Not even a majority of people who voted. A majority means >50%.

Trump received a plurality of voters who voted. Not a majority.

A plurality did not.

~77 milion out of 265 million - Trump

~75 million out of 265 million - Harris

~113 million out of 265 million - Nether

Getting a plurality of votes cast =/= a plurality of voters

It’s how fascism has risen in the past as well. Chasing a minority of voters because they can win an election should be an alarm bell.

Every democratic system should engage a high turnout and require a majority, not just a plurality.

80% turnout should be a norm.

Personally I am in favour of mandatory voting, with the caveat that the bottom of the ballot should have a “none of the above” option. Australia gets a ~90% turnout.

Single Transferable Vote is the best election method as it avoids wasted votes in multi party democracies.

Every android kernel takes Linux and makes it closed source when the code is included to make it work with the hardware.

Since they got rid of the headphone jack and started selling disposable Bluetooth earphones I don’t pay any attention to fairphone.

It’s not just the headphone jack quality has plummeted since the 3, yes you can get security updates but the warranty returns mean you’re probably putting more into landfill than buying a Motorola every 2 years.

Real complaint.

This happened with appliances. They ended up with the silly A++++ ratings added in 2010 as otherwise everything would be an A.

In 2021 they decided to redefine grades instead. A fridge at A+++ became a C. A became the top grade again.

It’s also worth noting that as they push the whole scale and G into being more efficient that essentially bans products that can’t achieve a rating.

if everything becomes an A the system has worked and increased the efficiency across the market. They’ll adjust the goals every 5 to 10 years.

The EU battery life measure is going to be the most interesting battle ground in my opinion. “All day battery life” will have a measured metric in hours.

If the EU have managed to make that metric representative of an amount of screen time in a busy day it could become the first thing consumers look at. Or at least a deal breaker when that number is too low.

Women exist and are equal to men in artistic spheres. There is no reason they can’t compete for the same award.

The need for separate recognition of men and women implies separate standards for men and women.

Amazon had their walk in walk out stores.

AI was meant to track what you put in the basket and charge you without you going through checkout.

They launched as an AI store.

Humans were looking at cases and were just meant to be “error correction”.

They were doing 80% of the work of tracking the images and barcodes into actual products.

Amazon closed the store.

Lots of “AI” systems are currently in this state. A computer can do the easy 10 to 20% of the job. Humans are doing the rest.

Venture capital are just investing in anything that looks like it’s working on “AI”. Even when it’s currently taking more human labour than the work did previously.

Companies are launching now as “AI” gambling on getting that percentage up otherwise they end up late to market. Lots will fail to actually use AI and probably fold.

I know everything I need to know about heat pumps.

I live in a flat. I am literally not allowed to install anything outside for a proper split.

There is no location in my small property where noise would not disturb sleep or the general enjoyment of being here. So even with permission an air source pump is not viable.

I’d need permission to install a ground source unit outside which wouldn’t be impossible.

But then it’s likely to be got the whole building as that would be the most efficient.

I’m not sharing an energy bill for heating with my neighbours. My consumption is low.

There are millions like me in this country.

What I would install is an electric boiler. Essentially inductive or resistive heat.

Which is half as efficient as a heat pump. But I’d have control of my bill and with the consumption for a single person flat the long term expense of installing and maintaining a heat pump eat into any efficiency savings they have.

The only thing stopping me is gas is cheaper per kW because we’re burning gas to make electricity at a ~45% efficiency compared to a 90% efficiency of piping it here to be turned directly into heat.

Cut fossil fuels out of the electricity supply. Then I’ll install an electric boiler. Until then I’ll burn gas more efficiently here.

Heat pumps work for those with outside space. Those who have luxuries.

Electric cars work for those with driveways. More outside space. More luxury.

I could buy into that luxury soon enough. I will upgrade my property at some point. But it’s not going to solve any climate change issues unless they solve the issue for everyone, not just the middle class and upwards.

The government need to stop burning gas for electricity. When they do I’ll probably be paying more for energy, but the poorest can use the same infrastructure and be subsidised.

Renewables, grid storage, reasonably priced charging with on street chargers near everyone’s homes. We’ll all be able to go carbon free.

Heat pumps are part of the solution, but really they’re the smallest part. They only offer an efficiency saving over resistive heating. The cost is noise pollution, maintenance cost, space, and complexity.

I don’t take the government’s climate targets seriously when heat pumps are their main policy.

The water system is a business. The labs are businesses. A competent business shuttering when the market shrinks to avoid making a loss is an effect of Brexit.

The fact our water infrastructure is run as a business is an effect of Thatcher selling it.

We need to vote for a government to reverse Brexit eventually. But we’re also still waiting 35 years to reverse the privatisation of the 80s.

The problem with voting for destructive Conservative governments is it costs a lot of money to replace the things they’ve given away or destroyed.

Honestly this isn’t hard.

Businesses plan more than a year in advance.

These labs carried on as long as they could make a profit without significant maintenance cycle costs.

Then they look at their market and whether the next cycle is worth the investment.

If we were in the EU they’d be looking into claiming that large market in 2026, instead they’re shuttering the business before it starts making a loss.

They’re looking at 5, 10, and 25 year profitability. You’re looking at a 1 year plan.

This is why politicians and their billionaire donors are so easily able to trick you into voting like an idiot. You choose not to think.

People still want more than 12 thousand a year.

So anyone you like, but the price for keeping someone turning up to any menial working environments raises a lot.

Plumbing is already a skilled trade, there will be no shortage of plumbers. They will work for the money. Of course you might find they’ll walk more easily if treated with disrespect. Honestly that’ll happen with a good plumber now.

The same will happen to all jobs. You can’t yell at anyone anymore or you’ll be refused service.

If no one had to be there the worst customers who ruin service work suddenly have to behave like decent human beings all the time. Or they don’t get the privilege of being a customer.

It might have lost the party the election

But the rich party donors don’t actually mind their party losing as long as they also control the second party well enough to avoid regulations, taxes, or any modicum of responsibility towards society.

FPTP isn’t about which party wins, it’s about reducing the power of the electorate far enough that change only happens with the content of the rich.

Sure and cops can’t lie about being a cop.

Definitely real rules.

Due to a quirk of unifying 2 standards, Europe and the UK, the range is 216.2 volts to 253.0 volts.

That encompasses infrastructure built to a tighter tolerance around 220V in Europe and infrastructure built to a tighter tolerance around 240V in the UK (and Australia).

We expect 3150W out of a kettle most of the time. Our heaters will say 3kW.

Usually you’ll find a few volts over 240 out of our outlets and that’s to design spec.

And Hollywood profits aren’t from movies, honestly you’ve fallen for basic accounting tricks…

A franchise that doesn’t make money devalues the retail space. McDonald’s model links rents to sales so they take maximum value at all times.

Royalty fee: 4% of gross revenues

Brand marketing and promotion fee: 4% of gross revenues

Location rent: Unlike most other franchises, McDonald’s owns the land and buildings at its locations and franchisees pay rent that can be based on a percentage of sales or as a fixed amount. Percentage rents are 31.75% of sales. Fixed rents are typically £100,000 to £225,000 per month.

So Corporately it looks like they make their money from rent. But that rent is directly linked to sales and labour in most cases.

Without sales they don’t get rent unless they’ve agreed a fixed rent and that’s increasingly rare. Usually only the highest value sites.

The real estate value of the property is linked to business revenue as well. If a franchise fails and doesn’t get another investor then the empty building is worth a lot less.

By picking McDonald’s you’re actually about as wrong as possible. Everything of value is linked back to labour, even the value of the land.

It might work differently in other countries but I doubt it. Economics work the same everywhere and McDonalds didn’t like to standardise when they find a winning model for themselves.

Yes. If you have a half full battery it’s at 50% full.

If the charge goes up by 50% you get a 75% full battery.

If the charge goes up by 50 percentage points it goes up to 100%

It remains to be seen what he’s actually done to benefit anyone who gave him anything.

And he stopped accepting them once he entered the office. We found out because he told us about it all and the mistake of accepting some gifts a bit too late.

With the only arguable benefits being publicity for the brand it’s not nothing but it really is daft the perspective tricks that have been played with that particular molehill. It’s the press that actually gave the gifters the benefits, not any actions by Starner himself.

Being given something isn’t proof of being bought. Acting for the person who gave you something is.

I predict that as the COVID era corruption comes to light his previous job will result in him prosecuting and recovering quite a lot of public money. Sadly I don’t think he will get a result of jail time for anyone. The laws just aren’t in place for that and he can’t get them made retrospectively.

A UK constitution would be very interesting. But I’d just settle for some actual laws specifically against corruption rather than relying on MPs following conventions and being honourable.

The shocking thing is that hundreds of millions of pounds worth of corruption through the “fast lane” wasn’t illegal to do. We’ll only be able to recoup from the companies who actually didn’t deliver their contracts.

He’s a prosecutor who apparently can’t be bought.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/feb/13/tax-authorities-should-prosecute-evaders-keir-starmer

That’s far more dangerous to a billionaire than a firebrand.

If Starner only delivers a non-corrupt legal system it’ll be an incredible win for the Country. But I do think he needs 10 years in office so he should focus on actually winning the next election.

Look into the maintenance costs of Germany’s 1970s reactors before calling an entire nation brain dead.

The cost of nuclear today is high and continues for thousands of years. Cost is the entire problem.

Nuclear power isn’t green, it’s just at the beginning of the cycle where it’s waste is seen as a small problem because there isn’t a lot of it. Like fossil fuels were a century ago.

Unfortunately we don’t have a lot of suitable places to put nuclear waste so the small amount we already have is already causing problems in Europe. The US being a bigger place may get to that point a little later than us. But nuclear waste stores are already oversubscribed in the UK, Germany, and France.

Nuclear power is short sighted.

The money spent should be on renewables and grid storage. Then more efficient heating and insulation.

Not nuclear, not carbon capture.

Proponents of nuclear power never look at the total lifecycle cost of a reactor. In fact it’s usually deliberately hidden.

Nuclear reactors have always been and will always be military technology. They should be funded as military spending.

By all means put a price on carbon so they can get a better price on energy but the military should be funding the reactors they need and dealing with the waste out of their budgets.