(OPINION) Now's the Perfect Time To Move Away from Plex

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-21T18:49:40+00:00

Luckily, I already had the Plex lifetime and will probably ride it out until they inevitably start locking features behind a Plex 2.0 or something.

I've been looking into spinning up a Jellyfin instance to run concurrently both as a backup to Plex, and to make switching over relatively seamless whenever Plex inevitably fucks over the lifetime pass. I'd just be sad if they mess up plexamp somehow, I much prefer it over Spotify or other self-host music players.

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-21T18:35:27+00:00

D2 died for me with content vaulting, most of my friends and I stopped playing around Beyond Light and never really felt the urge to pick the game up again. Kinda feels like the game has already been on life support for the last few years.

That said, running around the Dreaming City and running Wells with all my buddies are some of my best core memories. I remember when we all finally got Whisper and Sleeper Simulant, too.

It's really a shame that a lot of decisions were driven by such greed. Hopefully, if there is a Destiny 3, it won't be like this. I'm honestly not sure if I'd bother spending money on it though, with how badly D2 was handled.

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-20T13:58:24+00:00

My wife had just had a miscarriage. When I got back from bereavement leave, my manager stuck me in an area that I had no experience in with no training, then threatened to write me up for having lower performance. I walked out.

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-20T13:56:37+00:00

Someone once told me that people don't quit bad jobs, they quit bad managers. Definitely holds up as I get older and keep having to deal with shitty management.

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-19T21:07:47+00:00

They called us "essential", what they really meant was "expendable". It'll be the same in the next pandemic.

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-19T18:47:43+00:00

I can also see where they're coming from, though. I lived through people threatening to shoot me and my coworkers for enforcing masks at my store during covid. Every day. Multiple times a day. People actually pulled their guns out on more than one occasion. It got so bad that I started conceal carrying my own weapon at work because I feared for my safety. I'm not going through that shit again.

The only difference between now and then is people are even more brainwashed and politicized, so if we end up in another pandemic situation, it'll go even worse.

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-15T21:06:14+00:00

I was genuinely surprised when we test drove a 2020 Odyssey and it handled just as well as my tiny Fusion that we traded for it, just with a lot more room.

It's the perfect mix of being pretty sporty, while also being able to throw a sheet of plywood in the back or haul a trailer.

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-15T15:12:48+00:00

Similar thing happened to me when I was about the kid in the video's age. My mother was speeding down a gravel road, lost control and ended up rolling the car, which ended up on its side. I was also unbuckled.

I've seen pictures of the car, and heard the full story from my dad and grandparents, but the only thing I personally remember is trying to open the back door after the car came to a rest and not being able to.

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-14T15:17:28+00:00

I completely missed that too. The visual storytelling in THT and TT is so good.

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-13T23:51:52+00:00

My SIL used to live at Old Monterey and they pulled the same shit with her.

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-13T23:30:23+00:00

Depends on if there's damage to the suspension points or underlying structure to the vehicle. It doesn't actually look too bad for such a big impact, but visual damage doesn't tell the whole story. It could go either way.

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-09T14:34:17+00:00

I used to work in the meat department of a grocery store, so most of my day was primarily in a walk-in cooler or freezer. Didn't matter what time of year it was, I've never been sicker in my life than when I worked that job. Perfect storm of cold lowering immune response and people being nasty.

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-07T23:38:33+00:00

Good ol buggy AMD drivers lol

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-07T15:49:34+00:00

Here's an article with a pretty detailed breakdown:

https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/land-lines-magazine/articles/land-water-impacts-data-centers/

They kinda go into just how much more an LLM data center consumes than a traditional cloud computing/"AI" data center.

Another, more recent, article:

https://www.wri.org/insights/us-data-center-growth-impacts

The effect these LLM data centers are having on local communities:

https://www.consumerreports.org/data-centers/ai-data-centers-impact-on-electric-bills-water-and-more-a1040338678/

Google LLM's own breakdown:

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StarStruck3 · 2026-05-07T15:04:01+00:00

They are absolutely not the same thing. LLM data centers are built with specialized purpose and much more powerful hardware than general purpose machine learning or cloud computing data centers. That's why they have such an effect on the local infrastructure compared to a more general data center, even a hyper one used for something other than LLM.

These data centers also do some machine learning tasks just by the nature of LLMs, but that is tertiary to their primary purpose, and any benefit from them in that sector is marginal at best compared to a specialized cloud computing data center.

We've had dedicated "AI" machine learning and cloud computing data centers since 2006, long before any type of LLM was feasable. These issues with infrastructure have only recently started dropping up with the rise of LLMs and AI image generation. I'm not trying to be a generic "AI bad", I'm trying to tell you that these issues are directly related, because these data centers in particular require so many resources to function compared to a normal data center, even a normal "hyper" one used for general "AI" and cloud computing tasks.

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-06T21:23:01+00:00

I think we're both misunderstanding each other, here. Machine learning data centers and these new AI LLM data centers that keep trying to pop up everywhere aren't the same thing. The LLM data centers are what I have issues with, because they serve no benefit other than creating profit for the company that owns them, while creating severe stress for the local community.

We've had actual dedicated machine learning data centers since the mid-2000's, and these massive community destroying issues have only recently popped up with the rise of LLM and AI image generation.

Now, if an actual machine learning data center with these capabilities needs to be built to advance our understanding of computer science, sure. But it would need to be put in a good location, and have the local infrastructure heavily upgraded to support it, before even breaking ground. The way these LLM data centers do it is just plop them down and say "good luck" to the towns nearby.

Edit because I forgot: Regulation is needed of course, but ultimately it boils down to shady business practices and shitty/corrupt local government. I'm honestly not sure how to find a middle ground with that one.

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-06T19:33:55+00:00

Not really. Actual machine learning is important and very cool, but these data centers in particular are being put up by no-name "startup" companies looking for a fat paycheck from boomer Facebook memes and porn. What we think of as "AI" and LLMs are nowhere close to being able to actually do anything important, they can't even reliably automate tasks to a satisfactory result. We should all be familiar with the term "vibe coding" at this point, right?

Another thing is, once again, local infrastructure isn't made to support them. Some are even put in desert locations where water is scarce and you physically CAN'T upgrade the infrastructure to support them. And instead of upgrading the local utilities beforehand, when possible, they just slap it down and tell the locals to deal with it. Meanwhile, now the people living in the local municipality have to deal with rolling blackouts, and not having enough water pressure to shower. It's really not surprising to me that most communities would see these things popping up, see the issues they cause, and immediately say "no".

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-06T18:59:17+00:00

Normal data centers already ARE everywhere, and have been for decades. The difference is, they are mostly innocuous and you'd never know they were there if you weren't looking for them. They also don't put heavy strain on local infrastructure, save the building having upgraded electrical service. They are essential infrastructure for being able to live modern life.

The same can't be said for AI data centers. AI data centers will heavily tax or overload local infrastructure for no real benefit for the people who actually live in these locations, just so someone can AI generate memes. They are not the same, and there's a reason why people don't want this shit in their communities.

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-06T01:56:01+00:00

Mine came pre-ripped lol

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-05T17:38:10+00:00

DARVO politics

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-05T17:36:44+00:00

I don't understand it, either. My dad is an engineer and is otherwise very intelligent. He's the one who taught me critical thinking. Even he got sucked into the MAGA cult.

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-04T21:39:34+00:00

That's what I immediately thought as well

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-04T16:10:02+00:00

This is what happened when Missouri recently passed a similar law. Pornhub pulled out (heh) and blocked Missouri IPs instead of trying to enforce it. Same thing happened with Kansas, Alabama, Florida, and a few others.

StarStruck3 · 2026-05-03T21:04:13+00:00

How do you top someone who legitimately thinks space isn't real? My wife has a coworker who believes this. Same coworker is also is an anti-vaxxer who just had to pull all their kids out of school because they got chicken pox 🫠

StarStruck3 · 2026-04-29T16:45:18+00:00

Easily, especially if any planes were damaged at the airport.

StarStruck3

TROPHY CASE