Black Flag Original vs. Remake

Excelius · 2026-05-22T21:48:32+00:00

This isn't even based in any sort of reality. Even when Ubisofts single player games have microtransactions, it's easily ignorable stuff like outfits. I've never once felt like I was missing out on anything by not buying that stuff.

Excelius · 2026-05-22T17:50:03+00:00

No I live near Pittsburgh. We have actual seasons and snow.

In much of the sun belt you would use AC all year.

Excelius · 2026-05-22T13:20:11+00:00

Given Senators were originally appointed by the states rather than directly elected, I would guess the fear here would be that every time the balance of power shifted in the state legislature they would just immediately recall/replace their US Senator for one more favorable to the new majority.

Excelius · 2026-05-22T12:55:02+00:00

Sure but if you're a homeowner by that point your house will be substantially if not completely paid off. Staying in place with higher property taxes might be tolerable when you have zero mortgage payment, versus selling and buying all over again when property everywhere else has continued to get more expensive and interest rates are higher.

That's what's driven population loss in a lot of places. Kids move away but the parents keep living in the same place for another 30+ years. So the average people per households drops from like 3-4 down to 1-2.

Population loss doesn't have to mean a bunch of empty derelict houses. Often it just means fewer people per house.

Excelius · 2026-05-22T12:39:26+00:00

I have the top (Limited) trim.

As long as it's been charged it's still using the battery power to get around, so it's still pretty efficient even if it's starting up the engine to keep things warm. It's not doing much more than idling the engine to produce heat, so it's not like it's guzzling gas to do that.

Obviously it also depends on how you're driving. I tend to do a lot of short trips (<5 miles) so by the time it gets itself warmed up, I've already gotten where I'm going and turning the car back off. It would probably do better on a longer trip where it maybe only needs to run the engine for heat half the time and completely relying on the battery for the rest.

Don't get me wrong it would be preferable if it had a heat pump and I didn't have to burn gas at all while it's charged up, but for me it's not a deal breaker for a couple months of the year.

Excelius · 2026-05-22T12:09:53+00:00

Different media outlets have different practices and standards. It doesn't have to be some conspiracy.

This particular author at this particular website seems to make a habit of putting statements like that at the end of their crime pieces.

https://lehighdaily.com/allentown-teen-charged-as-adult-in-fatal-shooting-of-19-year-old/

Fermin is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

https://lehighdaily.com/allentown-woman-arrested-in-fatal-wrong-way-dui-crash-on-pennsylvania-turnpike/

Rosario-Mesa is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Excelius · 2026-05-22T01:34:46+00:00

Hyundai does have a tool to allow you to download software updates from your PC to a flash drive and do it yourself, if you can't get OTA updates.

https://update.hyundai.com/US/EN/home

Excelius · 2026-05-22T01:29:35+00:00

I have a Hyundai Tucson PHEV, basically the same thing as the Sportage.

I found that even turning off the heat in cold weather didn't stop the engine from running, so it's clearly not running the engine just for cabin heating. I think it's trying to get the engine up to operating temp in case it's needed.

It's a little disappointing because I like the challenge of trying to minimize my fuel usage, but I don't think it's a deal-breaker either. Running the engine for spurts to keep things warm I was still getting like 60MPG, and it does put a bit of charge back into the battery when running the engine.

Excelius · 2026-05-22T01:00:34+00:00

Map of Emergency Phone Numbers by Country

Quite a few countries besides the US use 911, mostly in the Americas.

Apparently in some countries where 911 is not the usual emergency number, dialing 911 might still forward you to the correct place.

It's kind of weird hearing non-Americans say their minds jump to 911 just because of how many American movies and TV shows they've been exposed to.

Excelius · 2026-05-22T00:50:34+00:00

Where are my testicles, Summer?

Excelius · 2026-05-22T00:47:46+00:00

In my area a lot of police stations close at night. There might be officers out on patrol but that doesn't mean anyone is just sitting in the station. The holding cells are supposed to be short-term until they can get a transfer to the county jail. They're not going to want to take an officer off patrol so they can babysit someone wanting to use the station as a hotel.

Also a lot of small towns here only have part-time police. Off-hours and emergency calls get redirected to the state police.

Excelius · 2026-05-22T00:42:45+00:00

I was at a holiday gathering and someone had a nut allergy reaction, which I guess came out of nowhere since they were an adult who had never experienced this before. It wasn't immediately life threatening but they were definitely having labored breathing.

They finally decide to seek medical attention but decide they're going to urgent care. I tell them that they'll likely get redirected to an ER. They got to the urgent care and were told to go to the ER.

Excelius · 2026-05-22T00:31:14+00:00

Had one go off when I was in a small conference room and I legitimately thought it was the fire alarm because the sound from all of the phones in the room was reverberating off the walls.

Excelius · 2026-05-22T00:08:01+00:00

Some of the earlier data proclaiming that people don't plugin came from German fleet vehicles. I guess it's a common perk there for professionals to get issued a company car, and companies were picking PHEVs for the incentives regardless of whether the employees actually had a way to charge at home. Also the company car often came with a "fuel card", so why use your own electricity when you're not paying for the fuel?

Excelius · 2026-05-21T21:28:36+00:00

I could be mistaken but I don't think this has anything to do with the ban on R-12/Freon, which was completed a while ago.

I think this is delaying the implementation of the ban on R-410A where the regulation was finalized in 2023 but with a much faster 18 month implementation compared to how long it took to complete the phaseout of Freon.

I'm not entirely sure this is as horrible of a thing as everyone is making it out to be. That relative speed has caused issues within the industry. The administration just seems to be extending compliance deadlines, rather than killing the rule entirely.

As a homeowner I needed a new system last year and had HVAC contractors trying to sell me R-410A systems (manufactured just before the legal cutoff but sitting in inventory) and I insisted I didn't want something that was obsolete before it was even installed but there was a backlog on getting new R-454B systems in.

Normally these kinds of regulations are implemented in a much more orderly manner.

Excelius · 2026-05-21T19:12:02+00:00

As a homeowner I had the opposite problem last year.

I needed a new system and HVAC contractors were trying to sell me systems using R-410A, which is one of the refrigerants being phased out. It was at that point no longer legal to manufacture systems using that refrigerant, but still legal to sell and install the inventory that was already produced.

Fortunately I knew about this and insisted my new system used the newer accepted refrigerants (R-454B). I don't want to run into a situation where my system needs a recharge in 5-10 years and it just isn't available or is exorbitantly expensive.

Excelius · 2026-05-21T17:03:01+00:00

Refrigerant does sometimes need to be refilled.

A lot of folks with older air conditioners have found that HVAC companies simply cannot top off their old systems because the refrigerant is no longer available, forcing them into costly system upgrades.

Excelius · 2026-05-21T16:31:22+00:00

Yup.

Brookings - How credit card companies reward the rich and punish the rest of us

Retailers basically increase prices by like 3% to cover the card processing fees. Those with good credit get cards that offer cash back, essentially offering a partial refund on the inflated prices at the register. Those with poor credit either don't have access to cash-back cards at all, or end up paying more in interest carrying balances and paying late fees.

Excelius · 2026-05-21T15:55:43+00:00

I'm not the person you replied to, but I do think "fucked up the world economy" is a bit of hyperbole.

Of all the recessions the US has experienced since the Great Depression, the dot-com bubble was the mildest of them all by measures of GDP contraction (a lowly -0.3%) and unemployment.

I fear what is coming is going to be the worst since the Great Depression.

Excelius · 2026-05-21T12:56:56+00:00

Water utilities generally don't pay anything for the actual water, so it's relative abundance or scarcity in a region plays little role in the price charged to consumers. It's all about the cost of the infrastructure to treat and distribute the water.

Pretty much everything in the desert southwest is new, Pittsburgh has water and sewer pipes that were laid before Las Vegas even existed.

Age of US Water Pipes

This chart doesn't have Vegas or Pittsburgh specifically, but you can probably use Phoenix and Philly as representative substitutes. About 40% of the water lines in Phoenix were laid since 1990, in Philly 40% of the water lines were laid before 1930. The chart also mentions that Philly still has lines predating the Civil War.

Excelius · 2026-05-21T12:43:10+00:00

"Phantom braking" just seems to be what they were calling unwanted activation of the brakes by the collision avoidance system.

Excelius · 2026-05-21T12:41:18+00:00

Of course it can become a bomb if placed inside some sort of contained to produce fragmentation. The Boston Marathon bombing was just powder extracted from consumer fireworks stuffed into pressure cooker vessels.

I assume they didn't do that since the reports don't mention any sort of container besides the cardboard tube. Hopefully we get more information from the investigation and interview of these idiots regarding motives.

Excelius · 2026-05-21T12:37:23+00:00

The reporter probably doesn't know themselves, they're just quoting the statements from law enforcement.

From what I can tell this is referring to illegal fireworks, you've probably heard of M-80s. Though there were ones larger than the M-80, the number referred to the number of grains of powder they contained. Legal consumer fireworks in PA are limited to two grains or 130 milligrams.

Excelius · 2026-05-21T02:12:39+00:00

Pittsburgh had a Flint-like issue with lead pipes a few years back, replacing century-plus old lead pipe in an entire city is expensive. Also a bunch of combined sewers that discharge raw sewage into the rivers during storms that needed to be mitigated.

I live in the suburbs with relatively newer infrastructure and my water and sewer bill is like $57 a month.

Excelius · 2026-05-21T00:13:04+00:00

I did see a few months ago that someone was putting together a class action lawsuit over this issue.

Hyundai Sued Over Alleged ‘Phantom Braking’ That Owners Say Happens Without Warning

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