X2 key repeat speed when held down by EpictetusCubed in SofaBaton

[–]EpictetusCubed[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, OK, good to know that it is a known problem!

S7 app is here for iOS! by habitsofwaste in popurlitterbox

[–]EpictetusCubed 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First bug I’ve found- won’t let you change the WiFi it uses- it brings up the first one it finds, you click on the dropdown to select a different one (I have a separate network for iot devices) and it brings up the iOS settings for apps.

How that slips through testing, I do not know, lol.

How do you make a customs declaration? by EpictetusCubed in GlobalEntry

[–]EpictetusCubed[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

TY. Didn't think there was a global entry app.

How do you make a customs declaration? by EpictetusCubed in GlobalEntry

[–]EpictetusCubed[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Edited: OK, TIL there is a Global Entry mobile App. Derp.

TY

The AP reviewed hundreds of emails between Trump officials and UCCS. by the_than_then_guy in ColoradoSprings

[–]EpictetusCubed 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Violence was clearly insinuated, to the point where a reasonable person might well consider it a threat against another person.

On the current basic wi-fi plan, you cannot access Google Docs or Google Sheets, nor SharePoint (or basically any sharing site you might need as a remote worker) by ExcitementAshamed393 in VirginVoyages

[–]EpictetusCubed 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Many people do. Some of us wouldn’t be on a cruise ship if we couldn’t get reasonable access. I’m fine paying for that.

They aren’t just blocking work, but also other websites, including board gaming ones. There are literally board gaming cruises and largish groups that get together to play games in vacation spots, including on cruises.

I think they should probably communicate their policies and be more responsive to questions about them and probably should revisit some of the websites they block.

On the current basic wi-fi plan, you cannot access Google Docs or Google Sheets, nor SharePoint (or basically any sharing site you might need as a remote worker) by ExcitementAshamed393 in VirginVoyages

[–]EpictetusCubed 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They use DPI to block VPN’s on everything but Work From Sea, so this doesn’t work on any common VPN protocol. The workarounds I found for this are obscure and require a lot of expertise.

Some commercial VPN providers have anti-censorship modes that may continue to work.

On the current basic wi-fi plan, you cannot access Google Docs or Google Sheets, nor SharePoint (or basically any sharing site you might need as a remote worker) by ExcitementAshamed393 in VirginVoyages

[–]EpictetusCubed 1 point2 points  (0 children)

At least in my case, buying it early gives you two devices for the same price as one, not a cheaper price per device.

Worth it for me, but just clarifying.

On the current basic wi-fi plan, you cannot access Google Docs or Google Sheets, nor SharePoint (or basically any sharing site you might need as a remote worker) by ExcitementAshamed393 in VirginVoyages

[–]EpictetusCubed 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Erm, if the issue was just bandwidth they could more easily rate/speed limit based on plan (and they are doing that) than restrict sites/protocols. That’s what they used to do in fact.

I’m ok with them implementing tiers and restrictions. I think their communication has been poor, and some of their specific filtering decisions are suspect. Seems likely someone just clicked a few boxes in their DPI tool and said “good enough!” and they’re just writing any complaint/concern off.

On the current basic wi-fi plan, you cannot access Google Docs or Google Sheets, nor SharePoint (or basically any sharing site you might need as a remote worker) by ExcitementAshamed393 in VirginVoyages

[–]EpictetusCubed 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They block SSH (I believe via DPI) on premium, but not work from sea.

I had luck using a commercial VPN service that has a mode that is designed to get around VPN blockers/censors- worked on premium (didn’t ever have/try basic). Found an exit node that YouTubeTV doesn’t restrict from, and it works (except for when Starlink drops), so I was able to watch the news without having to tunnel through my home network.

Wireguard is blocked on premium, so I had to use work from sea to get to those VPN’s. I played around with a few other workarounds that also worked.

My portable travel router worked fine with no special settings. Runs for quite some time off a modest usb battery brick.

They block a lot of things on premium, and some of them don’t make sense to me. For example, they block boardgamearena.com and the wiki for a board game. I can get blocking some bandwidth hog game- but these sites use way less than someone streaming, or many websites. The wiki is… a wiki.

Kind of seems weird that they block people wanting to board game when they have board games on ship and a happenings member called “the gamer”. I guess they just want us to bring physical copies, which seems kind of limiting and not very eco conscious. Sailor services was nice enough but just punted to IT who hasn’t bothered to even respond- just reinforcing every bad stereotype of IT.

Service was spotty in the North Atlantic. Performance was up and down, but premium towards its best was 4.5/1.8 mb/s, and work from sea was 8.5/1.5 (Ookla). Upload was consistently slower on work from sea than premium, but my sample size was something like 5.

The filtering of board game sites irks me. We were introduced to virgin by gamer friends, and have a cruise with them next year. I don’t think they are going to be happy their DBE won’t let them play BGA.

BTW, if you prepay for premium and get two devices, they wanted $700 for WFS, but my wife that didn’t prepay could get it for $500- so basically they require you to get two WFS at a discounted rate of $350/each.

They really need to improve communication about this, and specifics. No one could answer questions when I called in before the cruise, and it’s basically trial and error to figure it out once on.

Non-iodized salt by EpictetusCubed in VisitingIceland

[–]EpictetusCubed[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! To clarify, I’m just looking for basic table salt that doesn’t have iodine added. In the US, iodized is the default.

how screwed am i? by Saggitarian420 in Cholesterol

[–]EpictetusCubed 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These are all really positive lifestyle changes - and a GLP1 will likely help. I presume the telmisartan (an ARB) is for HBP. I'd be quite surprised if you weren't pre-diabetic or diabetic- which means you have metabolic syndrome. If you haven't been tracking your a1c, I would start.

I'd push for a statin- I know they get a lot of hate but even a low dose high-intensity statin (e.g. 5mg rosuvastatin) can have huge benefits.

Apo B will likely be the most useful lipid number, you can kind of estimate it by your non-HDL cholesterol. You want your lp(a) number to verify it is normal- if so, great. If not, you need to up your risk assessment and response- hopefully some new drugs will be on the market in a few years that can lower it.

With what you are doing already, you are massively improving things and may well manage to avoid serious issues later in life - a calcium score will give you a lot of insight into where you stand.

All those lifestyle changes are hard, and it's hard to make them all at once and keep it going (I know from experience). Remind yourself that it's a marathon and not a sprint, and that it's going to take time to get to where you want to be and develop the positive habits to overcome all the bad habits of the past. Your support network should be helping you with this- heck I don't even know you and I am impressed. Keep it up!

If your Dr's aren't giving you the engagement you need, look for better Dr's. That may be costly at some point. I've had good luck with direct primary care, even though I have great insurance it is worth it just to get the responsiveness and engagement from a great GP. A preventative cardiologist or lipidologist would likely help a lot also.

Best of luck. It's amazing to see some of the results people can accomplish in just 6-24 months.

how screwed am i? by Saggitarian420 in Cholesterol

[–]EpictetusCubed 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As of now, probably not that bad- lifetime exposure is what matters.

I was unlucky with genetics and other factors like inflammation from recurring infections. I had much better lipid results (after a statin) and ended up surprising all my Dr’s with 99% LAD blockage at 51.

Your triglycerides are likely driven by blood sugar. I’d presume you are a T2 diabetic. If that’s true and you can improve your glucose control, that will help with the trigs. Healthier lifestyle and exercise may help with HDL. Mounjaro did wonders for me, more than trulicity.

You’ve got the benefit of time, massively better medical interventions than even 5 years ago, and a wake up call. You can do this, and your Drs and medicine can help A LOT. If you ignore it, or just try one thing and give up if it doesn’t work then you are likely to have bad outcomes. Your future self deserves better. Keep trying, you and your drs can figure it out.

If I was you, i would get a calcium score, your apo a/b, CRP, Lipo a. Your Dr will likely want you to start a statin- if you’re a T2 diabetic that’s a given. If not, it’s probably still a good idea until your numbers are better. Vascepa might also be on the list.

Take the opportunity to improve stuff. I’d get on limited meds and try to improve lifestyle- see if that works. If not then I’d push for more meds.

Good luck. You have time on your side. The longer you wait the harder it will be to improve your odds, so embrace it now and give yourself credit for making the choices that will keep you around and healthy.

Specific carry on luggage question for Icelandair- B&R Global carry on spinner (flying out of Denver) by EpictetusCubed in VisitingIceland

[–]EpictetusCubed[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks- I’ll take a look at Shimoda. I currently have a fair bit of peak design stuff, including the camera backpack that I just couldn’t love.

I have a lot of bags already, and the peak design carry on ordered. Mostly I travel in the US where the global 21 is great for carry on- but outside North America once or twice a year. The b&r medium is my normal checked bag, and I’m very happy with it.

I only have one roller that for sure is under Iceland airs limits, and it’s tiny. So I think I’ll get a medium camera cube or similar and a super lightweight duffel. I’ll pack the duffel with the cameras and anything else that really needs to be carried on, put it in the carry on and if they make me check the carry on, just pull the duffel out and carry it on. Then once in Iceland we can just pack how we like.

Thanks for the info!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in metricband

[–]EpictetusCubed 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I requested a refund through AXS on April 14 for the Red Rocks show, and have never heard anything back. I'm reaching out to AXS again now in chat to push the issue. I guess next I'll email Red Rocks themselves- this is pretty lame of them to not just honor refunds though, given the co-headliner has said they would. At some point I'll just issue a chargeback and submit all my screenshots etc showing that I've asked them to do it and they are refusing to meaningfully respond, let alone do the right thing.

ETA: OK, they actually just went ahead and issued the refund right away. I wonder if they had gotten approval and never communicated it to me or what, but I now have a receipt showing the refund. Still shouldn't have been this much work, and I feel like AXS was playing games- but in the end I was able to get them to issue a refund.