SleafordMod

I found this mini-article interesting. It talks about the development of GTA from its early days in Scotland, in the UK.

Many people probably assume that GTA is an American game series, and sure it is ultimately owned by American companies (Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive).

But GTA was originally made in Scotland, and Rockstar North, which I think is still the lead development studio for GTA, is still based in Scotland.

GTA must be one of Scotland's most important exports of modern times. The website of Rockstar North clearly shows their Scottish heritage with a Scottish flag on the left-hand side:

One doctor thinks that Booker's 25 hours without urinating means he needs to see a urologist:

“I think [Booker] needs to see a urologist,” says Dr Rena Malik, urologist and pelvic surgeon. “He probably has some real bladder dysfunction. That’s not normal. A normal person can’t do that.”

The 55-year-old Booker said that he stopped drinking in the lead up to the speech, so he wouldn't need to use the toilet. Another urologist said this sort of dehydration isn't a good idea:

“Dehydration can have serious consequences, particularly for older adults,” says Dr Bashir Al Hussein Al Awamlh, a urologist at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York Presbyterian.

Was Booker's speech worth the medical risks? I think it's pretty impressive that he managed to do it.

The fate of boys “is a defining issue of our time”, according to the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, as she calls for more men to become teachers to combat “toxic” behaviours.

since 2010 the number of teachers in our schools has increased by 28,000 – but just 533 of those are men

Do you think this is an issue? Decades ago, boys would have been taught by male teachers, so today's female teachers are a change from the past.

Source can be downloaded from the EU website: https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/api/deliverable/download/file?deliverableId=97983

It's linked to on this page (near the bottom in the "infographics" section): https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/3492

The article title is a bit of a misnomer because apparently they only surveyed western Europeans rather than people across Europe. But still it's interesting.

These survey results appear in the article:

This article is about Germany rapidly increasing defence spending, and also the fact that they're considering conscription. I also found this interesting:

A recent YouGov poll showed that 79% of Germans still see Vladimir Putin as "very" or "quite" dangerous to European peace and security. Now 74% said the same for Donald Trump.

Thoughts?

the current leader of the Fantasy Premier League... is not a data analyst, a football insider or a computer scientist, but a 67-year-old woman who uses a pen and paper to choose her team each week

I guess the Turkish authorities didn't like the way that the BBC was reporting on the Turkish protests. They deported this reporter for "being a threat to public order".

Thoughts on the Turkish protests, and the response of the Turkish authorities?

A guy who works for the EU has proposed (in his spare time it seems - not in an official capacity) that Europe have its own Linux distro for European public sector use.

The plan is to base this distro on Fedora with KDE Plasma. I suppose Plasma is relatively similar to the Windows desktop, so it should be familiar for public sector employees.

Thoughts?

I thought this was slightly funny.

Mark Zuckerberg is known these days for wearing t-shirts with Latin phrases on them, especially ones where he compares himself to Julius Caesar.

Bluesky made a shirt in the same style, but theirs says "a world without Caesars" in Latin.

European companies like Airbus, Dassault, and OVHcloud apparently want Europe to reduce its dependence on US tech companies.

Thoughts?