Or women vs. men, same.

I hope not. I am in general fine with Ads for content, even with profiling to what i listen and so on. But if you pay for subscription to get no Ads and still you get Ads from Spotify, then it is plain stupid.

Piracy is also predatory, just saying.

It isn't when it's paid off in advance in a form of the predatory tax, also on people and items anywhere close to "piracy": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_copying_levy

If someone lives in one of the countries where this tax is being levied, they're not "pirating", they're merely exercising their prepaid privilege.

Which is why I included the second paragraph.

The last straw was for me the ads on podcasts as a paid subscriber. I miss my playlists.

I also like Kotlin. The readability is awesome. ;)

  inline fun <reified T> Any?.cryptic() = (this as? T)?.let { it::class.simpleName?.also(::println) } ?: Unit

I get the snark, but also - there is this "ideal Java code style" that most experienced devs tend towards. Unfortunately I don't see anything like that for Kotlin (yet?), and there are a bunch of patterns that I really dislike. I sometimes feel people just toy around, like "wow I can make this into an extension method, how cool" and leave that as the code.

In general, I really dislike extension methods, especially when paired with tiny objects with barely any functionality to begin with. Like people build a mental model of what a thing is based on how can it be used - but if you leave that empty and put every behavior at different files in the form of extension methods you make this understanding very hard to build up.

Add to it that it removes polymorphism and often actually hinders readability.. so my point is, having more ways to write code is not necessarily a positive.

Competition is good.

Will it be accepted in hotels abroad? Can i withdraw cash at ATM abroad? Can i add it as a card to my Google wallet?

Usually banks app are nightmare. Pins everywhere, extra passwords. MFA not with my dongle....

Sigh.

Seriously, I have had no issues with visa or mastercard. This euro-nationalism is odd to me.

Not in my city. Business is all dying, everyone avoids to go to the centre, everywhere the city fights cars, handy man charge extra just for comings, nah, it's basically gated communities now, well, they can have it, but life happens somewhere else then, where it can expand freely.

Cars do not allow life to happen or expand freely. Cars are prison, trapping people and communities in congestion.

Cars are very very very dangerous devices.

What is your city? What anti-car policies were implemented? Did city offer viable altenatives to driving?

Makes a bold claim without stating the city.

Where do you live? I’ve never found a counterexample to the benefits of de-car-ing, would love to learn more

That giant 5-level parking lot monstrocity could be a transport hub instead that has a warm metro stop, much better lighting and safety and perhaps even some light convenience retail.

> Imagining sitting in a cosy, warm pod, driving in a tunnel autonomously, point to point, and you have my vote.

They already have this. It's called a metro.

Cars aren’t remotely cozy. They are incredibly stressful to drive, are a huge cost, and are dangerous to those inside and out.

Every complain about public transit being unsafe is twice as true about cars

Nope. The first thing i do in the warm car, is to turn the music on, making a stop at my favourite coffee shop and then i hit the road, humming my favourite songs. I barely drive anyways, its all automatic.

In mass-transit facilities all the people look at their screens, using headphones, waiting to be coughed on, scared to be not talked to, anxiety all around. Nope, not for me. Never looking into a dirty public toilet again, while the society yells: "but its free!".

Progress, folx, not regress. Come out of your bubbles, ignore the voices, that tell ya, hundreds of human bodies efficiently transported in an iron can is progress! Live! Expand! Use everything!

You should like a scary driver to share the road with. Your whole description of the “joy” of driving is all about how little attention you are spending on the actual driving part.

When you drive you are responsible for a massive complex device moving at high speeds. It must take your full focus

An unfortunate side effect of car dependence is people forgetting how to dress outside in the place they live, a skill humans had for thousands of years but apparently lost some time in the last ~100.

Don't be silly. Humans haven't forgotten this, only Americans have.

I do not think it is about seeing certain things, that exist in the adult world. That is surely a side effect that one wants, though, protecting minors from a world that they can not comprehend.

I think it is about algorithms targeting you all the time for hours in favour of a company. We see the effects every day. No attention span. Instant gratification. The next kick.

Are you? Reveal yourself!

I've been outed! I am but the humble servant of my cat!