Notices by Shannon Clark (rycaut@mastodon.social)

@drahardja @msbellows @blogdiva it is even more corrupt than you imply.

Really rich people don't donate cash to charities (or at least mostly not cash)

Instead they "donate" appreciated assets to most often their own "Donor Advised Fund" - which is technically a charity so the "trick" being they get a credit for a charitable donation in the amount of the value of the asset when donated without having to pay capital gains on the sale of that asset.

Then they may make grants to other charities

A rare case of AI being used correctly - the city of San Jose has been testing a program using AI to automatically detect potholes and obstructions (like garbage or debris dumped on the street) via analyzing images captured by city vehicles while they drive thru the city.

This is a good use of AI - analyzing patterns in a large data set (larger than a human could easily watch and process) for a relatively small set of things. And then feeding into existing systems (311) automating after tests

I'm just going to point out that about a billion Catholics (and billions of non-Catholics) will have about zero issues using Pope Leo XIV's preferred name.

(I was raised Catholic but am not Catholic, my Catholic relatives and some of that side who are also not-Catholic in some cases have problems with my cousin's preferred name - they are non-binary - but will not have any problems with the new Pope's name nor do they have problems with my aunt's names who has been a Catholic nun for 50+ years)

@inthehands if you have a bank account somewhere that also owns a brokerage most have low cost/self managed trading options (for example if you bank with Bank of America you can open an account at Merrill Lynch pretty easily. May not be the most ideologically pure but may be easy if you already have the accounts.

(fewer credit unions or b corp banks have brokerages)

I'm reasonably happy with Charles Schwab but not sure their minimums but generally decent (relatively for their industry)

@DamonWakes @inthehands that’s an infuriating article.

If there is a manual release that isn’t clearly visible or easily discoverable from inside in case of an emergency the blame is entirely in the hands of the car manufacturer. Blaming the person trapped in the car for not reading the manual is blaming the victim.

(Consider a passenger or a child)

And “charging the battery from the outside” is also a crazy solution to “pets or child or anyone trapped in a vehicle”

@inthehands for example this is from 2023 on how to get out of a Tesla in case of power loss.

https://www.carscoops.com/2023/08/how-to-get-out-of-a-tesla-if-it-loses-power-and-you-become-trapped-inside/

read this. Then imagine asking a kid to remember the steps (and in many of the Teslas it requires rear seat passengers to climb to the front seats first)

(not sure if there are - as is likely - any changes in 2024 or 2025 models)

@inthehands highlight again and again how risky Teslas are if you have kids. I know one big reason I will never buy one (even before the past few years) is how hard they are to exit if the power doors fail (due to loss of power - like in case of an accident).

I've looked up the process to open their doors in the case of power loss - it is hard for adults to do and remember when not in an emergency - it seems implausible for kids

@nazgul whenever I’ve crunched the numbers dental insurance that I pay for out of pocket hasn’t been worth it - the copays/deductibles plus monthly costs have almost always ended up higher than paying out of pocket for my wife and I (kids are covered under the ACA)my dentist gives a discount if you pay her directly. Crowns are tricky - I’ve seen a wide range of costs for them from various dentists

Which is to say it’s worth asking your dentists office if they offer any discounts for uninsured

@Christo_459 @pezmico not true in the US. Where the majority of fridges and other appliances sold in major stores now have “smart” features and digital screens

Unless you go up market to the higher end brands where you can, in fact, buy far simpler machines without all the screens (but these cost 2-3x or much much more)

(Speaking from direct experience buying a new fridge a few years ago as well as seeing what friends and family could choose from in renovations this past year)

@skinnylatte it is why rare programs like India’s OCI are so valuable (but also so unusual that few countries offer anything similar)

(The OCI - “overseas citizen of India” is a lifelong permanent visa to work or live in India that children and even grandchildren of Indian Citizens including former citizens who have become citizens of most ofher countries can qualify for. It’s a long, complex and not free application process. I will likely get mine this year as a spouse of someone with it)

@mmasnick @aram @quinn just pledged as well has seen it at launch then forgot I hadn’t backed it yet.

@kfogel hi! And indeed that may be the case. Though I suspect that it might not cost a crazy amount if done well. And that many individuals and companies might pay for it (especially if it was spread over a year but the service was mostly upfront)

Ie all my various domains and existing but poorly/little used hosting plans etc like are a few hundred a year (probably more but I’m in denial).

But a few hours or even one hour might be enough to get me setup and started over my roadblocks

idea (and yes I'm serious, would love to have this for myself and would help start a company to offer this)

Self-hosted services for individuals and small businesses that takes a service FIRST approach - where they don't assume the customer knows what they need (or even what is possible/available as options) but instead starts from a NON technical perspective and then helps identify & configure a solution

With lots of handholding not just before the sale but ongoing

@dusk @clive @mekkaokereke @tehstu @hazelnot @teadrinker my only addition to that gem of a review is to consider spending a few mins to look for the Brother printer with duplex printing - that’s super useful if you have to often print out longer documents to read (or contracts to sign etc). I have one I bought in 2020 - it handled homeschooling for a few years and is still just working. Reliable. Quiet. Never holds us hostage.

@mekkaokereke @molly0xfff not only that it is adopted by apparently everyone in India (was just at a friend’s house last night who are Indian immigrants - they were talking about how digital payments are accepted by street vendors everywhere in India such that you barely need to carry cash and that everyone even the elderly have figured out the digital payments.

(And it all bypasses credit cards) some foreigners can even use it (but only from 3 or so countries with the right app and KYC)

@mekkaokereke @rasmus91 that’s truly astonishingly good

And now #KamalaHarris is on the stream.

This is not an event her opponent could have and it is demonstrating why I’m proud to support her, to have voted for her here in California many times and to vote for her this fall.

240k people (including myself) watching the Oprah hosted livestream - which not surprisingly is exceptionally professional

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZasBoVhuUA

#KamalaHarris

http://go.kamalaharris.com

Now closer to 300k #KamalaHarris

A reminder of just how good Oprah is at this format (I don’t think there are many people who are this good)

(And how seriously her team prepare)

Fair warning it is intense at times. As a parent right now is a tough time to tune in (dealing with school shootings)

But everyone needs to hear this also.

What do people with Apple Warches actually use them for? (As opposed to how they are frequently promoted)

I have not owned one - been a few decades since I last regularly wore a watch of any kind. Tempted by the Series 10 (unsure what the differences really are between models) and I’m very nervous about the bands - most watch band designs have not been comfortable for me (not small wrists, sensitive skin, tmi but I have actual body hair etc)

What I’m less sure of is how I would actually use it