Anneal

And it depends on a lot on the context. While I do like heavy metal and hard rock, there are times that playing it can feel out of place, even in an action movie. Sometimes a bit of classical or smooth jazz would fit the scene if the protagonist is a skilled but well-refined assassin. Or some EDM if a person is shooting some mafia goons at a nightclub.

If you know a little bit about Roanoke, it's a lot more interesting than just a free-standing star as it was also instrumental the Confederacy during the American Civil War, along with the merger of the Atlantic, Mississippi, and Ohio Railroad under William Mahone, an ex-Confederate general turned railroad executive, after the war. Due the the 1873 Panic, however, it was closed and merged into Norfolk and Western (which was based in Roanoke until 1982, when they merged with the Southern Railway), which today is Norfolk Southern, one of the largest freight train corporations in East Coast. Unfortunately, the newly merged Norfolk Southern relocated to Norfolk, which left Roanoke in the dust. Along with the decline of the coal industry, the city started bleeding its population until the 21st century. It can be said that Roanoke was founded and built by the railroad. Recently, Amtrak service has returned to the city, and the city has been making a comeback, with people returning back to the city and the downtown experiencing revitalization. Also, Roanoke had a vibrant black community, Gainesboro, in the early 20th century. Sadly, the I-581 was built in the 50s right through the neighborhood as part of an "urban renewal" project, which effectively gutted the neighborhood. Only a small portion of it on Henry Street still survives to this day.

San Jose has a long history, being originally settled by the Ohlone tribe before California was colonized by the Spaniards who later forcibly put Native Americans into missions to convert them into Christianity. Mission Santa Clara de Asís is one of them (which is actually in neighboring Santa Clara, but was in San Jose before it burned down multiple times). Today it serves as the chapel of Santa Clara University, which is also one of the oldest universities in California. San Jose went through Mexican and now American rule, and during the Cold War, it shifted from agriculture toward the military industry, which then allowed companies like Intel, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM to repurpose military technology for civilian use. The invention of the transistor enabled those companies to also build far faster and miniaturized computers, which started a tech doom that has turned most of the South Bay into what we call the “Silicon Valley” today. We also have a ton of foreigners (mostly Chinese, Korean, Indian, and Hispanic) who tend to be professional tech workers and it is also unaffordable as hell to live here. By unaffordable I mean that the average rent here is $2700/month and the average house price is almost a million. Oh, and we have a Japantown. No Chinatown though, you have to go to San Francisco for that.

On a more serious note, a dumb law that is still in effect today are parking minimum codes. In many cities save for those restricted by geography or historical districts (Boston, NYC, San Francisco, Seattle), each new development or renovation is required to offer a certain amount of off-road parking spots per square footage, occupancy limit, or sometimes something as arbitrary as bowling alleys or tennis courts. Which tend to result in cities looked like this: These kind of parking minimums are often far too generous and offer up too much parking space at the expense of severely limiting further urban development and walkability. Additionally, it is unattractive to look at and simply encourages people to drive more. In some cities, parking minimums are artificially reducing usable land and inducing housing crises on their own. Simply allowing more metered on-street parking and better transit options would greatly reduce the demand for off-street parking lots.

Carpet has mostly fell out of style with interior house design due to not being seen as particularly modern. Additionally, wet puddles and grime are a lot harder to clean off carpet, and there are a ton of issues with mold or dust mites growing under it. We used to have carpet in our house and it tended to trigger my asthma whenever I laid down on the ground. Now it's just laminate wood flooring throughout with modern gray tiling for the bathrooms, so we just use an automatic vacuum to clean up our house and a sweeper and mop to clean up wet puddles and grime.

There are several times more parking spots than people in the US, at least 2.5 billion parking spaces. This means that every American on average gets around 8 parking spots. A lot of these are due to parking minimums and why some American cities look like this.

The real irony here is that the United States, on the contrary, has the best medical education and medical R&D in the world. The National Institute of Health gets a whopping annual budget of $37B, and the US admittedly has excellent cancer and disease treatment (that is, if it was affordable and accessible). And admittedly, while it's fairly easy to bash the United States for having a fairly backwards healthcare system, trying to reform it is not a particularly easy task. As US healthcare has never been universal, this means that transitioning to one would require massive upfront costs. People who wish to actually bring universal healthcare in the US have to acknowledge that it'll probably take years of not just cutting spending in certain fields but also raising taxes (which is why it meets so much opposition in the first place), and even if a transition is successful, universal healthcare is a constant struggle between balancing quality, cost, and access. This is still why countries who still have universal healthcare can still struggle with major problems – Canada has a shortage of doctors and excessively long wait times, for example. Personally, I think Taiwan's National Health Insurance model is one of the unsung success stories of universal healthcare (thanks to PRC-Taiwan tensions, Taiwan is not even a member of WHO) and is superior to Canada's similar model, since it's not paid for by general taxation but is directly funded by a monthly premium deducted from one's paycheck. They also take a note from France and store medical records on an electronic card, making it one of the most efficient healthcare systems in the world, rivaled only by France herself. I lived in Taiwan for four years and something like getting asthma medication or a simple checkup can only cost a couple of dollars. I also got injured from a car accident once and getting wound treatment and a couple of X-rays cost no more than $50 per person.

Last bus ride was on the VTA 63 last week, and last train trip was on the VTA Alum Rock-Santa Teresa Line last Friday. If we're talking exclusively about commuter rail and not light rail/subways, then my last train ride was San Jose to Burlingame on CalTrain on April 19.

Outside from out-of-state people complaining about "Commiefornia" and "San Francisco values", nothing in particular actually. We just say that the person is from the Bay Area, and if we have to be more specific we say North Bay (for anyone in Marin, Solano, Napa, or Sonoma Counties), East Bay (Contra Costa and Alameda Counties), South Bay (Santa Clara County/San Jose), and Peninsula (San Mateo County and San Francisco). When people refer to the Silicon Valley, it's specifically about the South Bay and Peninsula, where the majority of tech companies are located. And when people refer to Wine Country, it's specifically about Napa and Sonoma Counties in the North Bay, which both counties are renowned for their world-class vineyards and wineries.

If you think that's expensive, right now regular non-ethanol gas in San Jose is $4.20/gal (state average being $3.95/gal), though a lot of it is due to carbon taxes, gas taxes, and environmental standards. Because of that, many cars sold in California are usually expected to have higher fuel economy and carpooling is encouraged. It's generally not an issue in cities like San Francisco which has an extensive enough public transit system (MUNI + BART) to make driving unnecessary for everyday use, not to mention the sheer amount of money you'll have to additionally spend on highway tolls and parking. I have a 2013 BMW 328i, though I usually try to bike to get places or transfer onto light rail or bus.

Parts of the South are relatively rural as well (not all, as states like Georgia, Texas, and Florida are heavily urbanized), which makes it perfect for an array of things: hiking, camping, hunting, or stargazing, or having a good old BBQ right in the front porch. While I'm kind of someone who focuses more on urban studies and planning you have to admit there are some aspects of rural Southern life that are rather interesting or even a little envying. Also, if you live in the Carolinas, you can go biking around the Blue Ridge Mountains.

It depends. That’s the case for Southern California and the Central Valley, but temperatures are generally more moderate in the Bay Area, especially in cities like San Francisco which is constantly foggy and mild all year round (San Jose, where I’m from, is somewhat hotter and drier due to being sandwiched between the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Diablo Range). And if you live in the far north like Redding or Eureka the climate is much colder and it is possible to occasionally get a little bit of snow.

My family and I do own a few cars but I personally don't like to drive unless I really have to. Transportation is quickly climbing in carbon emissions and have replaced industry and power as the main polluter in American society, and thanks to the general lack of regulation towards big auto and big oil corporations, we have fostered cities around facilitating car travel and nothing else through urban sprawl and the construction of massive highways. Auto corporations like GM are allowed to manufacture gas-guzzling SUVs and pickups (which only 15% of drivers actually use for its intended purpose) that get less than 20 MPG on the road. Even worse, the sheer amount of cars on the road not only contribute to air pollution, but also noise pollution and light pollution. Even ignoring all that environmental baggage, traffic congestion caused by so many people driving on the road also results in a net loss on the economy as people spend time driving instead of doing something productive like being at work or using their free time. In cities like LA, it's not surprising to see extreme commuters from places like San Bernardino or Moreno Valley drive 3 hours a day to get to work in downtown LA and back. Imagine if those three hours were spent going to work, shopping, or spending time with family and friends. At least with public transit, your attention is not on the road and is spent doing something somewhat more productive like reading a book, browsing your phone, or editing papers for work. So when I can afford to, I would prefer to bike to use nearby services or use it to get to a light rail station or bus stop. Way too many people drive a few miles to places that can be easily accessed by bikes, and shaving a few miles from driving is a small improvement at the very least. Additionally, it helps burn calories and can be way less stress inducing than driving behind the wheel.

Most of Southern California and the Central Valley doesn't get particularly cold during the winter, and hot as hell during the summer. Winter is wildfire season, spring is flooding season, summer is heat-wave season, and autumn is the only portion of paradise that you get throughout the year.

We don't celebrate Easter because my family is not Christian, though we did go out to a Japanese garden park this afternoon and ate some BBQ for lunch. Also been checking the tires on one of my bikes since I plan to use my bike for the entire day for Earth Day.

Libraries are unlikely to die off, though. They are funded by municipal governments, which is why you're able to borrow books or use the computers in libraries for free with a library card. One good thing about libraries is that they aren't just places to store books, but also allow free access to Wi-Fi and computers, use printers (though usually at a small price), or double as community centers to host local events or classes such as ESL, computer labs, or resume/application writing. Sometimes they are used as homeless shelters as well to keep them warm with temporary shelter for the night. Libraries aren't just helpful to the community but to low-income residents who may not have access to computers, printers, or Wi-Fi at home. The issue with bookstores is that the they are privately owned and companies are ultimately based off of the profit margin they get from running it, which makes it all the easier to cut service from towns or cities who most desperately need it, and may not necessarily be interested in actually helping low-income groups gain access to reading material. Even then it might be difficult for them to fully disappear, as there's still a market for collecting physical books, and as I said in a post years ago, some books like guidebooks, magazines, puzzle books, and children's books don't translate particularly well in electronic form.

Northeast Regional or Acela Express? The former is slightly slower but cheaper, though Acela Express is up to high speed rail standards (and currently the only high speed rail in the US). You might want to ride it before 2022 when it'll be replaced by Avelia Liberty, which would update the line with tilting high speed trains that would be closer to par with European trains. Unfortunately, the northeast part of the US is the only region where you can get legitimately good Amtrak service. Due to poor federal funding and lack of interest by politicians, in most parts of the US it frequently suffers from outdated trains and deteriorating infrastructure. Additionally, outside of the northeast US, Amtrak doesn't actually own the tracks it rides on and leases it from freight companies, meaning freight trains get priority on those tracks while passenger trains have to wait for them to pass by. So if you live in that region, you're lucky to actually get a taste of decent rail service and good public transport.

That’s actually quite a bit of exercise in and of itself. 14 km of biking could mean that you’ve burned around 400-600 calories per day, depending on your weight (and what you’re carrying), speed, and the terrain you’re biking on. By most standards that would be considered a healthy amount of exercise.

Climate change is not going to be an apocalyptic event, and the human race isn’t going to go extinct because of it. However, it can come with dire consequences; 2 C° of warming according to the IPCC can have impacts on agriculture, loss of natural habitats, more severe natural disasters, and sea level rises. With how many large cities are near the coast like Miami, Jakarta, Dhaka, and so on, this can also result in the displacement of millions of people.

One is the heartland of Canada and the other is a boring suburban city that's contributing to urban sprawl.

Also, political ideology varies from region to region. A German conservative is vastly different from an American conservative, and a Japanese liberal is vastly different from a British liberal. One good example is Taiwanese politics; Taiwanese liberals actually advocate for Taiwanese nationalism and the independence movement while increasing military spending to defend against China. This is despite nationalism and increased military spending been seen as aspects of the American right-wing. Meanwhile in Germany, the CDU (Merkel’s party) is conservative but heavily pro-EU and pro-immigrant, and are usually considered centrist, if not liberal, in other countries.

That’s not a myth. At least in urban planning, there’s the “broken window theory”, the idea that minor details in urban design can have a bigger impact in the community. Poor road lighting could lead to more crime, especially in alleyways away from the eyes of the public. At the very least, lighting is essential to make roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists. A real contributor to increasing light pollution is urban sprawl, however. Some cities like Los Angeles or Houston stretch a hundred miles wide and build tons of roads to only service huge suburban single-family homes. The suburban cul-de-sac and labyrinth like design uses up a ton of asphalt and electricity to run lampposts and pipe water and is becoming extremely unsustainable. As long as cities exist, there would always be some degree of light pollution, though people should do their best to limit it. A major solution is to simply overhaul our zoning laws and to stop encouraging development that only favors the automobile, and building denser housing. Admittedly that would worsen light pollution for anyone living in the city, but it would concentrate them into smaller areas and minimize its impact. In some European cities, the countryside is only less than an hour away from downtown. Some more minor solutions include modifying the design of lampposts or timing them with sensors, or using LEDs.

I’m not saying it is false, just that it is biased. You can be factual but biased towards a certain idea or ideology and that list is meant to paint EGS in a bad light by deliberately emphasizing it’s negative traits (Chi-Com Spying and Security Breaches) and Steam’s positive traits. Therefore the list is rather subjective and clearly written by someone who dislikes EGS and not someone who is objectively reviewing the two platforms. I still dispute that. Furthermore, there was never any competition to begin with when Steam was the biggest online platform for PC gaming by a long shot. I would call that a monopoly, no matter how benevolent Valve appears to act. And I’m not nearly as outraged about this because this is making a mountain out of a molehill. EGS is free to download, and people are overblowing the “Chinese company spyware” conspiracy to new levels (though admittedly, EGS has some very shoddy security). This isn’t even full on exclusivity; you can play the game on Steam over time, and for some games there other options (console or the Microsoft Store). If we wanted to talk about anti-consumerism there are bigger fish to fry.

That is one biased list. I acknowledge that Epic GamesStore is severely flawed compared to Steam, but exclusivity is generally a result of competition. Nobody complains when you can play phone apps on the App Store but not on Google Play, or when you can play games on a regular PC but not on a Mac or Linux (where developers usually make a deliberate choice to not support those platforms). I honestly don’t see the point of complaining about store exclusivity, you can just get it for free and not have to pay $300 for a new console. Not to mention that multiple games have been exclusive to a company’s store before, and nobody seems to have a problem with playing Overwatch or WoW on Activision-Blizzard’s launcher. Also, it’s a bit strange how people were hating on Valve over Artifact just recently and yet they totally change their mood when they suddenly get a new competitor.

I'm sorry, but...how is this anti-consumeristic? If anything this is encouraging competition. No one batted an eye when you had to pay an extra $300 for a PS3 console to play Halo 3. This kind of exclusivity is common in other industries as well; you can either get Comcast or AT&T, Sprint or TMobile, Apple App Store or Google Play. Now Epic Games Store may be lacking in several aspects, but if there is one thing that is plain and simple, it's that something is making companies like Obsidian, Gearbox, or 4A Games flock to Epic Games Store over Steam. Instead of complaining about how "Fortnite BAD, Epic Games BAD!", maybe Valve should take a good look at themselves and see what they're missing. And it's simple: profit margins for game companies. And pirating? That's utterly ridiculous. I can understand boycotting but pirating over gamer outrage is just plain dumb.