I'm in my early 40s with two young kids, and that alone rules out various activities such as space travel, helicopter rides, bungee jumping and parachuting etc.
If I make it another 40 years and everyone's grown up then sure, why not? I'd happily risk going out with a bang if it meant I got to experience space travel.
I actually like Microsoft technology in the workplace, with the exception of Teams. Applications such as Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint are top of their game and each new iteration does seem to bring useful features.
But a 45% increase for home users? That's a bit nasty because they have probably already built a nice captive userbase using OneDrive and Outlook email, and so they will find it difficult to switch elsewhere or cancel.
I'm running Windows 11. I got a legal licence with Windows 8, for being an insider I think - and that has followed me. I also run Microsoft Office 2013 which does everything I ask of it in a home setting (budgets, basic Excel stuff, etc). My email is on a grandfathered free Google Apps account so I just run that in the browser.
So long as Office 2013 continues to work on my operating system, I'll simply continue with it and ignore the "OneDrive is full" messages. I'll upgrade to a permanent licence of a later version if I ever need to, perhaps in Windows 12 for example.
The entire concept of subscriptions for personal use annoys me. The brave new world of 'cord cutting' for TV streaming services looks a lot like the old world, when it comes to price. And as for software, everything is a subscription these days. I'm priced out of things like Photoshop because a licence option that works for me isn't available.
But if we are being told that etiquette is to charge only to 80%, and the suggestion is that providers will "encourage" us through additional fees to stop at 80%, then it is true that the real range, on a roadtrip, would only be 80%. That's 48 miles difference on my EV at highway speeds (summer range).
On roadtrips, I can get fast charging for £0.43 per kWh (Ionity member) or I can pay nearly double that at other providers (there aren't any non-exclusive Tesla superchargers on my usual long distance route). I'm not stupid and I'm not rich, so I choose to charge exclusively at Ionity.
On my usual route, I'm usually at 35% battery when I get to my first charger. I like to use the charging time to get a coffee and snack at the Starbucks next door and take a toilet break. The time this takes is enough for the car to be between 85% and 90% battery.
I love that the argument for EV charging stops is that we would be stopping in a normal car every so often anyway, and taking a break for safety reasons.
But it isn't then reasonable to say that we can't do the things we would do when stopping in a normal car, and that I need to interrupt my coffee and snack because I hit a magic 80% threshold.
Apple is the company that wanted to use the devices owned by its customers to scan photos stored on them and report back to law enforcement.
I'm not a fan of Microsoft Recall either, but Apple has zero credibility or trust when it comes to user privacy.
On the other hand, if I go to my cost centre manager and ask for a VR device then perhaps the assumption is that I want something to play games on.
A spatial computing device... now that's a different thing. I can build a business case around how that will improve my team's productivity.
This feels quite normal for Apple tbh. They have always been very particular about branding and styling etc.
Here is their style guide - click here.
Some interesting examples just under iCloud...
There are many more. That Style Guide is definitely worth a read!
I've no doubt that this will happen. There's a similar mandate in the EU and most cars sold in the UK are built for the European market, with RHD modifications.
So the manufacturers are gearing up for this, and to put it simply, they will simply phase out non-EVs as we approach the deadline. I believe R&D on petrol and diesel drivetrains has already stopped.
European and Asian manufacturers are well on their way to having a wide range of models covering most needs with the exception of estate cars (wagons). The American manufacturers aren't there yet, but Tesla remains reasonably popular and it looks like Ford of Europe will be using VAG chassis to manufacturer the smaller vehicles that are popular in the UK and Europe.
Cost will come down over time as electric drivetrains become more established and manufacturers achieve economies of scale. And anyway, most customers lease or pseudo-lease (PCP) their car anyway. No-one is shelling out £50k for a car.
The problem is charging infrastructure mainly. I understand that motorway charging points as well as those on long-distance A roads are increasing exponentially, and that's great for the infrequent road trips that most of us will go on. But a large proportion of the population live in flats or houses with no off street parking. You can't solve the problem of off street parking, so they need to ramp up some alternative solution such as chargers stored in lamp-posts.
Starbucks are the McDonalds of coffee. They offer a range of products that are palatable to most customers and can generally be relied upon to provide a consistent quality in Starbucks-branded coffeeshops around the world.
In my last office-based job, I was lucky that there was a fantastic independent in the building downstairs. They were card only (no cash payments) so I did feel a bit guilty about supporting them, but they did make really tasty coffee.
Around the world, independent coffee shops can be great or terrible. Except for Italy - I've never had a bad coffee in Italy.
I rarely see the 3G symbol in the UK and see Edge even less. I've seen GPRS once in the last five years.
What's interesting is that when I'm connected to 3G, data services just don't seem to work. I'm not talking about resource-heavy applications like video streaming (although we did stream YouTube over 3G back in the day). I'm talking about apps which will be exchanging small packets of data with a server over REST APIs.
So for me it's already useless. It gives a glimmer of hope that never satisfies.
3G launched in the UK on the 2100MHz frequency. Later on, O2 and Vodafone repurposed some of their 2G spectrum (900Mhz) to use for 3G services.
The 700Mhz and 800Mhz frequencies have only ever been used for 4G and 5G here.
Once 2G and 3G are retired, I'd expect the spectrum freed up to become available for 4G and 5G services. Typically, the network operators agree a variation of their licence with OFCOM to enable this.
But does the free advertising have any benefit to Boeing?
Excluding the 260 Boeing Business Jets that have been sold, its aeroplane customers are the airlines. They make big fleet purchases based on their existing fleet (some airlines use plans exclusively from Boeing, or Airbus), and others with mixed fleets will make decisions to swing one way or the other based on volume discounts.
I do whether customer demand and excitement does come into play. We have a curious situation in Glasgow (Scotland) with Emirates. Their usual plane for the Glasgow to Dubai route is the 777, because it has a better cargo capacity vs the A380 and an airconditioned hold. But during peak months Emirates uses an A380 for one of the daily flights and both they and the airport make a great noise about it, and the customers love it.
But does customer excitement about the plane used actually play a part in airline purchase and scheduling decisions? Will customers pay extra to fly on a plane they like / or have been influenced by?
Three of the four report authors work for the Regulatory Assistance Project, which describes itself as an independent, global NGO advancing policy innovation and thought leadership within the energy community. Their website also says that RAP works toward a clean, reliable, equitable, and cost-efficient energy future. Our team provides clarity, vision and new ideas to decision-makers and the broader energy community.
UK readers will not be surprised to learn that The Guardian article doesn't disclose this conflict of interest.
As I understand it, one of the main challenges for ASHPs is retrofitting them to existing buildings. Heat Pumps need different types of radiators and good insulation, because they heat water to a lower temperature.
Assuming the report is accurate (I'm not clever or patient enough to work that out), is it worthwhile using a technology that is twice as efficient, if it doesn't heat up my house?
But even if the decent third alternative is the most wonderful app and delivers the most amazing UX in the world, it isn't going to do anything.
Threads had an easy way in; all those Instagram users who could easily try this new thing out. We all joined, had a look around and then forgot about it.
Mastodon (or a commercialised version of it) is probably doing most of the things a decent third alternative should do. But it's never going to achieve critical mass. It's filled mostly with all the people who proudly announced that they were leaving Twitter, and never really did.
Notepad is ideal as a utility which lets me create and manipulate unformatted text which might then go into another system (e.g. web-based management console or email). I regularly end the day with multiple Notepad windows open which I have neglected to close after use (and they always prevent my computer from restarting or shutting down because I didn't save them!)
Of course, Win+R -> Ctrl+V -> Ctrl+A -> Ctrl+C is a much simpler option for removing formatting from a single line of plain text.
The savings might not directly be passed back to customers in the form of lower prices, but we might see the cost savings being used to prevent or limit price increases.
Inflation is always a factor and this year especially so. However, McDonalds had a 99p menu here in the UK (I presume other countries have similar) and this year some of the prices increased to £1.19, which was the first increase of these menu items in 14 years.
Maybe the cost savings will help prices stay static for another 14 years? This is quite important if McDonalds will remain competitive in a price-sensitive market for non-necessity items.
As a sidenote on customer satisfaction - I love the current automation in place. As a teenager I would queue for ages, at busy times, to order my Big Mac and had to explain to a person that I didn't want any sauce, relish etc. I hated that. Now there are many more kiosks per customer and I can even place my order on the mobile app and head straight to the pickup area. I can do all manner of customisations without having to speak to a human.
Several of the casual dining restaurants I frequent have adopted similar ordering automation since the pandemic. Typically they give you a QR code to order from an online menu but they also have the option of going to the counter if you really want to order from a person.
The concept probably works well in fast food and casual dining, but at more premium sectors of the market customers will still of course demand and expect a waiter/waitress and more human interaction.
Whoever dies with the most toys wins.
