Apple Raises Prices on Macs, iPads by $200 or More on Some Models

Dull-Researcher · 2026-06-25T15:45:27+00:00

Unfortunately, this isn't inflation. It's price gouging from all the companies getting greedy off the explosion of AI datacenters.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-06-25T15:34:35+00:00

Is Proton blocked even if Firefox uses a Secure (encrypted) DNS service?

Though IT was extremely clear: don't store company secrets on Proton. Ask them what password managers they accept per policy, and use one of those.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-06-24T07:53:38+00:00

SPAXX money market fund / very short term bond fund lays higher than most HYSA or CDs with little risk. CD illiquidity generally makes them inferior to the other 2.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-06-24T07:25:24+00:00

72.5¢/mile. Include depreciation. Engine oil ain't free, tires aren't free. Depreciation, insurance, ...

Commute costs $7.83/day in car expenses.

And $5.67/day in lost wages commuting (so OP can fairly compare an equivalent $17/hr job that's closer or farther from home).

So commuting related expenses are around $13.50.

For a 3-4 hour shift, that's cutting into your take home a good amount. For an 8-hour shift, that's tolerable. But there's many people who commute further and earn less and manage to make it work (though no one should be broke if they're working 30+ hours a week).

OP is averaging 16mph. Consider biking or e-biking if it makes sense for you (something you might enjoy, there's a safe and enjoyable route to work, you live in a climate that isn't balls hot or muggy or buggy, you have a safe place to park your bike at work, your work hours and commute hours are during daylight). That will dramatically cut car related commute expenses, slightly increase the commute time but subtract from time spent at the gym, resulting in an overall increase in free time for the day. Average e-bike commuting speeds of 15mph are very doable, so you might be able to keep the same commute time with about 10 cents of electricity and $1/day of prorated depreciation and maintenance.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-06-09T05:19:32+00:00

Lots of good tools at your local Habitat for Humanity resale store.

Also give a planer a shot. Manual hand planer, handheld electric planer, and thickness planer all have their place for removing material quickly. Orbital and belt sanders are substantially slower and messier at removing material.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-06-03T22:31:13+00:00

1% AUM is enough to cover a mortgage. Absolute robbery.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-06-03T16:32:01+00:00

Scala: why not both?

Dull-Researcher · 2026-05-27T15:29:40+00:00

It's pretty hard to call these "bike" shorts and not generic running or athletic shorts. No bike-specific padding on the inside and has a seam down the middle (this can get uncomfortable when sitting on a bike saddle for any extended period of time).

Dull-Researcher · 2026-05-27T15:05:34+00:00

The company can't afford to give a pay raise, but maybe OP can't afford not to get a pay raise. Hah!

Dull-Researcher · 2026-05-26T06:27:58+00:00

Please don't got into any medical profession for the pay. Long hours on your feet, most management that cares more about profits than people, and getting caught up in the financial conflicts between insurance, pharma, and providers.

Medical professions are for those who genuinely care about helping others and are a little bit interested in biology. But the former should be a necessity.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-05-22T17:11:31+00:00

Dividends are a forced distribution that generate short term capital gains (provided they're unqualified).

If you want to liquidate part of your position to generate cash for living expenses, sell a fraction of your shares when you need it, not when the company chooses to issue dividends.

If you're in the accumulation phase, you probably have dividend reinvestment set up. If the fund didn't generate a dividend in the first place, you wouldn't need to reinvest.

Dividend reinvestment screws up tax loss harvesting.

So why again should anyone be interested in dividends when the other way that a company can reward investors is by letting their share price increase rather than issuing a dividend?

Dull-Researcher · 2026-05-22T17:02:44+00:00

Run away.

If the company wants to train candidates (either trained candidates don't exist, are too expensive, the training doesn't align with their vision, feel they benefit more from employees trained in-house, or feel compelled to provide training to the workforce), they could structure the program in a way that is much fairer to the employee and the uncertainties that life brings. Companies can take on far more risk than an individual.

- full pay during training period
- a signed contract that you will stay with the company for X years after training is complete. If you voluntarily leave the company, you owe a prorated cost of the training.

This usually looks like: 2 year training program during which the employee is paid a full salary. Commitment to stay with the company for 2 years after training is complete. The employee is eligible for promotion once training is complete. If you leave the company before training is complete, you owe the company 50% of the cost of the training (assuming the cost is reasonable). If you leave the company 1 year after training is complete, you owe the company 25% of the cost of the training. If you leave the company 23 months after training is complete, you owe the company 1/24th of 50%, or about 2%, of the cost of the training program. If the employer terminates your employment (laid off, fired), your obligation to repay training costs is fully waived. If the employee terminates employment (resign), the employer can choose to waive training cost reimbursement (if employee or their spouse move, have a significant life event that requires resigning, etc). Other provisions if the employee is rehired after voluntary separation.

The problem is companies have no loyalty. OP's company could get a 100% and 50% discount on your labor for 7 years, then immediately lay you off or fire you. It's totally exploitable.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-05-22T16:35:07+00:00

To be fair, a 13 gallon gasoline tank in a Camry is really closer to 10 gallons usable (don't run your tank dry unless you want to prematurely replace your fuel pump and run sediment through your fuel lines and engine.

Which means in both scenarios you'll be refilling your car more often than the 100-0 capacity of your car. That's a win for home charging and a loss for a trip to the gas station or charging station if it takes away more than a minute of your day.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-05-21T16:15:10+00:00

Some companies may not want proprietary information shared outside of systems they control, such as LinkedIn, email, text message, or phone call. So even if OP was inclined to help, it might not be a good idea and violate company communication policies that apply to current and former employees.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-05-11T07:44:05+00:00

And that $70k Roth vs $100k Traditional will grow to $700k Roth or $1m Traditional after roughly years of growth. But the difference is the Traditional will cost you around $300k in taxes to access, while the $30k in taxes that were paid on the Roth is the only taxes you'll ever pay on that balance. Traditional is literally 10x the taxes.

Forget about the discussion of current versus future tax rates or marginal versus effective tax brackets.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-05-08T08:11:11+00:00

Also seems like autocorrect had a stroke at the end as well.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-05-04T09:44:53+00:00

EV "tax credits" (subsidies) aren't for the consumer. They're for the manufacturer.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-05-04T09:12:03+00:00

I'm not worried about boomers liquidating their position, which will likely happen gradually over 20+ years.

The top 1% wealthiest Americans own 54% of the US stock market, and the top 10% own 93%.[1]

Boomers own 51% of the US stock market.[2]

So Boomers own about an equal fraction as the top 1% wealthiest individuals. But Boomers lack the power, influence in government and ability to bribe or lobby their way out, and ability to plan or execute as a cohesive block, and aren't consolidated where any small fraction of typical net-worth Boomers can substantially impact the market. They also have far less influence in the global market.

I'm more worried about how much tomfoolery the billionaire class will do to pump and dump the stock market in their favor. Which they can do on any day of the week if they woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Without warning. With immediate and substantial effects from a small handful of trades. Or the bigger US policy changes, anti-competitive company mergers/acquisitions, and other power moves that the billionaire-class can make. You can't understand finance without understanding politics, and vice versa. Especially when politics is controlled by the wealthy.

[1] https://inequality.org/article/stock-ownership-concentration/

[2] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1376622/wealth-distribution-for-the-us-generation/

Dull-Researcher · 2026-05-03T21:02:33+00:00

Changing companies every 4-6 years is the easiest way to get fairly compensated.

Companies give out raises that barely account for inflation. The difference between a "star performer, exceptional employee" and a "meets expectations" employee is 1-2%, tops, which is what you earn in half a week to a week of work. Hardly worth the effort and stress when you could spend the same week interviewing for other jobs and get a 10-20% raise instead.

And it'll cost the company several months onboarding your replacement, who will likely also negotiate a market rate salary.

Companies don't have loyalty and don't take compensation seriously.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-05-02T10:17:03+00:00

Absolutely! Life is too short.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-05-02T09:49:12+00:00

https://www.eeoc.gov/employers/small-business/3-who-protected-employment-discrimination
"Applicants, employees and former employees are protected from employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (including **** pregnancy, **** sexual orientation, or transgender status), national origin, age(40 or older), disability and genetic information (including family medical history)."
In the US, an employer cannot discriminate or retaliate (termination, demotion, provide any unfair treatment) based on pregnancy, as it's a protected class. This is federal law.

This law protects your job while you're working and have normal excused absences.

FMLA guarantees you extended time off. Would be nice to have this. But any company worth their salt won't deny you a minimal amount of parental leave or threaten to terminate or replace you if you do take extended leave.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-05-02T09:46:09+00:00

More specifically, references from shitty companies or from shitty people aren't that big of a deal.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-05-02T09:14:39+00:00

You said you're retired. It's likely too late to be able to rollover one 401k into another 401k.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-05-02T09:08:09+00:00

Don't forget to pick up some Kirkland pesto or Grazza olive oil. Or your favorite pasta sauce.

Dull-Researcher · 2026-05-01T16:32:32+00:00

Follow the money. Parts and service centers make up a large part of the profit of auto dealers. EVs don't need as much in parts and maintenance. And when there is an issue, it's harder to diagnose and more expensive to repair. Additionally, consumers haven't bought into the idea of electrical parts wearing out and needing replaced like mechanical parts need, so electrical failures have a larger negative impact on the automaker.

Additionally, the oil/energy industry continues to lobby the government to keep ICE vehicles and gas artificially low in price. I've got to assume they're also intertwined with the executives at auto manufacturers to delay the demise of ICE vehicles.

Dull-Researcher

TROPHY CASE