definitemaybe

joined 1 day ago
[–] definitemaybe@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 hours ago

Sure, but even so: that hardware isn't going to be obsolete or wear out for a long time.

Compared with going to a concert that can be $10K for 2 people to attend a single show.

[–] definitemaybe@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

idk about these; I haven't driven significantly in Toronto in over a decade, but Calgary has mobile speed cameras in unmarked cars, so they can be moved around. They just look like a car parked on the side of the road. And people slow down for school zones in Calgary.

I think they're very effective. As soon as you cross the border to BC, where automated speeding cameras are illegal, people drive about 10km/h faster, it feels like. On Deerfoot (in Calgary), you'd occasionally have someone pass at +30. On the Island Highway, +40 isn't atypical. (That's 150 km/h... Crazy fast, especially knowing that kinetic energy is the square of velocity.) And people regularly blast through school zones in BC at +30, and +40 isn't overly unusual (70 km/h in a 30 zone). (Comparatively, 50 in a 30 zone was the usual max I noticed in Alberta).

Or maybe it's just that BC drivers are massive speeders, and the speed cameras thing isn't the reason. Hard to know without data.

[–] definitemaybe@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago

Or keep the live service model, but label things correctly:

You're getting a subscription to the service that's guaranteed to last at least until [planned minimum end date]. Make it illegal to label anything using "buy" that doesn't grant a permanent, non-expiring license to the software or digital good.

There's nothing wrong with charging for a subscription. If that's their product, and the only way they can offer the product, then clearly market it that way and there's no legal problem under the proposed rules.

Granted, that still sucks for videogame preservation, but at least it's honest. And I'm not sure how many people will be willing to shell out $80+ for a "minimum 24 month subscription" to a new game, or pay $9.99 for a "micro"transaction they're guaranteed to keep access to for ~~8 7 6~~ 5 months.

[–] definitemaybe@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I should probably have been more precise; their produce prices are generally roughly equal, plus or minus a bit, but the produce quality is almost always great, and it's easy to return if/when you get a rare dud.

Any other food item is almost always cheaper: dairy and other refrigerated foods, meat (great quality), non-perishable food, etc.

If you're happy to buy in bulk quantities, I haven't found any good alternatives to Costco.

[–] definitemaybe@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)
[–] definitemaybe@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

That's incorrect, I'm pretty sure. It's not that they're overstating, it's that they're the wrong visas. See my reply below for more details.

[–] definitemaybe@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago

I looked this up since it's not fully explained in the article. They entered legally on B-1 visas, but B-1 visas are for things like business meetings, not "actual" work.

They should be entering on H-1B or L-1 visas, which are for temporary (1 or 3 year) technical workers who can't be sourced locally. But the US caps these visas, and they can't get enough.

So, the US lobbied to get investment from these companies/South Korea in the US, but then didn't give them enough visas to get the factories built. So now, they're pulling all South Korean employees in the country who are on B-1 visas, stalling all capital investment in the factories the US lobbied for.

This particular case is intended, because it was lobbied for by Democrats, and they're the other team, so anything they've done should be set on fire. (In this case, EVs.) But this will (or course) have chilling effects on all investment in the US going forward and will lead to project cancellations, delays, and cost overruns.

That's my read.

[–] definitemaybe@lemmy.ca 18 points 1 day ago (5 children)

I could have written your comment, lol.

With inflation hitting food prices especially hard, getting the best value per dollar at Costco makes a huge difference. Anything at Costco is almost always ½-¾ what we'd pay elsewhere, and their return policy is incredible, so there's much lower risk when buying durable goods, too.

I'm all for minimizing buying American, but I'm not going to pay double to shop local.