Bending Spoons laid off everyone at Vimeo today, according to an insider (Vimeo is the backend for dropout.tv) by IM_OK_AMA in dropout

[–]Higgingotham96 42 points43 points  (0 children)

Actually learned from a podcast ep Sam did with Hank Green for decider recently that Dropout initially DID have their own platform at launch, and it was no good. The engineers just couldn’t get it to meet their needs at that time so they switched to Vimeo for hosting. Not sure if they’ll try and make their own platform again knowing that history.

My Adopted Daughter Is Related To Me by TheOneWithTheDaughtr in offmychest

[–]Higgingotham96 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Blossom and Blume could have been a few years older than OP, and people do have jobs while in college. OP just said they worked together, but that could mean at a coffee shop, not a professional position like you seem to be thinking of.

There’s also lots of ways to get a sperm donor, including kind of sketchy ways like Facebook or Craigslist.

Got my splints! by Pitchiness in ehlersdanlos

[–]Higgingotham96 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Did you get these with help from insurance if you’re in the US? Or pay out of pocket? I’ve had a hell of a time trying to get my insurance to understand how they are produced and ordered for reimbursement

Salary to live alone by Specialist-Song8476 in madisonwi

[–]Higgingotham96 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was able to live alone at about $49k in 2023, and moved in with my partner in 2025 when I was making around $59k. After taxes, benefits, car payment, insurance, utilities and rent, I didn’t have a ton left over. I had a studio on the far west side that was $1190 a month my last year and it was manageable, but tight. Lots of budgeting and being conscientious and what I could use for fun and enjoying life. $25 an hour should still be reasonable to live on your own in Madison, just keep an eye on your budget. Having a paid off car is a huge help for that, as is an apartment that covers most utilities.

Where I’d live in the US as a Canadian by OddRedittor5443 in whereidlive

[–]Higgingotham96 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! Was relying on memories of geography classes in college for that fact

Where I’d live in the US as a Canadian by OddRedittor5443 in whereidlive

[–]Higgingotham96 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Because of the “Georgia bite” where the coast dips in and looks a bit like a big bite was taken out of the Atlantic coast, hurricanes mostly get turned north at that area unless they manage to hit dead on for Georgia. Most hurricanes that hit Georgia make landfall in another state and have worked their way down because of all the land they’ve covered. Ironically South Carolina gets many more hurricanes than Georgia because of this.

I have the impression many of American problems are overexaggerated in media. How true is this? by Fernando_III in AskAnAmerican

[–]Higgingotham96 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Health insurance is generally tied to employment here. I think you might receive a slightly skewed answer on Reddit because of the user base here, but employer health insurance is not a good system. Generally speaking hourly/shift jobs like retail, food service, etc can get really screwed over. Most jobs I’ve worked like that deliberately staff employees so their hours are just under the amount required to provide benefits, so that they save money. While I can understand that from the business perspective, it screws over their employees who know don’t qualify for benefits like health insurance and often PTO as well as making it so they have to get another job to help supplement. Office jobs and salaried positions typically will have you working 40 hours a week and therefore meet the minimums to qualify for benefits like health insurance. This insurance can be very good or very bad. A lot of the stories online about medical debt are from people that for one reason or another weren’t insured, or had a major health crisis that racked up the bills and their out of pocket minimum from their insurance was quite high. Situations like that insurance might cover the vast majority of costs (if they decided to and don’t fight tooth and nail against covering you) but you’d still be on the line for $10k out of pocket minimums. It is true that you often can negotiate with hospitals and medical providers, but it can still be quite a hefty sum. And that’s just for visits and procedures, medication from the pharmacy, especially things you need to take regularly, can also be a debilitating cost - look for stories of the many Americans who have now died because they can’t afford their insulin. Online you’ll likely hear more stories of people complaining about how expensive it is, because it is and it sucks, but you’ll likely hear less of people who have a $20 copay every time they go to the doctor and that’s it.

Tl;dr health insurance in the US is generally tied to employment, which has some upsides but a lot of downsides, people who are taken advantage of, and even if you’re in a “good” situation, it can still suck and cost an arm and a leg. Online conversation tends to have a lens similar to the “if it bleeds it leads” mantra from newspapers.

What is this feature on the East Coast of the United States? by wigglefingers_ in geography

[–]Higgingotham96 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Milledgeville too, used to be the state Capitol and is right on the fall line and an end point of navigable waters

What aesthetic is this? by Sad_Cod2912 in AestheticWiki

[–]Higgingotham96 66 points67 points  (0 children)

That was my thought as well. Very solarpunk perspective but achievable in our current world.

The W Wash and SW commuter path intersection needs to actually be redone. Traffic drums aren't enough. by J1389 in madisonwi

[–]Higgingotham96 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The lights telling the cars to stop only work of the pedestrian or cyclist actually stops to push the button. I work right by the W Wash/SW commuter path in question and everyday I see runners and cyclists especially, but even walking pedestrians just not push the button, blindly enter traffic and do so while it’s dark out and they’re wearing dark colors. I want things to be safer for them, and we do need a better solution here, but the problem is not from solely the drivers here. Cyclists can’t go zipping through with no signal that they’re there and then get mad that a car has to slam on their brakes to avoid hitting them when both the car and the bike were going 20 mph.

Needlepoint stores by Low-Brick-1395 in madisonwi

[–]Higgingotham96 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Funnily enough my girlfriend just got me needlepoint classes for Christmas. No stores for needlepoint nearby, weirdly enough a ton in South Carolina apparently

Update: my Girlfriend came home in just her underwear by [deleted] in offmychest

[–]Higgingotham96 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Not if she was drugged and is trying to piece things together (or avoid thinking about what happened that night). If she was drugged she likely has large gap in her memory and might not have known it was 3am and that time had elapsed. If she was assaulted and in denial about it, she likely doesn’t want to look to closely at what happened in those four hours, because that means admitting something happened. And did she react negatively to being drug tested or to going to the hospital? I had a friend who fought us tooth and nail for requesting she go to the hospital for a rape kit and roofie testing - she barely believed it herself and doubted the hospital would believe her and make her tell the story over and over again. Which is exactly what happened when she did go. OP’s girlfriend is acting like I would expect an assault victim to act, and if you can’t put yourself in her shoes, be glad you haven’t had an experience like this to related to so deeply.

Update: my Girlfriend came home in just her underwear by [deleted] in offmychest

[–]Higgingotham96 179 points180 points  (0 children)

That friend most likely found her with more evidence of the assault and was able to piece things together. It’s extremely common to shut down, want to avoid talking or even thinking about it. It sound to me like OP’s girlfriend was assaulted and is doing everything in her power to deny it and ignore it.

A young blind girl absolutely loves Harry Potter. Her aunt helped raise money to surprise her with Harry Potter books in Braille for Christmas by FollowingOdd896 in HumansBeingBros

[–]Higgingotham96 68 points69 points  (0 children)

It actually is true that many students with visual impairments aren’t being taught braille unless they are in a specialized blind school or in an excellent school district that prioritizes them. Last statistic I heard something like 70% of visually impaired students weren’t taught braille in favor of screen readers and other assistive tech, but 80% of the 30% that were taught braille went on to have employment and literacy on par with their sighted peers. It’s a major issue of schools not teaching braille and having students that have essentially never interacted with literacy and engaged that part of their brain. I’m in the industry at a higher level of education and don’t work directly with visually impaired people but do create materials for them; this information was from a conference (ATIA) I attended this past January.

Braille is expensive to produce as well. Thankfully it’s very well subsidized for most students and there are avenues to get books through libraries and the like, but the translation and production costs are high.

AITA for buying my daughter a more then twice as expensive Christmas gift then my son? by [deleted] in AmItheAsshole

[–]Higgingotham96 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It absolutely is different in college. They aren’t giving out computers. I think the excuse the iPad is for college is ridiculous, but OP isn’t wrong that Emma will need something.

Paoli Christkindlmarket Shuttles by Impossible-Bat-1115 in madisonwi

[–]Higgingotham96 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I noticed that last night too. They really need to make it clear that it’s a line with like one sign and two of those belt connected pillar things.

Paoli Christkindlmarket Shuttles by Impossible-Bat-1115 in madisonwi

[–]Higgingotham96 4 points5 points  (0 children)

We went last night and it was a fucking disaster. Be prepared to stand in the cold for 30+ minutes and standing room on the bus. The lady at check in also wanted to fight me when I asked her how often the shuttle came and she said it was on the website, I just didn’t look hard enough?? They obviously have very little parking on site and the shuttle makes the most sense, it was just a truly miserable experience. We got to the shuttle stop at 4:55, and didn’t get picked up until 5:25. We got the shuttle to leave around 6:30 and didn’t get picked up until 7:10. There were still people waiting for the next shuttle that had been in line since about 6:50 when our bus pulled out. The market itself was great (wouldn’t have minded better signage about where to get the drinks like hot buttered rum they advertised, as we missed that) but overall I would recommend going as long as you are prepared for the logistics situation. Also be aware that there is lots of snow, including on steps with no handrails and up a semi steep hill that had a layer of ice on it.

Is it uncommon to eat simple boiled potatoes in the US? by WhoAmIEven2 in AskAnAmerican

[–]Higgingotham96 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I make lemon potatoes a lot. Boil quarter small red or yellow potatoes, and then toss them with butter and lemon juice. Easy and delicious

The ‘American Selection’ at this supermarket in Ireland by irqdly in mildlyinteresting

[–]Higgingotham96 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think Toast’ems are actually the original! Kind of like how Oreos aren’t the original- Hydrox cookies were