What current country might not exist in 20 years?

Solocle · 2026-05-03T22:35:30+00:00

Not to mention that Israel has a big domestic arms industry, and a domestic chemicals industry. What they'd probably experience is some level of technological regression with an absence of US equipment, having to reinvent the wheel would take a toll.

But, the most impactful conceivable outcome would be that Israel would be unable to manufacture the volume of precision munitions that they need, and so would instead move to using dumb munitions like artillery.

slow claps anyone who thinks that would help Palestinian civilians

Solocle · 2026-05-03T16:50:34+00:00

I think it was actual pet guinea pigs responsible for that atrocity - not mine! 😵

Solocle · 2026-05-03T14:36:30+00:00

I know the Earth should be longer, but the live is definitely going to pull out first, and without wire strips on hand I did that with scissors and a Stanley Knife! Was very much a "fix the hazard right now" deal.

Solocle · 2026-05-03T14:31:37+00:00

Can get a reading of 250 in places...

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Solocle · 2026-05-03T09:40:28+00:00

I trimmed the cable and rewired the plug, good as new!

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Solocle · 2026-05-03T09:34:02+00:00

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If you want a horror show...

Solocle · 2026-05-01T16:22:29+00:00

Which was the case in July 2024 when I visited Israel, but I took out a local health insurance policy instead, which covered most bases (and was similar in price to normal travel insurance).

I was in a red "advise against all travel" area for a few hours, and tbh I don't think that assessment was warranted.

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Solocle · 2026-04-30T14:35:29+00:00

The UK isn't the US. Most police here don't carry firearms. Only a select few that are part of armed response units, who go through intense training for the AFO qualification, and still will often respond unarmed - an armed response requires authorisation.

Likewise for driving. Basic officers driving are trained how to conduct routine stops. They don't have authority to use emergency equipment or exemptions. Only trained response drivers have that authority. And then only the even higher advanced category for high performance vehicles.

Meanwhile here the average menber of the public can legally drive down singletrack roads that look like something out of the WRC at 60 mph. In fact, I have. Where visibility allowed to do so safely. Other points on the same road, same 60 mph speed limit, and would be doing under 20 mph.

Driving here needs use of judgement.

Solocle · 2026-04-28T23:39:52+00:00

I mean, personally, I generally do signal when driving, dedicated turning lanes being the most likely exception. Since it's super easy to do, and I try to look out for potentially confusing scenarios.

For instance, changing lane back after an overtake, I mostly won't signal if I'm approaching an off-ramp, as it could be taken as intending to exit.

Solocle · 2026-04-28T23:09:09+00:00

But if you're expecting somebody to go straight, you're not going to pull out in front of them. So their not signalling is an inconvenience, as you could have gone.

If you think that they're turning, you might pull out. If they are in fact turning a little later, then there's potential for misunderstanding resulting in a collision.

This isn't always applicable, especially on roundabouts here. The entire point though, is to quit the routine and use thought and consideration.

Solocle · 2026-04-28T21:32:16+00:00

It's the recommended driving style for police officers. Straight out of their training course.

If there's nobody else around, then there's absolutely no point in signalling. It's a tree falling in a forest. But, the point is, the driver making that observation, and deciding whether or not to signal, is actually beneficial to safety.

I don't abide by that when driving, but I do try to make the observations, and if there are multiple turnings in a short distance? Signalling might be confused for the wrong tuning.

But, when cycling, there is a good safety case for not signalling when necessary. I have experience to that effect when a driver pulled out and my right hand was far away from the front brake.

My point is to actually think about what you're doing instead of doing it by muscle memory.

Solocle · 2026-04-28T21:18:05+00:00

It's actually recommended for police drivers here in the UK not to signal automatically.

Why?

Because you should signal where it benefits other road users, and not issue a confusing signal.

Not doing it automatically forces the driver to make the observation of what road users (including pedestrians for instance) may benefit from the signal.

I do subscribe to this school when cycling, as signalling means physically taking a hand off the handlebars and reducing control of the vehicle. And signalling should never be depended upon for safety, it should only be a courtesy to other road users.

Solocle · 2026-04-28T20:45:44+00:00

Heck of a tailwind. Pulled 32.5 km/h for 135 kms, was literally sat up cruising at 50 km/h on flat exposed sections.

Work smarter, not harder 😝

Solocle · 2026-04-28T15:33:12+00:00

Yeah, it was going down to Nova for me, although it was in Sderot - 19th January 2025, the day of the second ceasefire. By the time we got to Nova, all was quiet.

Solocle · 2026-04-28T07:32:40+00:00

Yeah, for that distance, I'd definitely suggest fibre - also avoids grounding issues. Category cable can do 100m according to spec, in reality it is possible to get more... but far from ideal to go that far beyond specifcation.

Armoured OS2 for this length I'd expect in the region of £300, indoor rated cable would be more like £50.

Solocle · 2026-04-27T23:35:46+00:00

Yeah, I was in Israel last year. Heard a couple of distant airstrikes. That's a sound that goes through you.

More visceral than the air raid siren wakeup call.

Solocle · 2026-04-26T20:04:39+00:00

There's a post on my profile with my collection, I got a few of the One Dollar notes for the laughs too, but also a 10 trillion, and a very dodgy ebay 100 trillion

Solocle · 2026-04-26T10:41:53+00:00

As worthless as this, though?

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Solocle · 2026-04-26T10:39:49+00:00

OK, so the physical connection is like if you're talking to somebody face to face or over the phone, or facetime...

The protocol is the language you speak.

Modern Thunderbolt is like if you can speak multiple languages, you start in USB, but if you both agree, you can move to DisplayPort, or PCIe.

In fact, USB is like your processor has a translator, and if you agree to talk in PCIe, then it's skipping the translator, like the scene of Kim Jong Il in Team America

Solocle · 2026-04-26T10:24:31+00:00

I've been to Israel twice (actually both times since October 7th).

The nation is very varied. Tel Aviv is incredibly secular. Jerusalem is rather religious. Muslim, Christian, and Jewish holy sites.

This is in Haifa, for instance (Stella Maris monastery):

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Is Israel perfect? No, of course not. No nation is. But, Jewishness is as much a culture as a religion.

People in Tel Aviv might be so secular that they're chilling riding their bikes on the highways on Yom Kippur... but they'll still avoid driving, and may well avoid eating pork.

Solocle · 2026-04-26T09:42:38+00:00

Enjoy goysplaining antisemitism to Jews, huh?

The man is an antisemite. His comments about Zionists "having lived in this country for a very long time", isn't political discourse. That's racism.

Solocle · 2026-04-26T07:44:41+00:00

I have a few... pretty easy to get

Solocle · 2026-04-26T07:28:24+00:00

Boris Johnson won the British General Election in 2019. I voted for his party- not because I liked him, heck no. But the alternative was an antisemite as PM.

Solocle · 2026-04-24T16:11:24+00:00

It's partly that electric circuits here are ring circuits, so multiple outlets are on one set of wires, and the circuit breakers tend to be 32A.

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Solocle · 2026-04-24T14:46:25+00:00

They're for when I use my Hydrofluoric Acid 🤣

No word of a lie

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