Bad beat/Moaning/Venting thread - It's the end of the world as we know it

[Raoul Duke III]

It blows my mind that this is even a thing.

The argument that was made to me was that:
Russia are too strong.

Did you start laughing hysterically at this point?

[Theresa]

Did you start laughing hysterically at this point?

well I didnt because I was sad.
I mentioned that this doesn't seem to be true, and then got the "you are only reading mainstream media bs.
Its clear, through leaks and what not that russia are killing way more ukrainians than reported in the msm"

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

well I didnt because I was sad.
I mentioned that this doesn't seem to be true, and then got the "you are only reading mainstream media bs.
Its clear, throughleaks and what not that russia are killing way more ukrainians than reported in the msm"

That was the actual US secret documents that stated that. There was a broadly reported fact that Ukrainians were killing gigantic more numbers of Russians than Ukrainians were being killed - one widely mooted figure was 5 dead Russians for every dead Ukrainian. The leaked documents showing the US compiled figures showed that wasn't the case. Here's the BBC summary of the leaked documents (the pre-doctored versions - as the Russians tried to circulate some crudely doctored versions):

Casualty figures are also listed. One slide refers to as many as 223,000 Russian soldiers killed or wounded, and as many as 131,000 Ukrainians.

Another document verified by the Washington Post claimed:

According to the Washington Post newspaper, one document from early February expresses misgivings about Ukraine's chances of success in its forthcoming counteroffensive, saying that problems with generating and sustaining sufficient forces could result in "modest territorial gains".

These are documents straight from the most informed party in the room. How would you possibly consider them not a valid source!

[Strewelpeter]

It is extremely disturbing to see supposedly news organisations giving equal credibility to pronouncements from Moscow and Kiev without at least putting the context of the rest of ~Moscow's statements over the last 18 months and without mentioning the logistics and physics of blowing up dams.

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

Nearly all wars end in a cease-fire of some sort. Usually a cease-fire that keeps neither side happy. Including on our own island. I think the debate is only about when the cease-fire negotiations start as there's no benefit to Ukraine to having their soldiers wiped out for no gain. My suggestion yesterday was that the negotiations will probably start in earnest after it becomes clear that the counter-offensive hasn't any ability to substantially change the status quo.

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

It is extremely disturbing to see supposedly news organisations giving equal credibility to pronouncements from Moscow and Kiev without at least putting the context of the rest of ~Moscow's statements over the last 18 months and without mentioning the logistics and physics of blowing up dams.

I was surprised that the argument made by the military analyst on Sky News yesterday - that only planted mines could possibly blow up a dam, and therefore it must be Russia - didn't get more traction. Went on CNN and they were debating which sides missiles had blown up the dam, while the military analyst was noting that there is no possible way that a missile or even multiple missiles could blow up a dam because of the sheer amount of cement involved. Only a series of mines planted near the base would be able to do that damage.

[Strewelpeter]

Got a first bit of new tech in ages today using the work annual slush training fund. The reMarkable2. Anyone have one? They seem to be one of the few new gadgets out there doing something clearly new and useful. Went for the full works - the pen with eraser, the keyboard etc.

That looks amazing, I'd love one but €650 and it doesn't link to any epub library

[Strewelpeter]

Nearly all wars end in a cease-fire of some sort. Usually a cease-fire that keeps neither side happy. Including on our own island. I think the debate is only about when the cease-fire negotiations start as there's no benefit to Ukraine to having their soldiers wiped out for no gain. My suggestion yesterday was that the negotiations will probably start in earnest after it becomes clear that the counter-offensive hasn't any ability to substantially change the status quo.

And Putin will give up his oul sins then will he?

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

And Putin will give up his oul sins then will he?

No, clearly not. But what is the alternative? That the Ukrainians keep fighting to a stalemate losing 100,000 soldiers a year to move a few inches? Like, if the alternative is to keep fighting - then what is the advantage of keeping fighting?

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

There will be a solution proposed that is some form of cease-fire, the issue is how to implement it in a way that works. The classic way would be to have a demilitarised zone manned by international peacekeepers. The Russians might have no bother slaughtering innocent Ukrainians, but they clearly would think twice at lobbing a bomb at Chinese and American peacekeepers in a demilitarised zone.

Barring a modern-day miracle in the counter-offensive (that the US doesn't believe will happen) there is no solution, even if it is the morally correct solution, that involves the Ukrainians taking back the existing occupied territory. So the issue then is whether the cost of 100k soldier deaths a year is worth keeping the fight going. I suspect it isn't. But more importantly, the US are probably already thinking along those lines.

[Opr]

This is the kind of stuff that gets lost in AI news which is incredible. AI finding ways that we couldn't come up with ourselves that could potentially completely transform our current technology and AI itself. Deepmind has come up with a sorting algorithm much faster than humans have ever found. Sorting in computer science is a huge deal.

DeepMind AI creates algorithms that sort data faster than those built by people

can sort data up to three times as fast as human-generated versions

Edit - Link to the published paper

[BennyHiFi]

Nearly all wars end in a cease-fire of some sort. Usually a cease-fire that keeps neither side happy. Including on our own island.

I wouldn’t usually weigh in on the minutiae of the back and forth of political debate on here (entertaining and all as I find it and despite having a minor degree in politics - not that that’s worth much either mind you) BUT bloody hell Hitch ‘Ceasefires that keeps neither side happy including our on our own island’ is unusually sloppy for a man of your many and varied opinions.

What am I missing about the Good Friday agreement (and the ceasefires that led to it) that is keeping everyone so unhappy?

Yes it took many years to get there but maybe the definition of ‘won’ changed somewhere along the way

Maybe you just misspoke? I dunno. And hopefully one can be brokered over there long before decades pass like they did in he north.

FWIW and IMO… ‘Save lives first, then worry about territory’ probably needs to become the dominant strategic narrative before a ceasefire can be brokered. And I don’t see that happening anytime soon (3-5 years) in Ukraine.

Putin will suck up a hiding for years to come with little fallout. And Ukraine should, rightly, keep defending for all its worth.

Stalemate for a long time yet I feel.

(but man do I hope this ages badly!)

[Hectorjelly]

I wouldn’t usually weigh in on the minutiae of back and forth debate on here (entertaining and all as I find it) BUT bloody hell Hitch ‘Ceasefires that keeps neither side happy including our on our own island’ is unusually sloppy for a man of your many and varied opinions.

What am I missing about the Good Friday agreement (and the ceasefires that led to it) that is keeping everyone so unhappy?

Yes it took many years to get there but maybe the definition of ‘won’ changed somewhere along the way

Maybe you just misspoke? I dunno.

he has no idea what he is talking about. WW2 ended in a cease-fire, but by his logic, a ceasefire in 1940 would be roughly the same as a ceasefire in 1945, since they are both cease fires.

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

I wouldn’t usually weigh in on the minutiae of back and forth debate on here (entertaining and all as I find it) BUT bloody hell Hitch ‘Ceasefires that keeps neither side happy including our on our own island’ is unusually sloppy for a man of your many and varied opinions.

What am I missing about the Good Friday agreement (and the ceasefires that led to it) that is keeping everyone so unhappy?

Yes it took many years to get there but maybe the definition of ‘won’ changed somewhere along the way

Maybe you just misspoke? I dunno.

I'm not making a direct correlation to Northern Ireland, just noting that the most common way for wars to end is by cease-fire rather than absolute victory. In the negotiations for the cease-fire in Ireland it required both sides to give up something they held important. E.g. the negotiations here required giving up armaments and constitutional articles on the nationalist side, and for the unionists to agree to power-sharing and equalisation of representation in institutions. But even in the worst most horrific wars - such as the Rwandan War, a ceasefire was the outcome, similarly with the Korean War where neither sides 'won', but rather they agreed the continuation of fighting was worse than the sacrifice of agreeing to a standstill.

[Hectorjelly]

On a related note, I wrote a Twitter bot that will give a day-by-day account of WW2 as narrated by David Sacks; another noted Putin apologist.

https://twitter.com/DailyWW2Sacks

Powered with GPT4, I tried with 3.5 since it's cheaper, but it just made up stuff (that was plausible!)

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

he has no idea what he is talking about. WW2 ended in a cease-fire, but by his logic, a ceasefire in 1940 would be roughly the same as a ceasefire in 1945, since they are both cease fires.

WW2 would be classified as an absolute victory. But most wars don't end in absolute victories.

Events, dear boy, events, will be the telling of the story in due course - so we don't even really need to speculate much. There's close to zero chance that this war will be enabled to continue if the current counter-offensive doesn't show some results. It is simply not in Ukraines interest as it will continually wipe out their trained soldiers which leaves them in a continuously vulnerable position.

[Hectorjelly]

I'm not making a direct correlation to Northern Ireland, just noting that the most common way for wars to end is by cease-fire rather than absolute victory. In the negotiations for the cease-fire in Ireland it required both sides to give up something they held important. E.g. the negotiations here required giving up armaments and constitutional articles on the nationalist side, and for the unionists to agree to power-sharing and equalisation of representation in institutions. But even in the worst most horrific wars - such as the Rwandan War, a ceasefire was the outcome, similarly with the Korean War where neither sides 'won', but rather they agreed the continuation of fighting was worse than the sacrifice of agreeing to a standstill.

Reading more history might help you here; almost all wars end in a cease-fire - even when one side is completely obliterated. WW2 ended in a ceasefire.

The only wars I can think of that didn't have a ceasefire were ones of total annihilation - like the 3rd punic war. (The first two ended in cease-fires) & some of the Mongol conquests.

[Strewelpeter]

This is the kind of stuff that gets lost in AI news which is incredible. AI finding ways that we couldn't come up with ourselves that could potentially completely transform our current technology and AI itself. Deepmind has come up with a sorting algorithm much faster than humans have ever found. Sorting in computer science is a huge deal.

DeepMind AI creates algorithms that sort data faster than those built by people



Edit - Link to the published paper

AlphaDev swap move and the AlphaDev copy move.

b2d35f66-5434-4a72-afae-d85ac32c07db_text.gif

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

Reading more history might help you here; almost all wars end in a cease-fire - even when one side is completely obliterated. WW2 ended in a ceasefire.

The only wars I can think of that didn't have a ceasefire were ones of total annihilation - like the 3rd punic war. (The first two ended in cease-fires) & some of the Mongol conquests.

maybe i need another word other than ceasefire - even if that's the UN term. I'm referring to agreements where both sides could continue to fight, but decide to instead come to an agreement to stop fighting. WW2 wasn't that case. But the two examples I gave - of Rwanda and Korea wars were. That type of cessation is the most common way for wars to end. But anyway, I'm not going to get bogged down in your technicalities, and have explained my perspective about the need to consider the pros and cons of continuing fighting vs the international community coming up with a solution for an implementable secure cease-fire.

Its bizarre that you are so absolute in this, despite history (which you claim to know all of) or the fact that role-playing all these scenarios is the proper way to strategically assess these situations. There are pros and cons to a ceasefire and pros and cons to continuing to fight. My point yesterday was that the new information of the counter-offensive not being effective (we wait and see the actual results, but it probably won't be effective) would clearly be valid new information that edges things a whole lot more towards a ceasefire solution.

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

That looks interesting, I'll give it a go. Any examples of the kinds of things he feels it needs to be able to do for an inflection point?

Current limitations are painfully obvious by the usage statistics. It is something insane like only 10% of Oculus headsets are still used regularly after the 6-month mark.

It wasn't a great book tbh, despite his expertise. But the biggest point I remember is about there simply not existing the computing power to render a metaverse in the frame frequency that would make it seem realistic, as in the computing power would vastly exceed all existing computer power and even then would be a fraction of what is needed. Like even to feel like you are 'living' in a modern PS5 shoot-em-up computer game is not realistic at any close point in the future. It seemed a quite intractable problem until chips and memory take an exponential leap, well beyond normal computational improvement rates over time. Only vaguely remember that fact, but however it was put across, and given the guys credentials it firmly implanted VR in my head as something to keep an interest in, but not yet to bet the house on. We probably see that also with the new Apple Headset where they have decided to not touch a metaverse, but instead to primarily make AR a reality.

[Goodluck2me]

maybe i need another word other than ceasefire - even if that's the UN term. I'm referring to agreements where both sides could continue to fight, but decide to instead come to an agreement to stop fighting. WW2 wasn't that case. But the two examples I gave - of Rwanda and Korea wars were. That type of cessation is the most common way for wars to end. But anyway, I'm not going to get bogged down in your technicalities, and have explained my perspective about the need to consider the pros and cons of continuing fighting vs the international community coming up with a solution for an implementable secure cease-fire.

Its bizarre that you are so absolute in this, despite history (which you claim to know all of) or the fact that role-playing all these scenarios is the proper way to strategically assess these situations. There are pros and cons to a ceasefire and pros and cons to continuing to fight. My point yesterday was that the new information of the counter-offensive not being effective (we wait and see the actual results, but it probably won't be effective) would clearly be valid new information that edges things a whole lot more towards a ceasefire solution.

I understand the point you’re trying to make, basically that both sides in a war normally reach a point where they see the benefits of fighting further diminish.

I’m curious as to how those who disagree with you HJ, Raoul and Theresa think this plays out, how does it end if not ceasefire?

[Opr]

It wasn't a great book tbh, despite his expertise. But the biggest point I remember is about there simply not existing the computing power to render a metaverse in the frame frequency that would make it seem realistic, as in the computing power would vastly exceed all existing computer power and even then would be a fraction of what is needed. Like even to feel like you are 'living' in a modern PS5 shoot-em-up computer game is not realistic at any close point in the future. It seemed a quite intractable problem until chips and memory take an exponential leap, well beyond normal computational improvement rates over time. Only vaguely remember that fact, but however it was put across, and given the guys credentials it firmly implanted VR in my head as something to keep an interest in, but not yet to bet the house on. We probably see that also with the new Apple Headset where they have decided to not touch a metaverse, but instead to primarily make AR a reality.

Isn't the counter to this though that we only need to render what the person can see at any given moment and not the whole universe? This way we can run the whole thing with much less computing power. It is one of the things that is talked about a lot in simulation theory. If we believe that we already live in a simulation then it is likely our own world might show signs of these techniques.

Reality Observed or Rendered?

[Opr]

I think I posted this before but this mindblowing video shows where we are currently at with rendering photorealistic environments in real-time.

[Raoul Duke III]

I understand the point you’re trying to make, basically that both sides in a war normally reach a point where they see the benefits of fighting further diminish.

I’m curious as to how those who disagree with you HJ, Raoul and Theresa think this plays out, how does it end if not ceasefire?

Hitch has literally been wrong about everything in this war to date, so can be taken as a perfect negative indicator. (remember he said pre-war that the Russian military buildup on the borders was nothing to worry about, that Russia wouldn't invade and that 'this happens every year')
He seems really triggered by the prospect of Ukrainian success, that posting blitz last night was quite eye-opening but also indicative how panicked the pro-Russian voices are. See Tucker Carlson's crazy rant for a more extreme version.

In terms of the military angle:

1. Ukraine's counter-offensive (the probing stages of which seem to be underway but the main bulk of forces are yet to be committed) will smash through the Russian defences and take back a lot of ground. Ideally reaching the Sea of Azov in the South therefore cutting off the land bridge to Crimea as well as regaining some territory in the East. The Ukrainian armed forces have better weaponry and, crucially, far better morale, motivation and leadership.
2. I don't think they will succeed in liberating all of Ukraine from Russia in this offensive. But they can drive Russia back to pre-war lines, make Crimea untenable for resupply and dismantle what's left of Putin's army in Ukraine. The arrival of NATO-grade fighters in the autumn and winter will give them another layer of protection from any further incursions. And give them further offensive capability to push forward again into the Donbas and Crimea itself.

But ultimately you are into the realms of a political settlement and whether either side is willing to negotiate and what their absolute red lines are.
Russia will be isolated politically and faced with internal collapse. Ukraine has unanimous Western support.
The political dimension is far harder to predict than the military one given that, unlike Nazi Germany, Russia will not face invasion and unconditional surrender.

Some things to consider:

1. Would Ukraine give up Crimea in exchange for security guarantees? (and how would such guarantees be enforced, given how patently untrustworthy the Russians are?)
2. Would Russia tolerate NATO membership for Ukraine? (would they even have a choice?)
3. How long can Russia sustain its current economic isolation for? i.e. what they give as the price for re-entry to the club of civilised nations
4. What happens politically in Russia? Does Putin survive as leader? Would a new leader be more or less hostile?
5. Is there a role for the UN? (probably not given the Russian security council veto)
6. How quickly can Ukraine be fastracked to EU membership?
7. Will Russia and its military and political leaders face justice for their war crimes?
8. Will Russia pay reparations for the damage it has caused?

I don't think that using the term 'ceasefire' is helpful either as it's not far-reaching enough in terms of the above. The Ukrainian counter-offensive might end with a ceasefire but only a political settlement will end the war.

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

He seems really triggered by the prospect of Ukrainian success

When you have to make stuff up its a sign that you yourself haven't a clue. Show me a single indicator of that in anything I said. At every single point I've noted 'give the counter-offensive a chance to succeed', I've also just noted that the US themselves don't think it will succeed and then said that if it doesn't succeed, which we will know by the end of the summer, then that changes the equation on whether a ceasefire or continued fighting makes sense.

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

In terms of the military angle:

1. Ukraine's counter-offensive (the probing stages of which seem to be underway but the main bulk of forces are yet to be committed) will smash through the Russian defences and take back a lot of ground. Ideally reaching the Sea of Azov in the South therefore cutting off the land bridge to Crimea as well as regaining some territory in the East. The Ukrainian armed forces have better weaponry and, crucially, far better morale, motivation and leadership.
2. I don't think they will succeed in liberating all of Ukraine from Russia in this offensive. But they can drive Russia back to pre-war lines, make Crimea untenable for resupply and dismantle what's left of Putin's army in Ukraine. The arrival of NATO-grade fighters in the autumn and winter will give them another layer of protection from any further incursions. And give them further offensive capability to push forward again into the Donbas and Crimea itself.

In any case there is a testable outcome of the aims of counter-offensive here. Lets look back on it in a few months and see whether the Clontarf view of massive gains or the US view of 'modest gains' is the reality

[ionapaul]

Why is a ceasefire now in the interests of Ukraine? Saving lives now, to allow Russia to rebuild their strength over the next few years and simply invade again and again? Signing a peace agreement with Putin's Russia would be like a Native American tribe signing an agreement with the US Goverment in the late 19th century and trusting them to keep it; the overwhelming benefit of any cessation of fighting is for Russia. And we know 100% they will invade again in the future, if there is any possibility to do so.

Meanwhile if the fighting goes on, both sides lose men and equipment, but Russia cannot replace their losses as easily under sanctions. And the Western equipment that Ukraine continues to receive was all designed specifically to be used against the Russian army, so why not continue to supply them (is and should continue to be the thinking in Europe and hopefully the US)? Not to mention that Ukraine's will to fight is hardly likely to flag, while who knows with Russia, maybe the propaganda will not sound so convincing in 3 months, 6 months, 2 years down the line.

What is interesting to think about is what might happen after the war is over, whenever that occurs. Unless Russia fully overwhelms Ukraine, the latter will probably be left with the biggest standing army in Europe!

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

There will be a solution proposed that is some form of cease-fire, the issue is how to implement it in a way that works. The classic way would be to have a demilitarised zone manned by international peacekeepers. The Russians might have no bother slaughtering innocent Ukrainians, but they clearly would think twice at lobbing a bomb at Chinese and American peacekeepers in a demilitarised zone.

@iona. Its not the only solution, clearly, but in situations like this before a demilitarised zone has been implemented, with international peacekeepers, to prevent any further aggression from either side.

[Raoul Duke III]

Why is a ceasefire now in the interests of Ukraine? Saving lives now, to allow Russia to rebuild their strength over the next few years and simply invade again and again? Signing a peace agreement with Putin's Russia would be like a Native American tribe signing an agreement with the US Goverment in the late 19th century and trusting them to keep it; the overwhelming benefit of any cessation of fighting is for Russia. And we know 100% they will invade again in the future, if there is any possibility to do so.

You've put your finger on it there, a ceasefire would only benefit Russia.
Hence why only pro-Russian voices are proposing it. With of course fake concern for 'Ukrainian lives'.

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

Dice's gaff up for sale?

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

You've put your finger on it there, a ceasefire would only benefit Russia.
Hence why only pro-Russian voices are proposing it. With of course fake concern for 'Ukrainian lives'.

Thats pro-Russian voices like the US military's joint chief of staff? Here's a New York Times article from a few weeks ago that shows some of the debate about what the best step forward is. Including:

If Ukraine is unable to seize significant territory, some U.S. and European officials might want to nudge Mr. Zelensky toward a negotiated settlement.

“The dynamic will shift even if Ukraine makes marginal gains,” said Mr. Smith, the Democratic lawmaker. After several more months of war, he predicted, both sides will be exhausted.

But some officials and analysts in Washington caution against such thinking.

“There’s always been a desire among some people in Washington to say, look, if Ukraine doesn’t make gains — or if they do — it might be time to have a conversation about Ukraine looking for a settlement,” said Alina Polyakova, the president of the Center for European Policy Analysis.

“I personally find that shocking,” she added. “Territorial concessions would validate Russia’s aggression, which sets a global precedent for China and others that such means work. Two, it would also mean that the West would have to accept the moral implications — accepting war crimes and condoning continued human rights abuses.”

Among top U.S. officials, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been the most outspoken on the need for Ukraine and Russia to consider negotiations, arguing that a prolonged war would result in many more casualties. Mr. Blinken has taken a different position. “There has to be some profound change in Mr. Putin’s mind and in Russia’s mind to engage in meaningful diplomacy,” he said last week.

Its a good article and contains quite a lot of information on why either strategy might or might not make sense - not just the clip I've posted above, but even more nuanced. Its vastly closer to my posts than yours in terms of thinking in terms of pros and cons, which is standard good military strategy - to update strategy based on new information. While you, in contrast to the US, have this absolutist view that is way out of line with how military strategists think about these situations. You've even ended up in the mad situation where your logic is accusing the head of the US military of being pro-Russian.

[Raoul Duke III]

In happier news, got 2 tickets for Pulp tomorrow night from Dublin CC. Sending Daughter #1 to mingle with the Common People.

[Degag]

It seems pointless talking about a ceasefire when at least one of the sides has no intention of it any time soon it seems.

[Raoul Duke III]

It seems pointless talking about a ceasefire when at least one of the sides has no intention of it any time soon it seems.

it would be like talking about a ceasefire on the 5th of June 1944

[6starpool]

it would be like talking about a ceasefire on the 5th of June 1944

You are very bullish about this upcoming offensive.

[zuutroy]

Absolute clown show with BA and our bags. They never arrived in Vegas so we had to buy all new stuff for the few days. I asked for them to just route them back to Ireland after it was evident that they'd be at least a couple of days after us, so of course they sent them to Vegas on the last day, on the plane we'd be taking home. Helpful guys in the airport there got them back on the plane with us with tags to Dublin.
Obv didn't show up in Dublin but the Aer Lingus guy in T2 said they'd probably be in on the next flight or some time today. Get a message this morning to say they're heading off to Vegas at 5 pm today. BA have no lost baggage contact number in Ireland so the best one can do is pay for an international call to a call centre in India who are absolutely no help.

[Raoul Duke III]

You are very bullish about this upcoming offensive.

I like to give a counterpoint to the Russian propaganda.

[Dice75]

Dice's gaff up for sale?

Pffft, the extension i added on is bigger than that. Funny enough Elvis Costello is one of 3 gigs I've been to in my life.

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

I like to give a counterpoint to the Russian propaganda.

your counterpoint is actually to the US-assessed intelligence, but I take your overall point

[Ed]

In the airport heading to Porto for Primavera Sound.

This year they've extended it from 3 to 4 days and I'm a year older so should be interesting

Just back from Primavera Barcelona. Was class. Kelela and Depeche Mode among the highlights. Normal service resumed after last year's mess

[eamonhonda]

Just back from Primavera Barcelona. Was class. Kelela and Depeche Mode among the highlights. Normal service resumed after last year's mess

Annual sonar trip next week!

[Raoul Duke III]

Has anyone dual mounted Dell monitors to a wall at home? Currently I just have them sitting on my office desk.

Trying to redesign my office so I can give the cabinetry-making dude directions as to what I want - thinking something like the below. i.e. combine the office furniture with a bookcase. But I would want the monitors (need\prefer to have 2) on the wall rather than the desk itself.

blue-built-in-desk.jpg

[Ed]

Annual sonar trip next week!

Some lineup this year. Keep talking about going instead of Prima but never pull the trigger (next year is out as making my glorious return to Vegas)

[Hectorjelly]

I understand the point you’re trying to make, basically that both sides in a war normally reach a point where they see the benefits of fighting further diminish.

I’m curious as to how those who disagree with you HJ, Raoul and Theresa think this plays out, how does it end if not ceasefire?

My point was that saying a war will end in a ceasefire is totally meaningless, all wars end in ceasefires. It's like saying a football match will end when the referee blows his whistle, as if that if is some indication of who is going to win.

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

My point was that saying a war will end in a ceasefire is totally meaningless, all wars end in ceasefires. It's like saying a football match will end when the referee blows his whistle, as if that if is some indication of who is going to win.

I think you are maybe focusing on some form of technical correctness here and fair play on you. But I then went on to explain in further detail what I meant by this and you still want to sit in dictionary corner.

[Denny Crane]

That looks amazing, I'd love one but €650 and it doesn't link to any epub library

I was tempted to buy that but the price tag + assuming it's emerging tech put me off.

What do you use for your epub? Calibre?

I've switch to using reader by readwise for everything. It's really great having everything synced especially highlights.

Might get a dedicated tablet to use it.

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

A trade union suing a company for recognising trade unions "as trade union recognition would lower company value" seems like an oddly self-perceptive angle for a trade union to have.

RYANAIR has paid $5m (€4.6m) to settle a near five-year-old legal action in the United States that was taken by a pension fund against the carrier and its group chief executive Michael O’Leary after the airline recognised trade unions in 2017.

The carrier said the case has been settled with The City of Birmingham Firemen’s and Policemen’s Supplemental Pension System following mediation.

Ryanair said the $5m paid as part of that deal is “considerably less” than the legal costs that would have been incurred had the case gone to trial.

[cardshark202]

Got a first bit of new tech in ages today using the work annual slush training fund. The reMarkable2. Anyone have one? They seem to be one of the few new gadgets out there doing something clearly new and useful. Went for the full works - the pen with eraser, the keyboard etc.

Decent review of it here:

I got the Supernote instead of the reMarkable. I did a lot of research on it last year and landed on getting the Supernote instead. Really good - so much handier than paper and so much easier to organise notes in my opinion.

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

That looks sweet. Didn't do any research tbh. Saw one or two people I slightly admire using the reMarkable and went with the reflected glory of being in the same category as those people.

[Raoul Duke III]

Interestingly, it looks as though the Ukrainians are advancing around...Bakhmut. What an irony that would be if it gets encircled after the 10 months it took Russia to capture it.

[cardshark202]

That looks sweet. Didn't do any research tbh. Saw one or two people I slightly admire using the reMarkable and went with the reflected glory of being in the same category as those people.

Yeah I saw someone I work with with the reMarkable and that's what prompted me to finally research and buy one. Here's one comparison post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Supernote/c..._to_supernote/

[zuutroy]

Incoherent rambling jet-lagged Vegas trip report for your afternoon coffee break:

We headed to the airport on Friday morning for a BA flight to Heathrow then on to Vegas. The fun started immediately when the guy couldn’t check our bag through due to the way the ticket was booked (got it through lastminute.com because it was cheaper). Then the flight to Heathrow was running late which given my pathological obsession with timekeeping had me on edge. We made it all the same and managed to pick up our bags and re-drop them for the next flight with about 75 mins to spare.
Nice flight and we breezed through immigration in no time…great stuff until…no bags arrived. Not to worry says the Swissport man at Vegas, they usually come in the next day and we’ll send them to your hotel.
Up we go to the Vdara hotel which is the Aria’s little brother. Opted for a bigger room there rather than a smaller one in Aria. On reflection this was a mistake as whole place is kinda meh. The rooms are a bit rough around the edges and with zero nice touches. No coffee machine, in-room water, robes etc. For the price, not great. That last sentence could describe almost everything about Vegas. It has gotten INSANELY expensive. I don’t mind wasting money, but for the whole time I was there, I felt like we were getting gouged at every transaction. We had a beer and a cocktail in a shitty bar in The Horseshoe and it was $32. I wasn’t there but I saw on Twitter that a mojito cost $44 at the Stanley Cup finals. The expectation everywhere is now 20% for a tip too. Quite a hefty amount given the service was generally very poor everywhere. We did find slightly better value down around NY NY and the Park MGM at times. As a side note…every Starbucks we saw (there’s at least one in every hotel) had a long queue for the entire morning. I don’t know why it’s so popular. The coffee is mank here and even worse over there.
The bags never arrived so we restocked our wardrobes at Target and Ross and went about our business. Put in a savage amount of walking as that’s really the best way to see everything, and things are always further away than they look. The weather was brilliant…My new ideal is 33C and 10% humidity. Made me feel 10 years younger!

Walking around the WSOP was fun…I watch Negreanu’s vlogs so it was nice to see all the settings in real life. Saw Hellmuth, Doug Polk, aforementioned Negreanu and a few other heads there. He has incredible patience…if he’s not at the table he’s just taking pictures with people non stop. By pure chance I met him walking towards the Aria when he was on his way to an ice hockey game and had a very brief chat.

On Sunday morning the wife went for a wander and I decided to play a bit of poker in the Aria. As it was a short trip and neither of us are the partying type, we didn’t fight the jetlag and were up at 5 am every day. I got to the poker room at 7:30 and it was packed! I had to wait 30 mins to get a seat at 1-3, buying in for $300. To that point I’d probably played less than 100 hands of live holdem cash in my life so wasn’t that confident. Only had one really notable hand….2 limps and I check KJo in the BB. Flop come 9TQr…that’ll do. I bet 5 into 10 and the open limper who’s young guy in a cap drinking a beer but not seeming drunk in EP calls. Turn 3 completes the rainbow and I bet 10 into 20. River T and I bet 30 into 40. Villain almost insta jams for 280 more. I figured no boats made sense except maybe T9 and there was the possibility of random spazzouts with J8 or a T so after thinking for a while I called and he just declared a 9. Was delighted! A few hands later it became clear that it was an easy call as he was opening shipping 40bb with any two hand after hand. They shut the 1-3 tables at 10 to make way for a tournament so I cashed out for $600.

That night we went for dinner at Atelier Joel Robuchon in the MGM. It used to have 1 star but Michelin don’t produce a guide for Vegas any more. It was excellent comically enough, the best value thing we ate for the whole trip at $125 for 4 courses including the usual odds and ends. Their wine list is incredible. They had lots of Petrus and DRC on there, including a bottle for $86k. Something weird about European style fine dining in a casino in the US but it was good. One waiter in particular knew his stuff but the others weren’t quite as good.

I went to the baggage tracking website to change the address to our home and rang their baggage support line to confirm, but as mentioned earlier the geniuses in Heathrow sent it out the day we were coming home. The rest of the trip for us was mostly more walking around. We went up to Fremont St and into the Golden Nugget and Binions etc. They have a bit of character about them compared with the megastructures and are probably much better value. We were also in the Venetian, Bellagio, Planet Hollywood, Caesar’s, Paris…basically every hotel between Caesar’s and the MGM!

Overall, I still like Vegas. The weather is amazing and when the place is quiet during the morning it’s pretty relaxing but having every decision to consume something tinged with the feeling of being ripped off detracted from the enjoyment a little bit. Our bags must really like it because they flew out there on Tuesday, and they’re heading back again tonight. Naturally this is the first time I put the good camera and the only relatively expensive item of clothing that I own in checked luggage

[Strewelpeter]

I was tempted to buy that but the price tag + assuming it's emerging tech put me off.

What do you use for your epub? Calibre?

I've switch to using reader by readwise for everything. It's really great having everything synced especially highlights.

Might get a dedicated tablet to use it.

I still use calibre as a library for epubs but for years now I've been reading books almost exclusively on my phone and mostly just upload to google play.

Some questions about the Supernote and reMarkable

Can any of these be trained to translate scrawl to a more readable form?

I scribble loads of notes 95% of which will never be re read, I do it to help remember things that are new or significant so at the end of a meeting or when asked to revisit I can literally look at the page and without actually reading it I am back in the context and can recall the bits I was trying to capture. And that is just as well as my scribbles are utterly unreadable to anyone else and close enough to it for me!
That is a problem for the 5% that I might want to revisit in the future. Mostly I will know that something is important and write it clearly and highlight it but that doesn't always happen.

I have loads of specs and docs that I used to keep hard copies of with my own highlighting and notes scribbled on them, I would love to be able to do that again.

I think I really want one of these unfortunately I don't work in the over resourced third level education sector!

[coillcam]

Has anyone dual mounted Dell monitors to a wall at home? Currently I just have them sitting on my office desk.

Trying to redesign my office so I can give the cabinetry-making dude directions as to what I want - thinking something like the below. i.e. combine the office furniture with a bookcase. But I would want the monitors (need\prefer to have 2) on the wall rather than the desk itself.

blue-built-in-desk.jpg

You've 3x options:

1. Wall mount arm/stands - As it sounds really, bolt the base to your wall or cabinet. Moveable ones are usually the best. Fixed generally only if it needs to be flushed tight to a wall.
2. Desk mount arm/stands - They have a clamp that you screw against the table itself. Ideal if your desk is free-standing but probably not suitable for a built in cabinet.
3. Dual monitor stand - One larger stand that both monitors get mounted to. Takes up some desk space and more suited to a free standing desk tbf.


I'd say 1 and then 3 would be your best bet. The only other thing to add is that whatever you do, think of having tidy cabling that can be adjusted. You'll want it clean but also a way of accessing the cables/ports when you need to. Use velcro ties and cable sleeves/coils where possible. The last thing you want is to be trying to pull a monitor from a flushed bracket in a recessed cabinet with everything cable tied together.

[thechamp87]

I have this stand for 2 large monitors and it's very neat and sturdy and tbh I don't even notice it's there anymore.

[DeadParrot]

Dice's gaff up for sale?

Nice linking....

https://www.irishtimes.com/property/residential/2023/06/08/luxury-sellling-sunset-worthy-home-in-the-foothills-of-the-dublin-mountains-for-275m/

That's what you are after

[Denny Crane]

I still use calibre as a library for epubs but for years now I've been reading books almost exclusively on my phone and mostly just upload to google play.

This is pretty great if you read on your phone

https://readwise.io/read

[dobby]

Incoherent rambling jet-lagged Vegas trip report for your afternoon coffee break:

We headed to the airport on Friday morning for a BA flight to Heathrow then on to Vegas. The fun started immediately when the guy couldn’t check our bag through due to the way the ticket was booked (got it through lastminute.com because it was cheaper). Then the flight to Heathrow was running late which given my pathological obsession with timekeeping had me on edge. We made it all the same and managed to pick up our bags and re-drop them for the next flight with about 75 mins to spare.
Nice flight and we breezed through immigration in no time…great stuff until…no bags arrived. Not to worry says the Swissport man at Vegas, they usually come in the next day and we’ll send them to your hotel.
Up we go to the Vdara hotel which is the Aria’s little brother. Opted for a bigger room there rather than a smaller one in Aria. On reflection this was a mistake as whole place is kinda meh. The rooms are a bit rough around the edges and with zero nice touches. No coffee machine, in-room water, robes etc. For the price, not great. That last sentence could describe almost everything about Vegas. It has gotten INSANELY expensive. I don’t mind wasting money, but for the whole time I was there, I felt like we were getting gouged at every transaction. We had a beer and a cocktail in a shitty bar in The Horseshoe and it was $32. I wasn’t there but I saw on Twitter that a mojito cost $44 at the Stanley Cup finals. The expectation everywhere is now 20% for a tip too. Quite a hefty amount given the service was generally very poor everywhere. We did find slightly better value down around NY NY and the Park MGM at times. As a side note…every Starbucks we saw (there’s at least one in every hotel) had a long queue for the entire morning. I don’t know why it’s so popular. The coffee is mank here and even worse over there.
The bags never arrived so we restocked our wardrobes at Target and Ross and went about our business. Put in a savage amount of walking as that’s really the best way to see everything, and things are always further away than they look. The weather was brilliant…My new ideal is 33C and 10% humidity. Made me feel 10 years younger!

Walking around the WSOP was fun…I watch Negreanu’s vlogs so it was nice to see all the settings in real life. Saw Hellmuth, Doug Polk, aforementioned Negreanu and a few other heads there. He has incredible patience…if he’s not at the table he’s just taking pictures with people non stop. By pure chance I met him walking towards the Aria when he was on his way to an ice hockey game and had a very brief chat.

On Sunday morning the wife went for a wander and I decided to play a bit of poker in the Aria. As it was a short trip and neither of us are the partying type, we didn’t fight the jetlag and were up at 5 am every day. I got to the poker room at 7:30 and it was packed! I had to wait 30 mins to get a seat at 1-3, buying in for $300. To that point I’d probably played less than 100 hands of live holdem cash in my life so wasn’t that confident. Only had one really notable hand….2 limps and I check KJo in the BB. Flop come 9TQr…that’ll do. I bet 5 into 10 and the open limper who’s young guy in a cap drinking a beer but not seeming drunk in EP calls. Turn 3 completes the rainbow and I bet 10 into 20. River T and I bet 30 into 40. Villain almost insta jams for 280 more. I figured no boats made sense except maybe T9 and there was the possibility of random spazzouts with J8 or a T so after thinking for a while I called and he just declared a 9. Was delighted! A few hands later it became clear that it was an easy call as he was opening shipping 40bb with any two hand after hand. They shut the 1-3 tables at 10 to make way for a tournament so I cashed out for $600.

That night we went for dinner at Atelier Joel Robuchon in the MGM. It used to have 1 star but Michelin don’t produce a guide for Vegas any more. It was excellent comically enough, the best value thing we ate for the whole trip at $125 for 4 courses including the usual odds and ends. Their wine list is incredible. They had lots of Petrus and DRC on there, including a bottle for $86k. Something weird about European style fine dining in a casino in the US but it was good. One waiter in particular knew his stuff but the others weren’t quite as good.

I went to the baggage tracking website to change the address to our home and rang their baggage support line to confirm, but as mentioned earlier the geniuses in Heathrow sent it out the day we were coming home. The rest of the trip for us was mostly more walking around. We went up to Fremont St and into the Golden Nugget and Binions etc. They have a bit of character about them compared with the megastructures and are probably much better value. We were also in the Venetian, Bellagio, Planet Hollywood, Caesar’s, Paris…basically every hotel between Caesar’s and the MGM!

Overall, I still like Vegas. The weather is amazing and when the place is quiet during the morning it’s pretty relaxing but having every decision to consume something tinged with the feeling of being ripped off detracted from the enjoyment a little bit. Our bags must really like it because they flew out there on Tuesday, and they’re heading back again tonight. Naturally this is the first time I put the good camera and the only relatively expensive item of clothing that I own in checked luggage

You were in Vegas? Should've mentioned

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

Know someone else back from Vegas recently and was saying the same thing about it being horrendously expensive. That he went expecting to waste money, as well it's Vegas, but was almost overwhelmed by just how incredibly expensive it actually was.

[Hectorjelly]

I've heard great things about the poker scene in Texas; I plan to take a trip there soon enough.