October 29, 2023 · 00:05

War never changes

I was about to look into something that bothered me in Saudi Arabia when news hit me. That news stopped me in my tracks. You see it is 15 years ago today that Bethesda launched Fallout 3. I had never forgotten about that game, I even missed it to some degree. Fallout 3 after Oblivion was a massive step forward and together they were the start of Skyrim. As Bethesda became a Microsoft subsidiary, Elder Scrolls VII: Restoration became lost to them and I started to push that game in parts towards public domain. But there was one part that was never part of this. The introduction and Fallout 3 reminded me on how important the introduction was. The entire introduction is seen in Vault 101. A simple but strong setting to get you into the game, to start the narrative and to give away a clue or two. I had forgotten about that part, I had forgotten on the importance of a start. In Dune (the book) the beginning is given to us as “A beginning is the time for the most delicate care that the balances are correct.” In the 1984 movie we hear “A beginning is a very delicate time” both are correct. I had never forgotten either, but I see that I overlooked parts of that. I didn’t in the movie I create ‘How to assassinate a politician’ or the TV series ‘Keno Diastima’ in both those settings the introduction is the start and the beginning are the connected prequels. There I have that space, in gaming you do not. In Restoration the game in the very beginning reflects back to Oblivion, a game too often overlooked. Bethesda did a really good job (until they became part of Microsoft). 

As such there were solutions. As a separate game it becomes a different puppy and that had be going. The entire setting is no longer on the elder scrolls list, as a separate game you need to set a different schooling and I did a dissimilar introduction, but now it becomes a much larger station. So what happens when we create not one, but three introductions? When we create introductions for the choices made we get a new gaming setting. We create a smaller infusion of longevity and that is the first step to LTG (Long Term Gaming) that is the stuff that streamers (Amazon, Tencent Technologies) require. Streaming relies on at least 2-3 LTG games and Microsoft has two, when we take those options away by creating a real LTG, we get a new setting, we deprive Microsoft of revenue, something they desperately need after spending $69,000,000,000. Soon they will be haemorrhaging all over the place and denied revenue is one, the other I keep for later. Those two will push Microsoft over the edge and I am driven to that because they invaded our safe gaming space by pushing THEIR needs on all gamers at the expense of everyone else. That angered me, they did nothing wrong in the legal sense, but they did in the spiritual sense and when Tencent technologies and Indies programming for them get that IP (as I am making it public domain) the Game pass loses value, especially as they denied certain games to be there in year one. The greedy will be served, that is what I always believed and now I am making it a reality. And as Microsoft seemingly invested $13,000,000,000 in genAI there shores are stacking up and a few more bad news (like missed revenue and less customers) will set their doomsday clock to 0:01, which works well for me in this case. As I said once before, I will hand my IP to Saudi Arabia for 35% of the value, before I will let Microsoft near it for 165% of that value and making a lot of it public domain works well for me, I might not get a dime of that, but Microsoft cannot make exclusive IP claims when it was published and that is the part everyone forgets about. You see “Software patents for computer-implemented inventions are treated as typical patent applications and must pass the same tests of novelty and inventiveness.” You see, when something is on the internet or a blog, it fails the novelty test. Microsoft will have to share space and cannot claim anything. I open the space for indie developers and they can go wherever they want to go and with thousands of indie developers in China, Tencent technologies will have an advantage and that mean more trouble for Microsoft.

They were warned, but they were eager to ignore everyone to the request of their board of directors. In the end they lose 5 times over. Apple took the tablet, Amazon the Web systems (AWS), Sony took the console, Tencent technologies is about to take streaming services (GaaS) and Google is biting into their office revenue (not as much as I hoped, but still). Bleeding on 5 sides and I will (hopefully) add two points of pressure. In the end their $82 billion investment will come up short. Yes GenAI is all the rage, but it needs a pedestal to grow from and that pedestal is vanishing fast. I wonder which banks will buckle first. Wall Street is at present obsessed with AI, but soon they will realise that this setting needs a platform top start from and the Microsoft platform is waning that much is a given all over. I wonder how long they will be able to keep the spin up. At some point these banks want evidence and if FTX is anything to go by, a lot of banks are starting to get worried, not in the least by my speculated weights of banks with too much US treasury bonds. We see the news on how 10-year treasury  bonds are a green light, but are they really? When that goose sparks a lot of people will be without savings and I fear that that moment is not too far away, giving more added pressure for Microsoft to perform. Consider that the ‘investments’ requires them to make AT LEAST 4 billion just to pay for the interest. Now consider that the media gives us that they made 198.3 billion USD, you would think that this is a no brainer and I would agree. Now consider that they lost 5 times over (6 if you include Bing) to competitors. They are still making some money, but the numbers aren’t adding up. Bing currently has a market share of 3.02%, which is nothing. There are too many cost issues that are not registering as I personally see it. So when we look at the whole picture, they are seemingly bleeding all over and the numbers cause me to show question marks. So am I wrong? I could be, but Microsoft has become too big, everyone is shouting against Amazon and Google, but they stay silent against Microsoft and they just got a new bigger player. 

War never changes the premise is sound, but you win the war by changing the stage the other one is stepping on, or you diffuse its support systems and the others all forgot one thing, the population is a support system in this war and Tencent Technologies is about to come into this field, Amazon had options for several years. They squandered it on I know not what. Now Tencent Technologies optionally with Huawei will get a larger stage to work from, all whilst the Microsoft stage is shrinking. As the middle East turned to China, Microsoft lost even more and that is what too many are trying to be in denial of. I wonder what Microsoft loses by the start of 2024, it will be something but I have no idea what they will lose at present. 

Enjoy the weekend.

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October 28, 2023 · 07:56

Escalations

This happens, things escalate. It is not always the intent, it is not always predicted, but it happens. I just saw one of the largest escalation events in a while unfold. It basically started with the attack on The Nova Festival in the Negev desert in southern Israel. A group of approximately 50 Hamas gunmen arrived in vans and sprayed gunfire in all directions. There were mention of paragliders and some YouTube videos seem to show just that. And whilst some news agencies report that at least 260 bodies from the party grounds. It becomes one of the deadliest concerts in history. It starts the offensive by Israel on the West Bank. I remember Rafah, I have personally seen it and I reckon that this is not a good place to be. The West bank becomes an exploding tinder and whilst we see all the media and all Humanitarian wannabe’s shout cease fire issues. They are all eager to step over a concert and the impact it has. We hear of rapes and kidnaps from eye witnesses, but the western media isn’t giving it too much attention. We are all given the impact of. Hospital and we see accusations from both sides. I cannot tell who is speaking the truth and who is making false accusations, the media is no longer the most reliable source, so who is?

I honestly cannot tell at this point. What I saw in 1982 versus what is now feels like my year with the United Nations Security Council was a waste of time. I don’t regret going there, I don’t regret the decision, I merely hoped it would have ended more positively.

Now we see the larger escalation. After all the hundreds of missile strikes, one got through and hit a building in Tel Aviv. So whilst Hamas is hiding in a mountain of Palestinians we see that the Palestinians is hiding Hamas and now Israel has had more then enough, the impact in Tel Aviv will fuel a lot of actions and it will fuel escalations. The Israeli people have faced inactions all over  Europe in 1933-1939 and they are no longer accepting that. Al Jazeera reports ‘Israel-Hamas war live: Israeli ground forces ‘expanding operations’ in Gaza’ we see “The General Assembly has overwhelmingly adopted the non-binding resolution, 120 votes for, 14 against, and 45 abstentions” towards some humanitarian truce, but the Nova Festival in Negev makes that almost impossible and now that there was one successful strike on Tel Aviv, that truce becomes a delusional air castle. Palestinians allowed for Hamas to take the lead, Hamas hid between the people and now that there is no more hiding a lot of Palestinians will get hurt in the process. The attack on October 7th 2023 was a desperate act by Palestine to stop the normalisation between the state of Israel and the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and this is the result. I reckon that within a week another 10% of all buildings will have been reduced to rubble. An official mention was given 22 hours ago. We are given that the total death toll is 7,028 Palestinians, including 2,913 minors, according to the ministry. I believe that this number will double soon enough, all through an attack on a music festival. We are also given that Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on 7 October, killing more than 1,400 people and taking more than 220 hostages. The 260 dead people at the music festival was merely the beginning, even as Hamas is now ‘hiding’ behind 220 hostages it seemingly is not stopping the IDF, thy now want blood and the one successful hit on a building in Tel Aviv is fuelling them along as well. The BBC reports that the Israeli military has massed tens of thousands of soldiers along the territory’s perimeter fence, along with tanks and artillery. It has activated some 300,000 reservists, alongside its standing force of 160,000. That group will face Hamas with about 25,000 people in its military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades. As I see it, Hamas is facing a war machine in a place with no fuel and no electricity. It is facing a fight where rockets have little impact and ammunition will run out soon thereafter. No matter how many ammunition they have, it will be limited to the people who can carry it, their deployment options is most likely to be obsolete within 8 hours of that event. 

As I personally see it, Hamas will have ended Palestinian existence in the West Bank, no matter how they phrase it, the bulk of Palestinians are most likely to be dead before Halloween. As Hamas hides within the population, Israel will see both as a valid military target and the Nova festival gave them that option. I cannot tell how valid it is, Hamas has ben hiding within the Palestinian population for decades and the population led that happen, they will now be caught in the middle. There is no setting of fair, there merely is a military setting. Ghazi Hamad can run out of whatever interview he wants to, the consequence that no one is willing to give him a pedestal to make claims from, is gone now, unless he takes the next plane to Moscow. Hugo Bachega asked the hard question and Hamas had no answer, their footing is washing away on nearly evert front they once had. As I personally see it, the most stupid of all actions was to attack a music festival loaded with civilians, there is no coming back from that and the Tel Aviv strike will be making it worse soon enough.

Enjoy the weekend if possible, it might actually be a lot worse in some places soon enough.

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October 27, 2023 · 08:45

The added chapter

In continuation of yesterday’s part. I did more mulling (or brooding) on the setting of the case file. If you consider that the case file is a collection of three mini games, the first thing I considered that three did not make the cut, so I came up with two more mini games. That led me to two considerations. The first was on the setting of ‘evidence’ the second was on progression.

Danger One
The first danger was that you get too much of a “then I went there, then I did this then I saw that”. I need to consider another path. Almost like a diary, but with changing premisses. 

Even as we adhere to some setting we can start with the date, the action and the location can be programmable. As such, we get more than a dozen versions of the first element which contains the action and location. From there we get (as illustrated) 4 versions as a start that describes the event we ‘just played’. That part is set with actions and clues. The clues (hints we uncovered) are set to text parts and these elements make up for a chapter in the case file. The problem here is not that it is too detailed, it becomes what elements are required. On the other hand, if I set the larger wheels in motion, the re-engineer will solve the setting. 

Complication One
The 4 versions are the four versions of the text, it might be that ChatGPT can ‘solve’ it all making the solution easier to get up to two dozen versions and that is ‘painted’ with the writer style that is selected. So that every case-file has a different artsy approach resembling the thriller and espionage greats of the past. 

It is rather invigorating, trying to engineer a new solution from scratch. With the IP I made it was somewhat simple, now that I am getting to the nitty gritty part of the bottom layer, I need to set a different premise. The original solution that had 3 64KB mini games now becomes a lot more connecting. Each mini-game will not merely be larger, it will also give us more properties and more parameters to consider, to implement and to keep on the side to make the story work (or make it more of a story). 

From there I will need to consider the elements to make it a framework. As such it is not a framework, but a setting to create a framework for each case file. When I get that I avoid replication to a larger degree making it much more long term, or at least longer term. You see the case file is merely one side of the appeal. The cases need to have the appeal for the whole game to remain interesting, not a connection of repeated actions. The idea to enhance the original was for me a trigger to create a better game, the case file was merely an extra. Yet the idea to make it a way to connect your gaming to any other mobile solution (for the case file) will add to the larger interest for gamers and that could also be set to enhancing the gamer profiles of gamers (if the gamer desires). There are still several parts to dig into. The first is to let the gamer set the connections and data collectors in place. That gave me a few ideas to enhance the game further. The second was to set the game in a ’24 hour’ setting. 

Consider this example. Even as we see that action one and action two are interchangeable in the beginning, the setting past the second timeframes is that we could see different information in time frame three. When we add to the fact that action one and action two gives us different data we get a different and larger frame to work with, yet I also believe that any upside needs to receive a downside. We get on one side, but we are through that way denied other intelligence to work with (sorry for sounding cryptic). It becomes an altering frame within the game and now we get a new premise. We can create cases with altering time constraints. It adds to the dimensions of gaming enthusiasm. Adding the two ‘mini games’ was’t the challenge, it was how t fit it into the frame for players. Getting the introduction levels to get the first two ‘tools’ to teach the players what to do, then we get the ‘main tool’ and in the second intro mission we add one tool and in the third mission we add the second tool and after that the real missions start giving me a lot more challenges to upgrade the game from what was into what could be, but that is for soon enough.

Enjoy the day.

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October 26, 2023 · 09:25

The case file of linked technologies

That was the setting I was in yesterday. I love linked technologies. My first real interaction was connecting my Gameboy Advance to my Gamecube and in a game, the game boy was the map to the game I was playing on the Gameboy. This was neat (dorky but accurate). In the past I wrote about parts of this, but in a slightly different setting. In this case I am in the process of remastering IP (making it new or optionally innovative IP). The stage is that a game (or games) use a connection to something like ChatGPT to create case files based on writing styles like Chandler, Le Carre (an essential writer in my view), Desmond Bagley and Alistair McLean. That setting as the case file is merely a short story will not impede on the original writers. 

So why does this matter?
You see, games tend to have the EXACT SAME narrative. This is not on the games, but evolution is where you could create it. You see, even as Restoration has some alterations towards the narrative, this game requires a different approach to be a bigger hit. You see, the group of people who are gamers and are also bookworms (or enthusiast readers) is rather large. Another cluster that Amazon, Google and Microsoft missed. As such Amazon with the Luna and Kindle will have an advantage. That is until Tencent Technologies creates such a setting, or partners with Alibaba or Amazon to do the same thing. You see, what happens when a game you love creates (through ChatGPT, or an alike) create a case-file (read: narrative) that you can read and send to your friends, or place on your profile so that others can read these narratives. That makes the ChatGPT essential. Thousands of case files, similar but not exact copies. That create new waves, new interactions and new fans. All options that the larger three missed (a few times over). Now we get the narrative to a remaster all missed. 

You see, streaming games need to evolve and bring more to the game. They will never replace the Nintendo or the Sony consoles, but they will be a brother to the other two and that is where the larger gains can be made and that is where I am looking and the larger three are all missing the boat. Well, Google dumped the Stadia, so they aren’t even in the game anymore. But the larger setting with Kindle can create a double whammy, especially when you consider how small some margins are, that sets up all kinds of new connections and create new evolutions in gaming and I am all about evolving gaming, as I get better or more inclusive games, me, myself, I and all other gamers win and winning is the marker we all accept.

All innovative directions the big three either ignored, rejected or never saw and it is not about the Kindle. You could set this to a PDF. The setting is that you add to any profile to make the profile more, not more advertising, but more profile we all win and that is the second tier of creating waves. Let the game push all sides of gaming, not merely the game, or the narrative. As I personally see it another side ignored by the two remaining players (Amazon and Tencent Technologies). Now to be fair Tencent is new to this, but they are more and more in a position to take up a massive chunk of gaming marketshare and if they do it well, it is fine by me. I as a gamer win (other gamers too) and that is what I am after. More and better games, not Microsoft or Ubisoft iterations, but more and better games. 

So whilst we see iteration after iteration, gamers hunger for more and that time is already now. So, lets see what time and innovation will be brought to gamers and readers alike.

Enjoy the day before Friday.

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October 25, 2023 · 23:51

The alignment of views

That is what I am setting this conversation up for. Well conversation? As the blogger this is my monologue, a monologue plain and simple. I had another idea regarding the approach to gaming IP, but that ill be for another day. 

Today I am talking about the ABC article (at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-25/iran-saudi-china-middle-east-war-actress-nazanin-boniadi-profile/102996008). I am using this example for the simple reason that ABC is a good media outlet, they try to give us the real settings. As such taking the article apart in a different way might bring the points better across to the readers. 

You see, the media has squandered respectability, they squandered credibility and they squandered reliability. Not all media mind you, but a lot of them all decided to courtesan the digital dollar (whoring seems so harsh). In that setting we have a much larger station, but lets loo at the article. 

‘Actress Nazanin Boniadi on why China shouldn’t be mediator in the Middle East’ is the title.

Point 1
“Boniadi, who has dedicated much of her working life to advocating for human rights, including in Iran.” So who is Nazanin Boniadi? Is she an influencer? I never heard of her. Perhaps she is for real, but I cannot tell.

This is a setting that is partially on me. I never heard of her, but the larger media is using ‘influencers’ to taint the stories we see. It is a populist agenda that we are too often given (not accusing ABC of this) and as such we can no longer tell the difference between real, fake and deep fake. Populist sources are all about the flames, all about emotions and the larger corporations (as well as some governments) will give added ‘benefits’ to any anti-China story, that much is a given. That does not mean that there isn’t any valid anti-China materials out there. But the waves of deception have grown to a degree where we can no longer tell the difference. 

Point 2
““I think we will have to worry about autocracies taking that top spot in the world, and what that would look like for the rest of us,” Boniadi says.”

This could be seen as a valid question. Yet the sentiment is on ‘autocracies’ and the issues is that America and the EU have become such a mess that they cannot even stop in-fighting. They cannot decide on whether to counter Russia or hand over their governments to Putin, a sore setting indeed and the media is always there to push any flame that they can. You see China is regarded (to many) as a system of people’s congress with a unified state power. A communist nation. We can think what we want, but the setting of “a system of government by one person with absolute power” remains a debatable one. You see that is OUR point of view but others (especially in China) seem to believe that country’s recent economic achievements have actually come about because of, not despite, China’s authoritarian form of government. It is up in the air, but as we see that the EU and America are collapsing under their own weight of indecision, they might not be in such a setting. In addition Dutch political party New Social Contract with its leader Pieter Omtzigt was giving the press 7 minutes to time to prepare for the election papers. 7 minutes, that is a populist approach to getting votes and responses. How is that any way to treat voters? That is the setting we see and that is what we are given. 

The media has been shirking their responsibilities for close to a decade and it is getting worse. So whilst I would be willing to accept the story by the ABC, the larger setting is that the media has been flawed for some time and newspapers aren’t what they used to be. 

Point 3
The third point is a good one “We, the democratic countries, really have to unite in the same way that these autocracies are uniting to prevent that from happening.” I do have an issue with “in the same way”, you see getting them to ACTUALLY unite is one thing. America is in shambles and they are all there to address their own needs, then the needs of their ‘benefactors’ and then the rest is in play. The EU is no different, but with 19 nations all up in arms of each other, the larger station is lost to most of them. An example was seen last week when we were given “Boehringer Ingelheim and five other drugmakers have agreed to pay the European Commission €13.4 million in a hybrid settlement decision after admitting to participating in a global cartel to fix the price of an essential stomach medicine.” So, they make billions and they get a slap of €13.4 million? Things are getting worse and worse in the EU and I wonder if they even have an option to get back on track. Another example is seen with “U.S. measures to limit the export of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China may create an opening for Huawei to expand in its $7 billion home market as the curbs force Nvidia to retreat, analysts say”, it is funny as I gave the readers in ‘The definition of insanity’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/10/19/the-definition-of-insanity/) a day before that papers was published that very same setting. I did not give any numbers as I didn’t have any, but the larger station is now clear. The EU and USA broke their own systems a few times over and this isn’t helping any. This setting is important in light of the way that I am monologuing ‘unite’, but the lack of unity all over the western world is a clear sign that BRICS might end up being the next real power and as we are all up in arms on what  there is going on between China, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Yet Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, Saudi’s foreign minister is correct, something needs to happen and the wester nations are missing or fumbling the ball again and again. We get too much ego, too much presentations and no results and the media isn’t helping any.

So even a the article that is staging what we see now was all on the up and up, the questions are real. They are real because of all the Murdoch wannabe’s, glossy flames and influencer enablers we forgot what ACTUAL news is. A lot of people can no longer tell the difference and the press isn’t policing itself, so the people are on a short pier with nowhere to go. 

That is my point of view and in all this ABC is one of the more respectable sources. Too many are a lot less and the enabling of terrorist agenda’s by the media to get clicks is starting to be noticed by a lot of people. The populist agenda has never been a democratic view or a realistic democratic approach. Consider the autocracy that they will deliver when they are elected will cause a rapid decline in many nations and I might just live long enough to see that impact on a global scale. 

Enjoy the day as we move towards the middle of the week.

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October 25, 2023 · 00:10

LinkedIn has problems

That is the setting I have been looking at for the last few days. What was the number one BUSINESS solution on social media has become a populist self promoting machine of garbage. Yes, a treasure to some is garbage to others. 

Small Issue
See here the small issue. Aqualand Australia, it is more than just a method of presentation. 

We can all agree that presentation would be part of LinkedIn and I have zero issues with that. Yet the link goes to a place lacking all kinds of information and you MIGHT get more, if you only hand over your details and e-mail. A simple email grab, not unlike cybercriminals out for some phishing spots. I don’t mind them being bad at informing you, but the email grab? I have an issue with that. It is the lowest least acceptable form of sales technique done by people who lack sales skills. You see, if they were proper sales people, they would have included a PDF (example) with ALL the information. If the information is good, the real people would be in contact, they would be making the next move. Yet in Australia housing is expensive and I personally suspect that the lack of information is to ensure that these salespeople get every dime out of you that they can get. Not merely the price of the house, but the maximum drain they can get. Now, I accept that I might be wrong on a few things and it could have been resolved by giving us all the goods and the real deal, but we aren’t getting that are we?

Big Issue
This is becoming an actual nuisance. LinkedIn members are getting more and more hassled with fake polls. 

Consider “Is your job hunt in the Intelligence Community becoming more challenging and what specific challenges are you encountering?” Is this an actual Yes/No question? And I am seeing several a day. Some will actually try to connect to whomever answered the question, because the author can see how YOU voted. It is a sales technique that is not clever, it is not innovative. It is (as I personally see it) merely stupid and with groups becoming public, this issue will merely grow.

The larger issue is that LinkedIn was an established professional network, by changing the rules and through that increase traffic, they are now becoming their own words enemy. Consider that players like Xing (German version) is starting to get into a position where they could poach plenty of LinkedIn members by doing nothing and by preventing that these actions will be allowed. Less than half a dozen little actions that could diminish LinkedIn with their 950 million members in more than 200 countries could make them lose close to 10% annually. LinkedIn will be a larger network for some time, but the foundations are shifting. Players like Xing, Jobcase, Hired and Hirect are nowhere near that size, but people might decide to take up a second network and when that network is giving them what they need, LinkedIn will lose a lot more than they thought of. I personally see this that their need to increase traffic for all kinds of reasons is starting to have a more negative impact. 

The number one question becomes how wrong could I be? I could always be wrong, but the populist approach seldom has a positive outcome. It is only those seeking (and lacking) attention seek the populist method and as I personally see it, those lacking sales skills (marketing too) need  all kinds of attention, some valid, some questionable. Yet this is merely my point of view.

As such, LinkedIn need to reassess what they are doing and what they allow to be ‘collected’ A mere change in certain paths might solve part of the problem for LinkedIn for now.

Enjoy the day.

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October 24, 2023 · 01:23

Digital coins anywhere?

Two articles came to my attention, all about the same subject. The first one was from the BBC (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67161638) where we see ‘Top crypto firms named in $1bn fraud lawsuit’ this article includes the two favourite in the Facebook (or META) realm. They are Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. There we see the accusations by New York attorney Letitia James who gives us “Gemini, a crypto exchange, had lied to customers about the risks of an investment account it offered, which paid high interest rates on crypto.” To be honest, I have yet to see any honest presentation of digital currency, but that is another discussion and we aren’t having that one today. It was the partial setting “Genesis, a crypto lender, and its parent company Digital Currency Group were also involved in the programme. It was halted last November, cutting off customer access to funds. That came shortly after the collapse of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange run by Sam Bankman-Fried, who is now fighting fraud charges of his own. Genesis, which had loaned heavily to his companies, filed for bankruptcy a few months later.” You see, the term ‘heavily loaned’ is loaded. How much EXACTLY was loaned to Bankman-Fired? It is the stage of “In the lawsuit, prosecutors said Gemini was aware that Genesis had shaky financials from the start of the programme.” It implies that there was some under the table dealings between Genesis and Gemini. It doesn’t say so outright, but that is what I am picking up on this. So when we get to “Prosecutors said Genesis and DCG tried to hide the situation with financial manoeuvring and false reports, including to Gemini, while claiming publicly that its balance sheet was strong” we see a second cog in action. It is seen with “false reports, including to Gemini” if true enough it could allow Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss play the victim card. We get more emotion as w usually see in these kind of cases, but the chocolaty centre is there. It is when you consider the second article from Financial News London, who (at https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/goldman-sachs-crypto-firm-bitgo-dubai-hiring-expansion-20231023) gives us ‘Goldman Sachs-backed crypto firm BitGo eyes Dubai expansion’. They aren’t related, but when you consider the amount of issues that digital currency has, the stage changes. I reckon that neither Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss or Sam Bankman-Fried would accept extradition to the UAE if they get to be investigated for fraud or something as trivial as misplacing a few billion? So when we get to “The crypto firm, which is headquartered in the US, has applied for a Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority licence to operate in the Middle East’s key financial hub.” I tend to worry. You see, the moment things go pear shaped and they will, there will suddenly be a lot of tug and pull issues with getting extraditions being completed. These people (the three mentioned) will cry foul, will cry victim and they would not want to face Emirati courts. But that setting will come to full fruition when Goldman Sachs will have to face the music, so when we see “We do have some hiring to do in Dubai as well” I merely wonder if people like Mike Belshe have any clue what they are in for. When you see the FTX setting, the crazy setting that now involves Genesis and Gemini the entire setting is a disaster waiting to happen and no matter how many media will play orchestra for alleged criminals, there will be a larger play in motion and as such when the United Arab Emirates will demand the extradition of the board of directors of Goldman Sachs, how many will have left the firm hours before that request hits the tables of the Department of Justice in America (or London for that matter)? 

And when you consider that the US and the UAE do not have a formal written extradition treaty, we see why people want to skate on that ice rink, but until America can actually successfully prosecute these people I wonder if it is a good idea to allow this evolution to begin with. I don’t think that anyone in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is willing to hand over real created revenue to American cowboys in the setting of billion dollar frauds. There is a fool born every minute and the UAE people don’t strike me as fools. Personally I would never allow this to happen, or at least not until we see proper prosecution and a real extradition treaty in place, but that is just me and as always, I could be wrong.

Enjoy Monday. 

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October 23, 2023 · 05:59

Denial in 3, 2, 1…

That is at times the setting. We know that denials are coming and it is often no more than a shoe drop away, or at least that is how I usually tend to see denials. For the most I do not care about American politics, it is watching someone else’s petulant children in some creche go nuts all whilst most of us, especially those who haven’t fathered any children (to the best of my knowledge) to see this as an opportune moment to massively consider remaining a bachelor. 

Three
Here we have (at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-20/sidney-powell-pleads-guilty-donald-trump-georgia-election-fraud/103000142) the first of three events. ‘Former Donald Trump lawyer Sidney Powell pleads guilty in Georgia election interference case’ you see, some will see the simple side which is seen in “Powell admitted to plotting to unlawfully access secure election machines in rural Coffee County in south-eastern Georgia in January 2021”, yet the larger issues is  seemingly evaded. We see this when we consider “a felony involving moral turpitude, forgery, fraud, a history of dishonesty, consistent lack of attention to clients, alcoholism or drug abuse which affect the attorney’s ability to practice, theft of funds, or any pattern of violation of the professional code of ethics” and the only thing we see here is “The plea agreement calls for her to be sentenced to six years of probation” My personal setting is one of anger. That [stricken word for trollop] avoided disbarment? Was it the words? We get it ‘plotting’ is not ‘acting’ and as such we see the larger setting. Lawyers are all tripping over one another to avoid getting disbarred. I reckon that the moment this happens, they become advisors to ambulance chasers and such kind of people. On the other side, Uber is always looking for drivers, or there is the option of a hair salon where she can brag that she was hoodwinked to eager hearing ears there. Perhaps those clients will only listen if it comes with a discount. 

Two
This is seen (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67174576) where we are given ‘Second Trump lawyer pleads guilty to conspiracy’ where we are told that Kenneth Chesebro is linked to “Chesebro pleaded guilty to a single felony count of conspiracy to file false documents. His deal with prosecutors on Friday came as jury selection began in his case. The trial will no longer go forward.” And he too seemingly avoids disbarment. Either the prosecution is weak or they are merely stacking up the plea deals to dump the entire mess on Donald the duck Trump (the writer apologises to Walt Disney for making the reference). 

We need to see that this is merely two out of seventeen. One made a deal last September (that person might have gotten the best deal of all) but the larger stage is no longer what will happen to the former President, but it becomes how much hardship will that former president face. You see when he is thrown in jail and his proud boys are there too, they might not take too kindly to a person who made them look stupid in public. 

One
This one is in the wind, but (at https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-fined-almost-8000-for-violating-gag-order-in-new-york-civil-trial-20231021-p5edz5.html) we are given ‘Trump fined almost $8000 for violating gag order in New York civil trial’ and we are also given “Justice Arthur Engoron said a Trump social media post attacking the judge’s clerk – which was later deleted from the former president’s Truth Social platform – had remained visible on his 2024 campaign website two weeks after an order was issued to take it down”, so only $8000? I reckon he has had lunch meetings that costed more. But the start has begun and whilst I doubt if the judge will impose stricter fines (the past is not in that favour), this is a start and all this took well over 2 years. The insurrection which started on January 6, 2021 is finally getting to the point where the big players are up. Even as this is still in court, I am not holding my breath. You see US history will have to accept that this is the first president that could face jail-time for actions committed. America has shown itself to remain in denial to act on such matters. 

On the upside, as I was reading and watching these parts, I saw something I will not publish here, but the larger stage could be devastating to any party exposed to it and whilst I am happy to hand that over to the Ukraine. I would feel a sense of guilt to do so. Nothing against Ukraine, but it requires a different mindset and I feel uneasy to set it that way.

This relates to the article as it is a mindset that none of the involved lawyers had, as such their probations are seen by me as massively uneasy. You see “an apology letter to citizens of Georgia” is a bloody joke. A nation that prided itself on democracy is playing pussy to the events that destroys that same democracy they hold so high, so proud. Harsh words from a judge are not enough. Actions were required and actions are seemingly at best limited. This is why I will not cheer on the entire Trump case until a final verdict is passed. You see, there is still some chance that he gets off on technicalities and several people will offer their resignation to make up for it, all whilst they know that their future will be well tended too. That is the unacceptable side of democracy. Acting for the presented greater good and that reminds me of an old saying “adding water to the wine”. Yet at what point does one forget the taste of water or the taste of wine? When we forget what either was, what becomes of us? 

A simple question to get you to ponder through the upcoming Monday.

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October 22, 2023 · 19:08

The thin ice

We all know the expression, no skating on thin ice. Yet when you think of it, when was the last time you saw thin ice? We all hear it, but when did you yourself, with your own eyes see a case of thin ice? We tend to think it is a danger avoided, but when no one sees that danger, is it a danger? Don’t get me wrong, I am not doubting that thin ice exists, before ice is thick enough to carry our weights it will be thin ice. A lot of thin ice seeing is assumption. We see ice and we see no one else skating on it, as such we take it for granted that THAT part is thin ice. Hold on to that thought because I am about to give light to two very different articles.

Arab News
The first was Arab News (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2395561/business-economy) where we see ‘Saudi banks’ residential loans surge in August as apartments gain prominence’. This article seems nice, but when you read it we are given two parts. The first one is “Mortgage lending to houses, apartments and lands rose to SR7.14 billion in August from SR5.43 billion in July” This is a 30% rise in a month and that is huge. Now there are other factors on play like trends. How was that last year versus this year and a few other things, but 30% matters. In addition we are given “The increase in apartment financing by Saudi banks compared to house financing is due to the increase in prices of houses and private villas compared to the prices of apartments, which has made villas and houses unaffordable to average-income individuals,” and this comes from Talat Zaki Hafiz, an economist and financial analyst. There is the added “Notably, financing of houses still dominates Saudi banks’ new residential mortgage landscape, constituting a 70 percent share in August. While apartments comprised 25 percent of the pie, land financing held the remaining 5 percent.” It seems that the Saudi banks have things well in hand. We can also infer that people are in a better state, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is in a better state and the people are setting their lives accordingly. Now, this is speculative, but if the economy was really bad real estate would not skyrocket by 30%, so something is going right there. 

The Guardian
The guardian gives us a very different story in the UK (at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/21/mortgage-debts-and-bust-firms-put-uk-banks-profits-under-pressure) there we are given ‘Mortgage debts and bust firms put UK banks’ profits under pressure’. Now we can argue that the UK has twice the amount of people and that is true, yet as I personally see it, banking is banking. If a bank has a certain margin, having twice that margin implies that bank is twice as rich. Now, I get it, it is not that simple, but read me out.

We are given “Bosses watched in horror as a mini-banking crash led to the collapse of a string of US lenders including Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), and later Switzerland’s largest lender, Credit Suisse.” Here we have a problem, what I speculated all along and I saw one part revealed in April was “SVB had few traditional banking uses for the cash that piled up, it instead invested $91 billion in Treasury bonds and U.S. government agency mortgage-backed securities between 2020 and 2021. This brought SVB’s investments to roughly half its total assets.” You see, this was stupid greed and I warned in advance of it, more than once actually and the Guardian does not mention treasury bonds once, there is a whole engine spinning news and misdirecting news all over the media. The speculative setting is that owners of US treasury bonds will auto renew or lose a lot of money, so what would you do if you were the idiot relying on a 2% payday of $91,000,000,000? That amounts to a $1.87 billion payday. I would do the same thing, but these banks used their clients money to hedge that bet and the US government was eager to cater to that level of greed. I reckon that this is why Janet Yellen kept a close eye on this. In addition, I wonder how deep Credit Suisse was involved. 

Yet the setting is housing and “By July, the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage went to war with NatWest over plans to close his accounts at its private bank, Coutts.” Really? One account has that much impact? You see ‘Coutts bank boss quits in row over Nigel Farage’s canceled account’ some might see this as a joke, but for Peter Flavel the boss in question it is not a joke. There is something wrong with banking and banks all over the west. Don’t ask me what, but all these events are part of a larger problem, a problem that involves stake holders blending the message for banks and as I personally see it, the Guardian has been catering to these stake holders. It is highly speculative but even as this truth is given “Speaking to broadcasters Thursday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said it “wasn’t right for people to be deprived of basic services like banking because of their views.” I think it wasn’t the views (alone). I reckon that some views opposing the current need is a larger setting and people like Farage could be able to spot that in the documentation handed to them, moreover certain banks have been skating on the thin ice for too long and at some point someone will sink through the ice. That is the danger of the thin ice. For the longest time the thin ice was an urban myth at best, because we never aw cases. But the British banks are in a spot of bother and people like Nigel Farage would shine a big light on that problem, better to get rid of these people and when banks do that, when banks do that to politically A-listers, how much trouble are they really in. You see in March 12th (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/03/12/i-honestly-dont-get-it/) I raised a few questions regarding bonds and the eager beavers in the media never looked at that part, not the Times, not the Guardian, not any respectable newspaper as I personally see it. So why not? What trouble is America trying to pass over thin ice? What are we not told and isn’t that the duty of banks to inform their customers? I reckon that Saudi Banks are doing a lot better because they do not cater to anything else but their goals and the goals of THEIR customers. I could be wrong, but considering that we are left in the dark for over 6 months, all whilst Saudi banks are doing 30% better in a month implies something. It implies that they are doing something right.

 Enjoy the last day of the weekend, Monday is soon here, here it will arrive in less than 300 minutes.

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October 21, 2023 · 20:21

Setting a Sunny Saturday

I was there, there was a yellow disc in the sky (aka the sun), I was sitting and merely contemplating stuff when I got hit with a video. 

It was 60 minute with something on underwater smuggling and how people were unprepared. It took me 15 seconds to set that premise to solved. OK, Google or Amazon need to get involved. It is not ‘that’ easy, but that is what Deeper Machine Learning is for. Funny enough, my ships engineering skills (outdated since 1981) got into field and my thought patterns resembled one I had in UTS when I came up for a system to weed out false positives in bomb detection. Whilst everyone was focussing on where the bomb was, I decided to look at a way to remove false positives which took mere seconds and when you have 4 million passengers a year, having certain points where you can scan a passenger in less than 5 seconds matters. The fact that you weed out 80% of the false positives also matters as it suddenly leaves you with a manageable number of people and with Deeper Machine Learning that system merely gets to be more accurate, as such within months that number would have increased to 90%+ which makes is an possibility. It was merely a concept but I was happy (as was my professor). Now we get back to the story. You see, it took seconds to find this puppy.

Here we have a commercial Japanese solution of a underwater drone. It is not enough, because we have to tinker with it and to make a drone an autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) takes work and the battery would require an update, the function and the added hardware will be murder on the regularly installed battery. The nice part is that these puppies do not need sleep and they could scan the hull of any vessel in minutes. Two might get it done in a minute and now we get the setting, a set of two one to scan and one to validate the scanning by weeding out the false negatives. Hulls are simple, they are one setting, they are smooth and waterproofed. The idea that a hull is tampered with is not laughable, but it tends to be slightly ridiculous, as such an ‘adjusted’ hull is noticed by any AUV and teaching it a few additional things is not hard, not for the right Deeper Machine Learning expert. As such we need to consider like an autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). You see a place like New York might have millions of containers a year, but it does remain a relatively small about of vessels, as such a dozen drones would be able to scan all the vessels BEFORE they dock and that is the busiest port in the world. The drones could also be scanning for other things, like divers going on a tourist tour past any vessel which would be a big no-no. 

These settings alone were solved (by little old me) in less than a minute, so why were these methods not considered? Perhaps they were and they found a snag I never considered. I am not prefect, but I try to see the solution in a challenge, not the hiccup.

Still the exercise was fun for the minute I had it, it gave me something else to consider for a moment. And when you think on how I got there, wonder what else I can come up with tomorrow, but that is a setting I will consider in 18 hours. The drone will need adjustments too, scanners on the top (two sets) facing 30 degrees up and 90 degrees up, it also needs to be altered into an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), which will a little work. So when we added the initial and verification scan, we get a vessel with the ability to do it at the same time and it is done in seconds per 10 metres. The learning curve needs to be adjusted and it can be set against type of vessel. You see a coaster, a tanker and a cargo ship have slightly difference hulls, but the same principle applies, waterproof or sink. It is really that simple at times. The smugglers ‘adding’ a box at the hull will fall through the hoops in the initial minute and as such the boys in blue (with flippers) can capture the haul. The ones who were clever and added a ‘valve’ to allow the merchandise to sit between the outer and inner hull is a little harder, but when Machine Learning considers that these valves should not be there, the pattern adjusts  as well. This will create some initial false positives, but there is also the gain that we eliminated 90% of all vessels making this a relatively easy exercise.

Wow, 3 minutes of my brain productively used. I am getting good at my old age. So consider this a concept, consider this a joke, it is all up to you and the boys in blue.  I did my bit on Saturday and I am not going to get paid for it, so use it as you see fit.

I am now 230 minutes from Sunday, have fun and enjoy the sunshine (if there is any).

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