lucaspiller

I have one and it’s pretty impressive how fast 3.7kW can heat things up (apparently you can even get 5kW models). I ditched my electric kettle as it was too slow in comparison.

On a related note it’s interesting how electric shavers (which could easily suffer from the same issue) are allowed on aircraft, but mobile devices need to be in flight mode. Are the frequencies of RF noise from an electric motor in a different range, so they don’t cause issues with aircraft?

> Additionally, with FM you need to make sure no transmitters on the same frequency can cover the same area, as that would lead to interference.

In the UK the BBC transmits their FM channels on the same range across the whole country [0]. In most cases the frequency between transmitters is only slightly different (e.g. 88.5 vs 88.1), so it can be picked up without having to retune the receiver. It requires a bit more thought up front, but it’s not that difficult (compared to other considerations you need to have for tranmitting radio), and it’s a much better UX than having to remember different frequencies for the same station in different cities.

[0] http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/reception/pdfs/FMradiotrans.pdf

A few years ago I had a subscription card for a cinema chain in the UK, it worked out to be the cost of around 1.5 tickets a month, but I ended up going around once a week.

Anyway, at the time there was no way to book tickets online, you just had to show up and if there was space you’d get a ticket. As such I’d usually go on Saturday early afternoon when it was usually pretty quiet.

It seems like a weird thing to purposely lookup, however I could imagine someone came across it, "This person watched A Christmas Prince every day for the past two weeks? That can't be right...", and then dug into it more, and mentioned it at the water cooler.

The linked paper says this:

> we recommend here that ecological thresholds for neonicotinoid water concentrations need to be below 0.2 μg/L (shortterm acute) or 0.035 μg/L (long-term chronic) to avoid lasting effects on aquatic invertebrate communities

I assume the map refers to these values. μg/L is the same as parts-per-billion in case anyone was wondering.

I store backups on BluRay and bought a USB BD drive for this reason. I’m not planning on keeping the backups in this format forever, if something better comes out in 10 or 20 years I’ll move to that. I only use the drive once or twice a year, so it should last that long, and there will still be adapters for USB type A then.

My biggest concern is getting the disks. I can walk into my local supermarket and buy a DVD-R or CD-R no issues, but BD-Rs (especially high capacity discs) are hard to find even now.

One of the complicated parts about this for US citizens is taxes. If you are a US citizen you have to file taxes with the IRS for your worldwide income, even if you are living and paying taxes in another country. I assume most EU countries have a tax-treaty with the US, so you wouldn't have to pay taxes twice, but it definitely makes it more complicated.

NatWest is a subsidiary of RBS.

Used enterprise hardware that supports 10Gbit isn’t that expensive. For the average home user even gigabit is overkill, which is why 90%+ of people just use whatever WiFi router their ISP provides.

Also I agree banks in the US really need to modernise their procedures, I don’t really see how this is an argument for cryptocurrncy.

Here in Europe I can make a payment to any other EUR bank account in Europe, for free and it’ll usually arrive the same or next day. All I need is the recipients bank account number, and to enter that and the amount on my online banking - I don’t need to go and see anyone or fax anything over.

Recently a new initiative was launched where (between participating banks) you can transfer up to €15,000 in a maximum of 10 seconds:

https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/what-we-do/sepa-insta...

These type of articles always come with stark warnings that in the future many people won’t have jobs, however if you compare today’s technology versus the 60s and 70s, the data would tend to disagree.

In the US the unemployment rate is now at it’s lowest point for 15 years, and if it continues to drop like this will be at the lowest for half a century. What’s going on here, is it just the criteria for unemployment has changed?

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/unemployment-rate

How do things like director expenses work? If I setup a company that rents me a house, a company car, and caters all my meals, I don’t need to pay any taxes?

If you already have a GTX 1060 or RX 470 and above, then yes you can probably still turn a small profit. However if you are looking to invest, it’s probably going to more profitable to buy coins than to buy mining hardware (at least for ETH).

I’m in the process of writing up an article that explains what I think is the best way currently: using a wallet supporting BIP32, 39 and 44.

A hardware wallet like Trezor or Ledger are the most user friendly ways to do this right now, but yes, to the average user it’s a steep learning curve.

In the UK these type of delivery drivers will be driving vans weighing under 3.5t. The restrictions on driving times only apply to vehicles above this weight.

I wonder if people felt the same when oil started to become popular in the late 1800s. The amount we use now, compared to then, would be completely unimaginable to them.

I have some friends in Germany, and their view - for the middle class - is that life begins in your 50s. At this age your kids have moved off to college or university, your debts are mostly paid off (not that debt is really a thing in Germany) and you can look forward to a few decades of retirement. The important part however is this only works if you are healthy enough to enjoy it, so it’s important at a young age to take care of your body and not overwork.

Both my wife and I have three year old 5Ss, but our experience with iOS 11 has been completely different. For me it works just as well as 10, maybe even slightly better. For her it has turned her phone into a complete dog, even opening a contact in Messages takes seconds.

Recently her battery has started to show signs that it is wearing out, such as jumping instantly from 5% to 30% when plugging it in to charge, so it looks like this behaviour is a software 'feature' on all iPhones.

Kind of highjacking the thread, but are there any SBC that support 4K HDR under Linux? I bought a OrangePi PC2 as the hardware does, but it only works at that resolution under Android.

If anything I’d say this will increase the supply of second hand hardware, as it will be cheaper to resell it, than break it down and recycle it.

It’s been like this where I live for 5 years and I still don’t remember to take plastic bags back to the store...

Netflix must be expensive for you...

Tesco in the UK (and I guess other supermarkets but I haven’t used them) give you the option of choosing not to have you groceries delivered in plastic bags. In that case they deliver them in the same reusable plastic trays they use internally. You give them back when you have you next delivery - or keep them for storing your junk as they are stackable and very durable.

The delivery vans have doors at the side with rows of shelves that these trays fit onto, so it’s a lot better protected than a parcel thrown into the back of a van.

Picture: http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Sa...

The loophole that allows the wealthy to avoid paying taxes usually has nothing to do with hiding money though. In the EU there is a lot of talk right now about companies like Apple avoiding taxes, if you buy an iPhone in France pretty much nothing of that sale goes to the French government, but it’s not that they are saying “no we won’t give you money”, it’s that the law allows their company to be setup in a way to avoid paying these taxes in France.

If anything Bitcoin and other crypto currencies are going to allow you to hide and transfer wealth even more. Yes Bitcoin isn’t truly anonymous, but it’s so much different to a traditional bank where you need to prove your identity and they actively report large transactions to the authorities.

And as for the taxes you mentioned, it’s pretty easy to avoid those too. If I live in Russia and I buy an iPhone in Europe I’ll have to pay VAT (consumption tax) of around 20%, but when I go back home, which is outside the EU, (home being where I am a tax resident, not necessarily where I live on a day to day basis) I can claim that 20% back. The same applies for visitors to the US.

And of course, somebody has already ordered one for cryptocurrency mining:

https://twitter.com/BitsBeTrippin/status/939031211233525760

My parents have a plastic container slightly hidden in some bushes (ie not visible from the road), and the postman just leaves packages in there.

I lived in the UAE a few years ago, and I wouldn’t really be surprised. When I had water delivered I just left money and the empty bottles on the doorstep and never had any issues.

One time I was at a coffee shop in a mall and there was a table next to me of ~8 people having a business meeting with laptops. Lunch time came, so they left all their stuff - laptops and all - and went for lunch. After an hour they came back and continued.

Petty crimes like this aren’t a thing in this country. If caught, a foreigner is just going to get jail time (which is most likely better than US county jail) and deportation.

Just for reference, M1 of the US Federal Reserve is $3 trillion. Compare this to the US national debt of $14 trillion or the GDP of $19 trillion.

At least for Bitcoin, it’s going to be cheaper and easier just to go to a traditional bank or money transfer company. Unless you somehow have a notion that using it will hide the money from the taxman...