That was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the article. To be honest I passed it by initially. The mind didn’t quite catch the setting. The Guardian (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/09/greenland-startup-shipping-glacier-ice-cocktail-bars-uae-arctic-ice) gives us ‘Greenland startup begins shipping glacier ice to cocktail bars in the UAE’ gave cause for some unwarranted alarm. You see, I am all for start-ups. I am all for the path less trodden. I for one am about to offer a film script to Al Saudiya, an Islamic media mogul. Me, a non Islamic person. So I have seen a few things in my lifetime. But to hold your attention for a moment. The global setting of ice. You go to the kitchen (or galley) of a place, you open the freezer or ice maker and you scoop out the ice. It is a global thing. Not much to consider really.
So to see Malik V Rasmussen, the co-founder of Arctic Ice state that a place like Greenland can offer the rarest most pure version os ice is a little bit of a thing. You see, Ice, the solid form of water. A form that Summer Macintosh cannot swim through (her older sister Brooke can traverse that stuff as a champion) is a little weird. You see all over the world ice is set to the formula of H2O and keep that really cold (below -5C is best). There is no hidden setting, there is no secret ingredient.
But then the mind took over (the ugly ‘what if’ side). What if there is more to this? What if micro plastics have now penetrated glaciers and water foundations? And the article seems to imply this with “These parts of the ice sheets have not been in contact with any soils or contaminated by pollutants produced by human activities. This makes Arctic Ice the cleanest H20 on Earth.” One could argue that ice makers require a new kind of filters, one the market doesn’t yet have and the UAE might be one of the few to offer its clientele pure clean ice. If that is so than this Malik V Rasmussen is sitting on a gold mine. Those who can afford to put true clean stuff in their bodies. As such people in Dubai, Riyadh, Monaco, Nassau and upper class places will soon be gagging for the stuff. This also implies that ice makers will come with a next generation filter settings to keep water as pure as impossible as recently. Optionally grounded on an additional separate water tank up to 1000 litres in glass or stainless steel. Rasmussen might have an edge, but for how long is anyones guess. I’ll be honest. I never gave it any thought and as such I love it. Something unexpected and novel? Sign me up. But the story under all this becomes. If we have sullied our own global water supply, how far from the swill have we fallen exactly?
But here I am heralding a side unconsidered before and as such I decided to share it with all you fine readers. Have a great day, my weekend only has 22.5 hours left.
It sometimes happens to any of us. Our brains get cluttered in all kind of ways and I am no different. For me it all started yesterday when Final Draft gave me a free update to version 13. It felt like that very late Christmas present you never expected, but when that email arrives you are more than double happy and I really felt the happiest I have felt that entire year (relax it was only day 10 of that year) but there you are. It was that happy surprise.
So, as I am continuing that stride with the first script, this one meant for Al Saudiya, I see that I have a lot of work ahead of me. There is a mini series, a three season TV series and another series which has no defined size yet and all of them have parts all over my blog, as such I have plenty to do.
It was that point when I saw ‘Amazon to Lay Off ‘Several Hundred’ Across Prime Video, Amazon MGM Studios, 500 Cut at Twitch’, it wasn’t the Variety version I saw first, but it was the first that turned up now (at https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/amazon-lay-offs-prime-video-mgm-studios-1235867454/) there we are given “Additionally, 500 employees — or 35% of the workforce — are being let go at Amazon-owned livestream platform Twitch” this is not trim ming the fat. Even as Amazon has broken expectations all over the board. This is about tax year 2024 and this is about meeting the shareholder expectations, or at least that is what it comes over at for me. Mike Hopkins gives its staff members “It is hard to say goodbye to talented Amazonians who’ve made meaningful contributions on behalf of our customers, team and business. Thank you for your dedication and work. To help with the transition, we are providing packages that include a separation payment, transitional benefits as applicable by country, and external job placement support.” The fact that this is not some hard time point makes it a lot harder for some.
You might think I am making fun of the situation, but I am not. This one piece of music is now part of the Library of Congress. I don’t think that the composer imagined that when he wrote this in 1866. His music would outlive him by some length. Did we have any idea how timeless some movies would become half a century later? There was Jaws, Alien (not the short movie), Close Encounters of the third kind and Star Wars.
All 4 movies relatively close together, these 4 and one in particular on the mind of movie watchers three generations later. To be honest, I never cared about Twitch, its not my bag of tea, but it has a following. Twitch streamers optionally earn money from sponsorships, affiliate links, some advertising, and a variety of other methods. Now, what comes next is largely speculative. Never cared ab out Twitch, but that service has 140 million Monthly Active Users as of 2024. The total number of active Twitch streamers is around 7.5 million. This number was 7.1 million In July 2023. That is a population that matters, this is not about trimming fat. I reckon that Twitch is up for offering but when it is offered it needs to become a clean package and now the 35% staff reduction starts to make sense. Amazon is gearing up for something, what for? I have no idea and this is largely speculative. I have no idea what is up and perhaps Amazon fears the competition it faces from Apple, Disney and Netflix. It might see what I expected would happen. People are unable to afford all four and in that race Amazon is the first cut from consideration. I honestly don’t know if Apple or Amazon is better, but Apple is making presented strides, as far as I can tell Amazon at present is not.
So what gives? March of the Amazons (1866) shows us that some gems are kept and in movies that matters. To have any of the previous 4 still on the mind of watchers matters because streaming is graded on what is watched and for how long and those 4 really broke the mould. The important part is that we cannot tell that at present with the new series, this process takes time and board members of any modern age are not a patient lot, they need to see overwhelming results or they cut things. I personally think it is a setting when the merely expect searing steak, all whilst the slow cooker presents its own kind of deliciousness. One is not the other and I personally think that the old metrics and approach do not work on streaming systems. That being said, Amazon seemingly dropped my IP not realising what 50,000,000 subscriptions in the first phase alone will get them. It is a cluster they never had and others never had either. Yet when we see this we see an optional speculation on what they are missing and speculation is where it is at. I have no clue why they are trimming the fat. I am guessing it is the 2024 results, to meet them head on and people are dropped because of that. However, I could be wrong.
I honestly wonder what possessed makers like Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, and George Lucas to make what they did. Not the normal setting, but what drove them from the inside and did they know or realise that they created cinema greatness? I never doubt that they wanted to make the best they could, but were they aware just how good it ended up being half a century later? Consider that movies in those days were made for a year, perhaps 2-5. We see movies like Coma, Chinatown and Deliverance and we all agree that they were great, but these 4 outlasted them all. Time works different when it comes to books, movies and music. So how to prevent to cut the people who could be making the next whatever. It was at this point that I realised that something had gone wrong. At some point someone thought that it could always be redone, the movie greats of the 70’s are largely gone. Perhaps monumental movies like Dances with Wolves are bound to happen, but when you consider the 4 from the 70’s, what is left? Dances with Wolves? Titanic? You tell me, but I personally fear that as Hollywood started to snag the process, they lost something and there is a chance that Amazon at present it digging its own grave, even thought they cannot see it yet. Even as they are (as speculated) trimming the fat. But there is one consideration. With that job loyalty is bound to go out the window as well. They might not care, but what happens when the next Herman Melville? You might not remember the man, but you do remember Mobi Dick, the book he created in 1851. That book is on some minds almost 175 years later. The slow cooker needs a different process, any chef can tell you that. I wonder how long it takes for the streamers realise that their process is set to different elements, to different seasoning. Just a question, but they appeared as I was dealing with the clutter in my brain. And as for the march of the Amazons? Consider that The Phoenix by Fall Out Boy is an average song, but when the speed is increased 17% it becomes a whole different story, yet this is the consequence of re-arranged music. As such I doubt that Emil Stigler is that, but I never looked at that part (I am not a musician), did you? We are unlikely to see another Darth Vader march by John Williams, I doubt that even he saw that his song would be so iconic 44 years later. That song calls for an image with billions, not something I would have imagined when I first heard it. I knew it was stellar, we all did, but this iconic? Streamers have a like minded setting to some music, different metrics are in play (still speaking speculatively) does Amazon realises that?
Just a question, enjoy your day, my Friday starts in 30 minutes.
Yes, that is how I see it and it all started by a story in the Naval News (at https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2024/01/red-sea-crisis-houthis-demonstrate-increased-capability-coalition-demonstrates-increased-presence/) they were not alone, but there I saw a quote that set me in motion. The quote that set it off was “The introduction of a one-way attack USV is of concern”, you see that was an incorrect statement. I made clear reference of this in ‘The Iranian play’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/08/30/the-iranian-play/) there I wrote “Yemen has no infrastructure for this, Iran is the only player willing to supply Houthi forces and that is the problem” I wrote this 28 months ago and in 28 months the Houthi forces never gained the ability to do so, they never had the option or (at that time) trained staff to do anything we saw. The west and others sat on their asses all whilst the problem evolved and ONLY now, now that the fat cats are losing margins in the red sea, NOW we see action. So how stupid was that to begin with?
Al Jazeera (at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/10/us-uk-forces-shoot-down-21-drones-and-missiles-fired-by-houthis) gives us “No injuries or damage reported in what the US military said was the 26th attack by the Yemen-based group since November 19” as I personally see it, this is pushed by others, happy to use Houthi forces as cannon fodder, but the west remains ignorant and I personally believe it is an intentional form of ignorance.
Who did anything to stop these drones from getting there in the first place? I can’t have been the only one seeing this 28 months ago? So who was drowning the proper investigations? Who was stopping the media from asking the right questions? Perhaps it was all for the digital dollar. I doubt it, I personally believe this was another setting towards destabilisation of the middle east. It is a personal view and I might be wrong, but ask yourself. Now we see what was clear that many months ago? Are the red sea margins that important to the west? Are margins all they care about or is all that only possible as the middle east stays destabilised? You tell me, I am honestly clueless on what the answer is. Yet when you consider how long these Houthi forces are receiving support in hardware and training all whilst the west has been unable to stop them?
Now consider three of the least capable parties in all this CIA, MI-6 and DGSE and no one saw this? I will let you ponder all this as the news comes in. Yet consider The Guardian (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/10/britain-warns-severe-consequences-houthi-attack-red-sea-repelled) giving us “The Houthis, once seen as a minor localised military force, say the attacks are intended to force Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza” all whilst I gave the lowdown 28 months ago and you tell me, who is doing a number of whom?
Enjoy the moment when you are merely one day away from Friday.
This is a question we must all ask ourselves. In this case, it might be me. You see, I have issues with the CBC article (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-ontario-cities-aoda-1.7054848) where we see ‘Ontario cities need help — and cash — to meet 2025 accessibility deadline, advocates say’. There is (as I personally see it) a lot missing. The first thing I missed was ‘by 2025’, is that January 1st or December 31st? It is a serious question, the article does not bare that out (or was that bear that out)?
The second part is a partial setting. So when was this all agreed upon? Pre or post Covid. It might be well known, but the article should have given us that in stead of trying to find it. You see, pre Covid issues will have delays all off them (at least 90% off them) will face delays because the world has never faced covid before and Canada had a trucker issue as well.
So when we get to “The city’s latest report on its accessibility progress listed 56 out of 63 of its accessibility goals as complete as of the end of 2022” I might not be up to speed on a few matters (as I am a little distant from Canada, yet in this 56 out of 63 is a decent achievement. The problem is that we see no timeline. So what timeframe were these 56 achievements gotten by? If it is one year it is awesome, when it has taken 10 years not that much greatness. But the article does not bare that out, does it?
Then we get “In September, the TTC acknowledged 13 out of its 70 subway stations won’t meet the standards outlined in the AODA by 2025” I personally say that those without nuance will always slam, and advocates are really good at slamming, especially when they can ignore nuance. The other way around they are all about nuance, so go figure. There is also the missing part on why the TTC that 13 of its subway stations are missing these outlines standards. A list would have been helpful.
AODA Now we need to look at a side of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). I have nothing against it, I am all for such a setting even though it does not aid or help me. I recognise the stage it should protect. The fact is that I am a numbers man (data, not excel). So these 13 subway stations. What is missing and what size of ontarians are hurt because of it? It is a simple enough question. Now, this is not some kind of trivialisation. The numbers I am seeing are “The recent approximations show that there are estimated to be 382,700 deaf and 3,827,000 hard of hearing people in Canada (CAD, n.d., Malkowski, 2021). Out of these numbers, there are approximately 144,990 deaf and 1,449,000 hard of hearing Ontarians (Malkowski, 2021).” These are serious numbers. So how many blind? How many with mobility issues? More important what could be fixed? That 13 stations are missing out is one thing, how much they are missing out of is another and that too is not given to us. You see there are two kinds of people, the one whinges about everything, the other one tries to fix as much as possible and there is also a snag. Too much information is missing, the article does not bare out what could be fixed and how much more time is required?
This is not an attack, but these are questions that should have been on the front of the mind of the chief editor of the CBC (I think that would be Brodie Fenlon), a mere simple setting we need to address. It is also a case that some subway stations have other constructions nearby which might have made issues more complex and Toronto is filled with construction tape and construction inhibitors all over the city. The final part is seen under a photograph. It is “The city of Toronto, along with other Ontario cities, needs more cash to help reach its accessibility goals faster” a simple setting that doesn’t get the attention it needs to have. So was it a budgeting issue, was it due to other factors? The more I look at the article, the more questions it raises and the first batch of questions goes straight to the CBC. Too much was missing here and the missing parts weren’t for a follow up. They should have placed it in this article.
This is how I see it and here I might be wrong. Too many people claiming to be journalists are blatantly dim on simple top-line graphics and numbers (or tables and charts) giving clarity where there clearly is none. So why was that?
Just a thought for Ontarians as they get through Sunday. Here it is Monday, so they could call me and ask what will happen tomorrow? A simply joke but it has me in stitches every time. In support of that, should I come to Toronto, I will be time travelling ;-).
This is what I have been saying all along. Whoring for digital dollars comes at a price. Now, if it was only me no one would care. Yet at this point the stage is altering for the media. The Khaleej Times (at https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/gaza-crisis-has-become-global-media-war-uae-minister) gives us ‘Gaza crisis has become global media war: UAE minister’ with the byline “Al Gergawi called out the double standards and political agendas hindering true resolution of the Palestinian cause” It is a little less complex than that. You see media is exploiting anything they can to gain the digital dollar. Clicks are everything and as more and more media is aiming for that goal there is no place for political agenda’s other than the local ones protecting the media through their political connections (at home). This is what I regard to be the stakeholders game. As such this article touches me as it covers what I have been saying all along.
So is it more correct? That remains a danger. To seek out those who hold your view is what many do, but it is a dangerous path. If their (or your) setting is showing a flaw or is only partially correct, the premise becomes a dangerous one. You must always be able and willing to go back to the drawing board to verify and to double check whatever you believe in. It is essential that you can be critical of your own ideas. Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi, UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs also gives us “This war was not only between the Palestinians and Israel. We also witnessed a global diplomatic war, international polarisation, and a global media war. Today, war is not won on the battlefield but rather in the media field, as he who has the strongest narrative shall become the winner.” In this I would like to add that it is not merely ‘the strongest narrative’, it is who employs the better and better connected stakeholders. They can win you the narrative war. It is not unlike the stakeholders on Capitol Hill. At some point the media figured out that these people could wage their media war FOR them and get kudos points that way. The winner then gets benefits and is more likely to gain the iterative advantage over digital dollars through clicks. The flammable populist voices are merely one side of this. To see this you need to be able to see how digital dollars are gained. How clicks are obtained. At present that is flaming for Gaza, but make no mistake, the moment that this changes to Israel all the narratives will alter accordingly and the media will have no issues with changing the voice. They will hide behind ‘The people are voicing this’.
Gergawi in continuation gives us ““In 2004, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum gave a speech at this very forum about the need for finding a just solution for the Palestinian case based on international law,” he recalled. “Today, 20 years later, the case is still the most pressing issue in the region and the world.”” As such when we see that the digital click war has been raging on since 2015 the stage alters slightly but does not changes. The stakeholders of then are the same stakeholders of now, their game merely changed. They now have media moguls in their pockets as well. So who was stalling in those first 10 years?
And this gets the added ““All the states that ask for this solution, I want to ask you, what did you do in the last 10 years to have this solution,” he asked of them. “Almost nothing. Since 2014, there has been no communication to solve the issue. If you were silent for ten years, why would you come back to the two-state solution? Just to prove to the world you are doing something?”” That is the question. I personally believe that there was a second war going on. The one I mentioned, but these same stakeholders were serving more than two masters. You see there is one part that remains unmentioned. I have made mention of this a few times before. I was not outspoken about this as I cannot prove it. There is no purpose served by howling against the storm. It tends to be pointless, it is never heard and it deflates your own energy levels. It is my personal view that the third war brewing under all this is (a speculated view) war served by Strasbourg and Washington DC. They need destabilisation of the middle east. Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iran were the three points of pressure that the west required. The moment the Middle East realises that they are better off without the west, that is the moment fear strikes in the hearts of power players in Strasbourg and Washington DC. In all this the actions of inactions regarding Palestine start making sense. There is a clear need. America (and EU) require cheap oil. If they cannot get that, their economies implode. Their commodity needs are fuelling a transient and mobile workforce and without that these two places will have a whole new range of internal problems.
The problem is how do you prove that? That is less easy to answer. The press is no longer impartial, they are partial to their digital dollars and will take whatever they can at all our expenses. By seeing several sources you get a slightly better view, but it is a filtered view and places like the ICIJ are a joke. They too rely on the media and clicks to be seen, so the story is adjusted accordingly.
And there is no solution, not until you get a real verifiable and reliable source, as such the press and media are no longer one. It has become a populist game for digital clicks.
On a sidenote This is a little awkward, you see my offensive against Washington DC is taking a turn as this article and a few others made me see a new option. The match between Blogger (me) and DARPA is at present 4-0. I speculatively just saw a new way to find hundreds if not thousands of terrorists. Making the score 5-0 for yours truly and that is a personal goal worth winning for. It might never get me a dime, but to knock (at some point) on haven’s door stating that I made DARPA my bitch and defeated them five over nil is very tempting for the ego, lets be clear about that. In the end that match was my ego having a great time. The problem is that this new approach needs the NSA to wake up. They are the source of interest when it comes to layer one (hardware) issues and if I am correct that setting should be pushed through iOS and Android making them one of the few parties who could solve this. The article opened a door. There is a side I do not completely agree with even if what they say was true. It links to a few other parts that are not mentioned here and that got me thinking. What if we see both sides of that coin? Now, when it is on its back, one side remains invisible, but what happens when that coin falls on a mirror? If will not reveal that side either, but what if a mirror is a reflection of itself? That got me thinking on the sides that do not speak, to focus on the side that can speak and that gave me the idea. If my thought is correct you get more than an image, you get a timeline of total events and with that GEOINT becomes the power core of that setting. A transient force still requires deployment which is part of that solution. My mind remains racing towards that goal (my fifth goal over DARPA). I know it is selfish in nature and even more so when it is not bout money but about the ego. At times we need to feed that monster. The best thing anyone can do is feed it when it serves the best purpose and not to overfeed that monster. I get that, but feed it now and the voice of ego dies down enough, leave it alone and its voice will drown all other voices and that is the lesson the media never learned. They went from Cash is King to ‘Cash is king in the empire of clicks and clickers’ it was nothing more than self defeating short sightedness.
It’s Saturday for me, Vancouver is still 12 hours away from the weekend. Enjoy yours.
It starts with “at least five cargoes of the sweet Sokol variant heading to other locations, data from vessel tracking agencies showed.” Then there is “China appears to be the final solution for some cargoes” so whilst we see that imports of Saudi oil, rose by about 4 per cent, Russian oil declined by 22%, the numbers do not add up. I personally believe that Russia is in more trouble then they are letting on. I personally believe that a chunk of that oil is going to Iran to pay for drones. Iran might have oil, but it is embargoed, Russian oil is not and they can make transfer sales and fill their coffers up that way. Now, all this needs to be taken lightly, because there is only one source and I am speculating of that. Consider the deal Russian suppliers had with India. Also consider that by late July 2023, Iran had sent at least 400 Shahed and Mohajer series drones to Russia. That is close to $20 million, per $60 a barrel that is a whole lot of oil and the fact that India is getting less implies (implies is not a fact) that Russia has more than one issue at present. The Shahed drones are running out, more are needed and Russia (through several sources) are lacking in capabilities to get their own drones to the front. This all adds up that Russia has increasing issues to maintain their battlefronts, to maintain their Russian oil supplies and to maintain their manufacturing facilities. Napoleon lost with a lot less problems.
So whilst Saudi Arabia is seeing more revenue from their oil stocks, the question is how long that happens. It is not on Saudi Arabia, but once it is shown that Russia is lacking in a few ways the larger station comes that Russia will be fighting internal and external wars.
So how right am I? That remains the larger question. If any of the presented facts through sources is wrong, the entire domino wall comes tumbling down. None of this could be verified and the fact that only the Deccan Herald had this is also a point for debate. There are differences between the data of Kpler and Vortexa and that is fine. But the stage where Russia is delivering 22% less whilst there are implied reasons and none of this backed up by facts, together with the one mention of China with “China appears to be the final solution for some cargoes” makes me think that there is more going on and somehow someone paid for all those drones, Iran doesn’t give these toys away.
So there is a stage where merely some of it could be right, but which part?
In addition to Yesterday Yesterday I talked about tourism. What I failed to mention is that there was data on the UAE. Reuters gave it 4 days ago (at https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/uaes-abu-dhabi-sees-non-oil-gdp-growth-77-q3-2023-statement-2023-12-29/), I missed it. There we see ‘UAE’s Abu Dhabi sees non-oil GDP growth of 7.7% in Q3 2023 -statement’. This is huge and it is non-oil growth. Now, this is not merely tourism, this is on more sides, but tourism will be taking a chunk of this. Poland with 1.4% growth is the biggest in the EU last year. This implies that the United Arab Emirates outperformed all EU nations by well over 500%. That is massive. Now, comparing GDP’s is unbalanced and incorrect, I get that. However, these settings imply that tourism in the US and EU are taking a serious dive in 2024. We can debate that this is merely a hiccup, or that it is nothing, a mere blip on the radar. But in light of their faltering GDP and places like Greece, Spain, Italy, London, Paris, New York and Florida need tourism these blips could have severe impacts in these places. If continued there is every chance that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will get access to $25-$30 billion and other places do not. Do you still think it is a little hiccup? Even when we see “Florida visitors contributed $101.9 billion to Florida’s economy and supported over 1.7 million Florida jobs (2021)” now consider that to be 5% less. How many jobs will go south? The European nations cannot even consider losing that much, it would be like the impact of Greek tourism (2002-2008) but now over three nations. That impact will be seen.
So how accurate is this? It is not. The reported numbers from Saudi Arabia and the UAE are, but how it affects others is not directly seen and can only be speculated on. What is clear that money spend there will not be spend anywhere else and that implies well over 25 billion lost to other places. How much each is impacted remains a guess.
So enjoy the day and consider that special deals this summer will be all over Europe and America, so you might get a decently prized vacation this year.
I think it is important to start the year in an upbeat way. This might not always be possible, but we can try. In this All Israel News gave us something that I did not see anywhere else. The story (at https://allisrael.com/the-day-after-the-united-arab-emirates-deepens-its-involvement-in-gaza) gives us ‘‘The Day After:’ The United Arab Emirates deepens its involvement in Gaza’ where we see both “The UAE is working vigorously to establish a foothold in the Gaza Strip and is leading the humanitarian effort” and “the UAE enters Gaza with greater economic power compared to other nations. It started with a field hospital they set up in southern Gaza in Rafah.” As well as “the UAE becomes the only country other than Israel that supplies water to Gaza”. This is god news. There is more than one water source now. This is merely the start, but a financial powerhouse like the UAE setting the stepping stones for Palestinians in Gaza is a good start. All these cult idiots shouting Free Palestine is entertaining to the media and their digital dollar needs. But who reported on all that Gaza was free and self governing since 2005? Hamas was never the solution, Hamas is now and will remain the problem for the Palestinians and when Hamas makes the wrong move, which is merely a matter of time Hamas will be done for and people start realising that Hamas has been the one true destabilising factor in Gaza for close to 20 years.
Yet there is a start now, the UAE has started water supplies. And I am thinking, what if there was a mobile bakery near there? Consider a truck, but a truck that has one function, to bake bread 24:7. We see these bread factories all over the west. So what happens when we put a compact version on a truck. What if we add 40 pizza ovens to a 40 foot container? We have the water, we merely need a truck of flour (or dough) and pizza bread is created as well 24:7? There are well over 1 million Palestinians about to enter the stage of famine. Keeping manufacturing in Egypt and sending a van with bread and water every hour 24 times a day will not solve anything. But it could lessen some of the strains. So how many considered that take on the events? And I am stating that it is merely one container. With 5 of them you can have 200 ovens ready to roll. You still need a good supply of wood, but that can be brought in by trucks. One could fuel all 200 ovens, the dough and the bread it creates will feed thousands. It is just a thought and perhaps others have this in motion. But to be fair, I see little of it and they are complaining on the lack of containers getting through. So who started to smuggle weapons and explosives through aid containers? Yes, Hamas did. We need a different solution and the oven and bakery containers are one. It will not be all the time, but a mobile solution like that is needed all over the world. So who has set up that kind of a solution? The media isn’t all over this, so either it doesn’t give them digital dollars, their stakeholders do not want that news out, or it just doesn’t exist. You pick the most likely candidate, but on this day I decided to remain upbeat and create an optional solution.
What did you do? Be hung over? Be overly happy with good cheers given and given to you?
I just see it as another day, I am simple that way.
Yup, at times this happens. We all have a need to blow our own horn. I am no different and as the world is not giving me any interesting news items. I decided to blow my own horn (of sorts) today. The thought got to me when I saw the article (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2434076/saudi-arabia) called ‘Year in review: How Saudi Arabia made its mark in tech, tourism, diplomacy and entertainment in 2023’ where we see “Successful bid to host World Expo 2030 and ambitious infrastructure projects make the Kingdom a must-visit destination” but that is not the part I saw pondering. It was “Saudi Arabia will look back on 2023 as a year of triumphs, having hosted major events in the fields of technology, culture, sport and diplomacy, while continuing on its path of impressive economic expansion and diversification.” With the added “The Era of Change: Together for a Foresighted Tomorrow,” I offered the Kingdom (via its Consul General) another option to impact millions of Islamics in a few ways, but alas I was turned down. This happens, no hard feelings. My thoughts might not be the thoughts of others and I did try to pass this onto The Kingdom Holdings (apparently also unsuccessful) and that is on me. It might be my wrongly stated view, but I feel strongly about that IP and I believe it would give the Kingdom additional options, especially in diversification. Now, I am trying to complete a ‘novel’ (my personal view) on a script that might appeal to Al Saudiya. Of course I have no high hopes that I will be successful, but I did put my foot in this and I plan to carry it through, successful or not. You see, we all tend to worship success, but I have seen innovation in failure. Innovation missed by Amazon, Apple, Google and IBM (no one cares about the other one, the company with the ‘M’ of mouse) and it matters. In this day an age where they are all presenting AI (which does not yet exist) where they all present on what comes next, I have shown them to miss all manners of innovation on several matters and my previous articles expose some of them. So whilst I am blowing my own horn (scandalously, I admit) we must consider that some are not as hungry for revenue as they seem to be, which was why I tried to sell some of my IP to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It was not that the United Arab Emirates were less of an option, but when the IP is shown in its full view, the choice of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would make more sense to a whole lot of people and both could easily (very easily) afford it, that and the fact that both want to diversify I felt comfort in making the offer I did.
Even now I see additional options in several fields (not all directly involving the Middle East), but as time lines go, they could benefit from at least one such path (one shown yesterday at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/12/30/almost-circular/). As such when diversifying it pays to consider paths that are not on everyones mind, but when you consider that path makes sense to many people. That is one side of innovation that we tend to forget. It is not the innovation where everyone is looking at (like no real AI), it is looking in the opposite direction and see what could be done there. As no one is looking, the player doing that could be the only one for some time. And when others wake up they either follow behind, pushing you to make a better product or set the stage for others to become serious players in that field.
All this matters as it changes the fields and it changes the interactions between players and that matters because that change could affect a whole range of other issues.
Just my $0.02 on the matter. Enjoy the day and the festivities that follow today.
That is the setting I saw yesterday. In the Netherlands We hear from the General of the army, or as some would say ‘hoogedelgestrenge generaal Martin Wijnen’ In most not so Dutch linguistic settings we can suffice with General Martin Wijnen. (At https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1850033/dutch-army-war-russia-eu-nato), in the article ‘Dutch must prepare for war! Army boss BEGS nation to arm up ‘as Russia getting stronger’’ we see the clear warning. There are too many indicators that Russia has no intent on stopping with the Ukraine. I used the British Newspapers Express. They weren’t alone, but at times we need to change venue. Whilst we might not agree with “The Dutch army chief has raised the alarm that “Russia is getting stronger” and that leader Geert Wilders, and his counterparts in the EU, needs to better prepare the Netherlands for war with Putin’s forces.” The clear truth of the matter is that Russia is about to mobiles up to 2.2 million soldiers. It is the old ‘dumb marketing strategy’ throw enough resources at a problem and the problem goes away. No matter how strong the Ukraine is, with that many additional soldiers they can just throw themselves at the Ukrainian battlements until the Ukrainian bullets run out. Not really the humane approach, but we never bothered to call Vladimir Putin out on that quirky detail did we?
We were also given “The Netherlands should not think our safety is guaranteed because we are 1,500 kilometres away [from Russians].” I tend to agree. The fact that several nations are now sending weapons to Russia is also a factor. Russian junk is about to be replaced by working materials. The Ukrainians might have sunk a boatload of drones, but that is not all that is going there, is it?
In addition we were given “The Netherlands is one of the founding members of NATO and is a staunch backer of Ukraine. Last week, outgoing PM Mark Rutte announced that his country would be sending Volodymyr Zelensky 18 F-16 fighter jets to fight the Russians.” Russia is unlikely to take kindly to that and there is no indication just how ready Germany and Poland are for an direct conflict with Russian forces, that 1,500,000 meter barrier is not going to last long is it? The best outcome is to make sure that the Ukraine wins this war, but at the speed that Russia is bombing the Ukraine, there might not be much left of it in the next 26 weeks. After that? I fully believe that the Ukrainians will fight for every inch of the Ukraine, but when there is nothing left one of the few options remaining is to fight Russia in Russia and that is a very different war, one they are less equipped for.
As such I believe there is a lot of merit to the words of Martin Wijnen. The fact that the new Prime Minister of the Netherlands is pro-Russian will not help matters much, although the moment one assault on the Netherlands takes place he better change direction, or become the first Regent to face the deadly mobs since the execution of Johan de Witt on August 20th 1672. But not to worry, I feel certain that the media, YouTubers and TikTokkers will be there to cover it all in 4K.
The words of the general sound true. There is a worry and the worry should not be trivialised. No matter how it continues with the Ukraine, Russia needs a win, it needs one soon and Putin needs one to appease his Kremlin cronies.
We have seen the damage that the Ukraine has dealt Russia, but they have a lot more and some of it actually works. My biggest fear is that Putin takes a lesson from the Hitler playbook and takes out a city in the Netherlands, not unlike was done on May 14th 1940. To think of that, how long until France, Germany and Belgium face that very same danger? I have no idea, and I reckon the rest of the world would instantly turn against Russia, still, there are too many ‘what if’s’ in that equation and I (for the most) hate what if settings. It fuels too much super good, or super bad thinking, extremes away from the expected and most unexpected norms. It fuels the wrong part of the thinker, which I personally believe is never a good thing.
In all this General Wijnen is not alone in this setting, but I do believe too many nations remain silent on the matter. Germany spoke out for strengthening their armed forces, but in this setting the United Kingdom did not, neither (as far as I am aware) did France and for the most their Legion Etrangere is the only one ready to face whatever comes their way. And these 9,000 troops, their Legio Patria Nostra (or as I gigglingly call them, the well educated fathers of the night) could deal with about 40% of the total of Russian forces, but what would be left for the Dutch? OK, still enough, but France and Belgium better get ready to consider the darker setting of Europe as we consider the words of General Wijnen.
So now on a lighter tone, it is time for the same joke I have been telling friends for well over a decade.
Q: Do you know the definition of sex 2023? A: Todays is the last day to find out.
Enjoy this final day and stay safe around fireworks.
Yup, we get that expression again, we are almost done with another trip around the sun. I am not sure where it comes from. I think I heard it first on Facebook, but that is no indication of origin. So at the end of the year a few things hit me. I want to give them all up here, but in this case I have handed them over to Tencent Holdings Ltd. first. Lets see if they are more awake then Google and Amazon. You see, there is a hiatus appearing and that is not a good thing (not a bad thing either), it merely is and I recognise that. Yet the hiatus was discovered by little me when I was getting to know a program called Final Draft (v12). I am putting in one of my Scripts for Al Saudiya and I got well over 30% done in less then a total time of 24 hours. As I was progressing through the parts (ACT4 in particular) things started to appear before me. Thoughts that I had not had whilst writing the story by itself. Now, this makes sense. Final Draft is a specific solution for a specific audience. Yet what appeared to me more clearly (part of it was already visible, which was why I selected that tool to learn) Is that there is an offset to ‘immediately’ register it with SAG-AFTRA. It set a new station. You see, not only can (what some call) do a Reese Whiterspoon on all this. There is a growing need for a cloud solution and set up a global protection umbrella for scripts. Consider that until a few years ago Hollywood had to deal with 35,000 scripts a year. 350 are made into movies. It is a simple cram of the crop equation. Now consider this same setting but with additional streaming, TV, Nollywood, Bollywood, Scandinavia and so on. We now get closer to more than 100,000 scripts. So how to prevent ‘cross-pollination’? The only real option is to have a cloud solution that registers all what you write into the cloud. It could register as evidence that your IP was invaded upon. But to do that your IP needs to be registered. I think Final Draft, Inc. is already thinking and moving into that direction. Now that Final Draft is pushing towards ‘Writing for Youtube? We’ve got you covered!’ The stage moves even further. You see YouTube is ‘stating’ that there are 38,000,000 active Vloggers. If only 10% is upping their game with Final draft, Final Draft will suddenly need a much larger support system and an optional global one. That was what I was banking on (initially) but I didn’t see the YouTube part, which is of course a nice escalation in my favour.
In that setting Final Draft needs a support system that can take care of that much more users. They would need two parts. The first is a support system like only NICE CX One can deliver and they need to consider globalisation. If only to set an optional 24:7 setting. That gives them USA, optionally UAE (Abu Dhabi, as Dubai might be too expensive). Somewhere in India and on the east side of China. They now have an overlap in 4 stages, meaning if one has technical difficulties the left and right side of that team can carry the load for a few hours each. China makes more sense then Japan, because the Chinese entertainment industry will get a massive influx in 1-2 years. UAE has more options than Saudi Arabia, but the Arabian entertainment is also due a larger growth. Saudi Arabia is already setting its mind on sports, meaning that streaming is closely followed, hence my Al Saudiya move.
And they can also support Nollywood. As such, as demand grows Final Draft is about to grow to new heights. And their cloud move makes sense. It is a logical next step to allow their customers chose to select the cloud or keep it local. So as we are about to make another trip around the sun, we need to see that Final Draft was ahead of a lot of people and the one niche that Microsoft ignored for close to 20 years is about to be lost to them. No worries, Google was asleep at the helm as well. Another setting they never saw coming and where was Amazon? I cannot tell, because none of this was on their ship, but if they align with Final Draft on that cloud solution, optionally with NICE, the game changes a little more and both streams will be lost on Microsoft. I predicted a lot of this, not this one, but that implies that Microsoft in the end losses a lot more than before and that is also the new setting. Millions now needing a non-Microsoft solution, how weird this year ends. Not to put to fine a point on this but I am loving this.
Lawrence van Rijn - Law Lord to be 