thehatfox

thehatfox , 3 days ago

I’ve ordered various things from AliExpress before, I’ve never had any major issues. One item was DOA, and another never arrived, but In both cases I got refunded quickly and easily.

It seems no worse than any other online marketplace now.

I assume these 3DS units are some sort of refurb. Are they Chinese region units?

thehatfox , 27 days ago

The military part of the proposed new national service is going to be optional however, those “conscripted” can choose a civilian volunteering path instead. So I’m not sure how this scheme would help with the threat of future conflict when nobody chooses the military option.

It’s a ridiculous gimmick to distract from the Tories failures in areas people do care about.

thehatfox , 29 days ago

Generally you want to the reference material used to improve that first version to be correct though. Otherwise it’s just swapping one problem for another.

I wouldn’t use a textbook that was 52% incorrect, the same should apply to a chatbot.

thehatfox , 29 days ago

Any distro should be fairly stable and supported on an older Thinkpad.

I’m currently using Debian stable on my X220 and it’s rock solid.

thehatfox OP , 1 month ago

My worst fear is not a Tory comeback but a lurch in more radical and populist direction if Labour fail to start visibly turning things around after the first term. It's unrelated to expect many if any first term miracles considering the state the country is in, but people are going to need to feel some sort of progress to stop the frustration boiling over.

thehatfox OP , 1 month ago

I was starting to think they would dither their way into defaulting to January at the rate they had been going.

thehatfox OP , 1 month ago

Parliament will be dissolved on 30th May. When the Commons is dissolved all business is ended and MPs stop being MPs. When the Lords dissolves business ends but Lords still remain Lords.

The government still remains and ministers keep their positions, but is effectively only a caretaker for the pre-election period, and cannot enact new polices except in exceptional circumstances.

The campaign period proper starts once Parliament is dissolved. Parties will publish manifestos shortly after, TV debates may be organised etc.

thehatfox , 1 month ago

We've been here before, haven't we?

While he is taking a break from YouTube, perhaps Tom Scott can put together a sequel.

thehatfox , 1 month ago

Yet another reminder that “the cloud” is really just “someone else’s computer”. The end users of cloud based products are controlled by “someone else’s” rules and whims.

thehatfox , 1 month ago

The Cravendale adverts have escalated a bit I see.

thehatfox , 1 month ago

It’s that daft haircut, he’s adopted a different style recently and suddenly looked 10x more human.

No amount of barbers can disguise the blokes behaviour though.

thehatfox , 1 month ago

Firing EMPs in urban areas does not sound a great idea at all. That's a lot of potential collator damage on top of an already potential dangerous police action.

There are already methods police can use to stop moving vehicles, which would work on electric vehicles as well as existing ICE vehicles. These are still bikes, not magic carpets or something. Stopping a moving vehicle is also dangerous in itself, and it doesn't sound a great idea to add to that the chances of frying everything from police equipment to vital medical devices that happens to be in the blast area.

thehatfox , 1 month ago

There’s poo in the rivers and it’s now going to be illegal to be homeless, did I wake up in the past?

I think it’s time the Conservative Party had a rebrand because they really don’t seem to be conserving much these days. Except for established wealth that is.

thehatfox OP , 1 month ago

Sadly I think all we’ve got coming for us is the return of cholera and typhoid.

thehatfox OP , 1 month ago

I lived near a small artificial lake that was that was a popular unofficial outdoor swimming location. But the local authorities were always trying to keep people out. It eventually became a bit of a party spot and there was a couple of drownings, which lead to big fences and security patrols going up. Last thing I heard the place had been redeveloped into an expensive private leisure resort.

I gets there's always a balance between access and safety, but there's a real lack of free and open places in the country these days.

thehatfox , 1 month ago

I’m currently using O2 and their coverage is definitely patchy. Great in some areas, not in others.

The only reliable way to choose the “best” network is to get PAYG SIMs for each and try them all in the places you will most often be. The online coverage maps are not always that accurate and up to date, and can’t account for factors like the construction of individual buildings.

thehatfox , 1 month ago

Smart meters were never going to be a real benefit for energy users, only a method to extract more revenue and impose more control over them. Being co-opted as another method of government surveillance is yet another problem they have caused.

following the highly-politicised appointment of the new Information Commissioner, the ICO adopted a new strategy for public sector enforcement that relies on public shaming and “very angry letters” rather than legally binding enforcement actions and penalty fines

Oh look, it’s another regulator being kneecapped. I really hope Starmer will consider giving these groups some teeth again.

thehatfox OP , 1 month ago

I was a bit surprised the service launched with no web or app support at all, even if with limited functionality.

Freely seems to be aiming for quick adoption from what I’ve read, the aim is to have it replace broadcast Freeview entirely. Most people don’t buy new TVs very often, but many would likely start/try using Freely if they could access it on devices they already have.