I’m Canadian now but kept my Hungarian SIM, still paying it to this day after seven years. It’s 9EUR/mo for some paltry amount of data, but mostly just using it for online services that require a Hungarian or European phone number for MFA. I just bought extra data that counted as EU wide roaming data when I last visited.

However the options for my wife were very limited as a non-EU traveller. I think it was €30 or something for ~5GB of data usable in Hungary only and limited to ten days (we stayed for 14) and added as an eSIM with the help of an app/website. It was not transferable to other EU member states, and this was one of the best deals we could find that did not require us to go to a physical store location. This included us checking offers for prepaid SIMs from the major providers (Vodafone / -Mobil / Yettel)

It’d need to be a system that automates itself instead of needing surveillance. Something that simply disincentivizes corruption.

A government could be good. In theory:

• one year terms for elected individuals in public offices
• no second term
• getting elected is a random draw (akin to jury duty) based on the individuals’ capabilities
• authority limited in scope within city states

I’m sure there’s other ideas regarding this.

Extended layover. Not going to buy a SIM for a day in Lisbon.

Earliest memories of video games were titles such as Aztec, Spy vs Spy, Frogger, King’s Bounty.

But what really got my eight year old mind captivated on a summer vacation in the 80s was Elite on C64. I’ve spent hours into the night trying to get as far away from Lave as possible, all while trying to make some profit on hauling food and computer parts. I did not understand the concept of saving and loading a saved game back then, so there was a lot of trial and error into permadeath involved.

Coops are co-owned by their members. Usually they have an unpaid elected or voluntary board that makes decisions. The decisions are on budget, allocation of work for the members and who to interview if there’s vacancies.

The budget goes towards services, repairs, maintenance, etc

The individual members of the coop have weekly chores that they need to perform. These chores can take 2-8hrs per week depending on season and the abilities and capabilities of the individual. Often it’s things like minor handyman work, yard work, painting, pulling out the garbage bins, etc

Coops like to get new members that have a profession. Plumbers, carpenters, electricians, accountants, handymen and other such professions are always in high demand. Chores related to these have their material costs covered by the board’s budget. If there’s overrun on the allocated time, it’s usually compensated or outside professional services are hired instead.

Coop fees are usually much lower than renting. In Montréal for example rent is anywhere from ~$1300 to $2500 Canadian for a 1-2BR, depending on how close one lives to transit or downtown/popular areas. Coops usually pay around C$500-$800 in fees for the same place. All of that money goes towards the budget of the coop, none of which is used to enrich the board or any single individual.

In what cases is it not of a person’s own doing? Barring medical conditions that would make them exempt (such as hypothyroidism or antidepressants).

If this would happen, would Houston and Austin be like West Berlin back in the days? Exclaves of the USA?

If this happened due to suddenly everyone being able to read each others thoughts unfiltered and without the ability to block others out from your own, it would be amazing. However power corrupts and I don’t think there is an utopian situation where abuse would not happen in a society where information is given up voluntarily.

Wigs are a very specialized industry. I had a friend whos husband immigrated to Canada via Express entry being a wig maker specializing in natural, hair based wigs, that’s how high in demand the profession is. The guy was supplying multiple province’s patients with wigs.

I’d imagine that such a business would not have to stay open for long hours during the day or even multiple days per week due to most orders actually coming in through phone from healthcare providers or those affected.

Where I live, we have a helium balloon party store nearby. It’s open two hours a day from 10:00-noon, except on Saturday it’s 10:00-13:00. The guy’s business is booming, you can see people lining up for their orders and picking them up during that window. The store is so specialized but affordable compared to their big box competitors like party city etc, it’s hard to beat.