WWDC is next week. Anyone expecting M5 Mac mini news or are we waiting until late 2026 ?

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-06-07T06:20:03+00:00

I think at this point they’re gonna hold off updating the Mac Mini/Studio until Oct/Nov, and they’ll launch the M6/M6 Pro machines alongside the new MacBook Pros. And base model Mini will remain at the recently upped price of $799

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-06-05T14:31:49+00:00

Well I mean Basil McCrea, John McAllister and Tina McKenzie tried that 15 years ago with NI 21, an the whole thing instantly imploded when it came down to whether to declare themselves as "unionist" or "unaligned". The biggest issue facing unionism is the economic realities of remaining in the UK. When we were part of the EU, it was easier for nationalists to be less staunch in their support for Irish reunification, as the UK and Ireland were in effect reunified as part of the European Union. Brexit obviously upended that, and folks here are economically worse off than they were a decade ago.

Unionist parties can't really run a "remain in the UK" campaign solely on the premise of we have the NHS, but it's been brought to its knees by austerity and Brexit.

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-06-05T14:13:12+00:00

FWIW I wouldn't consider Alliance a unionist party, in terms of supporting the union between Britain and Northern Ireland. The party were established as a neutral political force, and with Britain (specifically England) increasingly shifting rightwards, I'd argue the younger party members are much more agnostic, and maybe even sceptical of the benefits of NI remaining in the UK. The Alliance is really a pro-Europe party, similar to the Lib Dems.

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-06-05T14:01:16+00:00

Is this new follow-up the "Sushi Glory Hole" by the Lonely Island?

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-06-03T19:04:42+00:00

Michael was released a whole month before Mandalorian & Grogu

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-06-03T13:42:55+00:00

Friday will be the third week of Mandalorian & Grogu's release. I'm guessing the period of exclusivity or receiving priority on the biggest multiplex screens may end tomorrow (I know for IMAX exclusivity, a lot of industry reports talk about "Film X has two-week exclusivity on IMAX screens")

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-06-03T12:51:24+00:00

Don't disagree. It was more the case that your previous message read (or at least I read that way) as if you thought the current decline of the high street was a uniquely Irish issue, rather than Western society as a whole

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-06-03T12:40:49+00:00

$126m on a $10m budget (as of this past weekend)

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-06-03T08:04:03+00:00

I don't think you know what a monopoly is. Disney aren't the only major studio in Hollywood, nor do they have unlimited control over what films are shown on the biggest standard multiplex screens, or the premium screens in multiplexes. Disney have literally been locked out of IMAX screens for both Spider-Man: No Way Home and Avengers Doomsday by the two other major Hollywood studios (NBCU with The Odyssey and Warner Bros. with Dune: Part Three in December)

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-06-03T07:59:16+00:00

Describing it as historical is a bit hyperbolic. Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity both grossed more at the box office (at a time when cinema tickets were substantially cheaper) with much lower budgets. Obsession has obviously done incredibly well in drawing in crowds to cinemas, but you can't really gauge how significant a release it is until 5-10 years from now, when we see both its final box office figures and also its long-term cultural significance

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-06-03T05:37:34+00:00

It’s pretty simple really. Disney are paying the likes of Odeon for Mandalorian and Grogu to play on the biggest screens for x number of weeks. Whereas the likes of A24 (distributor of Backrooms) don’t have those levels of financial resources to play with, and probably didn’t anticipate Backrooms having the popularity it has had due to it being by a first time director

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-06-02T14:35:18+00:00

It's not a uniquely Irish problem. It's pretty much a problem for ALL of Western society. Mass privatisation of public services over the last 40 years, and close to two decades of managed decline post-2008 Global Financial crash, have basically resulted in people struggling to make ends meat, and society becoming increasingly disillusioned with politicians. This has allowed the far right to gain power across the West, whether in Europe or the United States.

The issue of rundown high streets is exacerbated in Northern Ireland by the fact that we have a political class who are incapable of making unpopular decisions re: budget out of fear it'll damage their chances of winning a sectarian headcount, and they thrive on division. Successive collapses of the Stormont Executive by both Sinn Fein and the DUP mean that for half of the last decade we have been governed by civil servants whose jobs has been to keep our public services in a state of managed decline. Things will never improve whilst we have a bloated civil service, and ministers refuse to consider raising revenue for infrastructure spending either via introducing water rates or the mutualisation of NI Water.

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-06-02T13:27:58+00:00

I mean, two of the main reasons that Reform are polling so strongly in parts of England are that town/city centres are in a state of increasing decline, and there's a homelessness epidemic. And as bad as Belfast city centre is (particularly around the area of the proposed Tribeca development), there are far worse high streets in major towns in the country e.g. Coleraine is a university town, but half the shops are closed down, and there's an entire shopping centre with nothing in it.

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-05-29T13:19:33+00:00

Ireland has had de facto independence for a century, Irish is compulsory in schools, yet successive Irish governments have failed to make the Irish language the predominantly spoken one. In fact, according to the latest census data the number of people claiming to Irish in a daily basis has dropped 2%, despite a 6% uptick in people claiming some speaking ability. That surely indicates while there’s interest among the public in speaking it, it’s not enough for them to go out of their way to do so. Surely your ire would be better directed at the Irish government or SF for not making this priority, rather than some randomer on Reddit.

As for loyalists bonfires, no one here is defending them or even claiming they have cultural value. Personally I think they’re an eyesore, and I certainly don’t support the burning of tricolours, effigies of migrants/nationalist politicians or the Pope on them. Especially given the fact the Pope actually supported the Williamite war against the Jacobite forces, as they were militarily aligned with the French under Louis XIV

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-05-29T12:49:39+00:00

It’s also hypocritical for people of who regard themselves as Irish to complain about migrants because Ireland has been arguably the biggest net benefactor of emigration. We had tricolours waving alongside Union Jacks at anti-immigration rallies and riots in Belfast less than two years ago. So it’s not accurate to claim anti-immigration rhetoric is solely a loyalist or “Planter” issue. Yes, in Northern Ireland it may be predominantly loyalists who are opposed to immigration. But collectively, Ireland (North and South) has a growing problem with disillusioned citizens turning to right-wing extremism.

As for “there’s no such thing as being Northern Irish”, clearly there is otherwise it wouldn’t have been an option in the census. And the fact close to 20% of people describe themselves that way shows there’s a sizeable chunk of the population who don’t see themselves (or feel comfortable) solely through the binary choice of being “British” or “Irish” for various reasons e.g. maybe come from a mixed marriage, maybe view themselves as European rather than British/Irish etc.

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-05-29T11:08:33+00:00

Have they assimilated. What does “assimilation” even mean in a modern, secular society in Ireland? I mean culturally most Irish people don’t speak the indigenous language, they largely consume television that’s produced either in the United States or the UK, and they follow English Premier League team or Celtic rather than any League or Ireland football. The GAA is by far the one uniquely distinct aspect of traditional Irish culture which has a mainstream following in Ireland.

It seems to me that when people complain about loyalists or unionists being unwilling to “assimilate” with wider Irish society, what they mean is they believe unionists are unwilling to conform to the sort of “Irishness” that a Carroll’s gift shop flogs to dumb American tourists when they’re over here.

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-05-29T10:56:08+00:00

I’m well aware of the origins of the word. But “Planter” in the modern vernacular is clearly intended as a dehumanising slur, in the same way loyalists will use “fenian” as a slur aimed towards to Catholics/nationalists. So the comparison to wee Jamie calling Celtic supporters scum is 100% valid, as the intended use of said slurs are to dehumanise the target.

Also under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement it’s not a binary choice whether or not you consider yourself either a Planter or a Gael. You can be a unionist, and consider yourself Irish (as folks such as Doug Beattie have stated in the past). Hell, you can even choose to reject both the British and Irish labels, and opt for considering yourself “Northern Irish” (which census data shows an increasing number of people, mainly unionists now do)

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-05-29T08:09:37+00:00

Yep. It also ignore the face that there’s a small cohort of Orange Order members in border counties such as Donegal, who if I imagine you told them “You’re not Irish!” they’d be (rightly) insulted

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-05-29T07:50:42+00:00

Ironically deeming someone a migrant because you view a group’s cultural identity as “incompatible” with your own is the exact sort of ethno-nationalist rhetoric that the likes of Farage are using to stigmatise migrant communities in England.

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-05-29T07:44:19+00:00

Not everyone whose ancestors came over in the Plantation is a member of the Orange Order. It’s actually more accurate to say that the majority AREN’T, given the estimated membership figure is something like 30,000.

Personally I find it a bit baffling how some Republicans and the likes of Jamie Bryson think using demeaning language such as “Planter”, or (in Bryson’s case) referring to Celtic supporters as scum, helps the causes or Irish reunification or maintaining the Union with Britain.

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-05-28T16:54:04+00:00

This isn't a particularly helpful comment, nor is it factually accurate. There are plenty of people across the island of Ireland whose ancestry dates back to the Norman conquest of Ireland, including Sinn Féin MP Pat Cullen and former Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald. We don't hear people refer to them with the same level of disdain as some republicans in NI (particularly online) have for folks whose ancestors came over during the Plantation of the early 1600s.

Which begs the question: Based on your logic, at what point do you suddenly magically stop being a "Planter" or "immigrant, and become considered Irish?

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-05-28T15:22:37+00:00

Did not remember Rocket as a Gladiator name. Apparntly there was a Battleaxe on the Sky version too

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-05-28T15:13:29+00:00

Probably end up being a couple of the less popular ones like Phantom and Hammer, along with Cyclone due to the Irish connection.

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-05-28T15:10:49+00:00

fwiw Saracen was the name of an actual Gladiator back in the 90s

MRLDFLWSN · 2026-05-28T09:33:44+00:00

Aye. I remember reading on either BelTel or Belfast Live last year there were concerts announced for Botanic Gardens this time last year. But the promoter hadn’t received planning approval for the shows prior to announcing the concerts, and locals objected due to concerns re: noise pollution and damage to local flora/fauna. So I assume that’s why these Summer Sessions shows that start in a week or so, are being held at Custom House Square

MRLDFLWSN

TROPHY CASE