totm nov 2023 Thread to discuss negative things in a very general way, just see where it goes y'know?

[Nuke]

manwhile on the paypal is stupid front. you cant log in on a pc without a phone. but you can install android x86 to a vm install the app and use the exact same credentials to log in from there. do they think hackers are ignorant to vms? why doesnt the app require a second factor? i swear its all about turning people into phone-slaves and has nothing to do with security. totp is better and doesnt need another gadget that i dont want. 

[richfiles]

5 hours ago, Nuke said:

old cat walked off last night and didnt return.

I lost my cat last year, so that pain is still pretty fresh. It hurts so much when they can't continue the journey alongside us. As much as it hurts us when they leave like that, it's their instinctual way of caring for us in their final moment... They leave us, because their instincts lead them to avoid drawing predators or disease carriers near their family group. It might not feel good when they disappear, as it leaves us without closure, but know that our pets really do love us and care for us. For them, this is how their instincts tell them to show it. Your kitty was thinking of you to the end.

My cat was strictly an indoor cat. She leaned up against the door of the back room so it couldn't be opened. I think that was her way of "wandering off"... 
I was able to slip a plastic panel under the door, to slide her away enough so I could enter. As much as it hurt, I knew she was telling me it was time. I took her straight to the vet.

Edited September 6, 2021 by richfiles

[tater]

Sorry about your cat, @Nuke.

 

[Nuke]

On 9/6/2021 at 3:22 PM, tater said:

Sorry about your cat, @Nuke.

 

i like to think he is slaying mice in valhalla. he was the top cat most of his life, even managing to chase off the occasional dog well into his final months. and it makes sense that he would check out on his terms. 

[AlamoVampire]

Irritating menu changes…  I was hungry around 0130 so I decided to go to Jack in The Box (JiTB) for the one thing (my opinion) on their menu that was any good. Bacon and Cheddar Potato Wedges. I get to one of the few JiTB with a 24hr drive thru. They had a few cars in line and I settle up to the pre menu (the menu ahead of the menu with the intercom) and idly glance it over.  I notice that the wedges are missing on it. In their place? Mini tacos… Their normal tacos are awful (my opinion) and the mini ones looked worse. I googled JiTB and found they stripped them off the menu. 
 

I just do not understand why they were taken off. They did this before and customer outcry got JiTB to re add them to the menu. The wedges were popular and yet JiTB (who seems to be struggling to maintain a stable client base in my area) removes a popular item? I dont get it. 
 

031210092021

[StrandedonEarth]

6 hours ago, AlamoVampire said:

I just do not understand why they were taken off. They did this before and customer outcry got JiTB to re add them to the menu. The wedges were popular and yet JiTB (who seems to be struggling to maintain a stable client base in my area) removes a popular item? I dont get it. 
 

I never tried them, but my best guess is that it sounds like sort of a niche product that only they carry, and it ends up being not profitable enough to maintain the supply. If a big outcry convinces JiTB to bring them back, I'd expect a significantly higher price.

[Bej Kerman]

I hate it when fans of something refuse to acknowledge anything negative about their game.

[AlamoVampire]

5 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

I never tried them, but my best guess is that it sounds like sort of a niche product that only they carry, and it ends up being not profitable enough to maintain the supply. If a big outcry convinces JiTB to bring them back, I'd expect a significantly higher price.

If memory serves they were first introduced nearly 30 years ago in 1994, then discontinued in 2013 only to be brought back 6 months later only to be discontinued again this year. They cost around 3-4$ when last I got them. There are recipes on the web on how to make them. Are or were they niche? Yes in that not many (kfc had wedges too but also discontinued them this year) had them. They were profitable, why else would they have existed nearly 30 years? The monster tacos on the other hand are 99 cents and are only remarkable for how tough they are (truth in my experience) and how off putting their color is. Last time i was around a pair they were the color of rice paper, this sickly pale white/clay color. They new mini tacos are curiously only pictured 2 ways: loaded (covered in so much bs you cannot see the tacos clear) or spicy which look like they took a sheet pan, laid down a heavy layer of flamin hot cheeto dust, compressed it solid and punched out 1-2 inch tacos.

152510092021

[StrandedonEarth]

My wife has had another active day chasing down another bratty kindergartner who hasn't learned how to accept not getting his/her way, which also includes accepting "No" as an answer. I feel the problem boils down to the lack of effective disciplinary tools in schools today. When corporal punishment isn't an option (for good reasons; as the boundary of what if anything is acceptable is extremely hazy), what is a teacher to do when the kid refuses to go stand/stay in the 'timeout' corner?

I think teachers should be armed. With squirtguns. It won't hurt the kids, but it will sure get their attention!

I'm reminded of an exchange from the The Chonicles of Pern: First Fall: (paraphrased; I don't recall the exact quote)

Quote

 

A: "But teachers were revered, respected professionals!"

B: "Sure, once they were allowed to use stunners and shocksticks!"

 

@adsii1970, care to weigh in on this? I know you teach at the other end of the grinder, but I value your input....

[kerbiloid]

4 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

I think teachers should be armed. With squirtguns. It won't hurt the kids, but it will sure get their attention!

Spoiler

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099277/

 

[Nuke]

had an option to buy an rtx3070 at about $800 which i had to very reluctantly turn down. only problem was the card was a little too chonky to fit into my sff build. i mean i got tons of space as far as an sff build goes, this thing can fit a dual slot 3-fan card all the way to 332mm. height is an issue, a lot of cards are just too tall and dont give me room to connect the power, only 3.5cm is available between the top of the bracket and the case panel, this one would have barely scraped by because it used recessed power connectors. it the thickness that kills it though, id have to remove case fans and the front panel usb, both of which i kind of need. 

[richfiles]

I wanted to replace my main computer, which is a Hackintosh built on an i7 3770K, and migrate the old one to my workshop. Prior to all the crazy, I had been planning to build an all AMD build, but then... well, you know... and I never made the purchases. A buddy had been financially struggling, and so I bought his 4770K parts off of him (he HAD recently built an AMD system). I snagged a 4790K CPU, and 16GB more RAM (he had 16GB, and I wanted 32GB). I also bought his 780ti, despite it's age, because the 780ti is the highest Nvidia GPU that is still compatible with Mac OS (Compatible up through Mac OS 11: Big Sur, but not beyond that). My current Hackintosh is stuck on Mac OS 10.10, which is WAY out of date, and is compatible with the Nvidia GTX 980ti by way of a web driver...

Apple is currently in an immature little feud with Nvidia, and has not granted code certification for any web drivers beyond Mac OS 10.13

I plan to have an install of 10.14 for 32-bit application compatibility, and a second boot volume with Mac OS 11, to be more up to date...

I HAVE to downgrade the GPU from the 980ti to the 780ti in order to have it be compatible with BOTH OS versions! Worse, I have no better card at all that works on the newer Mac OS. to complicate matters, even if I upgrade, I'm limited to upgrade no better than Vega 64, because Mac OS 14 has no support for Radeon VII, RX 5x00, or RX 6x00! I REALLY despise that Apple intentionally killed 32-bit application execution. It forces me to maintain an older install of 10.14 to be able to have something I can boot into for things like older games, where the company is no longer around to update them to 64-bit, for example... but needing to rely on 10.14 holds back how new a GPU I can install!

. . .

Not as if those are even reasonably obtainable right now... A Vega 64 costs a madness inducing $800-900 these days... USED!!!

In the end, the GTX 980ti is gonna end up in my workshop PC, which is gonna just be Windows. It's also likely to get the 4790K CPU and motherboard anyway... It wouldn't make any sense to pair the weaker CPU with the better GPU. Eventually I still wanna build that AMD system, but that won't be any time soon. I set out to upgrade my main computer, but at this point, I still end up with the same old 3770K motherboard... but with a GPU DOWNGRADE, from 980ti to 780ti! I can't win!

Edited October 25, 2021 by richfiles

[DDE]

Strong wind or weak brick?

 

[kerbiloid]

A large sail attached.

https://www.interfax.ru/moscow/798887

[Kernel Kraken]

My friends recently found an in-person computer parts store (I was amazed it existed!) and went to check it out. One of them texted me a picture of an RTX 3060ti on the shelf and asked if I wanted one, and I could pay him back later. Turns out they were charging $900 for it. How are actual retail establishments scalping like this???

[richfiles]

I went to a local computer shop because I needed an Ethernet to USB adapter. Decided I'd rather support the local computer shop than help fund another Bezos launch... I know, I know... but still... I got there, and low and behold, what was on the shelf at the shop, but an Amazon Basics Ethernet to USB adapter, plus small markup. 

Oh well, I needed it, so I bought it anyway.
I guess Bezos is funded to launch another day.

[StrandedonEarth]

So our kitchen reno has been done for months now, with just one thing missing: the beverage fridge. Delivery has been pushed back a month or so at a time, and is now expected mid-November.

Cue the cargo ship that lost 100 or so containers off Vancouver Island, and now a container of appliances and other retail goods has washed up on a remote beach, spreading what is now garbage everywhere.

Why do I have a sinking feeling that our beverage center is going to be pushed back several more months...? 

[kerbiloid]

It's winter coming. You beverages will freeze anyway. So, the fridge will arrive in time, when the rivers melt.

[DDE]

Somebody else has requested an authentication code for my WhatsApp for the second time in two days. They also tried to register my phone on Binance.

Not sure if it's all nefarious or just someone with fat fingers. Enabled 2FA on WhatsApp just in case, but that won't protect me from an outright hack - or from a crooked employee of the cell operator selling a dupe of my sim card.

[tater]

Ugh, went to browse for something to wear to a Halloween party tonight, looked like a meme about supply chain failures. Yeah, I should have gone sooner, but I entirely lacked interest in dystopian shopping.

Guess I come up with something from stuff I have around the house.

[Bej Kerman]

On 10/19/2021 at 1:54 AM, StrandedonEarth said:

what is a teacher to do when the kid refuses to go stand/stay in the 'timeout' corner?

Keep moving them to the timeout corner until they behave... rather than resorting to violence... on 5 year olds... Somehow I get the impression that adults who never learned to accept not getting their way become the ones that believe in corporal punishment.

[DDE]

8 minutes ago, tater said:

Ugh, went to browse for something to wear to a Halloween party tonight, looked like a meme about supply chain failures. Yeah, I should have gone sooner, but I entirely lacked interest in dystopian shopping.

Guess I come up with something from stuff I have around the house.

Earlier last week, Russia has gone into its first federal-level shutdown. This has made the end of the week rather hectic for all sort of retail and services.

The library-goers in the notoriously cultured Saint-Petersburg have been reduced to pugilism.

https://www.fontanka.ru/2021/10/27/70219484/

Edited October 30, 2021 by DDE

[tater]

10 minutes ago, DDE said:

Earlier last week, Russia has gone into its first federal-level shutdown. This has made the end of the week rather hectic for all sort of retail and services.

The library-goers in the notoriously cultured Saint-Petersburg have been reduced to pugilism.

https://www.fontanka.ru/2021/10/27/70219484/

While the Halloween stores are usually lower this day each year than in Sept, they are not completely empty as they are now. Whatever I do it won't be too complicated, I need to be able to hold a cocktail and some food in a crowd of people.

[Vanamonde]

Back off the tempers, please. Remember when we had to close the previous thread like this and we only agreed to allow a new one if you all promised to behave? Let's not do that again. 

[Vanamonde]

Okay, that didn't work. Let's try removing the off-topic argument. 

Please remember that this thread is for expressing dismay and irritation, not for telling other people why they should or shouldn't be feeling dismay and irritation.