somerandomqaguy (u/somerandomqaguy)

somerandomqaguy commented on Yadea is coming to the Western market newatlas.com/motorcycles/... · Posted by u/breve

tigranbs · 9 days ago

EV motorcycles are a huge struggle! I have been riding motorcycles pretty much my whole adult life, but after trying electric bikes a few times while in the EU, I felt they were like toys. Honestly, how can you ride a motorcycle that sounds like a kitchen blender? FYI: I understand they are more efficient and faster, but a motorcycle is not about efficiency; it's more about a hobby, fun. In the EU market, it is mostly deliveries because cities are built for them.

somerandomqaguy · 9 days ago

They shine best I think as alternatives to the 50cc segment; 60kph max with round trip taking 5km to 10km. At that point the limitations aren't a big deal. Anything beyond that's... iffy.

somerandomqaguy commented on BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive evclinic.eu/2025/12/04/20... · Posted by u/mikelabatt

sublimefire · 14 days ago

This is just signing, nothing cutting edge. Verification of signatures is a fairly old tech. What is the exact problem here? Is it that manufacturers do not publish the signed binaries or is it that you want to run something on your car compiled by you?

somerandomqaguy · 14 days ago

Authorized software means authorized for that car's VIN number. Basically it's the same issue with parts in Apple products that are serial number locked.

If for instance if you damaged a headlamp, and then went to an authorized BMW dealer, bought the correct brand new OEM BMW head lamp assembly from the parts department of an authorized BMW dealer, and followed the replacement procedure to the letter in the BMW service website... it won't work. The headlamp assembly is not authorized to talk to the rest of the car even though it's OEM, untampered, with stock firmware.

The headlamp has to be reprogrammed with the correct VIN number in order for the rest of the ECU's in that particular car to recognize it as authorized.

somerandomqaguy commented on BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive evclinic.eu/2025/12/04/20... · Posted by u/mikelabatt

consp · 15 days ago

It is a BMW problem and the rest is clickbait. If you own a BMW you know all this as it has been the case for over decades.

It's also not a eu thing as all manufacturers are locking things up, Ford and other US brands are trying as much as all other manufacturers. They just haven't reached BMW levels yet.

somerandomqaguy · 15 days ago

UN Regulation No. 155, and 156, and the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) are requiring car manufacturers to implement cryptographic validation that allows only authorized software from the manufacturer to be run.

somerandomqaguy commented on Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub bbc.com/news/articles/c86... · Posted by u/1659447091

MangoToupe · a month ago

> Taiwan intends to violently and militarily resist if it comes to that

I sincerely wonder if the people who live there agree. I sure as hell wouldn't put up much fight if china tried to invade my country; just the opposite. If anything I wonder if voluntary unification is on the table in today's climate

somerandomqaguy · a month ago

Just my sense as an outsider, but a lot of interest in voluntary reunification got chilled after seeing China's actions in Hong Kong. A lot of it stems from lack of trust for the CCP to honor it's idea of a one county two systems form of governence.

I don't know how much the Taiwanese would be willing to fight and die in a military invasion though.

somerandomqaguy commented on Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub bbc.com/news/articles/c86... · Posted by u/1659447091

codedokode · a month ago

Nowadays, are large ships well protected from small unmanned underwater ships? Are they worth building?

somerandomqaguy · a month ago

Yes to being worth building.

The whole point of the navy is to be able to control waterways. The whole point of being able to control waterways is to be able to economically ship large amounts of material and people; in the case of warfare, soldiers, bullets, food, water, fuel, etc.

An unmanned fast attack sub is going to be useless for defending your logistics fleet from strike fighters and anti ship missles. Even a dingy that has a guy in it with a rocket propelled grenade can send a cargo ship to it's grave. You have to have a surface ships with powerful defenses to protect them.

somerandomqaguy commented on Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub bbc.com/news/articles/c86... · Posted by u/1659447091

mikkupikku · a month ago

Who is "we"? Japan doesn't have much choice, they either do things even though they are next to China, or ..what?

Maybe its time for people to stop being paralyzed by fear and invest in their future. If China is such a severe threat to Japan, then invest more in the JSDF. Yes, China is powerful and has an aggressive stance, but that's no reason to give up without a fight. Japan and South Korea together can very nearly match China's shipbuilding tonnage per year, and besides that Japan collaborates with America to develop advanced naval missiles like the SM-3 Block IIA. Effective deterrence of China w.r.t. Japan should be achievable if people stop overdosing on blackpills.

somerandomqaguy · a month ago

They already are investing in the JSDF. The JS Chokai is in San Diego right now being equipped with Tomahawk cruise missles, but AFAIK the plan is to equipped all 8 Kongo class destroyers with those missles.

And that's just one part of the expansion. But the short version is that the JSDF isn't staying a defensive only institution.

somerandomqaguy commented on Debunking the Myths of the HBO Chernobyl series (2023) blog.osm-ai.net/investiga... · Posted by u/osm3000

dylan604 · a month ago

It's funny that this series seems as if it is being confused as a documentary. It was a dramatic telling of a story. Creative licensing was in full effect. The first item in the "Series VS tapes: point by point" is a very common use of that creative licensing. Trying to follow multiple people in a work like this gets tiring and a bit boring. The details are kept, but it's easier to follow when those multiple people are written as one character. It's why the term "littleuns" was used in Lord of The Flies as the individuals were not important to the story, just the fact they were there and needed to be considered allowed the story to not get bogged down.

The series was also told completely in ~8 hours of content, yet this event clearly took longer than 8 hours to play out. Why no critique on that?

somerandomqaguy · a month ago

It happens. The Jaws movies brought a lot of shark panic to public consciousness despite how utterly rare shark attacks are. The China Syndrome's effect on the nuclear industry given it's timing with Three Mile island.

Probably more that I'm not aware of but it's common enough phenomenon.

somerandomqaguy commented on All praise to the lunch ladies bittersoutherner.com/issu... · Posted by u/gmays

thaumasiotes · a month ago

> The US military (hell just about every army on the planet) spends a lot of money and effort into developing field rations that are palatable enough for infantry sections on the move to eat in it's entirety.

Why? That's not even a real concept. If you want everyone to like everything they have, you can't do that without letting them trade away the stuff they hate.

somerandomqaguy · a month ago

From the horse's mouth?

>The CMNR reviewed many of these studies when they were initially completed and noticed that underconsumption of the ration appeared to be a consistent problem. Typically, soldiers did not consume sufficient calories to meet energy expenditure and consequently lost body weight. The energy deficit has been in the range of 700 to 1,000 kcal/d and thus raises concern about the influence of such a deficit on physical and cognitive performance, particularly over a period of extended use. Anecdotal reports from Operation Desert Storm, for example, indicated that some units may have used MREs as their sole source of food for 50 to 60 days—far longer than the original intent when the MRE was initially field tested. > >There have been successive modifications of the MRE since 1981. These modifications in type of food items, diversity of meals, packaging, and food quality have produced small improvements in total consumption but have not significantly reduced the energy deficit that occurs when MREs are consumed. This problem continues in spite of positive hedonic ratings of the MRE ration items in laboratory and field tests. The suboptimal intake of operational rations thus remains a major issue that needs to be evaluated.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25121269/

Or to summarize it; soldiers weren't eating the full MRE's in Desert Storm, and it a widespread problem. Soldiers that weren't meeting their caloric intake requirements were suffering cognitive issues while in combat operations. Bit of an issue when you've got two groups of people trying to kill each other and not their own side.

So they figured the best option to get the soldiers to eat their rations was to keep improving and updating until soldiers were more inclined to eat the whole damn thing. I don't know if they've succeeded per say but they have been updating the menus pretty consistently since the 90's. I think only the beef stew and a few other meal items have stayed consistent over the last 30 years of MRE's.

somerandomqaguy commented on All praise to the lunch ladies bittersoutherner.com/issu... · Posted by u/gmays

Spivak · a month ago

I mean this is the nanny state at its best. Getting in the way of progress because you refuse to meet people, in this case kids, where they actually are. The challenge should be minimizing the amount of waste—cook literally anything where the kids will clean their plates then try to nudge toward healthier options while keeping your waste % low. Let them take any subset of the lunch as they please, prune dishes kids either don't take or leave behind until you have a menu.

Mind boggling how getting the kids actually fed is lower on the priority list than making sure they eat the "right" things.

somerandomqaguy · a month ago

Not exactly easy. The US military (hell just about every army on the planet) spends a lot of money and effort into developing field rations that are palatable enough for infantry sections on the move to eat in it's entirety. I can't imagine developing it for far more numerous school children is going to be any easier.

somerandomqaguy commented on Falling panel prices lead to global solar boom, except for the US arstechnica.com/science/2... · Posted by u/Jtsummers

Marsymars · 2 months ago

Doesn't change your overall point, but just to comment on the Fiesta case (of interest to me since I drove one of the first model year's return to North America - 2011 - until earlier this year) - it only survived 4 extra years outside of NA - it's discontinued worldwide as of 2023.

The surviving vehicle(s) on the platform are the Ford Puma and Puma Gen-E, which are subcompact crossovers not sold in North America.

somerandomqaguy · 2 months ago

Ah, I wasn't aware the Fiesta discontinued outside as well. AFAIK Ford did so to retool Cuautitlán Assembly plant in Mexico from the Fiesta to the Mach-E. Looks like Cologne Body & Assembly is going to be producing Ford's EU electric CUV's instead of the Fiesta.