Random News not worthy of own thread

[Chips]

Bafflingly odd if accurate

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-52151951

A Venezuelan navy coastal patrol boat sank in the Caribbean after allegedly ramming a cruise ship that it had ordered to change direction.

The owners of the Portuguese-flagged RCGS Resolute said the naval vessel Naiguata also fired shots in an "act of aggression in international waters”.

The collision left the cruise ship, which has a reinforced hull for sailing in icy waters, with only minor damage.

[Mightysword]

Bafflingly odd if accurate

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-52151951

A Venezuelan navy coastal patrol boat sank in the Caribbean after allegedly ramming a cruise ship that it had ordered to change direction.

The owners of the Portuguese-flagged RCGS Resolute said the naval vessel Naiguata also fired shots in an "act of aggression in international waters”.

The collision left the cruise ship, which has a reinforced hull for sailing in icy waters, with only minor damage.

It's been reportedy pretty widely yesterday, the BBC probably posted it now after verifying it so it's probably accurate.
I think it's pretty funny.

[Gavrushka]

Apparently, Bernie Eccleston, aged 89, is going to be a father again.

It's amazing what you can do with a splint and bit of duct tape.

[Chips]

It's amazing what you can do with a splint and bit of duct tape.

You mean money, surely? Wait, marrying an 81 year old when 36 - such a cynic to think it's not for love

[Alan Phipps]

Given the Covid emergency, why would Venezuala want a foreign cruise ship to dock in their country anyway, even if they really did somehow suspect it of involvement in illegal activities against their hierarchy? The fact that it was all so close to Tortuga, the historic home of piracy for the area, is ironic.

[Gavrushka]

It's amazing what you can do with a splint and bit of duct tape.

You mean money, surely? Wait, marrying an 81 year old when 36 - such a cynic to think it's not for love

Yeah, money sure does alter your take on who you'll take to the altar.

I got an inkling of what filthy rich meant when Martin Brundle visited Bernie's home in South America, and Bernie showed Martin his coffee maker. It had its own room...

[Mightysword]

Given the Covid emergency, why would Venezuala want a foreign cruise ship to dock in their country anyway, even if they really did somehow suspect it of involvement in illegal activities against their hierarchy? The fact that it was all so close to Tortuga, the historic home of piracy for the area, is ironic.

It's not carrying any passengers. My guesses for the reasons are (in semi-tinfoil hat manner):

- They want to hold the ship for ransom.
- They want to hold the crew for ransom.
- They want some distraction for the mass.

Ironically the first 2 points would be basically the government itself want to commit piracy.
Now they got nothing, and 1 sunk patrol boat.

[red assassin]

I would pay a fairly significant amount of money for a recording from the patrol ship about when they realise that ramming an icebreaker may have been a bad idea.

[jlehtone]

Ironically the first 2 points would be basically the government itself want to commit piracy.

Wasn't Elisabeth I's England suspected of similar activities?

[pjknibbs]

The fact that it was all so close to Tortuga, the historic home of piracy for the area, is ironic.

Different Tortuga. The piracy one is north of Hispaniola, whereas this one is La Tortuga Island, off the Venezuelan coast.

[Alan Phipps]

Thanks for the clarification. So the piracy lair was in Haiti - but still not excessively far from Venezuala. Even with the incident being near the wrong location of that name, I still find that particular name's proximity rather ironic.

[Chips]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-52164358

Mobile phone masts have been torched and engineers abused over "baseless" theories linking coronavirus to 5G.

UK mobile network providers have warned against the spread of the theories after videos showing masts on fire were posted on social media.

Masts were set alight in Sparkhill, Birmingham, on Thursday and Melling, Merseyside, on Friday.

Trade body Mobile UK, which represents network providers, said the false rumours and theories were "concerning".

In a statement on Twitter, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said it was "aware of inaccurate information being shared online about 5G".

"There is absolutely no credible evidence of a link between 5G and coronavirus," it added.

I keep having to check dates to ensure it's not a late April Fools these stories are so idiotic.

[birdtable]

What is more scary is that these dimwits have the vote ..they have an impact on the governance of this country ..

[burger1]

Oil fell below zero dollars per barrel. Meaning that they had an excess and no where to store it. I wonder if any one got paid to take the oil? I think it hit -$40 usd.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/20/business ... index.html

[Alan Phipps]

Don't worry, as soon as end-user demand comes back up, prices for crude and at the pumps will skyrocket because everybody will no doubt want some at the same time.

[birdtable]

It appears Kier Starmer had a good day at the office (PMQ's).. Boris's feathers may have been ruffled in anticipation of future cross talk ... could make for some interesting politics as the country recovers from Covid, certainly more of a challenge than the last labour leader, now what was his name..?

[Terre]

Fugitive caught after blowing his cover.
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-n ... e-52577485

[burger1]

Not really news but Nvidias rtx voice AI seems pretty neat. Basically it seems to remove background noises (loud whirring fans, banging on tables, children, etc...) and just focuses on a voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWUHkCgslNE&t=1s

[CBJ]

I wouldn't get too excited about it just yet. When one of our team tried it for a Skype call, it made them completely unintelligible and they had to switch it off to make themselves understood.

[jlehtone]

You should train that AI with pizza?