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Staying power – politicalbetting.com

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  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,991
    edited November 22

    Sigh...

    ICLR submission (not mine) flagged for Ethics Review based on the use of the term "black box." Reminiscent of the drama involving the term "Byzantine," though there is relevant guidance from ACM this time.

    https://x.com/thegautamkamath/status/1859787202173206840

    Due to this,

    https://www.acm.org/diversity-inclusion/words-matter

    There are some crackers, but LOL...quantum supremacy....that's a no no too....The term has long been associated with crimes against humanity and genocide.

    This is a satire, right?
    Nope. Last year, the use of Byzantine caused a massive stir after a paper addressing the long standing Byzantine Generals Problem was deemed by a reviewer to be so horrifically offensive they wouldn't even read the paper after seeing the title. So they put together a guide of no no words.
  • PhilPhil Posts: 2,315

    Phil said:

    Leon said:

    Phil said:

    Phil said:

    Phil said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Phil said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    Leon said:

    Can we talk about the absolute mediocrity of the Apple 16 pro max. It’s basically identical to my 13 pro max. Nothing has changed in 3 years. And the big new innovation - “smart Siri, like ChatGPT” - has now apparently been delayed until… 2026

    Apple have totally fucked this up. Go short Apple, they’re heading for trouble

    Yes there's been no innovation for three generations at least with the iPhone, though I'm told the 17 is going to be the big one rather than just iterative.
    But the 16 was meant to be the big one. It’s just a big disappointment. A nice phone but… meh

    The next innovation has to be incorporating ChatGPT/claude level tech into a phone. Imagine a phone that could sync with/read your smartwatch and then chat with you - naturally - about the health data. “Hey max I’m a bit worried about your stress readings and heart rate. Maybe we could try this or this..”

    Your phone would also talk to you naturally about your favourite sports, your marital problems, the future of Greenland, while admiring your photos of your kids, advising you on investments and booking those tickets to NYC

    All this tech is basically available now. Put it in a phone: wow. Our phones will become like the Daimons in the philip Pullman books

    Whichever company gets there first will make $$$$$
    Battery life is the killer. LLMs need memory & great gobs of it, on top of the CPU required to run them & the combination needs a lot of power. Apple has always skimped on memory on their phones, in the interests of holding costs down & preserving battery life.

    ChatGPT/Claude level tech requires somewhere around 400Gb of weights I believe. You’re not getting that on a phone in the near future.
    Hold on, Apple phones cost a relative fortune. They are #2 by volume behind Samsung but #1 for revenue. Surely they should have plenty of memory :D ?
    Apple has always been stingy with RAM. They don’t even list it in the official technical specs for their phones: https://www.apple.com/uk/iphone-16/specs/ & that’s because everyone else has more.

    You could have argued (in the past) that iOS was better optimised & didn’t need as much RAM so it was a meaningless comparison that didn’t actually affect end-user experience. But in the days of LLMS, that argument doesn’t work any more: More is pretty much always better when it comes to LLM size & below 8GB or so the quality drops off dramatically.

    Given that you need a few GB for the OS to run in, that means you need 12GB to run a local LLM on your phone. Apple put 8GB in the iPhone 16 & even that was a step up - the iPhone 15 had 6GB. Apple is not going to be running local LLMs until the iPhone 17 releases.
    12GB for an LLM? That will be fairly anaemic, won't it?
    They’re a lot better than they have any right to be at that size frankly. And if you’re offline with no other sources, they might be enough to do the job.

    I’ve used an 8Gb LLM to write small programs for me. It did a lot better than I expected.
    Which one?
    Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct IIRC. The Q6_K quant is 6.2GB, so fits into a 8GB GPU with just enough space for a small KV cache & your display memory etc.

    I really wasn’t expecting it to write working Haskell frankly.
    *pretends to understand this*

    *nods knowledgeably*

    *hastily feeds it into GPT for a translation*
    Apologies!

    Llama-3.1 is the model - from Meta (Facebook). 8B is the size of the model - 8 Billion weights. Instruct means it’s been instruction-tuned after the initial training, so it interacts like ChatGPT does.

    Even an 8Billion weight model is too large to fit in an 8Gb GPU - the weights will be 32-bit floats, so the values of the weights are squeezed into a smaller space (fewer bits). You trade some quality of output for a smaller memory footprint, because you inevitably throw away data when you do this.

    KV cache is the Key-value cache - basically you store some of the current state of the LLM in the middle of an interaction so you can pick up where you left off without having to completely reprocess the entire conversation every time.

    Your GPU still needs to do everything else you needed it to do before in order to see anything at all on the screen, so you reserve some memory for copies of the screen, application windows etc.
    Weights are bfloat16...

    https://huggingface.co/docs/transformers/model_doc/llama3
    Yes, my error. Still too big for an 8GB GPU though.
  • https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,572

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
    "captured by the trans lobby...?"
  • Stark_DawningStark_Dawning Posts: 9,679

    Sigh...

    ICLR submission (not mine) flagged for Ethics Review based on the use of the term "black box." Reminiscent of the drama involving the term "Byzantine," though there is relevant guidance from ACM this time.

    https://x.com/thegautamkamath/status/1859787202173206840

    Due to this,

    https://www.acm.org/diversity-inclusion/words-matter

    There are some crackers, but LOL...quantum supremacy....that's a no no too....The term has long been associated with crimes against humanity and genocide.

    Odd that they say calling someone an 'average user' is insulting and we should use 'common' instead. To my ears the latter is laden with all sorts of class-based prejudice and snobbery.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,424
    Selebian said:

    Cookie said:

    PJH said:

    Selebian said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Phil said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    Leon said:

    Can we talk about the absolute mediocrity of the Apple 16 pro max. It’s basically identical to my 13 pro max. Nothing has changed in 3 years. And the big new innovation - “smart Siri, like ChatGPT” - has now apparently been delayed until… 2026

    Apple have totally fucked this up. Go short Apple, they’re heading for trouble

    Yes there's been no innovation for three generations at least with the iPhone, though I'm told the 17 is going to be the big one rather than just iterative.
    But the 16 was meant to be the big one. It’s just a big disappointment. A nice phone but… meh

    The next innovation has to be incorporating ChatGPT/claude level tech into a phone. Imagine a phone that could sync with/read your smartwatch and then chat with you - naturally - about the health data. “Hey max I’m a bit worried about your stress readings and heart rate. Maybe we could try this or this..”

    Your phone would also talk to you naturally about your favourite sports, your marital problems, the future of Greenland, while admiring your photos of your kids, advising you on investments and booking those tickets to NYC

    All this tech is basically available now. Put it in a phone: wow. Our phones will become like the Daimons in the philip Pullman books

    Whichever company gets there first will make $$$$$
    Battery life is the killer. LLMs need memory & great gobs of it, on top of the CPU required to run them & the combination needs a lot of power. Apple has always skimped on memory on their phones, in the interests of holding costs down & preserving battery life.

    ChatGPT/Claude level tech requires somewhere around 400Gb of weights I believe. You’re not getting that on a phone in the near future.
    Hold on, Apple phones cost a relative fortune. They are #2 by volume behind Samsung but #1 for revenue. Surely they should have plenty of memory :D ?
    You can get an iPhone with 1Tb of memory. But that is the max - few people buy one of those. The processing would still be the killer.
    Am I typical in buying a new phone every five or six years? The iphone 14 is a huge improvement over the old 7 but annual increments are comparatively underwhelming. The 7 still sits on my handlebars with enough charge to guide me on a three-hour ride in terra incognita. I wouldn't have enough breath to converse with Siri.
    No - there are even detailed marketing analysis of this kind of thing. There is a whole class of users who wait x "generations" before upgrading. Where X is a surprisingly constant number, I believe.
    Our refresh rate was once per child for a time - got new phones before each of our first three kids. The first (2017) being the first phones we got that really had a serviceable camera. Still took my real camera in to the hospital (a now quite old, but decent at the time, compact). I remember being surprised afterwards that the phone pictures taken inside were better - better lowish light performance. After that the 'real' camera got little use, mostly taken on walks and holidays for wildlife shots and shots of the kids playing from a distance (real zoom).

    For the subsequent two, the cameras were reasonable upgrades on the new phones. I'm not sure whether we'll bother with an upgrade for number 4 though, probably keep the phones until end of updates, which will be about another year. Cameras now are 'good enough' really.

    (We've tended to buy mid-range phones but chosen primarily for cameras)
    Interesting. I use my phone primarily as a phone. With WhatsApp a distant second. And Strava for running. I buy the cheapest with decent battery life. I replace it either when the screen is so cracked that it starts to impair use, or the battery stops recharging properly and no longer goes a full day between charges. Every 3-4 years?

    Not interested in the quality of the camera - anything will do for a quick selfie. If I'm taking photos I take the proper camera. Instead of a camera on the phone, I'd rather have a phone on the camera, then I could leave the phone at home when I'm out for the day.
    I'm similar. I do like a half-decent camera - I was sold my current phone on the basis it has three settings of optical zoom - but it's not a deal breaker: cheap is the main thing. The best thing about a phone camera is always having a camera on you, rather than having a brilliant camera.

    If I could make one request of phone manufacturers it would be to manufacture a phone whose charging slot doesn't fill up with fluff. That is the biggest problem with every single phone I've owned.
    Agree with both, of course. But with young kids most of my pictures are snapshots of them. If out and about with potential for interesting photos beyond snapshots, then it's the real camera that I use. But that first 'decent' camera phone was when I started using a phone to actually take photos that I intended to keep and maybe even print.
    'Photos' on my phone is getting full of pictures of our great-grandson, sent by his parents.
  • Dacorum - Labour gain a seat from Ind (who didn't stand) by 5 votes from Conservatives.
    Dacorum - Conservatives gain the other seat from LD.
  • https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
    "captured by the trans lobby...?"
    Yes.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,373
    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,424

    Sigh...

    ICLR submission (not mine) flagged for Ethics Review based on the use of the term "black box." Reminiscent of the drama involving the term "Byzantine," though there is relevant guidance from ACM this time.

    https://x.com/thegautamkamath/status/1859787202173206840

    Due to this,

    https://www.acm.org/diversity-inclusion/words-matter

    There are some crackers, but LOL...quantum supremacy....that's a no no too....The term has long been associated with crimes against humanity and genocide.

    This is a satire, right?
    Nope. Last year, the use of Byzantine caused a massive stir after a paper addressing the long standing Byzantine Generals Problem was deemed by a reviewer to be so horrifically offensive they wouldn't even read the paper after seeing the title. So they put together a guide of no no words.
    I'm as sensitive as the average Guardian reader, but ......
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,785
    People getting offended by the term Byzantine when Byzantium hasn't existed under that name for over five centuries is interesting.
  • https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
    "captured by the trans lobby...?"
    If you want examples, look at Wearefaircop on twitter. Look at Graham Linehan. Look at Caroline Farrow. People being threatened and arrested by the police for non-crimes and harassed for years by them. Utterly captured.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,424
    edited November 22
    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Puts me off, having Clarkson in it. Even before we get to the blood. And advertising diesel cars...... words fail me.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,792

    Sigh...

    ICLR submission (not mine) flagged for Ethics Review based on the use of the term "black box." Reminiscent of the drama involving the term "Byzantine," though there is relevant guidance from ACM this time.

    https://x.com/thegautamkamath/status/1859787202173206840

    Due to this,

    https://www.acm.org/diversity-inclusion/words-matter

    There are some crackers, but LOL...quantum supremacy....that's a no no too....The term has long been associated with crimes against humanity and genocide.

    A cultural prejudice against people from the Eastern Roman Empire? There haven't been any of those for 500 years!
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,561

    Sigh...

    ICLR submission (not mine) flagged for Ethics Review based on the use of the term "black box." Reminiscent of the drama involving the term "Byzantine," though there is relevant guidance from ACM this time.

    https://x.com/thegautamkamath/status/1859787202173206840

    Due to this,

    https://www.acm.org/diversity-inclusion/words-matter

    There are some crackers, but LOL...quantum supremacy....that's a no no too....The term has long been associated with crimes against humanity and genocide.

    This is a satire, right?
    Nope. Last year, the use of Byzantine caused a massive stir after a paper addressing the long standing Byzantine Generals Problem was deemed by a reviewer to be so horrifically offensive they wouldn't even read the paper after seeing the title. So they put together a guide of no no words.
    An entire Indignation Industry has sprung up. It seems quite a fun thing to be part of. How do you get insde the loop?
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,714

    People getting offended by the term Byzantine when Byzantium hasn't existed under that name for over five centuries is interesting.

    Don't start bring actually facts into the debate. I mean where will that end?
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,625
    https://x.com/bopanc/status/1859916220058988732

    Incredible @derspiegel Angela Merkel interview:
    She regrets nothing, even NordStream 2 was a good thing & Germans are partly to blame for failing to integrate mass migration.
    She blames others for catastrophic consequences of her governments' policies
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,991
    edited November 22

    Sigh...

    ICLR submission (not mine) flagged for Ethics Review based on the use of the term "black box." Reminiscent of the drama involving the term "Byzantine," though there is relevant guidance from ACM this time.

    https://x.com/thegautamkamath/status/1859787202173206840

    Due to this,

    https://www.acm.org/diversity-inclusion/words-matter

    There are some crackers, but LOL...quantum supremacy....that's a no no too....The term has long been associated with crimes against humanity and genocide.

    This is a satire, right?
    Nope. Last year, the use of Byzantine caused a massive stir after a paper addressing the long standing Byzantine Generals Problem was deemed by a reviewer to be so horrifically offensive they wouldn't even read the paper after seeing the title. So they put together a guide of no no words.
    An entire Indignation Industry has sprung up. It seems quite a fun thing to be part of. How do you get insde the loop?
    What is interesting from the replies (and people I speak to IRL), members of "marginalised groups" / "Global Majority" replies are WTF is this nonsense.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,714

    Sigh...

    ICLR submission (not mine) flagged for Ethics Review based on the use of the term "black box." Reminiscent of the drama involving the term "Byzantine," though there is relevant guidance from ACM this time.

    https://x.com/thegautamkamath/status/1859787202173206840

    Due to this,

    https://www.acm.org/diversity-inclusion/words-matter

    There are some crackers, but LOL...quantum supremacy....that's a no no too....The term has long been associated with crimes against humanity and genocide.

    Odd that they say calling someone an 'average user' is insulting and we should use 'common' instead. To my ears the latter is laden with all sorts of class-based prejudice and snobbery.
    And the Dems wonder how Trump could have been re-elected.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,572

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
    "captured by the trans lobby...?"
    If you want examples, look at Wearefaircop on twitter. Look at Graham Linehan. Look at Caroline Farrow. People being threatened and arrested by the police for non-crimes and harassed for years by them. Utterly captured.
    Please explain how that backs up what you wrote.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,647

    Sigh...

    ICLR submission (not mine) flagged for Ethics Review based on the use of the term "black box." Reminiscent of the drama involving the term "Byzantine," though there is relevant guidance from ACM this time.

    https://x.com/thegautamkamath/status/1859787202173206840

    Due to this,

    https://www.acm.org/diversity-inclusion/words-matter

    There are some crackers, but LOL...quantum supremacy....that's a no no too....The term has long been associated with crimes against humanity and genocide.

    This is a satire, right?
    Nope. Last year, the use of Byzantine caused a massive stir after a paper addressing the long standing Byzantine Generals Problem was deemed by a reviewer to be so horrifically offensive they wouldn't even read the paper after seeing the title. So they put together a guide of no no words.
    An entire Indignation Industry has sprung up. It seems quite a fun thing to be part of. How do you get insde the loop?
    The key thing is to be indignant on behalf of another (unknown to you) person, and therefore get the credit for being sensitive to the feelings of others without being sensitive yourself.
  • PJHPJH Posts: 645
    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    PJH said:

    Selebian said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Phil said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    Leon said:

    Can we talk about the absolute mediocrity of the Apple 16 pro max. It’s basically identical to my 13 pro max. Nothing has changed in 3 years. And the big new innovation - “smart Siri, like ChatGPT” - has now apparently been delayed until… 2026

    Apple have totally fucked this up. Go short Apple, they’re heading for trouble

    Yes there's been no innovation for three generations at least with the iPhone, though I'm told the 17 is going to be the big one rather than just iterative.
    But the 16 was meant to be the big one. It’s just a big disappointment. A nice phone but… meh

    The next innovation has to be incorporating ChatGPT/claude level tech into a phone. Imagine a phone that could sync with/read your smartwatch and then chat with you - naturally - about the health data. “Hey max I’m a bit worried about your stress readings and heart rate. Maybe we could try this or this..”

    Your phone would also talk to you naturally about your favourite sports, your marital problems, the future of Greenland, while admiring your photos of your kids, advising you on investments and booking those tickets to NYC

    All this tech is basically available now. Put it in a phone: wow. Our phones will become like the Daimons in the philip Pullman books

    Whichever company gets there first will make $$$$$
    Battery life is the killer. LLMs need memory & great gobs of it, on top of the CPU required to run them & the combination needs a lot of power. Apple has always skimped on memory on their phones, in the interests of holding costs down & preserving battery life.

    ChatGPT/Claude level tech requires somewhere around 400Gb of weights I believe. You’re not getting that on a phone in the near future.
    Hold on, Apple phones cost a relative fortune. They are #2 by volume behind Samsung but #1 for revenue. Surely they should have plenty of memory :D ?
    You can get an iPhone with 1Tb of memory. But that is the max - few people buy one of those. The processing would still be the killer.
    Am I typical in buying a new phone every five or six years? The iphone 14 is a huge improvement over the old 7 but annual increments are comparatively underwhelming. The 7 still sits on my handlebars with enough charge to guide me on a three-hour ride in terra incognita. I wouldn't have enough breath to converse with Siri.
    No - there are even detailed marketing analysis of this kind of thing. There is a whole class of users who wait x "generations" before upgrading. Where X is a surprisingly constant number, I believe.
    Our refresh rate was once per child for a time - got new phones before each of our first three kids. The first (2017) being the first phones we got that really had a serviceable camera. Still took my real camera in to the hospital (a now quite old, but decent at the time, compact). I remember being surprised afterwards that the phone pictures taken inside were better - better lowish light performance. After that the 'real' camera got little use, mostly taken on walks and holidays for wildlife shots and shots of the kids playing from a distance (real zoom).

    For the subsequent two, the cameras were reasonable upgrades on the new phones. I'm not sure whether we'll bother with an upgrade for number 4 though, probably keep the phones until end of updates, which will be about another year. Cameras now are 'good enough' really.

    (We've tended to buy mid-range phones but chosen primarily for cameras)
    Interesting. I use my phone primarily as a phone. With WhatsApp a distant second. And Strava for running. I buy the cheapest with decent battery life. I replace it either when the screen is so cracked that it starts to impair use, or the battery stops recharging properly and no longer goes a full day between charges. Every 3-4 years?

    Not interested in the quality of the camera - anything will do for a quick selfie. If I'm taking photos I take the proper camera. Instead of a camera on the phone, I'd rather have a phone on the camera, then I could leave the phone at home when I'm out for the day.
    I'm similar. I do like a half-decent camera - I was sold my current phone on the basis it has three settings of optical zoom - but it's not a deal breaker: cheap is the main thing. The best thing about a phone camera is always having a camera on you, rather than having a brilliant camera.

    If I could make one request of phone manufacturers it would be to manufacture a phone whose charging slot doesn't fill up with fluff. That is the biggest problem with every single phone I've owned.
    They say the best camera is the one you have with you.
    Indeed, and I find any standard of mobile phone camera is good enough for a group selfie with friends in a restaurant or wherever, or to capture the chance meeting of stormtroopers invading London! But the best doesn't match an SLR, which I want if I'm doing anything remotely memorable (and I find the lack of a viewfinder a problem personally, I need that to take pictures square to the horizon).
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,779

    I suppose Starmer and Reeves can take some comfort that they've not yet damaged the economy to French and German levels.

    PMIs:

    UK 49.9
    Germany 47.3
    France 44.8

    https://www.pmi.spglobal.com/Public/Release/PressReleases

    The UK and Euro Area PMIs deteriorated almost identically, both in terms of the headlines and the details. The deterioration in France and Germany vs Italy/Spain was very similar too. Suggests that there were common drivers across Europe, perhaps fears over the Trump policy agenda. I'm sure the Budget and especially the employer NIC rise didn't help but I doubt it accounted for most of the drop in the UK PMIs. The employment index in the services PMI improved, for instance - that doesn't seem consistent with the 'jobs tax' narrative.
    The difference is that the UK economy was growing pretty well in the first half of the year while France and Germany weren't.

    Enter the great economist and her four months of trying to think what to do and kite flying possible tax rises in the media.

    Followed by choosing the tax rise most likely to damage the economy.
    I know you want these data to be a gotcha but they aren't. The UK composite PMI was 1.8pts above the EA one in November. In October, before this disastrous Budget, the UK composite PMI was 1.7pts above the Euro Area one. In June, before this disastrous Labour government got in, the UK composite PMI was 1.3pts higher.
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,404

    https://x.com/bopanc/status/1859916220058988732

    Incredible @derspiegel Angela Merkel interview:
    She regrets nothing, even NordStream 2 was a good thing & Germans are partly to blame for failing to integrate mass migration.
    She blames others for catastrophic consequences of her governments' policies

    She should have dissolved the people and elected another
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,792

    Selebian said:

    Cookie said:

    PJH said:

    Selebian said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Phil said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    Leon said:

    Can we talk about the absolute mediocrity of the Apple 16 pro max. It’s basically identical to my 13 pro max. Nothing has changed in 3 years. And the big new innovation - “smart Siri, like ChatGPT” - has now apparently been delayed until… 2026

    Apple have totally fucked this up. Go short Apple, they’re heading for trouble

    Yes there's been no innovation for three generations at least with the iPhone, though I'm told the 17 is going to be the big one rather than just iterative.
    But the 16 was meant to be the big one. It’s just a big disappointment. A nice phone but… meh

    The next innovation has to be incorporating ChatGPT/claude level tech into a phone. Imagine a phone that could sync with/read your smartwatch and then chat with you - naturally - about the health data. “Hey max I’m a bit worried about your stress readings and heart rate. Maybe we could try this or this..”

    Your phone would also talk to you naturally about your favourite sports, your marital problems, the future of Greenland, while admiring your photos of your kids, advising you on investments and booking those tickets to NYC

    All this tech is basically available now. Put it in a phone: wow. Our phones will become like the Daimons in the philip Pullman books

    Whichever company gets there first will make $$$$$
    Battery life is the killer. LLMs need memory & great gobs of it, on top of the CPU required to run them & the combination needs a lot of power. Apple has always skimped on memory on their phones, in the interests of holding costs down & preserving battery life.

    ChatGPT/Claude level tech requires somewhere around 400Gb of weights I believe. You’re not getting that on a phone in the near future.
    Hold on, Apple phones cost a relative fortune. They are #2 by volume behind Samsung but #1 for revenue. Surely they should have plenty of memory :D ?
    You can get an iPhone with 1Tb of memory. But that is the max - few people buy one of those. The processing would still be the killer.
    Am I typical in buying a new phone every five or six years? The iphone 14 is a huge improvement over the old 7 but annual increments are comparatively underwhelming. The 7 still sits on my handlebars with enough charge to guide me on a three-hour ride in terra incognita. I wouldn't have enough breath to converse with Siri.
    No - there are even detailed marketing analysis of this kind of thing. There is a whole class of users who wait x "generations" before upgrading. Where X is a surprisingly constant number, I believe.
    Our refresh rate was once per child for a time - got new phones before each of our first three kids. The first (2017) being the first phones we got that really had a serviceable camera. Still took my real camera in to the hospital (a now quite old, but decent at the time, compact). I remember being surprised afterwards that the phone pictures taken inside were better - better lowish light performance. After that the 'real' camera got little use, mostly taken on walks and holidays for wildlife shots and shots of the kids playing from a distance (real zoom).

    For the subsequent two, the cameras were reasonable upgrades on the new phones. I'm not sure whether we'll bother with an upgrade for number 4 though, probably keep the phones until end of updates, which will be about another year. Cameras now are 'good enough' really.

    (We've tended to buy mid-range phones but chosen primarily for cameras)
    Interesting. I use my phone primarily as a phone. With WhatsApp a distant second. And Strava for running. I buy the cheapest with decent battery life. I replace it either when the screen is so cracked that it starts to impair use, or the battery stops recharging properly and no longer goes a full day between charges. Every 3-4 years?

    Not interested in the quality of the camera - anything will do for a quick selfie. If I'm taking photos I take the proper camera. Instead of a camera on the phone, I'd rather have a phone on the camera, then I could leave the phone at home when I'm out for the day.
    I'm similar. I do like a half-decent camera - I was sold my current phone on the basis it has three settings of optical zoom - but it's not a deal breaker: cheap is the main thing. The best thing about a phone camera is always having a camera on you, rather than having a brilliant camera.

    If I could make one request of phone manufacturers it would be to manufacture a phone whose charging slot doesn't fill up with fluff. That is the biggest problem with every single phone I've owned.
    Agree with both, of course. But with young kids most of my pictures are snapshots of them. If out and about with potential for interesting photos beyond snapshots, then it's the real camera that I use. But that first 'decent' camera phone was when I started using a phone to actually take photos that I intended to keep and maybe even print.
    'Photos' on my phone is getting full of pictures of our great-grandson, sent by his parents.
    At least two lovely things about this:
    1) You have great-grandchildren
    2) You have a close enough relationship with your grandchildren to be exchanging phone messages.
    (It always delights me disproportionately when I become aware of any direct and unprompted communication between my children and my parents. This sort of idle chat very rarely happened between me and my grandparents. Maybe it would have done if modern tech existed.)
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,134
    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,249

    Sigh...

    ICLR submission (not mine) flagged for Ethics Review based on the use of the term "black box." Reminiscent of the drama involving the term "Byzantine," though there is relevant guidance from ACM this time.

    https://x.com/thegautamkamath/status/1859787202173206840

    Due to this,

    https://www.acm.org/diversity-inclusion/words-matter

    There are some crackers, but LOL...quantum supremacy....that's a no no too....The term has long been associated with crimes against humanity and genocide.

    This is a satire, right?
    Nope. Last year, the use of Byzantine caused a massive stir after a paper addressing the long standing Byzantine Generals Problem was deemed by a reviewer to be so horrifically offensive they wouldn't even read the paper after seeing the title. So they put together a guide of no no words.
    An entire Indignation Industry has sprung up. It seems quite a fun thing to be part of. How do you get insde the loop?
    Just before 2008 crash I was reading a paper by a lady who was trading CDO^2. She'd just traded an experimental CDO^3 and argued in the paper that higher orders were next. Very gifted. IIRC, she had 2 PhDs

    Anyway, it occurs to me that the Indignation Industry is up and running. As is the Indignation About The Indignation Industry Industry (anti-woke) etc.

    So the where we could get in on the ground floor is the Indignation About The Indignation About The Indignation Industry Industry Industry.

    Indignation^3

    Websites, advertising, media appearances. All there for the taking. Whose in?
  • ICYMI William Hague has re-Twixified him & John Prescott exchanging quips at (Deputy) PMQs.
    https://x.com/WilliamJHague/status/1859540353465880768
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,812

    Phil said:

    Cookie said:

    Anyway, good morning everyone. No snow in South Manchester but weirdly icy in a way I've only ever seen once before: the temperature must have dropped quite suddenly after yesterday evening's heavy sleet, leaving all the pavements and many of the roads covered by a solid and unbroken film of ice. It would have been hard to make them icier had it been done deliberately. Not particularly conducive to getting anywhere but quite pretty, with everywhere looking very shiny.

    This happened in Oxford a few years ago right in the middle of the evening rush hour. Was absolute chaos.

    The police had to close the A34 eventually & clear all the vehicles off it.
    Freezing rain is much more common in continental climates than the UK, but it does occur. Usually with entrenched cold air underneath and a warm front moving in. We had a notorious one in the 90's in Wiltshire - predicted as heavy snow but the air moving in was too warm so it was freezing rain. Formed about a cm of solid ice on all surfaces. I ended up crawling to my house up the slope.

    Even during the beast from the east we saw a period of freezing rain during the 18 hour snow storm. It led to a laying of crunchy ice about 2 inches down in the snow (as there was 6 inches of snow under it and 2 on top). A warm sector had moved over for a while during the night.
    When we lived in Germany in the 1970s you would often see snow banks that had been cut open by a snow plough. It was like geology in that you could see the depth of snow that had fallen on each occasion and the layer of grit, dirt or grime that accumulated before the next fall of snow. And yes, you often got layers of frozen rain as well which were quite dangerous if you slid into the bank because they were like concrete and could do horrible things to your paintwork.

    I've not seen snow like that in this country since the early 1990s.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,348

    https://x.com/bopanc/status/1859916220058988732

    Incredible @derspiegel Angela Merkel interview:
    She regrets nothing, even NordStream 2 was a good thing & Germans are partly to blame for failing to integrate mass migration.
    She blames others for catastrophic consequences of her governments' policies

    Her reputation has nose-dived, since leaving office.
  • Pro_RataPro_Rata Posts: 5,288
    Phil said:

    Cookie said:

    Anyway, good morning everyone. No snow in South Manchester but weirdly icy in a way I've only ever seen once before: the temperature must have dropped quite suddenly after yesterday evening's heavy sleet, leaving all the pavements and many of the roads covered by a solid and unbroken film of ice. It would have been hard to make them icier had it been done deliberately. Not particularly conducive to getting anywhere but quite pretty, with everywhere looking very shiny.

    This happened in Oxford a few years ago right in the middle of the evening rush hour. Was absolute chaos.

    The police had to close the A34 eventually & clear all the vehicles off it.
    Ice can be an absolute beggar here in Huddersfield. I have an altitude reader on my car's sat nav now, and I reckon my typical journey within the local area averages a touch above a 5% gradient, with some regular main road parts up to 16%.

    Thus the occasional YouTube video of people living in the steeper bits unable to walk home and reverting to crawling

  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,786
    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
  • PoodleInASlipstreamPoodleInASlipstream Posts: 252
    edited November 22
    eek said:

    Phil said:

    Even an 8Billion weight model is too large to fit in an 8Gb GPU - the weights will be 32-bit floats, so the values of the weights are squeezed into a smaller space (fewer bits).

    And this is why NVidia has been holding most their mid-range graphics cards to 8GB for years, they want LLMs running remotely on their expensive datacentre chips, not a Geforce RTX in the box under your desk.
    At the time the 4000 series was launched LLM was not the market it currently is.

    You points may or may not be valid but only when we start to see the 5000 series GPUs arrive will we know whether your argument is valid
    LLMs are just another memory hungry GPU compute task. Nvidia has been blatantly bottlenecking most of its GPUs to prevent users running those tasks on consumer hardware for years. For example, the 1070, 2070 and 3070 all launched with 8GB of VRAM.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,134

    https://x.com/bopanc/status/1859916220058988732

    Incredible @derspiegel Angela Merkel interview:
    She regrets nothing, even NordStream 2 was a good thing & Germans are partly to blame for failing to integrate mass migration.
    She blames others for catastrophic consequences of her governments' policies

    Politician defends their legacy. Well I never.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,812

    ICYMI William Hague has re-Twixified him & John Prescott exchanging quips at (Deputy) PMQs.
    https://x.com/WilliamJHague/status/1859540353465880768

    Excellent stuff. There is a serious paucity of wit in the Commons these days on all sides of the house.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,188
    edited November 22
    DavidL said:

    Phil said:

    Cookie said:

    Anyway, good morning everyone. No snow in South Manchester but weirdly icy in a way I've only ever seen once before: the temperature must have dropped quite suddenly after yesterday evening's heavy sleet, leaving all the pavements and many of the roads covered by a solid and unbroken film of ice. It would have been hard to make them icier had it been done deliberately. Not particularly conducive to getting anywhere but quite pretty, with everywhere looking very shiny.

    This happened in Oxford a few years ago right in the middle of the evening rush hour. Was absolute chaos.

    The police had to close the A34 eventually & clear all the vehicles off it.
    Freezing rain is much more common in continental climates than the UK, but it does occur. Usually with entrenched cold air underneath and a warm front moving in. We had a notorious one in the 90's in Wiltshire - predicted as heavy snow but the air moving in was too warm so it was freezing rain. Formed about a cm of solid ice on all surfaces. I ended up crawling to my house up the slope.

    Even during the beast from the east we saw a period of freezing rain during the 18 hour snow storm. It led to a laying of crunchy ice about 2 inches down in the snow (as there was 6 inches of snow under it and 2 on top). A warm sector had moved over for a while during the night.
    When we lived in Germany in the 1970s you would often see snow banks that had been cut open by a snow plough. It was like geology in that you could see the depth of snow that had fallen on each occasion and the layer of grit, dirt or grime that accumulated before the next fall of snow. And yes, you often got layers of frozen rain as well which were quite dangerous if you slid into the bank because they were like concrete and could do horrible things to your paintwork.

    I've not seen snow like that in this country since the early 1990s.
    2010 was the heaviest snow I can remember, more than anything in the 80s and 90s though I did live on top of a small hill at the time whilst I didn't in the 90s.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_of_2010–11_in_the_British_Isles

    Maximum snowfall accumulation 1.5 m (5 ft) at Sheffield, United Kingdom
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,792
    edited November 22
    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
    All perfume adverts are inane.
    I have some sympathy. How does one advertise perfume? You can't see how something smells. Most products, the visual sense helps; with perfume, it doesn't.

    But surely no-one can be encouraged to think better of the brand by the inanity produced in the name of selling this stuff?

    There is a perfume advert for a product called 'Sauvage'. I cannot see it without wanting to graffiti the 'v' into an 's'.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,134

    Sigh...

    ICLR submission (not mine) flagged for Ethics Review based on the use of the term "black box." Reminiscent of the drama involving the term "Byzantine," though there is relevant guidance from ACM this time.

    https://x.com/thegautamkamath/status/1859787202173206840

    Due to this,

    https://www.acm.org/diversity-inclusion/words-matter

    There are some crackers, but LOL...quantum supremacy....that's a no no too....The term has long been associated with crimes against humanity and genocide.

    This is a satire, right?
    Nope. Last year, the use of Byzantine caused a massive stir after a paper addressing the long standing Byzantine Generals Problem was deemed by a reviewer to be so horrifically offensive they wouldn't even read the paper after seeing the title. So they put together a guide of no no words.
    An entire Indignation Industry has sprung up. It seems quite a fun thing to be part of. How do you get insde the loop?
    Just before 2008 crash I was reading a paper by a lady who was trading CDO^2. She'd just traded an experimental CDO^3 and argued in the paper that higher orders were next. Very gifted. IIRC, she had 2 PhDs

    Anyway, it occurs to me that the Indignation Industry is up and running. As is the Indignation About The Indignation Industry Industry (anti-woke) etc.

    So the where we could get in on the ground floor is the Indignation About The Indignation About The Indignation Industry Industry Industry.

    Indignation^3

    Websites, advertising, media appearances. All there for the taking. Whose in?
    Slightly ahead of you - I'm already animated by animus of animus to woke.

    Let's structure it and issue a bond.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,405

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
    "captured by the trans lobby...?"
    Typo for trains. They are all obsessed with Deltics and argue online about the best liveries for 1990's sectorialisation. Personally liked the railfreight livery...
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,405
    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Well quite. She's very pretty but no thanks. (Not that I'd ever get the chance!)
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,373

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
    "captured by the trans lobby...?"
    Typo for trains. They are all obsessed with Deltics and argue online about the best liveries for 1990's sectorialisation. Personally liked the railfreight livery...
    Well, who wouldn't be obsessed with Deltics? https://youtu.be/Avy6KKRFhl4?si=EanZKDoprJD2Wcgl
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,779

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
    "captured by the trans lobby...?"
    Typo for trains. They are all obsessed with Deltics and argue online about the best liveries for 1990's sectorialisation. Personally liked the railfreight livery...
    Isn't everyone obsessed with Deltics?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,373

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
    "captured by the trans lobby...?"
    Typo for trains. They are all obsessed with Deltics and argue online about the best liveries for 1990's sectorialisation. Personally liked the railfreight livery...
    Isn't everyone obsessed with Deltics?
    Nah, some losers prefer Class 37s.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,249
    kinabalu said:

    Sigh...

    ICLR submission (not mine) flagged for Ethics Review based on the use of the term "black box." Reminiscent of the drama involving the term "Byzantine," though there is relevant guidance from ACM this time.

    https://x.com/thegautamkamath/status/1859787202173206840

    Due to this,

    https://www.acm.org/diversity-inclusion/words-matter

    There are some crackers, but LOL...quantum supremacy....that's a no no too....The term has long been associated with crimes against humanity and genocide.

    This is a satire, right?
    Nope. Last year, the use of Byzantine caused a massive stir after a paper addressing the long standing Byzantine Generals Problem was deemed by a reviewer to be so horrifically offensive they wouldn't even read the paper after seeing the title. So they put together a guide of no no words.
    An entire Indignation Industry has sprung up. It seems quite a fun thing to be part of. How do you get insde the loop?
    Just before 2008 crash I was reading a paper by a lady who was trading CDO^2. She'd just traded an experimental CDO^3 and argued in the paper that higher orders were next. Very gifted. IIRC, she had 2 PhDs

    Anyway, it occurs to me that the Indignation Industry is up and running. As is the Indignation About The Indignation Industry Industry (anti-woke) etc.

    So the where we could get in on the ground floor is the Indignation About The Indignation About The Indignation Industry Industry Industry.

    Indignation^3

    Websites, advertising, media appearances. All there for the taking. Whose in?
    Slightly ahead of you - I'm already animated by animus of animus to woke.

    Let's structure it and issue a bond.
    Nah - spilt the market.

    You go for the odd numbered powers, I'll go even.

    Deal?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,277

    Sigh...

    ICLR submission (not mine) flagged for Ethics Review based on the use of the term "black box." Reminiscent of the drama involving the term "Byzantine," though there is relevant guidance from ACM this time.

    https://x.com/thegautamkamath/status/1859787202173206840

    Due to this,

    https://www.acm.org/diversity-inclusion/words-matter

    There are some crackers, but LOL...quantum supremacy....that's a no no too....The term has long been associated with crimes against humanity and genocide.

    OMFG
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,134
    Cookie said:

    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
    All perfume adverts are inane.
    There was that one with the woman in a grand Paris apartment playing a piano in the nude.

    Quickly dropped, as you'd hope.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,249
    a
    ydoethur said:

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
    "captured by the trans lobby...?"
    Typo for trains. They are all obsessed with Deltics and argue online about the best liveries for 1990's sectorialisation. Personally liked the railfreight livery...
    Isn't everyone obsessed with Deltics?
    Nah, some losers prefer Class 37s.
    Now, lets us conclude the service by contemplating the Holy Trinity

    image
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,277

    https://x.com/bopanc/status/1859916220058988732

    Incredible @derspiegel Angela Merkel interview:
    She regrets nothing, even NordStream 2 was a good thing & Germans are partly to blame for failing to integrate mass migration.
    She blames others for catastrophic consequences of her governments' policies

    She’s a much bigger krautrock version of Nicola Sturgeon. Massively overrated during her time in office, now revealed as a calamitously bad leader of party and country
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,373
    kinabalu said:

    Cookie said:

    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
    All perfume adverts are inane.
    There was that one with the woman in a grand Paris apartment playing a piano in the nude.

    Quickly dropped, as you'd hope.
    Was it a bit off-key?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,134
    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
    Oh yes they are awful.

    Quite a few ads I don't like, now we're looking seriously at it. So I was wrong there.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,660
    Poll suggests Home Secretary Yvette Cooper would lose her seat to Reform. Projected outcome:

    🟪 REF 35% (+6)
    🟥 LAB 34% (-14)
    🟦 CON 20% (+5)
    🟩 GRN 6% (+2)
    🟧 LD 4% (+1)

    Based on
    @Moreincommon_
    poll, 19-21 Nov

    SKS Tories have 4.5 years to make people feel better off.

    Otherwise there will be dozens of REF gains from SKS Tories in GE 2029
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,134
    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Cookie said:

    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
    All perfume adverts are inane.
    There was that one with the woman in a grand Paris apartment playing a piano in the nude.

    Quickly dropped, as you'd hope.
    Was it a bit off-key?
    It fell flat.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,373
    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Cookie said:

    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
    All perfume adverts are inane.
    There was that one with the woman in a grand Paris apartment playing a piano in the nude.

    Quickly dropped, as you'd hope.
    Was it a bit off-key?
    It fell flat.
    Deapite being au naturel?
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,572
    ydoethur said:

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
    "captured by the trans lobby...?"
    Typo for trains. They are all obsessed with Deltics and argue online about the best liveries for 1990's sectorialisation. Personally liked the railfreight livery...
    Isn't everyone obsessed with Deltics?
    Nah, some losers prefer Class 37s.
    Is 'loser' a synonym for 'awesome people' ;)

    Deltics were got rid of after 20 years. dozens of Class 37s are still going on the main line after 60-65 years. They're brilliant.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,572

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
    "captured by the trans lobby...?"
    Typo for trains. They are all obsessed with Deltics and argue online about the best liveries for 1990's sectorialisation. Personally liked the railfreight livery...
    Ah yes. That explains it...
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,405

    ydoethur said:

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
    "captured by the trans lobby...?"
    Typo for trains. They are all obsessed with Deltics and argue online about the best liveries for 1990's sectorialisation. Personally liked the railfreight livery...
    Isn't everyone obsessed with Deltics?
    Nah, some losers prefer Class 37s.
    Is 'loser' a synonym for 'awesome people' ;)

    Deltics were got rid of after 20 years. dozens of Class 37s are still going on the main line after 60-65 years. They're brilliant.
    I love a 37 but there are too many of them. You need a bit of rarity too.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,957
    wtf is going on in Laos.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,779
    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
    Oh yes they are awful.

    Quite a few ads I don't like, now we're looking seriously at it. So I was wrong there.
    I can't remember the last time I saw a TV ad.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,373

    ydoethur said:

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
    "captured by the trans lobby...?"
    Typo for trains. They are all obsessed with Deltics and argue online about the best liveries for 1990's sectorialisation. Personally liked the railfreight livery...
    Isn't everyone obsessed with Deltics?
    Nah, some losers prefer Class 37s.
    Is 'loser' a synonym for 'awesome people' ;)

    Deltics were got rid of after 20 years. dozens of Class 37s are still going on the main line after 60-65 years. They're brilliant.
    There is nothing wrong with admiring the class 37. Fantastic workhorse, on its own terms.

    But only a loser would prefer them to a Deltic.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,572

    ydoethur said:

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
    "captured by the trans lobby...?"
    Typo for trains. They are all obsessed with Deltics and argue online about the best liveries for 1990's sectorialisation. Personally liked the railfreight livery...
    Isn't everyone obsessed with Deltics?
    Nah, some losers prefer Class 37s.
    Is 'loser' a synonym for 'awesome people' ;)

    Deltics were got rid of after 20 years. dozens of Class 37s are still going on the main line after 60-65 years. They're brilliant.
    I love a 37 but there are too many of them. You need a bit of rarity too.
    Ah, in which case I give you the Class 28 CoBo!

    (Which I also love)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_28#/media/File:D5705_Co-Bo_Coalville_Open_Day_25th_may_1991.jpg
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,134
    Cookie said:

    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
    All perfume adverts are inane.
    I have some sympathy. How does one advertise perfume? You can't see how something smells. Most products, the visual sense helps; with perfume, it doesn't.

    But surely no-one can be encouraged to think better of the brand by the inanity produced in the name of selling this stuff?

    There is a perfume advert for a product called 'Sauvage'. I cannot see it without wanting to graffiti the 'v' into an 's'.
    That was my aftershave when I used to use aftershave. Eau Sauvage. Felt it to be classy.

    You don't find men doing this now. They don't seem to feel the need.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,249
    TOPPING said:

    wtf is going on in Laos.

    Some twat was making moonshine with methanol on it. Which is why we have a legal, carefully regulated and carefully taxed alcohol industry in the UK - to stop stuff like this.

    There might be a lesson in there for other things.....
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,277

    TOPPING said:

    wtf is going on in Laos.

    Some twat was making moonshine with methanol on it. Which is why we have a legal, carefully regulated and carefully taxed alcohol industry in the UK - to stop stuff like this.

    There might be a lesson in there for other things.....
    It’s Vang Vieng

    Anyone who has ever been to Vang Vieng, in Laos, will be entirely unsurprised by this story
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,957

    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
    Oh yes they are awful.

    Quite a few ads I don't like, now we're looking seriously at it. So I was wrong there.
    I can't remember the last time I saw a TV ad.
    XXXX sponsors ITV drama.

    Don't watch any of those? Or Ch4?
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,660
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
    "captured by the trans lobby...?"
    Typo for trains. They are all obsessed with Deltics and argue online about the best liveries for 1990's sectorialisation. Personally liked the railfreight livery...
    Isn't everyone obsessed with Deltics?
    Nah, some losers prefer Class 37s.
    Is 'loser' a synonym for 'awesome people' ;)

    Deltics were got rid of after 20 years. dozens of Class 37s are still going on the main line after 60-65 years. They're brilliant.
    There is nothing wrong with admiring the class 37. Fantastic workhorse, on its own terms.

    But only a loser would prefer them to a Deltic.
    I live about 1 mile from the The Deltic Preservation Society and any talk of class 37 superiority is banned in these parts. Or punishable with a one hour lecture on DELTIC superiority.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,957

    TOPPING said:

    wtf is going on in Laos.

    Some twat was making moonshine with methanol on it. Which is why we have a legal, carefully regulated and carefully taxed alcohol industry in the UK - to stop stuff like this.

    There might be a lesson in there for other things.....
    was it one of the travellers or a local?
  • sladeslade Posts: 2,040
    Reform pick up 2 seats in Kent.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,134
    edited November 22

    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
    Oh yes they are awful.

    Quite a few ads I don't like, now we're looking seriously at it. So I was wrong there.
    I can't remember the last time I saw a TV ad.
    If you do all stream or bbc or record you can cut them out of your life entirely. Their viewing figs must be a fraction of what they were in the glory days.

    What about the 'iconic' Christmas ads from the likes of John Lewis etc though - don't you watch them even just the once to see what the fuss is all about?
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,779

    ydoethur said:

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
    "captured by the trans lobby...?"
    Typo for trains. They are all obsessed with Deltics and argue online about the best liveries for 1990's sectorialisation. Personally liked the railfreight livery...
    Isn't everyone obsessed with Deltics?
    Nah, some losers prefer Class 37s.
    Is 'loser' a synonym for 'awesome people' ;)

    Deltics were got rid of after 20 years. dozens of Class 37s are still going on the main line after 60-65 years. They're brilliant.
    What kind of mileage have those 37s done, though? IIRC some of the Deltics did over 2.5mn miles. They were worked very hard over a relatively short service life. They were also a much more ambitious engineering proposition.
    I'll get my anorak.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,405

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
    "captured by the trans lobby...?"
    Typo for trains. They are all obsessed with Deltics and argue online about the best liveries for 1990's sectorialisation. Personally liked the railfreight livery...
    Isn't everyone obsessed with Deltics?
    Nah, some losers prefer Class 37s.
    Is 'loser' a synonym for 'awesome people' ;)

    Deltics were got rid of after 20 years. dozens of Class 37s are still going on the main line after 60-65 years. They're brilliant.
    There is nothing wrong with admiring the class 37. Fantastic workhorse, on its own terms.

    But only a loser would prefer them to a Deltic.
    I live about 1 mile from the The Deltic Preservation Society and any talk of class 37 superiority is banned in these parts. Or punishable with a one hour lecture on DELTIC superiority.
    Superiority in terms of superior ability to break down, thus requiring rescue - by a 37?
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,051

    Mr. rkrkrk, I do wonder with things like that how much primary evidence comes through the sieve of Chinese official filtration.

    I don’t see any sort of way of faking that kind of detailed environmental genomic data.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,348
    4 gains for the Conservatives, 2 for Reform, in this week's by-elections. 3 losses apiece for the Lib Dems and independents.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,011

    ydoethur said:

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
    "captured by the trans lobby...?"
    Typo for trains. They are all obsessed with Deltics and argue online about the best liveries for 1990's sectorialisation. Personally liked the railfreight livery...
    Isn't everyone obsessed with Deltics?
    Nah, some losers prefer Class 37s.
    Is 'loser' a synonym for 'awesome people' ;)

    Deltics were got rid of after 20 years. dozens of Class 37s are still going on the main line after 60-65 years. They're brilliant.
    What kind of mileage have those 37s done, though? IIRC some of the Deltics did over 2.5mn miles. They were worked very hard over a relatively short service life. They were also a much more ambitious engineering proposition.
    I'll get my anorak.
    Deltics. Syphons. Both English Electric. Therefore good.

    Some weird people prefer Sulzer-engined machines.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,792
    kinabalu said:

    Cookie said:

    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
    All perfume adverts are inane.
    I have some sympathy. How does one advertise perfume? You can't see how something smells. Most products, the visual sense helps; with perfume, it doesn't.

    But surely no-one can be encouraged to think better of the brand by the inanity produced in the name of selling this stuff?

    There is a perfume advert for a product called 'Sauvage'. I cannot see it without wanting to graffiti the 'v' into an 's'.
    That was my aftershave when I used to use aftershave. Eau Sauvage. Felt it to be classy.

    You don't find men doing this now. They don't seem to feel the need.
    I think the cutoff was sometime in the mid 80s. I think aftershave used to be seen as just part of what you did when you shaved. By the time I started shaving in the early 90s, it wasn't. I don't really think anyone under about 55 uses it.
    It strikes me as quite an odd thing - I don't really want people to be able to smell me. But in this respect I think I am simply just as much a product of generational groupthink as the previous generation were who did use aftershave.

    It's an odd thing, smell. Very primitive. Yet it clearly has an impact. I do like it when my wife wears perfume. She once said she'd quite like it if I did use aftershave, but I wasn't altogether sure she was serious and the matter hasn't been raised again since, and in any case even if I was minded to do it (since really, female approval - indeed, the approval of that specific female, is all I am really after in my appearance), I'd be so far out of my comfort zone I wouldn't know where to start.
    In any case, I rarely shave any more, preferring a trimmer and a 4-8mm stubble; and 95% of my life is spent in circumstances in which any sort of presentational panache would appear massively over the top.

    Which raises the question - who does buy this?
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,051
    HYUFD said:

    Taz said:

    HYUFD said:

    Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and her partner have fled LA for the Cotswolds following Trump's win
    "Ellen Degeneres ‘has fled LA for the Cotswolds following Trump’s win and criticism’ | The Standard" https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/ellen-degeneres-us-cotswolds-england-donald-trump-election-b1195352.html

    I guess this refugee from a govt she didn’t like didn’t have to come over from France on a boat.
    Yes, I expect many crossings to North London and the Cotswolds and Starmer's UK from blue states in the US before Trump's inauguration in January.

    Though by first class plane cabin over the Atlantic rather than boat across the Med and Channel
    These kinds of economic migrants have always outnumbered people coming over on boats.
  • Lib dem who won my former constituency [1960 - 1965] puts her house on the market and has resigned

    How weird

    https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/newly-elected-lib-dem-quits-34164303
  • This one is astonishing.

    The LD that won a council seat in Edinburgh last week, who ran her campaign about living locally (criticising those who lived in other parts of the city), put her house on the market one day after winning the seat and has now resigned.

    https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/newly-elected-lib-dem-quits-34164303
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,011
    TOPPING said:

    wtf is going on in Laos.

    Sounds like they've received a job lot of Russian vodka.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,779
    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
    Oh yes they are awful.

    Quite a few ads I don't like, now we're looking seriously at it. So I was wrong there.
    I can't remember the last time I saw a TV ad.
    If you do all stream or bbc or record you can cut them out of your life entirely. Their viewing figs must be a fraction of what they were in the glory days.

    What about the 'iconic' Christmas ads from the likes of John Lewis etc though - don't you watch them even just the once to see what the fuss is all about?
    No I honestly couldn't give two shits.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,188
    Cookie said:

    kinabalu said:

    Cookie said:

    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
    All perfume adverts are inane.
    I have some sympathy. How does one advertise perfume? You can't see how something smells. Most products, the visual sense helps; with perfume, it doesn't.

    But surely no-one can be encouraged to think better of the brand by the inanity produced in the name of selling this stuff?

    There is a perfume advert for a product called 'Sauvage'. I cannot see it without wanting to graffiti the 'v' into an 's'.
    That was my aftershave when I used to use aftershave. Eau Sauvage. Felt it to be classy.

    You don't find men doing this now. They don't seem to feel the need.
    I think the cutoff was sometime in the mid 80s. I think aftershave used to be seen as just part of what you did when you shaved. By the time I started shaving in the early 90s, it wasn't. I don't really think anyone under about 55 uses it.
    It strikes me as quite an odd thing - I don't really want people to be able to smell me. But in this respect I think I am simply just as much a product of generational groupthink as the previous generation were who did use aftershave.

    It's an odd thing, smell. Very primitive. Yet it clearly has an impact. I do like it when my wife wears perfume. She once said she'd quite like it if I did use aftershave, but I wasn't altogether sure she was serious and the matter hasn't been raised again since, and in any case even if I was minded to do it (since really, female approval - indeed, the approval of that specific female, is all I am really after in my appearance), I'd be so far out of my comfort zone I wouldn't know where to start.
    In any case, I rarely shave any more, preferring a trimmer and a 4-8mm stubble; and 95% of my life is spent in circumstances in which any sort of presentational panache would appear massively over the top.

    Which raises the question - who does buy this?
    Not me, my better half has severe osmophobia with any sort of fragrance.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,032
    edited November 22
    Sean_F said:

    4 gains for the Conservatives, 2 for Reform, in this week's by-elections. 3 losses apiece for the Lib Dems and independents.

    Just 6 votes in one seat and 8 more in another would have seen the conservatives win a further seat off labour and one off the Lib Dems

    Not many reform voters to attract there

    And labour have lost 22 seats and the conservatives won 21 since the GE

    https://x.com/ElectionMapsUK/status/1859940695093428598?t=fzDl-e1mM0RJBXV4j8u6Jg&s=19
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,957

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
    Oh yes they are awful.

    Quite a few ads I don't like, now we're looking seriously at it. So I was wrong there.
    I can't remember the last time I saw a TV ad.
    If you do all stream or bbc or record you can cut them out of your life entirely. Their viewing figs must be a fraction of what they were in the glory days.

    What about the 'iconic' Christmas ads from the likes of John Lewis etc though - don't you watch them even just the once to see what the fuss is all about?
    No I honestly couldn't give two shits.
    Are you saying that christmas ads don't actually matter.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,647

    Lib dem who won my former constituency [1960 - 1965] puts her house on the market and has resigned

    How weird

    https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/newly-elected-lib-dem-quits-34164303

    It's so strange something very serious must be up. People are piling in online but I think wise not to comment.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,785
    Mr. Owls, as someone on the left, supposing Starmer or someone similar leads Labour into the next election, do you think people roughly of your political alignment would shift (or stay) with the likes of Reform over, say, the Lib Dems?
  • ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Considering how badly the police are handling non-crime hate incidents, how the police are captured by the trans lobby, I suspect this is going to go horribly wrong. Not sure faith in the British police has ever been lower.
    "captured by the trans lobby...?"
    Typo for trains. They are all obsessed with Deltics and argue online about the best liveries for 1990's sectorialisation. Personally liked the railfreight livery...
    Isn't everyone obsessed with Deltics?
    Nah, some losers prefer Class 37s.
    Is 'loser' a synonym for 'awesome people' ;)

    Deltics were got rid of after 20 years. dozens of Class 37s are still going on the main line after 60-65 years. They're brilliant.
    There is nothing wrong with admiring the class 37. Fantastic workhorse, on its own terms.

    But only a loser would prefer them to a Deltic.
    Nothing can beat the Flying Scotsman in full steam passing our school at Berwick in the 1950s

    And a local signalman allowed me to climb upto the signal box just south of Berwick and pull the levers to signal it through immediately below us c1958
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,134
    Cookie said:

    kinabalu said:

    Cookie said:

    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
    All perfume adverts are inane.
    I have some sympathy. How does one advertise perfume? You can't see how something smells. Most products, the visual sense helps; with perfume, it doesn't.

    But surely no-one can be encouraged to think better of the brand by the inanity produced in the name of selling this stuff?

    There is a perfume advert for a product called 'Sauvage'. I cannot see it without wanting to graffiti the 'v' into an 's'.
    That was my aftershave when I used to use aftershave. Eau Sauvage. Felt it to be classy.

    You don't find men doing this now. They don't seem to feel the need.
    I think the cutoff was sometime in the mid 80s. I think aftershave used to be seen as just part of what you did when you shaved. By the time I started shaving in the early 90s, it wasn't. I don't really think anyone under about 55 uses it.
    It strikes me as quite an odd thing - I don't really want people to be able to smell me. But in this respect I think I am simply just as much a product of generational groupthink as the previous generation were who did use aftershave.

    It's an odd thing, smell. Very primitive. Yet it clearly has an impact. I do like it when my wife wears perfume. She once said she'd quite like it if I did use aftershave, but I wasn't altogether sure she was serious and the matter hasn't been raised again since, and in any case even if I was minded to do it (since really, female approval - indeed, the approval of that specific female, is all I am really after in my appearance), I'd be so far out of my comfort zone I wouldn't know where to start.
    In any case, I rarely shave any more, preferring a trimmer and a 4-8mm stubble; and 95% of my life is spent in circumstances in which any sort of presentational panache would appear massively over the top.

    Which raises the question - who does buy this?
    How you wrote all that in 11 mins I do not know.

    But anyway, yes, the modern preference for stubble is probably part of what killed the aftershave habit. If you're not shaving it feels gratuitous and self-regarding to use aftershave. The practical excuse for it has gone.

    This conversation is making me want to start again with the eau sauvage, oddly. Fond memories.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,051
    Pulpstar said:

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Does Sir Kier consider genocide antisocial behaviour ? Or too busy selling off our farmland to Blackrock ?
    https://www.itv.com/news/2024-11-21/international-criminal-court-issues-arrest-warrant-for-benjamin-netanyahu Supported by Starmer.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,625

    Pulpstar said:

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1859869653159510171

    As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of anti-social behaviour first hand - and fought for justice for victims.

    As Prime Minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new Respect Orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.

    Does Sir Kier consider genocide antisocial behaviour ? Or too busy selling off our farmland to Blackrock ?
    https://www.itv.com/news/2024-11-21/international-criminal-court-issues-arrest-warrant-for-benjamin-netanyahu Supported by Starmer.
    But will he give Netanyahu as ASBO?
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,660

    Mr. Owls, as someone on the left, supposing Starmer or someone similar leads Labour into the next election, do you think people roughly of your political alignment would shift (or stay) with the likes of Reform over, say, the Lib Dems?

    Everyone I know of my Political persuasion is currently voting Green.

    If LAB go into GE 2029 with SKS type as leader that will remain the same.

    Nobody like me would ever consider voting REFORM or Tory.

    LDs would have to be anti war like under Charles Kennedy to become a possible
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,405
    TOPPING said:

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
    Oh yes they are awful.

    Quite a few ads I don't like, now we're looking seriously at it. So I was wrong there.
    I can't remember the last time I saw a TV ad.
    If you do all stream or bbc or record you can cut them out of your life entirely. Their viewing figs must be a fraction of what they were in the glory days.

    What about the 'iconic' Christmas ads from the likes of John Lewis etc though - don't you watch them even just the once to see what the fuss is all about?
    No I honestly couldn't give two shits.
    Are you saying that christmas ads don't actually matter.
    They matter a lot. For one thing they wind people up by appearing on TV far too early!
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,134

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
    Oh yes they are awful.

    Quite a few ads I don't like, now we're looking seriously at it. So I was wrong there.
    I can't remember the last time I saw a TV ad.
    If you do all stream or bbc or record you can cut them out of your life entirely. Their viewing figs must be a fraction of what they were in the glory days.

    What about the 'iconic' Christmas ads from the likes of John Lewis etc though - don't you watch them even just the once to see what the fuss is all about?
    No I honestly couldn't give two shits.
    That's a brave stance - you'll be frozen out of the conversation at many a kitchen table.

    This year's "Lewis" features two sisters, the one buying a present for the other, in the process thinking back to various moments in their lives (as sisters).

    It's ok.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,051
    .

    Mr. Owls, as someone on the left, supposing Starmer or someone similar leads Labour into the next election, do you think people roughly of your political alignment would shift (or stay) with the likes of Reform over, say, the Lib Dems?

    Everyone I know of my Political persuasion is currently voting Green.

    If LAB go into GE 2029 with SKS type as leader that will remain the same.

    Nobody like me would ever consider voting REFORM or Tory.

    LDs would have to be anti war like under Charles Kennedy to become a possible
    We haven’t seen much of a Green surge in polling, however.
  • TresTres Posts: 2,695
    V weak week from the below the line comments - lots of boring talk about adverts, smartphones and AI. Dulllllllllllllllllllll
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,405
    Current bug bear - not only have we imported Black Friday from the USA to the UK, when we don't have Thanksgiving we have the stupidity to have adverts proclaiming the start of 'Black Friday week', No, you feckers, its a day, not a week.

    What's wrong with just calling it the pre-Christmas sales?
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,572
    The ruble's crashes somewhat against the dollar today. Currently at 1 ruble for 0.0097 United States Dollar.

    I had expected Trump's win to help stabilise it. Never come to me for predictions... ;)
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,134

    TOPPING said:

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
    Oh yes they are awful.

    Quite a few ads I don't like, now we're looking seriously at it. So I was wrong there.
    I can't remember the last time I saw a TV ad.
    If you do all stream or bbc or record you can cut them out of your life entirely. Their viewing figs must be a fraction of what they were in the glory days.

    What about the 'iconic' Christmas ads from the likes of John Lewis etc though - don't you watch them even just the once to see what the fuss is all about?
    No I honestly couldn't give two shits.
    Are you saying that christmas ads don't actually matter.
    They matter a lot. For one thing they wind people up by appearing on TV far too early!
    Apparently most people these days go online to watch the 'big' ones - esp the Lewis - on their phone rather than wait to catch it on tv.

    That's how it is now. No point griping about it, I suppose.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,991
    edited November 22

    Current bug bear - not only have we imported Black Friday from the USA to the UK, when we don't have Thanksgiving we have the stupidity to have adverts proclaiming the start of 'Black Friday week', No, you feckers, its a day, not a week.

    What's wrong with just calling it the pre-Christmas sales?

    Checks ACM guidelines....ref whistle blows....yellow card....use of term black....

    More seriously, however much they try pushing it here, Black Friday never seems to have really caught on. There aren't 1000s queuing overnight to get a cheap telly and then fighting on another in the aisles of Asda when the doors open. I don't even know if its that big a thing in the US anymore.
  • Alphabet_SoupAlphabet_Soup Posts: 3,246

    Current bug bear - not only have we imported Black Friday from the USA to the UK, when we don't have Thanksgiving we have the stupidity to have adverts proclaiming the start of 'Black Friday week', No, you feckers, its a day, not a week.

    What's wrong with just calling it the pre-Christmas sales?

    Checks ACM guidelines....ref whistle blows....yellow card....use of term black....

    More seriously, however much they try pushing it here, Black Friday never seems to have really caught on. There aren't 1000s queuing overnight to get a cheap telly and then fighting on another in the aisles of Asda when the doors open. I don't even know if its that big a thing in the US anymore.
    It's still a big thing with 'minorities' - hence the name (I assume...).
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,147
    Cookie said:

    MattW said:

    A good Q&A session over at the Rest is Politics, with some interesting conversation.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A05Ggs5sME

    Reported rumour that in the past when the UK PM visited the Dalai Lama, the word wet out across China that investment should not be made in the UK. And it basically wasn't. That sounds credible.

    Also talk of whether "always mentioning human rights" as part of the talking points China checklist has made the faintest bit of difference in 30 years.

    And potential aspect of the Le Pen trial, which I had not spotted, on the next French election.

    They've even got bookmarks:

    01:11 The farmers protest
    10:50 Is the international order collapsing around us?
    13:11 Violence in Amsterdam
    16:25 Is Keir Starmer spending too much time abroad?
    17:54 UK-China relations
    18:45 What is the point of COP?
    20:35 EU trade dwarfs every other trading relationship
    22:30 Does the West really care about human rights?
    26:18 Will Marine Le Pen be barred from standing?
    29:49 What have Alastair and Rory been watching recently?
    33:59 How did Jeffrey Epstein manage to protect himself?

    I've never really been tempted by TRIP - I'm fairly sure I already know what Alastair Campbell thinks about everything (which is that Alastair Campbell is right about everything and Labour is right about everything and anyone to the right, or indeed to the left of him is not only wrong but probably evil) - he doesn't strike me as a man with a lot of nuance. Am I missing out?
    Rory, on the other hand, strikes me as perhaps a man with too much nuance: on the one hand, on the other hand, you're probably right Alastair.

    Am I missing out?
    Good question.

    I'm not listening to all of it, but I'm getting perspectives that I have not had before and I find interesting. Especially for me, perhaps, the Rory views based on his reflections on experience in several mid-level Ministerial positions.

    I've always been somewhere between wary and contemptuous where Bad 'Al is concerned. I haven't come to any reassessment yet; however no on can be evaluated from a single viewpoint so I'm listening and critiquing at once.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,779
    TOPPING said:

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    Bud light ad just dropped

    Mocking woke stuff after that terrible ad with that cross dressing bloke in a Bath

    https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1859590446218899896?s=61

    That’s actually quite funny
    It's a good ad. So was the one that caused the fuss. You have to try different things or everything gets stale.
    Like this, you mean?

    https://youtu.be/h5kCRSQsOqE
    Lol, yes. Very few ads I don't like. Trying to think of one. Oh god yes - the one with that woman behaving like a total madam and ending with "what would you do for love?" That makes me go and put the kettle on.
    Natalie Portman.

    The Daisy, Daisy, Daisy advert makes me want to throw something at the TV plus the Pure Cremation and Funeral Plan ads.
    Oh yes they are awful.

    Quite a few ads I don't like, now we're looking seriously at it. So I was wrong there.
    I can't remember the last time I saw a TV ad.
    If you do all stream or bbc or record you can cut them out of your life entirely. Their viewing figs must be a fraction of what they were in the glory days.

    What about the 'iconic' Christmas ads from the likes of John Lewis etc though - don't you watch them even just the once to see what the fuss is all about?
    No I honestly couldn't give two shits.
    Are you saying that christmas ads don't actually matter.
    I am. I know, shocking, right?
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