MartinW

On climate action if others pursue green energy then deniers like USA will lose the market for their fossil products; when they need to switch to green energy they need it to go to early adopters for it. Think old gold rush aphorism it is boring general stores, not prospectors, who make fortunes.

Carney is not throwing the baby out with the bathwater. There will be collaborations that are of mutual benefit but he is advocating avoiding them being subject to complete unrelated issues. So separating economic and security integration is pragmatic.

That is probably the best speech I have heard from a politician in a very long time. It may well go down in history if other nations such as UK, EU, Japan, Australia etc. develop a similar strategy.

Can anybody recommend a fibre broadband/TV service that is not @vmo2news.bsky.social ? I have been with Virgin for many years but last 18 months has been dreadful with unresolved complaints. I am near Nottingham.

Can't even get Virgin to properly engage for a revised contract.
#virginmedia #virgin

@vmo2news.bsky.social
Are Virgin incapable of returning telephone calls? Many promises of calls back in response to complaint, new contract but rarely happen, NEVER at agreed time. Making it very hard to stay with them. Timewasters!

Can't recommend Virgin, even free support number does not work.

The media wants absolutes and life, and especially governing, is not like that. It is messy & needs thoughtful adaptability.

Truss failed because she was too dogmatic, rigid in her thinking. Will be interesting to see if Trump is listening to the markets, data re tariffs. He pulled back once ...

I will read the paper later but as someone who wants to make their French viable how does it work for adult learners of a new language?

Absolutely. A lesson I learned early in my management career was to take necessary decisions promptly on the best (not perfect) information available and monitor the outcomes. If not working make new decision as above ...

That is how the cycle of control works, and delivers the best results.

Finally got there! My PhD thesis has been submitted. Now we need to find an external examiner so viva can be arranged.

My field of research seems rather niche, hopefully because it is original, even for academia. It means we don't have obvious candidates for the external examiner 🤔 .

Humphrey Appleton (Yes Minister) advocated public inquiries as a way fo doing nothing about awkward issues. Gov'ts have been kicking so many cans down the road they have ceased to govern & created the disillusionment that is breaking "democracy". Politicians as the problem, not the solution?

Unfortunately it never lasts long enough ☹️

Why would they want to come back into the current bear pit that is the Conservative Party? They are further away from the party's centre of gravity than they were when they were ousted.

They would be better doing an SDP and creating a new centre-right party.

Just had a couple of Cadbury Roses. The King was right to remove Cadburys royal warrant. They have been going in wrong direction since Mondelez bought them.

Dairy Milk has changed, it's grainy and only a step away from the horribleness of Hershey "chocolate", not yet quite as sickly.

Don't think Google, Meta et al's use of AI is altruistic, remember they manipulate algorithms to serve their commercial, political needs.

AI will serve them even better. Studies show AI reflects the biases in training data. AI bots are biased, there's no sort of intellect to challenge their output.

Problems:

Call to 150 "cannot connect"
Frequent short broadband outages every week
Broadband, TV service still down or intermittent after 2+ days
Poor wifi coverage around my home
Often won't play TV recordings, fail or with "buffering"

Anybody else?

#virginmedia #problems #support #poorservice

@virginmedia. Abysmal service

Although a long time customer I am seriously unhappy with the service since I last renewed. At the moment I cannot reach a real person to get support, chatting with a robot is a waste of my time.

The service is atrocius and support even worse.

It's because of envy, Musk is hundreds of times richer than Trump.

Actually he is richer than many UN member states.

Who needs even a tiny fraction of that wealth? Especially when billions worldwide do not eat properly, and many in his country cannot afford medical care.

What a waste of limited resources such as lithium.

Apart from the other resource and other waste handling issues.

ALL disposable/single-use products should need licences that are only granted when there is a robust recycling plan in place and producer put the funds needed in trust.

I recall seeing a formal painting he did in his teens (13-16 as I recall) that would have stood comaprison with anjmy established artist in the traditional academic style.

As he said it took him 4 years to paint like Raphael and a lifetime to paint like a child.

I will perhaps get it read, one day, sometime ...

The ones that really get me are those that ask me to review something as soon as I have bought it online. Even before it is delivered and I have had chance to use it.

Should probably rate it ZERO but they never allow that!

Absolutely, the attention economy is insidious as I have been discovering as part of my PhD. The rich get richer from it whilst the small businesses (like my phptographer subjects) struggle to get heard.

All those "free" internet and other services are anything but.

My policy is not to review/ rate anything. How do you rate something that works as intended, as should be expected—not excellence, just competence. 5 or 1?

If they sort out problem quickly, effectively, without fuss then I will rate service.

Consultant in me says, complaints are opportunities.

Totally agree. I have worked with civil servants at all levels and they are same mix from impressively capable & mostly good to just competent as in the private sector, but with a public service ethos.

And businesses of course add a profit margin on top of the costs, unlike governments.

So much for taking back control, Brexit was never goingf to work. If we want to export to EU we have to follwo their rules, without any say in what they are.

JInstead let international megacorporations determine what rules the UK and other "sovereign" states can impose. Far bigger issue than ECHR.

Only if they make their AI platforms equally free and open, for all purposes.

But that is not going to happen of course. They think only their work is worth rewarding.

I have been away from having a public presence for too long, so quick update as I'm on track to submit my PhD thesis next Spring.

I am planning for post-doctoral life so must sort out what social media presence will be useful. I am now getting LinkedIn (martinpwilson-ng) & Bluesky active again.

Not just his research, he has encyclopaedic knowledge of film theory & practice. He REALLY understands films and film making. As our PGR Director said today, he is far too modest!

And he is a good guy as well. If you are interested in film and theory you should be following @konkaypaps.bsky.social

It is the worst of both worlds. We do not have the advantages of being in SMCU with regard to easy flow of goods and services.

But if we still want to sell into EU we have to comply with its regulations without having a say in what they are.

That result was obvious even before the referendum.

You missed conspiracy theorists
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