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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 5th, 2023

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  • The motivation from the previous nationalist PiS government in Poland was mainly anything they could to do against Russia or against Germany.

    So by supporting Ukraine with military equipment, they were acting against Russia. But at the same time slowed down German support for Ukraine, by blocking maintenance and factories for Ukrainian equipment in Poland. Leading to long transports across to other countries e.g. Latvia for maintenance.

    Now, with the grain, this has no Russian involvement and their own farmers are unhappy. So there is no way to go against Russia or against Germany. Also there is a new government in Poland, so I guess we have to see how that develops now.


  • If you believe the information on CNN is wrong, you could just use a web search for a different source to check and compare for yourself. Or just go to unrwa.org and their press releases:

    26 January 2024 AMMAN,

    “The Israeli Authorities have provided UNRWA with information about the alleged involvement of several UNRWA employees in the horrific attacks on Israel on 7 October.

    “To protect the Agency’s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance, I have taken the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and launch an investigation in order to establish the truth without delay. Any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution.

    “UNRWA reiterates its condemnation in the strongest possible terms of the abhorrent attacks of 7 October and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all Israeli hostages and their safe return to their families.

    “These shocking allegations come as more than 2 million people in Gaza depend on lifesaving assistance that the Agency has been providing since the war began. Anyone who betrays the fundamental values of the United Nations also betrays those whom we serve in Gaza, across the region and elsewhere around the world”.

    Quote from here: https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/serious-allegations-against-unrwa-staff-gaza-strip


  • Misleading title.

    Article:

    “We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day … so we have to take into account that Vladimir Putin might even attack a NATO country one day,” Pistorius said in an interview with the Berlin-based Der Tagesspiegel newspaper.

    While a Russian attack is not likely “for now,” the minister added: “Our experts expect a period of five to eight years in which this could be possible.”

    There is no warning of an attack. There is an analysis that it’s not likely for now. And earliest where something like this could become possible, would be that mentioned time frame. That is not what the word warning means. That is a statement about a vague estimate of an unlikely event - of course way less catchy title.


  • As you didn’t read the article:

    “This move seems driven by the government’s interest in collecting and centralizing biometric data for identification, tracking, and surveillance purposes,” he said. Omar agreed: “Probably to keep track of the refugees.”

    They hand out SIM cards to track those SIM cards. Using a certain messaging app on the phone or not doesn’t change SIM card tracking within the network.





  • Especially living in a city, this looks interesting to me. ‘Fast’ charging I’ve seen was in the range 30-60 min but then it’s like the phone, from about 20% up to 80%. So living in a city, I’d have to wait for half an hour for half the battery.

    With a swap-station, it could be nearly as fast as a fossil fuel stop. About 2 minutes for a 0% to 100% stop.

    This also allows for smaller batteries, for smaller cars, for lighter cars. You don’t need to carry a lot of overall range if you can swap/refill to 100% in 2 minutes.



  • The natural gas through the pipelines is not owned by the transit or endpoint country. Same with Nord Stream, Germany is used as distribution hub in central Europe. E.g. after Poland closed their pipeline to Russia, their natural gas supply from Russia was simply transferred via Nord Stream and Germany, from the other side across the border into Poland.

    And even with natural gas that stays in German storages, it’s not owned by Germany. It’s owned by private companies that sell it during winter to the highest bidder. German gas storage can supply other countries that have high demand and smaller storage capacities in a cold winter.

    So regarding the resource replacement, it depends on the country that uses the natural gas at the end.

    Looking at natural gas in Germany, the usage for electricity generation is relatively low (~7-12% over the last 5 years). It’s more often used by the industry and for it’s chemical properties, as well as heating in homes. You cannot just replace that with coal or nuclear ovens. But overall there is a plan to increase the capacity for electricity generation over the next few years as backup for the coal phaseout during low renewable generation. The new gas plants are intended for natural gas and later hydrogen.






  • “Fifty terrorists arrived in vans, dressed in military uniforms,” she said.

    It is not far from the Gaza Strip, from where Hamas fighters crossed over at dawn to launch their attack. They infiltrated towns and villages, taking dozens of people hostage.

    How is that possible to get that many armed people and vehicles across THAT border? I have never been there, I only know pictures of parts of the border from media, with barb wire fences, walls, concrete blocks, surveillance cameras, military checkpoints. Pretty much a border made to prevent anything like this.

    Does anyone have further information where or how they managed to get that many people with that much equipment into Israel?


  • The article is quite harmless compared to the silly title.

    But the main argument is that Android has too many settings and options where users don’t even know what they are good for. And with further development it’s getting more features and more options.

    That seems to be a very minor and rather luxury problem to have more and more features and options.

    On the PC, there are lots of programs that already use a short list of options available and then a checkbox with ‘I’m an expert’ or ‘Advanced settings’ to show them all. More settings means more freedom for the user to chose from. Hiding them would be a simple task. But just because they exist and are shown, this doesn’t mean that anyone has to click on anything without even knowing what it does. So it’s not really a problem besides reading 3 more words in the list of settings but not doing anything with it.

    For options I don’t know, I just use a web search in case I’m interested. Or I just ignore them as long as I don’t have a problem related to the topic.


  • In the 1st step, maybe a year ago or so, they updated the Kasa app (v 3?) to only function with account and while being logged in at TP-Link servers to use your devices. And in now the 2nd step, they integrate Kasa into Tapo, which was always account-bound. The 3rd step is then probably the discontinuation of the Kasa app.

    Kasa was their more premium product line, that was usable without internet connection and without manufacturer account - which is why I paid more to get those instead of the cheap Tapo products. But now my ‘smart’ power outlets are in a box in the basement collecting dust and I cannot recommend anyone to spend money on TP-Link smart products, as they remove features after sale.


  • I understand ‘worst sales’ but ‘worst performance’ doesn’t really fit. It’s in my opinion this is a fantastic performance on the market. With right to repair, longer software support, some models with replaceable batteries, we can use the phones longer and make the industry more sustainable and consumer friendly. For the last years already, the model feature upgrades were marginal and it’s fine that way.

    In the future, I’d hope for further technical and regulatory development in that direction, resulting in further reduced annual sales numbers.