United Kingdom VI: Summer Lovin'

[CAPCOM]

Green is a modern day Robert Maxwell of the Mirror Group or Mirrorsoft videogame fame...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2020/12/01/googles-grip-deepmind-will-cost-uk-taxpayers-tens-billions/

The Deep Mind Story has a twist 01/12/20

Google's grip on DeepMind set to cost taxpayers tens of billions

DeepMind was snapped up by Google in 2014 for around £400m - but one of its early investors believes it is now worth at least $30bn

One of the founding investors in DeepMind has warned that UK taxpayers will miss out on billions of pounds in revenue from a pioneering protein breakthrough because of the sale of the technology company to Google six years ago.

Humayun Sheikh, an early investor in the London-based artificial intelligence company now owned by Google-owner Alphabet, said the news this week that it had cracked the 50-year-old scientific puzzle of protein folding was a sign that it was now looking at more commercial opportunities.

"What they had set out to do was artificial general intelligence, and this is a completely different route."

He said Google's ownership of the company means UK taxpayers miss out on tens of billions of pounds in future economic gains.

Mr Sheikh, who is now chief executive of AI firm Fetch.ai, said research in areas such as these could potentially yield tens of billions of pounds in economic gains for Google, given the advances are "way ahead" of anything other technology companies are achieving.

https://fetch.ai/

[endo]

And if my auntie had had bollocks she'd have been my uncle.

[CAPCOM]

Ellen Page or now Elliot Page reference....?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2020/12/01/inception-star-ellen-page-comes-transgender-changes-name-elliot/

[endo]

No. Just pointing out that the British taxpayer isn't really being deprived of billions. It's money they never had in the first place. Maybe if DeepMind hadn't been bought by Google in 2014, but it was so that's that. Bit of a non-story really, innit?

[fallenangle]

https://www.theguardian.com/business...tore-jd-sports
Debenhams is to close down taking another 12,000 jobs with it

That's bad news for my part of London. The large local Debenhams has been a significant employer ever since I've lived here: 42 years. I've used it many, many times and usually cut through it as a shortcut most weeks (before C-19) and picked up the odd bargain as a result.

When I first moved here it had an Electronic Boutique/Game on the top floor where I bought many of my first PS1 games including Tomb Raider 1 and 2. I browsed their used game shelves every week.

[fishbowlhead]

Absolutely
I think I read the yacht he currently has moored in Monaco is worth something like £100 million
Just sell the damn thing & save thousands of jobs
Such a sewer dwelling piece of scum

Neil

You say that, but in reality if he ploughed his entire fortune into it all, would probably only prop the whole lot up for a month. A failed business is a failed business, no use draging it all out and wasting more cash in the process.

Then when it all goes bust the receivers take everything anyway, so thats cool.

[Dogg Thang]

I guess that depends on whether they were going down anyway or whether they were going down because of a pandemic. If it’s the latter, that’s entirely situational and, if someone had the ability to in some way bridge that gap, I’d feel they absolutely should. Actually, leading a business that is now putting that many people out of work, if it were up to me, I’d say he should give them some of his fortune anyway. The older I get, the more I come around to the idea that people only have fortunes by taking advantage of the disparity in the system and, really, we shouldn’t have billionaires.

[Neon Ignition]

I used the Manchester one to pick up a Wii on launch without preorder because everyone else was queuing at the proper GAME store

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/dec/02/pfizer-biontech-covid-vaccine-wins-licence-for-use-in-the-uk

The Pfizer vaccine has been cleared for UK use and will be in play as soon as next week. It will massively changed the care sector as NHS and Care home staff are front of line. By the sounds it doesn't change the overall picture as it can't be used in standard settings due to how prohobitive the storage issues are but it means care staff and those being cared for just became a huge amount safer.

[QualityChimp]

Now we do the merry dance of questioning the validity of a vaccine created in record time from a company with a patchy record from a government unable to deliver a single promise.

[MartyG]

There are going to be 100,000s who have already had a vaccine before it reaches the general public. It's unlikely the Pfizer vaccine will be rolled out nationally anyway, given the transportation needs (it has to be kept at -70C to keep the vaccine stable) and it's seven times the cost of the AstraZeneca jab (because one company is deciding to make a profit and the other selling at cost).

The point is that if these really are a vector to insert mind controlling nano bots and trackers into the UK population, we'll get to know about it before everyone is activated into a Tory Citizen Army Soldier.

I won't be TCASed.

[QualityChimp]

It's unlikely the Pfizer vaccine will be rolled out nationally anyway, given the transportation needs (it has to be kept at -70C to keep the vaccine stable)

I hope there no kind of policy change coming into effect on the 1st of January that would delay the vaccine being transported to the UK.

The point is that if these really are a vector to insert mind controlling nano bots and trackers into the UK population, we'll get to know about it before everyone is activated into a Tory Citizen Army Soldier.

Although not a tinfoil-hatted 5G flat-Earther, I can still understand why people would be hesitant about using this vaccine for the reasons I stated previously.

I saw a documentary last night where they invented a cure for cancer, only for everyone in New York to turn into vampires.

Well, everyone except Will Smith.

[Neon Ignition]

Excited that a vaccine lands next week?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/dec/02/uk-coronavirus-live-nhs-vaccination-covid-vaccine-pfizer-pmqs-johnson-updates

Johnson says don't get your hopes up as even care home staff might not get it this year now.

[MartyG]

I saw a documentary last night where they invented a cure for cancer, only for everyone in New York to turn into vampires.

There are not going to be legions of vampires - the stakes are too high.

Knowingly releasing a vaccine onto the population of the world that turns them undead would most certainly have the bar to charge company executives with manslaughter - for an overseeing body to green-light a vaccine knowing the data shows detrimental effects are higher than mild localised pain reported would destroy all confidence in vaccines and promote the anti-vac brigade to legendary status.

If the authorised vaccines aren't safe, I'll eat my house.

[Hirst]

Although not a tinfoil-hatted 5G flat-Earther, I can still understand why people would be hesitant about using this vaccine for the reasons I stated previously.

I saw a documentary last night where they invented a cure for cancer, only for everyone in New York to turn into vampires.

Well, everyone except Will Smith.

To be fair, none of the vampires had cancer.

[QualityChimp]

There are not going to be legions of vampires - the stakes are too high.

Fangs for that pun, Martino!

If the authorised vaccines aren't safe, I'll eat my house.

Pffft. Easy for you to say.

->Open Spoiler<-