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Joined 11 months ago
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Cake day: August 7th, 2023

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  • More like it doesn’t want to get the money to maintain those infrastructure by going into further debt.

    I’m not following German politics very closely but the article mentions that this restriction is in their constitution.

    There was something in that genre in my province decades ago when a government dedicated itself to ‘zero deficit’ by cutting on infrastructure maintenance for many years. A bridge eventually fell. Classic story. It seems like a common thing.




  • The last proposition to reduce food waste is

    urge companies to donate more food.

    Before that we’re gonna try to make it last longer, and compost more of it, then maybe companies could think about donating more of it.

    But they have to be careful because if they donate too much nobody is gonna want to work to buy food anymore!! Or people could sue if they get sick from old food. Better send it to the composting site instead of giving it away.

    Obviously we can’t force companies to give unsold food, we can only urge them to do so.

    No money to buy that tempting watermelon about to expire? Ok then, we’ll send it to the composting site to reduce food waste.

    Seriously though, it’s better than nothing but… aaah sweet capitalism!


  • Meh. I have a cabin in the countryside 130 km away from my apartment and I can cycle the whole way, or take a coach with a foldable bike and pedal the 30 km left.

    It’s actually in the region where I grew up so I have to get there frequently to see my family. It’s a hassle sometimes but it’s only because my government can’t adequately fund and maintain a decent transit network.

    I also bike to national parks nearby, and sometimes haul my inflatable kayak with a bike trailer.

    People overestimate distances and think the country side justifies a car but it’s usually just excuses. I did move in a big city eventually but I lived in small towns and cities for a decade before that. I still hated cars and didn’t have one.

    For example, my mother lives on a rural road outside a village of less than 2000 people. And she works in the next town that is 7 km away. Meanwhile I live in a city and work in the same city but I have to bike 9 km to get to work.

    So sometimes distances are shorter in smaller cities and towns but people still insist they need a car. People will give any excuse to use their car. It’s like cocain.

    Also, here Uber is only available in major cities where it’s competing with public transit anyway. AFAIK you can’t take an Uber to a small town or a rural road.

    EDIT: Also, most people DO live in a city anyway. And they still have excuses to use a car.

    Today, some 56% of the world’s population – 4.4 billion inhabitants – live in cities.




  • My very anecdotal theory is that those seeing humans frequently get used to us (up to a point) and usually just end up hissing when we get too close.

    Where I live geese are omnipresent in parks and people are cycling, jogging and walking through their flocks. They will certainly act inquisitive, hiss and act like they own the place, but I’ve never seen them attack.

    However, maybe a flock in a place less busy with humans and less used to seeing them would be more willing to attack.


  • AFAIK Kodi can use pulseaudio and probably pipewire. I use Kodi too on those computers and I just leave it to use the default PA device that I’ve set. I switch the default devices with pasystray.

    What’s usually breaking for me is paprefs. Every so often after an upgrade, the options are greyed out and I can’t share or access my devices over the network.

    I never tried to setup simultaneous output before because I just switch from device one to another, but I just enabled it in paprefs and it’s working too.




  • pedz@lemmy.catomemes@lemmy.worldLife Pro Tip!
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    27 days ago

    We (Canadians) actually have two layouts to type French characters. The modern Canadian multilingual layout, and the traditional “French (Canada)” layout. As an older French speaking Canadian, I prefer the traditional layout but both work. You can even type English words with these.






  • pedz@lemmy.catoComic Strips@lemmy.worldIt's raining
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    1 month ago

    For some people there’s a point where riding in the rain turns from sucking to being fun. For me it’s when it’s pouring down and water is sloshing around in my shoes. I meet other drenched cyclists and we just smile at each other. We can’t get any wetter, might as well enjoy it.

    I don’t enjoy going cycling when it’s raining, but I get used to it and sometimes end up liking it. Same with the cold.



  • Montrealer here. When roads are unplowed, cars also struggle. When it’s too cold, cars also struggle.

    I live at the top of a gentle slope and as soon as it starts snowing, cars are slipping and sliding down the slope. There’s even a famous video of exactly this kind of thing, with cars, buses, police and snow plows just sliding down the slope.

    Cars need very well maintained roads to work in winter. Those roads can also be used by bikes. And if you plow bike paths and bike lanes, just like we do for cars, cycling in winter is usually no big deal. Sometimes while cars are slipping down I can observe cyclists being able to climb the same slope. Or they just push the bike up on foot and continue on their way.

    I use my bike in winter and can assure you that it is working.

    Addendum: I am a simple man. When is starts snowing I just sit by my window and watch cars struggle to go uphill. In fact, I record it.

    Picture!

    Also, just to continue on your points. It’s not -30C every day and snow here is usually plowed within a few hours, AND removed within a few days. Extreme weather is extreme, and one should avoid driving in during heavy snowfall anyway. So either you’re on a bike, or in a car that you must dig out of a snow bank, or using public transit, if the weather is extreme, everyone is going to have a less than perfect day.