Posts by anothercynic

Re: Spin class ...

Hidalgo is taking a leaf from the book of Brexit and using the non-binding referendum to push through the referendum result (kudos to her). :-)

That said, I like the fact that in several UK cities, those e-scooters in use (mostly Voi and Lime) are forced to use specific parking zones (which is a good thing), whereas in other European countries, you often can park up anywhere you like.

Re: Spin class ...

Tell the Parisians... they don't. :-)

Re: In a word...

Correct. Many Russian citizens who disagree with the war (and of course those who still claim to believe it's a 'special operation' and that there's nothing wrong with that) are collateral damage. Those who don't understand how sanctions work should try and live in a country under economic sanctions some time. They'll quickly understand that they as individual don't feature anywhere... they are lumped in with the baddies (whether they be military, religious or political). Namibia in the eighties and nineties was effectively also under sanctions when they were rolled out against South Africa. Did Namibia deserve those sanctions? That's debatable (although given that they were effectively a vassal state, probably).

And the blacks in South Africa and Namibia who had no part at all in the decision making processes that led to sanctions being imposed still got to sit down at home and take it because they were, like you point out, @Plest, collateral damage. And those South Africans who encouraged sanctions from their homes in London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow and New York knew what they would be condemning their countrymen to, but for them it was an inconvenience to endure if it meant that it hurt the white Apartheid 'colonialists' that those sanctions were meant to target more.

Those Russians who disagreed with Russia's politics and its war with Ukraine left the country as quickly as they could. Of course, many others didn't because it wasn't simply a case of packing your laptop, a suitcase and hopping on the next plane to Istanbul, Dubai or Belgrade from where they could fly on to the rest of the world, because they had families or other obligations to take care of. And, of course, many of those who agree with Putin but who knew that their rather flashy lifestyle was about to be severely curtailed, made the same moves (mostly to the UAE because the emirates there like to play the fence both ways). And the oligarchs, well... their complicated webs of financial trusts and shell companies and intermediaries currently still shield them from much of the damage... unless they happen to live in the EU, Switzerland, the UK, or the US, where their identifiable assets are frozen or seized.

There was only an effort to prosecute Nazis if it didn't advance your own country, that is.

Russia, the US and the UK all raided institutes, research facilities, storage bunkers and the like to try and lay claim on as much as possible and deprive 'the others' of the knowledge/stuff they laid their hands on. The UK and the US both did this to each other too... and we all know that Wernher von Braun and his colleagues from Peenemünde ended up in the US, whereas they probably should have been prosecuted for war crimes and jailed.

But there we are. What happened in (and after) WW2 is vastly different to what has happened in recent years. People have less of an inclination to... nudge-nudge-wink-wink at war crimes and let it slide, especially when this happens in Europe, which should have been way past the point where wars happen on the continent (says the one who conveniently glosses over the fact that the Balkan war happened in the nineties, the Chechen war happened in the early years of the millennium, and the first Ukrainian invasion and the Moldovan and Georgian incursions happened a decade ago).

So yes, all countries are as bad as each other with this crap.

Re: Re:SVB had about $209 billion in assets

"wasted" is a broad word... If you spent it on goods (which was ultimately what stimulus cheques were for), you poured that money back into the economy. It helped others along the chain to a degree (businesses stayed in business, their staff continued to be paid, etc.). But ultimately that money ended up in the savings/401K/assets of someone else, not yours. I guess if that's what you mean by "wasted", then you're right.

Re: Lead time..

Well, unlike Chernobyl, Calder Hall was actually built to a design that was (compared to Chernobyl) stable...

Re: Nice

Heh, well... if someone registers you at the front gate you probably will be fine. It's no longer all guns and stern lads in uniform anymore :-D

Re: Nice

I hate to tell you but the chances of RAL letting you into their library is slim to none. But, if you happen to have £60 lying around, you can buy your own copy of it at Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Harwell-Revealed-Nicholas-Hance-MBE/dp/0955305500/. Be advised - it's a tome; it could be considered a cultural weapon and a danger to small animals and humans, should you drop it on them.

Re: Nice

The UK has a terrible record in managing major infrastructure projects. Political interference is a given on them instead of going ahead and getting them done. HS2 is the most recent of major infrastructure projects suffering from said major infrastructure malaise.

Re: Lead time..

Calder Hall was built quickly because it was the prime breeder reactor for the bomb materials that the UK wanted. The fact it generated electricity was the cover for its real purpose. So it was inevitable that the military and non-military purposes were intertwined. Also, Calder Hall informed builders of later nuclear power stations of what worked or what worked better, and what didn't. First versions of any specific thing usually suffer from not being quite up to standard.

As for the CND, yes, they must bear responsibility for a variety of things (including the opposition to nuclear power in various countries, where local opposition took inspiration from the CND), although strict nuclear safety standards are a good thing (if infuriating and annoying to those required to comply with them).

Re: Nice

Ouch. I think the STFC, the Rosalind Franklin, and Diamond would disagree with you. They do nuclear, but not nuclear in the way we know (particle physics vs energy physics).

But yes, the history of Harwell is virtually unknown. The RAL library has a copy or two of the book written about Harwell, and it was a fascinating read. The government handed marketing Harwell over to a private business park developer/marketer and that didn't work out too well because they were eventually relieved of their duties and the work taken in-house (a partnership between STFC and another private business park bunch). It's gotten better, but yeah, the history should be highlighted *A LOT* more.

And yeah, Culham is a sad shadow of what it was...

Re: firing or layoff?

They're being laid off. Made redundant. The terms are generous by UK standards (just under 4 months' salary plus a week for each year you've been with Atlassian). You're usually lucky if you get more than a month + statutory...

Re: Which is why we need encrypted DNS

NordVPN plus a coupla others... Screw you, Texas!

If the contract is specific to NHS England, then you have a point, but the NHS exists in Scotland and Wales too. Northern Ireland has an NHS-like body but it's not called the NHS. There it's called HSCNI.

Keep in mind that politicians (especially those who spaff out sound bites such as this one) don't particularly care for/know about these subtle distinctions either.

Re: "TikTok was singled out"

China is gaining that influence in Africa, that big continent that the US and most of Europe tend to ignore... And Russia is not far behind there either, especially after they started the Ukraine war and got shut out of most of the West. All those countries that abstain from UN votes when it comes to Russia have either had, or are getting, visits from the Russian Foreign Minister, and often also have major deals with China. Some of them have even scheduled military manoeuvres with Russia and China (yes, South Africa and India, I'm looking at you!).

The West ignores what those African countries (and some of the Latin American and South Asian ones) do at their peril... I will say however that there is plenty of disquiet in those countries about that very same cozying up to China and Russia because of the obvious implications. People in Africa are not stupid, they do know what it means when you align yourself with the wrong people, and they do know that you sometimes have to hold your nose and do it for the greater good of your country...

Re: "TikTok was singled out"

That depends. Twitter, Mastodon and Facebook are used by EU departments to do PR with.

TikTok however is a whole different ballgame, as is Instagram. But I guess in the EU's eyes, the US is less of an authoritarian threat than China is, especially given China is using things like TikTok to adjust your 'social currency' or whatever it's called. I think the point of blocking it on personal devices "on which business apps are also used" (I paraphrase) is to avoid any 'accidental' data leakage of corporate stuff of a sensitive nature. You shouldn't be using your personal devices to conduct official EU business, i.e. checking your EU official email etc, anyway!

Our organisation has a rule that even if you just connect to your email on your personal mobile phone, it then needs to be managed by our IT department (so that it can be erased, should you lose it). That alone is enough of a reason (nevermind the fact that I categorically refuse to for my own good) not to do company business on a personal device. That's why you are issued a managed device (mobile or whatever).

Re: Hanlon's other razor

It's also happened to a pub in London. Had to be rebuilt perfectly.

Good old HMRC - Let's make things even more complicated... and let's tax everyone and their dog even if they just sell something they've already been taxed on (I refer specifically to those flogging some stuff on FleaBay that they don't want anymore)... No wonder everyone and their dog now use Facebook Marketplace (because eBay actually report stuff to HMRC).

That said, the relationship between personal tax allowance and trading (as a side hustle) is not particularly made clear to people by the platforms either, it should at the very least be part of the ongoing comms process for those who earn most of their money off those, erm, visual platforms.