Gorth

That “obviously” was sarcasm, right??? edit: those who are not Trump cultists aren’t surprised and his cultists don’t care either way

Completely off topic, but I wonder how many people around here were active on Usenet? I sometimes participated in alt.rec.games.interplay and alt.rec.games.baldurs-gate not being too keen on this newfangled “forum” nonsense, which looked like an internet version of Fido net

Just an interesting little bit about why we don’t just mass produce vaccines here and now (and no, not actually blaming things like IP and patents) https://www.bbc.com/news/health-57024322

I got my first two speeding tickets in Australia while still having only my old Danish drivers license (with no English translations), but that didn't bother the Hertz car rental apparently. It also meant I couldn't get "penalty points" on my license. Australia has a point system, where driving offenses costs points. If a you drive badly enough, your license is void. I eventually did get a proper Australian drivers license, because I could get fully credited for my Danish license and get a full Australian license right away. No tests... not even a written one. Later I did enroll in a training course and got motorcycle added to my license (complete with driving/skill test). Edit: And yes, spent my first 12 months driving around on my motorcycle with that ugly 'L' sign on it ("Learner") and the restrictions associated with it

Sorry to hear that Raithe. All the best wishes to you and your family Regarding blood sugar levels, I sometimes have a bad conscience and feel like I'm squandering some precious gifts when it comes to health. Spent most of my 30's and early 40's being at times outright obese, living off junk food and cappuccino's. Only then did I get tired of always feeling tired and got my act together (now looking presentable in the bathroom mirror again). Despite decades of abusing my body, the latest blood tests showed the numbers of a healthy 30 year old. Whatever kills me some day is unlikely to be diabetes or cholesterol. Never mind lots of other things tried, hard at times, and failed. This cat is currently on its 10th+ life It will probably be something silly like a lightning strike or a tile falling off a roof in the city Which reminds me, I really should get officially registered as an organ donor and get a will done one of these days. Things you sometimes forget when you feel immortal... which usually last until you get very surprised.

Making octopuses high on Ecstasy makes otherwise very solitary creatures more sociable... https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-09-21/octopus-ecstasy-mdma-social-behaviour/10280706 "An object such as a flower pot was placed in the left chamber and another octopus trapped in the right. Without ecstasy, test octopuses spent significantly more time in the chamber with the object. But with ecstasy, they became more social, preferring the chamber with the other octopus in it. And the nature of the interactions between octopuses changed too. Before a dose of ecstasy, social interactions were "limited, usually to one extended arm", the scientists wrote in the paper. "After MDMA treatment, social interactions were characterised by extensive ventral surface contact, which appeared to be exploratory rather than aggressive in nature," they said." Edit: The article didn't say if it resulted in some kinky tentacle sex

I think it's time to dust off ye olde Lexx dvd's again... (got all seasons on dvd). Probably my favourite sci-fi show after Firefly

This should ring a bell for my fellow developers... (yes, users are like *that*)

Isn’t that a bit like saying AstraZeneca can’t be any good, because Sweden botched its pandemic response big time?

...and the winner of Worlds Strongest Man contest 2021 is Tom Stoltman (from the UK)

That reminds me of my first ever interview with a recruiting agent in London (almost 20 years ago), when I started looking for work outside Denmark I get this phone call showing a lot of weird digits on the called id, so I know it's from abroad. Pick up the phone and the guy on the other end introduces himself and... asks my how are you doing? Luckily I somehow managed to suppress my first, immediate impulse (telling him it's none of his ****ing business, we don't really know each other *that* well!!!) and stay polite. I did think he was getting all personal and intimate here, without me knowing him at all, like intruding on my privacy sphere without an invite here. Yes, Danes can be like that sometimes if not exposed to the outside world

That red cap is missing the maga logo???

If you say so Gfted1 vas Obsidian (I'm sure someone somewhere get the reference)

It's not just Australia, Germany is feeling the change in weather patterns too...

Youtube did it to me, I swear! I recently googled something about oldest company in Denmark and today youtube came up with this little gem under suggested videos. It's the oldest company in each European country that is *still* operating (i.e. there may be many even older companies, but for whatever reason they have gone out of business by now). I'm looking forward to see when he gets to Asia, as I suspect there may be some very old Chinese and Japanese businesses around.

Not quite as awful as the Hollywood version of vikings... Traditional Old Norse martial music

They are not immune to screw ups if that's what you mean. Like contacting all the people who been near a large grocery store... just to find out a few days later that there are two grocery stores from the same franchise nearby and the "other" one was the correct one (so nobody got tracked for days there). But apart from some such obvious human errors, it does seem to do its job. People get identified, isolated, tested and if necessary isolated for a longer time (if testing positive). @Zoraptoryeah, of course, it could have been a lot worse. The main frustration is really over wasted opportunities and incompetence. The state PM's and state governments (especially the Victorian, Queensland and Western Australian) did all the hard work and turned the initial outbreak into a success story. But complacency (and a lack of national leadership) is threatening it at the moment.

The snap lockdowns is to give contact tracers a chance to identify all the people who have been in contact with somebody who has been in contact with somebody etc. to get them to self isolate (and tested), which people have done. It has worked the last 12 months... The lockdown itself is only to stop the spread in its tracks until all possible infected people have been identified and isolated. The lockdown itself doesn't stop the spread as such.

Yes. I think it was draconian. Doesn't mean it wasn't necessary. The result was the 'de facto' eradication of the virus. What happens now is unnecessary, which makes the whole thing frustrating. Brisbane had two snap lockdowns, 5 days each, the last year. Big deal. Melbourne had a few too. But then one, just one, state government decides nah, we don't want to do that. Nothing's gonna happen. Nnap lockdowns is not wanted by the local businesses. Well, guess what, those businesses are going to see a LOT less business for a long time to come. Of course, the problems sort of starts at the top with no proper way of handling travelers arriving in Australia in a safe manner. Edit: Snap lockdowns in Brisbane was taken in a good spirit, turning into a fashion contest, who can come up with the most colourful and decorative masks etc. Edit2: Despite having registered for vaccinations almost 2 months ago now, no word whatsoever of any vaccine availability.

Looks like things are completely falling apart in Sydney and NSW these days. Over a 100 daily new cases now. No surprise of course, if look at the NSW government and their taking ineptitude to new attitudes. No surprise it's the same political party as the federal party (who completely ****ed up the vaccination programmes) Nobody can get any clear messages from the NSW as the message changes by the hour and sometime being completely contradictory... yay The Liberal Party, the scourge of Australia (mostly kept alive by the fossil fuel industry and Murdoch Media). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-18/nsw-records-105-covid-19-cases/100302152 It is now also threatening to spill over into Melbourne and VIC, as people have been traveling from Sydney to Melbourne while being infected (employees of a removal company doing some rather dodgy stuff, not wanting to share where they went and not wearing masks, despite coming from a "red zone" mask mandatory area)... and because the federal government has no clue what they are doing, Australia is now somewhere down in the third world tier when it comes to vaccinations. The Liberal Party has offered federal support to the government of NSW of course, unlike the other two states (QLD and VIC) who had to do lockdown and got zero aid (those states being governed by the opposition party). Edit: Background... every now and then, the virus escapes quarantine, because people are only required to quarantine for 2 weeks. The federal government has been unable to provide actual quarantine facilities for people entering Australia (you would think Christmas Island was an obvious candidate now the immigrant processing has been moved offshore). So, the new "Delta" variant escaped hotel quarantine and the NSW government in their infinite wisdom decided that a snap lockdown to nip it in the bud, is only something the peasants in QLD and VIC has to do, we are gods gift of governments and therefore don't need no filthy snap lockdowns. The result? Ever escalating infection numbers and a government that makes a chicken coop appear like a well functioning organization by comparison. Glossary: NSW - New South Wales (where Sydney and The Opera House is) VIC - Victoria (where Melbourne and Australian Open is) QLD - Queensland (where Brisbane and The Great Barrier Reef is) ALP - The Australian Liberal Party (Gods gift to Fox News/Sky News... basically a bunch of morons doing what they are told by their masters) Labor is the main opposition party, but their lies have been way too unconvincing in the last few national elections, hence why the ALP is in power (their head liar/the PM has a background in marketing, his BS is very convincing for people who actually watch Sky News... which would be the same breed of people who actually believe anything coming out of Fox News)

What I did today... bought @melkathi's ebook. Lets see if there really is such a thing as not too short to save the world

Speaking of climate change, I've occasionally pointed out how our notorious liar and fossil fuel company pet, Scott Morrison, and his almost comically incompetent liberal government (not to be confused with the US use of the word liberal, here it means the opposite), is running the country into the ground at an impressive speed. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/16/not-engaging-isnt-the-answer-australia-under-pressure-as-us-follows-eu-lead-on-carbon-tariffs https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-57845171 "The measure was confirmed yesterday in the EU's sweeping new climate plan. Such a tax would make exporters to the EU pay more for goods like steel and cement, to level the playing field for European firms paying carbon permits. But Australia has argued that such a tariff would be "protectionist" and could breach trade rules." The latter beeing particularly funny, labeling it "protectionist", charging the same tax on imports as domestic companies have to pay. It's all about sticking your head in the sand and all the moves he's made so far to undermine any attempt at reduce CO2 emissions might come to naught. I previously mentioned how the man is fighting windmills. What few people know is, it's to be taken literally. He really does try to crack down on wind energy, solar energy and other attempts at making alternative energy usable, as it threatens the companies holding his leash.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57846200 "At least 70 people have died in Germany and Belgium after record rainfall caused rivers to burst their banks. Most of the victims were in Germany, but at least 11 have died in Belgium, with more reported missing. The German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia were worst hit, but the Netherlands is also badly affected." The Northern Hemisphere is having some extreme weather patterns too this year it seems.

I use Killing Floor 2 when I need short term gratification. Pop in. Find a server with a game in progress and kill zombies for 20-30 minutes. Alt+F4. Pick up some other day.

Not quite. Any company doing business with Cuba loses access to doing business with any US company (and subsidiaries of US companies). Let's see... balancing access to the Cuban market with access the US market? Tough choice (not really). It's cheaper than using ships to blockade the island (which hasn't been used since the missile crisis)