That happened in the UK too. Vans are differently taxed to cars here for businesses. Vans are defined by the volume of their cargo area, which these just about meet. Thankfully though, the government changed the rules so that for any new leases or on the date of renewal, double cab pickups are considered to be cars for tax purposes.

Cars are taxed on their co2 emissions and on the user it’s given to (ie not the company). This still needs to change as it doesn’t quite work anymore as the massive electric SUVs have taken over. A think tank has recommended a weight and/or price component so hopefully at the next budget they’ll change it.

Maybe you can lobby to get the same?

I also use restic for backups. I actually switched from Borg because it kept getting stuck and failing but couldn’t work out why. Not had issues with restic (so far, touch wood!).

I use resticprofile with yaml configurations though (https://github.com/creativeprojects/resticprofile), which made it much easier for me to figure out.

I use borgbase for offsite backups.

I use fairphone 5 with /e/os and echo these comments in the most part, although would go higher than OK to that it works well for me.

All my banking apps (UK based) work through aurora store, which might be luck. I have had difficulty with a few others I slightly miss (mainly Citymapper). I use Foss alternatives on f-droid as much as possible and for others I add a link to their website on my homepage, which mostly works the same but can have features missing (Citymapper has less options).

I did find google maps has better traffic than any other apps so sometimes I use GMaps WV from f-droid to check which route is best, then try to actually learn those routes or use another maps app for navigation.

They really push you to install the aio container so it’s not surprising to me.

If you’re comfortable in the terminal you’ll be fine just starting out and figuring it as you go. Be ready for a few reinstalls but it becomes part of the fun, albeit sometimes frustrating! Go for a mainstream server os like Ubuntu or Debian (as if you google them with any issue you’re likely to find at answer). Get SSH up and running with keys for security, install tailscale and don’t expose to the internet until you feel more comfortable. Install docker then start on one software you think will be useful, get it up and running then move onto the next. I would recommend homepage as a front end then keep it up to date with new software so you can quickly see what you have and what ports are in use. Vaultwarden is useful for the admin passwords. I use authentik for sso but would try caddy if I was starting now.

For personal stuff, i use an external email, and borgbase for backups (highly recommend them if using Borg or restic).

To be honest, you would get frequent notifications for updates that are probably more often than just to remind you. If you’re like me, you’ll just end up ignoring them anyway! There are a lot of small updates to a lot of software, most often not from a security point of view but just as people develop their projects. I update every week if I can but can be a couple of weeks, in which I start to feel “guilty” so when it builds up I know I have to do it

Sorry this doesn’t answer your question really but I’ve had issues when I used to auto update containers so stopped doing that. Some things have breaking changes, others just had issues in that release that caused me issues accessing stuff when not at home. I update every so often when I have ten minutes to do updates, check release notes and deal with any issues if they arise or roll back to that version. I spin up what’s up docker to see what’s changed then when finished, stop the container so it doesn’t keep on polling docker hub using my free allowance.

In short, it could be an option to spin it up, let it run, then stop the container so theres less risk it could be used for an attack.

That’s a good point about public transport, although cars still end up massively more subsidised without people realising if you factor in externalities but it’s harder to take away subsidies than to introduce them.

The problem with fuel duty is, like you said that it has flatlined but that also, it does not cover electric cars. They still take up road space, infrastructure, cause tyre wear, etc. I understand we want to move from ICE but we should move towards a mix of public transport, e-bikes, bikes, e-scooters and walking, not just replacing ICE cars with big electric cars.

Some sort of tax difference on size and/or weight of car would be good.

I know this will never fly but I always say to my partner there should be an extra driving licence class for larger cars so they have to take a test. If you can’t keep your unnecessarily large car in a lane, park inside of a space, go around tight corners, reverse the car properly etc you shouldn’t be able to buy one. It’s crazy watching some drivers struggle with them. My partner is not confident with the size so guess what, we got a normal sized hatchback and it’s been absolutely fine!

I was naturally against toll roads here in the UK for most of my life as my thought process was that they are pretty random and they were to pay for the specific infrastructure project but ended to extorting those users whilst others were built by the govt. However, now I look and think why should I pay the same as people who drive a lot more miles than I do, who drive much unnecessarily bigger cars than I do, and who choose to drive short distances instead of walking / cycling than I do. Now, mileage based taxes make sense to me. Not sure you could ever convince the general population of that though, especially the older generations who vote more

Absolutely fantastic! What a way to highlight the issue

That was because the British Raj did not create birth records so there is no record to produce. Local villages in India did keep a form of record but it was normal to be off by a few months or sometimes people lied to get their kids into school early. Given his history and fame, it is unlikely to be off by more than a few years at most.

Don’t take away his achievements for some bureaucratic reason.

I bought a new domain for my business and there was no trace of any old business name when researching connected to that domain. After about 6 months I received some data from an old client of theirs. It had a company name so I was able to let someone from that company know, as well the sender and I deleted the data before reading it. I guess you have to think what did you use it for, who might send data that identifies you etc. You never know who might buy it.

I remember reading an article but can’t find it now. A researcher bought tons old domains from government and local departments that had shut down or changed names, and managed to get some interesting information!

Simple solution really - drive the fucking speed limit!

I took the plunge buying an ebike and would never look back. I have a normal cycle and love it, and it’s still in use but the ebike is more of a serious transport alternative.

You can set the amount of support, so you don’t have to give up cycling. However, the motor allows you to have a more sturdy frame, more comfortable riding position, better suspension, hill climbing ability and a panier to carry anything I need, all while being able to ride in normal clothes, without sweating so no shower needed. I overtake all but the most fit regular cyclists so it’s generally quicker.

To be fair, the same can be said of e-scooters expect ebikes can take much more weight (e.g. shopping) but e-scooters are more comfortable given the more natural position, can be folded up and are much smaller / lighter for carrying and taking on trains / buses.

Will be interesting to see once the fines start. Might just be an inconvenience to the ultra wealthy who might carry on but on the other hand people don’t like losing money, and it just takes a few cars to slow down to force everyone else to. Do you have ant points system or mechanism that will take away your licence for multiple tickets?

Seriously? I’m almost impressed with how they’re managing to help richer people out, encourage unnecessary consumerism and hurt the environment in so many ways that the average person can not understand or keep up with

I really resonate with this article as a parent and really want to give more independence but I think car brain really does get in the way. We cycle to school and people have bigger cars on smaller roads, don’t give enough space, park dangerously and just don’t seem to care about cyclists or pedestrians. Even cycling home today by myself I almost got knocked off so how can I let my child face that by themselves? It’s a vicious circle them that more people drive and the problem gets worse. Even going to the local park we have to cross or cycle on roads at some point. Most of the other parents drive, even if living really close. I’ve also had parents “telling me off” or commenting for letting him cycle on the road in front of me. Feel like I can’t win.

We’re very aware in the UK but it’s not too easy. We have some the oldest housing stock in the world. We don’t have central air with no real way to retrofit so it would have to be one room at a time. Our windows aren’t designed to house those units I see in NY. We have to rely on very inefficient portable units so I only use it on the really hot days. Energy prices are still high after Russia’s invasion. People are adding proper units when extending but only the rich can really afford that.

This is why I happily pay for channel 4 plus, even though I don’t use their app for viewing all that much