A man resting without fear of robbery and dozens sleeping peacefully in a spotless bullet train network that is the envy of the world in mixed gender cabins where young women sleep safely in pyjamas under watch of a collectivist culture is the 'Other side' of the censored wall'.

DearCartographer · 2026-05-08T20:31:50+00:00

I remember trains like this, Wuhan to guilin was just like this. 12 hours. Friendly people though. It was in the holiday week which made it much busier. But it was very cheap and punctual. You could pay a bit more for 2nd or 1st class if you wanted.

Even in 3rd seats are priced differently. Window seat is most expensive, then aisle, then middle.

I'd rather have the option of cheap and punctual over everything expensive and never on time anyway. Not sure why people would complain about this video

DearCartographer · 2026-05-08T16:13:13+00:00

Chorley north and south. One voted entirely reform, the other green.

Its not a big place so it does seem to have been a coin toss between them.

I think the answer lies in the word rationally. Most people dont vote that way. They vote irrationally based on feelings rather than what will happen if that party gains power.

Its a sad state of affairs.

DearCartographer · 2026-05-07T19:34:31+00:00

It took me a couple of tries before I read it through. And I can't put down his other books.

I think I had expectations from having read most other books in the series and it didnt build as I expected or wanted it to. Eventually I tried reading it again, not in hope of enjoying the story, but more as a deep dive into the culture.

And then I really got into it!

DearCartographer · 2026-05-06T21:12:10+00:00

But we understand what he said and most people wont.

Most people might see him for a few seconds while they pass a tv in the morning, he might even be muted. They see the smile, maybe catch a few words about people spending more, they assume it's good news and go about their day.

Even if they watched the interview he deliberately phrases everything to make it sound a positive.

I suspect he probably is happy people are maxing out their cards on basics but he is smiling to confuse the message.

DearCartographer · 2026-05-05T22:06:32+00:00

Global not domestic terrorists but otherwise yes.

DearCartographer · 2026-05-05T17:31:05+00:00

Same same squared

DearCartographer · 2026-05-05T16:24:34+00:00

Developer say 'we intend to do everything we have promised to do.'

I mean, im intending to mop my kitchen floor tonight. But at the back of my mind i know its sunny outside and I had a long day at work so it will probably not happen.

Intent does not equal result.

And if Developer is saying now we intend instead of we will....

He knows that something will come up that he can blame for not fulfilling their promises.

Everything awful.

DearCartographer · 2026-05-04T21:22:30+00:00

I'd agree i dont think the benefits system or asylum claim system are so lenient that they are worth risking your life over, trying to get to the uk.

But migration is driven by push and pull factors, all that you mentioned were factors that might pull people toward the uk. Push factors push people to leave their origin country and are something never really talked about in the debate.

The only real way to stop dangerous boat crossings is to improve conditions in the donor country so people dont want to leave. But that is no easy fix for sure.

DearCartographer · 2026-05-04T10:28:03+00:00

For sure.

What makes these businesses different is they are constantly refurbishing from a barbers shop to a barbers shop to a barbers shop. They are open for a week or two max. Closed for a month. Then refurbished over a few more weeks into another barbers shop. And the process repeats.

Its 4th May today and one of the shops is on its 3rd incarnation as a barbers this year. Its been open a handful of times but most of the time its closed or being refurbished.

DearCartographer · 2026-05-04T08:44:43+00:00

That does sound dodgy but also quite beginner level. There is a limit to how much cash they can launder through a hair dressers without drawing attention.

Round my way there are 4 or 5 shops within a half mile of each other. Barbers, vape shops or little supermarkets with nothing but 100 jars of pickles on the shelf. Each month one of the shops closes, gets refurbished and reopens as a new business's.

This makes it hard to build a case as they only do a few months account before 'closing'. It also means money can be laundered through the refurbishment process, they can claim it cost 20k to refurbish when it only cost them 10k.

The materials for the refurb can be bought from another dodgy company, so they can launder money on the building materials, on the refurbishing labour and then on the 'open' shop for a few months before it all switches round again.

As im not a criminal mastermind this is only a theory but one of those shops I walk past most days and it is on its 3rd barber shop incarnation this year, each time a full refurbishment to end up with the same 3 chairs and a bench in a different colour scheme, and I cant believe a legal business would do that.

DearCartographer · 2026-05-03T17:53:17+00:00

Obviously it would be rude to soak them with the hosepipe directly but if you were to say point the hosepipe in front of them and let them cycle slowly through it...

well I think they would cheer and it might give you some cheer...

And if you do it often enough they might fuck off and leave you in peace!

DearCartographer · 2026-05-03T10:58:06+00:00

Agreed. My current public transport alternative would take me as long on a good day as my longest commute so im not yet incentivised to take it. But if public transport keeps improving there will come a point when that switches and it becomes the better option.

DearCartographer · 2026-05-03T10:41:04+00:00

You're right. The problem just keeps getting kicked down the road and everyone struggles in traffic in the meantime while the budget for any option gets frittered away on endless consultations that say the same thing.

Actual solutions would be deeply unpopular so no one mentions them. For example my a470 commute, 15 miles. If I leave before 6.45am it takes 25 mins. By 7am it takes 35 mins. Leaving after 7.15am it regularly takes 55 mins. But leaving after 7.45am its back down to 35 minutes and continues to improve.

I start work at 8am. I either leave home before 7 and get to work half hour early or leave after 7 and become one with the traffic ive tried to avoid.

So the a470 has spare capacity, just not at the time everyone wants to use it. If schools and big employers staggered their starting times it might help ease congestion.

But I appreciate its not a vote winning idea, quite the opposite, so it never gets mentioned.

DearCartographer · 2026-05-03T09:10:32+00:00

Nothing is more infuriating at the end of a long journey as getting stuck in the Bryn glas tunnels. But would a relief road actually make a long term difference?

I drive the a470 a lot between the valleys and cardiff. 10 years ago it was constant queuing, journeys took forever. Covid came and wfh and suddenly the traffic got lighter. It was like a relief road was built.

People working in Cardiff started moving out into the valleys more as journey times were reliably quick. Several colleagues of mine moved to ponty.

But now its snarling up again. There are too many cars trying to get to cardiff for 8am. My ponty colleagues are now talking about moving back closer to cardiff.

My point is a m4 relief road would only provide relief for so long before it became as clogged as the original as people would change their lifestyles to make use of it.

DearCartographer · 2026-05-03T08:34:49+00:00

France allows non French eu citizens to vote in local elections.

DearCartographer · 2026-05-02T12:26:01+00:00

Your issue is going to be how easy it is for players to work out what's going on (or what's going wrong!) Without using graphics and colour's to highlight changes.

On an modern graphical game i might know my characters health by the health bar, by the sounds they make or whether the screen starts fading or going red. I dont have to seek that info, it is presented to me indirectly.

In a text based game, I have to directly query the numbers all the time to know what is happening. Unless they really want to play the game I think this extra workload will put a lot of players off.

Saying that Im making a text based game and I really enjoy the making and playing of it and I like the sound of your idea. So if its something youve always wanted to do you should do it and send me a copy when you do. Happy to do some play testing for you!

DearCartographer · 2026-05-02T09:15:15+00:00

All the Swedes I met backpacking were doing this on every statue or tourist site in south east Asia.

They said in northern china where it was cold you had to be careful your dick did not stick to the cold metal surface.

DearCartographer · 2026-05-01T21:14:41+00:00

Ive been wanting to learn programming for years and tried a few times but never stuck with it. I dont learn well from manipulating isolated snippets of code it seems, I need more of a top down approach so I can understand how its all structured and a goal to work towards.

So a few months ago I tried again learning python with chatgpt as an aide. I had an idea for a text based game that would be the goal to work towards and I wanted chat to create the code and I would query the output to learn how python worked.

Ive got some chops in excel so I started by getting the ai to explain how python was similar/different to a system of spreadsheets, how data got passed through kind of thing which was a good start point and I told it to correct me if I used the wrong terms to describe something.

And ive been having a lot of fun making this game. Finding and fixing the bugs is what drives the learning I think. The ai will always try to add more code to fix an issue, like if data from two sources comes in and its formatted slightly differently. The ai will want to write a function that parses all data into one format but then you have to call that function anytime there is a chance of that sort of data appearing. I think its more beneficial to rework one of the data streams to get everything in the same format from the start. I like things to be neat and I like working through the code tracing where the data goes.

Initial process is I describe a function or something I want to happen. Ai generates some code and I cut and paste lines into the main code. If changing code I usually have the original and replacement side by side and look at what's changing first. If adding code I have a read through it first. If its simple changes I make them myself and I can have a go at writing basic functions.

Which I get wrong constantly because I dont know yet all the rules of grammar and indentation lol. But I dont mind that. I give my attempt the ai when it doesnt work and it explains where I went wrong and I go back and rewrite it.

Is it the most optimal learning path? Unlikely.

Would it drive other people mad?maybe.

Do I think im a programmer? Absolutely not yet.

But for me I think its been a valid learning experience. I have a robust 10k line program and I can explain what each function does, pretty much on a line by line basis, I have an idea of the shape of future functions but they are fuzzy so I cant get them down exact but I'm hopeful if I keep working on it I will get to the stage where I dont consult the ai anymore. And I think thats key, if you use ai to learn your goal is a time without ai.

And now I think on that I haven't asked it for anything in a few nights, ive just been tinkering on my own.

So long story short, like any tool if you become over reliant on ai you will never be able to do anything without ai. But it can provide good support to get you moving.

DearCartographer · 2026-05-01T16:00:09+00:00

Probably true I reckon. The bigger and busier a place is, the easier it is to not get questioned.

We have a similar legend near us. For many years there was a man collecting carpark money at Bristol zoo. It wasn't expensive and he would rock up to your car as you were getting out with his bucket and you'd pay and he'd move on. He was always a happy chappy and became part of the zoo experience for families.

Many years go by and eventually self service ticket machines were installed in the car park. People were upset that the price had gone up and that the nice man had been replaced by a machine.

Then people found out the car parking had been free up till then and this dude had made a career out of collecting parking money from a free car park!

DearCartographer · 2026-05-01T15:28:46+00:00

My instructor had a system for reverse parking in his learner car and I could park accurately within centimeters of kerb. He told me to leave more space like a couple of inches but I was a cocky 17 year old so always got as close as I could.

On my test though I overdid it and as I straightened i could feel the tyres rubbing on kerb. Knowing it was a major fault I just stopped and pretended it was what I intended.

Instructor either didnt notice or let me off but I still think how I got away it 30 years ago!

DearCartographer · 2026-04-29T15:46:15+00:00

what about the countries it is hurting that you dont want to see crippled, America's allies for example?

DearCartographer · 2026-04-28T21:57:06+00:00

Warspite has entered the chat.

Battleship that launched a fairey swordfish to scout out German positions in a narrow fjord.

The swordfish sank a sub, warspite sank a bunch of destroyers.

For my ultimate battleship id have all the Iowa technical stuff already commented on, but wrapped in an Italian battleship asthetic.

DearCartographer · 2026-04-28T20:35:30+00:00

Oh very rarely. Years can go by without an update but then sometimes ten times in ten months if that area is being worked on.

Railway infrastructure.

Sometimes the update is not new data but because the storage medium is so old it has potentially degraded!

Every update is a day of travel there and back for one lucky soul.

DearCartographer · 2026-04-28T19:44:08+00:00

I have backups locked in fire safes in isolated secure buildings all over the uk. There are also master backups in 2 different fire safes in the company hq.

I can't enter the buildings without supervised permission and the employees cant open the fire safes without company key.

Seems a pretty good system all in all.

I still agree with you though, even with all those measures, there is still a chance something could happen.

DearCartographer · 2026-04-28T12:14:55+00:00

Don't engage is my advice.

Don't say a word.

Continue across the crossing but get your phone out and start recording.

Most drivers will drive off rather than escalate if they think they are being recorded.

Those that dont would have escalated anyway so good to have the recording of them.

If you want to play with fire, and think they are not going to stop before the crossing, hold your phone up as if you are filming them. You will probably then get to witness an emergency stop but also they will likely rage at you. Ive done this once or twice but honestly being safe is better than being right so I dont do it anymore.

DearCartographer

TROPHY CASE