You might read up on the everlasting prevalence of ancient COBOL still running too much of our banking and government. the same software that caused y2k is still there

Just like y2k, the irony is the problem is already solved but that won’t help us.

Datetime types have long since converted to longer data types that will not have such a problem for thousands of years. APIs have long since converted to return those longer data types. The problem is solved.

But the backward compatible 32bit datetime types are still there. Too many programs still use them. Too many embedded devices don’t include “extra features that waste space “, industrial devices are far more widespread but don’t get updates for many years. Worst of all, we have no idea what works and what doesn’t. We’re doomed to repeat the same crisis as y2k, where we’ll need to evaluate all our software, roll out patches, worry about everything falling down.

Modern software development has made it easier than ever to keep everything up to date, to prevent so many issues from ever happening. Year 2038 is an unnecessary problem. But human nature is to let it fester until the problem erupts. We’re doomed

Before Ukraine, I’d read that idea quite a few times.

Previous wars were run on logistics and manufacturing - can you keep your guys supplied longer than the other side? But now you goto war with what you have, you lose ridiculously expensive and very lethal equipment very quickly. Modern equipment is so complex and expensive that you can never sufficiently speed up manufacturing, so once you’re out, you’re out. Your equipment may not last long enough to institute a draft and call up more people, so once you’re out, you’re out. War over. Very quickly.

That was the expectation. Then there’s Ukraine, which defied all expectations. Somehow it kept going, it turned into a logistics battle again. The modern lethality didn’t happen as expected

True, someone always had it worse

Woo hoooo, give me an “F”!

No manufacturer does good self-driving yet.

Several manufacturers including Tesla make driver assistants more reliable than humans in at least some cases, possibly most of the time.

It’s easy to say you don’t want to allow companies to profit from unsafe technology that kills people but what is the other choice? If you send the trolley down the other track, you’re choosing different deaths at the hands of unsafe humans. We will soon be at the point, or already are, that your choice kills more people. Is that really such an easy choice?

There’s always moderation. My focus so far is for my t-shirts to be cotton. Even that has been a challenge but it was something I could do

I’d like to see more investigation /reading on laundry. My understanding is the biggest source of pollution is the manufacture, which can and should be more regulated.

However under your control, it’s the laundry that causes the most shedding. Is there a way to filter the laundry or something to minimize the impact of technical fabrics?

Silicone is not plastic.

The food is not stored in the lid and it’s trivial to remove the plastic lid before microwaving. I’m happy with that compromise, and am only unhappy with rabid capitalism meaning if I find one I like, it’s already been discontinued

Tidal power probably needs shallow water while these would be great in deep water

Did they say it was intended to be on the seafloor? I didn’t see that but assumed it would be moored deep enough for water pressure to turbo boost the turbines, but well clear of silt from the sea floor. That would also be a key benefit if you can moor it at the most useful depth but in any depth of water

Like a battery, it’s not scalable as a one off, but it may be as a modular mass produced item.

Or maybe like a wind turbine. You’d have a field of them comprising a power plant. If you lose some individuals, who cares. If you need to do maintenance you can take one offline or entirely replace it without really impacting the power plants output

It’s such a weird emotionally driven thing though. At one point I was putting on a lesbian barbecue…. Weirdly enough (a lesbian couple was our neighbors and I’ll do a cookout for anyone). Most were great people but a couple stood out

• One was a hulking butch type who lifted weights. Nearly my size and clearly stronger: great person to talk to and comfortable in her body and presentation
• Another was her opposite, tiny with delicate features but excessively masculine and really just trying hard to be a man, took my presence as a challenge. I found that a strange experience and could never be comfortable chatting with her. Maybe she wanted to transition I don’t know but it was just excessive and overwhelming any personality she may have had. It’s not just that I found nothing in common or there was any way it could threaten me, but i definitely felt uncomfortable in ways I was not proud of

I’d be more than happy if we steered the argument in that direction. Little bit of privacy would be appreciated by us all and this problem goes away if all the restrooms are private and non-gendered

This brings up an interesting question or I’m not close enough to the problem to have thought of. I’ve seen women use men’s rooms plenty of times and no one cares.

• Is it because I’ve lived in tolerant areas?
• Am I Just too obtuse?
• are they that illogical that women in the wrong restroom are not objected to but trans men are “for being a woman in the wrong restroom”

It does happen and it is uncomfortable, regardless of whom. Situations im thinking about include

• urinals extremely close together with no dividers, or even troughs
• urinals with overly narrow dividers so you have to stand at an angle or stand way back (or maybe I just have broad shoulders)
• extra cringe if that is right next to the kids urinal
• locker room - parts is parts and I understand you need to bring your kid in but your little girl really shouldn’t be here. She’s old enough to use women’s locker room on her own. At least have her use the privacy stall

The most satisfying part is when it doesn’t even affect our line. Women are heading to our stalls where as most men are using urinals so we still get through just as fast

Then double down to challenge them for three trans athletes on women’s sport teams. Anywhere

Doesn’t this just follow long established gender norms (self referential joke intended)?

As a thought exercise assume two genders and consider your reaction toward using the wrong restroom.

• most people would be up in arms over a man using a woman’s bathroom
• it may be novel for a woman to use the men’s room but does anyone really care? Think of a big event where there’s a huge line at the women’s room. Aside from annoyance at potentially having to wait, do you really care if some of the women use the men’s room? Or a high end bar/club? I’ve been in several that have a woman as a restroom attendant and my only concern is why do I need an attendant, why do I need to tip someone I’d prefer wasn’t there, regardless of gender. Again, I’ve never heard anyone complain.

So it actually does make sense for this issue to be an outgrowth of long standing societal norms, but maybe it’s an opportunity to have a deeper discussion about why we do that and whether/when it’s warranted at all. We had shared bathrooms in college and everyone survived (although I was always frustrated that I never used it as an opportunity for “fun”)

Same with choosing a country.

I remember when the internet was enough us-centric (or accurately localized) so “United States of America” was at the top of the list. Now I have to scroll way to the bottom. I guess I can’t argue about the fairness of it, but it’s still annoying.

With all the annoyances of everything needing to be thousands of JavaScript modules instead of a simple html page, can’t we get something useful out of it, like a localized country list where everyone gets theirs on top?