I choose not to think about it or include it in my mental threat model, the same way I choose to not worry about thermonuclear warheads.

If there’s some exploitable backdoor and Intel gets owned, we’re all boned and there’s nothing we can really do about it. I don’t have anti-ballistic-missile systems, and I also don’t have the capability to make an entire hardware/firmware/os from scratch.

So instead focus on the things you can control and are more likely to happen. Don’t plan for doomsday, plan for every day.

Can’t upvote this enough. It’s not the consumers, it’s the dealers calling the shots. Some examples:

Looking for a Corolla hybrid: no dealer had one, and all of them said it could be 18 months or more before one would be available

Looking for a RAV4 suv: we have 8 on the lot take your pick

Looking for a Mazda 3 hatchback: the only one in the colour you want is a six hour drive away and no we can’t transfer it here

Looking for a CX5 suv: we have literally a million of them

In both examples the cars cost almost the same amount to build. They have the same drivetrain, engine, transmission, etc. But since the “suv” or “crossover” is taller and bigger they can charge 20-30% more, earning them more commission and dealer fees, so that’s what they order from the manufacturer. Unless you have months to wait, you take what you get.

It’s not perfect, but the new (2019+) mazda system is very nice. It’s all controlled by buttons and dials, zero requirement to ever touch a screen. It all feels quite thoughtfully done, especially when you compare it to fords or teslas with a big dumb laggy iPad stuck to the dash.

Local options are always better. The Mexican joint sells you a massive breakfast burrito for $6. Nepalese takeout will feed you for days for $16. Hot dog truck will fill you up with delicious processed meat for $4.

Subway? Subpar lunch made out of cardboard and ground up yoga mats for almost $20.

GOAT vehicle. It’s purely functional in pristine egg form. Bulletproof drivetrain. Comfy as hell, even by today’s standards. If one ever comes up on autotrader in good condition I’m buying one.

I feel like “weird” misses the mark. It’s quite hurtful to people who are outside the norm and proud of it.

“Creepy” is a way better description of those guys.

It sort of does make sense, since it’s how trains work so well! A single locomotive can haul dozens of carriages way more efficiently than putting a single small motor on each carriage. It also has way less aerodynamic losses since the trailer is right in the slipstream for the truck!

The problem is that this also applies within a radius around a “port of entry”. So everybody that lives within about 100 miles of the coast, an airport, or a rail line that crosses a border — which is probably about 80+% of any country.

Well, yeah. The rate of increases is slowing, but prices are still high. There isn’t, and won’t be, deflation, that’s a catastrophically bad long term economic effect (at least, according to economists)

Agree. Ford’s auto braking and lane keeping in insane and dangerous. It constantly feels like somebody neurotic is reaching over from the passenger seat to grab the wheel. And sometimes it will look at a pothole or puddle and decide to stomp on the brakes. Happened only twice in about 1500km/four days, but that’s still twice too many. Car “automation” tech is still deep in its infancy.

So instead of clipping a wire you plug in a Bluetooth OBD interface and flip a bit in the car’s memory that the engineers conveniently forgot to remove which disables the beeps…

Trust me, if you go to Japan you will go to a 7-11 whether you want to or not. They are absolutely everywhere, like “ubiquitous” is an understatement. I think when we were there we went to 2-5 convenience stores per day just because they were just so… convenient…