Organic Maps (google maps replacement) - https://f-droid.org/packages/app.organicmaps/

AntennaPod (podcast app) - https://f-droid.org/packages/de.danoeh.antennapod/

So yeah “things” are shittier, because nowadays we have the ability to live in a nearly post-scarcity society but we just don’t wanna.

Humankind could have been living in blissful peace for centuries. We’ve always had the ability to not kill each other or fight for resources. But many people, then and now, don’t want that.

The way civilizations/empires/countries have operated has largely been competitive. It’s naive to think we’ll all just come together and solve these very complicated problems.

Saying that people are stupid or racist… I don’t think that barely has anything to do with what prevents all major countries of the world to work together to combat things like disease, climate change, inequality, etc.

How do you define “things”?

On a global scale and on average, life for humans is getting significantly better than, say, a century ago. The number of people dying from preventable diseases, war, natural disasters has been steadily going down for a while now.

Of course there are many more people on earth than there were 100 years ago, so accumulatively there is a lot more suffering now.

Also, the lives of individual people, the state of certain countries and areas are certainly getting worse.

As for non-human animals… For most of them the world is getting increasingly less habitable and for those who are raised in an industrial setting for human consumption, living conditions are largely atrocious.

I think your question is too broad for a single answer. But you might be interested in this now 17 year old (!) TED talk by the late Hans Rosling, which at least partially answers your question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVimVzgtD6w

and “killing the baby”, you mean like later in life to eat?

At least in the Netherlands, the species of dairy cows are focused on dairy. If a bull is born it is raised for about half a year, then slaughtered and most often the meat is exported since calf meat isn’t popular here.

At that point they are basically still babies, or at least the meat is called “calf meat”.

I used ‘reader mode’, or whatever it’s called, on Firefox and that worked well.

I live in the Netherlands and I buy fresh produce four or five times a week. Freshness wise it depends on the fruit or vegetable. I wouldn’t say most things only last two days but it’s not like it’s gonna last ages, especially after it’s been opened/started.

Physical buttons in cars

My induction hob, my extractor fan, a light above the countertop… All of these things just in my kitchen don’t have physical buttons and I hate it. Physical buttons are so easy to use and in so many ways superior to these “touch” buttons.

Scary times for Argentina

Seven

I think to a large extent it’s a case of cognitive dissonance.

Loads of these people have defended Trump for years, supported him despite his obvious lies and grifts and so you kinda have to believe that whatever else he comes up with is also true. If you believe all his previous falsehoods, why not the next?

To admit he’s full of shit means your whole belief system has to change. Trump supporters have lost friends, alienated family, spent their money on him… It’s much easier to keep believing in him than it is to admit you’ve been wrong all this time, cause that would mean having to admit you’ve been taken for a fool this whole time AND it means all your efforts and sacrifices have been for nothing.

Only know him from Party Down but this sounds cool!

Please don’t. I’m extremely welcoming to foreigners but I really don’t like how many non-Dutch people move here and never bother learning the language. I don’t want bubbles of foreigners, I want an integrated society. I don’t want a bunch of international schools, public schools here are fine and kids learn languages quickly and easily.

I know a bunch of people who’ve lived here for a long time as well who don’t speak any Dutch and honestly I find it a bit embarrassing for them. Imagine moving somewhere and not bothering to learn the language at all! I feel like you’re just showing your laziness and ignorance.

Appelmoes

Sounds like a nice setup. I have an old laptop I could potentially use for this.

Thanks, will check it out!

Yeah but you won’t know if it will pay off until many years after studying, so it’s a gamble.

For the majority of cases having a university degree will give you a higher salary, not to mention the value of the experience of going to university as well as the connections you make there (both personally and professionally).

University in the US is just stupidly expensive and the loans have a crazy interest rate.

I’m from the Netherlands where you’ll receive money from the government while studying. You can take a loan on top of it with minimal interest and so it’s basically always worth it if you can afford it and are academically able to.

What makes stopping (temporarily) difficult for you? I find that when I’m home and have easy access I smoke almost out of habit. But when I’m holiday or just busy with stuff I have no problem at all not smoking.

Bizarre. But the article outlines a lot more vulnerabilities. Seems like every part of this device is poorly secured.

IOActive’s hacking technique exploited glaring security vulnerabilities they found in the shufflers, the researchers say: They bought their own Deckmates for testing from second-hand sellers, one of whom told them a password used for maintenance or repair. They found that this password and others they extracted from the Deckmates’ code were configured in the shuffler with no easy way to change them, suggesting they likely work on almost any Deckmate in the wild. They also found that the most powerful “root" password to control the shuffler—which, like all the Deckmate’s passwords, they declined to publicly reveal—was relatively weak.

This is just ridiculous / hilarious.

Very interesting and depressing article.

A fundamental reason for the lack of clarity over the role sex or drug trafficking plays in the fate of Uruguay’s missing women is that neither prosecutors nor police are looking for the evidence.

So, are the police involved in the trafficking and that’s why they’re not doing anything and withholding information? Or are they just incompetent / underfunded / undertrained?

It’s like they actively don’t want to solve these cases.