It's a good point. I've often thought Visual Studio could make much more use of sound, eg for a good or bad compile.
Programmer since the ZX80 days when a computer came as a kit you had to solder together yourself (and so long ago it was in black & white). Never been to pick up my A Level results, only ever worked for my own company.🇪🇺 ⬆️ Front garden, FR ⬇️ Cambridge
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It's a good point. I've often thought Visual Studio could make much more use of sound, eg for a good or bad compile.
@mrjamesob.bsky.social don't these callers realise the government already have all our details? It's not just the government; you're also voluntarily sharing your location because your phone tracks it constantly through various apps.
Thanks to McSweeney pushing the Overton window to the far right it makes space for Farage to appear mainstream. How many red wall voters have flocked back to Labour from Reform? I suspect hardly any at all.
I don't understand the opposition to ID cards. Do people really think the government is unable to track them at the moment? I bet these same people carry a mobile phone with hundreds of apps tracking their location every second.
It's McSweeney's strategy of pushing the Overton window to the far right that makes space for Farage - he even looks mainstream for goodness sake. It's got to be the most crazy political strategy ever yet Starmer seems happy to go along with it. It's downright dangerous. Wake up Labour!
I'm not totally convinced about this. I reckon most people voted for Labour to get rid of the Tories. Ask people today to name any of Labour's missions / milestones / goal oriented plans or foundations and I reckon most would struggle.
I'll give it until Friday before Starmer spray paints a red cross on that white kitten of theirs.
How many do you reckon have flocked back from Reform to Labour as a result of this performative cruelty to foreigners?
It's a reminder of how complicated the tiers of local government are when securing funding for essential work becomes such a challenge. A healthy river is clearly crucial for tourism, yet funding remains limited while colleges, managing £ billions, sit idly along the banks. It makes no sense.
Every time BBC News do this we need to be asking "why are we funding this?". There are plenty of commercial channels chasing clicks, the BBC could, and should, be better.
It'd help if Labour had an effective comms team. For example, yesterday was the start of 30 hours of funded childcare yet they allowed Farage and small boats to be the dominant theme in the media. They really are incompetent.
Given the current pace of change from Labour it'd take them 1,000 years to implement electoral reform. Their glacially slow progress on everything is nowhere near good enough and that only benefits Reform.
Sure, but think of all the voters who have flocked back to Labour from Reform as a result...oh wait...none have come back you say...oh, why are doing it then?
Not just Farage to be fair. Starmer's "island of strangers" and the demonising of delivery drivers and immigrants probably doesn't help either.
I think of it more as McSweeney's party. Starmer clearly enjoys doing the lawyerly international stuff but has little interest in UK politics, or saving the economy. To be fair this is exactly why McSweeney selected Starmer for his project. Wake up Labour - you are making it too easy for Farage!
Wasn't it exactly the same with Brexit?
He'll go to any lengths to imitate Farage. Has anyone in Labour noticed a flood of Reform voters flocking back to the party?
Because McSweeney wants to attract the flaggers back to Labour? Even with their performative cruelty to foreigners I can't see it'd be enough to get them to switch from Reform to Labour? It's a crazy strategy from McSweeney.
I think Labour's problem is there is no clarity (to the general public) on what the latest foundation / mission / milestone / plan for change is. Perhaps people can remember "growth" but their policies are only delivering stagnation or recession. The only winner is Farage.
Jones set up as the fall guy who'll take the blame for non-delivery (not that anyone has a clue what Labour are trying to deliver). A good way to eliminate a potential leadership rival?
Labour will be lucky if they can wrestle the agenda away from Farage having gifted him the summer headlines. They really are clueless. Everything Labour does, or fails to do, seems to be giving Reform the upper hand.
Indeed, but a tedious lawyerly analysis of which sub-clauses could be changed with international agreement is a huge waste of time. He's triggering the racist gene in the English (again) and it needs an equally powerful emotional response to stand any chance of winning that battle.
If I were Bluesky I'd be appealing to governments around the world to switch away from Toxic Twitter as their primary social media feed. This'd bring many new users.
Jones is the fall guy who'll take the blame for non-delivery (not that anyone has a clue what Labour are trying to deliver). A good way to eliminate a potential leadership rival?
Of course! Thanks to McSweeney shoving the Overton window to the far right it has opened space for Farage to appear positively mainstream. To pick a fight on the one area Farage has a strong story is pure madness. Wake up Labour!
Don't focus on ECHR details, Farage is simply, once again, triggering an emotional response to the "foreigners controlling us" gene in the English. Arguing about which sub-clauses to amend is how he'll tie the elite in knots and win. Respond with a better emotional story not sub-clause analysis.
Forget about the ECHR details, Farage is repeating his old trick of triggering an emotional reaction to "foreigners controlling us". Endless debate on revision of sub-clauses is how they'll tie the elite in knots. Focus on a better emotional response!
It's McSweeney who has the plan, what he wants to do is push the Overton window to the far right. This only opens up space for Farage and is even making him appear mainstream. Wake up Labour! McSweeney's strategy is going to hand power to Farage particularly as your growth agenda is a dud.
It makes you wonder why the government, at all levels, continue to use Twitter as their mail social media channel.
Hardly any buses go through our village, but this weekend was an exception due to the A428 closure. It didn't end well!
Labour were elected thanks to GTTO sentiment, few were voting FOR their policies. Perhaps "growth" is their most rememberable policy/mission/milestone but everything they do is making growth less likely. Wake up Labour!
@mrjamesob.bsky.social do you think the flaggers would be happy with a Council of Europe flag or even a rainbow flag? Is it only in rural Cambridgeshire, or is there a noticeable pattern of flag installations near Army or RAF base locations?
The other back to school tradition is surely buying a new Sharpie to colour in the banned logos on shoes?
It's not about the ECHR details it's about creating an emotional response to "foreigners controlling us". This is clearly a repeat of Farage's last hit. Deal with the emotional reaction rather than debating the sub-clauses that could be altered with international agreement...snooze...
It only counts if it's a last minute purchase from Tesco on the way to school!
It's not about the ECHR details it's about creating an emotional response to "foreigners controlling us". This is clearly a repeat of Farage's last hit. Deal with the emotional reaction rather than debating the sub-clauses that could be altered with international agreement...snooze...
Yet the government, at all levels, continue to use Twitter as their main social media platform! Everything they do feels utterly incompetent.
Labour gifted the summer headlines to Farage and, given their utter incompetence, they'll be lucky to ever win back control. They certainly won't achieve it with their excruciatingly boring leaders in a battle for attention with Farage.
Labour's problem is everything they are doing in the UK seems to benefit Reform - they seem politically incompetent.
Isn't it McSweeney strategy of shoving the Overton window to the far right that has opened up the space for Farage? - he's even looking mainstream for goodness sake. Starmer seems comfortable dealing with the international stuff in a lawyerly way but I'm not convinced he's driving the UK policy?
Farage will construct an emotional campaign not one based on the ECHR details. I bet it'll be a repeat of his very successful "Leave" campaign which'll seek to generate an emotional response to foreigners trying to control us. Emotion not details!
I have a feeling Farage and his supporters probably don't pay much attention to the ECHR details. Farage seems intent on repeating his highly successful "Leave" campaign, which relies on stirring emotional resentment towards foreigners allegedly trying to control us.
Yet the UK government, at all levels, continues to use Twitter as their main social media platform!
It makes you wonder why we fund the BBC when they pump out such nonsense.
Quite simply, McSweeney's government is not paying any attention whatsoever. As with the performative cruelty to foreigners they believe any pro-EU steps will mean they can't attract the red wall racists back to Labour. Why would they return to Labour when they can have the real thing with Reform?
Indeed, their silence is unforgivable.
"I'm a Christian, I enjoy the church, I believe in...ur...ur...ur...God" I'm not sure his claim to be a Christian sounded awfully convincing on Sky this morning.
Is there anything stranger than self-proclaimed Christians who support Trump? Almost everything Trump does directly contradicts what the Bible teaches them. Why don't they see this? Utterly bizarre.
Starmer was the perfect choice to win the election on the back of GTTO sentiment and Tory chaos but something is lacking in government. I wonder if it's because it's McSweeney setting the UK strategy with Starmer simply acting as the front man? Wake up before it's too late Labour!
The problem is he's a great performer on TV whereas the other party leaders are hopelessly boring. This is why Farage dominates the media in our attention economy.
Sure, but I'm not convinced the way to beat Farage is for Labour to try and become a far right party and ramp up their performative cruelty to foreigners.
The question is, how would the majority vote, particularly those who are less interested in politics than we are?
Sure, but Farage has natural leadership skills and is a skilled and entertaining media performer (regardless of his politics) The other parties are led by followers who are as interesting as soggy cardboard. In out attention economy the former unsurprisingly dominates the airtime.
Please can someone do the Truss lettuce thing with an orange and we can take bets on who lasts longer.
I've worked with some BBC journalists on a story, and I don't think they are all lacking intelligence. Isn't it strange how institutional memory always seems to outlast individual staff members? It's like there's a constant need to appease the government that determines their future.
Absolutely. It's the most illogical strategy that only seems to benefit Farage.
Absolutely, however McSweeney's plan is to attract the red wall racists back to Labour. That needs the performative cruelty to foreigners and the total ban on any mention of Brexit or the enormous harm it has caused.
As a social experiment it'd be interesting to buy some cheap plastic Council of Europe flags or even some rainbow flags and install them on the same lampposts. I wonder how our elected representatives would react to that?
It's hard not to think that the flags are being used more for provocation than patriotism, especially considering the locations.
I think it's McSweeney you need to scrap rather than Starmer. Like all good civil servants Starmer is one of life's natural followers - which is exactly why McSweeney selected him for his project.
I agree EU SM+CU is absolutely the right starting place and essential to enable our SMEs to get exporting again and contribute to GDP growth.
Maybe we can't re join right now but we should certainly make the case for it. That's the difference between a leader and a follower. Good civil servants, like Starmer, are natural followers whereas Farage is happy to race ahead and hope people are following him.
Yes, it's the typical Cambridge politics issue - clearly defining the problem, but all the solutions end up being "not my responsibility" with blame being shifted in every other direction.
I just wish the LibDems would deemphasise the care home stuff and focus more on re-joining the EU starting with SM+CU. This is the only way we can grow our GDP and that's essential so we can fund everything else. It'd also help if they dropped their war on motorists in Cambridge.
It'd be a fascinating social experiment to go and install a Council of Europe flag, or even a rainbow flag on the same lampposts. I wonder how our elected representatives would deal with this?
The hate crime bit is interesting. The flags near me have been placed on a roundabout with two adjacent business, a petrol station and a hand car wash. The staff at these business are not "White British" [ONS Definition] so it seems more than a coincidence they've been put only on this roundabout.
I guess that's an understandable position if you have an EU passport. I don't have one and want my EU rights back -Labour's excruciatingly slow progress is in no way good enough for me.
Yes, I reckon that's the spot. Perhaps a cow fell in the stream and couldn't get out? That was my assumption but I couldn't reconcile that with the number of fire engines and police cars.
Labour letting Farage dominate the headlines all summer really highlights how ineffective their communications team is. As a result, it will be much harder for Labour to regain control of the media agenda.
Highways Act 1980 s132. "...affixes any picture, letter, sign or other mark upon the surface of a highway or upon any tree, structure or works on or in a highway is guilty of an offence..." £100 fine for first offence, £200 for second and subsequent offences.
I wonder if they have "seasonally adjusted" them like the GDP figures?
Won't be better off or ever able to retire with a state pension. Why are politicians unable to talk about these very basic economic concepts?
I wonder if you start with...Your pensions are paid from taxes collected from today's workers, with an ageing population we need immigration to bring new workers into the economy. Without those new workers paying their taxes there won't be money for state benefits like your pension.
Labour should have switched the voting system back to supplementary vote and they might have stood a chance.
It is truly baffling as is their determination to cause a recession with their Brexit red lines and anti-business policies. Why on earth are Labour pushing the Overton window so far to the right that it gives Farage loads of space for his toxic politics?
Cambridge people...what was happening on the Fen Causeway yesterday (Thursday 28/08/25) at about 7:30pm? When I went by there were several fire engines, police cars, a digger doing something in the field near the traffic lights at the Shell garage end of the road.
I wonder what these "Brexit lies" are? She thinks Brexit has gone well but the media don't report that? Weird!
Surely if your department is authorising the non-CCC utility work there must be some coordination / management / supervision of the work that takes place? Isn't this a chance to emphasize the importance of finishing quickly and reducing disruption?
Managing sub-contractors shouldn't need to depend on law enforcement. In my experience, a skilled project manager takes more constructive approaches to ensure work is completed quickly and efficiently. It seems the council might be lacking in project management skills?
The problem is McSweeney's strategy is for Labour to attract voters who find the idea of kicking out foreigners very exciting. Just look at Starmer's Twitter posts - 22 posts bashing immigration in August alone. bsky.app/profile/edwi...
Handing control of the summer headlines to Farage is not a great start. I suspect Starmer will spend the next 4 years reacting to Farage's nonsense and achieve virtually nothing except causing a recession.
Starmer, like all good civil servants, is naturally a follower. He'll inch forward only once consensus has been reached. Expect excruciatingly slow progress. Farage is a leader, happy to race ahead in the belief people will follow behind. Expect change faster than you can comprehend.
With Labour policies creating recession it's only going to get a lot worse.
I'm not sure a single person has noticed. Thanks to McSweeney shifting the Overton window far to the right, it has created room for Farage and his alarming message to dominate the headlines throughout the summer.
Then we have new train stations like Cambridge South where no parking is provided at all. How does that encourage people to use the train? Given Cambridgeshire is predominantly rural, with little if any public transport, parking is essential to get people onto trains.
It's not just the cost of the train, parking (eg £10.50/day at St Neots), feels like extortion too. When costs are so high is it any wonder people can't afford to use the train. It makes you wonder if anyone will be rich enough to travel on East West rail (if ever built).
It'll be interesting to see how our elected representatives at district, county and in Westminster deal with this.
Highways Act 1980 s132. "...affixes any picture, letter, sign or other mark upon the surface of a highway or upon any tree, structure or works on or in a highway is guilty of an offence..." £100 fine for first offence, £200 for second and subsequent offences.
I suspect McSweeney won't allow use of the "B" word. He's too interested in retaining a few red wall votes. Meanwhile the economy stagnates only to be ruthlessly exploited by Farage. It's crazy Labour aren't pinning Brexit on Farage at every opportunity.
They've allowed Farage to dominate the headlines all summer - that's just absurd, and it's going to make it even tougher for them to regain the trust of their voters.
We'll get nowhere with that approach, we have to start sometime even if that's unpopular right now. Leadership after all is about taking people where they don’t necessarily want to go but ought to be.
From what I see in rural Cambridgeshire the unofficial installed flags are used more for provocation than patriotism. If used on a road the Highways Act 1980 s132 considers it an offence with a fine of up to £100 (first conviction) or £200 (second or subsequent conviction).
It's frustrating for many people to go past roadworks and see no one actively working. Why is it not possible to require contractors to work around the clock particularly in high-traffic areas? The economic and reputational harm caused to Cambridge is enormous.
Or those goldfish as big as whales!
Don't forget the giant slide!
It's baffling that Labour have such a weak comms strategy that they allow Farage to set the news agenda almost every day this summer. They need to get way better at this game!
Brexit red lines that mean growth wont get started. Without a thriving economy Labour stand little chance of re-election. Why on earth can't Labour see this?
Let's start by enabling youngsters to study and work in the EU - I guarantee they'll come back as converts.
Do you think Farage had this defeatist attitude when he spent years fighting to pull the UK out of the EU? I agree it won't be easy but what's the optimistic alternative? You want to keep on playing Farage's bash a migrant game?
Well, maybe, but I think it's a lot more constructive than engaging in Farage's blame-a-migrant rhetoric.