Big shock.

Walking more popular when walking convenient and comfortable. But seriously, stories about this are important, because councils clearly do need some imports to start doing better.

I’ve had two PCs over this time period. One came with a pirated copy of Windows (bought overseas) and I later installed a legit copy with my uni’s licence. The other I transferred that same licence across to after building the PC myself.

The law here is ostensibly supposed to be to deal with exactly that situation. It does some good things, like giving police the power to confiscate those illegal ebikes, and to hold parents legally responsible (unless the parent can demonstrate they genuinely could not have prevented it). But it does some incredibly fucking dumb things too, like the 10 km/h speed limit mentioned in the video. And all to prevent people doing something that’s…already illegal. Because electric motorbikes that operate without pedalling or which can go above 25 km/h with pedal assist are already illegal to ride in public. Police fail to enforce it currently, so there’s no reason to believe they’ll be enforcing it if this passes. Except perhaps the occasional blitz of enforcement in easily-accessible places where the vast majority of people they catch would have been doing the right thing prior to the law’s passing.

Side note: we have police with bikes of their own who occasionally do this, so hitting the bike tracks doesn’t stop a pursuit. The thing that stops a pursuit is that the police know that a high-speed pursuit just increases the danger to both the accused and to the general public. So they only pursue under very limited circumstances.

Zionists are a subset of antisemites.

I wouldn’t have described it as a golden era. More like a constant, steady, quiet sense of improvement.

I’m talking about the whole period of like 2010 to about 2018.

Ha! That’s amusing. The Australian white ibis has a reputation locally for being a really ugly bird, with their kinda dirty off-white coat. Personally I don’t entirely agree and I think they have an unfair reputation. They’ve adapted really well to the human environment, and are particularly fond of rubbish tips and rubbish bins. It’s earned them the nickname “bin chicken”.

But if you want a bird that’s much more attractive looking, the straw-necked ibis looks exactly like the white ibis, if it was wearing a shiny black/blue/green cape.

A decade ago things were looking really positive for the future of Mac gaming. It felt like more and more games were coming out supporting it. I’m not sure if their transition away from Intel has hindered it, or if it’s something else, but it definitely seems to have stalled.

Plus, the move to Apple Silicon has killed the back-up option of Bootcamp. Or I assume it has, I’ve not been a Mac user since before the transition, when my ageing MBP died and I just found I didn’t need any laptop to replace it.

paying Microsoft for an operating system

To be fair, I haven’t paid Microsoft for my OS…ever. And it’s not even piracy.

I got a licence for free through my university when I was in uni. And Microsoft seemed happy to let me keep using it and even upgrading it. I started on Windows 8, upgraded for free to Windows 10. If my PC didn’t have a processor that seemingly arbitrarily they decided can’t run Windows 11, I could be on that today.

nathan_fillion_castle.gif

See this is why I should read one comment further down before I reply. 🤦‍♂️

Being anticompetitive is far from the only way a company can be shitty.

Steam had to be sued by the Australian government into following the law regarding refunds for faulty products.

They have always been at the forefront of shitty gambling mechanics in video games, with their random loot boxes and tradeable skins.

And until recently, the hyper-consumerist FOKO-inducing structure of Steam sales was pretty awful.

Out of the full 6000 I have no idea. But out of the much smaller number of actual deaths that have been prominently in the news, the answer is a lot. And most of those left over were not ebikes, but non-compliant electric motorbikes.

Damn, that’s unfortunate. Hopefully you’ve written to your MP and made a submission to the committee, at least!

It was huge! I was riding next to the organiser near the start, and I heard over her walkie-talkie that the front riders has reached the end of the Story Bridge before we had even reached the start. All the non-participants I spoke to seemed pretty positive about it, too, which is great.

Labor state MP Jonty Bush was there too, which was great to see. You can always rely on someone from the Greens, but having Labor on side is a good sign. Less encouraging, some of her comments made it seem like she doesn’t necessarily represent all of Labor, and the party as a whole is perhaps rigorously debating the matter internally.

Sorry I’m lost. I don’t see how that link is any different from mine?

I’m pretty sure that actually happened in one of the 18th/19th century European revolutions. Someone said there would be a protest in a newspaper/magazine, and people turned up to see what would happen. And it turned into an actual protest/riot that ended up leading to a revolution.

Funhole isn’t exactly hidden but you might not see it if your instance isn’t federated to it.

Not only have I not seen it, I can’t even find it when I go looking for it.

But we’re not talking about whether or not childcare would be subsidised (it should) or education and healthcare be free (they should). We’re talking about whether being flexible to work from home or have flex hours should be allowed. And they should. For everyone, regardless of parental status.

No, I completely agree with you Ada, they have no interest in the actual merits. It’s all about punishing the out group. However, I think there are a few reasons to make a submission anyway.

First, I half suspect that the worst parts of this bill (the 10 km/h speed limit and the licence requirement) may be intended as sacrificial clauses. They know it’s overreach to such a degree that they’ve included it only so they can remove it later and say “look, we listened to feedback”, while leaving in the RBTs for cyclists, minimum age, increased penalties for cyclists (including for riding without a helmet), and possibly even leaving in a speed limit albeit a less extreme one. But if they don’t get significant opposition, they might decide to plough ahead with the worst of it included regardless.

I also think it’s important because it helps provide fodder for opposition to point to to demonstrate the LNP’s overreach. It increases the political cost of doing this for the LNP, and also increases the chance that it might be reversed under the next Government.

And mostly, I think it’s just valuable to have been on the record. To be able to say “I did what I could, even if they didn’t care.”

Fwiw, in case you’re not already aware, there is a protest ride planned for 5:00 pm Wednesday starting at Raymond Park in Kangaroo Point, rolling out at 5:30 pm. Would be great to see you there!