Re: Industrialise

And in an unlikely resurgence on the part of Detroit, here's a sell-out con with no burning man required. No mistake the aforementioned Y Combinator is increasingly selecting material bits over bytes, now we're waking up to the fact that nations producing little or nothing are on the road to perdition in an unstable world... which judging from the UK government's DMs, doesn't seem to be bothering anyone here.

HyLight

If you like drones, and you like airships ~ I like both ~ then you (like Y Combinator) will like these inflatables that are designed to cruise around inspecting power-lines and so forth. They're from France, and where else could they be looking at the iron-work?

We're Going UP, UP, UP...

I like to review UP partners' annual 'state of the nation' report because it's as good a round-up as any as to where tech ~ and drones in particular ~ is headed.

I've taken screen-shots of various slides that make up the report, which we shall go through together and I've given each a pertinent heading... so sit back, relax and shut the fuck up.

Influencer: in 1971 most young people wanted to be an astronaut (in my day, train driver), whereas now they want to be an influencer. Well welcome to my world, mwah-ha, mwah-ha, mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Solo Founder: Given all of the tools available, it is possible for an individual to build a unicorn practically single-handedly. In fact I've done so myself, though it's eating the geraniums.

Drone Dominance Program: The US War Department has one (and so does the UK, though we call it the DJI store).

72 Hours: about as long as the Department took from bid to acquisition of Skydio's drones... nearer 72 months in the UK am thinking?

Maritime Action Plan: They've one of those too. Ours is 'how do we get that three billion pound aircraft-carrier out of Norway, where it's broken down again?

Steve Jobs: said tech only worked when married to the Arts and Humanities, when it 'makes our hearts sing'. He was not wrong, but needed to see a cardiologist.

$250 million: Messrs Patrick and Tyler are offering grants up to the amount to those redefining how the future should look. These guys have more money than sense.

The Kinetic Age: is what UP define it as being, and who's to say they're wrong?

The Long Tale

T-P was the nomenclature as I recall for a turning point in the flight management system on either the Airbus or Boeing ~ I can't remember which ~ and that's where we find ourselves around about now. We were all upset at being ripped off by Faulty Towers last month, but you have to choose your battles and mine won't be with Vulture Capitalists who've more experience than I have at screwing people over... so let's move on.

But I look at the stats pertaining to the website, and the message coming over loud and clear is "Your inventions suck." The one visit the website got this month was mine, and how sad is that?

In contrast the blog has risen like Dr Frankenstein's monster and now leads a life of its own (see below), whether I feed it or not. Bizarrely too, there aren't many more visits to each of its individual posts either... though there are exceptions featuring 'one-offs' like aircraft crash analyses that garner 1000's of views in days.

But that's not what we're about, is it? And so the question arises as to where all of those views come from and 'bots aside I think it's from a modern phenomenon in the form of the 'long tail', which broadly speaking says that much revenue accrues to platforms from a back-catalogue that consists of sales here-and-there which together amount to more than the occasional best-seller.

So let's run with it and see where it takes us, shall we?

Alton Towers' Nemesis #9: Let Me Entertain You

Check the 'Small Claims' procedure at County Court, which suggests we pursue all avenues to peace prior submitting the form online.

The way business works in the UK is that the corporates settle out of court, though where's the fun in that?

Our aim here is to extract £299's worth of entertainment at Blackstone's expense, given the cash is invariably going in the opposite direction. In fact at Robin Hood's 'Prince of Thieves' ride at the Towers, the emphasis is on stealing from the poor to give to the rich.

On reason I'd do it however is stems from the moniker Elon Musk awarded our PM for his handling as Director of Public Prosecutions and subsequent, which broadly exposes bias against people who are (a) old and (b) white... so that for instance at protests against fossil fuels or Israeli efforts in the Middle East, he's had a penchant for jailing retired colonels, vicars or people older than your granny.

For this reason if none other, he's the only leader of our country I've ever known to be greeted by chants of 'Keir Starmer's a wanker' at whichever football ground he attends in the effort to appear working-class.

There is a classic line in 'Blackadder' where 'Mad King George' (played by House's own Hugh Laurie in a comic role) says his people love him, shouting 'We hail you, George, we hail you' ...

... to which Lord Blackadder replies, 'We hate you, George, we hate you'.

Nonetheless we must move on, as there's more to life than politicking.

For instance I've a funeral to go to, and that's a part of life too.

Alton Towers' Nemesis #8: Black Arts

You don't have to dig very deep to discover that ultimately Alton Towers theme park is owned by a company notorious in the US for buying up property and then kicking its working-class tenants out onto the street.

It's something they could consider for the town-square... a themed activity where the kids are all given a house and a cost-of-living bag of sweets, and get ejected by people dressed as bailiffs if they don't give them back.

Worryingly they've started buying up properties on the sly in the UK, which two-tier Kier's Labour Party will be all for... what with it penalising labour.

There is some confusion betwixt BlackRock and Blackstone: pop them both into your 'Evil Bastards' folder.

The UK headquarters is in Poole, and one day I might take you there.

It's lovely, and a nice place for a Black Wedding.

Liking that 'Widespread Social Fiction', which could surmount the entrance at Alton Towers the way 'Arbeit Macht Frei' hung over the entrance to Auschwitz. Bit harsh for a kid's theme-park?

Alton Towers' Nemesis #7: TripAdvisor

Lovin' the fact that either the 'bots or the moderators at TripAdvisor highlighted this as a top tip. In fact if everyone did it we could bring down 'Faulty Towers' overnight.