Um…why did Zelda turn purple. I don’t get it.

. . (I’m joking, I know who is Zelda).

I think he is referring to the dotted line path.

I used to work for Wells Fargo and during the 2008 crash, Wells Fargo branches had frequent protests.

I quit a few months after that. I didn’t want to work for the baddies.

My wife best friend is married to a “functioning” savant. I would say he less Rainman but more asshole.

Dude can’t catch a hint to save his life. Social cues are totally out the window. Dude just doesn’t know the right thing to say at any situations.

I have years being upset with him and even having verbal battles with him.

I realized that I was in the wrong. He simply lacks the ability to comprehend why he can or can’t say. Why am I wasting my time getting mad at him.

So I guess in this scenario, his brain has too many wrinkles that it’s sorta smooth again.

Are hotels parasites too? When you lease a car, are the dealers parasites? How about short term rentals for traveling nurses. Are those parasites too?

If I own a house and have roommates, am I a parasite too?

Grow up man. Renting a home has advantages that people like me pay for.

The place I’m renting is in an amazing area that I would never be able to afford. My son goes to school in a nicer, safer area.

I can move out whenever I want to without worrying about selling my place.

When something breaks, 1 phone call and my issue is fixed.

I pay less than a mortgage and the money I save, I get to diversity my retirement/investment. Instead of dumping my entire asset in a home.

Taiwan is a great country. The government prioritizes small businesses. There are big businesses, but the country is setup to handle small local businesses, not big business.

We are still a young democracy (since 1997) so it hasn’t been ruined by lobbyist and big corp.

What is a comparable service?

In my opinion, Spotify isn’t an end all be all. It’s the entry fee to the music industry.

Here is an actual example. I love pop music. Spotify recommended a singer name CL and then showed me her concert in the local area. I bought tickets to her concert. Spent money on her merch. Enjoyed the concert.

Without Spotify, there is little chance I would have even know she existed.

Moved to Taiwan during the first Trump presidency. I helped 3 other friends come here. The brain drain has been happening.

Ya, same here in Taiwan. Localized content is very difficult to come by.

Very fortunate!

I share a Netflix account with my brother(we use wireguard site to site so it looks like we are on the same network).

The recommendation engine is great for Animes.

It’s hard to know which new anime is out unless you see an ad or hear it from a friend.

I have a Plex Lifetime account but have never tried the Plexamp.

I wanna be real with you. Finding music and ripping it myself is a chore. I still have Spotify for this reason.

Along with a recommendation engine they provide, if I hear a song in a store that I like, I can scan it with Google and it pops up the artist and then I click Spotify and it’s there.

Because of Spotify and Steam, I don’t pirate songs or pirate games(much) anymore.

I think the only time I pirate games now is if games require an online connection.

I think the main thing these pirate services don’t have is a good recommendation system tailored to your watch history like Netflix or Spotify has.

Competition is good. I welcome Kevin to try again.

Give it to Taiwan too.

I remembered back in the day, there was a virus where a small cat appeared on the screen and chase your mouse cursor. If it caught your mouse cursor, the computer would crash. It did no other damage. It was great fun.

So much to unpack here but I’ll do my best to address everything you’re saying here.

1- Chinese cars can’t compete in price: yes because China has been dumping subsidies into the market, inflating the supply. China dumped 231 billion dollars into EVs from 2009 to 2023. Over 500 electric car brands were created due to this injection. There is only are less than 100 left after China stopped the subsidies.

2- The Chinese EV are a superior product: which one of the 500 car companies are you referring to? outside ofthe top China brands (Geely, BYD), they all sorta suck.

China is doing is state sponsored “dumping”. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumping_(pricing_policy) which artificially reduces prices to gain market share and has a negative effect on the industry. Every country in the world, not just the US, has an anti dumping policy, including China.

While we the consumer would love to spend pennies on the dollar for an electric cars, the effect is only temporary and when we start losing car companies due to this practice, prices always, ALWAYS, are higher after we lose competition.

Anti dumping policies is not hindering free market. The second you inject 231 billion dollars of government subsidies into an industry, is the second it no longer becomes a free market.

Yes, the USA has also has given subsidies. In total about 30 billion dollars. A drop in the bucket on the 231 billion the CCP has injected.

This video made my dog bark. Lol.

I would too, but you have to understand why the USA is blocking these cars from coming in. The cost of these cheap EVs are not based off of supply and demand. Its not even this cheap because of effectiveness or efficiencies. Its from the CCP subsidies. The CCP wants to dump on the competition in efforts to kill off anyone making a car, then start jacking up the price after they have market share.