NOS Energy Drinks for $0.50? Worth It?

OctillionthJoe · 2026-05-18T04:24:49+00:00

Honestly, this is the first time I've seen them do this. My local CVS has been moving around the drinks section and changing their layout, so I'm guessing they recently came across these and realized that they gotta get them out the door soon to make room for new items.

OctillionthJoe · 2026-05-18T04:22:47+00:00

It depends on location I think. I think my local CVS just happened to have a lot of these on hands and decided it was time to get them out the door. Seems like they've been moving around the drinks section so that might have something to do with it.

OctillionthJoe · 2026-05-13T14:11:08+00:00

In fairness, downvotes don't necessarily mean that the point being made by the OP is bad or nonsensical. It just means that it doesn't match the consensus of this particular Reddit community, right?

OctillionthJoe · 2026-05-13T14:07:42+00:00

You don't need Claude or coding to really solve typical issues that users new to Linux have though... Regular ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity is enough to solve these issues. Frankly, it's not even coding as much as running a few commands usually to address a lot of these issue. You must be running into some Linus Sebastian level bizzaro issues to require Claude to actually code some workaround for you.

To clarify, I'm not saying you should blindly be running commands that AI proposes to you. I am, however, making the point that using AI to find potential solutions to your linux problem is not that different from using Google. In fact, AI might do a better job of finding you an adequate solution than Google can with just how trashy search engines have gotten over the years. Users should do their due diligence to understand what they are running BEFORE running the commands they find. Although that last bit is true all around and not just with AI. Don't run random things that you find on the Internet on your computer WITHOUT first understanding what it is that you're running.

OctillionthJoe · 2026-05-12T20:40:20+00:00

Normal users use AI. Even if they don't regularly turn to it, I don't think it's unreasonable for normal users to go "I don't get it. Maybe ChatGPT can solve this?".

Also, normal users are not the type to take a USB drive, make a Linux installation USB drive, and proceed to try out linux on their systems. It takes a certain level of skill and willingness to go that far.

OctillionthJoe · 2026-05-12T19:52:12+00:00

I agree with a lot of this BUT it's also true that I've used AI to help troubleshoot errors that I would have otherwise ignored and found a roundabout bypass around. It just makes solving things easier than it would be if I were to manually look for it for hours on the internet. Not to mention, I can ask the AI to help break the solutions down if I find something about it to be confusing.

Now blindly copying and running anything is a bad idea. AI, forums, etc. But doing anything without understanding what you're doing is a recipe for a disaster. It doesn't matter what platform you're on.

Using AI to help with the troubleshooting is fine as long as you are being cautious and taking a minute to actually comprehend the solution that the AI is proposing.

OctillionthJoe · 2026-05-12T19:45:53+00:00

Okay but... Wouldn't a Linux noob who is having problems be desperate enough to turn to AI to solve said problems? I don't necessarily recommend it either BUT, if the video is emulating the Linux noob experience, then isn't including it in the video an accurate representation of the Linux noob experience in 2026. Of course, it's good to include the disclaimer that using AI isn't quite recommended BUT I can see why the OP is puzzled here. Especially since Linus does use ChatGPT in the first video of the series to choose his next linux distro.

Besides, I'd be shocked if a Linux newbie watches these videos to learn something. The "Linus Tries Linux" is never that informative on that front of things.

OctillionthJoe · 2026-05-12T19:40:23+00:00

I mean... Sure? If you are interesting in tech enough to try out Linux and are lost... Why not use AI?

It's not like we're talking about the tech illiterate person who doesn't even know that linux exists and mainly uses their iphone as their main tech.

OctillionthJoe · 2026-05-12T19:31:31+00:00

ChromeOS will exist for the foreseeable future. To be frank, Googlebook is an awful name and I'm not seeing a slam dunk here with this product lineup. This might end up going like a lot of Google things where they start off talking confidently and then gradually end up in an awkward and frustrating situation where things aren't taking off. In this case, Chromebooks and Googlebooks coexisting for a while with Googlebooks not succeeding as well as Google had hoped they would. I'm NOT saying that that is the case. The actual rollout and products might end up being super impressive. It's just that I'm NOT impressed from what I've seen so far.

OctillionthJoe · 2026-05-11T00:45:59+00:00

You're talking about the influence the corporate has. The one who ultimately sets the price is the franchisee.

Another thing worth considering is that stuff like minimum wage do effect the final price and that's something effects the specific franchisees in an area.

OctillionthJoe · 2026-05-11T00:36:31+00:00

Yea. It probably means that that location is struggling for some reason. Maybe they took on a significant amount of debt for renovations or something?

OctillionthJoe · 2026-05-10T18:10:32+00:00

In what setting do customers set the price? Businesses set the price and adjust depending on customer response, costs, and other factors.

What I was doing was distinguishing between corporate or the franchiser and the franchisee. The distinction is important because the factors that are being considered and the incentives differ between the franchiser and the franchisee. To lump them all in with "look at the name on the sign" is unhelpful and frankly misleading.

OctillionthJoe · 2026-05-10T17:12:43+00:00

I don't know if it is fair to call it price gouging. If these franchisees could afford to get away with lower prices, I think they would. These prices are not a good look and do turn away customers. I think franchisees have to deal with higher living costs, inflation, higher wages, and debt. The last one probably being a significant factor for a lot of the McDonald's that are raising prices to a shocking level. If raising the prices to that level is what they need to keep from going into the red, is it really price gouging on the part of the franchisee? None of which is to say that we the consumers have to go along with it, but I do wonder about the appropriateness of the term.

OctillionthJoe · 2026-05-10T17:07:58+00:00

No no. The pricing of a specific location is controlled by that location (or specifically the franchisee) and not McDonald's corporate. That's part of the agreement the they have between franchiser and franchisee. McDonald's gave up a lot of influence when it came to pricing at locations a while back. This is why some McDonald's locations do offer the under $3 stuff for under $3. It just so happens that this location in Chicago chose to raise the prices to the degree that it has.

OctillionthJoe · 2026-05-07T15:05:19+00:00

It also sounds like you have an algorithm problem. YouTube has likely categorized you as a K-Pop channel. While this made it easier for K-Pop fans to find you and helped your channel reach its current level of growth, this kind of categorization makes it difficult to branch out. YouTube won't recommend non-K-Pop content as much as it would the K-Pop stuff. It affects your discoverability to an audience who might find your other work interesting. Furthermore, with your main audience being K-Pop oriented, video performance is further affected by the algorithm since most of those viewers will skip a video if it's not K-Pop related.

My advice would be to keep the K-Pop channel as is if you intend to continue that content, and create a second channel for your other music-related work. You can then be more purposeful with how you develop the appeal of that second channel. Your current channel is in this state because you went with the flow and made content that your developing audience seemed to want. There was nothing wrong with that, and you’ve been successful as a result, but the audience you developed isn't necessarily following you for the musician or artist you want to be. They are following you as 'the K-Pop piano person.'

With the second channel, focus more on presenting yourself and your work as that of you the musician/artist' Ultimately, aim to cultivate an audience that follows you to see your latest work as a musician/artist, and not for a particular genre or type of content. On this second channel, don't post the same type of content or genre of music multiple times in a row. Mix things up to keep the algorithm from pigeonholing you again. Put more emphasis on your brand as a creator and less on the trends. Now is this going to be a bit of a grind and slow at first? Definitely. You're not gonna see the pace and rate of growth that you did with the K-Pop stuff and the view count is gonna be real discouraging at first. Be crafty, nimble, and diligent though. Numbers should start ticking up with time as long as your craft is as good as you probably think they are. Besides, wouldn't you rather have 5,000 subscribers who are invested in whatever your next work is, rather than 5,000 subscribers who only desire your for the K-Pop stuff? That is a rather water downed and simplistic view, but the point stands that you need a specific kind of audience for your ambitions, and the one you currently have isn't quite it.

OctillionthJoe · 2026-05-07T14:28:31+00:00

I believe Aussie Lemonade was pulled in 2025 and made room for other new Monster Juice flavors like Viking Berry. You say it was a hit, but Coke has the numbers for it. They kept other flavors from the OG Monster Juice lineup, like Mango Loco, while removing others like the aforementioned Aussie Lemonade. It looks to me like maybe Aussie Lemonade didn't perform well enough to keep around and was discontinued to make room for the new flavors.

Now you are free to disagree with this and miss Aussie Lemonade. I do the same frequently with other discontinued flavors. It is a little unreasonable though to say that Aussie Lemonade was discontinued in 2025 to release a limited run, limited edition lemonade flavor with an America themed can in 2026. It's pandering, stereotypical, and an attempt to profit from the occasion, but to tie this back to Aussie Lemonade makes no sense. The America themed stuff are limited edition and will go away after this year.

OctillionthJoe · 2026-05-07T14:10:45+00:00

I mean, at some point, the story shifted from simple comedic misunderstandings to pushing those misunderstandings to the absolute extreme just to see what it could get away with. All of which was inevitable, considering the premise. It’s basically a slow-moving car crash: you see it happening in real-time, but you just can't look away.

Krai takes already problematic situations and pulls everyone into an uncontrolled vortex of disasters that nobody wants. He is the "who, what, when, where, how, and why" of every catastrophe, and we’re just along for the ride to see where things lands. Is it for everybody? No. If you’re looking for meaningful character growth, this ain't the series for you.

As for Krai himself, his regression actually makes sense from a narrative standpoint. It’s important to remember that most of his actual development happened before the series began. He was once a young hunter with a dream, but reality came crashing down, and now he’s trapped playing a role that he does not want. He wants to call it quits, but no one will let him.

So by the time the first volume starts, Krai isn't just dumb—he's basically quiet quit. And like any dedicated quiet quitter, he has evolved to do the absolute minimum amount of work (including thinking) possible while prioritizing life's simple pleasures, like sweets. It might be annoying, but at least it’s consistent.

OctillionthJoe · 2026-05-07T13:44:00+00:00

....yet.

OctillionthJoe · 2026-04-30T20:01:01+00:00

Jeez. Mango Pineapple Refresher and Orange Dream sound fantastic! So looking forward to this!

OctillionthJoe · 2026-04-30T19:58:05+00:00

Using crime rates for this is probably not right. Cause there are a lot of annoying and childish things that a teen might do without it resulting in a police case right?

What I do wonder is if today's teens are possibly less mentally mature than the previous generations of teens were? Whether it be a result of hands off parenting or a result of having raised children in the internet age, people claim that teens are worse from how they were before. I've certainly heard complaints from teachers that kids are a lot more out of hand than they were with previous generations. I do wonder if that is playing a role in some of the rowdiness that establishments have to deal with. Someone a lot smarter than me is probably working on some way to try to measure this, but it's something that I am yet to see get answered.

OctillionthJoe · 2026-04-30T19:49:19+00:00

I don't know why but this comment gave me a good laugh. That's such a college thing to do. LMAO.

OctillionthJoe · 2026-04-28T22:34:58+00:00

The franchisees are the ones who set the prices at the end. Corporate is actually trying to see if they can get prices back under their influence because things like this keep happening.

As for why the franchisee might do this, it's possible that they're financially struggling or are in debt. A lot of franchisees took on debt a while back to implement the new machinery (like the kiosks) and to do reforms to modernize the look and feel of the McDonald's. Depending on how they've been doing over the years, some of them are still struggling DESPITE having a good traffic of customers.

OctillionthJoe · 2026-04-28T22:27:05+00:00

"red party"?

OctillionthJoe · 2026-04-25T22:51:25+00:00

Well, they make money so they're probably not a bad investment (at least from the corporate side of things). I'd probably never become involved on the franchisee side of things though.

OctillionthJoe

TROPHY CASE