• 0 Posts
  • 36 Comments
Joined 10 months ago
cake
Cake day: September 15th, 2023

help-circle
  • I think that’s the biggest danger with Trump. Even though he’s less with it than Biden, what comes out of his mouth sounds more coherent if you’re not concerned with the facts of the matter.

    I was a bit concerned with Biden when he would say the wrong word or trail off, but at the end of the day it’s less about who the president is and more about who they hire. I really wish the DNC had ran a different candidate.






  • The detriment to society came when the standard for text messaging between all phones was updated to support more features and a major manufacturer intentionally didn’t update to drive sales. The US used to heavily punish that sort of behaviour, but in this case it took EU Chinese action to reign in a US company.

    Samsung, Google, Sony, and a million other manufacturers could have implemented their own messaging system, but instead they chose to facilitate the use of devices however customers want without punishing them based on the personal preferences of their friends. In some circles people may even choose not to communicate with people who don’t have iPhones or exclude them from group chats which is bad in just about any way you spin it.









  • I guess the cultural significance likely isn’t too massive and I suppose that at first glance the date might not even stand out. I would put money though that more Brits know what happened on the 4th of July though than say the 16th of August. As I mentioned in another comment the events of American Independence happened far earlier than any of the other colonies and under massively different circumstances which were much less voluntary on the British side. How many of the other colonies successfully gained independence through a war with the British empire at the peak of its power rather than due to treaties passed in an era with massive public sentiment against imperialism.


  • I will concede the point that there are a lot of days and it would be impractical to avoid all of them for elections. However, there is a pretty massive outlier. Most of those countries that were colonies gained independence after WW2 (Iraq and Afghanistan being notable exceptions) due to a strong shift in public sentiment against imperialism. The US on the other hand gained independence 200 years before any of the other countries on that list in a war between colonists and what at the time was one of the most powerful empires in the world. Culturally speaking I’m sure that even if they don’t care too much, British citizens are much more aware of the history of American Independence than most of the other countries on the list since it was a much more dramatic affair. I will say Irish independence would likely be more relevant to British citizens and come with a higher level of historical awareness and even emotional attachment.

    EDIT: I will add that the US also has massive cultural significance on a global scale. How many people in the UK watch shows, movies, and listen to music from Egypt compared to from the states? If you look at the music charts in the UK they’re dominated by American artists.





  • Massive disclaimer before this whole paragraph that this person’s actions are abhorrent and totally unjustified. Just want to provide some perspective on a single relatively minor point.

    Regarding the unmarked uber it’s actually more common than you’d think. In some cities uber will send you a little decal you’re meant to put in the windshield of your car, but it could easily be missed and some drivers who maybe only drive a couple times a month may choose to not have that on display everywhere they go. Uber actually states that you’re only supposed to have it installed while you’re active in the app, but I don’t think it would last very long if you peeled it off and stored it in your car or on a shelf every time you needed to go to the grocery store let alone if you drive for personal reasons on a daily basis. Personally when I was driving uber with that decal provided I chose to just keep it on my windshield, but there’s no enforcement of that policy unless people scanned all your windows before getting in and decided that your license plate matching the app wasn’t enough evidence to get in your car.

    In the previous city I drove uber (albeit it was only around 80k population) they didn’t provide any sort of markings. Plenty of uber drivers had signs, but those light up signs in particular are actually sold by third parties and as a result you need to pay out of pocket to get one. While I did choose to invest in a phone mount which is about the same price, I refused on principle to use my own money to buy signage.

    So in short I can assure you that there are plenty of uber drivers in unmarked cars, either due to signage which doesn’t meet drivers’ needs or a lack of any signage provided by uber.