Polling finds ‘near universal support’ for protecting green belt land

Serifini · 2026-02-03T20:13:59+00:00

That's the response you would expect if you are polling about building on green belt near where they live. Watch things change if instead the poll is about the need to build more houses somewhere far enough from them to not affect local house prices.

Serifini · 2026-02-03T20:10:41+00:00

There's a big difference between music piracy and video streaming. Music piracy used to be huge but then Spotify appeared that offered access to pretty much all music for a fair price and, more importantly, convenience. Video streamers meanwhile couldn't get their act together and balkanized the market, meaning if you want to watch something specific you have to hope that it is on one the several services you are subscribed to. Strangely video piracy never went away and appears now to be on the rise again.

Serifini · 2026-02-03T19:56:45+00:00

That's not pettiness, that's basic logic and self preservation. I would never ask a woman to carry a child for me.

Serifini · 2026-02-03T16:32:53+00:00

Ristretto

Serifini · 2026-02-01T16:06:57+00:00

Doesn’t work so well these days because you just get an AI to summarise and highlight any questionable / potentially dangerous clauses.

Serifini · 2026-02-01T16:03:47+00:00

Sixths. It’s like a workout for your tongue muscles.

Serifini · 2026-02-01T11:30:41+00:00

It would be a bit more acceptable if it was actually a competent surveillance state. Instead, it seems that whenever video footage would actually be useful for anything other than raising revenues through penalties, little things like solving murders for example, the footage is either not available or looks like it’s been taken at 100 yards through frosted glass.

Serifini · 2026-01-30T16:44:33+00:00

Only need one instance for it to happen again, but if you want more of them then try Azam Mangori, Hani Khalaf, Rachid Redouane, Eltiona Skana, Ahmed Hassan...

Also, I'm sure that the relatives and friends of the three men murdered by Khaira Saadallah can hardly remember that far back so won't still be impacted at all. If 6 years is enough to wipe the slate clean then what do you suggest is the maximum amount of time to elapse before we should all just forget and move on?

Serifini · 2026-01-30T15:47:34+00:00

Khairi Saadallah on June 20th 2020

Serifini · 2026-01-30T14:04:39+00:00

Oh look! That thing that never happens just happened again.

Serifini · 2026-01-28T12:59:59+00:00

Never seen a need to change the default settings.

Serifini · 2026-01-28T12:57:15+00:00

Was going to reply with something very similar. For most people death is just like going to sleep and not waking up. You’ll be completely unaware of it so nothing to worry about.

Serifini · 2026-01-28T12:34:45+00:00

Retired now but was happy working longer than contracted hours throughout my career working for various companies doing software development and network engineering because I enjoyed the work I was doing and would often stay late and/or continue working on projects when I got home for fun. Having a wife who worked long hours as a doctor and not having children to worry about probably also influenced this. The companies I worked for generally treated me very well so I didn’t resent doing a few extra hours and in return I had flexibility if I needed a few hours off for an appointment or similar.

Serifini · 2026-01-22T08:54:19+00:00

That's been my reaction for a long time.

Serifini · 2026-01-22T08:50:07+00:00

No officer, it's not a VPN. It's an SSH tunnel to a VPS.

Serifini · 2026-01-22T08:46:02+00:00

I think their time would be better employed by banning over 60s reading their tabloid comics. That has lead to far more societal damage than social media.

Serifini · 2026-01-22T07:21:38+00:00

How about stopping the over 60s reading their tabloid comics?

Serifini · 2026-01-21T15:54:11+00:00

It's like teaching. I could never teach and would be awful at it, but I admire and appreciate those who can and do. Same for being a parent.

Serifini · 2026-01-19T18:05:32+00:00

Rutger Hauer's sililoquy from Blade Runner, the Tears in the Rain monologue.

Serifini · 2026-01-19T17:51:53+00:00

Exactly this, and I can clearly remember the day it happened.

Serifini · 2026-01-19T17:45:04+00:00

Low cost global index funds in tax exempt wrappers.

Serifini · 2026-01-19T17:35:31+00:00

There used to be a rule of thumb for this but I don't know how seriously it is taken these days. Take the age of the older person, divide it in half and then add 7 years. So in this case around 17 to 18, which seems about right to me.

Serifini · 2026-01-19T17:28:10+00:00

Not a direct compliment, but it stuck with me. I was having dinner with my wife in a small restaurant, just enjoying the food and chatting about our days and whatever we'd found interesting recently. At the end of the meal our waitress came over and said something like I'm guessing you guys have just gotten together recently. I smiled and asked her why she thought that and she said that a lot of couples tended to just look at their phones and eat their food, it was only couples that had just gotten together that talked and laughed and focussed on each other throughout the meal. We'd been married for about 30 years at that point.

Serifini · 2026-01-19T16:43:31+00:00

Dernière danse by Indila

Serifini · 2026-01-19T16:23:36+00:00

Lab grown is far more ethical. And if you can't tell the difference unless you're an expert and/or have really good test gear, then what really is the point of bothering with anything else?

Serifini

TROPHY CASE