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[masked-rat]

Because they literally stopped being relevant in 1998.

The only thing an end user is likely to replace before the slots obsolesce is the video card- usually some kind of nVidia power hog designed to play last year's games at an acceptable speed. Anything else, the slot itself will be too out of date to take an upgrade card for the New Hotness™ standard.

I mean, if the greater PC World had stuck to form and rejected USB solely because Apple adopted it, then there might be a point to all those slots and that expansion space. But there isn't, and there never will be again.

But, true to PC World form, reject anything like Apple just because it's Apple.

Apple propaganda notwithstanding, the reason tower PCs are big isn’t because they’re outdated. The reason tower PCs are so bulky is because they’re designed to be user serviceable. The case has lots of open space so your big, meaty hands can easily access all of the components, and everything is secured with friction-fit tabs and standard machine screws to minimise the need for specialised tools. A properly laid out tower PC is fully serviceable with a single Phillips-head screwdriver and no greater manual skill than your average Lego playset – heck, for some of the more modern case layouts you don’t even need the screwdriver, unless you’re performing major surgery like a full motherboard replacement.

Like, think about who benefits from convincing you that a fully modular computing device that can be serviced and repaired with your bare hands and minimal technical skill is unfashionable.

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Sure, the *hardware* was easy to install. Slap it into one of those good ol' ISA slots and it's ready to rip.

After you spent a month tinkering with the software because the hardware manufacturer assumed you had an in- depth knowledge of MS-DOS or Windows 95.

Also worth noting: the average Mac of the era came with the equivalent of *six* cards built in, and had up to six additional slots that nobody used because everything was built in.

Apple propaganda notwithstanding, the reason tower PCs are big isn’t because they’re outdated. The reason tower PCs are so bulky is because they’re designed to be user serviceable. The case has lots of open space so your big, meaty hands can easily access all of the components, and everything is secured with friction-fit tabs and standard machine screws to minimise the need for specialised tools. A properly laid out tower PC is fully serviceable with a single Phillips-head screwdriver and no greater manual skill than your average Lego playset – heck, for some of the more modern case layouts you don’t even need the screwdriver, unless you’re performing major surgery like a full motherboard replacement.

Like, think about who benefits from convincing you that a fully modular computing device that can be serviced and repaired with your bare hands and minimal technical skill is unfashionable.

[masked-rat]

hot items

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I got a laptop with Windows 11 for an IT course so I can get certified, and doing the first time device set-up for it made me want to commit unspeakable violence

Windows 11 should not exist, no one should use it for any reason, it puts ads in the file explorer and has made it so file searches are also web searches and this cannot be turned off except through registry editing. Whoever is responsible for those decisions should be killed, full stop.

Switch to linux, it's free and it's good.

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Depends on where you buy it. Some parts of the US have butter that's longer and thinner and more stick- shaped.

why is it called a "stick" of butter. that is blatantly a The Ingot

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I gotta know how heavy it is so I can bring in a jack strong enough.

is anyone gonna jack my blog

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Unfollowed a couple of people for my mental health. Y'all are good people... but damn. I need to be focusing on trying to thrive as best I can. That means *not* being reminded of (1) how much I should be organizing, and (2) how completely inept I am at it.

Leadership only works when people who show up, and actually listen, and I'm not getting yelled at for trying to organize a thing that someone else organized months ago and why am I trying to take away from/duplicate their efforts, get my stuff cancelled because I didn't have some all- important template the authority figures lost twice now, or discover nobody bothered to show up because the damn little league ate all the parking.

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Yup. They've put so much into him that once he's gone the cult of personality is going to fragment.

I just hope we've got enough of a propaganda wing spun up by then so we can take advantage of it.

me @ the entire Republican Party the moment Trump dies of natural causes:

[masked-rat]

Most "household light bulbs" I grew up with were around 2300- a nice warm orange.

Sodium- vapor (now mainly used to light parking lots that haven't ponied up to switch to LED) is around 2700- a harsh yellow.

Older fluorescent tubes are somehow a yuck green.

There are so many different shades of white light bulbs, I am so overwhelmed walking down the light bulb aisle, and then I'm never happy with the one I choose, no matter which one I choose, I get it home and I put it in and I'm like, ugh, I don't like THAT white

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I still hold that if "critical thinking skills" are so great, why does every single conspiracy theory begin with an appeal to them? Question authority, look deeper, here are the real reasons and buy my testosterone supplements.

And I always wind up being the one who looks stupid because I don't believe them.

[masked-rat]

I think that first commenter (the one talking about how you can't just grow vegetables in your yard instead of only grass) has just discovered the unique evil that is the Homeowner's Association.

It's usually the HOA, not the government, that dictates lawns.

being on this app is so surreal. americans are usually the ones that learn about other places and people everywhere else already know about america because we're everywhere online. we've never been on the opposite side where other people are learning about us -- and they are horrified about our "normal"

the country america spent our whole lives trying to convince us is miserable and suffering under an oppressive government that starves everyone and controls their media? that's just projection. turns out besides like... housing prices and few available jobs, china is doing pretty great. they originally believed we were all living it up "the american dream" way and now they're all thankful they were born in china and have no idea how any of us are even alive

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"Tiefling" does that to me, along with arguing that wizards and sorcerers are inherently different because of reasons that didn't exist before the 3.0 PHB.

this is mostly just me being a hater but whenever i see people use Official Dungeons and Dragons™ by Wizards of the Coast words to refer to like "cat person" "fish person" "steampunk robot" i wince. please have more respect for your own creations than that.

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Moving up the thread a bit, it's probably the cultural Calvinism.

Systemically, we don't see these things as problems because everything boils down to some key failing in someone's moral character. Traumatized? DID? Poor? Alcoholic? Fat? All moral failings, and something that should be made an example of instead of treated or accommodated.

Worst part is most of the "Atheists" out there are still culturally Calvinist and join right in with it.

I bring a sort of "actually mass traumatic events have an effect on the public's mental health and you're NOT acting in isolation from that trauma, and ignoring it doesn't make it go away" vibe to the party that Americans do not like

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I'm a film director following them around with a camcorder.

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Bribery. That's what it is, bribery. Why can't we just call it that?

“CBS has a merger it’s trying to get approved. And the Trump team, including incoming FCC chair Brendan Carr (who has promised to abuse his power starting on day one), have made it clear that companies have to give Trump cash and prizes if they don’t want trouble. CBS and Paramount have gotten the message. People toss out jargon about “obeying in advance.” But there’s a much more immediate issue here. CBS still has a news division, I think. If they’re making clear they’re this desperate to give Trump cash and prizes, particularly with their news division, everyone should be on notice that they’re going to be looking for opportunities to stick it to Democrats as a way to grease the skids for their merger deal. They’re saying it out loud. There’s no other way to interpret it. I don’t know if Democrats should boycott CBS. But any Democrat going on CBS should make sure to say on air that CBS News has decided to curry favor with Trump and Carr on the merger deal.”

— What Will CBS Do to Prove to Dems It Can Give Them A Fair Shake?

[masked-rat]

Okay so I got Rednote because I heard about the whole migration thing and I never bothered to sign up before, and the cultural exchange has just been really fascinating

[masked-rat]

He is NOT the CEO of xiaohongshu lmao

The CEO of xiaohongshu is mao wenchao毛文超/Charlwin Mao, he and 瞿芳Qu Fang are the co-founders.

Actually this is a very good example of how western media casually 造谣 nonsense such as saying xiaohongshu (little red book) was named after mao zedong's quotebook lmao. Cnetizens be like:"OH we don't even know that ourselves""With such far-fetched talent and such a high level of political awareness, they could have taken the civil service exam"

The name Xiaohongshu MEANS popular shopping guide. Qu Fang and Mao Wenchao met when they were both in the U.S. shopping for goods. At that time, Mao Wenchao called his family in Wuhan and asked what goods he was bringing, and when Qu Fang heard the accent she felt very close to him, and the two of them got to know each other.

They are both business elites, passionate about entrepreneurship, and deeply sympathetic to the difficulties of nationals shopping overseas. The two founded Xiaohongshu in the hope that it would become a guide to overseas shopping for Chinese people. According to Qu Fang's interpretation of the words “red” and “book” at the time, the three words “Little Red Book” can be translated as “very hot shopping guide “. It was launched in 2014 when the name is called “Hong Kong shopping guide” (Source)