Honestly if I hadn’t switched to Linux 10 years ago I would’ve said that this would be the thing to set me off and switch. (This was my work computer, and even though Ubuntu is available, Linux users are second-class citizens in my shop…all sorts of weird issues and not nearly enough support because it’s a very limited offering)

It’s incredibly frustrating. It’s more than muscle memory at this point, it’s practically instinct. It’s so anti-user and there’s no reason to do it except to bring paint into the fold of all the other ribbon office apps, as if people haven’t been complaining about everything wrong about ribbon for what, 8 years now?

I went to go disable my nic.

It needed a reboot to take effect.

The fuck? I only want to turn it off because I’m testing something and I need a change of ip to test an application and I’m feeling lazy, so I turn off the nic to go to wifi. Good enough? Nope.

So stand up and unplug the cord.

Cool. Switched over. Test didn’t work as expected. Plug cord back in.

Next day computer reboots for updates and I’ve got no internet. Go crazy trying to figure out what it was then remember it needed a reboot to disable the nic.

I went to go disable my nic.

It needed a reboot to take effect.

The fuck? I only want to turn it off because I’m testing something and I need a change of ip to test an application and I’m feeling lazy, so I turn off the nic to go to wifi. Good enough? Nope.

So stand up and unplug the cord.

Cool. Switched over. Test didn’t work as expected. Plug cord back in.

Next day computer reboots for updates and I’ve got no internet. Go crazy trying to figure out what it was then remember it needed a reboot to disable the nic.

Dude I got fucking livid yesterday because Alt keyboard shortcuts no longer work in Paint.

You have to interact with the ribbon before the alt key works.

And then there’s no key shortcut for “Save As” or “Exit”.

The fuck Microsoft. They weren’t hurting anyone and you’re wrecking 30 years of muscle memory. You know how frustrating that is?

As an American, we can laugh at tragedy sometimes.

For example, that my 7yos phone was probably made by people younger than him. And one of those kids probably killed themselves jumping off a factory building so my kid could be safe from a school shooting.

See? Absolutely hysterical.

A fridge keeping track of inventory is a massive PITA until all food has NFC chips in it and that raises further concerns.

I’d rather have a barcode scanner over the trash can if I’m gonna connect that much. Or even better, a full on camera. Then I can use it to scan barcodes on stuff as I throw it in the trash, plus semi-important mail and receipts.

That’s actually a cool little gimmick of some of the smart features. Downloading extra finish jingles.

Of course these are only a few bytes (or so I’d hope). And limited to what they do. Still sometimes they have seasonal selections. It’s cute and gimmicky and totally unnecessary, sure. But that’s the charm.

Push notifications are nice. Especially when the washer is uneven. But especially nice just to get a notification when it’s done.

Maintenance reminders too.

Best is when you leave the house with a blanket and a hoodie in the dryer on “remote start” mode. Turn it on when your 10-15 minutes from home and have a hot blanket and hoodie to snuggle up in as soon as you walk in the door.

Were you looking for straight cherry flavor, like a Jones Soda?

But where is Cheerwine?

If there’s one reason to go to the Carolinas…Cheerwine.

I went for a Solar Eclipse but that won’t happen there for a while.

He’s still pumping out Goosebumps novels and had a brief YA Horror podcast?

His teenage-goosebumps, Fear Street, had a film trilogy on Netflix that was well received?

Please let me know. I hadn’t been following but my kid is getting to the age to enjoy goosebumps. I’d really like to know.

Do I go back in time to when I was 6, or do I remain in the current timeline, but 6 years old?

I’d imagine with all my memories and knowledge and basically being an adult, I’d probably have…desires…that vastly exceed my age. So that’d be pretty awkward.

In the current timeline would be interesting. I’d have to get a remote job that doesn’t need me on video, but assuming my paperwork still says my original birth year, I could probably keep on renewing my license for several years and at least have a valid adult ID. Even if I can’t drive or buy my own weed/booze, I could still maintain employment at least until I have an adult body. I’m assuming the sorcerer also gave me an identity that matched my new body, so I could probably coast through college at some point

But the weirdest thing would be being able to be both my kids peer and their parent.

It’s like loading a save file from a couple months before you beat the game.

Hey man, if it’s brown shoot it down. Thats the American way.

That’s actually a requirement?

Do they have to hold up the Holy Grail and yell out “Jewmanji”, too?

Bluetooth does, legitimately, suck, for gaming though.

The only official two-way audio profile (that is, mic and speaker working simultaneously) mandates a low bitrate mono audio.

Stereo audio itself has a slight latency which may be fine for music or even movies (especially with lip sync adjustments), but for gaming it can be a problem when your audio is a big part of your situational awareness.

I don’t mind not supporting Bluetooth for games, at least for multiplayer. 3.5mm to controller and a proprietary protocol for the audio is the perfect compromise. For single player or media, though, I’d agree it’s dumb.

This is a beautiful analysis. They can make perfect people, or plants, or whatever, and they know what we would identify as “perfect”…but by being perfect, they can’t be real, and our brains recognize that. So the art has to be intentionally made imperfect. But intentionally making an imperfection that seems real is actually a lot more difficult than it sounds.

This is like how I feel when I see amazing vocalists intentionally sing way off-key. Like, you can tell they are singing badly on purpose.

Wait, what do you think is happening? Do you think the car just wants to see a tow truck driver and is acting out to get its way?

The vehicle is immobile. There is more to do to prep it for towing than simple shift-to-neutral. The message explains how to do that. What the fuck about the message is keeping it from functioning?

That message is for the tow truck operator pulling out the car.

Believe it or not, sometimes the tow truck operator sees something for the first time. Sometimes, even, the savvy car owner sees things for the first time.

I had an 86 Cougar that got struck in the rear quarter panel and wouldn’t start. While I was waiting for a tow, as luck would have it, my regular tow truck driver lived right in front of where I broke down (I’d crossed paths with this guy a lot of times because my dad was restoring a car and had bought a couple donor cars to pull parts from). He showed me that there’s a safety switch in the trunk that turns off power to the fuel pump. He reset it and it started right up.

Now, guaranteed, at one point in time this guy had never seen a post-Pinto Ford that wouldn’t start after a collision. I’m sure a screen that told him (or the owner) that there’s a safety switch would’ve helped him that day.

Now, when my jeep radiator hose cracked and I didn’t want to risk driving it home overheating, the tow truck driver (AAA) saved me a tow by cutting back a bit of the hose and reattaching it with the good part in tact. That’s the type of trick that a good driver knows and can share. But you can’t expect them to know of the safeties and bypasses of dozens of different configurations that come out every year, off-hand, potentially somewhere without internet access.

That’s more or less the right way.

Use credit cards for everything for an automatic minimum 2% discount on all purchases (in the form of cashback or rewards depending on how you value them, and more if you optimize category spending…I.e. you have a certain card you use for gas or groceries or eating out because that card has the best rewards for that category). Enjoy sign up bonuses if you can responsibly make the spend requirement. Always pay off statement balance and never close accounts (downgrade/product-change to free cards if the benefits aren’t more valuable than the annual fee).

And enjoy 0% offers but never slip on payment because that’s how they get you. If it’s not paid in full in time or a payment is late they will charge you backdated interest. 0% financing is free money if you can afford it (and can use it) at this inflation rate. I’d been on the fence about replacing my aging appliances but 0% for 24 mos made that a no-brainer. I could afford to have bought those appliances with cash (it’d sting but it’d be doable), but I’d much rather keep that few grand in a CD or bond or mutual fund and pay a 23rd of the balance every month, making me money instead of the bank.