- I live in Germany and I've recently booked a cheap car with Hertz for a weekend trip. At the rental office, they offered me to upgrade to a premium EV for no additional cost, because most people rent a car for medium to long distance trips like I did, and the range, charging speed and charger availability makes driving an EV into too much of a hassle. We've had about 200 kilometers one way and a charger at the destination, so we went for it.
This made me think about the viability of EVs in places like Europe where inner-city driving is discouraged and there is a lot of public transit options. Among the people I know, if someone is thinking of buying a car, they plan to use it for leisure trips - public transport outside of major population centers tends to be unreliable and insufficient, and if you have kids, then it's straight out impossible to travel without a car. That's why convenience is king when people choose a car here - having to stop every 300-400 kilometers for an hour to charge your car is not something people would gladly plan for.
I guess that Americans might have different priorities, as everyone has a car that is being used within the metropolitan area most of the time, so this means more shorter trips with breaks that could be used for charging.
- I've had the exact same reasoning about Polish, and after I've moved to Germany I've noticed that quite often I'm able to just translate a phrase directly from Polish and it would be correct. I suppose that the verbs originate in the convoluted language of German bureaucracy in the parts of Poland under German rule.
- Sorry, but this doesn't explain anything to me. You've traced genetic mutations that cause an array of ailments and conditions spread all over the body, and propose that taking vitamin B will cure them all?...
- I get that it might be a lot of stuff, but for the record, couldn't you post it here on a public forum for the other interested parties to see?
- Care to share your findings?
- As I see it, this is to point out that attempts to change sexual orientation are doomed to be unsuccessful - and these are, in most cases, either forced or caused by peer pressure. I personally haven't heard of any case of a person doing a full 180 degrees from gay to straight who would not be motivated by religion.
- I think English knowledge is a generational thing, irrelevant of background. People who migrated earlier had to learn the local language, because English knowledge was not prevalent back then. Their kids are just like all the others, and speak English because it's a must in a globalized world.
I think that a major issue for people who are not fluent in the local language is that it's always an effort for the group to switch to a foreign language. People's English skills differ, and some of them might have it harder to articulate themselves. I personally think that the burden is on you to learn the language and not on them to learn English - as a guest, you should honor the house rules, just like you are expected to respect local laws and customs. If you plan to stay, learning to speak the language is a must. I've seen many fellow expats try to skip this hurdle though, taking classes to reach some minimum required level (here it's B1 if you want to attain a German citizenship) and then going back to expecting everyone to accommodate for them. Some people I know have been living here for close to a decade and they still struggle to order food.
- I feel this inability to blend in is a thing in most of Europe. A non-white person will always be perceived as an other by a significant portion of the society. I've had two friends in Germany, born and raised here, one with an African parent and the other with an Asian parent. They told me it's an everyday occurrence that people will immediately switch to English with them and won't be convinced even after they reply in native German. There's a joke here that if you are born to Western immigrants then you are called bilingual, otherwise you have a migration background.
Other than that, my parents (arguably living in a small town in Poland) always need to comment on a person's race when they see someone non-white representing an European country in a competition they watch on the television. I imagine many Germans hold that sentiment too, it's just that it's less socially acceptable to say that out loud.
- I have recognized at some point that I had something similar, but originating in my childhood. Most of the time I would be told to do something vague (e.g. clean your room), and no matter how much did I do, the feedback was usually negative (e.g. "You call this done?"), following with me getting grounded. Eventually, I've developed a mindset that told me that there's no point in trying, because it's impossible to do things properly. This has spread out into personal interests as well - I would give up quickly, because what's the point?
- I'm renting an apartment in Germany in a building from around 1900 and I do have a clause requiring me to open my windows at least once a day for at least 5 minutes. Not sure that if it's legally enforceable, but if clauses about keeping some minimum temperature indoors are binding (judging from the fact that the government made them explicitly invalid at some point in 2022 when the country got left on thin ice after Russian gas got shut off), then I wouldn't be surprised if that one were binding as well.
- It's not like those elections are fair anyway?
- I've seen them folded like that in restaurants, but the homemade ones are usually folded with a plain edge.
- I no longer live there, but when I visit now, I often see the name "Kresowe" having replaced "Ruskie", Kresy being the name of a historical region around the Polish/Ukrainian border.
- Polish from Poland here: no need to roll them out thin. Might be a variation found in your family, but typical pierogi - including those made by my Grandma - have some fluff.
A different thing is how do you make the dough. I've recently been to a potluck organized by a Canadian friend as a token Polish person there and I've seen her look up recipes in which the recipes for dough were very creative - I've seen yoghurt, eggs, cream, butter etc. being added to it. Combine that with a sharp cheddar stuffing and I quickly got heartburn :)
The way we make dough is way simpler: 2:1 white flour and boiling hot water, nothing else. Some people might add eggs, but I never do. Mix roughly while it's hot, then knead really well, roll out, shape and boil in generously salted water till they float + 1 minute.
- We had a Brazilian come to visit us in Europe and she was wondering why do we insist on using Sicilian lemons instead of the "normal" ones. When she went out to buy limes, she understood it at the cash desk.
- Yes, but we are talking about YouTube, aren't we?
- I just don't get people who discuss the morality of ad blocking. You see the corporation as a human, while it sees you as an optimization metric.
- This is me. I stopped trying to be organized, because I know that as soon as there is some inconvenience or difficulty organizing, I will just get overwhelmed and drop everything I was trying to do. For example, I just cannot take notes or manage a calendar.
- I don't know if it's universally a common sense standpoint with regard to everyone. Some people have a purpose to provide to their family and leave a legacy; this is a goal that can be fulfilled. But what if your life motive is to learn, create and put your skills to a common good?
- I know one person that's the kind this post is referring to. They will more or less unknowingly sabotage their friendships because they are not able to understand that not everyone is up to date or even caring about their strict and ever-changing system of beliefs and opinions. As a result, they suffer from chronic anxiety and feel constantly burned out, because it's not possible to cut off "impure" coworkers. I believe this is just a type that won't change, and it's better to just cut them off.
- Wow, someone I (somewhat) know in person featured on HN.
I haven't heard from him in a long while (and even then, he was a friend of a friend who happened to show up from time to time). Then, he got lucky publishing Bitcoin prophecies that were accurate enough to gather significant following. A shovel shop in the times of gold rush kind of thing.
Now from what I see on his Instagram, he seems to be living in Dubai and his life consists of fine dining, driving fast cars and attending crypto conferences. Never in my life will I understand why this kind of life is something that people pursue.
- That's 100% the thing. KitKat for example has recently been taking hits to its reputation because there have been instances of groping in there and they've been ignored by the club stuff. Now that they let Till Lindemann in a few weeks ago even though there have been active accusations of sexual harassment against him, they are completely done for with anyone who cares. In contrast, places like Berghain are blind to fame - there have been stories of celebrities like Björk being turned away at the entrance.
- The only difference with today would be that not speaking German no longer means that you are visiting. Boroughs such as Friedrichshain or Neukölln are full of expats, including young Americans who did not yet realize that they don't live in America anymore. Many people do indeed come for a few years to party their 20s away and move on with their lives into a different place, so they have no incentive in learning the local language.
I moved to Berlin to escape the political headaches in Poland while still being close to my family and friends, with no specific goal of partying here, as I've never liked clubs and dancing in general. But from hanging out with expats and sometimes joining them to themed parties in clubs, my takeout is that you have to spend a lot of money on clothing and appearance to show the bouncers that you really belong. Of course places like Berghain are completely random in that matter and the way you dress doesn't change anything (unless you really look like a tourist, I guess), but for most part it's a rich kids club.
- In practice, "Keine Werbung" means "No advertisements except for moving services". These are the only ones that don't give a shit.
- From what I see in the news from the US the free speech cause is basically about freedom to harass, so DMCA notices fit well into this narrative.
- I was raised Catholic and I would summarize the faith as it was passed to me as an exercise in envy. Even the premise of your quote is the same: "Your puny ways of life are vain and laughable, because you do not want to listen to me and do as I tell you". Pad this into a few verses, flower it up with medieval language - and your God is speaking. Discussion not welcome, because only I, as a believer, can understand the arcane nuance of my verses. Bow down and submit.
Referring to the other comment about human morals evolving - religion is evolving as well, although it learned to cover it up. Catholicism is my favorite here, because it's perfected the art of bullshitting itself. For example, divorce is not allowed - but if you look for "evidence" that the partner has misled you into a marriage, then we call it "Marriage never happened" and boom - your not-a-divorce has been granted. Abortion suddenly in the spotlight? It's because our understanding has evolved and it's only now that we see that it's never been acceptable. And so on.
- I'm an ESL speaker, and throughout my whole life I've always considered "a couple" to be equivalent to "a few". Then, I played Papers, Please and the author has always only used the term to mean exactly two. I still associate this meaning with that particular game.
- Depends what do you want to take out of reading. If you are only looking for entertainment, it's logical to pick a romance or an action-packed fantasy book. It's also okay never to graduate from such books, if it's not the way you want to spend your time. What's less okay is to imply that the sole action of reading will linearly increase your knowledge and sophistication. It's cool that you've built a personal library, but if every book in there contains more or less the same story with minor tweaks, then it's not really enlightening.
- It might be, but I think formal education plays a role here too. German universities are very left-leaning, so people with a degree are more likely to hold left-wing positions. This is in comparison to my home country Poland, where there is an ideological divide in higher education - arts and humanities colleges are more left-leaning, while everything else is apolitical or leans right. I have a degree from an engineering college, and most people there (me included up until some point) had right-libertarian towards nationalist right wing positions. The technical colleges there are voter strongholds for the furthest-right fringe party, which initially incentivizes votes with promises of low taxation and resulting riches, and then sucks people in as a whole with conspiracy theories.
Romanization here means that Japanese text gets transcribed into Roman characters. The fact that the transcription follows English phonetics is a different thing.