stsquad
@stsquad@lemmy.ml
FLOSS virtualization hacker, occasional brewer
- Comment on Why don't electric car manufacurers put solar panels on the car roofs? 3 weeks ago:
For range it doesn’t add much in most cases. But it also depends on how long between journeys you have. If you’re traveling in a van and you are going to be stationary for a few weeks at a time then it can start to make sense, maybe with an extra fold out.
- Comment on Flood water use 4 weeks ago:
You can, they are called canals. Look at the Nile delta and the network of irrigation trenches used to spread water from the river to the wider areas. There are a number of dam projects in Africa which are all about managing water flows.
The principle problem is when your divert water it’s usually at a cost to another area that was using it.
- Comment on Conservatives plan to bring back mandatory National Service 5 weeks ago:
It’s certainly a bad idea to rely on conscripts to make up the bulk of your fighting force. It’s not a totally bad idea to have a population of fighting age citizens have had some basic military training and know which way to hold a gun. Countries like Finland or Switzerland have a more realistic view of what they may need to do if things ever got bad on their eastern front.
For the UK we’d have probably resorted to our nuclear deterrent before we consider putting conscripts on the front line.
- Comment on British tech firm Raspberry Pi lines up £500m float 1 month ago:
This isn’t still complaining about the fact they hired an ex-policeman?
- Comment on British tech firm Raspberry Pi lines up £500m float 1 month ago:
There are lots of SBCs out there but the difference really comes down to documentation and how upstreamable everything is. The Pi might not be perfect but it’s a much more reliable design to build something with than many of the other options.
- Comment on British tech firm Raspberry Pi lines up £500m float 1 month ago:
They are both. There is a non profit foundation which funds the educational side and the main company which operates for a profit. I suspect the bulk of their revenue comes from the industrial side of things where the Pi makes a much better base than a lot of the half assed hacked together SBC’s out in the market.
There have certainly been mis-steps asking the way but all in all I consider the Pi to be a British success story. I guess it remains to be seen how much of the valuation goes to the founders and employees and how much is invested into their next phase of growth.
- Comment on Site that let's me filter by standalone novels only? 2 months ago:
There are even some reading guides depending on what sub-genre you are interested in if you don’t want to read the whole cannon. They all standalone pretty well though.
- Comment on Adult transgender clinics in England face inquiry into patient care 2 months ago:
The lack of follow up and record keeping at Tavistock was shocking. I’m all for expanding the range of providers to tackle waiting lists but they have to bring a more professional approach to providing care and a more holistic view if the patients.
- Comment on Public satisfaction with NHS falls to lowest level on record 2 months ago:
NI is just another tax that goes into the total pot, albeit one that is not progressive and adds to the cost of employment. I’d be happy with it being scrapped and it all going on income tax, perhaps with a scaled employer contribution component. How about the employer contributes a scaled percentage for all employees over the median income for the company?
- Comment on Public satisfaction with NHS falls to lowest level on record 2 months ago:
European systems have quite a bit of private provision but they are still generally single payer and heavily regulated. Private involvement in healthcare doesn’t automatically involve what they created in the USA.
- Comment on Public satisfaction with NHS falls to lowest level on record 2 months ago:
I think narrowing it down to one tax type isn’t overly helpful. Ultimately it comes down to spending and policy. We underspend and we are more reactive: data.oecd.org/healthres/health-spending.htm
Systems that are insurance based (ignoring the mess that is the usa) at least have an incentive to catch things early because they are cheaper to deal with before they become chronic. With delays in primary care and waiting lists we end up getting much less bang for our buck as conditions develop before getting treatment.
- Comment on Public satisfaction with NHS falls to lowest level on record 2 months ago:
We have a lower tax burden than most of Europe, or at least the ones with decent healthcare. data.oecd.org/tax/tax-revenue.htm
- Comment on [deleted] 4 months ago:
I’ve heard of people waking up with accents but I’m not sure I’ve seen any cases where they speak an unfamiliar language fluently.
- Comment on ‘It went nuts’: Thousands join UK parents calling for smartphone-free childhood 4 months ago:
A lot of homework starts with a media clip of some sort which they will comment on our analyse. Sometimes those clips are hosted on Facebook pages and it’s not really a windmill I want to tilt at right now.
- Comment on ‘It went nuts’: Thousands join UK parents calling for smartphone-free childhood 4 months ago:
These black and white solutions are not tenable. My eldest got a phone when they moved up to secondary school. It’s a useful tool for keeping in touch with their friends especially when most people don’t have landlines any more. Their generation is growing up as digital natives and I don’t think holding them back from phones will help them in the long run.
We do limit what apps can be installed though. They certainly want TikTok but so far we’ve said no and YouTube is only available on the family TV. So far they have not expressed any interest in getting access to social media although I do have to occasionally unblock Facebook because some of the homework links to videos on the site.
I know I’m probably in the minority in having enough digital skills to erect some barriers against the worst of the internet but I’m very much aware they will set it eventually. My hope is we’ve done enough to prepare them for that by the time the training wheels come off.
- Comment on Why did we give up on insulation? 5 months ago:
There are various insulation schemes you can apply for but they are usually limited in who can apply. You probably don’t want to pay for Lord Farqwa upgrading his 16 bed converted wheel house pad.
- Comment on Why did we give up on insulation? 5 months ago:
Also older housing stock. My house is over 120 years old so that does limit done of what you can do to improve things. That said with decent windows and loft insulation there is something to be said for the thermal properties of a bunch of stone.
- Comment on Why did we give up on insulation? 5 months ago:
I would support additional taxes on Landlords inversely proportional to the energy rating of the house. Currently there is no incentive for landlords to improve the energy efficiency of their properties. At least when you “own” a house the action to improve it is on you.
- Comment on Games that force you to make hard choices 5 months ago:
Wasteland 3 has a number of mutually incompatible outcomes that force you to decide how things will end up.