@emag@strangeplace.me
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

emag

@emag@strangeplace.me

Just a SysAdmin/SRE/Dev(Sec)Ops/ISSO guy, tech lover, sometimes photographer, rescue dog parent, sous vide & grilling fan. I like whisky and bourbon and rye. Expect relevant pics, especially pets & food.

Assume that I know nothing, and will inadvertently offend. I'm trying, learning, deprogramming. If I offend, call me out, since I probably need it.

If you need me, I'm there for you. No qualifiers. You need, I'm there. Period. End of story.

I want to be the change I want to see in the world.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

emag, to random
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

I keep joining, and keep getting reminded why I shouldn't join, technical groups around the technology I use. The vast majority of them are overburdened with posts of "I've done zero research and know nothing about the topic, why isn't this working how I want it to????"

I miss the BBS days, that at least filtered out people who couldn't understand the Hayes modem commands... And in my defense, I asked stupid questions then, but at least could say "I tried this, and this, and it should work?!"

emag,
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

@haploc I will never work help desk again because of that. I'm hesitant to ever respond to current tickets from the "I know more than you do, even if I have no fucking clue what reality is" crowd for my current supposedly IT security job that is really "L4 Tech Support for morons in a devops wet dream". I may have some strong opinions...

emag, to random
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

"Oh, you don't know what we do? Ok, we'll create a new version of our monthly report, with a summary that goes into the official monthly, and the excruciating detail of the abject stupidity we deal with being sent to our manager, our CS management, and the group manager, as well as the CS boss who actually told us to ignore tickets... Try to deny what we deal with then..."

I'm a mean person when I have to minutely justify what I do...

skinnylatte, to random
@skinnylatte@hachyderm.io avatar

I was telling some people that I don’t have to pay taxes on my U.S. income to Singapore and no one believed me

https://www.iras.gov.sg/taxes/individual-income-tax/basics-of-individual-income-tax/what-is-taxable-what-is-not/income-received-from-overseas

I literally wrote to our version of the IRS begging to pay taxes and they were like nope

emag,
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

@skinnylatte it's a bloody nightmare... Even US citizens pay on global income. Ex-pats still owe the US for years. rabble rabble rabble

alex, to StarTrek

@StarTrekChat @startrek

Data, what are you doing? ​:trekbadgetng:​

(context is in the alt-text)

emag,
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

@alex @StarTrekChat @startrek I can't wait to watch this episode! For two weeks it's been, "is this the Brent Spiner episode?!" with much disappointment...

emag, to random
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

What's the etiquette when your deadbeat sibling moved in with you after their BF died, moved out without any announcement 6 months later to go to another state to be with their new fuck buddy (after "borrowing" luggage), and 22 months after that you receive a driver's license renewal notice for them in the state they haven't lived in for almost 2 years?

mattblaze, (edited ) to random
@mattblaze@federate.social avatar

PSA: Just click the unfollow button if you find my posts tiresome. It is 100% more effective than trying to convince me to tag topics you find personally uninteresting so you can filter them out.

emag,
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

@mattblaze keep doing the lol's work. I love it. (can we get that trending?)

billyjoebowers, to random
@billyjoebowers@mastodon.online avatar

Starship Troopers is on and I'm going to say I never got this movie, or any of his other movies. I hated them all actually.

I feel like people have trouble with the idea that something can be trying to be satire or clever and still be bad.

emag,
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

@billyjoebowers by "his" movies, do you mean Paul Verhoeven (director), Edward Neumeier (writer), or Robert A. Heinlein (author of the original story)? I was "meh" when I saw it originally, because it didn't really seem true to the novel on some level. But, like most film "adaptations", I've come to accept it as separate, but similar.

These days, I... Really don't know what to make of a lot of RAH novels & stories. I like them, but on at least some level, I just no longer know if I should.

emag, to usenet
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

I'm thinking we need to bring back the plonk

dangillmor, to random
@dangillmor@mastodon.social avatar

On a recent international flight the mask-wearing percentage was visibly higher than on other flights in the past year or so.

At least half of the flight attendants were masked, which was also a change.

People are starting to understand:

a) Covid is not remotely done with us, and it really sucks to get it.

b) Masks also block flu transmission.

c) Wearing a mask is a sign of care for others, not just one's self.

emag,
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

@dangillmor every single time I flew, even hydrating excessively, I always came down with something. This was in the early/mid 00s, when I was flying for gigs every week. I welcome a renewed masking culture.

emag, to random
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

For a while now, anything that shows up in my "left feed" on my android phone that either blocks me because I'm on a network with network-level ad blocking, or tries to force me to sign up to read an article, has been unceremoniously flagged "don't show content from this site". Wired.com got that treatment tonight, so, no big loss there.

emag, to random
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The best test of any relationship, romantic or platonic, is how well you handle helping someone else assemble large IKEA furniture...

dgar, (edited ) to random
@dgar@aus.social avatar

Thanks to anyone and everyone who followed along with my revolution/protest/stick-it-to-the-man themed session this Friday night!
Remember that all songs I toot get added to playlists on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music, so subscribe to them if you like these weird and varied selections! Big continuing love to you all!
♥️💜💙💚💛

YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLm4-vY6nKZv48UxmBAWyYlmEaiEdH1buB

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6aSzSl5CAK4jzyFZyWPmjp

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/au/playlist/dgarradio/pl.u-yR463CYZ6a90

emag,
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

@dgar back at near the dawn of the MP3 days, several student and not-quite-student admins at my university all chipped in to set up a server on the network that all the banned music files students stored in their accounts ended up on before deletion in said accounts. Rumor was, it was in AFS-space, and if you were friends with them, you'd get access to the ever-growing collection. No idea how large it grew before being shut down.

skinnylatte, to animals
@skinnylatte@hachyderm.io avatar

Cookie: purpose and poise. (Her hind boots are a different color because her hind feet are smaller. She has two sizes of boots, differentiated by color)

emag,
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

@skinnylatte I have never managed to convince a dog to wear boots, even when it would be to their benefit. I've alternately carried a 25 lb and 40 lb dog in the snow as each recovers from walking over patches of pet-unfriendly snow melt. 2 50+ dogs now, and I'm dreading it.

clive, (edited ) to random
@clive@saturation.social avatar

Sometimes, when I'm buying gadgets and technology, I want the best I can afford

Sometimes, I prefer the cheaper stuff

It's intriguing to ponder when and why I actually like the cheaper warez

An essay on "four tools where I buy as cheap as I can": https://clivethompson.medium.com/when-cheap-tech-is-good-enough-a44c31d347cc

A free friend link, in case you don't subscribe to Medium: https://clivethompson.medium.com/when-cheap-tech-is-good-enough-a44c31d347cc?sk=21cf33407e9f4286948034b09241665d

emag,
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

@clive before the image for the link loaded, I'd assumed "tools" meant "hand tools". And that's another place where "cheap" can be "good enough". If I don't know if I'll have more than 1-3 uses, I hit up Harbor Freight. Then use it until it breaks & get a better quality.

emag,
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

@clive in the right context, it wouldn't have even been confusing to me, as I use the same. I just happened to be thinking about home maintenance, building and disassembling office furniture, etc at the time, and looking at the bag of cheap hand tools I kept at my desk at $job[-1] (cheap, so I didn't care if they walked).

emag, to Delorean
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

Went to the store today. Was not expecting to see this when I parked.

Three quarter shot of the iconic Delorean, sitting wild in a parking lot

emag, to animals
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

Such vicious and aggressive snuggling going on here from my baby girl...

White pitbull with brown patch around the eye and purple plaid collar, wearing black pajamas with dog-related graffiti print, sleeping on photographer's lap

timrichards, to random
@timrichards@aus.social avatar

There's a singer in this restaurant, and she managed to perform Radiohead's 'Creep' without the F-word. Quite an achievement.

(I sang it under my breath for her.)

emag,
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

@timrichards my GF at the time & I saw Radiohead in concert w/Alanis, and she'd never hear the non-radio edit of "Creep" and freaked out.

mattblaze, to photography
@mattblaze@federate.social avatar

Bethesda Fountain, NYC, 2013.

Several more pixels at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/10374715704

emag,
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

@mattblaze I always enjoy seeing your work and the technical commentary on it. Never let the haters stop you.

emag, to random
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

Whenever someone asks why we put in such an elaborate Halloween spread, it certainly isn't because it's cheap or easy. It's parents thanking us because their kid has food allergies. It's kids thanking us because they have food allergies. It's the deaf community in my neighborhood who can just read the signs above the candy & toy bins. It's the families that don't speak English, that see the signs in their language. It's the repeats who comment how they look forward to our house each year.

TechConnectify, to random
@TechConnectify@mas.to avatar

Hi, I'm stuck waiting on laundry to finish and am bored, so why don't I come on here and write some hot takes about YouTube?

I mean, I can think of several reasons, but too bad I'll do it anyway.

Knowing the leanings of the folks on this particular platform this is likely to spark some debate, but note that I'm not trying to paint YouTube as a saint - in fact, the first thing I want to talk about is a strategy they've taken which puts me and all YT creators in a weird place:

emag,
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

@TechConnectify I think I've been grandfathered in since "Android Music" (and at the introductory rate), though my YTTV may also count for it.

liztai, to random
@liztai@hachyderm.io avatar

Mini rant - "last name" "first name" is so effing confusing. If I want to be literal, my "last name" is my given name and my "First name" is literally my family name. Sometimes I panic, like this morning, wondering if I filled that stupid field up wrongly confused & thus have to deal with beurocratic nonsense to get it right.
And this must be extra confusing for Malay or Indians who follow a patronymic naming system.

emag,
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

@liztai every time I come across something like this, I'm reminded of the "falsehoods programmers believe" posts I've read in the past, like https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/

emag,
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

@smallcircles @liztai yeah, I was trying to quickly find a relevant falsehood post, though I've often referenced that GitHub in the past at work.

Linux_Is_Best, to random
@Linux_Is_Best@mastodon.social avatar

As I wait for GoNetSpeed to build Fiber Optic Internet in my town, I hope I do not end up like this (see screenshot).

Imagine waiting years to finally have Fiber Internet, only to be on that 1 side street or 1 house, that somehow does not qualify, even though the map said it was coming.

This isn't my town, shown below, but it does make me worry.

emag,
@emag@strangeplace.me avatar

@Linux_Is_Best No soup^H^H^H^Hhigh speed for you!

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