vinay427

Having lived in both countries for a while, I find the Swiss plugs nowhere near as satisfying, and the flat (non-recessed) wall outlets are also prone to plugs becoming loosened due to weight, similar to the US/CAN/JP plug.

I do quite like the compactness and aesthetic of the three-prong plug with three plugs in a typical wall fixture, and the compatibility with the two-prong Europlug is convenient. However, using even one adapter with a foreign plug often obstructs the other two plugs in a three-plug fixture, particularly as the adapter usually isn’t reversible if grounded, which is quite annoying if that’s the only socket in a room.

I guess the UK plug being large enough to subsume most foreign plug adapters is one silver lining of its size.

> Unlike other parts of India such as Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderbad -- it's tropical and lush with much less pollution than what you might see in those other parts of India.

Somewhat ironically these are relatively low pollution as large cities in India go. There is still a good amount of greenery in Bengaluru (it is famous for it) but obviously far less than a few decades ago, as many residents lament.

> Of course a nation with a high population will have a high GDP in a mostly agrarian society.

It was more industrialised than many or likely most western countries at the time with more advanced and valuable crafts, so in relative terms this seems rather suspect as a reason for dismissal. The original claim in the GP comment was that it was "one of the richest", which seems more than plausible given that it was likely higher than average GDP per capita pre-global industrialisation.

> The attached source even mentions deindustrialization started in the waning years of the Mughals. Due to industrialization, the West’s GDP per capita simply outpaced India and China significantly, to the extent western nations even had higher nominal GDPs.

The article mentions the 18th century, which is when the East India Company began its campaign to take over more land and resources. There is a significant amount of evidence that the EIC and later the British systematically deindustrialised areas that they colonised [1], and it's thought that the European industrial revolution depended on this rebalancing. I agree that the West's GDP per capita outpaced India's as a result of that, and this massive reduction in wealth and resources was the original point.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De-industrialisation_of_India

> has Hindi as the "official language of the government”

First of all, I appreciate that you’ve made sure to draw this distinction between official languages of the central government and national languages.

However, English is still an official language roughly on par with Hindi as a result of indefinite extensions that were provided for in the constitution (as well as protests and uprising). For example, parliamentary legislation is authoritative in English but must also be translated into Hindi.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_with_legal_status_in...

It’s based on some of the same sources describing historical economies of other countries/regions. There are a variety of sources accessible online that go into more detail, including the ones cited in the excerpt I’ve included below.

> India experienced deindustrialisation and cessation of various craft industries under British rule,[12] which along with fast economic and population growth in the Western world, resulted in India's share of the world economy declining from 24.4% in 1700 to 4.2% in 1950,[13] and its share of global industrial output declining from 25% in 1750 to 2% in 1900.[12]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_India

As another commenter noted, I believe the phrase is used as a metonym (?) here to refer to a class of people that is largely unrelated to support for public transport.

> Wouldn't this just put these companies in awkward position [...]

Presumably. There's probably still an argument for changing the incentives for foreign governments to make these orders and for Apple or similar to comply. In particular, this bill appears to amend the provisions for foreign governments to gain access to their citizens' data and provides some possible legal recourse for US providers in US courts. It's not clear this will achieve the intended outcome, but it seems like one reasonable approach if your lever is US federal legislation.

I’m not sure Greenland should be lumped in with the others considering the very different (lack of) history, and polling does not support its popularity.

> A strong majority of Americans, 66%, are opposed to U.S. territorial expansion accomplished “by invading other countries and territories,” according to a recent poll from More in Common.

> In contrast, just 13% support the U.S. launching an invasion to acquire territory, and 16% were not sure

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/artic...

Much of central London could stand to be more developed, by this metric.

DC has a larger metro population than half of those cities, and is the clear economic hub of its respective area. I’m not sure the national capital is a great example of a smaller city, although of course is smaller relative to the US than London is to the UK.

People in this space are thinking about these problems, including on-chip mechanisms [1] and/or location verification [2], among other proposals.

[1] https://www.cnas.org/publications/reports/secure-governable-...

[2] https://www.iaps.ai/research/location-verification-for-ai-ch...

It doesn't seem to me that the GP comment is arguing for the cut in funding, but rather that 'gutted' may reasonably imply to many readers that a relatively significant portion of the budget was cut, which would be misleading in this case even if unintentional. The percentage helps put the number into context as at least I would not have an intuitive sense of expected or historical LAFD budget numbers.

> which, funny enough, are higher than NYC's congestion charge, yet there is zero fuss about them

That may be because NY/NJ have bridge tolls into the city that are often much higher than those in SF.

https://www.panynj.gov/bridges-tunnels/en/tolls.html

The median income of a household with a car in the city is more than double that of households without cars [1]. In a city where public transport is a viable and relatively cheap alternative, it doesn’t seem obvious that it disproportionately impacts the poor, unlike for instance a flat sales tax on essential goods.

[1] https://blog.tstc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/how-car-fre...

This has been a thing in Michigan and likely a few other states for decades, although with a 10 cent bounty at least 10-20 years ago. There was apparently a 90-95% recovery rate last I checked, but I'm not sure how reliable those statistics are.

That still doesn't solve the problem of recycling plastics or bottles in general, which this research may advance.

> it feels like a bike rental service operating on private property should not be the DOT’s jurisdiction.

I’m not sure I see how the private ownership of docking spaces should be relevant to DOT jurisdiction specifically. Rental car services are regulated, and owning the land housing the pickup location doesn’t avoid that probably because the vehicles are obviously used on public roadways.

I’m aware of the broad history, and I’m not claiming the PSNI is particularly neutral or otherwise unwilling to engage in these tactics. However, discourse that reduces the PSNI abusing power to a UK vs. Ireland conflict doesn’t promote holding the appropriate features of society and institutions accountable as they should be.

This article is about the PSNI, a documentary released in 2017, and surveillance in 2018. While the history between NI, the rest of the UK, and the Republic of Ireland is obviously relevant, it’s a bit of a stretch to reduce this to the relationship between the UK and Ireland.

This reminds me of the fairly new Terminal 2 in Bengaluru, covered in (mostly?) bamboo and greenery: https://www.architecturaldigest.in/story/bengalurus-kempegow...

That seems incorrect. The mayor is the mayor of Greater London which includes the City of London, although the City also has a Lord Mayor, as London boroughs have elected or ceremonial mayors. In other words, the City has its own mayor in the sense that other parts of London have their own sub-governments, although with a few differences such as policing and city status.

> The mayor is scrutinised by the London Assembly and, supported by their Mayoral Cabinet, directs the entirety of London, including the City of London (for which there is also the Lord Mayor of the City of London)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_London

> In 1965 the county was abolished and replaced by Greater London, a two-tier administrative area governed by the Greater London Council, thirty-two London boroughs, and the City of London Corporation.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_London

Most very cold areas are frequently above the temperature where salt is still somewhat effective, although I assume less than ideal.

> I'm guessing you meant EU, since the largest country in Europe is Russia.

They mentioned country-wide standards in European countries, not EU-wide standards (and the EU doesn’t dictate most road standards as far as I’m aware.)

> even the appearance of impropriety removes faith and trust in the institution.

This seems like a nuanced and reasonable take, but a rather generous interpretation of the GP comment. I think it’s reasonable for the parent comment to push back against a definitive statement laying an accusation with no evidence.

To be fair, the GP comment asked what one thinks about the possibility, and the parent comment provided some limited grounding. It’s a bit difficult to provide concrete evidence for a hypothetical.

They’re also significant funded by the state particularly as they’re the two federal universities. The figure I heard while there, although I can’t find actual numbers online, was in the low tens of thousands in subsidies that may otherwise mostly be collected through tuition.

Also, it’s not exactly what I would call open enrolment as it’s only open to Swiss students who are accepted into and pass a Matura program or similar in grade school while other students typically require applications or minimum exam scores depending on the program.

I think anecdotal evidence may be a reasonable proxy for those countries, although at least in stereotype and anecdotally they are very far from representative of (even) western Europe. I've noticed quite a bit of variance between major highways and smaller highways or other roads across Italy, for example.

Canada is the largest foreign source of wood for the US, so I’m not sure where the irony is. They don’t grow much acacia or eucalyptus as far as I’m aware.

https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-product/wood-products...

Right, I really just meant the last sentence in your comment but that could have been phrased more clearly. I definitely support having the easier option!

While this seems like a reasonable way to start monetising, I would add that the domain verification is very straightforward for anyone who's touched nameservers before. As an aside, their use of domains seems like a relatively clean way to inherit existing identity verification, particularly for organisations.

As an anecdote, an online comment responding to someone asking if their choice of server matters (e.g. if their Mastodon account would be visible to someone using another server) was roughly "no, as long as your servers federate with each other."

I would be able to parse that, but it seems rather out-of-touch for trying to attract the bulk of Twitter users. Meanwhile, Bluesky offers a de facto server with some (lesser?) amount of decentralization that's largely invisible to end users.

As I understand it (very much not a lawyer), the company complies with US laws by not allowing people in the US to use it, so there’s no issue doing business.