The General Discussion Thread

[Publish Date updated to restore to front page]

Okay as an experiment here it is. Discuss your favourite generals here!

Well perhaps… Really this is simply the place to post news-items, fun-items or whatever takes your fancy. In short just post what you want here.

It’s just another wee experiment – comments welcome.

Squonk.

[Image: General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett (Stephen Fry)]

17,285 thoughts on “The General Discussion Thread

  1. “Have you seen the Wing suit Doods too”

    I have … and I admire their courage. It wouldn’t be me.

    But I sometimes wonder what it is in their personalities that makes them take such massive risks. It must be only about 1 person in 1000 who would get involved in that? or even consider it?

  2. Isn’t it strange that General James Cartwright gets pardoned by Obama for leaking information about the Stuxnet virus being used to stop Iran’s nuclear program when John P. Wheeler, III was tortured and murdered for trying to leak same to Tehran six years ago?

  3. Thanks Itzy, of interest , but still no mention of what happened to serious, naive leaker Wheeler whose murder apparently by NSA’s Special Collection Service remains unsolved, and its investigation sealed, thanks to the efforts by Joe Biden, the covert government’s commander-in-chief.

    Pardons are a long way from vicious killings Mafioso style.

  4. Clark,

    Back to your Pi question. It’s a Pi 3 running Raspbian (their Debian port) usually although I’ve had it running CentOS and Fedora as well.

    Been feeling a bit run down though the last few days. Probably the time of the year. Pulled my ancient light box out but the tubes just blink at me. Likely needs a new starter.

  5. Was ali-Resa Pahlavi, the heir to the Iranian throne, killed by NSA’s SCS too right afterwards, made to look, and sound like a suicide for fear that he would spill the beans on what happened to Wheeler, or so depressed by it?

  6. Squonk, Good to hear from you!

    I thought there had been no comments for days, but that’s because the Recent Comments plugin seems to have ground to a standstill. I even posted that comment to Ben, and then the next day when it didn’t appear at the top of that plugin I assumed I’d forgotten to click the “Post Comment” button. I hadn’t scrolled down to look at the actual comments…

    You’re welcome to come down here and twiddle with your Pi in front of my fire. It’s pretty sunny here, too, but cold out.

  7. Howdy all..

    Both Macs still in shop. Had to postpone app a week and should have back by next week. Bad track pad and other stuff.

    Cheers

  8. Clark –

    ” I thought there had been no comments for days, ”

    Same here.. Posted the wing suit video for Itzy..then all seemed Jammed on the Extreme Skiing Bit(s).

    I was in a couple of times to check what you scoundrel were up to 🙂

    but the truth is i got ill with Food poisoning. The good news it didn’t last more than a few days.. I know who the culprit was/ is… ME.. Trying to be creative with Rice and home made soup. NEVER Again

    Ben Good to hear from ya..all the best with the Techy wars..

    Itzy… emember I was talking about fighting with the dreaded Midge –

    Here be the Action – Couple of Flaws ..That’s how the wee buggers win –

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gCMHW5NQOo

    Clark Video Above is on the same Beach as our water tree 🙂

    Stay well all.

  9. Great video, Brian. Great music. And a great backdrop, with that sunset!
    Not what one expects to see around Loch Lomond – a katana.

    Midges are a curse. But food poisoning is worse. I hope you’re all better now.

  10. Ben! Good to see you back! Er, just plug in a mouse?

    (…all my computers are just discarded junk; I swap components in and out as needed. I have various operating systems, all of which run on any of the junk. Back in the pioneering days of computing, the idea was to separate the function from the matter – function would be provided by software, which should run on any available hardware. But that wasn’t seen as effective for selling stuff to customers, so software was deliberately crippled to make it hard to run on more than one machine.)

    – – – – –

    Brian! Congrats on your survival! Yes, you have to be careful with rice. I think that’s why it gets fried.

  11. Clark.. I Shall Learn…You are the Third person to tell me that… YIKES .Never Again LolZ..

    Itzy..Cheers… Thanks.. Yes The Live Katana would wind me in jail… Fuckers have fuck all else to do…Even For Photo Opps..

    well

    got trapped By my Harem Girls Last Night..In Luss…

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/132108640@N08/32435360636/in/dateposted-friend/

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/132108640@N08/32089128220/in/dateposted-friend/

    First Beach Party Of the new Year..

  12. Doomsday gets closer.

    http://thebulletin.org/timeline

    IT IS TWO AND A HALF MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT

    2017: For the last two years, the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock stayed set at three minutes before the hour, the closest it had been to midnight since the early 1980s. In its two most recent annual announcements on the Clock, the Science and Security Board warned: “The probability of global catastrophe is very high, and the actions needed to reduce the risks of disaster must be taken very soon.” In 2017, we find the danger to be even greater, the need for action more urgent. It is two and a half minutes to midnight, the Clock is ticking, global danger looms. Wise public officials should act immediately, guiding humanity away from the brink. If they do not, wise citizens must step forward and lead the way. See the full statement from the Science and Security Board on the 2017 time of the Doomsday Clock.

  13. Smarty scientists just engaging in guess-work. Would be no different if Hillary had won.

    Think Hannigan upset too about HMG not doing more for the relatives of those killed at the Hill of Stone at the Mull of Kintyre.

  14. Still don’t understand the lack of interest in GCHQ personnel, like Anne James seconded to the Northern Ireland Office, killed while the Agency was catching up with the terrorists using encrypted messages.

  15. Kosinski and his team tirelessly refined their models. In 2012, Kosinski proved that on the basis of an average of 68 Facebook “likes” by a user, it was possible to predict their skin color (with 95 percent accuracy), their sexual orientation (88 percent accuracy), and their affiliation to the Democratic or Republican party (85 percent). But it didn’t stop there. Intelligence, religious affiliation, as well as alcohol, cigarette and drug use, could all be determined. From the data it was even possible to deduce whether someone’s parents were divorced.

    – The strength of their modeling was illustrated by how well it could predict a subject’s answers. Kosinski continued to work on the models incessantly: before long, he was able to evaluate a person better than the average work colleague, merely on the basis of ten Facebook “likes.” Seventy “likes” were enough to outdo what a person’s friends knew, 150 what their parents knew, and 300 “likes” what their partner knew. More “likes” could even surpass what a person thought they knew about themselves. On the day that Kosinski published these findings, he received two phone calls. The threat of a lawsuit and a job offer. Both from Facebook

    http://motherboard.vice.com/read/big-data-cambridge-analytica-brexit-trump

  16. Facebook is great for advertisers though.

    Sikunder Burnes could be targetted for example at people interested in “Military History” + (“British Raj” or “Afghanistan”) + “Reading Books”. Many other possible combinations.

    As I may have mentioned before Facebook will even let you target ads at people who list their employer as “Afghanistan Taliban”… There are several thousand Facebook users in Afghanistan in this category and even some in the UK!

  17. This is quite remarkable considering El Nino is gone and we are in neutral/weak La Nina. These temperature anomalies are compared to 1979-2000 baseline. Add approximately 0.6C to get since pre-industrial baseline.


    Click image for larger version

  18. Think about the things that we should have done before
    The way things are going the end is about to fall.
    We took the wrong step years ago

    Take a look around and see the warnings close at hand
    Already weeds are writing their scriptures in the sand
    We took the wrong step years ago

    The morning sun is rising, casting rays across the land,
    Already nature’s calling, take heed of the warning,
    We took the wrong step years ago

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG4EF2eYfTs

    Edit – serendipity – I hadn’t refreshed the page, so I hadn’t seen the map posted by Squonk.

  19. But you’ll just be in exactly the same position again, with only two candidates with any chance of winning, both of them representatives of Big Money and vested interests.

    The problem lies in the system. Having a “choice of candidates” is just a distraction that gives the system false legitimacy.

  20. Four years of awful Trump might well force changes, like getting rid of the Elecoral College, shortening the length and costs of campaigns, and reducing the level of the media in the process.

    And Trump is the most dangerous candidate in my long life.

  21. “Trump is the most dangerous candidate in my long life”

    I agree, but draw attention to the overall decline in quality that has persisted for decades (my side of the ocean, too), suggesting that the next choice offered could be even worse.

    On a brighter note, he’s a danger to himself as much as others. What sort of thing might he bring himself down with?

  22. I’ve got this comment and two on Craig’s 9/11 thread open in separate tabs. I’m going to prepare them all and then post them in quick succession, to see if anyone accuses me of being a secret agent…

  23. Brian, that’s a fantastic view. That ship is huge, and the massive yellow – what is it? An elevator? The big wheels alone would tower over the houses. What sort of ship is that?

    It’s not quite a werewolf night here; the grey overcast is thin enough to look broken as it scuds across the gibbous moon, and as I watched, an airliner about to cross London on the Heathrow approach, passed in an instant in silhouette against the Moon’s face.

  24. Brian, at long last I have got around to watching the wingsuit video you linked to. How absolutely fantastic, best thing I’ve seen since you linked to the marble music machine.

    It looked a brilliant experience but then I thought that the speed and rate of descent were really pretty scary and I wondered how on Earth they would land. I saw the lake and wondered if they had to fly there. And then he snapped his hands out, and reached behind his back, and a moment later I realised he’d opened a parachute.

  25. Howdy all.

    Tumultuous first weeks of the New Year. Won’t bore you with all the details.

    Son #2 got shipped out to NC today. The cost of college motivated him to join Army for 3 three years to get his culnary school paid for. He wants to be a 5 star chef so he chose his MOS as cook. He knows he’ll have to unlearn many things but he’s already been selected for officer’s Mess. Funny. Both my boys went military but for different reasons.

    Oldest is halfway through to degree in electronic forensics.

    Laptop is toast. Condensation corrosion. It could be fixed but I don’t give a shite. Phone is fine. My theory that Macs though more expensive. .longer life…nope.

    Maybe when I feel like it I’ll get another pc laptop….no Apple for me.

  26. You Ben..

    Them boys have a well balanced Father… Best luck.. My Oldestalways wanted to be in the Army.. Grand dad on other side was in .. Take care Man

    Clark..

    The wing suit dudes have to pull the chute ..The Lake one was a record.. It’s amazing Stuff.. they do perish occasionally… Same with High Liners Line walking..A russian 20 year old just fell 300 feet…Em with Obvious results.

    Also Clark

    that ship is Called the Ceona Amazon.. A cable laying ship..It’s effin Huge.. Has been here on the Clyde for months, but only recently is Lit up like a Ginormous xmas feature.. I’ll get a foto of it at night .. Stunning..

    Here is a closer image.. the blue cranes are on Land .

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/132108640@N08/?saved=1

    Stay Inquiring Folks.

  27. Hello Ben. My attitude is, hardware is just shite. It’s the software that makes it your machine, and a good machine. So I’ll only use software that can be moved from one machine to another, and that means GPL software ie. GNU/Linux.

    Hardware is everywhere and costs nothing; it falls out of rubbish bins. People buy laptops and dispose of them after three or four years because Windows gets full of viruses or other malware, making it run slow. But people don’t understand so they buy a new laptop and throw the old one away.

    Well that’s great for me because my GNU/Linux systems run well on anything up to about seven years old, or I can choose a lightweight GNU/Linux version that runs fine on anything up to about twelve years old. I never need to worry about hardware because if anything breaks I just use another. I can use junk laptops that no one wants to steal – BIG advantage!

    I’ve never bought a computer new in my life. Bread, grass and fruit are all best when fresh, but computers just need decent software.

  28. Norfolk is cold todaym wind’s cutting in from the east and now and then we have little bits of snow flurries, I wish there would be more to justify getting the sledge out.

    Thanks for all the excellent stone flickrs, Brian and my best wishes to Listeningwater, et al and a big kiss to your little newcomer.
    to change the subject

    Does anybody know what my ‘libvacodec’ is? apparently it needs updating as it is not supported anymore and video’s are a bit jolty.
    been on a UBUNTU site to have a look what’s available but there are notes of caution attached and I’m not going for it.
    does anyone have advice on this issue.

  29. USA gets more like imperial Rome every day.

    Have to join the military, so you can retire from some later occupation in the country during your old age! It is also proving VA benefits, as I am learning.

  30. Nevermind, libavcodec (av probably rather than va) is a library (lib) of audio-video (av) coders and decoders (codec). The most up-to-date version should be in the Ubuntu repositories, from where it usually gets updated automatically along with everything else. When did you last permit the system to do its updates?

    Read the warnings carefully. If it just says that you may need an additional licence for it in the country you’re in, or something like that, it’s fine to install it. You could copy-and-paste the warning here.

    Which Ubuntu version are you using? I think you already told me but I don’t know where to find it now. Basically, how long have you been using your current system? If you’re using Ubuntu 12.04 which was released in 2012, you should upgrade to Ubuntu 16.04 from 2016. I could come and do that if you wish, or you could do it yourself just by clicking in the Software Updater, but you should back up your /home folder (where all the users’ own files are kept) to an external memory device before you start in case anything goes wrong.

  31. I’m on a Mac since Christmas 2015. I find it good, and haven’t got any viruses so far. Now they’ve (my kids) got me a new iPhone for my birthday last Saturday. I’m slowly learning to use that, and sync several things with the Mac. A steep learning curve.
    But I was sick of Window and when they stopped servicing XP I was stormed by viruses I had a hard job getting rid of.

    So I’m busy and my head is addled!

  32. Hi Clark, thanks for the reassurance, I’m still on 12.4 and I’m updating everything, but this has not been updated automatically. I shall try and download it later when the rush hour online is over, everyone comes home and looks at their mail/papers/etc. and my rate goes down to molasses speed.

    my head is also addled, its not made to do IT

  33. If it plays videos but jolts a bit, it might be just that a lot of videos are higher resolution these days, and have got to the point where the hardware can’t quite keep up.

    I think I’ve recently had occasional messages in my browser about libavcodec. Send me the URL of a page where it happens and I’ll see if I get the same. Is it a browser message? Or when you play local video files with the media player?

    Itzy, your Macs will be a lot less trouble than XP, but be careful of the sneaky ways that Apple deprive you of your rights. Apple are part of the media industry.

  34. “but be careful of the sneaky ways that Apple deprive you of your rights. Apple are part of the media industry.”

    Thanks Clark. I’ll take that up with the Apple enthusiasts in my life!

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