Oh for sure. There are people that want particular things, and care about those tools. I'm one of them. Yeah, my complaint is that one of the barriers to adoption is a mental perception of complexity.

Well... not just "mental". Mostly mental, though. When it comes to day to day use, most people simply wouldn't need to know anything about SystemD. The idea that they might have to is destructive to the cause.

China may be the place where all of that continues. Unfortunately. The fact they're an almost-totalitarian dictatorship and their tyrants have a focus on hard, real technological growth, coupled with what you wrote, has a high likelihood of causing them to get the lead. Not because China, can all other things being equal, do it faster than the US, for freedom to innovate almost always beats top-down impositions. But because the US, as a whole, has decided to make things unequal in the worst possible way -- for themselves, at least.

No consumer should ever have to give one second's thought to Wayland or SystemD. Nor to KDE, Gnome, X11... all this technical blather is straight up in the way and stupid. If I want to run a DAW, I shouldn't be concerned with ALSA/JACK. Having to know anything about any of this is a barrier to entry.

Until that shit fades into the background, desktop linux is doomed to single digits. And rightly so.

I understand that jewelry has deep, deep roots in culture. I certainly don't object to it. But diamonds have always been at the top of my list of the greatest illogical marketing successes of all time. The dollars-to-impact ratio of diamonds is so skewed that it's simply bizarre. Those marketers are kickass. They planted and nurtured a multi-faceted (see what I did there?) attack of expectations. They tied romance into it, the suggestion that being a good provider entailed paying large amounts for this rock of "ownership", they glossed over atrocities, and managed to hold on to that for a very long time.

Even aesthetically, I think diamonds are just boring. Coloured diamonds less so... but white ones? Meh.

If we can disconnect the bridal expectation, we can let the decorative side of this industry slide into history.

I don't think it's even specific to diamonds, but rather in the same vein as Sorry, Boomers, your kids don't want your beloved china. Or fur coats. Or jewelery in general.

Then

Now (yes that is also Mr T!)

It is flamebait. The linked article is worth a read though - more actual quotes

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/2...

What comes across overwhelmingly to me here is a sense of panic. There doesn't seem to be any confidence that they can build something unique. He's totally focused execution - on catching up with whatever somebody else released last month.

Don't read too much into my point... that's not what I intended. I accept disruption during protest.

However... if protection is granted over disrupting business from within the company by those employed in it on the grounds of moral objections, the list of companies affected is very, very long.

- Pharmaceutical companies
- Tobacco / marijuana producers and distributors
- Homeopathic businesses / holistic services
- Religious organizations
- Anything touching military supply chains
- Chocolate companies
- Diamond mining and distribution
- Palm oil producers
- Fast food chains
- Corn oil producers
- Renewable energy companies
- Non-renewable energy companies

I'm not saying protesting isn't right and reasonable. Even if it is disruptive, I get it, and I support it.

My point is very narrow. Make a choice. But it's ridiculous to be surprised or offended when you are fired for taking the fight right into your cubicle.

Huh, that is a strange omission to make.

They should have put it closer. But puttering down the strip on foot checking everything out, and then hitting the monorail for a 1-way ride all the way back, is a pretty common thing I think. That, or staying in the hotel where your meetings/conference/gambling is, and hardly going outside. Or going to the Raiders game or F1 race.

At least I think we can all see the monorail does have decent ridership, and the extra-wide sidewalks of the strip are relatively crowded, much moreso than typical in the US other than exceptional places like NYC.

https://greekreporter.com/2024...
https://arkeonews.net/italian-...
https://www.heritagedaily.com/...
https://www.sciencetimes.com/a...

I will say this, of all the places you might want to visit without a car in the US, which can probably be counted on one hand, Las Vegas might be at the top of that list. Most visitors are going to the strip, which has the monorail, or the football stadium.

China will figure all that out for us, they're like 30 years ahead in adoption of high speed rail

https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infogr...

Mainly the legal system protecting land owners.

US and UK have a similar legal system that is different from almost everywhere else in the world.

Isn't there that California HSR line from LA to San Francisco? Isn't it well along under construction?

What am I missing?

Especially since the construction of the rail line is in a race with the electrification of cars and the transition to green energy, both of which are making rapid progress in California every year.

I've heard there are long lines at the recharging stations between LA and Las Vegas on big weekends. Obviously that's not great in itself, but it shows that 400,000 tons number is set to shrink. Of course you'll still never beat a train for efficiency in moving a bunch of people along the same route at the same time, like for a raiders game.