Phil Thane ✅

@John_Loader@ohai.social @alexf24@mstdn.social @nobrainnopain@social.tchncs.de @kibcol1049@mstdn.social @tiggy@mastodonapp.uk @Fasgadh@mastodon.scot I keep debating this with people younger than me (74). I did O Level engineering in '68 using imperial. Then A Level in '70 in metric. We were all being prepared to switch totally by the mid 70s but then the anti EU types conflated metric with 'Brussels' (and decimal currency in 71) and the govt started to abandon the switch over.

@MaryAustinBooks@mstdn.social Our (UK) elite guards regiments still wear red coats on ceremonial occasions but I wouldn't give Hegseth much of a chance against one of them. Still, he's welcome to try.

@pheonix@hachyderm.io If you can't do your job without AI, how the fuck did you get the job?

@MikeFromLFE@cupoftea.social Me too. Turns out all the symptoms I've been moaning about and seeking a cure for are due to my kidney disease which isn't going to get better. On the one hand I can stop trying to find a remedy. On the other I'm not exactly happy to realise this is my life now. #CKD

@kdkorte@fosstodon.org It's ideal even for 'self-employed' or 'single worker' enterprises. I switched to Linux and FOSS at home while I had an office job using Windows, MS Office, Adobe & Quark. So when my side-hustle became my job I was already familiar with all the software I needed, without spending a single penny. #Linux #LibreOffice #Inkscape #GIMP #Scribus #GnuCash #Firefox #Thunderbird

@david_chisnall@infosec.exchange @ChrisMayLA6@mastodon.me.uk Until it reaches the EU average?

@TJ1001@mastodonapp.uk The American education system leaves a lot to be desired.

@kim_harding@mastodon.scot I've long thought that online media, social or other, should be held to the same standards as print and broadcast. If that kills the business model then-tough. There's no reason why society has to bend to suit a harmful business model.

@mahryekuh@hachyderm.io @FinFangFoomed@mastodon.social @remixtures@tldr.nettime.org I wonder about this. If it's true that identifying street signs, traffic signals and cross walks is helping train autonomous vehicles, how are these vehicles going to cope outside the US? I haven't seen one ever that wasn't a US street scene.

@carusb@mastodon.scot @MikeFromLFE@cupoftea.social Tonic water sounds good. Need to find a shop. Rotating tasks not so good, I'm cruising solo so do all the tasks. Enjoying it though.

@Natasha_Jay@tech.lgbt In the 18th century capitalists saw that a large mill full of automatic looms powered by a steam engine would quickly be more profitable than hundreds of hand loom weavers working in their cottages. That thinking has driven industrialisation ever since. I'm not convinced though it will ever apply to LLM. Human creativity is cheaper and the results more useful.

@dbattistella@mstdn.ca Short answer, Yes. Longer answer, we have been manipulated by business, media and politicians since 1945, if not before, to accept that lightly regulated capitalism is the best way to run the world. Turns out it's just the best way to make a small number of people very rich whilst killing the rest of us.

@MikeFromLFE@cupoftea.social Thanks.

#OldPeopleOfMastodon I need your help. I'm on a canal boat trip, lots of walking, lock working etc. Every night I get woken several times with terrible leg cramps. Anyone got any tips? (Youngsters can contribute too). #Boating #Canals #Cramp #BoatsThatToot

@futurebird@sauropods.win @jredlund@social.linux.pizza The the black pillar. I'm guessing the first mock-up didn't have it and unless you were viewing from a height the angel (fairy, whatever) looked like she'd been cut off at the knees. There ought to be a decent plinth designed to look acceptable however much is lost due to one's viewing position. But we not dealing with smart people, so who knows?

@superflippy@mastodon.xyz American anti-intellectualism strikes again.

@LaChasseuse@mastodon.scot When you were growing up science had understood the mechanism for a hundred years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunice_Newton_Foote

@majorlinux@toot.majorshouse.com Crazy. In UK they'd check your licence and insurance, test for alcohol/drugs, if they had reason to suspect, give you safety lecture and a warning. Failing to indicate isn't in itself an offence providing you aren't a danger to others. Dangerous driving certainly is but it's hard to prove unless there has been a crash.

@GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai in most countries politicians retire around 60-70 and quietly disappear. America seems to prefer to elect geriatrics and then let them stay in office until they die, or beyond.

@bytebro@mastodonapp.uk Wordle 1,843 3/6 ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

@bytebro@mastodonapp.uk Wordle 1,838 6/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨 🟨⬜🟩⬜🟩 ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

@bytebro@mastodonapp.uk lucky.

@bytebro@mastodonapp.uk Wordle 1,837 3/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

@wyatt_h_knott@mstdn.social @OrionKidder@mas.to @koen_hufkens@mastodon.social See also bread. It's a faff making your own which is why we had neighborhood bakeries that made great bread daily. Now we get supermarket bread made hundreds of miles away laden with preservatives to withstand long distance transport, have a long shelf life in store and still seem 'fresh' several days after purchase.

@gary_alderson@infosec.exchange @HI_Greens@mastodon.scot I think you're confusing the US with the rest of the world. The original post was about the UK Post Office, and other privatised public services. Some of our old publicly owned enterprises were badly managed and under invested. If we had cared enough we could have elected politicians who promised more money and better management but instead we kept electing politicians who promised low taxes and cut services they wouldn't fund.

@davidwilkins@mastodon.online Have you featured a Chevette, van or otherwise? I had a (well) used one in the mid 80s. Small, but the hatchback made load carrying easy compared to saloons of the time. Light and nippy too.

@bytebro@mastodonapp.uk Wordle 1,792 4/6 ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨 🟩🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟩⬜⬜🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

@lindasgoluppiart@mastodonapp.uk Desperately looking for the silver lining here but Reform plc councils now have a couple of years to demonstrate how evil and incompetent they are before the next general election.

@gary_alderson@infosec.exchange @HI_Greens@mastodon.scot Lots of companies are doing fine by their own metrics, ie profitability, ROI, share price. That's nothing to do with the original post about public services.

@bytebro@mastodonapp.uk Wordle 1,832 3/6 ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

@janerationx@mas.to Don't take it personally I'm thinking I've about reached my limit for US follows, the news from over there is really too much. I know you all set great store by constitutional amendments like they're holy writ, but honestly I think you need a whole new constitution.

@ketan@climatejustice.social Why do golf courses have to look the same regardless of where they are? Golf originated on the natural sandy links on the Scottish coast but why not play it on whatever the local landscape offers? Sure you'd need to cut back the plantlife on the fairways and 'greens' but they don't actually have to be green. If they yellow in the summer, so what?

@glynmoody@mastodon.social Surely the US govt has enough accurate maps already to not need to create a new one? 😔

@mehdirhasan@mastox.eu Trump *IS* the shared enemy of all decently governed states.

@brianb@fosstodon.org Had anyone created something to block YouTube's stupid recommendation algorithm? I could tolerate it suggesting content from people I have watched previously but Google assumes that because I once watched documentary about something historical I will really enjoy thousands of AI generated 'stories' about something that never happened but set in the same period. With anachronistic photo montage instead of video.

@Nonilex@masto.ai The memorandum of understanding got lost in translation? Always likely with one side writing in classical Persian and the other writing drivel with a Sharpie.

@gregc@mastodonapp.uk I do object to the idea of monarchy but QE2 did a good job within the bounds of what the system allows/requires. I think it's unfair to expect any individual to take on such a role for their entire life just because of their parentage. There's no guarantee we'll get a good service and no way to remove a useless monarch short of civil war.

We rarely rely to these but recently had to return a 'luminous' clock that wasn't. We got refund and then a request for a review. Wife replied explaining the issue including thanks for the refund. Her review was declined. All the published 'reviews' praised the brightness and visibility of the clockface.

@realjakebroe.bsky.social Not really. Chamberlain managed to delay Britain's inevitable war with Germany for a year during which time Britain shifted to war time economy focused on rearmament. Kushner and Witkoff just want Ukraine to surrender do they can do business with Russia.

@lindasgoluppiart@mastodonapp.uk Bonjour.

@futurebird@sauropods.win It may be photo editors are to blame but whenever I see Hegseth in the UK media he seems to be pointing aggressively and sneering like a drunk in a dodgy pub looking for a fight. Seems to equate manly with violent.

@majorlinux@toot.majorshouse.com What kind of country arrested people for minor traffic violations?

@brianb@fosstodon.org thanks, I will check it out.

@Kneewax@fosstodon.org I didn't inhale'.

@MaryAustinBooks@mstdn.social Politicians like to do their 'man of the people' schtick and pretend they know about football. They do here (UK) too but don't usually get it so badly wrong.

@gary_alderson@infosec.exchange @HI_Greens@mastodon.scot Wikipedia lists about 10 Jack Andersons, if you mean the one who was a columnist he wrote thousands of pieces over a long career so could you be more specific? As for claiming the private sector is more accountable, how and to whom?

Question for Brits, does a hosepipe ban affecting 'millions of households' according to the media also apply to allotments? Asking for a wife. And her husband tasked with carrying watering cans. #UK #water #hosepipe #gardening #allotments

@gary_alderson@infosec.exchange @HI_Greens@mastodon.scot US govt sucks. UK govt is trying hard to suck as much but isn't quite there yet. Many other governments seem to do quite well.