Looks like Japan. Any GeoGuessrs know where?

I bought a OnePlus for this reason, since it was one of the only physical dual SIM options available here in the North American market

Username checks out

¯\_ (ツ)_/¯ That’s what the book uses for J

Sevenk

From the book:

A is for Aisle

B is for Bdellium

C is for Czar

D is for Djibouti

E is for Ewe

F is not for Photo, phlegm, phooey, or phone

G is for Gnocchi

H is for Heir

I is not for Eye

J is for Jai Alai

K is for Knight

L is not for Elle

M is Mnemonic

N is not for Knot

O is for Ouija

P is for Pterodactyl

Q is for Quinoa

R is not for Are

S is for Seas

T is for Tsunami

U is not for You

V is for Five

W is Wren

X is for Xylophone

Y is not for Why

Z is for Zhivago

The Owl House: it deals with a teenage girl who gets stuck in a world of magic, and explores being an outcast, found family, LGBTQ+ relationships, bullying, and underdogs who save the day. Devastated that Season 3 didn’t get to get fleshed out, but the creators did the best with the constraints the network placed on them. Super wholesome, 10/10 no notes.

Honourable shout out to Gravity Falls as well!

Less wholesome but still great:

Carmen Sandiego (2019): it is centred around an antihero who escapes the clutches of a criminal empire and uses their teachings to take them down. It involves geography, sensitivity of cultural norms and how they differ, found family, and drawing the distinction between intent and action to determine when it’s justifiable to do things that are viewed negatively but for the right reasons. Lots of flawed characters, but nonetheless rather unique in that sense.

So it is not just “so stupid design” that “we don’t even feel devices are 10x faster than 15 years ago”, but deliberate design to use the hardware capabilities for the sake of other people’s computers.

To my limited understanding, better use of hardware requires both some level of standardization of hardware and better optimized software, with lower level programming languages if possible. Vibe coded Electron apps are never going to be as well optimized as something made to run a particular chipset. But how do we accomplish that when most programming is being done on high level programming languages? It seems that the industry has prioritized human readable code and improved UX over hardware efficiency, which at a surface level isn’t the worst trade-off.

I ultimately agree with this vision, and it’s a serious problem I’ve contemplated as well. That said, what’s the right balance between more efficient, repairable hardware and accessible, more readable code?

The ATT post-3G sunset compatibility list linked above often includes only US ATT-locked versions of phones, even when other carrier variants exist. Look at all the older Samsungs that only take the GxxxA variant when GxxxU and U1 devices exist that are carrier unlocked and have all the same bands. In the case of the OnePlus 6T, only the T-Mobile version is ‘supported,’ when the unlocked version is the same in all other markets (including the US). I, too, have a lot of beef with this setup. For whatever reason, ROW Samsung Galaxy S10s (G973F) are supported. Go figure ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

If you don’t have a particularly large collection, use yt-dl to get audio files and store them locally on your devices (or possibly on an SD card if your phone still supports one)

It’s Win + Shift + F23

Sounds like something a food truck vendor selling spicy shawarmas would say.

If one delivery truck is making 100+ deliveries a day, it should be partly or fully eliminating dozens of vehicle trips. Even if that truck pollutes more than the typical car, I’m sure the decrease in vehicle miles traveled more than compensates for it.

Is there a place you could live that has half-decent biking infrastructure and groceries within a few miles? An electric cargo bike or even mobility scooter could handle those trips. While a good one may cost a few grand, that’s still cheaper than operating a car for a few months.

We went involuntarily car-free for a month after a heavy rain flooded my family’s car. It was much more manageable than expected, due to both the walkability of our suburban neighbourhood and commutes that aligned with nearby bus routes. But if we lived even 1km further from the bus stops, it would have been unpleasant. The alternatives to driving need to exist with reasonable frequency before more suburbanites consider ditching their cars. But I also believe that people need to be receptive to trying something different that may not always be as comfortable as getting into a climate controlled, sound insulated private box to get around.

Despite how close we are to amenities, almost everyone drives to the grocery stores or to work regardless of age or physical health. One factor is 30+ minute bus headways even at peak times. Another is that 2+ buses are needed to get to the nearest commuter rail station, which has free parking and again 30+ minute headways. So to make it to the station on time, people just choose to drive there. That lack of integration with regional rail schedules is another thing that may be limiting bus ridership. An interim solution to low built densities affecting bus routes is more bike infrastructure that is transit compatible, like bike racks at bus stops instead of awkwardly using utility poles. (Also, why are we not allowed to use both bus bike rack slots when they clearly have the space for it? It seems asinine.)

While we are not really a car-lite household, many grocery and commuting trips have been replaced by transit. I realize there’s a degree of discomfort that comes with a change in travel patterns when the alternatives are not as maturely developed. Waiting 30 minutes for a bus or walking 20 minutes to another bus route because the last bus came early can be unpleasant, but on the flip side, the ride itself unlocks the ability to relax or get work done that driving does not permit. Walking or biking to the grocery store can be a workout on the way back, but it’s free cardio through ‘the gym of life,’ as Jason Slaughter of Not Just Bikes would say. We need to be okay with some discomfort before ridership can increase enough to improve transit frequencies. Or, you know, hope that 40% increases in gas prices in 2 weeks is enough of a price shock that people start embracing the alternatives on their own accord.

I used to have an X1 Carbon 1st Gen, and the battery life was about 2 hours at the time. That wasn’t enough for my use case, so I removed the screws, carry a second battery, and would swap it as needed. Always surprised people around me, casually ripping open the palm rest to swap the battery.

Allegedly over $38.4 trillion (as of December 2025)

Blank Space

Fun fact: Linus Torvalds is a Swedish-speaking Finn

I’m a fan of referring to them as beg buttons, a term that I was introduced to through Not Just Bikes on YouTube

On that note, are em dashes and en dashes identical in monospace fonts, if every letter is the same width?

Edit: I tested this on a few monospace fonts, and they have a character for en dashes but not em dashes