January 23, 2024 · 00:07

First the giggles, then the howls

Yup, it all started late last night when I was alerted to an article (at https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2024/01/how-china-winning-middle-east/393483/) where we see ‘How China is winning the Middle East’. It is here that we are given “China is working to present itself as a responsible alternative to the U.S. in the Middle East, just as many are questioning Washington’s long-term commitment to the region”, the article was originally from January 19th 2024. Now consider that on September 9th 2021 I wrote ‘Lemon of the Century’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/09/09/lemon-of-the-century/), so I mentioned that danger over 2 years ago and it started happening a year later (alas, not my involvement) I initially wrote “I made a case to sell (as a corporate individual) to sell the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia either the British BAE Typhoon, or the somewhat better match the Chinese Chengdu J-20. Now, this is not on principles, but the US making Saudi embargo after embargo, all whilst it is mere puppet play and there was no direct need to stop the sales, especially as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was under direct attack by Houthi forces directly sponsored from Iran and the people were eager to ignore that fact. So there I was taking a stab at a 3.75% sales commission, and in light of a $11,000,000,000 sales ticket could bank me $412,500,000 over a few years. Now, I know, am I greed driven? Nope! But I am not walking away from such a massive mealticket!” As such it took defense one well over two years to see the dangers I saw clearly coming then. How laughable is that? What are these American three letter organisations doing? This wasn’t a surprise, this was clearly in view. 

So now we see “China’s narrative in this effort is one of not just opportunity for Middle Eastern states, but constant subtle or overt comparison between U.S. and Chinese goals in the region.” Say what? This was in clear view and I made several mentions in the last two years alone. So whilst you giggle on that consider that I am now calling the match Me (myself and I) versus DARPA a win with the final score being 6-0. I just realised that around three years ago I designed a stealth solution to sink the Iranian fleet (cost around $750K per vessel) yet I suddenly remembered that solution (I keep on designing other stuff) and the principles of Archimedes apply globally, as such they should have no problem with Russian vessels either. Not bad for a person that some see as a loser (well they do), but in the end it is creativity that wins innovation, it wins IP on a much larger scale and in support of that it could win a war too. If you doubt that, consider that “the basic idea of radar had its origins in the classical experiments on electromagnetic radiation conducted by German physicist Heinrich Hertz during the late 1880s.” So the Germans did not see the applications and they could have had an entire war advantage half a century long. In the end it was Watson Watt, Wilkins, and Bowen that turned it into something functional and that gave them the edge somewhere between 1930 and 1940. The application of my solutions are reimagined solutions of something that was out in the field. OK, my idea to melt down nuclear reactors came from a snow globe, so that is one that is all mine. 

When you consider that and the fact that I am calling a 6 point sore on DARPA you might howl with laughter and that is fine. But consider that I kept a lot on my blog. There is a timeline and DARPA has nothing to put against that and now we see that Defense One makes mention of a ‘danger’ all whilst I made clear mention of that well over two years ago. That is what it means to be asleep at the wheel. And I am not innocent of that either. You see I made mention of an idea some time ago and I just realised that it could be applied to the series Engonos (season 2 or 3) but I forgot about the idea (another reason to keep a blog). Now as it resurfaced in my mind I also realise that as I am concentrating on another script (How to assassinate a politician for Al Saudiya) that I am new to that. As such all writers (not just me) seem to think in active terms. There are four parts in any script (no technical reference), they are active, reactive and both can be endotherm or exotherm. Implying that from within or from outside sources. That was the part that as a storywriter you take notice on, but in writing a script that setting goes different. As such I suddenly remembered Ate, daughter of Eris and suddenly other ideas come flowing in, OK, some based on ideas my mind had created, but I never considered it as the entire setting of Engonos was not on my mind. That came well over a year later. 

You might wonder what one has to do with the other. Well, creativity goes in several directions and it was creativity in data that gave me the view of China becoming a much larger provider of Middle Eastern defence structures. It seems that Defense One only caught on a week ago. Now, that doesn’t make me ‘more’ correct, but when you see the settings how it was THEN, most people with BI insights would get similar conclusions. I did my ships engineering in the 70’s. Those principles gave me the idea for the stealth solution I designed decades later. Education matters, it might not matter now, but it allows the creative mind to see additional solutions, solutions that do not even exist when the thoughts were created. That is true innovation and that leads to larger advantages in any field. That is what some fat cats forgot about and as the stations are brought to bear they will all cry that it was unfair, but the reality was that they slept on. Only 20 hours ago the Business Standard treated us to ‘The online ad cookie is crumbling as Google Chrome secures privacy’ whilst another source gives us “Advertisers aren’t willing to pay as much for random internet users, so every time the page loads for a cookie-less Chrome user, it’s bringing in less money than it might have before.” The problem with these trains of thoughts was that I saw the announcement AT Google well before the first Covid shutdown, so it has been a while, so these people never prepared. How silly is that? Howlingly laughing silly. And that is where we see the stage. We giggle on some news, we howl at news and clams and we lose our shit laughing when we see that the non prepared mind should have known better and they all connect. Because change forces us to become creative, in two cases that wasn’t done. So whilst some may sneer and laugh at my claims, I put my claims out in the open on a blog and I did it 2 years earlier. The snow globe solution is there too, not sure how much I put online on the stealth vessel sinking solution (oh, SVSS sounds cool) but there you have it, we cannot anticipate everything. But I do like the idea that my idea could be applied to Russian vessels as well, as such, DARPA eat your heart out.

Have a lovely Monday. Tuesday started just now here.

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January 21, 2024 · 23:49

Lines of presentation

That is what it at times amounts to. A line of presentation, although in gaming it is called storylines and narration. You see, I have been pondering a few things. We cannot ignore a game like Skyrim and the weaknesses it has. I am not attacking Skyrim. It was released on 11.11.11 and two generations later, it still feels and plays awesome. There have been so many additions and now we need something new. The problem is that we need something really new, not just another version and that got me thinking. To see this we need to take a little historical journey. According to ‘history’ the one of the very first Spymaster was Akashi Motojiro (1904). I personally doubt this for the simple reason that the art of war was written 500BC, implying the Chinese did nothing with chapter 13 for over 2 millennia and that is as far fetched as it will ever get. Sun Tzu gave us the following categories of spies:

  • Local spies
  • Inward spies
  • Converted spies
  • Doomed spies, and 
  • Surviving spies.

But no one (at present has incorporated that in an RPG game. Until now it wasn’t really possible to add this. As such the side quest could be to evolve a spy network. The narration would be upgraded and when you consider the settings of balance, you could teach espionage to one and assassination to the other, the operative part is balance, a sort of detente in RPG gaming. Still the player would get benefit of both. Now consider the implications. Not merely the quests for each type of spy, the setting of learning the scrolls of espionage Ould be added and you would gain another side to the game. Bethesda relies on the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves Guild. It is something that others need to avoid, but the beginning could be an eye catcher to any gamer. Now consider that a similar stage could be applied to the Hashashim, who were the dread of crusaders in the 11th century, they were the foundation assassins. There is of course the Ninja from Japan, all options to consider in a new RPG game, to set yourself apart rom the others, and as (according to some sources) the next Elder Scrolls is 2 years away, the early bird that chases the new frontiers can care themselves out a very nice slice of that pie. 

Narration
That is merely the gameplay, but the larger stage becomes the storyline, the narration if you like and that is the golden threat of any solid RPG game. There are more sides and I wrote about those lines on May 30th 2022 when I wrote ‘Creating economic sides’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/05/30/creating-economic-sides/). You see, the stories are one, but there needs to be the creation of a balanced economy or the game becomes weak. You see poverty around you, all whilst you have hundreds of thousands of credits. And it is not direct, it is the indirect influence that drives the game forward and these storylines could have a similar approach. Consider 3 locations. One has espionage, one has assassination and one has commerce. They all have their own advantages, but to some degree drawbacks too. You might benefit from all, but only to some degree and it only goes as far as the good will you create. Making choices does that in one direction and takes them away in another direction. It creates a form of balance and makes the game very much replayable, because one impact hits a region different from another. Sides too often overlooked. We might remember Fable where one area was in poverty, or in good standing depending on the actions you took, yet we can take that in a much larger and different directions as well. Until now it was not explored (no negativity implied), however the new streaming systems as well as the new consoles allow for a much stronger and larger play system, larger scenarios and larger areas. And we might think that this is the solution, however without a more verbose storyline and much more profound narration that is not going to be an option that survives. Only two months ago we were given “Starfield’s lacklustre exploration and lack of depth, with players feeling that the game becomes dull and tedious.” I never played the game, so I do not know. But I can understand how this came about and it evangelises my idea of bolder and better narration and story lines. No matter who does it, they need to get ready for a much larger storyline in all kind of directions. The linear storyline is pretty much at an end, but that is my point of view. 

I believe that the next large RPG game needs to set new boundaries and set an entirely new way to narrate a game, more of the same will not get far in 2024 (or 2025 for that matter).

Enjoy Sunday.

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January 21, 2024 · 13:32

Pink is the colour of ignorance

That is what set this in motion. All the (as I would call them) stupid people all having their own little opinion devoid of facts. It is the devoid of facts that makes them stupid (as I personally see it). Still, you need to be forewarned of this article. To see this you need to realise the difference between speculation and presumption. One is a guess, the other is an educated guess. The difference is all about knowledge of the subject matter and in this case I do not have that. So even as I rely on facts, on given knowledge my guess remains that, a guess, optional pure speculation. I think it will be better than what some will give you, but that will be up to you to decide. This was all set off by a story in LinkedIn. 

The story (at https://www.linkedin.com/posts/codepink_today-when-we-asked-senator-menendez-when-activity-7153799630453923841-xIln) gives us the accusation, and the BS from a group of people (all women) that have a point of view, but like the irrelevant tea nannies all against arms for Saudi Arabia via Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), they cannot see the whole picture and they caused the loss of billions to the United Kingdom treasury coffers. You see this all started with Hamas. On Sat, Oct 7th 2023 Hamas attacked Israel. The result 1,139 deaths – 695 Israeli civilians (including 36 children), 71 foreign nationals, and 373 members of the security forces. Approximately 250 Israeli civilians and soldiers were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip, including 30 children, with the stated goal to force Israel to release Palestinian prisoners. It was quite literally the straw that broke the camels back and Israel responded, harshly I might add. This is what set it off and the ignorant are eager to ignore this fact. Now we see SBS giving us that Gaza now has 25,000 casualties, and several sources give us the starting point. It wasn’t Israel, it was Hamas and we better wake up and we need to wake up fast.

The guardian (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/18/evidence-points-to-systematic-use-of-rape-by-hamas-in-7-october-attacks) gives us ‘Evidence points to systematic use of rape and sexual violence by Hamas in 7 October attacks’ with the text “Israel’s top police investigations unit, Lahav 433, is still poring over 50,000 pieces of visual evidence and 1,500 witness testimonies, and says it is unable to put a number on how many women and girls suffered gender-based violence”, so how many media outlets gave us that part of the equation, or how many media outlets give us the fact (recorded by IDF) that Hamas has weapons caches and connecting tunnels straight into Gaza hospitals. None of the hospital staff ever came forward with that, did they? When you add these parts to the equation we see that Israel pretty much has no choice and as long as Gaza protects Hamas, they are in for a rough ride and soon they will stand alone. 

Standing alone?
Yes, you see what Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates clearly see is that Hamas is not some muslim solution. They are a liability and they are a danger to middle eastern stability. The moment that comes out clearly to all muslims, Hamas will be deserted by the population of Saudi Arabia, The Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt and Oman (I’m not sure where Iraq stands). In that setting Qatar giving refuge to the heads of Hamas will have to choose to be out of the game or throw Hamas out. Qatar for now has Al Jazeera, when the KSA starts its international English news channel that advantage is gone. As such Qatar will have to openly side with Iran or be made the irrelevant player of the Middle East. In that regard when the UAE and KSA do start the stability setting, Egypt will get on board fast because of the economic benefits, as will Oman, as will Bahrain. The rest will have to chose and as I see it that leaves very little options for Hamas, they were close to irrelevant 5 years ago, now they are out of options. And the middle east needs stability, something America is fearful of. They had a good thing going in instability. Now the game changes and the largest economic hub could be the middle east by 2032. The EU is in shambles, it is all about presentations and not about providing results, merely quoting the image of results (where did I see that before?) Overall the larger game for the middle east is to set a table with the largest players. I believe the three players are Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Egypt, the rest is not unimportant, but these three are the founding pillars. When that happens Hamas is a liability and Iran becomes obsolete. So where will Qatar end? Hard to say, it largely depends on Qatar handles that situation, but as long as it gives refuge to Hamas their options will be dwindling down and I reckon faster than they are happy about, especially after the KSA starts its global English news channel. 

Yes, they are all facts, but in the end my point of view is speculative, no matter how many facts surround this. When you start looking at some of the actions and the inability of the media to give us facts. Where can we look? Consider that the media has been soft on Houthi activities for three years, now that they are attacking ships and impeding profits, now they are all out on these Houthi’s? These terrorists? So where were they in the last three years when Hezbollah allegedly and Iran were supplying these forces with arms and drones. Where was the media when Iran backed Houthis were attacking civilian Saudi targets? Investigate for yourself and see what we weren’t told. Consider these parts when forming your point of view instead of blatantly following the colour of ignorance.

Enjoy the weekend.

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January 20, 2024 · 15:53

The tables are starting to turn

This is a setting I always saw coming.It wasn’t magic or predestination, it was simple presumption. Presumption is speculation based on evidence, on facts. The BBC puts out a near perfect article (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-67986611) where we see ‘What happens when you think AI is lying about you?’ There are several brilliant sides to it, as such it is best to read it for yourself. But I will use a few parts of it because there is a larger playing field in consideration. The first to realise is that AI does not exist, not yet. 

As such when we see ““Illegal content… means that the content must amount to a criminal offence, so it doesn’t cover civil wrongs like defamation. A person would have to follow civil procedures to take action,” it said. Essentially, I would need a lawyer. There are a handful of ongoing legal cases round the world, but no precedent as yet.”

This is actually a much larger setting then people realise. You see “AI algorithms are only as objective as the data they are trained on, and if that data is biased or incomplete, the algorithm will reflect those biases” Yet the larger truth is that AI does not exist, it is Machine Learning or better, as such it took a programmer, a programmer implies corporate liability. That is what corporations fear, that is why everything is as muddled as possible. I reckon that Google, Microsoft and all others making AI claims are fearing. You see when you consider “The second told me I was in “unchartered territory” in England and Wales. She confirmed that what had happened to me could be considered defamation, because I was identifiable and the list had been published. But she also said the onus would be on me to prove the content was harmful. I’d have to demonstrate that being a journalist accused of spreading misinformation was bad news for me.” I believe it is a little less simple than that. You see algorithm implies programming, as such the victim has a right to demand the algorithm be put out in court for scrutiny. The lines that resulted in defamation should be open to scrutiny and that is what big-tech fears at present, because AI does not exist. It is all based on collected data and that data should be verified by the legal team of the victim and that stops everything for the revenue hungry corporations. 

In addition I would like to add an article, also by the BBC (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-68025677) called ‘DPD error caused chatbot to swear at customer’. It clearly implies that a programmer was involved. If language skills involve swearing, who put the swear words there? When did your youngest one start to swear? They all do at some point. So what triggered this? Now consider that machine learning requires data, so where is that swear data coming from? Who inclined or instituted that to be used? So when you see ““An error occurred after a system update yesterday. The AI element was immediately disabled and is currently being updated.” Before the change could be made, however, word of the mix-up spread across social media after being spotted by a customer. One particular post was viewed 800,000 times in 24 hours, as people gleefully shared the latest botched attempt by a company to incorporate AI into its business.” Consider that AI does not exist, consider that swear words are somehow part of that library, then consider that a programmer made a booboo (this is always allowed to happen) and they are ‘updating’ this. A system is being updated to use a word library. Now consider the two separate events as one and see how much danger the revenue hungry corporations have placed themselves in. When you go by ‘Trust but verify’ we can make all kinds of assumptions, but data is the centre of that core with two circles forming a Venn diagram. One circle is data, the other is programming. Now watch how big-tech is worried, because when this goes wrong, it goes wrong in a big way and they would be accountable for billions in pay outs. It will not be a small amount and it will be almost everywhere. The one case of a defamed journalist is one and in this day and age not the smallest setting. The second is that these systems will address customers. Some will take offence and some will take these companies to court. So how much funds did they think that they could safe with these systems? All to save on a dozen employees? A setting that will decide the fate of a lot of companies and that is what some fear. Until the media and several other dodo’s start realising that AI doesn’t yet exist. At that point the court cases will explode. It will be about a firm, their programmer and the wrong implementation of data. I reckon that within 2-3 years there will be an explosion of defamation cases all over the world. The places relying on Common Law will probably be getting more and sooner than Civil Law nations, but they will both face a harsh reality. It is all gravy whilst the revenue hungry sales people are involved. When the court cases come shining through those firms will have to face harsh internal actions. That is speculation on my side, but based on the data I see at present it seems like a clear case of  precise presumption which is what the BBC in part is showing us, no matter how courts aren’t ready. In torts there are cases and this is a setting staged on programmers and data, no mystery there and that could cost those hiding behind AI are facing. It is merely my point of view, but I feel that I am closer to the truth than many others evangelising whatever they call AI.

Enjoy the weekend.

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January 19, 2024 · 20:19

The other colour

That is what is ended up being. It started with the thoughts of ‘Pink is the colour of ignorance’, a story that might still make it, but I want to add more evidence. The Guardian had a good start, but it is more than that and I need to tag it. The other colour is green, the colour of dollars. Reuters give us some parts of it, but my mind is asking questions. Questions aren’t voiced by the media at present. As such we start with Reuters (at https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-invest-1-billion-uk-data-centre-2024-01-18/) where we are given ‘Google to invest $1 billion in UK data centre’ and this comes with the added text “It also comes weeks after Microsoft unveiled plans to pump 2.5 billion pounds ($3.2 billion) into Britain over three years, including in growing its data centre capacity, to underpin future AI services.” The math doesn’t work, especially now. You see UK pushed away from the EU and all this sets a weird station. I know that any data centre costs money and I have no idea how much. One argument is that a data center of the size that Facebook or Google might use would cost from $250 million to $500 million, so why is Google spending twice that and why is Microsoft spending 250% more than that? Now the twice I could get. Operational cost, rising energy costs and when you add that up you might get to 750 million and that is only 250 million away from the leap that Google is stating. 

Sp when you look at that setting we see two bulls fighting for the same population (Google and Microstupid) but the larger question becomes is why? Why spend that much to cater to 68 million people in the United Kingdom. It is not just services, it is data and data collection. To what degree is anyones guess, but wonder why Microsoft would spend $2,500,000,000 to service 68 million people. I am wondering who is buttering the sandwich of whom. I tend to distrust Microsoft, there have been too many issues and they have lost too many battles. Is this desperation? 

The open field
The questions in the open field is not the UK, you see if these two are there they are already growing in the Middle East or they are about to. You see, these investments make sense in the UAE with 9.5 million and Saudi Arabia with 36 million. Apart from their populations both these players will have exploding infrastructure needs (The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia more than the UAE), but the UAE is on a steep incline of services and services needs and I showed that in a few articles last week. The UK has none of that at present. More importantly the EU has also needs but not to these degrees and the UK facilities will have projected limitations as one might guess. So what gives? As for Future AI services. AI does not yet exist and the Machine Learning solutions are all massively dependent on data, something Microsoft is still short of. As I ponder more sides to this, I see more issues and also Huawei now has a data center in Abu Dhabi, giving them a much larger advantage in a place where cash is still king, or better stated cash has a more robust voice, more than the UK can muster at any given time before January 2026. 

As such there are issues and even as none of this is on Reuters (important to know), the setting is that the lack of visibility in several directions make me wonder where these two are going. No matter how good we think of Google (I still do) they both need data, Google to remain top dog and Microsoft to not be as irrelevant as they made themselves to be. 

Sides no one is looking at and I merely wonder why. Are they in a flim flam spin by Microsoft marketing? Do too many believe the shallowness of Microsoft presentations? Your guess is as good as mine, but when you start digging into actual sources that remain true non-biassed the math does not add up. At least for me it does not and I am not economist or econometrical engineer. Data is its own currency, the problem is that when it is the only currency remaining those who have it get access to everything, the rest do not.

Just a thought, enjoy your Friday.

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January 18, 2024 · 20:58

Here come the eardrums

Yup, it is about sound and for a second the BBC woke me up (they tend to do that). There we see (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-68004968) ‘Gamers at risk of irreversible hearing loss and tinnitus’. I never was in a position to play music too loud, or play games too loud. I at times had my earphones and the music was up by a little. But some devices (like my MD player) had the ability to limit earphone volume to protect my hearing. Huh, what? Yes, hearing. So to read this article where we are given “The new review suggests that gamers play for long periods of time with the volume turned up, beyond safe limits. It says this could contribute to irreversible hearing loss or tinnitus, a constant ringing in the ears.” We are also given that this test was done in over 14 studies which in total involved more than 50,000 people. Now I have an issue with this. It implies that these studies had no more than 5,000 people each. This is not enough, but should not be dismissed out of hand because of it. Then there was “Some of the studies they looked at went back to the 1990s, when the gaming world was very different to now.” So the ‘damage’ is larger. It is over a much longer time making me question if a real medical investigation was done. In the 90’s games weren’t taken seriously, hardware was to some degree a joke (compared to today). Sound started to come through with the Soundblaster in 1990. It became serious with the AWE32 in 1994. But the overall setting was still not the best environmental setting. The only game who took sound serious in gaming was 

There you could be ‘heard’ and you could hear opponents. It was the first attempt to more serious stealth and they did it pretty good. Now we have a new setting. The new consoles could take the entire setting to new heights, where stealth is about hearing and not being heard. Even the Horizons series aren’t on that page yet. It is all about not being seen. Still, there is no telling where they take it in Horizons 3, the PS5 is ready for this. There are some indications (from unverified sources) that Unreal 5.5 will be ready too (not sure how Unreal Engine 5 picks it up). Gamers are visual (for the most). So stealth gaming could make a big swing in the next 5 years. Those who screwed up their hearing can rely on the next Call of Duty and Fortnite3 (or 4). It will be all about the graphics and sounds will be not an issue, if it is you (the deaf person) will become the ultimate loser in that game. 

This sounds sad and it is. We have all that hardware and certain protection stages have been either ignored or could be circumvented.

My first question becomes ‘Could more be done?’ It is not clear, because the article alerts us and does not show where the borders are. It is easy to blame the parents and they were probably the one who got him the earphones in the first place. We have seen a whole range of optical improvements, starting with the Unreal Engine all the way back to 1998, I reckon that sound is soon the next wave of improvements. I reckon that this is also the moment that there will be a huge improvement in stealth games. 

Below was my achievement some time ago. I am pretty proud of it, but I do realise that these Russians never heard me, I wonder how well I ended up if that was the case. 

I do love my stealth games, and I hope to see a whole range of improvements over the time to come. In addition, consider what happens when sound becomes a real player in the next Assassins Creed games. You still think you can sneak into places Basim? Or do you need to upgrade your stealth first? A stage that is merely waiting to happen, if you could hear that it. As such finding new protection systems for the hearing of the gamers seem to have a bigger need at present.

Just a thought to consider whilst I approach Friday in 3.1 hours.

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January 17, 2024 · 21:58

Added views

I saw an article in the Khaleej Times and suddenly remembered a story I wrote on January 10th called ‘The other way contemplation’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2024/01/10/the-other-way-contemplation/) where I inferred that changes would be required. Now in the KT we see ‘Dubai: Emirates to hire 5,000 cabin crew; eligibility criteria revealed’ (at https://www.khaleejtimes.com/jobs/dubai-emirates-to-hire-5000-cabin-crew-eligibility-criteria-revealed) consider that they are hiring more staff than several airlines have as a total. We are also given “In 2023, Emirates hired a staggering 8,000 cabin crew and held recruitment events in 353 cities as the airline ramped up its services post the pandemic”, this isn’t like Emirates airlines is off to the races. This is more like a landslide victory and there are no competitors left. Now, I am happy for those people landing such a job (I am way too old) and that is fine. But me old noggin started to mull things over. You see to do this you need to have a very upgraded infrastructure. Staff care (customer care) resource deployment and so on. That list goes on for a little while and I am not implying that Emirates airlines isn’t ready for that. I am merely wondering that on a global scale Emirates airlines will have one hell of a cloud based system. It won’t work any other way. That gives me pause. You see several airports are massively under managed and decently outdated. And here we get places where Toronto Pearson International Airport is an obvious first mention. So how will Emirates airlines go about it? It could create new hubs on a global setting, but that too requires staff. IT and operational are the two obvious ones. I am not sure how Dubai manages their luggage, but that system in Toronto Pearson International Airport is nowhere near ready if last years stories are to be believed. You see, you can add 13,000 flight staff, but if the infrastructure fails the rest is pretty much a no go and no show. Now this is not on the Emirates airlines, but they will feel the impact of the short comings of others. So is that the golden opportunity for Emirates airlines? I don’t know. But in light of what I wrote then (January 10th) implies that such upgrades are required a lot sooner than I thought and it is required on a much larger scale than previously thought. So whilst we are given “The airline is looking for fresh graduates with internships or part-time jobs experience, those with a year or so of hospitality or customer service experience.” They might throw a few dozen university drives in the mix for IT and operational staff. Places like Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Technology Sydney and the Technical University Berlin to name but a few. If these numbers that the KT gives us are correct, they will soon need 500-1000 IT and operational staff as well and I have no idea if they can get them all from the UAE. That is long before we see the essential need to stress test servers, cloud solutions, operational equipment (CCTV, Radio, Comsat) and various other equipment. And this is not merely Dubai, wherever they have seatings (Dulles, JFK, Schiphol, Le Gaulle) they will need to stress test the systems they use. For example, Dutch airline KLM has 24,789 as cabin crew and BA has 15,000 cabin crew. Now add 20% global staff members for Emirates airlines alone and you start seeing a still image, not a pattern, but a snapshot of what is required. Now consider that the worst (Toronto Pearson International Airport) has no way to the added pressures and I am merely looking at luggage and they are not alone (merely according to some sources the worst) now we have ourselves a clambake. We have 50 additional guests, but still the one BBQ and one cook. The BBQ in this is the infrastructure. It will not be able to cope. This is not in the near future, it is now. Toronto is merely one example. Last year we saw ‘EasyJet, British Airways and Ryanair amidst airlines getting most luggage complaints’ and that was only Heathrow. That list is starting to grow and buckle. Now none of this is on Emirates airlines, but there is a chance that they could drive the beginning of a new global operational player with systems as well. Now this is not a given and most airlines (airports too) will get hindered by pride stating that they are working on it. But I wonder if Emirates airlines might get another option to a lot more non-oil revenue. It is only a thought, but if you see what is coming and 2024 will see another 1,000,000 additional flights, I mentioned it on November 13th 2021 in ‘A COP26 truth’ 

(at https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/11/13/a-cop26-truth/) so tell me, does anyone know how many systems were upgraded in the last 2 years? Enough upgrades to deal with 25,000 additional staff (global) and 3,000,000 additional flights? When you start grinding the numbers I see speculative gaps (I need actual data to be less speculating) and they airports are sitting on them spouting party lines. If Toronto is anything to go by, the problem will get a lot worse and Emirates airlines is optionally ready in Dubai, but are the other airports? I somehow doubt it. And that might be the next lucrative solution for Emirates airlines on the next cycle of events. Them as well as the KSA have a new option, one that they might not have considered. A new system but edged on global deployment.

Just a thought, enjoy your day today.

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January 16, 2024 · 22:33

Early days

This happens and I know it has happened to me as well. I see a path, I see a direction, but I am seeing it too early. You see, as I am learning more and more about a programs called Final Draft I see more and more potential there. Their YouTube step makes perfect sense. 66,000,000 active YouTubers and all needing direction and organisation in narration makes perfect sense and the fact that Final Draft wants to get a piece of that pie is logic. Yet for some time I have seen that Final Draft is also starting to become important in writing the narration of games. RPG especially but it is not confined to RPG. As gaming franchises evolves that connection merely strengthens. There is one problem, the numbers don’t support that move yet. As such a player like Final Draft might back off, correctly seeing the fact that it is still too early. Yet the larger station isn’t merely that they are too early, the optional station is that they are the only one available and as such the game makers need to see that Final Draft might be the only real solution.

So what is missing?
That is harder to explain. You see it isn’t merely the narration, it is keeping track of ALL the interactions that Final Draft is currently missing that becomes the centre axial in narration software. You think it is easy, but it is not. A prime example is Horizon: Zero Dawn and Horizon: Forbidden West. Now they have a new problem, the passing of Lance Reddick last year is leaving them with a gap, one that will be monumentally hard to fill. In addition Lance is one important reason that made the game great. So now they are looking at what could come net and now a program that shows all the interactions becomes a lot more important. 

This is not for all games and not for all options, but it is a strategic part that is not available anywhere. Consider A game like Assassins Creed. 2 and Brotherhood are all about Ezio, but what happens when another renaissance times game needs to come? Having the interactions would become essential. We can rely on other sources and that makes sense for now. But as franchises grow, as games make it past game 2 having clear records of these interactions become important. I reckon that there is another part I saw (optionally) missing is also applicable to gaming (but way beyond that stage). We need to see where we go next and that also implies that developers of resource materials (like Final Draft) need to see and scan a much larger stage of deployment. Gaming makes sense on several fronts, but not initially and not if the numbers don’t support it. Consider one game Hogwarts Legacy. You might think ’So what?’ What is important is that this game sold over 22,000,000 copies. They can make a second game in a different time (and that makes sense), but having the interaction stage will opt these developers to use Final Draft to keep track of all interactions and seek what would be required down the track. Yes, we can scan, we can ‘remember’ but in the end having a record is the best and that is where Final Draft could also shine. The larger stage becomes that gaming and Hollywood are more and more intertwining and as such there is a natural path for a player like Final Draft as it holds 95% of all scripting solutions. Yet this number changes when we consider that gaming crosses borders like no other and now that the Middle East and China is coming to play n this field as well gives us the light that another source of development materials is required for gaming developers and as such Final Draft is pretty much the only serious resource that needs to grow beyond what it currently has. It is natural to think that it doesn’t have to and that is fine. 

There is also the basic and natural thought for Final Draft to think ‘Why should we have to?’ and I get that. Yet consider that Final Draft is also presumptively responsible for a series like The Big Bang theory (12 seasons) and so many others. Now seeing all interactions in some display starts making sense. I am not talking about the Character Navigator. I am talking about a graphical display on a character and all the characters they interact with, with the added stage of two characters and where they interact. For some characters in 12 seasons it becomes important to light that up, but in gaming it becomes important to the narration stage. What characters did Kratos (God of War) interact with over 5 games. For a lot it is limited to one game, but that is also often because there was nothing to keep proper track of things. I reckon that the future of MMO and other RPG games will see a massive shift in streaming games, it becomes important. As such it might be early in some cases, in other cases a player like Final Draft can remain the only player in town, or relinquish the field for another player to grow a market segment. Final Draft has nothing to fear from any contender for a decade to come, but what after that? Microsoft was in the same stage. One source gives us “Windows has dropped to a historic low of 57.37% market share in the U.S. desktop OS market, a far cry from its all-time high of 92.37% back in January 2009” this was march last year. In less then 15 years it lost a marketshare of 35%. Now the circumstances are very different. But what the setting is in 10-15 years is unknown to me and most others. So a developer can head of the danger, or take a chance. For Final Draft it is unknown. I am not playing some fear card. The simple truth is that for games the numbers aren’t there yet and I would agree with that. What no one knows (and what is being silenced) is that a new player like Tencent Handheld also needs to grow and it will find the tools for all the games they need. Narration is the next big thing in gaming. Look at all; the games you know and optionally love. They ALL have narration. So how many of those have become franchises? Now wonder how important narration and proper recording of narration becomes if there is a part three in the making (or more). The bigger the franchise, the more important the narration becomes, that is a simple truth and lets face it. We all want to be ready for when the game becomes a success. Hogwarts Legacy is an example. It was the first game and it sold 22,000,000 making it the most successful game of 2023. So a second game is a natural thought. Where it goes from there is up for speculation. What is important that there is a gap and Final Draft is the natural choice for anyone taking narration serious. The other part I saw missing was time lines (I will let you figure that part out yourself). I shouldn’t do it all, should I?

Enjoy your day, my midweek is about to start.

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January 15, 2024 · 21:11

It was this simple

As I wrote 22 hours ago, I had an idea. To see this idea, I need to give you one of the few images I saw.

It is an image of Olympus. The intro of the game God of War 3 gives us a little more, as does the game. Yet in the intro stage my first thought (my day one of the game) how awesome it would be to actually walk there. So no doors, no hindrances just walking around Olympus like one of the servants, that sparked the idea. 

Now we get to the ‘now’. You are a greek in the Byzantium empire. I made mention of these places yesterday. The stage is not merely that you are a person. You are shaped by your house gods and the game starts with an old woman. She is travelling and she passes near the village where you live and she sees you. She is an oracle of Dodona and she beckons you over. Then you get the questions on ho the house gods are. This decides where you end up, that field is close to that town. She hands you an old heirloom, it was always meant for you (the key to the game) and she ALWAYS tell you to go in NW direction (and it always leads to a small cavern). As you enter the cavern, there is a small alcove that opens due to the heirloom (but it could look very different game to game). And in that small opened niche leads to a small bronze mirror. With the heirloom that mirror turns into a gateway straight into Olympus.

Now this is where things changes. That mirror is always in the same place. Some atrium for servants and beyond that it is all dark and silent. You can wonder for hours (Olympus is big) and you can start to make inventory of what you see and learn. 

The heirloom will only react to one place and that is where the first god comes in, one of the house gods. Male house gods will be seen through a ring or bracelet, female house gods through a necklace, bracelet or earring. It depends on the gender of the character you are playing. 

In that room you get the first steps. The waters will always run, but the place still has some kind of protection (against intruders), the place has oil reserves (for lighting) and over time as you get a better grip of the place, you will learn about how Olympus ticks. As the first stage is completed Olympus comes alive. You will get to learn how you how to re-engage automatons and as you activate more automatons they get back to the job of repairing, cleaning and adjusting. 

In the game you will learn about EVERY god on Olympus, but due to the house gods, not all paths are available to you. There is a Zeus, a Poseidon and a Hades part of Olympus. And the gods have chosen sides. There are fewer on the side of Hades, but he also adds additional parts to the game. In the game you will ‘recover’ art, you will recover books and writings and so on. It has RPG sides and a massive learning side. I am contemplating to add the setting of adding the ability to learn Ancient Greek in the game. When you consider all the elements you can dismiss it, or consider that this has never been done before. And with that we create history. The concept of learning through games is not new, but on this scale and in this way has never been attempted before. And consider that the God of War Franchise has sold over 66,000,000 copies. I feel certain that every gamer at some point considered walking on Olympus themselves. Now consider that we have one path, but when you finally get to Heaphestus you can unlock an additional path as well as the path to the sections of Hades and the gods aligned with him. I reckon it is meant for streaming systems, but I am not writing off the PS5. A game never seen before, would it work? Haters will say no and now considered how many new IP Microsoft made. I placed 3-4 in my blog, that is the second part of the equation. The haters and the pretenders all claim and do not deliver. I have been delivering ideas and concepts non-stop. Some will work, some will not, but the spark of creativity gave you all that was. What muses could they rely on? I am not sure which muse is watching over my back, but I will share what my mind sees. It is the only way to make progress. A lesson Microsoft never learned, that is why they will lose.

Enjoy the first day of the week, my second day is less than three hours away.

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January 14, 2024 · 22:25

Creating new gaming IP

That happened to me today. I think it started yesterday. Yesterday I watched the walkthrough of God of War 2. I hadn’t seen that since I played the game in 2007 on the PS2. I might have replayed it in 2008. I am not certain. I do know I played the game more than once. But since then the PS3, PS4 and PS5 came and I forgot about it. I replayed the God of War 3 on PS4 (remaster) as well as the original release and watching GoW2 set something in motion and it came to fruition with GoW3. To be clear. This is not some GoW clone, or sequel setting. I believe that would be Santa Monica Studio IP and it would be theirs. I suddenly thought it through as a new IP. More of an RPG but set in ancient Greece. Set in Byzantine Greece (around 400AD) we get a shifting setting but that could benefit the story. I am not revealing too much here, as I am still working things out. But consider what we know, important is also what we do not know and we get the optional setting for a very different IP. An RPG that involves the Greek gods, Greece, history and events that are often overlooked or forgotten. A new kind of educational IP with optional slash and sneaky sneaky (I was always up for sneaky sneaky). Now consider that setting and with two options. Normal and VR play. I do not know too much on VR play as I never played it, but I reckon that if we get this right the interest might be enormous. Even now I am thinking outside the box. Making the player optionally learn ancient greek in the process. There is so much out there and so much to be included that it almost boggles the mind (almost is not always a given). Did you know that it was Aristotle who came up with the Aristotle’s Hole. A pinhole camera in 500BC. There was no film yet, but the foundation of the Camera Obscura is that old. So what happens when we twist that in another way? What happens when the journey is not slaying, but educational? What happens if the game is about repairing (or breaking and repairing)? When (apart from the movie Wreck it Ralph) did you see a game that was about fixing stuff? It doesn’t seem to appealing, but it could be. You merely need to twist the setting on what is broken and why it is broken. 

I myself have always been a huge fan or replayability. As such the RPG has a little snag. You need to create allegiance and throughout the game that allegiance is the guiding star in the game. But what happens when you replay it with another allegiance? What will you fix then, there will be overlap, there will be some similarity, but consider that one part is never seen again for each of the directions you chose. Also, we need to hit other snags. Not complications, merely the outcome of choices you make in the game. So you could replay the game several times giving you optionally other outcomes and other challenges. To this degree a game was never created because those in charge wanted 99% coverage on one game. That time has gone and passed. The impact of Skyrim is making that clear as day and the fact that some people have well over 1000 hours invested in that game is ample evidence that there is space for such a game. I would say that this is up to Santa Monica Studios, but they have their own IP (and they are busy with a new game). So this gets to go towards the non Microsoft indie developers. I still think Amazon is the best choice, but a case now could be made for Tencent and their handheld. I am not ruling out Apple with their Arcade. Yet Apple tends to ‘hide’ in niches and that is not a place where truly great games are made, good games yes, great games a lot less so. And I like my IP to grow beyond expectations. As such I am not ruling out Apple, but I am not holding my breath. That being said Ultima III (by Richard Garriott) was released on the Apple II in 1983. That game got me hooked on RPG games (I had the CBM64 version). 

The moment you think with blinkers is the moment the gaming world passes you by and that is what I did. I removed the blinkers (unintentional) and my mind created the foundation of a new game. One never done before (as far as I can tell) and it is not a small game either. Alexandria, Antioch, Mystras, Ephesus, Mesembria, Reggio Calabria and several other places. That could open a door to a whole range of other games too (not sequels). 

A stage one walkthrough opened the door to. Whilst Microsoft is making new waves (and adding things to Windows 10) whilst we see more issues, what did I do? I created something new. Whilst we get ‘FTC Demands Microsoft Unveil Plans for Ubisoft Amid Activision Blizzard Scrutiny’, I came up with a novel idea. Whilst Bethesda is still releasing patches to a game they released in September 2023. I came up with yet another gaming IP. 

The $0.02 question
You see, what I claim and what is to become can be very different. I think this will be a success (if executed properly), but that is no guarantee that it will be, I do know that. What I also see is that I have come up with several pieces of IP, all whilst Microsoft buys its way to an early grave (with not much to show for it in the end).

Am I right? Am I wrong? That is for others to decide. I know what I have and what I am placing here is a setting that is now public. Over time I will add a lot more and that is also evidence on how those larger players keep on failing. Alexander Hamilton once said “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”. In this, I stand for innovation, I stand for the pathways ignored. It doesn’t make me better, wiser or wealthier. But it does make me more creative and with cleaning data and gaming that is an edge you should never ignore. It cannot be bought, it could merely be borrowed for a time and the person who has it is the real gem in any crown. Feel free to disagree, but the evidence for well over 2000 years have shown that to be true. 

So here I am feeling happy with another piece of IP I need to work out (still working on a script) as such I might not be posting part 2 of this in the next few days, but it will come.

Enjoy the day, For me Monday is now 100 minutes away.

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