Ask me how many medical practices connect every day via IE on Windows 8.

A multitude of technicians came out and apologetically said there was a problem somewhere in a line, but they couldn’t get approval to really dig in because there just weren’t enough complaints - they theorized there was just one broken line somewhere in a bundle that water would seep in to, and we drew the short straw.

Finally, one technician very quietly suggested that my parents go to the phonebook and call the state public utilities regulation commission. I still remember that their number was found on the one blue page in the telephone book.

Within a few business days, there were half a dozen lineman out stringing new lines, and a supervisor apologizing to my parents, promising the issue would be fixed that day, and giving his direct line to them with the instructions to call if they ever had phone trouble again.

My dad generally distrusts the government, but still marvels at that response to this day.

Yes - they are remarkably consistent in following the sun. Most automated doors wait until well past dusk, after which all the birds are up.

> Do the predators never attack during the day?

Raccoons and hawks are the predators I have had to worry about the most. Of them, raccoons are primarily nocturnal, and hawks are best dealt with by having plenty of covered spaces in your run and a rooster to watch the skies.

In your latter example, a nexus clearly exists between the business selling you a video game and the state, so sales tax collection is patently obvious.

When you buy online, they have to ask - it’s the only way to figure out the proper jurisdiction.

It fights the development of cliques and forces people to focus on the message, not the messenger. And it sharpens your own need to make a good point, rather than posting as $KNOWN_USER and waiting for the clicks.

I've done this roughly every ~1-2 years or so since I joined about a decade ago, so my ~8-9k of aggregated karma is spread across multiple accounts.

On that topic, it's about time to rotate to a new one. Catch you all on the other side ;)

So it’s very possible this could end with a far less significant penalty, depending on the circumstances.

If I saw this device under my seat I'd assume it was part of some electronic system and never touch it. The only thing that I'd see that would make me go "huh" would be CDMA – and even then I would probably assume it was part of my car's infotainment system like my old Saab's OnStar that used a Verizon 2G CDMA network that died before I purchased the car.

I have a pretty good mechanic as well, and unless I was complaining about a jammed seat adjustment, he wouldn't be down there to see. I wonder if he'd even be able to eyeball it as suspicious as he's an independent; who knows what kinds of things get hooked up below seats.

Assuming this part isn't narrative, kudos to those who found it. Now where should I go look?

Then Covid hit, nobody wanted to fly, and $BIGCO took an earnings haircut and decided to cut back. My friend had to let dozens of people go. It ended up costing him his company because he'd neglected bringing other work into the pipeline.

The right answer is "start finding a second job, now." Make $180k for 8 hours and 10 minutes of your life! Or alternatively, keep on keeping on and market yourself as a legal document management automation specialist when you bounce.

> Also can't imagine doing nothing and feeling not being needed or not making a real difference.

I have a wife and kids to help me feel needed, and a garden that needs tending when I want to feel myself making a difference. Work is work. 90% of jobs are filled to the gills with bureaucracy and designed to ensure the average employee does very little and accomplishes nothing. Might as well enjoy it when they make it easy to enjoy.

I picked up Thundernews when there was an "unlimited for $4" sale going on, and have used it ever since. Keep an eye out for their sales, because they don't seem to expire them. They resell UsenetExpress so pick up a block account or two from another provider for fills as always.

For giggles, I just went ahead and priced this out:

One-time costs:

* Plex Pass: $80

* NZB indexer access: $10 (for 2 or 3)

Ongoing monthly costs:

* File server (three-year deprecation): $55

* IPTV: $15

* Unlimited Usenet account: $3

This took an afternoon of setup, but has just worked since. Heck, the other day I discovered a new season of a show had apparently been released – because it completed downloading and filled Plex overnight.

Before I migrated my domain and old emails to Fastmail I contacted their support twice to see what I got. Once I simulated an account lockout, the second was more of a technical problem. I can't remember the exact steps that I needed to take, but I do remember that their support was quick to react, had surprising technical depth, and fixed my "problems" faster than expected. I had no problem trusting them with my data.

Has anyone actually tested Google One's support?

I think this is a fairly common misconception. While you might sign an anti disparagement agreement when you were hired, those tend to be one-way and designed to protect the company. And the bar to prove a defamation case is extremely high.

AIUI, most employers simply do not disclose details on firings as a matter of policy, not law.

Or, it could attack the radio processor that runs a parallel operating system on our phones that we can't inspect.

Or hell, if the goal is "tracking people", they could attack the legal infrastructure that is used to legally track people via cellphones today.