smeg

Armchair intellectual, sometimes philosopher, all-around learning junkie, cybersecurity and sysadmin, parent, and gamer. Everything is political.

A chicken in every pot and free poetry for all.

Admin of assortedflotsam.com

Pronouns: He/Him/His
Pixelfed: https://pixel.infosec.exchange/@smeg
Location: Haarlem, The Netherlands
Elite Dangerous: CMDR Smeggysmeg

Public Key

npub1f80a3v02ky0uqfq50j2ux26n5rngt57ktpn7ty0gzhhhcd3x9ndqtz6m36

NIP-05 Address

smeg_at_assortedflotsam.com@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsynh7ck84tz87qys28e9wr9df6pe5960t9sel9j85ptmmuxcnzeksprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntkp920t

Publishing to

relay.momostr.pink

Author Public Key

npub1f80a3v02ky0uqfq50j2ux26n5rngt57ktpn7ty0gzhhhcd3x9ndqtz6m36

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Last Notes

2026-04-11 10:54:37 UTC

The answer: ban driving private vehicles. Conserve the fuel for essentials. Everyone should walk, cycle, or take transit.
Fuel protests: Hundreds of Irish forecourts run out of fuel
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0e7rpjqw5po

2026-04-10 16:56:59 UTC

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the biggest problem is banking. I have to authorize any online transaction with my bank app - which is a good thing! But my bank app only works on iOS and Google-certified Android - which is a problem with both ecosystems becoming more shitty

2026-04-02 17:02:07 UTC

I find the lotion/skincare/hair bottle section of the drugstore to be completely overwhelming. The products don't seem to be organized by type or body application area, nor are they clearly organized by brand. What's the difference between the products? And there are minor variations of the same product? Some are liquid, solid, cream, or foam?!
Who needs this many options? Why is it all so expensive?

2026-03-14 19:02:57 UTC

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what got me over range anxiety was road tripping my Bolt EV from NWA to Duluth MN and back, twice. Max charge rate of 55W, so you learn to make every mile count.
After that, trips around Arkansas and the Ozarks was a piece of cake

2026-03-11 11:02:09 UTC

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they are the scam

2026-02-23 20:44:11 UTC

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donation coming in 3, 2, 1.... Investigation cancelled

2025-12-01 19:40:55 UTC

Today I learned that PRINTER TONER is region locked.
I brought my Lexmark MFP from the US to Europe. I can promise you that EU toner is not cheaper.
#printers #lexmark #printer #enshittification #region #regionalpricing #regionlock #regionlocks
https://assortedflotsam.com/system/media_attachments/files/115/645/993/103/296/172/original/c189bc6ef3d3efbe.jpg

2025-11-28 20:34:57 UTC

Leftists: "We should feed starving kids"
Fascists: "The only thing kids are good for is working in the coal mines while I enjoy my $12,000 caviar"
Centrists: "I literally cannot tell you two apart."

2025-10-29 07:42:49 UTC

Cybersecurity is a huge space now. It's not just 1 thing. There's no way to be a "cybersecurity" expert across the entire spectrum. Be skeptical of anyone who claims to be.
#cybersecurity #security #infosec
https://assortedflotsam.com/system/media_attachments/files/115/456/310/700/085/127/original/9d5096c18b6e8aea.png

2025-09-13 19:35:38 UTC

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I moved to the Netherlands with mild asthma thinking the air quality here wouldn't be a problem, but I'm finding myself needing to use my inhaler :ablobsigh:

2025-09-10 20:24:22 UTC

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the only way to detect the sought content is to collect and analyse all content.
The carve out for politicians makes it obvious.

2025-09-10 12:20:11 UTC

Trump is going to start trying to speedrun the dissolution of NATO, or kick countries out, or find some other way to neuter it. I guarantee it. He will always bend to Russia.

2025-09-05 21:50:02 UTC

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Looks like none of my publishings are in LibGen.

2025-09-02 06:50:10 UTC

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anything not to blame economic woes on multinational corporations and billionaires

2025-07-31 10:30:47 UTC

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which is funny, given where per-capita crime and poverty are concentrated the most

2025-07-09 12:38:45 UTC

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I coached my son's soccer team for a few years, and I found that most well-to-do parents around here are putting their kids in highly competitive, selective, and expensive private leagues, even at a very young age (kindergarten).
It's starving the rec leagues of motivated parents who have the time to volunteer.
It's dumb because it's committing the kids to a lot of time and travel despite the fact that 99% of kids are never "going pro."
It also has a segregation vibe to it.

2025-07-02 17:40:13 UTC

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the new owner is the same as the old owner

2025-06-29 04:47:07 UTC

USA -- failed state
Half of all private-sector workers in the U.S. have no access to a retirement plan, study finds https://share.google/cFblRY05yBsYP1FWP

2025-06-27 18:11:33 UTC

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I saw that article. It contains some valid points - that the savings of living outside of a city are lost to car dependency, and that cheaper living is sometimes an illusion. But the author made so many odd choices and has such a specific lifestyle expectancy that they were never a good fit for Bentonville and a bad representative for critiquing this area.

2025-06-25 13:38:11 UTC

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I'm concerned

2025-05-16 20:55:32 UTC

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There are no good billionaires.
You can stop the headline there.

2025-05-12 01:30:03 UTC

Pretty cool. My current Oral B electric toothbrush has a broken battery cap, and luckily I found a replacement design on Thingiverse instead of needing to but a new toothbrush. This should be normalized.
Philips debuts 3D printable components to repair products | Tom's Hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/3d-printing/philips-debuts-3d-printable-components-to-repair-products
#righttorepair #plannedobsolesce #repair #repairable #repairability #3dprint #3dprinting #philips

2025-04-22 13:03:42 UTC

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I live a mile away and received no warning

2025-04-11 12:11:42 UTC

So a fetus is a person when trying to deny women rights, but not when the hospital's wallet is on the line? It's obvious the true ideology here is about controlling women and nothing more.
Aiming to limit damages, Catholic hospital argues a fetus isn't the same as a 'person'
https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/04/09/aiming-to-limit-damages-catholic-hospital-argues-a-fetus-isnt-the-same-as-a-person/
#abortion #womensrights #abortionishealthcare #catholic #prolife #prochoice #fetalpersonhood #hospital #liability #lawsuit

2025-03-17 13:57:27 UTC

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an update that enhances the user experience!

2025-03-13 02:47:11 UTC

A big problem problem I'm having planning a trip to the Netherlands is that bike shares, and to an extent public transit, assume that every rider has a smartphone and is adult sized - and I'm traveling with a child.
For transit, we can buy an anonymous card at a station I think. But bike activation requires a smartphone per bike, no options.

2025-03-12 23:17:06 UTC

Immigration accounted for all U.S. population growth in 2022-23, first time since 1850
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/immigration-accounted-us-population-growth-2022-23-first-time-1850-rcna196052
#immigration #population #demographics

2025-03-06 04:22:41 UTC

Privatize roads, then. Not a single road makes a profit. There should be a feedback loop that if roads aren't profitable, then we shouldn't be subsidizing the roads on behalf of the automotive industry. /s
We need public goods and public services that only work at economies of scale.
Musk suggests USPS and Amtrak should be privatized, need a "feedback loop" for success
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/doge/elon-musk-suggests-us-privatize-postal-service-amtrak-rcna194960
#musk #privatization #fuckcars #motonormativity #autonormativity #infrastructure

2025-02-27 03:30:30 UTC

Nothing is possible?
https://assortedflotsam.com/system/media_attachments/files/114/073/730/049/941/174/original/70104390bf53fc54.jpg

2025-02-24 19:21:52 UTC

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maybe those worker relocation mandates? No one local is seeing those wage increases.
And when Walmart demands they accept a salary reduction or find a new job, they'll have nowhere to go.

2025-02-06 16:09:56 UTC

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the amount of Americans having their guns confiscated entering Canada and decrying, "but muh second amendment" is amazing to watch

2025-02-06 16:09:00 UTC

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I recently watched this entire series, and America is definitely Canada's #1 source country for illegal drugs, guns, and illegal immigrants.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Security:_Canada%27s_Front_Line
There's an American and Australian version of the show, too. The American CBP seems the most assholeish and least competent. Canada and Australia actually have firmer rules on some things than the US, but they're so much more polite and competent about it. Better at informing and helping people.

2025-02-05 16:58:53 UTC

Update on my telemarketing spam problem: I was getting a call every hour all day long during business hours, for the past 2 weeks. I got it to stop! How?
I turned off Google Phone Screening, and then when a call came in, I spoke to them in Korean! Over and over, no English. Of course, I only know a handful of phrases, but that was enough.
Just like that, the telemarketing stopped.
#telemarketing #lifehack

2025-01-20 05:46:33 UTC

I think it's really telling that Google, Microsoft, et al feel the need for bruteforce AI into our lives rather than sell us on it. It's clearly not for our benefit - it's for theirs. Corporate legal , IP, and data privacy concerns be damned for their commercial customers.
It's time to switch to products that serve our interests, not theirs.
#ai #google #microsoft #googleworkspace #m365 #copilot #gemini #GoogleGemini

2025-01-15 15:15:11 UTC

FDA bans Red No. 3, artificial coloring used in beverages, candy and other foods
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-bans-red-no-3-artificial-coloring-beverages-candy-rcna185479
#fooddye #artificialcoloring #dyes #fda #redno3 #foodcoloring #foodsafety #consumersafety #consumerprotection

2025-01-15 01:33:45 UTC

Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie, whose $300 million superyacht was defaced by environmental activists, has a home in L.A. so vast that it alone guzzles 2.3 million gallons of water every year, more than the annual usage of 76 American households combined.
https://luxurylaunches.com/celebrities/nancy-walton-la-mansion-water-usage-13012025.php
#lafire #lafires #lafires2025 #fires #billionaires #climatecrisis #environment #water #waterwaste #walmart

2025-01-06 23:53:23 UTC

There is literally no amount of lead that is safe for human consumption, and definitely not safe for human development.
Food safety failure seems to be a feature in the United States.
FDA sets new lower levels for lead in baby food — critics say that’s not enough
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/06/health/lead-baby-food-fda-wellness/index.html
#lead #leadconsumption #leadinfood #babyfood #foodsafety #fda #regulatorycapture

2025-01-05 05:26:16 UTC

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as a premier tier Google Workspace customer, good luck getting a real answer from the Gmail team.

2025-01-05 02:25:46 UTC

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seen in Fayetteville, Arkansas last week
https://assortedflotsam.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/773/375/580/623/426/original/c35ff21f785686c7.jpg

2025-01-03 23:49:53 UTC

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as a former Windows sysadmin - remote laptops are hard because people shut them down or suspend them. It will try at those out of hours times, but eventually if it doesn't succeed, it will reach a 'must install' point, maybe 7 or 14 days after it was scheduled, where it will install immediately.
I would always schedule updates to install on shutdown, but ofc a user can opt for a shutdown without updating, or just close the lid (suspend). No updates. Then eventually a forced one.

2024-12-20 16:04:12 UTC

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with the Fayetteville revenue office, the 2 times I went, I showed up right when they opened at 7AM and didn't have my number called until after 10. Hence my search for backdoors

2024-12-20 16:00:45 UTC

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also - if you hate how long it takes to get through the Revenue office, find a small town nearby that only offers DFA services once per week (where the DFA official sets up at a table in their town hall). It's amazingly fast and you can do all of it with 1 person instead of having to move between 3 windows.
I would tell you my secret spot, but I think you're in Benton county. If you're in Washington county, let me know ;)

2024-12-20 15:57:54 UTC

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this was my biggest mistake years ago - registering a vehicle in January. But somehow I was, last week, able to renew my state tags early?
The process gets decidedly easier after you've lived here for 5 years, I think. Until you have an established history in the state, the systems require all of the tax side of the equation to be completed before the tag renewal will be allowed.

2024-12-08 00:53:27 UTC

The Arctic Could Be Functionally Ice-Free in Just a Few Years | Scientific American
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-arctic-could-be-functionally-ice-free-in-just-a-few-years/
#climatechange #climatecollapse #arctic #arcticice

2024-12-08 00:37:22 UTC

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same. I write alttext in about 90% of cases, but if something is like, say, a comic with multiple frames and images, I could spend 5+ minutes writing that alttext. Writing a description of a visual is not a low-effort casual task; it's more than mere transcription.
Hence the poll. Maybe I should never post those items - but then what is lost to the conversation? Or should we self-censor speech for merely not being accessible to all readers? It's a conundrum to me.

2024-12-08 00:29:37 UTC

If you're not going to take the time to write out fully descriptive alttext, should you refrain from posting an image or video?
#poll

2024-12-07 00:05:49 UTC

Murdered Insurance CEO Had Deployed an AI to Automatically Deny Benefits for Sick People
https://futurism.com/neoscope/united-healthcare-claims-algorithm-murder
#insurance #InsuranceCEO #brianthompson #unitedhealthcareceo #unitedhealthcare #healthinsurance #denydefenddepose

2024-11-27 19:20:55 UTC

Cloudflare says it lost 55% of logs pushed to customers for 3.5 hours
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/cloudflare-says-it-lost-55-percent-of-logs-pushed-to-customers-for-35-hours/
#cloudflare #infosec #tech

2024-11-24 17:25:34 UTC

How does one reduce their mental load?
I feel like over the trajectory of life, my mental load has only gone up. No reductions, ever. I think I reached critical mass a couple years ago and now I'm being crushed by it.

2024-11-24 02:47:24 UTC

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because they don't support MFA. Easy to bruteforce

2024-11-15 05:40:12 UTC

Arkansas Pastor Sentenced to 50 Yrs for Raping His Minor Children
https://julieroys.com/arkansas-pastor-sentenced-to-50-years-for-raping-his-minor-children/
#arkansas #pastor #pastorarrested #christian #pedophile #notadragqueen

2024-11-14 15:09:54 UTC

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People keep following this pattern:
- Join social network
- Build a network there
- The experience gets shittier due to chasing profits <<
- The site becomes a trash heap
- People struggle to leave because their network is there
- Eventually people leave for new social network
- Rinse and repeat
<< is where things always go wrong. Bluesky is already at that stage due to VC funding.
Meanwhile, an open fediverse is a network we own, so avoids that pitfall (hopefully).

2024-11-12 16:52:34 UTC

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my wife is southern when
- around her family
- drinking
- our child needs some disciplinin'

2024-11-12 16:39:16 UTC

I don't really identify as a "Southerner". I lack most of the features in my dialect; I'm definitely more of a Midwesterner.
But when I'm on Zoom with people from the coasts/abroad, I feel like the smiley/outgoing southerner because everyone else is so dry and stoic.

2024-11-10 20:10:14 UTC

I've found that a a man being on a keto diet is a key indicator of whether they hold misogynistic and patriarchal views. The promoters of these diets are almost always "manosphere" dudebro types, and if they're consuming that type of toxic masculinity media, well... there's your tell.
#keto #manosphere #misogyny #patriarchy #women #womensrights #genderequality #joerogan #men #toxicmasculinity #masculinity

2024-11-09 22:56:26 UTC

On the local college radio, the student DJ said, "here's a group a lot of folks have never heard of, and that I have never heard of before, but I really like it. Fleetwood Mac."
:kimjonundisappoint:

2024-11-08 00:07:20 UTC

My child has to bring his lunch in a clear plastic bag on a field trip because our society won't do anything at all about easy access to guns causing gun violence.
#guns #guncontrol #gunrights #ProtectKids #protectkidsnotguns #parenting #gunviolence

2024-11-07 15:51:36 UTC

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every post Atwood posts on Twitter is a legitimization of right wing propaganda. Maybe she should leave it.

2024-11-06 20:41:39 UTC

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Concurring piece
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/democratic-party-elite-responsible-catastrophe/
> To a distressing degree, Harris has been spending the closing weeks of her campaign trying to win over Never Trump Republicans, at the expense of highlighting her own economic populism and defense of abortion rights.

2024-11-06 20:04:20 UTC

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turnout. Tens of millions of 2020 Democratic voters just didn't show up

2024-11-06 16:48:15 UTC

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https://assortedflotsam.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/437/028/750/077/179/original/4ea448a962a2de22.mp4

2024-11-06 13:10:52 UTC

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last time, his only major policy achievements were
- tax cuts for the wealthy
- putting immigrant kids in cages
- failing to respond to a pandemic
- Scotus appointments
But like others said, he's more dangerous now than before.

2024-11-06 04:50:28 UTC

Alcohol sales on Sunday!
#arkansas #arpx #ArkansasPolitics #fayetteville #fayettevillear #northwestarkansas
https://assortedflotsam.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/434/200/495/604/007/original/b123ca0b13517b2a.png

2024-11-05 19:01:50 UTC

"I supported shitty policies until they impacted my life, and now I'm realizing the policies are shitty - but I only want exceptions for my circumstances"
An Arkansas mother’s near-death experience with ‘pro-life’ abortion ban
https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2024/11/04/an-arkansas-mothers-near-death-experience-with-pro-life-abortion-ban
#abortion #reproductiverights #reproductivecare #arkansas #ArkansasPolitics #arpx #prolife #prochoice #womensrights #familyplanning

2024-11-02 05:17:04 UTC

I'm having a really odd desktop #linux issue where my caps lock functionality is reversed. If the light is OFF I get caps. If it's ON, I don't get caps. A reboot doesn't solve it.

2024-10-31 23:48:15 UTC

I'm noticing a trend: houses with Harris/Walz signs are the ones giving out #halloween candy. The Trump houses don't.
#trump #harris

2024-10-27 15:18:01 UTC

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and by not federating, I'm not a second class citizen on their platform. I'm not part of their platform at all.
You can't experience the pain they inflict on the open community if you block them.
That carries over to other issues, too, I think

2024-10-27 14:38:39 UTC

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embrace, extend, extinguish. For-profit entities engage with open standards only as long as they can leverage it as a means to render the open standard inferior and leverage its inferiority to undermine it. The classic example is Microsoft, but Discord originally supported IRC bridging until they had effectively replaced IRC on the market is a more recent example.
Plus, I don't want to feed the data machine that is every corporate social network.

2024-10-27 04:55:07 UTC

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still blocking it. Same with Bluesky

2024-10-27 04:40:52 UTC

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there are so many games you can't legitimately play anymore. And many on modern consoles are messes or priced at insane levels.
The best retro handhelds usually don't come with games from their legit storefronts, although the games are easy enough to acquire along with the BIOSs for systems.
I have one for myself, but it's enough of a techy project that I wouldn't recommend buying one for someone else. Don't buy ones with preloaded games, regardless.

2024-10-27 03:52:19 UTC

The place on the Internet where I encounter the most blatant misogyny, by far, is Blind. Has anyone else observed this? It's in every part of the site, besides my private company forum.
It really disturbs me, but doesn't surprise me, that so many professional men are such shitty human beings when they have the cover of anonymity.
#blind #teamblind #misogyny #glassceilings #glassceiling #womensequality #menaretrash

2024-10-18 19:41:54 UTC

Philosopher finds glitch in worldwide patent laws
https://phys.org/news/2024-10-philosopher-glitch-worldwide-patent-laws.html
#philosophy #PhilosophyofLaw #patents #patentlaw

2024-10-15 01:08:26 UTC

The official Nintendo Museum appears to be emulating SNES games on a Windows PC, which is slightly embarrassing | PC Gamer
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/the-official-nintendo-museum-appears-to-be-emulating-snes-games-on-a-windows-pc-which-is-slightly-embarrassing/
#nintendo #emulation #copyright #retrogames #retrogaming #retrogamecorps #snes #nintendomuseum #emulators

2024-10-14 20:36:59 UTC

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Rausch Coleman? Most of the NWA home builders are trash.

2024-10-09 23:23:01 UTC

Mostly true, I think
https://assortedflotsam.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/280/034/020/382/746/original/17c57214a63c6d1f.jpg

2024-09-23 13:59:46 UTC

Regulators are panicking about what CHINA companies are doing with data gathering, but have zero interest in regulating the aggressive anti-consumer practices being inflicted by US corporations.
Case in point: stores with digital price tags doing dynamic pricing based on customer data
#data #dataprivacy #privacy #anticonsumer #anticonsumerism #pricegouging #kroger #walmart #databrokers #greedflation

2024-09-20 13:44:56 UTC

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I really like gas station coffee that's been sitting there for too long. Something about it really hits the spot.
And that's why I've never tried smoking.

2024-09-20 04:35:13 UTC

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Arkansas is the only state where the Prohibition Party has achieved full ballot listing for its presidential candidate

2024-09-19 19:55:44 UTC

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the only reason I'm seeing this is due to boosting

2024-09-06 15:27:59 UTC

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so walking in the kitchen, I realized that I did get her a low-end espresso machine a few months back and she often uses that, too. But the aeropress is still used and has been the go-to for more than a decade.
Always use whole bean and grind it. If you like the local stuff, they all sell whole bean. Airship, Arsagas, etc

2024-09-06 13:03:14 UTC

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you can get a metal filter for the aeropress, if you haven't already. Makes it even more sustainable.
My spouse was a barista at an independent coffee shop years back, and the aeropress is all she needs these days. Everything else is too much effort for not much improvement.

2024-09-05 12:41:36 UTC

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the only solution to traffic is viable alternatives to driving. And NWA is expanding almost nothing in that direction, besides the occasional bike trail that doesn't have great connectivity (mostly recreational).

2024-08-27 21:50:21 UTC

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I have mixed feelings on this. It's true that car dependency is the real problem, so EVs aren't the solution, but also, we have infrastructure that is 99% car dependent and that can't be fixed overnight. I bought an EV specifically because it was -something- I could do versus doing nothing.
And the car companies abandoning EVs is because they were never really for it. They chased whales instead of commuter cars. And now we have a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs that are actually affordable.

2024-08-24 22:04:41 UTC

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literally everything I see in every channel is scams. If you told me there was CP channels, I would believe it

2024-08-23 21:22:39 UTC

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stop using Chrome. everyone. stop. please

2024-08-19 15:27:06 UTC

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who exactly was paying him? From Twitter clicks, for being an "influencer"?

2024-08-13 17:18:51 UTC

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When it impacts an entire community on both sides, an administrator should be doing due diligence and not act off the cuff.

2024-08-13 16:31:30 UTC

I think other Fediverse admins who find 1 post with problematic content on other servers and don't report them, and instead block the entire server, are assholes relatively on par with Elon.
Are you 100% certain that every little post, comment, or DM on your server aligns with your values? Do you think your entire server should be blocked because you have 1 bad user and NOBODY REPORTED IT? If you report and they do nothing, then OK.
I welcome the discussion on this.
#mastoadmin #fediverse

2024-08-13 03:10:18 UTC

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my kid is 9 and understands

2024-08-06 21:11:10 UTC

There's very little difference between Google's approach to Chrome, and web designers' exclusive development for it today, and Microsoft circa 2003's approach to Internet Explorer combined with webdev's then.
Standards must be browser neutral. Frameworks must be browser neutral.
#webdev #browser #browsers #chrome #google #internetexplorer #monopoly

2024-07-26 03:52:44 UTC

Study Finds 77% of Employees Report AI Has Increased Their Workload
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2024/07/23/employees-report-ai-increased-workload/ #ai #genai #chatgpt #llm #gemini

2024-07-08 14:56:53 UTC

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They're admitting to fraud that caused hundreds of deaths, and they are only paying a fine. When fines are the punishment for crimes, it means there is no crime for the wealthy.