Back in the day, we had to memorise numbers for when we were out and about, in case of emergencies. Or you would learn the number of your girlfriend off by heart. Now, you just enter someone’s number in your phone and that is it - you never need to actually know it.
With regards to your final paragraph, not using our brains will almost certainly lead to long-term issues and an increase in dementia. If you don’t use it, you lose it.
What I’m not sure about is whether the information overload is “not using” or overusing. People’s brains need a break. It’s partly why we sleep. Maybe the issue is more that one type of memory is constantly overused.
It’s really difficult to describe how much AGI is a shell game
https://x.com/edzitron/status/1866673555775381534
It does cool stuff, but the cost to deliver even simple requests is astronomical. No one would be willing to pay even a percentage of those real costs, causing the people who run these companies to just burn through ungodly amounts of money while trying to figure out a product or business model that can get a return on investment, all while having an overly credulous media repeat their marketing for them about how amazing everything is.
Apple Intelligence is not available when a MacBook is set to UK English.
Why? 
Help!!! And Advice…has anyone changed to full fibre…and automatically been changed from BT to EE. I’ve had difficulty contacting EE for a relative…I have asked them to send me contract details to my email address…so theyve sent it to my phone…i can’t see the full contract. I’ve been with EE for 4 hours and I’m thinking of recerting back to BT. Anyone any thoughts.
Anyone got a decent astronomical telescope? What would I need to pay for something appreciably better than the decent pair of binoculars I already have?
Uh oh. Can of very expensive worms.
What are you planning to look at or photograph?
For the record the mount could be the piece worth investing in.
It is for my wife who has really got into the whole star gazing thing. I do recall though as a student having a housemate who had a telescope and you could see the moon craters in real detail. I fear that we might spend a lot of money though on something that just makes the bright lights in the sky appear bigger and that’s it. What would we have to spend to give us a view of the rings of saturn for example?
Curry’s and Argos both sell 4 1/2" and 5" reflectors made by Celestron which is a good name in telescopes.
They’ll give a great view of the Moon and you’ll be able to see Saturn’s rings, Jupiters bigger moons, star clusters, galaxies etc but not in much detail. If you want detail you’d have to get something much bigger.
The ones in Currys and Argos range between £120 and £300. Reflectors are generally cheaper than refractors but produce a poorer image.
Also worth bearing in mind if you live in a bright, well lit area that will affect things quite a bit and you’d probably have to cart it somewhere less well lit which isn’t ideal.
Ah ok planets which is cool. Just go as big (diameter say 6") as you can afford but as I mentioned earlier consider the mount. There are two types, alt azimuth and equatorial. Both can come with what is called go-to where you enter your target from a library and it will find it for you or manual, or semi auto. Also consider where you want to keep it as they can be bulky. Celestron, Sky-Watcher are two good brands. Reflector telescopes are good choices and you can get different eyepieces to give you different magnigication. I think you need 40x to 50x for jupiter and saturn.
Now if there’s a hint of a possibility of getting into astrophotography you will need the equatorial mount as it tracks the target across the sky. You need to polar align it first though. This is where it can get crazy though as it can get addictive. You can start off with a simple star tracker mount and end up with a set up worth many thousands, crazy thousands when you factor in the upgraded mount, telescope, guide scope, laptop, and the astro specific camera, coolers, dew blankets and so on. Plus the software.
First potholes and now telescopes??
(Cannot wait to buy a telescope for the boys, will send a DM soon…xoxo)
we have a decent one which wasnt a budget breaker ( not really cheap, about 800 aussie) and yes you get great detail of the moons surface etc
my son is very interested in all things out of space and we have joined an astronomical society which is about 30 minutes drive from us, is volunteer run, has monthly meetings and quite a few telescopes, ive since seen the rings on saturn, jupiters lines ( not the storm), the galilean moons and all sorts of interesting stuff, but the talks and meetings are really what interests us…
if you have anything even remotely like the club we have, near you i would urge you to join that before getting a telescope…so much more rewarding
So when the moon is waxing or waning, do they all say “Mornington Crescent”?
Absolutely.
I have too many interests and hobbies, not potholes. I am not normal. Thing is, when something sparks my interest my ADHD or other riddled nut goes all in on it.
I started looking at this stuff coming from photography. Shooting night scapes and trying to get decent photos of the milky way and so on. That led me to wanting longer exposure times and therefore tracking the earths rotation. That rabbit hole leads to astrophotography proper with telescooes etc.
Thus far I’ve managed to resist going all in but i will get a tracking mount, then I’ll be in the shit again. The cost can get scary.
You start off with this
And you end up with this
Watch it: @Commando will be after you for using his emoji without express consent.
