TimePencil

@ada

Methinks Zag was suggesting (possibly) that 'age verification' should be a *device* and *operating system* (& platform) feature that would be *inactive* by default.

In other words, there should be nothing for an adult (without kids) to do in order for their devices to function as they do now.

A parent would be required to activate a 'child lock' feature on a device before handing it to their kids.

Unfortunately, all governments are too chicken-shit scared to compel parents to do this small thing.

Governments *prefer* the option of compelling ALL users to provide 'age verification' (possibly Gov't issued ID) to the relevant platforms.

For the 'Liberals' this would be a natural extension of their right wing fascism.

For the Labor party, it's merely a reflection of their general incompetence.

@Zagorath

#auspol

@brucethemoose

Yeah, cool!

I know nothing about radioactive contamination in the environment.

I was merely commenting on the 'fearmongering' aspect.

It should (hopefully) be uncommon to see 'fearmongering' or 'click bait' from The Guardian, but everyone should be alert to 'alarmist' language.

The Guardian was perhaps unclear that:
Some sites have 4x the 'nominal background radiation', and
Some sites have up to 4500x the 'nominal background radiation'.

But, I don't think The Guardian was 'fearmongering'...
😁

I'm going to continue to stay away from all radioactive sources while preparing my banana smoothies on a granite bench top, and smoking the odd cigarette!

I couldn't possibly be exposed to any form of radiation from those activities!
☢️

@brucethemoose

Well, not quite fearmongering but certainly an unclear sentence that was derived from the study's abstract.

Multiple sites were tested, and the range of contamination across those sites was "four to 4,500 times higher in the Montebello Islands than the WA coastline..."

In short, 'bad' in some places, 'very, very bad' in others.

@mio

@princessnorah

You said, "Oh…OH!"

Yes, precisely. That is how one may express, in word form, the vocal utterances of a user of such objects at the culmination or 'climax' of the experience.

Well... so I've heard...

@princessnorah

No, nothing wrong.

However, due to their shape, there is the delightful possibility of the misapplication of said vegetables as a particular variety of adult toy.

(Everyone's mind went there... didn't it? Didn't it?)

@DiaDeLosMuertos

@princessnorah

No. Not really.

If 'crap' is made, it won't be sold unless people wish to buy 'crap'.

My point is that the quality of goods made in China has got *nothing* to do with racism and *everything* to do with buyers' price expectations, buyers' notions of acceptable quality, and market forces.

In this instance, the buyer (not the OP) 'took a chance' with a cheaper product which failed immediately. If sufficient buyers of this product demand and obtain refunds, the manufacturer would be forced to either stop making them or possibly increase their unit price with a concomitant increase in quality.

The reason that smartphones of high quality come out of China is because that is what is demanded by the buyers and with regard to the price they are willing to pay.

@princessnorah

China does make a LOT of really low quality goods. However...
... those goods are made to the quality specified by the importer / wholesaler / buyer...
... because 'cheap' goods are often preferred over 'more expensive but higher quality' goods...
... by the people who buy them.

Which is probably what happened in this case!

I *think* that most Ming dynasty vases are still 'under warranty'!

@DiaDeLosMuertos

@ryannathans

Yeah, my parents purchased a Miele.

M&D initially wanted to use the Miele app to control the washing machine.

I explained that having an IoT device connected to the same network on which they performed their internet banking was a *bad* idea. (Would Miele ever bother to patch flaws in the firmware?)

Plus, they'd be telling Miele where they lived, how often, and how, they used the machine as well as probably telling Miele their WiFi password.

I *think* that Miele's power and water consumption algorithms use the same mathematical formulae as Douglas Adams' 'bistromaths'.

@ryannathans

That sounds like a Miele. Am I right?

The same 'German efficiency' as VW.

@Davriellelouna

@zero_gravitas

Appreciable difference? Not really. But a 'calculable' difference. Sure!

However, be sure to appreciate the HUGE difference of the landmasses in the northern and southern hemispheres.

The primary way heat "gets into" our atmosphere is via re-radiation from the "ground".

Compare the amount of "ground" between N45° and the North Pole, with that of the amount of "ocean" between S45° and the South Pole.

At perihelion (around 4th Jan.) the southern hemisphere is in summertime, but the southern oceans easily absorb any extra solar energy by being 'a little bit closer to the sun'. It's roughly equivalent to having the energy used by an extra 5000 cars arrive as solar radiation... and for *most* of that solar energy be absorbed by the ocean.

The tiny (almost insignificant) effect the earth's orbital eccentricity has on weather and climate is FAR less than that of our planet's axial tilt and the position of our continental land masses.

But, sure, if some researchers wish to tweak the underlying data used for the Milankovitch cycles, then, fine.

But our world is still on fire, and our children's future will be ashes unless we act now.

@Tenderizer

Ummm...
"No, it’s not the angle."
Wrong. Axial tilt IS what causes our seasons, NOT the distance from the sun.

Speaking of the sun, "The sun’s orbit isn’t exactly symetrical..."

The sun's orbit? Around what? The centre of the Milky Way?

@zero_gravitas

@Nath

Some more "research" materials regarding unrecognised "micronations":
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micronation

As usual, Australia punches above its weight in this regard...

@Letstakealook