For rooftop solar, I have to get an inverter that does Phase-locked loop and matches the power coming in from the grid. Do these "balcony" solar panels have integrated inverter that does that?

Also, how much can you really run through NEMA wall sockets, that are notoriously bad design (compared to e.g. Schuko)? How is safety handled, e.g. an electrician comes to visit and turns off the fuses at junction box and then gets zapped because you forgot to unplug the solar panel?

It would be one thing if the current administration would have been...you know, even *somewhat* competent. However, when they have in two years managed to do so much harm to American voter even in red states, something might just happen in midterms.

If they had just done all the things with a bit slower pace, things might be much different. You know, just push the tariffs in in a bit more phased rollout instead of tariffing some penguins. Actually planning the action in Iran properly. Being a little less drastic with DOGE and ICE. Boiling frog metaphor and all that.

For the rest of the world...well, win some, lose some. I find it rather ironic that the Mr. Trump, a staunch supporter of big oil/coal, may have pushed the world to get rid of fossil fuels much faster than previously anticipated. Everyone and their dog seems to be getting an EV, and even used EVs have started *gaining* in value despite decade old battery tech. Would be rather delicious irony that by sheer incompetence a staunch anti-environmentalist would cause the world to make a huge paradigm shift. Same as what happened in the 70's oil crisis and the adaptation of all kinds of fuel saving engine designs. This combined with Ukraine bombing the shit out of Russian oil sources and refineries might seal the deal.

In other news, VAG group (VW, Seat, Cupra, Skoda, Audi) seems to be going into completely different direction. I placed my order for ID.Polo the moment the orders opened back at the end of April.

And others seem to agree - the MEB Entry family (Cupra Raval / ID.Polo for hatchback and ID.Cross/Skoda Epiq) have already 80000+ orders in a few months - many for people who have not even been able to test drive the car.

Reviewers seem to agree, and when I look at the car I'm absolutely certain I'm going to enjoy it when I get it this October.

For example, here's one. Fast forward to 5:30 to see interior stuff (including the darn buttons!).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

The other car in the family, Cupra Raval was also an option for me, but since VAG decided that temperature controls in those would still be sliders (even if other stuff still has buttons), I went with Polo.

Xylitol has been *very* much promoted at least here in Finland as being good for your teeth. They basically hand out Xylitol gums for kids at every dentist visit and even at school lunches sometimes. Effect is basically that it starves cavity-causing bacteria in your mouth.

So I guess...chew your Xylitol gum, but spit it out afterwards!

Pretty obvious conclusion really.

...so because his friends can no longer make bank by shorting/buying stocks or oil futures or whatever based on soon-to-be-posted tweet on Hormuz open/closed today, the new scheme is just skip all that and directly ask for cash. Same as with the crypto.

When I semi-frequently traveled to China (this was 10+ years ago), when coming in for landing the announcements in Mandarin *always* started with a bit about *not* standing up or unfastening seat belts until plane had come to a complete stop at the gate. They repeated that specific bit also the exact moment wheels touched the ground "Remain seated!". It never happened on flights to Hong Kong, though (or Taipei, for that matter), but did to Shanghai and Beijing. Tested with Finnair, BA and Cathay Pacific.

So yeah, I guess it's fun in trying to reach those bygone years of by 80's childhood.

let foo = bar;

Meaning that browsers are getting better at obscuring their OS. I mean, User-Agent string probably doesn't give anything meaningful these days anyway.

I'm still not certain what the "social media" definition is in this or other legislative definitions. Would Usenet count? Would Slashdot? Would some random Phpbb board for bird watchers set up in 2005?

Personally, I've drawn the limit at "algorithms", meaning you get some sort of "feed" pushed down your throat. Whatsapp is not social media - yes, they have channels where you can broadcast but I think the app doesn't try to lure you in. Youtube is kind of borderline - if you log in, it definitely pushes something into your feed, but on the other hand, you do not need to log in, and then you just get "trending" videos. Facebook, Linkedin, X etc definitely count.

In our family, the 10-year old gets access to Whatsapp because all friends have it too. I don't see what would be the point of removing that access. Most of those friendships have formed in school, and when some families have moved away that way they can still keep in touch. They also play Minecraft and Roblox and chat during gameplay. Minecraft is a no-brainer - it's just multiplayer Lego set. Of Roblox I'm not sure but I sure as hell will not be allowing Persona to take some age-verification picture if that ever becomes mandatory.

Also, I can't follow the "no smartphones for kids" train of thought. The smartphone is *easier* to lock down that a dumb (or "feature") phone even with standard Google Family Link tools. Just disable everything except a whitelist. And if child learns how to unlock bootloader and root the phone to get rid of the restrictions, I think I'd feel a bit proud - as long as it's not just done by a geek friend of a friend. Have to at least make some effort...

Yeah, that AMOC collapse might happen in a few decades (or centuries). Until then we are stuck with hotter weather.

Once the collapse happens then North America gets to keep all the hotness.

Sorry, wrong piece of legislation in progress - meant Digital Fairness Act, not Digital Services Act. https://digitalfairnessact.com...

As it says on the summary already - the fact that we got a non-answer from commission doesn't matter here. It would have been *nice* to get a legislation from there, but in the end they don't matter.

Ross Scott explains it better at https://youtu.be/CgoODQFrPgw?t... but the point is that SKG already has majority support in European Parliament, and the plan is basically that SKG gets tacked on by the parliament as an amendment to Digital Services Act (https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/digital-services-act). The DSA is already supposed to do things like rein in lootboxes, so it's already addressing issues for video games.

Commission's stance ultimately does not matter here at all. No need to be discouraged.

What I have been seeing when talking to bunch of customers who are anxious about the quantum computers breaking ciphers is not so much encryption (as in transmission of data without eavesdropping learning the contents). If your credit card number leaks because you sent it over TLS session that someone captured and cracked with a quantum computer, that's an inconvenience to get a new card, but still minor.

The big interest is in quantum-secure digital *signatures*. No, not the ones on website certificates. But stuff that you use to sign contracts and agreements (hell, even that Iran "deal" was apparently signed using DocuSign). Same for things like deeds, proofs of ownerships, any kinds of contracts that are signed with a cryptographic signature. If someone could fake that yes, they actually did purchase some stock ages ago, here's a completely valid and cryptographic hash, signed by the broker, it would break things. In fact, Bitcoin is supposedly not quantum-secure, so someone could potentially create quite a bit of money by injecting themselves into the blockchain.

So problem is not some transient encryption session cipher, the problem is digital signature that might have lifetime of decades or even longer. If I right now sign a contract to buy a plot of land, and contract uses EdDSA as signature algorithm and someone breaks it in 2040 showing that I have been squatting, and the land belonged to somebody else all along, it will become a problem...

I just pay with card. No need to bother with apps anymore.

You know, as it's now mandatory in EU to have all new fast charging stations to have card payment capability and old ones have to be retrofitted. The regular AC EVSE (up to 22 kW) are exempt and do not need a card reader.

Maybe in the future we can have plug'n'charge that is interoperable (CCS standard definitely allows for it), so you'd just enter the credit card info once into your car.

Haven't used an app to pay for fast charging for the past two years. I actively avoid charging stations that do not have card payment option. (And yes, if you absolutely want to use phone, you can always use Google wallet or whatever mobile payment option - but no need to bother with some charging network-specific app).