Notices by Ed Wiebe (edwiebe@mstdn.ca)

@phiofx @modacitylife But are the dutch, held up as an example so often, using powered cycles? My city is somewhat hilly and rainy in winter. Many cycle though and more every year.

@modacitylife Are there hills?

@historicalimages

"A Swedish family, going on holiday on their modified tandem bike, 1949."

"We find that many governments are promoting fossil gas as an essential 'transition' fuel but with no apparent plans to transition away from it later."

#Canada #ClimateChange

https://www.cbc.ca/news/climate/canada-climate-fossil-fuel-production-report-1.7020988

@SallyStrange Isn’t the actual problem that most people are fickle, selfish, vain, and, frankly, more than a bit stupid? The quote is describing fashion and culture, both of which were around long before cars.

@SallyStrange Fashion, culture, vanity are only 200 years old?

@SallyStrange selling a new car that looks different or is built differently doesn’t make the old one obsolete. It makes the old one unfashionable.

@SallyStrange The car thing isn’t planned obsolescence, it’s fashion. Planned obsolescence is designing and building something with the intention that it be non-functional before it otherwise could be with a different design or material construction.

@jepyang No one whose car meets their requirements and still works fine has to buy a new car. Yet, many, many people do.

@AdrianRiskin @jepyang I think planned obsolescence refers to things that are no longer fit for purpose or fail to work because of design choices. Including fashion in that makes it possible to include every manufactured thing under this umbrella and then to blame everything on manufacturers and marketers. I had thought it was obvious that we all bear some responsibility in the waste we see around us. In this thread, at least, it seems that we don't.

@AdrianRiskin @jepyang Nonsense. Many people buy a new car because they're tired of the old one, not because the old one didn't carry them and their goods around.

@AdrianRiskin @jepyang

It's not at all unanswerable. Some people include an item's appearance in its suitability. That's a clear answer.

I have been arguing people who do that are not forced to buy a replacement item because the new one looks different.

This means that they, not the manufacturer, bear responsibility for the obsolescence.

Manufacturers certainly take advantage of this, which is depressing, but are they causing it to happen?

@jepyang

Manufacturers can't force people to buy things. Are you forced to buy things? It's likely you will say that no, you choose to buy things. If then you choose to buy something new because you find the version you have is, say, unfashionable, would you say that was your choice or not?

@thomasfuchs That is an excellent lunar halo. The 22º halo (as shown) and sun dogs are different phenomena. The halo is caused by hexagonal but elongated crystals (like a pencil) but the sun dogs, associated with the parhelic circle, are caused by hexagonal plates. The dogs only line up with a 22º halo when the sun (or moon) is near the horizon. Otherwise they are farther from the sun.

This seems quite incredible.

"the MIT electric motor and power electronics are each about the size of a checked suitcase weighing less than an adult passenger."

"The researchers plan to assemble the first fully working electric motor, and start testing it in the fall."

https://scitechdaily.com/mits-compact-megawatt-electric-motor-could-help-electrify-aviation/

@fediversereport Quite a paywall.

@evan @PhilMoscovitch good grief. Delete it.

@micahflee @Gargron How can Mastodon have an official twitter account?

"When people come to Mastodon they're not going to get the same kind of experience and the same level of user friendliness that they might be used to at a place like Twitter. We need to recognize as we make those kinds of migrations, as we explore those new models how profoundly under invested they are, and how much need there is for our governments, for our business communities to find ways to invest in these alternatives the way we need them." @ntnsndr
(continues ... )
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-55-spark/clip/15951037-559-tech-solutionism-mutual-aid-cooperatives

"Because if something like Mastodon were to take hold, that could enable real user self-governance at the scale of many, many communities. I find being able to co-govern one's own social media is really fun. And, it makes the process all the more social."

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-55-spark/clip/15951037-559-tech-solutionism-mutual-aid-cooperatives
@ntnsndr