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I was going to ask abut you.. Glad you're still here. @red750 - First, it's good to hear he is well. Maybe you can entice him back by letting him know that the Block User feature works very well? Send him our best, anyway.

Here is the device in place.

Like all powerful things, A.I. runs the risk of being used for powerful good and powerful evil equally. And it has been developed primarily to make money for it's owners. Which is a good reason for caution.

Today is the big day. I have been to the Cochlear Support Centre and received the external sound processor, which is now turned on. It sounds completely different to what I expected, although I knew it sounded different to what I have been hearing. For example, the ticking of a digital clock sounds like someone tapping a metal pipe with a small spanner. I now have a couple of months for my brain to learn to deal with sound frequencies it hasn't received in years, and for the device to be calibrated to my hearing.

Yeah, and I squeezed my wife's Nair on my toothbrush because she put the tube next to the toothbrushes. Now I wear my reading glasses in the bathroom.

I received a welcome email from Cochlear Limited which included the following note from a user. “Don’t expect to hear speech right away. You will hear sounds. One needs to have patience because it can take a while to hear speech clearly. The learning curve is different for everyone. It depends on how much time and effort one puts into learning to hear with a cochlear implant. It’s not like a hearing aid where you will be able to hear instantly. The more you work at it, the more successful you will be.” – Cathy, who has a cochlear implant.

Yeah, but you asked for it.

Little Johnny was playing in the schoolyard when he got a splinter in his hand. He went to the teacher and said, " Miss, I need some cider." The teacher said, "Why do yo need cider?" Johnny said, "I got a splinter in my hand." The teacher said, "What's that got to do with cider? Little Johnny said, "I heard Mum say when she gets a prick in her hand she puts it in cider."

When I left school, I joined the Commercial Bank of Australia Limited (CBAL) in 1961. I worked for them till 1986 when they merged with the Bank of NSW to form Westpac. I continued working for Westpac until 1991, when banks started rationalising staff and introducing computers in branches. Obviously they did not require two lots of staff, as duplicated branches and departments were merged, so many staff were retrenched. I had been working in a suburban processing centre which was closed, and I was let go. But I still had 2 Westpac credit cards. The other night, after 11 pm., I got a text from Westpac questioning a debit to one of the cards from Optus Prepaid of about $50. I have no business with Optus Prepaid, and certainly had not used my credit card recently. I replied to the text that I did not recognise the transaction. Next morning I got a phone call from Westpac, to clarify details. The transaction was stopped, the card was cancelled, and a replacement card was isssued. Both my cards normally have zero balances or small credit balances no more than $10. I generally use them at parking stations where debit cards are not accepted, and the occasional online purchase. I have not cancelled them as I would never get another card, and it's handy to have recourse to some credit in case of emergency. I have been retired for 16 years and my superannuation has been fully drawn and spent.

I know you aren't really after a trike, but this might stimulate your imagination. Especially the front wheel setup.

I find it very helpful. Particularly with solving IT problems at home.

The headlines have mostly been about experimental AI models that have taken advantage of flawed rules and laboratory environments to do things they weren’t supposed to, and how that can be prevented. Industry self-regulation is a very weak mechanism when the developers are not competing to use AI for the greatest public good but to make the most money in the shortest time. AI can be used for good and it would be helpful to see more examples but I think it’s reasonable that the focus at the moment should be on where the biggest risks and potential for harm are.

I have sent OneTrack an email and am awaiting a reply.

He has disappeared for weeks and months a couple of times in the past, so I hope no cause for alarm.

17th century English explorers thought it looked like a pine cone but tasted like a fruit. Apple was a common name for fruit of various kinds at the time so it became pineapple.

There was an earthquake in Victoria this morning, at 2 am, near Leongatha. It was felt by hundreds in Melbourne, although I was in bed and didn't feel it. My daughter came to my room to check if I had. One woman on Facebook said the shaking lasted long enough for her to wake her husband and ask "Did you feel that?" He got quite excited for a second.

I have had hair in my teeth before ...more of a side effect from female pleasure.

That's only an admission that you blokes have been abusive. Too bad Onetrack didn't stay on, I could have told him about the latest developments with Veterans medical treatment which has been broadened and somewhat fast tracked. It's still a bit woeful and uncaring, but getting better after all the work that Veterans Associations have been putting in.

One of my pet peeves. What cruel b uses the smallest unreadable font on the bottle to give me the only information I need?

Probably "Dickens" brand. Popular cider among women, apparently.

Saw one proposed data centre that would use as much electricity as 1 million homes. At some point the madness has to stop.

In a swimming pool, the P is silent.

I have spent a couple of hours on the phone over four calls with the Westpac bank as they are trying to re-confirm my customer identity. I have banked with them for thirty years at least. I sent them a copy of my driver's licence and, when that was unacceptable, my passport. They say I am not McCarthy but I am Mc Carthy. The space is on my driver's licence and my passport, has always been there and had never caused a problem before. So, I sent them my birth certificate. They say that it is not necessarily me because, although it shows my father's name in full, it only gives my two Christian names, so my surname could be anything. At that point I lost my cool and now may be looking for a new bank.

In DEBT, the B is silent. In KNIFE, the K is silent. In MARRIAGE, the HUSBAND is silent.

Bristol Hercules sleeve valve. don't know if he has finished it.

https://www.rotecaerosport.com/motorcycles

It's not about just helping Ukraine, it's also about helping preserve the international rule of law and the principal that it's wrong to take someone else's country by force. I'm not sure if the peanut would understand that concept.

That's usually the case.

Here's one for you. Wind tunnel tested, hand formed alloy body, straight 8 mid engine two seater. A pic of it before and after it's most recent resto. Not what I'd use for a run to the supermarket. https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/up-from-the-ashes-a-1940s-one-off-streamliner-is-reborn-again/

A bit like keeping a car roadworthy. It depends on how you use AI. I've been more able to get the truth through it than any other sources. it Provides references and answers ANY questions or Questioning. Nev

This is the building I worked in when I first started work in 1960, and again, working for a different company, when I retired in 2010. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1DrJavigSH/

Sounds like my trip to the loo this morning.

So far, I am averaging a couple of dollars a day in feedin to the grid. And virtually nil consumption. Might not sound much, but that should add up to at least $700 credit a year. I await in anticipation to see if the new smart meter agrees with the solar inverter logs.

Two guys at the bar. One says: "you won't believe me, but I can bite my right eye. One beer if you loose the bet? " They shake hands or whatever you do in that part of the world to seal a bet and then our guy takes out his right (glass) eye and bites in it. One beer later our guy says "you won't believe me,I but I can bite in my left eye as well." They confirm the bet. Our guy takes out his dentures and bites in his left eye. One beer later our guy says "you won't believe me , but I can piss in your right trouser pocket and you don't get wet". Well, the bet is confirmed, our guy takes out his noodle and pisses in the right pocket of his betting partners trousers. "Fuck, my trousers are all wet!" (giggling) "Sorry, sometimes I lose a bet...."

I had the smart meter installed yesterday, so hopefully all the problems with idiot meter readers and estimated bills have gone for good. It went quite well to my surprise. Considering the disfunctional way power companies operate these days I thought it would be another sh*tfight trying to extract any common sense from them, but luckily the technician was just a normal tradie subcontractor who subbied for the company contracted to supply smart meters for the power retailer. He also happened to live just down the road from me and they'd given him my phone number, so he was able to ring me from the gate. Being just a normal tradie, he was quite happy to throw his gear in my car and let me drive him the 400 metres up to the meter box and back. He had a big front wheel drive van and wanted to give it a go driving that up. I tried my best to talk him out of it, but fortunately he came to a wheel spinning halt in the first fifteen metres so didn't do any damage to his vehicle, and it was easy enough for him to reverse back down to the gate. I'm glad I was there as I had three analog meters and one has never had an outlet to use power so has read 00000 kWh for thirty years or more. The technician wrote the numbers down as 99,999 kWh which would have given me a $3,000 bill for power never used. It took a fair bit to convince him he was wrong but he eventually came round. Attached photo shows the meter. Apart from no more meter reader access problems and issues with power retailers who can't read analog meters correctly, one thing I really like about the smart meter is that it gives one combined power useage figure for all three phases. That unused meter that reads zero has been a headache for years. If you submit a self meter read, the software spits the dummy if you enter the same figure as last time. In that case you have to photograph the meters and email them to people who can't read a meter and always stuff it up. I've even had an inspector from the main power supplier show up to check that I wasn't stealing power, as the zero readings were flagged as suspicious.

Whatever you may think of Musk, Space-X is doing some amazing work. They had three rocket launches on one day this week, one taking four astronauts to the space station, another deploying 30 Starlink satellites and the third launching a military satellite, all while recovering their boosters for re-use. One booster has been re-used 37 times.

You probably heard this one B4 "Dear algebra, stop asking me to find your X. She's never coming back. And don't bother about asking 4 Y."

Have you noticed that in many cases, the electricity to power these massive data centres is generated by diesel powered generators? There's an irony in that which is hard to describe.

I've often thought of doing something with the R-670 jug that I have. It's in good condition with the valves, rocker gear and rocker covers. I just wish I had two of them, it would make a great three litre v-twin. A nice pot with a lot of character. I've also got a couple of Cyclone 9 pots but they're huge and ugly, much like the Millyard P & W's, so they'll remain as paperweights. Just for a laugh I lined the R-670 pot up in the M-63 Ural frame the other day and it took up most of the available engine space, no room at all for a bottom end.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1123794380600104

Lovely!, he said sarcastically.

What's a suburban football field without a concrete cricket pitch on halfway? Covered in winter with dirt so that it became a quagmire after winter rains.

Best-selling British author Jeffrey Archer has died at the age of 86. Archer’s publisher HarperCollins confirmed Archer had died “suddenly and peacefully at home”

If a pineapple is not an apple, and doesn't grow on pine trees, why is it called a pineapple?

Yes Nev. But science has little to do with Religiosity. Most religions find factual science a existential threat.

I love this vid: I just saw this today. I have never met the fella, but a long time ago, I was on the end of a little critique of his for some networking code I developed for Linux. I took it in my stride and sorted out the "shortcomings" in my code, which was adopted into I think it was release 0.94 of the kernel. In all honestly, he is a little narcissistic, but in a good way.

Isn't it weird how we have flashbacks. Just now, I recalled a evening catching the number 5 tram from work when I was about 24 or 25 - so 35 years ago. It was the old W Class tram (I loved them even after the orange ones came out to replace them). On board was a conductor. Remember them? He had is brown uniform and beige-ish shirt on, with the old leather bag housing the ticket machine. He has dishevelled with thick dark brown hair, an unkempt beard but not too long. His skin was pale, and his eyebrows were thick - almost John Howard thick. I was the only pax on the tram; it was late - around 9:30 and I was on my way home. Dressed in a suit, being a new and ambitious programmer, I must have had a forlorn look on my face as he walked up to me, lent towards me and in a profound tone proclaimed, "wine, women, and song.. that is all any man needs." I have to admit, I initially felt stunned he was talking to me at all, and that feeling gave way to bemusement. But, sometimes I can;t help but feel, was that the advice I needed at the time?