I'm not an Elon fan in the least, but it does feel like most cars are designed by committee and converge on a few well-defined shapes and segments. And they sell a ton of them, so sure, of course.

But there's certainly some charm when you see a weirdmobile that doesn't conform and somehow got by the bean counters and into existence. The MINI Clubvan, for people who needed something compact and cargo-focused. The Cadillac CTS-V wagon, for people who wanted to haul ass ... and the family. The Toyota MR2, which felt like Toyota engineers decided "let's take these Corolla parts and build them in the shape of a Ferrari".

With the high costs of certifying a new car for sale it seems like we see fewer and fewer of these oddballs, and that feels like a shame.

So even though I'd never personally consider driving a poorly rendered dumpster from a 1980s video game, perhaps the world is a bit more interesting due to its existence.

Maybe the simplicity thing for the typical person is the reason behind these recent changes, it's just a shame as I really valued the previous behavior and there doesn't seem to be any toggle to get it back.

I also wonder if anything has shifted recently - I think Google Flights has been around for over a decade, and for most of that time it felt aligned with my interests - simplifying the process of finding the cheapest flights to get me where I want to go.

Unfortunately, it has recently seemed degraded in several ways.

1) It doesn't reliably offer round-trips made of 2 one-way tickets from 2 different airlines.

2) It doesn't reliably pick up new destinations. I recently saw an airline added a route that would allow me to reach a desired destination in 2 segments rather than 3. I excitedly searched for such itineraries and couldn't find them on Google Flights (but I could on the website for the airline, whose flights are generally on Google Flights).

3) I live in an area served by multiple airports. Similar to my first issue, I feel like Google Flights no longer reliably shows me round-trip itineraries that depart from one airport and arrive an another (e.g. depart from Heathrow, arrive back in London at Gatwick). Once I pick a departure airport it

Is it just me hitting some bugs or hiccups? Or is Google actively degrading Google Flights for some reason (too expensive?). Is Google trying to simplify things for naive users? Or is Google Flights abandonware within Google that is running without much ongoing support?

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50358924

Points: 8

# Comments: 7

All the while paying for the storage unit, occasionally talking about the cherished "family heirlooms" therein; those things she'd bring out of storage when she got a bigger place. Especially a china cabinet she had to fight her sister for when her mother died.

Now she's having health problems and is approaching the end of her life. I'm sure she'll keep paying for the storage unit until the end but soon enough the day will come my wife and I have to travel several states away to empty the contents of the storage unit into a dumpster. Including the "beloved" china cabinet that her kids have already decided they have zero interest in (and probably smells of mildew and mouse urine at this point).

I don't know the total amount spent on the storage unit over the years but I've got to think it's in the 5 figures. Enough to pay for a car, or some nice trips, or ... to keep old bedframes in a big closet.

Generally with Apple, you can: https://support.apple.com/self-service-repair

Then I see how much a zip-up hoodie costs: $168.

I guess I'm not in the mainstream anymore, yikes.

In December Best Buy had a $1999 configuration of the M5 MacBook Pro on sale for $1749 and I scooped one up. Now that model is $2199. I suspect I could sell the computer I've been using for 6 months at a profit, which is just bizarre. But then of course it would cost a lot if I wanted to replace it.

Maybe it's because I'm a dad but I can't imagine telling the family, "Roadtrip time! Let's all pack into the smaller car!". When we're taking the long family road trip to the beach or whatever, we always end up with the big car full of boogie boards and pool toys and cooler and beach umbrella, etc. Bigger cars with longer wheelbases tend to be more comfortable on the highway as well.

The folks I know who do the ICE/EV split household like you've mentioned tend to do the opposite. Dad has a small EV for a cheap and easy commute to work and Mom has an ICE (or hybrid) SUV or minivan that gets used for the long road trips as well as daily errands (but Mom doesn't rack up enough miles for the cost of gas to be much of a worry). There also seems to be less willingness from women (at least in the US) to make the switch to full EVs.

But (at least in my experience), that made for a worse product than having factory installation and QA. I bought a brand-new car from a Scion dealer in 2005 and indicated I wanted to add keyless entry. I paid the dealer, they did the install, and I left ... with a car that would intermittently fail to lock some doors with the key fob. I realized shortly thereafter that the dealer had installed an aftermarket system to save money rather than the offical Scion keyless entry system. I complained and eventually got them to install the right system, but jeez, that did not enhance my experience compared to just finding a car that was built in a factory with the options I wanted.

I'm not saying the modular Slate pickup isn't cool. I'm kind of tempted by it. But I wouldn't be surprised if people find themselves with leaky roofs, electrical gremlins and random squeaks and rattles compared to if they just bought some other truck/SUV and left it alone.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/lawmakers-fight-to-stop...

But that just seems like par for the course for the current administration, whether it's tariffs or ballrooms or ocean sensors - do the illegal thing ASAP, let the courts argue for months or years, and maaaaaybe get a slap on the wrist sometime way in the future.

Were faster aircraft operating on this route at some point? Nowadays Icelandair says 5hr15min BOS->KEF and 5hr50min on the way back.

I also saw this in a gas station convenience store near me but I did not take a photo. I haven't seen it in a real grocery store yet.

According to the first ranking I found[0], Germany is in the the "very high proficiency" group, and actually ranked ahead of Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands. And Denmark isn't on the graph. Smells a bit of cherry-picked data.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EF_English_Proficiency_Index#2...