On the flip side, I ordered something on eBay specifically to avoid Amazon and I still got a package from Amazon. Some people are basically just using an automated eBay account as a front for Amazon and pocketing the tiny margins.

I have the same question except it’s a Pi B+ from 2014. It doesn’t seem powerful enough for most Pi recommendations I see online.

Yeah, I gotta admit I definitely assumed most of those things would be true. I knew it could be messy, but I didn’t realize it was such a loosely bound garbage heap.

What do you do with the used oil? When I was a kid my family would dump it in big barrels, then we’d bury them once they got full. Obviously not something I want to do now. But I’ve asked the oil change places around here and they charge a fee to take the used oil.

I shed a tear and sing In the Arms of an Angel by Heather McLachlan every time I do this. Even for a single noodle.

It’s definitely not required, but ever since we got one I’ve grown to like it. If you have a ceramic sink it helps prevent scratches. It also helps dishes stay put, like pot lids that normally slide around. Most of all I like it when I put a strainer down. I know the strained liquid won’t touch the sink and flow back into the food, even if the risk was low before.

I wish! It’s more of a loose collection of random business softwares in various states of abandonment. D365 CE is a platform for Sales teams to organize and track leads, quotes, contracts, etc. D365 BC is an ERP platform born out of the ashes of NAV, the core of which Microsoft bought decades ago. D365 F&O, D365 S&M, and others are various flavors of AX, another ERP platform Microsoft bought over a decade ago. They are direct competitors to D365 BC for some reason. None of these softwares can communicate directly with each other, and none allow direct access to the Azure SQL. Occasionally Microsoft will throw a bone towards integration stuff like DualWrite or Synapse or Fabric, but they can never seem to commit and eventually abandon those too.

I would actually be much happier if it was just crummy databases instead of an archipelago of rotting digital islands.

Against every developer’s advice, management has moved our entire stack to Microsoft Dynamics 365. It took over a year of prep, millions in ISV consulting charges, and it performs like trash. Now management is constantly complaining about outages, Microsoft nickles and dimes us for tens of thousands more than the estimates, and they are constantly jerking us around to half-baked tech by removing support for anything that actually works. “Want data out of F&O? We’re killing everything except Synapse Link. You spent months migrating yet it drops data? That’s not surprising since we fired everyone working on it. You should be on Fabric! No, that’s not finished either, but we need to test it on someone!”

I’m very bitter.

Plus that Gavin Belson guy keeps trying to jam his horrible signature into his products.

That’s how I view it too. If you can consume something without financing further harm then the author doesn’t matter. Already own a Niel Gaiman book? Feel free to keep reading it. Pirated some metal music from a band that turned out to be neo-nazis? Go for it. Want to read Lovecraft? He’s long dead and his estate doesn’t seem to be supporting racism, so buy as much as you want. Want to check out Mein Kampf from the library? I will have questions when you return it, but you aren’t hurting anyone by reading it. Just understand the mindset that made them bad people and don’t let them sway your outlook to match.

Exactly. I was in the same boat as OP because my GPA was trash. I probably missed some opportunities because of it when trying to land my first job. But after I got one in my field, I was never asked for my GPA again, or even evidence that I went to college. Employers only want to know what you did in your last job, and only default to grades or diplomas if you have no relevant work history.

If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard this I’d have enough nickles to fund a studio and make HL3 myself.

This is my exact setup. The upgrade from the smart TV was night and day. Apps load instantly and Jellyfin works great. Most importantly the remote is easy to use and can control the TV.

Exactly. Everyone at work uses it to cut the chain of “Looks good”, “Thanks”, “No problem”, etc short. If you’re interpreting an emoji as an attack you might have anger issues.

I can’t speak for the desktop side, but for my server it’s been running without interruption for years. About once per week I do something stupid and use all available memory, but it hasn’t crashed once. It just runs a bit slow until I free up some RAM, then Docker comes back to life once I free up some disk space. I definitely recommend it for anyone who wants a server OS that just works.

If it added value then I wouldn’t be opposed. But I don’t see what value AI could possibly add to a social network. Some specific fields, like researchers combing through large data sets, have benefitted from AI. Every other place it’s been shoehorned into has suffered for it.

If you see a problem and realize AI could address it, then that’s fantastic. If you’re coming at it from the other direction and looking for problems then you’re going to waste everyone’s time.

“But it wouldn’t hit the fan so much if we stopped using Microsoft’s half-baked products!”

It always falls on deaf ears. I can’t believe how many millions my employer throws at Microsoft every year just to complain about how broken it is.

I got one of these recently and it works well. Much smoother than whatever my Smart TV is natively running and it doesn’t crash constantly.

If it were just me I’d have set up a small HTPC with Kodi, but my family needs something that works without ever needing my intervention, and it needs to run the 100 streaming services we hemorrhage money to. These boxes are super cheap and let me run Jellyfin too.

I think both parts are doable, and I see no reason Republicans wouldn’t try. It seems likely that we are going to see Federal election laws over the next couple years to strengthen GOP control, in addition to the local and state level laws we are already dealing with. This is all going to further strengthen their hold and I think we could see 2/3 majority in both houses in 2026.

Honestly I think the 3/4 would be the easier part. Since it’s done by state instead of electorates he just needs 38 states, and he got 31 to vote for him. We’re also talking about state legislatures, not voters, which means the shenanigans above will also be effective here.

I don’t think this is going to be Trump’s first step; this is going to be the capstone on a campaign to secure power for the party forever.

I am sincerely hoping I’m wrong, but the last decade has shown me I am not nearly pessimistic enough.