And it worked. There were two reasons why Munich switched back to MS: Changing political majorities in the city council, and Microsoft Germany being headquartered in Munich.

It's not about boycotting U.S. based contributions to software. It's about getting your data out of U.S. escrow. As long as Microsoft puts everything in a cloud controlled by an U.S. based entity, Lyon doesn't control any data it puts into Microsoft software. Lyon is a town in France, and not in the U.S.. So Lyon prefers its data to be completely within the French legal system.

Code put in Linux is not controlled by any U.S. based entity. When in doubt, you can always fork. Hence Lyon does not have the same level of concern about using Linux.

The train is invented. It's called Multi-Gigabt-Optics. A 100 GBit/sec QSFP+ is just a $6000 price tag away. But a 10 GBit/sec SFP+ is available for $15 or less.

What you wanted to say is you don't lay the track before you know what the payload will be. Back in the time, when DSL was barely reaching 2 MBit/sec, many people were wondering who would ever need those speeds. Then Netflix came along. You might not see a need for 10 GBit/sec in every room right now, but believe me: the applications will come. And maybe you aren't the one jumping on the new application band wagon, but enough people will.

This is the standard argument against every speed increase I've seen so far. When the first railway lines were laid, there was already the argument that no one will ever need to travel at twice the speed of a horse drawn carriage.

He is a anti-vaxxer and conspiracy nutjob. That has nothing to do with 1960ies Democrats (or Dixiecrats). But yes, a Democrat candidate like Strom Thurmond was running on a platform which is far more aligned to today's Republican party.

I don't know about you, but here around, I can get a 2 sqm solar panel at my local hardware store for $99. Where I live, I can expect about 120 W per sqm, hence the 2 sqm panel will give me 250 W during daylight. If I calculate with 6 hrs of sunshine each year, and 360 days per year, I am getting 540 kWh per year. My panel will have paid for itself after one year already at 20 ct/kWh.

I might need a $300converter though, but I could increase my panel area to 10 sqm for a total price of $1300, which will generate about 5400 kWh per year. After about 1.5 years, my solar system has paid for itself.

Additionally, we have so called balcony power stations, which you can mount yourself, and which are rated at 800 W peak output. They are priced at about $300-$400. You can plug them into any wall outlet, and on the same circuit, they will power whatever electricity demanding device you have. You have to inform your local utility about their existence, and they will come and inspect them, but then your are fine to use them.

Solar in the U.S. has a deep regulatorial problem: lots of hurdles to conquer for the lay person. Check Why SOLAR Panels Cost 3X MORE in USA vs Europe for reference.

Nobody. They're replacing them with universal chargers that have BOTH. And support credit-card readers, which the Tesla ones didn't. And upgrading them from the v3 400V 175kW Tesla chargers to Applegreen's 800V 350kW.

Tesla's contract ended. It was rebid. Tesla lost. Elon whines and throws a tantrum.

Germany does not give tax incentives on EVs anymore. They ended in 2023. The tax haven cars are the hybrids.

We have Norway and now Sweden as example how EVs take over. And now, even Germany slowly moves after some hickup into the EV direction, 18.8 percent of all car sales being BEVs in 2025 so far. Austria being on the same level. In the whole E.U., BEVs are growing faster (plus 23.7% compared with the previous year for a total of 15.5%) than hybrids (plus 20% compared with the previous year for a total of 43.1%) in the first quarter of 2025.

The numbers are somewhat skewed because for instance in Germany and Austria, 60% of all new cars are bought as company cars, and because of tax incentives, most new company cars are hybrids, replacing the diesel. Differently than private buyers, companies will often opt not to buy cheap chinese BEVs, which, as of now, are in the range of the cheapest new cars. I expect them to become the car of choice for the second car in a household, mostly used for urban trips including shopping trips. And no, Europeans usually don't buy in bulk.

It is still cost driven. On a touch screen, the next button is just a piece of code away. Physical buttons are competing for real estate, cost actual money to build and need some serious testing, because you can't redesign them with a software update.

I had phones with the dial pad (of course!), but I never had a phone with a complete keyboard. I never understood the appeal of those.

Yes. They sell them in places where people need an actual truck, not a car with a flatbed instead of a trunk to look cool.

No. If you compare a 2025 EV and a 2025 ICEV, they are about the same level of electronics.

There still would be hate for EVs. It's easy. If buying an EV is virtue signalling, you find a large part of the population feeling forced to buy an EV too, and so they will use every argument they can come up with why they won't do so. In fact, buying an ICEV becomes some kind of anti-establishment thing, and people will buy them just to be rebels.

We had the same effect when the incandescent light bulbs were replaced first by fluorescent lamps and now by LED bulbs. For some time, people were buying the last stocks of incandescent light bulbs at premium prices, and stories were circulating how LED lamps emit those evil 5G radiation and similar. Now, 15 years later, no one seems to remember.

It will be the same with EVs. They will take over, because they are the better cars - longer lasting, less energy consuming, less repairs. But some people will flock to the last ICEVs and buy them at premium prices.

So you are telling me, that Windows Parental Controls throws out a competitor for serving adds?