rudyharrelson

Based on the thumbnail I thought it was gonna say “and here’s where I’d put the documentation… if they gave me time to write it!”

Definitely not a stupid question! Networking infrastructure is complex. I’ve been working in IT for years and still find myself scratching my head at times going, “Wait, how does the OSI model work again?”

Connecting to a VPN on your phone while using mobile data basically means the cell phone tower handling your data only sees encrypted data. Whoever your VPN provider is will see your traffic instead of the cell tower.

However, in modern times it’s fair to be wary of backdoors and exploits that can compromise your device and render the VPN encryption moot. There’s not much that regular people can really do to mitigate that possibility other than not use a phone.

If you’re interested in learning more networking fundamentals, I’d recommend starting with the OSI model and its layers.

A handy mnemonic I whipped up with ChatGPT last year for better remembering the order of the layers:

Precise Data Navigation Takes Some Planning Ahead

I run my own wireguard VPN at home and connect to it from my phone when I’m traveling.

Grants me privacy (but not anonymity) from my mobile carrier. Sure, my home ISP still sees my VPN’s traffic, but that’s still one less company able to monitor my web traffic when I’m mobile.

I enjoy listening to college radio stations. They’re usually varied in music genres and tend to reflect what college students want to put on the airwaves.

I’m a fan of 88.3FM Central Carolina Community College Radio.

Why

Why not? Nothing wrong with research and development as long as everyone participating in the test is an informed, consenting adult IMO. The advancements could make current accessibility tech even better. For one reason or another, a quadriplegic person decided they were willing to take the risk, so maybe they consider current accessibility tech for quadriplegics to be insufficient and wanted to try for something better?

Please dude I promise you this is near universally hated by disabled people 😭

Well damn, I didn’t know.

Agreed. I was flippant after reading the headline, since I don’t like Musk, but once I read the story I was like "oh yeah this tech does have big potential for the differently abled. "

A quadriplegic being able to control a cursor on a screen with the implant for 100 days seems like a legit first attempt.

Could be great for the accessibility movement in the long run. But I could be naive or too optimistic.

It’s the belief online that […]

Well, the idea of the “Law of Attraction” is far older than the internet; I recall reading about it in a book on old timey “magick” teachings many years ago. If I recall correctly, the idea was that the only real “magick” in this world is our attention/willpower. So the things we’re attracted to, or the things that we use our willpower toward or spend our time on, are the things we are “magicking” into existence, so to speak.

So if one uses their willpower toward helping others and being a positive person, that’s using the law of attraction to the benefit of others and yourself.

If one uses their willpower to be a total jerk and only look out for themselves, that’s using the law of attraction purely for your own benefit, and maybe to the detriment of others.

One could also use their willpower to, say, stop smoking cigarettes. That would be using the law of attraction for self improvement.

That was my understanding of the idea, anyway. Haven’t read about it since then. I liked the book because it was very clear from the beginning that “magick” is no shortcut to real results because “magick” is just human willpower manifested through actions, and anyone who was offering quick solutions via “magick” was a scam artist.

There’s definitely animosity toward veganism as a concept itself. The types who use the term “soyboy” and boomers who consider eating lots of red meat some kind of manly recreational pastime.

I think “the money is made from animal parts and there are no fully vegan cars so you’re arbitrarily picking and choosing when to be vegan” misses the point of ideological veganism. I’m not a vegan, but I believe the goal for ideological vegans (in contrast with those who are vegan for medical reasons) is to minimize suffering and exploitation within reason for the specific reasons you said. No one can be 100% free of animal parts unless they become an off-the-grid self-sustained homestead.

Vegans know that. But most come to the conclusion that just because you can’t live 100% animal free doesn’t mean you can’t try to get to 80% because you want to live your life in a manner you consider morally and ethically consistent with your collective ideologies. You get as close as you can within reason depending on the various constraints of your individual circumstances. “I am still a vegetarian, and I try to be a vegan, but I occasionally cheat. If there’s a cheese pizza on the band bus, I might sneak a piece,” to quote Weird Al Yankovic.

I’d say most people, including vegans, have more than one goal in life. The “lines in the sand” you’re referring to are at the intersection of their goal to minimize suffering and their goal to, say, keep living. Like if a vegan were told by their doctor, “If you don’t start eating meat, you’ll die from this weird disease,” the vegan likely wouldn’t be like, “Well, I might as well indulge in eggs and milk and all other animal products now since I can’t be 100% vegan” and chow down. They’d probably eat just the amount prescribed by their doctor, because they still don’t like eating meat because its origins bother them.

When I’m hosting an event, guest comfort is my highest priority. I’m not a vegan, but if anyone coming to an event that I’m hosting has dietary restrictions, you can bet your ass I’m going to be accommodating.

It’s not giving them “special treatment” in my eyes; it’s giving them basic respect as my guest. I invited them to an event because they’re a friend/colleague/fellow human who I invited to attend. It’s my responsibility as host to make sure everyone who decided to join me at the event is fed a good meal.

I sympathize with anyone who has a restrictive diet (for medical reasons or otherwise) so I consider this high on the totem pole of tasks involved in event planning. A couple of years ago my doctor told me to cut my carb intake to help lower my cholesterol a bit and it sucked majorly at any event I attended cause there’d be no low-carb options. Could eat all the bacon and eggs I wanted, though, ironically.

And “driver crash”

There’s nothing objective about that opinion at all. I think Mariah Carey’s song is cynical corporate kitsch written for one reason and one reason only: to make money. That’s why I hate it.

OP said it was “well produced”. I don’t believe that is meant to imply it isn’t a soulless cash grab. Big production companies hire skillful producers to write/record/master these cheesy songs because it appeals to a larger portion of the population. Since most people prefer high quality records to something that sounds like it was recorded on a tin can in your garage.

That said, I disagree with OP’s use of the term “objectively” when referring to something like the quality of a work of art. Even if I agree with OP that it is a well-produced record.

I love the Vince Guaraldi tracks from Charlie Brown Christmas, too. But I love Christmas and Christmas music in general, so this thread isn’t for me, lol.

Seconding the recommendation for Virtualbox. Wanted to play my old Lego Island CD a few years ago and I just booted it up in an old Windows VM. Worked like a charm.

Excuse me, we’re gonna need you to add more snark to your comment. All you did was offer helpful advice as to how OP can fix their problem.

Agreed. I was recently prepping a laptop to give to my mom, and planned to put Ubuntu on it since, y’know, it’s “linux for human beings”. I hadn’t used Ubuntu Desktop in years, and was blown away by how unintuitive everything felt in the GUI. nothing behaved how I expected (this isn’t to say it is inherently bad; this is just my experience).

Tried Linux Mint XFCE instead and was instantly relieved that it was a similar user experience to Windows (since that’s typically going to make things easier for beginners).

It’s also my go-to distro if I have a machine lying around that’s in-between tasks and just needs a general-purpose OS for the moment.

I have the regular bags from Food Lion and have been amazed at how sturdy they are.

I only recently noticed they also sell the rigid bags as well, and now I’m thinking of upgrading

I think I accomplished a similar effect on my first linux distro a long time ago with a program called “compiz” (iirc). “I’m so frickin 1337,” I whispered under my breath. Nobody cared except me, though, lol.

Agreed, lol. For me, it’s hamburgers. I’ve made hundreds (thousands?) over the years but I’m still very hit-and-miss at it. Sometimes they turn out good, and other times they turn out rubbery or undercooked. Everything else I can cook with pretty good consistency, but burgers are my kryptonite.

Never messed up a Beyond Burger or Impossible Burger though, lol. Those are pretty idiot-proof, at least.