They are also one of the few parts of the electronics hobby that isn't toxic. A very welcome change.

I misremembered. It's been some years since I did it.

We found that submersion to 10cm was often worse than submersion beyond 1m. I think it was the lack of compression on gaskets. Our pre-compliance test was a drainpipe blocked off at the bottom, and string.

Samsung used to make waterproof phones where you could replace the battery. I'd give up the ability to fully submerge if it meant the battery could be swapped out.

For me it's a big deal. I had a hell of a time replacing my Pixel XL battery. I'm keeping that thing alive forever, because it has unlimited full quality photo uploads to Google Photos.

This is the usual way the EU does this stuff. They don't get too specific, they let courts figure that out and update their rules if necessary.

It is disappointing that waterproof devices are not included, like IP68 phones. Then again I wonder if IP68 rating is enough to claim that, because typically if they say IP68 and you submerge the phone, they don't want to fix it under warranty. IP68 means a water jet, so I suppose it's not actually submersion, but I think a manufacturer might have a hard time arguing it with a court that is likely to side with the consumer's understanding of words like "waterproof".

Some people get them for free, but most people do have to pay if they want them. Or not if their employer offers them.

Same with COVID now, those were free but now only certain people get them for nowt and the rest have to pay.

I think China is a combination of throwing money at the wall and seeing what sticks, and wanting a civilian nuclear programme for weapons purposes.

For the same reason the US won't abandon nuclear, it will be propped up to ensure that the US can always produce weapons, fuel for nuclear subs, medical isotopes, that kind of thing.

They created Verily Health a long time ago, and Debug came out of that. It's one of their moonshot projects, hoping to develop the next big medical profit centre.

Governments and corporations will pay for this service if it works. Back when I was in an office, my employer would pay for flu vaccinations, because the cost was much lower than the lost productivity if I got sick.

Pumped storage is a good option. Nuclear won't be economically viable, ever. It will be cheaper to use gas and capture the emissions, assuming you care about reaching net zero.

For all the whining, in the end renewables will win on economic grounds.

It's not exactly a controversial position. Most of Europe at least partially funds education through taxation, because capitalism doesn't deliver what the country needs. It's the tragedy of the commons, every company wants to use the pool of existing skilled labour, none of them want to contribute to maintaining it.

It's always been the case that 99% of stuff is crap. We occasionally have periods where there are multiple good shows airing, but they are rare. It only looks better in the past because we remember the good ones, not the rubbish.

There are a few current shows that are worth watching.

Thanks to streaming shows often get cancelled 5 seconds after the last episode of the season airs. They have all the metrics instantly, and don't wait for DVD/Bluray sales figures.

I do buy physical media, but I've given up treating it as a way to support shows. As you say, too little of the money reaches the creators, and it has no impact on the renew/cancel decision. If there is other merch that helps the creators more directly, I'll go for that.

It's the usual failure of the capitalist system. There is little benefit to investing in younger staff and training them. Once they gain skills they want more money, so either you pay them or they leave. Companies prefer to just hire experienced staff, and now can try to replace the graduates with AI.

It used to be the norm to train people out of skill and employ them for decades. Now they expect the graduate to train themselves, at their own expense, and treat them as disposable.

Apple isn't the best option though.

Technically the soc is excellent, can't deny that. Trouble is it's hobbled by the operating system. And ports.

Come on, don't do that. This narrative that somehow the new stuff is retroactively ruining your childhood, that it's specifically designed as an insult to your fandom... That's toxic.

Last Jedi is a good example of that. Some people complain that Luke isn't a Marty Stu anymore, he's not just waiting to be unleashed and go defeat the First Order with a laser sword. That would have been a terrible movie. How unsatisfying would it be that all the Rebels needed to do was find the guy who saved them last time, so he could do the same thing again. It would also prove again that the only people who matter are Skywalkers, everyone else is just waiting for them to resolve their issues.

The whole point was that everyone in the Rebellion matters, they all contribute, and The Force isn't just something that a few privileged people can use to shape events on a galactic scale. Rey is revealed to be nobody special at all, just someone who has the opportunity to do something meaningful. Then they blew all that up by writing a movie that was supposedly based on "fan feedback", and it was the worst one of the lot. Undid all the interesting ideas from TLJ.

Probably one of the worst examples of fans ruining a franchise. It's never really recovered. Andor was only good because it ignored all that stuff, didn't have any Force stuff in it, just ordinary people trying to make a difference, and not because it's the right thing, but because the Empire hurt them and the people they care about.