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athos77

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Corporate real estate is on a 'cliff edge' as firms race to rethink communal spaces (www.bbc.com)

As more employees work from home in the hybrid-work era, many companies are finding they need smaller offices. Compared to pre-pandemic floorplans designed to house as many workers as possible, more businesses are looking towards more compact but higher-quality spaces for the future....

athos77 ,

From what I understand, you can convert a lot of buildings that were built before the middle of the century; it's the massive onees that are the issue. Older buildings were designed to let in light and air from the outside. If you break them into apartments, you can get something that's a reasonable size with windows.

But if you try to convert one of those massive square skyscrapers, you run into issues. You could break each floor into a set of massive apartments, but there aren't enough people who can afford them. You can make really long, thin apartments with windows at one end, but most people don't want to live in something that's 10-15 feet wide, a third of a city block long, with windows at one end. Or you can put the apartments around the edges and then do something with the center space; say, put tenant storage space every 3 floors, a gym every 8 floors, a play area every 5 floors, etc. But that raises the cost of the apartments and incurs monthly fees to clean and maintain those areas.

athos77 ,

But there are too many people with huge sums of money invested to allow a cataclysmic event to happen, and for swathes of cities to become ghost towns. [...] vacated commercial buildings are set to be updated, transforming areas formerly packed with office workers during workweeks, and nearly deserted over weekends, into "hybrid destinations" filled with greater green spaces, pedestrianised areas and leisure options that keep a more consistent weekly footfall. [...] Developers might be forced to the cliff edge to be creative, but they have around five years to prepare, mobilise and get ready for the future that's coming.

Lol, this guy imagining that they're going to spend their time accepting massive losses and making plans to convert their buildings, instead of spending massive amounts of time and money re-writing laws and codes so they don't get stuck with the losses.

I mean, I could see what he's saying if this was one city, or some percentage of cities. But this is every city, plus half the suburbs, all at the same time, all trying to offset the same trillions of dollars of losses.

athos77 ,

Why would anyone listen to anything said by the man who singlehandedly created Brexit?

athos77 ,

I'm reading Erik Larsen's new book on the start of the civil war, and he's pointing our some interesting things. Like in letters and dispatches, the southerners rarely used the word 'slaves', preferring to use 'hands' or 'Negroes'. They thought of themselves as a kind of nobility, even going so far as to have competitions where they'd try to lance rings from horseback, or decapitate a dummy from horseback - medieval knight stuff. They came up with all kinds of justifications as to why slavery was okay - they were a superior race, the negroes were used to it and didn't mind, they were saving the slaves from the economic uncertainty of the job market, etc. One guy had a section in his handbook on how to whip his slaves so that they were still able to work afterward.

They were taught to be proud of all this. After defeat, they immediately came up with the Lost Cause hypothesis and started teaching that, because they were honorable, noble men and the northerners just didn't understand Southern people or their culture. They've never truly understood or admitted they were wrong, and they keep pressing that mindset into each of the next generations as they arrive.

athos77 ,

Look up Michael Townsend, he created a hidden apartment inside a shopping mall. Nocturne episode.

athos77 ,

So, anyone who's not in the 1%? Because that's that it feels like.

athos77 ,

State police said they received a request for assistance from UVa police at approximately 9 a.m. Saturday. That was an hour after the university says UVa Police Chief Tim Longo asked the protesters to voluntarily remove the tents and after “officials began attempts to collect the tents and were met with agitation and chanting from demonstrators.”

Oh no!! Not agitation and chanting!!!! How threatening! Whatever shall we do?!

athos77 ,

Fucking bullshit.

athos77 , (edited )

Fuck your genocide.

Israel felt the U.S. allowed it to be blindsided by Hamas’ announcement this week that it was accepting a version of a cease-fire proposal.

Oh, you didn't have a chance to move the goalposts? Cry harder.

athos77 ,

Supposedly they still have several months worth of munitions. Which should be more than sufficient if this is (as they claim it is) the final push. The fact that they're upset at even a delay in the weapons shows where their real intentions lie.

athos77 ,

For years, the site had a standing policy that prevented the use of generative AI in writing or rewording any questions or answers posted. Moderators were allowed and encouraged to use AI-detection software when reviewing posts. Beginning last week, however, the company began a rapid about-face in its public policy towards AI.

I listened to an episode of The Daily on AI, and the stuff they fed into to engines included the entire Internet. They literally ran out of things to feed it. That's why YouTube created their auto-generated subtitles - literally, so that they would have more material to feed into their LLMs. I fully expect reddit to be bought out/merged within the next six months or so. They are desperate for more material to feed the machine. Everything is going to end up going to an LLM somewhere.

athos77 ,

the worker, a 35-year-old South African man, was caught trying to deploy a lifeboat from a Norwegian Cruise Line ship west of Vancouver Island. The ship’s security escorted Sogoni to the vessel’s medical center for an evaluation [where] he “became irrational and attempted to leave” and “physically attacked a security guard and a male nurse". [He then] ran to another exam room, where a 75-year-old patient was inside, [and] stabbed the woman in her arm, hand and face, then [stabbed] one guard in the head and stabbed the other guard’s back and shoulders.

athos77 ,

Serious Trouble, by the further hosts of (and essentially a continuation of) All the President's Lawyers.

Nocturne, by Vanessa Lowe. A podcast about the night, and things that happen during the night. Favorite episodes: Night ways about what ancient people use to do at night and how archeology and anthropology are changing their perceptions; Finding the Void about a guy who lived inside a mall; On the North Face about a guy who got lost while climbing Mount Shasta; What's Would You Do about the fear of night.

I usually check in on The Daily like once a week to see if anything interesting has been covered.

And This Week in Virology, which I got into during the pandemic. Usually the weekly update on Friday on what contagious diseases are currently circulating, and about half the time their Sunday episode.

athos77 ,

"As you all know, we have zero tolerance for not following processes designed to ensure quality and safety."

:ScepticalThor.jpg:

athos77 ,

destroy Hamas's military and governing capabilities

"scuse us while we move some goalposts here ....

and ensure that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future

And suddenly it's not 'Hamas' that's a threat, but 'Gaza'. More moving goalposts, and revealing Israel's real aim: the elimination of Gaza itself. Except, like the Republicans, who constantly have to create a new threat to 'defend' themselves against, after Gaza it'll be the West Bank. And after that it'll be something else ...

athos77 ,

The picture is interesting. That particular shade of green is the one that's usually worn (either in a vest or cap) by the legal observers for the protesters. So it looks like the cops may have arrested a legal observer ...

How do people actually dumpster dive to get free food? Are there any other cheap/free ways like this to get food?

My local food bank can only provide 8 packages with referrals every time before you run out, and I have, but my situation hasn’t improved financially due to various set backs and I’m struggling to feed myself. I’ve heard that supermarkets throw out massive amounts, but have never been in a position where dumpster diving...

athos77 ,

I hate to refer you back there, but there's a dumpster diving subreddit.

And I don't know what the schedule in the UK is, but here in the States, people are moving out of their dorms for the summer. If the schedule is the same and you can get over to your local university or college or whatever, you may be able to score not just food, but other things that people just don't have the energy/ability to drag home.

A friend of mine used to offer end-of-termers $10 for their mini-fridges, clean them up in his shed over the summer, then sell them to next year's freshers for $40-50. Even if you don't have a car, you might find some small stuff you can clean up and resell.

athos77 ,

Aren't we currently sanctioning Russia, North Korea and Iran?

athos77 ,

Fucking euphemisms for 'corporate greed'.

athos77 ,

Wasn't there a list of doxxed neo-Nazis that was leaked a while back?

athos77 ,

In addition to those, consider getting a hypoallergenic mattress cover and hypoallergenic pillow covers. And wash your bed linens more frequently.

athos77 ,

Israel would "move people out of Rafah, the main humanitarian hub in the enclave, to al-Mawasi

Yeah, that's not their plan. There's 1.42 million people in Rafah right now, which is 25 square miles. That gives it a population density of 56,800 per square mile, making it the 25th most densely populated city in the world - and with intact infrastructure enough for only a tiny fraction of that number.

So, Israel supposedly wants to move all these people to al-Mawasi. Now, al-Mawasi is barren, with; the last official count I could find said there were about 1500 people living there in a small Bedouin town. It's also only about six square miles total.

Let's say that Hamas is 10% of the population - I don't think it is, but let's use that number. That means there's 1,278,000 innocent civilians they want to move to al-Mawasi. That would mean a population density of 213,000 per square mile. That would be twice the population density of Manila. And there is no infrastructure. They're just taking a million people and throwing them into a barren desert next to the sea and saying, "Not our problem." There's no food, no water, no toilets, no shelter, no medical facilities, no electricity, no shelter from the heat - and no way to quickly make any of these things appear in enough quantity to matter.

The Palestinians are already on the verge of famine. This will make things worse, and disease is absolutely going to decimate the population. And then they'll decide that al-Mawasi is hiding Hamas, and they'll go after that as well.

Fuck Israel.

athos77 ,

The issue is that AM radio is far more reliable in an emergency:

in a true emergency, seven former FEMA administrators wrote in a letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, the signals that power AM radio are more reliable than FM, phone service, and internet connection. Most of the 75-odd stations with backup communications equipment and generators that allow them to broadcast in a crisis are AM stations, and AM radio covers 100 miles or more, far more territory than FM or any other widely accessible alternative. Source

athos77 ,

We're at solar maximum this year, so the solar flares are much more active (should be a good year for auroras).

OP, if you haven't already, please consider submitting your photos to the SunSketcher project, which is partnered with NASA in helping to define the shape of the sun.

athos77 ,

That's for the app, which then auto-uploaded the pictures it took. You should be able to email pictures to one of the investigators; their names and affiliations are on the website.

athos77 ,

Reminder that musk grew up a rich white boy in full apartheid South Africa and has remained a reactive, unthinking manchild over the years. He doesn't think white supremacy is either wrong or even unusual.

Rudy Guliani Blows Past the $43,000 Budget He Committed to in Bankruptcy Proceedings (www.nytimes.com)

That amount would cover, among other expenses, $5,000 in alimony payments to his ex-wife Judith Giuliani, $1,050 for food and housekeeping supplies and $425 for “personal care products and services.” He was also obliged to cover $13,500 in monthly nursing-home expenses for his former mother-in-law; she died in March....

athos77 ,

one of Mr. Giuliani’s lawyers, Gary C. Fischoff, said some filings have been delayed because “the accountant got upset at one point and wanted out.”

That sounds like an interesting story ...

athos77 ,

Troll OP is trollish, news at eleven. Bye, Felicia!

athos77 ,

Let's be fair (though I hate to be). The first hearing, at which trump was warned that he was definitely violating the gag order and could go to jail for continued violations, was earlier this week. These particular four infractions occurred last week, so he'll likely just get another fine.

I'm kinda curious whether he'll actually pay his fines.

athos77 ,

Even during the height of the pandemic, a friend of mine found a 'reason' that they had to be in the office one day each week (usually Friday, because almost no one else was there on Fridays). Their reasoning was, "If I can do my job entirely from the comfort of my own living room, there's nothing that would prevent the company from hiring someone to do my job from the comfort of their own living room, in India or the Philippines."

athos77 ,

Clever human!

athos77 ,

Well, this can only end well ...

athos77 ,

Wasn't there some influencer who went there last year to prove he was safer there than in the West and they murdered him?

athos77 ,

Found it - Miles Routledge, and he wasn't murdered, "just" captured and held prisoner by the Taliban for eight months.

athos77 ,

Wasn't there some influencer who went to Afghanistan, saying he'd be safer there than in the West, and they killed him? Maybe they shouldn't have done that ....

Exclusive: Israel planning ring of checkpoints to prevent men from fleeing Rafah (www.middleeasteye.net)

Israel is setting up a complex system of checkpoints that will prevent men of “military age” from fleeing Rafah in preparation for its offensive on the southern Gaza border city, a senior western official familiar with Israel’s plans has told Middle East Eye on condition of anonymity....

athos77 ,

The checkpoints are designed to allow some women and children to leave Rafah

So almost none of the men and only "some" of the women and children? Yeah, fuck you, Israel, you genocidal fascists.

athos77 ,

They're not "getting revenge" for him leaving California, they've stopped buying cars of dubious quality from an immature, arrogant, and very literal white nationalist.

athos77 ,

It’s called “Ulterior Motives” and was made by Christopher Saint Booth and Philip Adrian Booth. It appears in the 1986 adult film Angels of Passion. [...] "two angels are sent back to Earth to provide some sexual satisfaction to the mortal humans".

The news even made it to Christopher Booth, who’s been working as a composer, director, and producer for years, mostly on horror flicks and TV series. “Well today, my mind has officially been blown:) WOW,” he wrote on Instagram.

some kind soul has uploaded a heavily censored, safe-for-work version of Angels of Passion to YouTube.

Link to song.

athos77 ,

Funny, I thought acorns mostly fell in autumn ...

athos77 ,

It's UniLad, what were you expecting?

athos77 ,

But in "drugs, gangs, and domestic violence" areas, people never trusted the cops. Domestic violence was considered a private matter between husband and wife. Gangs have always ruled entire neighborhoods. People involved with drugs are usually hard to get to because they're protecting their supply, their freedom, or their income. Is the author basing this opinion on some idealized Adam-12 / Dragnet view of the past? Because I lived through it, and it certainly wasn't like that.

athos77 ,

Thing is, €5 isn't all that much. I'm not sure who this is going to deter other than shoestring backpackers and people who fly RyanAir. I'd fully expect that price to increase in the future.

athos77 ,

"We are currently experiencing higher than normal call volume. Your call is very important to us. Please continue to hold ... "

athos77 ,

I'm betting he chooses a woman, to help undo some of the damage from Roe.

athos77 ,

I've been angry for a while, that the EU hasn't seemed to take Ukraine's defense too seriously (or at least once it became clear it would be a slogging war). They've given old weapons, and pitched in money to buy munitions and stuff, but it's been clear from close to the start that the lack of munitions-building capacity was a big block, on both sides.

Instead of setting up new munitions factories, the EU has been content to send out old materiel, place orders from the same places everyone else is trying to order from, and let the States fraud the lead for European security. And Russia has used those exact same two years to set up munitions factories and secure supply chains from China, India, North Korea and Iran. It took eight months of Republicans dithering on Ukraine aid for the EU to finally step up and say, "Hey, maybe we should build a munitions factory!" -- and it'll be another two years before it's up and running.

I keep coming back to something one of the Ukrainians (not Zelenskyy, maybe the head of the Army?) said in the fall of 2022: something like the West is sending Ukraine barely enough weapons to defend itself, but not enough to win. And if it comes down to a war of attrition, Russia's resources will last much longer than the attention spans of Ukraine's allies.

athos77 ,

Yay!!!!!

athos77 ,

Seriously. I've been angry that Europe has had two years, and only now (after eight months of Republican dithering) are they considering setting up a new munitions factory. Which will take another two years to get up and running. If they'd started it earlier, when it became clear that the war was going to drag on, Ukraine could've had munitions by now. :/

athos77 ,

"meme stock on steroids" aka "a way to launder money to trump". Just like the fake NFTs, the sneakers, bibles and all the other bullshit.

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