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To answer myself: Apparently it’s because most people are right-handed. Because of that, early boats had a steering oar on the right side and thus had to be boarded from the left. That tradition passed onto more modern boats and ships. Then onto how pilots boarded early aircraft. Then passengers started boarding from the left too. Then passenger planes got a cargo hold under the floor and obviously that was better to load from the opposite side from the passengers. Then catering trucks and fueling equipment came to use the right side too. Then jetways appeared and of course they were all on the left because everyone was boarding from that side anyway. And so it became a universal standard.

3 days ago on Welcome to the circus: aircraft boarding is a microcosm of a broken industry 1 recommend

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8 expensive and heavy doors that are there simply in case you need rapid evacuation of the plane. There’s a reason they’re called “emergency exits” in the safety briefing.

What I’m more interested in is why every single airport in the world seems to be equipped with jetways for the left side of the plane even though it shouldn’t really matter which side you enter from. That also contributes to the underutilization of doors.

3 days ago on Welcome to the circus: aircraft boarding is a microcosm of a broken industry 1 reply

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Well, yes. I’d be pissed too if I spent $5000 on a ticket and had to queue with sweaty tourists. :P

3 days ago on Welcome to the circus: aircraft boarding is a microcosm of a broken industry

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…is what the name means in Swedish, just to clarify.

4 days ago on 'RYMDKAPSEL' mixes Tetris and StarCraft into one great mobile game 1 reply

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They do exist, but apparently they are usually deemed not worth it for a few saved minutes. It does kind of make sense, since the large planes which would benefit the most are generally used on long flights which require long turnaround times for all the maintenance work anyway.

Also, the Dreamliner isn’t exceptionally large. It has ‘medium’ passenger capacity and a long range. The hype is more about all the new technology used in it than the size (as opposed to the A380, which is pretty much all about being big).

4 days ago on Welcome to the circus: aircraft boarding is a microcosm of a broken industry

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Are you saying that the popularity of a work should have no bearing on how much the artist earns from it? As far as I’m concerned, making music is just as much, if not more, a part of a musician’s job as performing live. Getting paid for the rest of your life is maybe a bit excessive, but a one-off payment would be even harder to estimate fairly.

If you can’t get something legally, then you’re just not getting it. You’re not going to die from only having a little bit of music. As for software, I’m quite certain that’s exactly the reason why academic licenses exist. If you’re not eligible for one of those either (and not all software companies are very strict about them), then there is open-source software which might not have all the same bells and whistles and come with an uglier UI, but is perfectly adequate for a teen who just wants to tinker with it. Was (and still partly is) for me, anyway.

4 days ago on 'Happy Birthday' lawsuit demands Warner Music pay back millions in royalties

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Ever heard of fluctuating currency exchange rates..?

Early 2007: 1 GBP =~ 1.95 USD, so 599 USD = 307 GBP
Now: 1 GBP =~ 1.55 USD, so 499 USD = 322 GBP

Then add VAT (in USA sales tax is only added to prices at purchase since it varies so much between states and online/physical) plus the general Western Europe mark-up on everything and you will indeed end up at a bit above £400 for both.

8 days ago on Xbox One launching in November for $499 in 21 countries, pre-orders start now 1 reply 2 recommends

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What.

9 days ago on Google to buy Waze for $1.3 billion to bolster its maps lead, say reports 1 recommend

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I wasn’t entirely ready. It does belong in the article but seeing it was quite shocking at first. However, only at first – after reading the article I took a break to do other stuff and then watched the video. Now when I look at it, I just see a face.

It’s good to sometimes see mildly shocking things.

14 days ago on Beyond recognition: the incredible story of a face transplant 2 recommends

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Haswell ultrabooks must have a touch screen, as per Intel’s definitions.

16 days ago on Asus unveils 13.3-inch Zenbook Infinity with Gorilla Glass lid 1 reply

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The only place you can get a cheap Nexus 4 is the Play Store, at regular retailers it costs almost as much as any other flagship smartphone. So clearly the ‘no profit’ is accounted for by Google, and manufacturers shouldn’t really care about it.

19 days ago on Google will keep making Nexus hardware, says Sundar Pichai

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And just for comparison’s sake, the Finnish system: the contract never automatically includes a phone but if you sign up for two years, you can get about 20% off the price of the phone and pay it in monthly instalments included in your phone bill (since obviously it feels cheaper to pay an extra €20 per month for two years than €480 at once…). Sometimes they also offer free extras to lure you in on an expensive new phone or a big discount on an old model. But if you bring your own phone (like I did with my imported Nexus 4), you won’t have to pay a penny extra for it.

As an example, the most expensive plan my carrier currently offers: 5000 min talk, 5000 SMS, 20GB LTE data; €49.90/month. Sign up now with a new Galaxy S4 for an additional €29/month (€79.90/month total) for two years and get free Spotify Premium for a year!

19 days ago on HTC One with stock Android hands-on 1 reply 2 recommends

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Oh well, at least they staid relevant much longer than Ericsson. Gotta beat those cocky Swedes at something.

Sent with a Nexus 4 from Finland.

21 days ago on Samsung unseats Nokia in home market of Finland, says IDC 3 recommends

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Is this fear of the government turning on you some American thing? In every other democratically governed country I’ve seen the government regarded mostly as an organization of lazy people (yes, people just like you and me at a basic level) who’re supposed to work for the good of the nation but are too incompetent and/or stuck in arguments to get anything much done. Not an evil entity that may come and get you at a whim.

22 days ago on Microsoft may award achievements for watching TV and ads by monitoring you with Kinect 2 recommends

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Don’t. Next year you’ll be in the same situation with another phone but without a spare kidney.

26 days ago on HTC One 'Google Edition' with stock Android reportedly in the works 2 replies 32 recommends

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Almost anyone outside USA who would be paying full price for their phone regardless, in exchange for a much cheaper contract. If only they could get their distribution channels sorted elsewhere.

26 days ago on HTC One 'Google Edition' with stock Android reportedly in the works 3 replies 19 recommends

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Might also be because there’s an international agreement about them…

26 days ago on Road warriors: critics say big change to US traffic safety 'bible' could put drivers at risk 1 recommend