Even in countries where higher education is free, I think most people would agree time would be better spent actually working.

Yeah, you really don't get the "wilderness" part of mountaineering, do you?

Elevators all the way to the summit.

This would be much more effective if it applied to all countries with scenic mountains. Shit on one country's mountains ; discover that other countries with nice mountains won't let you off the plane.

Technically, preventing people from leaving the country like that would be a violation of basic human rights.

Hos so?

You break the law of a country you're visiting.

You are convicted of that crime.

You lose your liberty for a period of time determined by the court.

What is the problem?

Still, you're talking about a decade long prison term for littering.

If only we had organ banks, so we could use such miscreants productively.

You've never seen a photo of the Khumbu Icefall, have you?

... then drop them onto the dog-owner's head?

And the problem is ...?

You go to Everest base camp ; you're already accepting a non-zero chance of death through altitude sickness.

Two words : Battery life.

Will you be attending the funerals of each person killed attempting to retrieve a trash balloon cargo from a dangerous landing location? You, personally?

Because that person's death is your fault.

Well done,

I understand you like hating on the French, but this is particularly incorrect here, since the French have a well-established tradition of standing for democracy, often violently.

Maybe you're confusing them with another European country.

I sometimes use Windows, I don't understand how anyone would willingly use this. The window management is terrible, settings are a mess, no visibility or control to just let you use your computer as you see fit.

And that's despite most Linux DEs being a huge mess.

Yeah, one of the things I like about Claude (and Gemini 3 as opposed to 2.5) is that they really clamped down on the use of "Oh, now I've got it! This is absolutely the FINAL fix to the problem, we've totally solved it now! Here, let me write out FIX_FINAL_SOLVED.md" with some half-arse solution. And yep, the answer to going in circles is usually either "nuke the chat" or "switch models".

Yeah, when thinking of the typical air fryer market, think "working mom with kids who wants to serve something nicer than a microwave dinner, but doesn't have the time for much prep or waiting". You can get those mailard reactions that microwaving doesn't really get you, nice crisping and browning of the surface that you normally get from an oven, without having to wait for an oven to preheat. I don't think anyone disputes that an oven will do a better job, but the air fryer does a better job than a microwave, which is what it's really competing against. They're also marketed as easy-clean, which again is a nod to their target audience.

How costs build up is really staggering. I'm getting into the business of importing 3d filament. In Iceland, it currently sells for like $35/kg minimum. The actual value of the plastic is like $1. The factory's total cost, all costs included, is like $1,50. If it's not name brand, e.g. they're not dumping money on marketing, they sell it for $3 for the cheapest stuff. Sea freight adds another dollar or two. Taxes here add 24%. But you're still at like $5/kg. The rest is all middlemen, warehousing, air freight for secondary legs from intermediary hubs, and all the markup and taxes on those things.

With me importing direct from the factory, sea freight only, I can get rid of most of those costs. Warehousing is the biggest unavoidable cost. If I want to maintain an average inventory of like 700kg, it adds something like $5/kg to the cost. Scanning in goods and dispatching user orders (not counting shipping) together adds like $2,50. And then add 24% tax (minus the taxes on the imported goods). There's still good margin, but it's amazing how quickly costs inflate.

Your "junk" is someone else's "must-have".
Your "must-have" is someone else's "junk".