I can’t access the link in this post. I found a paper on the internet that describes the process and also has some pictures: A Complete Electron Microscopy Volume of the Brain of Adult Drosophila melanogaster

Wichtiger wäre es, die echten Probleme anzugehen: Die Mitarbeitenden in Jobcentern fühlen sich seit Jahren überlastet, die Digitalisierung der Verwaltung läuft schleppend. Viele, die Grundsicherung bekommen, brauchen aber möglichst schnell Weiterbildungen, Sprachkurse und unbürokratischere Zugänge zum Arbeitsmarkt. Unter den Bürgergeldempfängerinnen sind viele Alleinerziehende. Wie sollen die arbeiten, wenn ihre Kinder nicht ausreichend betreut sind?

Das sind die Probleme, die mit den Sanktionen kaschiert werden sollen. Es geht wohl kaum um die ca. 16.000 Bürgergeldempfänger, die sich total verweigern, eine Stelle anzunehmen.

Es werden sich in den nächsten Jahren noch so einige CDU/SPD/AfD-Wähler umgucken, wenn es auf einmal sie selbst betrifft.

I live in Germany.

From the linked article within this article: New commuter concern: cancerous chemical in car seats

Some scientists assumed that humans stopped being exposed to the chemical, called TDCIPP or chlorinated tris, after it was placed on California’s Proposition 65 list in 2013. However, it is still widely used in automobile seat foam. The study shows that not only is your car a source of TDCIPP exposure, but that less than a week of commuting results in elevated exposure to it.

I assume, that this conclusion doesn’t refer to car seats only. Although this chemical compound had been banned for home usage, people who commute by bus, train or airplane might be exposed to these chemicals too, as the seats are made and use to be in an automotive environment.

“If we picked up this relationship in five days, what does that mean for chronic, long-term exposure, for people who commute most weeks out of the year, year over year for decades?” Volz asked.

It seems that these chemicals accumulate faster than they are being broken down, which puts every commuter at risk in the long term. I wonder what the effects of this exposure might be, since these kind of chemicals are known for acting similar to hormones in our bodies. Could the overall agressive behavior that we witness in our society (roadrage, among others) be - at least partial - an outcome of the exporsure to flame retardend chemicals?

I looked it up. Neat concept, but it is availiable within US only. There is nothing similar availiable at my country - at least, not that I know of.

Did you follow the tutorial I posted? If so, the English-translated part may not have the right terminology. I followed the instructions on the linked website: https://www.404media.co/paypal-personalized-shopping-opt-out/. I suppose, this is appliccable worldwide.

To me, it is. I don’t have a credit card - I never got one offered by my bank (…which makes one think…). Back in the “early days” (early 2000s - mostly on Ebay) it was quite common to recieve the bank information of the seller after purchase. Then I had to wire the money to the sellers’ account. There was no online banking. It could take up to a week to wire the money. After the seller recieved the payment, the ordered item got sent with postal service. When Paypal was introduced, it was a game changer: the seller recieved the money instantly, and could send the purchased item right away.

Lebensborn lässt grüßen…

How do you do online shopping then? Most websites offer Paypal as a payment method, among credit cards. Or do you pay with a credit card?

• Einloggen
• Herunterscrollen und unten auf der Seite den Link „Datenschutz“ anklicken
• dann bei Datenschutz festlegen den Link „Datenschutzeinstellungen“ anklicken
• dann das Feld „Interessenbasierte Werbung“ anklicken
• auf jeden der beiden Einträge klicken und den Schalter jeweils auf „aus“ schalten

. Translated from the above:

• Log in
• Scroll down and click on the “Privacy” link at the bottom of the page
• then click on the “Privacy settings” link under Data & Privacy
• then click on the “Interest-based advertising” (Personalized shopping) field
• click on each of the two entries and set the switch to “off” in each case

I bought this one. It has a built-in battery that is connected to the board with a standard (?) connector cable. The mouse can be opened with one screw underneath the gliding pad. I have this mouse for over a year now and I’m satisfied with it. It lasts 7 days with RGB-Lights switched on up to 10 days with RGB lights switched off - depanding on usage. You can operate up to 3 devices with it (BT 5.0, BT 3.0 and wirelessly with the dongle held with a magnet underneath the mouse when not needed. It can be charged with the USB C port. It can be charged while in use. Unfortunately tho, the mouse seems to be out of stock at Amazon. Perhaps other shops have this device listed. I obtained the mouse in Germany.

Edit: This is the mouse opened (I had to clean it because it was operated in a feline enviroment). The battery can be replaced easily:

I think that manufacturers of tech products test their products only with a few standard configurations - but in reality there are too many possible combinations of different configurations:

Take a bluetooth mouse for example. Generally, it connects to a computer and it works. Now imagine that you have a different configuration - a logicboard in your laptop that has not been tested by the manucacturer of the mouse or an obscure model of the bluetooth reciever, that also hasn’t been tested to work with that mouse. Your mouse works well in the beginning, but disconnects at random times. You can’t pinpoint the issue, and when you are looking for help online, nobody seems to have the same problems with that mouse.

In this case, said mouse sucks, because it doesn’t function reliably. A different person with a different configuration of their computer (different logicboard, different model of the bluetooth unit) might have no problems at all with the same mouse.

Wait, we actually have to do something? /s

Change has to come from both sides, from companies as well as from consumers. Yes, Your actions don’t really matter when you try to reduce waste, but the oil tanker spills millions of liters into the ocean, or when you use electricity from renewable sources while there is coal extracted and burned to fulfill the need of energy.

But as a consumer you can change the perspective about it by observing it from the personal economic side. This way, doing something in favour of reducing waste or doing something to lessen the effect of the climate catastrophe is merely a side effect of your actions:

• I don’t have children, because I don’t want to take responisbility for them. Also, I don’t like children. This saves me a lot of money, which I don’t have.
• I am relying on a car. But instead of driving a truck-like 5l-gas guzzler, I drive a small economic car. 90% of the time I drive alone anyway. A small car means less fuel consumption, less tax, cheaper repairs. Also, there are more parking spots availiable for me in the city, since the car is shorter than other vehicles (at least for parallel parking).
• When running errands, I combine them with using the car. For instance, I do my grocery shopping on the way back from work, and I can make use of my car’s storage capabilities. This saves me precious time, since I’m on the road anyway.
• When buying clothes, I don’t buy the cheapest clothes availiable. Mid-price ranged clothes are more durable, and they can be worn longer and are cheaper in the long run. Also, I don’t use fabric softener. Not only does it contribute to polluting the enviroment - fabric softener reduces the capability for towels to dry things (which defeats the purpose of a towel), because it hinders the fabrics’ capillar effect for storing water in the fibers. Additional to that, I don’t use an electric dryer. I hang my clothes to dry. This measurement extends your clothes lifetime, which is saving money.
• Although I am a meat eater, I am open-minded to vegan food - in the last decade it came a long way and there are good substitutes. Some of them are trial and error though (some taste like a stack of hay smells), but the alternatives are out there. It doesn’t have to taste exactly like meat. The worst thing that can happen is, that you expand the list of things you can eat.
• And the most important thing of all: DON’T BUY USELESS CRAP! Sure, the cloud-based app-operated thing is appealing, but what happens, when the company that produces it goes bankrupt? The cloud service gets shut down! You have a paper weight now. I don’t buy such things, because I don’t want my home cluttered with stuff I don’t need eventually. When I buy new stuff (mostly to replace broken stuff that I can’t repair) I do research first and evaluate what features of the desired thing really benefit my needs. I rather buy expensive stuff that is more durable an has a longer lifetime over all. In the long run it turns out to be less expensive.

In my opinion it makes more sense to analyse your actions with the affect of personal economic impact in mind than to view it in the sense of reducing the impact of the climate catastrophe. Because since your neighbor isn’t, you can easily feel helpless and de-motivated.

This happens with your returned packages (article is in German, half of it is translated below):

Amazon shreds its returns 08.06.2018June 8, 2018

The “Destroy” shipping method is bringing Amazon into disrepute - is the online retailer really destroying tons of functioning products? The German government is already talking about a “huge scandal” Germany, Pforzheim: Symbolic image of Amazon logistics center The “Destroy shipping method” can also be booked with the logistics service provider

Tons of returns and products in mint condition, including fridges, cell phones, mattresses and furniture, are said to have been destroyed by online retailer Amazon. This was reported by the ZDF magazine Frontal 21 and Wirtschaftswoche. Both media outlets refer to internal product lists, photos and statements from employees. According to these, goods of all kinds are disposed of “on a large scale” in the mail order company’s German logistics warehouses.

Amazon not only destroys unusable products, but also functional and sometimes new items, according to statements from employees. One employee reported that she destroyed goods worth tens of thousands of euros every day.

Clip from 2022, German. Signature quote: “It is not only an occasional [Euro]Palette of Items, it is whole truckloads - in all fulfilment centers, almost day by day.”

Oh yes, Hermes is one of the worst. I try to avoid them and rather pay an additional fee for a DHL delivery.

However, Hermes is good for deilveries from foreign countries. I once ordered a DVD and some clothes from Great Britain. Since they are not an EU member anymore (the order was around the time Brexit was executed), the delivery usually has to go through customs. With Hermes you can avoid that, because legally they are considered not to be a “classic” postal delivery entity (I don’t now the exact term anymore), which exempts them of going through customs.

Recieving the parcel was an emotional rollercoaster, because I was not able to track its’ whereabouts at some point. It was “lost” (ate least not traceable) for four weeks in France.

How is this considered as delivered? It looks to me that the parcels are thrown onto the sidewalk, accompanied by a random stray dog.

Where I live, parcels are delivered in the same manner (thrown near the door), however, without a photo as proof of delivery. I’m waiting for the day I ask about the whereabouts of a parcel and the delivery company tells me that it has been “delivered”. Fortunately tho, Amazon has a pretty lean policy regarding lost deliveries - they just send you another one free of charge (at least where I live, given, its’ content was not too expensive).

Besonders nett finde ich es, wenn ich als Autofahrer an einem Zebrastreifen halte und die Fußgänger sich dann bedanken, dass ich sie über die Straße lasse. Es ist deren Recht! Als Autofahrer habe ich an einem Zebrastreifen zu warten, wenn dort Leute rüber wollen.

Dort, wo ich arbeite, ist es eher dörflich/ländlich, und demzufolge ist das Auto als Verkehrsmittel dominant. Die Leute dort haben sich komplett dem PKW untergeordnet und nehmen ihre Rechte als Fußgänger gar nicht wahr. Dem Auto wird fast immer Vorfahrt gewährt. Das führt öfter zu unangehmen Situationen, wie z.B.: Ich möchte rechts abbiegen. Ich halte, um einen Fußgänger, der geradeaus weiter will, passieren zu lassen. Der Fußgänger erteilt mir durch Gesten die Vorfahrt, obwohl dieser das Vorrecht hat. Das Auto hinter mir hupt darauf hin, weil ich nicht abbiege.

Auch habe ich festgestellt, dass Kinder scheinbar überhaupt keine Regeln im Straßenverkehr beigebracht bekommen, da diese ja ihren Schulweg nicht selber bestreiten - sie werden individuell von den Eltern zur Schule gebracht. Die Straße vor der Schule sieht jeden Morgen so aus, wie früher der Parkplatz bei Aldi, als es dort Computer zu kaufen gab.

We are fucked.

Pizza Hut over Dominos.

In my area Dominos is more common, but they are really bad. All of them. We had them delivered on several occasions (over the time of a couple of years) and at least twice the food wasn’t cooked properly. It was warm but the inside was still raw. When complaining, all you recieve is a voucher so you are bound to them as a customer.

Also, in order to cut preparing times short (a fast order and delivery is advertised) they prepare their pizzas in advance: at our local shop they have a prepared pizzas with the tomato sauce already applied to. They literally have a stack of them handy (at least 30 of these stacked up). They just need to put the toppings onto it, depending on the pizza that will be ordered.

When ordered, you recieve the pizza rather quickly, as promised, but the tomato sauce is more stale than their competitors’ pizza, because the sauce was not freshly applied when the pizza was made). Also, they skimp on the toppings. With a little luck your pizza arrives warm and done (read: not raw on the inside).

Dominos pizza is not worth the money - more precisely, it is a waste of ingredients! I refuse to pay for anything from Dominos - my friends know that and therefore I get invited sometimes when they decide on Dominos. This way, at least I don’t waste my money on them.

Pizza Hut on the other hand is always top notch. There are not many of them where I live, but when there is an occasion to have a pizza at them it’s always worth the money. As far as I know they don’t do deliveries - they are more a restaurant than a fast food place here.

und Glücksrad oder Der Preis ist heiß im Vorabendprogramm. Danach wurde bei meiner Oma der gesamte Tagesablauf ausgerichtet.