gowestyoungman's recent activity
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Comment on Generative AI for Krita in ~tech
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Comment on Obsolete, but not gone: The people who won't give up floppy disks in ~tech
gowestyoungman Link ParentYou could just wait to get another AOL Online free floppy in the mail or even in a magazine insert, and use it for saving files :) I have about 100 3.5" floppies for my stored Mac SE, mostly...You could just wait to get another AOL Online free floppy in the mail or even in a magazine insert, and use it for saving files :)
I have about 100 3.5" floppies for my stored Mac SE, mostly productivity software and old school games. The hard drive quit working but I can boot it up using the floppy drive. Hard to believe an entire OS can fit on a 1.4k floppy.
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Comment on Bike brands start to adopt C-V2X to warn cyclists about cars in ~transport
gowestyoungman Link ParentYeah, that paints a different picture than what I have imagined. At least the sidewalk is a few feet away from the road, but the lack of a curb certainly makes it less safe for pedestrians if a...Yeah, that paints a different picture than what I have imagined. At least the sidewalk is a few feet away from the road, but the lack of a curb certainly makes it less safe for pedestrians if a car were to swerve off the road at those speeds.
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Comment on Bike brands start to adopt C-V2X to warn cyclists about cars in ~transport
gowestyoungman Link ParentI hear people say they could just rent a car, but even my best car rental experiences is nerve wracking. Do they have the car I want in stock? How long do I have to stand at this counter to get...I hear people say they could just rent a car, but even my best car rental experiences is nerve wracking. Do they have the car I want in stock? How long do I have to stand at this counter to get signed out? Did the agent see the scratches on the door that I now see and am I going to get charged for that? If I dont fill it up enough will they charge me that exorbitant gas fee? Plus how do I GET to the car rental place? Someone has to drive me there and back since its not even on bus route - all of that just takes the joy and spontaneity out of just "going for a drive".
Thursday night I needed to go into town to get some parts and decided to take my old classic car and on the way I remembered that at a local drive in burger joint, there is a casual gathering of car enthusiasts. So I swung by, did a little drive through, saw some great hot rods and classic cars, picked up a treat for my wife and motored home with the top off and the wind in my face... a thoroughly enjoyable drive that would never happen if I had to go rent a car. I do live 20 km out of town but I would have driven even if I did live in town.
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Comment on Bike brands start to adopt C-V2X to warn cyclists about cars in ~transport
gowestyoungman Link ParentAh, I see we live in very different places, which is perhaps why we have such different views of driving 'aimlessly'. Within a few hours drive of my house I could be at several lakes, or the Rocky...Ah, I see we live in very different places, which is perhaps why we have such different views of driving 'aimlessly'. Within a few hours drive of my house I could be at several lakes, or the Rocky Mountains and viewing all kinds of wildlife or better yet, stopping in at one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, Lake Louise, or taking our dune buggy out to the sand dunes, or visiting one of two incredible national parks, or going tobogganing on a ski hill...
But its the serendipitous things that we love so much about 'aimless' driving - like coming across a free street concert that gets everyone up and dancing, or stumbling into an antiques store where we found an amazing rocking chair on sale for $50, or meeting a couple who were bicycling across America who stayed at our campsite for night while they regaled us with their travel tales... just so many good experiences and none of them planned - which is why I guess Im in love with the open road,
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Comment on Bike brands start to adopt C-V2X to warn cyclists about cars in ~transport
gowestyoungman Link ParentBut I still dont get how a highly evolved public transportation system would supercede personal transportation? Have you never experienced the joy of just getting in a vehicle and just going for a...But I still dont get how a highly evolved public transportation system would supercede personal transportation? Have you never experienced the joy of just getting in a vehicle and just going for a drive with no particular destination in mind? Getting lost in the country and just taking whatever road looks most interesting? We do this on vacations and have come across the most interesting places and people this way. Thats just not possible when youre with multiple people on a bus, tram, train, or even an Uber.
Why would anyone choose lack of personal freedom to travel and wanderlust for 'efficient' travel? It boggles my mind. To me, since I was 16 driving a vehicle has meant freedom to roam, explore, discover and see new places with ease and no restriction. That's highly valuable, no?
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Comment on Bike brands start to adopt C-V2X to warn cyclists about cars in ~transport
gowestyoungman Link ParentI do live rurally now but I lived and worked in a city of 1.6M while my kids were young and growing up. I just dont see how it is feasible with kids. The level of hassle to me is incomprehensible....I do live rurally now but I lived and worked in a city of 1.6M while my kids were young and growing up. I just dont see how it is feasible with kids. The level of hassle to me is incomprehensible.
A typical couple of days:
8 AM - drive three kids to school (because I worked there too) They were too young to walk so public transit would be the only other option.3 PM - drive one kid to soccer practice at a field that was across the city - 25 min drive by car, but it would be well over an hour by bus with 3 transfers because the soccer pitch was in an industrial area. Would be difficult to make it to practice by bus.
5 PM - Drive home for supper, then at 6 pm drive another child to piano practice at her teacher's house - 15 min drive but again, could be done by bus, but it would take two transfers plus about 45 min. In winter by the time this is over, it would be dark so there's no way that Id allow the child to travel on the bus alone at night, so that means I would also have to sit with her at her practice for an hour. Instead I take the car to the grocery store three blocks away and getting some shopping done or go have coffee with a friend and am back to pick her up.
7 PM - one of the kids gets invited over for the night at a friends house, again 10 min drive away, but its night so I wouldnt let them take the bus alone, and it would take three times as long as driving. I hop in the car, take her over and back in short order. No problem. If it was only a bus, Id just say they couldnt go.
Next day, I pick her up, bring her home and all five of us head over to our church which was literally across town because that was our denominational affiliation with a 20 minute drive. Bus service on Sun morning is only every half hour so we'd have to leave much earlier, go stand at a bus stop, dressed in our Sunday clothes and wait in the cold of winter for a bus. OR we could just get in our warm car and drive right over.
After church some friends invite us out for lunch at a restaurant and of course we only have to get in the car and follow them there, instead of trying to figure out how to take a bus to the restaurant.
I mean COULD it be done? Yes, if you absolutely didnt and couldnt own a car I suppose it could be, but what a royal pain in the butt to try and coordinate life with a family with no car. And what an incredible waste of time, waiting for buses, or even Ubers or taxis, when you could just get in your own vehicle and go.
I think its feasible only if a person does not value their time or convenience or warmth but no, it doesnt make any sense to me, to give up all of that.
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Comment on Bike brands start to adopt C-V2X to warn cyclists about cars in ~transport
gowestyoungman Link ParentTrue, but what about all the pluses? Allows freedom to travel just about anywhere you can afford to buy gas for - a 1000 km a day if you want. You can camp in them (I do), you can transport MUCH...True, but what about all the pluses? Allows freedom to travel just about anywhere you can afford to buy gas for - a 1000 km a day if you want. You can camp in them (I do), you can transport MUCH more than a bike or ever could, you can use them as a mobile office, they allow whole families to travel together, they offer privacy and shelter from the environment, they're far more convenient than most public transport, you can play music/talk on the phone privately, you can pull a huge variety of trailers from campers, boats, moving trailers, utility trailers to other vehicles... I honestly could not live my life without a car and its pluses FAR outweigh its negatives. I just find it strange that something that has revolutionized our society and become ubiquitous so just about every household owns at least one actually garners derision. Its an amazing and valuable technological marvel.
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Comment on Bike brands start to adopt C-V2X to warn cyclists about cars in ~transport
gowestyoungman Link ParentIm consistently surprised by the anti-car comments on tildes. Maybe its the large proportion of EU commenters but there are consistent articles that are anti-car. Is there a subculture of...Im consistently surprised by the anti-car comments on tildes. Maybe its the large proportion of EU commenters but there are consistent articles that are anti-car. Is there a subculture of automotive derision that Im not aware of?
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Comment on The emotional support animal racket in ~life.pets
gowestyoungman (edited )Link ParentIm a landlord who allows pets (with no extra fee or deposit) and its by far the most popular reason people look at my rentals. Just read an article that said renters find 'pet friendly' more...Im a landlord who allows pets (with no extra fee or deposit) and its by far the most popular reason people look at my rentals. Just read an article that said renters find 'pet friendly' more appealing than having a washing machine, and I believe it.
I honestly find dog owners in particular to be MORE responsible than average. They already have to take care of their pet so they cant be too wildly irresponsible.
One was a "very friendly" dog that bared his teeth and start growling very menacingly at me from inside the vehicle. The owner got really nervous and started making excuses but it was obvious the dog was really aggressive.
But most of them are just fine and do great in their new home - although I will admit the one I just rented to this month, came in, sniffed around the house and promptly laid a huge dump on the carpet. Fortunately the carpet was already past its best before date so we had a good laugh while the renter quickly cleaned it up.
The ESA thing has never come up in many years of renting. Probably because I allow pets, they dont have to make up stories about having an ESA.
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Comment on How private equity consumed America in ~finance
gowestyoungman (edited )LinkIve been around for over 60 years and it continues to amaze me that there are things going on behind the scenes that have a direct effect on my life that I have no clue about. Didnt even know...Ive been around for over 60 years and it continues to amaze me that there are things going on behind the scenes that have a direct effect on my life that I have no clue about. Didnt even know private equity firms existed until a few years ago, and now they are directly affecting my business (real estate rentals) and forcing market manipulations that are not healthy for the average renter or homeowner.
And yet, when renters get angry about rent prices its usually vitriol directed at people like me, the little guy who owns a couple of rentals and not the private equity firms who own thousands and thousands of them, because they dont even know they exist or that they have a very strong grip on the entire housing market. Neither did I. They dont exactly advertise themselves or their influence to anyone outside their own extremely rich circle. Private indeed.
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Comment on A big new facility built to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere opened up in Iceland. It's a stepping stone to bigger plans in the US. in ~enviro
gowestyoungman Link ParentThey wont all come to Europe. Here in Canada we are already experiencing mass migration from South Asia and up til now, most people have welcomed it. But its a bit too fast. We have grown from a...And at least some of them’ll head to Europe, at which point the continent, if it’s still peaceful, will fall apart
They wont all come to Europe. Here in Canada we are already experiencing mass migration from South Asia and up til now, most people have welcomed it. But its a bit too fast. We have grown from a country of 33M to 40M in only a few years and our gov is allowing 1M new immigrants a year. The biggest problem is having enough housing. We DO have the land, a lot of Canada is wide open prairie and we are very sparsely populated on the whole, but we cant build housing fast enough to house everyone.
The pressure is on and things are changing and we are adapting - just this last week Calgary, Alberta held a 10 day long meeting after the city council proposed that ALL city lots can now be rezoned to house up to 12 housing units instead of just one. Of course that has ticked off many people who greatly value their home and their neighborhood as it is, but its one of the changes thats likely to be inevitable, no matter the strength of the protest against it.
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Comment on A big new facility built to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere opened up in Iceland. It's a stepping stone to bigger plans in the US. in ~enviro
gowestyoungman Link ParentNothing stopping us from heating with nat gas yet but the Liberal gov plan is to keep raising the Carbon Tax to the point that it becomes so expensive to do so, that people would rather choose...Nothing stopping us from heating with nat gas yet but the Liberal gov plan is to keep raising the Carbon Tax to the point that it becomes so expensive to do so, that people would rather choose alternatives, like a mini split system for heating. The problem is, there arent any mini splits that are efficient when the temps get down to -40 so you have to install both a mini split AND a nat gas furnace as a back up for the really cold days. Which makes it prohibitively expensive and kind of pointless when you could just use a furnace in the first place.
We've put in a catalytic wood stove and have been burning hard woods for this last winter so our furnace has only kicked in about 40% as much as the year before but thats not easy to do if you live in the city. -
Comment on A big new facility built to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere opened up in Iceland. It's a stepping stone to bigger plans in the US. in ~enviro
gowestyoungman Link ParentI appreciate your rational and well thought out points and to me, they seem accurate. I'll be curious to see if the biodiversity part is true. We beside thousands of acres of gov land and walk a...I appreciate your rational and well thought out points and to me, they seem accurate.
I'll be curious to see if the biodiversity part is true. We beside thousands of acres of gov land and walk a trail to a nearby river pretty much daily. It is not at all unusual to see deer, moose, grouse, mice, hawks, song birds and the occasional black bear. There are grizzly here too but we dont go out if they've been spotted in the area. But we've only lived here about 12 years and so far havent noticed any change in the numbers. Time will tell.
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Comment on A big new facility built to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere opened up in Iceland. It's a stepping stone to bigger plans in the US. in ~enviro
gowestyoungman Link ParentAnd there's the difference. You can SEE an asteroid. You can accurately plot its path. You can observe its approach and imminent collision. It doesnt take faith to believe that a massive object...If a several-kilometer-wide asteroid were heading toward Earth right now, would we be able to adapt to that?
And there's the difference. You can SEE an asteroid. You can accurately plot its path. You can observe its approach and imminent collision. It doesnt take faith to believe that a massive object hurtling in a direct path toward the earth is going to cause massive destruction and only the wilfully blind would question that.
None of that is true of climate change. Its a scientific theory based on scientific models that may or may not prove to be accurate and its extremely slow moving and difficult to observe and you have to have a significant amount of faith in the scientists and their prognostication. Thus my skepticism.
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Comment on A big new facility built to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere opened up in Iceland. It's a stepping stone to bigger plans in the US. in ~enviro
gowestyoungman (edited )Link ParentI guess the difference is that I dont believe that hundreds of millions will die. I dont believe any place will become unlivable. Uncomfortable maybe, more dangerous at times, but not unlivable. I...Most people however are horrified at the thought of hundreds of millions dying for no good reason. There are countries where not everything is air conditioned where the wet bulb temperatures will make living impossible. There are poor countries that will simply be unable to afford food if global food production drops. There are countries that will not have water if extensive droughts happen.
I guess the difference is that I dont believe that hundreds of millions will die. I dont believe any place will become unlivable. Uncomfortable maybe, more dangerous at times, but not unlivable. I dont buy the dystopian narrative because Ive seen it and heard it many times already in my life time and the message always turned out to be WAY overblown.
Food production drops are already a problem but the world doesnt have a food production problem, we have a food distribution problem. Will it get worse? Maybe. But if we aren't doing all we can to send food to hungry nations NOW what will change in 50 years?
These changes in climate will happen over decades. Maybe longer. Plenty of time for people to make a plan and decide what to do if they run out of water or food (ironically our own well quit working this week). But the greens/politicians are trying to tell me that not heating my house with natural gas, the only viable and affordable way to heat a house in western Canada, is going to save people several thousand miles away in 50 or 100 years, MAYBE? I got things to fix today, I need heat for 8 months of the year including today, there's no bandwidth left for 50 years from now even if I did believe it was an "emergency"
Meanwhile Canada emits 1.8% of the worlds GHG. So even if I believed it, the message is mostly irrelevant. NOTHING I do is going to make a spit of difference to the climate or to those people. The Carbon Tax is a money grab and trying to spend our way into lower emissions by creating more EVs and more heat pumps is just another money grab. If someone is going to make a difference it would be to shut down China, the worlds most serious emitter. Funny though, there are no climate protesters gluing themselves to artwork in China.
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Comment on A big new facility built to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere opened up in Iceland. It's a stepping stone to bigger plans in the US. in ~enviro
gowestyoungman (edited )Link ParentI believe we can and do adapt as humans to anything and everything thrown at us. There are millions of people who live in Dubai where most people would agree that living in a place that hits 49c...I believe we can and do adapt as humans to anything and everything thrown at us. There are millions of people who live in Dubai where most people would agree that living in a place that hits 49c is incompatible with human life. I live where it hit -42 in winter and the windchill and thermal loss will kill you in minutes if you are not protected. Also crazy and most people dont want to live here either. So more people will have to learn to live with extremes. We'll adapt. There may be more extreme weather. We'll adapt. More heat, more cold, more storms, we'll adapt. It may be uncomfortable more times a year, but its not going to wipe out the planet.
Edit: I honestly believe the constant drumbeat of a dystopian climate disaster around the corner is doing far more to damage the mental health and future of young people than any actual change in climate. Add onto that the very real disaster of social media and there are young people killing themselves because they believe they have no future, no hope. THAT'S a very real and indefensible disaster that's killing people NOW, not 50 or 100 or 1000 years from now.
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Comment on A big new facility built to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere opened up in Iceland. It's a stepping stone to bigger plans in the US. in ~enviro
gowestyoungman Link ParentIts the dystopian future I dont buy into. Maybe its because I live in cold Canada, where a little more warming is more than welcome. We hit -42c last winter and 40c in summer. If that goes up by...Its the dystopian future I dont buy into. Maybe its because I live in cold Canada, where a little more warming is more than welcome. We hit -42c last winter and 40c in summer. If that goes up by an average of 3 degrees, thats fine. If more people want to move here because its very livable, fine, come on in, we're all immigrants in Canada (except for the indigenous people). And I say that as someone who had to evacuate their house for nearly two weeks last summer due to a wildfire that came within 30 ft of our house. Im not oblivious, but I dont believe its an existential threat. Weather gets wild, we deal with it.
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Comment on A big new facility built to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere opened up in Iceland. It's a stepping stone to bigger plans in the US. in ~enviro
gowestyoungman Link ParentMy big beef is with calling it "pollution" which our Prime Minister very clearly does, in order to demonize it as some kind of dangerous chemical. It is not only the most common element for our...My big beef is with calling it "pollution" which our Prime Minister very clearly does, in order to demonize it as some kind of dangerous chemical. It is not only the most common element for our own bodies (18%), it is essential for the growth of the plants that feed us and yes, we can drink it without harm because we breathe it in and out every day. So to call it "pollution" is disingenuous and ONLY applies to its proportion in the atmosphere at most.
And even then, yes, Im one of those people who does not fully buy into the "its killing our planet" narrative. Is it harmful in larger quantities in our atmosphere. Probably somewhat, yes. Is the harm caused by man made causes? Probably some of it, yes. Can we reverse it? Probably also yes, although I think the timeline is going to be a lot longer than the politicians like to pretend it will be.
Will this type of carbon capture plant help? Uh, Im highly doubtful.
Does this mean I have to pay a carbon tax and buy an EV and stop heating my house with the only cost effective fuel available in my region? Uh.... pretty skeptical on all of those. Most of our own premiers dont believe in the carbon tax is helpful. And I pay the carbon tax because I have no choice but do I think its clearing our atmosphere of carbon? Not a chance. And I already own an EV but I bought it because its damn fast and really fun to drive, had nothing to do with "saving the planet"
I dont think the politicians who are pushing the 'dying planet' narrative really believe it. If they ACTUALLY did, they would be encouraging everyone to buy recycled goods, they would be building local manufacturing and promoting growing our own food instead of shipping it 3000 miles from California to our local store. They would tell us to stop buying goods from Amazon, which flogs almost everything it has from China, the largest polluter in the world by far. But of course they wont. Because they're not serious and they dont actually believe we're facing an existential threat and they dont want to cut into all those sweet profits.
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Comment on A big new facility built to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere opened up in Iceland. It's a stepping stone to bigger plans in the US. in ~enviro
gowestyoungman LinkI dunno, call me a skeptic, but the idea of a building a big facility to suck an invisible gas out of the air that's 'harming our environment' and labelled as "pollution" and then bottle some of...I dunno, call me a skeptic, but the idea of a building a big facility to suck an invisible gas out of the air that's 'harming our environment' and labelled as "pollution" and then bottle some of it to feed it back to humans is already feeling disingenuous. But the fact that its supported by JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, Stripe, and Shopify, among others just makes me think this is another iffy tech company that's going to sell 'carbon offset credits' to huge virtue signalling multinationals to abate their conscience while doing nearly nothing of true value. But it'll look good on the annual report for the shareholders and they can all feel more smug.
Havent played with Krita for over a year but this definitely looks like something worth trying. The power of AI creation blows me away.