[-] eclectic_electron@sh.itjust.works 23 points 9 months ago

They even ambush me every time I go to the grocery store. And they've doubled my bill since I signed up. Why bother marketing when you can raise rates whenever you want? They could save so much money by not mailing every day and hiring people to hunt me

[-] eclectic_electron@sh.itjust.works 19 points 9 months ago

I don't think chickens raised for meat live anywhere near 2 years. Yeah, a quick google shows around a 2 month harvest time for chickens raised for meat. That's a big part of why chickens are such amazing creatures and make such an affordable protein source, they can be sustainably* harvested year round. (Sustainably as in without decreasing the size of your flock.)

Laying hens are productive for two to three years. They rarely make it into the human food supply though, after that long the texture and flavor of the meat changes and American consumers don't prefer it. You can probably get them through a local butcher shop, though they might have to order it for you.

In a small and well managed flock, chickens can live 6 to 8 years. In the wild, I don't think modern chickens would exist at all. Ask anyone who's kept chickens, keeping the hawks and foxes and raccoons etc. out of them is a constant and eternal struggle.

[-] eclectic_electron@sh.itjust.works 63 points 9 months ago

The article is pretty short so it's hard to tell, but I know in other cases there can be a significant difference between whether or not you say you're an engineer when you make these claims.

The term engineer is effectively a trademark controlled by a state licensing board. They want to protect the word engineer so it's clear to the public when someone is speaking as a professional licensed engineer vs not. Overall, this is a good thing and a direct response to specific and numerous very bad things that have happened in the past.

However, this has also resulted in some very awkward situations because the word engineer has almost become a genericized trademark in that there are many people who have the word engineer in their job title but do not have or need a professional engineer's license.

Based on the fact the guy won the case, I'm going to assume he wasn't substantially misrepresenting his qualifications. The headline is very sensationalized though and the article is lacking any detail, so I don't know how relevant this little anecdote is but I find it interesting.

[-] eclectic_electron@sh.itjust.works 36 points 9 months ago

This is surprisingly difficult problem because different people are okay with different brand substitutions. Some people may want the cheapest butter regardless of brand, while others may only buy brand name.

For example my wife is okay with generic chex from some grocery stores but not others, but only likes brand names Cheerios. Walmart, Aldi, and Meijer generic cheese is interchangable, but brand name and Kroger brand cheese isn't acceptable.

Making a software system that can deal with all this is really hard. AI is probably the best bet, but it needs to be able to handle all this complexity to be useable, which is a lot of up front work

[-] eclectic_electron@sh.itjust.works 18 points 9 months ago

Landlords take on risk. For example, when I rented an apartment, I came home one day to a plumbing disaster. I called emergency maintenance and left. The landlord fixed it and paid for my hotel in the meantime. As a home owner now, that would be entirely on me to figure out. I'm pretty handy, but I have no disrespect for someone who doesn't want to be responsible for that.

More importantly, selling a house costs about 10% of the value of the house, and the first few years of a mortgage you're mostly paying interest. If you move every 3 years, it's actually cheaper to rent than to buy. It's just that your money is going to a landlord instead of to banks and realtors.

So while I see your argument that landlords don't "deserve" the money they make, practically they're an important part of the housing market, and I respect people who make an informed decision to rent.

[-] eclectic_electron@sh.itjust.works 14 points 9 months ago

You know that's not actually going to happen though. Maybe one in a hundred will get intercepted and saved at best.

[-] eclectic_electron@sh.itjust.works 10 points 9 months ago

Since no one seems to have read the article, and the summary doesn't answer the headline, I gave it a skim. Basically, regulations on lead in food are a work in progress, but progress tends to be slow when there isn't much political pressure behind it, and that pressure tends to only come after something goes wrong.

The big problem is threading the gap between what is technically possible with existing technology and infrastructure, and what the limits would ideally be from a public health perspective. Everyone agrees there should be a limit, but finding the best number for each food product is a complicated process.

it can be difficult to agree on recommended lead levels because fruits, vegetables and whole grains all contain varying amounts of the heavy metal.

[-] eclectic_electron@sh.itjust.works 11 points 9 months ago

Apparently the hot water leaches lead out of fittings and solder joints much faster than cold water does

[-] eclectic_electron@sh.itjust.works 11 points 10 months ago

The baking soda will just neutralize the vinegar though? And you'll get salt water? Vinegar is good at getting smells out though.

[-] eclectic_electron@sh.itjust.works 16 points 10 months ago

School budgets are paid out of city property taxes, which are mostly paid and voted on by old people who own homes with no mortgage and little chance of increasing their income. They also don't have young kids and are probably Republican.

They'd gouge their own eyes out before they'd vote to raise their own property taxes to pay for something that doesn't benefit them.

Ergo, schools are always underfunded.

[-] eclectic_electron@sh.itjust.works 19 points 10 months ago

Anything that necessitates cleaning the knife, cutting board, and skillet is not lazy. Especially because in order to wash those things the sink has to be empty which means the dishes have to be done. That's a lot of pre and post reqs for "lazy".

Not that any of that is particularly hard. A meal with a chopped onion can certainly be fast and easy, but I couldn't argue that it's lazy.

That list records 8 fatalities related to nuclear power in the US. All time.

Coal is responsible for more than 40. Per year. Just in my city.

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eclectic_electron

joined 1 year ago