Don't have any such problems on any of my Linux desktops or the hundreds I manage. I would prefer they focus more on core stuff than other stuff, however.

"...and then they found out that they couldn't come for me."

>"Once FireFox is outlawed, only criminals will use FireFox."

Ug, I fear a life of crime is coming...

Do the people of the UK (i.e. all those people who voted at the last election and will vote at the next election) actually want this ban or is the government saying "we know people don't want this but it is necessary to keep kids safe online so we are implementing it anyway"?

>"A gazillion of them supporting ad blockers."

And most of them are just me-too leaches, too cheap to perform actual development and support themselves. It is not like there is a rich browser diversity anymore, we are barely hanging on to anything NOT Google-controlled:

    "This will also impact other Chromium-based browsers, though the comment notes that other browsers can continue supporting these if they so desire. Microsoft Edge and Opera are likely to follow suit [with dropping support]."

So, how many of them are willing to actually maintain the code on their own for this? (Not that I care that much, because I use Firefox exclusively). A few might, but not a "gazillion." When you hitch your wagon to the Google beast, you are being mostly led around at their direction. And their interests are generally not user's interests.

It's a good thing we all use and promote Firefox (coupled with UBO). Right?

>"Voters in Switzerland have rejected an unprecedented far-right proposal to cap the country's population at 10 million"

That isn't "far right". In the past it was even a "left" position. But I guess everything has to be framed in ridiculous polarizing left/right ways now. Nearly half the population voted in favor, so it is certainly nowhere near "far" anything (implying it is fringe).

It is true that most systems now are set up as a pyramid scheme that requires ever-increasing population growth to be sustainable. But that isn't what I think of as ideal, nor sustainable. How many people is enough? They weren't proposing DECREASING population (which has lots of issues), just trying to hold it at a fixed level, which still included significant immigration.

The most obviously applicable of those are the eligibility rules for SSI, which changed the definition of "public assistance households".

And what makes you think I'm on SSI? I've said repeatedly that I'm retired and am on Social Security, which is completely different. To be a tad more specific, I'm 76 years old and will be 77 by the end of the year. My VA compensation has nothing to do with that, as none of my disabilities made me stop working and all of them were declared Service Connected after I retired.

Adult Education is an even bigger problem in the US and EU. All these millions of useless immigrants who cannot speak, read or write a local language need mandatory training and if they fail, then they should be deported.

Here is a handy guide for Lib-Dems of who to delete from your contacts list: https://gulfnews.com/world/men...

Their half dead leader is also rather special. Here is a list of the top brass killed in Iran: https://gulfnews.com/world/men...

The 'gift' was safe transit of a VLCC - about 2 Million barrels destined for India I think it was.

Zero. Lib-Dems hate this deal, because the cannot skim any money off it.

>"I have 40 kWh of batteries in my home, for backup and time-shifting, and I participate in a grid-stabilization program with my power company."

OK, I was thinking more like grid backup, not just stabilization.

>"The grid never draws significant energy from my batteries [...] I see an otherwise-unexplained spike of 5-10 kW flowing from my batteries and into the grid, for a period of 2-5 minutes. 10 kW for 5 minutes is ~0.8 kWh, which is 2% of my house battery storage. I see a draw that large maybe once per week; usually it's much less. "

That sounds pretty reasonable.

>"What do I get for allowing the power company to do that? For the first year of participation, I got a check for $2000. For subsequent years I'll get bill credits of up to $50/month, applied to energy charges only. I'm not sure how much that will translate to, since my net energy purchase is usually zero (thanks to solar panels). It's a great deal for the first year. Beyond that... we'll see."

Looks like you have a good setup.

Thanks for the good/informational posting!

>"Which is a problem with those individuals, not the devices, or any apps, themselves."

Correct. But there is a reason we have controlled substances that are completely illegal, require a prescription, or are limited to those 21 and over and with additional restrictions. Or services, like gambling. In all those cases, you can say the problem is with "those individuals" who misuse or abuse them. But it doesn't stop society from recognizing the great risks/issues and trying to help prevent abuse. On the soft side- warnings, labels, education, guidelines, studies; on the medium side- limits on use, age restrictions, monitoring, abuse assistance programs; on the hard side- increasingly restricted access, or complete illegality.

As for phone/screen use, especially with minors, I think we should at least be in the "soft side" of doing something productive/positive. Recognizing there are a lot of people who don't know the risks and apparently can't seem to control themselves.