I'm wondering about that, because for years Google has had better resolution, but not 97% coverage.

Maybe that's the worst case, and it's better in areas with better satellite photographs available. I think Google uses aerial photography too, to get views from different angles.

Many developed economies are based on there being infinite growth. Without it, pensions, healthcare, society in general will collapse.

Either we go cold turkey and charge the whole basis of our socio-economic systems, or we have some immigration to ease the transition.

There are obvious flaws. What about Swiss citizens who just want to reunite their family? "Sorry, we hit the quota for this year, and there next decade isn't looking good either."

Lottery? Great for business planning.

I still can't get ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude to write a decent story or do an engineering design beyond basic complexity. They're all improving, but they're best thought of as brain-storming aids rather than actual development tools.

Realistically the two things that will make it happen are

1. China is doing it
3. Billionaire joyrides

Reolink here too. They support open protocols and work locally with no internet access. Picture quality is decent. You can record to your own server, or fit an SD card, or both.

Social media has become a toxic dump. If you wouldn't allow children to play in waste effluent from a 1960s nuclear power plant, then you shouldn't allow them to play in the social media that's out there. Because, frankly, of the two, plutonium is safer.

I do, however, contend that this is a perfectly fixable problem. There is no reason why social media couldn't be safe. USENET was never this bad. Hell, Slashdot at its worst was never as bad as Facebook at its best. And Kuro5hin was miles better than X. Had a better name, too. The reason it's bad is that politicians get a lot of kickbacks from the companies and the advertisers, plus a lot of free exposure to millions. Politicians would do ANYTHING for publicity.

I would therefore contend that Australia is fixing the wrong problem. Brain-damaging material on Facebook doesn't magically become less brain-damaging because kids have to work harder to get brain damage. Nor are adults mystically immune. If you took the planet's IQ today and compared it to what it was in the early 1990s, I'm convinced the global average would have dropped 30 points. Australia is, however, at least acknowledging that a problem exists. They just haven't identified the right one. I'll give them participation points. The rest of the globe, not so much.

At least they are installing renewables as fast as they can.

The DCL isn't mandatory though. Home Assistant only needs it for device firmware updates, but it's always going to be the case that those come from the internet.

Their battery tech is a years ahead of everyone else, from the basic chemistry to the manufacturing process.

Some are, others are adopting Matter which is local only and an open protocol. Vote with your wallet.

Some car manufacturers want to wring more out of their investments in hybrid drivetrains. They are also hoping to delay long enough to catch up to the Chinese on battery tech.

Toyota is a great example. Their solid state battery tech is always a few years away from revolutionising the industry. They tried and abandoned hydrogen.