You Stupid Boy

Why Trade Me suspended accounts selling ‘Make Ardern Go Away’ hats

Two Trade Me accounts selling “Make Ardern Go Away” hats were suspended last week, but the company says this was not the reason for the suspension.

Magic Talk spoke to two men from the South Island, who had separate Trade Me accounts selling the hats. They were in the style of US President Donald Trump’s red “Make America Great Again” or “MAGA” caps.

The men were selling the hats for $40 and $20 respectively, before finding their accounts had been suspended by Trade Me.

One of the men was told by Trade Me he was suspended due to an “intellectual property” issue, while the other was told it was due to the nature of his account.

But Trade Me head of trust and safety George Hiotakis says the hats were welcome to be sold on the website.

“When we’ve gone and reviewed this it’s simply been human error,” he told Magic Talk’s Sean Plunket.

“At any one time we have eight million listings, and the people that we have here go and interpret those kinds of things – unfortunately, occasionally, we get it wrong, and this was one instance where we did get it wrong.”

Hiotakis said the accounts could be reinstated should they operate within the company’s terms and conditions.

“It has nothing to do with the cap and with the political message, it is related to how they have their accounts set up.

“We’ve spoken with both the members, and provided them with information they need to be able to interact with Trade Me again.”

@SeanPlunket Is there copyright infringement for the two accounts removed?

Head of Trust & Safety George Hiotakis: No there was not there was human error in removing the listing.— Magic Talk (@MagicTalkRadio) July 23, 2019

But one of the men told Magic Talk said he had not been contacted by Trade Me.

“No, that’s not true,” Hiotakis told Sean Plunket. “I don’t have my staff in the room with me but walking in here, my understanding was that we’d talked to all members involved.”

Hiotakis said there was no third parties or agencies of state involved the suspension of the accounts.

Newshub.

If any of you reading this, believe this crap, then you can bugger off from ysb. Human error is code for a company stuff up but we will not admit it. Easier to blame some fictional staffer and quickly forget it.

As a former sailor who had, from time to time, partaken of spirits in quantity, I am offended by this image, because, unlike the government, I stopped spending when I ran out of money.

Facial, Speech and Virtual Polygraph Analysis Shows Ilhan Omar Exhibits Many Indications of a Compulsive Liar!!!

What is the truth about Omar’s immigration  to the US? An expert analysis shows she is most likely lying about it all.  Here are some excerpts from that study –

In assembling the virtual polygraph system, I used several Artificial Intelligence platforms to perform the speech and facial expression evaluation. 

For the speech analysis I used several algorithms to identify conversational dynamics and the detection of deceit through functions and patterns such as:

• Usage of filler words like “Umm”, “and”,  “Like”
• Cut out contractions such as using “did not” rather than “didn’t“
• Increase/decrease in speech speed, pitch, and tone
• Pausing frequently
• Prolonging word vocalization to buy time
• Repeating or rephrasing questions
• Stuttering
• Voice pitch changes

I calibrated the facial expression engine and established a baseline using several hours of Omar’s speeches on a variety of ‘neutral’ subjects. I then established her ‘truth’ baseline using over 1200 factual statements (i.e. statement known to be true). I also supplemented her baseline facial expressions with catalogue of over 230 combinations of her customized Microexpression.

Following the creation of a unique database of her facial expressions, I proceeded with the ML training using her unique data sets. The whole training process took about 32 hours.

Reading this you could be excused that if you replaced Omar with Cindy, you would come to the same conclusion.

The obvious ones are the teeth, frowny facial expressions, use of “umm” and “like” and poor pronunciation of words.

Jazz Shaw writes

Trump was asked about a ban on plastic straws and he responded by saying that it makes little sense to ban them when we’re not banning all of the other, larger plastic products that are also not recycled.

Not long after that, somebody saw a fundraising opportunity and plastic “Trump straws” were on sale at the Presidents fundraising site. Charging a dollar and a half each for what is essentially just a plain, red plastic straw with Trump’s name emblazoned on the side might not sound like much of a bargain, but that obviously wasn’t the point. The President was capitalizing on pushback against a liberal idea that seemed excessively intrusive while producing little in the way of measurable results. So how did it work out? The straws sold out in a matter of days.

They’re still taking orders, but you’ll have to wait a few weeks to get them. And considering what they cost in bulk and how many people are snapping them up, whoever came up with this idea probably deserves a bonus next month. 

The underlying idea that kicked all of this off is a very real one, however. I’ve tried those paper straws at a local diner and they’re simply useless. You can finish maybe a third of a 12-ounce cup of ice tea before the straw is totally falling apart and filling your drink with soggy paper. But what’s the viable alternative? You can carry your own around, but glass straws have a nasty habit of breaking and immediately turning into a rather deadly weapon. The metal straws seem like a far better choice, assuming you don’t die while impaling your brain on them. I haven’t had a chance to try one of the bamboo ones yet, but I’ll admit they sound like they would last longer than paper, though I have to wonder if they don’t impart some sort of bamboo taste.

The other problem with reusable straws is that they have to be washed and there is no brush or other device I’m aware of that can fully clean the inside of them. If all you’re drinking is water or other very “thin” liquids, you should be able to soak them in hot water and then run rise water through them and get them mostly clean. But if it’s any sort of thick, creamy beverage you can probably forget it.

Aside from milkshakes, how many drinks do you actually need a straw for? Sure, they’re very convenient if you’re in the car, but still…can’t we sip out of the little slots in the cup lid? (Odds are that your cup lid is probably plastic too, but let’s not be distracted by that.)

Surely some genius out there can come up with some sort of artificial wood material that would biodegrade and can be rolled up to make straws, lids or cups at a reasonable cost. If they do, they should be in for a decent profit. Until then, I suppose we can just pony up fifteen bucks for Trump straws or buy one hundred of them at the dollar store and bring them with us when traveling.

Imagine the outrage if we made these here. YSB straws and Plastic carry bags.

Stuff reports

A tenant who wanted his landlord to pay him $20,258 after a four-month stint at a backpackers has instead been told to pay $5441.

Jacob Williams moved into Mackenzies Hotel and Backpackers on December 27, and shifted out at the start of April.

But he said things turned sour during his time there and took his case to the Tenancy Tribunal.

When he left he wanted a refund of his bond, $1000 compensation for having to relocate, $2409 for reports he produced in evidence for his claims, the cost of replacing locks, $605 for installing CCTV cameras and $277 spent purchasing rubbish bins, as well as exemplary damages, among other things.

He received no receipts for rent and there was asbestos contamination.

The tribunal found against him.

Adjudicator J Greene said while Williams referred to police records that detailed disturbances in March, it was unclear whether the person creating the disturbance was a tenant or someone else.

“Counsel submitted that the landlord was only provided with these records after the tenancy ended. Because the landlord was not notified of a problem he could not take any action to deal with the alleged breach by other tenants.”

Greene said any potential asbestos contamination issue arose due to Williams’ actions.

“He and Mr Brodie Williams pulled fixtures and fittings from the walls and cut holes in the wall board and the bathroom vinyl so they could have samples tested.

“Their actions have potentially exposed asbestos which up to then had been contained…There is no basis for the tenant’s allegation that he was exposed to asbestos contamination. The exposure risk followed from his actions. 

“Had he suspected asbestos the appropriate course was to inform the landlord; seek a remedy, such as initial testing which the landlord could have arranged; and if necessary apply to the tribunal for an order. Mr Williams’ actions are a clear-cut case of intentional damage. Indeed, he agreed that he and Mr Brodie Williams had done much of the damage, the justification being the need for asbestos testing.”

Greene said it was inappropriate to ask the landlord to pay for Brodie Williams’ report on the asbestos. He was not a qualified tester.

“He said it was not necessary to be qualified; the asbestos testing company explained to him how to take the samples… He acknowledged that the amount stated in the invoice was not in fact the correct amount when viewed against the other invoices produced.”

Williams also sought a full refund of the rent he paid while at the property because he said the building did not have a valid warrant of fitness.

Greene said the evidence did not support that.

In addition,  he still had the bins he had sought compensation for, and there were no grounds to offer reimbursement of the cost of CCTV cameras, Greene said.

He was not eligible for compensation for having to move because he chose to leave. 

Instead, Williams was ordered to pay $5870 to the landlord for intentional damage and $20 as a filing fee reimbursement. His bond of $450 would also be transferred to the landlord.

Oh dear. actions have consequences. Just wait for the taxpayer to pay out for this piece of shit. “It’s not my fault. The Govt has given us signals that no one is allowded to live in such conditions. I want a motel.”