I don’t think it is generally considered a good book, but I’m sure it depends on who you ask. I thought it had some interesting ideas, but was pretty weak overall.

Neither side has been willing to change, or even talk about, the shift of wealth that has left most people barely able to get by. Working people get less and less reward for their efforts and the difference all goes to the owners. I think that is at least one aspect of Bernie’s complaint about the Democrats.

Possibly, but life is full of risks.

What you really need is a carbon fiber shoehorn. If you do manage to deform it the thing will go right back to its original shape.

I understand the desire to get even, but it isn’t likely to happen and it isn’t likely to be satisfying, even if you succeed. You should focus on things that will make your life better and not things that will make someone else’s life worse, even if they richly deserve it.

You are going to have to make some compromises. You are currently putting up with a situation you don’t like, in exchange for the salary, side benefits, and location. That’s isn’t necessarily a bad tradeoff, but it is not likely to be a good long-term situation. Once management decides they have a problem with you, things are going to get worse sooner or later. It will be better for you if you leave rather than being forced out.

You need to make some decisions about which of the things you like about your situation you would be willing to give up for a better job. That will tell you what to do next. Maybe the answer is to hold out for a better position within your current organization, although the chances don’t sound good. You may need to take a salary cut to find a local position that’s better for you. You may need to move. You may even need to change careers entirely.

The key is to make your own decisions and not allow others to force them on you. There are a lot of factors you can’t control. Focus on the ones you can. And don’t stay in a bad situation with the hope that everything will work out the way you want it to.

Just bear in mind that nothing involved in “refurbishing” a drive removes the wear it has already experienced. That may or may not matter to you. The mean time between failures for a particular model is a meaningful statistic, but it doesn’t tell you too much about any individual drive. You may get lucky or unlucky with the lifespan.

If you check and monitor your drives, as various people have recommended here, you are less likely to be surprised by a failure. If you keep them backed up you won’t be out anything more than the replacement cost of the drive when it does happen.

The right wing has been actively working to undermine our educational system since the early 80’s. A poorly educated populace, particularly one without critical thinking skills, is much easier to manipulate. After four decades of underfunding, restrictive policies, and anti-intellectual propaganda, those efforts are really paying off.

Newt Gingrich and his co-conspirators have been waging war against the people of this country since Reagan was elected. And they are now dangerously close to winning that war.

I’ve just been looking for something to replace One Note. The timing of this announcement worked out really well for me. :-)

Thanks!

Dell did some non-standard trickery to allow more than 100W charging through a USB C connector. If it’s one of those laptops it will only charge over 100W with a Dell USB charger.

My thought was than an inset, taken as a whole circle, could be referred to as a cylinder. Like you, I couldn’t really make sense of the description and was trying to interpret it. Based on the response above I was way off.

I think I understand now, but I’ve never seen a ring like that.

This comment and response elevated this discussion. I’m still laughing.

I think I understand. When you talk about cylinders on top of the ring you’re referring to what are basically stripes inset into the surface of the ring. Do I have that right?

It sounds like you’re looking for something similar to this, with more rounded edges: https://i.etsystatic.com/icm/a6e7f9/662727769/icm_fullxfull.662727769_1ui1u9fyb0hwgk0ogkws.jpg?version=0

I had that one custom made for me by a maker on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/titaniumknights?ref=profile_header

I don’t know whether they could make what you need, but it is a place to start.

Best of luck!

NWS is a great resource, but there are a startling number of other organizations that collect weather data.

I appreciate that. :-D

I appreciate the suggestion. I have thought about it, but part of what I wanted, like the original poster, was more localized information. NWS is great for overall data, but it doesn’t get down to precise locations.

Oh, yeah. Not only did they take it away from all Android users, they also killed the API that let other apps access it. I wrote an open-source tool that made Dark Sky data available to Wear OS watch faces. It worked beautifully for several years, until Apple killed it.

The worst of it is that was my second attempt. An earlier version of the same tool worked with Weather Underground data. Then IBM bought it, changed the API completely, and priced it so that only business could afford it.

I haven’t had the heart to try a third time.

Sorry, every once in a while I’m overcome with the need to whine about it.

Take a look at the suggestions in this article: https://www.lifewire.com/stop-alexa-from-listening-5121012

If you disable the microphone, except when you want to use it, that should severely limit what it can do. If you also set the option that tells Amazon not to keep any of your recordings that should keep you fairly safe.

The caveat is that Amazon can decide to cheat at any time. They have repeatedly lied about what information that acquire, how long they retain it, and what they do with it. At the moment, they don’t seem to be cheating on the Echo functions, but that could change at any time with an invisible firmware update. There isn’t anything you can do about this except to be aware of the possibility.

It is definitely worth using the privacy options they offer, even if they aren’t enforced through hardware.

And people often don’t appreciate that a Vornado doesn’t need to oscillate. The air stream they generate will get all the air in a room moving without tilting or turning.

Energy pricing in Texas is managed for the benefit of the utilities, not their customers. Some of the people on non-fixed plans who got charged insane amounts just went bankrupt.

Texas is a nearly perfect example of how the Republicans think everything should work.