Posts by Steve Button

Re: It's ok, there are non car options..

They used to do quite well in the UK and USA too... but the car companies bought them all out and deliberately ran them into the ground. I think. Or was that a conspiracy theory? Hard to remember which ones are real.

Re: Mind you...

You should watch "Severance" and "Silo" on Apple TV (other sources of TV series may be available which aren't behind a paywall).

Put your facemask back on and stop complaining.

You sound like you've been listening to the Hallett Inquiry.

Re: It's ok, there are non car options..

Well that would suck. I'm sitting in half of it right now. Is it just the cheap Chinese ones which go up in flames, or would a Raleigh (more expensive Chinese one?) be just as easily combustible.

Actually, the battery stays in the house most nights so the garage will probably be fine. :-D

Re: And then there's Insurance

Interesting. I'm not so worried about top speed, unless I take it on the track I guess. I think you'd get 12 points for doing 150mph. ;-)

Re: And then there's Insurance

Thanks. I hadn't thought about the Fiat 124 Spider, although I have seen them around.

Currently have a Honda Prelude 1997 sitting in the drive, but it will only run for 30 seconds (which is 30s more than last week), which is more of a "project" than a mid-life-crisis. Will not be doing long trips in that, but might take it on the track.

Re: Not Just Charging Issues, Transport Infrastructure Too

That's why we pay double for fuel in Europe compared to what you pay. Any party that tried that over there would get voted out PDQ. But it does seem like a fairer system. (depending on what the tax revenues get used for)

Re: It's ok, there are non car options..

My wife recently got one. she has a bad knee, and the normal bike was getting too much. It stays on eco mode most of the time.

She loves it. It's great. It stays locked in the garage at night. We have a decent (ish) cycling infrastructure around here, so mostly off road. Around Christmas time it's the *only* way to get into town, unless you want to sit in traffic for ages and then fight for a space.

What's not to like?

Re: Mind you...

I knew you were going to say that.

Re: It's ok, there are non car options..

What!? You can't just stamp your feet and demand something, and mummy and daddy will sort it out for you?

Re: And then there's Insurance

That's the main reason I was thinking of getting one (until I looked into it a bit more, and the price of electricity went through the roof). They are fast. Mid-life crisis and all that. However, I'm thinking of getting something much older and petrol and much more fun for burning around, and just pay the extra VED. Mx5? MR2? SLK? 325? Any other suggestions?

Re: Not Just Charging Issues, Transport Infrastructure Too

I think if you charged them VED, then there'd be even less reason for many people to get them.

They *are* the right solution for some people, and probably work out cheaper in the long run if you have everything lining up - shortish journeys - solar panels - your own driveway - you can afford a new one. Although with insurance costs going up specifically for battery powered cars, that's also a worry.

Re: No shit

"Why are we piling everything on top of it?"

Because Bill Gates* and other clowns say it's the solution to climate change. It's not, because there are astronomically high costs associated with the infrastructure. And of course where are we going to get all this power from anyway? But useful idiots will say "if you build it, they will come" or some such.

* It's the main premise of his book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, which I've read. Electrify everything. He also thinks we should all fly less (but not him) and stop eating meat (but not him). Seriously. It actually says that. It's almost like The Hunger Games, they are mocking us.

Does THIS count as social media?

Re: A cash grab and an attempt to enforce government control of the net.

It's a false equivalence. News programmes do try to draw you in, but it's not even in the same ballpark. Instagram, et al. have their algorithms finely tuned to keep you scrolling for hours and show you personally what they think will keep you on the site. The news is broadcast (same for everyone) and is just not the same. You've got the ones "doing it in abundance" the wrong way round.

Not that I don't have my problems with the BBC, but the pattern is currently people are tuning OUT of the BBC and broadcast TV and are switching ON to FB / Insta / TikTok / YouTube / etc.

Re: Homeopathy or Supplements

Like I said, not particularly wedded to Ivermectin. If I did ever decide to seek it out, I'd do a little bit more reading about it beforehand. And ask a doctor or two.

I just don't put it in the same bin as homeopathy and bee stings.

Re: Homeopathy or Supplements

That's John C. Dvorak and Adam Curry, right?

I used to like Dvorak or This Week in Tech. I did try an episode of No Agenda a couple of years back, but struggled to follow what they were going on about.

I do feel like I want to be somewhere that I'm among friends (and El Reg forums is very much not that place, when it comes to my "controversial" views, which I don't really understand)

OTOH, I like to be challenged and I don't want to just live in my own little echo chamber.

I'll give it another try. :)

Re: Hmm

I think if I was in your position I'd feel the same. However, I'm in my 50s, I go to the gym 3 or 4 times a week + yoga and cycling. I don't have diabetes and I'm pretty slim. However, I do have autoimmune issues which could be exacerbated by mRNA vaccines. So, on balance I think I'll be avoiding them. Because for *me personally* I don't think it's worth the risk. If it stopped me spreading it, that might change the calculation as I'd be protecting others. But it doesn't.

It doesn't make me an anti-vaxxer, but for these particular ones I'll pass (and the 'flu). Is that so bad?

Of course I can't point to peer reviewed studies that show the negative side-effects of HPV vaccines. Who's going to fund that?

Re: Homeopathy or Supplements

It's hardly a take-down, is it?

Basically, you don't agree with some of my opinions, or beliefs. That doesn't make me "delusional". It just means I have different opinions.

I don't see how using the word "probably" makes be delusional. I just feel that on the balance of probability, looking at the facts we've been given it seems more likely that not likely.

How does that in any way mean you can just pin the word "Delusion" on the end?

"Significant" is very much NOT a weasel word. It has a very specific meaning. You want some weasel words? "Most people who have studied the subject say that masks do make a difference in some situations". Cochrane disagrees, and they are still considered the best scientific review we have available.

Re: Homeopathy or Supplements

Look, we could argue about these things until the cows come home. We could start throwing studies at each other to prove our opinions. (please, don't)

At the end of the day, they are just opinions from non-experts on a stupid tech forum. Nothing more.

How come my opinion is "delusional" but your counter opinion is "allowed" ?

Re: Hmm

Are you a real doctor?

It seems like a pretty easy trade off. You can reduce the risk of going to hospital with a bad cold, or you could accept the very small risk of getting heart problems, blood clots, Guillaine Barre syndrome or turbo cancer. I guess you are one of the 2% who is going for the latter?

Re: Hmm

Pfizer made a shed load of money out of these jabs. Moderna made ALL of their money from them.

I think you mean intubate, not incubate? And that killed lots of people. Hardly a good look, which is why they stopped doing it.

It's not really about science, it's about the money.

Re: Hmm

Firstly, there's no need to be rude.

I can tell you a similar story from about 15 years ago. My wife had a severe bladder infection, and went to the doctor. The doctor put her on a course of strong antibiotics and said "Well you won't clear that one up with cranberry juice". Instead of believing the doctor, it reminded her about cranberry juice. On the way home she stopped by the supermarket and picked up a couple of cartons of cranberry juice. The antibiotics were put into a cupboard. By the next day the pain had gone. After a couple of days the infection had completely cleared up. Of course the antibiotics stayed as a backup, and if things had not cleared up very quickly they would have been taken.

Basically you are saying always listen to the experts, they know best. It's not always the case.

I don't have the time to put in 10,000 hours on every single subject before I can have an opinion on that subject. But it's just the opinion of a software engineer on The Reg forums, it should not hold that much weight. About the same as something you might over hear at the coffee machine in the office. I'm not on a bloody medical conference giving talks, just arrogantly spouting my opinion. Take it or leave it.

Lighten up.

Re: Homeopathy or Supplements

Honestly, I was just objecting to lumping Ivermectin in with bee stings and homeopathy. From what I've heard it's not that harsh, but I really don't know.

And yes, I meant "mild" rather than "little"

I don't think there's actually much of a conspiracy against Ivermectin. It's just an off label drug, and it's pretty clear that most doctors aren't going to risk prescribing it without clear benefit. I do think the amount of money involved might cloud the waters, and it's just POSSIBLE that Pfizer twisted as many arms as they possibly could to make sure that there were no readily available treatments, so they could get emergency use authorization for the vaccine. Just possible though. I wouldn't rule it out.

There are doctors who advocate its use, and they get a very very hard time. The pharma companies AREN'T able to keep "each and every one of them quiet".

There are also doctors who try to warn us about the negative side-effects of the Covid vaccines, and they are also getting a very very hard time.

It's not too hard to imagine that most doctors choose to keep their heads down. Almost all of them in fact.

I guess we'll know more in time (decades), and this will either turn out to be the next Tabacco Industry conspiracy (but worse) or perhaps nothing at all. I'm open to either possibility, but there's a LOT of money at stake, so I would not be surprised if Big Pharma are up to no good (again)

Re: Homeopathy or Supplements

Felt a bit ill, took Lemsip, felt a bit better. What's so hard to understand?

RE: Ivermectin, I'm not particularly wedded to it and as I said I didn't take it or seek it out. I do think it's possible that people who benefit from working with certain companies can also benefit by writing studies that help those companies to sell more of their product. So, perhaps the study you quote is flawed. Perhaps not. Hard to know. Also, not hard to understand?

Re: Homeopathy or Supplements

Genuinely surprised that anyone would actually remember my user name. And genuinely curious to know what I've said that is delusional? I can't say I remember anyone's username on here.

I can lay my cards on the table and say the (slightly controversial) things that I've come to believe since 2020 :-

Lockdowns were a terrible idea.

Masks don't work to significantly reduce the spread of respiratory viruses.

Covid probably came from an accidental lab leak.

Covid vaccines are nowhere near as safe or effective as we were led to believe.

Net Zero is a terrible idea. Even if the whole of europe ceased to exist tomorrow, our emissions would get swallowed up by China.

Religion is stupid (OK that one goes back well beyond 2020)

I don't go in for homeopathy, chem trails and I'm not a Trump supporter (or a Biden supporter). Although I don't disagree with everything he says. He was right about Germany being dependant on Russian gas for instance. Wrong about nearly everything else.

Prior to 2020 I probably spent more time on here saying that CLI > GUI, Linux > Windows, Vi > Emacs and spaces > tabs. ;-)

What's so delusional?

Re: Homeopathy or Supplements

Thanks.

Re: Hmm

After taking a couple of shots of Astra Zenica, which I was told were both "safe" and "effective" I now feel I might have been better off taking snake oil. At least I'd have received some Omega-3 fatty acids (perhaps?). It might have even kept me going to the loo regularly? Having a couple of people in my immediate family get minor blood clots, I feel pretty conned. All the stories of people being harmed by the mRNA jabs is pretty scary stuff.

I hardly think I'm alone in this, last I heard around 2% of Americans are taking up the offer of the latest booster. A lot of people seem to feel it's not worth the risk.

So, yeah given the choice I'll take the snake oil which probably won't do me any harm thank-you-very-much.

And let's not talk about HPV, DTP and all the other "safe" vaccines.

I take the approach that if someone is making lots of money from a product, I'm a little more sceptical of the benefits to myself, rather than the benefits to the profit of Pharma companies. Doesn't that seem like a sensible approach? It's why I never bothered with the 'flu vaccine when offered, although I did think about it. Right now, I would need a LOT of convincing (ask me again when I'm 70+)

Likewise why I won't be taking statins, which the docs seem to give out like sweets.

Re: Homeopathy or Supplements

All the stuff you say seems sensible, except about Ivermectin. Don't lump all those things together.

You do realise that Ivermectin has been given billions of times to humans, with very little side effects. The problem with Ivermectin is it's been around for decades and therefore it's cheap. I didn't seek it out myself for Covid, Lemsip was enough. But if I felt particularly ill I'd probably reach for that first instead of Paxlovid (rebound) or Remdesivir (run-death-is-near) which are both much more expensive.

I'm sure if Pfizer bought out Pfizermectin (basically the same thing, but slightly different) it would suddenly become a "wonder drug" again (yes, it used to be called that).

There's even some recent studies showing promising results against cancer. But you're not a horse, so stop it.

I should have known that mentioning "Big Pharma" would trigger some people. I should put my correct opinion...

Big Banks... bad evil corps.

Big Oil... money grabbing planet killing scumbags.

Big Tech... money grabbing don't care about the mental health of our youngsters (are we allowed to say that one yet?)

Big Arms Manufacturers... just want more war, so they can sell more weapons.

Big Pharma.... Pure altruism. They only have the best interests of humanity at heart, and don't really care about money.

Did I get that right?

Re: Hmm

Prior to 2020 and Covid I had broad trust of western governments and mainstream news. I just wasn't looking closely enough, but now I've seen evidence of some of the lies and corruption it's hard to un-see it. They all seem to have a preferred narrative that they are following, and struggle to see both sides in anything. It's really hard to know the truth of anything, especially in the fog of war. When there's war involved it might be we'll never know. But war is big business for some. And wealthy donors get to sway corruptible politicians.

Pharma is also big business, but people don't seem to like me pointing that out.

Re: Hmm

Stay away from The BBC and The New York Times (and all the rest of them to be honest)

Or at least spread your news consumption across more platforms, including dipping into Al Jazeera and SubStack newsletters + others.

Although none of them seem to be saying "I support neither terrorists or war criminals", they are all on one team or the other.

As for Xitter, it's polarising but with the volume turned up to 11. Stay well away.

Re: El Reg strikes again..

Who do you think is paying for all those wind turbines and solar farms (the subsidies)? And why do you think our energy bills have gone up so much, whereas countries which haven't "invested" in these technologies haven't gone up in the same way. So, they are actually spending the money to implement it already.

We're already paying, but it's small fish compared to what is coming to meet Net Zero.

Re: Capacity

Easy to say, but harder to actually do.

You are talking about retro fitting hundreds of millions of joints. And is that even enough? How much is that all going to cost? And how do they stand up over time? How long would it take to get through that amount of work?

Get it wrong, and you've got lots of houses becoming Hindenbergs. That's quite some risk.

Re: El Reg strikes again..

It's easy to blame BoJo, he's really not well liked. A lot of people hate him with a passion.

OTOH, it was Theresa May who signed us up for legal Net Zero commitments, with little scrutiny. That's going to be one eye-wateringly massive bill that someone is going to have to pick up. Might even top the lockdowns / Furlough as one of the worst single decisions a government has ever made in the history of everything.

Still, the worst thing she ever did was walk through a corn field (oh, and impoverish the whole country for a couple of generations, unless we reverse it)

Re: Capacity

"Maybe we were both wrong but I don't think it was (or is) a bad idea."

I believe it was a bad idea. Hydrogen is really small, and therefore leaks. This means potentially none of the existing infrastructure is suitable.

Not that heat pumps are the answer, unless you've got a very modern well insulated house.

Re: Great stuff, more redundant people to compete against

So, go and run your own company and see if you can do a better job.

They don't owe you a job, it's a free market economy. If things are going bad they have to cut back, or go bust.

I've worked for many companies over the years, and honestly the middle management struggle to be an umbrella and shield the minions from all the shit from above, the upper management usually have literally no clue what's going on at the coal face, and are more concerned these days with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. If a company does well, it's often because the greater market happens to be doing well. What the upper management aren't going to do is to sack themselves. Unless they are Gerald Ratner, or stick their foot in their own mouth in a particularly spectacular fashion.

Deal with it, do the best job you can while you are there, and try to enjoy yourself doing something interesting and getting paid for it if you possibly can. And be thankful that you are lucky enough to have landed on your feet, rather than someone beeping bar codes in Tesco. Work to Live, don't Live to Work.

Re: No surprise

I've been thinking about this for years. It felt like the right thing to do, because I'm a contractor and need to "keep my profile out there", but really I'm not sure it benefits me at all. Also, it's a massive time sink. I found myself getting into long running arguments (usually about Covid measures, and "masks and lockdowns don't work" / "Yes they DO work" / "No they don't" back-and-forth) which I'm sure didn't help to raise my professional profile one little bit.

Also, LinkedIN is a goldmine. Just not a goldmine for me. For recruiters to try to find new companies (not candidates so much) and also for hackers to gain information for Spear Fishing. So, it's a security nightmare.

And because of that I'm no longer on there any more. And I don't miss it. I feel sorry for those engineers who will be out looking for work, but I'm sure they'll find something more interesting and worthwhile.