I've been driving EVs since I first got a used Tesla S (2014 P85D). I have a 2020 Chevy Bolt EV I use as my daily driver right now. I recently rented a 2025 Toyota Camry Hybrid, which seems to be in high demand and very highly rated/recommended out there.

My experience was ... disappointing. Now granted, it delivered on the fuel economy part. I drove it several hundred miles over a few days' time and when I went to refuel it before the rental return, it only needed 6 gallons of gas to fill it back up. But the whole driving experience felt like a big step back from any EV I'd driven. You had the constant sensation of a gas engine turning on and off at various times, and a constant reminder the battery pack in the vehicle was tiny and only a part of a more complicated system. (You could put the car in "EV mode" to make it drive only on battery, but it would only allow it at very low speeds, like driving around parking lots.) Ultimately, it was just a car lugging around all the things required for an internal combustion engine AND electric vehicle parts at the same time. Double the complexity and a rolling compromise. (Better interior than I'm used to seeing w/Toyota though.)

I'm kind of confused w/Honda. Their "EV strategy" seemed to me like it was basically about trying to sell that Prologue which was really a GM designed car getting rebranded as a Honda product + hand-waving that they'd do cooler stuff soon.

Truthfully? I think one of the big challenges with EVs across the board is trying to mask the high cost of the battery pack, motors and other electronics involved. You can "do it right" by not caring and slapping a high price tag on it. Then you get an EV that still maintains people's expectations for "fit and finish", a nice interior, and really good handling. The BMW i4 eDrive 40 is a great example here, or even the Porsche Taycan EV. But most people just want a cheap car that's reliable, avoids the need for gas fill-ups and oil changes, while still handling well and feeling like corners weren't cut on the build quality, interior and exterior. That doesn't really seem to be doable, yet? Tesla sure doesn't. They just design vehicles that few people think look great on the outside. but "wow" them with all the infotainment / computer capabilities on the inside. Keep the interior really bare-bones but put that big touch-screen front and center to distract them. Spend enough on the seats so they're really comfortable, but use a real basic "skateboard" suspension and frame across the whole product line. It goes fast enough in a straight line so they'll ignore other handling issues.

Don't get me wrong. I like Tesla vehicles. I'm just being real about what one is and isn't. I don't think an established brand like Honda is comfortable making all those compromises, and they're just not seeing a profit margin in converting what they build now into a full EV?

No one in America really wants them (EVs).

But that's not to say they shouldn't keep trying for markets that do want them....parts of the EU seem really hungry for them.

Wanting America to lose a war we had no business starting in the first place by the President of the United States of Israel isn't TDS. The swing voters in the middle were voting for the person who stood against wars and kept America out of it the first time. After the three entirely fake assassination attempts (his ear is 100% fine folks. He could have at least surgically removed a chunk to make it believable), it's clear this was a very long con game. I think Trump knew he'd go to war in his lame duck term for his handlers and the Epstein class that truly runs the world. It was just deferred by 4 years, and who knows, maybe that whole pile of bullshit was wagging the dog too.

Wow...just....wow.

You might want to get your meds checked man...seriously.

Are the voices telling all this...or is it the tree in the neighbors yard that tells you this when it stops humming?

2) The unreleased music might have been master recordings to be used in a future album. I don't know if you are aware that master recordings are worth a lot. Artists spend years and millions trying to buy back the master recordings they signed away to get their first record deals.

Master recordings of a bunch of tree frogs at night....likely aren't worth all that much.

I would be inclined to consider any master recordings of any Beyonce content to be lesser than tree frog recordings....so....

I can't imagine anything from Beyonce would be worth that much....you coulnd't pay me to take ownership of that crap, much less even go to a concert....

The days of real music are long gone.....

Felony theft?!?!?

I wouldn't give $0.20 for all the described contents of that suitcase.....

IHMO, he got too harsh of a sentence for stealing worthless trash....

Do you really say "lol"?

Yes, that was my point. I'd rather be unemployed in Europe than struggling to make ends meet with two jobs in the US. Don't get me started on healthcare.

I'd rather work in the US, with all the opportunities to be found here.....either director or actual 1099 contract working....where I can make more than a comfortable living.

I have good insurance and have access to the best and most modern health care options in the world here in the US....I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Life if GREAT here.

Every country has its problems and all, but you have NO reason to be looking down your nose at the US.

If it sucks here so badly,, why are SO many trying to come here?

and when a serious illness hits you in the EU or Canada why do you try your best to get to the US for treatments that your socialize medicines won't or can't cover?

In an elite school it doesn't seem there would be a whole lot of "year full of dumb people" happening.

Don't forget the vast number of students admitted on the basis DEI (race, sex, injustice over the years, etc)....

When you admit based on criteria other than merit and measures of intelligence, you're bound to have more dim bulbs than you might think of in an "elite" university.

Amazon I.T. .... your ridiculous middle management and their obsession over metrics make stories like these pathetic, yet not unexpected at all.

I.T. is going down a spiral where management treats you like a "digital janitor". I'm old enough to remember this being a fairly respected career path. People in most offices had a combination of fear and awe of the "I.T. guys" because ultimately, there was a realization the entire business relied on the technology to survive. If the server or network went down, everything ground to a halt. You simply didn't treat the team poorly who held the keys to the kingdom.

It's a very different atmosphere today. Now, everyone's worried about how to cut costs and achieve the maximum return. I.T. may be critically important to a business's success, but nobody cares. There's the constant suggestion that AI is about to replace half of them anyway, and the trick is to wring every bit of productivity out of the existing staff until they quit. Then you just replace them and repeat.

If you're reading this and thinking, "It's not like that at all where I work!", congratulations! You're part of a diminishing bit of sanity out there. The last place I worked like that, though? The owner passed away and the company was sold, and it's no longer an exception to the rule.

The idea someone needs to micro manage their "knowledge workers" to the extent they keep tabs on how many feet their mouse has rolled each day? Well, that's plain insulting they'd even think it's sensible!

Because I can think of a few people I would like to spray it on the next time I go on a picnic.

Namely the ones that tell me to shut up and stop complaining about the bug bites.

Dude. Its Kenya, not Somalia

What's the difference....?

They never really talk about any of them except for the educational discount, to my knowledge? But for as long as I can remember, Apple also offered military discounts:

https://www.apple.com/shop/bro...

They also run government employee discounts, typically by way of special online stores you have to shop in. For example, Washington DC government workers can go here: https://dchr.dc.gov/page/apple...