2007 Nissan Navara King Cab (like Frontier in the US but diesel)
It’s a two seat, 4x4, all black pickup truck. Other than the few mechanical issues with it, I have no complaints. It’s basically my dream car and I truly don’t even know if there’s any other truck I’d rather have. Even the newer model is a bit meh and comes with all sorts of electronics I don’t need.
Those would probably qualify as what OP is asking about. What might be a minor nuisance to you could be a deal-breaker for someone not mechanically inclined.
You need to fix your political landscape first, for example have > 2 parties, and have other than these two ultra conservative parties. Only then will you be able to make significant changes in your country.
You're 100% correct on principle. The problem is that given our electoral system, third parties end up taking votes from viable candidates, and we end up with terrifying people running things.
We can't change the electoral system, because we've never actually had an Article V convention (Constitutional Convention) so we don't know what would happen there. We'd get an entirely new constitution, and it would not be a better one. You've probably seen how dysfunctional our republicans are, I'm not about to let them tear up e.g., my right to free speech or a fair trial.
Given the current makeup of the Supreme Court, what would come out of that convention would be provide zero protections for anything.
But yes, we need third parties. I just don't see a plausible way to get them without taking on an amount of risk that most people aren't willing to take.
Boneconduction earphones. They are cheaper than you think and I use mine to listen to music while swimming. Also great for music when you need to be able to hear to things around you (it doesn’t block any external sound, so don’t use in noisy environments)
My greatest purchase of the last decade I reckon. I first tried them 9 years ago and since then I am onto my 6th pair, no because they break easily but simply because I use them for between 8 and 10 hours every single day.
I do a lot of running and cycling and they allow me to be aware of idiots in cars whilst being able to listen to music or books whilst I ride / run. I use them at work with ear defense in so I can still hear what my machine is doing.
They are light, comfortable and really just the best way to listen to stuff for me.
Not OP but I do use AdterShokz! I bought them during Black Friday sale last year and love them! I also do a lot of running and cycling - very nice to have the background song playing while also being aware of my surroundings! I also do a lot of late night walks listening to podcasts - I feel much more comfortable knowing I could hear someone approaching me.
I listen when to music / podcasts doing chores around the house. My wife doesn’t realize alot of the times and starts talking to me and I miss first half of what she said. I told my wife when buying them I’d be able to hear her now! Turns out I listen too loud still and can’t comprehend what she is saying when first talking while headphones are still playing. So… don’t use that as buying excuse :)
I don’t know if that is volume based though as I do exactly the same and even when the volume is down low it is like my brain is tuned into listen on that level and so I miss the first sentence of what is said from an outside source. At least I can hear they are there however!
They really are great for so many applications. I used to do Acid a lot more than I do these days and they were fucking great for a trip and out walking in the woods. I could have them on a good volume to soundtrack my walk but whilst also being able to hear nature around me. Just perfect for trippy walks.
I don’t think that they would be able to cancel the noise of an industrial environment and it would end up being a case of blasting sound into your ears to try and cover up the noise.
These with ear protection saves your ears a lot more.
No, it wouldn’t. When I say I work in a high noise environment I mean that I’m surrounded by enough machine noise that I wear ear plugs to protect my hearing. Active noise cancellation isn’t a substitute for actual PPE. It’d be cool if it worked that way, but sadly not.
Bone conduction works great with earplugs though. The only minor downside is that earplugs make the bass frequencies stronger, so I need to open up the EQ settings and tweak things a bit if I’m listening to music, but that’s not really a big deal. I’m usually listing to podcasts or audio books at work anyway.
They do, but not in the intuitive way one would think. They work because there’s a passive seal around the hearing, thus the headphones only have to cancel the smaller amount of noise that gets into your ear, not the full loud noise outside in the environment. This is why ANC need to have mics inside your ears.
The problem is actually that the louder the noise, the louder the noise canceling would have to be. And at a certain point the passive seal cannot stop much of the outside noise, and if poorly designed, if the speaker tries to cancel that noise, it would be blasting massive soundwaves into your ears. But most consumer speakers can’t achieve that and don’t even try. So after a certain threshold, they won’t work and can’t help you with the noise. And the passive noise block is not even remotely good enough as a straight up earplug. So they are not considered protective gear, at least not the consumer devices, only aviation grade ANC is considered protective gear. But you’ll see that they have massive ear cover,s with huge speakers and drivers, and elastic tensors on the headband to absolutely seal your ears and some truly state of the art audio processing that would make the most snob audiophile blush in envy.
They do make some of those for ground crews, construction sites and heavy machinery, but they insists that they are only effective if paired with a sound baffle earplug.
Noise cancelling earbuds or similar do not protect your hearing.
They do not make a loud noise quiet. It does not matter if they are working or not. All they do is make noise seem quiet, you are still being exposed to the same level of noise.
While noise-canceling technology can effectively reduce the perception of external sounds, it does not necessarily eliminate the potential for hearing damage.
In noise-canceling headphones, a microphone captures external sounds, and the internal speaker generates a counteracting sound wave that is 180 degrees out of phase. This process effectively nullifies the external sound at ear level. However, it is important to note that the sound pressure from external noise sources still exists even with active noise cancellation in place.
Driving gloves. Some halfway decent calfskin gloves make it nicer to drive, whether the steering wheel is hot in the summer, cold in the winter, or if you’re going to be driving long distance. Not sure if real leather will be less than $20, but seen some cheap fingerless work gloves make driving more comfortable.
Clip on sunglasses that fit on my eyeglasses. Super easy to clip on, cost about ten bucks. So nice to not have to squint as much.
Dim light bulbs. Nearly every bulb in my house is as dim as I can manage. Some are salt lamps and some are those flicker fire bulbs. Either way, it makes the light at night a little warmer and a little dimmer, and all around a lot more cozy, which really is what one wants. Keep a couple of the overhead bulbs at the brighter end in case you need them, but dimmer bulbs make me a lot happier at night.
American here. I dont have the answer but these are my thoughts.
a 4th wing of the government gets created, appointed by popular vote - it has oversight over everything beneath this paragraph. funded by legislative branch, veto powers over it held by the electoral branch, and life/death/malpractice issues decided by the judicial branch. the 4th branch controls nation-wide medial staffing, coverage/who is allowed to get what treatment, R&D, and building new/repairing existing medical infrastructure.
first of all I’d wipe the slate clean - immediately and permanently scrap all current healthcare and insurance systems. get rid of all private medical/drug companies. they all get broken up and assimilated by the government. no choices, it’s what gets to happen. no golden parachutes, no buyouts, no backroom deals. elimination.
the current system isnt going to provide the same level of healthcare that we have now to everyone, its just impossible - but R&D is now run by the government,… so gene therapy for diseases that only affect a few thousands of people dont get funded. perhaps they get treated internationally, or die. doesnt really matter - the goal is to treat as many people as possible with as few resources as possible, as cheaply as possible, for as long as possible. no one is allowed to stay on life preserving machines when they’re too old or ill - we pull the plug. machines are useful if you’re in surgery and only then. you can choose not to get medical aid but if your wages arent getting garnished to pay your fair share, and you get hurt, well, too bad. opting into the national health plan = opting into organ harvesting if your brainbox goes flatline and the organs can be better used by someone else. no more burial at death, it’s incineration only. religious exemptions are not permitted.
structure the system so that medical personnel are paid according to position - not by experience/seniority, or how much education is needed. flat rates. no unions, no organizations, no private practices - the system is run by the 4th branch of the government, and they set the rates. pay rates would be linked to national inflation rates. the number of specialists would be tied to population of a given area - that includes plastic/cosmetic surgeons as well as sex change specialists. traveling across the country to see a specialist is not permitted - they come to you, within a limited geographic area or you dont get the treatment you want. best cosmetic surgeon not available? go travel internationally if you dont like it, we dont care. need an emergency dental procedure? visit the hospital, a generalist will see to you - private practices are no longer permitted (it’d be filed under malpractice).
automate as much as possible - many if not most administrative positions cease to be a thing anymore - medical billing? lol we have software for that. insurance? a thing of the past, your wages will be garnished to fund the program. hospital administration will likewise be cut by 90%, automated away by software.
this would fix a lot of the issues that people in America have with the medical/insurance system - but it would introduce a lot of the issues that socialized medicine has in countries like Canada or England. might be worth a try anyway, our current system is untenable, unwieldly, and prone to error.
I don’t think you’re being serious, but the idea isn’t to give everyone worse care. If you talk to people from the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Australia, Canada, or any other country that has universal healthcare (all the green ones on this map) they would have plenty to say about things that could improve. You also wouldn’t find too many who would be willing to trade with the U.S.
Depends on how much idle time there is.
For short periods I spend my time just staring in the distance and letting my thoughts wander.
Commuting is spend either reading or here online. Maybe a Youtube video once in a while for diversity.
For lunch breaks and other spare moments I have a small sketchbook where I like to draw whatever comes to mind.
Perhaps this aftertaste is caused by some unnatural ingredients in the composition. Nowadays, milk fat substitutes, calcium chloride and many other bad things are added to inexpensive cheeses.
It would be interesting to listen to the opinion of a technologist who produces similar products.
unnatural
milk fat substitutes, calcium chloride and many other bad things
Just because this comment can be easily misinterpreted:
Milk fat substitutes are just plant oils.
Calcium chloride is what they inject into you if you have a severe calcium deficiency. It's just calcium salt. Your regular table salt is Sodium chloride. Nigari is magnesium chloride used to make tofu. All three are salts that can be extracted from normal seawater.
Both plant fats and CaCl2 are natural, neither of them are "bad" (when, like everything, they're consumed in sensible amounts) and they should not be lumped in with "other bad things", even if you don't like those ingredients in your cheese.
asklemmy
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