MilaM

Most European countries offer some kind of government issued digital ID to their citizens, although adoption varies by country. I know two implementations first-hand and use them regularly. They work really well to prove your identity over the Internet. You can use it to open a bank account or use government services.

The next step will be EU-DI, an app based wallet with many more features and hopefully better interoperability between EU countries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_identification#Usag...

https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/sites/spaces/EU...

A phone number (or email) is not strictly necessary [1]. Some banks do indeed require it for the Wero account setup, which in my opinion is a mistake. You only need the additional identifiers if you want to look up other Wero users with your phone's address book to send money directly to them without using a QR code.

It's not possible to register the same phone number (or email) at two banks simultaneously. The last registration wins and the associated bank account will switch on the backend when you try this.

Also, EU bureaucrats have little to do with it. Wero is the third attempt by a subset of private European banks to establish a new pan-European payment network.

[1] https://support.wero-wallet.eu/hc/en-us/articles/25599201237...

You should not be distracted by the fact that SEPA Instant payments are used as the clearing mechanism. The Wero (EPI) backend IS the payment network and provides the messaging layer between the customer's bank and the merchant. Payment processors can interface with Wero and provide payment services for merchants in much the same way as they offer credit card payments.

Driving 40 minutes to save 5p might not be worth it. What does make more sense (at least where I live) is to go to the petrol station in the late afternoon or evening instead of the morning hours. The intraday price span on most regular fuels is usually 10 Euro cents per liter. Weekends also tend to be cheaper.

That is pretty expensive, I agree. I pay zero additional fees when using my private account. For my business account I'm charged ~30 Cents flat per transaction. I know that there are banks offering better terms, but I'm too lazy to switch for just a couple of Euros in savings.

SEPA is not crap. It's actually pretty awesome, considering that you can instantly transfer money between 5000+ banks in 30+ countries, with practically zero fees.

The UX of SEPA is lacking in comparison to other modern payment systems for sure. I'm confident though, that it will improve soon. Wero [1] seems like a decent start and appears to be gaining traction lately. It's basically a layer on top of SEPA Instant payment with extra features and a decent app based UI/UX.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wero_(payment)

I live in a house next to a moderately busy street with car traffic and also some public transport (bus lines). I noticed that the windows (and frames) facing the street get dirty much faster than the windows facing the garden. The dirt on the street side is also pretty gross, sticky and hard to clean. It's just an anecdodal observation, but I could not come up with a better explanation so far.

I was wondering recently if there are any downsides of using MacPorts and homebrew for different packages on the same system. Homebrew excels at keeping all my single binary CLI tools up to date, but I don't particularly like how it forces me to upgrade more complex software packages like MySQL or FFmpeg constantly.

There is also the issue, that my iMac is stuck on Ventura, and soon won't be supported by homebrew anymore.

Interesting. Is there any indication as to when we can expect the ruling?

I'm pretty confident, that Apple has the same goal. We are not there yet, but how else will they satisfy shareholders with ever-growing profits?

True, but you have to rebuild the app every six or seven days, because it stops working. Unless you shell out for the paid developer account I think. Then your apps won't expire.

My guess is that Apple thinks this route could be used to circumvent the App Store.

With all the red tape the EU has created, I think it's still better than dealing with 27 completely separate jurisdictions.

This explains a lot, as this happened to me recently too. First, I thought that someone had managed to hack into my account. Booking support was not very helpful. In the end, I just changed my password and canceled the booking, hoping for the best.

It is baffling that a major travel website is allowed to operate like this.

I am aware, that ageing has a positive effects with regard to food safety. What I'm less certain of is if this is also true for viruses.

It is a French cheese, but bought in a German supermarket. So most likely more industrial production for the mass market. It's still tasty, but probably not the best one you can buy out there.

Just yesterday, I bought a raw milk, aged cheese. Now I wonder if it is reasonably safe to consume them in light of this development.

It's not too far-fetched, I think. Apple could have collaborated with Google and car OEMs to standardize an open interface for smartphone-car communication. Instead, we have two APIs that essentially do the same thing in every car OS.

You also need a burner phone number. Otherwise it will be difficult to get an account.

They would probably ban browsers altogether from iOS, if they could get away with it. Fortunately we are not there yet.

> If other browsers can add powerful PWAs then it competes with App Store.

This is exactly it. If they can't have full control over how PWAs work, they prefer to cut the feature out of iOS.

Yes! Fermentation of fresh foods with lactic acid bacteria increases the acidity of foods and hence the shelf life. As far as I know, though, you also have to add salt to suppress the growth of less desirable microorganisms.

Edit: You can skip the fermanation step by pickling your vegetables with a suitable vinegar. The taste will be much different though.

I had exactly the same setup, and it worked quite well. But I decided after a couple of weeks to replace it with a low-tech wireless doorbell from Amazon. It's more reliable now, and I prefer my phone to be quiet most of the time.

I had a recent UPS from Eaton connected to my iMac with USB. Every couple of days it would not wake up from sleep. Only remedy is to power-cycle. Not funny. I have the same UPS now connected to my Raspberry Pi 4, and it works without issues. Apple doesn't care about third-party hardware. Sad but true.

I don't think HA is for you, then. The whole idea behind it is to go online, buy a bunch of cheap actuators and sensors from different vendors, and try to make them work together in one system. It's never going to be as reliable as a coherent system from a vendor like Crestron. But it's also much cheaper and 'flexible', of course.

My rather basic home automation system has devices from more than ten different vendors on two networks (Zigbee, Wifi, soon probably Thread), many of which communicate with custom protocols. It's a wonder that it's working as well as it is.

Also, HA is developing at a breakneck speed. They release new iterations eleven times per year. Reading the release notes is a must, as many releases change things in subtle ways that might break your system.

A Playstation is used for gaming. No one needs it to function in society. Smartphones are personal computers, sometimes the only such device people own. I have to use them to commmunicate with relatives and friends, manage my finances, use public transport, access health and government services.

Not quite, in my opinion. It would only be a good comparision if Microsoft actively hindered competitors to launch a similar product like Steam on Windows, and if the only way to install and play games was through Steam.

I don't agree. Without the authors, the printer has no business. No one is going to want to be customer of ExamplePrint to buy books with empty pages. The problem is, that because of size and technological obstacles, ExamplePrint can dictate the conditions for the authors. The relationship is very asymetrical. The only way out is to have laws that make this limited marketplace fair for all three sides. Hence the EUs attempt at regulating the so called getekeepers.

Also worth mentioning are the numerous intellectual property rights that companies like Apple enjoy and skillfully use to stave off competition. If Apple wants lawmakers to drop market regulations like the DMA, then maybe we should consider cutting IP protections. Only then can we have a conversation about free markets and government intervention.

Nice analogy. The problem is, that ExamplePrint is the only shop the author can use to reach his customers. There is also PrintExample (Android), but it's customer base has zero overlap with ExamplePrint. Therefore the author has no choice but to use ExamplePrint's service.

I also avoided smart appliances when replacing an oven and a washing machine recently. I would have considered them, though, if the "smart" part was based on the matter/thread standard. What I don't want, for sure, are appliances that need an internet connection using my Wi-Fi and only work with the manufacturer's app.