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    1. Steam Deck low battery health (% of original capacity) and formatting

      I believe a few of us have Steam Decks, thus I wanted to do this kinda public announcement. TL;DR If your Steam Deck reports low battery health (low % of original capacity) drain the battery until...

      I believe a few of us have Steam Decks, thus I wanted to do this kinda public announcement.

      TL;DR

      • If your Steam Deck reports low battery health (low % of original capacity) drain the battery until it shuts down and then fully charge and check again
      • Use your Steam Deck until it shuts down from time to time (say once every 6 months?) to keep your battery level indicator (and remaining time) precise

      Long version

      I have my Steam Deck since May 2022 and I put certainly over 1000 hours in gaming on it. I would believe if it was even approaching 2000 hours.

      Lately I played demanding game and battery was discharging rather fast with remaining time on full charge being under 1:30 hours, which I wasn't used to just a few months ago when it lasted over 2 hours even in demanding games (I limit to 30 fps and I also limit TDP/power). This weekend I jumped into desktop mode and checked the battery life which showed me what I feared - 65% of original capacity.

      I went on iFixit page and the price for new one is hefty 95€, but since Steam Deck got me so much enjoyment, I was ready to pay for it - if it was in stock, that is. I'm glad it wasn't!

      Since I have a bit of electronics and software background (hobby level), I realized that the charging chip (or whatever keeps the info about state of charge) was running since day 1 on relative data. What I mean: I have never discharged my Steam Deck lower than 10% and most of the times charging anywhere between 30-80%. And since the charging chip likely measures last fully charged capacity (and thus battery health) based on, well, how much it was charged and discharged all over again, it probably skewed its measurements in those three years.

      So I went on a "quest" to play until dead. And I was surprised when Steam Deck reached 3% battery and kept running for another hour (ligthweight game) until it was finally dead. Then I fully charged it and voila - battery health 90%!

      I have already said how it likely happened, but once more and in short: the charging chip needs to reach both limits, 0% and 100% of battery, from time to time = You have to let it drain fully here and there if you want your battery level indicator (and remaining time) to be precise or if you want to get the real state of your battery.

      A bit offtopic: I've had laptop that had 50% of original capacity. I have changed the battery cells inside the battery and let it fully discharge and charge again but the vendor locked the chip from "learning" the real capacity making the new cells useless because the chip still reported 50% thus telling me when I booted it up that the battery has to be changed and also telling me non-relevant remaining time based on this 50% battery health... I'm glad that Steam Deck is capable of re-learning this data and not playing dumb.

      24 votes
    2. Three Cheers for Tildes: App updates and feedback (April 2025) — Version 1.4 adds a text size setting

      This topic is for the Three Cheers for Tildes mobile app. I'll summarize the major updates at the start of each similar topic, so people can read the updates and then hit Ignore if they don't care...

      This topic is for the Three Cheers for Tildes mobile app.

      I'll summarize the major updates at the start of each similar topic, so people can read the updates and then hit Ignore if they don't care about more frequent updates and user feedback.


      Recently:

      Version 1.4.0 (Apr 6, 2025):

      • Added text size setting
      • Fixed markdown formatting bar bugs

       

      The text size setting for accessibility is long overdue. I've been feeling bad that some users couldn't even use the app because the text was too small.

      This has been another large change where I had to go back and re-test screens throughout the entire app, and fix many layout bugs caused by the dynamic text size. It's been very tedious!

      In fact, the iOS release is delayed because I found some last-minute bugs and have had to go back to figure out solutions. iOS is up on TestFlight!

      Also I am aware that there are still bugs in some places when you set the text excessively large. It's not a priority for me to fix those, unless they make the app unusable.

      Have been particularly busy so far this year and that will continue for a while, so I may be less responsive here, even though I likely will see your messages. Thanks for continuing to report issues; v1.4 fixes some bugs based on those reports.

       

      Previous topic: February 2025

       


      Where to get it

      Android version on Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.talklittle.android.tildes

      Or sideloadable APK at https://www.talklittle.com/three-cheers/

      iOS version on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/three-cheers-for-tildes/id6470950557

      Join TestFlight for iOS beta testing: https://testflight.apple.com/join/mpVk1qIy

      78 votes
    3. Is there any source for news that hits the editing floor? That is, doesn't make the published edition?

      I figure that for each new story that hits a site like Reuters, theres at least a few that don't get chosen, hitting the editing floor so to speak (like scenes of a film falling to the editing...

      I figure that for each new story that hits a site like Reuters, theres at least a few that don't get chosen, hitting the editing floor so to speak (like scenes of a film falling to the editing room floor). Doe anyone know where these might be reported?

      Like, an rss feed of some editor somewhere that lists the stories they passed over.

      6 votes
    4. Danes are boycotting American goods - one grocery chain reports that sales of Denmark's own cola brand has increased at least thirteen-fold

      Posting not a link as it's just a newsflash type thing. Translations with deepl. Edited some of the text myself to get rid of some redundant stuff. Link In March, sales of Jolly Cola increased at...

      Posting not a link as it's just a newsflash type thing. Translations with deepl. Edited some of the text myself to get rid of some redundant stuff.

      Link

      In March, sales of Jolly Cola increased at least 13-fold in Rema 1000 compared to the same period last year. Grocery chains Coop and Fleggaard have also seen significant increases. The Jolly Cola brewery also said earlier in March that they have never experienced anything like this.

      Further context:

      Link

      Danes are bypassing American products, and chains are feeling it.

      The boycott movement can be felt at the Danish fast food chain: ""We are clearly experiencing a growing interest. The fact that we are a Danish burger chain is an interesting alternative to the American chains for many Danes."

      At a vintner, the anti-American movement is not a big issue, but the wine merchant has still received a “no thanks” from some customers when he has suggested an American wine: "Now that Trump has come to power, the demand is not as great as it used to be. Some people are simply opting out."

      Even though consumers in Denmark want to send a signal and turn their backs on Trump and the US with their wallets, it could ultimately be a disservice to ourselves: "It should not become a joint boycott against the US, because we risk losing significantly more as a country than we gain from it. If the US suddenly says that it's time to stop buying Novo Nordisk medicines in the US, it will hit the Danish economy tenfold compared to the effect a consumer boycott has on the US economy,” he says. “There is no reason for us to provoke this trade war to become even fiercer than it already is."

      Oh, and then there's also this:

      Danish grocery chain to distinguish European from US goods.

      More chains are joining in now: Coop to introduce labeling of American goods

      24 votes
    5. Hey parents, how many of you read vs. tell stories before bedtime for your kids?

      My son loves reading time before bed, but he’s only 3.5 so the books have mostly been picture books until now. Lately though he’s been getting more into stories with plots and an extended...

      My son loves reading time before bed, but he’s only 3.5 so the books have mostly been picture books until now. Lately though he’s been getting more into stories with plots and an extended narrative, but entirely in the form of movies. There aren’t a lot of kid’s books to go around with the sorts of dramatic stories he likes, they’re more like “caterpillar eats food” and “train engine climbs a hill with grit and determination” type stuff. And whenever I’ve tried to have him just lay down and listen to me read a story without any pictures to stare at he has absolutely no interest. He really likes having pretty visuals to look at.

      I know when I was a small child these sorts of board/picture books weren’t really a thing in India. The pre-sleep ritual was usually “storytime” instead, where my parents would tell us stories. I’m a little bit concerned that my kid has been so accustomed to always having visual cues presented to him that it’s stunting his imagination a bit, like failing to exercise his capacity to visualize ideas and concepts for himself without being anchored by some artist’s depiction.

      So I’m curious to hear from other parents or caregivers/educators (@kfwyre?). Did you find there was a natural transition point between going from picture books to telling/reading stories? Was there any sort of work you had to do to enable it? Are there “exercises” I can work on to help my son exercise his imagination? I have been working with him to have him tell me stories about his day, which he does pretty well. But his stories are always quite grounded and he’s usually telling me what he’s actually done and seen. When my nephews and nieces were his age they tended to spin out a lot of random stories that pretty obviously did not happen, and I assume this is because they had more experience being told stories themselves rather than just factual reporting about the happenings around them.

      25 votes
    6. Navigating differences in risk tolerance regarding health

      Hey Tildoes, my partner and I have been navigating a broad, government level health challenge and I was hoping to pick the hivemind for help on navigating it. As some of you may have seen in...

      Hey Tildoes, my partner and I have been navigating a broad, government level health challenge and I was hoping to pick the hivemind for help on navigating it.

      As some of you may have seen in articles posted here, there was a massive fire at the lithium ion battery plant in Moss Landing a few months ago. It ended up spewing a slough of nasty chemicals into the air, which inevitably landed in the surround agricultural fields and waterways. My partner was in Australia when the fire occured, thank god, but was still freaking out about downstream effects. There have been studies from a 3rd party group from UC Davis and San Jose State - that found elevated levels of heavy metals - however those have been downplayed by local agencies claiming there are not major impacts and that distribution was surface level. With everything we know about state and federal agencies oversight, sometimes they are less than transparent about reporting toxic impact factors - like what happened in Hinkley and was popularized by the movie Erin Brockovich. However today the California Certified Organic Farmers put out their own update and press release. They summarized what has happened and seem to be endorsing the safety of the farms they have certified in the area.

      So here is the rub: Federal, state, county, and local agencies have determined there is not significant contamination, the CCOF has agreed with these agencies, and my partner is still uncomfortable eating local produce. It feels a bit like we're back in covid times, and she is looking for cherry picked studies to justify strict behavioral and consumption restrictions within our household. We have always agreed to "shift our risk tolerance according to data" and now - with the Trump administration and a general distrust of our fed/state agencies - she's advocating we continue to avoid these foods until there is "definitive proof" that the food is safe.

      I'm kind of at a loss of what do to. On one hand, it's a minor thing to change where we get our food. Food systems are complex and we can kind of get it from anywhere. On the other hand, I love my time at our farmers markets, experimenting with new foods, and supporting our local community. I also think the more obscure the process from farm to shelf, the more possibility for health/employee/environmental shenanigans by the producers. To me buying broadly "American" or "Mexican" kale doesn't mean we aren't going to have similar or worse impacts to our food.

      I'm trying to find a reasonable middle ground or a bellwether indicator we can use as a go/no-go, but every time I think we've agreed on one it feels like the goal posts have been moved. Do any of you have similar issues or possible navigated differences in risk tolerance during Covid well? If so, how did you do so? I know this is a bit of a random thread, but I'd love to hear what you think!

      16 votes
    7. Humble Choice - March 2025

      March 2025's Humble Choice is now available with the following games (2 EA, 6 Steam). Steam Page Opencritic Steam Recent/All Operating Systems Steam Deck ProtonDB Pacific Drive 80 77 / 83 Win 🟨...

      March 2025's Humble Choice is now available with the following games (2 EA, 6 Steam).

      Steam Page Opencritic Steam Recent/All Operating Systems Steam Deck ProtonDB
      Pacific Drive 80 77 / 83 Win 🟨 Playable 🟨 Gold
      Homeworld 3 77 45 / 38 Win 🟨 Playable 🟨 Gold
      WILD HEARTS (note: EA key) 79 47 / 48 Win ❌ Unsupported 🟨 Gold
      Tales of Kenzera: ZAU (note: EA key) 76 92 / 81 Win ✅ Verified 🟨 Gold
      Gravity Circuit 86 94 / 95 Win, Mac, Linux ✅ Verified ✅ Native
      Sir Whoopass: Immortal Death -- 63 / 84 Win ✅ Verified 🟨 Gold
      Racine -- -- / 69 Win 🟨 Playable 🕙 Awaiting Reports
      Cavern of Dreams 72 88 / 95 Win 🟨 Playable 🎖️ Platinum

      Does anyone have experience with any of the games and, if so, would you recommend them? Is there anything in here that you're particularly excited to play?

      18 votes
    8. Sunday morning musings no. 2 How to be nice but authentic to people who seem decent but whose jobs seem to be a big part of the problem?

      I recently was at a brunch with a friend and their friend. Their friend works at a startup who buys, very cheaply, pictures of mammograms from hospitals, something something AI anonymization, and...

      I recently was at a brunch with a friend and their friend. Their friend works at a startup who buys, very cheaply, pictures of mammograms from hospitals, something something AI anonymization, and resells the data to ‘researchers’. I asked several things, for example, what responsibility does her company have for breaches or failures to protect identity? Her response: we have reporting requirements.

      In my mind, that something like this exists at all is a complete social failure and consequence of hypercapitalism. The goal of using hospital data for research is obviously a good one. But in my mind, that data should not exist in a non-anonymous way outside the control of the hospital, and, in its anonymous form, should be available to all researchers for free. It seems obvious to me the best way to innovate real solutions is to get as many smart people as possible researching the data, and not just those who can afford it. Less obvious, but still problematic: if we limit the availability of the data to those who can afford it, we are limiting the availability of the data to those whose primary incentive of research is profit, as opposed to public interests like health.

      I’m very tired of pretending for the sake of equanimity that this work is somehow OK. But neither is it productive to be argumentative at brunch. I guess one approach is simply to say, gee that’s swell and move on to a different topic, or just not ask people about their work at all. But I’m a prophet, I feel compelled to tell the truth, and sometimes to an unhealthy degree make people feel uncomfortable.

      I don’t know what the solution is, it’s one of the reasons I went to divinity school: to gain access to a potentially practical platform for advocating meaningful change. But the problem is so well integrated and so insidious. Am I doomed to always be in isolated despair?

      22 votes
    9. Sunday morning musings no. 1. Does anyone really know what’s happening in Ukraine?

      Heretofore, I have held the idea that, 1)Russia is a despotic aggressor, 2)Ukraine is largely innocent holder of resources and land, and 3)Ukraine is largely winning due to a combination of pluck...

      Heretofore, I have held the idea that, 1)Russia is a despotic aggressor, 2)Ukraine is largely innocent holder of resources and land, and 3)Ukraine is largely winning due to a combination of pluck and western supplies.

      But I heard a recent podcast, however, that caused me to question my line of thinking. The podcast was Chapo Trap House* and they had guest podcasts hosts War Nerd or something, who seem to have some expertise in the slavic world. And they presented a very different narrative. Namely, 1)Ukrainians really want the war to end, even if the country loses some land, 2)There’s tons of corruption in the military, as bad as leaders demanding payment from soldiers to avoid deployment to the front lines, 3)There are fascist units in the military, and they shake down the civilians, 4) Zelensky was of a mind to deal with Russia until Biden asked him not to, 5)Russias economy is very resilient and has adapted to sanctions, and 6)Russia has been very adept at neutralizing new western military tech, and 7) there is a conspiracy of silence about Ukrainian casualties. Side note, there may be problematic funding of all the open source intelligence arms, especially bellingcat, by US Governemtnt intelligence interests.

      I managed to confirm at least partially one of the objections:

      https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/05/politics/russia-jamming-himars-rockets-ukraine/index.html

      But some of the claims seem less strong:

      https://kyivindependent.com/a-very-bloody-war-what-is-the-death-toll-of-russias-war-in-ukraine/

      Mixed on some of the others:

      https://theintercept.com/2024/06/22/ukraine-azov-battalion-us-training-ban/

      The podcast was a useful reminder, at least, to retain a humility about my beliefs, and that news media is especially suspect in our present moment.

      It’s not like I have any power to influence the outcome, but I do still buy into the myth that a responsible citizen retains some degree of information about events around them. My query to tildes is, what’s your narrative about the war, and what sources of information are you drawing upon?

      *I’m vaguely aware that there’s somce controversy around these guys. I find the podcast entertaining, however, and they seem to share some of my values about how a sane society would function, and, like this report, they sometimes really challenge my understanding of what I think is going on.

      26 votes
    10. Posteo.de or Mailbox.org - Struggling to find an alternative to Proton

      Hello everyone! I have been currently debating switching email providers. I have been with Proton for a few years now (free user), but I have become increasingly disappointed. Firstly, I am not...

      Hello everyone! I have been currently debating switching email providers. I have been with Proton for a few years now (free user), but I have become increasingly disappointed. Firstly, I am not exactly a fan of the “we have apps for everything” model, particularly the integration of a password manager is just strange and the crypto wallet feels a bit nauseating, as I have my reservations about cryptocurrency. Consolidating all of my services in a company such as Proton feels misguided if the goal is to avoid walled gardens from the tech giants. There are also some other more recent things that have come up in relation to Proton that just make me question the legitimacy of Proton's “guiding moral imperative” as a privacy focussed company.

      Moving on from that, I have mostly settled on two options due to their

      • low cost
      • generally adequate security (I understand email's limitations on this front, I just want something to be secure enough)
      • transparency reports
      • location of operation

      The main thing I am struggling with here are the pros and cons between the two platforms.

      Posteo seems to be less ideal of an email provider because they do not support ARC and lack a good DMARC policy. BUT they claim to support encryption with their calendars, but does this even matter if you are accessing the calendars with CalDAV (which I do not beliece is an E2EE connection)?

      I think I trust Mailbox.org more when it comes to security, but I think their contacts / calendar situation is somewhat worse, and their French translation seems … lacking in spots (not that it matters to me much, but still is somewhat jarring for me).

      I could just ignore the contacts/calendar problem, and use something like EteSync, but that would become just another thing to pay for, and another app to operate (if I need to use the WebDav bridge).

      Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated, I am really hoping this inspires some interesting conversations! And of course, feel free to tell me about better options if I have overlooked something. Have a lovely day :)

      35 votes
    11. I bought the newly-in-print Playboy for the articles. It did not disappoint.

      Or, let’s be honest, firstly as a novelty. I don't know anyone else personally who has bought, or would buy, a copy. I figured it would be interesting to see what it was like. My wife and I...

      Or, let’s be honest, firstly as a novelty. I don't know anyone else personally who has bought, or would buy, a copy. I figured it would be interesting to see what it was like.

      My wife and I stopped on Valentine’s day to buy a copy, and I think we were both surprised by the print. I knew Playboy magazines produced some notable interviews in the past, but a dozen important conversations over several decades isn’t exactly going to outweigh the sea of photographs they’re known for. The new edition was a surprising $20 in-person. It felt like a bit of a gamble, but I think it was worth it.

      By the numbers, it’s ~125 pages long and features 3 pictorial photoshoots. Beyond a few pages of photos, the rest is basically all writing. There are a few ads, but nothing like the volume of ads in other magazines I’ve read recently. I figured the magazine would be full of risqué photos, but it’s more of a tasteful inclusion alongside other, more substantial discussion. It is essentially all writing, and it’s good writing.

      From the outset, the Editor’s Letter (Mike Guy) sets the tone of the new printing:

      Five years have passed since an issue of Playboy rolled off a printing press, and they have been strange years indeed. We’ve passed through the wreckage of a pandemic, sat on a violent political see-saw, and watched as discourse shrinks to tiny digital moments that explode into divisive range at precisely the time we need reason. Just as Playboy was frustrated with the conservative norms of the ‘50s, we want to challenge them now, too. This can mean just showing up, listening; it can mean choosing connecting and pleasure over sensation and isolation. It means rejecting poisonous, meme-driven narratives, as writer Magdalene Taylor urges in “The Rise of the Beta Male” …, her disturbing report from the front lines of our emerging dystopia about young men who have given up on sex. … The internet - OnlyFans, TikTok, and the rest - has stolen sexuality and fed it into the meat grinder of the attention economy. We’re doing our part to steal it back. As the poet Wallace Stevens wrote, “The greatest poverty is not to live in the physical world.”

      I didn’t anticipate an article detailing a first-person investigation into the rise of anti-semitism, or an article about a far-out apocalyptic billionaire party, nor did I expect a humorous memoir about the rise of Nashville as the bachelorette party destination. But, these were funny, interesting pieces that spurred much discussion in my house. My wife and I have taken turns reading these long-form articles aloud each night. The article on an ultra-exclusive sex party in LA fell inline with the sort of topics I expected, but the writing and description of a beautiful spectacle made us pause and say, “that actually sounds like a fun time.”

      It turns out you really can read Playboy for the articles, and more importantly resonate on the value of re-engaging human connection, disarming hate, building up our communities, and challenging our preconceived notions.

      62 votes
    12. Three Cheers for Tildes: App updates and feedback (February 2025) — Version 1.3 uses edge-to-edge UI on Android

      This topic is for the Three Cheers for Tildes mobile app. I'll summarize the major updates at the start of each similar topic, so people can read the updates and then hit Ignore if they don't care...

      This topic is for the Three Cheers for Tildes mobile app.

      I'll summarize the major updates at the start of each similar topic, so people can read the updates and then hit Ignore if they don't care about more frequent updates and user feedback.


      Recently:

      [Android] Version 1.3.6 (Feb 28, 2025): Fixed minor UI bugs.

      [iOS] Version 1.3.1 (Feb 27, 2025): Fixed an annoying scroll bug when typing comments and posts.

      [Android] Version 1.3.5 (Feb 19, 2025): Fixed keyboard and animation bugs.

      [Android] Version 1.3.4 (Feb 12, 2025): Fixed keyboard and markdown bar bugs.

      [Android] Version 1.3.3 (Feb 11, 2025): Fixed keyboard bugs. [Cancelled this release.]

      [Android] Version 1.3.2 (Feb 11, 2025): Fixed bugs reported in comments.

      Version 1.3.0 (Feb 9, 2025):

      This is an Android-focused update. Android 15 makes apps edge-to-edge by default so it's time to move to edge-to-edge. I've enabled it on Android 11 and higher.

      Edge-to-edge mostly means turning the system bars translucent, so you can see the content all the way to the edge, instead of a blank area. In practice, we still need to keep some translucent bars there, so status bar icons and the clock can still be distinguished from app content and not become a jumbled mess.

      Implementing this was a gigantic pain (which is why Google received pushback from so many developers and added an opt-out). I had to redo many layouts and re-test every screen in the app multiple times, on different Android versions and different settings (portrait, landscape, single pane, dual pane). Hope it's well received by Three Cheers users! Personally it took me a day to get accustomed to it, but I've ended up liking the edge-to-edge style more. I probably won't add a setting to turn it off.

      Screenshots of what it looks like on an Android 14 device as of v1.3.1:

       

      Three Cheers for iOS v1.3.0 is only minor bugfixes. iPhone apps are already edge-to-edge, and this change is Google's way of copying/catching up to Apple.

       

      Previous topic: November 2024

       


      Where to get it

      Android version on Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.talklittle.android.tildes

      Or sideloadable APK at https://www.talklittle.com/three-cheers/

      iOS version on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/three-cheers-for-tildes/id6470950557

      Join TestFlight for iOS beta testing: https://testflight.apple.com/join/mpVk1qIy

      83 votes
    13. USA: Metrics for a presidential report card

      Shortly after the election I saw a cartoon on Facebook titled "Let's Get A Baseline". It listed various prices for common goods and other assorted statistics. I looked up a few, and those were...

      Shortly after the election I saw a cartoon on Facebook titled "Let's Get A Baseline". It listed various prices for common goods and other assorted statistics. I looked up a few, and those were incorrect.

      A sort of "presidential report card" did seem like a neat idea to me. Something to be reviewed every January 20th. Perhaps in a chart that would make facts speak for themselves in social media.

      Are there any magazines or news sources that already do this? Something like The Economist?

      These are metrics I would like to see in such a chart, perhaps a bar graph.

      Please suggest others that you think ordinary voters would care about

      1. National debt
      2. Inflation
      3. Unemployment
      4. The GDP
      5. The literacy rate
      6. National match scores ( compared globally )
      7. The poverty rate
      8. Administration members indicted
      9. Average price of gas
      10. Average yearly salary
      11. Average retirement savings
      10 votes
    14. Is it just me or has advertising lost the plot entirely?

      If you know me you probably know I hate advertising with a passion. I have blocked ads on my computer but I have limited control on my TV and phone when it comes to YouTube advertisements. And the...

      If you know me you probably know I hate advertising with a passion. I have blocked ads on my computer but I have limited control on my TV and phone when it comes to YouTube advertisements. And the other day I got this incredibly bizarre ad.

      I only speak the tiny amount of Spanish I have learned through osmosis, but the phrase they are using is essentially “we’ll eat at home.” The scenario is a familiar one; you’ve got a kid in the car out in town and they see a restaurant they want to go and they ask if they can stop to eat. The parent says no, we’ll eat at home, because there are a lot of reasons why it’s better for them. Home cooked meals are cheaper. They can be higher quality, both in terms of taste and nutrition. They might have food that will go bad soon and so they want to go and eat it first. They don’t want to normalize eating rich unhealthy foods for their kids.

      But this isn’t an ad for groceries or processed food products. This is an ad for DoorDash. A food delivery app. Literally none of the reasons you would want to eat at home apply here. Actually, using DoorDash in this particular situation is dramatically worse, because you are paying more money to get food you could have just picked up on the way only to get a worse version of it because it is no longer freshly prepared and is likely cold.

      I just can’t get over this because it’s so incredibly out of touch with reality. Many people have had to have signed off on this for me to see this ad. What were they thinking? Are they so out of touch with reality that they think this is something that people do? The fact that this is clearly targeting Hispanic Americans makes it even worse. I live in Southern California and about a third of the people I know are Hispanic and all of them would laugh at this. I can’t help but wonder if the teams working on them were full of privileged white guys who are saying “yeah, this is what Mexicans are really like” or if there are also rich Hispanics on board who thinks this is something that people really do.

      But this is just the most egregious example of out of touch advertising. YouTube ads are supposed to be targeted right? But why do I get ads for CRM, ERP, and accounting products when I don’t own a business? Why do I get ads in languages I don’t speak? Why is it that I can report and tell Google that an advertiser is inappropriate or against their terms and still they will show me the ads again?

      And beyond that I am astonished at how many ads I see that exist to mislead you. Almost every time you see something compared or tested there is somthing they aren’t telling you. The most obvious example is Scott toilet paper; they advertise that they have rolls that are significantly longer than their leading competition. But what they neglect to tell you is that their product is single-ply while their competitors are double- or triple-ply. They actually have a very comfortable amount of toilet paper on each roll. Weirdly, all toilet paper is misleading though; what is a “mega roll”, how does it differ from an “ultra roll”, and why is one roll of it somehow equivalent to six of some unspecified other type of roll? In the meanwhile Old Spice is trying to take advantage of balding men like me by telling me that their shampoo increases the volume of hair by however many percent while there is fine print at the bottom saying that it is compared to unwashed hair, meaning their shampoo probably doesn’t do anything the cheapest generic product at the dollar store won’t.

      I know this is basically just a rant, but I can’t be the only one who notices this stuff, am I?

      54 votes
    15. Russia-Ukraine war megathread - End of 2024 news, updates, and recaps

      There have been a few interesting bits of news here and there over the holiday period as well as notable developments, along with the usual political squabbling, that people might be interesting...

      There have been a few interesting bits of news here and there over the holiday period as well as notable developments, along with the usual political squabbling, that people might be interesting in skimming or catching up on. These posts are grouped by topic and in reverse chronological order (except the pledges of support section that reads better chronologically) as best as possible (mods feel free to edit the post itself if needed).

      Also, just today there is news that Finland seizes Russia-linked tanker suspected of cutting vital undersea cables (please take discussion to the Tildes thread) and now Sweden's Social Democrats want to activate NATO's Article 4 after the cable sabotage in the Baltic Sea.

      (Thank you to @KapteinB, @cffabro, @skybrian, and the other people who have helped post many of these links and alternative sources!)

      December 2024:

      Russia and Ukraine swap at least 300 prisoners in exchange deal

      Russia suffered 421,000 casualties in 2024, 'highest price' since start of invasion, Syrskyi says and allegedly ~785,000 Russian troops since the beginning of the invasion in February of 2022.

      Injured North Korean soldier captured by Ukraine has died, says South Korea

      ‘I thought it was fake news’: secrecy around North Koreans fighting in Kursk

      “We were told in the morning to prepare for a special type of patient,” said one of the medical staff at the hospital who treated North Koreans.

      “We’d heard rumours that North Koreans were fighting there, but I didn’t believe it. No one had actually seen them before,” the medic said.

      More than 1,000 North Korean military casualties in Ukraine war, says South Korea

      Ukraine faces difficult decisions over acute shortage of frontline troops - "Depleted army is increasingly made up of older men, but Zelenskyy is reluctant to lower mobilisation age from 25"

      Kyiv reveals total Ukraine casualties in Putin’s war for first time - "Zelenskyy said 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and 370,000 wounded. That compares with 600,000 dead and wounded reported for Russia."

      In December, Perun released a video which quotes material about Ukraine's intelligence support of Syrian opposition forces that I hadn't heard before. At the 49:00 mark he says that Ukraine provided essential information (and basics) to Syrian rebel forces on drone usage, 3D printer schematics, and release mechanisms. Here's an imgur link to the report's summary that was posted to X/Twitter.

      Pledges of support:

      In June it was announced that the Annual allied military aid, [to that point, would be] $60 billion for next four years

      In July 39 tanks, HIMARS and ammunition: Germany covertly hands over huge shipment of weapons to Ukraine

      In late December the Biden administration pledges additional military aid to Ukraine amid Russia war - "... extensive support including a planned delivery of hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds, thousands of rockets and hundreds of armored vehicles by mid-January."

      Interesting articles and information from 2024:

      ‘The forest will survive’: the volunteers saving Kharkiv's war-charred woodland

      In September, Ukraine strikes two Russian munition depots, says military. This comes after numerous drone strikes on Russian oil facilities in August, July, and January.

      ‘I can do the same job as a man’: Ukraine’s first frontline female commander on war, grief – and her hope for the future - If you only read one article on this page it should be this one. This is a great interview and the person who took that portrait photo knew exactly what they were doing. I want her portrait to be painted and hung in the Louvre!

      Revealed: Russia anticipated [August] Kursk incursion months in advance, seized papers show - As well, Ukraine's Kursk Offensive, launched in August and still holding their ground, has an entire wiki page.

      A night with the drone squad targeting Russian forces in micro battles

      Kyiv's drone suppliers are ramping up production of computer-guided drones that are cheap and can't be electronically jammed

      Frontline report: Ukraine ignites Russian strategic bases, flames span from Crimea to Urals

      New Yorker magazine interview: The Ukrainian President on how to end the war with Russia, the empty rhetoric of Vladimir Putin, and what the U.S. election could mean for the fate of his country

      Interview with Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi: ‘I know we will win – and how’: Ukraine’s top general on turning the tables against Russia

      Reuters interview excerpts: Ukraine President Zelenskiy speaks to Reuters in exclusive interview

      Oleh Sentsov, Ukrainian director turns accidental footage into a film

      In his home near Ukraine's front line with Russia, Yurii makes a stand

      Putin's Unsustainable Spending Spree: How the War in Ukraine Will Overheat the Russian Economy

      Valerii Zaluzhnyi: top Ukraine general who rivals president for popularity: Volodymyr Zelenskiy seems ready to risk firing his armed forces chief in a deepening rift that has shone a light on Kyiv’s frailties

      Previous megathreads:

      I'll update this more in a little while.

      Mid-year 2024 updates and news megathread that covered developments such as announcements of North Korea providing materiel and manpower, changes in NATO leadership, the sacking of several Russian defense ministers, Eastern European security pacts, and changes to Ukrainian defense leadership.

      February 2024 megathread that covers Ukraine's withdrawal from Avdiivka, the shooting down of more than one Russian A-50 AWACS, trade sanctions, and some articles about drone swarming tech.

      To find more posts about these topics, use the 2022 russian invasion of ukraine tag.

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