FinishingDutch
@FinishingDutch@lemmy.world
- Comment on [Serious] Why do so many people seem to hate veganism? 1 week ago:
Which is exactly what everyone does. At least in the US. And every side is equally wrong about it.
The loudest voices always draw the most attention. And I don’t know any other vegan voice that’s as loud as PETA’s. That’s kind of the problem.
- Comment on [Serious] Why do so many people seem to hate veganism? 1 week ago:
There’s also the ‘guilt by association’. Look at organisations like PETA: they even complained about things like the treatment of entirely fictional animals in video games., like Palworld. Basically, you can’t even argue that ‘they look like real animals so it encourages real-world mistreatment’ like they usually do.
That does not make you look particularly sane. I’m sure they do good work as well, but that sort of thing isn’t helping their cause.
- Comment on Helldivers 2 Players Express Frustration On Steam As It Will Soon Require A PSN Account 2 weeks ago:
Well that’s certainly one way to kill a game. Heck, I HAVE a PS5, and I still would be annoyed as fuck by that.
Sure, you can offer to link an account for things like progress tracking. But it certainly shouldn’t be forced on anyone.
- Comment on We can do all three things at once 2 weeks ago:
Well, here in the Netherlands we definitely need far more energy in the near future. We’re moving away from natural gas for heating and fossil fuels are going away in favor of electric vehicles. Add in things like heat pumps, more people getting airconditioning, data centers and other growing energy needs.
Basically, right now we have ‘just about’ enough electricity available, but soon it won’t be.
Nuclear plants are expensive and take a long while to build. Which is why I hold politicians responsible for not pushing them through years ago. The best time to build a nuclear plant was ten years ago. The second best time is today.
- Comment on We can do all three things at once 2 weeks ago:
Even the link itself mentions how it’s not really a good metric to use as it doesn’t factor in whole lot of externalities. I.e coal is cheaper, but when it creates air pollution that shortens your lifespan, is it worth the tradeoff? Nor does it factor in things like energy density: a nuclear power plant is far smaller than the amount of lsnd needed to put up enough wind turbines to match its output.
Basically… LCOE looks like a neat gotcha, right up until you look past that first diagram.
- Comment on We can do all three things at once 2 weeks ago:
Absolutely that’s scary. Heck, we’re seeing the effects of it every day. If more nuclear means less coal and other polluting options, I’m all for it.
- Comment on We can do all three things at once 2 weeks ago:
I’ve got solar panels on my roof, and being Dutch windmills are in my blood. But I’m also not blind to the reality that both wind and solar will only get you so far. And there’s already a lot of opposition to wind farms - they ruin the view, endanger birds and there’s health concerns due to noise and shadow projection.
If we just build even one nuclear powerplant, we could basically just… not do wind. And we’d have pleeeenty of power for the coming energy transition, change to electric vehicles, etc.
But noooo… nuclear is scary. Especially to the people who only cite Fukushima and Chernobyl in regards to safety. That’s the same as banning air travel because of 9/11 and the Tenerife disaster. Nuclear power is safe, cheap and we owe it to the planet to use it wisely instead of more polluting alternatives.
- Comment on ‘Huge disappointment’ as UK delays bottle deposit plan and excludes glass 3 weeks ago:
It’s interesting that your return rate for cans is worse than for bottles.
There’s actually an interesting historical reason for that. We’ve had bottle deposit here since the days of glass bottles. The bottles would be sold, consumed, brought back, cleaned and refilled. Glass is great for that. The bottle deposit was generally set at 1 guilder. This was the currency we used before the Euro.
If you did your weekly shopping in say, 1995, you’d return your bottles and get a ticket. If you returned 10 bottles, that would be 10 guilders. Now, a FULL cart of groceries for a decent sized family would cost you a 100 guilders max in those days. So that bottle deposit took a nice chunk off that grocery bill. As a result, we had and still have a large percentage of bottle returns. It’s ingrained in people to bring back those large bottles since they’ve always done it.
Now, with cans… there’s a bit of a problem. The deposit for large bottles is 25 cents, but the deposit for cans and small bottles is 15 cents. That’s not a whole lot, especially considering how much the price of groceries has skyrocketed. Basically, the bottle deposit isn’t really a good incentive in terms of monetary value. It only really makes sense if you collect larger amounts of them, like the homeless.
They ARE planning to increase the bottle deposit - make it 50 cents in fact - as a way to incentivize people to bring them back. That will ‘probably’ work to an extent, but most people dislike the system for other reasons than the monetary value. And if those other issues aren’t fixed, raising the bottle deposit only annoys them further.
- Comment on ‘Huge disappointment’ as UK delays bottle deposit plan and excludes glass 3 weeks ago:
Oh absolutely! Dutch politicians tend to suck at actually implementing new rules that work.
I’ve heard about excellent results in some of the nordic countries like Sweden. From what I understand, you/they have machines where you can easily deposit a large amount of cans/bottles. We don’t have those here.
Our Dutch machines are basically retrofitted ones that used to just take in large 1-2 liter bottles. You have to put in one bottle at a time. That wasn’t a problem when they only handled big bottles, but now with cans and small bottles, there’s issues. For one, it takes ages to deposit cans. Because you have to put one at a time in. This means that if you’re stick behind someone who’s depositing two large garbage bags, it’s going to take a while. Also, because the cans are rarely really empty, the machines also get very sticky and break down a lot. In some supermarkets, they basically stop fixing the machines on busy days because… it’s just too annoying. So this means that it’s always a hassle to get your deposit back.
There’s also other issues like: cans can’t be dented in any way, or it won’t read them. And not every machine takes every deposit item. I.e. if you bought it at supermarket A and supermarket B doesn’t sell it… they won’t take back the item and give back the deposit. The machines also only really give you a ‘deposit ticket’, which you can either use to fund your groceries, or (theoretically) return to get cash. So there’s a lot of friction in the system between depositing a bottle and getting an actual deposit back.
As for why Swedish homeless don’t tear open bags… maybe you just have nicer homeless people than we do.
Right now in the Netherlands, around 95 percent of large (1-2 liter bottles) are returned, but only around 65 percent of the cans.
- Comment on ‘Huge disappointment’ as UK delays bottle deposit plan and excludes glass 3 weeks ago:
The thing with bottle deposits is: it really only annoys the people who generally already do the right thing anyway.
Here in the Netherlands, we expanded bottle deposits to cans and small bottles last year. A 15-25 cent deposit.
It’s causing all sorts of problems: deposit machines are breaking down in record numbers and there’s too few of them. A lot of places sell cans and bottles, but a lot of them don’t take returns. This means that it’s a giant hassle to return the cans and bottles, so a lot of people now just see it as a price increase and don’t bother with the return.
The deposit also causes MORE litter in the streets. How? Because we’ve effectively incentivised the homeless and drug addicts to break open trash bins and search for cans and bottles. They break one open, tear out the trashbag, dump the contents and take the bottles. Which attracts rats, since they leave the rest. My city now regularly looks like a garbage dump.
Meanwhile, some call it a succes because ‘there’s fewer bottles and cans on the streets’, while conveniently ignoring literally all the other trash that now gets dumped on it.
I’d honestly vote today to abolish the deposit scheme. Sounds good on paper, but in practice I’m only seeing downsides.
- Comment on On special today - Weiner Snipple 5 weeks ago:
Well that’s… certainly understandable. Not gonna argue that one :D
- Comment on A new Matrix movie is in development with The Cabin in the Woods filmmaker Drew Goddard at the helm 1 month ago:
That was my understanding of it when it first came out. Which is something I’m wholly not interested in as a concept. It’d just retroactively ruin the series for me.
- Comment on A new Matrix movie is in development with The Cabin in the Woods filmmaker Drew Goddard at the helm 1 month ago:
Close. The latest one is Fast X, which is actually the 11th movie.
I’ve seen the first three or so when they first came out. I don’t really hate the series as such, but loathe the wider cultural impact that it had. For example, it ruined racing video games for quite a while. Everything suddenly needed to have modded rice rockets with underbody lights, driven by annoying dickheads with boring, cliche back stories. It effectively ruined the Need for Speed series.
- Comment on A new Matrix movie is in development with The Cabin in the Woods filmmaker Drew Goddard at the helm 1 month ago:
I didn’t even bother watching the last one. Don’t think I’ve ever even met someone who’s seen it either… But hey, apparently it made enough to warrant another movie, so what the fuck do I know?
- Comment on Can you live a fulfilling life with autism? 2 months ago:
I’ve had a fair few colleagues with varying levels and flavors of autism. The answer is yes.
Also, weird people are fun. Normal’s overrated. I like weird people. Which is probably why I actually prefer the autistic colleagues over the ‘normal’ ones.
Sure, not everyone will dig your particular weirdness, but the same thing is true of everyone without autism too. Just live your life and do your own thing.
- Comment on I heard you wanted more 2 months ago:
That one’s spicy.
- Comment on The glass is half empty in the Goldilocks zone. 2 months ago:
Don’t feel TOO bad; it’s not like they’re on every street corner.
Usually you’d go to one on say, a school field trip. But not every school does it. I’ve only been to a planetarium once in my life, and it wasn’t until I was in my 20’s.
Definitely go visit one though; they tend to have really interesting shows about what you can see. And there’s nothing quite like actually looking through a giant telescope with your own eyes. My local planetarium even has special sun-telescopes which allow you to view the sun and solar activity safely during daytime.
- Comment on Just doing my part 🤡 2 months ago:
Well, all I can reasonably do is put it in the correct bin for proper recycling, as they tell you to do. I would never litter; it’s antisocial as fuck.
Once it’s collected, I have zero control over it. I assume Dutch garbage companies don’t dump my trash in the ocean, but I honestly haven’t bothered to check if they export it to somewhere else or anything like that.
- Comment on Just doing my part 🤡 2 months ago:
Well, all I can reasonably do is put it in the correct bin for proper recycling, as they tell you to do. I would never litter; it’s antisocial as fuck.
Once it’s collected, I have zero control over it. I assume Dutch garbage companies don’t dump my trash in the ocean, but I honestly haven’t bothered to check if they export it to somewhere else or anything like that.
- Comment on Just doing my part 🤡 2 months ago:
They don’t sell those here, unfortunately :D
- Comment on Just doing my part 🤡 2 months ago:
Yep. I’m all for limiting waste, but we never should’ve gotten rid of plastic straws. Paper straws DO NOT WORK. It’s as simple as that.
I’ve resorted to carrying my own straws these days, just so I don’t have to use soggy paper.
And frankly, I doubt getting rid of plastic straws had any effect anyway. They claimed here it was to protect sea turtles. I live four hours from the ocean. Unless a sea turtle knows how to use public transport, they’re not likely to get near my straw. Especially since I actually put it in the recycling bin anyway.
- Comment on If Trump and Biden both died today, what would happen? 4 months ago:
That’s not l what he’s correcting!
The ‘new’ Battlestar Galactica is literally set in our past; 150.000 years ago. The characters eventually settle on a new planet that they also call Earth. From the show’s perspective, we are their descendants.
- Comment on If Trump and Biden both died today, what would happen? 4 months ago:
Not only that, but there’s an entire line of presidential succession. It’s part of a broader concept of ‘continuity of government’. Basically, it ensures that there’s always anyone formally in charge. You could vaporise half the country including every senior official and there’d still be a legit, sworn in president in a few hours.
There’s basically contingencies upon contingencies. One interesting book on the topic is ‘Raven Rock’ by Garrett M. graff.
- Comment on I dont understand why I have to bring a bottle to the restaurant 4 months ago:
Well, that was the price of the menu, but not what we paid :D
As mentioned, the restaurant was one of our advertisers. We helped them plan their media campaign, did the printed menu’s, few other promotional things like that. So the owner/chef invited us to basically dine ‘at cost’ as a thank you. He also planned the six course meal for the entire group so he could cook stuff that he wanted to show off.
So basically… we got an expensive restaurant at a cheap restaurant price. Our company also had about 10 people, so it wasn’t too extravagant.
- Comment on I dont understand why I have to bring a bottle to the restaurant 4 months ago:
Oh don’t get me wrong, it was wildly entertaining. I’m more of a cheap pizza guy anyway. Our other work dinners were at a local steak restaurant which was much more everyone’s vibe.
Still, it was hilarious to see someone order ketchup with a 200 euro wagyu cut, prior to having tasted the thing. (Pure perfection, best steak ever)
- Comment on I dont understand why I have to bring a bottle to the restaurant 4 months ago:
Steak and fries is a restaurant staple, even if you go really expensive. This place serves 200 euro plus Wagyu cuts, for reference. And it was sublime.
The fries were ‘gourmet’ fries. Basically, you get like a ramekin of fries, which are mostly meant as garnish. It’s not like a full plate of fries.
My colleague liked them so much he did ask for extra fries, which got a mild frown from the waitress.
- Comment on I dont understand why I have to bring a bottle to the restaurant 4 months ago:
I’ve seen this in real life.
We were having a company dinner at a REALLY fancy place. They were advertisers in our paper. So, the chef had prepared a nice six course meal for the group.
Some colleagues are definitely more McD’s guests rather than fancy restaurants.
Three courses in, here comes a steak and gourmet fries to garnish. Colleague goes hog wild, dumps a bunch of fries on his plate and waves over the waitress. “Hey, do you have a bottle of ketchup?” The look she gave him was one of utter shock. “I, uh, wow, uhm… I’ll check”.
She eventually came back with a bottle, but I was sure the chef would have chased my colleague around with a kitchen knife if he’d heard of the request. That dude was intense.
- Comment on Shitty deal 4 months ago:
I’ve been on the internet since 1995. I know what can fit up there with the average human. But yeah, I don’t think that’s the one you start with.
- Comment on Shitty deal 4 months ago:
Can these ever really be clean enough for you to knowingly touch one? Nah.
- Comment on Quentin Tarantino's 'Star Trek' Movie Would Have Been a "Balls-Out Hard R" Movie 4 months ago:
Re: edgier Trek:
For me, I feel like we’ve had so much ‘positive utopia’ Trek, that more of the same just gets a bit boring. There’s also the fact that life today is different compared to when Trek first aired. We’re more aware of some of those sharper edges and want to see them represented in media.
From a practical standpoint, there’s also ‘we can, so we do’. When Trek aired on regular TV, you couldn’t drop an F-bomb, much less show actual gritty stuff. With streaming, there’s no reason to hold back. Which gives writers more room to explore.