Bruncvik

Owned by Microsoft. Microsoft recently blocked e-mail access to a LibreOffice dev. Speculation is that they'll start blocking projects for competing products next.

(Alternative explanation: Gitlab should be part of IT divestment from US-based services.)

I'm having UFO: Enemy Unknown flashbacks.

I'm currently vacationing in a country where pedestrians are required to wear reflexive elements when it's dark, and I really like that. However, putying all onus on pedestrians while not even analyzing the causes of crashes (including hit pedestrians and cyclists), which would lead to improved road infrastructure, signage and enforcement, will lead to more deaths. As long as you're allowed to drive 80 km/h on a winding road where two cars can't even pass each other, no amount of lights or reflective vests will save the pedestrians.

Very common in Ireland. The main contribution of the RSA (Road Safety Authority) over the past few years seems to be handing out high-vis elements to pedestrians and cyclists. The media is antropomorphising cars instead of blaming drivers, to the extent that statistics on the causes of crashes aren't being collected.

This is just my speculation, so take it as you will. The EU has been pushing for digital ID cards for quite a while, and this is just another attempt. The last serious attempt was the Covid vaccination passport, but so many people still opted for paper certs, and the rest deleted the app when vaccination was no longer mandatory, that it failed again. So, now the authorities are becoming smart and trying to go through the vector that has a proven record of driving technological change: porn.

I guess it depends on the person. 30 years ago, I was actually living and working in the US. I was driving a 1988 Volvo 760. I was still driving it 10 years later; best car I've ever had. Gas was under a buck. Interest rates were so high that once I got some savings, I lived off the interest and ended up saving 80% of my salary (years later, when the rates went down, I used those savings as a down payment for my house). I could get lost for a full day at Borders. I was able to hitchhike up the east coast, get odd jobs without any resumes or background checks, while on a road trip across the continent. There was a lot of new and exciting technology: CD's and discmen, computers and the beginnings of the Internet. I read the news via Gopher (unless it was Sunday, then I bought the papers for grocery coupons). I feel that now there are too many limits on people. Lots of them are self-inflicted: I'm middle aged and with kids, so I need to be far more responsible. But when I look at my kids, I feel that they won't have the same opportunities I had, for travel, education, personal growth, or independence.

In the evening. In the 7+ years since my first kid was born, I haven't missed a single evening at home, to wish them a good night. I even excuse myself from business trips.

As my father used to say, "The only decision you should make while angry is to stop being angry."

Don't come to Ireland. I've lived in the US for nearly two decades, made lots of friends and even helped some to immigrate here. The harsh reality is, however, that we're going through a really bad housing crisis, with our own homeless numbers growing every month, and house prices and rents exploding (a recent statistic showed that our growth in rents is four times the EU average). So, please, for our sake and yours, try a different country.

I love the album, but it stands to mention that this was a solo project by Roger Waters. Still, the lineup was stacked, and I loved the energy.

TV/movie: Motoko Kusanagi (Ghost in the Shell, especially from the SAC.)

Video games: Nicole Collard (Broken Sword series)

Electric Light Orchestra, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, The Rubettes. Essentially the same as when I go running.