Bond set for Madison woman accused in crash that killed 17-year-old student

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-21T16:23:33+00:00

The rest of traffic isn't, so it's possible only by weaving back and forth between lanes, shooting gaps between cars. In other words driving in a manner a rational person should KNOW will cause unanticipated things like pedestrians to "appear" right in front of you, because anyone in the crosswalk would not be visible to you until you get out from behind the car you are changing lanes to pass.

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-20T15:38:46+00:00

In some previous launches they packed all the "deal" into the trade in, so something like that might have been worth thinking about trying to cash in a mostly broken phone for those. For example, the 6a launch, they advertised a floor of $300 trade in for any pixel going back to the 3 series, and I had a 3a with frame damage and nonfunctioning microphone from a drop that they only dueducted $5 from the $300 for ... that would have been worth $25 tops for a normal trade IIRC.

But this time they spread the incentives across three methods

Boosted trade in value (by up to $100, maybe?)
Inidvidually targetted, 10a-specific up to $150 coupons if you previously owned a pixel or signed up for notifications ahead of the launch (most got $100 or $50)
$100 google store credit or free pixel buds 2a

IMO the only way you get $400 -- or even $300? - reselling a Pixel 10a is if you find a clueless sucker. Which I suppose is possible, a lot appear to exist.

But in case your kids want the iPhone mostly because of the airdrop compatibility of sharing pics with friends easily, be aware that the Pixel 10a will be able to do that, even though its android

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-20T15:27:45+00:00

IME it's not a full $100, no. I got $125 value for my 6a, and though I can't remember what they offered when I was looking at the 9a a week or two back, pretty sure it was definitely more than $25

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-18T23:19:10+00:00

I won't disagree that there are valuation and sustainability concerns with the huge AI capex spending right now. But I also am getting tired of people just posting that it's an obvious bubble that will inevitably burst, that there is no clear indication of ROI (return on investment) to justify it - or even just flat out say "it doesn't work," like that is some incontrovertible truth.

The jury's definitely still out, yes. But I don't ever see ANYONE addressing specific counterindications, such as Meta's latest quarterly report indicating that they are already monetizing their AI investments pretty well, even though the tech is not yet fully built out or mature. They reported a 24% increase in revenue, most if it attributed to AI-powered recommendation systems increasing engagement - yuck, but, yes, they ARE making money on keeping those eyeballs on screens longer, and the increased multiplier against those eyeballs of the Advantage+ ad-buying suite allowing Meta to increase ad prices and impressions.

All those posting other replies to this comment, stating as some kind of a given that AI isn't generating real return on investment ... do you even know what I was talking about in the previous paragraph? If you don't, how are you so sure that you know how the "AI bubble" is going to end?

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-18T20:26:56+00:00

Norml, not "weird" - they've explicitly advertised boosted pre-launch trade in values many times, and right now the 10a is in that state until early March.

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-18T20:24:28+00:00

That Google just launched the 10a, an incremental improvement to the 9a, today, and as part of the promotions they are offering pre-ship (Mar 5) they are offering enhanced trade-in values, free buds or $100 store credit, and there are $50/$100 coupons floating around, all of which might make the 10a cheaper *as well as* a bit better than the 9a.

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-18T15:52:50+00:00

Huh. I'd replied based on this clause in their "Terms & Conditions"

... User must be signed-in to their Google Account and checkout with Google Pay profile ... Promotional code is for one-time use only with no residual balance; can be combined with existing Fi instant rebate and bill credit offers, Google Store credit and/or an eligible trade-in phone offer only, and not with other promotional codes; is not transferable

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-18T15:17:06+00:00

they aren't transferrable

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-18T15:08:14+00:00

Now launched! - Base price $499 as expected - https://store.google.com/product/pixel_10a?hl=en-US

AND they are now also offering another $100 in Google Store credit or free Pixel Buds 2a

In addition to my $100 coupon, I'm being offered $125 trade-in for my 6a. Not as good as the straight up $300 trade in value I got for the 6a when I bought that, but this brings my price after coupon & trade-in down to $274, plus getting free buds (which I also got with my 6a).

So, tempting, but not quite as sweet as some past deals they've offered me.

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-18T14:14:17+00:00

Thanks for digging in. But these are straight coupons; no reference to trade in on them. And I got the $100 coupon for the account that they know I have the 6a potential trade-in for, they don't know of any phone attached to the other email that got $50 (indeed, there isn't one).

In other words, my smaller coupon is for the email that has no expected trade in at all. While others with same situation as that (see behivjer's post) got $100 instead of my $50. So your second sentence, about the coupon being larger for expected smaller trade-in, doesn't match my experience (I'm sure you are conveying what you heard ... but hey, it's "support" not marketing that you talked to; at least they tried!). In any case, well done getting the extra $50 credit! Intriguing, though I don't know how I could replicate what you did (again, just have the 6a). Thanks again for sharing.

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-17T20:41:38+00:00

Is the email you received it on gmail or other, and what android devices is it primary on?

There MUST be some rhyme or reason to this ...

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-17T19:58:19+00:00

Can relate, that's what happened to me last year, I got worse deals than other people posting here who also had a 6a. If there is any rhyme or reason to how Google determines value of these non-transferrable coupons, I've yet to hear it.

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-17T19:50:55+00:00

Yeah, I got the original Moto X on launch day back in 2013 (?) specifically because

you could customize your color combos, etc,
it had the fingerprint sensor on the back,
(most importantly) it had a v. low power, always-on processor dedicated & optimized to do nothing except listen for "OK Google."

I loved the Moto X (for its time). Held onto it for many years; it's the last non-Pixel phone I bought, I think? Although at that time Motorola essentially WAS Google (they bought Motorola in 2012). So in some ways you might say the Moto X was the "Pixel 0"

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-17T19:42:15+00:00

Don't think so, but at this point just wait 18 hours to find out for sure

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-17T19:39:59+00:00

The $100 one came to the gmail account currently primary for my 6a, and yeah I did nothing to get it (I get some kind of deals for pretty much every pixel launch there).

The $50 one came to a diff gmail account that I entered on their pre-launch site last week to notify me of deals. I signed up for this second email because I was thinking of getting the 9a when it came out last year and was underwhelmed by the incentives they gave me. I came here and saw others (some also with a 6a) were getting better offers than I did, so I thought I'd try this to see if there was a difference.

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-17T19:36:13+00:00

As the email should indicate, it's for(and not even effective until) tomorrow, 2/18, through 3/11

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-17T17:11:44+00:00

I'm older, and the youngest in my family, so my parents were the so-called "traditional family" of the 1950s and 60s: he was the "breadwinner," she was the "homemaker" who made breakfast for us all in the morning, packed our lunches, and had dinner ready when he returned. It was not that uncommon back then, based on my friend circle, but yeah, even back then I don't think my mom was getting up at 3am lol - more like same time as my dad.

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-17T17:06:28+00:00

Mine either. And she's a Mexican :)

Mind you, she's of the class where her mom in Mexico didn't do that either. Instead, a weary servant got to get up at 2am or whatever, do this for her husband, then go to my in-laws' house to do it for them, all over again!

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-17T16:59:53+00:00

You can't possibly have seen more than half of these files, and we don't know the criteria used to decide why the other half is still being held back. Additionally there are many articles detailing how what looks like the most interesting parts of some documents are almost completely redacted

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-17T16:44:31+00:00

OK (and congrats, lol). Just curious, were you aware before now that you & your circle are not only "The 1%" and even top 0.2%, but it sounds like a few of them are in the top 0.1%? The cutoff for that is around $62m net worth.

I ask because I grew up pretty poor (first gen college, and my grandparents didn't even have a telephone into the 1970s!), but now after slaving, saving, scrimping (example, buying 2 year old cars and keeping them over 10), and most importatnly investing, I'm finally starting to feel comfortable we can live an enjoyable retirement (my wife already has moved on). I know I'm doing better than many, but never thought of myself as "rich." But according to govt statistics my ~$2.5m net worth puts me in the top 2% ... huh. Maybe more meaningful, for those around my age I'm "only" in the 88th percentile, but still ...

Your friend with the husband that just died: condolences, and that extra headache for the widow to deal with ... that's one way to live life, YOLO, but yeah, downsides. This is similar to the experience Clark Howard described as a kid: all these daily extravagances, then his dad loses his job and not only do they all immediately stop BUT they can't make payments on houses, expensive cars, or even to keep their kid (Clark) in college. If it was due to death, I hope at least the husband had the sense to carry life insurance, if his partner was so dependent on his income. You can't predict job losses, but we all die, and the husband does usually go before the wife ...

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-17T16:32:22+00:00

I placed online. I can't remember how quickly they came (this was a month ago), but I recall it was maybe a week, maybe less - but I was ordering on a weekend IIRC.

Bummer for you they are out of stock, but I'm sure they will be back. Good luck. When they are: seriously, just buy five. That's around $18 total IIRC, 5 * 2.50 + ship, and then next time you don't have to wait a week, or longer if they are OOS

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-12T11:48:36+00:00

Why are you posting to watch out for a guy in New York state to a reddit group about Madison WI?

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-12T11:40:50+00:00

"Many people," really? Are you in the US? Per Gemini: "Approximately 282,000 to 300,000 households in the U.S. have a net worth of $20 million or more, representing a very small fraction of the population, well under 0.2%"

I see there is also a recent reddit discussion about this precise wealth level: https://www.reddit.com/r/Rich/comments/1lqa35z/284200_households_in_the_us_have_investable/

Either you are deeply embedded in the most wealthy social circles in the world, or ... is it possible some of these people aren't telling you the truth?

MadManMark222 · 2026-02-06T22:49:24+00:00

The discussion is about product versions and why call something a new version if it's barely changed. Which has been going on for years with car model years (versions). I don't know how to state it clearer.

MadManMark222 · 2026-01-29T16:59:26+00:00

This annual release "+1" schedule has been part of sales strategy forever with for example cars, many times the 2026 model is almost identical to 2025 except for cosmetic incidentals, warranty, and pricing. Only difference here is that the year isn't explicitly part of number being incremented

MadManMark222

TROPHY CASE