More oddities spotted in the news

[Inquisitive Raven]

Looks likey got crumped. The phrase 'Reported Overdue' in association with 'Submarine' rarely has a positive outcome, but this story is proving to be a tale of Hubris and Nemisis to pleasure the Greek Gods.

A CEO who:
-Refused to hire experts
-Fired an engineer who complained about things not being tested - or a porthole only being certified to half the depth it needed
-Insisted a single wireless controller would be sufficient to control the sub.
-Insisted a completely unique carbon-fibre hull would be perfectly safe and didn't need to be inspected because they had a real time hull-crack monitoring system. (It likely gave a millisecond of warning)
-Didn't want voice comms because they didn't want to be bothered.
-Used a comm system so unreliable that everyone assumed it had just borked until the sub didn't come back up
-Didn't have a proper navigation system - they brought a guide who knew by sight where around Titanic they were
-Convinced paying passengers it was perfectly safe
-Charged them 250,000 dollars for a trip in a 5-man suicide booth.
-Ignored every warning from the industry afraid his death would be a Hindenburg moment for DSV's
-Took a safety and regulation last approach.
-Imploded along with the submarine.

These are people used to using money to make the problems of life vanish, insulated from the consequences of their actions by their wealth, and certain in their technological mastery.

Unfortunately, the laws of physics and engineering and 350 atmospheres of solid water do not give a shit about your personal fortune, or faith in your own technology.

The porthole was apparently certified to less than half the depth needed. Also, the hatch was supposed to be secured with 18 bolts, and only 17 were used. Oh, and last, but not least, apparently the ballast was not secured in a way that would release in the event of power loss.

It seems that standard practice with vessels that go that deep is to use ferromagnetic weights secured with electromagnets. If the power goes out, the ballast drops, and the vessel surfaces. This thing had rusty pipes tied to it. I'm not sure how they were supposed to be released in the event of an emergency, but they weren't dropping if the power was lost.

[Dartz]

They found the wreckage and brought it up

Source video on Twitter


One of the Titanium rings is intact.
(Maybe two rings - in which case it looks like the end caps got blown off them)
The end-cap is intact - with the porthole blown off. That's probably how the crew escaped.
The landing legs are intact but split in half , but one set seems to have been bent forward.
The arse of the the thing that's open to seawater anyway is intact, beneath the fairing.
The fairing is partly damaged.
The carbon fibre is.... not shown.
The surface of the ring looks rough - but it doesn't look black like carbon fibre. Might just be dirty

Surprised at how unfucked the rest of it is - compared to the forces involved.

[classicdrogn]

Wait, the crew escaped? I hadn't anything like that...

[Dartz]

Wait, the crew escaped? I hadn't anything like that...

Euphemism for being ejected at high speed as a mincemeat paste.

Everything's crushing in - and that's the one bit that blew out.

[robkelk]

Her precioussss...

Ultra-rare 'One Ring' MtG card found by Toronto collector. In a pack, so it's mint. And it's been verified as legit.

Considering there were offers from card dealers for the card before it was found, I expect the auction to start at seven figures.

---

Finally, a real-world use for GPT-4 AI where it's actually fit for purpose.

California man's business is frustrating telemarketing scammers with chatbots

[classicdrogn]

Possible leaked transcript of the surface/sub communications with the Oceangate Titan. If it's not real, it's a good enough fake to be plausible to this guy, who at least claims maritime engineering experience.


link

I'm curious if the listed times and depths would form a consistent line when graphed, if it would really be meaningful either way.

[Dartz]

I saw that. I don't think he's really fooled as such. But it reads like those Challenger post-breakup CVR's that show up from time to time

[robkelk]

Only in Canada...

Man arrested for drunk canoeing

The Criminal Code of Canada stipulates that it's an offence to operate or assist in operating a "conveyance" while a person is impaired by alcohol or drugs. The code defines a conveyance as "a motor vehicle, a vessel, an aircraft or railway equipment." In other words, steering or operating a boat, or helping to steer or operate a boat, while drunk, is a crime.

---

Boring story

Boring machine rescue nearly triples in price, according to new city report

[robkelk]

Texting thumbs-up emoji in response to a question costs Saskatchewan farmer $82K in contract case

TL;DR: Scan of contract was texted to the farmer with the caption "please confirm flax contract", farmer sent a thumbs up emoji in reply, court says that's a binding contract.

The judge pointed to a Dictionary.com definition of the thumbs-up emoji, which said it is used to express assent, approval or encouragement in digital communications.

[robkelk]

AP: Hollywood actors to strike at midnight after studio talks break down

This means that, for the first time since Ronald Reagan was a union leader, both writers and actors are on strike in Hollywood.

[robkelk]

What is the fediverse and why does Threads want to join?

Before you can join Threads, a disclaimer pops up: "Future versions of Threads will work within the fediverse, a new type of social media network that allows people to follow and interact with each other on different platforms."

What exactly does that mean?

Imagine posting a tweet on Facebook or liking an Instagram reel on TikTok.

The fediverse — a combination of the words federation and universe — is a loose collective of decentralized servers that operate using open source standards. Unlike traditional social networks, the fediverse allows users to connect and communicate with others seamlessly across multiple platforms.

I assume the next step is to consolidate those different platforms into a single decentralized standard. We could call it... "Usenet".

[classicdrogn]

Except for us oldtimers. We would call it Uselessnet, just like the original version back in the day. Except we didn't have no nambly 420-character length limit! Rassem frassem grumblemutter kids these days!

[Dartz]

Sounds like Embrace Extend Extinguish to me

[robkelk]

What's this about Musk buying X Window System?

What?

All he did was rename Twitter?

He must not be afraid of trademark-infringement lawsuits, as Facebook discovered after their name change when they were sued by MetaX. Even AOL knows the problem here.

He must also not care about throwing away two decades of brand recognition.

Ah, well. Here's hoping that this trope is in play.

[Bob Schroeck]

I think it's pretty clear now that Musk's entire purpose all along was to destroy Twitter: raze it to the ground and salt the ground afterward. I mean, no rational actor would take the actions he did without such a goal in mind.

[hazard]

Are we sure Musk is being a rational actor?

I mean, yes, he most likely did buy Twitter so as to raze it to the ground, but that doesn't mean he's a rational actor on this.

[Jinx999]

There's a logic to rebranding after a company has had it's brand seriously damaged.

However, in this case, it's not a sign of it making a new start, it's a sign of doubling down.

In terms of branding and business decisions?

It's going to be bigger than New Coke.

[Labster]

Yeah, I saw the obituary for Twitter on CNN. My own bet was on six months, and I'm kind of disappointed it took nine because I'm out the money.

In any case razing it to the ground doesn't seem to be working all that well, people have just moved on to Mastodon and Facebook Threads, where the same guy who reports Elon's plane location still tweets toots 𝕩es.

[robkelk]

Tokkers can Tok like Tweeters can Tweet – for now

TL;DR: Text-based content now allowed on TikTok.

Hey, if a market has suddenly opened up, and the local government allows access to the platform, why not?

[robkelk]

Not really news, because we all knew it was coming...

Mick Jagger turns 80 today

[robkelk]

Reuters: Threads has lost half its users since launch, Zuckerberg tells staff

"Obviously, if you have more than 100 million people sign up, ideally it would be awesome if all of them or even half of them stuck around. We're not there yet."

[robkelk]

Effective August 1, new regulations about warning messages on cigarettes sold in Canada come into effect.

No, not messages on packages. Messages on cigarettes.

[Dartz]

Man convicted of Murder after 42 years

[Dartz]

No matter what you do, just be thankful you're not that Factotem in the PSNI who inadvertantly Publically released the initaled names, assignments, ranks and other identifiable information of the entire membership of the PSNI - including the lads on 'Secret' assignments (Undercover in a few Three Letter Organisations) and the lads in the MI5

Woopsiedoodle

The original intend seems to have been to give a out a count of the total membership of the PSNI --- and someone left the backing data still in the excel worksheet because..... Woops.

[Dartz]

Bank error in your favour, collect 1000 euro

There were queus at bank machines around the country.

And videos of dozens of people buying new flatscreen tellies