I’m assuming they still print newspapers, but I can’t remember when I last saw our local paper for sale at a store. The vending machines are long gone.

And ink?

A growing concern for all manner of hardware that relies on software to function. Give an added bonus to relatively weak warranty requirements for the U.S. that makes it easier for companies to suddenly dump support than in Europe or Australia.

Makes me feel positive about Crucial’s support, though

I think in the US I’ve heard ETF/ACH transaction fees are usually around $2.50? It might be possible to have that apply across a batch, though, as in if you submit 10 payments to 10 different people as a single transaction it’s still just $2.50, or 25¢ per person. I’m only getting this from hearing accountants complain at companies I’ve worked with, so I don’t understand the details. But I’ve seen it pretty common with companies doing payouts to want to see a minimum amount before they actually send the payment, otherwise it’s not worth doing.

They can bring some nice benefits like remote starting in cold (or hot) climates, but there needs to be much better design to minimize the exploitability of these systems.

I have off-and-on searched for alternative software for personal blogs that can be self-hosted and it doesn’t seem like there are many options anymore. The only ones I’ve seen are WriteFreely and FlatPress. Are there any other options you’re aware of?

I guess how new are you talking? I think this said it was based on the 2019 release, but I haven’t heard much about recent releases. Winamp 2 was the classic one most people remember. Winamp 3 was a rewrite that was supposed to be better under the hood but a lot of people didn’t like it, mainly for the new interface it seemed. They jumped to Winamp 5 (2+3) to restore much of the old interface while keeping the capabilities of 3. I never had issues with 5 and continued to use it through Windows 7. Haven’t used Windows much since then so I don’t know how it runs now. There have been very rare point updates since AOL took over and later sold it, mostly bugfixes.

You can certainly be paid in cash legally. Finding an employer willing to do that, though, might be challenging. It would probably have to be retail or another business that regularly deals in cash.

Earlier this year a doctor advised us (male and female) to take prenatal vitamins, and yesterday a nutritionist told us the same. They really just have everything anybody needs, apparently.

I haven’t finished the book, but The Wall Street Journal Guide to Information Graphics is also a good read on the subject.

I won a game in Civ V recently as the Aztecs but kept going because the Polynesians were my neighbors the whole game and a thorn in my side. Just before the end the French asked if I wanted to declare war on Polynesia so I agreed to start in ten turns. I haven’t picked it back up, though, because I know it’s going to be a big slog and I haven’t sat down with the time or mental energy for it. But it’s also kept me from starting another game.

What’s funny to me is Ireland wasn’t trying to collect these taxes, the European Commission decided that the Irish taxes were too low and amounted to an illegal subsidy.

We have a flat monthly fee of $26.50 and usage is $0.1133/kWh (all prices US dollars). It’s also possible to have a Time of Use plan; for residential there’s still the flat $26.50 fee and then peak usage bills at $0.2345/kWh and off-peak at $0.0623/kWh. If you have a bilateral system (solar panels) the credit for power supplied during peak hours is $0.1539/kWh and off-peak is $0.0373/kWh. Integrated battery systems are not allowed if you go with Time of Use metering. For now the basic residential service (same rate all the time) credits solar production at the same rate as consumption, but that could change in the future.

At 50¢/kWh even adding batteries and trying to be as disconnected as (legally) possible from the grid might pay for itself!

I only saw a promo for it once and was pretty grossed-out, but had to at least look up the Wikipedia. I don’t think I was the target audience, other than it reminding me of 30 Rock.

If the TV supports it. I haven’t come across many in the wild that really use it, or at least situations where a TV and device both work well with the protocol.

Yes it’s for a cable box/DVR. The Spectrum logo is for Spectrum cable, the brand that resulted from the Charter Communications purchase of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks.

It depends entirely on the band, my budget, and time. One that tours regularly, that I’ve seen before and can see again, probably only an hour, hour-and-half. One that’s not from this country, or I’ve never seen and they’re likely not going to tour anymore, or it’s a really unique show? I’m more willing to travel far, potentially even another country or continent if I can afford it. The farther I go the more I want to make a big trip of it: at least a weekend if not even a week or more if I were going to Europe or something. The closest I’ve come to that, though, was making a long weekend to Washington, D.C. during the cherry blossom festival to see Muse. That was about a 4 hour drive away.

I was also thinking flats/apartments where people go to hang out as a good metaphor. Not necessarily fancy ones either, the kind of cheaper, basic ones most people start with early in their adult life.