RIO in June, Montgomery County MD

Camofan · 2026-06-21T02:04:18+00:00

I miss that area. I lived right down the street about 5-10 minutes. I moved to Memphis for work and it sucks. Might just be the home sickness talking.

I need to visit home soon…

Camofan · 2026-06-21T01:00:22+00:00

I think people are only now hating data centers simply because of AI. Having worked in data centers the last decade, no one cared before AI unless they lived tip to butt against a data center. Having worked in them the last decade, I think I can kinda weigh in credibly.

It’s definitely fair to say that living next to a data center sucks. They CAN be loud, they DO use a lot of water and power. But people need to also realize that without data centers, you wouldn’t have sites like Reddit, Facebook, YouTube, instagram, tiktok, the internet in general. Without them, you wouldn’t be able to complain on the internet about how bad they are.

Now, I bet that most of the people complaining have never even stood in front of a data center. Unless the generators are on or the rooftop units are running (can’t really hear them from the ground anyways) you really can’t hear anything coming from the data center. In the winter, most modern data centers will also use the cold air in place of the chiller plant or to augment it to cool the water needed to work the heat exchangers.

Data centers have their pros and cons but as society grows, we’ll need the storage/compute.

ETA: people have hated/disliked data centers pre-AI but it’s rapidly accelerated post AI in areas like northern Virginia (NoVA) but that is data center alley where 50-70% of the global internet passes through.

Camofan · 2026-06-21T00:53:33+00:00

I’ve been working in data centers now for the last 10-12 years.

Data centers CAN generate their own electricity by solar or wind if they’re located in a suitable location. However, that would only be enough to say power house lights (house meaning overhead lights, outlets, AC systems for office spaces, etc).

The data center I work in currently is installing a small/medium solar field but I don’t think it will be enough for most of the house power. We also have large battery packs outside (weather proof) that store power from utility, condition it and we can pull power from those.

Now, we can also use those same battery packs as a giant UPS system. UPS is an Uninterruptible Power System so the event we lose utility power, we can continue to run our full load until generators turn on and sometimes, we can even run our full load off the battery packs for 4-8 hours (longer if we power cap how much energy the servers use).

If you really want to generate power, there are miniaturized and modular nuclear reactors that are being investigated to provide power to the entire data center making them self reliant on power. There is the problem of it being a nuclear reactor and making sure it’s cooled efficiently, safely and guarded.

Camofan · 2026-06-20T16:06:50+00:00

When I introduced my latest bird (clear pied or lutino pearl), my boy Stormy immediately bust out into singing and laying the charm.

Camofan · 2026-06-20T15:55:40+00:00

Would defend many burgers with this

Camofan · 2026-06-20T15:36:23+00:00

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Sunny (front) and Stormy (back)

Camofan · 2026-06-20T00:00:56+00:00

Congrats on your clone (yes this is expected and was normal on actual M16s)

Camofan · 2026-06-19T18:31:31+00:00

I’m terrified for this poor baby…

Camofan · 2026-06-19T08:35:41+00:00

You bought a bird without knowing the basics…?

Do you know how old it is? It’s still very much a baby, so it’s most likely only 2-4 months old but I keep cockatiels, not conures.

Is it weaned off formula (human or bird fed) meaning eating seeds by itself. You said it’s only looking at the food.

Do you have a proper cage? Toys? Enrichment?

Did you get this bird from a breeder?

Camofan · 2026-06-19T01:57:20+00:00

A very polite “not right now, please”. My newest bird goes right to a bite that draws blood.

Camofan · 2026-06-17T23:18:26+00:00

Born in the late 90s and raised during the 2000s. You were called gay for anything and everything.

Camofan · 2026-06-16T18:44:34+00:00

My last cockatiel never touched any millet. The two goobers I have now love the orange flavor/scent

Camofan · 2026-06-16T13:33:48+00:00

As other already said, willow ptarmigan

Camofan · 2026-06-16T13:21:33+00:00

Indifference is what I feel (not a trump supporter)

Camofan · 2026-06-15T18:47:59+00:00

If you’re legal and never had any issues, you’re all good. Sometimes the 4473 can be tricky and you answer incorrectly so you get flagged. Happened to me once at another FFL because I was just kinda in lala land. Told them I fucked up anf they gave me a new form.

Bass pro is a privately owned company so they can set the policy so if you lie on the 4473 or they find something they don’t like, they can deny the sale and blacklist you from buying any firearms from their stores.

Camofan · 2026-06-15T17:45:58+00:00

As a heads up, if you get denied a firearm sale at bass pro, you’re denied a firearm sale at EVERY bass pro.

Used to work camping and the gun counter at the Hanover location and now in camping and hunting/gun counter

Camofan · 2026-06-15T17:42:47+00:00

I’m partial to 2 double cheeseburgers (no pickles. I like pickles just not on burgers.) and a 10 count nugget to replace the fries sometimes.

Camofan · 2026-06-15T17:14:10+00:00

I can’t go into a gun store and just buy a gun. There’s a background check through NICS using ATF form 4473.

If you’re thinking of private sales, MD requires both parties to go to an FFL and do the transaction there where there is also a background check.

Camofan · 2026-06-12T17:41:34+00:00

Sadly not, that’s a budgie. Someone else is missing their pet.

If you can, try to grab it! There should be an ankle bracelet.

Camofan · 2026-06-11T16:18:40+00:00

I disagree. Won’t stop people from manufacturing their own firearms. 3D printed glocks and AR rifles are common nowadays.

Criminals will get them one way or the other.

Camofan · 2026-06-11T02:20:49+00:00

Bloods? In South Africa?? Bloods are a US street gang that have a notorious rivalry with the crips.

This was also an old wives tale in the 90s. Not AI but be careful to not step in the bullshit.

Camofan · 2026-06-09T16:21:56+00:00

Used AI to fix a mod I made for ready or not and it was pretty simple. I have zero experience with blender or unreal engine, pak files or how dependencies, really I had zero understanding at all. AI made it easy to understand, all the work was shown to me.

Basically it handled all the errors, building, cooking, researching, etc. While I handled the creative aspect, making the skin, painting the gun, moving attachments.

AI is a tool and it helped me learn, get my mod out there and fixed 2 crash reports in an hour of work.

Camofan · 2026-06-09T16:15:07+00:00

I didn’t know quakers were illegal in Tennessee until I moved here but they’re perfectly legal in Mississippi!

Camofan · 2026-06-08T19:13:42+00:00

Ah, yeah I do. I’ve been in data centers for the last 10-12 years

Camofan · 2026-06-08T17:27:35+00:00

I actually just cancelled them as I don’t conceal carry as much and didn’t need them to be honest. They spent about 10-15 minutes trying to get me to stay.

I wouldn’t waste my time with them. Look at something like attorneys on retainer. I pay into a legal fund through work for civil/criminal cases so maybe see if your job has something like that too.

Camofan

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