“Accidents” happen. (I used to be a medic, and I firmly believe there is no such thing as a true “accident”.) If you look at the whole scene, you can find the point on the timeline up to the “accident” where the patient got stupid. And then I had to be there.

And yes, drunk mowing is a real thing. I had to overturn a riding lawnmower once to look for a bit of finger. But the two fatalities involving lawnmowers I did, had no alcohol involved—just stupidity was all that was required.

So back to the rule of kings and Strongman Despots.

Because that's what a social collapse will get you every time. There will be no "worker's paradise".

With a serious head injury you ain't going back to work in the morning. Not defending the surgeon, but the guy probably might never work again because of the injury. Hell, his whole personality might be changed because of it. And there is no way to know how the operation might have turned out or not.

Remember when the IoT was very new? There were similar grumblings of "Why would I want talk to my refridgerator?" And now more and more things are just IoT connected for no reason.

I suspect AI will follow as similar path into the consumer mainstream.

EV sale are slumping more because of cost to buy than anything else. The great unwashed masses, like you and me, simply can't afford to make the purchase. Even used EVs are more expensive a use ICE vehicle.

GM had it right with the Bolt. An EV with good range, 260 miles or so, and a far more affordable entry price for us commoners to swallow. It just died because the battery manufacturer screwed it up. But there is hope the Bolt comes back with GMs new Ultium battery that is supposed to be cheaper and better. They know it can be done and they can do it. And BYD could sell a lot of EVs in the same price range as a base level Bolt very easily.

I'm sure Musk knows Tesla's days are numbered. The large manufacturers are now in the process of pivoting and they will eat Tesla alive. This is why he's trying to get that big payout from the Tesla Board of Directors and has now also been caught in alleged insider trading. He's going to suck all the cash out of Tesla he can before running clear of the collapse.

Yep. Applesauce can be used as a replacement for oil in cakes and some quick breads. I've done it on the rare occasion I've been short of cooking oil for a cake. Don't think I've ever swapped it in for all the oil though. It does give a bit different texture and flavor, I find it kind of pleasant myself. And youy will need to probably bake the cake for a bit longer too. YMMV based on your oven.

I personally would not use applesauce to fry in though. But perhaps Flying Squid's mother should experiment for use and they can report back to us on the results.

A good number of European cities and countries have tried Linux and open source software in the past. They use it for a few years and then they have almost always have quietly gone back to MS Windows and Office products.

As much as I enjoy using Linux, (and no, I don't use Arch), and open source for my own needs, I would be willing to bet after a few years, this German state will quietly move back to Micosoft products again.

"Dumb car" is kind of relative. Computer engine controls have been around since the mid 1970's. And while the first ones were not very good, they have become pretty darned reliable over the intervening years. And as someone who has owned cars and other heavy equipment with mechanical points and down draft and up draft carburetors, you won't ever see me willingly own a car with any of that anymore.

If you really want to minimize the electronics as much as possible, look at 1990's to no later than 2010 models.

Though to be fair, much of the problems with cars are caused by the accessories like power windows, door locks, air conditioning, and power seats. Those are far more problematic than the basic car itself.

How to test vacuum tubes to fix the TV. Or maybe just watching black and white TV and I was the remote. Being able to buy bottled pop out of a pop machine for 15 cents AND it had Near Beer in it.

As another Liberal gunowner with a carry permit, what nearly everyone with a defensive firearm seldom understands, is even IF it's a "righteous shoot", it's going to cost well north of a $100,000 dollars to prove it in court. If nothing else, it would be financial ruin for the overwhelming majority of those people who are most vocal about self-defense that want to mentally play Rambo.

You will also often see such packaging used with in hospitals, group homes, and nursing homes. It helps to limit med errors for nurses and cnas and can allow some mentally handicapped people or elderly to have some control over their lives.

It's not a common packaging you are going to get from a pharmacy unless specified for you by a doctor.

Co-ops are a good thing^tm^ , I belong to several small co-ops, from electric, to telephone, to farm.