I live in Canada and we have some of the same stuff included in our taxes.
Our whole system is pretty fucked up when it comes to taxes, but it is what it is. At least we have things in place.
Sure, I'm "paying" for other people to get healthcare, or to get social assistance, police protection, help from fire departments, ambulances.... Good banks and even welfare....
I couldn't possibly give less of a shit.
I like knowing that, when it's my turn to rely on my fellow countrymen for support, I will get it. If I'm sick and unable to work, I can get financial support, and go see a doctor without having to take out a loan or anything.
Social services are good. I'm not going to get denied coverage for a medically necessary procedure. It gets booked and performed.
And I know that Canada's systems are way less comprehensive than most European countries. We have a lot to do before we can get to where we should be. But we're still better off than our southern neighbors.
These people need to read and learn from sources that aren't Twitter/Facebook.
I'm not going to tell anyone that they're wrong. I will instead point to history, and the reasons these organisations exist. Compare the original concept to the current programming and I think you'll find that not much has changed about the purpose of their existence.
Whether your opinion agrees with the original, actual, and ongoing purpose of these organisations is completely irrelevant.
Aah yes, therapy, the instant cure-all for brain issues. How foolish of me to think that therapy was only talking through your problems and getting professional advice on how to cope better with the crushing reality that we're all just wage slave servants of the 1%.
I have a job and it's a struggle to find reasons to give any fucks anymore. I used to be paid "enough" and according to inflation calculators, I'm making nearly the exact same amount (in terms of buying power) as I did in 2013; but my expenses are definitely higher.
This isn't a competition but if I can't progress in my career at a pace that even rivals inflation, then what the fuck am I even supposed to do?
My responsibilities have increased, but my buying power is ludicrously the same. It's infuriating.
I definitely want it. If it's cheap, I definitely want two.
Actually everything they recently announced looks great. I really want to try to frame.
I gave up on VR after the oculus CV1 got canned. I bought one, got a few decent years out of it in spite of "meta" buying the company and making it shit, but when they stopped selling the connection cables for the CV1, which was the part that broke most frequently, I just backed the hell off and thought to myself, "this shit is cool, but it's clearly not established enough to be predictable, maybe some day".
Whelp, I think we're finally there.
Until now, you had the "option" of either something mainstream like the quest 7 (or whatever number they're on), or you can pick from either the index, which was on the pricy side for what you were getting, or the bigscreen beyond, which required an iPhone to scan your face so they can make a custom face shield just for you (and to get more you had to scan those people in and get face shields for them at a premium). Anything else was so niche that you probably were not getting support, if the company even existed in a few years to support you.
Now? A first party VR that actually looks good and works natively with steam....
So yeah.... Where do I sign up?
I've wanted a steam deck for years but I don't game on the go so I can't really justify it, but the rig I'm using for couch gaming is getting pretty dated..... So this seems like a great time to get back into everything.... Though, finding the money I need to get the systems is going to be a challenge....
I have smart stuff too. Even got an oral-b "Io" series of "smart" tooth brush!
I'm actually not enthusiastic about it at all. I got the oral-b because I knew I have a problem that my brushing isn't preventing cavities, so I did that in an effort to prevent visits to the dentist. It seems to be working. I just need my teeth fixed so I can not have to see a dentist again for a very long while.
Aside from that, most of the "smart" stuff in my house is lights. I intentionally do not have "smart" lights where safety is a factor, mainly kitchen/bathroom/basement/garage. I don't want something, or someone being able to turn the lights off on me while I'm slippery and wet in the shower, at the highest probability of falling and hurting myself; or when I'm cutting up food in the kitchen and not being able to see where the blade is for even a second could result in serious injury; or when I'm working on something in the garage, with potential hazards all around, like tools, oil, fuel, and other dangerous items and products.
The basement is mostly for when we do any work on the home appliances, wiring or plumbing. Don't want to be holding a leak with one hand, waving frantically with the other to try to trigger the motion sensor to turn the lights back on...
Living and sleeping areas, hallways, bedrooms, etc, are all smart lights. They're mostly RGB so we can do "party mode" or something, if we want.... Largely they're just told to turn on or off, but some household members have found that being able to turn the lights on a specific color for a specific time of day is useful, so the RGB stays.
I put in some smart light switches too, some for areas that I don't care to put in "smart" lights, one notable example is the outdoor/porch lights, I have it set up on a timer to turn on/off with the sunset/sunrise, that way I can use cheap, throw away LED lightbulbs around the outside of the house and if they get damaged or destroyed by weather or vandals, I basically don't care... Not that we've had any vandals around here, I'm just prepared in case that were to ever happen.
Most lighting control, even smart light switches too smart lights, is handled through a hub of sorts; I have home assistant, but it's not necessarily the best for everyone. When a light switch is pressed, no power delivery changes, it just sends a command to HA to command the lights to turn on. The lights are powered 24/7, so we can turn on the lights with our phones. Most of the light switches have little more than basic controls of on/off for the respective group of lightbulbs. Any color control is either programmed or configured from the app.
A small number of bulbs are still in Phillips hue, and when I have the money those will be taken out because Phillips stuff is expensive for what you get. Easy to get into, but extremely limiting and the output sucks compared to alternatives.
My home is mostly zwave for the exact reason you mentioned. I don't want my wifi to suck because my fridge needs to be online 24/7. Not that I have, or would ever own a "smart" fridge.... I just know the technology and putting some 50+ lightbulbs and light switches on wifi would generally make the wifi terrible. I picked zwave because it operates mainly on the 900mhz ISM band, well away from the 2.4/5ghz of wifi.
I get why so many use Wi-Fi, but I hate that. Just make it a module that you can plug in. Then give people a choice of wifi, Ethernet, ZigBee, zwave, matter/thread, or nothing. FFS.
Anyways. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk, I guess?
It depends on how they "won". If it was a full hearing with a jury and everything, that's public record. If it's arbitration, that's probably not public record.
Bragging about a "win" in arbitration, and making something that's not a public record, into a public record, is usually a problem.
With the current wording, while you can infer from context, the outcome of the case, it isn't explicitly stated by the lawyer. The largest disclosure here is from the party that feels they were "wronged", and the lawyer is simply stating that "this person wasn't my client" (more or less). You fill in the rest.
The fact that the commenter was not their client is not disclosing any private information, nor any information about the matter that's being discussed. It's a simple statement of irrefutable fact. (Or fact that can be proven at least)
If the lawyer crosses a line by discussing case specifics, like what the matter regarded (divorce, custody, property, whatever), or the outcome of that case, when it is not a matter of public record, can land them in serious hot water.
I would assume, again, from context, that the matter is not presently a part of public record.
I live in Canada and we have some of the same stuff included in our taxes.
Our whole system is pretty fucked up when it comes to taxes, but it is what it is. At least we have things in place.
Sure, I'm "paying" for other people to get healthcare, or to get social assistance, police protection, help from fire departments, ambulances.... Good banks and even welfare....
I couldn't possibly give less of a shit.
I like knowing that, when it's my turn to rely on my fellow countrymen for support, I will get it. If I'm sick and unable to work, I can get financial support, and go see a doctor without having to take out a loan or anything.
Social services are good. I'm not going to get denied coverage for a medically necessary procedure. It gets booked and performed.
And I know that Canada's systems are way less comprehensive than most European countries. We have a lot to do before we can get to where we should be. But we're still better off than our southern neighbors.