While I can see the plus side of being able to identify bots, I don’t think the WEI is the right way to do it, and Google definitely isn’t the right company to be handling it
Plus how do you spot the difference between a good bot and a bad bot? Web crawlers from search engines are for example inherently good, so they should still be able to operate, but if it is easy to register a good bot in WEI, it is also easy to register a bad bot. If it is hard to register a good bot, then you’re effectively gatekeeping the automated part of the internet (something that actually might be Google’s intention).
Yeah, even if the hardware can validate perfectly that it’s not running any botting software, there’s nothing stopping someone from spinning up a farm of these machines and using a central server as a hypervisor for them all. It’s impossible to determine if your user is a bot.
‘Bridgefy is a free messaging app that works without the Internet. Perfect for natural disasters, large events, and at school!’
It works over Bluetooth, and lets you send messages to other users without needing an internet connection. I haven’t used it yet, but the app looks straightforward enough :)
Railroading. Not the next day, but probs pretty quick. There’s a reason Biden nipped the railroad strike in the bud, and my theory as to why he’s trying to build up the “pro-union” image again before the election - he really screwed labor in that move.
I actually did miss that, thank you for replying. I had been working for a passenger rail company at the time, but ended up leaving my job a little after the big event and didn’t keep up on the news.
That being said, I still think the union could have gotten a much better deal had they been permitted to strike. They were originally asking for 15 paid days (note: I think they would’ve settled lower, but higher than 4). While the deal that was negotiated does help people, it is a far cry from what’s needed. I worked at the best of the railroads (in terms of contract), and that was too much for me. I was on call 6 days a week and worked all 6 of those days for several months straight. I got sick a lot more often in my year on that job than ever before and it’s becuse I didn’t have rest. But again, that was the best contract in the RR, freight workers (at the time at least) were on call for up to 2 weeks at a time, sometimes being called in more than once a day.
I haven’t looked at the new contracts that freight workers are getting now, but I know that 4 days sick leave (7 if you convert your personal days), is not enough, even if they got contracts as good as we had at my company. The railroads use and abuse their employees, and employees should’ve gotten a lot more than they did. A strike would have ground things to a halt, but that’s literally the point. That’s the only card we have as workers and Biden took that away at a pivotal moment.
So I personally still think it was a shit deal, and it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I’m glad that workers are getting more now than they were, but they could have gotten more had they not been kneecapped.
I agree with your sentiment and am frustrated at why Dems in general have such a hard time siding with labor and the more progressive wing of the party.
It’s because the overton window has shifted so much that the Democrats only have to give scraps to workers and that is still the best those workers will get from any viable political party. It’s better than what the Republicans are offering which is getting financially pissed on or literally shot.
I agree with your sentiment. But I don’t fault the party itself for having grown to cover so much turf that there is room for conservatives. I don’t like that and I wish it would fragment and support multiple parties - but alas FPTP.
But is a strike enough to make the industry disappear ? Several European countries (especially France) regularly get large strikes in the rail (and indeed these workers are essential thus striking works). For a few days/week people find alternative way to commute, employer close their eye on people coming late/leaving early but a week of strike (even a hard one) isn’t enough to collapse the economy
This strike was regarding freight rail and would definitely not cause the industry to disappear since rail is the most cost effective way to transport certain goods, and we do not have enough infrustructure for trucks to be a reasonable alternative (and we have a hell of a lot of roadways). Here’s a basic list of common things freight trains carry.
Many people would feel the hit from things like lumber and car shortages, but I think hazmat materials would be the biggest stopper of the economy. According to this page rail transports 99.9% of hazmat materials in the US, including 11% of the US’s crude oil at it’s peak oil shipments in 2014, though idk how pipelines factor in/how companies distibute gasoline, so not sure if that would affect gas prices in some areas more than others or if it would affect the nation as a whole. What I do know is that many industries rely on our freight system, and it can’t all be converted to trucking. Many workers wouldn’t have raw materials to work with and it would touch everyone in some way.
When France extended retirement age, waste management stopped cold in solidarity with the protests and its overnight disappearance was supported by most of the population, so I don’t think that’s it.
Most of the “riots” people have complained about in the past 5 years have been directly caused by police existing in the way that it does. I can’t deny that police serve as a deterrent for some people regarding some things, but I don’t think I’d live much differently. I’d probably shoplift from big box stores occasionally, but not out of greed. It’s about taking money, not making money. If everybody stole a can of food from Walmart every day to give to the hungry, there would be no more hungry and Walmart would still make billions.
That’s absurd. 250 million weekly visitors stealing a $1 item per visit would amount to $13B per year in losses, approximately equal to Walmart’s annual net income. They would love to raise prices to compensate (2% should do it) but then they would lose the equivalent in sales to competitors like Amazon that don’t face as much risk from theft losses.
Idk where you found the $13B figure, since that’s less than the amount they made OVER the previous year’s earnings.
I know what you’re thinking: “but that’s revenue, not profit!” Okay sure, and let’s not even address what qualifies as a “loss” for a massive business like Walmart because I don’t even need to get into that to make my point. Still, they profited nearly $150B in 2022, source is the same link but lower on the page.
Walmart makes over $250k per employee, and nearly 15k of those employees are on food stamps, which means that our tax dollars are being used to subsidize their exploited labor force to make them 12-figure profits.
So yeah, I think we’re kinda sorta morally obligated to steal from them in order to feed the hungry that they are responsible for making hungry in the first fucking place.
I’m an American in my mid 30s. I’ve traveled to other countries, made friends with people in other countries, and I myself lived in Germany for a few years. I’m pretty sure my view comes from an adequately knowledgeable position.