Interesting Links for 23-12-2025

[andrewducker]

1. New wave of fake stories about curbs on personal freedoms and bogus taxes rack up millions of views on social media

(tags:AI fraud disinformation socialmedia doom )

2. Scottish bus journey times being 'killed by congestion' in cities

(tags:buses Edinburgh Scotland transport )

Comments

[juan_gandhi]

#1, regarding "NHS access cards" was just demonstrated in the next post, I guess.

[andrewducker]

The problem is that NHS England and NHS Scotland are two completely different organisations.

It would be like asking a French GP to prescribe for a German pharmacist.

[juan_gandhi]

See, when I'm in France, a French doctor prescribes me my medicines for a local pharmacy, when I need something. But I tell the doctor what I'm taking; they check my blood pressure, and write a prescription ("ordonnance"), and it works. I guess it would work for you in France too; but England is different, of course.

[calimac]

2) And elsewhere. I once took a bus in New York City instead of the subway because the subway would have required me to transfer lines and the bus didn't. That was a mistake.

[ckd]

My daily commute in Seattle is by bus (insert rant about the 1968 Forward Thrust transit initiative not passing), though the Seattle Department of Transportation has been making targeted improvements to streets on parts of the route. One of the most effective is a new section of bus lane with a queue-jump signal at the intersection, allowing the bus to turn left into the previously-existing bus lane without being stuck behind all the other left turn traffic. I think this change alone saves up to a minute per southbound trip, which adds up fast on a high frequency bus route like the KC Metro 40.

[calimac]

When I lived in Seattle, many years ago, I was in Ballard, which I see the 40 passes through. When I went downtown, which was pretty frequently, I took a bus which in those days ran all the way straight down 15th Ave and tucked into First Ave when it got downtown.

[ckd]

That sounds like whatever route was turned into the RapidRide D; it runs down 15th through Ballard and on into downtown. I live in Ballard but over on 24th, so the 40 stops right by my apartment. My office is in South Lake Union only a few blocks away from the 40 route there, so it works well for my commute and is also my usual bus for downtown-ish trips (it continues onto the busway section of 3rd Ave once it gets into that part of the street grid).

Unfortunately for me, only the 40 and 44 (crosstown to the UW area) have nearby stops, so other options (either north-south like the RR D or Link Light Rail, or east-west like the 45) all require either a significant walk or a bus transfer.