Looks like a quite useful service. Thanks for mentioning it. But $5/month is a bit much for that. I would love to SMS people from an XMPP app but it would have to be cheaper, or pay per msg.

I saw plenty of opportunities for enshitification and designed obsolescence.

There was an APP! So of course the natural order of things is to move more and more functionality from the physical control panel to the app. Then periodically let the app die by obsolescence. Force people to buy new phones to keep up, but then one day the new app no longer talks to old pressure cookers. Make the next version connect to the cloud for programs, and share with the IP maker everything you do. Sell that data to Amazon and Google who want to know what food you’re buying.

Then make the programs subscription based, so users have to pay a monthly fee to operate their cooker. Justify it by adding more and more programs. If someone does not pay their subscription, shut them down. Make the IP the biggest brick in the house.

I was actually disturbed that there was a Google Playstore app. Sure, it was optional, but I did not like the fact that my purchase in part financed the creation of an exclusive closed-source app exclusively available to Google and Apple patrons. It should have been an f-droid app.

I have a coriander/cilantro plant that is a nuisance to prop up. It’s potted in dirt, so I guess a bottle would be hard to transplant into. I guess i would need a bottle cutter to cut the bottom-most part off.

The ban is on cigs not really vapes it seems (apart from the flavored ones that attract kids). In which case people are being steered toward vaping, which will likely do well in competing against black market cigs. If the goal is to keep kids off the worst of the worst, focusing on cig bans while keeping unflavored vapes on the table would seem to be the most effective compromise.

I’m not endorsing it.. but just in terms of the gov achieving its goals (one of which is cancer reduction) it seems they will succeed to the extent possible with this approach.

Simply put- it seems people just dislike smoking but will make exceptions for their preferred things like weed, etc.

Your original post mentioned cigs specifically, not tobacco generally. There are health risks of all ways to consume tobacco but those risks are not equal. A ban cigs but not on vaping or cigars (which are not generally inhaled) would act against the most harmful form without cancelling the whole substance and experience categorically.

There will be a small black market for cigs but if vaping is not banned then many will be steered toward vaping instead. The vaping option will keep the black market on cigs small.

If that was truly the goal then why not just ban carcinogens in cigarettes instead?

There is no such chemical as “carcinogen”. It’s just a vague term for anything that is linked to cancer. There is no proof at a molecular level that cigs cause cancer. It’s still not understood. We have overwhelming stats that smoking cigs have an undeniable link to cancer, but the science has not yet yielded detailed results on how cancer manifests in a cell. Stats are all there is.

If we fast-forwarding into the future when a cellular understanding is obtained, the intake method will certainly be part of the equation, not just the substance. AFAIK, the only cigar smokers who get lung cancer are those who smoke cigars improperly (by inhaling them). I lost 2 friends to cancer because of that. They loved to inhale cigars. Those who smoke them as intended (like myself) are not much more likely to get lung cancer than a non-smoker, IMO.

That and I question the addictive difference in marijuana vs. cigarettes but I have no data at hand to say either way.

There’s a world of difference. One is both psychologically addictive and chemically addictive (iow, has withdrawal symptoms), and the other is purely psychologically addictive (like anything else.. e.g. chocolate).

I’ve never been an addict but there’s plenty of credible research finding nicotine to be the most addictive substance in the world, even more than hard narcotics. MJ addictions are laughable in comparison, like addiction to waffles.

Cocaine has no withdrawals. It’s often said to be the most psychologically addictive substance. MJ is also in the purely psychological category and it’s nothing like cocaine’s stranglehold.

I saw no actions on that page. Then I dragged my cursor across the page and highlighting revealed they are using white text on a white background. I guess they did not consider that environmentalists might have images disabled in their browser.

Support Farmers and A More Resilient Food System

They are quite vague. One of the problems is livestock farmers are getting subsidies. They should be getting less support, not more. It’s unclear if this 2024 Farm Bill separates livestock farmers from the others.

Tell the World Bank to Stop Funding Fossil Fuels

Agreed. Though it’s a shame the action stops there. The advice should be to use cash as much as possible and to avoid these banks in particular.

Doesn’t sound familiar, but maybe there is more than two.

(edit) just had a brief look at bombas. They seem like a great product but I didn’t see notice of a lifetime warranty.

BBC radio just reported that ExxonMobil has had such high profits since the pandemic that it’s now suspected of being a key contributor to the current global inflation crisis (“greedflation”). WTF. This makes it even more despicable that Chevron and Exxon opt out of funding methane reduction.

Exxon, Chevron, and Kraft Heinz are notorious scumbags who I’ve been boycotting for over a decade. Everyone should be boycotting these companies.

The initiative secured $25 million each from six oil companies: BP Plc, Eni SpA, Equinor ASA, Occidental Petroleum Corp., Shell Plc and TotalEnergies SE. Some countries also ponied up, with the United Arab Emirates that is hosting COP28 providing $100 million; the US, $2 million; Germany, $1.5 million; and Norway, $1 million.

No mention of #Adnoc? Isn’t there a bit of a scandal with Sultan Al Jabar being part of COP28 while being the CEO of Adnoc?

BTW, indeed that list of oil companies seems to be a lesser of evils AFAICT, apart perhaps from Shell who Greenpeace really picks on for some reason (maybe the spills?)

The greatest of evils should of course be boycotted. There is no reason you have to buy fuel from:

• Chevron (an ALEC member who was caught financing the cloakroom project to conceal meetings between US republicans and giant corps)
• Exxon/Mobil who discovered climate change and concealed it (#ExxonKnew)

The best action is to stop driving a personal car. But if you don’t think you can (yes you can; #fuckCars), the least you can do is boycott #Chevron and #ExxonMobile.

I wondered what that article would say about Ada. No mention. But certainly Ada gives you the ability to have the issues that are listed so apparently Ada is memory unsafe (despite it being highly regarded as a safe language overall).

Also worth noting that Ada developers generally consider rust a watered down lesser alternative. OTOH, rust has memory safety and Ada does not, correct?