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micwag

121 karma · joined June 21, 2018

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micwag··on Why Switzerland has 25 Gbit internet and America doesn't
Most immigration happens between neighboring countries e.g. the biggest immigrant group in Los Angeles are Mexicans.

If you exclude neighboring countries Zurich has a foreign born population share of 27% (compared to 18% of Los Angeles). If you only look at the last 10 years Zurich has foreign born non neighboring immigration of 10% (compared to 4% for Los Angeles).

If you only look at intercontinental migration then Los Angeles wins with 14% (compared to 8% of Zurich).

So yes Zurich is less cosmopolitan then LA, but most of it is just because the US has more diverse neighbors.

micwag··on Solar is winning the energy race
> Germany has still over 100 active coal-fired power plants

No, Germany has 97 coal BLOCKS in its power plants (down from 150 in 5 years), but those are NOT all active.

Also Germany's coal consumption is at an all time low, down a third in only 5 years.

micwag··on The next steps for Airbus' big bet on open rotor engines
The article is not about turboprop but about open-rotor engines which are a modern variation of propfan engines.
micwag··on The next steps for Airbus' big bet on open rotor engines
Those are turboprop like the A400m or C-130. The article is about open-rotor engines which are a modern variation of propfan engines.
micwag··on In Europe, wind and solar overtake fossil fuels
> In a calm cloudy winter week all renewables and battery storage are totally screwed. Hydro doesn’t really care about a calm cloudy winter week and is the reason my state was 100% renewable last year. So it’s definitely not a problem for ALL renewables.
micwag··on Tesla Is Recalling Cybertrucks Again
Are collision avoidance system and automated emergency braking not standard in the US? Here in Switzerland basically every new vehicle has them.
micwag··on Germany outfitted half a million balconies with solar panels
> Also, by closing operating power plants, Germany weakened European energy production at the time when we geopolitically need it the most.

Ironically that was France which needed to shut down a lot of its nuclear reactors in 2022 and 2023 due to repairs. So according to your own logic France "weakened European energy production at the time when we geopolitically need it the most."

Here in Switzerland the reason given for the "energy crisis" was also mostly France as Switzerland usually imports a lot of energy from France.

micwag··on Temporary suspension of acceptance of mail to the United States
Switzerland as well: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/trade-policy/swiss-post-tempora...
micwag··on Medicaid cuts could devastate elderly in Florida nursing homes
It's in line with very high COL countries like Switzerland, but higher than most other OECD countries.

The biggest cost factor is also not the housing itself but care/nursing.

micwag··on Iron as an inexpensive storage medium for hydrogen
This is for seasonal energy storage with only 1 charge and discharge per year. It competes with water reservoirs not with batteries.
micwag··on Iron as an inexpensive storage medium for hydrogen
The national sausage of Switzerland:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cervelat

micwag··on Why Italy Fell Out of Love with Cilantro
> Yes, they can be substituted but they're definitely a staple in good German Hausmannskost. Maybe not so much in the South: Swabia subsists almost entirely on Spätzle noodles and Bavarians seem to prefer various kinds of Knödel.

While the classic northern "Salzkartoffeln" are basically non existent in Swabia, potatoes in general play a big role in traditional Swabian cuisine. Whether its "Schupfnudeln" (finger noodles), as salad, Knödel, fried potatoe slices, Hitzkuchen/Blootz/Dinnete (Pizza with potatoes instead of tomatoe/cheese), Kachelessen/Griebaschnecken/Schlanganger (various potatoe and milk dishes), Gaisburger Marsch (stew), "sour eggs" (potatoes and eggs in a vinegar sauce).

But unfortunately most of those dishes are not really cooked anymore. (For "sour eggs" thats a good thing, this tasteless sour graybrown dish can die in hell for all I care.)

micwag··on Apple enters the generative AI race
The article is from a non english speaking country. Siri was (and sometimes still is) really horrendous in some languages, so that might explain the trash talking.

For example I had the following happen till 2 years ago: "Siri, turn off the lights" "Do you mean here or in the bed room?" "Here" "Sorry, I can't do that"

So you always had to include the room with your command.

The most recent bug is Siri pretends to not know some people when calling, but will happily message them.

micwag··on ASML dethrones Applied Materials, becomes largest fab tool maker
Zeiss and ASML currently have no competitors in the EUV lithography space as everyone else dropped out. (There was a big switch from lenses to mirrors)

I won't rule out a direct competitor, but they have a substantial moat.

They face some pressure from indirect competition like Canon Nanoimprint though.

micwag··on ASML dethrones Applied Materials, becomes largest fab tool maker
That would only replace TMSC. Zeiss and ASML would be still in the supply chain.
micwag··on EU to hit Apple with first ever fine in €500M penalty over music streaming
Spotify and the iPhone were independently launched around the same time.

Spotify back then was developed as the answer against illegal alternatives.

micwag··on CNC lasers for cutting and engraving
I'm working in the laser marking/engraving field, we actually discussed G-code internally but in the end decided against it as it was not suitable for our product. (Too many laser parameter and "dynamic" stuff like QR codes)
micwag··on Spotify calls Apple's DMA compliance plan 'extortion''complete and total farce'
Apple pays out roughly the same percentage to developers as does Spotify to artists.

As Apple pays almost nothing to developer the DMA seems a step in the right direction.

micwag··on App store to be 'split in two' ahead of EU iPhone sideloading deadline: report
Apple probably will be able to continue to charge 99$/year for their developer kit.
micwag··on App store to be 'split in two' ahead of EU iPhone sideloading deadline: report
a) This is explicitly forbidden

b) Apple is free to act as payment provider, but can't force businesses to use it.

If they decide to do it anyway:

  In case a gatekeeper does not comply with the obligations laid out in the DMA, the Commission can impose fines up to 10% of the company's total worldwide turnover, which can go up to 20% in case of repeated infringement. In case of systematic infringements, the Commission is also empowered to adopt additional remedies such as obliging a gatekeeper to sell a business or parts of it, or banning the gatekeeper from acquiring additional services related to the systemic non-compliance.
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/QANDA_...

Apples iMessage is also currently evaluated. In a total coincidence Apple also announced recently that RCS support is coming.

micwag··on Farmland practices are driving bird population decline across Europe (2023)
Concrete is rarely used nowadays (at least in Germany).

Usually the metal profiles are just rammed into the ground, if the ground is too loose they are screwed in and gabions are used if they just need some weight. If none of those are possible then concrete is used.

micwag··on Volkswagen, Porsche, and Audi say they will use Tesla's EV charging plug
There is no mandated billing method, but the ability to pay without registering an account is mandated. Additionally every charger has a unique id with a QR code.

Usually you either just plug it in (first party charger) or just scan the QR code with your favorite charging app which will handles the billing (third party charger).

micwag··on The United Arab Emirates' takeover of African forests
None of the countries in the article were ever colonized by France.
micwag··on ASML names Christophe Fouquet as new CEO
There is definitely some patent, exclusivity agreements and protectionism going on. But the bigger factor is, that the semiconductor supply chain is very deep and development is VERY expensive and long. In addition to that there was a major switch from lenses to mirror in the lithography system, so everything is very new.

I know of multiple suppliers down the supply chain which had to invest billions and had to wait 10 years before they even saw a penny.

There is a reason why everybody else essentially gave up.

micwag··on Volvo delivers 74-tonne electric truck
Not quite a behemoth but there is already a 120 ton mining EV:

https://www.emining.ch/

micwag··on Croatia demolished houses of libertarian project “Liberland”, seized property
Technically it is a cross-border action, but neither Croatia nor Serbia are claiming the island so Croatia didn't cross into any other recognized country.

Furthermore international law differs from normal law as usually at least one party has tanks.

micwag··on Croatia demolished houses of libertarian project “Liberland”, seized property
That's only true for bigger changes, at least in europe borders are changing quite frequently on a microscopic level. For example the border between Switzerland and Germany changed by a couple of meters this year. The same happened with the German-Austrian and German-Czech(ian?) border in the last couple of years.

Germany has border "disagreements" with half of its neighbours. Some are bigger like lake constance (Switzerland&Austria) and the ems delta (Netherlands). Some are smaller like the Vennbahn (Belgium).

Some of Germanys border is also shared as a Condominium with its neighbours (Switzerland, Austria, Luxemburg).

And finally Denmark and Germany have a land border but not a sea border

micwag··on The Meltdown at CNN
> France 24 and Al Jazeera manage to do well with continuous non-partisan news.

Al Jazeera English might be somewhat non-partisan, but Al Jazeera Arabic is stupendously partisan.

micwag··on What Wikipedia Did
There is no "possibility of forgery", "questioned authenticity" or "not confirmed", the figures I mentioned are 100% badly photoshopped. But that article tries very hard to introduce a "maybe those numbers are real", e.g at the end:

> There is also the possibility that they are one hundred percent authentic. If so, Ukraine and its Western patrons may have more serious problems than a few leaked documents.

Again, the figures are badly photoshopped, they are one hundred percent NOT authentic.

There is also the following paragraph that tries to lend the photoshopped figures credibility:

> Perhaps the most notable piece of information contained in the leaked documents relates to military death tolls, with Ukrainian and Russian losses estimated at about a 4:1 ratio. According to one document, 71,500 Ukrainian troops have been killed in action. That figure is close to the 100,000 KIA’s cited by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a November 2022 speech, before her comments were retracted. It also tracks closely with statements by one of Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky’s top advisers, Mykhailo Podolyak, who told the BBC in June of last year that Ukraine was losing between 100 and 200 soldiers per day (200 deaths per day over the course of 370 days between the launch of Russia’s military operation and the date of the documents would total 74,000.)

micwag··on What Wikipedia Did
I try give every news outlet the chance to prove their merits. The linked article writes very detailed how their enemies have an agenda, but gets very small lipped why The GRAYZONE should be considered reputable.

So checked their articles and found this recent one about the US-Ukraine leak: https://thegrayzone.com/2023/04/07/leaked-documents-us-nato-...

"Neither the New York Times nor the “military analysts” it cited explain how the documents were altered, or why they have the appearance of tampering."

Thankfully they provide the leaked document (The black box "TOTAL ASSESSED LOSSES"): https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04...

And the numbers are VERY poorly photoshopped: The doctored text does not align with the rest. Character position, height and spacing suddenly change (look at the "71.5k" alone). The russian aircraft losses have a numbers photoshopped out (from "7x fighter/bomber; 8x rotary wing" to "7 fighter/bomber; 8 rotary wing".

So would agree with Wikipedia, that The GRAYZONE is NOT reliable.

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