LooseMarmoset

Things like this help me:

Matthew 10:29-31: Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

For those of you that don't find this helpful, well, if there's nothing at the end, then there's nothing to fear. If you're gone, what use are your worries then? What use are your plans? If there's nothing, then there's no pain - you go to sleep, and that's it. (very Ecclesiastes, I know)

My own take on "existential dread" is that it could be in part the fear that "If something does come after this life, then maybe I'm not ready for it." I think that's a fear a lot of people share, regardless of their beliefs.

I don't mean to put words in your mouth, though - I'm interested to hear about what bothers people about the end.

<insert spider-men pointing at each other meme>

I call shenanigans. Take a look at any dense urban environment:

* Concrete and asphalt EVERYWHERE. Ask yourself about the carbon cost of all that concrete - which, in the northeast, requires constant repair.

* Street lighting - I mean, you can see dense, urban areas from freaking space - think about all the energy that takes. Is that environmentally friendly and efficient?

* Heat islands - Dense, urban areas concentrate so much heat they literally change local weather.

* I've got an entire ecosystem of nature right in my back yard. Trees, wildflowers, grass, an array of wildlife, even a small garden growing local food (that the deer and groundhogs are determined to eat). What do dense, urban environments have? A practical monoculture of pigeons and rats?

The words "vibrant, dense neighborhoods" might mean "high crime, low privacy, and high noise" to people who prefer living elsewhere.

Lots of people write glowingly about the "gritty, vibrant" streets of 1970s New York City too. Places like that helped spur the move to the suburbs - ask yourself why.

Here's how it works in the U.S., and why it doesn't go away:

* A scumsucking business decides to hawk some scam. They start by creating an LLC (a limited liability company) devoted to telecommunications, ostensibly to resell telephone service sort of like an MVNO would. This LLC is based in the U.S. They buy a range of phone numbers associated with the LLC.

* The company then coordinates with an out-of-country call center, in places like the Bahamas, India, Pakistan, Mexico, etc. The call center receives and sends calls into the U.S. based on an assigned number from the LLC as a PBX (private branch exchange). As a PBX, these call centers can use a single ANI (automatic number identification) based on a US-based address (usually faked by the so-called telecommunications LLC), and the actual numbers behind it are hidden. PBX software allows you to override the number you see when your phone rings - that's why you get numbers on your phone completely unrelated to the actual call origin.

* The LLC may "sell" some numbers to legitimate businesses so they can claim it's just abuse of their systems.

* As people begin to complain about the scam calls, and the network operators that sell the numbers cut the offending numbers off the network (and this takes weeks at least) the LLC will simply cut off the old number, and issue a new number to the offshore call department.

* Eventually, the network operator will refuse to issue new numbers to the LLC, so the LLC will close up shop. However, the owners usually have a new telecommunications LLC ready to start the process all over again.

* The dirty secret here is that the major network operators (Verizon, ATT, etc) don't really care too much about these scam MVNOs/call centers, because they get paid, and paid well, and get to look like they're doing work to prevent scam calls while making money doing it. When these guys tell you "We can't see where the call is coming from" this is a straight-up lie, as any network operator call center employee can tell you.

That story is really great - I can honestly imagine a Silicon Valley startup party going exactly like the story describes.

I switched to Linux full-time a couple years ago. I had a Windows desktop for the same reasons - games.

Once Valve incorporated Proton, it was all over for Windows for me. I already used Linux (Debian/Devuan) full-time at work on my laptops and servers.

I don't miss Windows at all. Running Devuan right now on an AMD B450 with a 5600, 64GB RAM, and a 1080ti.

I will admit that video driver updates are a little more involved than on Windows, but since I don't have a mainstream Linux distro like Ubuntu, that's to be expected.

Why would you pay for this? Why would you even associate with a company who will not even sell you, a private individual, an option that does not include this?

What about using Linux on the desktop is "difficult" enough to justify paying money to Microsoft for voluntary software servitude?

* They will not tell you what data they collect about you

* They will not allow you to disable data collection

* They will not permit you to define the default browser you use

* They will not permit you to avoid advertisements disguised as valid system alerts

* They will delete your privacy settings without notification

* They will lock down your hardware so you physically can't install or modify the software

Well, I think you could potentially sign any rooting app at least.

I'd like to see os-level signing so we can take older devices like Samsung tablets and put Samsung-less Android on it.

I wonder if any of these leaked keys were used to sign the base android installers for the phones themselves?

If so, this might be a way to get new versions of AOSP onto Samsung phones that are bootloader-locked and have no current support by Samsung. Can anyone anyone experienced with Android+Samsung comment here?

Alexa, turn on lights

...I don't know how to do that

Alexa, turn lights on

...What do I turn the lights with?

Alexa, activate lights

...I don't know what you mean

...It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

ALEXA TURN ON THE DAMN LIGHTS

...I don't know the word "lights"

...Oh no! You have walked into the slavering fangs of a grue!

** You have died **

It's like playing Zork all over again.

Those kinds of fans typically use a bronze bushing rather than a bearing. These bushings are long-lived, but eventually wear. When the bearing hole enlarges as part of the wear process, the fan rotor shaft now has additional room for lateral movement in the bearing and can oscillate in the the bearing rapidly, causing the "brrrrr" noise you hear.

You can often extend the life of such bearings by adding a drop of light machine oil to the bearing (usually you have to pull off a sticker on the back of the fan to access the bearing).

I remember when the Unreal Tournament demo came out - it was supposed to be locked to owners of 3Dfx cards, but if you put an empty file in the game directory called glide2x.dll, it would run in a software-only renderer.

At the time, I worked for a company that had a large-ish computer training room. These weren't high-end machines, but they would run the Unreal demo, early Counterstrike (1.5-ish?), and Quake 1 just fine.

Around 4:30PM, a bunch of guys (30-ish and younger) in the building would gather in this room to play. This was totally unsanctioned by the company, and probably against some business policy there. The doors to the room would lock from the inside, and the two doors to the room had narrow windows. I cut a rectangular piece of cardboard that exactly fit these windows, painted them flat black, and we'd put them in the windows when we played - if people walked by, it looked like the lights were off in the room. We called these cutouts our "beatdown screens".

Those gaming sessions were some of the most fun I've had in a long time. At one point we may have had close to 20 people in the room. In the words of Penny Arcade, we were "Making punk bi*** suck it down".

Relevant PA links:

https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1999/12/20/a-threat-to-am... https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1999/11/19/with-special-g...

Good times.

were you root?

I gave up Windows entirely; between unavoidable telemetry, embedded ads, and poor service pack QA (especially printers), I'm done. I'm not paying to rent an O/S and sell my personal habits regardless of what Microsoft thinks I should do.

I use a Macbook Pro for work. I don't really care for MacOS, but they've got a real bash shell at least, and I like the consistency of clipboard handling in MacOS. I don't get to dictate my work environment, but thank goodness it isn't Windows.

I'm running Devuan at home on a recent AMD 550 board with a 3100, and also on an older Macbook Pro. The only real issues I have are around getting wifi working during install on Debian and Devuan, due to firmware open-ness issues. I doubt Ubuntu has these issues.

After install, though, the OP is correct, it's wonderfully boring. Install TLP and a recent 5.x kernel on laptops and power issues just disappear. Install Steam and use Proton, even with games from GoG, and everything that I own works.

It's always jarring to help someone with a normal Windows machine; the ads, the o/s response times, the forced manufacturer bloatware really shocks me.

I don't miss Windows at all.

As someone who has repaired both old and new cars, I would agree. I've rebuilt a VW Beetle from the ground up - tore the whole engine apart, new bores, the works. I could do this in a couple of afternoons on the Beetle, but I don't think I could do it in a month on a modern car. However, I won't need to do it to a modern car. A Beetle with 100k miles is ready for a total rebuild. A modern car with 100k miles is ready for a fluids change.

The biggest problem I have with newer cars is all the add-on stuff, and pickup trucks are the best example. My first truck, a 1985 F150 (straight-6 300, what a beautiful engine) didn't have power windows, locks, air conditioning, or even a radio. Why can't we buy a bare-bones vehicle anymore? You don't need that stuff on a farm or work vehicle. Why do we have to have touch screens and telemetry? Why do we have to have a full stack of software that is totally inaccessible to the end user? And what total idiots think that over-the-air interfaces (LTE) that let you program things like acceleration and braking were a good idea?

I admit I do like backup cameras, though...

I agree, in 15 years, we won't miss ICE for daily driving. EVs will be that good. I say this as someone who gets all nostalgic when I smell the motocross magic of VP and castor oil burning. We'll have solar panels on our roofs to help charge our vehicles, and I won't miss cleaning up 2-stroke trimmers and leaf blowers when they get all gummed up and won't start.

What are you talking about? Do you have any idea how much money SpaceX has saved Nasa?

https://arstechnica.com/features/2020/05/the-numbers-dont-li...

Program | Cargo Dragon | Commercial crew | Constellation

Type | Private, fixed-price | Private, fixed-price | Government, cost-plus

NASA costs | $396 million | $5 billion | $34.5 billion

Full disclosure: I have not gotten a COVID vaccine; I am quite unlikely to get a COVID vaccine. If you want to get a COVID vaccine, please feel free to do so, though I would urge informed consent.

Good vaccines are difficult to make, but there's no doubt that a well-tested and approved vaccine saves lives. We don't have polio or smallpox today, thanks to vaccines.

I made the decision not to get the COVID vaccine. I have had COVID twice, confirmed with positive testing. I self-quarantined both times. I was quite tired and slept a lot during both infections. I am definitely on the list of those with co-morbidities. I don't have "long COVID", but my partner definitely does. I don't discount COVID, it's a serious flu, and various flu infections kill a lot of people every year.

**

In the early 90's, in the run-up to the first Gulf war, military personnel were widely asked to volunteer for an experimental vaccine. We were told this was an anti-anthrax vaccine, necessary because it was believed (or so we were told) that Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of anthrax-based biological weaponry. Those who were deployed weren't given the option, but those who did not deploy were asked to volunteer.

I did not volunteer. Some weeks after the call for volunteers went out, my Navy section non-commissioned officer (LPO) told me that I was required to volunteer. I disagreed, saying that was an order not voluntary. I was then told that I was ordered to volunteer, and that I'd be court-martialed if I did not volunteer. Now this is shitty, but when you sign up for the military, you sign up for stuff like this whether you like it or not. I don't know if I could have successfully fought this, but it seemed like a bad idea, so I agreed that I would "volunteer". I was then ordered to sign a paper stating that I had "volunteered" for the shot of my own free will. I refused this initially, but I got called out again by my leadership and threatened with court-martial if I refused an order to sign the paper. I was a scared 19-year-old, and didn't know if I had legal grounds or not, so in the end, I agreed to sign.

I wish I had never signed that paper. I wish I'd had the courage to tell my leadership to take me to court-martial. After I got the shot, I got sick. Constantly. I got sick again and again, taking weeks to get better between each bout. Fever, chills, headache, it was like a flu that went on for months. It was so bad at one point that my chief petty officer sent me to bed for a week, even when Navy medical refused me any treatment beyond Ibuprofen. This condition affected me on-and-off for well over a year.

Many years later, I read about "Gulf War Syndrome." I read of government claims of exposure to chemical agents while deployed - except that I never deployed to Iraq, and neither did thousands of others with symptoms. I truly believe that Gulf War Syndrome was caused by a chemical agent our own government deployed, in the form of a vaccine that I "volunteered" for, and thus have no recourse against my own government.

When I see my own government telling me that I "have" to get another experimental vaccine, a vaccine that cannot prevent transmission or infection from COVID, a vaccine that no one can be held liable for problems, and that same government threatening me with loss of public access, threatening me with "vaccine passes", pushing companies to exclude me from the job market unless I comply, I have this to say:

GO F** YOURSELVES

I won't ever "volunteer" again.

EDIT: I would also like to state that other than this one blot on the record, I greatly enjoyed my time in the military. I got to visit places I'm unlikely to see ever again, was given enormous responsibility, and had a job I truly enjoyed (most of the time). I met great people, and felt good about my contributions.

My near-in sight was absolutely fine. Nowadays, it's getting harder to read near-in, but I think that's just age - I'm in my 50's now. I need good lighting to read the tiniest stuff like the voltage output printing on the average USB wall wart, for example. Otherwise, it's still quite good with no issues, no glasses needed.

I have lived in San Diego. I have spent time in Los Angeles. I have spent time in San Francisco. I am not a stranger to large cities.

I can say with certainty I will never live in one of these places. I won't even live in Pittsburgh, which is an order of magnitude smaller than any of these places. There's no escaping people. There's no escaping politics or bureaucracy. There's no way to escape petty crime, crazy people, and noise. You can't see the sky at night, there's never any "dark".

Everything is orders of magnitude more expensive in a city. $5000/month rent? And people think this is "reasonable"? I don't even pay a third of that on a mortgage on a 2400sq/ft house. With a nice yard, decent neighbors, a good school, low crime, low taxes, the works. Our night-time intruders are turkey, deer, the occasional black bear, raccoons, skunks, and screech owls.

Do I have to drive to get anywhere? Yes.

Do I get the highest-paying jobs? Do I have immediate access to cute little bodegas and trendy little shops and night life? No.

But I can let my kids go outside and play at night. I can leave my doors unlocked. Nobody breaks into my car and steals my stereo. I can leave my house with my garage door up and all my stuff inside, and my neighbors will call/text me to remind me.

Is this an adequate trade-off? For me, absolutely yes.

I get why people like living in big cities. I will never again live in one myself, though.

I had lasik in 1999. I was legally blind (uncorrected) in my left eye, and needed a pretty serious correction in my right eye. After lasik, my vision was 20/15 (left) and 20/10 (right).

Now, in 2022, I still have no need of glasses, although I'd say my vision has degraded somewhat - still good enough to pass the driver exam uncorrected, however.

Night vision is objectively worse after lasik. Poorer light sensitivity, and for the first year, I had halos and starbursts around night light sources, especially when my eyes were tired/dry. This improved over time, however.

I'd do it all over again if I had to. I couldn't wear contacts anymore, they hurt my eyes, and I got used to navigating like a blind person when I didn't have my glasses, so lasik is a miraculous improvement.

Rural person here. My personal favorite is when people move to old subdivided farm properties, then bitch endlessly to their township supervisors that the remaining farms around them generate manure smells. Also, they're used to city lights, so they put up dozens of external lights on poles and light up the whole countryside because they're scared of the dark. It's night, people. The deer and the raccoons don't care about you.

The distros don't update Firefox as often as Firefox does. If you want leading-edge on Linux, it's best to install to a directory you have write access to with the official Linux Firefox installer, and let the browser update itself. Just my experience.

Pretty good, especially if you install TLP for power management. I get at least a full workday and a half out of my Dell 9375.

You can't buy a Mac anonymously?

I'd like to throw my two cents in on Devuan. This is a fork of Debian that simply doesn't include systemd, but does include all the other work that Debian has done, and tracks all the Debian releases.

This is my daily driver for both home and work. I've completely ditched Windows and other versions of Linux. Steam runs fine, and with Proton, I have compatibility good enough not to miss Windows at all. Some games (Dark Messiah is one) that won't even run in Windows anymore run great in Proton.

The company I work for does a lot of container-based work, and aside from a couple tweaks to apt sources that naively assume release names, everything "just works".