If you like Amiga Workbench, you can always try MorphOS. But that is not a straightforward process to get into. And it’s not free software…

If it’s an earlier model, they make great ‘retro’ games and software machines. Install 10.4 Tiger, set up the Classic (OS 9 environment). That gives you a decent chance of running stuff from System 6-ish (late 80s) up to mid 2000s. Not like Macs had a lot of games or unique software, but it can be cool for the heck of it.

Also, with their FireWire ports, it can be handy if you still have old DV or HDV camcorders, pretty straightforward to capture old tapes. The later models are better for this purpose, more processing power and better graphics cards.

If neither of those use cases appeals to you or sounds like an applicable use case, the G5 towers are the best to use for ATX case mods. But you did mention you didn’t see a point in that. Therefore… Recycle it or pass it on to someone who is interested in tinkering with it. After 20 years, just like a lot of computers from that era, they don’t have alot of justified use cases… And that’s okay!

Try and see if my international employer has any semi-permanent positions overseas.

But more likely than not, return to introvert and hope my family doesn’t continue to devolve…

She has a shotgun. I should be okay.

I can’t wait for the EV future and even work for a manufacturer building them… But this post is the reality in the US market right now.

The cars are too expensive, the charging infrastructure is not there for people living in apartments (which at least where I live, accounts for the majority of new housing construction), our local power grid is already sagging because we haven’t built a power plant in decades… And a significant amount of people have commutes totaling or exceeding 80mi (round trip) because the jobs are in the city, but don’t pay well enough to live there, so they have to rent in the more rural towns and rely on the interstates to get around.

Could we, in America, make the 2030 deadline? Perhaps, but only if the government actually did something about it. We would need a massive infrastructure investment, we would need some regulations that define the cars requirements that are something other than “doesn’t blow smoke”. We would need a more aggressive subsidization program (like most of the other countries that are attempting to push heavy EV adoption)… And above all, it needs to be affordable to everyone, not just the person looking to swap out their BMW or Lexus for the new hotness. It’s gotta be affordable to the blue collar hard worker that is currently driving a late 90s pickup truck, or an early 2000s Camry. It’s gotta be affordable to the family that is buying a four-owner minivan. And it can’t be just because you point out “But the electricity is cheaper than gas! You’ll save in the long run…” Because they’d rather pay for the convenience and peace of mind that comes from knowing there’s a filing station every 10 miles, vs having to plan their existence around 30min charging stops.

If battery tech improves and range anxiety disappears, along with better rapid charging? None of this will be an issue anymore. Because that’s what everyone I’ve talked to is worried about: range and charging time. They want their replacement car to be BETTER than what it replaced. As would everyone, no? Especially when dealing with Americans, asking them the assign value to ‘being efficient/good for the environment’ doesn’t work. So yes, you’ve spent more up front, you’ve reduced the total distance you can drive on a full tank, you made refueling a hassle, and have to also hire a contractor to wire up charging capability in your garage. But you are now personally less responsible for carbon emissions!

…it’s a hard sell. What’s also a hard sell: I am one person. I do not need an SUV. I drive a coupe Civic right now… Where’s my compact econobox EV? Do I have to buy a big luxury sedan or SUV (or truck! Though I appreciate Ford and Rivian for making those options available) just to have an EV?

Road construction has long been an afterthought in the state, along with all infrastructure. They’re quick to put plants and industry in place, then have heavy trucks destroy what bit of road was left… Then take half a decade to decide that maybe they should have built the road first, but now have nowhere else to put it.

Usenet and the message boards being referred to are ‘proto-internet’ services. Think BBS, where your computer dialed into a service, and you could interact with that builiten board, the messages and users on it, as well as any files it had available for download.

Usenet had newsgroups that were very diverse and specific, and originally were just like message boards, but at some point, the major remaining Usenet servers started just sharing to each other, or maybe more appropriately, they would reference each other.

As someone mentioned before, it’s a protocol just like HTTP. There’s a bunch of servers all hosting webpages made in hypertext, and we just jump between them with links. Likewise, there’s a bunch of servers out there hosting newsgroups, but you have to find a gateway to get started. The reason there’s no ‘one’ company is akin to asking why all websites aren’t hosted/owned by one company.

If anything… It’s kinda like lemmy/fediverse stuff. You make an account with one instance, but since the protocols are the same, you can use your account on that one instance to talk to the whole fediverse network, multiple instances.

Why it costs is because at this point, it’s an archive. A huge archive, of not just text discussions, but also all the files that have been posted since a very long time ago. And just like the currently ‘free’ archive.org, it costs money to host all of that. Usenet is a bit less resource intensive than a modern website, so it can just basically sit… But they just ask that you pay to access it, pay to have an account. In this case, you’re paying to access a network that is separated from the rest of the internet at large.

The moment we’ve all been waiting for.

Before COVID, Coca-Cola all the way. Not too sweet, and was often more consistent in cans and bottles.

Something happened after COVID, and it no longer tastes the same. I don’t know if this was the effects of the illness, or a change in manufacturing.

… Right now, it’s Dr. Pepper (or Cheerwine, if I can find it). Sharp bite, good flavor, doesn’t really have an analog with other drinks. However, I can buy one bottle and it be perfect, and buy another bottle the next day and it be less carbonated than it needs to be, or too sweet and syrupy… And I can’t ever tell why.

Is the lover of hyperfixations and infodumps in the room right now?

Just like AM2R and plenty of other things, once it’s out there in the internet, it’ll never truly disappear. However, the dev expressed some relief in not having to build more than he already has.

I have high hopes for his next project ^^

Nintendo has never publicly released the tools required to build games for the N64. The tools that he used during development (specifically the libUltra library that helps programmers talk to the N64 hardware) therefore are not legally his to use, nor does he have legal rights to distribute software built using it.

As such, Valve is stepping up and asking the project to halt because if Nintdo wanted, they could cause legal troubles for the developer and/or Valve. Since the Portal name and assets are in use, Nintendo could go after Valve as well for seemingly “supporting” unauthorized use of their proprietary tools.

The door hacking in Deus Ex Human Revolution. Each one was unique, could be solved by skill (speed and precision) or with tools (consumable items found throughout the game). It was a mini puzzle game each time you tried to unlock something.

At the time, I loved it so much I tried to build my own version but it never went anywhere.

I own an IBM Selectic II, dual pitch, with the extra wide platen. I bought it, spent a long time diagnosing it and cleaning it before it ran properly.

I use it for one specific thing: letter writing. I’m an Aspie and can’t always convey my emotions and thoughts properly, but I sure as hell can write. But not actually write with a pen, my handwriting is horrible.

When I want to say something heartfelt to someone else, I break out nice stationary, high quality paper, and one of my good typing elements, and I type it. I do have corrective tape, but my typing accuracy is pretty low, so I have to slow down. That extra effort is noticable: the type is sharper and blacker than any inkjet or laser printer, the paper is heavyweight and feels good in the hand… It almost commands respect from the reader, to pay attention to something like that.

I used it most recently to write my mother, to thank her for some things she helped me with, but didn’t turn out. I knew she felt her effort was wasted or misplaced, buty words of reassurance didn’t reach her. So I wrote a letter and sent it her way. Even though we’re still in the same town, I mailed it. That made a difference to her, and I know she held onto it… Better than any email, or throwaway text message, and imo better than any printed document composed neatly with a word processor.

I think it’s something special.

Back when I was into forums, being active and contributing usually turned into being accepted in the community. With these Discord’s, I’ve been ignored and overlooked every time.

Being on the spectrum doesn’t help… It’s like you have to learn how to communicate all over again.

4 servers and counting… I feel you ):

I’m not getting laid anyways, and already have to wear a hat all the time. Give me my hair back.

I was raised a specific way with Christianity at the core of it. My mom was Catholic but didn’t really practice, my dad’s side had a history of church leadership, but it skipped a generation. Both of them went to a revival right before having kids. By the time I was born and aware, they were very dedicated members of a local Baptist church.

I wasn’t allowed to read comics, watch most TV, listen to most music. I couldn’t watch most movies, we didn’t have cable, we didn’t have internet, so I was stuck thinking this is just the way it was.

Even inside the church, I wasn’t allowed to play with certain kids, talk to certain adults. I wasn’t allowed to talk with girls… A lot of stuff I wasn’t allowed or supposed to do.

I was ADHD and an Aspie, but my family didn’t really like that kind of medicine so I never took anything. High expectations to meet, and constant disappointment in my failure to meet them.

Nonetheless, I believed the Bible, in God, in Jesus. I listened to the teachings and stories. I learned what I was supposed to be as a Christian: good, kind, caring, putting others first, denying yourself, etc. and I thought that was great. It made me very understanding of others, listening to them and meeting them where they were. It made me generous and kind, offering help with no hope for reward or return. I didn’t mind that I never got my way, was always wanting more… That didn’t matter, my reward would come later, just like the Bible said.

~

Enter Obama. While I was excited about the advent of a new president but wasn’t yet old enough to vote, politics started to creep into religion. People blamed him and Democrats for everything, while reverting to scriptures and other doctrines to say why. After a soul searching moment related to the legalization of gay marriage, I realized that what the government did wasn’t at all pertinent or related to the church.

The pastor I had at the time navigated this issue with finesse and grace. He called on our church members to follow the basics: the Bible applies to Christians, not non believers. And believers or not, we should treat everyone with kindness and love. Needless to say, he got subtly pressured to leave over the next year or so. I appreciate him a lot for speaking up and asking for love in a time of growing hatred. Last I heard he became a sports coach for a high school, living the example of showing love by doing, not saying.

~

After that, with Trump on the horizon… My church devolved into the cesspool of trying to reunite religious law with common law. They wanted to outlaw gays because “the Bible says so”. They wanted to stop abortion because “the Bible says so”. They wanted to get rid of all the immigrants… Because the Bible said so? No, beyond those two points the Bible and Jesus were left behind, and instead the hatred started to pour out of these people. There was no love, it was only hatred and spite and fear. Trusting in God meant voting Republican. Doing his will was reduced to wearing red hats and saying “Lets Go Brandon”. Spending money on improving the nation and it’s inhabitants was socialism, the very enemy of the American people…

And it was at that point I realized that the religion I was taught as a kid, of love and kindness to all mankind at your own expense… Was gone. You didn’t need religion to be a good person and to help others. Religion was being used like a crowbar in the gears of our democracy. And it seemed to be used similarly everywhere else, too.

I had better access to the internet, interacted with more people, and found that my suffering as a kid came from a denial of science by my parents, and holding me to restrictions in the name of faith that did nothing but damage my growth.

~

I like Jesus, the concepts, the teachings, the story. And wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone who claimed to live in his name acted to his example? But nobody really does. I’ve been spending more time attempting to deprogram myself from religion and faith recently, because I’m pretty sure a day will come where that classic scenario would happen: someone will hold a gun to my head and ask if I believe. But it’s not going to be some godless terrorist bent on eradicating the “good news”. It’ll be some proud American patriot with Fox News pouring from his headphones, following his Republican Party’s call to action, killing those who don’t believe in what he does because he’s been told that’s the only way he’s getting heaven on earth.

And despite whatever I may think, that day I’ll gladly say I no longer believe.

My company is a few years into an Infosys partnership. From the first meeting, we had people disappointed. All this time later we’re behind on every project, and spend more time arguing about payments and KPIs than actually getting work done.

It’s easy to say your KPIs are green when you don’t measure anything of value, and really easy to say we owe you for services when you have no proof of services rendered.

To learn they’re pretty anti-human and profit driven from the top down is just icing on the cake

I’ve been using discord since mid 2018, and got Nitro shortly after. Loved longer messages, bigger file uploads, and HD screensharing, especially after Mixer went down (FTL streaming was the only service that let me share my gameplay to friends fast enough for them to react).

That moved to Discord Classic, I kept those things that I use daily, and its worth it to me. It took a lot of convincing to get my friends to migrate from my self hosted Mumble server to Discord for voice chat… Before Steam revamped it’s friends interface, there weren’t a lot of good options. What were you gonna use, Skype? Teamspeak?! Discord isn’t nearly as valuable today, in 2023, but at the time it was worth it. Till it starts to come apart at the seams, not sure why to switch.

So I’m not alone, then! Neat ^^