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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 2nd, 2023

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  • They made it the default option for businesses that routinely buy computers with less local storage than their users need. Pretty much every company I have worked for.

    They then pushed it out hard into the consumer market when SSD came out and the average storage space on lower end models dropped by 75%.

    I see why they did it, how they did it was in usual Microsoft fashion, idiotic.

    It’s sort of their pattern.

    1. Introduce new changes.

    2. Screw it up royalty.

    3. Fix the features that are salvageable and revert most of the remaining except: Double down on the shitty ones that they think will make them more money.

    4. Rinse and Repeat






  • That is in Saudi Arabia. Not that far from the border with Jordan.

    GPS 30.0095403, 38.3257591

    Those are mostly alfalfa fields that Saudi decided to use a fossil aquifer to water. Their wells are running dry and which is why there is so many abandoned fields. These are areas they don’t have enough water. It’s mixed in with date palms now as well.




  • Been on my own since I as 17. The first few years were rough to say the least.

    I worked 2 jobs, 30-60 hrs per week and went to college. I shared shitty apartments with some pretty creepy people. I moved so constantly I ended up paying for a post office box so I could get my mail. I did not have a vehicle (no car) so I rode a bike for up to 60 miles per day. Even all that wasn’t enough without government grants and student loans to pay for college.

    Food was something that I ate when I had it. I spent a few months with mybe 4-5 real meals. Cornflakes and ramen where the bulk of my diet for a while.

    I took the first professional job I could find. It was terrible but it paid well. I gained 50lbs to be at a healthy weight the first year. The next few years I jumped around jobs until I landed in one I liked.

    The last few weeks before I graduated college I met my wife. Her family has become mine over the past 25 years.

    Today my income alone puts us in the top 10% of earners. My wife makes close to the same. At many crucual times in our lifes we’ve taken advantage of government assistance. To be blunt, it’s not possible to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. You need a helping hand once in a while no matter how small.


  • Same math I figured out.

    At the same time my student loans were at 8% interest. Guess who cashed out every 401K as I changed jobs every couple of years early in my career. I used it to pay off student loans and purchase my first home.

    The sad fact is that it’s expensive to be broke. If your debt to income ratio is high, creditors fuck you over. Paying down those student loans has paid me back several times over in lower interest loans for cars and our mortgage

    I didn’t really start saving money until after I was 30. To be honest I really didn’t start making a decent wage until I was 35. To put it into perspective, I put more into my retirement account per year now than I would have in 5 years from 20-35 years old.



  • In this instance it’s likely a different variety. I would guess it’s a processing variety versus a shipping variety.

    Most strawberries for long distance shipping are bred for a lower degree of softening during the ripening process. This is done by selective breeding for a lower expression of expansin activity. This allows for them to have a shelf life of 3 weeks.

    Processing varities (preserves, freezing, etc) have a very sort shelf life. Often only 3-4 days. They are selected for the deep red color throughout the fruit as well as yield. This deep red color looks better in the finished products.


  • We’ve had a constant selection pressure for people who are economically and socially adaptable to move away from small towns since the start of the industrial revolution.

    The issue is who is left in the towns. It’s people who are socially and economically highly resistant to change.

    What’s interesting is why they are so resistant, studies show it’s an overdeveloped sense of fear. They are terrified of moving to a new location. I know many people who refuse to visit any city because “it’s too dangerous”. People in small towns today live in a constant state of fear. Political and religious organizations have stoked that fear to a fever pitch.

    Unsurprisingly, depression and anxiety rates are high in rural communities. Areas that also have poor mental health services. So they use drugs and alcohol at a higher as a form of self-medication.