Oh how I wish the X-33 / VentureStar had actually worked out...
https://wikipedia.org/wiki/VentureStar
Either something like that, or somekind of... craft that has both a RAMJet and also some kind of rocket propulsion... that or a SCRAMJet that actually works... could maybe help get us to, or toward, at least an SSTO craft, or system.
Hah, or we can go full conspiracy theorist and find and publicize the anti gravity field generator equipped TR 3B in Hangar 18 or whatever, haha.
Play Kerbal Space Program Realism Overhaul if you want a ... much closer to 'real' taste of how much more complicated and difficult an orbital flight is than a subortial flight, a lunar flight is than an orbital flight, an extraplanetary flight is than a lunar flight.
I'm not sure if it is still the unofficial motto of the mod... but it used to be 'if you cannot figure out how to install this mod, you will not be capable of playing it anyway', or something to that effect.
My experience as a person who has a lot of experience working with computer is basically thus:
When you solve a problem for someone, you are a magician.
When you can't, you are completely full of shit and know nothing about tech and your entire life is a lie.
When you tell someone 'hey I wouldn't do that', your experience and expertise means nothing if what you are suggesting would mildly inconvenience them for 10 minutes, or takes more than 30 seconds to explain why it is a bad idea.
When you tell them 'hey have you tried this?' your experience and expertise also means nothing if you cannot do it for them and also make it so it never breaks again, and also they will keep doing the thing that makes it break even though you explained to them how to not do that thing that makes it break.
... I may as well just start an IT flavored Rodney Dangerfield comedy routine, it would be much more fun and less stressful than always being a db admin/data analyst/backend dev/frontend dev/whatever else my job title now apparently includes.
Assuming you are serious:
Bluesky is ... arguably 'federated', but it is centralized, not decentralized.
https://gigazine.net/gsc_news/en/20241128-bluesky-decentralization
Their model (AT Protocol) relies on a central, authoritative ... 'Relay', that all 'federated' users and posts on federated PDS (personal data servers) must go through, to actually reach the 'AppView', ie, what all other people/users can actually see.
So, this is not a many to many, tangled spider web of connections, the way lemmy, and other parts of the actual fediverse are.
It is a top down hierarchy, a pyramid.
And Bluesky runs the Relay, the chokepoint.
If Bluesky cuts off the PDS your account is on, everyone on it is now gone.
The actual fediverse, Mastadon, Lemmy, etc, runs on ActivityPub.
In that model... every instance is essentially self contained, and every instance that is federated communicates with every other instance that is federated.
Each instance can decide what other instances they want to federate with... and users on each instance can personally block even more other users, communities, or entire instances if they choose to, but that only effects what that particular user sees.
That is what you call decentralized, approaching, or also having elements of being 'distributed'.
To bring up an example without getting into the drama that led to it:
The 'Tankie Triad' of ml, lemmygrad and hexbear have had a number of other instances defederate from them.
But, there are also a good number of instances that have not done so.
So that means if your account is on hexbear... you can't see or post on an instamce that has blocked your instance.
But, if you (a hexbear...ian?), post on a neutral instance... users on that neutral instance will see the post.
But but, if a user from an instance that has defederated from hexbear goes to to the neutral instance... they will not see the hexbearian's post.
This sounds complicated, and it is, but ... thats the whole point of a decentralized system. It is more complex in the abstract... but the entire system ends up being more robust, more adaptable, more customizable... without a central authority in direct control of the entire system.
Technically, its complicated, but basically, NHTSA both sets the standards by which a manufacturer should assess whether or not to do a recall... and they also issue recalls themselves.
They do investigations, compile data, and if it looks like a certain make and or model has a serious flaw, they'll issue a recall if the manufacturer hasn't.
If they are gutted, specifically as they have been by Musk, well then there are no more people actually investigating self driving capabilities and onboard computers, there are no more updates to any of those policies, and nobody issues a recall for such a category of defective vehicle.
Awesome song about this that becomes increasingly more relevant every day:
Yep, my first thought on seeing this was ... 'and who will be enforcing this?'
No one, the answer is no one.
While the information about Elon's history of making false claims, hardware and software details are accurate... there is no official body that has ruled as the title of the article suggests.
A more accurate headline would be 'should' not 'has to'.
There is basically zero chance that this guy's desire would be effectuated in the US ... as the US agency that regulates cars... was recently gutted by Musk's DOGE idiots.
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/04/car-safety-experts-at-nhtsa-which-regulates-tesla-axed-by-doge/
Maybe the EU or China or other governments could... legally agree with the author, and order a similar command...
But uh yeah, the Trump admin is currently blatantly telling the Supreme Court to go fuck themselves, the law will soon be whatever the hell Trump and his orbiters want it to be, has already told the entire world to go fuck themselves and also beg and grovel at the same time.
Elon would just... continue doing whatever the fuck he wants, even if another country mandated a recall/replacement.
Sorry, but uh yeah, we have a fascist government now, the rule of law is dead, the law is now whatever the fuck the Trump admin says it is.
Damn good skit!
Reminds me of...
https://thenamelessmod.fandom.com/wiki/Foon
Old mod for Deus Ex... you can use 'foons' (sporks) as... basically the shittiest throwing knives imaginable.
Do you know if there are significant differences between the Korean language of North Korea, and the Korean language of South Korea?
Or are they still very similar?
I only really know one word in Korean... I would sound it out as ' gam zeh hah mee da '.
I asked some local, older aged, shop owners of South Korean descent how to say 'thank you' in Korean so I could thank them with more respect when I shop at their stores... I may be pronouncing or spelling my pronunciation wrong.
Apoarently it is 감사합니다 in Korean... but that is likely South Korean, and it seems that South Korean and North Korean use different words, or pronounciations, for at least some terms...
It would be interesting to learn if there are more differences between the two forms of Korean. :D
American here:
About 20% of Americans are functionally illiterate, 2nd grade or worse reading and writing skills.
The average literacy level of Americans is between 5th and 6th grade... meaning the next 30% have the reading/writing skills of someone who basically only conpleted elementary school.
These are numbers for adults 18 and up, by the way, not kids.
Almost every single person I've met who learned English as a second language... can speak it more fluently than most native English speakers I've known who grew up in America. More extensive vocabularies, better grammar, better spelling.
And this will get worse.
Covid resulted in a year to two years of remote or missed classes for Gen Alpha, and the Repulicans look poised to finally kill off the public education system in all but the wealthier, solid blue states. Department of Education will be disbanded by the end of the year or earlier if nobody stops it.
I am sure if you ask them, they will blame it on water flouridation.
... Not the lead in the gasoline or the paint in the walls they grew up with, or the asbestos... or the alcoholism...
Oh right, of course, I almost forgot: Someone in my family got the covid vaccine and the vaccine shedded and gave me spike proteinitis!