Leaderboard

Great development if it works.

This is you being quick?

In spite of all the stuff going on so far, It's gone beyond just a case of 'What has tRump done now?'.... Quoted from Pearls & Wisdom: "a group of 36 senior neurologists, forensic psychiatrists, general psychiatrists and mental health professionals experienced in the diagnosis of cognitive disorders and evaluation of dangerousness, who had signed an earlier statement in 2024, issued an update on 30 April of this year. They cited examples of Trump’s “marked deterioration in cognitive functioning, evidenced by disorganised and tangential speech, rambling digressions, factual confusions, unexplained sudden changes of course in strategic matters, both national and international, episodes of apparent somnolence during crucial public proceeding. Grandiose and delusional beliefs, including assertions of infallibility…claims that his decision-making authority is unlimited – with no need to consider domestic and international laws and constrained only by his ‘own morality’. Severely impaired judgment and impulse control…Significant loss of self-control (disinhibition) and getting stuck on the same thoughts or actions, unable to let go or move on (perseveration), including seemingly compulsive, manic-like late-night communications – e.g., 150 social media posts in one night.” They conclude: “it is our expert opinion that Donald J. Trump is mentally unfit to be the President of the United States, and that steps to remove him from office must be undertaken with the greatest urgency”. And this bloke has 24/7/365 access to instantly start launching numerous preplanned nuclear ATTACKS. https://johnmenadue.com/post/2026/07/for-president-trump-starting-nuclear-war-as-easy-as-sending-a-tweet/

To appreciate The Goodies one had to have been exposed to English humour. The show involving pizza and hot dogs suggests to me that it was American, and we all know that American humour is not as intelligent as that of the British. The British made excellent children's programmes. Did anyone ever watch Worzel Gummage starring Jon Pertwee and Una Stubbs? Pertwee was, of course the third Dr Who.

You have to hand it to short people..... They can't reach it themselves.

Some people don't get what a will is........ I mean, come on, it's a dead giveaway.

No one I know Mentioned it. Men's shed tomorrow. I'll ask there. They did something like this over 20 years ago. I was randomly selected to be on the group in the MT Macedon area that formulated various aspects of it. The idea has Merit.. I support the idea of doing such things. It's acting responsibly. Nev.

I don't have a lot of time, so. I will try to be quick (given I have only skimmed the posts since OME asked the question). The algorithm is not predictive in the sense of predicting the future. The predict what you meant by what you typed, and whether or not their response will make sense. For example, if you asked how many legs a dog normally has, it will predict that 4 is the correct answer; not that my some genetic mutation caused by increasing radiation in the atmosphere, they will grow 5 legs in the future. Well, not unless you ask it, anyway. But even if you did, it would use existing data to try and predict the correct answer based on the data it has, not to perform its own scientific analysis and determine for itself. It may take the factors and apply it to an existing theory to mimic scientific analysis and intelligent conclusion drawing, but it is not doing that itself. In terms of AI implementation, it is likely to be a lower level language such as C or C++ = not python because it is too slow; the end point AI functions can be done in Python, but that is on a precomputed large dataset - usually. The algorithm will be surprising small.. usual Bayes theorem or something similar. It is able to be repeated over billions of nodes - or data points. The code will likely be recursive in building the precomputed data set to apply simpler probability maps across the data you provide. And it will likely be recursive in using that map to answer your question. By recursion we mean the same code calls itself.. So, you will be able to crawl heterogenous data sets, over and over using the same code developing deep nested stacks (well, heaps to be accurate) of responses from which it will map as many of the different types of data that can be used to probably represent what ever bit of data it actually is. Tagging data is old these days.. That is what these maps do. This of something like if you type the number 4 into your LLM. That is easy, because it is represented by whatever coding mechanism you are using... and there are only a handful of coding mechanisms - ASCII, EBCDIC (not used anymore) UTF-8, UTF-16 and a few others. But, they are translated to the discrete representation of 4 to AI. No thinking required. Now, say you provide it a scanned doc, which contains the number 4 somewhere. It has to read all of the pixels and look at the shape of each character to determine if it is a letter, number, whitespace, part of a diagram, etc. Say it worked out it was a digit. Now it was to work out what digit it is? It has to look through its maps/nodes and get the most likely digit it is.. it predicts what digit is is because it spits out a probability index of what it has been taught what that digit could possibly be, across any digit which it may match. Is it a 4, or is it a H.. It also has to take into account font. As you know, a 4 can be represented very differently in different fonts... So, the sort answer to your question is that there will be a set of probability algorithms that will read data, build probability maps, and then apply the same probability algorithms to inputs and compare to what it has learned. Machine learning means it constantly refines its probability maps. The technical implementation is likely to to be a lower level language (a lot of Python maths/stats libraries are written in C++).. and there will be a lot of recursion.

A husband walks into Victoria’s Secret to buy his wife a sheer nightgown. The clerk shows him several options ranging from $250 to $500 - the more sheer, the higher the price. He picks the sheerest one for $500 and heads home. He gives it to his wife and asks her to go upstairs, try it on, and model it for him. Upstairs, his wife thinks, "It's so sheer it might as well be nothing! I'll just model naked, return it tomorrow, and keep the $500 refund for myself." She appears naked on the balcony and strikes a pose. The husband looks up and says, "Good grief! For $500, you'd think they'd at least iron it!" He didn't see the punch coming and should be able to see out of at least one eye by the weekend.

How do you writ up the insurance claim?

I knew I liked De Havillands for.some reason

No point posting them here then, Nev.

The first thing they'd do is start sending friendly emails to random blokes......

That is crazy!

Agree you have to differentiate yourself from the previous pack - I think Kamala Harris learned that the hard way. And I am not saying what he is saying is not welcome.. It is... But I simply pointed out there are simpler ways to bring in one of the things he wants to bring in. And it will be an actual step forward.. What has come of the royal commissions that found damning evidence of misconduct and criminality: Robodebt Veterans Affairs Banking And the plethora of others?

He means a BUBALUS (Latin for gazelle)

Can we have some video of OME leaping like a gazelle?

Where there's a Will there's a bunch of squabbling relatives.

Here's a literary gripe. I'm reading, and enjoying, a series of fiction books set in modern Edinburgh about the lives of people living in a small, middle class area of the city. The writing is good and make for good bedtime reading. However my gripe concerns the practice of the author to have his characters include either Latin or foreign phrases in their speches. Sometimes I know the phrase, but very often I have no idea. Of course, since the characters are Scots and the setting is Scotland, some of those unique Gaelic words sometime appear, but that is what is called "atmosphere'. What gripes me is that these phrases cause me to stumble, losing the otherwise free flow of the writing. I have to pause and wonder if my interpretation of the phrase makes sense. Frotunately, the words are printed in Bold, so I can see them coming and can decisde whether to pause at them, or ignore them and leap over them like a gazelle.

I was working from home, my phone didn't get the alarm.

Ecky-Thump!

I believe that is a known fault. A few other interesting points: The alert can appear even if you're on a phone call or using another app. It works on most modern phones, tablets, and some smartwatches. Older phones or devices with unsupported operating systems may not receive it, or may display headings such as "Presidential Alert" or "Extreme Threat Alert" instead of "AusAlert".

I can't believe the people whinging about it and wanting to know if they can opt out. Hopefully just a minority. On a similar subject, whilst on my recent NZ trip, my phone sounded an unusual alarm at around 4AM. It was an earthquake warning. I assumed it was from a government service but it was not. It was actually from Google, which uses its millions of Android phones to detect P or Primary waves. For some people, the alert sounded before the quake could be felt. Why phones woke thousands before 5.9 magnitude Taumarunui earthquake "The Android Earthquake Alerts system uses the accelerometers built into millions of smartphones to detect the first seismic waves generated by an earthquake. Known as primary, or P-waves, these travel faster than the stronger secondary (S) waves that typically cause the most noticeable shaking and damage. This data is automatically anonymised and reported in the background to Google, and once there are enough matching reports, an alert gets pinged out to all Android users who might be affected. Depending on the estimated strength of the earthquake, users receive one of two alerts. A 'Be Aware' notification is sent for earthquakes below magnitude 4.5, while larger events trigger a louder 'Take Action' alert designed to grab people's attention, even if their phone is on silent. The system is not an earthquake predictor, but rather rapidly detects an earthquake after it begins and uses the difference in speed between the initial P-waves and the slower, more destructive shaking to provide advance warning to people further from the epicentre. The technology is now available in more than 90 countries, although its effectiveness depends on how many Android devices are nearby."

Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic??????

Canola time was always a pretty time to fly.

Poor dog. Imagine being a dog and living with a human being that has less sense than you.

I haven't put in panels as it would bre like putting lipstick on a pig. The house really needs knocking down and rebuilding, but I don't have the money for that. I know I am still paying the high price, but I handle it by paying $50 or $100 each pension day to the electric company, and to gas, water rates, etc. That way I build up a credit at a rate I can deal with, and the bill usually comes out $0 to pay. My bank balance revolves in a standard pattern, with no sudden unexpected dives.

But Peter, that's from experts. As every one of Trump's administration picks proves, being an actual expert in something automatically disqualifies your opinion.

Yes because I did the rational thing and installed solar.

So, seventytwo virgins, eh? That's a hellava lotta goats!

He’s right. He’s so transparent the world can see exactly who he is.

Well, here is a potential development that can bring nuclear into a viable alternative: A Canadian lab just ran a chemical process on real spent nuclear fuel and pulled out 90% of the long-lived danger in 24 hours, the part that forces a burial site to last 100,000 years, with the leftovers meant to fuel a reactor https://share.google/bEVunnl6sp8t3mOVg

She was obviously taking the piss.

They feel that a man of your keen intellect would not be easily scammed, so why bother.

I think I just swore at the Pope.

Jacinta Allan served as the 49th Premier of Victoria and leader of the Victorian Labor Party from 2023 to 2026. Her tenure ended on 28 July 2026 when she resigned ahead of a leadership challenge from her deputy, Ben Carroll.

A good look to start his stint as premier - first press conference in a K-Mart basement.

Wife: Have you seen the dog bowl? Husband: I didn't know he could.

Yes, that’s why I never won Lotto. To be fair that wasn’t really a good test of the methodology. Lotto results are ultimately random, so there was no long term pattern to them that the algorithm could have been trained on to predict the next draw. Had there been an underlying bias it’s possible that the algorithm could eventually have improved the odds in my favour by picking a set of numbers that more likely than not contained next week’s winning numbers. That was my aim at the time. It didn’t work but the programming was fun. While my finite state machine approach was a far less sophisticated AI model than the technology behind ChatGPT or Claude, the principle of using a data set to train an algorithm to mimic human learning by modifying itself by trial and error until it can produce answers to questions that appear logical and intelligent remains the same. Of course it doesn’t mean that the answers are right.

My son has a BYD Shark PHEV. I've been looking at some Australian-made videos on Youtube made by 4WD influencers, and most of what they present is positive. However there are a few things that have got me thinking that the design concept of the vehicle is wrong. First, the vehicle is a 3-tonne dual cab. It is a tall vehicle, meaning that one has to climb up into it. Why so big? It has a Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) of 3,500 kg and a payload of approximately 790 kg. That 750 kg paylod has to include the weight of five persons plus luggage and other junk. Don't forget that if the vehicle is used to tow a caravan or other type of trailer, the towball weight has to be taken from the 750 kg. I wonder how useful it would be as a tradie's ute. How much do a tradie's tools weigh? And how often do five tradies travel in the one vehicle? Next I don't see it as an off-road vehicle. A lot of the videos show it being used off-raod, but I think this is a mistake. I think people might not understand that although each wheel of the vehicle is driven by its own motor, it does not, to my mind, equate to the traditional 4WD. While each motor delivers maximum torque immediately, off-road driving requires that the torque from an ICE or EV power plant should be controlled. I think that the correct application of an EV motor is through a gearbox if one wants to drive through mud, sand and climb mountains. BYD has been honest in stating that the battery-only range is 100 km. That is sufficient for daily running around the local area. They have been honest to say that for longer distances, the 1.5 litre ICE engine must be used. This engine is basically an onborad electrical generator which uses about 7.5 litres/100 km at highway speed without towing. Towing a medium sized caravan or horse float can blow that out to about 20 litres/100km. One advantage of teh BYD battery system is that it has outlest which can provide 240 volts. That would be useful for a tradie to run chargers for cordless tools. Why do I think the design concept is wrong? Around my way, the most popular style of work vehicle is the Toyota Hillux in single or dual cab. The vehicle weighs about 2 tonnes with a load capacity of about 900 kg. This design suits the needs of farmers and tradies. It is available in 2 or 4WD configuration. Why couldn't a model with an EV power system be made to this design? Toyota has a Hilux EV, but it is a big monster like the Shark.

You should be nice to Skeletons. After all, they have No body. Nev

I missed out Now I feel neglected. What am I doing wrong?

This mught fit a thread called "How crazy is this crazy world" The infamous Male Supremacist Tate bros (I invented that term) got a private jet flight from Romania (I think?) to USA. Now have been arrested in Miami for extradition to face charges in Blighty. LONDON – Influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have been arrested in Miami after British authorities issued 38 new charges against them, including allegations of rape and sex trafficking. Is this the image of alpha males in 2026?

Cool air More Lift. It was very cold today. I know as I put a new set of spark plugs in the 98 Au . 10 years since the last ones were fitted. Fortunately I'd used anti seize, but had to warm the engine to get the Back one out. Of course that's the Most inaccessible. It's colder here than Melbourne. 1500 feet up. Nev

I took an instructional flight from Moorabbin today. To be honest, there's a lot I could write in the gripes thread, particularly around a) the commerical properties that have gone up, and b) the introduction of landing fees. The urban sprawl is there - the training area has less and less open country. But, that is progress. But, the flight was quite a good one. Just practiced stalls and forced landings.. Didn't die, to that is a positive (for some, I guess not ;-)) The young instructor was very professional and a natural instructor.. sad that an airline or other jet career beckons.. The flight was in an Archer with full EFIS.. Took a bit of getting used to - to be honest would need a bit more time to get comfy with it (and a manual and some prep time). Weather played ball as well.

Problem solved

I wish someone would tip a barrowload of sand on each of those Trevago guys.

It lasts for a paternity.