#Manufacturer John Deere | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

brookstonalmanac · 7 months

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Holidays 9.28

Holidays

Banned Websites Awareness Day

British Home Child Day (UK)

Cabrillo Day (California)

Canterbury South Day (New Zealand)

Carrot Day (French Republic)

Carson King Day (Iowa)

Circassian Costume Day

Ethel Rosenberg Day of Justice (New York)

Fiesta of San Miguel (Mexico)

Fish Tank Floorshow Night

Flag Day (Thailand)

Frances Willard Day (Minnesota, Wisconsin)

Freedom From Hunger Day

Global Day of Student Prayer

Gold Lining Day

Gone-ta-Pott Day [every 28th]

International Day of Arnold Chiari Syndrome

International Day of Scientific Culture

International Day for Universal Access to Information (UN)

International Right to Know Day

International Safe Abortion Day

Marshmallow Twisters Day

National British Home Child Day (Canada)

National Chris Day

National Day of Awareness

National Day of Awareness and Unity against Child Pornography (Philippines)

National Good Neighbor Day

National Gordie Day

National Manufacturing Day (UK)

National North Carolina Day

National Penicillin Allergy Day

National Self Awareness Day

National Son’s Day (Canada)

National Talk Like Mr. Krabs Day (Aenopia)

National Traffic Door Day

NICU Staff Recognition Day

Popular Uprising of Naples Day (Italy)

Psoriatic Arthritis Awareness Day

Read a Child a Book You Like Day

Silver Lining Day

Teacher’s Day (Philippines, Taiwan)

World News Day

World Pet Day

World Rabies Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Drink As Much Beer As Possible Day

Drink Beer Day

International Poke Day

National Drink Beer Day

Ohio Pint Day

Strawberry Cream Pie Day

World Marmite Day

4th & Last Thursday in September

Arthur's Day (Arthur Guinness) [4th Thursday]

National Fitness Day (Ireland) [4th Thursday]

National School Parent Group Day [4th Thursday]

Remember Me Thursday [4th Thursday]

World Maritime Day [Last Thursday]

World Trenches Day [4th Thursday]

Independence Days

Czech Statehood Day (Czech Republic) Nefaria (a.k.a. Timonoucitiland; Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Aaron of Auxerre (Christian; Saint)

Alexandre Cabanel (Artology)

Annemund (Christian; Saint)

Confucius (Confucianism; Founder)

Conval (Christian; Saint)

Eustochium (Christian; Saint)

Exuperius (Christian; Saint)

Fast of Gedalia (Judaism) [3 Tishri]

Faustus of Riez (Christian; Saint)

Feast of Khepera (Egyptian Beetle God)

Festival of Wawatsari (God of Deer Peyote; Huichol, Mexico)

Fictional Character Day (Pastafarian)

Fred (Muppetism)

Hapi’s Day (Day of the Nile; Pagan)

Hazelwood Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

John of Dukla (Christian; Saint)

Leoba (a.k.a. Lioba; Christian; Saint)

Lorenzo Ruiz (Christian; Saint)

Michaelmas Eve (Celtic)

Mme. de Staal (Positivist; Saint)

Paternus of Auch (Christian; Saint)

The Prophet’s Birthday [Islam] (a.k.a. ...

Baravfat (India)

Birthday of Prophet Muhammed (Cameroon, Kuwait, Lebanon, Maldives, Palestine, Sierra Leone, UAE)

Eid Al-Maulid Anebi (Eritea)

Eid-El-Maulud (Nigeria)

Eid-e-Milad-un Nabi (Bangladesh)

Gamo (Gambia)

Gamou (Senegal)

Hari Maulad Nabi (Cocos or Keeling Islands)

Le Mouled (Tunisia)

Maoulida (Mayotte)

Maouloud (Guinea, Senegal)

Maouloud-Al-Nebi (Chad)

Maulid (Tanzania)

Maulid Nabi Muhammad SAW 1444 H (Indonesia)

Maulidur Rasul (Brunei)

Mawleed al-Nabi (Afghanistan)

Mawlid (Ethiopia)

Mawlid al-Nabi (Jordan)

Mawlid An Nabi (Syria)

Mawlid En Nabaoui Echarif (Algeria)

Mawlid Nabi (Somalia)

Mawloud (Mali)

Mawlud Nabi (Gambia)

Mavlid Al Nabi (Cyprus)

Milad Al Nabi (Oman)

Miladunnabi (Bahrain)

Milad-un-Nabi (India, Sri Lanka)

Moulad (Iraq)

Mouled Al Nabee (Libya)

Moulid Al Nabi (Sudan)

Moulid El Nabi (Egypt)

Mouloud (Comoros, Djibouti, Niger)

Rabi' al-Awwal (Yemen)

Youman Nabi (Guyana)

Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton and Margery Kempe (Episcopal Church (USA))

Simón de Rojas (Christian; Saint)

Wenceslas (Christian; Saint) [Bohemia, Czech brewers] *

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Prime Number Day: 271 [58 of 72]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 45 of 60)

Premieres

Aqua Duck (WB MM Cartoon; 1963)

…Baby One More Time, by Britney Spears (Song; 1998)

Ballet Shoes, by Noel Streatfeild (Children’s Novel; 1936)

Blackadder Goes Forth (UK TV Series; 1989)

Blonde (Film; 2022)

Cool Hand Luke, by Donn Pearce (Novel; 1965)

DC Showcase: Green Arrow (WB Cartoon; 2010)

The Dissent of Man, by Bad Religion (Album; 2010)

Dr. Kildare (TV Series; 1961)

Eldorado, by Electric Light Orchestra (Album; 1974)

Fallen Into the Pit, by Ellis Peters (Novel; 1951)

Greedy for Tweety (WB LT Cartoon; 1957)

Hearts in Atlantis (Film; 2001)

Hotel Transylvania (Animated Film; 2012)

I Heard It Through the Grapevine, by Gladys Knight & The Pips (Song; 1967)

Looney Lightning or Nuts and Volts (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 306; 1964)

Looper (Film; 2012)

Love Me Tender, by Elvis Presley (Song; 1956)

Mildred Pierce (Film; 1945)

Night School (Film; 2018)

On Ice (Disney Cartoon; 1935)

Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone, by The Temptations (Song; 1972)

Pitch Perfect (Film; 2012)

The Professor and the Madman (UK Title: The Surgeon of Crowthorne), by Simon Winchester (Book; 1998)

The Show Must Go On or Give “em the Acts (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 305; 1964)

Smallfoot (Animated Film; 2018)

Songs in the Key of Life, by Stevie Wonder (Album; 1976)

Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series; 1987)

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (WB Animated Film; 2010)

Tales from Margarita, by Jimmy Buffet (Short Stories; 1989)

To Know Him Is To Love Him, by The Teddy Bears (Song; 1958)

Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse (WB Animated Film; 2012)

Ugly Betty (TV Series; 2008)

Welcome to the Jungle, by Guns N’ Roses (Song; 1987)

The Wild Life (Film; 1984)

A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Novel; 1968)

Zoolander (Film; 2001)

Today’s Name Days

Dietmar, Giselher, Lioba, Thekla, Wenzel (Austria)

Faust, Lovorko, Većeslav (Croatia)

Václav (Czech Republic)

Venceslaus (Denmark)

Lennart, Lenno, Leonhard, Linnar, Linnart (Estonia)

Arja, Lenni (Finland)

Venceslas (France)

Giselher, Lioba, Wenzel (Germany)

Heriton (Greece)

Vencel (Hungary)

Venceslao (Italy)

Gaita, Kaira, Lana, Sergejs, Svetlana (Latvia)

Saliamonas, Tautvydas, Vaclovas, Vacys, Vientautė (Lithuania)

Lena, Lene (Norway)

Jan, Laurencjusz, Luba, Lubosza, Marek, Nikita, Salomon, Sylwin, Wacław, Wacława, Wawrzyniec, Więcesław (Poland)

Hariton (Romania)

Václav (Slovakia)

Lorenzo, Wenceslao (Spain)

Lennart, Leonard (Sweden)

Baruch, Preston, Prior, Pryor, Wenzel (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 271 of 2024; 94 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of week 39 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 24 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Xin-You), Day 14 (Ji-Chou)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 13 Tishri 5784

Islamic: 13 Rabi I 1445

J Cal: 1 Shù; Oneday [1 of 30]

Julian: 15 September 2023

Moon: 98%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 19 Shakespeare (10th Month) [Mme. de Staal]

Runic Half Month: Gyfu (Gift) [Day 2 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 5 of 89)

Zodiac: Libra (Day 5 of 30)

Calendar Changes

Shù (Month 10 of 12; J Calendar)

#Holidays

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 7 months

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John Deering, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

September 27, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

Exactly a week ago, Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News reported that Republican House leaders were talking about moving the government funding debate away from spending levels—their original complaint—to border security. “[T]he vast majority of House R[epublican]s,” Sherman wrote, “would rather fight on border policy than spending.”

True to form, party leaders today began to insist that we are barreling toward a shutdown because of President Joe Biden’s policies on the southern border. House speaker Kevin McCarthy says he wants to meet with Biden to “cut a deal.”

But, of course, McCarthy already cut a deal with Biden, back in May, that provided a clear roadmap for this year’s funding. McCarthy is refusing to honor that deal.

The Republicans’ willingness to invent a new reason for their threatened government shutdown suggests it was never about principle so much as about power. They are quite aware that the cuts the extremists are proposing before they will agree to fund the government are unpopular, so they have manufactured another reason for the shutdown that they hope will be more palatable to the country.

At any point, McCarthy could agree to work with the Democrats to pass the 12 appropriations bills that will fund the government. Last night, by a vote of 77–19, the Senate illustrated how that could be done by passing a bipartisan continuing resolution to fund the government through November 17 and to provide additional funding for Ukraine.

Today, McCarthy told Republican House members that he would not bring the Senate’s measure up for a vote. Instead, he will continue to court the extremists, who spent the day posturing. At the motion of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), for example, they voted to reduce Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s salary to $1 a year. They went on to pass a number of similarly extreme measures that will never make it through the Senate.

House minority leader Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) accused Republicans of using the threat of a shutdown “to jam your right-wing ideology down the throats of the American people.” The bills they were advancing, he said, had “zero chance of becoming law…. And they’re filled with extreme policy poison pills.”

For all that McCarthy is trying to pin the blame for a shutdown on the Democrats, it is the House Republicans who are refusing to perform the most basic of government procedures: fund the government for the next year. When Republicans have shut down the government in the past, the American people blamed them for it, and today Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called out his House colleagues, clearly trying to isolate them, likely hoping to keep them from tainting the whole party in the eyes of voters before the 2024 election.

McConnell called out his colleagues on their new switch to complain about border security: “A vote against a standard short-term funding measure is a vote against paying over $1 billion in salary for Border Patrol and ICE agents working to track down lethal fentanyl and tame our open borders. Shutting down the government isn’t an effective way to make a point,” he said.

The 2024 election was also on former president Trump’s mind today. He was in Michigan tonight to try to draw attention away from the Republican primary debate that he refused to attend. But while President Biden yesterday visited the United Auto Workers picket line, Trump visited a non-union shop and talked about a future “fueled by American energy” and “built by highly skilled American hands and high-wage American labor.” As Craig Mauger of the Detroit News noted, however, “his address was short on specifics for how he would accomplish the goals.”

Trump told the crowd to get the UAW to support him, but the UAW doesn’t represent the workforce where he was speaking. Mauger noted that one woman holding a “union members for Trump” sign acknowledged she wasn’t a union member, while a man with a sign that said “auto workers for Trump” said he wasn’t an autoworker. The plant where Trump was speaking employs about 150 people, but 400–500 Trump supporters were there for his speech.

Yesterday, UAW president Shawn Fain said, “I find it odd he’s going to go to a non-union business to talk to union workers. I don’t think he gets it.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Heather Cox Richardson #Letters From An American #UAW #strike #Government shutdown #2024 election #corrupt GOP #US House of Representatives

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mostlysignssomeportents · 2 years

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Podcasting "Apple's Cement Overshoes"

This week on my podcast, I read my recent Medium column, “Apple’s Cement Overshoes,” about the incredible, cynical fuckery that Apple engages in to sabotage right to repair and ensure that its devices end up in overseas e-waste landfills rather than being fixed and kept in service.

https://doctorow.medium.com/apples-cement-overshoes-329856288d13

For all the debate around Right to Repair, it’s amazing how simple the actual issue is. On the anti- side, you have companies who say that their users are a bunch of idiotic babies who can’t be trusted to make their own choices about who fixes their stuff, and which parts they use. The companies say that they should be given the authority to decide who can effect repairs, and under which circumstances — and that they will only use this authority to keep their users safe.

On the pro-repair side, you have people who say that companies aren’t always the best choice for fixing the products they originate, and that the more companies have to block repair competition, the worse their own repair services get. When companies have to compete against an independent repair sector, they have to offer attractive prices and they have to keep up a supply of parts so older products can be kept in service.

When users decide who gets to fix their stuff, they can make trade-offs that they alone can appreciate — like the choice to keep using an older device rather than sending it to a landfill, or the choice to fix their own gadget because they have an urgent need (say, a farmer who wants to fix their own tractor so they can bring in the crops before a storm).

Apple leads the anti-repair axis, which is weird, considering the company’s origins. The Apple ][+ gave rise to a generation of hardware hackers because it shipped with Steve Wozniak’s gorgeous hardware schematics, inviting tinkerers to extend, modify and fix their machines.

https://www.macrumors.com/2020/12/18/steve-wozniak-schematics-auction/

But there is such a powerful temptation to break repair. A desktop computer only needs replacement when it goes obsolete — unlike a laptop or a phone or a smart-watch, your iMac is unlikely to suffer a cracked screen, get run over by a bus, get dropped in a toilet, or fall down a sewer-grate. The migration of computers from our desks to our backpacks, pockets and wrists is potentially wildly profitable. Not only do the damages from portability let manufacturers charge a fortune for repairs, but it lets them entice or coerce their customers into upgrading, rather than fixing, their gadgets.

Apple isn’t particularly subtle about why it fights independent repair. CEO Tim Cook started 2019 with his annual shareholder letter, in which he warned his investors that Apple’s profits were threatened by customers who stubbornly chose to get their old gadgets fixed rather than trading them into Apple for replacements:

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/01/letter-from-tim-cook-to-apple-investors/

He wasn’t taking that risk lying down. In 2018, Apple led an anti-repair axis of giant companies — including Wahl, John Deere, major appliance makers, and others — in defeating 18 state right to repair bills that would have forced companies to supply diagnostic information, manuals, and tools to independent service depots.

These right to repair bills didn’t come out of nowhere: they represented the independent repair sector’s frustration with giant corporations’ ongoing legal and technical assaults on the fix-it shops that keep our gadgets working for us, and out of landfills.

Long before Apple killed those right to repair bills, it was inventing and perfecting the anti-repair playbook that other industries followed. Apple used three tactics to fight repair:

Hiding documentation. Not only does Apple fail to publish its repair manuals, it actually treats them as trade-secrets, forcing internal and external technicians to sign nondisclosure agreements as a condition of accessing them.

Blocking parts. Apple goes to enormous lengths to keep replacement parts out of independent repairers’ hands. When you bring your busted Apple product to an Apple Store, they’ll often offer you a trade-in deal. If you take it, Apple gets to send your gadget to its “recyclers” who drop it in a giant shredder, a nonstandard practice that ensures that no one harvests working parts out of those broken devices:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/yp73jw/apple-recycling-iphones-macbooks

Apple also engraves minuscule Apple logos on tiny, internal parts, and uses these as to make bizarre trademark claims with US Customs, resulting in refurbished, original Apple parts being seized at the border and destroyed as “counterfeits”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVL65qwBGnw

VIN-locking. This is when a manufacturer uses embedded processors to rig their products to reject new parts unless an authorized technician enters an unlock code into the device. Though this originated in the automotive sector, it’s metastasized to phones, tractors, medical implants and hospital equipment:

https://doctorow.medium.com/about-those-kill-switched-ukrainian-tractors-bc93f471b9c8

All of this is good for Apple’s shareholders, but it’s terrible for its customers, and the world that we all share with them. Apple devices — like all electronics — are stuffed with toxic waste, conflict minerals and heavy metals, and require torrents of scarce fresh water and carbon-intensive energy to make. The longer these devices stay in use, the better it is for the planet. When they’re shredded, they’re exported to overseas e-waste dumps that are environmental and human-rights disasters:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/26/nixing-the-fix/#r2r

On a more basic level, though, blocking repair is indefensible in a market economy. When you buy a gadget, it’s yours. You are allowed to do whatever you want with it, even stupid things. If there are ways of using your product that are so dangerous to others that they should be banned, we do that with democratically accountable laws, not unilateral commands from corporations with unresolvable conflicts of interest.

What’s more, repair is in the national interest. Repair makes supply-chains resilient, keeping vital equipment in service when manufacturers are unreachable and unavailable or simply disappear. Repair is also an engine for economic development: landfilling a ton of e-waste creates one job; recycling that ton creates 15 jobs.

Repairing a ton of e-waste creates 200 high-paid, local jobs. 200! Repair accounts for 4% of US GDP.

https://www.ifixit.com/Right-to-Repair/Jobs-Revolution

When monopolists attack right to repair efforts, they often point out that repair advocates make money from fixing your stuff, as though this was some kind of damning conflict of interest. It’s bizarre. Yeah, your neighbor who runs your corner fix-it shop pays their mortgage by fixing your phone for you. Was there anyone who didn’t understand this?

What’s more, Apple — or Wahl, or GM, or John Deere — aren’t exactly charitable nonprofits whose repair programs are operated as a public service. Apple was — and likely will be — a $3 trillion company. But all the money in the world wasn’t enough to make right to repair go away. People stubbornly keep insisting on being able to choose their own repair technicians, and rejecting a future where we all drown in e-waste. It’s shocking, honestly — won’t anyone think of the poor shareholders?

Apple kept racking up wins at the state level, killing right to repair initiatives, but the company could read the writing on the wall: repair was coming. It’s a matter of when, not if. So Apple switched to Plan B: they invented repairwashing, fake repair programs that kept its repair racket intact, but made it seem like it was cooperating with the repair sector.

In 2019, Apple launched its certified independent repair program, which allowed independent repair shops to fix some iPhone screens, with Apple’s blessing. The program was a joke. Despite only allowing screen repairs, Apple refused to supply certified shops with parts to do these repairs. Instead, the shops must gather their customers’ sensitive personal information and send it to Apple, wait for Apple to verify it, and send the needed part.

https://www.techdirt.com/2019/09/03/pressured-right-to-repair-movement-apple-will-sell-parts-to-independent-repair-shops/

Participants had to promise not to do any repairs other than the few that Apple permitted, which meant that shops that joined the program had to reduce the services they offered to their customers. They also had to promise not to buy third-party or refurb parts, and submit to random audits.

Unsurprisingly, they got few takers for this offer, but that wasn’t the point. The point was to have a program that they could cite as part of their future efforts to kill right to repair laws: “See, the market is working! No need for government intervention!”

This was just a stalling tactic. It couldn’t last forever. Eventually, enough lawmakers would get briefed on how restrictive the program was, and so Apple needed Plan C: Repairwashing, the home edition.

Last spring, the FTC reported on its two year Nixing the Fix investigation into repair, publishing a ringing endorsement for independent repair as good for Americans, for resilience, for the economy, and for the environment:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/07/pro-act-class-war/#we-fixit

A few months later, the Biden admin dropped a resounding executive order on right to repair:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/07/10/unnixing-the-fix/#r2r-plus-plus

And a few months after that, Apple announced a new “home repair program” that would send real Apple “parts, tools and manuals” to iPhone owners who wanted to replace their screens or batteries. The announcement prompted a lot of speculation about how Apple would neuter this offer:

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/11/apple-announces-self-service-repair/

Even the wildest guesses fell short of Apple’s jaw-dropping, industry-leading fuckery. This month, The Verge’s Sean Hollister ordered an Apple home repair kit, and found himself in possession of 79 pounds of Apple gear:

https://www.theverge.com/2022/5/21/23079058/apple-self-service-iphone-repair-kit-hands-on

Apple shipped Hollister two Pelican cases’ worth of phone-fixing tools, starting with an industrial glue-melting machine so he could separate his phone’s case (Apple is Exhibit A in the case for “screws, not glue” to aid in repairs). The machine didn’t work on the first or second try, and only managed the trick when Hollister located and engaged a hidden turbo-suction mode. Even then, it left behind a gross, gluey residue that was supposed to come away with tweezers (not included in the 79lb kit, and also, this didn’t work).

The process of replacing the iPhone battery is a master-class in planned obsolescence. Any device that survives for more than a couple years needs to have its battery replaced. Apple likes to pretend this isn’t true — indeed, the company secretly slowed down older phones’ processors so they wouldn’t chew through their failing batteries. The Batterygate scandal cost Apple $113m:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batterygate

Despite this, Hollister discovered that replacing his battery required removing three different kinds of security screws as well as innumerable tiny, fiddly clips that held the ribbon-cables in. The screwdrivers in the 79 lb repair kit don’t have the otherwise standard magnetic tips, leaving Hollister to chase minuscule metal bits around his workbench.

Apple claims the 79 lb kit is full of “professional” tools, and it places a $1,200 hold on your credit card to cover the cost of replacement, should you lose or break them. For professional tools, these are awfully amateur-hour: it’s not just the nonfunctional glue-melter or the unmagnetized screwdrivers. For example, the press that holds the battery down kept slipping, knocking the battery out of alignment.

But eventually, Hollister finished the repair — and his phone still didn’t work. It turns out the battery Apple ships is VIN-locked, and the phone won’t recognize it until you phone an authorized third-party repair technician, cable your phone to a laptop, connect to the internet, and allow the technician to remotely access your phone (and all its data!) and then bless the repair by keying in an unlock code.

This is clearly more repairwashing. As Hollister points out, Apple eats the cost of shipping the repair kits, about $200 each way. That’s a pretty good indicator that Apple doesn’t think anyone’s going to go through an 80-page repair at home — especially not one that actually costs more than bringing your phone to Apple for the same repair.

It’s worth contrasting this repair with iFixit’s equivalent, third-party repair experience. For $20–50, iFixit will ship you a battery and all the tools you need to do the repair, and they repair excellent manuals and videos showing you how to do the fix:

https://www.ifixit.com/Kits/iPhone-Fix-Kits/iPhone-Battery-Kits

Rather than using an “industrial grade heat-station” to melt your phone’s glue, iFixit shows you how to use a heat-gun or even a hair-dryer. If you want to get fancy, you can invest $20 on an iOpener — a gel-filled sock that you microwave and then wrap around your phone:

https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/iOpener/IF145-198?o=9

Apple’s home repair program is an unfunny joke. The company’s decision to design its devices so they are actively hostile to repair is an environmental crime, something that’s getting harder to deny as truly innovative companies pop up with elegant, lightweight, rugged, high-performance gadgets that can be fully serviced by their owners:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/09/21/monica-byrne/#think-different

What’s more, these devices can be upgraded piecemeal — their owners can easily install a faster processor or a better camera when they become available, without junking the whole device:

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/05/framwork-laptop-12th-gen-intel-cpu-upgrade-kit

Right to repair is a no-brainer, which means that even mighty Apple, with all its tax-evading trillions, can’t keep it at bay alone. Apple leads an anti-repair coalition of multinationals that strangle right to repair wherever they can.

Apple was at the forefront in killing New Hampshire’s R2R law. The state’s motto might be “live free or die,” but Rep. John Potucek — who helped kill the law — adopted a much bootlickier motto: “cellphones are throwaways…just get a new one.”

https://www.vice.com/en/article/43kp8j/lawmaker-kills-repair-bill-because-cellphones-are-throwaways

In Ohio, Apple taught appliance manufacturers how to convince lawmakers not to vote for right to repair. Ever notice how your parents’ washing machines and dishwashers lasted for decades, while yours are beyond repair the day after the warranty expires?

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/vbxk3b/appliance-companies-are-lobbying-against-right-to-repair

In Ontario, Doug Ford’s “Open for business” provincial parliament killed right to repair, shafting small Ontario repair businesses to protect the ability of a California company to gouge Ontarians on repairs (please, Ontarians, do not re-elect this bumblefuck):

https://www.vice.com/en/article/9kxayy/right-to-repair-bill-killed-after-big-tech-lobbying-in-ontario

The anti-repair lobby is still killing right to repair legislation. Just this week, John Deere and its Big Ag coalition got repair stripped out of a North Carolina bill, arguing that repair was bad for the environment because evil farmers might turn off their emissions controls:

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article261738957.html

In California, a repair bill just died in the state senate, despite support from 75% of voters. The bill died thanks to FUD straight out of Apple’s playbook, which warned about data-theft, patent infringement, and the whole cliched parade of anti-repair horribles:

https://calpirg.org/news/cap/california-right-repair-bill-dies-senate-committee

There was a time when Apple championed repair. Apple customers have fond memories of repair depots like NYC’s legendary Tekserve, immortalized in Tamara Shopsin’s incredible novel LaserWriter II:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/29/norwegian-potato-flour-enchiladas/#r2r

Today, the company has committed its prodigious engineering, legal and lobbying muscle to preventing repair, designing gadgets of exquisite repair-hostility:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/10/08/everyones-airpods-will-die-weve-got-trick-replacing-them/

We can’t afford this. It’s not just the cost of replacing your gadgets rather than fixing them. It’s the environmental cost, the human rights cost, the brittleness of our supply-chains, the collapse of local repair jobs.

Here’s the podcast episode:

https://craphound.com/news/2022/05/30/apples-cement-overshoes/

Here’s a link to the MP3 (hosting courtesy of the Internet Archive; they’ll host your stuff for free, forever):

https://archive.org/download/apples-cement-overshoes/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_426_-_Apples_Cement_Overshoes.mp3

Here’s the RSS feed for my podcast:

https://feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podcast

Image: Conall (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/conall/46613204974

CC BY 2.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

[Image: A polluted, plastic-strewn ocean-bottom; prominent in the foreground is a smashed iPhone; overhead is Apple's Think Different wordmark.]

#pluralistic

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pix4japan · 9 months

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Abandoned Restaurant in Rural Japan

Location: Takanechō Kiyosato, Hokuto, Yamanashi　Pref., Japan Timestamp: 11:39 on July 5, 2023

After my exploration of Mt. Meshimori and Mt. Omori, my next destination was Moegi Village. As I made my way there, I couldn't help but notice a series of abandoned structures scattered along the route.

One particular building caught my attention, known for its association with the renowned Japanese comedian, TV commentator, actor, and film director, Takeshi Kitano, also known as Beat Takeshi.

This establishment was none other than his very own curry restaurant, which was operated by his Kitano India Company. Adjacent to the restaurant stood a dormitory for employees called Sun Park Hotel. According to local phone books, the restaurant had been listed as early as the 1980s. However, following the burst of the bubble economy, the store was regrettably closed on November 15, 2001.

The architecture comprised two floors: the upper floor served as the curry restaurant, while the ground floor housed a souvenir shop. A spacious parking lot accompanied the establishment, capable of accommodating numerous tourists and even tourist buses. As I gazed upon the structure, the striking combination of green and yellow hues evoked a sense of nostalgia, reminiscent of the colors donned by the classic John Deere agriculture and landscaping equipment manufacturer in the United States.

Fujifilm X100V with 5% diffusion filter ① ISO 160 for 1/680 sec. at ƒ/3.6 ② ISO 160 for 1/900 sec. at ƒ/2.0 Pro Negative High film simulation

For more information, visit the Pix4Japan blog (https://www.pix4japan.com/blog/20230705-moegi). I have curated Google Maps links, helpful links, and links for further reading.

#ストリートスナップ #山梨県 #放棄された建物 #閉店 #pix4japan #X100V #Fujifilm #street photography #Japan #Yamanashi Prefecture #abandoned #restaurant

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aquitainequeen · 2 years

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The software that runs John Deere tractors was successfully “jailbroken” at this year’s DEF CON hacker convention, enabling farmers to repair or retune their equipment without engaging with the company that sold them their vehicles.

The hacker involved, who calls himself Sick Codes, was responding directly to US farmers’ long-standing concerns that their ‘smart’ tractors are run on software that only John Deere can access to repair. Smart tractors, including those manufactured by John Deere, are also widely used in the UK.

Sick Codes’ jailbreak was undertaken to “liberate the tractors”, he said. John Deere responded in a statement to Wired magazine that it works closely with cybersecurity partners and also “embraces the broader ethical hacking community” to ensure its security capabilities remain industry-leading. In March 2022, the manufacturer responded to pressure from farmers with the announcement that it would make more of its software repair tools available to customers and mechanics from next year.

#Economics #Environment #Society #sick codes #tractors #smart tractors #oh brave new world

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angrypaperearthquake-tbbb-main · 1 year

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🔮 What’s your dream job?

Thank you for the ask 😘

I already have my dream job 🥰

I work for an OEM diesel engine distributor as a trainer and warranty administrator. I absolutely love it. I get to travel around the country and train our customers. I've already been to 30 different states and even Canada twice! I also get to work closely with the engine manufacturers (John Deere, Yanmar, and Kohler) to make changes in the industry. As a female in a male-dominated industry, it can be difficult at times, but I am making huge strides in changing perceptions. My favorite part is when I stand in front of a group of men to train and they all look at me weird, but by the end, they are apologizing for doubting my capabilities. This year, they are putting me in charge of a new section of the business they are creating, which will give me an even bigger platform for what I already do, advocating!

#ask #ask game

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digitaldiscipline · 1 year

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ggmgroup · 5 days

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How to choose the Best Ride On Lawn Mower in 2021?

Investing in a new ride on mower can be a daunting task at the best of times, especially nowadays where there is so much choice available at the click of a button.

The way we cut grass here in the UK has not actually changed all that much in the last 20 years, unlike the Automotive industry where battery technology is at the forefront of most people’s minds when thinking into the future.

In relation to ride on mowers things have started to change somewhat in the last 2 to 3 years and there is a clear shift towards battery power from certain manufacturers such as ‘Ariens’ with their new Zenith zero-turn ride-on mower and ‘Mean Green’ who sell mainly all battery powered products. There is no doubt that over the coming years other large manufacturers such as Kubota and John Deere will follow suit and that many more products will come into the market in order to meet consumer demands.

How to decide which ride on mower is right for your requirements?

This is a common question and one that needs careful consideration.

Ride-on mowers tend to be broken down into two category types, domestic and commercial. Therefore, it is important to do your homework and identify which category type you fall into.

You will then then need to decide if you are looking to cut and drop the grass on the ground or collect the grass and dispose of it. This will help further narrow down your search to either a ‘cut and drop’ or ‘cut and collect’ machine.

Other things to consider are what type of mower you require; you have the choice of machine with either a deck underneath the power unit, this is commonly known as a ‘mid-mounted mower’ or alternatively a machine with a deck positioned at the front of the power unit, usually referred to as an ‘out-front mower’.

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Both types of machine have their advantages so depending on the type of ground and terrain you are working on you will need to weigh up which one works best for you. A mid-mounted mower is usually more compact in size and therefore better for getting into tight spaces, whereas an out-front mower is better for getting into corners and up to obstacles. If you have particularly undulating or soft ground, you may also want to consider investing in a machine with 4WD (4 Wheel-drive) and a lower centre of gravity, the 4WD drive will offer extra traction and lower centre of gravity will provide stability and increased safety to the operator.

You then need to think about what budget you have available and if this will be restrictive in finding the right machine for your job. If this is the case, you may be better served looking for a good quality used commercial machine as opposed to a new domestic machine, it is recommend buying a used machine from a dealership as you should receive a minimum 3-month warranty.

COMMON QUESTIONS

What is the difference between and domestic and commercial ride on mower?

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A domestic ride on mower is built to a price point and is designed for infrequent cutting, usually around once a week throughout the season.

This type of machine is usually aimed at homeowners with a lawn up to around 2 acres in size or a small landscape gardener with several small garden plots to maintain. Usually, domestic machines come fitted with petrol engine and have a limited life expectancy of around 1000 hours usage subject to maintenance.

A commercial ride on mower is predominantly built and designed to withstand years of hard work, these high output machines are aimed at professional users such as local authorities, contractors or country estates, to name a few. They are usually built with a strong, heavy-duty deck and chassis and a commercially built diesel or petrol engine.

These machines such as a Kubota ride-on lawn mower are designed to be able to tackle large quantities of grass and be worked daily throughout the cutting season, their life can run up to around 3000 hours usage and beyond in some cases.

What is a cut and collect mower?

This type of machine is designed to remove the grass from the lawn which means that the grass clippings will need to be disposed of in a compost heap or taken to a green waste recycling centre.

Nearly all cut and collect ride-on mowers UK have a collection bag attached at the rear of the machine, in most cases the grass is thrown directly into the collector through a chamber built into the machine below the operator’s seat. Some manufacturers also offer side discharge collection system or mechanical collection with the use of a rear brush system, the Countax range of mowers would be a good example of this. These machines are popular with homeowners as they have different attachments available for carrying out various tasks from rolling to scarifying, removing thatch from a lawn and sweeping up leaves.

Most domestic cut and collect mowers will have a manually operated handle or lever to open the collector and discharge the grass. However, with most commercial machines this is usually done with the simple operation of a hydraulic lever or electric switch and the same usually applies to the deck lift and lower as well.

You also have the option of a high dump collection system with some manufacturers such as the Kubota ride on lawn mower G231 which means you can lift the collector up into the air (via the hydraulic/electric control lever) and empty into a tipping trailer or to the back of a compost heap etc.

What is a Cut and Drop Mower?

This type of mower is designed to leave the grass clippings on the ground, otherwise known as recycling.

With a standard cut and drop mower the grass is cut and discharged out of the deck, most commonly at the rear which is referred to as ‘rear discharge’ or it can also be discharged out of the side, known as ‘side discharge’. The latter is usually only recommended for longer grass situations where infrequent cutting occurs, and the user is not concerned with the aesthetical finish.

What is a mulching mower?

A mulching mower usually comes fitted with a fully enclosed deck and is fitted with high lift blades which are designed to keep the grass in the ‘blade cutting zone’ for longer. This process produces finer grass clippings, and these are then dropped vertically into the uncut grass left beneath.

Mulching has two main advantages:

1) The grass clippings are cut into much smaller pieces which means they will break down and decompose much more quickly which in turn puts nutrients back into the soil.

2) Any cut grass will tend to disappear into the uncut grass and therefore will leave a much nicer aesthetic finish.

N.B. For effective mulching it is important not to cut the grass to short, as a rule you should only cut off the top third and mulch it back into the two thirds below. For the optimum results, a more regular cutting cycle of once per week is recommended and to cut in dry conditions where possible.

Are there any other types of mowers I should consider?

Over the past few years, the ‘Zero Turn’ type of ride on mower has become more popular, this type of machine is designed to offer maximum efficiency and is on average 20% more productive than other more conventional ride on mowers.

The operation of these machines is through a lever style system instead of a conventional steering wheel type machine which makes turning at the end of each run much quicker. This is an excellent type of ride on mower to consider if you have a lot of grass to cut or have a lot of intricate tight spaces in and around trees and bushes etc.

Zero Turn mowers aren’t recommended for steep slopes or soft ground as they only come in a 2WD option. However, if you are looking for a battery powered option, arrange a trial of the Ariens Zenith professional zero turn mower, new to the UK market in 2021.

> ARRANGE A ZENITH E DEMO

Which is the most reliable manufacturer?

In many people’s opinion the most reliable mower you can buy is a Kubota ride on mower, the Kubota Corporation (Japan) are world renowned for their engines which are used by many other manufacturers in thousands of commercial products.

Kubota products are usually excellent value and a sound investment which seem to hold their residual value better than most. John Deere is also a well reputed brand with good quality products. Other credible brands worth considering are Kioti, Countax, Izeki, Husqvarna, Stiga, Honda and Mountfield.

How do I go about purchasing a Ride on Mower?

Once you have done your online research, it’s advisable to seek professional advice from your local dealership. Try and provide the salesperson at the dealership with as much information as possible and try to give them an idea of your budget, what jobs you are looking to do with the machine and the type of terrain you are working on.

Always ask the dealer representative to come and do a site visit, this will give you the best chance of gaining the correct advice and getting the best value. Be sure to ask for a demonstration before you commit to buying a machine.

Once you have decided on a make and model, discuss servicing and basic daily maintenance. It is also worth asking about warranty, some manufacturers such as Kubota now offer an optional commercial warranty up to 5 years for very little cost.

What are the most important things to consider when purchasing from a dealership?

When looking to purchase a ride on mower it’s best to treat this in the same way you would when buying any highly priced item. Always approach a minimum of two, ideally three companies and check out their products online or better still try and visit their showroom.

Main things to consider are; how fast they respond to your enquiry; how helpful the staff are and how passionately they talk about their products and their company.

#Kubota #Kubota ride-on lawn mower #Youtube

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