Because “double insulation” is much more common here and is deemed sufficient enough. A/Cs and fridges are usually the only appliances which needs a ground connection. For those, we have sockets that has a hidden screw-in ground tap.
I can still find unsafe/bothersome exceptions though. For example, a lot of rice cookers doesn’t really seem to be “double insulated” but they still have two-pronged plugs. Another is custom-built PCs. You basically need to strategically place your PC near a socket which you usually use for your A/C just to have that ground connection.
Saves a lot of space too. One thing that’s bothered me with most popular socket variants is how wide their power strips usually become.
I think the Italian one is the most practical variant that unfortunately isn’t as ubiquitous. It (1) occupies less space, (2) reversible, (3) sticks to the wall more firmly unlike the flat-pronged ones in North America.
Similar thing is happening here in Philippines. The government basically gave tax breaks to companies who will utilize their office spaces in city centers. To no one's surprise, most of the local companies are now forcing return-to-office. The government justification is: people spend more when they regularly go the the office thus, stimulating the economy.
Maybe it's an overstatement but I personally feel like I'm in Panopticon when working in open offices. I do not experience the same feeling in co-working spaces and coffee shops though. It just feels more productive to work with strangers in the same room who don't care about what you're working on but are aware that you need to get stuff done. On the other end of the spectrum, work-from-home setups just feels very solitary and distractions are just more prevalent.
I think the smart thing to do now is to buy products with the fewest features as possible and has decoupled components like easily replaceable batteries. I've noticed that the dumber the device is, the longer it usually lasts. I'd rather buy an analog watch than a smartwatch. I'd rather have a dumb TV than a smart TV. I'd rather have a mouse with hot swappable batteries than one with a built-in charger.
> people are afraid of data collection now in a way they weren't in 2006
I disagree with this one. They might be afraid of sharing their data explicitly i.e. sharing everything happening to them for everyone to see (even strangers). The trend now is sharing content to people they only have very close relationships with. But them being afraid of big tech collecting and analyzing their data? I don't think so.
I hate to say this but Google, particularly YouTube, has the best "discovery engine" in my experience. I'm a fan of long-form content so that must be the primary reason why I prefer it over other platforms.
I'm not sure if there's any study to back this up but aren't introverts generally more sensitive to social cues? As an introvert myself, we have similar frustrations. In-person communication is just more effective in some cases.
A lot of these arguments about Netflix's decline has been really Western-centric. I'm from Southeast Asia and the Netflix's catalog of films/shows from Asia is still unbeatable by other streaming platforms.
I personally think that it's very unlikely that Meta will die anytime soon just because they make mediocre products. Look at Microsoft. Windows is still mediocre but it still sells albeit indirectly. Meta is driven by data and social connections, not by products. As long as they have a foothold on those, the company would survive.
This is kind of depressing. I'm in computer engineering but I have a few friends in electrical engineering. I could really see that their workload is so much heavier and much more relevant to society than ours but the pay gap is just ridiculous.
Nope. EEs still earn relatively less here despite electrical and infrastructure projects in general not slowing down yet. You might think that since we're still in a developing economy, careers in formal engineering should pay more but in reality, compared to the tech sector, the pay is still abysmal.
Anyone else here prefer sitting on the floor instead? It's a common practice here in Asia. Maybe it's just me but I experience less frequent back pain when sitting on a floor compared to sitting on a chair. One reason I posit is I shift my body more frequently when sitting on the floor. A chair (even an ergonomic one) seem to encourage you to stay in one position for a long time.
I'm surprised too and a lot of their subscriptions seem to fall under the category of leisure/entertainment. Are people really that bored to spend that much on these services. It's even cheaper to start a new hobby.
Been monitoring my sleep the past few days and I find it weird that I always wake up after about 6 hours. On some days, I tried to go back to sleep to get that full 8 hours but I still don't feel fully energized throughout the day. Something that helps me maintain that energy though is a half hour nap in the middle of the day (or night since I work night shifts).
Another reason could be the dependence of these Bitcoin transactions on an Internet connection. I'm not sure how Chivo works but if you need a smartphone readily connected to the Internet just to proceed with simple payments, then that's already a significant friction for most users.
It's a similar scenario here in my home country which is also considered as having a developing economy. Not a lot of people here have Bitcoin wallets but digital wallets (which are not stored in immutable ledgers) are already gaining some popularity. More than half of young adults here probably have at least one digital wallet. However, it's still not a viable substitute for cash transactions because of that Internet connection requirement barrier. And since prepaid is more popular than postpaid mobile data plans, a lot of users see it as just an unnecessary additional cost. Actually, some might even see it as less convenient as digital wallet transactions are usually riddled with QR code scan failures and sometimes, sluggish loading times.
Us in the tropical region, we are usually fine around the low-30s and even higher as long as there's fans. Most of the public schools in our country have ceiling fans and large open windows so that air could circulate better. I blame Westerners' addiction to air-conditioning for their low tolerance in temperature (which is by the way, further fueling the climate crisis).
I can't find the whole article but are the test subjects all from America who's experienced regular winters their whole lives? If that's the case, isn't the data going to be skewed to that cluster?
The answer's pretty obvious: Apple just like dumbing down their devices and people would still flock to their products because buyers are inherently stupid. Apple users seem to follow this mindset that just because they paid a premium price for their phones, it's a more solid and secure product (it is not). My mother has an iPhone and you'd be surprised how she'll assume it's a better phone even though she doesn't even know what half of the buttons in the Control Center does. The same goes for browsers in iOS. Most users would just outright defend Apple for their actions because it aligns with their beliefs that it is a better security model and has better UX (of course in a layman's jargon). When you ask them how is that so, most of them couldn't point out how they got to that conclusion.
I wish more apartments were built like this. There's somewhat a construction boom in my country and a lot of residential spaces seem to try to be as beautiful (and modern) as possible to drive up prices. In the end, most units end up looking the same and quite restrictive. As a person who does DIY projects, it's very hard to fully maximize a space built like it's meant for a showroom.