It was obnoxious enough when Microsoft started pushing this kind of unwanted "feature" on home users, then small businesses and professionals on Pro editions. There are real legal and regulatory concerns over this kind of change that businesses have to take seriously. If they've screwed up so badly that even their large corporate customers have been hit by the same thing and there isn't even a good way to undo the damage at the moment, this could lead to meaningful lawsuits from their customers and/or interventions by regulators.

Yeah. This is what Americans voted for. More expensive solar panels.

Well, better deals for domestically manufactured solar panels...

I mean, we needed to do something after China years ago dumped on the US market and ran domestics out of business....something to try to nurture back our own businesses.

We need to bring back as much manufacturing as possible to the US and be more self sufficient....

You don't consider being dependent as we are on China to be a good thing, do you?

Did you not get a taste of how bad it can be during covid?

I just hope we make it until I'm dead, humans are just about done. I'm glad I got to live through the 80-90s.

I was thinking same thing (the 60's-70's were GREAT too)...I hope to retire in a few years, and spend the last of my days, riding my motorcycle around, brewing beer, bbq'ing on my log burning smoker adjust generally enjoying my latter days.

PLEASE let it last till I'm done with it...after that well, who cares?

AI and viruses....What could possibly go wrong?

If the weather is bad enough, people choose not to go out in it. Unless someone has a gun to your head, you always have a choice.

Heh, there's some validity to that. Human drivers are a daily rolling disaster that society tolerates only because there hasn't been any reasonable alternative. If-and-when autonomous vehicles actually become cheap and reliable enough, I suspect that human driving will gradually start to be curtailed -- not necessarily by banning it outright, but by making licensing requirements more restrictive, by making insurance costs more onerous, and/or by "nerfing" the cars such that they simply refuse to perform dangerous maneuvers.

I've been to the ER a number of times in the past few years...again, no big deal and small charges for me.

The only thing Obama did for me, is raise my prices.

Wait, I'll give him the no existing pre-conditions, that was a good one....but other than that, all I got was high prices.

Glad I don't deal with all of that....

This has been educational to say the least. I'd not heard of places actually checking to see what comes out of your tail pipe too?!?!

That doesn't seem to allow for users to customize their cars for performance, etc...?

2017...mx5 retractable hard top

It looks like it's equivalent to the emissions tests that most American drivers have to do once every year or two

Emissions test?

Never had one of those...I would guess that's a California thing mostly?

But I've been in some states with a brake tag inspection...which is nothing, you roll in , turn on lights and wipers and you're good.

So, do they not let you mod your cars over in Europe? Flash new ECUs or aggressive cams, high flow exhausts, etc?

Are you sure you actually own your car over there if you can't play with it?

No...I have insurance....I think my deductible is like $3K and after that, pretty much everything I covered.....

About a year or so ago, had cancer surgery, over $100K bill...cost me about $3K and done...after that, every other visit and procedure, I paid for office visits $25 and that was it...everything else major covered.

You can do that in the USA too, but it costs extra.

Yep I was going to say mostly the same thing.....the car on the LOT, is one I can haggle over and get the best price.

I can't haggle on a made to order car.

And these days, for the most part...there aren't THAT many things you can order custom...I find few options on many cars, like Mazdas, etc....but in general I find a car on a lot that is the color and has most all options offered that I want I go to haggle and hopefully drive off with it that or the next day....

Why a republican? There's literally no difference between parties at this point.

There's a BIG difference between what it appears is taking over the Democrat party, the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America)...aka US Communists....and the Republicans, and even the traditional Democrats.

It isn't so much they are "progressive"...looking at their platform they are mostly communists AND are actively wanting to burn down the US and how it is run and put together by our forefathers and the Constitution, etc.

I don't know if this Kansas candidate is one of them.....but right now, there is definitely a BIG difference in how much of the Dem party is rolling....

Oh sidenote: If I disconnect the TSCM module from my car it will fail the next roadworthy test. In most of Europe a functioning SOS system is mandatory and checked during roadworthy test as part of the e-Call directive

What exactly is a "roadworthy test"?

Not familiar with those...a European thing?

The radio always switching on at startup is a real bugbear of mine in my mazda too. I just don't understand why they do it , it would be so easy for the system to remember the state at shutdown and leave it there , but no, switch on each feckin time. FFS

My Mazda remembers the state it was last in upon restart of the car......

Not sure why yours doesn't...?

You won't buy a car that shows you ads, but you would ride a bus that shows you ads.

Err...I have a CAR...why the fuck would I ride a bus with a bunch of smelly bums?