trackindakraken

Many readers are overly sensitive these days. If you use things like a period on the end of your sentences, and don't include emojis, then anything you say will be called out as "hostile" by some people.

https://www.npr.org/2020/09/05/909969004/before-texting-your-kid-make-sure-to-double-check-your-punctuation

Also, I've noticed many people ignore qualifiers in speech. If you use qualifiers thoughtfully, having them ignored by the reader can lead to miscommunication. I think the fact that so many people have used them without thought has led to a blindness for qualifiers. OTH, not including qualifiers can make us sound authoritative and even arrogant to some people.

For instance, in my first sentence, above, I said "Many readers...", and "...things like...", and "...by some people." If you ignore those qualifiers, what I said takes on a very different tone.

Can't win for losing.

Several times, but not recently, Walmart self-checkout machines would reset after I scanned the first item, I dunno why. But I figured I did my part by scanning it, so I didn't re-scan it, even though I knew it had reset. I could just play dumb, which isn't hard for me, if anyone asked. No one ever asked, but they upgraded the software, and it stopped doing that.

The employees seem a bit happier as attendants than cashiers, so I guess that's a good thing. I don't know how many lost their jobs to the machines, though.

I'll admit that I'm happier with self-checkout, because I almost never need to wait in line anymore.

The Walmart self-checkout near me doesn't use the weight sensors, they're turned off. It makes checking out much easier. Also, they flow better, for instance, at Lowe's, you need to specifically press the "Pay Now" button to pay, but at Walmart you can just shove your card in when you're done scanning, and it starts the checkout process. At Lowe's you must choose between the print or email receipt, but at Walmart you can let the question time-out while you put the groceries back in the cart, and it will print the receipt. The Smith's self-checkout is even more clunky, and very chatty. I don't like it.

There are plenty of reasons to hate Walmart, but IMO, their self-checkout works better than the others I've tried.

Did none of you watch the video? The article is crap, but the video explains it well.

Go back and watch the video, ya old codgers!

Back when the Alcubierre drive was in the news, and it was revealed that the drive might be used as a very effective planet killer, I had a thought.

Suppose one or more civilizations in our galaxy developed this already eons ago. Suppose they peppered probes throughout the galaxy to report back when any such drive was detected in use. Suppose they were fearful and paranoid. They could send an automated ship to destroy any system where drive use was newly detected. This is why we see no signs of civilization in the rest of the galaxy.

We build the Alcubierre drive (which apparently is not possible because anti-matter falls the wrong way?), and minutes after the first time we fire it up, the entire system is destroyed. If there were anyone left to place blame, we'd blame ourselves.

Right this minute? I'd be very surprised, as that has never happened for me before, and I didn't think it was even possible. I'd also wonder if it was just me, or if everyone around the world had lost their clothes. Then, I'd look in my closet to see if still had clothes in there. This is all very strange, and I have many questions.

As someone who attempts to do the same, you're right, it's not possible to completely avoid doing business with these companies. But, I still make an effort to avoid them, I won't give up and start buying directly from Amazon's site, just because I can't avoid them 100%. Nothing is black and white, we all live in the gray zones.

I'm trying Ubuntu now. I've had it installed for about three months. I only switch to Windows 10 to play Starfield. The only problem I've had... (delete, it's a long story I don't want to write). I had to reinstall, I couldn't figure out how to reinstall and keep my settings and apps, so I had to redo everything. I'm glad I still had Windows (because I wanted to play Starfield), because I would have been screwed--I had formatted the USB stick I used to install Ubuntu the first time. It's been probably over 10 years since I needed to use a recovery disc to get Windows running again.

It's unfortunate that AAA game developers won't support Linux. But, the money isn't there, and we live under capitalism. Without reliable, plug-n-play, easy-as-Windows game support, Linux will remain niche. I'm sure the point has been made before, but here it is again, and still.

They don't delete anything, though. They just deny YOU access to it.

Instant interest, yes. And, that can quickly lead to attraction, if you follow up on the interest and they reciprocate.

It's really easy to fall in love if both sides are ready and willing. That's why falling in love is chance and a numbers game. There is no special one person, it's just keep meeting new people and hope it happens.

I think the mistake most people make is limiting their choices too narrowly without good reason.

I don't watch shorts, for this reason. I tried them when they first started and noticed I was just scrolling video after video, so I stopped watching them. I don't have addiction issues, though.

I have a lot of things over thirty years old, but I can't say they've been in daily use.

For electronics, and daily use, I have a 13-year-old Toshiba 55" TV. It's basically a big, dumb monitor. Still works perfectly.

I have several nightlights I bought about ten years ago, maybe 12 years ago. They all still work and have been in the same sockets around the house since I bought them. They're the flat, greenish glowing disc kind.

I've had my coffee mug for at least 25 years, it gets daily use.

This may be cheating on the daily use, but I have two brown glass horse bookends. They've been in constant use since I was a kid. I don't know where they came from, they were probably my dad's, as he had a large book collection. So, at least 60 years.