𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿: My graphics card has stopped working.
𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁: We'll reinstall the driver.
𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿: That didn't work.
𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁: Hang on, how are you getting a desktop?
𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿: The one screen works but not the other.
𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁: So the card is working?
𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿: I kicked the cable, and now the one screen doesn't work.
𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁: So reinstalling the driver was pointless, you may have damaged the port.
𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿: I'll buy another card from Amazon.
𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁: Umm? OK.

𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿: I fitted the new card, and that doesn't work either!
𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁: What?
𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿: Only one screen works!
𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁: I'm coming to you tomorrow, I'll need to physically see it.

𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿: It's working now.

I bet he'd pulled the cable out of the monitor, or he hadn't pushed the cable in enough. 😠🤦🙈

People really need to understand what's going on. Zelenskyy's offer of resignation is worthless! The whole reason for Russia's invasion of #Ukraine is to stop Ukraine from joining the EU! Zelenskyy, to Putin, is probably irrelevant. His reason for invading is to ensure a buffer zone between Russia and the European allies.

Putin is the aggressor and possibly a dictator, but Zelenskyy is a trouble maker imo.
theguardian.com/world/2025/feb…

Zelenskyy says he would ‘quit for peace’ as he refuses US demand for Ukraine minerals

Ukrainian president says US military aid was a ‘grant’ rather than a debt but adds that he wants Trump to be ‘on our side’

^{Luke Harding (The Guardian)}

Oh no!

mastodon.org.uk is down.

I've been reading a book!

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽
Processes how the brain distinguishes between "us" and "them" in social contexts. A key brain region involved in this is the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), which plays a role in social cognition, including distinguishing between in-groups and out-groups.

𝗔𝗺𝘆𝗴𝗱𝗮𝗹𝗮: Involved in emotional reactions and threat detection, often more active when perceiving out-group members.

𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝘅 (𝗔𝗖𝗖): Helps regulate conflict and bias between in-groups and out-groups.

𝗧𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗷𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗧𝗣𝗝): Important for perspective-taking and understanding social differences.

Are we really going to send British troops to shoot Russians? I mean, it's a nice sabre-rattling gesture, but do we really want to risk starting a full-blown war? I wonder what Russian mothers or the Russian people will think when their sons are shot by 3 Para or whichever regiments we send?

theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/f…

Starmer ready to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine if peace deal reached

It is understood to be the first time the PM has been explicit about sending British peacekeepers to Ukraine

^{Nadeem Badshah (The Guardian)}

Amazing! Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, three years on, and suddenly, Europe can get off its arse and look like they're doing something. This has nothing to do with peace, defeating the Russians or potentially brokering a deal and everything to do with "Whose in charge!"

Europe, including the UK, is an utter joke! They all want American money, troops and support, yet when America decides it's time to stop the squabbling, everyone starts throwing a tantrum.
#ukraine #PresidentTrump

itv.com/news/2025-02-17/starme…

It's nice to see #Labour getting their spuds kicked for a change.
#politics

theguardian.com/politics/2025/…

Rachel Reeves accused of ‘cavalier attitude’ to expenses during banking career

Chancellor and PM insist there was no wrongdoing after claims she was investigated for alleged misuse of expenses

^{Aletha Adu (The Guardian)}

Guilty by association or just as bad?
Sadly, at the moment, the Guardian doesn't say what he's supposed to have said.

Quote: "A government source told PA News: “Oliver Ryan’s remarks were unacceptable and deeply disappointing.""

So much for #Labour cleaning up the sleaze in politics.

theguardian.com/politics/2025/…

Second Labour MP faces sanctions over offensive WhatsApp group messages

Burnley MP Oliver Ryan has already apologised for his own comments in wake of Andrew Gwynne’s suspension

^{Peter Walker (The Guardian)}

@realDonaldTrump needs to threaten to pull US troops out of Europe. That'll shit'em up. 🤣

politico.eu/article/eu-slams-d…

EU chiefs chastise Trump for sanctioning the ICC 

In a first jab at the White House, Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa said the U.S. president’s move to target the International Criminal Court undermines global justice.

^{Aitor Hernández-Morales (POLITICO)}

Before I say anything, let me make one thing clear: 𝗜 ❤️ 𝟬.𝗔.𝗗.

This is yet another reason why Opensource and Linux are not more mainstream. I've been playing ALPHA 27 for a few days now. The only thing is, I'm playing on a Windows machine! According to the attached post, if you want it (On Linux), compile it yourself. 🤦‍♂️

One thing that annoys me about the Internet is the volume of keyboard warriors who proclaim themselves to be the champions of morals and "Doing the right thing" Yet when Labour announces a third runway, a deafening silence descends regarding Climate Change.

𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗣𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝘂𝗻𝘄𝗮𝘆:
🛫 If Heathrow's total airport emissions (Scope 3 included) are around 20 million tonnes CO₂e per year, and the two runways handle all flight activity, A single runway could account for roughly 10 million tonnes CO₂e per year (very rough estimate). Thus increasing the total to 30 Million tonnes.🛬

If the Conservatives had announced this, the web would have gone into meltdown!

bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpql1w…

Newspaper headlines: Heathrow's third runway and London 'gold shortage'

Heathrow airport's expansion and a Bank of England bullion shortage feature in Thursday's papers.

^{BBC News}

And I have discovered a new level of stupidity for IT Support.

A guy calls saying he cannot receive emails from a contact in India, and the emails are going to spam.

𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿: "It's not in spam; it's the other one."

𝗠𝗲: "Junk folder?"

𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿: "That's the one, but it's not in there."

𝗠𝗲: "Wait, do you mean our quarantine?"

𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿: "Yes."

𝗠𝗲: "OK, send us the email address, and we will have a look."

He promptly sends a phone screenshot of the IM conversation with the guy in India who has attached a photo of his desktop with his rejection message (and his email address). The phone screenshot is too small to read, let alone the picture from the IM conversation.

JUST GIVE US THE BLOODY EMAIL ADDRESS!

Hold on a minute, @HastingsDirect, how do I know I'm not entitled? I mean, you sent me an email saying that if, as I do, pay by instalments, you'll pay not only the higher rate difference but interest, too. I mean, you even list the date I renewed!

So are you saying not only did you 'mistakenly' overcharge, but you've now mistakenly offered a refund? Are you sure you haven't made another mistake, and I should be refunded?

Forty minutes of light, sugar-coating snow this morning. The roads are just wet now.
People are driving like there are ten-foot drifts, and the road surface is like Streatham ice rink. 🤦‍♂️

We will never win another war; we're weak and feckless.
#UKSnow

𝐖𝐢𝐟𝐞: "I'm so glad you're back at work today!"
𝐌𝐞: "I'm so glad I'm back at work today!"

𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿

Now that the dust has settled, #CastleCannon was incredibly underwhelmed with the final Gavin & Stacey. The cast seemed to be working extra hard to create comedy; it didn't come across naturally. The 'party' that led to Smithy oversleeping was a prime example, with the cast acting like they were having a good time rather than looking like they were having a good time. Pam (Alison Steadman) seemed wooden in her (stressed) performances, plus it didn't help that many loved characters were missing. Yeah, yeah. I know Doris is dead in real life.

Favourite bits:
Nessa - Mouth organ
Pete & Dawn
Gwen - Who's coming down the stairs?

Other than that, for me, meh.
#Shrug

Just stop for a second, put down that nice coffee you're drinking in your secure Western country and think for a minute. Russia believes Ukraine is full of terrorists; Ukraine kills one of Russia's Generals on Russian soil in a bomb attack. Doesn't that sound like a terrorist attack to you? It's undoubtedly an assassination of foreign soil. Imagine if the roles were reversed and it was a Ukrainian General blown up; I bet you'd be ranting and raving then.

telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…

Ukraine-Russia war live: Moscow suspect ‘offered $100k for general Igor Kirillov assassination’

A man arrested over the killing of a senior Russian general in Moscow was offered $100,000 by Ukraine, authorities have claimed.

^{The Telegraph}

This is just the tip of the iceberg. I'm convinced Israel is simply taking advantage of events. I find it hard to believe that with the leading intelligence service in the world, they were unaware of the terrorist attack about to happen on their soil. It gave them, in their view, the mandate to invade and eradicate Palestine "𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯!" the opportunity to provide Lebanon with a bloody nose and with the current invasion of Syria and access to Eygipt Israel has managed to almost double its landmass without the West batting an eyelid.

Far be it from me to suggest that the UK, America, France, and a few others are lining up to restock Israel's dwindling arms
#Gaza #Lebanon #Syria #israel

amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15…

Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territory: ‘You Feel Like You Are Subhuman’: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza: Executive Summary - Amnesty International

This is the executive summary of the report ‘You Feel Like You Are Subhuman’: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza (Index: MDE 15/8668/2024).

^{Amnesty International}