I think you misunderstood what I’m saying; I’m saying the kid is deliberately calling the radio a podcast to annoy OP. They know what a radio is because they’ve grown up with their parent using it day in day out in the car. So it’s not an age gap as OP thinks, I’m saying this one is probably the early stages of the long war known as “having teenage kids”.

That’s a clever idea, a great way to ensure they’re keeping lots of core software up to date. Although I imagine it could be a bit annoying Ninite popping up every time you log in, but it’s for the greater good!

I think Firefox + uBlock origin is a good shout. I personally would not bother with an antivirus; leave Microsoft Defender to it.

In terms of other software, it very much depends what it’s being used for. I’d probably put Sumatra PDF on there and make it the default (to prevent some of Edge’s shenanigans), LibreOffice (to ease opening random docs/xls, if you’ve not got Microsoft Office to install in your work), Notepad++ just because it’s quite good (and won’t have MS shitty AI unlike Notepad), VLC incase anyone needs it for basic media consumption, maybe a video conferencing tool if you use them (Zoom? Teams? Slack?), Paint.net as it’s a pretty good image tool for those random times you need to mess with images - way better than MS Paint and much easier for basic stuff than GIMP.

In terms of Windows settings, I’d google Win 11 privacy settings and follow the steps. It changes so often, but it is worth going into the settings and trying to limit the snooping and privacy problems as much as possible.

You should consider what Microsoft Account to link with the computer (if any) in case the laptop is stolen - both so you don’t have your own personal account on there but also so you can use tools like “Find my device” and lock the device remotely.

And if you don’t want to be tech supporting this, then honestly I wouldn’t donate this. It’ll always come back your way unfortunately.

This reads like a maths question and is giving me bad flashbacks to school.

“If a train leaves New York for Cleveland at 60 mph and at the same time another train leaves Cleveland for New York at 35 mph, how long would it take for a train to travel between Los Angeles and Miami?”

Is it really a generation gap? Would you have wanted to listen to NPR when you were 11? And wouldn’t you have been deliberately snarky to annoy your parents? She obviously knows what a radio is because… you use one every day?

This isn’t a “generation gap”, this is a teenager trying to rile up there parent. Do you tell her that her youtube shows are “godawful”? Because that’s how you get into a coldwar of her pretending she doesn’t know what a radio is to make you feel old.

EDIT: The good news is when she gets out the other side of being a teenager, she might even listen to NPR in the car because that’s what her parents used to do.

“Time to switch to uBlock Lite or another ad blocker”

No. Time to switch to Firefox or derivative such as Librewolf.

It’s nice to blame voters for parties failing to win elections. That absolves the party of responsibility - “we were right, it was voters who are wrong”.

But that won’t win an election. And that attitude will gift the mid terms and even 2028 to the republicans.

The DNC fucked up - it backed Biden despite clear signs he was not a good candidate for this election, the primary process who a fig leaf of democracy rather than putting forward the party’s best and brightest, it then fought concerns of Biden health and hid the truth, then when he finally stepped down late in the day it arranged a coronation for Harris. And then after behaving undemocratically repeatedly it had the gall to make the election about “saving democracy”.

Voters didn’t do these things, the DNC did.

Instead of demonising voters and non voters, it’s better to ask what should the party have done differently to win them over and what does it need to do to win them over in the mid terms.

So you’re saying it’s voters faults the Democrats didn’t get their votes?

Political parties are there to serve and represent voters the Democrats made the same mistakes as 2016 - they didn’t offer voters things to vote for but things to vote against - being “not trump” is not enough .

It worked in 2020 because people were fed up with trump but it was not the way to beat trump. Instead of taking the moral high ground and campaigning on issues that split America such as abortion, they needed to address what voters actually cared about - the economy.

It’s not voters fault that the Democrats failed to get a clear positive vision of how they would change the economy for the better. That would have beaten trump. Instead their message on the number one priority for voters was “we’ve done a good job, what are you complaining about?”.

That’s why they lost the election. The sooner that message sinks in the sooner they can rebuilt for the mid terms. They need to be FOR something, not just the lesser evil.

Yes, this is exactly what needs to happen.

The Democrats fucked up big time; they didn’t focus on the issues that mattered the most to voters which is the economy. Instead they reran 2016 by running on some moral high ground as not trump, continuity and throwing in abortion.

But Bernie also bears some responsibility for this. He supported Biden and stood aside to allow Biden free reign on the basis that Trump is a threat to democracy. Nobody in the Democrat Party stood up and challenged the leadership because they were all scared of letting Trump win. No meaningful primary contest, then allowing Biden to stay as the candidate so late, aggressive and patronising lies about him being fit to run to silence critics, and then a coronation for Harris who then inherited a campaign already set up fro Biden and already on the wrong track.

The party needs to decide what it stands for. Is it there to just be “the lesser evil” as Trump calls the shots or is it there to offer leadership and a positive unique direction for the US?

Any Americans angry or upset about Trump winning needs to join the Democrats and change it from within. Wrestle it away from the lunatics who have allowed it to fail so dismally.

Drifting more to the right isn’t going to work. The party needs to offer a positive and clear vision of a better future. It needs to address the problems voters actually care about - the economy, financial inequality, the cost of living, the theft of wealth by the corporate class. It’s bloody obvious - so stop fucking about trying to be morally “better than trump” or offer continuity of the current system.

People want meaningful change - what Trump is offering is bad but it is at least offering something to voters. The Democrats should have offered a better vision of change to beat him. Instead they revelled in offering continuity on a path that is causing misery and hardship for Americans. And look where that got them.

The US will be the main casualty of its own policies if trump follows through. There will be some short term damage to the EU and other European nations, but the main effect will be to turn those countries further away from the US to look at the rest of the world for growth and opportunities.

The bigger impact will be on US inflation, government debt and long term economic growth.

This is a good article calling out the true problems with the campaign.

I keep seeing people blame voters, but the only group to blame is the Democratic Party. Parties exist to serve and represent voters, not the other way round.

The Dems failed to address the genuine concerns of their traditional base - primarily the economy - and that left the race open for the Repulicans.

The Democrat message on the economy seemed to basically be “things are not as bad as you think and we’ve already done what was needed”. Instead they focused on abortion and a threat to democracy as the main issues of the election.

Yet for many lower income households, they rent and have been hit doubly hard by inflation. Home owners have been shielded from the rent portion of the cost of living crisis, and experienced less hardship. The dems did not seem to understand that and effectively left the field open for the republicans.

Looking at the numbers, Trump hasn’t significantly grown the Republican vote or if so, it’s a relatively small increase. Yet the Democrat vote is way down on where it was in 2020.

There are lots of other failures on the part of the Dems - allowing Biden to run essentially unchallenged, the leadership aggressively pushing back against concerns about his suitability, Biden waiting until very late to step back and Harris being coronated and having to use Bidens existing campaign. Harris was a decent enough candidate but she was given an impossible task thanks to an out of touch and poorly led party.

The Dems lost this election, rather than Trump winning it.

This. I get people are angry but they need to step back and look at this for what to was. It was a bad Democrat campaign, from a party that is out of touch with voters. I don’t blame Harris for this, I think she was a decent candidate given an impossible task.

The Dems did not contest Biden running despite obvious health concerns, then let him hold on til the bitter end dismissing all concerns, then had a coronation for Harris. Not very democratic and yet they made this election about democracy. And then they focused on abortion, as the main issue.

Yet voters concerns in the exit polls were clear - the number one issue was the economy. The dems failed to sell their message on the economy, they let Trump control the topic.

This is the sort of attitude that gifts power to repulicans ever more.

Instead of blaming voters, blame the Democrat party. It needed to appeal to voters concerns and needs. It needs to ask why it failed to convince younger voters, and address what their priorities are.

The obvious answer at the moment is the Dems failed to campaign well on the economy. Harris defended the last 4 years as a success but for many lower income people of all ages it will not feel that way. Middle class voters who own their own homes were shielded more from inflation than renters whose housing costs due rent inflation sky rocketed as well as all other living costs - they were hit doubly hard.

The Dems decided to focus on women’s reproductive issues and a fear of democratic loss, and hoped women would come out and vote balancing our other groups. This failed. It’s clear Harris and the Democrats should have campaigned hard on economic change and offered a different vision to trump.

So don’t blame voters. Blame the Democrats for this and many other failings in this election (no real contest at their primary, Biden hanging on til late with patronising dismissal of concerns over his health by the Dem leadership, and then a coronation of Harris who also inherited Bidens team rather than had time to build her own campaign).

Looking at the overall vote count the Rep vote seems largely similar to 2020, or slightly up, but the democratic vote has fallen significantly. This is largely due to the Democrats failure rather than due to Republicans success.

This is nonsense sorry. Polls shows 50:50 split between Dems and Rep, but the reality is 1/3:1/3 with 1/3 of the electorate and disengaged. The voters aren’t the problem, it’s the fucked up 2 party system which has been massaged by both parties over many decades to prevent any competition.

Why should voters feel loyal to either of those parties? Don’t blame voters for not wanting to chose between two crap choices. To many, both the Dems and Reps are the enemy. Why expect them to care if one side or the other think there is an existential crisis in the shitty system they shaped?

Blame the Democratic party and Joe Biden. They didn’t put anyone serious up during the primaries against him, they held out from replacing Biden until the last minute and then they lumped Harris with his campaign and no time.

Biden should have stood aside last year (as many voices pushed for), and then the party’s best and brightest should have been given the chance to be the candidate. It might have been Harris, who knows, but whoever it was would then have had the whole of 2024 across the primaries to establish a profile and narrative and tackle Trump.

And maybe a fresh candidate could have broken through on the most important topic to voters: the economy.

I think this is an oversimplification and lets Democrats off the hook.

A large part of how he won is to do with how polarised US politics are. The Democrats and Republicans are polar opposites, to the point that no matter who the candidates are the core voters could never conscience voting for the other side. Some Republicans may hate Trump but they will still vote republican as they see the Democrats standing for things they just don’t agree with (whether that’s Immigration or abortion or conservative values or fiscal conservatism etc). It just takes one; things are so polarised that it’s inbuilt that it’s a binary decision. The Democrats are just as guilty as the Republicans for carving up US democracy between the two of them. If you look at polls, they say 50:50 split but actually thats just “likely voters”; the underlying split is more like 1/3:1/3 with a whole 1/3 of the electorate disenfranchised and not bothering to vote. When they talk about undecideds, they’re talking about 2% of people likely to vote; not the whole 1/3 of the election who don’t vote at all. 3rd parties don’t get a look in, and even get blamed for taking votes from the anointed of the two big parties.

On top of that, the Democrats really fucked up. The party leadership supported Biden running, and no serious candidates stood in the primary race even though he was already clearly a weakened candidate due to age. Then when he was finally persuaded to go at near the last minute, it was too late. They again didn’t have a primary, they had a coronation, and then a short run to establish her. I like Harris but she inherited his team, his set up and was unable and unwilling to paint herself as a change candidate as she wouldn’t criticise the perceived mistakes of her own incumbent white house. She focused on abortion, and could seemingly not address the economy in a meaningful way to appeal to voters.

I don’t think it’s because Americans are easily fooled. I think it’s because both parties have created an extremely polarised political landscape which they have both used to their advantage to suppress 3rd parties and other views across the 50 states. In addition, the Democrat party tried to claim it was an election about “preserving democracy” and yet chose to do that by not enabling democracy in their own party.

Hopefully the Democrats will take a long hard look at themselves. And the good news, a slither of good news, is that in 2028 there will not be any Clintons or Bidens hanging around whose “turn” it is to run. The party can actually have an open primary and the best candidates can stand instead of feeling they shouldn’t run. Would we be in this position if there had been a full primary and the candidate had been someone like Gretchen Whitmer, Gavin Newsome, Josh Shapiro or even just a truly independent run by Harris?

So America has decided and it looks like it won’t even be close. The republicans will control Congress and the presidency. And looking at the numbers this won’t be about turnout. In michigan for example, young voters went for Trump. He looks even on track to win the popular vote.

America has actively chosen Trump. They can’t blame turnout and it looks like they can’t even blame their crappy electoral system.

There will be a lot of recriminations in the Democrat party, and there is a lot of responsibility on their side. They were undemocratic, snuffing out their primary process, lumbering the party with a dud until the last moment and then rushing to pick Harris. I like Harris but they should have had an open primary even in July, and of course Biden should have stepped out of the election a year ago and let others compete and have a good run at the white house.

But also they are responsible along with the republicans for the 2 party system with its corruption, gerrymandering and shut down of options for any body who doesn’t agree with either party. We can only hope this will stimulate the Democrat party to embrace actual democracy. It didn’t last time.

But ultimately American voters have gone for Trump, they want him, they deserve him. The rest of the world will just have to deal with him.

The in- in inflammable means “to cause to be”. Like indebted or indent. Flammable and inflammable are actually subtly different words, they dont mean exactly the same thing although often used interchangeably now.

I think the guy is overdressed.

Badly written headline - what was covered in poop? Thailand? The balcony?

This would be clearer: “Naked British tourist, covered in poop, falls from balcony in Thailand”