fresh @ fresh @sh.itjust.works

Posts

3

Comments

135

Joined

2 yr. ago

We have some of the most concentrated markets in the world in certain sectors, notably the telecom cartel. Due to car culture and the advent of the supermarket, we don't have small neighborhood grocers anymore. We do here in Vancouver, small immigrant run shops, and let me tell you, the quality is high and the prices are WAY lower than the national chains.

I agree, it's also bad business in other ways. Sometimes I get the feeling the irrational contempt for workers is part of the decision making. As if to say, "How dare they ask for more wages?"

I go by bike. Very possible, especially with a cargo bike, but even with a normal one with panniers.

Trains are generally at their fullest when cars are at their emptiest, during commuter hours.

If that's true, then we are obviously comparing like-for-like: busy train commute time, busy car commute time. Which makes it a completely fair and representative comparison. "This isn't fair because what about when no one is commuting?" is a weird complaint.

That said, I'm skeptical that for most of the day trains are "near empty" and that for most of the day cars are "likely full of groups of workmen". Do you have a source for that?

Short sighted MBAs that try to squeeze out every penny from consumers don’t realize (or don’t care) how valuable good will is.

I am all for criticizing authoritarianism, but I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration (similar things were said of the supposedly “conformist” Japanese in the 80s and 90s). You don’t hear the same things said of the US, even though the US school system is one of the most segregated in the developed world. If you grow up in certain neighborhoods, often along racial lines, you are designated to be a poorly paid service worker, with no real option to follow your passions. Social mobility in China remains higher than in the US.

In any case, we’re mostly in agreement inasmuch as I’m obviously criticizing this bad authoritarian policy in China.

The comparison is completely honest. It is dishonest to pretend that trains aren’t generally full and a line up of cars ever are.

I wonder if this is more effective than just narrowing the streets.

In all seriousness though, it’s been really stable. Even this down time was short. This is a volunteer team and they’re running one of the best instances on the fediverse.

At one point, this man had a realistic shot at being president. It’s like what we would be reading about Trump had he lost in 2016.

What counts as “education”? China recently has the chess world champion. Is studying opening chess moves “education”? I doubt it. Is reading video game websites in English to study English “education “? There are so many useful ways to let people flourish by following their passions.

Thanks. Then I really have no major complaints at all!

Basic macroeconomics: The budget of a sovereign government with control over monetary policy is fundamentally not like a family budget.

I think it's such a boomer-y perspective to treat phones as toys. For a lot of people, smartphones are their main computer. People do their homework, do research, learn languages, fill out forms, and lots of other productive activities.

Even communication is not frivolous. What if someone wants to talk to their father working in a factory in distant Guangdong for their birthday?

Historically, past housing crises have been resolved with massive input from the federal government. I hope this government acts with urgency, people are suffering out there, but given that the last housing minister was literally a housing investor I'm not very hopeful. I think only the NDP has the right alignment of interest and values.

I’ve been extremely impressed with Memmy. Clean, stable and easy to use.

The main feature that’s missing is fast account switching, which IMO is even more important on a federated service.

edit: nm, long press on your account on the bottom to switch. The app is great!

Can someone explain this to me?

Edit: haha of course BotW. Didn’t make the connection. Thanks.

Yes donating. This is a good cause.

Yes I use iCloud, but I think you can use any cloud service. Works great. Never had a sync issue. They also have a paid service they provide for clouding syncing.

I can’t live without Obsidian. There are other similar linked note taking apps but Obsidian is the best in my opinion, not least because it just uses your folder structure and plain text markdown. I can’t imagine doing research, or just organizing my life and thoughts, without it.