Web browsers don’t integrate to a single account and payment system, nor do they preemptively load entire websites before you start browsing. So you’re always waiting for actions to complete or for images to load which feels slower. Mobile websites also tend to be very bloated slowing things down further than if the same functions were done natively in an app. There’s also no consistency between websites so you never know when something will/won’t work nor how far away you are from checkout. And then to top it all off there’s browser compatibility, which is typically pretty poor for anything that isn’t Chrome/Safari.

If a web browsers could really do the same thing all these companies wouldn’t feel the need to make their own device specific apps.

Even the best websites don’t feel as smooth as native UI elements, and somehow browser compatibility is still a very common issue. Signing in with Google and using gpay for checkout is kind of close, but each website has different design elements complicating the experience while giving up the same amount of your personal data as if using an everything app.

And you can repair them without needing to shut down a whole railway. All these projects to put solar panels in novel places are totally pointless and solving a problem that doesn’t exist.

This is why everything apps are so popular in many parts of the world. Using a mini-app from the internet running within another app is far preferable to downloading a whole app you may never need to use again. The way they do it in China is so seamless even if you’ve never visited the business before. There’s never any special account creation or entering of payment information.

Obviously it’s pretty terrible in terms of user privacy since the everything app has basically unchecked access to all of your personal information and habits, but the convenience is incredible and feels decades ahead of how apps work in the US.

Did you know that you can save 11% on EVERYTHING?

I literally bought the soft toy bear that sings the jingle. I’m surprised they haven’t expanded toward the coasts, I never even considered going to Lowes or Home Depot when I lived relatively nearby one. I was initially not a fan because they put the local True Value out of business but the selection and prices are just too good at Menards with much more silly charm. And the 11% rebates were amazing if you remembered to actually mail them in.

The ads on over the air programming are so so terrible. And even with a great antenna the many channels aren’t exactly the highest quality content even if they didn’t have ads.

YouTube has taken the place of over the air TV and for good reason.

If they had an actual plan or history of preserving games I’d not care about emulator development. But with the industry track record being so poor we need emulators if for nothing else for preservation.

So much culturally interesting data has already been lost to time which I bet future historians would absolutely love to have access to. The internet archive is missing much of the early internet, while old iPhone and Android apps are largely unable to be run even if you have the APK/IPA required,

Ya good point, I meant legacy manufacturers (GM, Ford, Stellantis).

An important note is that I live in Texas and like half of the vehicles on the road are pickup trucks. I also see the occasional Hummer EV abomination.

I’ve also seen several of the Silverado EV recently. GM bet the hardest on EVs of any US manufacturer by far and I’m really hopeful the new bolt will significantly undercut the rest of the market to the point it makes smaller cars more common. The trend of massive vehicles has to end, the manufacturers like the high margins on them but it’s unsafe and unaffordable for most Americans. And it adds pressure to buy one just to be able to be seen by other drivers in their massive SUVs/trucks.

Not sure, this was 2 weeks ago. Apparently the season was somewhat earlier than normal this year. The C&O Canal trail is the place to go though.

This goes a bit deeper than their connection to America. The whole reason they were aligned with America in the first place was their mutual hatred of Iran. The Saudis HATE Iran. Coincidentally Hamas’s biggest supporter is Iran. Israel surely knows this and for similar reasons why most of the Arabian peninsula states are keeping their distance from this war.

I finally managed to try pawpaws this year. It was quite nice in Maryland and they’re all over along riverbanks. They had nearly identical taste and texture to the sweetsops available throughout Asia, just with larger seeds. I have no idea why they’re not widely available, the flavor is sweet and mild like most fruits that are popular in the US.

We can only hope, but at this point I think it’s quite unlikely given how even Fox News Republicans recognize that the first didn’t go well.

This just makes me want Greggs.

Nah the side rows are for when you expect the lecture to be boring or unproductive and you want to leave early.

WMATA busses need serious work and there aren’t enough bike lanes for last mile connectivity, but by US standards it’s about as good as it gets outside of NYC.

The busses are the main differentiation between European and US cities in my experience. Only Seattle and SF get close to running a decent bus service.

The generics I’ve tried all work but noticably worse. The quality of the bristles is different and it doesn’t leave the same clean feeling. The price of the genuine replacements is stupid and they keep increasing it, but I’ve given up on finding a good quality generic one and just pay the price. They don’t need replacing that often anyway.

If anyone does know of a good quality C2 compatible replacement please do let me know though.

Dental and vision are never included in US health insurance and operate on a totally different confusing insurance framework. They’re only available through separate plans and have their own deductables and terms. But unlike health insurance the premiums are generally orders of magnitude lower for both vision and dental.

The problem I’ve had is that the maximum benefit is typically in the range of $2k-$3k/yr for dental which is quickly hit if you have any oral surgery needs. Unlike with healthcare I don’t feel ripped off when paying for dental/vision since the few hundred dollars per year covers preventative care visits too.

Using stock as collateral for loans with insanely low interest rates is very, very common among even engineers in big tech. It’s a well known loophole passed on by the older engineers/managers at the companies to the younger ones. From the perspective of eventually paying the tax it doesn’t help, but inflation will outpace the interest on one of these loans so it does lower the effective rate and more importantly for the economy as a whole is cash earned/spent without having been taxed. Ya it will need to be paid back eventually, but that can take decades.