Yes, as it basically is just foreign, untrustworthy Code executed on your own PC.
But total blocking will make most of the web unusable.
I use a selective Script blocker extension (Noscript), that lets you instead choose which domains are allowed to use Javascript.
Works great after the initial try-and-error setup phase.

They are not that common here in Germany in general, but my city has in the past years put up a dozen or so, mainly in public parks.
They are maintained by our municipal utility service and are basically always in perfect condition.
At least during summer. Being outdoor installations they are shut down (actually completely removed) during the winter months.

Other than that I only had one in elementary school 30 years ago, which also worked and a lot of actual natural springs with drinking outlets that are often maintained by rural communities.

Our city also has one of those natural water drinking fountains, but as it is the (still maintained and monitored) remains of a thermal baths project from a hundred years ago, it is not so suitable for actually quenching your thirst. Full of crazy salts and minerals with a faintly sulfuric aroma on top - but supposed to be healthy :-)

So, in general: no complaints where I live.

Oh no, this is getting increasingly complicated… from a combinatorical perspective alone I now already see the potential of mortally insulting 3/4 of the people I will be meeting… 😯

Ok, this is bonkers. Although the risk of contamination with foreign insects via transit is real (we e.g. imported the Tiger Mosquito from the US via tire shipments from the U.S. into Europe some years ago…), using that as an excuse to search passenger cars is quite a stretch…

California has done searchs for ‘bugs’ before but don’t know if the still do.

I guess that is not “Bugs” as in butterfly?

Just owning them or actually using them? What are the fines?

Ok, expected this to be covered legally somehow.
Also as I assume that freedom of movement would be a value you are regarding highly in the States.

Makes sense. Would also just generate work for the police forces with probably only low level violations to be uncovered.
Being practical is a good approach.

One comment mentioned that some things are legal in one state but illegal in another.
And I also remember that laws in general are often quite different between states.

So, I am wondering if there exist some kind of controls near state borders to catch illegal stuff and practices (or even wanted persons?) crossing the border?

Wow, this is so quaint! I totally love this, thank you for explaining.
And I will now make sure to use the correct pronunciation during my next visit to the Isles (hopefully next year…)!

When sticking to German I would rather suggest a slightly bored mumbeld “Jooaa…”

Jein is different.

A very loud (i.e. present in social and normal media) but in my everyday life almost none-existent group of people.
They seem to have migrated from Diesel-against-Greta-“Empörung” (is there an English word for that?) to Corona-deniers and now to fighters in self-proclaimed cultural wars against green topics and a tolerant society. All sprinkled with some deep right-wing views.
Might be different in other parts of Germany though, my sample is mainly taken from Bavaria and south-western Germany.
I personally know of only two families leaning into Schwurbler-views - out of hundreds of chilled ones. One of these actually drives a Pickup. But also owns a house with a solar roof… so… well.

You live abroad now?

Care to elaborate for non-British/Irish people?

Has it ever been?
I mean, outside of some mostly right-wing bubbles that are trying to exaggerate it as some kind of oppression symbol in a cultural war that happens mainly in their heads?

Most people I know treat the topic from a rather rational perspective regarding the pros and cons of EVs in their specific situations.

Also I have the impression that lifetime of products has increased again over the past decade or so.
Still rocking my Sony ebook reader from 2011 and a Samsung Galaxy S5 as backup and Whatsapp handy. Both are using Micro USB, so I have a small cable with me anyways.

I am from Germany and what brand of car your are driving is often seen as a statement, often associated with a certain social group.
Although I have observed that this has been constantly diminishing over the years.

Just vague enough to not directly violate Rule 6 of this sub ;-)

Following what I have learned during my Catholic upbringing:

Spearfighting.

One of the neighbouring churches we went to was named after St. Michael and has this totally kick-ass statue on the side altar showing St. Michael stabbing the evil devil/dragon thing with his spear.

Apart from that, almost all Christians where I live don’t believe in Satan as an actual entity, but more as a helpful symbol to illustrate the abstract concept of evil.

Church in my region generally revolves more around the positive compassionate concept of “Be nice to each other” than relying on a supernatural bogeyman that tries to lay you traps.

I’m using openrouter.ai which is a service that allows the use of a wide range of models and you can easily switch between them on the fly.

Besides the major players I can also use cloud hosted instances of open models. These are often incredibly cheap and and you can select the ones that don’t use your data for training.

Typical use cases include language learning and copilot stuff for programming.