+1 for the Dark Tower books.

But I’d note, there’s a dramatic tonal shift between the first half and the last half.

After book 4, you lose the flashbacks to Roland’s youth and it’s a straight through narrative for books 5, 6 and 7.

I think the accident that almost killed him put the fear of god in him.

I would love to teach again, but aside from the fact that, physically, standing and talking for 8 hours a day is outside my reach now, I would also take probably a 66% to 75% paycut to do it. :(

As a cat owner, this doesn’t even look like a real print. It’s too deep. Most likely a manufactured print done as a gag by whoever made the bricks.

Legumes are a type of vegetable.

The hill I WILL die on is that mushrooms, as a fungus, are not.

This is immediately obvious to anyone who followed the timeline of events.

Removing Shokin didn’t STOP the Burisma investigation. It allowed it to move forward! Shokin was the guy slow-walking it.

https://www.justsecurity.org/66271/timeline-trump-giuliani-bidens-and-ukrainegate/

Makes sense:

Xbox - 2001
Xbox 360 - 2005
Xbox One - 2013
Xbox One S - 2016
Xbox One X - 2017
Xbox Series S|X - 2020

4 years, 8 years, 3 years, 1 year, 3 years.

2028 would be on the long side but not unheard of. The reason for the big gap between 2005 and 2013 was the 2008 economic crisis.

2020 was the covid/supply chain crisis.

Lost me at “the first consumer product we’re aware of to use nitinol”.

There were nitinol eyeglass frames back in the 1980s.

https://youtu.be/XPrg8EZlD1E

Dining out is CRAZY now.

My wife and I were out and about last weekend and needed to eat so we hit a Burger King.

Meals for 2, nothing crazy, was $30… at freaking BURGER KING. We don’t even have a sales tax here.

Cat:

“Workers could be liberated from this experience by seizing the means of production…”

Political books are the ones everyone SHOULD read. :)

This one is fascinating, we would be better off if more people read it:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/291700/perfectly-legal-by-david-cay-johnston/

Actually, all of Johnston’s stuff is fascinating.

Telling them that a) dealers don’t have access to telemetry data beyond what’s passed on the vehicle data port and b) providing a news article showing that 3/4 new cars communicate data back to the manufacturers unless you specifically opt out isn’t helpful?

Guessing you didn’t actually read the article?

First, you need to differentiate between “dealer” and “manufacturer”, except in minority cases like Tesla, they are two separate entities.

Dealers, as a rule, don’t have the capacity to accept telemetry data from vehicles. Source: I’m a former dealer sysadmin.

What they can and do do, is download telemetry data stored onboard when you bring the vehicle in for service. This is done through the OBD-II port which has been in every car since 1996.

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/obd-ii-port-used/

If you’re concerned (or curious) about what data is passed over OBD-II, you can buy your own scanner, $20 to $100 on Amazon depending on features.

Now, MANUFACTURERS, that’s a different deal:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/autos/sc-auto-tips-0102-driving-data-collection-20181225-story.html

And, again, what is your definition of “privacy” and what is your definition of “modern car”?

Define “privacy” and define “modern car”.

In the end, it doesn’t matter what car you’re driving if you bring your Android/iPhone…

https://www.liontreegroup.com/tips-and-tricks/how-to-fix-outlook-links-opening-in-edge-vs-chrome/

Outlook the other day insisted it was better opening links in Edge instead of my default browser… Yeah, I shut THAT down…

Quick reminder about the rules around wishing death and destruction on people.

Don’t make me tap the sign.

That being said, yes, McConnell is one of the key architects of how dysfunctional our system of government has become. From using the filibuster more times during the Obama administration than all prior administrations COMBINED, to blocking a legitimately named Supreme Court Justice, not by allowing him a fair vote, but by denying him a hearing AT ALL.

BUT…

Now hear me out… BUT…

He does have three daughters, Porter, is actually an activist:

https://www.thelist.com/257172/the-truth-about-mitch-mcconnells-daughter-porter/

You can make fun of the guy, you can hate the guy, but before you wish death on the guy, take just a moment to consider his family and how they must feel watching him break down like this live on camera, not once, but twice.

He’s under criminal indictment, you expect him to just admit that it was a scam, had no legal merit, and would not stand up in court?

Oh, wait:

https://time.com/6188491/john-eastman-jan-6-testimony-trump/

When I was in high school, we were reading Macbeth and got to the bit with the witches and the three spirits… one of which is described as “an armed head”, and the teacher was going on about how nobody knew exactly what that description meant, was it a head wearing a helmet? What was Shakespeare getting at?

So I raised my hand… “I hope I’m not giving away the ending or anything, but Macbeth is beheaded at the end… it’s an arm holding a severed head.”

Armed head: “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff! Beware the Thane of Fife! Dismiss me. Enough.”

(Macduff beheads Macbeth)

Bloody child: “Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth.”

(Macduff was not born of woman, they tried to abort him and he was born bloody.)

Child crowned, carrying a tree: “Be lion-mettled, proud, and take no care Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are. Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him.He descends.”

(Macduffs forces disguise themselves with tree branches to march on Macbeth).

Each spirit directly states through their description and dialog how this is all going to end, but you only see it on a 2nd read.

It may not be “faulty” per se, but if you bought a cheap USB-C cable, you’re going to have a bad day.

USB-C cables are rated for wattage for charging and data throughput.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/395115/the-best-usb-c-cables-for-charging-and-transferring-data.html

If you aren’t running cables with the highest wattage and throughput you can get, you’re not going to get the best results.