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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 12th, 2023

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  • Cool - forcing ads into the start menu, forcing edge on users. Guess like Win10 is where I leave windows forever.

    I downloaded Mandrake Linux back in 1992. I’ve always fiddled with linux over the years but could never fulfill all my needs. But things have changed recently. I’ve started using ChatGPT to help me when I hit roadblocks with Linux, and it’s REALLY helped work around the various barriers that have kept me from fully adopting linux. Honestly, I am looking forward to switching entirely over to Linux for my business - I’m tired of Windows. And I’ve been here since Win3.1!!




  • I avoided chrome for a long time. Finally I made the switch because FF was getting too slow on old computers back in the day. Lasted for maybe five or six years before I started getting some bad vibes. Why am I letting google run the web browsing software I’m using? This can’t/won’t be good in the future.

    At least five years ago I made the switch back to Firefox, and haven’t looked back. I love having adblocking that works (I use a router level ad block and ublock origin just in case to ensure I block almost every ad on the internet lol).

    I’m honestly surprised it took people this long to decide to move away from Chrome.





  • Quake itself was ok. The multiplayer version was fun. But the real fun started when people began modding the game. The original Team Fortress was actually a free mod for Quake which I’m pretty sure quickly became the most popular instance of the game for online play.

    Funny random tidbit, I actually remember playing the game with one dude who specifically had to brag about having a high powered 1ghz processor as his username in the game (something like 1gigahertz or something cheesy like that). Pretty sure back then I was still rocking a 700mhz AMD Athlon Thunderbird processor.


  • Y’all ready for a wild ride through the most fashion-forward shifter boot experience this side of the Mississippi? Picture this: you’re sittin’ pretty in your trusty ol’ jalopy, gear-shifting like a champion, but somethin’s missin’, ain’t it? That’s right, it’s the unmistakable touch of Mother Nature herself, wrapped around your shifter like a cozy critter hug. Introducin’… wait for it… the Squirrel Shift Sack!

    Now, I reckon y’all might be thinkin’, “Why in tarnation would I want a shifter boot made from squirrel fur?” Well, lemme tell ya, it’s a revolution in automobile elegance! Just imagine cruisin’ down them dusty roads, feelin’ that squirrelly softness under your palm, like you’re holdin’ onto a piece of the wilderness right there in your rig. Ain’t nothin’ more exhilaratin’ than shiftin’ gears while a squirrel’s cheerin’ you on from beyond the grave.

    You see, folks, this ain’t just any ol’ shifter boot – it’s a statement. It says, “I’m a pioneer of panache, a trendsetter with a taste for the untamed.” And don’tcha worry ‘bout them PETA folks – these here squirrels done lived their lives to the fullest, and now they’re enhancin’ your automotive experience like never before.

    Now, I know what y’all are thinkin’: “How in blazes do I get my mitts on one of these critter-cozy shifter boots?” Fear not, my friend, ‘cause we’ve got a whole network of squirrel wranglers scourin’ the backwoods for the finest furs. We treat them squirrels with respect, givin’ ‘em the send-off they deserve, honorin’ their memory as they ride shotgun in your ride.

    So, if y’all wanna make your gear-shiftin’ game as smooth as a skunk’s backside, you better believe the Squirrel Shift Sack is the way to go. It’s quirky, it’s cozy, and it’s downright country cool. Get ready to show off your squirrel swagger and leave them other drivers in the dust, wishin’ they had a piece of that woodland wonder right in their palms. Saddle up, folks – it’s time to squirrel up your ride!


  • Just don’t subscribe. When netflix pissed me off, I unsubscribed. When Adobe moved to a subscription based platform, I forced myself to learn alternative applications (although I still have a copy of Adobe Creative Suite from 2003 which I am still using on old laptop when needed). When Microsoft started charging a subscription to use “office” apps, I switched to LibreOffice. During Covid when I wasn’t using my gym membership I cancelled it and used that $75/month savings to start building a home gym setup (it ain’t great, but its better than nothing!)

    If something is a subscription, I either find an alternative program/service, or simply don’t use it.


  • God I hate those no-contact temperature sensors - people use them on literally every surface without realizing there’s something called thermal emissivity - different surfaces reflect and radiate heat differently. A glass or metal surface will reflect heat much differently from wood or drywall surfaces.

    These cheap no-contact temp sensors usually are set to measure the heat from surfaces found in home construction - drywall, wood, painted surfaces, etc. Some of the nicer ones can have adjustable emissivity but most people never tinker with that setting.

    Now if you’re using a nice FLiR thermal camera, you absolutely need to tinker with emissivity to get a good image.

    Given the fact that the display on this temp sensor does not display the emissivity setting, I’d assume it’s fixed - and not set to accurately read the temperature of that metal surface.


  • I’ve been around long enough to have witnessed the internet go through many stages of development. From the early days of dialup internet (back then AOL Online was essentially a walled-off version of the internet - it was a big deal when the AOL software actually let people visit other websites). We had a different local dialup service so I had the full unadulterated internet.

    Back in the mid 90’s, nearly everything on the internet was paywalled - without a credit card there was very little you could do. Even Encyclopedia sites (like Microsoft’s Encyclopedia Britanica) was behind a paywall. I don’t miss the slow speeds of dialup and I don’t miss the slow downloads (back in the day there was no way to pause and resume a download so if you lost connection, you had to restart!).

    Of course real geeks know about newsgroups and how they fileshare so this was a moot point going back a very long time, but for the average internet user this wasn’t a thing for quite a while.

    I spent a lot of time on the IRC (internet relay chat) which I used to fileshare. It was where I learned to download calculator games for my Texas Instruments graphing calculator that ultimately introduced me into programming my own games which gave me a foundation that I’ve used ever since in various careers over the decades.

    What I miss is the civility of the internet pre-2008. When it was harder to get on the internet. Not everyone had a PC or knew how to use it to get online. Now with iPhones any troll could get online. That’s when I noticed a big shift in online communities.



  • For sure. I have a micro homestead with a lot of chickens (dozens upon dozens lol) - we raise them for eggs, meat, and the manure (which we use to make awesome soil for the garden). We keep the coop extremely clean (like multiple times a month we clean it out), and we keep our chickens healthy (constantly treating for parasites, mites, worms, etc) so they live a happy healthy life.

    Those eggs come out clean in the nests because we keep them clean as well. I personally would probably rinse it off right before cracking open just because it’s me, but yeah there’s no salmonella in our coop because we maintain sanitary conditions (probably way more than the average backyard chicken owner).


  • 20 years ago, I had an insurance plan with AT&T. For $30 I could “replace” my phone under the insurance policy (once per year). Then the plan changed it was a refurbished phone not new… then eventually the insurance plan went to a surcharge of $200 to replace with a refurbished phone.

    Back in the old days I simply upgraded every one or two years under the insurance plan. But that was the days before smartphones really took off.

    These days I don’t have that insurance plan, and simply hold onto my phones as long as possible. I don’t get it either.

    I have a Galaxy S9 that I’ve had for five years and it just won’t die on me. Not that I’m complaining, I honestly have no clue what I’ll buy next. But I don’t get the need to upgrade annually.



  • They’ve lost their reputation. Their actions over the past few weeks have soured at least a portion of their most die-hard users who generate the content for the site.

    I myself was an avid user visiting daily and contributing/helping newbies multiple times a day answering the same questions and guiding them in the right direction. That all stopped - I haven’t been on the site since the blackout started. I even blocked reddit at the router level so I don’t accidentally visit the site.

    I’ve since found two other social media platforms (kbin social and squabbles) to scratch my itch for social interactions. I won’t miss reddit - it’s not the old reddit it used to be a decade ago.

    Maybe when the dust settles I’ll return to lurk reddit and laugh at the sh!t show it’s become, but I won’t return in the capacity I did before