@vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de
@vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

vfrmedia

@vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de

Old roaming Tom Cat (zwerfkater) but still young at heart. Toots EN, (NL,FR,DE). #DevOpa - interested more in retro tech / culture / aesthetics than new stuff. Also transport and public infrastructure in general (with a UK/European focus)

Welcome to the secret goose shed!

Avatar is a tabby point Siamese cat - header picture is a Stentor FM radio transmitter designed in the Netherlands; popular with small pirate radio broadcasters in late 1980s

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

tony, to random
@tony@hoyle.me.uk avatar

The latest bit of chineseum to cross my path.

Those familiar with the UK plug will see the problem..

vfrmedia,
@vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

@tony @penguin42

unless the PSU had something with a plastic earth pin, its bizzare anyone made this in the first place - the UK plug should be familiar to many engineers in China as its widely used in Hong Kong..

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

Where do you live and how do you feel about it?

Obviously, don't tell me exactly where you live, no actual addresses please! You can be as vague as you like.

I live in Central Missouri in the U.S.

Pros:

This is an absolutely beautiful place, green rolling hills, lots of rivers, lakes, ponds, and natural springs, cool caves to explore.

Lots of farming here, so great access to quality fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, and dairy.

It's relatively inexpensive to live here compared with other states, because it's a "flyover".

I'm close enough to three major cities, that it's an easy day trip, and I'm about halfway to anywhere in the U.S.

We have one of the best Conservation departments in the U.S. and this is one of the few things that is a bipartisan issue. Lots of awesome nature programs that are free or cheap, state parks, conservation areas, bird watching, hunting, boating, foraging available to everyone.

Cons:

Yeah, it's a big one, it is a RED STATE, while a lot of the cities are blue, there is a large rural population, that votes red. Abortion is not legal here. People often vote against their own self interest.

While I'm not against responsible gun ownership, lots of people aren't responsible, and people have access to guns that definitely should not.

We have very few employee protections here, while the cost of living is relatively low compared with other places, it's taken years to get to a $12 minimum wage, and it's still not enough.

vfrmedia,
@vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

@Nickiquote @RickiTarr I live in Ipswich, Suffolk but work in semi rural Mid Suffolk.

It is pretty much exactly the same here (including the hard water), except there are fewer Tories in urban Ipswich and more foxes (they now migrate to the towns to avoid hunters, they aren't daft).

There are guns in the rural areas (long guns only, others are forbidden) but only 2 shootings in the last 5 years..

VeroniqueB99, to random
@VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social avatar

😱

vfrmedia,
@vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

@VeroniqueB99 in what part of the world is that even allowed? For some years British Telecom / Openreach (and presumably other telcos in Europe) won't install anything in a bathroom for safety reasons, going back to the days of analogue telephones where there's a good 100 volts going down the line when a circuit is ringing (and some especially cursed variants of ISDN had constant 120 volts DC on the pairs used to power network terminal equipment, those can bite)

Gwendolyn, to random
@Gwendolyn@mastodon.cloud avatar

If smart phones and social media are the cause of the mental health crisis among young adults (aka teens) in the USA why aren't they having the same crisis in Europe?

vfrmedia,
@vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

@MisuseCase @Gwendolyn @bmacDonald94

Youthsmental health is still an issue in Europe but to a lesser extent. Gen X heavily self-medicated with drugs (often linked to party scenes), Gen Y/Z is more likely to seek treatment and prescribed medication (or at least accommodations) and we have a slightly better health/welfare safety net than in the USA (although its not perfect), and also try to discourage weapons being brought to places of education..

djsundog, to random
@djsundog@toot-lab.reclaim.technology avatar

there are a couple new digital billboards in Ellijay that trigger a thought every time I happen to pass them: access control cannot be that stringent on a billboard way out here

vfrmedia,
@vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

@djsundog I read that a lot of these in USA were on default passwords (as were the digital road signs). Unfortunately here in Britain getting near one of these things (particularly the road signs) means being very close to live traffic and is thus unsafe for a prank - even trained roadside workers get hassled or even hurt doing their normal jobs but there may be a bit more free space to work in in America..

vfrmedia,
@vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

@djsundog this may be a British/European thing but outdoor workers who might encounter traffic generally wear hi vis, so with anyone dressed as such its assumed they are supposed to be working in that area and they are often overlooked (such as the chap I saw on the spiral roundabout today who had a clipboard and appeared to be checking traffic levels or just inspecting some infrastructure)

FeralRobots, to random
@FeralRobots@mastodon.social avatar

Very few people seem to be dealing with the facts that:

  • services are all being priced as loss-leaders at this point.

  • gen AI is only going to get more expensive, there's literally no forseeable prospect for cost reduction in how AI is produced.

  • Eventually these vendors are gonna be expected to count profits, not revenues, & that's going to mean either fewer services, less service, higher prices, or all of the above.

vfrmedia,
@vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

@MisuseCase @FeralRobots @Binder

even the bizzare car dealer chabots were quite quickly "cleaned up", when I LARPed as an American redneck and asked them what pickup truck I could transport my pet bear in and also snakes for church, I was dissuaded from these practices (citing animal welfare and other legislation), but the bot still tried to suggest appointments to look at a truck 😁

vfrmedia,
@vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

@MisuseCase @FeralRobots @Binder

I got the impression the bots were an experiment for GM dealers in poorer areas. That said, I don't think any UK car dealer uses AI bots, the only thing they have is one to capture out of hours queries which are passed to humans (often who rarely follow up on the queries anyway and prefer dealing with potential customers either on the telephone or in person)

clive, to random
@clive@saturation.social avatar

Fellow Canadians, help me out here:

In "Daylight Katy", what in sam hell is Gordon Lightfoot going on about?

vfrmedia,
@vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

@clive

I'm not Canadian, but very familiar with "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" as it was constantly played on Radio Caroline (perhaps as gallows humour due to the questionable seaworthiness of some of the radio ships used).

Apparently it was about his pet cat, who would wander the streets of a seaside town during the night 😺

https://vancouversignaturesounds.com/hits/daylight-katy-by-gordon-lightfoot/

randahl, to random
@randahl@mastodon.social avatar

Would a native English speaker help me out here?

I know what a coffin is, and I know what a casket is. But what should I call these simple plywood boxes, Russia uses to send dead soldiers back to Russia?

vfrmedia,
@vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

@onepict @randahl

I speak to young folk at work and the community radio station and they are visibly rattled by what is going on, whole generation (at least in Northern Europe) has grown up not knowing war but we've gone back about 50 years in the space of 3 years. A lot of them are just avoiding the news and trying to live their lives, I don't know how they will cope when things start getting heavier (I doubt Europe will be directly attacked but possible attacks on critical infrastructure)

vfrmedia,
@vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

@randahl @onepict I can't help but think that for some folk (not just Putin or even Russia) "the war is the victory" - there's a lot of angry men Europe-wide who seek out whatever conflict they can find/escalate, some start from internet troll/reply guy behaviour and escalate into real life violence (I saw this happening 15 years ago, particularly on music subculture communities where folk were likely to meet up IRL)

stefan, to cars
@stefan@stefanbohacek.online avatar

"It’s tricky to hit the right emotional tone of why bollards matter. Sometimes it seems academic and dry, sometimes [it's] very visceral and raw."

https://josh.works/bollards

vfrmedia,
@vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

@stefan I'm always a bit cynical when I read reports about folk confusing gas and brake pedals, and I drive a car with an auto 'box myself - (one pedal is physically larger than the other as well as different positions and tactile feel) - i feel a lot of these collisions are caused by sheer impatience and rushing to get into the parking space, or DUI / distraction from mobile phones..

flockofnazguls, to random
@flockofnazguls@mastodon.flockofnazguls.com avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    vfrmedia,
    @vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

    @HipsterDM @flockofnazguls I still see a lot of real people on the motoring related channels on YouTube (car maintenance and detailing) but eventually the bottom is going to fall out of the adtech market as there are so many creators all making the same videos, a glut of content, and if they actually succeed in preventing adblockers a lot of people will just boycott YouTube..

    Geri, to random
    @Geri@mastodon.online avatar

    At the end of Hall's speech, someone called out "You're a racist"

    vfrmedia,
    @vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

    @Geri the results here show a divided London and maybe the level of the ULEZ expansion backlash - although its interesting the North London boroughs still voted Labour even though they are also within the expanded zone and their local business would have been affected by it (maybe they could all afford new vans / took heed of the years of advance warnings that were given and prepared accordingly?)

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8v36l6d54do

    Jaden3, to random
    @Jaden3@mastodon.social avatar

    Seeing all da cops beating up students on campus now y'all no what it like growing up black in the US !

    vfrmedia,
    @vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

    @purplepadma @Jaden3 they did similar or worse (including firing live rounds into protesting crowds) just before all of us were born (even me) but I guess were either hoping folk forgot about that, or it was just business as usual in the USA

    mekkaokereke, to random
    @mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io avatar

    I told y'all, cops don't do what you think they do.🤷🏿‍♂️

    Black folk know this from lived experience. Some white folk only learn this when they go to report a theft or sexual assault and find out that the $11B/year NYPD are not equipped to handle that.

    15K NYC bikes stolen a year!

    https://www.404media.co/nypd-bike-lock-chain-kryptonite-columbia-university-protests/

    1/n

    vfrmedia,
    @vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

    @wilbr @tehstu @mekkaokereke

    Lego cops of 1970s (and the associated Lego city) were based more on scenes in Northern Europe than America - although today our officers increasingly wear American style uniforms, even if in some countries (UK and Norway) they are still not all routinely armed

    ai6yr, to cars

    Techdirt: People Are Slowly Realizing Their Auto Insurance Rates Are Skyrocketing Because Their Car Is Covertly Spying On Them https://www.techdirt.com/2024/04/26/people-are-slowly-realizing-their-auto-insurance-rates-are-skyrocketing-because-their-car-is-covertly-spying-on-them/ #cars #privacy #insurance

    vfrmedia,
    @vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

    @ai6yr insurance rates are also rising over here in UK, even though GDPR forbids a lot of the datagathering, spyboxes (separate to the car) are generally only required for young drivers (<age 25) and a large portion of the cars on Britain's roads do not have this level of tech in them..

    blogdiva, to design
    @blogdiva@mastodon.social avatar

    so, some douche bought a bunch of Teslas and seems to be running a 3rd party car service using Lyft/Uber.

    WTF IS WRONG WITH THEIR DOORS?!?! i have never in my life have had a problem opening a car door until i tried to open the door of a Tesla.

    that fascist apartheid fuckwad is a real ableist PoS, isn't he?

    vfrmedia,
    @vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

    @blogdiva they are being sold a lot cheaper over here (UK) as there's a lot more competition in the market, but their sketchy customer service is bringing down the whole market for EV's as insurers are fed up at slow repairs and delays to get parts and some are now actively refusing to insure any EV as they think they are too much of an extra risk compared to petrol/diesel cars

    vfrmedia,
    @vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

    @thepoliticalcat @blogdiva its difficult to pin all the blame on Tesla (not sure if our legal system is set up to deal with such a situation, or bosses of every British car manufacturer would have been in Court since 1970s 😁 ).

    Car manufacturers have already been lowering customer service bar for last 10 years and vehicle repair is in crisis here, we are short of 23 000 mechanics, and many work in such lean environments they have 0 time to go training to learn about EV repair >>

    vfrmedia,
    @vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

    @thepoliticalcat @blogdiva

    the other factor is the Chinese (who are making the buik of new affordable EVs) work both harder and smarter than Brits (I've watched their repair garages on YouTube, there's a surprisingly large number of videos from there) and for lower hourly rates (although clearly enough to live on); so UK bodyshops are struggling to cope with Chinese workshop manuals even when supplied with good translations..

    j2bryson, to random
    @j2bryson@mastodon.social avatar

    This really seems underreported, presumably because it’s a Russian assault on NATO infrastructure, and no one wants to admit we’re at war?

    Russia accused of GPS jamming after aircraft disrupted

    Finnair suspended flights to the Estonian city of Tartu after GPS signal interference prevented two planes from landing. Estonia and Lithuania have blamed Russia for jamming GPS signals in the region.
    https://www.dw.com/en/russia-accused-of-gps-jamming-after-aircraft-disrupted/a-68964307?

    vfrmedia,
    @vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

    @j2bryson looking at gpsjam.org (access to which is now intermittent) there was interference well into parts of Finland and other areas of Europe - also what appears to be Israel(?) doing the same in the Middle East.

    However the signals seem to be airborne and not affecting GNSS services on the ground.

    I do believe EU/UK/"the West" seems to be in denial about the scale of conflict and the potential of various escalations that will affect civilian populations outside the main warzones..

    Jaden3, to random
    @Jaden3@mastodon.social avatar

    Last stop Atlanta ✋🏾 on gang I ain't moving no mo istg!
    Shit I dun wit shuffling my ass between houston and chicago 😒
    My Momma now moved to ATL , my aunt, uncle, cousins there. Atlanta my base now .
    Shit I just gotta find a job earn sum dollar 💵

    vfrmedia,
    @vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

    @Jaden3 there's a place called Ellijay not too far away where @ajroach42 and his friends do all sorts of cool creative stuff, might be worth checking out..

    skyfaller, to random
    @skyfaller@jawns.club avatar

    Suppose you had to produce a local computer from scratch, completely independent from existing manufacturers like Intel. (If you need a specific location for this hypothetical, let's say Greater Philadelphia.) No chip fabs in China, Taiwan etc. The tech level and computing power doesn't matter, you can tailor the application to the power of the computer; indie local production is top priority.

    What is the best approach? A simple conventional silicon chip? Vacuum tubes? Analog? Mechanical?

    vfrmedia,
    @vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

    @skyfaller mixture of valves (tubes), electromechanical assemblies and punched cards/tape with other magnetic storage, rather like a cross between Collossus machine used to decrypt coded messages from the German military during WW II and other early computers used for databases and financial processing..

    alanferrier, to random
    @alanferrier@mastodon.scot avatar

    What a xenophobic little shithole the UK has become.
    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/28/home-office-to-detain-asylum-seekers-across-uk-in-shock-rwanda-operation

    vfrmedia,
    @vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

    @Indyposterboy @alanferrier also how the locals would treat refugees (or anyone who happens to be black/brown) if they could get away with it (they then complain about the menfolk from minority groups "hanging around in gangs" when a lot of the time its at least partly driven by a feeling of safety in numbers)

    mekkaokereke, to random
    @mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io avatar

    Again for people (racists), complaining about falling birth rates:

    The birth rate for women over 40 is not falling. The birth rate for women over 30 is not falling.

    What's happening, is girls 15 to 17 are having fewer babies. Kids are having fewer kids.

    Also, this is an interesting way of saying that "Teen pregnancy is down, due to sex education and contraception."

    In 1991 25% of 15 year olds gave birth before they turned 21. That's bad. Now it's 6%. That's better.

    https://npr.org/2023/01/08/1147737247/teen-pregnancy-rates-have-declined-significantly

    vfrmedia,
    @vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de avatar

    @thepoliticalcat @gkemp @derle @mekkaokereke in England it varied across ethnicities - white folk tended to leave home earlier whereas Asian and Black communities stayed in the family home longer, but nowadays multi-generational households are widespread for everyone (plus "boomerang" returns of young adult offspring when house shares and relationships fail or the young adults have financial problems)

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