It's a little surprising that this doesn't happen more in the US, where some people seem to like being rugged and independent.

It is very viable to go off-grid, or at least have enough backup energy storage and generation to survive days of no grid power.

You don't even need to deal with regulations, there are products that allow you to have it all isolated to your own home, or simply plug critical appliances into a box of batteries and solar panels when needed.

"by that point they will need a new $15,000 battery." - you are a victim of social media "experts" - Batteries vary in cost and $15k is a massive battery, failing batteries will have individual modules/cells replaced, not the whole thing (unless you go to the manufacturer who will take the easy way out and charge you for a new one). Batteries to outlast the car

That will be one of the clickbaiter channels (i can think of 2 that come to mind) that posts incorrect/badly analysed videos to wind up the equivalent MAGA/Brexiter emotional mindset that do no research for advertising clicks

Trump wants to be the king you pay tribute to in order to do business.

Renewables being cheaper has moved a lot of stuff over already. The reality is that a lot of the cost of burning fossil fuels is outsourced or hidden, and efforts to make the people burning it pay are also proving to be effective.

The Chinese government has been pushing that narrative for years. They are the stable partner. World's second largest economy with much higher growth than all the other big ones. They don't force their ideology on you either.

It sucks because they aren't wrong about those things, and the stuff we compete with (lucrative markets, less exploitative, democracy) are not quite so tangible, not such big concerns for countries trying to deal with big economic problems or lift millions out of poverty. We need to be more competitive, but in a way that doesn't compromise our core values.

Modern models will take into account statistical biases in lotteries. For example, here's ChatGPT:

Pick good lottery numbers for the Virginia powerball lottery

Good question. First, a reality check: Powerball is pure chance — there’s no “good” numbers that are more likely to win. Every set of 5 white balls (1–69) + 1 Powerball (1–26) has exactly the same probability.
wwwuat.valottery.com
+1

That said, I can give you a few tips + a sample “random but balanced” pick, if you’d like to pick your own numbers rather than use Quick Pick.

Some tips when choosing your Powerball numbers

Spread your numbers
Try to pick a mix across the range (low, mid, high). According to lottery-strategy advice, not clustering all your numbers in one group is better.
samlotto.com

Avoid patterns
Many people pick birthdays, anniversaries, or sequential numbers. That’s fine—but if you win, you might have to share with more people because these are popular picks.
lotteryvalley.com

Use “due” or “hot” numbers carefully
Some sites (like lottery-analysis tools) track which numbers are “hot” (drawn recently) or “overdue” (haven’t appeared in a while). But remember: past draws don’t change future odds.
m.lottostrategies.com

Mix even and odd
According to some statistical analyses, it’s less likely to draw all odd or all even numbers.
samlotto.com

Play responsibly
Odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are extremely long: 1 in ~292 million.
lotterycritic.com

Sample “balanced” Powerball pick

Here’s a random-but-balanced combination you could use just for fun (or as a basis to tweak):

White balls: 8, 23, 41, 57, 65

Powerball: 12

If you like, I can generate 5 different “smart random” picks for the next Virginia Powerball draw (balanced by probability and number distribution). Do you want me to do that?

It's a damned shame '99942 Apothis' will miss us in a few years

It's not too late to fix that.

The thing is, it very much *won't* be random numbers. It's about as far from a random number generator as you can get.

In a really bad model, one would expect it to likely be "numbers it's seen the most in the context of a lottery". But in a good model, esp. a thinking model, one would expect it to think over which sorts of numbers are statistically over-chosen (birthdates, etc) and avoid them in giving its answers.

The funny thing is, think of how this woman will interact with ChatGPT from now on. ChatGPT could say "Abraham Lincoln was married to John Wilkes Booth", and she'd be thinking, "Okay, that sounds really, really wrong, but on the other hand, it picked the right lottery numbers, so..."

You'd need a bigger quilty

No! The iron content proves it must be filled with well-aged cheddar!!!

Heretic!

A one true Christian, vote her into government quick, that'll soon beat it out of her

Anyone think that the picture of the blue sling with the phone peeking out looks like a demented vulva?

https://store.storeimages.cdn-...

So they stuffed North Koreans into jobs, so to speak?

Pretty much this.

Banks and payment processors are making money for doing next to nothing every time someone uses a card... other organisations, especially merchants want in on this as they're the ones paying (directly, you're still paying indirectly)