A screenshot of a Reddit post that reads: I’m posting this on behalf of a close friend as he’s found himself in a bit of a pickle. In 1998, a police car was borrowed after a night of overindulgence. This car has been kept hidden on a rural NSW property since then in an old barn. Fast forward to today and the property has been sold and they need to vacate the property. Is it possible to return this car without consequences or is this a case of having to dig a very large hole.

“In 1998, a police car was borrowed after a night of overindulgence. This car has been kept hidden on a rural NSW property since then in an old barn...”

This feels like the beginning of an amazing movie. Australia, you beautiful crazy bastard.

www.reddit.com/r/BORUpdates...

This is awesome - I’m all over it! Cheers J. \m/

I was just looking this up earlier today! How did you get the ball rolling? Like literally, do you just call different roofer/builders and see what they can do, or other a government agency first, or what? Sorry, this must sound very naive. And thank you!

I heard a reporter from Axios interviewed on NPR the other day (Marketplace Tech, I think) talking about how the tech companies are putting out new models every 6 months to 1 year and how each model is more "powerful" than the previous.

🧵>>

BBC News leading all its bulletins on demands by former Government advisor Lord Robertson for more defence spending, without at any point mentioning his current paid senior role for US defence lobbyists

This reads like punk poetry! Proper snortlaugh unlocked.

Modelling himself on Private in The Penguins Of Madagascar.
‘Do that thing I like!’
Absolute tosser.

Former Nato chief goes headfirst into the political swamp George Robertson meant well, and his comments on defence spending are worthy of attention. It’s what came next that’s the problem

"If the UK wants to spend more on defence, or the NHS, or any of its other priorities, someone needs to have an honest conversation with the electorate about paying more tax to fund it."

Lord George Robertson has rejoined The Cohen Group Lord George Robertson has rejoined The Cohen Group after leading the 2025 UK Strategic Defence Review, the firm announced today. Prior to his one-year leave of absence to lead the Review, Lord Roberts...

Yeah - that’s the other funny thing! He took a leave of absence to wear the UK government defence review, and is now back with them full-time, so wearing a different hat once more. SO much you have to filter through to derive motives, and headlines just don’t. www.cohengroup.net/lord-george-...

UK government press release from 10th July 2024, announcing George Robertson heading a root and branch review of UK armed forces instituted by Kier Starmer.

This all stems from a 2024 roots-and-branches review of the UK's defence, commissioned by Starmer & headed up by Robertson himself.

The subtext seems to be that not all the recommendations have been costed and committed to already.

Which is, y'know. Less outrageous.

www.gov.uk/government/n...

Flashback: To when Boris told an ex-army captain there would be no more armed conflict in Europe Video: Boris Johnson told Tobias Ellwood, ex army captain, that UK doesn’t need to prepare for wars with “old” military equipment like tanks.

The entry for 'corrosive complacency' in the dictionary should have this PM Boris Johnson response to Tobias Ellwood MP - a former soldier - to the effect that armed defence was passé, & no longer worth thinking about. In 2021.

Bonus points for his smirk.

www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/boris-j...

BBC headline today saying former NATO chief George Robertson is accusing Starmer of 'corrosive complacency' in terms of UK security and defence. Hmmm.

Headline from the London Economic resurfacing Boris Johnson telling a MP and former soldier that "the old concepts of fighting big tank battles on European land mass are over and there are other better things we should be investing in," even as Russia massed on Ukraine's border.

OK, I'm not the first to point this out, but.

For former NATO chief George Robertson to accuse Starmer of complacency on defence in an era of hand-over-fist re-armament is two things.

1) Strategic. Nothing hurries people up like someone saying 'Faster'.

2) Very, very funny, considering:

‘Instagram diplomacy’: concerns grow over Liz Truss’s publicly funded five photos a day From driving a tank to jogging in New York, the foreign secretary has made more than 700 appearances on the government’s Flickr account since taking up the job

The amount of fearlessness cosplay has reached Comicon levels not seen since www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I love this man so much.

Ridiculous photo tweeted by right-wing columnist Isabel Oakeshott of her on a viewing window overlooking Dubai… wearing a warzone uniform with PRESS written on it as if she was in the Green Zone in Iraq back in ‘03.

Liz Truss funded 700 different photoshoots of herself looking combat-like and statesperson-ish when she became Tory foreign secretary, in a move dubbed ‘Instagram Diplomacy’ that saw her called the ‘Minister of Cosplay’. Here she is in full flak gear on a tank, in Estonia.

Netflix Backs Out of Bid for Warner Bros., Paving Way for an Ellison Takeover

The richest man owns X.

The second and third richest men control Google.

The fourth richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The fifth richest man owns The Washington Post.

And now the sixth richest could soon take over both Paramount and Warner Bros.

See the problem here?

AIs can’t stop recommending nuclear strikes in war game simulations Leading AIs from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google opted to use nuclear weapons in simulated war games in 95 per cent of cases

And you'll be even more blissfully calmed by the knowledge that one of AI's persistent tics in wargaming simulations is its consistent recommendation of nuclear strikes.

www.newscientist.com/article/2516...

If you love how AI hallucinates search results, you'll be fucking tickled pink when it identifies and hits its idea of US military targets without human oversight or intervention.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

THIS is how you social media.

Was he tripped up by his tendency to be too honourable

OpenAI Unveil “Final Slogan”

New AI models are losing their edge almost immediately Competitors can now match state-of-the-art systems in weeks, raising fears about distillation and shrinking advantages.

AI models are getting released - then quickly overtaken and copied by others within hours. My latest for @fastcompany.com is about what happens when moats disappear
www.fastcompany.com/91494576/new...

Cover of the book, ‘Guerrilla Radios in Southern Africa: Broadcasting, Technology, Propaganda, Wars, and the Armed Struggle’

Back cover and blurb of the same book.

Bought this fantastic book in the awesome Clarke’s Bookshop, amid the hubbub of Long Street, Cape Town, yesterday.

#southafrica #africanhistory #pirateradio #capetown #books

Last night, someone on this here website told me that no one is using AI agents yet and they're still way far in the future. But it's already happening.

A friend last year told me that most people are distracted by the idea that AI is "chatbots." I didn't get that at the time, but now I think I do.

A pack of cracker biscuits from South Africa with the brand name Salticrax

The fact that this brand does not have a slogan, “Other snack makers can eat our Salticrax” is a crime of negligence against brainstorming.

#salticrax #snacks #southafrica #advertising

Thank youuuuu! ☺️ xx

Hey hey! Yes, South Africa!

Monkeys crashing through the trees outside my balcony at dusk. Having a lovely little time there, you legend. ❤️

Thanks so much to the team at Casa Das Letras – as well as global agent extraordinaire @lorellabelliagency.bsky.social and her team, Humfrey Hunter at Silvertail, and the lovely people at Hachette in NYC.

I'm doing some press, but if anyone wants some more, you know where to find me. :)