The Off Topic Topic

[Maladict]

https://www.rte.ie/history/post-famine/2020/1116/1178465-before-and-after-the-famine-an-interactive-map/

Interesting map and commentary on the famine.

[Admiral Yi]

Dang, every single one either died or came over here.

[Josquius]

Hide the Pain Harold does a Ted talk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FScfGU7rQaM&list=WL&index=7

[celedhring]

For some really weird reason I'm getting a lot of ads thinking I'm a British expat living in Spain. Many Brexit-related ones from the UK government even (like reminding me to make sure of my residency status) 

Maybe because I overwhelmingly use English on the web? (Fucking scary if they track that, I really should get serious with cookies).

[The Brain]

For some really weird reason I'm getting a lot of ads as if I were a British expat living in Spain. Many Brexit-related ones from the UK government even (like reminding me to make sure of my residency status) 

Maybe because I overwhelmingly use English on the web?

How much "oi" and "guvnor" do you actually use online?

[The Larch]

Maybe because I overwhelmingly use English on the web? (Fucking scary if they track that, I really should get serious with cookies).

Either that or the kind of websites you visit.

[celedhring]

I check the Guardian daily but that's about the only UK site I visit.

Unless compulsively watching Mitchell & Webb videos on YouTube counts 

[Iormlund]

For some really weird reason I'm getting a lot of ads thinking I'm a British expat living in Spain. Many Brexit-related ones from the UK government even (like reminding me to make sure of my residency status) 

Maybe because I overwhelmingly use English on the web? (Fucking scary if they track that, I really should get serious with cookies).

I've always had ads like those, despite being fairly aggressive against cookies. IIRC language is one of the things your browser will provide to a site.

[Sheilbh]

It seems "doing a Piers" has become a thing on Good Morning Britain.

Former soap star Patsy Palmer (Bianca from Eastenders) was doing an interview but wasn't happy that it had been introduced and subtitled as her being "addicted to wellness guru". So she announced she was going to "do a Piers" and turned off Zoom

I can only hope this introduces a new element of chaos into daytime TV.

[garbon]

https://www.standard.co.uk/business/brewdog-trunki-and-cupawine-dragons-den-rejects-innovation-b924418.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1615902333

Brewdog, Trunki and Cup-A-Wine: Ten Dragons' Den rejects now worth billions

They may be, as the credits suggest, five of Britain's wealthiest and most enterprising business leaders.

But over the past 15 years - despite sealing 276 deals with 1,000 entrepreneurs worth £22million - the business titans of BBC's Dragon's Den have not always got it right.

As the 18th series prepares to air, showing for the first time on BBC One rather than BBC Two, researchers from money.co.uk pulled together a list of the 10 biggest ideas that got away.

BREWDOG
BrewDog produces various types of ales and lagers, it is also a multinational brewery and pub chain based in Ellon, Scotland.

Back in 2009, James Watt and Martin Dickie applied to go on Dragons' Den and pitch to the Dragons.

However, they were later told by the producers that the business wasn't a good-enough investment proposition for the Dragons, so at the last minute, it was decided that they wouldn't get to pitch their business to the multimillionaires. BrewDog owners say their pitch would have seen them offer the Dragons 20% of BrewDog for a £100,000 investment.

The setback forced them to go back to the drawing board in terms of how to finance the business. As a result, they created a model that lets the people who enjoy Brewdog beer own a part of the company. They offered crowdfunding shares totalling £2m, equating to 8% of the capital of the company, to raise money.

They now have a community of over 75,000 Equity Punk investors all over the world who are the heart and soul of the business.

BrewDog has gone on to be a success which is currently valued at £2bn and which has raised over £250m. Had they been able to pitch (and had any of the Dragons invested) that £100,000 would now be worth a whopping £360m.

...

[Grey Fox]

God, I hate that series of show.

[Sheilbh]

An open poll on who we would elect as head of state. Tories - Prince William, Labour - David Attenborough, Lib Dems - the Queen (absolishing the monarchy and electing the Queen as President is peak Lib Dem energy ).

Huge fan of the 4% of people who voted for themselves

[Habbaku]

I'd like to see that list whittled down to all possible Royals and then see how people vote.

[Valmy]

That would be important polling data before the Sejm meets to elect the monarch.

[mongers]

RIP Sabine Schmitz.

Sabine Schmitz: Former racing driver and Top Gear presenter dies aged 51

Former Top Gear presenter Sabine Schmitz - famous for being the only woman to win the Nurburgring 24 Hours - has died aged 51.

Schmitz said last year that she had been diagnosed with cancer in 2017.

Schmitz had become synonymous with the Nurburgring Nordschleife, the 14-mile circuit in Germany that is renowned as the toughest in the world.

She won the 24-hour touring car race at the track twice, in 1996 and 1997, driving a BMW M3.

She became known as the "Queen of the Nurburgring" and estimated she had driven around the track more than 20,000 times.

Schmitz later gained acclaim for an appearance on Top Gear in 2004 in which she drove a van around the track, and subsequently became a presenter on the show alongside Chris Evans in 2016.

.....

https://www.bbc.com/sport/motorsport/56420308