Leaderboard

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.

I wonder if this makes payment optional?

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.

HEs MAD and dangerous like the rest of them. Nev

Beautiful British humour!

Yeah, but you asked for it.

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.

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."

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.

I had trouble in NZ pronouncing Manurewa. I thought I had the first part correct…

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 just been listening to the wireless on the ABC channel and they've been talking about high tech household stuff. Stoves that cost thousands of dollars and self clean at 500 degrees celsius. People using their smart phones to turn on the air con while they're driving home. One bloke can unlock and open his gate from anywhere in the country using his phone. Robot mowers and vacuums, the list goes on. With all this smart technology about, I must be in the dumb category. I still don't have a sealed driveway or running hot water.

In a swimming pool, the P is silent.

Kickstarting Al Hackel's 1700cc Wright thumper:

It would cost a lot more to fix than you would even get back. Nev

Dance like no one is watching

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.

I think his last activities on both this forum and RecFlying was June 30th., so over three months now.

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

It'll be a weight off your shoulders when the job's finished.

Yes.. I quite like this shed (though a bit out of my league): https://www.realestate.com.au/property-warehouse-nsw-tocumwal-151477276

Or idiots and crazy

I just love how they accuse everyone else of being exactly what they are... Except, they are also hypocrites.

This is not really a gripe, just some observations for want of a better thread to post in. In some ways things are advancing and in other ways we're going backwards. I've noticed for a while now a lot of companies and organisations are becoming increasingly disfunctional. A lot are getting a fortress mentality where it's becoming increasingly difficult for customers and others to contact them. Too many working groups, team leaders, teams, team meetings, overseas outsourced support and the list goes on. It gives me the impression that a lot of people making the decisions these days wouldn't know if their arse was on fire. They think if you have enough blah, blah, blah, and keep kicking the ball around in circles, everything will work out. It's in government and regulation as well, or should I say over regulation. A good example I heard on the ABC radio today was that some operators of coffee outlets in Victoria are required to have up to thirty four different licences to pour and sell coffee. Another example of a disfunctional system is our banana quarantine system here in S.E. Queensland. I haven't grown any since the 1990's but am thinking of putting a few in again. The last time I grew them, the government took it very seriously. Non commercial household growers were only allowed to grow Lady Fingers and the suckers had to be sourced from a grower approved by the Department of Primary Industries. Transportation of banana material was restricted to certain zones (still is) and a strict planting window was in place with about a two month period that they were allowed to be planted. I got quite a shock last year when I made some enquiries into planting, as I wanted to do the right thing regarding disease control. Here's a comparison of how it was planting bananas in the 1990's compared to now. Back then I went to the local DPI research station for advice. They gave me a contact list of approved growers, and that was it. All I had to do was ring a nearby approved grower, buy the suckers and plant them. All legal and biosecurity compliant. Fast forward to now. Some time ago the DPI research stations stopped dealing with the public. Now they have no public phone numbers or any other way to contact them, and the stations are blocked to public access so you can't go and see them. Wanting to do the right thing, I rang the department headquarters in Brisbane and they didn't have a clue what to do. I then asked them if they had a list of approved growers and they said they weren't allowed to give out that information and suggested I contact the banana growers association. I rang them several times over a few days and nobody would answer the phone. They had a very loud recorded tune playing for waiting; it was the lyrics banana-nana, banana-nana excised from that kid's song and looped endlessly at irritatingly high volume. It was as if they were purposely trying to get you to hang up and go away. Nobody is going to sit there and listen to that for an indeterminate period of time. I think my record in all the calls was about 20 minutes of banana-nana, banana-nana and that was it for me. It's odd because the quarantine signs are still everywhere, and the relevant authorities' websites still bang on about how strict they are with banana biosecurity but government and the growers association are total fu*kwits about it. The problem with that is that people wanting to plant bananas are now just buying them illegally on FB Marketplace from backyarders. It's not legal to sell if you're not an approved grower and not legal to buy from non approved growers. The government and the growers association are talking the talk and not walking the walk. It's gone from a very efficient system to one that's completely disfunctional.

No. Didn't you hear that Donny renamed the country?

But who carries small change nowadays?

An old Streaker got the Prize for the Best Dried Arrangement. Smoking is a dying habit. Nev