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Are currency/monetary base economic systems coming to their logical end?
  • You are confidently incorrect on this. Currency == money. Money is, for we hoi polloi, a barely consentual conversion and exchange system for our labor, hypothetically allowing us to convert our labor into readily fungible exchange units. Money, at the Capital Class level, is debt, and therefore control, i.e. power. Money is just how they keep score.

    There are plenty of barter and Communist ("from those of ability to those of need") economies, just on scales that fly below the radar of most economists. Your sweeping assertion leads me to believe that you may simply be ignorant of those non-monetary exchanges. Would you be willing to add more context to your assertion?

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    Bosch ebike ABS Interoperability Opens Up For Blubrake & More with EU Antitrust Ruling
  • Is anyone else contemptuous of proprietary systems on bicycles? The spiraling complexity and lack of interoperability even on acoustic bike drivetrains really chaps my ass.

    Just me? Fine, I'll slink back to my retrogrouch hidey-hole now. 😆

    While I don't see the need for bicycle ABS in any of my riding, I do see why some may find it helpful. And this lawsuit seems like a step in the right direction for interoperability.

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    Are currency/monetary base economic systems coming to their logical end?
  • Wampum was used by Eastern Costal tribes as a storytelling aid.

    In the Salish Tribes, dentalium shell necklaces were used as a status symbol/indication of social rank. Some tribes used the necklaces as a type of currency, but I've only heard the "some tribes did this" part; never anything about which specific tribes used dentalium as currency.

    Obviously, anything that holds perceived value can be traded.

    Source: went to junior high in a school that taught two full years of Haudenosaunee (also called Iroquois) history.

    Salish source: I've been a volunteer naturalist in the Puget Sound for eight years with an annual training requirement, with entire days allocated to history of the original Salish tribe for the area where we're working.

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    Oh Steve
  • I see Robert Evans, I upvote. Really folks, Jobs was such a piece of shit that he got a 4-parter of coverage on Behind the Bastards. Highly suggested. https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=aEv08Zzunfc&si=xGHOjTXfizCplLDp

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    This country needs some fuckin' reform.
  • You do know that almost all modern on-road motorcycles are CARB-compliant, right? Oh, but what about those small motorcycles? https://www.transportpolicy.net/standard/us-motorcycles-emissions/ As of 2006, all Class I and II motorcycles must be compliant with few exceptions.

    I don't know where you are getting your numbers for your claims. These are some significant assertions that, even prima facie, don't make sense.

    1 person in 1 car emits less emissions than 1 person on 1 motorcycle

    Even from just a thermodynamics standpoint, this assertion not only feels wrong, but is wrong. Maybe a two-stroke motorcycle could out-emit a modern SOV.

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    What's one thing you should never cheap out on?
  • I see a lot of specific examples, but here is a good engineering guideline: do not skimp on physical interfaces. **Anywhere energy is changing form or if it touches your body, don't skimp on those. **

    For example

    • tires
    • bicycle saddle
    • heaters/furnaces
    • electrical inverters
    • keyboard
    • mouse
    • engines
    • shoes
    • eyewear
    • clothes (buy used if necessary, but always buy quality clothing)

    Quality usually means more money, but sometimes one is able to find a high quality and low-cost version. In my experience though, trying to find the cheap version that works well means trying so many permutations; it would have been more economical to just get the more costly version in the first place.

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    Nude woman dances for a single fully clothed male spectator
  • I'm fascinated by the fact that there is a whole site dedicated to ENF and CMNF, which is the first time I've heard of these. Ask 20 people what their arousal constellation is, and you'll get 100 different answers.

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    ELI5: What in the hell did Trump tap into that is almost causing a second civil war in america?
  • Holy hell! This was the most succinct, concise, and "yeah, your high school history textbooks whitewashed all this shit" summary of the modern Conservative political machine. It's like Robert Evans, Matt Taibbi, Jake Hanrahan, and Kurt Andersen had a love child that came out as a summary text.

    If anyone got to my comment here, but only skimmed parent comment, please do yourself a favor and bask in that bit.

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    Binge alcohol use in the past month among persons aged 18-25 years in the U.S. from 2002 to 2022, by gender
  • I wonder how much of a role palate refinement is for this trend. For example: Starbucks, for as terrible as their coffee is, did a lot to elevate the overall regard of coffee; bean juice was no longer just a bitter stew we tolerated to get our caffeine fix. Starbucks broke trail for craft coffee roasting more general popularity.

    Could it be the same with alcoholic beverages? I used to think Maker's Mark was the best bourbon going. Now I know better, but so many of the craft bourbons are expensive or just plain hard to find. Ditto for my favorite hazy IPAs. Why binge drink the good stuff when your palate is going to be wrecked after three beers? And since I'm not going to drink swill, welp, guess I'm not going to get drunk tonight!

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    Jack
  • I have long pondered a comedy set in the Star Wars universe. Maybe some beer-swilling, rowdy Jedi. And fortunately Auralnauts fulfilled my dream: https://youtu.be/WSCm8yAxBr8?si=QC1SNiLAMAu1rE0T

    Some of the later entries in the series are a bit weak, but there are always worthwhile punchlines.

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    Could an animal be taught how to throw accurately?
  • Ever see a toucan in person? I had an employee with a toucan he would sometimes bring into work. It could throw things, especially round fruit, with uncanny accuracy. Like it could easily play catch from at least 2m away.

    Glaucous-winged gulls also seem to have uncanny accuracy with defecation, but that's not quite throwing.

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    In Macau, some pedestrian streets become "one-way" when there are too many people
  • Kind of an oversimplification here: Moiré is a form of interference pattern, in this case the "grid" of OP's image has a different pitch from the grid on your phone or computer display. By continuously changing the zoom (in contrast to discontinuously), the interference pattern shifts to create "peaks and valleys." Here's some more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moiré_pattern

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nn1MqCMa1M

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