@naught101 @lost_faith It predates the internet.

Back in 2000, a guy named Robert Putnam wrote a book based on his research into why there has been a breakdown in community in America: http://bowlingalone.com/

(If you ever hear someone use the phrase “social capital”, they’re alluding to his research.)

@alcoholicorn It is when it has been privatised to a company that pretty much pays no tax (hi Transurban!), for roads that taxpayers helped to pay for, and those toll roads connect car dependent suburbs that have next to no public transport.

@lntl @Rentlar Why is how the public ownership of railways could work a hypothetical in the US?

Many countries already do this right now.

Here’s a link to the Australian Rail Track Corporation: https://www.artc.com.au/about/

It’s owned by the Australian Federal Government, owns rail track infrastructure, but doesn’t operate any freight or passenger services itself.

Here’s a link to VicTrack: https://www.victrack.com.au/

It’s owned by the Victorian state government, owns rail infrastructure in Victoria, but doesn’t operate any freight or passenger services itself.

@pixxelkick @ardi60 Well, if anyone wants to buy it for that purpose, then I just hope they remember to screen out the more NSFW parts of Reddit.

Otherwise, their bots are going to start giving some rather unfortunate responses to customer questions…

@naevaTheRat The author (Tim Richards) is a fairly regular Mastodon user. (Lemmy posts also appear on Mastodon.)

I thought I’d tag him in so he can see the discussion…

@kowcop @naevaTheRat Heads up @timrichards, there’s quite a discussion about your article over on Lemmy.

@vividspecter Here’s the key details from the article: "The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) today released financial modelling that shows Australia’s LNG projects did not generate value for shareholders.

"The report, “Australia’s LNG growth wave – did it wash for shareholders?” analysed returns from Woodside’s Pluto project, Chevron’s Gorgon and Wheatstone projects, the three east coast LNG plants supplied by coal seam gas, Inpex’s Ichthys project and Shell’s Prelude.

“It found these projects collectively eroded $US19 billion of shareholder value by requiring extra investment for running 35 per cent over budget and behind schedule, according to data from Rystad.”

https://reneweconomy.com.au/case-for-gas-as-transition-fuel-falling-apart-on-both-economic-and-environmental-costs/

#ClimateChange #Climate #Green #Business #AusPol #Aus #Politics #Environment #Gas

@nothacking @_finger_ Same deal for your cousins over the border in Lithuania.

Here’s some extra details, so our American friends can compare the train services in a less wealthy EU country to Amtrak. (Keep in mind this is nowhere near the level of service you’ll find in countries such as France or Germany.)

You can get a second class ticket on a modern LTGLink train from Vilnius to Kaunas for just €8. That gets you:

“Electrical outlets near some seats, space for bicycles, [on-board toilets], animal-friendly area, air conditioning, non-smoking area. Possibility to buy soft drinks and snacks on Kaunas and Klaipeda routes. When buying a ticket on the Klaipeda route, it is possible to choose a place and seating direction.”

Or in first class (just €11.10 for Vilnius to Kaunas, roughly equivalent to US$12.17) you get this:

“Passengers have free coffee, soft drinks, and snacks. More spacious seating, wider tables, electrical sockets at the seats, fewer seats and passengers around, choice of seat and seat when buying a ticket, space for bicycles, [on-board toilets], air conditioning, silence area, luggage area, non-smoking area.”

Here’s the on-board menu: https://ltglink.lt/en/menu-on-vilnius-klaipeda-vilnius-route

Yes, you can order a hot or cold sandwich, a cappuccino, Belgian waffles, noodles, donuts, Oreos, chips, a Snickers bar, or whatever other snack you want. The train staff bring it to your seat.

The seats are comfortable, like a first-class plane seat but with more leg room. You can use free wi-fi, and charge your phone at your seat.

Services on the Vilnius–Kaunas line run roughly every hour from 4:55am to 9:25pm, and more frequently during peak times during the day.

There’s a train station at Vilnius airport. Just about every trolleybus and bus in Vilnius runs to the main train station, stopping just metres from the front door, and there’s also a coach terminal connecting to smaller towns and villages.

So you can catch a trolleybus from the national Parliament building, a coach from a small village, or a train from the airport, then easily transfer at the main train station to an intercity service to Kaunas or Klaipeda.

And I’d like to remind you that Lithuania’s train system is considered *bad* by European standards.

#train #trains #transport #urbanism

@kallekn @technology @pluralistic @samuel Google Photos is the default gallery app on Google Phones.

1. If a photo is not taken with your phone, Google Photos allows you to manually enter a location.

2. Google Photos also allows you to remove this location.

3. If a photo is taken with your phone, the icon to edit or remove the location is greyed out.

4. Tapping the information will produce an error message.

5. The ability to edit the location data of photos you’d taken used to be there, but has been removed. I’m not the only person to notice this, there’s a support thread about it on Google’s own website: https://support.google.com/photos/thread/110092925/regression-location-no-longer-editable-if-the-camera-added-it?hl=en