ptaipale

39 ms·

331.
by ptaipale 8y ago
It works in highway traffic, it's not unusual in new cars where I live (Finland). Most cars are manual shift, almost all have cruise control, some of the cruise controls are adaptive. Of course, in city traffic the adaptiveness is not
332.
by ptaipale 8y ago
After training for some time, the handling of stickshift is not processed consciously by the brain, it's more like walking, which is actually quite impossible to do consciously. The same applies to pretty much everything in driving, of
333.
by ptaipale 8y ago
That is nice if you're riding bike on trails you can pick, for fun (thanks for hint). For those of us commuting to work, to move from place A to place B and back, that is unfortunately not always feasible...
334.
by ptaipale 8y ago
There was DAF, though. But it went out of car business and now makes trucks only.
335.
by ptaipale 8y ago
Another thing is that Netherlands (most of it) is flat. Much nicer to ride bike on even ground than where there are even small hills.
336.
by ptaipale 8y ago
I was less than 4 years old when the Biafra war ended, but it lived in public consciousness here longer due to a church [1] being built at the time, and some students spraying big red letters BIAFRA to the rock wall to protest church constr
337.
by ptaipale 8y ago
The article was American and focused somewhat on the Americas, although much of it could be generalized on other countries. But what aspect of the UK class system in particular do you see as not fitting what was written?
338.
by ptaipale 8y ago
Though here perhaps the "class" is not exactly the right word. To know etiquette is not quite the same as belonging to a social class. Question: do upper class Americans eat with fork in the left hand and knife in the right? Becau
339.
by ptaipale 8y ago
The joke's been around for a long time, I was not very old when first time hearing sarcastically "eat your plate empty, because if you don't, some kid in Biafra will starve".
340.
by ptaipale 8y ago
True enough, but having a history doesn't make one "high-class". I do know part of my genealogy up to a landed gentry nobleman who wreaked havoc in Germany and Prague in the 30-year war on behalf of the Swedish king, but stil
341.
by ptaipale 8y ago
That is true as well, including things like slavery, historical and recent immigration waves, and generally a rather different approach to social security, and much much more diversity.
342.
by ptaipale 8y ago
That experience is not restricted to "3rd world". I think what you describe could be simply called "class differences". Even what we now call 1st world countries had incredible poverty some 60 years back and it's no
343.
by ptaipale 8y ago
Even a smaller generational gap here: my father was born in 1920, my uncle in 1918, at time of civil war in my country (Finland). The family was not the poorest but getting food on the table was a concern. Boys went to work in the forest at
344.
by ptaipale 8y ago
Related: Rich Kids Study English "New data shows that students whose parents make less money pursue more “useful” subjects, such as math or physics." https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015&#x
345.
by ptaipale 8y ago
Gas, oil, coal plants fill in when solar and wind don't work. That - along with nuclear phase-out - is why there's lots of several new coal plants being built in Germany, for instance.
346.
by ptaipale 8y ago
The hungry and homeless generally don't involve in political violence. Terrorists arise from well-to-do middle class.
347.
by ptaipale 8y ago
Paper use is in decline in North America and West Europe. In China, it is on the rise.
348.
by ptaipale 8y ago
It's quite strange to complain about YouTube and call its front page" fake news. That's pretty much like blaming "television" is fake news. Youtube is a carrier, rather like UHF frequency is a band for transmitting
349.
by ptaipale 8y ago
Even if "patients" die, their friends and brothers don't, and the violence spreads. When looking at trends, murder rate is a better metric than counting violent crimes, because statistics for other violence are quite easily i
350.
by ptaipale 8y ago
I'd guess the definition goes along the lines "El Presidente does not like what someone said on this platform, so it is social media and banned". It'll be highly arbitrary.
351.
by ptaipale 8y ago
I don't know about this particular case, but there is the English euphemism "helping the police with their enquiries".
352.
by ptaipale 8y ago
I suppose he means things like G20 violence in Hamburg a year ago. That included e.g. trying to kill and harm police officers. https://www.dw.com/en/g20-violence-in-hamburg-german-leaders...
353.
by ptaipale 8y ago
Where I live, you can't really destroy a forest. You can hack it down and lay concrete over the ground; if you then leave it there, in a matter of decades or centuries it'll be a forest again, if you don't regularly weed it o
354.
by ptaipale 8y ago
BTW, elsewhere I just read that the amount of forests in England has now recovered above the levels recorded in Domesday Book (William Conqueror's land survey in 1086). Same's happening in many countries in Europe. I have a pictur
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by ptaipale 8y ago
Ah right. As probably most people have heard, we in Europe think that Americans are a bit silly to want such large vehicles. Driving an A class or 118 would be both more fun and use much less fuel than an SUV that you really only use on hig
356.
by ptaipale 8y ago
I thought it's the other way round - e.g. Mercedes A class and BMW 1 series are not even for sale in the US?
357.
by ptaipale 8y ago
True about hidden time fees, though if you don't depart from center and arrive at center (where train stations are), you'll also add substantial hidden time when travelling by train. I've got <20 minutes by car to airport,
358.
by ptaipale 8y ago
Off-topic, but Mercedes E class is not "entry level", it's mid of range for Mercedes.
359.
by ptaipale 8y ago
In fact many claim that harsher punishments don't work too well for violent offences. Violent people don't think of consequences. But for premeditated large-scale economic offences, they certainly work, because the punishment is
360.
by ptaipale 8y ago
Stalin's regime maintained its citizens in a state of fear and uncertainty to stay in power.

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