Gorth

I wonder if this family is going to the suspect in every criminal case where there are "no fingerprints"? "The men in Apu's family appear to share a genetic mutation so rare it is thought to affect only a small handful of families in the world: they have no fingerprints." ... "n 2008, when Apu was still a boy, Bangladesh introduced National ID cards for all adults, and the database required a thumbprint. The baffled employees did not know how to issue a card to Apu's father, Amal Sarker. Finally, he received a card with "NO FINGERPRINT" stamped on it." https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55301200

Teenage nostalgia... the perm was *real* in those days!

In your head mate... in your head 🙃 And don't you go all χαίρετε on us here, you are as much part of this forums history as anyone. As for 2020 being "a bit rough", I think people have either forgotten or don't know what it was like living during the height of the cold war and imminent death always looming over year head, probably overnight and you wouldn't wake up in the morning again. The world just seems to have gotten a bit soft the last 30 years 😝 Merry Christmas old friend 😊

I look forward to a future where cat images can be shared faster than light!

Nothing planned for Christmas (it's a "non event" for me), but I will go out and watch the river fire works and get drunk on New Years eve here in Brisbane.

Still in a bit of a "feral" mood...

Bought a Christmas present for myself this evening. A boxed set with the 8 seasons of Games of Thrones. I guess I'll be binge watching it when it arrives (probably just after New Year) ☺️

Just some history bits... "Yule or Jol (pronunciation: Yoh-l) was the time between the Winter Solstice and the "Yule sacrifice" Jolablot. So this celebration was likely to last from the Winter Solstice to the 12th day of January. Generally, this celebration included drinking feasting, songs, games, banquets, and sacrifices for the gods and the ancestor spirits. There are similarities between the Viking Yule Celebration and the modern Christmast celebration The Vikings had their Yule tree which inspired the later Christmas tree. The green tree was often decorated with small statues of their Norse gods, food, and clothes. They attempted to call for the spirit of the forests." Merry Yuletide

Never really cared much for Christmas to be honest. Last time I truly celebrated it was when I was 18, last winter before moving out and into my own place. Sort of saying goodbye to a part of my life back then I guess. I have on rare occasion felt compelled to join friends for the Christmas celebrations, but honestly, it was because I couldn't find a plausible way of weaseling out The only thing I've associated with Christmas the last 35 (give or take a year) is... yay! Days off from work (or uni, or whatever). New Years eve is where it happens and where I go out and get get drunk. So not much chance of Christmas blues here. A doctor once said I had bipolar disorder, but what does he know? He wasn't a psychiatrist (and the chances of a down period hitting Christmas is probably low anyway) Getting the hang of getting to bed late and sleeping in late in the mornings again, and it's only 4 days since last work day. I can see where it's leading, come mid January, I'll have to start getting day and night turned around again.

They should have done with the new UK strain what they did with the new "mink" strain in Denmark, cull the entire population 😝 Just kidding of course, but there are some interesting questions around the new strain. Not just does it seem a lot more contagious, but will it be affected by the vaccines that has currently been developed? Or are we back to square one with a virus that beat the scientist by six months?

Google translate says: In the x box one s the game presents audio problems, it is with a noise similar to radio out of tune and very distorted, it interferes with the game experience.

Google translate: In the X box One S game features audio with background noise that reminds you of the radio noise out of tune, the audio is sometimes muted or very distorted. I don't know if it's a recurring problem or just a punctual problem in my game, but it hinders the game experience

My French is a bit rusty, something about after the latest build, you have to re-analyze stuff after reloading... help? Edit: Help. as in I need help with the translation

If a CEO or a CFO does insider trading, you bet the legal hammer falls. Why should a politician have special benefits and be able to do the same without repercussions? Especially when it comes to pending political decisions that affect share prices.

I declare and verify under plenty of perjury... 😂 For those who speak legalese, what would have been the correct expression in such a place?

1) & 2). Yes, because the decision making that affects you as an individual is now one (or more) step further removed from the parliament where your vote actually *matters*. You don't like party xyz in your country for example, vote them out. You don't like xyz in Brussels, sucks to be you, you better be prepared to ask how high should I jump? You're screwed. Apart from taking up torches and pitch forks, storm your local parliament and demand independence (or vote yes to Brexit as the UK did). Funny thing, if you had asked my even 10 years ago, I would have bet a six pack that Denmark would be the first country to leave the EU, followed by the UK. 3) You have it the wrong way around. It is NOT Brussels place to grant any independence to member countries in the first place. They already had it. Brussels took it away and that is the core of the problem. 4) I have changed my views (even radically) over the years. I used to be a "right winger", proud of my little country and its history until I started learning more and more about how the world works and now I don't give a flying **** about nation states, churches, corporations (and yes, banks). So my younger self had some very different views from my grown up (anarchist leaning) self who would rather see aforementioned crash and burn. Edit: If you're looking for what I would suggest... I would say an "acceptable compromise" would've been leaving it at being the EC (which was what people signed up for originally) and scrapping the EU part.

Traditionally spies got exchanged in Berlin at "Checkpoint Charlie". That doesn't quite work this way anymore with cyber espionage. No doubt everyone is doing it. Russians, Americans, Israelis, Chinese, Europeans, etc. Bonus points if you can frame your cyber espionage on someone else and play them against each other.

Ooh.... shiny! Edit rather than double post: Found a second oldie but goodie when dusting off my old cd collection

One small, but important difference (imho), apart from the original 13 states who formed the union, states who joined later knew what they were getting into. Sure, the constitution has been amended a bit over the decades, but largely the mechanisms from 1776 are still there. If the Danish government even knew (I doubt it) they sure as heck didn't tell the Danish population what the long term intention was when they had referendums for joining the EC or not in 61 (I'm relying on my parents account of those years btw, I wasn't born yet). So it feels more like a bait and switch operation. EC: Look, I got an ice cream for you, want to try it? People of Denmark: Ooh, looks nice. Sure, lets have a taste. EC: (evil mustache twirl) Sucker! *Grab* All your ass and your children and children's children are our property now and forever! Mind you, we even got off relatively easily because we voted no to the Maastricht Treaty. Then the government decided that people just doesn't know how to vote properly and came up the great idea to repeat the referendum until people got it and eventually vote the way the political establishment wanted it. The nation wide riots (people being very upset with the governments decision to keep calling new referendums) that followed was the first time since 1945 that police started shooting people on the streets (based on memory, take with a grain of salt, but iirc a dozen people got shot in Copenhagen by police). Because, you know, we can't have people rioting when we, the all wise politicians and gods gift to the Danish people ignore the results of the vote. At least the revised version of the treaty left Denmark out of all the major parts. One of the reasons Denmark kept its own currency and controls its own fiscal policy.

Indirectly. He was elected by the electoral college. The federal government was appointed by him, not elected per se. The state electors were appointed by the states according to each states rules (the majority allocating all electoral slots to the popular winner of the states votes)

That's what I keep telling my self when doing my tax returns... 🤔

Makes you wonder if the FAA is an independent organization, or are they completely under the thumb of other interests, political or otherwise? No sooner did the plane get the FAA certification and someone cries "foul". Never mind that the FAA and it's certifications is worth **** all in large part of the rest of the world by now and will require recertification by other authorities because there is no trust left at all when it comes to the FAA. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55372499 US Senate investigators say that Boeing officials "inappropriately coached" test pilots during efforts to recertify the company's 737 Max aircraft. The planes were grounded in March 2019 following two deadly crashes. Investigators accused Boeing and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials of "attempting to cover up important information".

No. It's not a small price. Ask the board members from the US how much friction you always end up with when the federal government overrules state decisions and legislation. Here we're not talking about states that are only a couple of centuries old at best, but countries, many of which have been self governing for a millennia or more. But that is sort of besides the point. Back when it was still the EC (the predecessor of the EU). Brussels was something too far away, with a commission that worked more like a board of directors, all of it's members being appointed, not elected. The European parliament has always been a joke. Back when I was still living there, it was a meme, that politicians who fell from grace in their home countries for this and that scandal would get the "golden handshake". Which was sending them to the European Parliament where they would spend all their time lining their pockets with unbelievable salaries and tax benefits. Out of sight, out of mind, not doing too much damage anymore in their country of origin. Which means, the real power is the commission. EU was the move to centralize legislative power in Brussels, gradually turning national parliaments into something that is just a token gesture while all decision making should be done in Brussels, overriding any national legislation the member countries. I.e. effectively turning member countries into vassals of a powerful Brussels, which as mentioned before is not ruled by an elected body. It makes it too easy for large and powerful corporations, banks, other interest groups etc. to assert themselves, because there is only one point they need to convince if they want local laws changed to suit their needs. Don't like the minimum wages in country x, y and z? No worries, tell your lobbyists in Brussels to "get it fixed" and local law making bodies can do nothing. So no, I don't think the EU is beneficial to Europeans. It's predecessor organization was, because it was a trade block, benefitting the member countries. The current project is just a power grab by the eurocrats in Brussels, wanting a strong, centralized power in a new "super state", doing away with the member countries sovereignty. So yeah, as far as I'm concerned, the EU can rot and burn and I'll happily watch the flames while sipping aforementioned Cognac, pondering the folly of man who just can't seem to learn anything from history. The bigger they become, the harder they fall. I would like to invite you to the anarchists club, but there is no organization you can join, too disorganized 😝

Ouch... https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55359568 Sony has pulled Cyberpunk 2077, one of the year's most-anticipated games, from its store and offered refunds to all players. The unprecedented move follows complaints that the game has been riddled with bugs and glitches, and is prone to crashes. Microsoft later said it would also refund any dissatisfied Xbox players.

Maybe it was the Saudis price for improving relations with Israel. Just need a big enough ship (with a freezer) to ship it 😛