HobbitFoot

HobbitFoot , 24 days ago to Technology in The world's only coal-to-nuclear reactor plant just broke ground in Wyoming

It is a lot harder to get wind to turn a coal power plant turbine.

HobbitFoot , 26 days ago to Antiwork in American Airlines flight attendants say their pay is so low, they fight for airplane meals to save money and sleep in their cars—and they're ready to strike

At least an hour and a half if the flight doesn't have any issues.

HobbitFoot , 26 days ago to Antiwork in American Airlines flight attendants say their pay is so low, they fight for airplane meals to save money and sleep in their cars—and they're ready to strike

I hope they start getting paid based on how many hours they work instead of their time in the air.

HobbitFoot , 1 month ago to Technology in The Paradox of Blackmarket Wired Bluetooth Apple Headphones

To add to it, you probably also have to deal with parts sourcing. You can probably scavenge Bluetooth radios from several generations worth of equipment or get cheap from China. In contrast, a Lightning cable that can turn data to sound is likely really hard to come by.

HobbitFoot , 1 month ago to Technology in Samsung is sunsetting Tizen and fully ending support for the smartwatch OS

It makes sense. Everyone knows how to program and develop hardware for it and it is free to use. The worst that will happen is that Android development goes in a different direction, and you can fork it if that happens.

HobbitFoot , 1 month ago to Memes in You wanted AI, didn't you

accidentally summon the Dark Lord

You've tried to use Excel as a database too, huh?

HobbitFoot , 1 month ago to Mildly Infuriating in Euro bottles are so much better now

their budgets are SO extremely deep and large. And this cap? This cap is the best they could come up with?

You're assuming that there was an expensive program to replace the entire bottling line and redesign the bottles in order to meet the EU regulation while achieving satisfactory user experience.

What likely happened is that the engineers in charge of the cap design were told to change as little as possible and came up with a design that only required changing the cap moulds. Everything else got to stay the same, saving the company's budget for other things

HobbitFoot , 2 months ago to Technology in How rental ‘libraries of things’ have become the new way to save money

I didn't say tool makers would stop it.

But there is a difference in design philosophy between pro tools and amateur tools. I would expect that, if the market shifts to more kinds of tools, the design of those tools will shift as well.

HobbitFoot , 2 months ago to Technology in How rental ‘libraries of things’ have become the new way to save money

Not exactly. The type of rental discussed in the article is short term, not long term like an apartment.

Also, there will probably be a response in the industry, but it could end up being better overall. For instance, an appliance may end up being designed more for repair and have a longer design lifespan as there are fewer, but more educated, consumers of the appliances. I would expect a steam cleaner that has to run two times a week to be more expensive than one that has to run two times a year.

HobbitFoot , 2 months ago to Technology in Does enshitification happen because companies are publicly-traded?

No. Enshittification happens because of venture capitalism.

Startup companies get a lot of money early on with the hopes that, after the investment cash is spent, there will be a profitable company left in its place. That company can become publicly traded or get sold to another company. The key is that the investors make their money off the startup.

The flip side is that, without venture capitalist companies, a lot of these companies wouldn't get the opportunity to grow.

HobbitFoot , 2 months ago to Technology in I Tried a Disney Secret Project! - YouTube

I don't think that the use of Steam Decks in this manner is a great thing for Valve. It is basically being used as a cheap Linux PC with built-in user input and the ability to self maintain if the manufacturer decides to sunset maintenance.

If Steam Decks get deployed in this manner, it would only be as the computer interfacing with expensive equipment, which isn't a large market and won't really make Valve money outside the hardware sales.

HobbitFoot , 2 months ago to Technology in Construction Begins on High-Speed Rail Line Between SoCal and Las Vegas

Kind of, but you also have the issue that a lot of streetcar networks were built at a loss to support land development. When these networks went bankrupt, local governments didn't really want to fund the subsidy to keep them running, so these systems either collapsed quickly or slowly.

It is obvious that car companies pushed for cities to change in a war to accommodate cars and sell buses, but you also have the issue that a car dependent lifestyle was considered a symbol of wealth for over a generation, people wanted to move out to the suburbs, and politicians were elected to do so.

HobbitFoot , 2 months ago to Technology in Construction Begins on High-Speed Rail Line Between SoCal and Las Vegas

12 billion dollars for a train line hundreds of miles long and possibly rebuilding some bridges is pretty cheep. And it isn't like casinos waste a lot of water to run compared to other economic activities.

And, honestly, Las Vegas isn't that unsustainable except for the heat and we already have ways of dealing with it.

HobbitFoot , 2 months ago to Technology in Mercedes becomes the first automaker to sell autonomous cars in the U.S. that don't come with a requirement that drivers watch the road

Which is how it should be. The company creating the software takes on the liability of faults with said software.

HobbitFoot , 2 months ago to Memes in I’m a man of many talents

Nah. There are cases where it stops being about upholding their values and more cheering on one side over another even if what they support is against their values.