November 30, 2023 · 23:47

Do two clouds make a weather system?

That is what I considered whilst contemplating a few things. It all started with the article (at https://www.consultancy-me.com/news/7298/new-google-cloud-region-in-ksa-could-add-109-billion-to-economy) where we see ‘New Google Cloud region in KSA could add $109 billion to economy’ there we are given “Google Cloud has announced the launch of a a new cloud region in Dammam, which could contribute around $109 billion to the country’s GDP by 2030. The expansion will extend Google Cloud’s high-performance, low-latency services to a wide range of customers in Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East”. As I personally see it, if they still had the Google Stadia (with a qualifying question) their revenue could have been almost 20% higher. It starts with around 5% in phase one with a growth to 20% in under two years. So when we are given “Another 36% of the expected activity will be in manufacturing and 3% in the public sector.” But I saw further then that. With Bangladesh and Indonesia in the setting of a much larger growth factor the oversetting of more revenue is not the first step, but it would also result in a new setting of advertising in new areas and new directions. All things they left on the floor for at least two years.

Yet this is not the larger setting, that is given to us with the second article. We see this (at https://aws.amazon.com/local/middle_east/) where we are given “We are excited to announce the new AWS Middle East (UAE) Region is now open! The AWS Middle East (UAE) Region consists of three Availability Zones and is our second region in the Middle East, joining the AWS Middle East (Bahrain) Region, giving customers more choice and flexibility to leverage advanced technologies from the world’s leading cloud provider.” The larger setting is the question if they are going for the same mineshaft, or are they working together? You see, Amazon still has the Luna and as such (still with the qualifying question) they do have the edge on 5 billion leading to 20-30 billion. I cannot be more precise because there are too many factors in play and there is a factor that players like Microsoft ignore and it has cost them massively. Amazon has the edge, but the part of customer acceptance is more difficult then some make it out. I tend to minimise that I pact or go for the smallest iteration and see how far I can take it and  grow from there, as such the 5 billion was stage one. It could be more, but I lack data for that presumption and I do not like to go on a speculative side in this. I feel certain my solution works and now we see with the KSA cloud that only one factor is missing and in all these settings Google and Amazon both missed these billions. Funny isn’t it?

But the two sides do give rise to a few connected things and as I saw my augmented reality implementations there could even be more revenue on the horizon. All sides missed by the two biggest tech companies on the planet and Microsoft was in the wind, they were clueless. You see now why I predicted their downfall? A company that big and they had no idea what they were missing, that is why I do not want them near my IP. I had hoped for the Kingdom Holdings to accept the offer, but they didn’t. The reason why is not important. Now the question becomes will Google adjust their decisions? Will Amazon consider they additional revenue? They are both mere steps away from completion (Google needs one more step). 

But that is merely my point of view. Enjoy the day.

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November 30, 2023 · 02:23

Memories

We all have them. And for a lot of us it goes back to almost simpler times and we miss them. As such I was hit by them when I got to the page (at https://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-xp-wallpaper-takes-spot-on-microsofts-new-ugly-sweater) with the appealing title ‘Microsoft’s 2023 ugly sweater lets you wear the famous Windows XP wallpaper’ I had to read it. You see, I was never aware that they had an ugly sweater and one could say that it is so ugly, it is actually cool again.

That is not me. You see, the Bliss image takes me back to 2004. Things were simpler then and to be honest, I have never known a negative day with my XP, not with Office, not with the Adobe suite. In those days things actually worked correctly. Yes, they screwed it up with Vista, but that is the nature of the beast. 

I was set in a stage of things working, Microsoft not being evil (or more accurately not being stupid). Bliss and XP took me back to the good times and that matters to a lot of people, we all revere the good times we had (or have). The really odd part is that for the bulk of all people, the good times is in the past, in some cases the distant past. 

As such, whomever brought life to this idea at Microsoft has earned a raise. To be honest I did not expect Microsoft to ever surprise me, but they did. And for all the good times reporting they are giving the world with expectations being surpassed. Lets not forget that they just spend well over $65,000,000,000 on a setting that has given them a few issues. One voice gives us “Bethesda tried to make a brand new game concept/idea using old ideas and an old game engine. It just didn’t work. Even modders will have a hard time because the game engine is one of the biggest problems and modders can only work within the limitations of the engine”, you think it is the big tamale, but it is not. You see, most people will overlook the fact that fixing the game is seemingly in the hand of modders. So, when did you rely on your price turkey being fixed by a third party? Add to that the redfall fiasco and you have the making of a problem and the beginning of what I would consider a fiasco. We see all kinds of news on exclusive games coming in 2024, but the larger setting is already that the games they have so far just aren’t adding up. You see I do not care about the Xbox, I dumped mine. What is important that Sony games were better because Microsoft was on their heels, now that the PlayStation has an overwhelming advantage, they might not go all out on the PS6 (whenever that one comes). Good gaming is where it is at and that is why I have been handing over gaming IP to the independent developers (as long as they were not releasing on Xbox). Simple, Microsoft bought it all, now they can prove they actually have it all and have good gaming solutions WITHOUT my IP, they paid enough for it, so now prove it.

In the end this started with the sweater, because that showed us our memories for better and simpler times. It matters to me because the Xbox360 was awesome. Now we see that the Xbox One and the two iterations after that, they are nowhere near what they had. They might claim they have the most powerful console in the world, but the Nintendo Switch being the weakest of them all had much better sales results. It is that bad for Microsoft. We see the mention that Azure is doing better, but what we aren’t told is the simple fact that Oracle saved their bacon. Bing currently has a market share of 3.02% or Microsoft has failed to pick up even 3% of market share in its 10 years of selling Surface PCs. A mere 11% against the 39% that Apple has with the iPad, a superior system. We can argue on how it will come (not ever likely), ore can see that consider that Microsoft is the De Ponzi solution to tech schemes (a I personally see it). Buying more and more and when it does collapse (still set for December 2026) this all falls away. I reckon that late 2025 people will start to realise how dangerous Microsoft has become and I reckon that a early indication will be that Azure users will move towards the AWS flock. It is a speculative view but I believe that I will be proven correct in a years time. The fact that Microsoft is either in denial or refuses to see this is up for debate. But the surprise was the ugly sweater, that win they deserved and according to some sources is almost sold out, so they have that going for them. So what revenue was theirs? And how much revenue are they not getting from their Surface Pro, their Xbox, their Bing and their Azure? That is merely four sides where they never got any decent traction. So what happens when a Google/Adobe partnership impedes on their Office and Office365 setting? How far from home will they be then? Their Office solution is keeping them afloat. For the most their Excel is doing all the heavy lifting. Their Outlook showed issues in the last 24 hours. So when others come calling with solutions that actually work Microsoft will have a a lot more problems and no sweater will save them then. 

Believe me, don’t believe me. It is up to you, but when you start looking at multiple reliable sources the puzzle becomes a reality and it is not a pretty picture, no bliss in sight.

Enjoy the day.

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November 29, 2023 · 07:05

Egg timer? What egg timer?

Yes, we get that. There are egg timers that give us what we were waiting for. I stated on November 17th (12 days ago) “A complete overhaul was the only option and now with BRICS and China pushing in on the little revenue they had left, they have no options now and their competitors are moving in on whatever revenue they had left.” I said so in ‘It’s that time again’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/11/17/its-that-time-again/) Now Politico gives us ‘Brussels wants to beat the Pentagon at its own game on arms sales’ (at https://www.politico.eu/article/european-union-weapons-sales-united-states-defense/) there we see “The European Commission is hinting at a new mechanism similar to the US Foreign Military Sales to facilitate arms exports”, well that didn’t take long, did it? So when we see “In order to claw back the initiative, the European Commission is raising the prospect of copying the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) scheme” we see one thing, but I think it is more about stopping the Chinese sales system of becoming too successful. I fear it might be a little too late for that. There is every indication that China is almost ready to the defence needs of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Too little, too late and as I see it, a little over two years too late. I reckon they ill soon be fishing on the wrong side of the net. So whilst we are now given “In early 2024, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton is expected to present a European Defence Industrial Strategy to help support the Continent’s European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB). The consultation document is one of five papers circulated to national delegations to get their views on what the strategy should look like.” You see several reports are out there in the trend of “Riyadh eyes air defence systems and drones as part of possible yuan-based deal while Cairo plans to buy J-10C fighter jets”, so whilst the Europeans are trying to figure out “how to go about it” Saudi Arabia and Egypt are at this point getting catered to by China. As such we see that the China North Industries Group Corporation Limited (NORINCO) is actively talking to the Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI), who is interested in diversifying. 

So that is billions missed, just as I predicted almost two years ago. Now that it is happening, some are ‘reporting’ all whilst whatever intension Europe has with “on what the strategy should look like”, Beijing is not merely getting its feet wet, it is catering to a new clientele and China is hungry for that revenue. So when was the last time you left billions on the floor? As I personally see it Amazon did so a year ago (but they have plenty of cash), the US government does not, it has a debt of $31,000,000,000,000 as such every billion lost is another carve on the debt stick and the next shutdown is expected to be around January 19th 2024 if they cannot agree on a new continuing resolution a lot will fall away. That was a given, but with Europe now tying to get defence money, giving the US less and already China is in the mix (has been for months) with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and they are expected to score some revenue from the United Arab Emirates as well, this upcoming CR will be missing a few revenue posts and not much is needed to make it all fall over. The larger setting is not merely defence, the UAE will (according to one source) be looking at ships as well. As such there is every chance that the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) could be up for some UAE coast guard ships. As I understand it, it has something to do with the Abu Dhabi Ship Building Co (ADSB). So is it mere consultancy? Ships design? I honestly do not know, but what does matter is that they used to have an American fleet, now as that falls away a lot more revenue will be missed by American companies. 

All this and the larger setting isn’t merely what Politico tells you, it is the second degree that the Saudi and Egyptian deals open the doors for. I think that Bangladesh is next on the Chinese sights. China has a two sided tactic, gain revenue and stop America from getting revenue. It is the same setting we saw with Evergreen in 1989. Yung-Fa Chang played his hand brilliantly, a setting where players like Nedlloyd had close to complete control was lost in less than 5 years to Evergreen. I reckon that we get a similar kind of play towards the larger naval needs of Bangladesh and Indonesia. After that there will not be much left for America. They already broke their own windows with their ‘elite’ approach towards the F-22 Raptor. I am not criticising this. It was the demand of the US to keep sole custody of that dinky toy. Yet now Chengdu has several nations vying for their J-20 and with the range options, that is a thing coveted by many defence forces all over the globe and there Saudi Arabia, UAE and optionally Egypt and Indonesia as well is a setting of several billions right of the bat, and I expect that the USA cannot counter those odds on revenue. Yet there are a few options for Europe as well. If they push their agenda Chengdu will have to compete with the Eurofighter Typhoon. I have no idea who will win that revenue race, but Europe better be moving fast, the early bird that hesitates becomes worm food. As for the technical side, I am not a pilot. Yet in all this the Evergreen approach comes to mind, so America and Europe are quickly running out of time and Europe’s voiced response of “on what the strategy should look like” sounded nice in 2021, but not now. It’s crunch time for them at this point.

Enjoy your day today.

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November 28, 2023 · 18:14

Closing season one

That was the setting I was considering. I had been brooding over the end of season one and the story seems fine in my mind, but towards the end of season one we get to the palace of Hades. It stands close to the centre of Tartarus and is home to Lord Hades of Tartarus. The palace is not a mere thing, it is a structure of refinement and absolute power. Heaphestus did most of the design and it shows. Apart from some small cracks it has been standing there for thousands of years. Even the pyramids show decay, a mortal design, not the House of Hades. It stands almost immaculate, almost that is. You see, there is something wrong with the place, but any visitor in Tartarus could easily overlook it. There are micro fractures in the foundations of that house.

It is made from some kind of dolomite, harder than marble, stronger than granite or basalt and has withstood time for thousands of years. When we see that palace, we see hordes being turned back by the damned Myrmidons. These damned troops showed cowardice, perhaps hesitation and perhaps nothing at all. The Myrmidons were all destined for Tartarus to become the personal guards of the House of Hades. Stronger then pretorians, faster then any cheetah and with the precision eye that would make any eagle jealous. These troops never stopped fighting and they are weirdly enough happy. They get the women, the good food and they serve Lord Hades without reservation for all eternity. But when you look with a critical eye you would see that something was missing. The fountains of Tartarus are there, the initial 44 and several more in a larger area. 4 quadrants. It starts with one, then two and then four. These are the foundational 28 and around that place are the other 16. These fountains are there, but empty and like the ancient fountains we now see in Greece and on Crete, these fountains are not working, but that is also the riddle. They were a personal design by Heaphestus and he doesn’t make anything shoddy. It is there that we consider the one failing of Tartarus. You see, from the beginning of time until now massive chunk of 108,000,000,000 souls and bodies have entered Tartarus and none of them were ever allowed to leave. The number is so big that the old gods might never have comprehended that number, but what am I saying?  You see almost 75% of that is merely the last 1200 years. And at some point the fountains stopped working. But the damned souls fear something more. You see Tartarus became grounds for the Mesopotamian Molossus. The fearful cowards who came here feared everything and at some point some of them became Molossus, the dog from the old days they feared the most. They became one and as these dogs fed on the damned they grew. There were two packs in Tartarus, they were on opposite sides of one another and they fed on whatever they could. At some point the two pack leaders grew to such an extent that they would even make the Myrmidon nervous, but the hounds feared the fountains and they were always weary that these fountains would work one day. So as there was enough food in Tartarus they would never approach the House of Hades. 

It is there that I approached the Palace. It was relatively easy to avoid the damned. My ring brought fear into the masses and they went in an all out panic at the sight of my trusty bident Psychofagos. As I approached the gates the Myrmidon opened it, seeing my ring they bend their knee and dropped their heads. I walked in and saw the initial stage, the palace was truly immaculate in many ways. I did notice some micro fractures, but not in the palace that had not seen violence for thousands of years. I saw books, ledgers of some kind and I saw workspaces. It seems that Lord Hades kept clerics. I wondered why my grandfather kept notes and on what. I looked around and saw nothing of note, the servants kept their distance and some of the female servants were massively underdressed, almost naked. On the plus side, they were gorgeous but it was almost 40 degrees in this place, so I did not have any desire for sex at the moment. I sat down and I brooded on what to do next. The palace was well over 400% of the United States Capitol. You could get lost in this place and that was not a good thing, not at present. I decided to go up and up and up. It was there that I saw the statue of Lord Hades, nearly at the top. The statue was around 12 metres or 40 feet high, it was some kind of marble, but not one I had ever seen before. It was some kind of white marble with red veins in the marble. I had never seen it before, but that didn’t mean anything. I was never a mason or stone cutter. I looked around and the chair the statue was on was the same dolomite the building was made of. On the back I saw some kind of cut out grooves, almost like they served a purpose. I followed the lines and they went to the wall and went into the walls. I looked at where the were sunk in and walked around to see a balcony, from the balcony I could see some kind of half disc, like it was meant to capture something. Up the wall on the roof was some kind of statue of what I reckon was a slave girl holding an amphora. The amphora was seemingly empty. I climbed to the roof which took almost an hour and walked to the statue. There the grooves were larger and went into the base of the amphora. I followed the grooves as far as I could and they went into the roof. I saw a balcony nearby, almost 4 metres below. I cautiously climbed down, only to see that the room was empty. Yet where the grooves needed to be, there was some kind of glass. They were cylindrical and the two pipes were going down. From that room there was a staircase and that took me almost to where I started. The pipes were there and went into the wall almost 100 centimetres above the floor. It was behind the statue of a Myrmidon. I followed the marble grates only to end up outside and these grates went directly to the first fountain. 

And that is how far I got looking into some of the specifics towards the end of season one of Engonos. 

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November 28, 2023 · 00:55

Jokes in denial

Yup, we see that at times, we see the jokes making claims and then we see them equally in denial making us wonder what this was all about. This doesn’t start with the BBC article, yet it is a good starting point to make my case. The article (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-67508331) gives us ‘COP28: UAE planned to use climate talks to make oil deals’ and my first reaction is ‘and?’ You see good business is where you find it and a climate change event has hundreds of people all looking for an edge to make their bank accounts fat. This is not new, FIFA has done it for decades as has plenty of other players. But I digress. 

You see, we are then given “The documents – obtained by independent journalists at the Centre for Climate Reporting working alongside the BBC – were prepared by the UAE’s COP28 team for meetings with at least 27 foreign governments ahead of the COP28 summit, which starts on 30 November.” As such, where is the evidence? A mention of an independent journalist? Which one? Then we see a screenshot of something I could optionally create with PC Write in seconds (a 1983 text editor). If this is such a large issues, where is the ACTUAL evidence? This is the ICIJ joke all over again. Now consider the quote “This year it is being hosted by the UAE in Dubai and is due to be attended by 167 world leaders, including the Pope and King Charles III.” Now consider the setting the UK is in. Should the option arise where the UAE could sell the UK oil at $2 cheaper. Do you think that the UK would not accept? Consider that the UK In 2021, some 13 million metric tons of crude oil from Norway and that the larger image is “Norway ($11.7B), United States ($5.48B), Russia ($1.41B), Libya ($1.37B), and Nigeria ($1.19B)” (estimated numbers in 2021). That means that the UK would save well over a billion dollars. With the shortages they currently have a billion solves a lot of issues. Should it therefor not be done? Oh, and that is if there is ACTUAL evidence on the matter. I am willing to go on faith that ANY event will open doors to business arrangements. It will not hinder or lessen the impact of COP28 will it? And all this is related to someone claiming that they have documents, so where are they? What are these sources? Two simple questions.

The joke in denial
Now it is time to refer to the joke in denial. 

This all started with ‘Uniform Nameless Entitlement Perforation’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2020/12/10/uniform-nameless-entitlement-perforation/), it was my response to that Guardian idiot with its ‘jets for the rich must stop’ You see the EEA had given us a document on environmental damage in December 2020, it shows that 147 facilities created 50% of that damage. I even added that document at the end.1% creates 50% of all the damage and the Guardian and the BBC never picked up on it, they didn’t even attack the document, they never drilled into the data. They did NOTHING. That makes them the jokes in denial. Now, if they opposed the document and handed us the evidence that would have been fair. But we got nothing and now we get even more garbage without actual or factual evidence. Why is that?

Consider that this day and have fun.

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November 27, 2023 · 20:11

Retrenching my mind

We all go through this, I am no different. At times I need to retrench my mind. I reckon it happens a lot more often when you are creative. This all started on the go. It merely happened one moment. You see with the blunders Microsoft employed, I cannot give any support to them. As such Bethesda is now also out of the equation. I redid the stories for Elder Scrolls VII: Restoration and I have pushed them towards indie developers as freeware. Optionally creating more and more competitors for the Bethesda population. Making Microsoft smaller and others bigger. The remarks by everyone’s favourite loser (Phil Spencer) who seemingly said “studios who can spend $200-300 million and automatically produce a hit that will more than cover that.” As I see it. He is off his rocker by a lot. Indie developers never had that amount of money and from them we got from Hello Games (No Man’s Sky), Roguelike (Hades), Mojang, now Microsoft (Minecraft) and there are more. What is important that the GamePass push (as I see it) can be avoided and to get the free IP, the makers merely need to push their game to anything EXCEPT Microsoft. With the Tencent Technology handheld that becomes a lot easier and it allows for a massively larger gaming group. 

Still, they aren’t alone. Bioware (Edmonton, Alberta) is still an option and even as I created the thought for Mass Effect 5 (whilst reusing Mass Effect 4) giving the gamers twice the game for one amount and a much larger story. I did away with the memory points (they made no sense at all on planets they never visited), but I revamped the idea in other ways. In addition to the stages we would reuse is adding a third level usage and optionally different management points. I also came up with the stage that the SPECTRE agent had additional options on Nexus and it would be massively bigger. With Hyperion being larger as well, to facilitate a more ‘realistic’ stage, we get another stage with Nexus when the other ships docks. Consider that the ‘original’ had a mere dozen missions on the Hyperion. Now it will hold close to 100 missions and some need to be ‘discovered’ showing you the engineering section, the server sections as well as bioengineering and water reclamation settings. 

But the nexus needed to be more. Set the larger stage that certain planets could only fuel certain missions on Elaaden, Eos, Kadara and Voeld when certain points are reached on the Nexus. The almost same happens, but for example Voeld when it warms up has another stretch but only when the servers and water reclamation are correctly working together. That limited AI would see through certain matters and it would set the stage the nexus AI wold connect to the Ja Niihk Dig Site AI and uncover two more locations. Now we get into the ME5 part. You cannot do planet by planet, but stages are in play and it also opens up the story to more. As such the one overhaul is narration. In addition to that in your quarters you can listen to all the uncovered narration and also additional storylines are opened there and open new missions. It had taken me less then a day, but in that setting Mass Effect 5 is a lot bigger and in that ME4 becomes 3 times the size. It will make much more sense and it becomes a true contender to the original trilogy. Here you go Bioware, you are most welcome.

Consider the sides missed (read: optionally overlooked). Consider that the cost of Mass Effect: Andromeda was around 40 million. Now consider that for 50% more you get an adjusted ME4, ME5 as well as a kick ass solution in gaming. The idea for the adjustment was essential. Even though MEA wasn’t bad, it got a mere 71%, which would now evolve into a 85%+ game with (hopefully) ME5 surpassing it at 90%+. Another side was to evolve the base settings on all the worlds. As the systems evolve, both Voeld and Elaaden would have the strongest impacts. Still, It isn’t about making a game merely better, the story needs to evolve and the story needs to gain sides. The negative part (conjecture) is that even as Elaaden becomes better, it becomes a little too cool for the Krogan’s. The setting I am going here for is that the ME5 parts will offer two sides, activate systems or leave them alone. Only if ALL are activated an additional side and an additional world becomes visible. They are all connected and with all the AI’s interacting with their ancient counterparts a new chapter opens up for inspection and for interacting. 

It is hard to look into the Archon. They were never my invention, as such the larger storyline is beyond me (reinventing them is not my goal or my premise or my desire). But with these parts in play Bioware could end up with a killer game on ALL systems (yeah, I cannot stop them going to the Microsoft losing solution). 

A stage that took me a day and even now I have an additional game in my mind that involves the Citadel (which would not be allowed on Xbox). 

In less than two days I came up with a kick ass gaming solution. So how long did they take for Redfall (56%) or Starfield (85%) to shape? I reckon I got a lot more done is less then half the time.

Just my point of view in the latter part of Monday, as such it might merely be me. Enjoy!

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November 26, 2023 · 20:43

Collapsed Intelligence Agency

Yup, this is about the CIA, unlike the No Such Agency, this one does exist. Now, I do not now, or never ever worked for them. As such I am not in the know. All those people claiming to be in the know from an anonymous source tend to be bullshitting you and I have no such intent. 

This all started when I got my fingers on this from an educational place called Imprimis (at https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/why-the-cia-no-longer-works-and-how-to-fix-it/) the article comes to us by way of Charles S. Faddis. 

It is an interesting read and it focusses on bureaucratisation and politicisation (zzzzzz’s fixed). The first part gives us “Now it is run by people who look for ops with no possible downside and, therefore, no particular upside either.” And the second part is “The CIA has proved unable to put a source inside a Chinese bio lab, within the leadership structure of the Taliban, or next to Vladimir Putin. Those kinds of operations require the willingness to take risks and the ability to manage those risks. We no longer have either”

I cannot disagree with this, but I feel it is too shallow. The first quote makes sense, but there is a larger station. The CIA needs a strong political branch and that one is missing. Most politicians are looking for their own gravy train, the CIA ain’t it. The second part requires resources and as China is closing the borders and Chinese Americans aren’t lining up for a tour that gets their Chinese family members pushed towards vacation park Qincheng, people aren’t willing to line up. Resources are close to all but gone. Now there is every chance that I am wrong, but I feel that I am hitting the nail close to the edge.

The second part gives us “No military relief force was sent by the Obama administration.” This sounds nice, but what is the logistic trail before the president orders actions? That part is not given to us. The 2016 movie ‘13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi’ gives us most clearly that from start to finish 13 hours passed. Some time before could have given these places that there was an issue, but was there enough operational time? It is perhaps the one part missing from the movie, but the movie wasn’t about that, so I get it. My version is seen with “The CIA had given them bad intelligence”, so was it a political player or an intelligence player who screwed things up? All speculations and no supportive data. 

After that the article is all about ‘solutions’ and for me it does not hold water. In the first the CIA needs clear budgets and a nation that is broke becomes a problem, the CIA becomes the anchor no political player wants. They will not say it out loud but their actions will cripple the CIA. There is some truth in education and training but that is for actual agents to report on. There is every chance that I do not know enough. What is clear that they cannot hide behind some fake AI solution, they need proper hardware and proper data solutions. Any political push for AI instigation will cripple the CIA even further. In the end these political players will say ‘sorry, this was apparently too complex for me’ and walk away with a fat check. As I see it, the CIA needs a new way to collect data, through news, through embassies, through consulates and it can no longer be some unique setting. The US State department needs to become the friend of the alphabet groups, not having some pissing content in whomever pond they are. The very first need is quality data that has been verified, the first stage of bad intelligence is missing the correct data.

When we look at the paper we can agree on some parts, but only if we walk with blinders. You see the quote “But the fact that it took us almost ten years after 9/11 to find and kill Bin Laden should give us pause.” What we aren’t given and what the movie ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ clearly gives us is that Bin Laden was in Pakistan, an ally no less and he was in Abbottabad, a mile from the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul and NO ONE in Pakistan saw this? When was the last time Al Qaeda was spotted in Annapolis (or walking around without a care in the world)? So how much resources did the CIA have in Pakistan? Why was an American ally unaware of all this? This was not on the CIA, one could argue that the US State department failed to a much larger degree, but the article does not bear this out (intentional typo).

Yes, the CIA has problems, but they aren’t all on them. Some are and this article does give us that, but the larger station is not on the CIA, as I personally see it, it is on Congress and it is on too many Alphabet units all doubling on things and data is a huge thing here, especially when three organisations (CIA, NSA and the US State department) need to start playing nice and create a much better data system. It is definitely one side that is draining all three.

But that is merely my views, but what do I know?

Enjoying Sunday, Monday starts in 200 minutes (for me at least).

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November 25, 2023 · 21:06

How I got there

That is at times the question, even to myself. You see, it all started with something resembling a nightmare. In my dream I was in some kind of mansion. The mansion seems not too original. It is like something from Stephen King, but it is not that source. The mansion was loaded with spirits and all kinds of supernatural things. It was placed by the original inhabitants of the mansion. I was merely trying to stay alive. I went from room to room trying to survive and phrases were caught in my brain. It was at that point that I saw part of the power of that place. I was drawn to the basement (never a good place to run to). There I saw some kind of mini-train, the train was really small, but built to support a complete person. I saw that the train was almost designed in two parts, the upper part and the lower part. The lower parts had gears that were running at full speed. They were driven by some kind of poltergeist. It was contained in some kind of glass/metal bottle, through it were wheel axes. The moment I sat on the train the upper side got pushed onto the lower part and the train started to move. The train was going in one direction, activating switches and ignoring others. It was the poltergeist that was in control and the passenger was along for the ride. After several minutes and after one long corridor I arrived in a room, some storage room but one with a difference. The glass roof gave me the clear indication that I was under a lake, there was a lake next to the mansion, but I never expected to be under it. There were more spirits there, almost like they escaped and in the middle was a dollhouse, much larger than normal and it looked like a replica of the mansion. The dollhouse seemed to be identical and then I noticed the small tags, all saying the same thing ‘In case of emergency’ The room had similar tags, but much larger and I saw a weird stick with a handle, almost like ancient sticks to activate gas lights. Then I saw the light receptacle on the wall, the stick would reach it, I raced to that place and pressed the stick. It was like some kind of press handle connected to some kind of dynamo. The sparks hit the receptacle and sparks flew. A second later all the lights went on, but a really bright white. Almost like there was magnesium in the mix. The spirits vanished immediately. I now had time to look at the dollhouse. I looked at the tags and saw where they were. I had seen the same connections in the mansion, but I never examined them. I saw the cords and I smelled one of them. They smelled a little oil like. I took a chance, grabbed my lighter and set one off. The impact was immense. Over seconds the lights in the dollhouse started to light up in some kind of green, what was equally astonishing was the fact that what happened there happened in the mansion as well. A voodoo dollhouse that is actually working. This was some next level issues in real life.

That was what I saw and it mattered that it gave me the inkling of what could transpire in season 2 of Engonos. I suddenly realised what would scare people to death. It isn’t death itself, it is a realisation and the dream got me there. It fits the stage as the main character is the son of Makaria, the step we get to in season 1 where he ends up in Tartarus could also unlock more. I had part of this in play, but not entirely and now the unlocking opens up a new edge to skate against. Skating against the edge is nothing new, but in this case I never contemplated several settings, mainly because they seem unnatural. It is almost like the adult industry relying on all girls having a case of Elektra complex, no Jennifer Garner required. The setting to use supernatural beings for other means is equally not entirely new, but to use them as some kind of army is not used that often and several sides were shown to me in this (sort of) nightmare. 

In other news, I just saw TechNote (by Homeland Security), the September 2012 version, a year after I created my solution, which has a side they do not seem to have. Now, I do not know all the inn’s and out’s and there is a chance that their 07ED-01-LASR is superior, but is seemingly missing a part. If that is true (currently untested and unverified) then the score is Yours Truly versus DARPA 4 – 0. Some people go through life being immensely happy merely one goal or two goals ahead. As such I feel happy I cleaned their clocks (we all have delusional sides). 

Not the worst case of Saturday in action. 

Enjoy your day.

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November 25, 2023 · 02:11

Stopped making sense

Yes, at some point my mind stops making sense. Even to me. The weird part was that I had no idea whether it was simply a dream, the setting for a video game, a script or even the future. OK, the last speculation was definitely not the case. 

I was on trip with a motorcycle, riding the roads and taking trains in or around Switzerland. The roads had gotten so bad that bikes were allowed on trains (for an extra fee). I was being hunted by an assassin with a chrome coloured .22 with a silencer and that dweep was really accurate with that party popper. I had escaped his vision and I got somewhere around Lausanne (I had to look it up). The thinks that make it all unreal was in the first the bike, which was the bike Kaneda drove in Akira. The second part was the hotel outside of Lausanne. I had room 25334. I have never ever seen or been in a hotel with numbers that high. My mind filled in the blanks from trips to that region. 

The thing that is the most elusive were the roads. The roads had to a larger degree collapsed. They were pretty good in Switzerland, but with Germany’s economy collapsed the roads in Bavaria were dismal, no mentionable repairs had been made in close to a decade and certain seismic shifts broke the roads even further. 

There was a stage where it could have been the setting for a new game, gaming with a difference. You see GaaS (or streaming service) allows for a larger stage of gaming. Consider that a game has more than one side. Consider the setting where you have a management game for infrastructure on your mobile. A match 3, or a Tetris, or puzzle game (or all) that gives you funds for your infrastructure. The results comes into play in the larger game. If you do not do that (always valid) you aggregated average of a cluster of gamers is what the game uses to improve infrastructure and utilities. This would show in all kinds of ways. The hotel was perhaps a reference to the collapsing cities. As economies go bust many buildings will lack maintenance. The cities would become deathtraps. Certain ‘luxury’ hotels would be available all over the world for those who could afford it and local hotels in places that still run would be the envy for those who could not afford to stay there and boosting local economies for those who could. 

It is an evolving idea, but the premise that this is an optional truth coming to us in the near future has been a driving force in gaming for the longest of times. What does matter is how we push that future. I believe that streaming systems will become the future. By being inclusive in more than one direction is one way to go, not the only one, but one direction that many game makers have ignored (for too long). There is also the other side (one I am not ignoring) not all lie the match 3 games. They are algorithms that are designed to make you almost succeed. I hate them. But there are other directions, other games you could play on your mobile. So how to connect them? How to get another game to entice people to play and then connect them to the stage of the larger game? This is not always an easy task, but it is a challenge worth meeting. 

Then there is another path that occurred to me and that one is specifically for Ubisoft. Sony had the Playstation Home (2008-2015) and many miss that open simplicity. Ubisoft has/had AC Brotherhood, AC Black Flag, AC Origin and AC Mirage. Just 4 out of a lot of options. Any person can get an account and can select a world and they end up being in that world owning a house (partially random) and for $1-3 a month the can have a house in a second location. There is also the upgrade. As you select for the upgrade in location one (a more unique setting) you get the second location for free (or the second location upgrades the building in location one). It allows for a new setting for fans. A place they loved they can live there, walk around that town or city and  live to some degree in that temporal environment. Now consider that Ubisoft adds a VR engine. Now the AC fans will get a jug of lemonade from places they revere. And there as an additional setting. It is an environment where Ubisoft has exclusive marketing rights. A place where they can evolve NPC characters and it is in a system where there will be millions of fans. All the places we ran through, but now we can call Alexandria, Aaru, Aten, Duat, Krokodilopolis, Baghdad, Firenze, Rome, Venice, Monteriggioni or Havana our home. As these places evolve and as our systems evolve, we could end up with an actual address that can be wielded in the real world. 

As such our secondary address could become an actual address. These are services now laughed at, but 25 years ago web addresses were laughed at, now over 1,500,000,000 people have one and they are holding onto this for dear life. Ubisoft lost (read: squandered) so many IP options, perhaps it is time to look back in seeing what they could regain and it is their advantage, the graphics are already there. The places to see are already theirs.

Just a though and it might not make a lot of sense, but in 1995 a web location made no sense at all either. Evolution is where you see it.

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November 23, 2023 · 23:23

A dangerous escalation

Before I go into the story, I need you to know something. Hamas is a terrorist organisation, no doubt about it. Governments and the United Nations are bending over backwards to avoid phrasing any sentence that combines Hamas and Terrorist. So I have been watching the ‘pro-Palestinian’ events. Too many are riddles with anti-semitics. And as some spokesperson from the United Nations, the simple looking broad with the saggy tits. I had enough. Israel has a right to defend themselves. Yet, I also agree with the actor Misha Collins, who on Twitter stated that what is happening now amounts to war crimes. I cannot disagree with him. Hamas is fully integrated in the west bank, into its populations. The hospitals (at least one) goes into tunnels with weapon caches. All issues. Now that you know that lets get into the article and the actual dangers that Israel is about to face. And Israel went bug-nuts, more then ever. I get the why, but the setting still stands. Israel is basically guilty of war crimes. I have no idea how they could have acted differently. Hamas killed around 1,200 people, most of them civilians and a large group of them children, people were kidnapped and taken into the west bank. Israel lost their cool and went nuts. 

The article (at https://ara.tv/6a4dp) gives us ‘Saudi Crown Prince calls on all countries to stop arms exports to Israel’. I get it Saudi Arabia is a Muslim nation, as such it will side with Muslims. Also on October 20th the BBC gave us “Prince Turki al-Faisal has publicly condemned both Hamas and Israel for attacking civilians” this matters to everyone. Hamas is now and will remain a terrorist organisation, even if the United Nations are in denial. The danger is seen with “Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged all nations during an extraordinary BRICS summit on Tuesday to cease weapon exports to Israel.” The title gave us the goods, but it is now a more dangerous setting. You see Saudi Arabia is now a stronger voice in BRICS, they have the money, they have the economic future and that has been enough of an incentive for all governments to react. As I see these useless United Nations, the people who would not clearly act against Houthi terrorists are now even more useless. And when Saudi Arabia gets the upper voice, the UN is mostly done for. 

This is no boast, no grandstanding. The last four events West Bank, Ukraine, Yemen and Syria. In all these matters the UN achieved almost nothing, mere grandstanding and the fuel for a gravy train. That is all the UN now amounts to. So as BRICS grows and there is absolutely zero doubt that this will not happen. All kinds of nations will want a piece of that for their economy. That deflates the UN, sets larger issues with the EU and as you have seen in America, too many voices are not merely against Ukraine, they are more and more pro Russian. That is the future we see coming on all channels but the media is making a populist mockery of it all. And now that things need to be achieved the Kingdom in Saudi Arabia is hugely placed to make it happen. It gets to be worse (or better for me) for that. I once wrote the (partial) script of ‘How to assassinate a politician’ that politician is now the largest person in the Dutch election. Geert Wilders, the anti-Muslim far right voice has the most votes. I might just offer my writing again to Al-Arabiya, Al Saudiya, or Dubai TV. The fact that Geert Wilders is about to become prime minister of the Netherlands might make my script worth a few pennies. 

Still the larger station for Israel changes. There could soon be a setting that the State of Israel will end up standing alone. When America and the Commonwealth need to choose their economies or Israel is not entirely unlikely. I have no idea how that will play out, but as the Ukrainian pressures play out, Russia will be in a new stage. Side with BRICS and Saudi Arabia and end up with the tick of NATO at their front door, or make sure that Europe diversifies. The danger for Israel is not complete, but it is growing and Hamas ends up with winning a war they should never have been allowed to win. Because the moment a terrorist organisation wins a war, we all lose, no exception to that setting. That much is certain and the media stands on its own shores, the one with digital dollars, the populist voice. Because flames get responses, get clicks and sets the populistic people on a typing rampage creating even more clicks. 

Enjoy the day. It is almost Friday for me.

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