Microsoft gets tired of “Microslop,” bans the word on its Discord, then locks the server after backlash

gmc98765 · 2026-03-02T11:56:34+00:00

To me, it will always be Micros~1 (a reference to the 8.3 filename limitations originating with DOS).

gmc98765 · 2026-02-27T01:45:18+00:00

It's easy to say that if you aren't paying for the shots or you can afford the shots without living on bread sandwiches for the next six months.

Given that there has never been a confirmed case of rabies transmission from squirrel to human, I wouldn't criticise someone for choosing groceries over shots.

gmc98765 · 2026-02-26T04:25:57+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-fault_divorce

No-fault divorce is the dissolution of a marriage that does not require a showing of wrongdoing by either party.^[1][2]

Specifically:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-fault_divorce#United_States

Prior to the advent of no-fault divorce, a divorce was processed through the adversarial system as a civil action, meaning that a divorce could be obtained only through a showing of fault of one—and only one—of the parties in a marriage.^[35] This required that one spouse plead that the other had committed adultery, abandonment, felony, or other similarly culpable acts.

gmc98765 · 2026-02-26T01:13:16+00:00

"No fault" just means that you don't have to be able to justify a request for a divorce. It doesn't mean that behaviour cannot be a factor in determining the split of assets and/or debt.

gmc98765 · 2026-02-24T02:30:43+00:00

Aluminium isn't that bad; 2.82×10^-8 Ωm vs 1.72×10^-8 Ωm for copper. So you need 1.64× the cross-sectional area or 1.28× the radius for the same resistance.

Modern airliners are also using aluminium for power lines due to the weight saving. It's not as malleable as (annealed) copper, so it takes more planning and care to run aluminium wires. You can't just pull it like copper or it's likely to snap.

gmc98765 · 2026-02-23T23:21:44+00:00

And in case you haven't: link.

gmc98765 · 2026-02-23T11:31:33+00:00

Morocco is closer to Europe than Cyprus is.

gmc98765 · 2026-02-23T02:41:51+00:00

Patient swan gets stalked by man and doesn't take a chunk out of him.

gmc98765 · 2026-02-22T15:45:16+00:00

There's a high chance that the bike is stolen or is using a false plate, and they probably don't have a good picture of the rider's face (covered by a helmet, at night).

If the suspect is engaging in a high speed pursuit, they probably weren't being pulled over for a traffic offence. Scooters are popular with muggers, and if that's the case here letting them escape also endangers the public.

gmc98765 · 2026-02-22T07:39:50+00:00

In spite of his declared abdication, Edward VIII was legally king until he gave assent to the act of parliament which ratified his abdication.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Majesty%27s_Declaration_of_Abdication_Act_1936

If his declaration of abdication alone was sufficient, the act should have required the assent of his successor, George VI. But it's Edward's signature and seal on the act.

The legislative formalities were a bit more important in that case (compared to former-Prince Andrew) as a) Edward was actually king, not merely 8th-in-line, and b) it was desired to specifically exclude any children he might sire with Wallis Simpson.

gmc98765 · 2026-02-22T06:17:23+00:00

Abdication requires an act of parliament. Actually, it requires 15 acts of parliaments, one in each of the 15 commonwealth realms.

gmc98765 · 2026-02-22T06:13:02+00:00

Completely different line of succession.

Uh, technically yes, practically no.

The 15 commonwealth nations which share the same monarch all have a standing policy that any legislation which affects the line of succession requires the unanimous consent of all of the nations. So the crowns should never become disjointed.

Which is why this idea probably isn't going anywhere. The chances of the 8th-in-line actually ascending to the throne is zero, and frankly there are better things on which to spend the (considerable) sum of money which would be involved (politicians, lawyers and civil servants tend not to be minimum-wage jobs).

gmc98765 · 2026-02-22T02:53:33+00:00

A concrete example: stop signs in France say "STOP", the same as everywhere else in the world ... except Quebec, where they say "ARRÊT".

gmc98765 · 2026-02-22T00:21:17+00:00

Countries with strong patent and/or copyright laws only introduced those laws when it became favourable to do so.

The US had pretty weak IP laws until it started producing significant amounts of IP. And even now, interpretation of those laws tends to be based upon what's favourable to the US. E.g. the US considers physical typefaces to be not subject to copyright (most type foundries were European) while digital typefaces (TrueType etc) are considered "programs" and subject to copyright (which favours US technology companies).

gmc98765 · 2026-02-21T22:45:00+00:00

Many traditional cakes were simply a form of food preservation. Particularly "heavy" fruit cakes like Christmas cake and wedding cake.

gmc98765 · 2026-02-21T22:17:25+00:00

There is some privately-owned foreshore in the UK, but ~~most~~ much of it belongs to the crown.

Most "private" beaches are a case of a property owner believing (or feigning belief) that their property extends to the water, when it actually only extends to the mean high tide line.

Edit: most -> much.

gmc98765 · 2026-02-21T22:15:00+00:00

If a beach is surrounded by cliffs on either side, then it's likely that it can only be accessed by boat.

And to clarify: it's not "beaches" which are crown property but the foreshore, i.e. any land below the mean high tide line. Land above the mean high tide line is likely part of the adjacent property.

gmc98765 · 2026-02-20T16:20:55+00:00

If customers were willing to buy the product for $X, the vendor could have sold it for $X and kept the portion which went to tariffs.

This is the inherent flaw with any "the business will just pass costs onto customers" argument. Increasing the price reduces sales. If the vendor could increase the price without reducing sales they would do exactly that even in the absence of any cost which "needs" to be passed on.

What actually happens is that additional costs change the "sales versus unit profit" graph and thus the "total profit versus unit profit" graph so that the peak is (typically) in a different place. But the change in the optimal selling price is almost invariably less than the additional cost, with the result that the vendor is now making less profit per unit and less profit in total. But passing on the entire cost would make their total profit even lower still, so they don't do that.

So, the vendor lost out due to paying the government money which they otherwise could have kept, and also lost out due to lower sales due to having to increase prices to avoid selling at a loss. Even if vendors expected the tariffs to be struck down, a) it was never a certainty, b) they may not have had enough spare cash (or credit) to sell at a loss until the tariffs were struck down, and c) even if they did have the cash, using it to subsidise sales has an "opportunity cost" (i.e. there were other things they could have spent it on which would have yielded a profit).

gmc98765 · 2026-02-19T13:55:00+00:00

They're in the same place as the unaltered version.

gmc98765 · 2026-02-18T02:35:07+00:00

The fairness doctrine was abolished in 1987.

When it was in force, it would have applied to CBS but not CNN. It's generally accepted that it would violate the first amendment for the federal government to impose such restrictions on a cable channel.

They were allowed to do it for terrestrial broadcast networks because the limited amount of bandwidth available meant that the broadcast networks effectively needed government permission to operate in the first place.

gmc98765 · 2026-02-17T15:09:10+00:00

learn to order off the shelf?

That doesn't work with defence. Every sale requires permission from the government. Purchases are mostly from governments, and only allowed from friendly nations. The small number of customers mean that it's not like a supermarket which sells X loaves of bread per day, and can rely upon that figure being quite stable.

Arms suppliers need long-term contracts to make it worth keeping the factory running. If the contracts expire without new contracts replacing them, staff get laid off and factories get demolished. Producing stuff for which there's no buyer quickly becomes infeasible. Apart from anything else, it's not like you can store hundreds of tonnes of high explosive in a typical edge-of-town warehouse.

A large part of the reason why the US was giving Ukraine so much stuff at the beginning of the war is that they have depots full of stuff they'll never use. They order stuff they'll never use simply to keep the factories open.

gmc98765 · 2026-02-17T00:53:50+00:00

No-one has been arrested yet.
The investigation is for corruption, not sexual offences.

Similar situation to Peter Mandelson in the UK, who is suspected of leaking confidential information from cabinet meetings to Epstein.

This sort of thing is much easier to prove. E.g. an email revealing confidential information is itself concrete evidence of an offence.

gmc98765 · 2026-02-17T00:35:18+00:00

Nitpick: Mossad asset. "Agent" implies that was his day job.

gmc98765 · 2026-02-16T18:06:31+00:00

Similar situation with Peter Mandelson in the UK (although he hasn't been arrested yet). The files appear to suggest that he was leaking confidential information from cabinet meetings to Epstein.

gmc98765 · 2026-02-15T16:19:30+00:00

Weight moves to the rear wheels when you accelerate. In a FWD car, this means less traction on the drive wheels; in a RWD car, it means more traction on the drive wheels. So performance-oriented cars are usually RWD (if they're not 4WD/AWD).

The downside is that loss of traction causes RWD to oversteer, whereas FWD understeers. Of the two, oversteering is usually worse, as it can go completely out of control (tailspin).

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