We had the garage doors replaced, and replaced the openers since they were also a couple decades old and a small part of the total cost. Every damned opener that wasnt bare-bones had smart features. Camera, motion detection, wifi… of course, none of it to any sort of standard, and requiring a special app and account with the vendor. Smart devices are fine - I want smart, to some standard like zwave - but I’ll be god damned if I’m going to make an account with Genie so they can track and sell my garage door use.
Same thing with the dishwasher. The house being as old as it is, all the devices are hitting planned obsolecense at the same time. All the new dishwashers that have any decent features are smart. Again, with some shitty bespoke app, and requiring an account. This time, I got the damned thing and just haven’t installed the app or configured the wifi on it. Maybe it’s talking to one of the neighbor’s unsecured wifi networks; I guess I can live with that.
We got lucky on the refrigerator (this time, something inside broke and leaked water into the underfloor for a week before we caught it). We got a model that had everything we wanted and didn’t have wifi.
I read an article a few months ago about a conference where all these companies are bitching that people are buying these things and not connecting them; with any luck, they’ve been losing money on them and will stop adding smart features to everything. But I’m not holding my breath.
The thing I think is the most irreconcilable, incompromisable, consistently demonstrated behavior of The Right in America is the blatant hypocrisy about nearly all of their planks. It’s the thing that, when the next civil war comes, will allow me to pull the trigger on anyone wearing a red baseball cap with little remorse.
Everyone needs guns to defend themselves from The State, because 2A! (Except for black people defending themselves from no-knock entry cops who got the address wrong)
The government shouldn’t be allowed to tell us how to live! (Except for LGBTQ* people, women’s choices about their own bodies, or homeless people)
The Constitution is sacrosanct! (Except for the part about separation of church and state, we just ignore that part)
It’s the same for their every. Single. Position. It makes me weary, and furious, depressed and pessimistic.
This cannot be emphasized or repeated enough. Before the acquisition, Boeing was led and run by engineers. After the acquisition, MBAs and Finance people were put in charge.
This happens at all large companies, eventually, and it’s why they all inevitably shit the bed. It’s just in this case, it’s killing a lot of people in the process.
Alligators, not crocodiles. Crocodiles would be stupendously to do this with; alligators are much less aggressive.
This thing operated for nearly 50 years, from 1907 to 1953. I couldn’t find a single report of any incidents of people being hurt by the alligators; it only shut down because attendance had dropped to fewer than 50,000 annually.
I an frankly a little surprised; I thought for sure it got shut down because it alligators ate one to many kids… or pets. People brought their dogs. But, apparently, well-fed alligators are pretty docile unless you make them feel threatened, and the domestic bred ones were used to people handling them from babies.
They’re still reptiles, and crocodilians to boot; this whole endeavor sounds batshit to me. But 50 years with a yearly attendance of more than 50,000 people is a lot of evidence.
UK server, OK. Fine. But OP has never been to Pennsylvania in the US. Most houses over a hundred years old look like this: you can see the generations that have lived in it. First it’s stone and mortar; then there’s a wood addition ca. the early 1900s; then there’s a more modern addition ca. the 50’s or later. There’s one property that was briefly famous as it came up in Zillow that had 5 clearly distinctive styles and technologies worth of additions on it; it’s like every generation added another room with whatever was in style at the time. I can’t find a picture, but it was hideous.
I don’t know if it’s common all along the mid-Atlantic, but it is super common in Pennsylvania.
Minnesota’s group is approaching this a smart way, from the local up. They’re not spending much time in the high-profile positions; they’re tackling local elections. Gets people used to the idea, and they stack higher and higher positions as they’re going. It’ll take time, but starting at the top and working down is a lot harder.
One year, we got a tank of compressed air and a bunch of balloons and stayed after work and literally filled his office with balloons. Floor to almost ceiling. Not only was it hilarious, but popping the balloons the next day was a lot of fun, and clean-up wasn’t too hard. You absolutely need compressed air for this, and even then it took an hour or so to do.
These days, I guess it’d be seen as environmentally wasteful; balloons aren’t recyclable, I think. Plus, it only works if she has dedicated office with a door. If it’s still an “office” but shared with another person, you could still get their permission; maybe they’d agree to hotel in a conference room until the balloons are popped.
They were written by someone who’s exposure to anything martial - and probably anything more strenuous than making a trip to mom’s cupboard for more Cheetos - has been through film.
I grew up with incandescent bulbs, and it was hell. The waste, in both trash and energy consumption, was horrendous.
The (thankfully) short age of flourescent reduced energy use, but the trash was worse, and the light categorically regressive.
LEDs are, in all ways, superior. You buy cheap-ass crap LEDs, you’re going to get a worse experience, obviously. Despite some negatives, LEDs are still the best lighting technology available. Feel free to complain, but there’s no better option right now. Wanting to go back to incandescents is vinyl-turntable-level, selective memory, retro hipsterism. And also super shitty for the environment.
Even a small knife is handy. Multitools are fine, but IME I only ever use the blade, and single-purpose knives are better at being knives than multi tools. My favorite knife is a MicroTech 70; I can carry it in any pants without it feeling bulky.
Flippers are good too; I do like the clean lines on the MicroTech(s).
Resume information. There have been several attempts, but none have become an accepted standard.
When I was a consultant, this was the one standard I longed for the most. A data file where I could put all of my information, and then filter and format it for each application. But ultimately, I wanted to be able to submit the information in a standardised format - without having to re-enter it endlessly into crappy web forms.
I think things have gotten better today, but at the cost of a reliance on a monopoly (LinkedIn). And I’m not still in that sort of job market. But I think that desire was so strong it’ll last me until I’m in my grave.