Posts by My other car WAS an IAV Stryker

Microsoft cash to help reignite Three Mile Island atomic plant

Not the only plant in consideration

I've been following the recommissioning/restart of the Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan on the Lake Michigan shoreline. I thought El Reg had covered that, but I cannot find the article. It has had plenty of opposition, both from locals (some who moved nearby on the promise the plant was over and done) and at least one former plant engineer. The state, with federal grants in hand, insists it's necessary to meet carbon/green goals, and I don't disagree. On one hand, it's not my backyard; on the other hand, the Great Lakes are everyone's problem, and I don't want cancer when I visit Mackinac Island, "downstream" of the plant. (I also live close to downstream waters, just a LOT further downstream.)

Putin really wants Trump back in the White House

Re: Stupid is as stupid writes

1. Not all "Dems" -- across the wide swath of voters -- support all these talking points. I would also suspect that not all the "Dem" leaders agree 100% with the absolute extreme on every point. Painting with broad brushes is a poor argument.

2. If Putin officially supported Harris, how come that didn't make front-page headlines anywhere?

3. Look at my handle and think about where I used to work. The only "Dems" that support the military-industrial complex (gotta' use Ike's original phrasing) are those whose votes are at stake due to having defense presence in their constituency. I would know; most of my coworkers were/are 100% not "Dem", but they certainly are good people and technically competent. (And sometimes I agree with their politics, sometimes I don't, but we all get the job done.)

4. Don't call me a "Dem" either just because I like to break down arguments. I am staunchly independent and moderate. I do this to both sides, and I usually try to balance my ballot.

Bargain-hunting boss saw his bonus go up in a puff of self-inflicted smoke

I will mention the closer-to-me Miami University... of Ohio. (Not the big orange 'U' of University of Miami, Florida.)

Client tells techie: You're not leaving the country until this printer is working

Re: Closest experience I had

Coincidences...

1. The anniversary of that outage (August 14) was just a couple days ago.

2. I was in grad school (not inside the affected area) and about to take the high-level undergraduate Power Systems course at the time, followed by the Advanced Power Systems, hoping to get a utility job.

3. I didn't get hired by a utility, but did get a job in Metro Detroit -- moved there in March 2005 with no plans to leave.

4. My wife -- obviously before we ever met; she grew up the area -- was working as an EMT through that blackout and has quite the horror story about their ordeal, particularly with regards to the potential dangers of nearby heavy industries (the Marathon refinery and Zug Island steel mill). The worst-case scenario did not occur, but could have, making an argument that reliable electric power saves lives!

Disney claims agreeing to Disney+ terms waives man's right to sue over wife's death

Re: The negligent Manslaughter aspect aside...

It's partly an honor -- they're not mere "employees" or "associates" or "personnel" because they have an active role: like a movie or show, your cast members are actors. As part of the job, they must act like it is the Most Magical Place on Earth, lest any guest's expectations go sour. Dehumanizing, no, but certainly humiliating at times*.

Using that term "cast members" for employees who aren't Disney's -- employed by the pub leasing the space -- does further the illusion that Disney has some control/liability, and therefore responsibility, in situations just like the case at hand (but as someone else said, not necessarily culpability/blame).

* The most humiliating part is that every cast member has to act the role of janitor/cleaner (at times) because there are no dedicated janitorial/cleaning roles in Disney parks. Not sure about the resorts and cruise ships, because I expect those still have "housekeeping".

Intel's processor failures: A cautionary tale of business vs engineering

Re: Engineers and MBAs

"The brass knows HOW to do it by knowing WHO can do it."

Maxim 63 on the official list. First and second citations.

(I just assume every money-grubbing businessperson is a mercenary at heart if not by practice -- all about profit and murky, if any, ethics.)

NASA's NEOWISE asteroid spotter turned off for the final time

Re: Well Done!

You're talking consumer goods -- agreed that we end-users can't buy what they won't sell.

OP was talking about things like satellites, rovers, and other NASA shiny, where 100% is custom-made/bespoke and the general rule indeed holds. But, like all gov't agencies, for all other factors being equal (or only slightly skewed), the lowest bidder (usually) wins. Part of additional cost for quality is materials but mostly is engineering time (labor) for additional design and testing.

To paraphrase a comic strip, "I'm with the government -- I can't afford the product quality we actually want because I can't pay good engineers what they're worth."

Report slams Boeing and NASA over shoddy quality that's delayed SLS blastoff

Another unhappy Boeing customer from earlier this century

The massive U.S. Army Future Combat Systems (FCS) was cost-plus, co-run by Boeing and the pre-2013 SAIC [1]. I saw lots of waste working that program, especially the copious design review meetings with lunch provided (approx. once a month [2]). It was probably good that they killed the entire program but it seems [solely my opinion here] that Army R&D, especially for ground vehicles, has been a bit haphazard ever since. I'm hoping the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV, the M2 Bradley replacement) and M10 Booker (formerly Mobile Protected Firepower, MPF) fit the supposed purposes.

[1] Split into the primary successor Leidos and the smaller spin-off SAIC (kept the name, tweaked the logo) with both sharing the corporate history/story and none of the FCS blame. The split was due to different areas of the same company creating competing bids / conflict of interest over contacts, not due to any FCS fallout.

[2] Didn't help my waistline / scale readings in my first few years starting my career.

Michigan probes Musk-backed PAC website that weirdly tried and failed to help register people to vote

On all the days

An article about Michigan voter registration, published literally the day before Michigan's (non-presidential) primary elections. Delicious coincidence. Good on the Michigan SOS to get involved, if a little late -- but not too late to hopefully stop any potential General (November) Election voters from getting scammed.

NASA pops repair kit in the mail so astronauts can fix leaky ISS telescope

Ah, that makes more sense. I didn't know the story -- thank you! In return, have this, as every good story deserves ---->

Re: "keep doing groundbreaking science"

The politics are, arguably, necessary to get people to pay for this. Without government support, not much astro-science would get done. It would be nice if gov't support was steady, but every part of gov't becomes part of the usual political games over time -- whether pro (pork-barrel spending) or con (mainly due to ideology) -- and there we agree that it stinks.

Aside from government, not enough rich eccentrics willing and/or able to pay for it themselves. Branson only had so much dough to spend on VG, and Musk built SpaceX to turn a profit, not altruism (and those profits partly paid by gov't via NASA). Not sure about Bezos/Blue Origin.

Wasn't duct tape also part of the Apollo 13 oxygen scrubber canister fix? I'd say that's even more impressive that a dust shield (what the fender actually did), although I'll give credit for using duct tape in the vacuum of the moon's surface (the adhesive still worked!) while wearing the full environmental suit with those thick gloves.

Logitech Zone 305 is light on the ears and wallet, maybe a bit too light on quality?

Logi Zone vs. older Plantronics Savi

I just received a Logitech Zone (exact model unknown) -- with my new work laptop -- in case the driver/Teams issues my old Plantronics Savi (re-branded as Poly) single-ear headset tagged along when migrating laptops.

1. I don't like having both ears covered. I can't install the Logitech tuning software so I don't sound right, and I can't hear squat outside the room (when working from home, one NEEDS to hear the home environment to avoid disasters).

2. Heavy. Better built than the Zone reviewed, with a weight to match.

3. Part of that added weight is wireless Qi charging, so I can place it on the pad near my right elbow at the end of the day when my phone comes off. With either that or the charge cable, it doesn't need a full dock like the Savi.

4. But that dedicated dock with larger internal antenna(s) has a benefit, too: the Logitech range is debatable, whereas the Plantronics unit rarely has issues even if I go outside, sometimes all the way to the curb to fetch the emptied bins or the mail/post.

I might just use the Zone for work travel instead of my always-getting-snagged-on-face-mask-straps wireless earbuds, especially because it has the active noise canceling for the planes (and my cheaper earbuds don't), but for at-home day-to-day Teams meetings, I'm sticking to the Savi since it apparently made the switch okay. (That is, as long as I connect the Savi dock straight to the laptop because the new Dell USB-C dock stinks! Constant Ethernet issues, too, and I really don't like putting work stuff on home Wi-Fi.)

Love my Logitech trackballs; meh on everything else. ----->

Linux Mint 22 'Wilma' still the Bedrock choice for moving off Windows

Oh, the stereotypes of yesteryear

"Wilma Flintstone is the most sensible and level-headed resident of 345 Cave Stone Road, the calmer one who often gets her rash and sometimes wildly exuberant husband out of trouble.

Except when she occasionally lost her mind (most often along with Betty) due to "shopping fever" -- "CHAAAAAAARGE... IT!" Then it was Fred who had to pay the bill save the day.

Customer bricked a phone – and threatened to brick techie's face with it

Not *wet* cement, but down a concrete hole goes a critical component

Setting: Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA, Fourth of July parade, 1997 -- hot as blazes plus ocean humidity (not normal for some 'Muricans). I was in a visiting high (secondary) school marching band from the American "Midwest"; I played the almost-as-heavy-as-a-tuba xylophone that year.

In the very middle of the longest parade I can remember, the whole thing comes to a halt. We stand at attention for a good 5 minutes, then "parade rest" (still in marching positions), then were allowed to break ranks. Most of us (all of the drumline) set down our instruments and found shade on the sides of the street. I was still holding my xylophone mallets, standing near the director while he chatted with the locals.

And then a mallet slipped out of my hand... right down into a storm drain, just out of reach.

I had no spares on hand, none in our equipment trailer, and probably none even back home. I had a parade to finish and more in July and August.

After a few minutes of wondering what to do, a couple strong local guys grabbed the grate and lifted it right out. I was able to reach the mallet -- not even dirty.

The parade continued not long after, and boy I was glad when that deathmarch ended.

I have been wary about storm drains ever since (> 25 years on), especially in parking lots when holding car keys.

NASA sends 4K video from a flying plane to the ISS using lasers

US average? Maybe in the most urban centers

I've ranted about lack of options where I live (suburbia) before, so here's the TL;DR...

Option 1: slow (1/10 of the supposed 245 Mbps "average") but steady. Option 2: maybe 100 Mbps (not like I've checked) but horrendously unreliable based on the neighborhood Facebook page, plus confusing/predatory pricing strategies.

Since I rely on it for work, I'll take slow and steady over randomly-zero any day, but IMO it's horribly overpriced.

Kia Niro electric vehicle defies physics with record-breaking 114 million miles on the clock

Plausible! KIA Motors newer angular logo could pass for a Klingon trying to design one that's Federation-readable.

Life, interrupted: How CrowdStrike's patch failure is messing up the world

One way to avoid customers returning merchandise

Wife tried to return something to big-box retailer JC Penney that her dad had bought (wrong size). Instead of opening [1] they put up a sign: "Due to technical issues this JCPenney location will be closed until further notice." I can only assume they got struck by CloudStrike; too many retailers gave up their bespoke (or Unix terminal-based) systems of the '80s and early '90s for Windows POS [2] machines, and this is what you get.

1. She arrived at 10:30, assuming they opened at 10:00 like they have for years, but nope -- 11:00. They must be hurting for workers, customers, or both. They didn't post the sign until it got close to 11:00, naturally, after she had waited all that time.

2. Point of sale, but the other phrase "piece of s___" works too.

Windows NT on a whole new platform: PowerMac

Re: ZIP re-write

Happened at uni too many times and lost loads of old data, especially when switching disks quickly.

Most often Win2k only replaced the FAT, but I didn't have the tools to fix it.

There is no honor among RAM thieves – but sometimes there is karma

Quintet - you forgot the cleaners/janitors.

BOFH: It's not generative AI at all, it's degenerate AI

Re: Best of luck

That's exactly what I thought also. One of these for you ----> plus a round for our favorite trio!

PowerToys bring fun tweaks to Windows 10 and 11

I still use Alt+space, c to Close a window. Barely have to move a finger (from Alt to C). Faster than Alt+F4 or Ctrl+W (Mac's Cmd+W is better than Ctrl+W due to the key positions).

Stop installing that software – you may have just died

Oil and fuel in yer brand-new cooling water

Not exactly IT, but still tech: Cooling water in very large engine training facility brand-new cooling system (10,000 gallon tank) fouled from contamination (oil, fuel, non-water coolants) in old pipes on very first flow. Full shutdown for months for cleaning and redesign. Still haven't fully exercised the newest engine -- which required this cooling system -- due to funding/blame delays.

(I've been waiting since February to tell this story. We warned the customer that their pipes were contaminated, but they insisted both connecting and running a new system (and pipes) to old lines. Not going into detail since the customer is government/military.)

Speed limiters arrive for all new cars in the European Union

Re: Physical sign recognition

"I wonder how that's going to work."

My prediction: poorly. (Especially given the 20% or so of comments I've already read.)

Elexon's Insight into UK electricity felled by expired certificate

You know an issue is becoming a little too widespread

...when El Reg creates a category to cover it specifically!

Switzerland to end 2024 with an analog FM broadcast-killing bang

Re: DAB is shite.

Some iPods (nano?) had FM, even pulling song data that you could "save" to build an iTunes queue to purchase the tracks.

Supreme Court won't stop Biden leaning on social media giants to tackle disinfo

"And that requires access to information on ALL sides of ANY argument"

Fine -- then give me actual information: verifiable facts. Too many people spout off opinions/gut reactions and call it information -- these are the dumb ones making all of us dumber, no gov't/political party intervention required.

I think we can all agree that suppression of actual facts is bad. But I have a lot of folks in my online social circle (because they're in my real-life social circle) who believe 100% of the propaganda from their political tribe, where all is holy and any dissent, even fact checking, is evil. Much of their "information" doesn't hold up to basic scrutiny. And these people both vote militantly and breed prodigiously. Even when presented with verifiable-yet-contrary facts on a topic, they will believe in comfortable lies every time because it validates their opinions/perspectives.

My social circle also includes some from the opposite tribe, and they're just as bad (but generally breed less). You could argue about which tribe is which, but don't bother -- both extremes stink and won't allow pure facts to exist anymore.

In my opinion, the problem is not control from on high (gov't/corporations); it's the basic human condition of being flawed creatures. Part of that is they don't WANT to think for themselves -- they inherently want the comfortable narrative that makes them "right" and others "wrong".

Microsoft blamed for million-plus patient record theft at US hospital giant

I was *this* close

I didn't know Nuance was owned by Microsoft. I have been considering buying Nuance's Dragon recently (Pro, local install -- only distantly related to their Medical offerings), but the price is a bit steep. I looked into previous versions and found some on Amazon, from at least 10 years ago -- much, much cheaper, as long as they come with actual original license keys and are not used or cracked. Knowing those years are also pre-Microsoft ownership certainly aids that decision.

X marks the spot where Twitter's severance math doesn't add up

Re: "Thanks for your support!!"

I can only give one upvote*, so I'm adding this --->

* Would the source in question require 4 upvotes, or 7?

Musk wants to ban Apple at his companies for cosying up to OpenAI

Re: The car never seems to work... Manchild, will you ever win?

"3M - Mewling Manbaby Musk"

The lawyers from Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing -- the real-world 3M^(TM) of Post-it Notes^(TM) -- would like a word with you regarding brand defamation. I believe that's a Cease & Desist in that briefcase.

(I've always loved 3M for their innovations, particularly certain employees from history like Richard G. Drew. Yes, there is plenty of bad corporate-stuff to throw shade on, but equating them with that particular mewling manbaby is uncalled for. Similarly, I'm a graduated member of the "Tri-M" Modern Music Masters high school music student honors program -- better leave them alone, too.)

Support, don't micromanage, say researchers who find WFH intensified 'anxiety' in some

Re: "WFH has less distractions / interruptions"

My missus and young'uns often do what office-critters/cow-orkers cannot: go outside. Whether it's for an errand run, outdoor chores [1], or recreation [2], the house gets quieter.

And, if all else fails, I have a home office door I can close for the meetings where I have to present (lots of talking) -- a perfect indicator that any interruption would not be appreciated [3]. The only thing they do that's remotely bothersome is music practice (piano for the younger two; tenor saxophone for the oldest, a teenager), but this only bothers me if I have to stop my own music or help them correct a mistake.

[1] The kids are doing more this year than ever, taking the pressure off me.

[2] I wish I were outside getting recreation with them instead of inside working, but such is life.

[3] "What if there's a fire?" We have interconnected smoke alarms that will blare all over the house -- I'll hear it and kindly tell everyone that they just became second priority to a local issue, sign off calmly, then start panicking.

California upgrade company aims militarized 'Tactical' Cybertruck at police forces

Re: Dumb shit

Check my nickname -- I'd rather have one of those (Stryker) for police/paramilitary work any day. Proper armor, decent engine/transmission/drivetrain, and upgradable with many, many kits including a Remote Weapons Station. Easy enough to tack on some lights and sirens. But boy can it guzzle that diesel!

I even hear my former employer is (again) working on electric versions. They did a one-off series hybrid once, and I was part of another that replaced much of the hydraulics with high-voltage distribution (not a hybrid -- no HV battery). I don't know the exact details of "StrykerX" -- or "AbramsX" -- nor do I really care, because it seemed all the cool projects ended up shelved (and sometimes recycled years later). It makes good marketing, though, especially at the trade shows.

Boeing's Starliner makes it into orbit at long last – with human crew aboard

Headline -- an unintentional tease

"Boeing's Starliner makes it into orbit at long last – with human crew aboard" but no mention if the humans were still alive...

(Yes, the article basically says they are without explicitly saying "the crew is (still) alive". Not that I want them dead, but that would truly put the "calamity" in El Reg's nickname for this capsule.)

Hubble plays spin the bottle with last few gyros

Re: "One-gyro mode uses magnetometers, sun sensors, and star trackers for the failed gyros"

Thank you. Share one with me --->

Best of all: aside from the time-cost, I have all the basic tools on hand, so "fixing" it every spring is -- to the wallet -- free.

(Running it means also running the pump, which pulls about as much electricity (240VAC) as the air conditioner, plus the natural gas, both of which are decidedly not free. If I replace the pump, I'm going dual-speed or even multi-speed to optimize my energy use & cost. My electrician brother-in-law says I could do that with this pump and a cheap VFD from Amazon, but if I screw it up I could fry my working pump, multiplying my total costs for an "experimental" project.)

Re: "One-gyro mode uses magnetometers, sun sensors, and star trackers for the failed gyros"

If they last long enough, we'll sell the house anyway -- not my problem.

(Newer pool heaters are electronic-ignition -- no pilot. I won't say "issue-free"; just different issues.)

Re: "One-gyro mode uses magnetometers, sun sensors, and star trackers for the failed gyros"

Old stuff can last if maintained, especially if designed to BE maintained. Long story follows.

I just got my natural gas in-ground-pool heater -- like an old pilot-light millivolt furnace but to heat flowing water, not air -- working again after three tries this year.

It's between 25-30 years old -- and looks it, being exposed to weather 24/7. It seems to be more finicky to start every year, and it's always junk in the pilot light (gas nozzle). Once I get that going, it's a stable workhorse all summer long. It's outlived TWO vinyl liners in the pool itself (we just replaced the second liner last August).

But I've learned a couple things this year, especially how to disconnect the igniter wire (and added an extra piece of heat shrink to prevent the eventual short at a weak spot). Maybe in the fall, I'll completely remove the pilot assembly (nozzle, igniter, thermopile, bracket, gas tube) and make sure it's all clean and dry before putting it in a plastic zip-bag for the winter inside the house. No spiders and no winter junk -- should be easier to start in the spring after reassembly. If it lasts another 15 years this way, it'll be "north of 40" and we can replace it the same time as the next liner. By then, I might be able to afford replacing the whole shebang -- pump, sand tank filter, heater, liner, and winter safety cover. It'll be like a whole new pool before we start having grandkids. Hope my current pool service is still in business by then!

(A couple years ago I refurbished the steel "spring" stand for the diving board -- full grind and repaint, with two coats of primer and four topcoats of glossy Rust-Oleum. The fiberglass board is doing fine, and the stand and stainless hardware should be good for the same 15 years or more. Might as well redo it in 2040 while getting the other stuff done.)

Boeing's Starliner finds yet another way to not reach space

Re: Babies and bathwater

Is it Cost-Plus-Percentage, or Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF)? If the latter, that "fee" isn't going to stretch forever.

I've been in US gov't contractors my whole career (see nickname), and I'm also aghast at what gets by. We really are horrible, either delivering poor quality within schedule/budget, blowing schedule/budget for actual good quality (usually because someone in manglement bungled the project estimate to win the contract), or all of the above. (Sometimes it's our gov't customer that makes poor decisions that causes us to look even worse.)

The Reg builds official Lego Artemis and Milky Way sets

"I like the attention to detail pointing out it would be a bugger to dust!"

Customize the frame into a "shadow box" to keep the dust off, then add LED strip lights to combat the shadow -- white is fine or RBG for rainbow fun against all the different colors of the set.

Dublin debauchery derails Portal to NYC in six days flat

"the time zones difference is problematic."

If we could do away with "live", it's possible in theory to record on both ends and rebroadcast at the same (destination local) time later -- FIFO with a really looooong data queue.

NYC would get Dublin's feed from ~5 hours ago; Dublin gets yesterday's (19-hour delayed) NYC vid.

(That should be enough time for the AI to analyze and blur/black box the nastiest stuff.)

Could (should?) have made the design more like said movie/TV prop, but the production company would want their royalties, and many might assume it was just marketing for some upcoming SG project.

Dell to color-code staff based on how hybrid they really are in RTO push

Re: Fire HR.

...out of a cannon. (icon --->)

For aerospace companies, make it "Fire HR out of an airlock."

Meta, Spotify break Apple's device fingerprinting rules – new claim

Re: You can't go after the 800 pound gorillas off the bat

I don't think it's that people prefer it; as the system default -- and I don't know of a setting to fix that -- Apple Maps opens every time you click an address from a text/iMessage, Calendar entry, Contact entry. etc. As long as folks don't get lost, they'll use it out of sheer convenience (my wife being a prime example).

I do like Apple's CarPlay visuals better than Google Maps' when actually navigating somewhere (I rarely use audio); in particular, Apple Maps introduced stop lights/stop signs before Google. But during normal driving, I'd rather having G-Maps showing, which I also find to be more accurate about destinations, hours, contact info, etc.

Oracle changes its tune with HQ move to Music City

"along the East Bank of the Cumberland River"

Let's ask the Gaylord Opryland resort and convention center how well that turned out when the river flooded. Or was it the Opry Mills outlet mall? Either way, hope big red O buys some good insurance.

Silicon Valley roundabout has drivers in a spin

Re: Roundabouts rock

Upvote for Yes. And Chicago -- once when visiting (whole family in the car), I did a nasty lane change while trying to get on to Lake Shore Drive from near the John Hancock Center.

Meanwhile in Michigan (metro north of Detroit)

We've had a multi-lane roundabout for years. No dividers -- I wish there were, because there are occasionally some nasty weavers -- but it's helped a bit. The worst part is the lower-right exit feeds a freeway which backs up during evening rush hour, which can bring the whole circle to a halt. Big G maps link (satellite)

The county this is in, and its neighbor to the west, have been putting in smaller roundabouts also. Map link to a pair just east of the big one that solved quite the nasty gridlock caused by a short bottleneck between two traffic lights.

Like others say, it may not help collisions -- not everyone gets the idea, the elderly especially -- but they really do help with overall flow.

Detroit is still the "Motor City," and in this aspect we're appears we're ahead of California's "car culture" -- as long as you watch out for "dem dere udder guys" (as my dad says in a Yooper* accent) you'll be okay motoring on through! (*He's from Minnesota, not Michigan's U.P., but the dialect is similar, both halfway to Backwoods Canadian. You keep your stick on the ice and your car in your lane.)

Google fires 28 staff after sit-in protest against Israeli cloud deal ends in arrests

Re: Rights

There is, depending on the locale. Just ask a bunch of Detroit homeowners whose houses have been taken over. Not much they can do aside from hire "squatter hitmen" who also move in -- squatters can't kick them out -- and make life absolute H-E-double-hockey-sticks for the squatters who leave after a time. Guaranteed results; usually takes a week.

Novelty flip phone strips out almost every feature possible to be as boring as possible

Re: Next up....

I've always wondered why we couldn't marry a recharging dock with dialing keypad and physical handset -- the kind we could balance on a shoulder and not have to stick things in our ears -- for the various slab-phones, especially the "Fruit Factory Jesus phone" (as El Reg used to call it). Wouldn't need a separate display since the phone's own screen could activate and provide you the caller ID, mute, speakerphone, conference and other options. I would take this over any Bluetooth earbud/headset any day -- old-school interfaces to newest tech.

Requirements: 1) hold phone at working angle similar to laptop screen; 2) charge phone; 3) provide dialing capability from physical buttons; 4) provide audio interface via old-school handset (with the smaller-than-RJ11 jacks so you can swap in your favorite or change colors, or change the cable when it got too twisted); 5) hold the handset when not in use (and hang up the call -- nothing like a good SLAM). Only a power supply required since the phone has the call & Wi-Fi radios. Bonus for a separate audio-out stereo jack (3.5 mm) for playing music (when not on a call) to my existing desktop speakers.

Senator Warren slams Intuit's 'junk fees' as America's Tax Day rolls around again

What everyone seems to forget

The USA tax code *itself* is an order of magnitude (or two) more complicated than the so-called "socialist" nation-states of Europe. If you have ANY kind of deduction, tax credit [1], non W-2 income [2], etc. then the IRS needs YOU to tell THEM exactly what and how much.

I wouldn't mind stuffing paper forms into the typewriter -- after working it all out in Excel or with a lined-paper pad and calculator, then paying extra for USPS Priority Mail with a tracking number -- but I have indeed leveraged paid software before to help me walk through WHICH forms I needed. In subsequent years, free software is fine [3] since I can follow simple instructions, as long as my situation doesn't drastically change. I especially like how software automatically chooses "standard" versus "itemized" deductions [4], and can show much exactly how much more I'm getting versus the other route.

[1] Credits may be refundable like tax payments, or non-refundable. You can get a tax credit just for having kids -- the Child Tax Credit, which requires an entire worksheet of its own to roll-off the credit for higher incomes.

[2] I don't even trust the IRS with 1099 forms, since some need to be "paired" with Schedule C -- working freelance for yourself is technically a self-owned business. Some people I know even file "doing business as" (d/b/a) forms with their state/county, get a separate Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) from the IRS, and use that on the Schedule C so the IRS has a clearer delineation between personal and "business" income.

[3] I use Cash App Taxes (free federal AND state) and have since they were Credit Karma Tax. I didn't switch their very first year, so they could work out the bugs, but have been since. It's not a great solution if you don't know which forms, but fine if you're experienced, and you get the benefit of e-file. (Credit Karma got bought by our "friend" Intuit and had to spin off the tax service because conflict with TurboStax -- stacks of revenue for them, that is.)

[4] Itemized deductions WAS the winner, between mortgage interest, charitable giving, real estate tax, state income tax, even our annual value-based car registration fees, but thanks to the state/local tax limit imposed by some Congressional bozos and their clown-leader #45, I've gone standard the last few years. Who gets hit the hardest by such legal antics? Middle-class schmucks like me.

Feline firewall woke developer to declaw DDoS disaster

Re: Vardøgr

That noise... from the conference room Polycom phones circa 2005-2007 during teleconferences (especially when calling into WebEx) when I first started my "career" job back at Styker/Abrams HQ. Everyone was told to turn their cell phones OFF -- not just "silent" -- for meetings. (As cell phones evolved and old models were retired, it got better. The older Polycoms were eventually replaced also.)

US broadband internet: Now with mandatory 'nutrition' labels

Re: Three ways to make this idea even better

Oh, I'm not rural -- I'm firmly in the suburbs, less than 25 miles away from the center of downtown of a major city. But you're both right -- 1) lack of competition and 2) not easily fiber-cabled.

As my top post says -- and I've repeated time and again, I pay $60 for 25 Mbps. Less than twice the price for 48x download speed (and 40x upload)? I'm sold; shut up and take my money as long as you aren't Xfinity (or similar cableco from other states).