Idk about pre-orders but I’d imagine it’s a combo of many things, from Xiaomi already having the finances, to tax breaks and subsidies from the CCP, and subsidies on the domestic consumer side to encourage adoption to further stabilize the industry, which further encourages investments.

Definitely not within reach physically, but good to see what’s available out there. Thanks for replying!

It did not occur to me that they’d do this with ebikes but now I’m concerned. Would be nice to know what you found for the day when I decide to get one.

I remember reading somewhere that they have a subsidiary that was made to implement the software needed to run EVs, and another something to do with batteries. Both of these subsidiaries have appeared to be massive failures, though the reasons weren’t stated in the article I read. Were they just badly funded? Or were the people hired there resistant to switching to EVs?

As someone who was working really hard trying to get my company to be able use some classical ML (with very limited amounts of data), with some knowledge on how AI works, and just generally want to do some cool math stuff at work, being asked incessantly to shove AI into any problem that our execs think are “good sells” and be pressured to think about how we can “use AI” was a terrible feel. They now think my work is insufficient and has been tightening the noose on my team.

I agree with that, and I don’t think what I said alleges that all Jews are Zionists. Mahatir is labelled an antisemite and openly critical of Israel. He claims to have Jewish friends however. Now I don’t agree with this old fart on a lot of things, and I definitely condemn the fact that he’s using the word “Jews” when criticizing Israel and Zionism. But when you have wealthy Jewish organizations actively lobbying for Zionism in one if not the most powerful nation on Earth to continue facilitating the horrors that we see playing out in the Middle East with no intention or desire of stopping, even when their own people are dying in the process, I find it hard to disagree that these Zionsists aren’t in control of the world to some extent.

I remember an Malaysian ex-Prime Minister was denounced by George W. Bush for saying that the Jews are ruling the world by proxy. Saying it’s the Jews is definitely extreme, but with these organizations and what we’re seeing playing out politically, it’s hard to say there’s no truth in what that PM said.

Imagine the amount of bandwidth and energy saved, if they didn’t do any of this bullshit.

They are essentially using someone else’s money to get themselves more money. Fuck these people!

It’s not possible for everyone to just tell if it’s supposed to be sarcasm. ADHD makes it hard. A bad day makes it hard. A tiring day makes it hard.

The downside of the misunderstanding isn’t just downvotes. It’s possibly a proliferation of misinformation and an impression that there are people who DO think that way.

Being not serious while saying something grim is not a globally understood culture either. It’s more common and acceptable in the Western world as a joke.

So… call it accessibility, but it’s just more approachable for everyone to just put an “/s”.

There are passports that has the line “This passport is valid for all countries except Israel”.