We don’t need no education, we don’t need no thought control.
“I wish more Republicans understood this. Education is one of our country’s few genuinely existential problems. Our K through PhD system is a vast communism factory. It barely gets mentioned in our political debates.” ~~ Noah Pollak
A silly and naive breakdown of journalists’ silly and naive assumptions about how they can manipulate you — if you’re silly and naive.
Firefox Brings Back
“Brings Back”? Good! I like returning to things I’m already familiar and comfortable with! Good for you, Firefox!
Internet Icons
“Icons”? As I said, I like returning to things I’m already familiar and comfortable with! Good for you, Firefox!
For New
New? That’s good. Good for you, Firefox!
Anti-Tracking,
I’m all for anti-tracking. Good for you, Firefox!
Anti-AI
I’m also anti-AI, although I’m not sure why, or what it does. But good for you, Firefox!
Campaign
A campaign? That sounds like they’re committed to taking decisive action for a principle, and have a plan of action, like Grant in the Civil War, or Washington at Yorktown, or Blackjack Pershing against the Humvees or someone. Good for you, Firefox!
Sick of web browsers tracking your every move
I sure wouldn’t like that! I didn’t know they did that, but I suspected it and now I’m sick of it. You guessed my mood absolutely correctly, journalist (and Firefox).
and forcing intrusive,
Yuck! No, thanks, journalist and Firefox!
unnecessary
Ugh. You had me at “intrusive.” You say they’re unnecessary, too, journalist and Firefox?
AI features on you?
I am not sure what AI features look like or operate like, but neither men nor women like things being forced upon them. It sounds like I should join in fighting against “AI features.” Joining together and fighting are good, especially if these features are as intrusive and unnecessary as you say, journalist and Firefox.
Apparently, you’re not alone.
You are such a comfort to me, journalist. Just to know that I am not alone means so much. It is a great comfort. I am starting to like you. And I suspect, (perhaps not mistakenly?) that Firefox too shares both your sympathy and empathy. This would explain your following point:
Some of your favorite internet personalities
Who? It is, by the way, a comfort that you know me so well.
— and real-life memes
I regret to confess I’m not sure what that phrase means.
from the late 2000s and early 2010s — are joining forces
They seem united, and unity is usually a good thing. Not in communism, but in a “Let’s all band together to improve things” sense.
to promote Firefox,
Hooray! Icons putting aside any differences, to band together to promote Firefox! But who are these favorite internet personalities of mine? I could do with a memory refresher.
a browser
A browser? That’s a good thing. I remember clearly that I need one and use one. Firefox is a browser, which is good.
that’s pushing back against
What? Don’t give up the struggle, plucky Firefox!
online tracking
Boo! Go, plucky Firefox!
and unwanted AI features.
Boo! Go, plucky Firefox!
Mozilla, the non-profit organization
They are altruistic? They don’t make any profit? I like them. I like altruistic.
behind the Firefox web browser,
Again, a browser’s a good thing, and I remember clearly that I need one and use one. Firefox is a browser, which is good.
has just launched
“Just” is the same as “new.” I’m really getting news. Thanks, journalist.
a new ad campaign
See? New. I got there before you, journalist. And new is usually good, or at least interesting.
to draw internet users away from AI-filled
If it’s filled with AI, that is bad. At least, it sounds bad. Like “filled with artificial ingredients” or something. Those are those “AI Features” you warned me about earlier, aren’t they? Thank goodness Firefox probably doesn’t use AI at all.
Google Chrome
No idea what AI-filled Google Chrome is, but it’s a computer thing for sure, not necessarily a browser — which is good — like Firefox.
and back to Firefox’s heyday
Heydays are usually good, and sound old-fashioned.
in the late 2000s and early 2010s,
As I’ve said, I like returning to things I’m already familiar and comfortable with! Good for you, Firefox!
when Firefox commanded
Commanding things is good, and doing it in the past is even better (i.e., familiar and comfortable)
up to 32 percent of the global browser market share.
Wow! Is that a lot? I don’t know. “Commanding” is such a fluid term. But note that it was a browser, as opposed to whatever Google Chrome pretends to be.
To do that, Mozilla has brought together
Bringing together is awesome. Sounds like unity, and also sounds altruistic.
some of the biggest internet personalities of that era
Wow! Who?
for a new
You know how I like “new.”
ad campaign
You know how I like “campaigns.”
called “Come Back to Firefox.”
You know how I like “coming back” to things. As I’ve reiterated twice now and iterated three times, I like returning to things I’m already familiar and comfortable with!
Firefox brings back internet icons for new anti-tracking, anti-AI campaign Mashable | October 26, 2026 | Matt Binder
Sick of web browsers tracking your every move and forcing intrusive, unnecessary AI features on you?
Apparently, you’re not alone. Some of your favorite internet personalities — and real-life memes from the late 2000s and early 2010s — are joining forces to promote Firefox, a browser that’s pushing back against online tracking and unwanted AI features.
Mozilla, the non-profit organization behind the Firefox web browser, has just launched a new ad campaign to draw internet users away from AI-filled Google Chrome and back to Firefox’s heyday in the late 2000s and early 2010s, when Firefox commanded up to 32 percent of the global browser market share.
To do that, Mozilla has brought together some of the biggest internet personalities of that era for a new ad campaign called “Come Back to Firefox.”
I know I’m absolutely fighting a losing battle.
And this is only one out of a hundred thousand current examples.
But did anyone learn, from the first four paragraphs, the information that was promised in the headline?
News articles do this just as frequently as feature articles.
Sometimes it’s four paragraphs. Sometimes, five. Sometimes they stretch it further, if one of the authors has thought of an anecdote they thought it a good idea to share, or want to enhance the description of the cafe in which an interview took place.
I’ve started reading all articles at the middle, then from the ending backwards.
… In a more recent study, this one conducted by researchers at England’s Manchester University in 2005, scientists actually came up with a mathematical formula to calculate the extent of the “beer goggle” effect on a given individual in a given situation. Their reasoning for creating this formula is that alcohol is not really the only factor affecting the drunken perception of beauty. Other factors, according to their research, include:
How brightly lit the area is
The observer’s eye-sight quality
The amount of smoke in the air
The distance of the observer from the observed
The formula goes like this:
where:
An is the number of servings of alcohol
S is the smokiness of the area on a scale of 0 – 10
L is the lighting level of the area, measured in candelas per square meter, in which 150 is normal room lightning
Vo is Snellen visual acuity, in which 6/6 is normal and 6/12 is the lower limit at which someone is able to drive
d is the distance between the observer and the observed, measured in meters [source: BBC News]
The formula works out a “beer goggle” score ranging from 1 to 100+. When ø = 1, the observer is perceiving the same degree of beauty he or she would perceive in a sober state. At 100+, everybody in the room is a perfect 10.
— Is There a Mathematical Formula for the ‘Beer Goggles’ Effect?
Helga Brandt was a SPECTRE henchwoman who pretended to fall in love with Bond and switch to his side, only to try and kill him the next morning. For failing to kill Bond, Brandt is killed by head of SPECTRE Blofeld, who drops her into a pool of piranha fish. Helga Brandt was very similar to prior Bond girl Fiona Volpe, as the producers tried to replicate their prior success.
Thumper and Bambi attack Bond, kicking him and using their martial art skills to overcome him. Bond was at a loss, the two girls too nimble for him. However, Thumper and Bambi then throw Bond into a pool, and they lose their advantage, Bond managing to push their heads underwater until they give in and reveal where Willard Whyte is being kept.
Trina parks
Match 2
(8) Jill St. John (Tiffany Case) vs Denise Perrier (Marie)
Tiffany Case was a diamond smuggler in part of a pipeline of smugglers that ultimately ended at Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Courier Peter Franks was supposed to pass the diamonds to Tiffany, but Bond intercepted and impersonated Franks, and managed to take the diamonds for himself. Bond’s involvement saved Tiffany being murdered, and she eventually switched to Bond’s allegiance.
As Bond seeks out Blofeld to get revenge for the death of his wife, the trail leads him from Tokyo to Cairo, where he interrogates a gambler about Blofeld’s whereabouts. “Marie… ask.. Marie.” Bond finds Marie, who asks “Is there something I can do for you?” Bond replies with “There’s something I’d like you to get off your chest”, and then removes her Bra and begins to strangle her with it.He gets the information he wants and pursues the lead.
“Republicans are learning that the law is a door that only swings in one direction. Democrats can do illegal and unconstitutional things — like enacting DACA, or putting noncitizens on voting rolls — but when Republicans try to undo these things, judges prevent them from doing so.” ~~ Joel Pollak
Two top Spanish transport officials have resigned in a storm of controversy over a £227.5M fleet of commuter trains designed too large for tunnels.
Transport secretary Isabel Pardo de Vera and Isaías Táboas, the head of rail operator Renfe, have now quit their posts, bringing the number of people who have lost their jobs over the scandal to four.
The batch of 31 new trains was intended to upgrade the ageing rolling stock in the northern regions of Asturias and Cantabria and be in action by next year.
But the trains will now be delivered two years late after the size of the existing 19th century line gauge was incorrectly defined on the specification. The rolling stock has been designed to fit the specification for new infrastructure. The mistake meant the trains would not fit through some of the network’s existing tunnels.
Yet the Spanish Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Development has stressed that the mistake was spotted early and the trains had not yet been manufactured. “No public expenditure was made or incurred as a result of this situation,” it said.
The fiasco has caused a huge political storm and sent the project back to the drawing board.
… that sounds like a wee bit of ‘public expenditure made or incurred as a result of this situation,’ to me …
The head of the regional government of Cantabria, Miguel Angel Revilla, called it a “monumentally botched job”.
Renfe awarded the £227.5M contract to Spanish manufacturer CAF in June 2020, but a year later CAF realised that the dimensions it was provided for the trains were not correct and stopped building the trains.
Oh, and that … sounds like a second bit of public expenditure made or incurred as a result of this situation.
Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard Law School professor emeritus and former criminal defense attorney, says he would advise Oppo to contact a lawyer and avoid making any public statements, allowing legal counsel to handle questions.
Today’s:
[Redacted] allegedly [paragraph redacted] Mika [redacted] [op. cit.].
Felicca worked for Aziz Fekkesh, a black market dealer who was selling the microfilms of a submarine tracking system. Fekkesh instructed Felicca to entertain Bond, should he call round, so that henchman Sandor could kill him. In their brief time together, Felicca took a liking to Bond, and when she saw Sandor about to shoot him, she spun round and took the bullet herself.
Miss Anders was the girlfriend of Francisco Scaramanga, the $1 million a shot assassin, the man with the golden gun. She sent a golden bullet to MI6 with 007 engraved on the side, so that it would be thought that Scaramanga had Bond on his hit list. Miss Anders was hoping that Bond would respond to the threat and kill Scaramanga, freeing her from his possession. However, Scaramanga learnt of her betrayal and shot her through the heart.
Octopussy ran an all-women floating island, the girls of which were acrobats for a circus that was a front for a jewellery smuggling operation. She was a partner in crime with Kamal Khan, who stole the jewellery for himself and tried to kill Octopussy. Octopussy saved Bond’s life, and Bond repaid the debt by saving hers. After killing Khan, Bond and Octopussy sail into the sunset, with the acrobat girls rowing for them.
Holly Goodhead was a CIA agent working undercover as an astronaut for the Hugo Drax organization. After spending the night together with Bond, the two met up at the top of Sugarloaf mountain in Rio. On the cable car ride down, Jaws tried to kill them, and Holly’s cover was blown. Bond managed to escape, and rescued Holly after the pair were almost killed in a rocket blast chamber. They went to space together and shot down Drax’s globes that contained fatal gases meant to kill the human race on Earth.
Mary Goodnight was Bond’s assistant in Hong Kong, and previously his secretary in London. She helps Bond to locate Miss Anders, the girlfriend of hitman Scaramanga. The two almost spend the night together on multiple occasions, and at one point Goodnight is embarrassingly shoved into a cupboard when Miss Anders pays Bond a surprise visit. Goodnight is eventually kidnapped by Scaramanga, but after Bond kills him, Goodnight helps Bond escape his Island.
