larntz

You know what was worse than that? Embedded RealPlayer.

I read this book about 20 years ago when I was in high school. It was one of my favorite books at the time. I think I read it 3 times during my high school years. It was a great read at the time.

I haven't read it recently but anyone that lived experienced technology of the 80s/90s or wants a realistic feel for what it was like should read this.

It's a great story about how a guy from Berkley (I think) tracked down a hacker. I don't remember the specifics but it was very War Games-esque but based in reality.

I really enjoyed Daring Greatly. I would recommend this also.

I feel I was able to apply a lot of it to my day to day family life.

So far, yes, you are resilient. You're here today.

I'm somewhere around 20 years older than you, and I feel like I could have written this at numerous times in my life.

I don't really have answers, but I have learned some things about myself and in general that I think are important.

If you have a fear that you may become abusive you should take that fear seriously and be proactive.

Go to therapy now if you can (maybe you already are, I'm just talking). I avoided this for a long time because I had bad, or no, health insurance. I wish I had made the investment in myself early.

Be very careful with alcohol and other substances. Dependence and substance abuse creeps up on you. That quote about day by day nothing seems to change, but looking back everything is different applies to destructive behaviors too.

Deprogramming/unlearning unhealthy coping behaviors is really damn hard and never stops. Things can seem perfect for months and one day you catch yourself taking a step backwards. Don't get too hung up on those steps backwards, two steps forward and one step back is still forward progress.

Almost every day the thought I want to kill myself enters my mind. It's all but lost it's meaning, but I've never completely eradicated the thought. I have no intention of ever doing it, but I find it strange that the thought never goes away.

I never wanted kids either, because I hated every day of my life as a child. But, now I have two. Their mother committed suicide a few years ago and they live with me full time. They are a great motivation and have taught me so much about life I would have never learned without them. It turns out I'm a pretty decent father and have been able to give them love and understanding I never had.

No amount of anger or frustration is going to change the past or fix the future. Acceptance (of self and past experiences) and seeking therapy (group and private) have been to the two biggest positive influences on my life.

I'm not SV successful, but I provide for my family financially and emotionally. I feel resilient because I could have given up before I even tried or after any number of shameful personal failures. I feel like I've won because I have things I never thought possible 20 years ago. A loving family. A pretty decent job that I enjoy. A place to live that I'm not ashamed of.

It's ok to hurt. It's ok to have bad habits. It's ok feel everything you've expressed. I thought I was the only person on Earth with my issues, but it turns out there are many of us.

One thing I didn't realize in my early twenties was just how much life laid ahead of me. It felt over before it started and because of that I wasted most of my twenties and early thirties.

What you went through sucks and you didn't deserve it. It won't always be fun. You may wake up at 40 with some of the same emotions you have now.

That's just from my personal experience. I'm not a doctor of any kind. I don't even pretend to have any answers. I often think if I knew then what I know now how different life might have been, but maybe that is impossible. Or maybe something I said will help someone. I wish you the best of luck.

Last weekend I attempted to use airbnb in Orlando. Originally the host said the door would be unlocked, but when we arrived it was locked. It was a keypad lock so we wrote the host and asked for the code. He wrote back and sent a code that didn't work. When we informed him the code didn't work his response was, really? We never heard from him again that night or since asking for a refund.

We stayed in a hotel nearby that cost about $30 more, but had free breakfast.

I will go for hotels first in the future. I never had any issues with airbnb in the past, but one night of waiting around to hear from the host (and never actually gaining entry) with a family of tired people is one too many.

When I worked for a small computer place years and years ago we'd sometimes "tap" a drive as it was spinning up if freezing it didn't work. Tapping it with a screw driver handle rarely worked, but it was always a last ditch effort to save having to send a drive out -- which most people wouldn't pay for anyway.

This is absolutely true.

The way to change behavior is to actually change something and consistently practice that change.

It requires a great deal of commitment. Progress is generally slow. Set backs happen.

But if you actually change something and make it a diligent practice eventually it will be part of who you are.

There are a huge amount of people that read/share/talk about feel good life change quotes/books/etc that are doing nothing more than playing psychological tricks on themselves while avoiding the hard discouragingly long process that is required to make actual changes.

I was in this situation also. I had an iPhone6s (and 3 iphones previously) and after the iOS11 updates it started breaking badly. I had to restart it regularly, the experience of playing music/podcasts in my car became almost unusable and I have a long commute.

At that point I started considering Android. I prefer google maps and google play music over apple music. iTunes on the PC is one of the absolute worst things I've ever used.

I just wanted to use my phone without it being annoying and being able to choose default apps was something I'd always envied about Android.

I bought a Pixel2 XL a few months ago. So far it has been great. I don't use facebook on my phone so the possible privacy issues with that weren't a deal breaker.

The notification system is amazing compared to iOS and I get to decide which apps are defaults. Those two things are my favorite things about it. So far the phone has stayed out of my way and I'm happy.

This is my first Android phone. We'll see how it goes long term, but I'm happy I switched today. I'm not against going back, but if my current experience continues I won't.

Apple has great hardware and a (I think) better privacy policy, but the software experience eventually pushed me away. The one exception here is the podcast app on iPhone. I miss it, but haven't taken the time to look for 3rd party podcast apps on the Android (I'm using Google Play Music).

That definitely paints a different picture of the situation.

> Evidence submitted to the court shows that one transaction alone generated $28,000 in revenue for Mr. Lundgren and his co-defendant from the sale of 8,000 counterfeit software discs.

That's quite a bit more than 25 cents per disc.

Should Microsoft charge $25 for a disc and license to run windows on a refurbished, maybe not. But, I have a hard time believing that anyone could attempt to build a legitimate business based like the one described in this case and not expect some kind of legal repercussions.

> Sentencing guidelines for Mr. Lundgren were calculated at 37 to 46 months, according to federal sentencing rules, and the judge in this case issued a below-guidelines sentence of 15 months

I'm not sure how I feel about the prison sentence. I understand that to many people this feels like punishing someone that was trying to make the world a better place, but I can also see how this falls under the piracy / copyright infringement umbrella.

> Mr. Lundgren was even warned by a customs seizure notice that his conduct was illegal and given the opportunity to stop before he was prosecuted.

If this is true I have a hard time feeling bad for the guy. He should have consulted a lawyer at that point. At the least he was aware of the possible consequences.