Places in Germany and Denmark are moving not only away from US servers but US software.

The reason is “digital sovereignty”

So they’re investing in open source solutions. If it works there will be a reason and options to move for political reasons.

If it works and saves money expect a bigger shift.

Spotify instantly gives you what the record companies paid for the algorithm to give you.

“Digging” isn’t hard. Give it a go.

But it sounds like you’re listed to “tracks” not albums. Frankly that’s your biggest mistake.

If you like lots of tracks other people don’t, you’ll always be struggling against an algorithm trying to feed you 3 minute songs nobody hates.

Listen to albums and every time you follow a rabbit hole you’ll have 40-80 minutes of music to listen to at least once, multiple times if it’s good.

You’ll find albums that are worth listening to as a whole and some you’ll keep tracks in playlists.

Personally I moved from CDs to Spotify to YouTube music, to buying CDs again, soon to have them on Jellyfin.

Once you get into actually listening to albums, 3 or 4 albums from eBay or charity shops are what I’d have paid for a subscription and if I need to take a break I’ve still got my old music and don’t have any more to pay.

You can of course sail the high seas if you’re strapped for cash or want things instantly. I consider the big 3 labels harmful and have only bought second hand copies. I try to buy from independents and smaller labels when I can directly.

The harm of the major labels is pretty big and frankly streaming has become their most harmful tool. I want to avoid supporting that model or supporting the big 3.

1. Talk to other human beings about music.

Music is not meant to be a solitary hobby. Share what you like, they’ll share what they like.

2. Like a piece of music? Look up that producer, or record label if it’s small. Look up the session musicians. Don’t just look up the artist.

Generally it’s not just the artist that makes the music top tier. There are other great professionals involved in the background and good people hire other good people to work in the background.

This is easy. Once you start doing this you end up with a queue of albums you want to get round to listening to. It’s easy enough to find too much music yourself without an algorithm. You start finding the artist radio a waste of your time.

The rabbit holes I’ve been down following a producer, guitarist, or bassist, etc. are usually very rewarding and often you pop up in another place you knew already after finding out about some lesser known great music on the way.

I’m not sure that works. There were 20 shillings to the pound.

So £0.75 a week.

This inflation calculator:

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator

£75 in 1843 is equivalent to £8,310.96

So 15s then is equivalent to £83.11 a week, £4321.72 a year.

40 hour week (which is implied to be too low). ~£2.08 an hour

So if he worked over 40 hours you’re talking a sub £2/hour wage. Around $2.70 in US money.

I suspect the stat relies on converting to dollars before applying inflation as GBP to USD was about 1 to 5 then instead of about 1 to 1.33

It’s fun but I wouldn’t want to denigrate Dickens by saying he got poverty wrong to make a political point.

Hands appear differently in different positions all over the frame in the photo so I maintain the hand pattern is less consistent and harder than lens blur.

But you’re right as the blur is a fingerprint you can match it to a lens and prove a photo is real that way.

It could be a useful tactic as much of AI detection is a way to find and prove AI fake so far.

Just my guess. I could be wrong:

As the lens blur is mathematically fairly simple and spread across the whole image it’s likely already consistently replicated by AI in a similar way to real photos.

It’s easier for generative AI to spot, “understand”, and replicate a mathematical pattern than the number of fingers on a hand or limbs on a body.

Fuck you

With Dijon mustard!

Because Biden paid them with grants to build in the US. It’s that simple.

Beyond that there’s stability and the likelihood of not being invaded or facing natural disasters.

There’s meant to be government, legal, and financial institution stability too.

As well as intellectual property defense, trade secrets and NDAs.

Material supplies are meant to be stable too.

When you’re investing in something as specialised as chip manufacturing, labour is a fraction of your concern. Both short and long term.

Still an idiot.

“For the amount of space it takes to include a second speaker or second camera it doesn’t really make sense when you can just plug in an external one”

You sound like an idiot.

I can buy a phone from HMD that’s more repairable, more modular, and has sustainable features.

Fairphone has been a busted flush since they ditched the headphone jack. It’s just the most obvious sign amongst many they started making landfill phones.

You got to benefit from the 80s and selling off of all our national assets to prop up our economy for 2 decade’s

You lived in the good times and called it “the cold war”.

From a millennial give us our stuff back (to the state who gave it to you).

Edit: Disregard. I have the 13, not the 12.

~~Normal laptop formfactor. You can have a touch screen as an option but it doesn’t do the full 360 fold round into a tablet.

I own one and the hinge goes 180.

It’s an excellent laptop, I grabbed one when the first AMD board was available and it runs Fedora flawlessly and has windows on an SSD when I need it.~~

To exclude certain Semites from the definition of “antisemitism” based on religion…

The definition of antisemitism is anti Semite.

As long as we come across people playing language games while excusing a genocide.

It’ could be reasoned it’s not accurate to call Israel’s actions “antisemitic” as that has been chosen as meaning only Jewish related hatred.

It can also be reasoned that it’s perfect valid to call Israel’s actions “anti Semitic” as this is a genocide against an Arabic speaking Semitic population.

No headphones jack.

Trash generating hypocrites.

HMD are doing everything better than fair phone now with their latest models. More repairable, more flexible, long term support and updates.

Cheaper too.

How about they Walk Walk Walk Walk Walk Walk Walk Walk

I know everything I need to know about heat pumps.

I live in a flat. I am literally not allowed to install anything outside for a proper split.

There is no location in my small property where noise would not disturb sleep or the general enjoyment of being here. So even with permission an air source pump is not viable.

I’d need permission to install a ground source unit outside which wouldn’t be impossible.

But then it’s likely to be got the whole building as that would be the most efficient.

I’m not sharing an energy bill for heating with my neighbours. My consumption is low.

There are millions like me in this country.

What I would install is an electric boiler. Essentially inductive or resistive heat.

Which is half as efficient as a heat pump. But I’d have control of my bill and with the consumption for a single person flat the long term expense of installing and maintaining a heat pump eat into any efficiency savings they have.

The only thing stopping me is gas is cheaper per kW because we’re burning gas to make electricity at a ~45% efficiency compared to a 90% efficiency of piping it here to be turned directly into heat.

Cut fossil fuels out of the electricity supply. Then I’ll install an electric boiler. Until then I’ll burn gas more efficiently here.

Heat pumps work for those with outside space. Those who have luxuries.

Electric cars work for those with driveways. More outside space. More luxury.

I could buy into that luxury soon enough. I will upgrade my property at some point. But it’s not going to solve any climate change issues unless they solve the issue for everyone, not just the middle class and upwards.

The government need to stop burning gas for electricity. When they do I’ll probably be paying more for energy, but the poorest can use the same infrastructure and be subsidised.

Renewables, grid storage, reasonably priced charging with on street chargers near everyone’s homes. We’ll all be able to go carbon free.

Heat pumps are part of the solution, but really they’re the smallest part. They only offer an efficiency saving over resistive heating. The cost is noise pollution, maintenance cost, space, and complexity.

I don’t take the government’s climate targets seriously when heat pumps are their main policy.

Except they were basically beyond design life.

And every new plant comes decades late and 4x the original budget.

The water system is a business. The labs are businesses. A competent business shuttering when the market shrinks to avoid making a loss is an effect of Brexit.

The fact our water infrastructure is run as a business is an effect of Thatcher selling it.

We need to vote for a government to reverse Brexit eventually. But we’re also still waiting 35 years to reverse the privatisation of the 80s.

The problem with voting for destructive Conservative governments is it costs a lot of money to replace the things they’ve given away or destroyed.

Honestly this isn’t hard.

Businesses plan more than a year in advance.

These labs carried on as long as they could make a profit without significant maintenance cycle costs.

Then they look at their market and whether the next cycle is worth the investment.

If we were in the EU they’d be looking into claiming that large market in 2026, instead they’re shuttering the business before it starts making a loss.

They’re looking at 5, 10, and 25 year profitability. You’re looking at a 1 year plan.

This is why politicians and their billionaire donors are so easily able to trick you into voting like an idiot. You choose not to think.