I expect so. The competitions are here, but it does not mention fees.
I shall have to try this some time.
UK politics - continuing into 2021
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GinandTonic
Saphire w/ Schweps + Lime
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There are a bunch of artists and photographers in my neighbourhood. One guy does almost photorealistic pictures of cityscapes. Gets a lot of commissions to paint peoples houses. I've seen dozens of iterations of the same painting of a house, because he's not quite feeling it. Take the phone pole out, put it back in, change the clouds etc. The seemingly photorealistic is anything but. Then there is the fresco painter - he doesn't have the option to be so precious. And of course a couple of talentless blaggers.
Even with the photographers there is a gulf between their commercial and "art" work. At the extreme end is the mostly retired old boy. He only ever takes one photo. Ask him how his day went and he'll say work went really well - he's fairly sure he's worked out the composition of his next photo, but wanted to mull it over a glass of wine and a nights sleep.
Even with the photographers there is a gulf between their commercial and "art" work. At the extreme end is the mostly retired old boy. He only ever takes one photo. Ask him how his day went and he'll say work went really well - he's fairly sure he's worked out the composition of his next photo, but wanted to mull it over a glass of wine and a nights sleep.
IIRC they are still worth more than he paid originally but not as much as when he sold them, the bubble having burst.
EnglishEdward
Deity
I can remember in the good old days, museums and art galleries actually had real human guides
(usually a lady with literary pretensions) endeavouring to enlighten us great unwashed, and we
could smile, look astounded or grimace accordingly, ask odd questions and note her reaction.
Sadly that pleasure disappeared when they replaced human guides with cassette tapes and ear phones
and the only fun was in standing in front of the exhibits at the point the tape told other visitors to look at it.
Crossing threads, I fear that Facebook's Metaverse may similarly continue to sully one's cultural appreciation.
I mean, when you describe it in such glowing terms
Something like those human guides still exist. You sometimes see a crowd of people following round someone who talks about the art. I have never gone on the tours, but have occasionally listened to what they say from the back, and it sure sounds like they are making it up as they go. They remind me of the punt tour guides you hear on the cam, and they frequently make stuff up that sounds good.
As Aiken said - testing people on drinks and/or brands vs supermarket goods is usually a good one. In particular giving them a range of gins (bombay saphire, Hendricks, gordons, tescos and low price) - then ask them to pick which one is which. Surprising how wrong people get them. I seem to remember they did a blind taste test on some cookery show with an actual wine taster. And out of a selection of reds he totally rubbished a bottle of Chateau Petrus which costed €3,000 and lauded Morrisons finest. So it produces interesting results.
I also think back to when i used to work in a posh hotel. And we served afternoon tea. There were scones with the afternoon tea. And the pastry chef was off one day and we didnt have any. So we went down to Tescos, bought a pack of their average scones. Stuck em in the microwave for 15 seconds, and served them up. We also didnt have any jam, so bought Tescos seedless raspberry. No one noticed, complained, or said anything. And we still charged them the extortionate price for them. We also served people sparkling white wine at their champagne reception on New Years eve. Out of a hall of about 500, no one noticed. Its amazing how blind people become when you present things well. Even though the underlying product is pretty much garbage.
I do blind taste tests quite frequently. I do not accept the verdict of "which of these do you prefer" without that simple measure. A lot of the time they are either indistinguishable (as in repeated samples are put in a different order) or the cheaper version comes out top.
Yes
Also:
What you taste is also very dependent on circumstances, the setting, the sphere, etc.
An old adage is: "buy wine with apple and sell it with cheese"
(perhaps a typical Dutch merchant wisdom to make more profit from trading...
)The thing is that any wine tastes so much better when you just had some cheese in your mouth and apple the opposite.
Neutral ground is some bread.
I read a paper some time ago that held that cheese actually blocks the taste receptors that allow you to distinguish between good and bad wine. I cannot find it now, but this is similar:Yes
Also:
What you taste is also very dependent on circumstances, the setting, the sphere, etc.
An old adage is: "buy wine with apple and sell it with cheese"
(perhaps a typical Dutch merchant wisdom to make more profit from trading...
The thing is that any wine tastes so much better when you just had some cheese in your mouth and apple the opposite.
Neutral ground is some bread.
Some attributes, such as astringency, bell pepper, and oak flavor, significantly decreased when the wine was evaluated after tasting cheese. Only butter aroma was significantly enhanced by cheese. It was also found that there was no significant wine-cheese interaction effect; in other words, the effect of any given cheese is equivalent for all wines.
What would I give to be a lab rat in that study!
wow
TIL
Still needs the subjective judgement whether then in such a controlled setting people do value removing some taste effects as a (what I still believe) net improvement.
It would make sense if it did. Removing astringency from cheap wine is likely to make it taste better, and while I would generally go for a more robust wine with cheese I definitely do not need the more expensive ones.
Yes - always a good way to find out the pretenders. I had an acquaintance who swore blind he only ever drank single malt. So I gave him a measure of Johnny Walker. And he gushed over how nice it was. And i nodded and smiled
Sofista
Deity
If I remember correctly, the subjects of pre-Romantic art also had a hierarchy, and the artist would be paid more for it the higher up it.
On the highest level, religious paintings, meant to be exposed in churches.
Next to it, mythical or historical scenes, that would be exposed in palaces.
Below that, portraits and similar works meant for the customer and their family.
Lastly, landscapes and still life art.
Also, more characters in the painting meant more money to the artist.
On the highest level, religious paintings, meant to be exposed in churches.
Next to it, mythical or historical scenes, that would be exposed in palaces.
Below that, portraits and similar works meant for the customer and their family.
Lastly, landscapes and still life art.
Also, more characters in the painting meant more money to the artist.
NHS digital has IT security fail trying to tell people about IT security
Neil Bennett, CISO at NHS Digital, and Phil Huggins, National CISO at NHS X, "along with guest speakers, will have a conversation about the ongoing protection and how an increasingly digitised world means we must be super vigilant and cyber secure, where cyber hygiene is essential in protecting patients."
The first email [of four similar] sent yesterday morning thanked participants for "registering for NHS Digital's Full Digital Breakfast: Let's talk cyber, scheduled for Thursday 21 October 2021, 8:00-9:00am." each time copying the entirety of the invite list in on the messages. They kept sending the emails in an attempt to change the invite details. The fourth was a cancellation "again with every single person copied in,"
The first email [of four similar] sent yesterday morning thanked participants for "registering for NHS Digital's Full Digital Breakfast: Let's talk cyber, scheduled for Thursday 21 October 2021, 8:00-9:00am." each time copying the entirety of the invite list in on the messages. They kept sending the emails in an attempt to change the invite details. The fourth was a cancellation "again with every single person copied in,"
The police answer to killings by police? The officer should call the station.
- What good does it do if the police are doing this? They can just call their mate, or even a video of themselves in fancy dress. It should be the arrestee that makes the call so they know how they are talking to.
- It seems they only need to do it when arresting women, when almost 9 in 10 (88%) of those killed by police are male.
Plain-clothes officers in London will video call a uniformed colleague to confirm their identity when stopping a lone woman, it has been announced.
Dame Cressida said: "Because my plain-clothes officers will call into a control room, they will then have a video call with a sergeant in uniform who will say 'yes that's so-and-so, he's PC XYZ' and so on". The video call will be "instigated by the officer and not by the woman having to ask for this".
It comes after the Met was heavily criticised for suggesting that women should try to flag down a passing bus.
Dame Cressida said: "Because my plain-clothes officers will call into a control room, they will then have a video call with a sergeant in uniform who will say 'yes that's so-and-so, he's PC XYZ' and so on". The video call will be "instigated by the officer and not by the woman having to ask for this".
It comes after the Met was heavily criticised for suggesting that women should try to flag down a passing bus.
What are plains clothed officers doing arresting women on their own anyway. Shouldn't they call for clothed back up? What situation would a plain clothes officer even be stopping a random citizen.
Someone at my work accidentally copied in the entire company once over a very innocuous change of address. Which was about 20,000 people. And absolute carnage ensued. The next day I had 2,500 emails. And a message on the desktop of my PC from management saying anyone else replying to all will be disciplined.
UK government finally does something right on climate change, quickly reverses it as soon as anyone notices
A government research paper recommending people "shift dietary habits" towards plant-based foods has been hastily deleted.
The paper focuses on changing public behaviour to hit climate targets and also suggests promoting domestic tourism and portraying business travel as an "immoral indulgence".
It was deleted soon after publication by the Department for Business.
Of course the internet never forgets. You can see it on google cache here. What the beeb is not reporting is that they say the report says that the important thing is what the government can do, rather than individuals:The paper focuses on changing public behaviour to hit climate targets and also suggests promoting domestic tourism and portraying business travel as an "immoral indulgence".
It was deleted soon after publication by the Department for Business.
Our food systems are responsible for 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with livestock (and particularly ruminant products) being a disproportionate driver of emissions,land-use change, freshwater use, and a major source of other pollutants. Shifting dietary habits towards more environmental options (e.g. plant-based, local) and enabling sustainable agriculture is fundamental to achieving Net Zero.
It is well evidenced that food consumption is a largely automatic, habit-based behaviour,strongly driven by cues in our environment, with meta-analysis showing that altering the choice environment is more effective than prompting or imploring people to make more sustainable or healthy choices. This suggests that effective diet-related interventions will lie at the intersection of upstream and midstream strategies, with a lesser role for downstream interventions targeting individual hearts and minds. Our case study on obesity policy (later in this report) provides further evidence for this assessment.
It is well evidenced that food consumption is a largely automatic, habit-based behaviour,strongly driven by cues in our environment, with meta-analysis showing that altering the choice environment is more effective than prompting or imploring people to make more sustainable or healthy choices. This suggests that effective diet-related interventions will lie at the intersection of upstream and midstream strategies, with a lesser role for downstream interventions targeting individual hearts and minds. Our case study on obesity policy (later in this report) provides further evidence for this assessment.
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