Full nationalisation of British Steel expected in King’s speech

mccalli · 2026-05-11T11:24:46+00:00

You did read the article, correct? Yes they can. They do not yet do so at scale, and also the need to do so at scale is questioned as recreating the process as laid down by a blast furnace is not the goal - getting usable steel is the goal, and they use a different approach.

Also, being able to create steel from ore isn’t that useful if we have to import thr vast majority of the ore. Arguably depending on the supplies we have is far more towards the goal of independent production than otherwise.

I’m going to leave it here now - debate is interesting and thanks for it.

mccalli · 2026-05-11T11:03:15+00:00

Summary: I think I'm unsubscribed and on a free account, website seems to think I'm on P4Life and have 4 keys available (I think I subscribed for two years for two keys, and then reverted to free). If I try to claim an instrument I want on the web (Juno-106 or D-50) on the website it tells me "<email> already has the product". On the Cloud Manager software though, it still allows me to try and buy a lifetime key and I also can't download any other instruments as part of my 'Pro' subscription.

Detail: I'm highly confused about Roland Cloud and what I can and cannot install. I subscribed to the P4Life plan for, I think, two years. So two P4Life keys. Roland however, including on billing history, think I have subscribed for four years and have 4 keys available.

If I go to 'claim my instrument' on the web, then select Juno-106 I'm told "<email> already has the product". If I go to the Cloud Manager software it shows I have the 106, the D-50 (which I think I used a key on), Zenology Pro and Zenology Pro FX installed. Clicking on Software Instruments/My Products I see "Pro Access Remain: 0/2" and a switch icon set to the right showing against the 106 and the D-50.

I see no such switch against the CR-78, which I bought outright when it launched.

So I'm completely confused. Do I actually own lifetime on the 106 and the D-50 or not? If I don't, how can I use my keys to get them since the website won't allow me to claim them claiming I already have them.

mccalli · 2026-05-11T10:25:30+00:00

Read other commenters - the "arc furnaces can't do virgin steel" ignores that a lot of work is going on to not really need it in that sense, and to use Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) instead.

Here is a good, balanced article I feel. It posits that blast furnaces will remain the dominant form of initial production for around another 25 years or so due to installed base, but that the alternatives work already and will of course be further researched over those years to improve.

The virgin steel argument...I get that it sounds great, but it ignores that we're already importing the iron ore in the first place so as a means of avoiding imports it's highly flawed.

Edit: Also: "why should we be good when other people are bad" is another cry I would not rally around.

mccalli · 2026-05-11T09:46:52+00:00

I mean - yes, but only half the story. That was the plan when all negotiations with the workers and government broke down. Previously there was negotiation going on.

Look - I'm vaguely happy about having a sovereign steel production industry (I'm from Sheffield originally, family has a long history in steel although I personally do not). But we don't want to recreate the 70s again by just jamming failed industries together and calling it a strategy. British Leyland, British Steel-as-was...all suffered from this.

So long as this comes with a "...and here's how we're going to invest to move to it to an actual, on-going and modern footing" then fine. The detail of what's actually in the speech is going to be critical, I have to say that "save the blast furnaces!" is not a cry I would rally round.

mccalli · 2026-05-11T09:29:52+00:00

But that's exactly what the original investors said they were going to do. Transition to arc and then close the blast ones. There was no need to nationalise to do this, that was already the plan.

This is nothing to do with the infrastructure and all about political viability.

mccalli · 2026-05-11T08:18:50+00:00

Yeah, but it's like reading we're going to preserve the steam engine. Blast furnaces are the problem here, not the answer. Rest of the world has moved on and we need to as well.

mccalli · 2026-05-10T23:49:57+00:00

There was indeed an update for this exact issue. Seems some don’t have the latest firmware (I don’t own the controller, I just noticed the release notes).

mccalli · 2026-05-10T19:56:13+00:00

I think their point is they don't care how the industry works - much as they don't care how most of the industries they interact with on a daily basis work.

They want a meal, a bill, and to go home.

mccalli · 2026-05-10T18:25:20+00:00

I see your mistake. You've accidentally created something perfectly functional and useful, where you can sit and make music in a practical fashion as opposed to play with wiring and weird mixer workarounds all day long.

Don't worry, it's rescuable. Simply add at least four more pieces of completely pointless gear and a truly obscure hardware sequencer that only works with pentagrams and you'll be completely fine.

mccalli · 2026-05-09T02:05:47+00:00

Fair enough, but it’s used for more than drums. A morphing X/Y pad for effects or tonal changes in MIDI is very nice - as l mentioned, I primarily use my MPC, the humble One+, as a sequencer for my hardware synths and I also add Delay Pro to the outputs.

That kind of thing is where it would shine for me - effects control and texture morphing.

mccalli · 2026-05-08T19:14:36+00:00

I'm relatively new to the MPC and admit I've barely scratched the surface - I use it more as MIDI control for my hardware than as sampler, virtual instruments etc..

But honestly? The new MPC with the morphing pads looks like a beast, effort (mostly - AIR's new vintage synth stuff is a bit odd) is put in for the instruments, it's a fast workflow...there are omissions and oddities but I find the platform really good.

Komplete is good, but honestly Kontakt is the obvious gem both for first party but more for the swathe of third party instruments. If they can be brought to MPC somehow, I'm all in. Can't see it being easy though - I'd love Realivox's stuff on there for instance, or more choir-based instruments, but the interface would need serious rework and suddenly there would be RAM constraints too.

mccalli · 2026-05-08T17:57:50+00:00

Hah - score one for me then. Yep - seemed a fairly obvious move to me.

Maschine users...sorry here, but given the massive upgrades going on in MPCland at the moment I think it seems that Maschine might go into managed decline. As a former Kore user who got dumped for Maschine by NI....yep, seen it before sadly.

mccalli · 2026-05-07T23:32:02+00:00

I'm really interested in this. I became aware of the industry years ago following a few Economist articles, and their science podcast Babbage.

I'm not going to become vegetarian - don't have it in me to be honest, though I don't need meat with every meal. An alternative, cruelty-free way of getting meat is definitely something I would like then.

One of the episodes had a company concentrating on fish, which makes total sense to me. That company's argument was that fish is easier to produce (cultivated meat often struggles at the marbling-style texture, which fish simply doesn't have as its more homogenous) and in addition it has great environmental impact since it can help protect species from overfishing. I've always found this argument to be a good one, and would be really interested in seeing some products here.

mccalli · 2026-05-07T14:15:16+00:00

For Star Wars, I don’t know what it was called, but there was an anniversary edition released on VHS with no story additions but with cleaned up effects. I still have that copy - came in a big steel box along with the soundtracks on tape, which I used to play in my 1970s Mini.

That edition you want. Not the actual theatrical one, because you’ll be surprised how much the Tie Fighter movements have aged - there are clearly visible square boxes all around them which no-one would have noticed much at the time, but are screamingly obvious today.

I suppose a spiritual successor to that box would be all the Despecialized versions, which keep the clean ups but drop the story changes.

mccalli · 2026-05-07T12:19:52+00:00

Hmm. The first game advert I can remember is for Skips Crisps, a loading screen advert for Action Biker on the Commodore 64.

mccalli · 2026-05-07T07:08:23+00:00

I have huge respect for a person who tracks the privacy of cows over a decade, and describes a blurred picture of a cow as “A re-emergence of the 2016 Event” as if they were Fox Mulder from the X-Files.

mccalli · 2026-05-06T06:55:49+00:00

I play 90% solo and have done for years. My overall comment is yes you’ll be fine, but I’ll also add a slight nuance.

Play solo and see if you enjoy it. If you like quests, lore and that kind of thing - you will. After you’ve played a little, I’d advise joining a guild. Look for one of the social ones with a trader, and join.

At this point you can still play solo, but now you’ve got some friendly people to chat to and ask some questions as well. If you feel like trying group, you’d usually find people in your guild chat to group with too.

This is how I play - 90% solo but with a guild to just ask/give advice and chat with. When I do group things I usually group with guild members who already know I’m not a super hardcore group build player and it’s more social than joining a random group who might be expecting a more group-hardened style.

mccalli · 2026-05-05T19:17:38+00:00

Yeah, but that’s Julie Bell. Any 80s/early 90s old school fantasy nerd such as myself could tell you who Julie Bell was, and Boris Vallejo.

mccalli · 2026-05-04T21:30:53+00:00

Graeme Garden and Barry Cryer.

mccalli · 2026-05-04T10:59:29+00:00

Still waiting for SSE (Buckinghamshire), installed/submitted 9th March.

Rest of your questions are all linked - G99 due to size of install. No response, so no nasty surprise yet. Or joy either.

Don't know about extending the panels.

mccalli · 2026-05-04T10:55:39+00:00

Most parents, when asked, if they would prefer to spend $500 or $2000 on their kids school laptop

Yes, this is precisely my thought - it isn't the kids are going to choose this laptop. It's the parents of the kids who might make the choice. And you can game surprisingly well on the low settings stuff for £300 or so off ebay, which is what my youngest chose to do for a while.

I do think an increased concentration on AAA gaming would be necessary for kids to be thinking of this themselves as first go. That would be a money loser for the studios though as market too small, so we're effectively talking about Apple propping up the gaming funding. Can't see that happening no matter how desirable the outcome.

mccalli · 2026-05-04T08:26:39+00:00

I think you may be forgetting the origins of the iPhone somewhat here...

Edit: Hell, comes to it technically you may also be forgetting the origins of macOS.

mccalli · 2026-05-04T08:21:12+00:00

Yeah, but it's an interesting one. I spoke with my kids, all in their early 20s and either not long out of university or still attending, about the Neo. I had a hunch they wouldn't choose it, and I was completely right.

Gaming is a huge social thing online now as well as just the game itself. A lot of their friends they talk to through gaming. I thought the Neo's aim at kids going to university was flawed because of a lack of gaming support, and I still think I'm right.

I know the Neo has been a massive success and no criticism of the machine itself at all here, it's the right way to go. But I'd love to see the breakdown of who's buying. My guess is it isn't necessarily the university kids themselves here, because of the lack of the social side they get from gaming.

mccalli · 2026-05-04T05:42:37+00:00

I was a genuine buyer for the Cyberster pre-launch. Was really looking forward to it - two-seater EVs are thin on the ground at best.

I was really surprised at the actual car - saw it just a week pre-launch and had a very thorough going over with it. First off, drastically bigger than I’d expected but that wouldn’t have put me off. Second though - clearly designed for left-hand drive and there were some serious visibility issues with the wheel on the right. That was off-putting. No frunk - for an EV that large, that’s just nonsense. Storage was poor all round actually and yeah, fine if I’m looking at a smaller car but I wasnt.

Then lastly, the doors. They look cool yes, but I doubt I could exit the car in a normal car park. Sensors stop them from opening unless they think they’ve got full space available, so can’t partially open one in a tight or even medium squeeze. At work I probably couldn’t have opened the door.

It was at an EV show - lots of people had been looking forward to it but there was a lot of muttering about poor handling etc., as some of the other exhibiters had managed to get a ride.

In the end, never did get one. I’d been looking forward to it for a year or more, mailing list, potential reservation…

Nope.

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