General News Thread

[leicsmac]

With respect to defence spending, I'm still thinking about the discussion that began with this a few months ago:

 

On 11/06/2026 at 18:14, leicsmac said:

Additionally, I'm curious as to who exactly the UK would war with or need a highly expensive conventional deterrent from that could have a positive and not catastrophic outcome. 

 

Most of the big names mentioned have nuclear weapons, so does the UK, and any conventional conflict with them would inevitably escalate to that, so...

 

[Rubbersoul]

Am I really going to have to provide ID to use Twitter? 
 

I only use it to keep up to date with local footy news 

[orangecity23]

23 minutes ago, Rubbersoul said:

Am I really going to have to provide ID to use Twitter? 
 

I only use it to keep up to date with local footy news 

Don't forget YouTube. Scan your driving licence and do live photo id, same level of checking as you get buying a house, before you can watch a funny cat video or DIY tutorial.

 

Fortunately we don't live in a world with Ai hacking, so there's zero chance of an enormous data breach of most of the UK's adult populations most sensitive ID information leading to a tsunami of fraud.

[Innovindil]

31 minutes ago, Rubbersoul said:

Am I really going to have to provide ID to use Twitter? 
 

I only use it to keep up to date with local footy news 

I'm grateful to have lived through the golden age of the Internet. 

 

Becoming more and more shite every single day. 

[Sampson]

11 minutes ago, Innovindil said:

I'm grateful to have lived through the golden age of the Internet. 

 

Becoming more and more shite every single day. 

Honestly, I think this is a good change. I get people have privacy concerns but then I just won't use it, and hopefully can kick my internet addiction for good. The internet has unquestionably  help create such a cynical modern culture.

 

Think Britain, Europe and the world would be an infinitely better place if we went back to the 90s and the internet wasn't widespread again, people read books and bought dvds and actually went out to meet other human beings again.

Edited Thursday at 17:07 by Sampson

[Rubbersoul]

2 minutes ago, Sampson said:

Honestly, I think this is a good change. I get people have privacy concerns but then I just won't use it, and hopefully can kick my internet addiction for good.

 

Think Britain, Europe and the world would be an infinitely better place if we went back to the 90s and the internet wasn't widespread again, people read books and bought dvds and actually went out to meet other human beings again.

I actually agree it’ll probably be good for me. Getting me off social media for good. 
 

Still don’t think the gov should have that power though.. 

[Sampson]

16 hours ago, Rubbersoul said:

I actually agree it’ll probably be good for me. Getting me off social media for good. 
 

Still don’t think the gov should have that power though.. 

20 years ago I would've agreed with you, but in Europe, Canada, Australia etc. we've allowed American tech corporations to have way too much power in our nations and continents which are unanswerable to us. And foreign private corporations  from a nation which is openly more and more hostile towards us at that.

 

As for privacy, one of big things about AI is how much easier it makes it to couple together hidden information and triangulate every post on the internet with IP addresses, bank payments etc. if you don't think AI searches wouldn't be able to couple all this stuff together anout you in a couple of minutes anyway. It's not the 00s, you can't assume privacy on the internet anymore. Meta or Twitter or Google already have this power over you anyway.

 

I'm generally a liberal who is sceptical of too much government power, but corporations have got more power than governments in a lot of ways nowadays, and I'd far rather the UK government have these powers than an American tech corporation. 

Edited Friday at 10:07 by Sampson

[The Bear]

ID for social media accounts is long overdue. People should be identifiable and accountable for anything they post or upload.

 

Anyone over 18 should provide these details to create an account, and U18s should only have their sub-accounts as part of their parent/guardian's ID and account. 

 

No account should be authorized and allowed to post content until it's been authorized by identification. 

 

Anyone can and should still be able to browse and read Twitter/X without an account, but not able to post without one. Certain posts and content should be over 18 accessible only as well if browsing without an account. 

 

Social Media companies should be responsible for all this if they want people on their platform, and should be held accountable for any serious breaches in the rules. 

Edited Thursday at 18:28 by The Bear

[ajthefox]

25 minutes ago, The Bear said:

ID for social media accounts is long overdue. People should be identifiable and accountable for anything they post or upload.

 

Anyone over 18 should provide these details to create an account, and U18s should only have their sub-accounts as part of their parent/guardian's ID and account. 

 

No account should be authorized and allowed to post content until it's been authorized by identification. 

 

Anyone can and should still be able to browse and read Twitter/X without an account, but not able to post without one. Certain posts and content should be over 18 accessible only as well if browsing without an account. 

 

Social Media companies should be responsible for all this if they want people on their platform, and should be held accountable for any serious breaches in the rules. 

This isn't really a thing though is it, you can see a post or two without an account and then that's it.

[bovril]

56 minutes ago, The Bear said:

ID for social media accounts is long overdue. People should be identifiable and accountable for anything they post or upload.

 

I'm careful enough what I post with my anonymous accounts because I'm not sure how truly anonymous they'd be to someone who wanted to find out who I am. I certainly wouldn't post anything beyond old Leicester highlights if I had to provide identification. Not sure I like the idea for example of a potential Reform government reading my thoughts on their policy with no anonymity whatsoever, although as Sampson says that horse has probably bolted. 

[The Bear]

2 hours ago, ajthefox said:

This isn't really a thing though is it, you can see a post or two without an account and then that's it.

Yeah and that's fine. But you'd have overage content restricted and invisible without a registered account.

 

You'd have to trust SM firms and their AI bots to flag stuff correctly though. And possibly users reporting it. 

[Zear0]

2 hours ago, bovril said:

I'm careful enough what I post with my anonymous accounts because I'm not sure how truly anonymous they'd be to someone who wanted to find out who I am. I certainly wouldn't post anything beyond old Leicester highlights if I had to provide identification. Not sure I like the idea for example of a potential Reform government reading my thoughts on their policy with no anonymity whatsoever, although as Sampson says that horse has probably bolted. 

Admins here can see your I.P through server logs working out an address and the MAC address of the device you access the site on.  Unless we all live behind VPNs, there is zero online anonymity should the state want to find you.

[leicsmac]

It's (darkly) remarkable how attitudes towards Internet interaction and regulation have changed even in the last five years.

 

I guess it's a sign of just how it's been misused by the powerful and the sociopathic, whether they occupy places in government or in the corporate world.

[bovril]

6 minutes ago, Zear0 said:

Admins here can see your I.P through server logs working out an address and the MAC address of the device you access the site on.  Unless we all live behind VPNs, there is zero online anonymity should the state want to find you.

Now living in fear that a foxestalk mod is going to track me down and try to rehabilitate me by forcing me to watch hours upon hours of Russell-ball strapped to a chair

[Narborough Road Fox]

11 minutes ago, bovril said:

Now living in fear that a foxestalk mod is going to track me down and try to rehabilitate me by forcing me to watch hours upon hours of Russell-ball strapped to a chair

Don't the mods think that Russell-ball is hideous, too? Who could justify doing that to another human being?

[davieG]

BBC

 

Foreign defence contractors will need to invest in UK under new rules

 

Foreign firms awarded large defence contracts will need to invest an equal value back into the UK to create "bang for the British buck", Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has announced.

Under the new rules, companies receiving more than £50m will need to spend an equivalent amount on British factories, jobs and training.

It comes as the government continues to face pressure to hit its target of spending 3% of GDP on defence by 2030, an objective some opposition MPs and defence analysts have questioned its ability to deliver.

Streeting told BBC Breakfast the new rules would help achieve this target given it "does come at a cost to the country and other things we'd like to spend money on".

"What we're aiming to do is on the most valuable of those contracts worth £50m or more, is to try and get benefit for Britain, bang for the British buck back here at home," he added.

The investment stipulations for foreign businesses, which the government described as its "offset strategy", are hoped to increase investment in Britain's defence industry.

The Ministry of Defence will apply the rules on a "case-by-case" basis from April 2027, the government said in a statement.

Countries, including Poland, Norway and the Netherlands, have mandated similar rules to "boost the economic benefit from defence procurement", the statement continued.

It added: "The government is prioritising buying British defence contracts wherever possible.

"Where it must buy defence equipment from overseas, this new approach will ensure British workers and businesses still benefit."

Streeting and Chancellor John Healey will unveil the new rules on a visit to the UK defence contractor BAE's shipbuilding site in Glasgow.

The policy appears designed to make the proposed extra investment in defence more politically palatable, rather than committing to outright increased direct cuts and spending.

[st albans fox]

Say binance fail to recover $2 billion dollars of crypto.  Are those who have lost their wallets compensated?  And how does that work ? Binance surely can’t afford to do that. Is there an industry compensation scheme whereby everyone who holds crypto covers losses if there is a hack like this ???

[kenny]

2 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

Say binance fail to recover $2 billion dollars of crypto.  Are those who have lost their wallets compensated?  And how does that work ? Binance surely can’t afford to do that. Is there an industry compensation scheme whereby everyone who holds crypto covers losses if there is a hack like this ???

The fake money has disappeared to north Korea, suspect that is where it stays. The traditional banks will be delighted by this news unless they are holding crypto there.

[leicsmac]

NK's doing more for the traditional legit banking industry in a few hours than years of warnings about the dangers of crypto investment security. 

[st albans fox]

38 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

Say binance fail to recover $2 billion dollars of crypto.  Are those who have lost their wallets compensated?  And how does that work ? Binance surely can’t afford to do that. Is there an industry compensation scheme whereby everyone who holds crypto covers losses if there is a hack like this ???

what was funny @kenny @Grebfromgrebland ?

 

 

 

[kenny]

29 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

what was funny @kenny @Grebfromgrebland ?

 

 

 

Fair play to binance. 

 

I'm not overly enthused by crypto hence my amusement.

[st albans fox]

23 minutes ago, kenny said:

Fair play to binance. 

 

I'm not overly enthused by crypto hence my amusement.

Never understood it away from being a glorified roulette table or a foreign currency punt where you don’t know what currency you’re buying !

(unless you’re a wealthy criminal )

 

Edited Friday at 14:16 by st albans fox

[The Bear]

22 minutes ago, kenny said:

Fair play to binance. 

 

I'm not overly enthused by crypto hence my amusement.

Me neither. I've thought about buying some before but it generally feels like one big scam. 

 

Unless you got lucky with Bitcoin early on and managed to keep a few coins then I don't see much value in it. 

[leicsmac]

Yeah, crypto is 99% either a rug pull by someone who is never going to lose or a place to launder dirty money. Or both. 

[Zear0]

It’s a phenomenal technology that has sadly been abused by malevolent actors. Decentralised financial transactions for either currency or stocks would be amazing. No banks taking a cut on current exchange fees, being able to trade in shares immediately and not have to wait days to get paid, massively reduced transaction fees, tracking of transfers to know where stolen funds end up.

 

As someone who got in early on crypto, I like it for the value it’s gotten to, but the underlying technology would be great for the normal consumers leaving aside the value of BTC etc. Sadly the banks have hobbled it as they control the exchange and markets and they can continue to rip us off.