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Climate goals could make gas heating obsolete. So why do gas companies keep adding customers? Building more gas infrastructure is like investing in video rental stores 15 years ago, says expert
  • Heat pumps sounds like a good way forward. I haven't looked into the cost to replace a heater in a home, but I guess new homes could just have them installed by default.

    What about natural gas use in home cooking/restaurants? Surely, you can't just replace that easily.

    EDIT: And what about heating water? I mean, natural gas is used for more than heating the space in a home.

  • I’ve been locked out of PayPal for years because of their mistake
  • What is the use case for PayPal in the US?

    It gives businesses a very easy to way to set up monthly payments, one-time donations, accept forms of payments other than e-transfer (which many people don't want to use), allows for international purchases without being penalized, and more.

    Other options are available, but they are neither easy/cheap/convenient for the business or any better for the customer.

  • I Like This Food Guide More
  • Why do they continue to publish articles literally stating the same facts, word for word, from those old, published position statements?

    The science hasn't changed. In fact, it's only supported plant-based diets over the years.

    If you talk to a registered dietitian today, they will say the same thing. At least, that's been my experience through working with several over the years.

    Either way, it doesn't particularly matter to me. I've been vegan for over two decades and my doctor is quite happy with my health.

  • I Like This Food Guide More
  • They did not retract or change their position, though.

    And they still publish information based on the same wording and conclusions they had when they did publish a position.

    I'm not sure what's so confusing about this. They did not change their position on plant-based diets, and I believe because it would be redundant to keep saying what the science has confirmed year after year.

    Is there any position they continually confirm year after year? If so, I'd be really surprised, unless the science isn't supporting their position, so they have to give their reasons for still having them.

    The only article I linked was reviewed by their people just a few weeks ago, so it's as current as you could expect.

  • I Like This Food Guide More
  • It's not that they no longer support the idea of a plant-based diet, it's more likely that plant-based diets are so overwhelmingly supported by the evidence that they no longer have to keep saying it out loud.

    Especially since their recent articles seem to echo what their position paper on vegetarian diets already said years ago. To them, it's like common knowledge.

    That said, they are one of dozens of dietetic and health authorities around the world who have made it clear that a plant-based diet can not only be appropriate for all life stages, but it can be used to reverse certain diseases (i.e heart disease and T2 diabetes) when other diets simply can't compare.

  • Featured
    Arbitrary List of Popular Flashlights - Summer Solstice 2024 Edition
  • @potatopotato@sh.itjust.works @zakreviews@social.goodanser.com Thanks for the info. That's pretty disappointing to hear.

    The only issue I had with one of my Olights was a known firmware issue, and they replaced it without hesitation.

    I'm not a fan of propriety chargers/batteries, so I do agree that it's a good reason to leave them off the list.

  • A cool guide of commonly believed myths
  • MSG = headaches is actually true for many people.

    "Effect of systemic monosodium glutamate (MSG) on headache and pericranial muscle sensitivity :

    "We conducted a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover study to investigate the occurrence of adverse effects such as headache... there was a significant increase in reports of headache..." SOURCE

    In addition, if you add oil to your cooked and drained pasta, it absolutely stops it from sticking vs. not adding oil. Just don't add it to the water, as it's just wasteful.

  • Newly obtained video shows driver after deadly Goodyear cycling crash
  • This makes me physically ill.

    Cars are the only weapon in the world where you could injure or kill a few dozen people "by accident" and be let off without being held responsible. And it happens all the time.

    Even when someone is charged with anything, it never accounts for a loss of human life. It's always some BS traffic violation that might as well be a parking violation.

  • Trying to buy right size bicycle wheel online
  • Absolutely!

    And I've had companies offer me a discount on product, rather than a full refund or replacement. I always refuse and state how disappointed I am. They pretty much always follow up with a full refund or new product.

    Hell, I even ordered an indoor spin bike, complained that it used non-standard crank arms, and they refunded me $100 to replace the crank arms and pedals! Just for stating that I was unhappy with one aspect of an otherwise great purchase.

  • Quick follow up re: my post "Advice wanted: Best/safest route between Pickering and Scarborough?"

    Hey guys, just a quick update regarding my question: https://lemmy.ca/post/22882437

    I did end up successfully riding from Oshawa to Vaughan and back over the weekend, using Finch as the bridge between Pickering and Scarborough.

    For the most part, I'm really happy with my route choice. The total trip was just over 162 km, and some highlights included:

    • The trans-Canada trail along Duffins Creek in Pickering was amazing.
    • There's a long-ass hill on Old Finch, just west of the zoo, that almost killed me on the way back (my folding bike is NOT geared at all for climbing, and I burned off any glycogen reserves by that point).
    • The Finch hydro corridor was nice... taking McNicoll before and after was not. Poor roads and aggressive drivers.
    • The Duncan Creek trail is also stunning. I'd 100% do this trail again if I'm in the area.
    • The cycling infrastructure in Vaughan was great... until it's not. There's a section of road along HWY 7 West of Centre St and east of the 400 that's just downright terrible. Where there is no bike lane, the roads are garbage and traffic is fast and aggressive. Where there is a separated bike lane, it was COVERED in rocks, metal, plastic, wire, and pretty much everything else you can imagine; the road, FYI, looked as if it was cleaned using a toothbrush. The raised cycling lanes west of the 400 were really, really nice.

    Overall, a really great ride. I'm not sure if I'll attempt the same ride using Taunton/Steeles at some point, since aggressive motorists going far in excess of 80 km/h just doesn't sound like fun.

    As a side note, my Varia radar clocked one guy going 126km/h...

    0
    Trying to buy right size bicycle wheel online
  • I've had Amazon listings where the title, description, specs on the box, specs on the product, and the reviews ALL had different information.

    Who creates these listings? AI?

    That said, I strongly encourage anyone who shops on Amazon to complain about issues in your reviews, and contact the seller if ANYTHING is wrong with your product. I have a 99% success rate of getting replacements or a full refund while doing this (resulting in basically a free product), even if the issue is cosmetic or a personal dislike. Just be honest.

  • BikeForums.net is a really helpful resource for almost any bike info
  • Thank you for sharing that. I've been aware of Bikeforums, and they come up a lot during searches, but I'll be signing up shortly. They really do have EVERYTHING you could possibly ask for in bike-related topics.

  • Anyone know what's going on with the cycleOSM layer (June 2024)?

    I'm seeing fake roads everywhere, and the map looks like a spider's web.

    It's like this on every website that displays the cycleOSM layer: the official cycleOSM site, Openstreetmap, brouter, etc.

    4
    Advice wanted: Best/safest route between Pickering and Markham?

    Hey guys, hopefully this isn't too far out of the city to offer suggestions, but here's my problem:

    I'm planning a ride from East Oshawa to central Vaughan.

    I'd like to keep the route safe, but don't want to detour so far out-of-the-way, so a 4h one-way trip becomes a 7-hour one, since I'll still need to come back on the same day.

    I'll obviously need to avoid the waterfront trail, as it's quite out of my way. So, my options are either taking HWY 7 or Taunton/Steeles.

    Google street view shows me some pros and cons to both, but they also lead to totally different parts of Markham, and some cycling infrastructure there seems either disconnected or forces me to take some rather busy roads.

    Has anyone taken HWY 7 or Taunton/Steeles between Pickering and Markham by bike? Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

    EDIT: Finch Ave. looks to be another option.

    6
    Where do I get an adapter for this oddly sized pedal thread?

    The photo was from a site that no longer seems to be up. The pedal on the right, measuring at 15.7mm is the same size that the pedal on my indoor spin bike uses and I want to use standard 9/16 threaded pedals instead.

    Has anyone come across this size??? Do adapters exist to step up standard 9/16 to 15.7mm?

    7
    Bees? @lemmy.ca Showroom7561 @lemmy.ca
    Polyester bee?

    Context:

    This guy landed on my shoulder and just walked around for a few minutes.

    Southern Ontario Around 2:30pm in bright sun; 24 Celsius.

    (S)he was loaded with pollen and the bands on their abdomen were white.

    From a list of possible bees in Ontario, I have narrowed it down to the polyester bee, but if anyone can confirm, I'd appreciate it.

    It's been pretty depressing seeing fewer pollinators around year after year, so this guy really made my day!

    0
    Some websites are nearly impossible to use in FF due to slow performance

    This has been bothering me long enough that I figured I'd check to see if anyone else is having the same issue, and more importantly, if there's a fix.

    Some websites, like Google Earth or various weather radar sites get so slow that they are unusable in Firefox.

    When I load the same sites in Edge, it's blazing fast, as I'd expect.

    Even Librewolf chugs on these sites.

    Any suggestions would be appreciated.

    ADDITIONAL DETAILS: First, thanks for all the input, guys.

    I wanted to say that I've tried a fresh FF profile, and the same slowness happens in Google Earth.

    I also confirmed that hardware acceleration is enabled.

    This problem isn't on all websites. For example, playing www.slowroads.io actually gives a higher framerate on FF than it does on Edge. So it seems to be that certain websites just suck ass.

    Some of you have said that Google Earth on FF works perfectly fine... on linux. At least it seems not to be a FF problem. LOL

    EDIT: Opera browser is just as smooth as Edge with G Earth.

    POSSIBLE SOLUTION?? Ok, so even though I was able to confirm that hardware acceleration was enabled, and the GPU was active while using FF, and the about:support showed that webrender was enabled, I noticed that on about:config the gfx.webrender.all setting was set to false.

    So, I enabled it, and tried again. Google Earth seems much smoother (not as good as edge, but better than before), and Tube Archivist no longer seems to freeze while a video is being played.

    Could this be the reason for my issues? If so, why was this option set to false by default?

    38
    Shots fired at residence in Ajax, Whitby, and Oshawa in the same week.

    What on earth is going on?

    • May 17th and 18th in Ajax, at the same house (https://www.drps.ca/news/shots-fired-at-residence-in-ajax-1/)
    • May 19th in Whitby (https://www.drps.ca/news/shots-fired-at-residence-in-whitby/)
    • May 20th in Oshawa (https://www.drps.ca/news/no-injuries-after-shots-were-fired-at-a-home-in-oshawa/)

    Nearly all of these happening in the middle of the night, with police finding shell casings, but no victims or suspects.

    "Investigators are continuing to look into if any shootings this weekend are connected."

    0
    Anyone use "Da Brim" on their helmet?

    Now that summer is almost here, I'm looking for better ways to protect myself from the sun. I generally dislike sunscreen, but I do wear it while riding.

    The helmet visor "Da Brim" (website) caught my attention. Since I wear a huge-ass sombrero-style hat when I'm off the bike, I'm fine with the way Da Brim looks.

    For context, some of my summer rides might have me in 8-10+ hours of sun, which isn't good, even with sunscreen on. If Da Brim can make the experience more tolerable, I'm in!

    I'm curious to hear from anyone who has one, and what their experience has been.

    29
    Almost time to replace my chainrings. A few questions.

    Context: My 90s MTB still has its original Shimano chainring (crankarms say Alivo). The cassette was replaced several months ago, as was the chain and bottom bracket. No wear on the chain right now.

    The derailleurs are Alivio, and probably the original ones from the mid-90s. I don't have any reason or intention to replace those, although, I do have a Deore LX on my decommissioned 90s MTB that I could likely drop in, but I digress. LOL

    I guess two questions:

    1. What would I need to provide to my LBS as far as measurements to get me a replacement? I understand that I'll likely need another BB and maybe(?) a chain, but I plan to stick with the same gearing.
    2. Ideally, I'd want to find a 3x chainring where I can replace the crank arms and individual chain rings when needed. Will this be easy to find, considering the age and group set?

    Thanks in advance.

    6
    Tube archivist + Jellyfin. Anyone have luck getting thumbnails and titles working?

    I've tried a few jellyfin plugins that are supposed to sync metadata and thumbnails from tube archivist, but it's just not working right.

    I can see some thumbnails, but then the titles are just random gibberish. Or the titles somewhat work, but no thumbnails.

    Any secret I'm missing?

    Both are running in docker containers on a synology nas.

    12
    American Motorcyclist Association Urges DOT to Act on Automated Driver System Regulations Following Tragic Collision
    americanmotorcyclist.com American Motorcyclist Association Urges DOT to Act on Automated Driver System Regulations Following Tragic Collision

    Calls on DOT Secretary Buttigieg to stand with motorcyclists to prevent further loss of life PICKERINGTON, Ohio (April 26, 2024) — In the wake of the most recent tragedy involving a fatal collision between a Tesla vehicle in autopilot mode and a motorcyclist in Washington state, the American Motorcy...

    American Motorcyclist Association Urges DOT to Act on Automated Driver System Regulations Following Tragic Collision

    > PICKERINGTON, Ohio (April 26, 2024) — In the wake of the most recent tragedy involving a fatal collision between a Tesla vehicle in autopilot mode and a motorcyclist in Washington state, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) once again urges the Department of Transportation (DOT) to strengthen Automated Driving System (ADS) regulations.

    > “Many autonomous vehicles on the road today have not been proven to detect all other road users in all situations before they have been allowed to be used on the road,” Dingman added. “Motorcyclists should not be used as guinea pigs for autonomous vehicle manufacturers. The continued allowance of untested autonomous vehicles on our nation’s roadways is unacceptable. The time for action is now!”

    To add to that, you should see how these "accident avoidance systems" plow through dummies during tests. You'd have to have been paid off to allow these vehicles on public roads!

    16
    Any way to update the software in Raspian without updating the OS?

    So, I've had a Raspberry Pi 4 sitting brand new in a box for a few years, and decided to install BirdNetPi on it yesterday.

    It's working like a champ, but because BirdNetPi needed a legacy version of Raspian, it's got old software on it.

    Is there any way to update the software (i.e. RealVNC) without updating the OS? There is no built-in software updater, and I seem to very easily break Linux every time I make an attempt to use it. LOL

    9
    Are there any privacy-friendly (including offline) AI detectors?

    I can see far too many privacy issues with copy and pasting text into a website, and/or registering an account which will keep a history of the text checked.

    Are there any services available that are noted for being private?

    For context, I'm using uBlacklist to manually block website that use AI generated content.

    5
    Cyclist killed on Bayview Avenue remembered as ‘sensational human being’
    www.thestar.com Cyclist killed on Bayview Avenue remembered as ‘sensational human being’

    Vlad Zotov, father of three, died after being hit by a car on Bayview Avenue on Monday morning.

    Cyclist killed on Bayview Avenue remembered as ‘sensational human being’

    This happened earlier this week (April 8th). A ghost bike procession is being held on April 15th.

    0
    Parolee hides in girlfriend's car and assaults her on her return - Durham Post
    durhampost.ca Parolee hides in girlfriend's car and assaults her on her return - Durham Post

    The accused hid in his girlfriend’s vehicle and when she returned to the vehicle, he proceeded to assault her by choking.

    Parolee hides in girlfriend's car and assaults her on her return - Durham Post

    > Durham Police yesterday said a 33-year-old male, who was out on parole for manslaughter and kidnapping, is facing charges after a violent assault on his girlfriend.

    > The accused in this matter hid in his girlfriend’s vehicle without her knowledge and when she returned to the vehicle, he proceeded to assault her by choking.

    > The accused, who had an ankle monitoring bracelet on, removed it as he fled the area, said police.

    > A 33-year-old male from Oshawa is charged with: Assault (Spousal), Choking, Fail to Comply with Release Order, Mischief and Possession Contrary to Prohibition Order.

    At what point should the judge be responsible for putting someone like that out on parole? The justice system is supposed to work for the victim.

    And he shouldn't be charged with "choking", but attempted murder. Why are we so soft on criminals?

    0
    The Disturbing Death Disparity on North American Roads

    The United States seems to always have disproportionately high rates of things that kill people compared to other developed nations. 🤔

    8
    InitialsDiceBearhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearhttps://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/„Initials” (https://github.com/dicebear/dicebear) by „DiceBear”, licensed under „CC0 1.0” (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)SH
    Showroom7561 @lemmy.ca
    Posts 158
    Comments 2.1K