Kobo was on my short-list not long ago. They seemed like the most polished non-amazon option to me. I haven’t switched for now because my old kindle 2 is still clinging to life and because of it being long out of support from amazon I just keep it disconnected from the internet and sideload whatever I want.

With that said though, now that some decent kindle jailbreaking options are available, an old second hand kindle from eBay might actually be a very good option.

That’d actually very similar to how trig points work! It’s a giant orbiting trig point. Someone call the ordnance survey!

No, because even cheap smart phones are often expensive and difficult to repair. My current phone is an s10 ive had since 2020 and even today it would cost me £50 to replace the screen myself.

I refuse to treat my phone as disposable so when i very rarely buy a new phone, ill buy one that i could repair myself and with internals that will last a long time.

Budget phones are usually out for me because they usually become annoyingly slow after only a few years which means i usually end up spending more for a mid range which means repairs cost more if i need them. Therefore putting a decent case on it makes sense.

That reads to me like someones about to get smote by a lightning bolt lol

I live in a place where kinder eggs arent banned and i dont often find rocks inside cheap brownies. Theres a way to have both lol

Idk what cables and devices youve been buying but ive seen an insane difference in durability going to micro to c.

For a start, none of my usb c cables have lost their gripping strength, one of which ive been using daily for over 6 years.

None of my usb c devices have had the central pin blade thing fall off or fatige to the point of not making a connection,

The one down side ive seen to usb c is that when i accidentally rolled my chsir over a connector, it did crush the oval inwards but i pried that open again and stuck it in my desk mic and its been working fine since.

I mean ive never tried it. Perhaps theyre onto something?

Yup, electronics tech here and we have to bake our boards to remove moisture from the mid-layers before conformal coating them. We do boards which go through pretty harsh conditions so moisture trapped in the boards could cause massive issues at sub zero temperature and swelling from evaporating liquids cause issues at high temperatures.

Less of a concern for consumer tech but can be a huge concern at industry levels.

On the bright side, ill bet the smuggling business will be booming over the next few years!

1 or 3. I cant stand forks with curved outer tines. 2 is good but i prefer a straight handle over a curved one. My preferance leans towards 3 though as 1 looks like it would have slightly sharp stamped edges.

What you just described is pretty much exactly my experience with colemak and split keebs too.

When i was learning colemak i decided to take the time to teach myself proper touch typing at the same time. Now i can only touch type colemak on a split ortho. I cant type qwerty at all on it.

That’s pretty cool honesty.

However, I’m personally more concerned about the move away from cheap, off the shelf, replacement parts and simple, standardised designs, and more towards costly assemblies, highly integrated mechanical designs that are very complex to disassemble and repair, and deliberately anti-repair preactices that push consumers back towards manufacturers like how phones and laptops have become recently.

I was talking to a coworker the other day about how even simple things like car headlights have become severely integrated and expensive.

When an led in his headlight blew and took out half of the series strip and rendered the entire indicator on one side of his car entirely dead, the only replacement part you could get for it was a replacement headlight cluster, all lights included, for around £500. To replace the cluster meant borderline stripping the front end of the car including the radiator to access 5 screws holding it in place.

On my old car from the mid 2000s, if an indicator light blew, I could fit a new one for £2.50 in under 10 mins. If the cluster smashed a brand new unit would set me back £25 now or around £50 back when it was new. The whole job could be completed though the open bonnet with only a screwdriver.

I’m sorry dude but in the gentlest way possible, you’re relying on conspiracy theories to avoid confronting reality and justify your beliefs. It’s exactly the same as what q-anon and trump nutters do. I realise that its a coping mechanism to help you deal with the state of things but you can’t change anything for the better if you can’t engage with reality.

I know shit feels hopeless now but I promise there’s things you can do now that will genuinely improve life for yourself and the people you care about. Join communities, volunteer for causes you believe in, get involved in protests, and try and form those social bonds that help break people away from conservative and maga centric thinking. If you think about it, regardless of whether what you believe is true or not, these are still things that will improve life for people who are suffering now.

I asked one of my mates who’s a historian and he said yes. Viva la revolution

Not sure really, but probably best to go an remove all your money now just in case! I bet hundreds of people are doing the same thing! /s

Hearing specialist (evil)

As with many types of license, they usually only get checked when you’re caught misbehaving.

If you’re caught not picking up your dogs poo, you’re asked “have you got a licence for that dog”. At which point, if you say no, then you get another charge or two slapped on as well. If you lie and say yes you can get yet another charge slapped on for lying to law enforcement.

Its basically another layer of incentive to follow the law and get a license or the penalties may be higher as a result.

Genuinely thought that said “anachronism” and was ready to go on a tirade about how cool cloaks are and how they should make a comeback

Same here honestly! Its not like I was going to use the body again. Worm food or cat food, its all alright by me!

And terrain mapping flights. Thousands of scientific, geologic, and geographic flights take place around the world on a weekly basis.