"he U.S., its friends and its foes are all [guessing] how the world might look more than a decade from now." · 12
geopoliticalfutures.com [PDF] · #geopolitics
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am_Unition · 1535 days ago · link ·
There is little doubt in my mind that 5G will provide minimal consumer benefits, and is primarily useful as a surveillance channel, for both big tech and government. “But your refrigerator will know when you fart, even when you’re not at home!” Fuck off.
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Our washing machine has a bearing that's going. It sounds like the start cart on a carrier deck. I've changed out the pump before, that was easy. But fixing it this time involves a bearing pressed into the plastic outer washtub so fixing it this time involves removing and/or replacing 80% of the washer by weight. Any washer worth buying these days? (1) it's Korean - literally 9 of the Consumer Reports top 10 are Samsung (2) it talks to fucking Alexa. "Alexa, load my washing machine." "I'm sorry, I can't do that, Dave." "Alexa, is their laundry in my washing machine?" "No, Dave." "Alexa call Taskrabbit to find a prole to load my washing machine." "Yes, massa. Your automated future is here, massa."
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am_Unition · 1533 days ago · link ·
Vacuuming a hardwood floor or tile with a Miele is only one very small step below powerwashing, when ranking therapeutic cleaning acts. German engineering, man. My electric Stihl leaf blower is fantastic too.
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I have been ragged-edge of buying a Miele for 25 years. The first time I bought a Roomba was when I realized that for the price I was looking to pay, I could buy a vacuum that would drive itself. Nonetheless if I had more than 150sqft of carpet right now I'd undoubtedly own one. We have one at work that is quiet enough to mix over.
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user-inactivated · 1534 days ago · link ·
I got one as a christmas present one year, and have never used it for vacuuming. I have used it to deliver drinks at parties, as a cat toy, to run ethernet cables, and to make an animatronic facehugger for halloween, but never for vacuuming. They're silly as appliances, but great nerd toys.
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You be nice. They're spectacular as appliances. You make sure all your furniture has legs longer than a Roomba is tall and you keep all your cords off the floor. Then you run them two or three times a week and the floor is spotless. Granted, we have no pets without gills. Everyone I've ever known to gripe about the ineffective nature of Roombas has cats and/or dogs. Having seen what it does with dust and humanhair I can imagine running a Roomba once a day would be about enough to keep up with a cat.
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ThurberMingus · 1534 days ago · link ·
I had a roommate with a Great Pyrenees mix and he got a Roomba so he wouldn't have to vacuum so much. The Roomba lost hard. Not that the regular vacuum was winning though, that thing still had to be disassembled and unclogged every few months.
Meanwhile, my friend Michael Kovrig is being tortured by the Chinese in retaliation. Or he's just been disappeared. Or dead. Nobody knows. It's China.