I'm frequently reminding people that Google is not an email provider nor a search engine nor really anything else it pretends to be, but that it's a data harvesting and ad company.
Thankfully I've been becoming less reliant on my gmail inbox. But also, it appears my various efforts for blocking malicious content may be blocking these ads because I don't see them on my home network.
What are you relying on in place of Gmail? It's never been the email service itself I've liked, it's the web app and Android app, I use the External Accounts feature to drag in all email accounts into one place.
I have my own domain attached to icloud mail at the moment. But primarily, I have my own domain and can move it to wherever I need it. Icloud mail isn't the best thing in the world, still, but it's more cost efficient than trying to run it on a personal O365 or some other service for now. I don't really have need for the enhanced security/privacy of some of the other providers available, at least for now, but having my own domain means migrating to them later, should I need it, shouldn't be difficult.
I will note the icloud mail web interface is utter garbage.
Sometimes it's not just about getting rid of an annoyance. I've stuck to my guns with ad blocking to protect myself from malicious ad content. In terms of content creators getting paid, I pay for a Youtube Premium subscription to help with that (which, it's my understanding content creators get paid MORE by Youtube Premium views than ad supported views).
Reading the article, I failed to see what link they found. The headline here matches the one on the article so I'm not calling that into question, but what seems to be more accurate is "Mobile phone calls correlated with increased risk of high blood pressure" since no actual causal link is established. The article repeatedly calls it out as a link as well. It'd be easy for certain groups to fill in the blanks and claim this proves mobile radiation is a health risk, while it doesn't at all establish that causal link. Just as easily, it could be inferred that longer calls are more stressful. And also just as easily the link could be established that those with a family history of hypertension or have other risk factors are more likely to have longer phone conversations.
So I'd argue there's no established link, but there might be an obvious correlation that might warrant more study.
In my experience, the White Ambiance lights don't get as dim as the other Hue bulbs. In places where I wanted even lower light, I've had to use their White Ambiance Filament or Color Ambiance bulbs.
I've noticed the White Ambiance lights don't dim to a very low level for night time night light type of use, but the White and Color Ambiance bulbs can get far dimmer. Also the White Ambiance Filament bulbs seem to get dimmer than the regular White Ambiance bulbs.
It's a shame, really, because it seems like the expensive bulbs might meet your needs while their cheaper ones don't. Granted, the filament bulbs do seem to fall more in line with the regular bulbs, so might be worth exploring.
I feel like there's not enough easily accessible information in the wild about what you're supposed to do with old electronics, and especially batteries. You're not supposed to throw any type of battery in the trash, let alone ones that get really angry when abused. And places that used to take old batteries seem to be refusing them now. I have a small box of old batteries I've been looking to dispose of and I'm running out of places to try and give them to.
It especially doesn't help that electronics, including with non-replaceable batteries, including those that get angry when abused, are being designed to be disposable to begin with.
And yeah, I know there's a high level of apathy about the problem with the masses. Even though the information can be, for the most part, found, people just don't care enough.
I think part of the problem is that the rules are just kinda... stupid? There is absolutely no reason why regular alkaline batteries can't end up in household garbage. They don't contain heavy metals or anything else that'd make them dangerous.
The rules are basically like this because the regulators figured you're too dumb to know which types of batteries are bad for the environment (lead-acid, the now-obsolete Ni-Cd, less significantly NiMH). And sure, better-tailored rules would confuse some folks, but I bet that compliance would be higher for the really bad stuff.
Alkaline batteries contain manganese dioxide, which is certainly not as bad as the rechargeable types but still is a health hazard in enough quantity. "Heavy duty" (zinc-carbon) has the same concern AFAIK
> There is absolutely no reason why regular alkaline batteries can't end up in household garbage.
Years ago mercury was common in alkalines, they were banned in that use case in 1996: https://www.epa.gov/mercury/mercury-batteries The collection bins that were in my local grocery stores went away within a few years of that.
With scrap batteries being worth 5-50 cents per pound it would be worth just sticking a handful of these, but labeled as "used battery drop off point" in high visibility areas. It won't stop people from maliciously throwing away batteries but would remove the lazy factor.
I hate to break it to you, but "clothing and shoe donation" bins in mall parking lots are generally commercial enterprises, rather than non-profits or charities, and I suppose people get good feels from dropping off there while they're shopping, but the community would be better served if you gave direct to a charity such as St. Vincent de Paul Society Thrift Stores.
As for scrap batteries being tossed into a bin at a mall, I'm not seeing that end well. It is more or less trivial to look up recycle facilities in your area and take stuff to the appropriate drop-off. Personally, I take eWaste into Best Buy or Staples, and my own city government runs a large recycling center that will take almost anything.
same. my local drop off is one day a month at the local prison which is ~25 minutes away. and commercial store that takes items for recycling is twice that distance.
I assume because it's "next door" to the landfill, so a lot of the logistics is already nearby. It also doesnt interfere with a bunch of civilians showing up and getting in the way of large, commercial trucks and regular landfill traffic.
Even if you know you're not supposed to just toss batteries in the trash, getting them to a recycling center can be a pain. Each borough runs, I believe, a single hazardous items drop off day per year -- are people really supposed to hold onto batteries for an average of six months?
It turns out that Staples, Lowe's, and Home Depot will generally take your batteries for you, but I've never seen this advertised anywhere.
Ironically in my area at least (NC) this is handled better in my parent's rural area than it is in the [small] city where I live with city garbage and recycling pick up. In their county (which is all rural) each community has a small facility that collects garbage and recycling, and each facility has collection bins for electronics, batteries, florescent bulbs, etc. I just googled to see what I'm supposed to do with these items, and apparently the city holds a "hazardous waste day" once a year which is usually a madhouse... so I'm guessing that 75+% of that stuff ends up in the normal garbage.
I'm from NC as well, and moved from a major city to a rural area. For me, both have similar disposal options. In the city, you had to go to a trash drop-off center to dispose of batteries (same place you'd take used oil or other hazardous waste, as well as regular trash or even yard debris). I think the difference is, in the city you have trash pickup and can't just toss batteries in with the trash or recycle. Whereas out in the country you have to take everything to a drop-off center, so you're probably more likely to dispose of batteries properly since you don't need to take an extra trip to do so.
Yeah, there's quite a few smaller municipalities that hold a hazard day or a e-waste collection day. But yeah, they're normally crazy. I wish there were more common collection areas, especially for batteries. Post offices or libraries with collection boxes that are "safe" would be great. Boxes that won't melt, will vent pressure, and maybe filled with a bunch of sand that the batteries get buried in.
Also there's a ton of e-waste that's still usable! e-waste days at regular intervals where people could trade could result in a lot of stuff being reused.
> I feel like there's not enough easily accessible information in the wild about what you're supposed to do with old electronics, and especially batteries.
Here in Norway it is in principle rather easy. The law requires shops that sell electronics, batteries, light bulbs and such to accept and handle such goods for recycling.
So, if you can buy it there, you can deliver it for recycling there.
There's also plenty of information about this in various ads, physical and social media, so hard to not know.
Yet people throw batteries and whatnot right in the trash, or worse. Some people just don't care about others, is my conclusion.
In Brazil where I live, there are laws requiring battery manufacturers to collect (almost all) spent batteries, preventing them from getting in landfills. So finding battery disposal bins in buildings and so on has become common. (classic market failure!)
I put all electronic stuff that has no resale value in a box and then once a year drop it at an Apple store. I trust Apple to do the right thing as they have a reputation to uphold. They take 3rd party stuff as well and batteries etc.
"It’s always best to consult with your local waste management service to learn the best and safest way to deal with dead batteries. One thing they will certainly not advise is putting them in plastic soft drink bottles and chucking them in canals.." https://japantoday.com/category/crime/kyoto-man-arrested-for...
In theory every store that sells rechargeable batteries in NYC is also supposed to accept them for disposal.
I've found that occasionally true... but as you say for things like laptops without removable batteries it feels a little weird to just leave them in the piles by the door that many of these stores have.
In San Mateo, CA we were instructed to dispose of batteries by simply placing them atop the bin in a clearly labeled plastic bag on the usual trash pick-up day.
Recology was the organization handling the recycling IIRC...
In Finland I think even the smaller stores have a red carboard a box hidden somewhere... For electronics bit harder, but still should not be impossible.
Don't even get me started on trying to dispose of long fluorescent tubes. I've got an eight-footer I can't get rid of. There is absolutely NOBODY that takes them for recycling in my area.
> Don't even get me started on trying to dispose of long fluorescent tubes.
I replaced those in my garage with some LED lights, long overdue. I put the light fixtures on the curb a scrapper came and picked them up quickly...but left all the lights.
I found out the local Home Depot took them on certain days, so I loaded them up in the van. The wrong way to do it would be to put a long strip of packaging tape along the light and smash it...then put it in a bag.
I'm here wondering how "wrong" that wrong way would be... I have a few tubes to get rid of as well, and my local trash/recycle drop-off won't take them.
The biggest problem using these drugs for weight loss is they need to be used as part of a program that also includes making lifestyle changes. If you don't push the changes and just do things to your limits, when you stop the drug, your unchanged habits make you gain the weight back.
This is one of the biggest things people with obesity struggle with. This is seen as a miracle cure for obesity because it doesn't require work, just a weekly injection and watch the weight melt off. But making lifestyle changes (changing eating habits, increasing activity, etc) is the most reliable way to make this a permanent fix.
But that's putting the patient to work and they don't want that.
That's just not really true. People tend to gain weight and stabilize. It's not like they suddenly get will power. Most everyone has a weight they will end up at if they eat to satiation. These drugs lower that weight.
Of course will power and environment changes can keep you at a lower weight but it's a constant struggle against your body.
I take Wegovy for obesity, and it completely changes my behaviour. I don't often think about food any more, and when I do, I am quite happy preparing a small amount of healthy food. Not only that, I have more energy so I maintain a far more active lifestyle.
Given that I can go for months without those "bad habits", but if I stop taking it they come back, I think they're more than habits. Habits break if you stop doing them for a while, these compulsions don't. Until I took this drug, I didn't know what it was like to be able to not constantly think about food and being hungry. I've been overweight for nearly my entire life since I was a breastfeeding baby, and this is the first time in my life that I don't feel like I'm being held hostage to my hunger.
I have lost weight and maintained a healthy weight for periods of time, but I'm just hungry the whole time and eventually the hunger starts beating my willpower.
For what it's worth I also have problems with anxiety. Similarly I tried years of therapy/mediation/mindfulness/etc. to get rid of my anxiety but it never went away until I took sertraline. Now, I live a pretty much anxiety-free life as long as I take a pill a day.
One of the dramatic effects I’ve noticed is I finally know what being truly hungry feels like. I can differentiate between appetite and hunger. I used to think it was odd how people would turn down food when it’s offered to them. Either my hunger cues were so strong, or my lack of self control has made me absolutely unable to restrict my intake long enough to reduce my weight in a meaningful way. This drug is essentially turning down my hunger drive and now I get it when someone turns down food offered to them. It’s also given me control over what I eat since I don’t have those wild hunger pangs telling me to eat way too much or to eat the wrong thing. Feeling hungry was like this “emergency” that I had to resolve as quickly as possible.
I probably need to see a therapist that can help with my eating habits, and this has highlighted that for me.
The thing is that, at least as far as we know, these drugs don't have any direct effect on the brain. Any effect they have is apparently from adjusting hormone levels and possibly some metabolic effects.
It's also interesting that they were designed to treat diabetes then we also discovered they reduce hunger. My guess is that we may have assumed the cause-effect relationship is more straightforward than it actually is.
I also want to see what happens if we take the people who criticise us for relying on a drug instead of willpower/mental conditioning, then give them a drug that does the opposite of these ones. My guess is they'll overeat and get fat. Much like animals do in animal studies. Ignoring your body constantly telling you to eat is almost impossibly hard over the long term.
Humans have a tendency to assume that we have much more free will than any kind of scientific evidence tends to show.
In my experience, if you're going to use GLP-1 RA for weight loss, it needs to be part of a larger program of changes, including lifestyle changes. That you have to lead the charge on. The people that say losing weight on these means you gotta take it for the rest of your life, they're wrong. It eventually stops having that effect on you. It certainly makes the process of changing things a lot easier, and it buys you a lot of time to adopt those changes. But if you don't put in the mental work and reshape your lifestyle to this new body, you're going to have a bad time later regardless of if you're still on it or not.
I've taken various GLP-1 RA over a decade for glycemic management (I'm on Mounjaro now). They still work great for this. But I have to do the work to maintain my body, now.
