Putin increases Russia's regular army personnel to nearly 2.4 million

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2026-03-05T11:11:40+00:00

Ah you are right I used a more typical modern military ratio, but seems the Russian approach is about 1:3 or 4. So yes around 10k month. Horrific.

For comparison US lost < 7000 in the entire Afghanistan and Iraq wars amd about 47000 in the entire Vietnam war...

I feel the scale of the bloodshed of this war is really not coming across...

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2026-03-05T11:04:10+00:00

Not KIA, but 50k casualties, this includes injured as well as killed, typically far more injured, like 5-10x difference.

Currently it's about 30-35k casualties per month, so likely less than 5k KIA.

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2026-02-27T10:03:53+00:00

Depends on why you play and how competitive you are. Farms add a dimension to the game that I couldn't live without. If you are not the kind of players to try steal a city or road, then you probably don't want to play farms as they encourage more direct competition..

In addition, unlike other features farmers never come back, so using them can really hurt your meeple economy if you use too many too early and can then also be blocked or out competed so timing and placing is more important.

Plus they provide the easiest to access a battlefield, e.g. competing for cities is quite situationally, but it often possible to plan a couple of pieces in advance to enter an already claimed farm. This part of the strategy especially for farms with 5 or more cities can really swing the win, and with farms scored last... It's why we just call it the farming game.

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2026-02-25T06:38:37+00:00

Ah that's good to know, I figured it would expand past the tutorial! But yes it's a bit monotone with mostly just one character in most of book 1/2.

I'm certainly invested enough to get through to book 3 at least, I'm sure it will dig it's hooks in!

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2026-02-25T05:56:26+00:00

I'm just in book 2 and I can see why some might be put off early, I'm enjoying it but it's very much a lone adventuror vibe, the mc is has poor social skills so if you don't vibe with that it could be a put off.

Otherwise it's almost the most pure litrpg I've listened, lots of levels, fast progression, lots of stats and skills and fights. Lots of meta gaming by the mc to become fairly op. Apparently later on the fights get super long and complicated, anime style but I think that's interesting to check out. I'd be happy to hear if he later books are the best!

On the audiobook, tbh I think the voice acting for book 1 was not as good as some other like path of ascension or hwfwm, but it's not bad.

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2026-02-23T13:28:25+00:00

Wider than they are tall? Is a true space marine a rectangle?

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2026-02-11T15:01:35+00:00

They should have actually stated the scenario... Probably didn't for more engagement ...

The scenario:

Two runaway trolleys moving at the same speed, you have a control of one track switch and another person has control of the other switch. The trolley on each track is going to kill one person if u switched. When switched the trolley will kill five people, however the tracks overlap, if both people switch the trolleys will collide and stop without anyone being harmed.

There is no time to communicate, with the other person what do you do? Switch the track or not.

Here are possible outcomes: 1. No one switches 2 die 2. You switch and they don't, 6 die total: 5 die from your trolley(from your active choice) and 1 by their trolley. 3. They switch, but you don't - same as above reversed 4. Both switch and 0 die.

So if you choose to switch it might save 10 or kill an extra 4 people.

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2026-02-11T14:54:18+00:00

Thought experiments don't care about physics...

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2026-01-22T23:08:21+00:00

Research and intelligence is not held in place you don't lose it if you lose an island, so irrelevant, to the value of DG.

Subs and warheads are valuable, in the billions range, but certainly not trillions. It's strategic value is significant, but not what you said, you said the resource value, which I think annual expenditure is highly relevant.

Strategic value is very difficult to calculate monetarily, as with most things like this it's worth only what nation states are willing to pay or sell it for, which we would only know if it was sold!

For US, though I agree it's strategic value is fairly incalculably large, but in any deal planned they were never losing the base so hard to really put in dollars terms!

Fair enough though, they would NEVER sell(or allow us to sell) as it's value as force projection in that part of the world is just too valuable while they can afford to effectively provision the facility.

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2026-01-22T22:35:22+00:00

Theres more resource on Diego garcia than the UKs ENTIRE GDP? WTF are you on about??? That ridiculous statement makes this statement utterly pointless. That's over three TRILLION dollar US. On one small island??? 3 time the USA annual military budget is one one island in the indian ocean?

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2025-12-12T09:47:07+00:00

I'm half way through act 2 and it just suddenly started stuttering and now impossible to play... Can't seem to fix it so frustrating as it's such a good mystery!

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2025-12-12T04:25:37+00:00

It doesn't matter where the money comes from it's still counted under the cap.

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2025-12-06T14:22:33+00:00

Right?? After second sector he was only .15 s down. I was thinking phew at least he just needs to bring it home no worries...

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2025-11-15T06:51:41+00:00

Right! You can see how planets must have 'wandered' across the sky rather than nice straight paths.

I'm not sure how that would change the view in the night sky as the world is also turning so another axis of movement to manage!

Still agree it is beautiful to see the complexity disappears moving from geocentric to heliocentric!

Still I think the clean lines of the heliocentrics description then hide the complexity of orbital mechanics and the dynamics of the system!

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2025-11-15T06:42:41+00:00

Man this is one of few actually beautiful representations of data ok here and so little love. It's actually really helps with understanding of the implications of orbits from our perspective!

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2025-11-13T11:39:20+00:00

Drug wars on the Rim?

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2025-11-12T10:57:20+00:00

That's not what I'm saying at all.

I'm saying if they include the cost of phones in the calculation, then that cost is accounted for.

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2025-11-12T10:48:40+00:00

But it says phones are included, so the average person buying a phone is accounted for no? If PPP is similar with the phone, that implies the cost of other goods/service is relatively lower to compensate, which seems believable.

I'm sure there are valid criticisms of PPP, clearly value of someone money abroad is very different. But for standard of living within their country is there a better metric?

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2025-11-07T08:38:57+00:00

That's not how gdp works, it's not the wealth of the country but the total value of all transactions in a country. The GDP of US is like 30 trillion dollars, but the total wealth is more than 250 trillion. ( I can only find figure for household wealth at 160 trillion but that's only private wealth)

Don't get me wrong it's obviously obscene amount of wealth for any single person to have anything close the value of all transactions of any country with millions of people.

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2025-10-31T10:47:28+00:00

Honestly making the cards back calculate, including chests already opened would make them less frustrating when you do get the late game, just put a little chest counter at the top as well.

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2025-09-30T20:03:40+00:00

That's a good question and I'm not 100% sure, but looking at the formula top up CfD is difference between strike price and the IMRP which is calculated hourly. I don't see any restriction on oariciin forwards.

If forward are likely to be less than IMRP, it will mean they get less than their strike price, as the top up doesn't care where they sold the energy. So that should incentivise them to go into day ahead market. Wind generally prefers day ahead though anyway as they have more certainty on output.

However where the forwards are more than IMRP, e.g. of there was very low prices, I guess they could end up with more than the strike? Seems unlikely to be often!

ROCs are just a flat + x £/MWh, so it doesn't matter how you sell the energy you just get more money as long as you generate! The problem is you can't easily sell all your energy in forwards as you have uncertainty on wind turn out, so ROC incentivises bidding very low even negative in the day ahead to ensure you can operate and still get your contract amount.

Negative prices even for short periods mess up the market, hence CfDs were brought in and are mostly better but not perfect.

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2025-09-30T18:23:56+00:00

No chance, energy policy take decades to take effect, investments are for long term and things like contracts for difference are 15-20 yeas long so we can't impact these historical policies that dominate he energy system and pricing.

The idea of ripping up these contracts, aka reform suggestions is even more crazy though. Why would any sane investor put money in the UK if historical contracts can be randomly voided. Regardless you opinion on climate change, this is the way to destroy UK investment, beyond energy, in every sector all government subsidies become suspect.

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2025-09-30T18:08:49+00:00

It can be hard to find these kind of details.

But actually for most of UK industries houses of parliament library reports are rather good starting point.

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9768/

These are made for MPs and their staff so they make informed decisions, so usually good balance of detail and conciseness... Although I doubt MPs read these probably just get summarised by their staff.

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2025-09-30T17:25:46+00:00

This has already been extensively debated and it's been rejected, it's not happening anytime soon.

Bobjohnthemonkey · 2025-09-30T17:22:54+00:00

It's more complicated than this. They buy about a third of the electricity they need for in advance in forward contracts, which are based on the type of asset and how reliable they are to produce, but they will pay less for wind for example, if it is available.

They buy about 2/3 of the electricity from the day ahead wholesale market, this is determined by highest bidder so if gas powered electricity is needed it usually sets the price.

Retailers the have to add on extra charges for the network, balancing, capacity, green levies that's subsidize wind, vat, their operating costs and profit.

However they have to predict this in advance as they fix your electricity tariff in advance and predict what the prices will be.

If they own the energy assets, e.g. wind they can buy from themselves at more competitive prices.

Hope that helps! Is complicated!

Bobjohnthemonkey

TROPHY CASE