digdilem

joined 1 year ago
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[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 2 points 1 year ago

But it does matter. Maybe not to you directly, but the January 6th treason attack was a direct result of his influence. Obviously people who follow him are massive bell ends, but they still matter and they still vote. America's democracy is far from perfect, and has definitely struggled to cope over the past few years, but it put him in the most powerful position in the world for four years and despite all the evidence, enough people are still supporting him that a second term still can't be ruled out.

It beggars belief, it really does, but you really should care about it and a single person being a martyr has historically changed the world.

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 1 points 1 year ago

He's hardly the first rich American to escape justice if he continues to do so. Rich folk in America have literally gotten away with murder. (OJ for one)

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 23 points 1 year ago (12 children)

Those fines are insultingly small. But putting him in jail would only make him more of a martyr. The law is still struggling to cope with this man.

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Isn't humanity itself a damaging invasive species?

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 3 points 1 year ago

Why does America have so many really old politicians?

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 1 points 1 year ago

I deleted my 11yr high karma account on 1st July. I had another before that which was a couple of years or so old.

I did it in protest but as an interesting side effect, my mental health has improved slightly. Guess actively engaging with toxicity does have an effect.

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 19 points 1 year ago (2 children)

As someone who was working in IT support at the time - YAY! NO MORE FUCKING TRUMPET WINSOCK!

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk -3 points 1 year ago

Exactly. It exposes the bias in the headline wording designed to trigger a reaction because this is Amazon, but companies move all the time, and a percentage of the workforce will always prefer not uprooting themselves, no matter how good or bad their employer.

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 35 points 1 year ago (3 children)

"independent" - Is it though?

Redhat are the major sponsors of Fedora, much as they sponsored Centos before taking it over and killing it in classic "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish".

I have doubts about the future of the entire EL ecosphere - I know not many enterprise level organisations are investing deeply into it right now, whether that's with RHEL or a rebuild. Too much doubt about Redhat's intentions with RHEL and the future of it.

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Have you checked syslog and apts logs?

Also, simply uninstalling and reinstalling Firefox shouldn't lose all your settings. Silly question, but are you sure you're the same local user? Also, Firefox syncs this stuff so all sounds odd.

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A correct and helpful answer. HA is phenomenal, although some report the learning curve is steep - it's totally worth it.

I use it with lots of different vendors and it consolidates and coordinates everything between everything else.

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 1 points 1 year ago

Can't we have a new game instead please?

 

A random thought I had. I think the answer is no, but I'm not that certain. Convince me please.

 

(Not my pic, just thought it was awesome)

 

"Long Way Round" was what made me want a motorbike, and specifically a BMW GS. In my mid 40s and facing a mid life crisis, I decided to do bikes.

I passed my CBT (Uk basic test), bought a £300 chinese 125 and rode through the winter to get some miles in. Then booked the DAS test (same as the EU bike test - it's tough) and then went to a bike showroom and ended up buying a high-mileage 2004 BMW R1200GS with full luggage - even before I passed my test. Luckily I did pass and loved riding it.

But as I grew in experience, I began to think that it might not be the bike for me.

It was complicated. First the ABS pump died, and there's lots of horror stories about that. It knocked my confidence back a bit (as it died it fought back, releasing brakes at the wrong time, and pulsing heavily on corners. ) I had that bypassed, and the brakes were brilliant after that. But I lived in fear of further problems. Clutch slipping? Oh no, that needs the bike splitting in half to replace! Rear bearing feel a bit sloppy? That needs a week in the workshop too. The alternator did seize, and I managed to replace that myself quite cheaply, but it was a big thing for me to do - I'm no mechanic.

But the main problem I had was - it's too damned big and too damned heavy. I lived in fear of riding down a narrow lane and meeting a tractor. Trying to turn that lump around by myself downhill gave me sleepless nights. (Don't tell me I could just spin the back wheel or pivot on the sidestand, I'm not that good a rider and these lanes have grass in the middle)

Then I saw the Royal Enfield Himalayan and loved its looks. I went to the local dealer and did a test ride. It was everything the GS was not - light (it's not actually that light, but by comparison), very nimble and flickable, and is superb off road even on the stock tyres. Turning into my road there's a patch of gravel that always made the GS slide the front wheel and tighten my sphincter. The Himmi doesn't even notice it. I found myself driving up the middle bit of the lanes, full of mud and stones.The Enfield finds grip EVERYWHERE. So I rode back to the dealer and said "When can I have one?" "Three days if you pick a colour we've got in stock". "Good, let's do that then."

I've owned the Himalayan for a little over three months. I've put a thousand miles on it - the average annual mileage I put on the GS in the past four years. I did the first service, I adjusted the valves. I enjoy maintaining it, working on it. It's simple honest engineering that's designed to do a job.

I'm now searching out green lanes and exploring my local county as much as I can, really enjoying the simple pleasure of just riding along roads without a destination in mind. "Oh, that looks like an interesting road, let's go there"

So the GS goes on ebay and I've just loaded it into a van to go to its next owner. I hope they enjoy it, it really is a nice bike. On the motorway it's excellent, and the power for overtaking is superb. But I've often felt like I had to apologise to it for not being a better rider. I've been scared of it several times, I've never even pinned the throttle back all the way, and been startled by corners coming up way faster than I expected. I never once went off road because I think that to handle that much weight and power away from the tarmac, you need to be a very good rider.

There's little comparison between the two bikes. The himalayan is a little tractor that will go absolutely anywhere, and it gives back a huge amount of confidence to the rider.

The GS is a big, powerful German who wants to run up every hill and is disappointed if you don't want to just nip across two countries and be back in time for tea. The Himalayan is a big friendly dog that is your best childhood friend and wants to do whatever you want to. It doesn't judge you and it doesn't feel bad if you just want to ride at 20mph along Devon lanes for an hour or two.

For me, the joy of riding is about the ride. It's not about getting somewhere, so who cares if it's slower? More time to look around and appreciate the countryside.

 

I'll start!

I live on Dartmoor in England, and own an old 2004 BMW R1200GS and new 2023 Royal Enfield Himalayan. Been riding for five years.

Since getting the Himmie I've not felt the need to ride the GS any more, so it's up for sale - but not had much interest, probably because it's got 80k miles on it.

Both are great bikes and very different, but I live in an area with lots of narrow and steep lanes, and the Himalayan is so much better at those. The GS is a great bike, but too big and heavy and I've never once used all its power. I've really tried to love it, but I feel like apologising to it constantly because I'm not a better rider, and asking it to be gentle with me.

Whereas the Himalayan is far more sure footed, far easier to do my own maintenance on (this is a big part of ownership for me) and gives me far more confidence to explore the lanes and tracks of Devon. It makes me feel like a little boy going on an adventure with a friendly dog; it won't judge me, it's up for anything I want to do, and is happy to go home when I've had enough.

So - what's your bike? Where do you ride, and why? What's your biking history?

 

Especially Florida.

 

An exceptionally well explained rant that I find myself in total agreement with.

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