I think knowledge gained is often overlooked and undervalued, in general (not just with regards to running a node).

What's good content to one person might not be good content to another.

The only grocery stores I know of that do that in my area are Aldi stores. Although I suspect more of them will start doing it to save money.

That's the result of creating laws that are too broad and vague, laws which put legitimate, everyday transactions under excessive scrutiny. These laws are designed to be ignored, because they're designed to be applied to anyone the state decides it wants to label a criminal.

There are many, many reasons to avoid buying a new car: always-on data connections (either to the internet or to the manufacturer, who can add or remove features at will), nanny features like automatic braking and lane assist that take control of the car out of your hands, endless amount of sensors whose sole purpose seems to be to make the car inoperable so that you have to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars to get it fixed, etc.

I'd rather drive a 1990 Ford Fiesta.

This. Along the same lines, as drivers get worse at paying attention and actual driving, more and more cars are being equipped with nanny devices like automatic braking and lane keep assist. This just encourages bad drivers to keep developing bad driving habits. It also introduces more potential for unintended behavior of the vehicle.

Not a bad idea. I like some of the links that get posted but without any accompanying dialog, it feels like engagement farming and/or clickbait.

Maybe there's still hope for Canada.

But seriously, the one positive outcome of situations like this is that it's a pain point for a lot of people who need it in order to become more aware of how the state is ripping them off and trying to surveil and control everything they do. Lots of people learned about the benefits of bitcoin thanks to the government's actions. The bolder they (government) get, the more people start to push back and opt out.

Ideally, the government wouldn't put its own citizens in this situation, but now a lot of Canadians know that they will. Every time someone comments about how bitcoin is useless, or some Davos talking head talks about how Americans don't need bitcoin, there are examples like this to point to, to illustrate that yes, they do need it. Everyone needs it.

Yeah, I was instantly surprised by how a thoughtful comment would garner a decent amount of sats. People here definitely seem to value quality posts, which is pretty awesome. But once you've got yourself a small pile to throw around, you get into the habit of rewarding people for giving you something worthwhile to read. Even if you're just throwing down 10 sats here and there. It adds up, especially since SN people seem pretty generous with the zaps.

I don't need to test drive a Tesla to inspect panel gaps. Every time I see one on the road, I look at the panel gaps, and every single time I see misalignment. They're so bad you can spot them from several car lengths away.

It's not acceptable for a luxury car company to get the basics so wrong.

I would never entertain buying a vehicle that maintains a data connection to the company that made it. Tesla has the ability to turn off features like Supercharging via OTA updates on a whim, and they've done exactly that. That's a non-starter for me. I want to own the things I buy, not rent them.

Possibly, but my guess is that it's mostly hype, ignorance, active resistance to facts they don't like, Stockholm syndrome, and/or mindless adoption of new technology with zero regard for potential negative consequences.

For instance, I think you have a screw loose if you trust a Tesla enough to park it inside your own garage, especially if your garage is attached to the house you sleep in and you regularly charge the vehicle overnight. But many people seemingly have no problem doing exactly that.

They don't know how to align panels properly, or paint them properly, or design features like door poppers that don't end up punching holes through the doors, etc. Tesla build quality is worse than anything US automakers were building in the 2000's when their cars sucked so bad that the government bailed them out.

They also don't know how to service their own vehicles, especially in a manner that allows customers to get their vehicles fixed promptly for a reasonable price.

Tesla has a lot of fanboys. If you mention any of these obvious, persistent flaws, they act like you're making up facts. They actively deny them. Delusion is a powerful drug.

The terrible build quality.

Given that Tesla has made cars since 2008 and they still don't understand how to do it properly, I imagine it's going to be tough for Apple to actually compete in this market, although they do have the advantage of not having Elon Musk as their CEO.

I still wear my Pebble Time Steel every day. Still on the original battery because I still get 5+ days out of a charge.

Any car built without an onboard internet connection/OTA updates, bonus points for cars with minimal amounts of electronic sensors (modern cars have way too many of these, and they always go bad, making troubleshooting a total pain in the ass).

A lot of Americans buy into the fake red vs blue dichotomy.

I have a strong fondness for the technology of the 90's, specifically video games and computers. Arcades were magical places, and early 3D still looks cooler to me than most modern games today. Building a PC was actually fun and somewhat challenging.

If we're talking about age decades, I think probably my 30's so far. The older I get, the less I stress out about things, which leads to more overall happiness.

Thanks! You're my first SN zap!

I'm sure it's a great product, but the form factor and price are clear indicators for how far away from mass adoption we currently are. Sure, strapping on an Oculus Quest might be compelling for occasional use, primarily due to its relatively affordable price, but I bet most of those cheap headsets still collect dust, because after all, using it still requires strapping on a headset.

I say this as a person who has been absolutely nuts for VR ever since the early 90s. While the technology is good enough to be cool from an enthusiast perspective, getting people to regularly don a full headset is pretty much impossible. The PSVR is the most comfortable headset I've ever used, and I still get tired of using it after a while... and I used to play my Virtual Boy for hours at a time. I neglect it more than I should simply because I don't feel like moving furniture and strapping on a headset every time I want to play a game (never mind the fact that the gaming library is a lot more limited).

And software is a huge sticking point for the technology at the moment. From a gaming perspective, creating a good VR experience is a lot more work than creating a traditional game. I am reminded of this blog post from Gregg Tavares about how much more work it was to create Gex for the 3DO compared to a typical 16-bit game. Sure, the tools improve over time to make the job easier, but there's inherently more complexity, which means it's inherently more difficult to make the experience actually feel good. Furthermore, I expect AR/mixed reality to be the real innovation, something that actually enables people to be more productive rather than being simply a gaming product. I don't think it's a coincidence that Apple has designed Vision Pro in this manner.

In general, I don't think Apple with Tim Cook at the helm nearly understands its own product stack or where its headed compared to how Steve Jobs ran the company. I highly doubt that Jobs ever would have removed ALL ports other than USB-C or kept trying (and failing) to push the terrible butterfly keyboard mechanisms onto their users. Vision Pro feels, to me, like yet another misstep. It's a product that is too expensive and not yet compelling enough for anyone but the most ardent Apple zealot (and one that will drop in value faster than the first-generation iPad or Apple Watch). VR/AR/MR needs to be lightweight and with a long battery life. It needs to be as simple as wearing a pair of sunglasses. We're nowhere near that yet. We'll get there eventually, but until then, it'll continue being a niche technology.