Personally I’m inclined to think the best response is indeed silence, but it’s a valid point nonetheless. The US president is a bully, and bullies often back down when they get pushback. And some of these latest accusations really are the most outrageous hypocrisy coming from a political movement that literally tries to steal elections.

Well put. It’s a difficult one, though. The alternative route, of national (i.e. European) champions, can be a slippery slope into protectionism and shoddy standards. By the 1970s British cars were rubbish but the Brits still produced and bought them patriotically. Argentina has spent a century trying to protect its substandard industry and it’s now a poor country.

But I do agree that there’s a balance to be struck. On principle I use Firefox and not Chrome even if it’s 2% slower (which it’s not BTW). We should not be rushing to buy foreign products when the technology gap is still bridgeable.

Can confirm that in late November it was not just feasible but really very pleasant! Murcia is one of the sunniest places in Europe. And, as you say, incredibly hot in summer.

Beautiful animal.

To add to the other poster’s advice, another good way to get better color saturation (i.e. less washed out colors) is simply to under-expose a bit. In my experience digital cameras always tend to over-expose, so you can usually just set them to underexpose a bit and all your pictures will look instantly better.

The five microstates (Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Vatican) are wreaking havoc in south-central Europe.

What a mess! I love defending other people’s heterodox opinions so I was rubbing my hands at the sight of yours. But… This is such a bunch of unfalsifiable generalities and tautologies that I hardly know where to start.

To be fair, English is obviously not your native language, and you do an okay job of expressing yourself nonetheless. 6/10 for that, let’s say.

The swappable-battery model is so much better in theory. It incentivizes better standardization of battery formats and connectors, it makes upgrades and recycling easier.

Of course, by that logic it would be even better to make the whole scooter swappable, i.e. leased or just outright shared. But I guess humans just need to have their own toys sometimes.

Great story. I believe this is also an example of the difference between “intrinsic” and “extrinsic” worth. If one is content to value things for what they are to oneself, rather that what they may be to others, life becomes very much simpler.

Personally what irritates me more is people whining about imperfect journalism which they haven’t paid a cent for. I mean, if someone handed me, say, an apple, and I eat it, I don’t then tell them “Yeah, a bit tangy I’ve had better, maybe get another supplier”. This magazine owes us nothing at all for its product.

As for the “clicks” trope, people need to know that display ads (when they don’t get blocked) earn these publications millicents on the dollar, they pay for basically nothing. What they really want (need) is subscriptions. And I’m guessing that none of us here has one of those.

In this vein I inadvertently discovered the best theft protection for my saddle: just wait for it to get a bit of wear and tear (specifically: tear). Now I no longer worry about finding it gone.

I’m seriously considering inflicting a bit of cosmetic damage to front wheel. At that point I can ditch the cable lock.

To be fair, nobody’s stealing that first bike

Definitely the Achilles heel of the concept. Also: luggage weight restrictions (but if that’s an incentive to go by train, I’m calling it a win).

Hilarious!

Wait. This is actually a genuinely good idea.

That means there’s only one word for it.

PlantNet or Seek can’t?

The EU-regs-respecting variant of that Engwe fat-tire job. Very popular among pizza-delivery riders. (Unlike them, I actually pedal.)

Interesting numbers. And good for you for getting out there. I agree: just knowing that the motor is there is a superpower in itself.

That’s interesting. On my 250W heavy-as-a-rock (38kg) bike I have done rides of >70km involving >1000m of climbs (mountains), with baggage on the rack, and arrived with a couple of bars of battery to spare.

This is why I’m wary of the word “need”. It’s true that I was a cyclist before an e-cyclist.

Personally I don’t understand why anyone would need even 750W for an electric bike, let alone multiple kilowatts.

Mine is an EU-regulation 250W and I never even use the top power level. In fact sometimes I forget to turn on the battery and (on the flat) don’t even notice.

This really looks like the same story of macho horsepower inflation that’s been at work with combustion motorbikes for a century. Look at those giant BMWs with 1.4-litre engines that are enough to power a sedan. Completely unnecessary and irrational (and non-existent just a few decades ago) but the biker-dude owners will always find a reason that they “need” it. And let’s face it, this really is a story about dudes.

There are lots of flightless birds and a few flightful mammals (i.e. bats). Not any truly flying fish as yet. But presumably a few million more years might produce a properly flying member of the Exocotidae family.