The Off Topic Topic

[Zanza]

Most problems like this are from software, not hardware these days. At least in newer cars.

[Josquius]

My gfs dad's car is brand new. A very technical hybrid. Her aunts car I believe is pretty old though, a standard petrol vehicle.

My guess is that it is rodents chewing through the wiring.

They move pretty fast and with purpose if so. Her dad was only there 30 minutes or so.

[Jacob]

Yeah that's pretty wacky.

Hopefully when they take it to the shop to fix it, they can diagnose the cause as well. Do update us please

[Sheilbh]

Huge news in Bangladesh that protesters have stormed the PM's residence and the PM, Sheikh Hasina, has stepped down.

There's been mass protests for over a month now.

But really striking as Sheikh Hasina was one of those democratic sliding into authoritarian leaders. Though in her case in part a decades long struggle for power with Khaleda Zia who also had pretty authoritarian tendencies (I think Zia ended up imprisoned as leader of the opposition, but had previously imprisoned Hasina...).

But a big story  in a very populous, important country that I think is undercovered (a bit like Indonesia ).

[Syt]

Agree on undercovered. It's one of those countries that despite having over 170 million people only really shows up on the news when there's another flood killing thousands. 

[Sheilbh]

Yeah - hugely vulnerable on climate, hugely populated, a bit of a workshop for the world (particularly in fabric/clothing - which some think is an important early stage in industrial development) and really interesting relations with China and India.

It feels like so much is going on (like Indonesia or Nigeria) that's relevant to the world now and important for the future. But, as you say, very little coverage (and what there is often just a disaster).

[Zanza]

Huge news in Bangladesh that protesters have stormed the PM's residence and the PM, Sheikh Hasina, has stepped down.

There's been mass protests for over a month now.

But really striking as Sheikh Hasina was one of those democratic sliding into authoritarian leaders. Though in her case in part a decades long struggle for power with Khaleda Zia who also had pretty authoritarian tendencies (I think Zia ended up imprisoned as leader of the opposition, but had previously imprisoned Hasina...).

But a big story  in a very populous, important country that I think is undercovered (a bit like Indonesia ).

I just dived head first into that rabbit hole.

Hesina survived 19 assassination attempts, was imprisoned, exiled, etc. before.

Her main competitor is another woman named Zia. They collaborated briefly in the 80s to replace an authoritarian government, but have ruled Bangladesh alternatively since the early 90s.

Hesina's father was the first president and founder of Bangladesh, but was couped and murdered with his family, only she and her sister survived.

That coup was led by husband of her competitor Zia, who was of course later also assassinated. 

[Sheilbh]

I knew some but not all of that. I thought it was a bit like the Bhuttos in Pakistan but that's even grander scale.

Not only was Khaleda Zia's husband the leader of the coup who killed Sheikh Hasina's family, but he was a military leader who read the declaration of independence and Bangladeshi forces in the war of independence (by the by Gary Bass' The Blood Telegram on the US' involvement in Bangladesh's war of independence is outstanding).

It is decades of these two women fighting for power - but also, as you say, hugely personal motivations.

Perhaps that's the most extraordinary thing now is Hasina has gone (apparently on her way to London via India) and Zia is reportedly very unwell - it might be possible for Bangladeshi politics to move out? Although I wouldn't be surprised if Sheikh Hasina keeps running politics out of London (a bit like Bhutto's influence).

For several years I lived in the most Bangladeshi area of London (and the country) when Sheikh Hasina won power again and was consolidating and it had a huge impact on politics in the borough. Basically the Bangladeshi vote split between Labour (I believe the Zia supporters) and a new personalist party round Lutfur Rahman (I believe Sheikh Hasina supporters). It is still ongoing - Rahman and his party won the last local elections. There are loads of Bengali online news channels and broadcasters based in this corner of London and the divide between those parties was huge. Just the other week protests against the government that were then met by counter-protests by Hasina supporters escalated into disorder. And that neighbourhood has the most direct, short-circuited diaspora politics I've ever seen or heard of in the UK. I think possibly because London was an area where Zia's supporters could still operate - but it'd take very little to kick off BNP v Awami League protests.

[HVC]

Their kids will take up the mantle, if they have kids. Would seem apt to keep up the Capulet and Montague games. 

[Sheilbh]

Google monopoly decision feels huge.

[Josquius]

 Bangladesh is a country that broadly does seem to ne doing well with the textiles industry and all that....
But their prospects are not good at all.
Fast fashion is an area far more under attack than general Chinese mass produced tat, then there's climate change and how vulnerable the place is.

But still. Good to see democracy (?) winning one.

[Zanza]

Google monopoly decision feels huge.

A similar ruling already exists in the EU as far as I can tell. When you buy a new smartphone here, you get a choice of search providers. So this exclusivity is no longer built in. But Google had two decades to build an extremely strong brand, so I wonder how many actually pick one of the providers.

[Sheilbh]

A similar ruling already exists in the EU as far as I can tell. When you buy a new smartphone here, you get a choice of search providers. So this exclusivity is no longer built in. But Google had two decades to build an extremely strong brand, so I wonder how many actually pick one of the providers.

I'm still reading but I think this is bigger - not least because it's basically saying that Google search engine position is monopolist and so is their advertising business. Some of the findings here are really interesting. It's wider than just mobile web and browsers, the EU looked at something similar on advertising and made some initial findings but that was about two years ago and it's been radio silent since (my instinct is possibly waiting for results in the US to coordinate or, possibly, just negotiating a less severe outcome with Google).

We don't know what the remedies are but I'd note that US judges have been saying recently that the DoJ should be "ambitious" in their asks and "if you don't ask, you don't get". So I wouldn't be surprised if the DoJ basically ask for the moon - and I think they should.

It might circle back to what the EU considered a couple of years ago of splitting Google apart - so split the search engine from the advertising business.

But still. Good to see democracy (?) winning one.

Maybe - at the moment the military have taken over. And in a true triumph of HR thought have said they'll engage with "stakeholders"

[Admiral Yi]

It might circle back to what the EU considered a couple of years ago of splitting Google apart - so split the search engine from the advertising business.

I don't see how this would work.  Search without advertising is a money loser.

[Sheilbh]

Sure but the advertising is really heavily uses data from search as Google is the front door to the internet. And a lot of Google's AI work is being designed to mean people never really need to leave Google (so more than just a front door).

That data could be a product that you sell (not just to your own adtech wing) - alternately you could see it as part of individual digital identities with control over how and with whom data is shared.

The EU also considered splitting the adtech business as there's a lot of self-preferencing between Google's demand side platform and its ad exchange.