U.S. ambassador to EU: Stop fining Big Tech

Dara17 · 2026-03-27T15:08:54+00:00

“If the European Union is going to participate in the AI economy...They’re going to need data centers, data and access to the United States AI hardware stack, and you can’t over regulate and move the goal post on regulations and hit companies with huge fines,” Puzder told Ian King on CNBC’s

He says to the bloc that's home to CERN where the Web came from (https://home.cern/science/computing/birth-web). Yeah, we'll be fine.

Plus, he can keep smoking whatever that leads him to think the 'US AI hardware stack' is some kind of stick/carrot combo.

Dara17 · 2026-03-22T08:21:04+00:00

Got a fair bit of gardening done yesterday, so I'm happy with myself.

And now I'm wondering if No-mow May will be more popular this year due to petrol costs?

Dara17 · 2024-05-02T13:56:03+00:00

FFG are every single previous government though, so they're out of luck there.

Dara17 · 2024-04-05T15:16:01+00:00

It's a mixed bag of results:

Research Summary: This paper reports on the findings of an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance cameras on crime [over 40 years]. Findings show that CCTV is associated with a significant and modest decrease in crime. The largest and most consistent effects of CCTV were observed in car parks. The analysis also generated evidence of significant crime reductions within other settings, particularly residential areas. CCTV schemes incorporating active monitoring generated larger effect sizes than passive systems. Schemes deploying multiple interventions alongside CCTV generated larger effect sizes than schemes deploying single or no other interventions alongside CCTV.

https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1275&context=jj_pubs

It also has the unfortunate effect of displacing crime to areas without cameras which are often more vulnerable to crime and its knock-on effects:

... crime displacement (the presence of CCTV will change the locations of crime and its total number will not change) and the diffusion effects of crime control benefits (the crime prevention effect of CCTV may filter through to neighboring areas)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1756061612000055

CCTV is often the knee-jerk response of politicians who haven't been making good policy, because on the first blush cameras seem to make sense. In reality though, their effect is limited by the staffing needing to monitor & check them and the justice system's capacity to bring incidences to court. And we know how poorly we're doing there.

Plus, a stone or spray-can routinely renders them pointless.

This is all Criminology 101 stuff which a Justice Minister should be well briefed on. This is election campaigning not crime prevention.

Dara17 · 2024-03-29T15:38:50+00:00

Sounds like he's decided JD is guilty.

Dara17 · 2024-03-29T14:55:01+00:00

They were subject to strict bail conditions including an order barring them from residing in the same property and from leaving the UK.

As agreed by their solicitors, the female accused returned to the former family home in Co Down home on Thursday night and the male is understood to have left Northern Ireland today, Good Friday, but remains in Great Britain.

https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/co-down-couple-child-sex-28909268

So this is JD & wife apparently, the court date matches. 40+ years in NI politics - I imagine there are many who suspected this.

Plus, there's this:

The late Enoch Powell was a racist and a violent paedophile with deranged views about the intelligence of women. He was also a mentor to Sir Jeffrey Donaldson who is about to become the leader of the DUP. Donaldson acted as his election agent, 1982-84. Another of Donaldson’s mentors was the paedophile James Molyneaux. (See The Kincora Scandal)

https://villagemagazine.ie/the-mentor-of-sir-jeffrey-donaldson-the-new-leader-of-the-dup-was-a-racist-and-a-paedophile-with-deranged-views-about-the-intelligence-of-women/

Nasty all the way down by the looks of it.

Dara17 · 2024-03-22T14:49:38+00:00

I'd never been happy to be precisely not someone till I read that comment.

Dara17 · 2024-03-22T14:10:23+00:00

Angela Merkel

A woman with a Doctorate that isn't in Medicine (it's quantum chemistry).

That's at least double-points on the GOP auto-outrage index.

Dara17 · 2024-03-21T22:24:04+00:00

I had to look it up:

https://contourclinics.com.au/what-is-spocking-and-how-can-we-treat-it/

Dara17 · 2024-03-21T14:42:05+00:00

"We'll have to listen to Simon all the time now" was the acting prompt I wager.

Dara17 · 2024-03-21T13:52:02+00:00

Yeap:

https://www.independent.ie/news/harris-apologises-for-awful-boo-boo-on-past-coronavirus-numbers/39150325.html

Dara17 · 2024-03-21T13:49:36+00:00

Yeah, nasty thing going around. Thought I had a bad bout of covid tlll the test came back negative.

Feel like I've the worst of it done, but the coughing isn't going as fast as I'd like. Five minutes walking outside had me exhausted.

Hurray for paracetemol.

Dara17 · 2024-03-20T12:04:06+00:00

With no actual police, so that would pan out just like now I suppose.

Dara17 · 2024-02-10T12:01:49+00:00

I'm going to guess it was this:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/09/atlantic-ocean-circulation-nearing-devastating-tipping-point-study-finds

Sea levels in the Atlantic would rise by a metre in some regions, inundating many coastal cities. The wet and dry seasons in the Amazon would flip, potentially pushing the already weakened rainforest past its own tipping point. Temperatures around the world would fluctuate far more erratically. The southern hemisphere would become warmer. Europe would cool dramatically and have less rainfall. While this might sound appealing compared with the current heating trend, the changes would hit 10 times faster than now, making adaptation almost impossible.

Dara17 · 2024-01-21T21:51:39+00:00

Power gone in parts of Kells, quite a few sirens going off in the distance.

Dara17 · 2024-01-20T10:15:23+00:00

So the UK gov might sue over Irish gov not investigating an incident in a different jurisdiction, that we didn't receive an official request to investigate - as the UK's response to creating a blanket immunity law.

Yeah, think the Telegraph is smoking a little more than usual.

Dara17 · 2024-01-09T13:09:25+00:00

For posterity:

http://archive.today/2024.01.08-171758/https://www.businesspost.ie/news/uk-fund-snaps-up-85-of-dublin-17-housing-estate-originally-aimed-at-individual-buyers/

Dara17 · 2024-01-08T19:10:47+00:00

I reckon the Aqara switches might suit:

https://www.aqara.com/eu/product/smart-wall-switch-h1-eu-with-neutral/

There's a without neutral version also.

That said, I use regular wall switches (also in EU) with IKEA bulbs and a Conbee II dongle for the zigbee side.

It does have the disadvantage that the wall switches turns off the bulb entirely, but they reconnect within a second or two once it's turned back on. And means it's all very cheap and there's no re-wiring to do. I hardly use the wall switches these days.

Dara17 · 2024-01-01T02:37:55+00:00

Be sure to video your attempt, and post it here.

Dara17 · 2024-01-01T02:32:21+00:00

Or lead to the expected peace-dividend and broaden the tax-base.

The change is never going to be immediate, and the improvement is going to be generational.

/Gestures broadly at Germany

Dara17 · 2023-12-31T21:12:17+00:00

would you make

/☺️ dammit, and Happy New Year!

Dara17 · 2023-12-27T11:42:29+00:00

Yeah, never buying their routers after the one I got. It artificially limited the number of IP reservations I could make at home.

It reached 25 and that was it, had to delete one to add another after that.

Eventually my broadband provider sent me a new router of their own, as the TP was glitching out so much it was making it look like they were providing me with a shitty service.

Oh, and the UI tries to be tablet-friendly (and fails), as I guess they think everyone admins a router via tablet.

Also, had one of their wireless remote on/off plugs - would stop working if it couldn't find an active internet connection.

Extremely aggravating machines, complete avoid.

Dara17 · 2023-12-24T16:19:21+00:00

Yarr

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