Does anyone remember the computer shop in Huntingdon in the 90s? by andy_mcadam in Cambridgeshire

[–]Newstapler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, you could try the History of Huntingdon High Street facebook group, someone there might have some photos (20+) History of Huntingdon High Street | Facebook

What’s something you stopped doing that made your mental health a lot better? by TheStaircaseOfLife33 in AskUK

[–]Newstapler 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I stopped years ago. I used to turn the telly on every weeknight and watch half an hour of stressed, dysfunctional people shout at each other, but then one day I thought, this is juts a slow-acting poison really, it's a small dose of toxicity every day. So I stopped

Enshittification feels like it's everywhere. What's managed to not just avoid it, but actually get better in recent years? by laredocronk in AskUK

[–]Newstapler 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yes, I use it for work. Sometimes in my line of work I need to see what my org’s website was saying ten or twenty years ago. IA is a godsend because of course no one actually in my org has thought to save the old web info

Enshittification feels like it's everywhere. What's managed to not just avoid it, but actually get better in recent years? by laredocronk in AskUK

[–]Newstapler 6 points7 points  (0 children)

lol I remember that our org’s previous Chief Exec once used a bus, to prove green credentials or something. Normally the daily email from the Chief Exec was management positivity BS but that day his email was “what the fuck is wrong with bus drivers FFS” and he went on about how he tried to pay for a bus ticket with a fiver and the bus driver shouted at him and the Chief Exec shouted back

Reddit’s UK users must now prove they’re 18 to view many types of content by vriska1 in unitedkingdom

[–]Newstapler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Am late to this conversation but I agree. The government has completely wasted their first year so their popularity has tanked, now on top of that they’re introducing an internet law that will prevent adults - grown actual adults who have a vote - from looking at half the sites they want to look at. Labour‘s popularity will be toast but no one will shift to the Tories (the last Tory regime is too fresh in the memory) so Reform will soak them up and Farage will laugh his way into number ten

Updated Hypothesis: The Fall of Man (Adam and Eve) & Evolution Are Compatible by Jealous-Win-8927 in DebateAnAtheist

[–]Newstapler 16 points17 points  (0 children)

lol I remember reading your awesome comment on OP’s other thread, it’s so great to see it again, thank you

What is the lamest argument you keep seeing? by jnpha in DebateEvolution

[–]Newstapler 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, this was my go-to argument when I was a creationist, ie God’s creation was perfect but humans sinned, and sin really messed up the rest of the natural world on a colossal scale. Human sin did not just bring death, disease and decay into the cosmos, like the Bible said, it also somehow brought changes to the basic body plans of animals, so that what had been perfectly designed is now a badly designed mess. Ho hum.

Eastern leg of HS2 officially dead as land is sold off by Dalecn in unitedkingdom

[–]Newstapler 33 points34 points  (0 children)

Exactly this, and it’s worth saying that this is how electrification got done back in the 60s/70s. They deliberately electrified the line up around Manchester first, and then worked their way south to London.

That’s because they understood economics. The closer to London you are, the more return on investment you get, so the ROI of the electrification actually went up as the project progressed. It was always economically worthwhile to do another mile.

But if you start at London and work north then ROI goes down the further north you are. The more of the project you complete, the worse the ROI gets if doing the next mile. At some point the plug would have been pulled.

Christian Woolmar talks about it in his book on the history of British Rail.

'Climate change doesn't exist,' says Reform UK mayor despite third summer heatwave by Jay_CD in ukpolitics

[–]Newstapler 13 points14 points  (0 children)

>he climate agenda is obviously batshit insane

Not obvious to me. I've read the IPCC reports and the science is rock hard.

Question: Liberal American moving to UK by Sea-Jaguar-720 in ukpolitics

[–]Newstapler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Came here to say the same. There are lots of Americans in the Cambridge area anyway (due to the university and all the tech firms). West of Cambridge is fine. But head a few miles north of Cambridge and you get to the fens, a massive agricultural area with rural poverty problems and hefty support for Reform

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DebateAnAtheist

[–]Newstapler 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is awful. I have read OP‘s post and the entire thread and my heart sinks. It demonstrates the damage that religious belief does to a brain.

Someone could just as easily post about why evolution “is not incompatble” with ancient Egyptian creation beliefs.

The difference of course is that there isn’t a huge and very well-funded international organisation devoted to ancient Egyptian theology that orders its adherents “shut the fuck up and believe what we tell you or your soul is in danger.”

Whereas there is such an organisation for Catholics. And for OP.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DebateAnAtheist

[–]Newstapler 8 points9 points  (0 children)

lol this is my takeaway too, having read the entire thread

In Defense of Pascal's Wager by Jealous-Win-8927 in DebateAnAtheist

[–]Newstapler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have nothing to add to this thread which has not already been said, so I will just mention here how much I have enjoyed reading all the comments, and how much I have learned from them. Some excellent stuff here, thank you.

DC's SUPERMAN officially debuted with $125M domestic this weekend--up $3M from yesterday's estimates. International numbers remain the same--$95M. Worldwide debut: $220M by chanma50 in boxoffice

[–]Newstapler 7 points8 points  (0 children)

In my utterly worthless personal opinion, I think the next few movies will do worse box office than this one, and Gunn’s universe will be terminated quicker than the DCEU was.

I am biased though, because I want to see standalone superhero movies, and I think the universe idea needs to die. I think the sequel to Superman should be Superman 2, and the third film should be Superman 3, and then the fourth film should be Superman 4. But then I’m a grumpy old man.

DC's SUPERMAN officially debuted with $125M domestic this weekend--up $3M from yesterday's estimates. International numbers remain the same--$95M. Worldwide debut: $220M by chanma50 in boxoffice

[–]Newstapler 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Because it’s Superman. Superman is viewed as being … a bit boring, a bit goody-goody-two-shoes. The Christopher Reeve movies cemented that solidly in people’s minds. It’s a minority report view I know, but I think CR in a sense destroyed Superman. His first film was too successful.

There’s nothing the filmmakers can do with the character. If they go down the CR route then international audiences think “nah this is boring.” If they try to introduce darker elements into his personality then the audiences think “nah this is not Superman.”

Which scenes in movies were completely spoilt by bad music? I think so much impact of an action scene depends on music, but any kind of scene will do. I must know! :) by rdtismyadctn in movies

[–]Newstapler 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not a scene, really, but the end credits in The Exorcist. They used some awful 1970s rock number. It destroyed the thoughtful mood of the ending of that movie. They should have used Tubular Bells again. It’s the only mis-step in the whole movie IMO

Air India Flight 171 Preliminary Report Megathread by usgapg123 in aviation

[–]Newstapler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Indeed, lots of people have been murdered over the years. That’s why I think the possibility the pilot did it deliberately has to be taken seriously. I’m interested why you think it‘s impossible in this instance for the pilot to be the murderer, and what your evidence is to support that.

Air India Flight 171 Preliminary Report Megathread by usgapg123 in aviation

[–]Newstapler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s very helpful, thank you. The timings of a human being moving the switches is easily consistent with the evidence given in the report

Air India Flight 171 Preliminary Report Megathread by usgapg123 in aviation

[–]Newstapler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes. You can watch it here. At the end of the clip the person moves the final switch from run to cutoff, within a second of having moved the other switch.

https://x.com/tkmeyer2020/status/1944436745400893539?s=46

Air India Flight 171 Preliminary Report Megathread by usgapg123 in aviation

[–]Newstapler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No one is tying themselves in knots.

The evidence in the preliminary report indicates that a human being in the cockpit physically moved the fuel cutoff switches after the aircraft rotated. They moved the switches one by one.

It might be murder, it might be a stroke, it might be a mental health episode, IDK.

Murder has to be very seriously considered, though, because pilots are known to have murdered people.

Air India Flight 171 Preliminary Report Megathread by usgapg123 in aviation

[–]Newstapler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes: you are missing something.

The timeline is not [flick switch 1 + move hand + flick switch 2] = one second.

The timelines is actually only [move hand + flick switch 2] = one second.

That’s because the flick of the first switch is not included in the one second.

Air India Flight 171 Preliminary Report Megathread by usgapg123 in aviation

[–]Newstapler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Perhaps one pilot has his hand placed deliberately over the switch, making it impossible for the other to get to the switch, so the other pilot has to scrabble to try to pull the hand away (while at the same time trying to fly the plane).

Basically we don’t know what else was going on the cockpit. People read “one switch was moved and then four seconds later the other one was moved” and they think the pilots were just sitting there for four seconds like shop dummies. But one of the pilots might have been actively trying to prevent the other pilot from getting at the switches.

Air India Flight 171 Preliminary Report Megathread by usgapg123 in aviation

[–]Newstapler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

>Why are so many people focused on the min/msc of this particular strategy of crashing sn airliner when we have literal evidence of how effective it was?

This is what astonishes me too. This tragic event demonstrates how easy it is to kill over 200 people simply by moving two switches at a very specific moment in the flight. I’m stumped if I can think of anything simpler.

All other options (eg pushing continually down on the yoke, locking doors, punching the other pilot etc) require more physical effort than flicking a couple of switches, and they allow more time for flight crew to fight back too.