OpenPassageways

@OpenPassageways@lemmy.zip

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OpenPassageways,

This was my initial thought, but it’s not clear from the post whether this is a work-related rant or not. It certainly could be a rant about issues that do affect work.

OpenPassageways,

I’ll layer on to the other replies which are spot on…

One reason I’ve soured on hydrogen is that it’s overall much less efficient than battery as an energy storage mechanism.

This is a really in depth article about a study that found that “well to wheel” efficiency of battery EVs was 70-80% and with hydrogen it’s 25-30%.

I was initially excited about hydrogen as energy storage for renewable sources, but battery tech has improved and is improving.

Also, one of the major advantages of a BEV for me is the ability to charge at home, possibly from energy generated by my own panels. Even if there were solutions for me to generate my own hydrogen, I’d rather lose 20-30% of that energy with a BEV than lose 70-75% with a FCEV.

OpenPassageways,

Not only that, he said recently that these protests wouldn’t be happening if he was in the White House. His positions on Palestine and left-leaning protests have not exactly been subtle.

OpenPassageways,

I’m not sure I’d want to be swapping my battery out like a propane tank. Not everyone would follow charging recommendations, etc.

OpenPassageways,

Maybe they will save money because they don’t have to offer healthcare?

OpenPassageways,

I’m not sure it’s true that the Israeli government doesn’t care about American public opinion, since they do benefit from American military support, but let’s assume what you said is true.

Even if Americans protesting won’t stop the genocide, won’t end apartheid, I’d prefer that those atrocities are not committed with my tax dollars, with support from my government, in my name. The lesson learned from 9/11 shouldn’t have been “we need to enact regime change anywhere in the world where American interest are opposed”. It should have been “Americans better make sure they are OK with the things that their government is doing abroad”.

I’m not OK with it, I’m not willing to risk dying in a terrorist attack so that Gaza can be levelled with “made in America” munitions. I’m not willing to risk dying in a terrorist attack so that oil companies and other big business interests have friendly regimes to collude with in the region as they scam the people out of their resources and freedoms.

OpenPassageways,

I remember it looked really good for a PS3 game, I think the physics of the sand was a tech demo for the PS3’s dedicated physics chip or something like that.

OpenPassageways,

One of my cats will headbutt me if I say “headbutt”, he’s like a pokemon or something. Hard enough that I can hear a thunk.

OpenPassageways,

You’re probably right about that, but he’s so blatantly crossing the line in ways that would result in a regular Joe getting thrown in jail…

Can we survive as a society of he continues to make a mockery of the rule of law? Isn’t it important to show that the wealthy are not above the law? Every day he breathes free air is evidence that the justice system is broken beyond repair and it gives fuel to those who want a violent revolution to burn the system down.

Tesla’s in its flop era (www.theverge.com)

When Tesla releases its first quarter earnings this afternoon, the company’s CEO Elon Musk will field the usual questions about new products, new factories, and progress toward its futuristic vision of self-driving cars and robot workers. But Musk will also face increasingly urgent questions about its current state of affairs...

OpenPassageways,

This probably is true for some people, which is why I hope he steps down.

Me, I’m waiting for the prices to come down (more than the recent price cuts) on the Model 3, or for a more affordable AWD EV with similar range to become available.

I order online from Amazon and Walmart too, it doesn’t mean I agree with their CEOs, board, or business practices. The shit those companies get away with is arguably worse than Musk’s right wing BS on X, with union busting and employees depending on benefits to survive.

If you’re able to make a statement and buy something else, great! I support that. My requirements for a vehicle are: full EV, AWD, 300+ mile range, final cost under 40k. The access to supercharging also seems nearly essential, but I’m willing to explore my options if they meet the other requirements. I also never want to buy from a scumbag car dealer again. That really doesn’t leave me any other options that I’m aware of.

If not, I guess I could stick it to Elon and just buy another ICE vehicle…

OpenPassageways,

It seems like it would be a good move to have him step down.

I’m not sure they will though, I think the board is probably still stuck in the mindset that their company is valued highly because of Musk.

OpenPassageways,

Cars and car companies suck. If I could lug all my sports shit around in an e-bike I would.

I imagine the conditions aren’t great at all these “American” car plants which are conveniently located in Mexico for maximum abuse of labor.

I’m not saying you’re wrong, there just needs to be alternatives in order for consumers to vote with their wallet on these issues.

For something like a car which is not optional for me, it’s either an ICE from a scummy car dealer with a scummy company behind them that uses questionable labor practices, or an EV from a scummy car dealer with a scummy company behind them that uses questionable labor practices, or an EV from a company with a scummy CEO that uses questionable labor practices. At least with a Tesla you can cut out some of the scumbags? I’d be interested in Rivian too if I could afford one but they start at 70k.

OpenPassageways,

You seem to be missing the point. Show me a car company that’s not screwing over the consumers and the workforce, and I’ll buy from them. Not every consumer has the luxury of maximizing altruism with their car purchase. At least those supposedly untrained employees are US citizens getting paid a US wage. Do you honestly think that things are better at the Mexican plants?

Maybe Honda and Toyota or Subaru? But they’ve been too busy sucking off the oil industry with their hydrogen push, and now their EV offerings can’t compete.

OpenPassageways,

Replies to a thread with lots of well-thought out comments with some BS and doesn’t even elaborate.

OpenPassageways,

Yeah, this is my dilemma. I have heard positive things about Ford and GM in regards to them making it easier to skip the dealership, so that at least addresses the convenience factor. Another factor in wanting to avoid the dealership is that I don’t trust their business model where they sell you a car that they want you to bring in regularly for maintenance. I’d rather buy from a company that doesn’t see vehicle service as a revenue opportunity. Does that apply to Tesla? I’m not sure, but I know that’s how the traditional dealership model works so it’s hard to trust those companies.

OpenPassageways,

This is a good point, I’m more inclined to support a unionized company. Still… my understanding is that GM and Ford (and others) all circumvent unionization by manufacturing (to some extent) in Mexico. I guess it depends on the individual car. I’m supportive of Federal and State EV incentives that prioritize made in the US, unionized manufacturing.

OpenPassageways,

When it comes to tax exemptions for religion, I’m in favor of removing them all.

Religions should be treated as non-profits, if they don’t want to pay taxes they need to file paperwork that shows the money is being used for expenses or charitable purposes, and there should be transparency to ensure that if they’re doing shady shit like sending donated money to Italy or paying pastors millions or buying private jets, then at least that information is public.

OpenPassageways,

I agree that framing is important. For example, I don’t support new taxes or making drugs legal.

I DO support repealing tax cuts and repealing cannabis prohibition.

Still, I suspect that conservatives oppose many of these things regardless of framing, due to an “I got mine” mindset. The trick is to frame these issues in a way that appeals to their self interest.

For example, instead of “universal healthcare is the right thing to do for the dignity of our population”, we need to frame it as “universal healthcare will save taxpayers money”.

OpenPassageways,

Yeah you have a point I struggle whenever I want to describe my political opposition. Sometimes I want to write Republicans but then there are people who claim to be independent or libertarian so then I write conservatives but in reality the Republicans don’t uphold any conservative values such as small government, fiscal responsibility, etc. So I think I’ve settled on the term regressive. You’re either progressive or regressive and regressives are holding us back from moving forward. I think fascists could work too but so many Trump supporters just don’t understand that they’re being fascists.

OpenPassageways,

Two that I watched on Netflix a while back:

The Untold History of the United States - good overview of US history with an emphasis on conservatives fucking us over and liberals not really doing a whole lot about it

Winter on Fire - striking footage of the Maidan revolution in Ukraine prior to the invasion of Crimea

OpenPassageways,

Replayed the Prime series a bunch, most recently the switch remake of Prime.

Great series, I didn’t like some of the dialog/cinematics of the third one but the gameplay was great.

Dread was really good, exceeded expectations. Final boss was hard I’m not sure I ever beat it.

Super Metroid was great but I’m not sure whether I ever beat Ridley.

I think I completed the remake though. Really hoping to see Prime 4 at some point, maybe on a new console.

OpenPassageways,

Picked up Talos Principle 1 and 2 for 20$. Really enjoying the first one so far. It’s like Portal but more serious, makes you feel really clever, lots of “outside the box” thinking.

OpenPassageways,

I really like the overall world building of the Revelation Space universe. I’m currently reading Machine Vendetta which came out recently and is in somewhat of a prequel series for Revelation Space. Some of the Demarchist communities described in the Glitter Band are really wacky.

The various factions, planets, concepts, etc. are all great. It’s a great universe for short stories and there are some good anthologies.

However… I think I actually enjoyed Reynolds’ Revenger series a lot more in terms of the individual characters and their stories. If someone forced me to pick out only three books from Reynolds for you to read, it would be the three books in the Revenger trilogy.

I’d also recommend another series from him which starts with Blue Remembered Earth.

OpenPassageways,

Just finished book 10/10 in Tchaikovsky’s “Shadows of the Apt” series. I highly recommend it.

For me it was an interesting blend of the political/military games of Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire and the intersection of magic and technology in Sanderson’s Cosmere.

Tchaikovsky’s most well known for Children of Time but although I like the third book in that series a lot the first two were a little meh for me. I liked the concepts and world building but the perspectives of octopi and spiders was kind of a drag for me. Somehow I liked the raven stuff though.

I would also recommend Tchaikovsky’s The Final Architecture series if you’re into the sci-fi more than the fantasy aspects.

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