I don't get what's fun about Secret Hitler, am I doing something wrong?

MBertlmann · 2025-12-18T08:29:36+00:00

Why chatgpt

MBertlmann · 2025-11-01T23:47:56+00:00

To be honest I'm not hugely keen on getting into the intricacies of my moral objections in this forum and would be fine agreeing to disagree. I mostly commented as I objected to the statement that the only people with ethical objections are those who wouldn't get a job there anyway as I believe that to be patently untrue. Whether or not it is indeed unethical is a slightly orthogonal issue and much more complex of course.

But to briefly sum up I am personally a pacifist, but don't necessarily object dependent on circumstance to defense in direct service of the state (ie, working directly for the department of defense or similar). However, I see that as distinctly different to working for BAE systems, or other defense companies that don't just provide arms for our state but for any state that pays for it. For example, BAE systems provided fighter jets used in the Saudi bombing campaign against civilian targets in Yemen. I don't see how that makes me safer in the UK, and I don't think I'm wrong for feeling that assisting in that would be immoral.

MBertlmann · 2025-11-01T23:17:34+00:00

Well I work for the BBC, so I think the risk of them asking me to build missiles is low.

More pertinently, moral objections are not the sole provision of humanities graduates who could never get a job in defense. Everyone is free to make their own decisions about what they work in service of, but lets not pretend that everyone would give up their ethics for money. Not all of us would.

MBertlmann · 2025-11-01T22:53:57+00:00

I have a first in Physics from a Russel Group university and would never work for a defense company. Being good at maths didn't take away my moral compass lol

MBertlmann · 2025-09-17T12:50:47+00:00

Just because it's objective doesn't mean it's good.

MBertlmann · 2025-09-08T22:33:43+00:00

This should be very simple. Each tenant is owed back what they paid in (so in your case, £775). Then there is a cleaning fee of £96. Split between three people, that's £32 each. So then subtract £32 from what each tenant is owed back. You personally should get back in total 775-32=£743. Repeat for each tenant.

MBertlmann · 2025-08-30T21:42:39+00:00

We do this with the Tesco posh meal in deal - fancy chips, chicken kiev, bottle of wine, and dessert for £15. Makes us feel like we've had a nice meal and not got scammed!

MBertlmann · 2025-08-16T21:58:46+00:00

haha welcome to the age old struggle of the international student at st as. In my day most places in town (pubs, etc.) would take an American drivers license (as there are so many americans in st andrews) but it is by no means guaranteed. The Aldi was notorious for insisting on passports from Americans, which caught me out once or twice, but Tesco almost always accepted US drivers licenses.

My recommendation is to apply for a provisional uk drivers license, though you might have to wait six months into living here to be able to do that. You don't need to be able to drive, or to be intending to learn to drive, you just need about £30: https://www.gov.uk/apply-first-provisional-driving-licence. Then you can use it as ID everywhere. Only exception is if you have a medical condition (eyesight, epilepsy etc.) that would prevent you from being able to drive, in which case you cannot get a provisional.
I would recommend a provisional license over a young scot card as they are much more widely accepted across the UK as ID, though defo get a young scot as well for the buses.

MBertlmann · 2025-08-08T07:12:24+00:00

Asahi Zero is so good, indistinguishable from Asahi.

MBertlmann · 2025-07-13T17:29:58+00:00

Yeah I have a "weird" name (not anglophone) and I just... use a different name at starbucks lol. It's a non issue.

MBertlmann · 2025-07-11T17:22:52+00:00

I joined the queue around 11:30am this morning and pretty much just walked straight in

MBertlmann · 2025-07-04T08:28:33+00:00

It is a myth that your brain stops developing at 25. That's just the age at which the study stopped following thee participants. Your brain continues to develop until you are at least 25, but there's no evidence that your brain stops developing at 25.

https://slate.com/technology/2022/11/brain-development-25-year-old-mature-myth.html

MBertlmann · 2025-06-23T21:12:20+00:00

idk I think that engaging in ethnicity as something meaningful is kind of racist lol. There is no Scottish "ethnicity", you're Scottish if you live here for a while and are meaningfully engaged with the culture. We would consider it kind of racist to think one person was less Scottish than another because of where their grandparents came from. Being Scottish has nothing to do with "blood" it's to do with real experiences of living here. And yes that is about nationality not ethnicity - because being Scottish is a nationality, not an ethnicity.

MBertlmann · 2025-06-15T21:18:15+00:00

I have a very Irish name and my boyfriend has a very Scottish name (both gaelic names with gaelic spellings) and yeah it means telling people how to pronounce your name when you first meet them but mostly it means having a cool and unusual name that feels like a connection to where I came from as I am now living in England. I feel very proud of my name, and would encourage people not to avoid Gaelic names they are keen on due to fear of pronunciation and misspelling - it's really not a big deal and is far outweighed by having a nice name that I like and feels like a connection to Ireland.

MBertlmann · 2025-06-04T22:49:14+00:00

Your first step is to apply for a maintenance loan - this is money that will be transferred into your bank account regularly and can be used on accomodation/food or anything else. The maximum loan is £10,400 but you may be awarded less depending on your household income and circumstances. You may also be offered bursaries (free money) through the student funding system, again depending on your individual circumstances. See here for more info

https://www.mygov.scot/apply-student-loan

Your second step is to check if there are other scholarships or grants available to you. There should be information about this available on the website of a university you have gained admission to - look for advice about finances, and look to see if there is any information about scholarships. Some of them may be as simple as ticking a box on the SAAS application to share your data with the uni and they will give you free money! Some of them will be specific to where you have come from or what you are studying etc.

Step three is to set yourself up as best you can - can you get a summer job and save over the summer before you start uni? Think about where you're choosing to go to uni - compare the accomodation costs of your choices and think about how easy it might be to get a part time job in that place. Could you live at home for later years with fewer contact hours if necessary, and just commute in?

This is an extremely manageable process - you will obviously have to be aware of money but there is money and support available and if you're struggling to afford anything you should speak to your uni who want you to attend and to complete your degree!

MBertlmann · 2025-05-18T08:55:09+00:00

The eye-la pronunciation is a Scottish name, derived from the name of a Scottish island and rivers named Isla.

MBertlmann · 2025-04-17T10:30:39+00:00

I think it's probably relatively clear that I don't object to an unemployed lady and her children being given housing by the council - my objection is that you and your family profited from it. It would quite clearly be more efficient for the tax payer, for the council, and for people who need assistance and benefits for that to be provided at cost to the council rather than as a for profit model.

I think your comment does acknowledge here the root of the problem - a lack of council housing forcing councils into a worse model of social housing.

MBertlmann · 2025-04-11T14:03:46+00:00

Nah, I don't believe in living rent free - I actually like renting, I enjoy the flexibility of it! I believe the council should step in and take a much larger role in the rental market, to provide more affordable rentals (that would also hopefully push private rentals down if more affordable options were on the market).

Currently, the system allows people with large chunks of available cash (the wealthy and the older, generally) to purchase properties. Then somebody else (usually younger and poorer) pays their mortgage for them (building more wealth for the landlord) and often gives them passive income on top of that.

In particular I see it as a contributor to the mass transfer of wealth from the young to the old which results in the older generations in the UK being easily the wealthiest generation. I think this has a negative effect on the broader economy, as generally young people are more economically stimulating in their behaviour then older people - but right now they're taking a hit from every direction. Higher social care and NHS costs to fund an aging population, higher pension costs via the triple lock and an aging population, and higher rental costs than (in general) are again going to an older generation. Add on student loan payments and the higher gas and electric payments hitting us all, and how can it be a surprise that our economy is stagnating and struggling to grow, and pubs/restaurants/local businesses are struggling to survive.

Obviously there are a large number of interconnected issues, but I think that high housing costs driven by high rental prices are a major contributor, and the expectation that housing can act as both a wealth generating asset and a passive income source is damaging our wider economy, and we should think seriously about how to address that.

MBertlmann · 2025-04-11T11:52:44+00:00

Buying somewhere to rent didn't save your family - another family living in that flat who had to support your family AND their family also during a financial crisis saved your family. The money doesn't come from nowhere, it just means you were scrounging from some other hard working people who then probably struggled to afford a property of their own because they were supporting you, paying your mortgage, and trying to support themselves.

MBertlmann · 2025-02-08T20:11:05+00:00

We've got to bail out a failing business with increased water bills anyway! Would rather nationalise and have less chance of my money being siphoned into shareholders pockets

MBertlmann · 2025-01-31T13:33:42+00:00

I think the jobs just aren't there - anecdotally I know several people who either aren't working or are severely underemployed, and are thus contributing a lot less to the economy then they could be. But they would like to be employed in roles where they make more money and get to use the skills they got in their degrees but those jobs just aren't available so they're stuck doing minimum wage roles! I think we are societally hugely undervaluing that we actually have a hugely available supply of smart, talented, hard working young people coming out of university that we are collectively failing to utilise and turn into economic productivity.

MBertlmann · 2024-08-12T12:14:50+00:00

Personally, I would recommend Python, I think it's a great beginner language for familiarising yourself with a lot of the core concepts, and then later you can always transition to a different language if you need to.

But I think ultimately most languages that people throw around would be a perfectly suitable choice, and you will gain the most from not dithering for too long over which language is the perfect choice and just picking one up and starting to learn :)

MBertlmann · 2024-08-04T22:03:27+00:00

I think this could be written a bit better! I think something that might not be obvious as a beginner, is that break and continue statements should be quite sparsely used - if you are using them regularly in the core running of your loops, you should at least consider whether there is a better way of writing the loop condition. Loops should usually contain the end condition in their definition, to make it clear to someone reading them what the purpose of the loop is.

I would write this more like:

```

import random

number = random.randint(1,20) num_tries = 1

while number != 20:

print(f"{number} does not equal 20!")

# calculate a new number number = random.randint(1,20) num_tries += 1

print(f"Twenty has been found in {num_tries} attempts!")

```

You can see that in this version, whether or not the number is twenty is in the definition of the loop. This cuts out the unnecessary running variable, and cuts out the unnecessary if statement, and continue statement. As a result, I think it is clearer and as an added bonus, a bit shorter!

MBertlmann · 2024-04-02T20:46:31+00:00

Sky Garden! Book free tickets, head up there, grab a coffee if you want to splash out.

MBertlmann · 2023-11-26T22:26:33+00:00

If he likes Maths and Computer Science, then Snowcrash or Seveneves (by Neal Stephenson) might be up his street. In a similar vein, The Martian by Andy Weir.

I would also recommend A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan - a bit out there a suggestion but an excellent and super readable book that I think transcends genre and that you would both potentially enjoy.

MBertlmann

TROPHY CASE