JCPhoenix

joined 2 years ago
MODERATOR OF
[–] JCPhoenix 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

When I was in 8th grade year, right before the end of the year in one of my classes, we ended up having a substitute teacher. For some reason, she and a few of us were talking about poker and that we, the students, didn't know how to play.

The next day, she brings in cards and chips and is trying to teach us how to play! She did say that she probably shouldn't be doing this, but continued anyway. Interestingly, this was in Utah, in a suburb of Salt Lake City, which is the capital of the Mormon church. And she herself was Mormon. I always thought it was funny that our Mormon teacher was teaching us how to gamble in school!

[–] JCPhoenix 3 points 7 months ago

I know some airports have similar Amazon convenience stores. But they're not staffless; there's still at least one person at the exit. Sometimes even another person at the entrance. Yeah it's quick for me since I'm not waiting in a line or being rung up (though I rarely see people in them compared to the traditional convenience stores), but is the company really saving money? Not that I really care if they are or not, but seems pointless if they still have to staff the stores.

[–] JCPhoenix 4 points 7 months ago

It was around the mid/late 90s. Maybe around 96 or 97, so I would've been 9 or 10. We had a computer at home, and my brother and I played games on it, but we didn't have Internet. One day, my dad who works in IT, installed AOL and on our computer and paid for it. And he set up an account for me and showed me how to use it. And I was blown away. Eventually. even though I was a kid, I'd hang out in Star Trek chatrooms, created mailing lists for like a kids writers club, and ofc started playing online games. Eventually even had my own website on like GeoCities, handcrafted in HTML.

[–] JCPhoenix 1 points 7 months ago

I have a TP-Link Kasa indoor WiFi camera. This one in particular. It's not a self-hosted camera that uses an NVR or anything. It's accessible from the Kasa app on iOS (and Android). It requires a microSD card to store footage.

There is a cloud subscription option to recorded footage, but it's not required. I am subscribed though, because if a camera is stolen/broken during a break-in or something, there goes all the recordings that one might need.

[–] JCPhoenix 6 points 8 months ago

4 day weekend! Company is closed today for Good Friday (Easter is on Sunday). And then I'm taking Monday off because why not?

My work is doing an NCAA college basketball bracket tournament. I'm currently No. 2, but there's a good chance I can reclaim that top spot again. As long as I'm top 3, I get a little bit of prize money. All off of 10min of picking my bracket! ...and admittedly knowing a little bit about college basketball.

With my job offer -- that I received 9 months ago -- they finally got around to scheduling my drug test, which I did on Wednesday. Still waiting to hear back about my background check stuff. It's with the government and requires a clearance, so it's taking forever. I did check in with my contacts last week; all they said was that things are still under review. I will say it's very hard at times to keep motivated in my current job for this long. At least my current employer is aware of this job offer and also understanding and supportive, so that takes some pressure off of me. Not everyone knows, but I'm not having to hide it from the people who need to know (which I did for almost 6mo). Still, it's still a weird limbo to be in.

Otherwise, it's still pretty chill.

[–] JCPhoenix 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Honestly, Amazon is perfectly fine. Or if you're lucky enough to have Micro Center near you, that. PCPartPicker checks multiple stores, so that's not a bad place to start, at least for current and historical pricing information.

I've never used it, but I know people who've used Facebook Marketplace for used computers/components. I've used eBay before plenty (even sold parts there).

Edit: You can also go direct to some manufacturers. EVGA often sells brand new and sometimes "B-Spec" components, often at a good price. I purchased a brand new PSU from them directly and got a great deal on it.

[–] JCPhoenix 2 points 8 months ago

Lil Wayne is a goddamn genius. That whole song, honestly.

[–] JCPhoenix 8 points 8 months ago

I showed up last year in the aftermath of reddit's APIgate. I'm a longtime reddit user, for better or worse. Though this isn't my first foray with reddit alternatives. I've tried Imzy, Voat (briefly; very briefly), and Tildes. The last of which is still doing quite well, though it's a bit different from reddit and even Lemmy, in terms of overall culture and activity.

Admittedly, I am still on reddit, though my activity is reduced. I stopped using it almost entirely from like June through October, but then slowly made my way back. But instead of spending all my time on reddit as before, I spend my time between Lemmy, Tildes, Mastodon, and reddit. So I think that's still a win in my book. I don't mind using multiple sites for information and entertainment; it's kinda like what people did in the earlier days of the Internet. Further, I'm not really anti-centralized platforms. I still have a FB account. I scroll Instagram daily. I use Discord. I use YouTube. I use what gives me value.

Anyway, I landed on Beehaw after briefly looking at other instances and looking at Beehaw's "philosophy," which seemed attractive. Overall, Lemmy is not the promised land; There are issues I see with the platform, the userbase, and even with the current state of federation. But no site or platform is perfect. Every platform has upsides and downsides. I get what I want out of it and try to "give back" what I can.

[–] JCPhoenix 2 points 8 months ago

Eh, the tech-illiterate come in all shapes, sizes, and flavors.

[–] JCPhoenix 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Final Fantasy XIII had Sazh Katzroy. He's not the main character (that'd be Lightning), but he is an important playable character right from the get-go. He has his own storylines as well.

[–] JCPhoenix 5 points 8 months ago

Fireflies/Lightning bugs. I remember there were so many in backyards in the summer, even in the suburbs.

Then they just kinda went away. Feel like I'm lucky if I even see a few a year.

[–] JCPhoenix 2 points 8 months ago

Same. Beehaw is my main, but I also have a Kbin account (which I know is technically different), and then a LW account, which I almost never sign into.

Even my Mastodon account is separate. It's fine this way. I don't need everything on one account. With a password manager, it's not like I have to remember passwords anyway.

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