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RandomBacon

2,734 karma · joined April 12, 2016

Thomas@Fastmail.org
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RandomBacon··on Taking money off the table
Then how do you rate 'experiences'?
RandomBacon··on Taking money off the table
I imagine your 70 or 80 year-old self would think that a day like that in your 20s is worth the moon.
RandomBacon··on You can't turn off Copilot in the web versions of Word, Excel, or PowerPoint
The only issue I've run into is in Spreadsheet vs Excel:

I would like to multi-color a cell.

I believe Excel does this by dividing the cell diagonally and coloring each triangle differently.

In Spreadsheet, I just use a solid background and then a different color border.

RandomBacon··on 10M people watched a YouTuber shim a lock; the lock company sued him – bad idea
I object to locksmiths that drill out consumer-grade locks you buy from Home Depot, instead of picking them.

Maybe some of them are selling normal-price locks, but people don't call a locksmith to drill out their lock when they can borrow their neighbor's drill.

They either can't pick an easy lock or they're scamming people.

RandomBacon··on Gluing and framing a 9000-piece jigsaw
In case it helps anyone:

I had a 12,000 piece puzzle mounted and framed by a framing store. I forgot the details, but they used something called "Gator Board" (they could get it 10-foot sheets, along with a 10-foot long piece of plexiglass) and they used a machine the heat up the adhesive in sections. They used two separate sections of Z-channel which is apparently what museums use to hang frames. And they advised that I use washers to line up the Z-channel since most walls are not straight.

My original plan was to glue it to a single 10x6 piece of plywood that I could get custom ordered for $300, but even though the mounting and framing cost me $2300, it was well worth it (I got a really nice gilded frame).

RandomBacon··on 10M people watched a YouTuber shim a lock; the lock company sued him – bad idea
Or to sell you an overpriced lock they conveniently have for sale and in stock in their vehicle.
RandomBacon··on Galaxy XR, the first Android XR headset
Holy f... that's a lot of PPI.
RandomBacon··on FIFA's 2026 ticket scheme is a late-capitalist hellscape
I recently attended a Minor League Baseball game. It was way more enjoyable than the area's corresponding Major League Baseball games.

Probably because there was way less people (the density was only slightly less, mostly just a significantly smaller facility - so no significant traffic trying to park, enter, or leave). They also had a lot more family-friendly entertainment.

RandomBacon··on Passwords and Power Drills
Got to be careful with the circular authentication.

Not too long ago here on HN, a user was saying they were locked out of their accounts because A required B, but B required C, and C required A.

RandomBacon··on Amazon strategised about keeping its datacentres' full water use secret
> completely misrepresents Amazon’s current water usage

Because their current water use is much higher?

("Strategy" is a meaningless word here.)

RandomBacon··on Satellite shows what's happening in the East Wing of the White House
I'm surprised that the building can be easily torn down by an excavator. I would have expected it to be hardened like nuclear facilities.
RandomBacon··on [dead]
I'm trying to recover my Facebook account, not from a TOS violation, but from a name issue.

It seems like people only have success by sending Meta a demand letter. I'm even Meta Verified, but I can't access customer service because I can't login because when I do, it immediately goes to the name issue message. I sent a second demand letter with a deadline of October 31st. If they don't answer by then, I will pay a law firm to send a demand letter, then if that doesn't work, I will sue them in court - I can't even unsubscribe from the Meta Verified subscription because I can't log in!

What's even better is that the 1-800 number on the Meta Verified receipt I get each month goes to a scammer and not Meta!

(If anyone from FB/Meta can help, my email is in my profile.)

Best of luck, hopefully someone here can help you instead of having to go the legal route.

RandomBacon··on Fastmail desktop app
> 1m+

Is that one thousand plus? (Certainly not one million plus I hope.)

Either amount is pretty bad, although I suppose if you are a well-known person that people are trying to reach, that would make sense.

If not, and it's a bunch of newsletters or spam, I think you should try to make better email choices. (Be more discretionary with how you give out or publish your email address(es).)

RandomBacon··on Power over Ethernet (PoE) basics and beyond
Question for anyone who might have a suggestion:

I have a Ring home security system. I would like to get an offline home CCTV that only records when the alarm is set (either in Home or Away).

A quick internet search does not show an API. I'm not sure Ring has a device that I could wire a relay (if that's the right thing) to.

RandomBacon··on Public trust demands open-source voting systems
There seems to be a news story every year about how someone won a jackpot or other large prize on a slot machine, only for it to be denied because the slot machine was "malfunctioning".
RandomBacon··on Most expensive laptops
It's even easier and cheaper to set up a trust and get an EIN that way.
RandomBacon··on Dutch spy services have restricted intelligence-sharing with the United States
He's a business man that seems to like to troll.

Anyway, this is why I usually avoid talking about politics.

I'm sorry for the consternation that I caused.

RandomBacon··on Fastmail desktop app
15-20 and maybe 5-10 spams
RandomBacon··on Dutch spy services have restricted intelligence-sharing with the United States
Sorry, there is a lot of misinformation from "both sides" - That is why I don't care much to watch the dog and pony show while I "dress myself" (to the person who wrote that, really?)
RandomBacon··on iOS 26.1 lets users control Liquid Glass transparency
Thank you, I will look into it.
RandomBacon··on Dutch spy services have restricted intelligence-sharing with the United States
I edited my previous comment because I knew of January 6th, I was just thinking OP meant something else. However I did not follow the events or aftermath with great detail.

Considering he was prosecuted for other things, I'm guessing there was not any actual evidence to support even a prosection?

RandomBacon··on Dutch spy services have restricted intelligence-sharing with the United States
Forgive me, I don't pay attention to the national news that much, what did I miss when Trump left the Whitehouse for Biden?

Edit: I know about January 6th, I thought OP was talking about something else, my mistake.

RandomBacon··on iOS 26.1 lets users control Liquid Glass transparency
Same (though a slightly newer version).

I'm an Android person, but I got an iPhone 4S for her first cell phone because it was straightforward and hard to mess up.

Now there are double-secret swipes, all other kinds of anti-user "features" that almost make her cry because she can't figure out her phone anymore.

Now I am thinking about getting an Android and finding a home app ("launcher") that makes it impossible to screw things up and lock down everything else that I can.

Edit: Crap. She does have an Apple Watch that she loves though. And Apple is not only a piece of shit company about their UI, they also don't allow their watch to play nice with Android. (Except that answering a call on the watch pipes the audio to her watch and not her hearing aids. Fuck Apple.)

RandomBacon··on Dutch spy services have restricted intelligence-sharing with the United States
> doesn't believe in stepping down peacefully if he loses an election, among other things.

Source?

We do have evidence that he stepped down after his first term.

RandomBacon··on Chess grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky has died
Regarding the flagged/dead comment that links to concern about Daniel Naroditsky's health a few days ago, I don't think burrying our heads in the sand is correct approach now.

It might have been wise to respect his privacy and not talk about him publicly and while he was alive and could read it, but now that posting it cannot affect his mental health, perhaps mental health awareness is important to talk about.

(A side note, I still think the privacy of those who pass away is important, but I think talking about mental health is also important.)

RandomBacon··on Comparing the power consumption of a 30 year old refrigerator to a new one
Unless the fridge is sitting on the subfloor/slab and a floor was built around the fridge, blocking it in.
RandomBacon··on Why is Switzerland so rich?
Great claims require great proof.

It would also be more efficient for someone who is already familiar with this claim to provide a link, than 100 people trying to find a link on their own.

Besides, if you really want people to learn, make it easy for them. You'll get more people to click on a link than searching.

It's also weak to make a throwaway account just for this.

RandomBacon··on Fastmail desktop app
It's been good for me.

The one time I sent out a mass email using another server and it arrived in my spam folder, Fastmail Customer Service gave me instructions which would allow them to look at the email and help me figure out what the issue was, but I decided not to bother and didn't use that server again.

RandomBacon··on US Passport Power Falls to Historic Low
There are some other good ones in the other comments, including this one:

Falsehood: if a person has a U.S. Passport, they must be a U.S. Citizen.

Fact: Non-citizens can have a U.S. Passport (people born in American Samoa).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Samoan_citizenship_an...

RandomBacon··on Americans Need to Be Richer Than Ever to Buy Their First Home (2023)
> More property tax should be great for local govt coffers, right? Wrong!

Their costs probably went up too.

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