The Off Topic Topic

[Syt]

Can't confirm if real video or not, so not posting it in the Ukraine thread. But fuck, that's terrifying.

https://www.reddit.com/r/creepy/comments/1sgc7r1/the_sound_of_antipersonnel_drones_hunting_you/

"The sound of anti-personnel drones hunting you."

[HisMajestyBOB]

https://bsky.app/profile/trevinflickinger.com/post/3mj2pwuzhcc2i

[Syt]

https://bsky.app/profile/trevinflickinger.com/post/3mj2pwuzhcc2i

 

[garbon]

https://bsky.app/profile/trevinflickinger.com/post/3mj2pwuzhcc2i

[HVC]

For Duque

https://www.instagram.com/p/DW56BKSjKYx

[Norgy]

Can't confirm if real video or not, so not posting it in the Ukraine thread. But fuck, that's terrifying.

https://www.reddit.com/r/creepy/comments/1sgc7r1/the_sound_of_antipersonnel_drones_hunting_you/

"The sound of anti-personnel drones hunting you."

The new Stuka.

[Duque de Bragança]

For Duque

https://www.instagram.com/p/DW56BKSjKYx

 

Albuquerque! O Terribil, o Marte português!

I am sure most EU II players know him. 

P-S: surprised no nerd complained about the anachronistic flag.

[mongers]

Artemis II is due to splashdown in just over an hours time at 00:07 UTC. 

[crazy canuck]

I read a surprising statistic this morning and it points to an unsettling trend in the United States of colleges and universities closing due to lack of enrolment, particularly in liberal arts programs.

Between 2008 and 2023 about 300 US colleges and universities closed.  The vast majority of those occurring after the recovery from the great recession.

[Valmy]

I read a surprising statistic this morning and it points to an unsettling trend in the United States of colleges and universities closing due to lack of enrolment, particularly in liberal arts programs.

Between 2008 and 2023 about 300 US colleges and universities closed.  The vast majority of those occurring after the recovery from the great recession.

Education is becoming unaffordable, especially with a shaky job market.

The cope was to blame the students, as usual. It is almost always assumed to be the common people's failtures. "GET A REAL DEGREE! LEARN TO CODE! STEM!" But learning to code and getting that science degree hasn't really done much to address those problems.

[HVC]

History is a lot more interesting than history books would lead you to believe

[mongers]

Listening to a radio programme about Costa Coffee in the UK, the corporate operations guy talking about drive-thru places used this jargon:

"convenience-led coffee occasions."

[Grey Fox]

That's good corporate talk. 

[Syt]

 

Reminds me of the interview with the CEO of Taco Bell (I think).

Paraphrasing:
Q: "How much does your experience as CEO of Nike translate to your tasks at Taco Bell?"
A: "Nike is a product. And Tacos are a product."

I mean, I guess, but seriously

[mongers]

Reminds me of the interview with the CEO of Taco Bell (I think).
Paraphrasing:
Q: "How much does your experience as CEO of Nike translate to your tasks at Taco Bell?"
A: "Nike is a product. And Tacos are a product."
I mean, I guess, but seriously

Syt and GF, someones in media training has pickedup on this interview and blogged about it here:

here

this media interview wasn't our cup of tea (or coffee)

"Convenience-led coffee occasions".

How about that for a piece of industry jargon that sounds wildly weird in the real world?
It came during a recent radio interview that grabbed our attention for the wrong reasons.
Nick Ridley, Costa's director of property, appeared on Radio 4's You and Yours programme ahead of opening the coffee giant's 400th drive-thru store to discuss the company's performance.

You can listen to it here for as long as the broadcaster makes it available.

Having stressed that the company offers places for people to connect, he was asked why drive-thrus are such a key part of its approach.
"Look, I think drive-thrus have become so important because customer habits are changing," he said.
"Industry research from Allegra shows that 47 per cent of UK consumers used a coffee drive-thru in the past year, highlighting the shift towards convenience-led coffee occasions."
And at that point, he was interrupted by the journalist who joked: "Oh, I just feel like a convenience-led coffee occasion."
In the many years of writing the blog, this has to be one of my favourite examples of jargon.
Mr Ridley managed to take something that so many people do every day and find a way of describing it that no one outside a boardroom has ever used. It's a remarkable achievement – just not a good one.
As the journalist gently highlighted, people – Costa's customers – do not talk about "convenience-led coffee occasions".
I'm pretty sure they don't even talk about "coffee occasions", regardless of whether they are convenient.
Nor do they talk about "accessing coffee" – another phrase he used later in the interview. People drink it.
It is corporate language – something we always advise our delegates they need to avoid in media interviews to appear credible and relatable.
....