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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 1st, 2023

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  • If you count cars: A Skoda Octavia PHEV.

    I love Skoda. I love the Octavia. It was my fourth Octavia and I already ordered two more for my staff. PHEV would have been ideal for our use case.

    Well,things didn’t go as planned.

    The whole car was bugged with software and hardware problems from day one - controll units randomly crapping out, when my dealer wanted to replace them he often had to get 5 units because four would be DOA and the one that worked kicked the bucket before I left his premises. Highlights:

    • A steering wheel coming loose (only slightly,but still)
    • The main display that shows your speed,etc. randomly shutting down. (Especially nice as I live close to Switzerland with their exorbitant speeding tickets)
    • Randomly playing a screeching sound at full volume (especially nice at 3am or when on a highway)
    • Randomly shutting of AC, some motor controls , etc.

    It took 12 months for VW to take that steaming pile back, and only we sued them (Shortly before the hearing).

    Second place goes to LG which sold me a OLED TV for 2k that randomly showed faulty pixel lines exactly 3 years and 3 days after I bought it (so it’s out of the extended warranty programs as well). And when asked for a quote for the repair they had the audacity to ask for almost the new price for the TV back then, aka 150% of the current market value - without even looking at it first. Good way to make sure that I never buy LG anymore.



  • It depends on the type of “nursing home” - in a facility catering for more mobile clients, yes, there are some benefits from it and there are actually some good studies on it. The major obstacle is the reduced joint mobility (Arthritis of the fingers) and reduced reaction times. Therefore it would be paramount to use adapted control methods and adapted games.

    In a nursing home that has a clientbase focused on the nursing aspect it’s far more difficult - most clients will be “too far gone” for most aspects of gaming with a regular PC,but there are some studies using adapted devices and therapists to activate patients ressources.


  • Same with healthcare. I am a paramedic by trade, was the youngest in my class, youngest commander, went to work around the world, from the European Alps to the African jungle to Australian outback.

    It was quite a journey.

    But sadly I had to recognise that I am not cut out of the wood that is required to survive in today’s healthcare systems in industrial nations. It made me profoundly hate humans and even more sick humans. I dread every single day I still have to work with patients. Especially awake patients. I can’t handle them anymore. Don’t get me wrong. I am still giving 100%, sometimes more - and I don’t judge,like some other colleagues do over the years. I don’t care if you are a frequent flyer, a drunk or a murderer - I will give everything and be very nice to you. But inside me? I burn out.

    It’s not that I can’t work with the misery,with things I’ve seen. It’s just that I can’t work with people and the system they are part of anymore.I am now lucky enough to mostly be “off the road” in a cushy,self employed, desk job. But still, I can’t fully leave healthcare,as I invested to much. And so I will torture myself again.

    In less than 5 hours my alarm clock is going off for another shift. And I am dreading the moment it will.

    Fuck.








  • Paramedic and former ambulance calltaker: Children, especially that age, were by far my preferred callers. They usually are easy to calm down, they follow commands, they answer questions directly. (e.g. “Does the patient currently have trouble breathing?” - an adult answers "Well,he always had this slight wheezing since he caught the Vietnamese Bubblebuttvirus back in 1972, but it got better in 1992, and then he had…’ - a kid simply replies: “he is coughing a lot and breathing like he ran a lot”.).

    But back to topic: Same age as you were, probably 10. I was a huge fan of the local fire department back then. One day the adult son of my next door neighbour jumped off their roof,easily 8 to 10m. (Mix of suicide and drugs)

    I called the ambulance service, specifically asked them if they would send a helicopter (they frequently do around here), rode my bike to their usual landing spot and led the crew to the patient.

    …While three adults forgot to call the ambulance or called the police (different number here) or the local hospital (not helpful,they do not operate the ambulances here.

    Maybe,just maybe my career as a paramedic was predestined on this faithful day. (Guy made it,btw. But had more success a few years later)

    First aid courses at school do have an effect, I cannot recommend them enough,I have countless sucess stories I came in contact with over the years, including a group of three 12 year olds that resuscitated their teacher.


  • I have a very special set of songs for you:

    1. Hamster Dance
    2. Lama Song
    3. Scooter - How much is the fish
    4. Aqua - Barbie girl

    Now, listen,here is the important part: You do not play all four songs in a row,oh no. You play the first song in a loop for days, every time you go to the loo. Maybe even place a loudspeaker with a motion sensor there.

    Then you stop. And once they feel secure again, when they pull out their stupid phones again, then you strike again. With the same song!

    Then,after a while you stop again. Wait for a while. Of course, they have learned and then expect the previous song again. But nooo! Another one,not one bit better than the first one.

    Break their pooping souls this way!




  • In a family and SOHO setting there is an easy way around it,even without alternative media creating tools and Win11:

    Active directory. Yeah. Microsoft. But not really.

    Samba can be used as an AD server for ages now, it’s free,cheap and can run on a Pi or some NAS. These days it’s fairly easy to set up as long as you only use it for Identification services and basic networking. And Microsoft won’t bother you with their shit ever, as they don’t dare to push corporate clients too much.

    I can recommend it very much. There are also full GUI distributions available,e.g. univention.