The Random Thread Of Randomosity
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If you use “incorrect” as your password, the site will tell you your password when you type the wrong one.
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If you use “incorrect” as your password, the site will tell you your password when you type the wrong one.
I used to use the (German equivalent of) the phrase “I have no idea” as a password for my phone provider, you know, the one you used to use when you called them to make changes to your contract or whatever.
Worked like a charm.
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Regarding the chess world, here is Carlsen’s official statement:
So he suspects Niemann…
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With the pandemic, I had some free time and went to all the other social media sites.
I got caught up with the social issues, and although The Carrier does touch on some of them
in Politics, Random and some News, the Carrier isn’t really about that.YouTube has gotten bit and tries to mimic the TikTok Gen Z content. Instagram is… well Instagram.
Never mind Reddit. Facebook to check up on former classmates, workmates, a former school crush,
just to see how they are and what they look like these days, and whether or not they are doing better than you.It does feel creepy though, to look up your name and see someone else with the same name.
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If five = four, six = nine, and seven = five, what does twelve equal?
The solution:
55. The key here is to notice the hidden Roman numerals in each of the clues. Five = four, six is nine, etc. And twelve is 55, since LV = 55.
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An elderly woman in a wheelchair is grocery shopping. She’s in the ice cream section, looking sad.
A large Viking, who is shopping at the same store, sees the woman.
“What’s wrong?!” He asks her, his voice booming.
“Well,” the woman replies, “I have a sweet tooth, and I want to see what flavors are on the top shelf, but I’m in this chair.”
With barely any effort, the Viking picks her up, puts her on his back, so she can shop the top shelf. She mentions she’d like some candy as well, so he carries her over to the candy. After the candy, they head to the pies at the bakery, then a final stop in the cookie aisle.
He returns her to her wheelchair and begins to walk away.
“Kind sir,” the woman shouts as loud as her feeble voice can, “thank you! I never caught your name!”
The Viking just waves and walks away.
The woman checks out, then meets her husband who was waiting outside.
He says, “Where have you been? I’ve been waiting forever!”
She says…
“Well I’ve been through the desserts on a Norse with no name!”
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Random question, but maybe better for the games thread – with all the various turn-based card and strategy combat videogames out there, is there a version of chess where every move also has a combat or chance mechanic where the pieces have to fight it out before they can be taken?
For example, let’s say a Knight wants to take a Pawn. In a normal chess game, the Knight just takes the pawn (or the pawn takes the knight in some cases) – no fuss, no muss.
However, in this version of chess – call it Melee Chess or Kriegspiel Plus or something – each piece has the usual hit points, health, etc. so that every encounter between two pieces involves a melee session to determine the outcome.
So a pawn still would likely not beat a knight, BUT it would damage a knight so its effectiveness would be lessened in its next encounter thus changing the strategies the players would need to use later in the games. Even a Queen which would start out with an overwhelming advantage could be whittled down by the end to the point a Pawn might actually have a better than 50% chance of taking it down.
This is a list of chess variants, fantasy chess is a bit like what you describe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chess_variants
edit: I found a site for kung fu chess, that shit is crazy.
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The fifth book in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “John Carter” series is called CHESSMEN OF MARS and features a game similar to chess, but played using living beings instead of game pieces; and when two “pieces” land on the same square, they physically battle until one player is defeated either by being killed or by being forced off the square.
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The fifth book in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “John Carter” series is called CHESSMEN OF MARS and features a game similar to chess, but played using living beings instead of game pieces; and when two “pieces” land on the same square, they physically battle until one player is defeated either by being killed or by being forced off the square.
Now that is a committed chess player. I don’t see Carlson or Hikaru whipping out the net and trident in their games!
Were they prisoners or slaves forced to fight or was it like a tournament with a big prize for the winners? I mean, if it was a case of nonconsensual chess, I could see all sorts of problems. If I was one of the prisoners or slaves, I’d get together before the game and say:
“Okay, okay, listen up, he’s how we do this. We take a couple swings at each other, then one of us will (finger qoutes) ‘accidentally’ (finger quotes) step out of the square. Maybe we land a couple blows to sell it and make it believable. We could get a few cuts or a broken bone – I mean, these jerk-offs that own us are here to see some blood, all right? I get that. Doesn’t mean we have to kill each other for the assholes.”
Then John Carter shows up and here’s a guy that can take out a white ape with his bare hands. He just goes through the rest of them like a bowling ball. This fukkin guy!
From experience, I have to say nonconsensual chess is the worst!
How did the Martians even know about chess?
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I vote no. But my general motto is that if you don’t know what to do, do nothing.
Honestly, though, your decision. I’d just say look at what you want – and then ask “how would Instagram contribute to my goal?”
There are reasons. If you are looking to promote something into social media – sure, you could consider it. Whether business or for some personal satisfaction. However, who can you reach that you can’t already reach with your current internet-based presence?
On the other hand, it is another demand on your time to add yet another platform that is already oversaturated and ubiquitous.
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As I’ve said before, a big part of having an enjoyable and fun experience with social media is “training” the algorithms.
If you are selective with what you like and who you follow, the system will give you more of that. It takes some time but it does take a lot of the negativity out of it. Right now, my Instagram feed is filled with silly memes, cute animals, comedians, nature and science, and Transformers. I have fun when I go on. Instead of doom scrolling, I’m joy scrolling.
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Right now, my Instagram feed is filled with silly memes, cute animals, comedians, nature and science, and Transformers. I have fun when I go on. Instead of doom scrolling, I’m joy scrolling.
Yeah, if you want to use the computer to pretend to have a life, Todd knows all the tricks. He’s the master.
Kneel before Todd!
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Right now, my Instagram feed is filled with silly memes, cute animals, comedians, nature and science, and Transformers. I have fun when I go on. Instead of doom scrolling, I’m joy scrolling.
Yeah, if you want to use the computer to pretend to have a life, Todd knows all the tricks. He’s the master.
Kneel before Todd!
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Regarding the chess world, here is Carlsen’s official statement:
So he suspects Niemann…
—————————–
With the pandemic, I had some free time and went to all the other social media sites.
I got caught up with the social issues, and although The Carrier does touch on some of them
in Politics, Random and some News, the Carrier isn’t really about that.YouTube has gotten bit and tries to mimic the TikTok Gen Z content. Instagram is… well Instagram.
Never mind Reddit. Facebook to check up on former classmates, workmates, a former school crush,
just to see how they are and what they look like these days, and whether or not they are doing better than you.It does feel creepy though, to look up your name and see someone else with the same name.
Speaking of metal balls up asses:
Anglers caught cheating in Cleveland fishing tournament with lead weights, fish fillets
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Two anglers were caught cheating in a Cleveland fishing tournament by adding lead weights and fish filets that appeared to be previously prepared to increase the weight of the fish during a competition on Friday.
The cheaters added around eight pounds of total weight to the five fish they caught during the Sept. 30 event on Lake Erie, according to Jason Fischer of the Lake Erie Walleye Trail.
Fischer, the tournament’s organizer, told 19 News the fish ‘looked smaller’ than what they weighed. This prompted the fish to be checked for any signs of cheating.
Fischer told 19 News any angler that alters the weight of any caught fish is immediately disqualified from the tournament.
Fischer said multiple other anglers called local police departments and the Cleveland Metroparks after the discovery.
Watch as it goes down:
Serious Controversy in Pro fishing tournament as multiple-time winners caught stuffing lead weights and other fish filets in their fish to have the heaviest catch to win hundreds of thousands in prizes. pic.twitter.com/Sxqeo2XC0K
— Billy (@Billyhottakes) October 1, 2022
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I didn’t know what to say when thieves broke into my house and stole all my fruit yesterday.
I was literally peachless.
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I didn’t know what to say when thieves broke into my house and stole all my fruit yesterday.
I was literally peachless.
Thieves broke into my house as well. They stole a deck of cards.
I don’t know how I’ll deal without them.
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The same thieves broke into the police station and stole all the toilets.
The police say they have nothing to go on.
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The same thieves broke into the police station and stole all the toilets.
The police say they have nothing to go on.
I understand at that same police station, they will select the cell for you to stay in but you can pick your own lock.
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Christ, you people should all be locked up.
Philistine. In the words of Oscar Wilde:
“Dad jokes are the highest form of wit.”
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As some of you might know from the old MW days,
I have always decided on iPhones and recently looked into
the 14 Pro Max. (Not that I would camp out in front of a
store in a huge line until midnight. Those days are apparently
gone.)Anyway, Steve Job’s own daughter Eve, advised not getting the
new one as it wouldn’t be that much of an upgrade given the cost.
(I saw the “Dynamic Island” new feature. It looks pretty cool.)Tim Cook took over a long time ago, but I have to say all these
devices like the phone, watch, and even any computer are for
the most part finite as there is only so much you can improve on.
(Reinvent the wheel?)So I guess since I have 13, I will look into the odd number versions
if they are worth it. 🤣
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Flickr keeps emailing me that I have too many private pics and will jettison
the excess soon unless either I pay to host all the pics private, make them
all public etc.I already got some jettisoned already.
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Jesus Christ, Kanye West has gone full anti-semitic. This is just a sad sight to see.
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I’m sure his apologists will be along shortly to tell us it’s misunderstood genius and really trauma from the death of his mother etc etc.
He’s been coddled and excused for the media for far too long that going antisemitic will have little to no consequences for him.
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Possibly, though the tension between African-American communities and Jewish-Americans has a long history and it has never really died down. The Nation of Islam has a strong conspiracy theory ideology against Jews and there are other militant groups equally anti-Semitic like the New Black Panther Party. I do wonder if it has ever really gotten better or if people simply don’t talk about it outside their own groups.
James Baldwin wrote about it in the 60’s (N*****s Are Anti-Semitic Because They’re Anti-White) and was roundly criticized – though this recent essay explains it a little better in context with a present-day perspective: .Blacks and Jews 50 years later
All of which brings us to Baldwin’s true target in “Negroes Are Anti-Semitic.” Unnoticed in the copious commentary on the essay are his profound insights on what scholars today call “racial capitalism.” A heady concept, it explores how capitalism has created, manufactured, and exploited racial identities in ways that enrich some, and immiserate others. In America, the process has been operative from the advent of the slave trade, through the period of Jim Crow and segregation, right up to the present moment.
Baldwin’s maestro stroke was to depersonalize the debate. He reframed passionate Black/Jewish conflicts within the cold economic structures of racial capitalism. The dislike that some Blacks felt towards Jews, he instructed, wasn’t really caused by Jews at all. In a manner reminiscent of, let’s say, the Indian caste system, these secondary human beings were shunted into northeastern cities and ghettos by the dint of their marginality vis a vis white Christians. Sharing these spaces, the duo was stuck in a dismal, interdependent relation of hierarchy.
Latecomers to whiteness, but now white nonetheless, Jews entered this system of exploitation. They too abided by the logic of racial capitalism. This logic, Baldwin alleged, even dictated their well-known philanthropic impulses. The author decried the circulation of “conscience money.” This referred to donations given by Jews to civil rights causes which served the purpose of keeping “the Negro happy in his place, and out of white neighborhoods.”
In Los Angeles, and I’m sure in other cities, there is a similar tension between African American communities and Korean, Chinese, Latino communities. The anti-Semitic and racist conflict between Jews and Blacks has gotten the most press, though.
A couple things to consider – when it does flare up in the news, popular culture or media, we have to recognize that there is always something of the “blacks can be bigots, too” argument in the response and outrage. Similar to the “All Lives Matter” response to the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
Though I don’t support any Marxist solutions, I think the economic class conflict is an important element. African Americans have been in the United States in large numbers almost as long as white Europeans have – though mostly involuntarily. However, communities that came to American in the modern era that were equally despised, like the Irish, Italian, Peurto Rican, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and Vietnamese, have been well integrated along the economic spectrum. From a perspective of historical “grievances”, only Native Americans have had it worse, and even then, Black communities aren’t allowed to open and operate their own billion-dollar gambling casino industry.
Personally, I am swayed by arguments that this is a more nuanced part of the working class and poor struggle in the country. People that have been denied a share in the country’s capital and treated like barely tolerated residents of the country rather than citizens of a nation that are enjoying the full privileges of citizenship.
I do think the actual situation is a lot better than perceived, but that the actual voices of the working and poor people are mostly ignored or mediated by pundits that really don’t understand the lives of the people they claim to represent or for whom they claim to speak. I think construction workers on a site or coals miners working together under tons of earth or itinerants traveling from farm to farm understand each other’s situations no matter their race much better than politicians, public figures, college professors or successful millionaire artists that may share the race of any particular class of workers. The people with platforms may speak to the various racial conflicts and tensions of the nation, but they are unlikely to attack the fundamental systems that support their own privileged situations.
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Anyway, Steve Job’s own daughter Eve, advised not getting the new one as it wouldn’t be that much of an upgrade given the cost. (I saw the “Dynamic Island” new feature. It looks pretty cool.)
There becomes a stage in any cycle of technology where the advances get smaller and smaller until we see some new paradigm or product entirely come in.
If you think about PCs and games consoles and phones when they first come out there’s a massive leap in capability with each release, the original iPhone couldn’t even open 2 apps at the same time. PS1 to PS2 was a massive leap in capability (think of the Final Fantasy games graphics from FFVII to FFX – blocky cartoon characters in real time play to realistic ones) now the PS5 is better but than PS4 but not to the same degree.
They are also being held up by battery technology, they are eking ever smaller gains from Ion/Lithium batteries. Lots of people are working on alternatives that are less volatile and give much more power, when one breaks through on that research you can really push on with the rest of the technology. The issue is now you could ram through faster and better in other areas but drain the battery in 4 hours which’ll render a mobile product pretty useless.
They push a lot of advances through the camera tech now but for most people just taking family snaps, and not pro photography, having 12 lenses on the back doesn’t make a significant difference.
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There becomes a stage in any cycle of technology where the advances get smaller and smaller until we see some new paradigm or product entirely come in.
Yes, I think we won’t see much advancement until the practicality, utility and affordability of AI or something like quantum computing drives new technology. I doubt we’ll get something small enough to fit on a phone, but networks capable of serving all the devices.
What I’m curious about are the lack of DIY personal devices. I think it is too difficult now to build your own smartphone the way you could build your own PC (maybe in China or some Asian production center where the parts are easily acquired and the skills are more broadly practiced), but we should get to the point where patents expire and laws & regs loosen to an extent people could create custom working devices as good as or better than mass produced ones. It would move from the “right to repair” to the “right to produce.”
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I think the DIY thing really hit issues when computer manufacturer shifted to making everything in China via ODM factories (which is still relatively recent, moving almost the entire consumer lines there is less than a decade old). It drove costs down so massively that building your own PC, which used to be a cost saving method, just became a hobby and often cost more than buying ready built.
Also the smaller stuff gets the harder that becomes.
I did see a a few years back a Kickstarter thing where they’d built a phone with mix and match easily switched components, you could unplug the processor or camera section and plug in a better one. It looked pretty nifty but the fact that the major producers have locked that stuff down more and more (many won’t open easily to replace a battery) means it isn’t very profitable for them.
The only hope there I could imagine is similar to the EU directive on electronic waste which is legally forcing everyone onto USB C as a standard because mountains of chargers were being discarded to landfill when they no longer worked on your next model. While that only applies in the EU like their data protection laws it tends to drag everyone along with it because that’s a market of 450m largely wealthy people and setting different standards for every country costs more than it gains.
(Which as an aside is why a lot of the Brexit argument on regulations doesn’t work in practice, it’s not economical for a global company to go and design a different vacuum cleaner with a different voltage for one market. GDPR only applies in the EU but those of us outside are still clicking the ‘I accept cookies’ popup every day.)
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It’s one thing to build a PC on your own but we really don’t use PCs anymore. Laptops are the form of computers we use today. It’s a lot harder to build your own laptop than it is to a desktop. I really don’t see DIY making a comeback.
As to the smartphones and upgrades, more people are holding on to their phones for longer. Upgrading every two years isn’t happening anymore. People are waiting 3-4 years, or even longer, to upgrade. Outside of minor improvements to cameras, processors, and battery life, there is not much difference between generations. To me, lot of the improvements are in the operating system. There is a big annual update with some minor updates throughout the year. There may be some tech improvements but for the most part, they really haven’t been significant for awhile. Smartphones really have plateaued and until there is some major technological breakthrough, I think all we’ll see for some time are incremental improvements.
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Tell me about DIY… I did that some time ago because I could, but now…
There’s something very satisfying about building your own PC and therefore it has value as a hobby.
Otherwise it has no value because they sell now at such low margins and the manufacturer will buy the components much cheaper than you can because of economies of scale. Then you’ll have to buy the full price off the shelf Widows (unless you are a Linux nerd) instead of the much cheaper OEM one that comes with a new computer.
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Then you’ll have to buy the full price off the shelf Widows
Better start hanging around some classy graveyards, Al.
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As to the smartphones and upgrades, more people are holding on to their phones for longer. Upgrading every two years isn’t happening anymore. People are waiting 3-4 years, or even longer, to upgrade.
Ionically, I’m looking at changing my phone *sooner* that I did before. My old non-smart flip phone lasted more than 10 years. My new Samsung flip is already problematic and may need upgrading after one year
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I heard a commercial last night say the new iPhone is the **ultimate** iPhone.
Is this true? They’re never going to make another one? :o
It just means it’s a rebooted iPhone with a fresh continuity and a black Nick Fury.
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Laptops are the form of computers we use today.
I think sometimes wrongly to be honest. When I first came to Malaysia I was moving around a lot so switched to a laptop as my primary computer but in truth a lot of them do get used pretty much exclusively at home. I know a lot of people with a laptop than never leaves their desk and when out an about use a phone or tablet instead.
That’s not true for everyone but there are a lot of static laptops in the world. In that context you pay a lot more for a lot less power and ability so I bought a tower PC again.
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I’ve actually been looking at this question specifically over the past few days as my son has been talking about wanting a gaming laptop for his room. From a cursory investigation it seems like you get a much better spec for your money, as well as lots of extra advantages (upgradeability, efficiency etc.), from a tower – and given that he doesn’t really want to move it anywhere, that might well end up being the better option.
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Yeah 100%. If he really just wants to play in his bedroom and portability is not important a desktop/tower is a much better option. Cheaper, bigger screen, higher specs and easier to upgrade. More UBS ports for add-ons instead of just 2. Cheaper to repair any issues.
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Got a Switch, which is great for that. To be honest I’m not sure we really need another platform to play games on so we’ll see!
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Have to admit, for someone like me, who never cracked PC tech specs, the Steam Deck is sounding quite the bit of kit.
But, despite nabbing other systems, I still gravitate more towards the PS5. Suspect that’d continue to be so with a Steam Deck.
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My kid only has a pretty old laptop to work and play, and that’s all he’s ever going to get. If he wants more gaming, he can get a job. (Not meant bitterly or anything, I think when you’re seventeen you should get some work experience, but he’s not really motivated to earn some extra money yet.) No consoles in his parents’ households, either, outside of an old wii. He was, however, given an occulus quest (as a gift by a crazy uncle), which is currently at my house while he’s vacationing with his mum.
And I do have to say I love this thing. Games are still pretty simple, but you can already tell it’s not far until we’re in fucking Otherland territory. It’s all coming, and it’s a fucking shame that Zuckerberg is the one who’ll reap the early profits.1 user thanked author for this post.
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Got to love the Otherland mention.
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That’s one of those epics that I’d like to revisit but never will because, well, who has the fucking time? I can’t even keep up with Williams’ more recent stuff!
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Have to admit, for someone like me, who never cracked PC tech specs, the Steam Deck is sounding quite the bit of kit.
It does look cool.
I think with a PC though it depends a lot on usage because it can do the gaming of a console (as long as you buy a good enough spec) and also do school and work stuff If you are going 100% gaming then probably best to get a console or Steam Deck, the rest is just a waste.
Having worked in IT a long time and PC manufacturing for 10 years I get a lot of requests on what to buy and my first question always is “what are you going to use it for?” From old people often the answer is email, office and web surfing to which the answer is ‘any old shit you can get cheap’. I do need multiple usage (work and gaming) and don’t need portability so a high spec PC is best.
Then I get asked for brand which is generally irrelevant as they all use the same components and are made in the same place. One exception is Asus as a brand as they have the lowest failure rate because they work in the opposite direction to every other company.
In the last decade all major manufacturers, including Apple, turned their manufacturing over to massive Taiwanese owned ODM factories in China and make next to nothing in-house. Asus was a major ODM factory for other companies that decided to make its own products in-house and because of that repair companies report they have the fewest hardware failures.
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I posted about this interview Kanye had with Carlson a few days ago, but I didn’t know it was this bad. Yeah he is antisemitic, but I think a lot of that could have to do with his mental illness. Judging from this article he could be schizophrenic and suffering from paranoid delusions.
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Two great stories that show how a random act of kindness can benefit others at very little personal cost. Thanks for sharing those, DavidM.
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Man, Peter Falk was the absolute fucking best.
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Chose the Random thread.
I guess outside North America you don’t know of the icon; ‘Smokey The Bear’
(and yes, I said Smokey-THE-Bear. That’s what we’ve always said. Just learned his name is Smokey Bear, and fuck all that bullshit. I will argue until the end of the world.)I grew up camping. Great family vacation in a part of the world with many options. Always awesome.
Late teens and early 20’s was party camping (free – prison labour even dropped off firewood(!)) and we definitely helped the government to outlaw free sites.
(insert a visual of air guitar to GNR’s Appetite For Destruction (as alluded to in the music thread), and people thinking they can mimic the harmonica in Aerosmith’s Permanent Vacation (that whole album was awesome!). Could really go off on a tangent with that).But no matter what age, respecting the fire was bred into us. “Only YOU can prevent Forest Fires!”
FireSmart Canada retires Smokey Bear in favour of Canadian-made fox mascot – Global News
So long, Smokey Bear, and here’s hoping your sudden retirement last year is going smoothly.
In March of 2021, FireSmart Canada announced its new mascot, Ember the FireSmart Fox. The news may be old, but social media posts this week are discussing the new mascot and Smokey’s retirement.
“With the introduction of Ember, FireSmart BC will retire Smokey Bear, the U.S. wildfire prevention icon,” reads part of the press release from 19 months ago.
For those not in the know, FireSmart is a national program aimed at helping people reduce wildfire risks.
With room for only one mascot, Smokey got the ol’ heave-ho despite nearly 80 years of faithful service. There was no word if a retirement party was held for the big and beloved bear.
On FireSmart’s website, Ember the red fox — who is almost Pikachu yellow and not orange or red — is described as the “perfect fire-smart messenger because of her unique characteristics, which include: alertness, adaptability, intelligence and community mindedness.”
Smokey Bear is one of North America’s best-known mascots, along with being a symbol to prevent forest fires. He was created on Aug. 9, 1944, in a collaborative effort between the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Ad Council.
According to the USFS, artist Albert Staehle was asked to paint the first poster of Smokey Bear. It depicted a bear pouring a bucket of water on a campfire and saying “Care will prevent 9 out of 10 fires.”
The USFS says Smokey Bear soon became very popular as his image appeared on a variety of forest fire prevention materials. In 1947, his slogan became the familiar “Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires!”
The USFS said firefighters in 1950 managed to rescue a bear cub that was badly burned in a New Mexico wildfire. The bear was named Smokey and was moved to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., where he lived until his death in 1976.
His remains were returned to New Mexico and buried in the State Historical Park.
As to why FireSmart Canada went with a new a mascot, it said multiple studies show that visual aids are very useful in absorbing information, and while generations of Canadians are familiar with Smokey Bear, there were several reasons for a changing of the guard.
“With Ember the Fox, we have some control over what the message is. With Smokey the Bear, we use the product but we don’t have any input into the message,” said FireSmart Canada director Ray Ault.
“The most obvious difference is in appearance: the way Ember was drawn represents new approaches to animated characters and how they appeal to modern audiences of all ages,” said FireSmart.
“Another factor is authenticity: we felt it was time for Canada to have its own voice regarding wildfire preparedness; everything about Ember was conceived, designed, and developed by Canadians for Canadians.
“Both of these considerations meant essential improvements in form and function alike, increasing FireSmart BC’s effectiveness at building understanding on how to protect lives and property from the threat of wildfire.”
FireSmart says of the more than 500 submissions, the winning entry came from an Arlene Steward of Swansea Point in B.C.’s Interior, just south of Sicamous, alongside Mara Lake.
“My choice of Ember as the FireSmart fox came from the fact that it only takes an ember to start a fire,” Arlene wrote on FireSmart’s website. “An ember can turn from a smouldering ground fire to a forest fire in moments.”
The province also took aim at Smokey’s mantra – Only YOU can prevent forest fires, which was used from 1947 until 2001, when it was slightly modified to wildfires.
Ember, says the province, articulates a much more sophisticated approach.
“That simple message and its invocation of individual responsibility were perfect for generating basic levels of awareness, but these days our knowledge of wildfire — how it spreads, the role it plays in nature, the heightened risks associated with the wildland-urban interface, etc. — is far more extensive,” reads the website.
It continued, saying “Decades of observation and study have taught us so much, not just about how to prevent wildfire, but also how to fight it, how to manage it with prescribed burning, as well as its cultural role within Indigenous communities.
“Not to mention how good habits and advance preparation are absolutely crucial to preserving lives and property.”
Although Smokey has been an icon for close to 80 years, FireSmart says they needed to find a way to appeal to younger generations.
“It’s really the kids that we’re influencing and this change in the methods, requires a new messenger and that messenger is Ember the Fox,” said Ault.
More information about Ember the FireSmart Fox, including colouring books and games, can be found on FireSmart Canada’s website.
I can’t even look. Smokey The Bear, I salute You!
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Ember looks pretty cool. Though I suppose you just can’t know who has murdered a bear and is sleeping in its house with just a glance.
edit: oh ok, the fire awareness campaign that wants to let people know about its new mascot is concerned about hot-linking. That feels ironic somehow.
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I guess outside North America you don’t know of the icon; ‘Smokey The Bear’
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But no matter what age, respecting the fire was bred into us. “Only YOU can prevent Forest Fires!”
Immortalised for me in this scene.
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This video of an American explaining why British plugs are so good came up in my YT recommendations earlier and it’s surprisingly interesting. I take all these features for granted, obvs, so hearing someone explain why they’re good relative to their system is rather illuminating. I didn’t appreciate before how fraught electric systems are in the US.
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Yeah the G plugs are great. We use them here in Malaysia too. The only downsides for me are the size of them when packing chargers etc although the newer foldable ones solve a large bit of that and yes – the one he mentions – worse than Lego if you step on one.
It is one of those things you don’t think about much but US expats have a lot of problems here when they want to bring along their devices. The higher voltage will blow them so they have to buy voltage adaptors with each one, whereas Europe and Asia use roughly the same voltage so you can just switch anything across. It’s also why electric kettles aren’t that popular in north America as they take more than twice as long to boil.
I just remembered one other downside, the high voltage means you can’t have sockets in bathrooms for safety reasons. Places like hotels will have a single low voltage outlet for electric shavers and dryers etc but homes tend not to.
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The Guardian is the only (non-tabloid) free site I know. Though they still have ads, sometimes quite intrusive.
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The Independent asks you to create an account but it’s pretty much free after that apart from some ‘premium’ articles.
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Just saw the new reboot of The Day Today, I think they’ve captured the tone of the original pretty well.
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The story is humdrum but the headline is genius:
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/oct/21/judi-dench-netflix-the-crown-fictional-dramatisation
“Judi Dench wins royal rumble”
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I’ve been half-watching some Disney teen horror thing on D+. Some kids work out they can time travel back to when their parents were their age (and look to investigate some missing kid legend). I, not paying a huge amount of attention, assumed they were going back to the 70s. Then realised it’s the 90s, because of course it is for the age of the characters. Which is when I crumbled into dust.
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Which is when I crumbled into dust.
Don’t worry, Martin, you’ll be fine after your nap.
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How are people doing money wise? The inflation here is bad, one of the worst cases in the EU. I’m lucky my power rates weren’t hiked because I cut a deal for a fixed price rate just before the gas prices started rising, that is going to last til july 2024. So until that date the price I’m paying for electricity and gas is still low. Nevertheless, the prices are rising everywhere, especially in the supermarket. It is pretty tough, I have to really look out now when I’m shopping. Still I’m not in as bad a situation as some people are, I haven’t had to skip meals.
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Yeah, it’s not exactly fun. We’re fine, we both are in very stable jobs that pay pretty well, but Claudi isn’t working full-time because of the little one and I’ve got another kid to support, so money’s getting a little tight. It’s not a problem, cutting down on little luxuries like eating out now and then will probably be all we have to do, but if really have to be careful with every Euro we spend right now, it’s easy to imagine how hard this will hit people who were barely getting by in the first place. Really shit times.
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Three things I cut back on is going to the pub, buying expensive coffee, and meat. Coffee and meat have gotten very expensive. Especially beef, some pork cuts are still affordable.
The pub is a place where I got away from my constant worrying about the war in Ukraine…it’s really the places where I could relax. I realize that’s problematic, it could risk me turning into an alcoholic. But I had to cut back on going there. And especially buying expensive Belgian beer.
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That’s a real shame. I mean, yeah, alcoholism wouldn’t be great, but I think it’s really important for you to have that kind of place, to be able to get away from your worries.
We’re a mostly vegetarian household and meat is kind of an exception anyway, plus we’re only eating organic so it was very expensive in the first place… these days, beef is pretty much out of the question here, too.
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I am somewhat insulated here, the fuel prices are being subsidised by the excess profits Petronas are making. My petrol and electricity bills are roughly the same as last year. We have a bit of inflationary pressure from imports but it’s manageable.
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Gas prices are back down to a reasonable level. Food prices are where it really hurts, as groceries and eating out.
Overall, Christel and I are in good shape with stable jobs and good incomes. We don’t spend like crazy so we have some savings and still do fun things.
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A ship engine failed and no one could fix it, so they brought in a Mechanical Engineer with 40 years experience.⠀
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He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.⠀
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After looking things over, the guy reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer.⠀
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He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine burst back into life.⠀
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The engine was fixed!⠀
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7 Days later the owners got his bill for £10,000.⠀
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“What?!” the owners said. “You hardly did anything. Send us an itemised bill.”⠀
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The reply simply said: ⠀
Tapping with a hammer: £2⠀
Knowing where to tap: £9,9981 user thanked author for this post.
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Nice story about the ship engine.
As for comic sites, I fell into the trap of CBR.com and others where there is a listing like “Ten reasons…” or “Top ten characters…”
and you wind up clicking/surfing for over an hour before you know it… when you originally had in mind just that one list!🤣1 user thanked author for this post.
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Rich probably burned through all his inside sources years ago
Yeah he did. They all hate him.
I think the appeal of the site now is it is a bit more nerdy and trivial over comics than the 8000 bullshit clickbait sites discussing VFX on a Disney show.
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