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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 12th, 2023

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  • I wouldn’t say Trump won the debate, or that it strengthened his position.

    More the debate weakened Biden’s position strictly in regards to people’s view on his age and health.

    Trump still said some pretty awful things. He lied plenty, but some of those awful things he took credit for, and if Biden was on his game that night, he would have in the past at least, demolished Trump. Problem being he missed those openings, and sometimes changed topics mid sentence from a strong point, to topics that people see as Biden’s weak points. (like abortion -> immigration)

    Biden’s biggest enemy at this debate were unforced errors. Based on his performance at his rally the following day, and during past state of the unions when MTG and others are heckling him, he was clearly off his game, and I can only wonder what the debate would have been like if it was in the morning/afternoon instead of of late at night (or some other condition that got him back on his game).

    It’s great his performance improved so much the next day, but that won’t be seen by many people. The debate was seen by millions, including many that normally wouldn’t be reached. This was his opportunity, and he sort of blew it. Reaching those people in another form with the modern media environment and media consumption will be difficult.

    If Biden continues to run, those who consider abortion, democracy/avoiding fascism, or freedom a top issue, will still vote for him. I will still vote for him.

    If he steps down, and Gavin Newsom steps in as the democratic candidate, I’ll vote for him. (granted he isn’t part of the Primary, and there are pledged delegates for others, but those people have either already dropped out, or would get crushed by Trump).







  • … I had an IT tech from our old MSP tell me her knowledge/recommendation of ABP is what got her the job.

    I knew her boss, and doubt that was the reason (probably more because she was cheap entry level labor), but that some people have that take in a professional setting shocked me. I don’t think your ad-blocker recommendation will ever be what lands you a job, but I do think it’s possible for it to be the reason you don’t get a job.



  • My typical recommendation would be:

    Normie: uBlock Origin

    Techie: uBlock Origin + uMatrix

    Security Critical/Paranoia/Just Hate Yourself: uBlock Origin + uMatrix + NoScript

    I use the last option at work, and the middle option at home, and the first option for my wife’s computer.

    For me, a lot of it isn’t about ads, it’s more about the security risk of cross site scripting. Typically, if I’m visiting a site, I probably trust it, but I have no trust for people they sell ads to. I don’t mind sites I trust having a few non-intrusive ads, but of course that’s not the reason I use blockers; if a site has so many ads it is unusable, I just don’t ever visit it again (plenty of 'don’t show articles from ’ flags in my google news feed for this very reason. I’ll never know if you redeem yourself, because I will just never visit your site again.).





  • My first reaction is yeah, you don’t just plug into random Ethernet.

    The wi-fi is likely a visitor network setup for guests to the library. That ethernet port could provide access to their private intranet, and be a security risk to the library. Worst case scenario, it could result in malware, ransomware, and/or millions of dollars in expenses to recover (on a library budget, that could mean permanently shutting down the library even).

    After reading your post, I would say, no harm intended, just don’t do it again.

    After reading your comments about intentionally being vague about ‘plugging in’ to lead the librarian to think you were asking to plug in a power cord, and not specifically meaning ethernet connection… yeah, you’re clearly in the wrong. Just be up front; if they say no, so be it. They may be able to direct you to a visitor ethernet plug-in, or maybe not. If this were an AITA thread, i’d say yes, YTA in this case.

    Asking in an security community… I would assume some level of technical awareness, and you are likely well aware of network segmentation, and that no IT department would be happy about a guest plugging their laptop into random rj-45 jacks around the building. Maybe it’s not well designed, and that actually has access to firewall administration?



  • I keep hearing ‘sanctions arent working’.

    And every now and then I see things about them working; it’s almost like sanctions are a long game that don’t immediately show all the results in want within 3 months, and you need to keep them up long term. That said, of course when some don’t comply with those sanctions, it will permanently alter the landscape as the sanctioned try to work around them. Russia’s movement toward the Yuan, and reliance on China and N. Korea are not going to be undone anytime soon, if ever.

    Pre-Ukrainian invasion, 1 USD was ~78 Russian Rubles. Now, that 1 USD is valued at 92 Rubles. After the start of the war, the Ruble lost a lot of value immediately, but appears to had gained value for a few months, and has steadily decreased in value as the sanctions drag on, and seem to have semi-stablized at a much lower value than going into the war. As a generalization, it appears looking back to 2003 (max on the chart i’m looking at), as Putin’s leadership drags on, the Ruble has steadily decreased in value (in 2003, it only took about 30 Ruble to value 1 USD). Looking at other major economic powers in the world is like looking at an inverse chart, where their currencies have increased in value against the USD consistently.



  • You said you are ‘in the EU’, as in currently living in the US for said job?

    Are you considered an independent contractor? Or an actual employee of the company?

    As a US citizen… I would just advise EU citizens to ‘in general’ avoid working for US companies, we have bad employment policies, and our companies think they can just do the same things in other countries. Obviously everyone should choose for themselves; if you think the extra income is worth it, that is your call, but our work culture is awful.

    At the very least, if you do decide to work for a US company… keep it remote. Cost of living in the US is really high, work culture is awful, it’s dangerous, and healthcare costs are crazy. Unless your household is making at least $150k USD/year, you’ll be considered poor to middle-class.




  • We are talking about two very different things.

    The reply I responded to was about student debt forgiveness. Forgiveness does not equal payment suspension.

    Yes, his post was threaded a couple down from yours, but neither my post, nor the post I responded to mentioned payment suspension. Your reply should probably be up a post or two.

    Trump and republicans of course want the people to pay every penny, plus interest of student debt. Biden kept loan payment suspensions up for years, which is far longer than I expected. Biden is getting debt forgiveness to the people, and a large number of them, and it is making a difference. I don’t think anyone thought he would accomplish a fraction of what he has gotten done; I can only imagine what he can get done if people give the Dems a majority in the Senate and House.

    With the republicans trying to shutdown the government for their political circus, Biden has done a good job of picking his battles, and making them look like fools. It’s clear the current Republican party is incapable of governing.