Lol their joke is that the layout doesn’t actually match a piano. Normally there are seven white keys and five black keys. So E# isn’t a thing, that’s just F. And B# isn’t a thing, that’s C.

I don’t agree with you, but also if I did, what then? If we don’t believe it’s possible for things to get better do we just lay down and die?

You’re right, we’ve got to get rid of fossil fuel. As one example, the article talks about how energy storage has reduced the need for gas peaker plants. In California in April the power required from those plants was half what it’s been in April the prior three years.

Still plenty of progress that needs to be made, but what’s notable is that it’s now cheaper for a business to turn to green energy and storage to solve a problem. There’s not an incentive to build new polluting tech. So while the impact of climate change is going to get worse (because those emissions and warming are already baked in) the business argument for fossil fuel is no longer viable.

Yes, we need more storage and generation. The author didn’t say we’re all good and nothing more needs to be done. What’s noteworthy is that renewable energy is cheaper than CO2 emitting, and battery storage is cheaper than peaker plants. (And grid battery can come from things like salt, sand, brick along with better known components like hydro storage, doesn’t have to be rare earth elements)

It’s ok to acknowledge when good things happen while also recognizing bad things.

With respect, I think you’re projecting a discussion with a different person onto this article.

You’re right, the climate is going to get worse before it gets better. You’re right, the impacts of climate change will disproportionately affect poor and underdeveloped areas. We can’t make that go away with positive thinking, and it’s not enough for humans as a species to survive, we need to focus on reducing suffering while we’re turning the ship.

What I took away from this article is that the market forces for cheap renewable power and the means to store it are now stronger than the forces for CO2 emitting power. And those forces are moving faster than predicted. That’s good, and it’s ok to talk about something good when it’s true!

People who have been paying attention and care about others have good reason to be wary about the narrative “oh, everything is going to be fine” because that’s what industry and politicians have been saying for a long time instead of taking needed action.

We’re at a point where most people recognize climate change is real, and they can see it’s effects. We’re also at a point where many people don’t have hope for the situation. It’s dangerous to tell people “shit’s fucked and there’s nothing you can do about it” because they might believe you and do nothing.

Sorry, who gave you a curfew?

I’ve seen the compass, but in real life conversation when people say left or right they don’t exclusively mean economic views. For example, access to abortion or LGBT rights are generally seen as supported by the left and opposed by the right.

You’re right it’s reductive, and really there are many dimensions to political thought.

I don’t think that’s accurate, there’s a social axis from left to right too.

Funny, I just commented elsewhere that my credit unions have always offered great rates on auto loans. Where are you located? I’m in the states.

I previously had a dealer be like “let me see if my guys can give you a better financing rate” and they did (slightly) than a bank rate I had secured. But since then I’ve financed a few times with a credit union and they’ve never been able to beat the rate.

In the U.S. most credit unions are regional, if you go to a branch you can withdraw cash easily, or they’ll have agreements with ATM networks where you can withdraw cash for a fee, just like banks do.

In my daily life my credit union is indistinguishable from a bank, with the exception that I’ve had a few auto loans from my credit unions and they’ve always offered a lower interest rate than anything a bank or car dealership can beat. They also gave me a discounted rate because I was buying an electric car.

Yes, that’s what I came here to say

Good points! I know my last couple jobs have had “partner” companies that were similar to us in each major metropolitan area. So if we had a pop up request beyond the backup gear we packed, we could still get it from a warehouse less than an hour away. (And there’s always the wholesale rental houses like Rentex)

Yeah, if evolution is so great, how come we can’t fly??

Can’t imagine this is relevant to a lot of folks here, but corporate event audio visual:

Don’t use the audio visual company that’s “in house” at a hotel. They’re paying nearly 50% commission for the privilege of being there and getting business shunted to them, so only half of what you pay is going to goods or services.

That said, make sure your hotel contract leaves you free to bring in an outside vendor without having to pay too many fees. Cross out any lines related to things like “load in/out liaison,” paying for polytak floor covering, or paying some percentage of your outside AV bill to the in house company. It might help to include a proactive clause like “client will not be charged any fees for bringing in our own audio visual partner”. Include a line that you won’t be required to pay surcharges like “event technical support” which is just a “we’re charging you a fee” fee.

You will still have to pay the in-house AV vendor for any power, internet and rigging. For internet, confirm what your rate will be before signing the contract. We see a lot of cases where they’ll say “the meeting room wifi is discounted (free) if you use us for AV too, but if you don’t it’s $20k” (actual number, and could be even higher) Once you sign without negotiating they’ve got you over a barrel.

If you already have a contract you may be able to mitigate these issues by leaning on your hotel salesperson. Trying to negotiate with the in house AV rep will usually be ineffective (sometimes they’re cool). The hotel is the in-house AV vendor’s number one customer, so if the hotel says they need to do something, they’ll do it. Usually leaning on your hotel salesperson after signing a contract only works if you have some leverage like potential for future business.

Lol yeah everyone shitting on stereo is shooting in the wrong direction - companies suck, stereo or surround sound doesn’t. Not saying it’s a super high priority for me, but another channel of audio isn’t going to use much bandwidth, we already listen to streaming music in stereo all the time.

Just like there’s no such thing as an unbiased person, there’s no unbiased instance. Better to know what you’re getting into than to assume what you’re reading isn’t coming from a particular point of view.

If there’s one thing I learned from Civ V it’s you have to get your population numbers up in order to produce enough settlers

You don’t have to go, but unless the parties have tens of thousands attendees you’d probably have decades between invites. So it would be like, “it’s my turn for the big dope party!” Or even if it wasn’t your thing, you’d probably tell your friends “what the hell, I guess I’ll go.”

Plus imagine what innovations in party throwing will be developed with this infusion of funds into the party industrial complex!

Yeah, party!

I’m sure that was a factor in many of these instances. That said in our family my impression was it was more of a “here’s something special about us” type thing, like there’s nothing otherwise noteworthy.