourish in this land,

    And his work be held in high esteem by all and hand in hand.





  • sarissasarissa Posts: 2,004
    DavidL said:

    eek said:

    "Do you have 'How to resign with grace and dignity' by Nadine Dorries?"




    The cultural longevity of that ad is astonishing. Maybe the most memorable UK TV advertisement of all time?
    For mash get smash.
    https://youtu.be/U4MTgjNkfyI
    Milk Tray? or this series?
    https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj_ueSxicj_AhUaNcAKHSxfAOAQtwJ6BAgSEAI&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR-klQIt_Hg&usg=AOvVaw3r53GcA0cYV9jptSfVaXKo
  • Stark_DawningStark_Dawning Posts: 9,714
    Boris's new column is surely confirmation that he still harbours leadership ambitions. The plan will be as follows: use it to destroy Rishi and then Sir Keir's Labour government, while all the time re-establishing himself as the One True Tory in the minds of Middle England. He'll then seek out a safe seat (Nadine's?) amid a blizzard of thrown petals.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,961
    Have there been any 3s today? Boundaries are shorter than they used to be.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,592

    Finally.

    Rip-off food and drink prices at railway stations are being investigated by regulators amid fears retailers are forcing passengers to pay extortionate amounts for everyday essentials.

    Rail passengers, already suffering after a year of disruption from strikes, are spending more than £1bn every year on everything from bottled water to burgers.

    The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said that “preliminary research and investigations” had identified significantly higher prices in stations compared to the high street.

    The regulator has now launched a full investigation into how passengers are paying over the odds.


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/06/16/rail-station-prices-investigated-food-drink-ripoff/

    This is simply the time-cost-quality triangle in action. You're at the station, you want a snack now, you pay more for a Ginster's pasty from WH Smith. You want to pay less, arrive earlier, walk up the Tesco in town and buy it there. You want quality, you go to Greggs on the way.
    Greggs - quality??? I'm confused...

    Greggs is OK and better than a lot of other bakeries but most towns will have at least one bakery better than Greggs...
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,049

    Nigelb said:

    I just tried this one too lol: Write me the first page of an historical novel in the style of British author Sean Thomas

    The mist hung thick and heavy over the Hudson River, shrouding the hulking shapes of the ships that lined its banks. The wind whipped through the empty streets of Manhattan, carrying with it the sharp tang of salt and the distant sound of church bells.

    Maggie O'Sullivan pulled her woolen shawl tighter around her shoulders as she picked her way carefully....
    Is Sean T really that bad, or is GPT just rubbish ?
    Actually Sean T might be interested to know that he could take one of his "works" (do you reject SeanT and all his works?) and submit it to ChatGPT and ask that it be recrafted in the style of Shakespeare or Dickens...in fact I might give that a go!
    In fair Verona where we lay our scene,

    There lived a man called Sean Thomas, bold and keen.

    His wit and wisdom unmatched in the land,

    And the great Bard himself would take him by the hand.

    A scholar gifted, he delved in history's ways,

    And read each tome to learn of bygone days.

    Through lessons learned, he sought the path to wisdom,

    And brought light to futures that would come.

    With prose and verse, he did captivate,

    His works unmatched in valor and weight.

    Heard high from mountaintops to depths below,

    Makes hearts to weep and fair maidens glow.

    In this fair realm of literature grand,

    None do surpass Sean Thomas's hand.

    Along with Shakespeare himself, he's praised,

    His worth and skill forever to be raised.

    So let not time nor tide hold him in check,

    For his talents breathe life in his text.

    May he continue to thrive and flourish in this land,

    And his work be held in high esteem by all and hand in hand.





    Horrible. Doesn't scan. Ti-tum ti-tum ti-tum ti-tum ti-tum it is not. Which it should be. Only by chance is there an iambic pentameter (even one with a feminine ending) in there at all.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,533
    edited June 2023
    eek said:

    CatMan said:

    I'm told that there's an addon for your browser that lets you read Telegraph and Spectator articles for free. Not that I would use it of course...

    The Telegraph paywall is about as robust as UK defences against small boats arriving.
    Depends - you can't bypass it on an iPad or iPhone but anything else a two year old could get round it.
    I don't even actively try and bypass it using the naughty sites / plugins, my VPN provider just does it for me without me even requesting it (its because VPN does a form of ad blocking which is enough to bypass it without you ever even seeing the popup).
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,606
    I subscribe to:

    The Spectator
    The Times
    The New York Times
    The FT
    The Economist
    The Telegraph

    And get the guardian and BBC for free

    That sounds a lot but I get them all with stupidly cheap special offers - digital only. Eg the NYT costs me 50p a week and they throw in The Athletic. It’s mad
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,352
    TOPPING said:

    Nigelb said:

    I just tried this one too lol: Write me the first page of an historical novel in the style of British author Sean Thomas

    The mist hung thick and heavy over the Hudson River, shrouding the hulking shapes of the ships that lined its banks. The wind whipped through the empty streets of Manhattan, carrying with it the sharp tang of salt and the distant sound of church bells.

    Maggie O'Sullivan pulled her woolen shawl tighter around her shoulders as she picked her way carefully....
    Is Sean T really that bad, or is GPT just rubbish ?
    Actually Sean T might be interested to know that he could take one of his "works" (do you reject SeanT and all his works?) and submit it to ChatGPT and ask that it be recrafted in the style of Shakespeare or Dickens...in fact I might give that a go!
    In fair Verona where we lay our scene,

    There lived a man called Sean Thomas, bold and keen.

    His wit and wisdom unmatched in the land,

    And the great Bard himself would take him by the hand.

    A scholar gifted, he delved in history's ways,

    And read each tome to learn of bygone days.

    Through lessons learned, he sought the path to wisdom,

    And brought light to futures that would come.

    With prose and verse, he did captivate,

    His works unmatched in valor and weight.

    Heard high from mountaintops to depths below,

    Makes hearts to weep and fair maidens glow.

    In this fair realm of literature grand,

    None do surpass Sean Thomas's hand.

    Along with Shakespeare himself, he's praised,

    His worth and skill forever to be raised.

    So let not time nor tide hold him in check,

    For his talents breathe life in his text.

    May he continue to thrive and flourish in this land,

    And his work be held in high esteem by all and hand in hand.





    Horrible. Doesn't scan. Ti-tum ti-tum ti-tum ti-tum ti-tum it is not. Which it should be. Only by chance is there an iambic pentameter (even one with a feminine ending) in there at all.
    To be fair, it was trying to achieve Shakespeare in the style of Sean Thomas, not Shakespeare in the style of Shakespeare!
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,281
    TOPPING said:

    Nigelb said:

    I just tried this one too lol: Write me the first page of an historical novel in the style of British author Sean Thomas

    The mist hung thick and heavy over the Hudson River, shrouding the hulking shapes of the ships that lined its banks. The wind whipped through the empty streets of Manhattan, carrying with it the sharp tang of salt and the distant sound of church bells.

    Maggie O'Sullivan pulled her woolen shawl tighter around her shoulders as she picked her way carefully....
    Is Sean T really that bad, or is GPT just rubbish ?
    Actually Sean T might be interested to know that he could take one of his "works" (do you reject SeanT and all his works?) and submit it to ChatGPT and ask that it be recrafted in the style of Shakespeare or Dickens...in fact I might give that a go!
    In fair Verona where we lay our scene,

    There lived a man called Sean Thomas, bold and keen.

    His wit and wisdom unmatched in the land,

    And the great Bard himself would take him by the hand.

    A scholar gifted, he delved in history's ways,

    And read each tome to learn of bygone days.

    Through lessons learned, he sought the path to wisdom,

    And brought light to futures that would come.

    With prose and verse, he did captivate,

    His works unmatched in valor and weight.

    Heard high from mountaintops to depths below,

    Makes hearts to weep and fair maidens glow.

    In this fair realm of literature grand,

    None do surpass Sean Thomas's hand.

    Along with Shakespeare himself, he's praised,

    His worth and skill forever to be raised.

    So let not time nor tide hold him in check,

    For his talents breathe life in his text.

    May he continue to thrive and flourish in this land,

    And his work be held in high esteem by all and hand in hand.


    Horrible. Doesn't scan. Ti-tum ti-tum ti-tum ti-tum ti-tum it is not. Which it should be. Only by chance is there an iambic pentameter (even one with a feminine ending) in there at all.
    "In the manner of William McGonagall" - it's a creditable effort.
  • MightyAlexMightyAlex Posts: 1,691
    Nigelb said:

    Nigelb said:

    Intel Set to Gain $11 Billion Subsidy for German Chip Plant
    https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/intel-set-gain-11-billion-205155868.html

    We have a bizarre 21st century capitalism where firms make money not by developing superior products but by playing states off against each other for higher and higher subsidies.
    Strategic industries.
    Far better value bunging a few billion at a high end chip plant, or a couple of gigafactories, than building a couple of carriers which don't work.
    Unless Germany's grabbing the IP too what value do they bring?
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,533
    Leon said:

    I subscribe to:

    The Spectator
    The Times
    The New York Times
    The FT
    The Economist
    The Telegraph

    And get the guardian and BBC for free

    That sounds a lot but I get them all with stupidly cheap special offers - digital only. Eg the NYT costs me 50p a week and they throw in The Athletic. It’s mad

    Are you saying you don't pay your telly tax? And you manage to put up with the Guardian begging letter on every article?
  • CorrectHorseBatCorrectHorseBat Posts: 1,761
    eek said:

    CatMan said:

    I'm told that there's an addon for your browser that lets you read Telegraph and Spectator articles for free. Not that I would use it of course...

    The Telegraph paywall is about as robust as UK defences against small boats arriving.
    Depends - you can't bypass it on an iPad or iPhone but anything else a two year old could get round it.
    Yes you can on an iPad.

    Archive.md
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,424
    TOPPING said:

    *have not looked into the circulation figures of Railways Today.

    They're delayed

    :)

  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,780

    Sir Geoffrey Boycott will be having a heart attack seeing Joe Root reverse scoop a fast bowler for 6 with a test match innings in the balance.

    I was assuming that Crawley's earlier recklessness had finished Boycott off before we got this far.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 52,156
    eek said:

    Finally.

    Rip-off food and drink prices at railway stations are being investigated by regulators amid fears retailers are forcing passengers to pay extortionate amounts for everyday essentials.

    Rail passengers, already suffering after a year of disruption from strikes, are spending more than £1bn every year on everything from bottled water to burgers.

    The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said that “preliminary research and investigations” had identified significantly higher prices in stations compared to the high street.

    The regulator has now launched a full investigation into how passengers are paying over the odds.


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/06/16/rail-station-prices-investigated-food-drink-ripoff/

    This is simply the time-cost-quality triangle in action. You're at the station, you want a snack now, you pay more for a Ginster's pasty from WH Smith. You want to pay less, arrive earlier, walk up the Tesco in town and buy it there. You want quality, you go to Greggs on the way.
    Greggs - quality??? I'm confused...

    Greggs is OK and better than a lot of other bakeries but most towns will have at least one bakery better than Greggs...
    They even have a Greggs at most of the central London railway stations!
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,780
    viewcode said:

    TOPPING said:

    *have not looked into the circulation figures of Railways Today.

    They're delayed

    :)

    It's not that, it's more you don't see the points.
  • TazTaz Posts: 15,049
    Cookie said:

    nico679 said:

    Leon said:

    Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.

    Boris has long been a hollow mockery.
    And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.

    Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
    One of the most read websites in the world...I don't think all of them are as you describe. A bit like the sidebar of shame, I imagine there are people who enjoy the word salad nonsense, safe in the knowledge its nonsense, in the same way when I worked in academia I used to chuckle how many people you would catch having a sneaky look at all the gossip on there (despite I imagine never agreeing with the news agenda).

    Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.

    Boris has long been a hollow mockery.
    And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.

    Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
    One of the most read websites in the world...I don't think all of them are as you describe. A bit like the sidebar of shame, I imagine there are people who enjoy the word salad nonsense, safe in the knowledge its nonsense, in the same way when I worked in academia I used to chuckle how many people you would catch having a sneaky look at all the gossip on there (despite I imagine never agreeing with the news agenda).
    The Daily Mail is the most influential British newspaper in America because

    1. It’s huge online

    2. It’s brilliant at breaking stories and stirring up controversy

    It really isn’t “just gossip”. It IS good at gossip but it is good at much other stuff, too

    We should be proud of it. A great UK export
    Have you been drinking again . So you’re proud of a paper that just peddles hate .
    I've just had a quick look at the Daily Mail site to test this.

    AAARGH, MY EYES!
    There is FAR TOO MUCH going on on that site.

    But I wouldn't say it's 'just' peddling hate. From the 20 seconds I could bare, I couldn't see any more hate being peddled than by the Telegraph or the Guardian or the BBC. It just seems to be peddling news. In a really visually unappealing way. (That said, the Manchester Evening News is at least as ugly. Any y'know, these are commercial outfits - presumably they know how to do these things.)
    No doubt there's some hate in there somewhere. But it's certainly not the case that that's ALL it's doing.

    I’ve just had a look at the site. I agree with you. It no more peddles hate than the likes of the guardian or the telegraph.

    It does peddle clickbait. Miles of it.

    Of the sort that is usually a PR puff from some slebs agent trying to keep them in the public eye, often for a few quid.

    It’s more like an online version of Heat magazine with a bit of politics.

    If the blackshirts were around today their only interest would be an affiliate link to show you where you could buy the clothes.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 52,156

    Putin doing a sterling job in attracting international investment:

    "Putin, asked why he keeps calling Zelensky a Nazi: "I have a lot of Jewish friends, since childhood. They say Zelensky isn't a Jew. He is a disgrace to the Jewish people.""

    https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1669700531655262209

    The Corbynistas will be queueing up!
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,177

    Finally.

    Rip-off food and drink prices at railway stations are being investigated by regulators amid fears retailers are forcing passengers to pay extortionate amounts for everyday essentials.

    Rail passengers, already suffering after a year of disruption from strikes, are spending more than £1bn every year on everything from bottled water to burgers.

    The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said that “preliminary research and investigations” had identified significantly higher prices in stations compared to the high street.

    The regulator has now launched a full investigation into how passengers are paying over the odds.


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/06/16/rail-station-prices-investigated-food-drink-ripoff/

    That's been known for donkey's years. I doubt there's a London commuter who did not know you'd pay more at (say) M&S at Liverpool St than 200 yards down the road at Moorgate.
    Next they will be telling you the prices *on* trains are higher.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,352
    Ever wondered what that article that Boris Johnson wrote against Brexit might have been like?

    I asked ChatGPT: Write me the article that Boris Johnson might have written arguing against Brexit in the style of Boris Johnson
  • WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 9,260
    edited June 2023
    Under Dacre it did periodically peddle hate. "The enemies of the people" over Brexit , for instance, with mugshots, and afterwards for whom several received threats.

    The current editor is a protege of Dacre ; it remains to be seen what his plan is, and what it involves, with the return of Bozo.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541
    HYUFD said:

    DougSeal said:

    HYUFD said:

    @tomorrowsmps
    🔴 SELBY & AINSTY: How strange! I could have sworn that a few days ago Labour candidate Keir Mather had the Oxford Union as one of his 'likes' on Facebook. Now it seems to have gone.

    This is surely the biggest scandal since Watergategate
    Is Britain unique in sending elites from London to “represent” provincial seats?
    No, remember Hillary was accused of being a 'carpetbagger' when she ran for New York Senate in 2000, especially in rural upstate New York but through hard work managed to win the narrowly win the state.

    No. Hillary is not from London.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,281

    Nigelb said:

    Nigelb said:

    Intel Set to Gain $11 Billion Subsidy for German Chip Plant
    https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/intel-set-gain-11-billion-205155868.html

    We have a bizarre 21st century capitalism where firms make money not by developing superior products but by playing states off against each other for higher and higher subsidies.
    Strategic industries.
    Far better value bunging a few billion at a high end chip plant, or a couple of gigafactories, than building a couple of carriers which don't work.
    Unless Germany's grabbing the IP too what value do they bring?
    If you have a chip industry - which Germany still does - then there's significant value in having critical mass.
    Engineers trained on leading edge processes; local supply chains (both customers and suppliers); R&D happening locally etc.
    And remember Intel will be spending a couple of times that much to build it, and a fair amount of that subsidy will be in the form of tax breaks rather than cash.

    What value does The Prince of Wales in dry dock bring ?
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,546
    DougSeal said:

    HYUFD said:

    DougSeal said:

    HYUFD said:

    @tomorrowsmps
    🔴 SELBY & AINSTY: How strange! I could have sworn that a few days ago Labour candidate Keir Mather had the Oxford Union as one of his 'likes' on Facebook. Now it seems to have gone.

    This is surely the biggest scandal since Watergategate
    Is Britain unique in sending elites from London to “represent” provincial seats?
    No, remember Hillary was accused of being a 'carpetbagger' when she ran for New York Senate in 2000, especially in rural upstate New York but through hard work managed to win the narrowly win the state.

    No. Hillary is not from London.
    I you like, I could email you a copy of my Dissertation, if it would assist, in showing how it is structured.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,352

    Ever wondered what that article that Boris Johnson wrote against Brexit might have been like?

    I asked ChatGPT: Write me the article that Boris Johnson might have written arguing against Brexit in the style of Boris Johnson

    Lol. this is actually pretty good:

    I say chaps, let's have a jolly good chinwag about this whole Brexit to-do, shall we? I, Boris Johnson, former Mayor of London, lover of bendy buses and wobbly bicycles, and current Prime Minister, have a few choice words to say about this whole kerfuffle.

    Now, I know it may seem un-Boris-like to argue against Brexit, given my rather vocal support for it in the past, but let me be clear - circumstances have changed, and as any true-blooded Brit will tell you, it's always important to be able to adapt and pivot when the situation warrants it.

    First off, let's talk about the economy, shall we? Now, I may be no expert in economics, but even I can see that there are a few risks involved with leaving the EU without a proper deal. I mean, imagine if all those fancy-pants bankers and such decided to up and leave the City of London - where would that leave us, eh? We'd be left staring at our empty tea cups, wondering what went wrong.

    And don't even get me started on the potential impact on our beloved NHS. Sure, we've promised more money for it, but with all the uncertainties around Brexit, who knows if we'll be able to honour that promise? It's like promising your kid a pony for their birthday when you're not even sure if you can afford to keep the lights on next month. It's just not cricket, old chap.

    Then there's the issue of immigration. Now, I know that there are some folks out there who are all gung-ho about the idea of taking back control of our borders and all that, but let's not forget that a lot of the people who come here to work and study and make a life in the UK are actually pretty darn awesome. They bring diversity, innovation, and a whole lot of good vibes to our country, and I for one would hate to see that go away.

    And last but not least, let's talk about the future of the United Kingdom as a whole. We've already seen how Brexit has created divisions and tensions within our society, and I worry that if we go ahead with it without a proper plan in place, we'll only make things worse. Scotland may decide to bugger off, Northern Ireland could become a bigger headache than it already is, and who knows what sort of impact it could have on the peace process in the long run.

    So there you have it, folks - my rather silly argument for why we should perhaps think twice about this whole Brexit thing. I know it's not exactly how I used to roll, but hey, sometimes you have to switch up your game plan when the situation calls for it. And who knows, maybe someday I'll be back to my old self, spouting off about bendy bananas and all that. But for now, let's just try to keep calm and carry on, shall we?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,780
    Boris Johnson today confirmed he had been offered a new job and accepted.

    Rob Key admitted the announcement would cause some surprise, but Johnson was the right man to lead the England cricket team. 'As I soon as I heard he was the world's greatest tosser, I wanted him going up against Cummins,' he said.

    Johnson accepted because he said 'I have unfinished business with Mr Cummins after his ballsups in government.' Correspondents were unsure whether he realised that there is a difference. One is a diabolical genius who is out to destroy England, and the other was a useless twat with a small dick, a massive ego and a shitty degree.
  • boulayboulay Posts: 5,558
    Taz said:

    Cookie said:

    nico679 said:

    Leon said:

    Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.

    Boris has long been a hollow mockery.
    And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.

    Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
    One of the most read websites in the world...I don't think all of them are as you describe. A bit like the sidebar of shame, I imagine there are people who enjoy the word salad nonsense, safe in the knowledge its nonsense, in the same way when I worked in academia I used to chuckle how many people you would catch having a sneaky look at all the gossip on there (despite I imagine never agreeing with the news agenda).

    Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.

    Boris has long been a hollow mockery.
    And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.

    Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
    One of the most read websites in the world...I don't think all of them are as you describe. A bit like the sidebar of shame, I imagine there are people who enjoy the word salad nonsense, safe in the knowledge its nonsense, in the same way when I worked in academia I used to chuckle how many people you would catch having a sneaky look at all the gossip on there (despite I imagine never agreeing with the news agenda).
    The Daily Mail is the most influential British newspaper in America because

    1. It’s huge online

    2. It’s brilliant at breaking stories and stirring up controversy

    It really isn’t “just gossip”. It IS good at gossip but it is good at much other stuff, too

    We should be proud of it. A great UK export
    Have you been drinking again . So you’re proud of a paper that just peddles hate .
    I've just had a quick look at the Daily Mail site to test this.

    AAARGH, MY EYES!
    There is FAR TOO MUCH going on on that site.

    But I wouldn't say it's 'just' peddling hate. From the 20 seconds I could bare, I couldn't see any more hate being peddled than by the Telegraph or the Guardian or the BBC. It just seems to be peddling news. In a really visually unappealing way. (That said, the Manchester Evening News is at least as ugly. Any y'know, these are commercial outfits - presumably they know how to do these things.)
    No doubt there's some hate in there somewhere. But it's certainly not the case that that's ALL it's doing.

    I’ve just had a look at the site. I agree with you. It no more peddles hate than the likes of the guardian or the telegraph.

    It does peddle clickbait. Miles of it.

    Of the sort that is usually a PR puff from some slebs agent trying to keep them in the public eye, often for a few quid.

    It’s more like an online version of Heat magazine with a bit of politics.

    If the blackshirts were around today their only interest would be an affiliate link to show you where you could buy the clothes.
    The PR puff is quite funny, for years they would have annual Christmas holiday photos of Emma someone who was an ex blue Peter presenter which became a long running joke. Her husband is some wealthy chap who was apparently paying for the publicity.

    I know someone who gets pushed massively disproportionately for her talents in the Mail whose mother and grandfather are very very wealthy and seem to think that paying for her exposure will make her a star where her talent would otherwise rule her out.

    I’ve noticed recently though that the mail has started adding a “click to continue reading” tab half way through the odd article I read there. Not sure how clicks are measured but wondering if this is a cynical way of being able to increase registered clicks when showing figures to advertisers.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,177
    The Ukrainians are claiming to have caught their first Russian T-54

    Obviously need to wait until Oryx confirms.....
  • CorrectHorseBatCorrectHorseBat Posts: 1,761
    I’m a software engineer, specialising in web engineering.

    The Daily Mail site breaks every single convention there is. On purpose
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,606

    Leon said:

    I subscribe to:

    The Spectator
    The Times
    The New York Times
    The FT
    The Economist
    The Telegraph

    And get the guardian and BBC for free

    That sounds a lot but I get them all with stupidly cheap special offers - digital only. Eg the NYT costs me 50p a week and they throw in The Athletic. It’s mad

    Are you saying you don't pay your telly tax? And you manage to put up with the Guardian begging letter on every article?
    The Guardian’s begging gets increasingly annoying. Just go behind a paywall already. Enough

    Then I can stop reading their Wokeish drivel
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,352
    Nigelb said:

    Nigelb said:

    Nigelb said:

    Intel Set to Gain $11 Billion Subsidy for German Chip Plant
    https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/intel-set-gain-11-billion-205155868.html

    We have a bizarre 21st century capitalism where firms make money not by developing superior products but by playing states off against each other for higher and higher subsidies.
    Strategic industries.
    Far better value bunging a few billion at a high end chip plant, or a couple of gigafactories, than building a couple of carriers which don't work.
    Unless Germany's grabbing the IP too what value do they bring?
    If you have a chip industry - which Germany still does - then there's significant value in having critical mass.
    Engineers trained on leading edge processes; local supply chains (both customers and suppliers); R&D happening locally etc.
    And remember Intel will be spending a couple of times that much to build it, and a fair amount of that subsidy will be in the form of tax breaks rather than cash.

    What value does The Prince of Wales in dry dock bring ?
    Was that a euphemism from Camilla when QE2 was still alive?
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,546

    Nigelb said:

    I just tried this one too lol: Write me the first page of an historical novel in the style of British author Sean Thomas

    The mist hung thick and heavy over the Hudson River, shrouding the hulking shapes of the ships that lined its banks. The wind whipped through the empty streets of Manhattan, carrying with it the sharp tang of salt and the distant sound of church bells.

    Maggie O'Sullivan pulled her woolen shawl tighter around her shoulders as she picked her way carefully....
    Is Sean T really that bad, or is GPT just rubbish ?
    Actually Sean T might be interested to know that he could take one of his "works" (do you reject SeanT and all his works?) and submit it to ChatGPT and ask that it be recrafted in the style of Shakespeare or Dickens...in fact I might give that a go!
    In fair Verona where we lay our scene,

    There lived a man called Sean Thomas, bold and keen.

    His wit and wisdom unmatched in the land,

    And the great Bard himself would take him by the hand.

    A scholar gifted, he delved in history's ways,

    And read each tome to learn of bygone days.

    Through lessons learned, he sought the path to wisdom,

    And brought light to futures that would come.

    With prose and verse, he did captivate,

    His works unmatched in valor and weight.

    Heard high from mountaintops to depths below,

    Makes hearts to weep and fair maidens glow.

    In this fair realm of literature grand,

    None do surpass Sean Thomas's hand.

    Along with Shakespeare himself, he's praised,

    His worth and skill forever to be raised.

    So let not time nor tide hold him in check,

    For his talents breathe life in his text.

    May he continue to thrive and flourish in this land,

    And his work be held in high esteem by all and hand in hand.





    How about:

    "… I passed

    From sensuous Japan to fair Thailand

    An Asiatic stronghold where each flower

    Of girlhood planted in its restless soil

    Is – ipsa facta – ready to despoil

    (or to be despoiled by) someone else…


    … the yarn

    Indeed so has it that the young Thai lass

    Thinks it peculiar if you would pass

    Her by without some reference to her arse.

    Each girl of certain age will let on hire

    Her charms to indiscriminate desire,

    To wholesome intercourse and perverse letches…"
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 52,303

    Ever wondered what that article that Boris Johnson wrote against Brexit might have been like?

    I asked ChatGPT: Write me the article that Boris Johnson might have written arguing against Brexit in the style of Boris Johnson

    It was actually published:

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-s-article-backing-britain-s-future-in-the-eu-a3370296.html
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,779
    Pulpstar said:

    Sneak preview of Boris' column:

    Wokeness, my friends, is a corrosive force that claims to champion social justice while subverting the very essence of fairness and equality. It is a doctrine that deems itself infallible, seeking to dictate what we can say, think, and even how we must live. This ideology, propagated by the self-appointed guardians of morality, has spawned an insidious blob that engulfs our institutions, stifles dissent, and perpetuates a climate of fear and self-censorship.

    Probably best for him to avoid referring to an "insidious blob".
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,352
    Sean_F said:

    Nigelb said:

    I just tried this one too lol: Write me the first page of an historical novel in the style of British author Sean Thomas

    The mist hung thick and heavy over the Hudson River, shrouding the hulking shapes of the ships that lined its banks. The wind whipped through the empty streets of Manhattan, carrying with it the sharp tang of salt and the distant sound of church bells.

    Maggie O'Sullivan pulled her woolen shawl tighter around her shoulders as she picked her way carefully....
    Is Sean T really that bad, or is GPT just rubbish ?
    Actually Sean T might be interested to know that he could take one of his "works" (do you reject SeanT and all his works?) and submit it to ChatGPT and ask that it be recrafted in the style of Shakespeare or Dickens...in fact I might give that a go!
    In fair Verona where we lay our scene,

    There lived a man called Sean Thomas, bold and keen.

    His wit and wisdom unmatched in the land,

    And the great Bard himself would take him by the hand.

    A scholar gifted, he delved in history's ways,

    And read each tome to learn of bygone days.

    Through lessons learned, he sought the path to wisdom,

    And brought light to futures that would come.

    With prose and verse, he did captivate,

    His works unmatched in valor and weight.

    Heard high from mountaintops to depths below,

    Makes hearts to weep and fair maidens glow.

    In this fair realm of literature grand,

    None do surpass Sean Thomas's hand.

    Along with Shakespeare himself, he's praised,

    His worth and skill forever to be raised.

    So let not time nor tide hold him in check,

    For his talents breathe life in his text.

    May he continue to thrive and flourish in this land,

    And his work be held in high esteem by all and hand in hand.





    How about:

    "… I passed

    From sensuous Japan to fair Thailand

    An Asiatic stronghold where each flower

    Of girlhood planted in its restless soil

    Is – ipsa facta – ready to despoil

    (or to be despoiled by) someone else…


    … the yarn

    Indeed so has it that the young Thai lass

    Thinks it peculiar if you would pass

    Her by without some reference to her arse.

    Each girl of certain age will let on hire

    Her charms to indiscriminate desire,

    To wholesome intercourse and perverse letches…"
    haha, you have proved that you are better than AI
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,352

    Ever wondered what that article that Boris Johnson wrote against Brexit might have been like?

    I asked ChatGPT: Write me the article that Boris Johnson might have written arguing against Brexit in the style of Boris Johnson

    It was actually published:

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-s-article-backing-britain-s-future-in-the-eu-a3370296.html
    I think the ChatGPT one is better. It sounds more like the twat that we all know and hate.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 14,081
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I subscribe to:

    The Spectator
    The Times
    The New York Times
    The FT
    The Economist
    The Telegraph

    And get the guardian and BBC for free

    That sounds a lot but I get them all with stupidly cheap special offers - digital only. Eg the NYT costs me 50p a week and they throw in The Athletic. It’s mad

    Are you saying you don't pay your telly tax? And you manage to put up with the Guardian begging letter on every article?
    The Guardian’s begging gets increasingly annoying. Just go behind a paywall already. Enough

    Then I can stop reading their Wokeish drivel
    What? And miss articles like this?
    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/16/lake-district-tour-boat-firm-accused-by-boatmaster-of-censoring-windermere-links-to-slavery
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,424
    edited June 2023
    [deleted: boring]
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,319
    I have a sub to:

    The FT
    The NYT
    New York Magazine
    The LRB
    The NYRB
    Spotify

    And a smattering of streaming services, half of which I need to cull.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 14,081

    I’m a software engineer, specialising in web engineering.

    The Daily Mail site breaks every single convention there is. On purpose

    Do elucidate? Which conventions, and why is it doing it on purpose?
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,504

    I’m a software engineer, specialising in web engineering.

    The Daily Mail site breaks every single convention there is. On purpose

    If you're interested in the conventions, then say you'll vote for whichever party has the most accessible website immediately before the next GE. ;)

    A few GE ago (2015?) I reviewed all the major party websites for accessibility. Annoyingly, I cannot remember which was best.

    Accessibility matters, and it's annoying when political parties do not make their sites as accessible as possible.
  • WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 9,260
    edited June 2023
    Priceless. The "DM" have mainly edited comments on Boris's appointment in a slant to include the most favourable, but the readers' votes on those comments are still negative ; they'll have to nobble the votes next, if they want to complete anything like efficient propaganda.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12202525/Mail-unveils-Boris-Johnson-new-columnist.html#comments
  • CorrectHorseBatCorrectHorseBat Posts: 1,761

    I’m a software engineer, specialising in web engineering.

    The Daily Mail site breaks every single convention there is. On purpose

    If you're interested in the conventions, then say you'll vote for whichever party has the most accessible website immediately before the next GE. ;)

    A few GE ago (2015?) I reviewed all the major party websites for accessibility. Annoyingly, I cannot remember which was best.

    Accessibility matters, and it's annoying when political parties do not make their sites as accessible as possible.
    Labour’s is not very accessible if that’s what you’re asking me
  • CorrectHorseBatCorrectHorseBat Posts: 1,761
    Cookie said:

    I’m a software engineer, specialising in web engineering.

    The Daily Mail site breaks every single convention there is. On purpose

    Do elucidate? Which conventions, and why is it doing it on purpose?
    It’s doing it on purpose because it’s annoyances make you want to complain - it is is quite ingenious marketing.
  • glwglw Posts: 9,956
    Nigelb said:

    Intel Set to Gain $11 Billion Subsidy for German Chip Plant
    https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/intel-set-gain-11-billion-205155868.html

    Completely nuts. Yeah Intel's at an inflection point and restructuring, but they still have $180 billion in assets, and can raise money, and surely do not need to be given $11 billion by the German tax payers.

    Given Intel's recent track record this could turn out to be a real mess. Intel's bet on backside power delivery and GAAFET at a faster pace than their rivals to try and recover lost ground, but unless IFS (their foundary service) takes off they could have a lot of excess capacity in the years ahead as customers stick with TSMC.

    Surely Germany can think of better uses for such a large sum of money?
  • CorrectHorseBatCorrectHorseBat Posts: 1,761
    I avoid Mail at all costs but I would use an ad blocker.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 55,036
    Just as I was writing that Root and Bairstow were doing a great job of rescuing this innings, Jonny goes and gets stuck out of his crease.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,352
    Cookie said:

    I’m a software engineer, specialising in web engineering.

    The Daily Mail site breaks every single convention there is. On purpose

    Do elucidate? Which conventions, and why is it doing it on purpose?
    It would like to break the ECHR because it has the bogey word European in it and most of its readership is so thick it believes that is part of the EU (the ECHR not the Daily mail)
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 52,156

    Finally.

    Rip-off food and drink prices at railway stations are being investigated by regulators amid fears retailers are forcing passengers to pay extortionate amounts for everyday essentials.

    Rail passengers, already suffering after a year of disruption from strikes, are spending more than £1bn every year on everything from bottled water to burgers.

    The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said that “preliminary research and investigations” had identified significantly higher prices in stations compared to the high street.

    The regulator has now launched a full investigation into how passengers are paying over the odds.


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/06/16/rail-station-prices-investigated-food-drink-ripoff/

    This is simply the time-cost-quality triangle in action. You're at the station, you want a snack now, you pay more for a Ginster's pasty from WH Smith. You want to pay less, arrive earlier, walk up the Tesco in town and buy it there. You want quality, you go to Greggs on the way.
    There are more Greggs shops in Zone 1 than I thought!
    https://www.google.co.uk/search?tbs=lf:1,lf_ui:4&tbm=lcl&q=greggs+liverpool+street&rflfq=1&num=10&ved=2ahUKEwjtopPikMj_AhUJQ0EAHXRyAW8QtgN6BAgSEAc#rlfi=hd:;si:;mv:[[51.5354222,-0.0419943],[51.5025708,-0.14842909999999998]];tbs:lrf:!1m4!1u3!2m2!3m1!1e1!2m1!1e3!3sIAE,lf:1,lf_ui:4
This discussion has been closed.