@[email protected]/interfluidity.com (bsky)

Trump: “Robert Mueller just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

This, by @interfluidity, is such a great summation of one of the fundamental hiccups in our market-capitalist system. And “the invisible hand gives us the finger” is such a great line. drafts.interfluidity.com/2024/09/04/inc…

@jeffspross (thanks!)

Various people are taking a sledgehammer to a fantastically expensive watch with all kinds of complications made up of parts that come from all over the world and take years to make, except that the watch is also food and transportation for 10s of millions of people.

Somebody born in ‘33 was 45 in ‘78. That's gotta be some sort of record.

In a better world, we would have a Norway-style petroleum tax that takes 80%+ of windfall profits without reducing ongoing investment incentives.

“Parisian car traffic fell by more than half between 2002 and 2023, while cycle lanes expanded sixfold. Bikes now make more than twice as many journeys as cars.” @FinancialTimes

Apple spent a decade gluing batteries into $2,499 MacBook Pros. Then it shipped a $599 laptop you can take apart in six minutes. The MacBook Neo teardown numbers are wild. Eight screws to open. Eighteen screws hold the battery, zero glue, zero tape. The USB-C ports, speakers, and headphone jack are all modular, meaning each one swaps individually. The speakers come out with four screws. An Australian repair channel disassembled most of the machine in under six minutes using standard Torx bits you can buy at any hardware store. For context, the 2019 MacBook Pro scored 2 out of 10 on iFixit’s repairability scale. The 16-inch Pro got a 1 out of 10. Soldered RAM, soldered storage, glued battery, proprietary pentalobe screws, keyboard riveted to the top case. Apple’s own Self Service Repair program required you to rent a 79-pound repair kit shipped in two Pelican cases just to swap a battery. The timing explains everything. The EU Right to Repair Directive takes effect July 31, 2026. Member states are transposing it into national law right now. Manufacturers must offer repair beyond warranty, provide spare parts within 5 to 10 working days for seven years, and publish repair manuals. In the US, over a quarter of Americans already live in states with enforceable Right to Repair laws. Oregon banned parts pairing. California’s act is in effect. Apple read the regulatory calendar and realized the cheapest laptop in the lineup would face the most scrutiny. Millions of students and first-time buyers will own it. The volume will be enormous. And regulators love consumer-protection cases involving the most affordable products in a company’s portfolio. So they built the Neo as the compliance flagship. Standard screws, modular ports, no adhesive, a battery that lifts out. Meanwhile the $1,099 MacBook Air still has soldered storage and a riveted keyboard. The $2,499 Pro still scores poorly on independent repairability scales. The $599 laptop is the most repairable MacBook in over a decade. Apple always knew how to build a repairable laptop. They just needed a reason that showed up on a regulatory deadline.

this

The fact that most captchas are based on robots not being able to identify bikes or traffic lights doesn't fill me with confidence for self-driving cars.

"There is nothing romantic, dramatic, or satisfying in modern conflict. It is all horrible, profoundly depressing; and now it carries with it a dreadful threat to civil populations." George C. Marshall, 1938

We need to start from the dignity of every human life. Every person is precious. Forgetting that, or never accepting it, has left us here.

Some people think that the idea of rules for war is ridiculous. But they are there for a reason: they serve everyone's interests. For example, it's in everyone's interest to agree that once soldiers surrender, they should not be killed. And now, in this war, nothing is more urgent than everyone committing not to harm water desalination plants, anywhere. Many other things should also be beyond the pale. But this one is crucial. The lives of millions of people hang on that alone.

@morganwarstler thenecessaryfictions.com/p/deadwood-and…

FINALLY some numbers for EU-US comparison that make sense of lived reality. h/t Seth Ackerman