Founder and Editor of https://teapawt.net/t.co/o8jFJlBmFX, IT Pro, Pilot, Drummer, and Star Citizen.
Joined August 2014
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After all, there’s also a ‘big beautiful ocean’ between the US and Australia. No reason for them to bother putting their neck out for Aussies either.
Time for Australia to grow up.
“We cannot assume that America has any altruistic regard for Australia..
“Our leaders have got to stand up for Australia, and we’ve got to have the ability to defend ourselves.” theguardian.com/australia-ne…
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David Mead retweeted
We did not surrender when we were given three days and the American embassy was packing its bags.
We did not surrender our capital when elite Russian units were in its suburbs.
We repelled the enemy from Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy. We defeated them in the Kharkiv region. We liberated Kherson. And we tied them up in battles in the Donbas, which the enemy could not capture for three years.
We invented FPV. And with drones for $500, we took out more than half of its armored potential.
We paralyzed the Russian fleet.
We destroyed dozens of refineries.
We forced the enemy to burn entire brigades for the sake of one village, to fight in crippled regiments, to transfer to donkeys, and to become artillery dependent on the Koreans and economically dependent on the Chinese.
For the first time in history, we entered the territory of a nuclear state in order to force the aggressor to make peace.
And at the same time, no matter how difficult it was, we did not fall apart, we retained control.
We won subjectivity.
At a high price.
Perhaps we are the last adults in this turbulent world. And no matter how hard we try to rock our ship, to undermine our inner stability, we will write our own future.
And even if we are given a few days again, this does not mean that all the predictions will come true.
Orest Drymalovskyi 🫡🇺🇦
David Mead retweeted
BREAKING: In an unbelievable moment, Republican Senator Thom Tillis breaks away harshly from Trump's policy on Ukraine, calling Vladimir Putin "a cancer, and the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime."
Make sure everyone sees this.
David Mead retweeted
Musk has built two platforms (Grok and Community Notes) specifically designed to separate fact from fiction in an unbiased, algorithmic fashion. One uses humans (community notes) the other AI (Grok).
In the last few months, both have been consistently and repeatedly calling @elonmusk out for spreading bullshit on X. So now he is going to "fix" Community Notes and next I'm sure we'll see him "update" Grok.
It is actually incredible that he can't see the very products he created are trying to tell him something, and instead he is just going to deny reality and ruin the products for everyone else.
David Mead retweeted
You can’t script this…
Me: Who is the biggest disinformation spreader on X?
Grok: Elon Musk
teapawt.net/i/grok/share/15Y73NhYf…
David Mead retweeted
Interestingly, NATO has been 130 km away from Saint Petersburg for over 20 years, and it has been totally okay all those years.
The half of the Black Sea coastline has been under NATO for decades, and it was totally fine. Russia's Kaliningrad has been surrounded by NATO countries for over 20 years.
Sweden and Finland (with over 1,000-km common border with Russia) join NATO, and Putin couldn't care less - no threat at all, in his words.
But when it's Ukraine, which NATO refused to accept for like 20 years and doesn't want now, it is a "grave existential threat" to the world's biggest nuclear power, because of which it had to unleash the deadliest European bloodbath since WWII involving the North Korean military.
Believe it or not, but it feels like it was never about NATO for Russia.
David Mead retweeted
Australia’s media bias is no conspiracy. It’s fucking true. And it’s there to keep Labor out of government. And it has worked many times. One example is, the last time the Liberal Party won government off Labor, a big part of that was because the media were screeching about the country’s debt. Which was significantly less than what it became after the Liberal Party were elected in 2013. Even the fact that Labor under Kevin Rudd managed to avoid a recession during the GFC wasn’t enough for Australia’s media to strike some sort of a balance. The debt exploded after the Liberals won government off Labor last time. And services were cut dramatically. There wasn’t one budget surplus from the Liberals in 9 years. After they swore they would achieve one every year.
Labor are back in government and have achieved 2 from 2 budget surpluses. And they have actually invested in the public service. Created jobs. Expanded TAFE. Given many sectors a pay rise like Age care workers and childcare workers. Labor has cut the price of medicine. Have opened bulk billing urgent care clinics. And in all of this, Labor has still managed to achieve 2 from 2 budget surpluses. Without cutbacks like the Liberal Party were doing. Whist they didn’t achieve one budget surplus in almost a decade in government.
David Mead retweeted
.@PeterDutton_MP plans to butcher the public service, DOGE style. The last time the LNP tried that they just shoveled cash to the big 4 consulting firms so we got shocking waste, corrupted governance, rampant secrecy & hopeless service. #TaxLawLeak #auspol theguardian.com/australia-ne…
David Mead retweeted
China has hit its 2030 renewables target six years early, as the world’s top polluter continues to push its energy transition while the US shifts away from fighting climate change trib.al/pMCtEQP
David Mead retweeted
I think Elon is unhappy that Wikipedia is not for sale. I hope his campaign to defund us results in lots of donations from people who care about the truth. If Elon wanted to help, he'd be encouraging kind and thoughtful intellectual people he agrees with to engage.
donate.wikimedia.org/
This is impressive work and answers some of my lingering suspicions about Chinese EV brands.
ANALYSIS AND MYTHBUSTING – What’s cheaper to maintain? Battery, motor, or transmission replacement costs?
Short and clear: incompetent journalists and mainstream media have been misleading you for years, and this should have been their job. In the Excel sheet we are making publicly available, you will find individual prices for all drivetrain components. On the far right, there are catalog numbers, "parts" images from the catalog, and other parameters. Price fluctuations for parts are possible in different countries. Corrections can be sent to us. Some prices are missing because manufacturers conceal them, so U.S. catalogs were used.
TABLE LINK: docs.google.com/spreadsheets…
We have put in the effort for both ourselves and you, digging deep into every corner of sustainability by researching several authorized service catalogs. After a month of searching, the data we collected is both interesting and alarming. Reflecting on the struggle we went through to gather this information—submitting aftermarket support requests, waiting for activations, paying for each access, dealing with broken links—it has become crystal clear which manufacturers will survive the rise of next-generation specialized workshops and which won't. It all boils down to three parameters: Simple, Serviceable, and Accessible!
These three parameters also apply to owners of all future ICE, Hybrid, and EV vehicles because, without them, there will be NO WORKFORCE to maintain your vehicle because nobody wants to use complex system to service complex powertrains. Relying on authorized services means replacing entire drivetrain components and incurring high costs.
A critical mistake by manufacturers is the use of pouch cells, which have proven unreliable and, in some cases, dangerous (EQB, Leaf, Kona). One of the parameters you should consider when buying a vehicle is "What type of cells does the vehicle have?" The priority should be cylindrical or prismatic/blade cells.
For those unaware, the most critical EV component is not the battery (though it is for hybrids). The most critical components are:
Electric Motors
On-Board Charger (OBC)
Heat Pump
Battery comes in last place.
Therefore, the prices of these components in this order should concern you most, along with the quality of the Right-to-Repair system.
The most expensive batteries per kWh are found in hybrids, of any type. On average, the total kWh cost for hybrids is 40% higher than that of EV battery systems.
The most expensive complete drivetrain systems, on average, are hybrids, followed by ICE vehicles, while EV systems are the cheapest. (This refers to the average cost!)
The worst parts procurement systems, right-to-repair access, and support (backend/frontend) are from: Xpeng, MG, BYD, Stellantis, Honda, Nissan, Volvo, Rivian, Lucid, Mazda, Hyundai, Kia.
MG and BYD have not yet activated their RMI systems.
Lucid and Rivian have no RMI systems at all.
Hyundai does not issue invoices, leaving accounting departments with nothing to process.
Kia has not yet approved RMI accounts and discriminates against Croatian and Slovenian owners by blocking access to Kia Connect.
Warranties you cannot rely on if you purchase vehicles from: Stellantis, Mercedes, Kia, Hyundai.
KMAG shortens factory-recommended service intervals and ties the warranty to drivetrain maintenance.
Another concerning factor is the price difference for parts between Germany, France, and the Balkans.
All parts sold under Grand Automotive (covering MG, Renault, Dacia, Nissan) are 20–40% more expensive. It’s cheaper to buy a vehicle locally and service it in Italy or Austria.
Dacia Spring is alarming, with a potentially artificial price boost on parts to push new car sales due to uneconomical repairs. Practically every damage leads to a total loss, raising concerns for insurance companies. A comprehensive insurance policy for this car should cost more than one for a Porsche Panamera.
In-house component-level repair:
Tesla, despite leading in statistics, unfortunately lacks an internal system for servicing battery modules or components.
BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Ford, Mazda, Nissan, VAG, Volvo allow the purchase and replacement of individual components within the service network.
Cheapest components:
Tesla has the lowest kWh cost.
VW has the cheapest OBC.
Tesla has the cheapest electric motors.
Tesla also has the best right-to-repair (RMI) system.
Tesla and BMW offer the best powertrain value and cheapest powertrain parts.
Porsche has the most expensive parts globally.
Best RMI systems (critical for sustainability and cost-effectiveness): Tesla, BMW, Mercedes, VAG, Ford, Toyota.
Worst systems: Stellantis, Kia, Hyundai, Xpeng, MG, BYD.
The most expensive systems (unsustainable for servicing): BMW, Xpeng, BYD—this significantly increases the total cost of vehicle ownership and reduces ROI.
Lucid, Rivian, and others have no support systems, meaning these vehicles should be avoided as they could become unusable and not servicable at any moment.
Tesla offers the cheapest RMI system, EPC accessible even to individuals without needing a business. It’s even free, and the total cost for full access is only €612.
Chinese brands have proven completely unprepared for European expansion and lack scalable systems for corporate and aftermarket needs. Some EU representatives of these brands are already considering withdrawal due to non-functional EPC catalogs and even worse support.
And when all is said and done, it becomes clear why Tesla is the king of the road and the only truly sustainable and financially accessible vehicle manufacturer—unlike legacy automakers who have become mere "assemblers of outsourced parts" produced by 100 different external companies. Other statistical favorites are BMW, Mercedes, Hyundai, Polestar, Volvo, and of course, Toyota.
For those considering a hybrid instead of an EV, there’s no need to look at anything other than Toyota and Lexus. Oherwise, you are looking into bankruptcy.
FULL Read: evclinic.eu/2025/01/19/ultim…
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David Mead retweeted
Things are going very fast now.
The mean winter CO₂ concentration above the Arctic sea ice already exceeds 440 ppm!
This in combination with the even faster thawing permafrost & the wafer-thin sea ice is driving the warming of the Northern Hemisphere to one at a doubling speed.
Brilliant editing
The Starlancer has got soul. It's got style. And undeniable retro beauty. Don't you agree?
🔊 You literally can not watch this without the sound/music.
📌 See my pinned post for the full funky video.
#StarCitizen @RobertsSpaceInd
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David Mead retweeted
Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand)
Results:
Last week: 100% RE
Last 176 weeks: 98.6% RE (1/5)
David Mead retweeted
Here’s an amazing explainer from @TopherField on how PREFERENTIAL VOTING works in Australia
Please, ensure you watch and share, especially if you think parties decide your preferences or just want to know more
This should be mandatory learning at school
David Mead retweeted
Switchbot Announce Matter Enabled S20 Pro Robovacs homekitnews.com/2025/01/06/s…
Absolutely, makes sense the authorities would call for a tow for ‘parking violations’.
So hear me out here, CIG.
What if... We Made Towing missions for ships that are around space stations? Finally getting to use the ARGO SRV fully AND other ships with Tractor Beams would be great :D
Could tow them to a despawn location.
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