Posts by 45RPM

Parler games: Social network for internet rejects sues Amazon Web Services for pulling plug on hosting

Re: Worrying times

I agree. I'm also concerned that so many people are prepared to carelessly expose themselves on social media (both literally and figuratively). I'm concerned that these tech companies have let QAnon, Trump, Farage, Le Pen etc run riot unchecked for so long. I am not concerned that they should be deplatforming them now - other than to observe that they should have done this long ago.

As long as the truth is allowed to be disseminated freely then I have no problem with lies being stopped in their tracks.

PoppersParadox. Look it up.

Trump's gone quiet, Parler nuked, Twitter protest never happened: There's an eerie calm – but at what cost?

Re: Trump is a massive c...

I couldn't have said it better myself. Well, actually, perhaps I could - I wouldn't have said it anonymously. Nevertheless, have an upvote.

This is demonstrably false. Those journalists, even the ones with broadly left-wing views, have given a moderate and moderated interpretation of Trump, at least when compared with what he was actually saying. Look at what's happened over the past month. If those journalists had given an accurate interpretation, they have said that Trump is not only a wannabe dictator, but he's a wannabe worst-possible dictator. They didn't. Trump's actions demonstrated quite how bad he really is.

Remember also that if they reported "stuff they didn't even hear" then they'd be held to account for it, and they'd have to apologise - at least, if they reported it as part of News and not as part of Editorial (which is how Fox gets away with such flagrant abuses of the truth, of course). So, if you're saying that they reported "stuff they didn't even hear" as part of the news then you're going to have to cite the evidence for this. With links to reputable sites. Not merely links to what your pal Rudolf said on Parler.

Loser Trump is no longer useful to Twitter, entire account deleted over fears he'll whip up more mayhem

I think that the problem is that so many people have lapped up conspiracy theories about COVID not being a thing, vaccination being some sort of weird conspiracy to microchip everyone, and masks being unhealthy that it has now become necessary to underline the rules in bloody thick marker.

You know the sort of imbeciles I’m talking about. The kind of people who still think that Trump is a good egg, and that the GOP has any kind of moral backbone.

Hmm. You know that The Sun is a Murdoch rag, don't you? The same wellspring of misinformation that is Fox News. I'm not saying that this story isn't true, but the nuance will have been lost - and this is pure Whataboutism, designed to discredit all but a far right agenda. The Sun comes down on the wrong side of history almost as frequently as the Daily Mail does, and is a less reliable source of quality news than even Viz - which does, at least, know right from wrong (it, at least, knows that its sense of humour is VERY wrong!)

‘Feelings have become more important that facts’. It’s an interesting point, and you can see the truth of it in the language that people use. By and large, the far right use epithets like ‘snowflake’ or ‘butthurt’ to describe their opponents, and they try to tell their opponents to shut up (because they won, or some other such spurious argument). This is because, to them, the feelings are the facts.

The centrists and the left use epithets like ‘idiot’, ‘fool’ and ‘stupid’ to describe their opponents and try to engage them in conversation. As I’m doing now. This is because, to them, the evidence is the facts and we feel that it’s important to engage with people, to lance the boil of misinformation.

We shouldn’t use epithets like fool or idiot, it’s true. And I’m guilty of that too. But it’s very difficult not to when people wilfully follow conspiracy theories and refer dismissively to the articles of experts and the evidence as just MSM.

There’s hardly any point in responding because others have already done so very eloquently. But…

First, because budget Hitler failed. Thankfully. I think that there can be little doubt that he would have built concentration camps had he succeeded. We are, after all, talking about a man who came to power on a wave of chants to lock up his opponents, who has had a record number of executions (for the US, at least) during his presidency, who used secret police (unmarked uniforms and police vehicles), and who’s biggest supporters (like Guliani) have called for opponents to be beheaded. Let’s not forget how he treated immigrants and separated families either.

Second, no I didn’t. I called him, with some justification, budget Hitler. At no point did I claim that he’d been a success or gotten as far as starting a genocide. Although, given his track record of stoking religious and racial hatred, I think that he might have gotten around to this eventually. Thankfully, it seems that he won’t get the chance now - at least if the GOP can find its marbles.

Third. Not by me. And whilst some comparisons are hyperbole others aren’t. Sometimes you can point at a bird and call it a duck and you’ll be right.

Fourth. Well done. You have no idea what my age is. Its none of your business and irrelevant to the discussion. However, I would point out that your critical thinking skills are barely at kindergarten level.

Fifthly, I ain’t stopping nuttin’

Re: An elephant in the room

You know, I run teams of developers who write software for… well, never you mind what they write software to do. But one of those developers used to write games for the Atari 400/800, Vic20 and Speccy. It doesn’t follow that that he’s bringing those skills of game design to the more serious work and rather more powerful hardware that he’s writing software for now. Everyone has a past.

The BBC certainly isn’t fault free - but, if anything, I’d say that it’s leaning rather too rightward to accommodate climate change denying, trump supporting wingnuts. That said, on the key issues, it’s broadly correct - it can still be trusted to fact check the news.

The editorial is a bit iffy though, granted!

More terrifying, if that were possible, than the prospect of bankrupt Hitler still having access to the nuclear football (or whatever the briefcase of death is called), is the fact that so many people both in the US and abroad still support him.

I have occasionally wondered how Naziism took hold in 30s Germany. I really didn’t want such a graphic demonstration.

Pop quiz: You've got a roomful of electrical equipment. How do you put out a fire?

Everyone had mandatory fire training once per year. Fat lot of good it did, apparently. And it was only a very little fire - a 50cm section of the trunking and cable within was destroyed, the wall had nasty greasy black scorch marks on it. The trunking was attached to a solid wall, the extent of the fire was easy to see.

Didn't stop me high-tailing it to the pub though, to ensure that I had plenty of cold fluid on hand with which, if necessary, I could remove the source of heat and deprive it of its oxidiser. Better safe than sorry.

I remember a fire in trunking at an office I worked it. What do you think the software developers did, as the acrid plasticky smoke poured out of the trunking, and flames licked up the wall? Do you think that:

a) they grabbed the fire-extinguisher, a mere 8 feet away, and let rip like heroes?

b) grabbed their phones, and left the office to go to the pub (over the road), hitting the fire-alarm on the way out?

c) stood around admiring the pretty flames?

I’m ashamed to say that the correct answers are: Some (myself included, I’m sorry to say) opted for b. A significant number opted for c. And it was left to the delivery manager to save the day and use the aforementioned fire-extinguisher. No significant damaged occured, and no computers were harmed during the excitement.

Trump silenced online: Facebook, Twitter etc balk at insurrection, shut the door after horse bolts and nearly burns down the stable

Given the havoc at UK ports, it may be for us soon too.

Re: Hmmm

Unfortunately, in order for free-speech to be protected it necessarily needs to be limited. This seemingly contradictory idea is described by Poppers Paradox.

Essentially, those ideas which would limit the free speech of others must themselves be censored. So, for example, homophobic speech seeks to limit the freedoms of homosexuals and must itself therefore be censored. Ditto racist, misogynistic and other forms of prejudiced speech.

I’d also go so far as to want to limit speech which goes against the evidence (at least insofar as not giving it equal weighting as evidenced fact), for example to limit lies about global warming not being real.

United States Congress stormed by violent followers of defeated president, Biden win confirmation halted

Re: The 25th may well be used

I think, I hope, that we will see President Harris in the next ten years - I think that she'll do an amazing job. Since she's a person of integrity, she won't need to resort to underhand tactics to achieve this end.

In the meantime, President Biden is a capable, and experienced, politician and diplomat, a man of integrity who can make a start on repairing the damage wrought by Trump and the GOP over the past 4 years.

I sincerely hope that the GOP realises that it looks rather silly, and very fascist, at the moment - and starts making amends. That isn't to say that I want them to agree on all issues, and to spinelessly backup the Democrats. But they need to stand on evidenced and reasoned principle - and not just wilfully block reform out of habit.

Firstly, if you look at the actual votes, Trump didn't win. It's only a quirk of the American electoral system that gave him power in the 2016 election. (62,984,828 to Trump, 65,853,514 to Clinton). He never had legitimacy. As you say though, once in power, we had no choice but to deal with him. What we did have was a choice in whether we supported him. We deal with Putin, for example, but we don't actively support him.

Johnson started out being rude about Trump, later he became overtly pally. Farage has always been pally with Trump. Mogg, Gove ditto. Trumpism is a far right-wing project, ditto Brexit. Far right projects never end well. And I will never stop complaining about Brexit (and I will support all attempts to rejoin and strengthen the EU).

Re: ...and where exactly do you live in the US?

Do you know something? I don't need to be a Trump supporter (or Farage or Johnson supporter for that matter) to be able to empathise with them. I know that the far right supporters are hurt, because their leader lost or because deep down in the last glimmer of rationality that they might have they know that they're wrong - it's the same glimmer of rationality that causes you to post as AC, because you don't want to admit to some truly abhorrent beliefs. I know also that these same supporters are frightened - but not for any rational reason like the loss of democracy, or the destruction of the environment, reasons which have solid evidence to back them up. These supporters are scared of people who have different coloured skin, or a different religion, or a different language - which is all rather sad, because diversity in a country adds interest, it adds ability, it adds strength. The closest to a rational fear is a loss of jobs - and jobs will be lost in obsolete industries like coal, oil etc. But guess what? These jobs are going to go anyway - the pragmatic thing to do is to retrain, and to elect a government which will support that retraining, and provide support for loss of income through social care programmes.

But I'll tell you something else. You're right, I haven't lived in America - I doubt I've spent much more than 6 months in the US in total (although rather more than that if you count both the Americas, and all the countries contained therein). But it's a connected world, I'm an interested chap and I read the news from a variety of reputable sources. More importantly though, I do know the difference between right and wrong. And if you're trying to break into a building, especially if you're doing it armed to the teeth, that isn't 'Political Drama'. It's out and out villainy. This isn't entertainment, people are dying - and I think that you need to consider your values long and hard, think about where your moral compass is pointing, before you open your mouth or put fingers to keyboard again.

As to the lockdown, we should have had it harder and sooner - but better late than never. Like medicine, it's not going to be enjoyable - nor is it meant to be - but Lockdowns do work. And crappy though our government is, at least they've decided to do one thing right (albeit eventually).

Then tried, found guilty of high treason, and forgiven his sins as he forgave those who trespassed against him.

After watching this, after seeing this, if you still support Trump or think that you can conflate perceived ‘crimes’ by Biden or even by Clinton with the ‘misdemeanours’ of Trump then you are beneath contempt. In so doing you actively support a demonstrable fascist.

Similarly, if you continue to support his enablers in the UK (who, not coincidentally, are also the authors of our current disaster - Brexit) then you really aren’t deserving of any respect at all.

This is a truly shocking situation. If he didn’t deserve imprisonment before then he certainly does now. /rant

Apple's M1: the fastest and bestest ever silicon = revolution? Nah, there's far more interesting stuff happening in tech that matters to everyone

I don't dispute that - I have a Ryzen 5 powered machine myself, and very nice it is too. But don't forget that the M1 is many times more power efficient than Ryzen, and is more akin to AMD's APUs. It's Apple's cheapo* power-sipping chip for mobile use.

If I'm right about this, Apple's next chip will make your argument rather like comparing Zacate to Ryzen. No contest.

Besides, power consumption is a critical part of the argument. We live in a world of global warming and rampant power consumption. This is an untenable situation. We need to get to a world where our computing devices are as power efficient as they are powerful**.

* cheap being relative in Apple's case. A Mac Mini is certainly cheaper than Apple's high end machines!

** for this statement alone I deserve a downvoting. Not because I'm wrong (I'm not), but because I'm a massive hypocrite, with my Ryzens and Xeons and power guzzling monsters.

I dispute that making RAM expandable opens the M1 up to be bugger of Physics. I’m still hoping for an expandable Mac Pro, where the 16GB of onboard memory effectively acts as a bloody enormous cache - but where I can still plonk terabytes of memory in if I want to. It’s not as if CPUs haven’t had on-die memory before - it’s just that they haven’t had gigabytes of on-die memory.

I think that Apple understands that a Mac Pro needs to be expandable - or its not Pro. Let’s just see what they do.

As for the M1 being in some way less significant because it’s tightly tied to the OS, this is a good thing from the users perspective - more performance, for less power consumed - but it’s also a non argument. Testing with (virtualised) ARM Windows hacked onto the M1 also demonstrates that the M1 is a screamer in this use-case too (and, let’s face it, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Huawei - all of these companies are big enough and rich enough to develop their own M1 equivalents if they have a mind to, and now that Apple has shown what’s possible perhaps they will).

For my own geeky interest I’d like to see Linux running on it - but, realistically, this doesn’t go as far as being a ‘use case’ for me since I only ever install Linux on my PCs. Since my Macs are already running Unix, I can’t quite see the point of installing a Unix clone on them.

Sod Crysis, can the 21-year-old Power Mac G4 Cube run Minecraft? The answer is yes

Fair play, perhaps I should modify that to …old computer with a hard disk. That’s why I bought a Mac all those years ago. At the time, STs and Amigas weren’t commonly available with a hard disk, but the Mac was.

When I think about what I do on a daily basis (Microsoft Office type tasks, Project planning, email, coding in C), I should be able to do everything that I need on my old Mac SE/30. Technically, I suppose, I should be able to do those tasks on DOS - but multitasking, even if only cooperative, is handy. In fact, I used to use pretty much this configuration for work every day. The only reason that such a configuration is impractical today is bloat, whether in the form of features that no-one ever uses added to the OS and application software, or bloat in the form of an obsession with inefficient programming tools (I'm looking at you, Java - and I say that as someone who can and has written application software in Java (admittedly whilst grumbling about how I'd prefer to be using C)). The obsession with doing everything on the web also stymies the use of older hardware in a modern office.

Even in the field of entertainment, those older computers shine. Sure, my kids love playing modern games - but they're more likely to pester me for the gameboy and the delights of SuperMarioLand, or my old Mac (for the joy of Arkanoid, Spectre, Lemmings or Prince of Persia) than they are for time on my modern Ryzen 5 powered Steambox. Content is King (or Queen), and addictive games are addictive, no matter when they were written.

All of which isn't to say that I don't recognise that there are some genuine advantages to a new computer - particularly in these covidy times. But the advantages are in the use of Zoom or in the simultaneous playing of music rather than in actually getting work done. For actually getting work done, I'd argue that an old Mac, Amiga, ST, DOS PC - or even CP/M machine is just as effective for over 90% of users, 90% of the time.

The biggest advantage of new technology? Well, bearing in mind global warming, that comes from systems like Apple's M1 powered machines which can deliver high performance, and all the benefits of the modern world, whilst sipping at the power.

So bye-bye, Mr Ajit Pai. You drove our policy into the levee and we still wonder why

Re: Since 2020 is all about conspiracy theories

All together now, to the tune of Nellie the Elephant:

Donald the President had a sulk

And said Goodbye to the Whitehouse,

Off he went with a Trumpetty Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump

The head of the herd was Putin, far far away,

He had a sack full of Kompromat,

And Donald would have to pay…

etc etc. Please add more verses!

Bare-metal Macs-as-a-service come to AWS. Intel for now, M1 silicon in 2021

Re: However

That fact that you’re able to work quickly and effectively without cursing at your user-hostile machine, and the happy smile on your face perhaps?

Not all Mac users use Macs because they’re trying to keep up with hipster fashion. Some of us use Macs because they’re the best option for our use-case. I have an old MacPro, and an HP Z800 (well, they both still work - who cares about whether they’re the latest generation or not?). The HP gets used for Windows development type tasks - but I’d rather be using my Mac.

TikTok given another week to sort out how to sell itself

TikTok? Really? Firstly, delay until Trump is out - I think Biden will consider that there are more important things to worry about. Secondly, if we’re going to worry about social media, let’s worry about the major offender. Facebook, and the new uncontrolled conspiracy sites like Parler. Whilst I’d like to see the whole sorry lot of them closed, I’d settle for them being heavily regulated.

Apple's global security boss accused of bribing cops with 200 free iPads in exchange for concealed gun permits

‘Head of Security’. You can see why the wrong person, given this title, might have gotten carried away as he did - but this is a fail for Apple’s culture, I’d say. How did he even get past interview?

That said, I don’t think that a failure in one person necessarily indicates a failure in the entire business, or even the wider culture. For example, I used to work for a business where the following story was told of an ex-member of one of the senior leadership. It’s a far-fetched story, and so may be apocryphal, but so many independent people related it to me that there may be fire under the smoke. The senior leader it relates to certainly got fired anyway. Names have been removed - but anyone who worked for the same business as me at the same time will know exactly what I refer to.

The senior leader wasn’t getting his jollies, and had a nice little earner on the side selling soiled panties to other perverts. This did not fit with the businesses professed goals and culture. The soiling was a service that he performed himself, presumably on the wares of the lingerie department of M&S purchased during his lunch hour. At some point, he had a crisis of conscience. It was wrong that a perv buying knickers purportedly soiled by a woman should be getting knickers soiled by another old perv. So he asked his PA to do it for him - and the faeces hit the propellor. No matter how good their working relationship, this isn’t what she’d been hired for.

The point being that, no matter how reprehensible his actions were, they weren’t representative of the organization that he worked for. The actions of the person can be, should be, separated from the business itself (excepting the real bigwigs of course, the CEO in particular).

Now, would anyone like to buy some panties?

Police warn of bad Apples that fell off the back of a truck after highway robbery

Would it not be the worst purchase ever? I mean, presumably these things will identify themselves when logging in to iCloud, doing a software update etc - and then get locked. Or do they have to have been signed in initially for this functionality to activate?

Apple Arm Macs ship, don't expect all open-source apps to work without emulation – here's what you need to know

Re: I'm going to be called a Fanboi but...

Simple. They don’t have any expertise in CPU design. Apple’s been dabbling in this pool since the days of PowerPC, and it’s been getting really good at it since the iPhone 4 was launched.

In fact, Microsoft doesn’t have much experience at hardware design full stop (their electronics aren’t in-house, I think, being based on reference designs from Intel and Qualcomm), and Apple has been doing this since day one.

Re: This...

Thumbs up for a well made point.

I hope that you’re wrong - because this is the huge difference that separates macOS from iOS. That said, I do like good fit and finish. So I’m going to stick with Apple for a while longer - and I’ll desert the ship when the garden wall gets so big that I can’t jump over it any more.

Whoops. That’s a really good point. I should have thought of that.

My initial thought was a bit of a grumble. It won’t run Linux, I thought (I can accept that it won’t run Windows - and I don’t really care. Windows isn’t part of my general use-case, and I’m prepared to bet that it isn’t part of the use-case for 99.5% of Mac users). But then, I thought, most users won’t care if it can’t run Linux either - and, to be honest, the only OSs installed on any of my Macs are OSs from Cupertino. I have other computers dedicated to Linux or Windows.

This isn’t exactly a new situation, or thinking different either. This is a return to the way things were - albeit with one major improvement. In the 70s, 80s and even to a certain extent the 90s, a significant percentage of the computers that you could buy were like this. If it had an Acorn, Apple, Commodore or Atari badge (i.e. the big players that we all remember and love) then it would run the OS that its manufacturer wrote for it, and no other. Well, no other unless you were prepared for significant jiggery-pokery.

The major improvement, of course, is that in those days the CPU was still an off-the-shelf part, and the OS and CPU were not designed one for the other. Silicon is just as much designed for macOS as macOS is for Silicon - that phenomenal speed is not magic. It’s synergy. Perhaps that synergy, more than anything else, is the significant breakthrough here.

I don’t think that there’s any need to worry about software support. Even if most of the software doesn’t get recompiled, and remains running in Rosetta, these new Macs are still up there with the best that Intel has to offer for general computing purposes. But that’s not going to happen - there’ll be plenty of support, and quickly. Apple has made the transition about as easy as it could possibly be. And, of course, if you don’t need mind-boggling speed but you do care about being able to run whatever OS you choose then this may not be the computer for you - but, luckily, AMD are making some tasty and quick CPUs that will be right up your street.

Would I buy one though? No. This Intel-slayingly quick processor is Apple’s ‘budget’ model. This is the low end - and a first attempt at that (historically, of course, first stabs are always compromised - Apple's, perhaps, more than anyones). I want to see what they can do with the high end. When the high end models launch, I’ll open my wallet.

KDE maintainers speak on why it is worth looking beyond GNOME

The "Problem" with Linux

The "Problem" with Linux isn't in the core OS. It's in the GUI - and most Linux GUIs look rather rough, at least when compared to the polished shininess of macOS and even Windows.

KDE is part of the solution, at least to my aesthetic sensibilities. Other than a ropey looking default mouse pointer (which looks like its been fondled too long in the bath), KDE looks as if care and attention has been lavished on making it look nice and slick. It is the OS equivalent of JetBrains tools (which also look like they've been built carefully, and with considerable thought put into the design - dodgy ligatures aside, their equivalent of the KDE pointer!).

Gnome and the Linux distros which use it (even the supposedly 'beautiful' ones like PopOS) always even up looking a bit. Well. Cheap. You know - scratchy plastic and wobbly fascias. I can't quite put my finger on it, but the overall effect is 'Urgh. No'.

KDE's biggest problem is that, at some point, you will need to install software designed for Gnome, and then you're bringing the 'Urgh, No' into your beautiful KDE home. Software like Gimp. Software like Libre Office.

Linux's greatest strength is that it's developed by an army of talented developers. Its biggest weakness is a lack of overall design sensibility and consistency.

The revolution will not be televised because my television has been radicalised

Re: Use a Raspberry Pi.

Exactly this. But also, I don’t trust the IoT providers to keep their stuff updated for as long as I want to keep using it. So I buy dumb, wherever possible, and I don’t let anything connect that isn’t a computer with an OS from a vendor who can be trusted to update over an extended period.

Election security fears doused with reality: Top officials say Nov 3 'was the most secure in American history.' The end

Re: Some thoughts on the election

Aww. Are your wittle feewings hurt now that your thin-skinned snowflake in chief has lost? You need to provide solid evidence before you claim that this is some kind of left wing media driven stitch up.

The GOP and its supporters really need to grow a pair (boobs, balls, it’s all the same to me), stop being such a bunch of butt sore loser wimps, take a long hard look at themselves, and decide to act in a morally upstanding manner in the future.

But they won’t. They don’t need morals. They’ve got religion instead.

Whilst I would describe my politics as centre left, I am not a zealot. I don’t vote religiously for a single party - I pick the party which, in my view, has the right policies for the current circumstances. I think that parties should cover a spectrum of opinions - even those which I fundamentally disagree with (like Brexit). There should be rules though, and the number 1 rule should be that a party should be held to account for its actions, and it should not be allowed for it undermine the fabric of the country in which it operates (I.e. act in a treasonous manner)

I’d even go so far as to say that if a political party wants to act in a dictatorial, misogynist, racist, money-grubbing, anti-social manner (as Trumps Republicans do) then this should be allowed - but they have to be honest about their intentions, and make it a manifesto promise that they’ll act like a bunch of dicks if elected.

By making unsubstantiated claims about the validity of the vote, by promoting conspiracy theories such as those espoused by organisations like QAnon, the modern Republican Party is acting in a treasonous manner. It is undermining the very things that make the United States the United States. It is unfit for purpose and, honestly, should be wound up and replaced with a new party which can be trusted to act in an honest and moral manner (whether or not you agree with their policies).

At the moment I feel far from certain that the result of this election will be upheld - the world faces the very real danger that Donald Trump will have a second term, and if he does then the US will have ceased to be even a pretend democracy and will have become an autocractic dictatorship, like Russia, like China, like North Korea.

Anyone who thinks that this is a good idea, who continues to support the Republicans, even in the face of all the evidence against them, should be thoroughly, thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

Mr President? Donald?! Any chance you can actually decide if Oracle can buy us or do we have to leave?

He’s a bell end and a vandal, and his sole raison d’etre is to impoverish others whilst enriching himself (those who have fallen foul of his distain for the poor, those who have lost healthcare, those who haven’t been paid after his six bankruptcies, those whose property prices have tanked after he built another stupid golf course nearby, those whose land has been ruined because of the climate change that he denies, or who have lost their lives to the pandemic that he claims is no worse than flu…). I feel sorry for anyone who works at TikTok who might be impacted by his actions (and this isn’t a comment on the merits of TikTok, which I file under ‘Social Media’ and therefore probably not good overall).

Trumps other failing, of course, is that he’s a colossally stupid f*cknuckle and therefore not actually very good at enriching himself. He’s quite good at appearing rich, but I reckon that he must also be terrified of the loan-sharks who are coming his way (probably with vials of novichok and armfuls of kompromat). Like Captain Hook, who feared alarm-clocks, Trump fears the Jaws theme-tune. It reminds him that there is a knock on the door coming, and a wide toothed grin.

It’s quite astonishing that he found even one person dim enough to vote for him, let alone nearly half the electorate.

Apple now Arm'd to the teeth: MacBook Air and Pro, Mac mini to be powered by custom M1 chips rather than Intel

Just this week I’ve done actual computing tasks (form factor irrelevant) including sending email, browsing the internet, writing code, compiling code, headbutting the keyboard over some obvious error, reading RSS feeds, doing the accounts in a spreadsheet, cursing loudly, and turning off wifi in the middle of a Zoom call to simulate failure*.

All of these are real tasks. Few of us are aeroplane designers. I doubt that there are even many people who pretend to be aeroplane designers.

* Not actually this one - I only just thought of it. But I think I might install the Network Link Conditioner test software to spinelessly cause my call to drop when I get bored of it. Good idea, no?

With less than two months left, let's check in on Brexit: All IT systems are up and running and ready to go, says no one

Re: Aimless Anglos

A minor point, but 'bloc' has nothing to do with the Soviet Union, although it was frequently used in the term 'Soviet Bloc' to refer to Warsaw Pact countries.

The OED defines 'bloc' as a group of countries or political parties with common interests who have formed an alliance, and notes that it's an early 20th century coinage from the French word.

Re: Aimless Anglos

It really takes a snowflake level of exceptionalist attitude (the UK is so unique, and better than every other country) to think that the UK, with it’s paltry share of global GDP, is anything more than a bug to be squashed by other countries. Empire 2.0? What are these clowns thinking?

Wake up! (I know that being ‘woke’ is a dirty word - but it’s preferable to being asleep, and not paying attention to what’s going on) You can wait until the end of time, reassuring yourself that the benefits are just around the corner, but they aren’t. Brexit has no upside. It’s just a disaster from here on out.

Re: Aimless Anglos

By accident or canny negotiation, we carried more weight in the EU than perhaps we should have done. We had a veto, and a lot of the EU regulation was, at the very least, heavily influenced by and leaning in favour of the UK. Key EU functions, including centres for finance, were based in the UK. We won’t ever acheive that level of trust and influence again, not even if we were able to arrange to rejoin the EU soon, writing off Brexit as the disaster that it is.

How can this ever work out well? Ultimately, we will be beholden to whatever happens in the US (since the US is the worlds second largest economic bloc (16.3% world GDP), behind China (16.4% world GDP), and we aren’t likely to want to upset our relationship with the US (with associated defence implications) in order to increase our standing with China). The third largest, and only just, is the EU (16% world GDP). We’re busy screwing our relationship with the EU - an agreement which should have been the easiest to reach given our already close ties, and why would anyone want to prioritise the UK (2.5% world GDP) over the major players? This is (as was predicted by anyone not mad with jingoism and blind optimism) a bloody disaster, and we are seeing the last of the influence and power that we had in the world go down the drain.

So. To the US. The special relationship. If Trump wins the election then the special relationship will remain insofar as Trump will pay lip service to it, whilst taking every advantage of the UKs desperation. We will be the battered bride to his abusive husband. Bend over UK, ‘cos America’s feeling horny and it’s spankin’ time.

If Biden wins, and pray to whichever deity you believe / don’t believe in that he does (because the world really is f*cked if we continue down the far right road to ruin), then the special relationship is likely done. After all, what advantage is there in it for America? The UK was a conveniently English speaking bridge-head into Europe. We’ve blown up the bridge so, honestly, we have no purpose in the world any more.

Whether the IT systems are up and running or not is significant, of course, but it’s only a paragraph in a larger tome of disappointment and lunacy.

Third event in 3 months, Apple. There better be some Arm-powered Macs this time

Re: To the Trash Can !

Send them back. But they don’t take up much space - and I’m sure any developer with one would be delighted to be told to keep it.

I’m hoping for an Arm MacBook Air, and I’d love to have an Arm Mac Pro (still with PCIe slots, natch, and thunderbolt). I’m also hoping that the price won’t be more exorbitant than usual.

Trump administration proposes H-1B visas go to highest-paid workers first

Re: @TheMeerkat

Firstly, what do you mean by 'The Economy'? GDP per Capita? Look at the numbers - the growth has been broadly steady for decades - he can't take credit for that. Sure, it's dropped in the last year - we can't blame him for that either. https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=us+gdp+per+capita

As for calming tensions with Russia, I think you mean 'failing to stand up to Russia for meddling in American affairs, whilst kissing the arse of a dictator'. Yeah, that's really a president to be proud of. And whilst I wouldn't want him to be a war-monger, it would be quite nice if he could show some forthright leadership, as opposed to being utterly lacking in moral fibre and sucking up to a man who should really not be seen as a role model for leadership. With Trump in charge, the cold war would never have been won. Verdict? Incompetent.

In fact, according to the IAEA, Iran did not breach the agreement in any meaningful way (https://www.theweek.co.uk/checked-out/89237/trump-vs-tehran-the-truth-about-the-iran-nuclear-deal) - but if they weren't then then they almost certainly are now. After all, what do they have to lose? So what did Trump do to improve safety in the region? Verdict? Incompetent.

As for the peace agreement between Israel and Saudi, have you noticed that these are the countries who are easiest to bring to terms, and for whom it matters least? Both are wealthy countries who have little to gain and much to lose if they go to war with each other again - so why not formalise the stalemate? The real trick is to find a peaceful settlement for Palestine - and Trump has not only failed to do that but, in fact, made the situation a whole lot worse. Verdict? Incompetent.

Re: @TheMeerkat

In the first instance, I don't need to try and substantiate. I need to try to substantiate.

In the second instance, do I? Why? Haven't you been paying attention? And if I do provide citations of his criminality and incompetence (which are all over the reputable news sites of the internet - The Atlantic, New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, The BBC, The Independent, Reuters, Time, The Financial Times etc) would you read it anyway? No. Of course you wouldn't, because it wouldn't fit with the 'facts' as you imagine them to be.

It's easy enough for you to get real information. You don't need me to spoon feed you. So why waste my time when you aren't interested in getting better informed anyway?

Re: @TheMeerkat

"achieved what Obama and the democrats considered magical"

This is true. He got elected to office with fewer votes than his rival. That's some serious numbers sorcery right there. And he had more people at his inauguration, although fewer were could be seen in the photographs and video, presumably because he kitted them out with invisibility cloaks. He's managed to make nearly half of the people in the US support him, despite all the evidence that he's incapable of doing the job. Yes, that's some pretty powerful magic. Mind control at the very least. Brain washing even.

The problem is that it isn’t hatred that makes me hope that he gets booted out. It’s critical thinking. He has acted in a demonstrably criminal manner throughout his adult life, and in a manner that most people would consider unacceptable if in any other person even before that. In fact, I actually feel sorry for him - this is a man who was deeply abused as a child (and yes, I think that not being shown love by ones parents does count as abuse), and has now been put in a position of power which is far beyond his intellectual and moral abilities.

True, I am not a supporter of the right wing of politics, but there are plenty of right wing politicians who are clearly trying to act in the best interests of their country according to their political belief systems. Country before Party, Party before Self is the way that it should be - Trump has turned that on itself. And if I’ve said anything so far that you disagree with then you are either misinformed, or blinded by loyalty to a deeply corrupt individual.

And if you’ve ever wondered how the corrupt and authoritarian states of the past rose to power, those demons of history, like the Nazi party in Germany, like Fascists of Spain and Italy, like the Communist parties of Russia and China (or even Putin today), then take a long hard look at what the Republican party is doing in American. Seizing control of Judiciary (rather than ensuring an equitable balance), threatening to undermine the election, deploying unidentifiable police in unmarked cars (i.e. a secret police) to deal with protestors - if this was being done by a left wing party you would, quite rightly, be up in arms. But because you think he’s your guy, you’re quiet and even supportive of these abhorrent actions. News, I’m afraid. He isn’t your guy. He’s his guy. And if you ever get in his way, don’t be foolish enough to think that you’ll be treated fairly.

The United States deserves better. The world deserves better.

Ho hum: If you're so artificially intelligent, name this song while my videos go viral

Re: Near to get rid of the FnM earworm?

Aah, aah, aah, aah - I know this one. Tip o’ me tongue.

Yup - that’s going around my head as well. I might have to play some Mr Bungle to get rid of that earworm.

NHS awards £500m everything-and-the-kitchen-sink framework to a long list of resellers

Salami slicing of the NHS goes on. Chop, chop, chop until nothing is left.