Carl Sagan

46 minutes ago, Anag Ram said:

Not much interest in tomorrow’s game on here. Is the 12.30 start likely to affect attendance?

I hadn't realized! Glad you mentioned it. Must pay more attention to kickoff times this season. 

Tricky selection, but that comes from having a stronger squad. Presume Elder is out? Hope and expect lots of players are pushing hard to make it into the starting 11.

There's new AI software from Google called NotebookLM that allows you to create your own podcast about anything. It's pretty mindblowing. Just give it some text and you'll get two voices, one male one female, doing a deep dive into it:

If anyone's interested in hearing a meta podcast of AI discussing AI, here's one I made earlier. The thing is this sort of technology doesn't stand still. It's amazing already, and will only get better.

3 hours ago, Gerry Daly said:

I think its very unfair to blame him for that goal, it was an amazing strike and went in off the post which means it was as far away from Jacob as it possibly could gave been. Apart from the goal he made a number of great saves, one of which, from a shot from the edge of the box would have beaten most keepers. He's a terrific goalie and is going to get better for sure   

Once that shot is allowed it is indeed very difficult to stop. And it's not a difficult ball to strike from there. I'd back myself to score in that position with that wall. That's why the wall was clearly at fault, and it's the keeper's job to organize it. Warne obviously aware in the post-match interview. 

Yes Jacob looks a fabulous addition and a brilliant shot stopper, but he was poor but got lucky with another freekick recently (the one that struck the bar) and his distribution with his feet needs work. It's great that I expect him to become even better quickly, as wall-building and keeper positioning and readiness behind it should be an easy fix. 

I don't get the "Fozzy can't play wingback" comments. If we had Ozoh fit then it would be more obvious to play Osborn there, but time and again Forsyth has proved the doubters wrong and shown he is capable of doing what is necessary. 

But interesting that Warne went for Blackett-Taylor there yesterday. 

One thing that's clear is the squad has emerged significantly stronger from the transfer window, and it's a sign of this that it's tough to fit all our strongest players into the starting 11.

A Blunts-supporting mate said "good support and a good defence" which probably sums us up. With three midfielders out (Ozoh, Chirewa, Tommo) and Osborn only coming back from a lay off, it was always always going to be tough. 

Any news on Elder? I'm guessing this will be the start of a long run in the team for Fozzy.

Harness now on for Osborn

Any thoughts to subs to change it? Harness to come on? Maybe Brown? 

Anyone looking tired or not having much impact?

3 minutes ago, Ghost of Clough said:

Lucky. An awkward pass from Nyambe eeds to a poor touch from Nelson. Moore picks up the loose ball but can only put a poor cross in to no-one.

Ta for all the updates. Much appreciated. Sounds like we're holding our own.

11 minutes ago, DCFC1388 said:

Chirewa still out due to concusaion protacols or just not involved today?

There is mixed reporting on this, but when he returned from international duty it was stated he would miss the next two games including this one due to the protocols. 

For some reason (surely lazy journalism) the DET has been saying he was pushing to be in contention today, but I think they're simply wrong. 

On 20/09/2024 at 00:22, RamFan13 said:

Made his debut in the champions league last night

Poor Timi. Michael Oliver reffing with Atwell on VAR! Red Star Belgrade were home to Benfica and lost 1-2. They made a lot of subs trying to get back in it, but our boy played the full match. 

Good to see CBT perhaps getting his chance. Hope he takes it if he plays. Feel that's the right starting 11.

29 minutes ago, DavesaRam said:

It would seem that Sheffield United have got Andy Madley as ref so it doesn’t natter which team or formation we pick. 😡

Is the EFL trolling us with the Madley brothers? 

On a light-hearted note in a serious thread... 

There was talk (probably in the "what's wrong with Cashin?" thread or whatever it's called), saying the lad's performances were Samson-esque, going downhill with short hair, and improving as it started to grow back. Which suggests shaving his head for his mate could be very bad news!

One of the things Warne has done particularly well is to make us resilient. There was a worry in preseason that there would be games during this campaign where we might struggle to compete, but I reckon those fears can be assuaged. We will be in the game here. It will be a battle, but we are up for the fight. A shame Ozoh is out, but when we signed Osborn we knew we were bringing in a quality midfielder, and of course he slots back in against the club that let him go, with a point to prove. No other changes necessary, but strength is there on the bench.

That said, we do look light on midfield backup, with Ozoh and Tommo out (and Robinson on loan). Might we see a place for Stepien-Iwumene who I thought looked promising in pre-season?

1 hour ago, Highgate said:

A few thousand people there by 2050 sounds more like sci-fi to me. Musk said a million by 2050 at one stage I believe. Both are wildly optimistic I'd say. 

Space X's tech is impressive so far and I think the project is a worthwhile one in the long term.  But trying to achieve those time frames would just get people killed unnecessarily.  

There is no rush to get to Mars, it's not going anywhere. 

The (ambitious) plan is to have a million Humans living on Mars by the end of the century. But the point is technology doesn't stand still, and doesn't progress in isolation. Instead of an old-fashioned shipyard, Musk is building a spaceship-yard in Texas with a view to churning out a Starship a week. Each of these will be able to carry dozens of people at a time. And every 26 months when the launch window comes around, they will gather in orbit and the fleet will head off to the red planet. But then some of those Starships will return, while hundreds more are built, so the next window the fleet will be bigger still, and so on. 

Meanwhile, progress in AI and automation continues apace. For instance Tesla is now the global leader in humanoid robots, as all his work is ultimately geared towards making us multiplanetary, so a huge autonomous workforce will also head to Mars. Starlink will give the colony internet. The boring company will aid in the construction of habitats. The successors to Cybertruck will crisscross the dunes. It's quite possible that getting on for a thousand Starships will be going in the final two or three windows of the 2040s.

Keep the faith!

On 15/09/2024 at 14:12, Day said:

Feels like one of those things where both sides could put forward convincing arguments for and against this happening.

Think it would be foolish to say never.

Think it’s safe to say not in our life time though.

I won’t lay into Elon here, will just say he’s wildly optimistic in his timescales. Feel like he would be more credible if he came out and admitted it might not be in his lifetime, whilst taking credit for the research and development to make it happen one day.

This is the opinions of someone way out his depth on space matters.

Humans will be on Mars in the 2030s. Probably the first landing will be near the start of the 2030s, but permanent habitation won't happen until towards the end of the decade. But by 2050 it will have ramped up a lot and there'll be a few thousand people living there.

Good to see the other lads chipping in on Ebou's post. 

"Shooting practice Monday"!

Here's a thread debunking the silly article... 

1 hour ago, Dimmu said:

Not even in the top hundred open goal misses. In this video, there are some of them, and quite a few are from the players of the highest standard.

 

I'd say Adams' chance was easier than 90 of those. An extraordinary miss. Brilliant to make the chance, but not taking it will haunt him for a long time. 

1 hour ago, Jase116 said:

No Thommo? 

Good spot. Missed that. Very tough for him with this season's midfield, but I've been impressed and maybe a little surprised how well he's done whenever he has a chance. If fit I'd have had him on the bench over Bradley. 

Happy with the team so long as NML has the legs. Understand him wanting to play. Pretty sure Wilson is injured, and I didn't think Barkhuizen was good enough for promotion-chasing in League One, so it's fine for him to make way. Professional sport has to be brutal. 

Supporting the Alzheimer's Society at the game today:

When she was with us, I'd normally drop in on my Gran in Littleover before the game. She'd ask who we were playing today, and I'd tell her. A couple of minutes later she'd ask who we were playing today. It was horrid for her. Terrible how it eats away at our brains.

Starship has been ready for its next test flight since the start of August, but America's Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) say they won't be able to grant a licence until November:

Starship is the critical path for America's Artemis mission to return to the Moon, which is running out of time to be ready before Chinese taikonauts land there.

Then, whoever controls space controls the future of Humanity, and if this continues that will be China too. Congress has the power to step in on the grounds of vital national asset and infrastructure, so I hope senators are looking at doing that.

SpaceX must be REALLY frustrated and at the end of their tether to post this publicly. It's a big escalation.

1 hour ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

 

Unlike Dark Fruits, I remember watching that "live" first time around. And I also remember thinking it was an important moment, and music was going to be all right, and that this was the start of something special. We were all talking about it in work the next day.

14 hours ago, ramit said:

I clicked on the link, because it's a girlband, well almost.  Not bad, not bad

We've had a few in these parts, some better than others

Dúkkulísur (Paperdolls) were from a small east fjord town, in the eighties they released this track about a young pregnant girl wishing she was Pamela in Dallas instead

 

Ha! I did believe for a time that Pamela in Dallas was the world's most attractive woman, so can understand the song. Fabulous!

In terms of Icelandic girls vs boys, I did get to the Sugercubes' first UK tour, at the Town and Country Club in London. Einar Örn Benediktsson was convinced he was the star, but of course we all wanted to hear Björk!