NO. Not a fan of the current or former CCP or the former Soviet Union

What is varishangout…net? Initially read it as yarishangout.net and wondered why a space for Toyota Yaris owners got defedded. Also wondering how stereophonic.space got defedded?

First time I landed in Australia on the Gold Coast I followeed a bin chicken for 20 minutes with a camera trying to get the perfect picture like it was some rare exotic bird. I’m sure the locals were sremoveding or openly laughing behind my back, I dont blame them

We dont have much in the way of animals but we have birds. The Tui is common in suburban gardens here, but they are beautiful and even as a local I still like seeing them. Pukekos are everywhere but for those from the UK/ Europe/ USA they’re prett exotic. Down South, Wekas are absolutely everywhere outside the cities and will walk right into people’s homes - I once experienced coitus interruptus when a Weka jumped up on the bed I was in with a guy.

When I was in South Africa I was super excited to see baboons, locally considered something of a nuisance. And in Queensland, Australia, the first time I saw an Australian white ibis, locally known as a bin chicken, the locals must have been very amused to see me chasing it with a camera getting photos

I will still look for a jack on my next phone, current Samsung has one, will likely buy another so I will probably buy top of their entry range

Glycine

Thanks for this tip, I dont have trouble sleeping generally but my partner does, will look into this for him

An AI that can turn YouTube videos into written articles? Take My Money! I have been wanting this for a long time, I far far prefer stuff in writing to videos, I dont take information from audio/video anything like as well

Same here. Whatever I have now is more than good enough. What I had before was good enough too

My last phone upgrade was about four years ago (Nokia 6 to Samsung A31) and that was only to try and get YouTube Music’s shitty app to work properly (spoiler : it didnt). Broke the screen on it dropping it while trying to put a mask on, got that fixed (that was over two years ago). Its still going, and will keep it until it dies

I dont upgrade my phone because I’m interested in upgrading, I upgrade when I have to

A fruitless hot cross bun is like a sexless marriage - I dont see the point

Cheese and onions in a hot cross bun - that is an Abomination before God

I put the heaviest and least breakable things first in line so they end up at the bottom of the bag(s). Canned food, stuff in plastic bottles, then all the cold/ frozen stuff altogether, light and delicate things like bread, chips etc last

I joined on here a bit over 9 months ago after I was permabanned from reddit for ??? reason after I posted a Google Streetview link of a layby. This happened to coincide with the third party API fuckup and several other irrational and counterproductive changes so I arrived here right in the middle of a period of huge growth. I havent left since then per se but have had periods of reduced activity. Have started another profile on reddit (which was stupidly easy) as there are still a number of niche communities there that have no activity on their equivalent communities here. Am settled, and will likely gradually spend more time here as reddit management continue to find more feet to shoot themselves in

That seems reasonable, especially if it has a proven track record. And the cracking down on WFH is SO stupid, as it has multiple benefits far beyond just allowing those are arent 100% well to WFH, it reduces traffic and allows us breathing space to upgrade road and public transport infrastructure - Auckland would be in permanent gridlock by now if it wasnt for WFH

This thing of people running out of sick days just enrages me when there is an easy solution at hand - let those who have more sick leave then they can possibly use give it to those in need. I have currently got 46 days stored up, out of a maximum of 50, and in a few months I will be given my annual allocation of ten days, most of which will just spill over the top of the pot cos I cant have more than 50. I would love to be able to just give someone in OP’s situation 10-20 days, its not like I can ever see myself using them

Some companies here do have a provision for this, I recall reading about an insurance company that lets employees like me donate some of their sick leave into a pool into which those in need can draw on when they run out. Great way to do it, everybody wins

This Stihl Vacuum shredder/blower. Like a leafblower, but instead of just blowing the leaves pointlessly around it sucks them up, shreds them a bit and dumps them in a big bag - and its electric. Terrific piece of kit, quiet and effective and oh so satisfying to use, I go over the driveway and garden with it every day or two (we have a lot of trees surrounding our place which constantly drop masses of leaves)

This! I remember putting one on a site I built way back then

Yes, we’ve got an Epson Ecotank too, its been great, and super economical on ink. Bought in the first covid lockdown when our HP shat the bed, still going strong. And its not made in China so another plus

How did this ballroom get hired at such short notice?

Well I upvoted because this is an excellent question that has applications and relevance far beyond just the current Hamas atrocities.

Facing up to and dealing with the fact that a small percentage of any population is psychopathic (which is a rough clinical descriptor/ analogue for what the man in the street would call evil -lacking in conscience, empathy or morality) is something we do not do well, at least in the Western world, and it is something which we do need to grapple with. And when evil men gain power and set the social and cultural norms - as in 1930’s Germany - the larger population can be persuaded or at least coerced into doing evil. We’ve seen this before, from the Armenian genocide, the Nazi regime, Rwanda and now this

That is a fantastic idea. America has such a terrible health system