Daily Tech News 14 December 2025

Top Story

Why AI makes bad systems more convincing. (Chaincoder)

Because AI is not just a stochastic bullshit generator. It's a stochastic plausibility generator.

AI images? They're not art, they don't have meaning; they're just close enough to make you think they have meaning.

AI stories and essays? The same except that it's a lot worse at holding to a thread.

AI software testing? Actually useful. It might miss some test cases you would have tried, but it will also create test cases you wouldn't have thought of, and it will do it quickly.

AI software? It will be produced quickly and for any non-trivial task it won't work. But it may look like it does.
The deeper issue is psychological. The more polished the output looks, the less likely someone is to question it. Verification feels redundant when something sounds authoritative.

That is not a tooling problem. It is a human one.
Entirely correct.
AI superintelligence - or even intelligence - is not a looming reality but a fantasy. (The Register)

Partly because we have run out of easy wins. The industry wouldn't be spending a trillion dollars on this if it could be done for a billion.

And partly because almost nobody is working towards intelligence, just bigger and shinier automated confidence tricksters.

Tech News

HP's OmniBook 7 Aero 13 lacks the Four Essential Keys. (Notebook Check)

Get out of here, HP. It had those keys when it was a Pavilion model. Put them back.
Gnome's new rules forbid AI-written extensions. (Phoronix)

I side with Gnome here. The rules are actually pretty sensible. Both things I am surprised to find myself saying given the nonsense Gnome has gotten up to at times.
Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic will launch before 2030. (WCCFTech)

This is a sequel to a game (Knights of the Old Republic) that came out in 2003.

I would wonder whether the audience still exists but apparently the original game was released for the Nintendo Switch as recently as 2021, so apparently they still do.

We still do. KotOR was pretty good.
Is vibe coding the new gateway to technical debt? (InfoWorld)

Yes. And other kinds of debt too.
Why Twilio moved back from microservices to a monolithic system. (Twilio)

Think of it this way: Having three cars instead of one bus gives you a lot more flexibility. But having 140 cars means you spend all your time managing the logistics of the cars themselves rather than driving people where they need to go.
Seven bags of bark chips deployed. Neighbour came over while I was working and complimented me on how good it looked. Which I think is only partly a comment on how bad it looked before - I live next to an overgrown vacant lot which looks even worse - because even I think the results were worth the effort.

Musical Interlude

Disclaimer: Gack.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 G'Day everyone

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 04:02 AM (Ia/+0)

2 w00t

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 04:02 AM (RuTUS)

3 G'mornin' everyone! Thanks, Pixy!

8 below, still dropping ...

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at December 14, 2025 04:02 AM (Cjt/F)

4 !!

Posted by: clarence at December 14, 2025 04:03 AM (sdF4j)

5 Apparently there was a terrorist attack in Sydney earlier this evening.

Several injuries, but only one reported death - seems that one of the terrorists got perforated by the police. Two other suspects in custody.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at December 14, 2025 04:05 AM (BLOW1)

6 Is anyone in TechThreadJail today?

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 04:10 AM (RuTUS)

7 It snowed a few inches and didn't do anything I usually do for that occasion.
Turn truck facing down hill towards road
Get my coveralls out of the truck
Snow boots out of outbuilding

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 04:10 AM (Ia/+0)

8 Mornin'

It's snowing here in Babylon DC.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at December 14, 2025 04:12 AM (rii+a)

9 Disclaimer: Gack.
----

Rejoinder: You will have to be a bit specific.(So much to *gack* about)

Posted by: clarence at December 14, 2025 04:13 AM (sdF4j)

10 Posted too early. Multiple deaths reported now.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at December 14, 2025 04:13 AM (BLOW1)

11 live reporting:

Live
Crime
Multiple shots fired at Bondi Beach, multiple casualties reported

https://www.smh.com.au

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 04:13 AM (RuTUS)

12 Have to wonder if it's Jihadists right away

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 04:18 AM (Ia/+0)

13 Brown University shooting:

https://archive.is/eFJb8

(Sydney Morning Herald)

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 04:21 AM (RuTUS)

14 Difference between the two events is that in the Sydney attack there is video footage capturing everything. Just watched a local hero jump one of the gunmen from behind, disarm him, and hold him at gunpoint in turn.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at December 14, 2025 04:24 AM (BLOW1)

15 Totally not connected, right?

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 04:25 AM (Ia/+0)

16 big shooting @ brown university too ... 20 shot, 800 cameras on campus but no video ... no suspects, nobody dunno nuffin about nuffin. (literally! lol) (video @ Insty's)

sock's prediction: it was a TPUSA meeting, shooter was a communiss. it was an op, total info blackout.

guess we'll just see what we see, ...

oh, or if you might prefer something more lighthearted, Sarah Hoyt's meme drop @ accordingtohoyt.com

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at December 14, 2025 04:25 AM (Cjt/F)

17 from the Brown University article:

Officials released a video of a person of interest, a male, possibly in his 30s, wearing dark clothing. He was last seen leaving the engineering building.... Authorities believe the shooter used a handgun.... Seven of the nine wounded were listed as critical....

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 04:25 AM (RuTUS)

18 from the Brown University article:

... a shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island that left two students dead and another nine people wounded ... The Providence university remained in lockdown several hours after a suspect with a firearm entered a building where students were taking exams. ... Investigators were not yet sure how the shooter got inside the first-floor classroom. ... The shooting occurred near the Barus & Holley building, a seven-story complex that houses the university’s school of engineering and physics department.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 04:28 AM (RuTUS)

19 7NewsAustralia news report (half an hour ago):

https://youtu.be/gfjdL81rReM

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 04:41 AM (RuTUS)

20 Wet snow, stuck on everything

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 04:42 AM (Ia/+0)

21 19 7NewsAustralia news report (half an hour ago):

https://youtu.be/gfjdL81rReM
Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 04:41 AM (RuTUS)

CONTENT warning starting at about 04:30 in the clip

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 04:45 AM (RuTUS)

22 Looked like at least 2 shooters working together

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 04:54 AM (Ia/+0)

23 %99.99 chance of Jihadists

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 04:55 AM (Ia/+0)

24 BBC:

Police at the scene have confirmed that 10 people have died in the shooting, including one gunman. The other gunman is in police custody and injured.

At least 12 other people have been injured, police say, and two police officers were also shot and injured during the incident.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 04:56 AM (RuTUS)

25 Just you and me, Skip!

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 04:58 AM (RuTUS)

26 Just you and me, Skip!
Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 04:58 AM (RuTUS)

Keep pulling!

Posted by: Pete Bog at December 14, 2025 04:59 AM (Idemf)

27 Skip, from late in yesterday's tech thread:

166 97 Neo has a video take down of Tucker lying about Ted Cruz
Posted by: Skip at December 13, 2025 07:15 AM (Ia/+0)

I don't see that on thenewneo.com, Skip.
I'll keep looking!
Her three-part essay on Tucker is worth reading, from this list:

108 here's a listing of newneo entries on Tucker:

https://thenewneo.com/?s=tucker
Posted by: m at December 13, 2025 07:26 AM (RuTUS)
Posted by: m at December 13, 2025 11:20 AM (RuTUS)

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 05:00 AM (RuTUS)

28 Hey, Pete Bog!

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 05:00 AM (RuTUS)

29 14 Difference between the two events is that in the Sydney attack there is video footage capturing everything. Just watched a local hero jump one of the gunmen from behind, disarm him, and hold him at gunpoint in turn.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at December 14, 2025 04:24 AM (BLOW1)

Supercool.

The shooter on the 7News clip looked like a pro.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 05:02 AM (RuTUS)

30 Blessings on the victims.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 05:06 AM (RuTUS)

31 M,
You ready for the impending seasonal celebration?

Went to a local holiday show last night. carols, cookies and cocoa. Lots of wholesome fun.

It’s nice living in a more normal place.

Posted by: Pete Bog at December 14, 2025 05:07 AM (Idemf)

32 >>>The more polished the output looks, the less likely someone is to question it.
---

As with Mr. MBA, it's the presentation that counts.
There are too many smart, gullable people.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at December 14, 2025 05:08 AM (ONKca)

33 Got a 16oz coffee, but it's hot

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 05:09 AM (Ia/+0)

34 31 M,
You ready for the impending seasonal celebration?

Went to a local holiday show last night. carols, cookies and cocoa. Lots of wholesome fun.

It’s nice living in a more normal place.
Posted by: Pete Bog at December 14, 2025 05:07 AM (Idemf)

Happy holidays! Low decoration around here due to travel plans. Also nice!

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 05:12 AM (RuTUS)

35 Notebookcheck has an Amazon link for the HP Omnibook 7 Aero on their page.

They said the price on the review unit was $1200, but the Amazon link is for $529. So I had to look and see if they were selling the thing for more than 50% off.

Turns out the link goes to an HP Omnibook 5, with a Snapdragon APU. OK that’s a mistake on Notebookcheck’s part, but the interesting thing is that $529 laptop has an OLED 2K (1200p) screen in it.

I’ve never seen a $529 laptop with an OLED screen before. If anybody wants a cheap laptop, with excellent battery life and an absolutely stunning display just for watching video and surfing the web, this is a pretty good deal.

Here’s a clean Amazon link:
https://tinyurl.com/rpzth7e8

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 05:12 AM (6ydKt)

36 >>> because even I think the results were worth the effort.
---

When the roots take and things start to show you will be pleased. All those live decorations.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at December 14, 2025 05:15 AM (ONKca)

37
g'mornin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at December 14, 2025 05:15 AM (tljrc)

38 Morning, Tech Peeps

Posted by: fluffy at December 14, 2025 05:17 AM (AN2gy)

39 Good news!

Stephen L. Miller retweeted
Brian Entin
@BrianEntin
15h
Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, who was one of two National Guard members shot while patrolling in D.C., was released from the hospital.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 05:17 AM (RuTUS)

40 maybe

Stephen L. Miller
@redsteeze
4h
All that's happening is a bunch of these guys are seeing who the main character is on this platform day after day and being amplified by morons.

So they simply start echoing the same sentiments hoping to be amplified by the same morons. That's it. It's not hard

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 05:19 AM (RuTUS)

41 Bondi Beach is pretty famous.
It’s the only beach in Oz I know the name of.

I can’t recall another terrorist attack in Australia in recent memory.

The only mass murder I recall is the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, but that was decades ago.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 05:24 AM (6ydKt)

42 Workin' man, entrapenure.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hv4MEf7u3XU

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at December 14, 2025 05:24 AM (ONKca)

43 I would've said "Bon-dee" until I heard the Aussie news guys saying "Bon-dye."

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 05:26 AM (RuTUS)

44 So it was an attack on a Hanukkah celebration on the beach.

I wonder how much rhetorical acrobatics will have to be done to not blame this on Islam.

And we must consider the backlash against innocent Muslims.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 05:28 AM (6ydKt)

45 nineteen minutes! but worth it for an in-depth look at what Candace's talents are:

https://nitter.net/scrowder/status/
1999912078199456103

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 05:30 AM (RuTUS)

46 BBC has verified (presumably everything in) this report:

A verified video which has appeared on social media shows two gunmen firing from a small bridge which crosses from the carpark on Campbell Parade towards the beach itself.

The bridge is just 50m (164 feet) from the children’s park, Bondi Park Playground.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 05:33 AM (RuTUS)

47 45 nineteen minutes! but worth it for an in-depth look at what Candace's talents are:
---

Talents? She must be nekked.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at December 14, 2025 05:34 AM (ONKca)

48 42 Workin' man, entrapenure.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hv4MEf7u3XU

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at December 14, 2025 05:24 AM (ONKca)

Is that Skip!

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 05:35 AM (RuTUS)

49 BBC is now reporting the hero Pixy mentioned, not yet providing a video:

An extraordinary verified video appears to show a man tackling one of the gunmen, taking his gun and turning it back on him, forcing him to retreat.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 05:39 AM (RuTUS)

50 45 nineteen minutes! but worth it for an in-depth look at what Candace's talents are:

https://nitter.net/scrowder/status/
1999912078199456103
Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 05:30 AM (RuTUS)

If you follow m’s link, be sure to back out the space before ‘19…’ or the browser will insert a %20 (= space) in the link and you’ll get an error,

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 05:41 AM (6ydKt)

51 50 45 nineteen minutes! but worth it for an in-depth look at what Candace's talents are:

https://nitter.net/scrowder/status/
1999912078199456103
Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 05:30 AM (RuTUS)

If you follow m’s link, be sure to back out the space before ‘19…’ or the browser will insert a %20 (= space) in the link and you’ll get an error,
Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 05:41 AM (6ydKt)

Here's a tinyurl:

https://tinyurl.com/y3jezhhj

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 05:43 AM (RuTUS)

52 Big wildlife excitement at Chez fluffy:

Mrs fluffy and one of the cats saw a bobcat squirrel hunting in the backyard.

Further north, I got to within 50 feet of a (cow?) moose.

Sorry, no pictures.

Posted by: fluffy at December 14, 2025 05:45 AM (AN2gy)

53 Hoping everyone you love is ok, Pixy.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 05:47 AM (RuTUS)

54 Evening and morning, Sunday toilers and early risers!

I'm up only a little ahead of the alarm. I set it because I want to see the end of Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror, the first (1942) of the Universal series with Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. It's partly based on Doyle's own "His Last Bow." I want to hear Rathbone delivering Holmes's famous words to Watson: "There is an east wind coming all the same . . ."

Furry thuglets? Doing fine. I'm trying to shift their feeding schedule to a time about an hour later than the current arrangement, so Stirling (theoretically) wont leap on me at four am but at five -- and I'll already be up by then. Bwa-ha-ha!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 05:48 AM (wzUl9)

55 No, much younger guy than me

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 05:50 AM (Ia/+0)

56 39 and that’s the high for the day. Some time after dawn, I will clean out the cars before church.

Posted by: Accomack at December 14, 2025 05:50 AM (77Bgk)

57 NY Post reports at least 10 dead in Sydney attack. Supposedly took place during a Hanakkah celebration.

Posted by: Tuna at December 14, 2025 05:50 AM (lJ0H4)

58 I could find most places ever mentioned in Europe on a map but no idea where Bondi Beach is in Australia.
Could assume on east coast

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 05:56 AM (Ia/+0)

59 Is that Skip!
Posted by: m
---

My first thought.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at December 14, 2025 05:57 AM (ONKca)

60 😪 Pillow time. Be well.

Posted by: clarence at December 14, 2025 05:58 AM (sdF4j)

61 Thanks for that link to the speech on Candace, m.

I’d missed all that drama last year as it happened right after my mother died and the last thing I cared about was some internet drama.

I do find it interesting that the Groyper crew proclaim Christ is King while being total Jew-haters as if Jesus wasn’t Jewish.

I’m sure they’ve got some clever rhetorical way around that contradiction, though.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 06:00 AM (6ydKt)

62 Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

Rejoinder: grempht.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at December 14, 2025 06:01 AM (yNJrI)

63 61 Thanks for that link to the speech on Candace, m.

I’d missed all that drama last year as it happened right after my mother died and the last thing I cared about was some internet drama.

I do find it interesting that the Groyper crew proclaim Christ is King while being total Jew-haters as if Jesus wasn’t Jewish.

I’m sure they’ve got some clever rhetorical way around that contradiction, though.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 06:00 AM (6ydKt)

cool

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 06:02 AM (RuTUS)

64 Great bad guy actor Peter Greene dies at 60
------------
Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at December 14, 2025 06:02 AM (yNJrI)

65 58 I could find most places ever mentioned in Europe on a map but no idea where Bondi Beach is in Australia.
Could assume on east coast
Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 05:56 AM (Ia/+0)

Yes, southeast coast.
It’s close to Sydney.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 06:03 AM (6ydKt)

66 Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror wound up quite well, with a surprise revelation -- the villain behind the propaganda radio broadcasts was not the "Lord Haw-Haw" fellow, but someone unsuspected. And the film ends with the exact lines from Doyle's own "His Last Bow."

The "Lord Haw-Haw" radio broadcast propagandist in this film, Meade, is played by Thomas Gomez. You'll recall his work as an overweight, sleazy thug in many '40s-'50s noir films and others, such as Key Largo. He really had a fantastic voice, and from what I saw, played Meade extremely well.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 06:04 AM (wzUl9)

67 Still snowing, not adding much it looks

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 06:07 AM (Ia/+0)

68 No one lives in Perth, it's a made up town

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 06:07 AM (Ia/+0)

69 Jackson Browne - Somebody's Baby

If I listen to that it'll stay in my brain all day.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 06:11 AM (RuTUS)

70 The upside to feeding the cats later? Little Dagny La Siberienne, the aloof one, is now sitting on the arm of the sofa next to me! Three years and more, and she has never done this before.

Glad to see, Pixy, that at least one of your countrymen has the stones to go after a threat instead of ~~cowering~~ "sheltering in place." We should have seen that here during other shooting scenarios, where the gunman stops to reload -- a good chance for two or three people to jump him.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 06:11 AM (wzUl9)

71 58 I could find most places ever mentioned in Europe on a map but no idea where Bondi Beach is in Australia.
Could assume on east coast
Posted by: Skip

Yeah, it's in Sydney, quite close to the center of the city.

And you're correct about Perth.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at December 14, 2025 06:12 AM (BLOW1)

72 Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 05:47 AM (RuTUS

Amen.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 14, 2025 06:15 AM (PFs9e)

73 My uncle was from Wollongong

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 06:16 AM (Ia/+0)

74 No one lives in Perth, it's a made up town
Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025

***
On the edge of the Indian Ocean -- one of the most isolated large cities in the world, I understand. And with a rather Mediterranean/southern California climate because of its location in the correct latitude and position on the western edge of the continent. South Africa and a portion of Chile have the same in the Southern Hemisphere.

Two of the faculty members of my old department, a married Italian couple, accepted a job in Perth some years ago. Talk about a location change --!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 06:16 AM (wzUl9)

75 Good morning. Word to your maternal parent.

Posted by: Fluffy Nuggets, Jr. at December 14, 2025 06:16 AM (0VlOY)

76 IIRR, at least one of the earliest Rathbone/Bruce Holmes films was set in the late 19th century. Once WWII broke out, they catapulted him into the present day so he could battle against Nazis.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at December 14, 2025 06:17 AM (yNJrI)

77 64 Great bad guy actor Peter Greene dies at 60
Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at December 14, 2025 06:02 AM (yNJrI)

Early photos of him, he's absolutely gorgeous.

Wikipedia:

By the time of his death, he had been given a role in an upcoming Mickey Rourke movie called "Mascots" and was involved in at least two other projects.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 06:18 AM (RuTUS)

78 Why does no one live in Perth? What am I missing?

Posted by: Accomack at December 14, 2025 06:19 AM (sStKZ)

79 Perth is seriously remote. If San Diego was the only city west of the Mississippi, you'd have a good idea of what Perth is like.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at December 14, 2025 06:22 AM (BLOW1)

80 You can't get there but by plane

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 06:22 AM (Ia/+0)

81 Wikipedia
Perth (Nyungar: Boorloo) is the capital city of Western Australia. It is the fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth as of 2023.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 06:24 AM (RuTUS)

82 Rabbi who founded the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews ( Rabbi Eckstein) on "like a breath" and Psalm 144 vs 3-4:

https://tinyurl.com/2vd64tt4

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 14, 2025 06:25 AM (PFs9e)

83 Heh. That makes sense. I make the mistake of thinking Australia has American levels of water and soil fertility.
I guess not.

Posted by: Accomack at December 14, 2025 06:25 AM (sStKZ)

84 Good morning Horde.
In this Christmas season , a time of peace on Earth and good will towards men , the Intifada is being globalized. Prayers for those who lost their lives and their families in Sydney .
Oh , and Aussies how's that gun confiscation working out for you?

Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 14, 2025 06:27 AM (D+mpw)

85 84 Good morning Horde.
In this Christmas season , a time of peace on Earth and good will towards men , the Intifada is being globalized. Prayers for those who lost their lives and their families in Sydney .
Oh , and Aussies how's that gun confiscation working out for you?
Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 14, 2025 06:27 AM (D+mpw)

... only bad guys will have guns.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 06:28 AM (RuTUS)

86 You can't get there but by plane
Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 06:22 AM (Ia/+0)
------------
Boats would disagree.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at December 14, 2025 06:28 AM (yNJrI)

87 Apparently, at least from what I can see in the video clip I’m looking at, a bystander rushed one of the terrorists in the beach, took his AK-47 after a brief struggle, and then shot him with his own gun.

Awesome.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 06:30 AM (6ydKt)

88 Temp is 63 F., but it's raining lightly. Even with a rain jacket and cap, I hate working out in the rain. The stuff gets in my eyes.

I could go this afternoon. . . .

Oh, I crack myself up sometimes.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 06:30 AM (wzUl9)

89 Heh. That makes sense. I make the mistake of thinking Australia has American levels of water and soil fertility.
I guess not.
Posted by: Accomack at December 14, 2025 06:25 AM (sStKZ)
---------
The pioneer paradigm of the US is that the bold pioneers bravely head west, braving savage tribes, wild animals and harsh conditions to successfully hack out a new life for themselves. In Australia, the bold pioneers bravely head into the outback and...die.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at December 14, 2025 06:31 AM (yNJrI)

90 mornin yall. It's a cinch Naveed Akram is not Amish. Are there even Amish Australians?

Posted by: fd at December 14, 2025 06:31 AM (vFG9F)

91 83 Heh. That makes sense. I make the mistake of thinking Australia has American levels of water and soil fertility.
I guess not.
Posted by: Accomack at December 14, 2025 06:25 AM (sStKZ)

It's a very arid place. That's why spitting into another's mouth is a polite greeting there.

Posted by: Australia Facts at December 14, 2025 06:32 AM (ZaBg9)

92 87 Apparently, at least from what I can see in the video clip I’m looking at, a bystander rushed one of the terrorists in the beach, took his AK-47 after a brief struggle, and then shot him with his own gun.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 06:30 AM (6ydKt)

BBC disputes that "then shot him with his own gun":

The man leaps out and grapples with the gunman from behind, before wrestling the weapon off him. The gun goes off again as they struggle. He then pushes the attacker to the ground and turns the gun back on him. The attacker retreats.

The member of the public then puts the gun down and raises his hands - appearing to show police he is not one of the shooters.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 06:32 AM (RuTUS)

93 90 mornin yall. It's a cinch Naveed Akram is not Amish. Are there even Amish Australians?
Posted by: fd at December 14, 2025 06:31 AM (vFG9F)

Alas, all the horses and buggies that attempted the voyage perished in the Pacific.

Posted by: Australia Facts at December 14, 2025 06:33 AM (ZaBg9)

94 IIRR, at least one of the earliest Rathbone/Bruce Holmes films was set in the late 19th century. Once WWII broke out, they catapulted him into the present day so he could battle against Nazis.
Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at December 14, 2025

***
Right, the first two Fox films, Hound of the Baskervilles and another, were set in Victorian England like Doyle's originals. Then Universal took over and established the series, and time-shifted Holmes and Watson to the then-present (1940s and onward), with modern clothes. I understand there is a scene in one film where Holmes is about to don the famous deerstalker cap. Watson chides him, and he puts on a fedora instead.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 06:33 AM (wzUl9)

95 BBC:

Premier Chris Minns pays tribute to the man who was filmed wrestling with one of the attackers, taking their gun and forcing their retreat.

"That man is a genuine hero, and I've got no doubt there are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery."

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 06:34 AM (RuTUS)

96 One of the shooters id'ed as Naveed Akram. Definitely Irish

Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 14, 2025 06:34 AM (D+mpw)

97 One of the shooters id'ed as Naveed Akram. Definitely Irish
Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 14, 2025 06:34 AM (D+mpw)
-----------
Nah, he'd be Naveed McArkram if that was the case. I'd say Welsh. Can't trust those buggers.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at December 14, 2025 06:36 AM (yNJrI)

98 Mrs Kletyman's husband was shot and killed trying to protect her.

Mrs Kletyman and her husband came to Australia from Ukraine and have two children and 11 grandchildren. And now Mr Kletyman is dead because of the savage death cult known as Islam.

Posted by: fd at December 14, 2025 06:36 AM (vFG9F)

99 Bomb squad is in attendance now - apparently the terrorists came equipped to do more damage.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at December 14, 2025 06:37 AM (BLOW1)

100 "Have to wonder if it's Jihadists right away"

It's always Jihad.

Posted by: no one at December 14, 2025 06:37 AM (W7XSX)

101 The man leaps out and grapples with the gunman from behind, before wrestling the weapon off him. The gun goes off again as they struggle. He then pushes the attacker to the ground and turns the gun back on him. The attacker retreats.

The member of the public then puts the gun down and raises his hands - appearing to show police he is not one of the shooters.
Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 06:32 AM (RuTUS)

Could be, but it looked to me like he pulled the trigger and that’s when the terrorist retreated, because it looked like the bystander was asking him if he wanted another one?

He’s a hero either way.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 06:39 AM (6ydKt)

102 BBC:

Rescue bomb disposal unit working on vehicle

[Commissioner] Lanyon says police located a vehicle in Campbell Parade in Bondi, which they believe has "several improvised explosive devices".

Lanyon says a rescue bomb disposal unit is there at the moment working on the vehicle.

... Lanyon says that the explosive device in the car is "linked to the deceased offender".

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 06:39 AM (RuTUS)

103 Byeee...

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at December 14, 2025 06:40 AM (yNJrI)

104 Commissioner Lanyon = New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 06:40 AM (RuTUS)

105 There is no place safe hardly from Jihadists

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 06:41 AM (Ia/+0)

106 > AI software? It will be produced quickly and for any non-trivial task it won't work. But it may look like it does.

Thing is, 98% of a software developer's work *does* consist of trivial tasks.

Posted by: Geronimo Stilton at December 14, 2025 06:41 AM (Oy3oa)

107 Wikipedia:

The word Bondi, also spelt Bundi, Bundye, and Boondye, originates from the word for a loud thud, such as the sound of waves breaking over rocks, but is also associated with nulla nulla, or fighting sticks, which make a loud noise when they hit something.

The first record of bondi by European-ancestry Australians was made between 1899 and 1903.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 06:44 AM (RuTUS)

108 I saw a 40s Sherlock movie that was set entirely on a train and Sherlock was looking for Nazis the entire time.

Can’t remember the title, but it always struck me as odd they had placed Holmes in modern times.

That’s one reason I never liked the Sherlock series with Cumberbatch.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 06:46 AM (6ydKt)

109 Good morning morons

That Jackson Browne tune means only one thing: Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 14, 2025 06:47 AM (9ipOP)

110 I've said this before, and I hate it, but I'm surprised that since 10/7 there has not been suicide bombers or other mass attacks in the US against Jews. The protests at college have been thuggish but thankfully not mass casualty events. I hope and pray this isn't the beginning

Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 14, 2025 06:48 AM (D+mpw)

111 I saw Perth on a map and saw it's at the same latitude as San Diego, but under the equator. I wondered if it had similar climate.

Uh no. It get hot. The Indian Ocean isn't as refreshing as the Pacific where the current brings cold water down from Alaska.

Posted by: no one at December 14, 2025 06:48 AM (W7XSX)

112 We stayed on Campbell Parade when we were in Sydney last year.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 14, 2025 06:49 AM (9ipOP)

113 At least two gunmen, dressed in all black, armed to the teeth with shotguns and AK-47s, with bombs in their car, shooting up a Hanukkah event,

Not only does this look coordinated it also looks state-sponsored.

And it seems they had a much more deadly plan they didn’t get to carry out.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 06:52 AM (6ydKt)

114 Woah!

I just saw the bobcat boldly striding through the backyard with squirrel dangling from its mouth.

Posted by: fluffy at December 14, 2025 06:53 AM (AN2gy)

115 109 Good morning morons

That Jackson Browne tune means only one thing: Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Posted by: San Franpsycho

I had to hunt for a video that wasn't a clip from Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at December 14, 2025 06:54 AM (BLOW1)

116 I saw a 40s Sherlock movie that was set entirely on a train and Sherlock was looking for Nazis the entire time.

Can’t remember the title, but it always struck me as odd they had placed Holmes in modern times.

That’s one reason I never liked the Sherlock series with Cumberbatch.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025

***
Except for the Robert Downey films, which are period pieces -- and while eccentric, give the proper homage to the source material -- most of the modern Holmes adaptations have been way off. They persist in painting Holmes as near-autistic or a sociopath, or maybe both.

The series with Jeremy Brett was an authentic adaptation of the original stories, with Brett possibly the finest Holmes ever. It was hard to top Rathbone, but he did it.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 06:57 AM (wzUl9)

117 Albo's got blood on his hands now.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 14, 2025 06:59 AM (9ipOP)

118 Some poor loser was married to Amy Schumer for 7 years. She didn't even take his name. I suppose she has his balls though.

Posted by: fd at December 14, 2025 07:00 AM (vFG9F)

119 About 4 inches of wet snow

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 07:03 AM (Ia/+0)

120 Good morning!

Let's smile & be happy & strike fear in the hearts of killjoy leftists everywhere.

Here is a mellow introduction to the day.
This is the Stranglers Golden Brown with A/I use of David Brubeck's Take Five video and no funky harpsichord. https://youtu.be/2Qs1J612nZs

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 14, 2025 07:04 AM (u82oZ)

121
guten morgen, fellow hessians

jim in kalifornia will be having another surgery tomorrow

You know what to do.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Historical Facts at December 14, 2025 07:06 AM (kjnCv)

122 fd

Amy Schumer is free? i have thoughts.

Run. Flee. Hide.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 14, 2025 07:06 AM (u82oZ)

123 The photo at 8:03 looks like the good samaritan performing CPR on one of the gunmen:

https://archive.is/lQWQK

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 07:06 AM (RuTUS)

124 Sherlock hunting nazis - that sounds like one from the Basil Rathbone period, I’m sure it was from the war years and the British wanted it to boost the public morale.
Basil Rathbone was a good Sherlock, but the writers and producers of that era just liked the character, they didn’t see the need to be faithful to any of Conan Doyle’s stories.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 14, 2025 07:06 AM (k5cxK)

125 Australian Jewish Association
@AustralianJA
Statement from Australian Jewish Association CEO Robert Gregory:

"What happened tonight is a tragedy but entirely foreseeable.

The Albanese government was warned so many times but failed to take adequate actions to protect the Jewish community.

Tonight, many Jews are pondering whether they have a future in Australia.

Our thoughts are with our community and all the impacted, some of whom we are close to."
1:51 AM · Dec 14, 2025

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 14, 2025 07:08 AM (9ipOP)

126 That is primo Jackson Browne.

His son just passed away a couple of weeks ago, iirc.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 14, 2025 07:11 AM (rDiMt)

127 I H8 winter

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 07:13 AM (Ia/+0)

128 The series with Jeremy Brett was an authentic adaptation of the original stories, with Brett possibly the finest Holmes ever. It was hard to top Rathbone, but he did it.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 06:57 AM (wzUl9)

I should watch that series if I ever get the chance (my playlist is getting very long with all the stuff I should see).

I think he was in an 80s Hound of the Baskervilles TV movie I saw once. And that’s what really got me into liking Holmes and reading all of the stories.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 07:14 AM (6ydKt)

129 Always liked Jackson Browne even though he seems to be a putz. That Girl Could Sing is a great song

Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 14, 2025 07:14 AM (D+mpw)

130 San Franpsycho. and all others of the Tribe

Be safe out there. Carry a cordless hole puncher with a caliber that starts with 4. Because racist and stupid fascist governments will not protect you.

Have a joyous Hanukkah.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 14, 2025 07:15 AM (u82oZ)

131 I drove home from work this morning. It is snowing, but it's not horrible. Big fluffy flakes, intermixed with sleet and rain, because this is Babylon DC and that is how winter rolls around here. Anyway, I just drove slowly. Got home fine.

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at December 14, 2025 07:15 AM (sAmhv)

132 Sydney Morning Herald:

The Australian National Imams Council has issued a statement condemning the attack, calling on the country and the Australian Muslim community “to stand together in unity, compassion, and solidarity, rejecting violence in all its forms”.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 07:16 AM (RuTUS)

133 Mrs. F. will be very upset. Girl F. and SiL are due in Sydney this Friday.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 14, 2025 07:16 AM (9ipOP)

134 Presuming Doyle's Holmes lived into the 1940s -- -- he'd have been seventy or eighty. Imagine Ian Wolfe or even John Hoyt playing the elderly Holmes.

I like the idea; David McDaniel in one of his Man From U.N.C.L.E. novels of the Sixties has Solo and Illya meet the then-nearly-100 Holmes under his name of "William Escott." They never state who he must be, and neither does McDaniel, but the astute reader will know.

The Rainbow Affair also has Solo and Illya meet the Saint, Nayland Smith and Dr. Fu Manchu's daughter, possibly Tommy Hambledon, certainly Steed and Mrs. Peel, and more; and Thrush is trying to recruit Dr. Fu Manchu. "My race was already decadent, Englishman, when yours was staining yourselves blue."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 07:17 AM (wzUl9)

135 And I think I will wander off to bed. I'm tired. This weather makes me want to hibernate and it's not even that cold. 32, more or less. Upper midwest has it MUCH worse, cold wise.

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at December 14, 2025 07:17 AM (sAmhv)

136 Perth is a nice city. I was there while on my third ship as part of the USS Carl Vinson battlegroup.

Besides the Shelias, my memory is of a used bookstore stuffed with works hard to get in America, right next to an LBG store. Got a funny post card there of a women with a sad tale of woe, and then an insensitive man's comment about her sexual availability. Sent it to my brother.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 14, 2025 07:19 AM (u82oZ)

137 The Australian National Imams Council has issued a statement condemning the attack, calling on the country and the Australian Muslim community “to stand together in unity, compassion, and solidarity, rejecting violence in all its forms”.
=====

*retches*
Sure, Jan.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 14, 2025 07:20 AM (9ipOP)

138 The crazies seem to be everywhere these days, empowered by the rhetoric of other crazies running for office or generating internet crap.

Stay alert horde.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 14, 2025 07:20 AM (OGBA8)

139 Some poor loser was married to Amy Schumer for 7 years. She didn't even take his name. I suppose she has his balls though.
Posted by: fd at December 14, 2025 07:00 AM (vFG9F)

Maybe he insisted. Plausible deniability and all that. Wonder if he scores a sweet divorce settlement.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at December 14, 2025 07:20 AM (ExV1e)

140 9℉ out there. Cold.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 14, 2025 07:20 AM (u82oZ)

141 Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942) was the film I was thinking about.

I was wrong about the train but it was about Nazis.

I caught it on Amazon Prime when it didn’t have ads so it must’ve been several years back when I saw it.

The film must be in the public domain because they’ve got the entire movie embedded in the Wikipedia page here:
https://tinyurl.com/453fepe5

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 07:20 AM (6ydKt)

142 Jeremy Brett has a moment in one of the episodes that showed how well he understood, and interpreted, the character. Holmes is facing the camera, while his client, behind him, exclaims how brilliant Holmes's solution is. The faintest of smiles crosses Brett's lips, to be wiped away as he turns and begins to speak again.

And Doyle had Watson tell us at least once that, while disdaining all such accolades, something in Holmes still responded positively to them.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 07:20 AM (wzUl9)

143 137 The Australian National Imams Council has issued a statement condemning the attack, calling on the country and the Australian Muslim community “to stand together in unity, compassion, and solidarity, rejecting violence in all its forms”.
=====

*retches*
Sure, Jan.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 14, 2025 07:20 AM (9ipOP)

It beats some alternatives.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 07:21 AM (RuTUS)

144 San Franpsycho

Prayers ascending for their safety and enjoyment.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 14, 2025 07:22 AM (u82oZ)

145 @132 translation: "nice" Muslims let the jihadists do their work "

Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 14, 2025 07:22 AM (D+mpw)

146 Taqiyya

Posted by: Islam Facts at December 14, 2025 07:23 AM (ZaBg9)

147 It beats some alternatives.
Posted by: m at December 14, 2025

***
The proper alternative and response is "All Moslems, OUT! NOW! We don't care where you go, but you are to leave. NOW."

NZ should do the same. Let them all go to the jungles of New Guinea.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 07:23 AM (wzUl9)

148 Who could have seen it coming - Australia put so much effort into disarming its citizens, yet they ended up with a society much more violent and murderous than before.
Reminds me of something Churchill said about Chamberlain; “You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor; and you will have war.”

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 14, 2025 07:24 AM (k5cxK)

149 The Australian National Imams Council has issued a statement condemning the attack, particularly the part of the attack where the attackers would caught and identified, actions which make *intelligent* people suspicious of the Muslim community and hampers their efforts to fully integrate with Australian society by killing or enslaving all non-Muslims.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at December 14, 2025 07:24 AM (ExV1e)

150 Didn't get snow blower out front of the garage either but it doesn't do as well with wet snow. Nut probably better than shoveling it

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 07:24 AM (Ia/+0)

151 They've got a suspect under arrest in Rhode Island.

Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 14, 2025 07:25 AM (D+mpw)

152
Just made bacon & eggs, over easy, of course. No toast.

I make sammiches out of 'em, using hmaburger buns & cheese.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Historical Facts at December 14, 2025 07:25 AM (kjnCv)

153 I keep saying the problem with AI is not AI. It's with people who think the AI is authoritative and actually intelligent (because they want it to be) and will listen to it without question.

Posted by: GWB at December 14, 2025 07:25 AM (9Q9Z4)

154 The next two mornings will be pretty cold for here, so I may not be able to work out again until Wed. morning. I'll honestly *try* to go work out this afternoon. Temps should be in the fifties but dry.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 07:25 AM (wzUl9)

155 Internet blog commenter fd has issued a statement condemning the attack, calling on the Australian community reject Islam in all its forms.

Posted by: Headlines we'd like to see at December 14, 2025 07:26 AM (vFG9F)

156 Soothsayer

Thank you for the update of Jim in California. Tell him we are pulling for him. But there are easier ways to meet nurses.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 14, 2025 07:27 AM (u82oZ)

157 And partly because almost nobody is working towards intelligence, just bigger and shinier automated confidence tricksters.
Because they don't know how to get actual AI. Because they think the brain is a supercomputer, not something wholly different from a calculator.

Posted by: GWB at December 14, 2025 07:27 AM (9Q9Z4)

158 Just made bacon & eggs, over easy, of course. No toast.

I make sammiches out of 'em, using hmaburger buns & cheese.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Historical Facts at December 14, 2025

***
For me, breakfast was a scrambled seasoned egg with cheese, a beef & bean burrito, and one mini-croissant with some butter and honey.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 07:27 AM (wzUl9)

159 And Doyle had Watson tell us at least once that, while disdaining all such accolades, something in Holmes still responded positively to them.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 07:20 AM (wzUl9)

Jeremy Brett was a master at showing these fleeting emotions, only for a second before he wipes them away.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 14, 2025 07:28 AM (k5cxK)

160 And I think I will wander off to bed. I'm tired. This weather makes me want to hibernate and it's not even that cold. 32, more or less. Upper midwest has it MUCH worse, cold wise.
Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at December 14, 2025 07:17 AM (sAmhv)
----
It's a balmy 5F here (south-central MO), with a wind chill of -13F.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 14, 2025 07:28 AM (ESVrU)

161 Islam is a political system pretending to be a religion.

Socialism is religion pretending to be a political system. Socialism replaces God with The State.

Except for the fagophone of socialist democrats, the two are almost identical in goals and means.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 14, 2025 07:29 AM (u82oZ)

162 153 I keep saying the problem with AI is not AI. It's with people who think the AI is authoritative and actually intelligent (because they want it to be) and will listen to it without question.
Posted by: GWB at December 14, 2025 07:25 AM (9Q9Z4)

I think everyone is finding out that AI is pretty easy to trick, if you know it’s going for o be involved. It makes obvious mistakes that humans would catch in an instant.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 14, 2025 07:30 AM (k5cxK)

163 Either there is something wrong with my thermometer or it's 58 degrees here.

Posted by: fd at December 14, 2025 07:31 AM (vFG9F)

164 153 I keep saying the problem with AI is not AI. It's with people who think the AI is authoritative and actually intelligent (because they want it to be) and will listen to it without question.
----------------------------
That's true, but it's honestly a broader problem (especially with "democracy"). Humans spent the vast bulk of their existence in a situation where 90% of people were peasants or manual laborers. Then in the 19th Century people got the bright idea that all adult men could make decisions for themselves, and in the early 20th Century this was extended to women. The NPCs have been with us ever since, gobbling down nonsense, it's just that AI produces stuff that is manifestly nonsense, and social media makes moron behavior immediately obvious as well. These are evolutionary rather than revolutionary changes. People who hand wrote letters and watched Walter Cronkite were honestly no better off.

Posted by: the lower depths at December 14, 2025 07:31 AM (UdiE9)

165 Have a wonderful day, everyone.

May you have a joyous Hanukkah.

Ya know, the powers that be have a plan for you. In the words of that great scholar, Mike Tyson, "Every one has a plan until they get punched in the mouth."

Head on a swivel and have a SecWar Hegseth plan.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 14, 2025 07:32 AM (u82oZ)

166 The series with Jeremy Brett was an authentic adaptation of the original stories, with Brett possibly the finest Holmes ever. It was hard to top Rathbone, but he did it.
=====

Rathbone was the greatest and made Sherlock accessible, however 'eccentric'. I like the Cumberbatch series the best because Watson is an equal character and his friendship with the oddity makes sense. I judge by Watsons, not Holmeses.

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 14, 2025 07:32 AM (lL6v/)

167 I was promised the Polar caps would be ice free by now

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 07:32 AM (Ia/+0)

168
I haven't made scrambled eggs in decades.

Remind me again, what's the "secret" to "fluffy" eggs?

Posted by: Soothsayer's Historical Facts at December 14, 2025 07:33 AM (kjnCv)

169 People who hand wrote letters and watched Walter Cronkite were honestly no better off.
Posted by: the lower depths at December 14, 2025 07:31 AM (UdiE9)

And that's the way it is...

Posted by: Zombie Walter Cronkite, closeted homosexual and communist at December 14, 2025 07:34 AM (R/m4+)

170 157
Because they don't know how to get actual AI. Because they think the brain is a supercomputer, not something wholly different from a calculator.
--------------------------
True, and that's before we get to the distinction between the brain and the mind. I'm not sure that you need to believe in a soul to understand the difference, but it certainly helps, and these techno-futurists don't believe in souls. Many of them legitimately think that a person is just a certain arrangement of molecules, and if you assembled a bunch of molecules in the same way, you'd get the same person (think transporters in Star Trek).

Posted by: the lower depths at December 14, 2025 07:34 AM (UdiE9)

171 Holmes's obsessive and depressive personality fascinated and frightened Brett. In many ways Holmes's personality resembled the actor's own, with outbursts of passionate energy followed by periods of lethargy. It became difficult for him to let go of Holmes after work. He had always been told that the only way for an actor to stay sane was for him to leave his part behind at the end of the day, but Brett started dreaming about Holmes, and the dreams turned into nightmares. Brett began to refer to Holmes as "You Know Who" or simply "HIM".

Terry Manners' 2001 book on Brett in the role provides some of Brett's thoughts:

"Watson describes You Know Who as a mind without a heart, which is hard to play. Hard to become. So what I have done is invent an inner life." Brett invented an imaginary life of Holmes to fill the hollowness of Holmes's "missing heart", his empty emotional life. He imagined: "... what You Know Who's nanny looked like. She was covered in starch. I don't think he saw his mother until he was about eight years old ..." etc.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Brett

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 07:34 AM (6ydKt)

172 Lovely dawn this morning, wet snow falling gently and all our trees weighed down a bit with snow. Looks like four or five inches. Coffee and a fire seems pretty civilized. Prayers up for all those in Providence and Sydney afflicted by the violent nutjobs.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 14, 2025 07:35 AM (qncWG)

173 MPPPP, you are missed!

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 07:35 AM (RuTUS)

174 NaCly Dog, Hope your OPM matter is resolved soon. BTW. Retirees can resolve many matters thru the OPM retirement services website. Access requires signing up.

Posted by: Mrs JTB at December 14, 2025 07:35 AM (yTvNw)

175 There are pictures on X of the Providence mayor and his 'husband". I'm not sure what it says but I doubt it's good

Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 14, 2025 07:36 AM (D+mpw)

176 The most unusual Holmes movie I’ve seen is The Seven-Percent Solution (1976) where Watson takes Holmes to see Sigmund Freud who helps cure Holmes of his cocaine addiction.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 07:37 AM (6ydKt)

177
I am now downloading 41 episodes of Granada TV's "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes."

Posted by: Soothsayer's Historical Facts at December 14, 2025 07:40 AM (kjnCv)

178 Sherlock Holmes Smarter Brother was a dopey movie but it had some funny bits

Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 14, 2025 07:40 AM (D+mpw)

179 I thought Australia outlawed guns? How'd the headchoppers get them?

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 14, 2025 07:40 AM (cxFcK)

180 Most of yesterday was spent prototyping a case blender for the Quark mini Linux computer and creating aliases and zsh helper functions.

Who knew you could spend and hour figuring out how you want your backup time stamp formatted.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at December 14, 2025 07:41 AM (XV/Pl)

181 BBC's playing the video of the hero tackling a perp.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 07:41 AM (RuTUS)

182 Regarding Sherlock Holmes, I'll throw in my two cents:

Basil Rathbone would have been the greatest Holmes had he not been hampered with subpar scripts and Nigel Bruce's bumbling portrayal of Watson.

Jeremy Brett was great in his first season as Holmes, but he got more oddly eccentric as time went (after his wife died). The adaptations remained pretty faithful, other than two quite horrible movie length episodes called "The Eligible Bachelor" and "The Last Vampyre". But in the last season of the program Brett was so unwell that Watson and Mycroft had to solve mysteries for him (thankfully Charles Gray was a great Mycroft).

My favorite Holmes adaptations were made by the Soviet Union (though they have no Commie content). If you don't mind subtitles, try them out https://tinyurl.com/bdcs4r2m

Posted by: the lower depths at December 14, 2025 07:41 AM (UdiE9)

183 181 BBC's playing the video of the hero tackling a perp.
Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 07:41 AM (RuTUS)

Buy that man a beer!

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 07:42 AM (RuTUS)

184
Is mpppp here?

I wanted to ask him Who Is This?
She sure is a swell looking dame:

https://is.gd/cQmgXU

Posted by: Soothsayer's Historical Facts at December 14, 2025 07:43 AM (kjnCv)

185 The most unusual Holmes movie I’ve seen is The Seven-Percent Solution (1976) where Watson takes Holmes to see Sigmund Freud who helps cure Holmes of his cocaine addiction.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025

***
Based on the novel by Nicholas Meyer, who would later move on to movie directing (Wrath of Khan).

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 07:44 AM (wzUl9)

186 See if wifi picks up at end of driveway

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 07:44 AM (Ia/+0)

187 Yes, the snow on the trees is lovely, and snow brings to mind when our son was a little boy and he used to go sledding with his dad. Such fun!

Please say a prayer, if you would be so kind , for FenSpouse who woke up about two o'clock with gout. He had some pills and is beginning to feel a bit better but still hobbling around. Thanks.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 14, 2025 07:44 AM (ix8EF)

188 Is mpppp here?

I wanted to ask him Who Is This?
She sure is a swell looking dame:

https://is.gd/cQmgXU

Posted by: Soothsayer's Historical Facts at December 14, 2025

***
Ann Sheridan, I think.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 07:45 AM (wzUl9)

189 Birdbath status?

Posted by: Just Wondering at December 14, 2025 07:45 AM (2Ez/1)

190 Our birdbath broke. Right in the middle of the column. Brokeback Birdbath.

Posted by: fd at December 14, 2025 07:46 AM (vFG9F)

191 BBC warns that the 28-second video of the hero tackling a perp "Contains some upsetting scenes."

Not really!

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 07:47 AM (RuTUS)

192
He had some pills and is beginning to feel a bit better but still hobbling around. Thanks.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke

Never had gout. But I know it's no fun.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Historical Facts at December 14, 2025 07:49 AM (kjnCv)

193 The original Magnificent Seven is on Grit at 2 pm Central today.

"Men you step aside for: None."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 07:52 AM (wzUl9)

194 Netflix has the movies with the girl from Stranger Things playing Sherlock’s long lost American sister; Enola Holmes

There is also the sequel,
I wasn’t that impressed after about 30 minutes in and never finished watching it.

I’d rather see the Robert Downey Jr. version, honestly.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 07:52 AM (6ydKt)

195 There was a rabbi among the people murdered in Sydney. Rabbi Eli Schlanger.

Bethany S. Mandel retweeted
Lahav Harkov 🎗️
@LahavHarkov
1h
The rabbi who was murdered today in Sydney

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 07:53 AM (RuTUS)

196 Based on the novel by Nicholas Meyer, who would later move on to movie directing (Wrath of Khan).
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 07:44 AM (wzUl9)

I knew it was based on the book, but had no idea he was the director of Kahn.

Probably the best ST movie ever.
They should have hired him to do the 90s series.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 07:55 AM (6ydKt)

197 Ok Mrs. F. is awake I need to get to her before she gets to her iPad.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 14, 2025 07:56 AM (A0sqA)

198 Guy Ritchie, who directed the Downey Holmes films, respected the source material. There are, I understand, a lot of callbacks to the original stories. Plus, his Watson, Jude Law, is shown as a young man -- which he would have been when he came back from Afghanistan -- and is smart too, as I recall.

I loved Ritchie's Man From U.N.C.L.E. film, and wish there could have been a sequel showing the organization from the TV series.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 07:57 AM (wzUl9)

199 Just looked up Nicholas Meyer. His daughter is married to Kristen Stewart, who's looking a bit haggard these days

Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 14, 2025 07:58 AM (D+mpw)

200 FYI on a summer Sunday Bondi Beach is packed.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 14, 2025 07:59 AM (A0sqA)

201
I knew it was based on the book, but had no idea he was the director of Kahn.

Probably the best ST movie ever.
They should have hired him to do the 90s series.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025

***
Meyer said, I believe, that in the early '80s he wanted to branch out and do something other than Holmes stories (I *think* he wrote a sequel to Seven Per Cent; not sure). He proved to be a superb director, at least with that movie.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 07:59 AM (wzUl9)

202 Another look at the Crusades?

Posted by: fd at December 14, 2025 07:59 AM (vFG9F)

203 Yeah I like Jude Law’s Watson the most.
He’s a bad ass normal dude instead of a goofball second fiddle he’s been portrayed as so often.

Sherlock is the weirdo in those films.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 08:00 AM (6ydKt)

204 Meyer directed both The Wrath of Khan and The Undiscovered Country. He was one of the screenwriters on The Voyage Home. Pretty good Trek bona fides

Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 14, 2025 08:00 AM (D+mpw)

205 FYI on a summer Sunday Bondi Beach is packed.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 14, 2025 07:59 AM (A0sqA)

Probably more so today as they were celebrating the first day of Hanukkah.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 08:02 AM (6ydKt)

206 Bethany S. Mandel retweeted
Piers Morgan
@piersmorgan
2h
This was the event that was targeted - a family celebration ‘for all ages’ for the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 08:02 AM (RuTUS)

207 Nicholas Meyer also wrote the screenplay for Time After Time, the H.G. Wells time-travel adventure, and adapted Philip Roth's novel The Human Stain -- a very different kind of film from the SF stories and Holmes pastiches.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 08:03 AM (wzUl9)

208 Nice. The Undiscovered Country is my second fav ST film.

It’s a mystery novel masquerading as a sci-fi flick.

Meyer really should’ve been directing some of the tv series then.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 08:04 AM (6ydKt)

209 Meyer also directed Time After Time and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 08:04 AM (wzUl9)

210 Hoo boy is she going off.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 14, 2025 08:05 AM (A0sqA)

211 That’s the one where HG Wells ends up in modern San Francisco and hooks up with a young and cute Mary Steenburgen.

I must’ve watched that movie 20 times as a kid.
I was fascinated by it for some reason I can’t explain now.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 08:07 AM (6ydKt)

212 210 Hoo boy is she going off.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 14, 2025 08:05 AM (A0sqA)

= Mrs. F., presumably.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 08:09 AM (RuTUS)

213 Might be a good one for the Book Thread:

Restoring Your Faith in Humanity @HumanityChad

Hundreds of residents of a Michigan community formed a human chain to help a local bookshop move each of its 9,100 books, one by one, to a new storefront located about a block away

X video: https://bit.ly/4qaj521

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at December 14, 2025 08:09 AM (P5BPp)

214 = Mrs. F., presumably.
Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 08:09 AM (RuTUS)
===

Yeah. Something tells me the armor gets cleaned today.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 14, 2025 08:10 AM (A0sqA)

215 Islam Invasion @IslamInvasion

Wow. This is now Hamtramck High School in Michigan.

This city was 90% white in 1960.

This can happen to any city!

X video (graduation ceremony): https://bit.ly/48Rc7aZ

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at December 14, 2025 08:11 AM (P5BPp)

216 Got the worst of it cleared

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 08:12 AM (Ia/+0)

217
How can someone's "daughter" be "married" to kristin stewart?

Posted by: Soothsayer's Historical Facts at December 14, 2025 08:13 AM (kjnCv)

218 Meyer also had at least one other Holmes novel, The West End Horror. Since Jack the Ripper did his work, I think, in the eastern parts of London, I doubt that one is about Holmes vs. the Ripper.

After quick research: Yes, it has to do with London's theatre district, and features an appearance by George Bernard Shaw.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 08:13 AM (wzUl9)

219 Bonchie
@bonchieredstate
2m
You’re about to see the cowards who run Australia bend over backwards to not call a spade a spade.

Wouldn’t surprise me if the PM is talking Islamophobia by Monday.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 08:13 AM (RuTUS)

220 How can someone's "daughter" be "married" to kristin stewart?

Posted by: Soothsayer's Historical Facts at December 14, 2025

***
Forget it, Jake, it's 2025 Hollywood.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 08:14 AM (wzUl9)

221 RealRobert @Real_RobN

Well, here it is:

It turns out that Democrats are not only conspiring with NGOs on illegal immigration, but they are also conspiring with NGOs to sabotage elections:

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson says voter data is a state secret — yet not only is she giving the data to NGOs, she is also paying them. All at the taxpayers’ expense.

-- Once ERIC gets the voter data, it sends it out to another nonprofit called the Center for Election Innovation & Research, or CEIR.
-- The link between ERIC and CEIR is David Becker, a liberal racketeer and their founder.

It gets worse — much worse:

In 2020, Becker’s CEIR bribes Jocelyn Benson through her own nonprofit with $12 million on the eve of the election.

The rest is history: welcome to November 3, 2020 — the day your government was overthrown.

So you see, non-governmental organizations are effectively government-funded terrorist organizations.

X video: https://bit.ly/4rWMIFI

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at December 14, 2025 08:15 AM (P5BPp)

222 tech:

Gunther Fehlinger-Jahn
@GunterFehlinger
Dec 13
I want a EU that strikes fear in Hearts of our enemies
A EU built by Steel & AI
A EU with a heart of Iron 5.0
A EU that lets your fire rise

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 08:15 AM (RuTUS)

223 Have another 16oz coffee, and cognac if I need it

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 08:15 AM (Ia/+0)

224 I'm sure Palestine Penny is pleased with her work.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 14, 2025 08:16 AM (A0sqA)

225 Gunther Fehlinger-Jahn
@GunterFehlinger
Chairman Austrian Committee for NATO enlargement

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 08:17 AM (RuTUS)

226 Legal Insurrection- 12 killed 29 injured

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 08:17 AM (Ia/+0)

227 That’s the one where HG Wells ends up in modern San Francisco and hooks up with a young and cute Mary Steenburgen.

I must’ve watched that movie 20 times as a kid.
I was fascinated by it for some reason I can’t explain now.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025

***
It's exciting and well done; McDowell plays a good guy for once (I seem to recall him mostly as villains); Mary is cute; and David Warner is *very* impressive as the Ripper. (According to IMDb, the studio wanted, get this, *Mick Jagger* to play the Ripper!)

Meyer wanted Derek Jacobi, not too long after his I, Claudius triumph, to play H.G. Wells, but the studio said no; so Meyer went with McDowell.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 08:17 AM (wzUl9)

228 Gunther Fehlinger-Jahn
@GunterFehlinger
Dec 13
I want a EU that strikes fear in Hearts of our enemies
A EU built by Steel & AI
A EU with a heart of Iron 5.0
A EU that lets your fire rise
Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 08:15 AM (RuTUS)

Good luck on that.
The only thing the EU will do is tax it to death, surrender it to the Caliphate, and then gag it so it can’t complain about it.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 08:19 AM (6ydKt)

229
Did you Rodney & Malcolm McDowell, whom I always thought were brothers, aren't even related? It gets worse (for me), they don't even spell their names the same!

Posted by: Soothsayer's Historical Facts at December 14, 2025 08:19 AM (kjnCv)

230 Long video there as well of 2 gunman

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 08:21 AM (Ia/+0)

231 12 below zero, more coffee!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at December 14, 2025 08:22 AM (Cjt/F)

232
Pardon my vulgar tongue but...

the cocksucking electric company is working on the power lines....TODAY...

Power keeps cutting out. All week I've had to reset all the clocks. FUCKING JERKS.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Historical Facts at December 14, 2025 08:23 AM (kjnCv)

233 They tried to turn Mick Jagger into a movie star a lot,

He plays the Aussie outlaw Ned Kelly in one film.

I know he was in a few other movie, too.

I guess it didn’t pan out so he went back to the Stones in the mid-80s.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 08:25 AM (6ydKt)

234 We'd just like to point out that nobody from our organization has been arrested today.

Posted by: University of Michigan Athletic Department at December 14, 2025 08:25 AM (8AONa)

235 Does anybody really believe that if a blue state democrat governor or mayor is arrested for violating federal immigration laws an activist judge won't dismiss the charges?

Posted by: Ordinary American at December 14, 2025 08:25 AM (WHfpM)

236 2 gunmen hit, one well before the 2nd was.
2nd wounded who when surrounded quickly raises his hands up.
Would have capped him.anyway

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 08:25 AM (Ia/+0)

237 "(Greene) was working on a documentary called "From the American People: The Withdrawal of USAID," producing and narrating it alongside Jason Alexander and Kathleen Turner."
***
What a shame that project's not going forward 🙄

Posted by: jus' turrible at December 14, 2025 08:26 AM (BI5O2)

238 Ordinary American- I would put money on it a Commissar Judge would let them off.

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 08:26 AM (Ia/+0)

239 Let me guess.
1. An isolated incident
2. Violence is unacceptable
3. We really can't know the motive

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 14, 2025 08:28 AM (9ipOP)

240 A EU built by Steel & AI[/i

AI as ranked by Economic Opportunity Zone (since we don't recognize nations other than China/Russia)

US: Global AI Vibrancy Leader, Investment and Talen advantage, infrastructure superiority

CN: Rapid scale and adoption, rising contribution to GDP (30% by 2030), R&D (2nd)

EU: Strong governance and mixed execution, regional disparities, low readiness ranking.

So EU, as usual, has regulated their AI industry to a chaotic mess that isn't really useful.

Go EU. Your aspirations far exceed your capabilities.

Posted by: Unknown Drip Under Pressure at December 14, 2025 08:28 AM (a4flb)

241 We've got almost 4" of wet snow everywhere in SE PA.
Trees will be going down, but certainly winter wonderland.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at December 14, 2025 08:28 AM (KaHlS)

242 Only watched on tablet so not big screen, looks like #2 switches from rifle ( or carbine) to a shotgun from smoke coming from it

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 08:28 AM (Ia/+0)

243 several videos linked here:

https://nitter.net/TRobinsonNewEra

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 08:29 AM (RuTUS)

244 239 Let me guess.
1. An isolated incident
2. Violence is unacceptable
3. We really can't know the motive
Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 14, 2025 08:28 AM (9ipOP)

4. Diversity is our strength.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 08:29 AM (6ydKt)

245 the ... electric company is working on the power lines....TODAY...

Power keeps cutting out. All week I've had to reset all the clocks.

Expect to see a sudden rise in adverts from Generac and whole house backup generators in your emails, texts and "random" ads that appear in websites you visit.

Posted by: Unknown Drip Under Pressure at December 14, 2025 08:31 AM (a4flb)

246 Don't forget:
5. Neighbors say he was just turning his life around.
6. And was on his way to a Bible study.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 14, 2025 08:31 AM (2Ez/1)

247 "We stand with Jewish Australians at this time."
-PM Albanese

No, thanks.

Go stand over there. In the corner where you belong you sack of sh*t.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 14, 2025 08:32 AM (9ipOP)

248 10 minute 42 second video:

Islam Invasion @IslamInvasion

This is what Islamic terror looks like!

A full video of the horrific terror attack by Islam today in Australia.

Islam cannot coexist with us in the West.

It's a death cult!

X video: https://bit.ly/4iRLreQ

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at December 14, 2025 08:32 AM (P5BPp)

249 243 several videos linked here:

https://nitter.net/TRobinsonNewEra
Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 08:29 AM (RuTUS)

... in the comments under the post "Everything that happened in bondi beach"

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 08:32 AM (RuTUS)

250 Does anybody really believe that if a blue state democrat governor or mayor is arrested for violating federal immigration laws an activist judge won't dismiss the charges?

Now you are beginning to understand the evils of blue slip Senatorial vetos.

It applies not only to judges but US Attorneys. That is, it won't be tossed out by a judge because there won't even be a prosecutor to file the charges.

Posted by: Unknown Drip Under Pressure at December 14, 2025 08:33 AM (a4flb)

251 Let me guess.
1. An isolated incident
2. Violence is unacceptable
3. We really can't know the motive
Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 14, 2025 08:28 AM (9ipOP)

4. Diversity is our strength.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 08:29 AM (6ydKt)

Don't forget:

5.) Could this attack be the fault of the Jews?

Posted by: Australian Question Askers at December 14, 2025 08:33 AM (BI5O2)

252 well said, SFp!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at December 14, 2025 08:34 AM (Cjt/F)

253 I liked Perth quite a bit and Fremantle is great but yea it's pretty isolated.

Posted by: JackStraw at December 14, 2025 08:34 AM (viF8m)

254
Woman going to the mailbox: I wonder if I'll slip and fall?

Little boy looking out the window: I wonder if we'll have school tomorrow?

Man scraping his car's windshield: I wonder if it will start?

It's a winter wonderland!

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 14, 2025 08:35 AM (2Ez/1)

255 The Aussie PM fits in well with Starmer , Macron, Merz , Van der Leyen, Newsom, Biden etc. The leftist elite world wide are useless ponces.

Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 14, 2025 08:36 AM (D+mpw)

256 I might up my snow total to 6 inches, a lot stopped on the trees to fall on driveway after I shoveled it

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 08:37 AM (Ia/+0)

257 This is not an insulated isodent!

Posted by: Oliver Wendell Douglas at December 14, 2025 08:38 AM (fX1tL)

258 >>We'd just like to point out that nobody from our organization has been arrested today

Give it time. It's not even 9 a.m. in Ann Arbor

Posted by: one hour sober at December 14, 2025 08:43 AM (Y1sOo)

259 I ordered a couple of things from a business in TX. I needed to make a change, and the AI customer service system kept asking for nonexistent data to complete the change.

I finally got in touch with a human, but one more email from AI and I would have cancelled the order.

I think AI has its place, but over-reliance is going to bite some companies squarely in the ass.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 14, 2025 08:47 AM (n9ltV)

260 CNN article on person of interest being taken into custody in Brown shooting. What is the purpose of the last sentence:

"Video captured exclusively by CNN shows law enforcement gathered in the hotel hallway and parking lot overnight, and CNN witnessed law enforcement agents entering one of the hotel rooms.

A woman staying on the same floor of the hotel in Coventry, Rhode Island, said she was scared."

https://tinyurl.com/4hyccbj4

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at December 14, 2025 08:49 AM (XvL8K)

261 Yonder Horde.

It's about 5F here this morning with a "wind chill" temperature of around -7F. There's a strange obsession to open the door and see what that feels like.

I'll resist it for now.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at December 14, 2025 08:51 AM (NwnyJ)

262 Performance is the one where Jagger plays a rock star

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 14, 2025 08:52 AM (+mUZM)

263 248 10 minute 42 second video:

Islam Invasion @IslamInvasion

X video: https://bit.ly/4iRLreQ
Posted by: Clyde Shelton at December 14, 2025 08:32 AM (P5BPp)

wow

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 08:53 AM (RuTUS)

264
What is the purpose of the last sentence:

AI wrote it, probably.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Historical Facts at December 14, 2025 08:53 AM (kjnCv)

265 263 248 10 minute 42 second video:

Islam Invasion @IslamInvasion

X video: https://bit.ly/4iRLreQ
Posted by: Clyde Shelton at December 14, 2025 08:32 AM (P5BPp)

1) they knew they'd be shot
2) they had all day
3) Clown World
4) establish a perimeter

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 08:55 AM (RuTUS)

266 What is the purpose of the last sentence:

AI wrote it, probably.
Posted by: Soothsayer's Historical Facts
_________

Must be. Seems totally rando to include such an obvious observation.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at December 14, 2025 08:55 AM (XvL8K)

267 260 CNN article on person of interest being taken into custody in Brown shooting. What is the purpose of the last sentence:

"Video captured exclusively by CNN shows law enforcement gathered in the hotel hallway and parking lot overnight, and CNN witnessed law enforcement agents entering one of the hotel rooms.

A woman staying on the same floor of the hotel in Coventry, Rhode Island, said she was scared."

https://tinyurl.com/4hyccbj4
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at December 14, 2025 08:49 AM (XvL8K)

feelz

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 08:56 AM (RuTUS)

268 Expect the authorities in Australia to crack down even harder on online comments after this.

I know a lot on the right are still protective of the British monarchy as it's traditionalist and a bulwark against Jacobin ideals and believe it's just a figurehead anyway, but it's really interesting to me that the Anglosphere nations that have the most severe crackdowns on speech while allowing their societies to be perforated by Islamism are the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, all of whom have that dork on their currency.

I'd say we give Prince Billy a choice -- depose your father and kick him out of the country, or when the monarchy is inevitably disposed, he and his little princes and princess can join Charles in the gibbets.

Every son needs to be ready to depose his father. I had to to save my family.

Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at December 14, 2025 08:56 AM (qwx/I)

269 There's a strange obsession to open the door and see what that feels like."

Heh. We had just moved to an area with occasional tornadoes. 4 days later there's an alert. I grab stuff and the dogs, head into sub basement.

Mrs and youngest proceed to head out the front door to, and I quote "see what the excitement is for "...

Sigh.

Posted by: man at December 14, 2025 08:56 AM (XuXeR)

270 I've watched several reports on the shooting at Brown.

They are giving zero information.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 14, 2025 08:57 AM (9ipOP)

271 not verified, I don't think, and oddly worded, but:

Australian media confirm that 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed was the heroic man who tackled one of the Bondi Beach shooters, risking his life.

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 08:57 AM (RuTUS)

272 Bring your reading glasses and head upstairs
BOOK NOOD

Posted by: Skip at December 14, 2025 08:58 AM (Ia/+0)

273
FBI is busy scrubbing Internet trail, and protecting familly & friends of the shooter, I suspect.

You know, the usual FBI M.O.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Historical Facts at December 14, 2025 09:00 AM (kjnCv)

274 Australian media confirm that 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed was the heroic man who tackled one of the Bondi Beach shooters, risking his life.
Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 08:57 AM (RuTUS)

The guy in the video is big, burly, with dark hair and skin, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s a Muslim, too,

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 14, 2025 09:03 AM (6ydKt)

275 *What is the purpose of the last sentence*

Playing to a female audience.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 14, 2025 09:03 AM (2Ez/1)

276 Nood from CBD about the Australian shooting. He says the Book Thread will be along in about half an hour.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 09:06 AM (wzUl9)

277 276 Nood from CBD about the Australian shooting. He says the Book Thread will be along in about half an hour.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 14, 2025 09:06 AM (wzUl9)

Thanks!

Posted by: m at December 14, 2025 09:07 AM (RuTUS)

278 Clay Travis @ClayTravis

Brave Aussie man attacks armed terrorist at Holocaust attack, disarms him. Hero:

X video: https://bit.ly/4pAA0e2

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at December 14, 2025 09:08 AM (P5BPp)

279 In the 50th anniversary issue of Detective comics, Batman meets Sherlock Holmes.

https://crossover.bureau42.com/zbatmanholmes.html

Posted by: Epobirs at December 14, 2025 09:10 AM (/0z9K)

280 The ability of AI to generate plausible results is probably its most dangerous attributes. In any setting with complex hardware and software interactions, it’s already difficult to keep the system from becoming a black box. Using software designed to appear accurate without adequate checks on I/O makes this much worse.

Posted by: Advo at December 14, 2025 10:17 AM (jO4mz)

281 GNOME's rules also forbid Trump voters from submitting code, and you may soon have to submit proof of gayness to get PRs accepted. So don't cheer them too much.

Posted by: Ian S. at December 14, 2025 11:14 AM (Aqf1y)

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