Totally fair

Where, if you don’t mind me asking?

Support from local and state governments does make a difference though. While federal agencies can still enforce these laws, local/state agencies could look the other way. Cannabis is still federally illegal, but some states have basically said “no thanks, we’re good as long as you stick to our rules on it.”

It comes down to how much state governments want to go to bat for their constituencies and how much the federal government wants to press the issue. All else being equal, I’d rather be in a state that stands up for my rights than one that doesn’t.

Especially Israel

Why? They rolled Iran’s proxies, and (if western media is to be believed) Iran itself has been shown to be a paper tiger. Their big ballistic missile attack was neutered, and the big air strike on their soil was reported to be very devastating to air defenses and missile construction.

So we have a situation of Schrodinger’s Iran. They are simultaneously super dangerous, and to quote Kamala Harris “Iran is greatest U.S. adversary.” Or they are no match for Israel’s superior technology and intelligence agencies.

This is why I’ve argued that technology, in terms of actual benefit for people, peaked many years ago. I won’t try to pinpoint a date, but we have past peak technology from this perspective.

After that peak, advancements in technology have mostly just served as means to control the population or extract more from us (see enshittification) and have not been of benefit to the average person.

Technology allows for actual hard power to be concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer. I don’t mean like a dictator with an army behind them, but a dictator and small group with enough tech to control everything. You are right, and it’s extremely concerning.

The amount of bias, propaganda, and straight-up misinformation from western media regarding this “conflict” (more like massacre) is truly outrageous.

I don’t have any inherent support either side, and there’s too much history along with bias, propaganda, and outright misinformation to make a determination of who the “good guys” are, if anyone.

However, in such cases I will support the underdog on the principle that you don’t really want one side to have too much power over the other. That’s how we end up with things like ethnic cleansing and genocide. If Palestine (and Lebanon) had powerful militaries, you wouldn’t be seeing the mass devastation and huge loss of civilian lives. I’d prefer to see the sides more balanced so that they can keep each other in check.

Another angle to consider is that I consider the state of Israel to be actively harmful to Americans on the basis of:

• using our tax dollars to commit mass murder against civilians, including a staggering death toll for children

• infiltrating our government, interfering with our elections, and having an undue level of influence on American policy

• corollary to the preceding point: they support getting Trump back into the White House

• training American law enforcement, who then use their oppressive tactics on Americans

• similarly, technology they develop for surveillance and other means of control being used on Americans

• directly attacking our First Amendment rights

Bottom line is I’d say everyone sucks, but in different ways. But I am anti-Israel on the basis of them being way out of control (and without anyone to keep them in check) and due to the threat they pose to the American public.

There is a trade-off between efficiency and durability on incandescent light bulbs. They did sell bulbs that lasted longer, but those had lower lumen/watt.

For generic bulbs, the cost of electricity was significantly greater than the cost of the bulb. It was cheaper to replace bulbs more frequently than to waste electricity.

There should have been only one.

I’ll mention 2: Station Nightclub fire footage and a video of pigs being buried alive in response to a disease outbreak.

Lathes are no joke. There’s one that really stuck with me, I think at a Russian factory. “Dismemberment” does not accurately reflect what happened.

Video games are probably thought of more as “tech” rather than “culture.” And obsolescence is a part of tech.

I don’t agree with it, but that is what I think their view on it is.

I don’t think I’ve seen one at the top…

I’d say bottom because I’d rather not have the cord coming towards me, rather than away, when I’m using the phone. Also it seems more ergonomic for me to put my phone in my pocket with the top pointed down rather than up.

I’m not sure what percentage of workers could do their job from home if they were allowed to. It’s probably a small minority, though a quick glance of numbers from COVID would suggest 15-20%. I’ll use 15% for sake of argument but would welcome a more “confident” number if someone has it.

Reducing the number of miles is and important way to reduce impact. Additionally, even those who cannot work from home benefit from reduces congestion and reduces vehicle idling. Although idling has less impact on EVs (though they still have to run HVAC), ICE vehicles are still the majority of vehicles being sold today in most nations and will be in circulation for decades.

Not everyone can WFH, but it needs to be part of the strategy of reducing emissions from transportation. Not pushing WFH (for those who can) is leaving a lot on the table. This is not a replacement for EVs, rather in addition to.

My point is that if they were serious about protecting the environment, they would promote WFH (for those who can…not everyone can obviously) in addition to EVs. Instead, there seems to be a big push for return to office.

Will using the browser version with the usual array of ad-blocks help?

One of the interesting features about Matrix is that it supports some degree of interoperability. The Beeper phone app, for all the fuss about its ill-fated attempts to bridge to iMessage, can connect to Discord for basic no-frills text chat.

I refuse to install Discord on my phone but use Beeper for DMs and group texting.

I am a big fan of Matrix and glad to see it getting some attention in this post. But it is definitely a bit rougher around the edges and esoteric compared to Discord. For more technically-inclined people, it’s fine. But it’s a bit much for some people.

I’m no fan of Apple (and don’t want to divert discussion here), but part of their winning formula is ease of use.

I frequently use Jitsi w/screensharing. Been using it for quite a while this way with good results.

The resistance to allowing WFH really shows how bullshit the push for EVs “to help the environment” is.

I’m not anti-EV and do believe they are better than ICE. But even better than an EV-driven mile is a mile that isn’t driven at all.