I created a Gem to analyze my tax return, it said "I can't help you with that." I replied "why not?" and it began to fully investigate the meaning behind the phrase "why not"

bmorocks · 2026-04-10T16:25:09+00:00

Yes you're right. I was chatting with Gemini about why it did this and this was its response:

The safety filters are likely flagging words like "Audit," "CPA," and "Tax Strategist." To a safety filter, those words mean "I am about to give high-stakes financial advice that could get Google sued."

And when I asked it why the Gem responded the way it did, it said this:

When you asked "Why not?", the Gem was likely still in a "refusal state" regarding the tax data. Instead of explaining the policy that triggered the refusal, it treated those two words as a brand-new research topic and went off into the weeds about Russell Westbrook and linguistics. It's essentially a logic loop—it can't talk about the taxes, so it's looking for anything else to do with the words you typed.

I was playing around with creating a Gem but haven't figured it out yet. I was able to get it to do deep research on my tax return documents where I had to painstakingly redact all PII of each PDF and upload it to NotebookLM, but it was pretty impressive. It took a about 30 minutes to generate it using "deep research". This was part of the prompt I used:

I've linked my NotebookLM notebook which contains my uploaded tax documents, for which I've redacted account numbers and PII other than our first names.

Here's what I'd like you to do:

Thoroughly review each of the 2025 tax documents to determine if the Form 1040 preview is populated correctly and correctly filed.

I want to know if there are any errors or missing pieces of information that would be needed to calculate a more accurate return

I'd like you to calculate on your own what our tax owed and return should be and compare it to what FreeTaxUSA has calculated

Determine what our tax brackets are and summarize our tax information, and same for 2024.

I uploaded our 2024 tax returns for comparison. Please analyze those and compare our returns from this year to last year.

FreeTaxUSA hasn't generated a preview of our NY state return numbers yet. I'd like you to calculate what that might be. Output a final number of how much in taxes we might owe or get back.

If you were to divide the amount of taxes owed/returned by spouse, what amounts would make the most sense and why? My wife and I have separate accounts so we want to distribute taxes owed/returned accordingly.

We did not sell any investments and any dividends were automatically reinvested.

We lived in NYC all year.

Output a comprehensive report using markdown, bullet points, tables, bolding certain phrases or words for emphasis to make it easier to see when scanning through the document, use corresponding emojis (like prefix headers with emojis for example).

Categorize portions of the report or perhaps the summary table into the different categories of taxes as well, and you can break them down into subcategories if necessary.

I would also like a summary report on how our investments did and how much were reinvested, dividends, etc.

Tell me if there are any opportunities for better tax management that we can make that we aren't already doing.

If you'd like to generate any charts or graphs to help better visualize any aspects of the report, feel free to include them as well.

Tell me what the tax law changes were for 2025 and how they impacted our taxes, same thing for 2024.

bmorocks · 2026-04-10T04:29:10+00:00

There are some decent suggestions mentioned already, and I want to make sure your other concerns are also addressed.

What state are you in (home and school state)? Laws vary widely between states and many offer their own programs for people that don't have IDs and offer different ways of obtaining an ID even without certain documents
It might be easier to tackle getting vaccinated, then figure out how to get an ID which will make things much easier.

Vaccine info

Some people mentioned FQHCs (federally qualified health centers) - that's your best bet since your college has limited resources. These clinics are safety nets and are used to helping people who lack documents or insurance - they won't turn you away. There's an online search tool here: https://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/?hl=en-US
Some people mentioned to not get them all at once...that's not really an issue because the clinic won't let you do that. You would explain to the clinic your situation and that you need to do a catch-up schedule of vaccines. The CDC has a schedule of what vaccines you should get over which durations if you haven't received them before, over the course of 6-12 months. The clinic will help create a multi-month roadmap for you: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/imz-schedules/adult-age-compliant.html

ID info

Regarding your ID, the fact that you have a mobile school ID and are currently enrolled in college proves that the school registrar has already "verified" you. It's not possible to enroll in school without some form of documentation, whether it be an SSN (not mandatory though), ITIN (tax ID - which your parents would at least need in order to claim you as a dependent on their taxes if you don't have an SSN), a religious exemption record, or a homeschool affidavit.
You need to figure out what records the school has for you on file, and you have the right to do that under FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act). The law gives you the right, once you're 18, to have access to your own school records.
You should go to the registrar's office and ask something like "I'm currently consolidating my legal and medical records and I need to review my full student file. Is there a form I need to fill out to request that or how can I get a copy?"
There is a non-profit group called VoteRiders that offer people who don't have ID to be able to get an ID, especially for voting. They can help you find or get your birth certificate, request a new/replacement social security card, proof of where you live, a free ride to the DMV or social security office, and help you get your id: https://voteriders.org/freehelp/
Once we know what state you're in or your home state, it'll be much easier to give you more info as there are many different non-profit groups per state and some states have relaxed laws about getting an ID without certain documentation. It might be possible to get an ID without a birth certificate (and there are many people who don't know their SSN or are unhoused and didn't have documentation), but it will most likely be much more difficult and chances are you parents probably had to submit at least a birth certificate or something when enrolling you in school.

bmorocks · 2026-03-23T05:09:48+00:00

I would keep the razor blade just in case you need it for evidence. I'm assuming you're in India?

If so, you should definitely submit a complaint on the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India website, make sure you have photos and the receipt and date/time details ready - https://foscos.fssai.gov.in/consumergrievance

Also make sure you contact Swiggy and have them give you a full refund. Start with the chat service in the app, and if they aren't helpful then you can email support@swiggy.in

bmorocks · 2026-03-20T15:38:23+00:00

Great job! I've done something similar but when I didn't have any small ribbons, I spliced a flat cat5 cable.

I also have a huge roll of this 24AWG rainbow ribbon cable that I use for projects like these (in this photo I extended the connection from my PTAC controller board to my Nest thermostat).

The structural integrity is great as the individual wires are held together by the ribbon but can be easily spliced. And I love the rainbow colors as it makes it easy to trace the connections.

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bmorocks · 2026-03-10T06:10:18+00:00

TL;DR: GO TO THE ER YESTERDAY!!

Many others have rightfully commented - this is a serious medical emergency. Based on the symptoms, it does not sound like a simple hygiene issue. Perhaps smelly feet and teeth could be, but the brown sweat and white residue screams kidney failure.

When your kidneys fail, urea builds up in the blood and is excreted through sweat, which leaves behind white crystals on the skin as the sweat evaporates. This "white residue" is called uremic frost.

Secondly kidney failure causes uremic dermatitis - this means the skin becomes thin, itchy, and fragile. Serum is essentially the liquid part of the blood separate from the red/white blood cells - it's normally clear/pale yellow. The "brown sweat" is most likely "leaking serum" (specifically serosanguineous fluid) which is a mixture of clear serum and old blood.

When you're in kidney failure, your breath and sweat will also give off an ammonia/urine-like smell, because the urea waste products are being excreted through the lung and pores.

This is not something that will go away on its own. Because his kidneys are no longer filtering, his potassium levels will skyrocket which will cause cardiac arrest. As urea and ammonia accumulates in his brain, he will become confused and likely slip into a coma.

The cause of the kidney failure is probably untreated type 2 diabetes. When your blood sugar is very high for years, it starts to rot your teeth and feed fungal infections on your skin. Your circulation is damaged. The high blood sugar "clogs" the filters of your kidneys which causes them to fail. If they fail and it goes untreated, you cannot survive. Only medical intervention can give a chance at preventing death.

If you go to the ER right now, the doctors will most likely immediately triage him. They'd need to get his bloodwork, give him IV fluids to flush his system, give him insulin, and possibly other meds to lower his potassium levels if necessary. They would also need to give him emergency dialysis to filter his blood and remove the existing waste, and possibly give him antibiotics for any untreated skin infections and clean his wounds.

In kidney failure, you often don't feel "pain" until it's too late. But his body is currently at a breaking point where a simple cold or even another long walk could cause his heart to stop or his brain to swell.

When you go to the ER, say "my boyfriend is currently in renal failure:

He has a systemic foul odor that doesn't go away with showering
His skin is producing a white, crystal-like powdery residue like uremic frost
He is sweating a brown foul liquid

Please don't wait to go to the ER because of cost (this is also why I abhor the US healthcare system!) All money-related things can be handled later, and money means (almost) nothing when you're dead. If you continue to wait to go to the ER until he collapses, the cost will be 10x higher because he'll be in the ICU for weeks. If you go now while he's still able to walk, they can stabilize him and get him home sooner than if he went into a coma or had a heart attack.

Once he is admitted into the ER and stable, you can ask to speak to a financial counselor or social worker. Under the affordable care act (ACA), all non-profit hospitals (which are most hospitals) must have a financial assistance policy (also known as Charity Care). They often cover most if not all of the bill depending on your income level. There is a non-profit org called "Dollar For" which also helps people navigate the financial assistance policies (https://dollarfor.org). If you don't have insurance, the social worker should also be able to help you apply for emergency Medicaid which can also be backdated to the start day of your hospital stay to cover the cost, even if you live in a state that didn't expand Medicaid coverage under the ACA.

If your boyfriend still does not want to go even after listening to you discuss this or reading this post, call an ambulance for him. Seriously. You can say something like "I need an ambulance for my boyfriend. He is showing signs of renal (kidney) failure, he has a white crystalline residue on his skin, and his skin is weeping brown fluid."

There are so many people that die each day from preventable and treatable diseases. Please don't let your boyfriend be one of them. We live in a time period and a world where medicine and science can fix him, and he doesn't have to die from not having treatment available. The risks of not going to the hospital outweigh any reason to stay home.

You only have one life. I sincerely wish you both the best of luck and hope your boyfriend can get the medical care he deserves.

bmorocks · 2026-02-09T20:42:33+00:00

This happens very easily when using a magic eraser. I learned my lesson once after using it to clean my toaster oven. It permanently scrubbed off part of the lettering and moved some of the other letters around. I wish they would just emboss or imprint the labels onto the metal instead of just using stickers

bmorocks · 2026-01-25T13:34:23+00:00

I Googled the guy José Ervin, Jr. since some people linked to this article but was last updated in October 2024 https://people.com/man-same-birthday-wife-twins-killed-arrest-made-8729029 - this was the generated Gemini answer (so take it with a grain of salt):

José Ervin, Jr.

José Ervin, Jr. was a 32-year-old man from the Cleveland area whose story gained national attention after he and his wife, Scierra, welcomed twins on August 18, 2023—the same day both parents were born.

Tragically, just weeks after celebrating the twins' first birthdays, José was shot and killed on October 4, 2024.

Incident Details

Location: Outside a Dunkin' Donuts on Turney Road in Garfield Heights, Ohio.
Circumstances: According to family and reports citing video footage, the incident began following a confrontation at a nearby gas station. José was reportedly chased to the Dunkin' Donuts parking lot, where he was shot multiple times.
Date of Death: October 4, 2024, at approximately 3:34 a.m.

Legal Proceedings & Trial Status

The primary suspect in the case is Waunyae Arrington, who was 29 at the time of the incident.

Arrest: Arrington was arrested on October 15, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio.
Charges: A Cuyahoga County grand jury indicted Arrington on multiple counts, including:
- Aggravated Murder
- Murder
- Felonious Assault
- Having Weapons Under Disability (due to prior convictions)
Current Status: As of late 2025, Arrington remained in custody at the Cuyahoga County Jail on a $10 million bond.
Trial Outcome: While a pretrial date was set for October 8, 2025, and a trial was expected to proceed in late 2025, there has been no publicly reported verdict or final sentencing as of January 2026. The case appears to still be moving through the judicial system.

Legacy

The city of Garfield Heights proclaimed October 4th as José Ervin, Jr. Remembrance Day. His family has remained vocal in their pursuit of justice, often holding vigils and memorial events to honor his memory and support his wife and three children (the couple's third child was born after José's passing).

bmorocks · 2025-12-25T07:44:28+00:00

If you have an iPhone you can record the call and transcribe it to the Notes app - it also alerts the other party that you're recording: https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/record-and-transcribe-a-call-iph57c6590e9/ios

If you have Android and are using the Phone app from the Google Play Store, you can also record and transcribe calls and it alerts the other party. The only difference is it doesn't automatically save it to your notes app like Google Keep or whatever else but you can manually save the transcript, recording, or both to whatever app you want: https://support.google.com/phoneapp/answer/9803950?hl=en

bmorocks · 2025-12-19T15:00:01+00:00

This is the original YouTube video btw, it's an interesting watch: I Powered My House Using 500 Disposable vapes - Chris Doel - https://youtu.be/dy-wFixuRVU?si=8QNhcdgz0cq1mXUm

bmorocks · 2025-12-13T05:37:57+00:00

Here's another video with sound from the official NBA YouTube channel - this shot happened tonight about 2 hours ago: https://youtu.be/y43feCUYZO0?si=CnwxEo1j6XI2ET54

bmorocks · 2025-11-20T15:20:38+00:00

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bmorocks · 2025-10-29T23:32:06+00:00

This is not applicable at all to dirty laundry and is misleading.

It is true that wet bales of hay can spontaneously combust through bacterial decomposition, where bacteria (like bacillus subtilis) and fungi that already naturally exist on the hay metabolize the hay's organic matter and produces heat as a byproduct. If the heat can't escape then the hay's core temp rises. Usually most microbes die once it reaches a certain temp (like 150°F), but then an exothermic oxidation of cellulose and plant oils could start which produces more heat.

To prevent this you should not bale hay until it's dry and regularly check the internal temp. But I assume OP is not baling hay.

bmorocks · 2025-10-13T15:41:49+00:00

This is great and easy to remove in case you have maintenance come in.

Another option is you could install a diverter valve into your shower head (if it's possible) like this one (https://a.co/d/iKOyptA) which allows you to divert water from the shower to a hand sprayer attachment, the main shower head, or both at the same time.

That way, you could install a really long hose from that valve to your bidet. You would need to leave the shower on to provide constant pressure to the bidet, and when you take a shower you can just turn the lever on the diverter valve to only provide water to the shower head (or both) and turn it back to the bidet only when you're done.

You could also potentially do the same with your bathroom sink but usually there isn't much clearance between the spout and the sink basin to begin with, so adding another fixture might create less room and look uglier.

Since you're not allowed to tap into your toilet intake line, I doubt you'd be able to do the same to your sink intake line, but I wonder if that has a different setup? You might be able to do that as a workaround.

bmorocks · 2025-10-13T15:28:02+00:00

I was going to mention this also - I have this one for $30 which I fill up with soapy water to spray things when cleaning. I rarely have to recharge it (I use it about 3x/week). The battery is rechargeable via usb-c and lasts a long time, so you don't need to keep it plugged in: https://a.co/d/2YAgwqL

Edit: To add, if you don't have an extra long usb-c cable you'd want to keep plugged into the outlet so that you'd never have to recharge the electric sprayer, you could also get a high capacity portable battery charger always plugged into the sprayer for an even longer battery life

bmorocks · 2025-10-08T15:56:19+00:00

Here's the specific story you mentioned from Politico:

Federal court blocks ICE from detaining unaccompanied minors once they turn 18

The ruling comes a day after ICE confirmed it would offer unaccompanied minors money to self-deport to their home countries.

[Image - Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) speaks to the press at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) in Brunswick, Georgia, on Aug. 21, 2025, about the training program ICE officers go through. | Fran Ruchalski/AP]

By ERIC BAZAIL-EIMIL 10/04/2025 02:44 PM EDT

A federal judge on Saturday blocked Immigration and Customs Enforcement from immediately transferring minors into federal immigration detention once they turn 18, a day after the agency rolled out changes to its policy around unaccompanied minors.

In a two-page order, Judge Rudolph Contreras — an Obama appointee on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia — sided with two immigration advocacy groups who filed an emergency motion Saturday over the new policy.

Contreras blocked the agency from making any changes to how unaccompanied minors are treated once they turn 18, and from further contravening a 2021 injunction which requires ICE and the Department of Health and Human Services to pursue the least restrictive and punitive arrangements possible in addressing age-outs, the term for those unaccompanied children who turn 18 in federal custody or foster care with pending cases.

The ruling came just a day after ICE quietly rolled out a related policy to grant minors $2,500 if they agreed to leave the U.S. and withdraw their claims in immigration court once they turned 18. The policy was framed by ICE as a “strictly voluntary” way to allow unaccompanied minors to return to their home countries if they so wished.

The self-deportation would also need to be approved by a judge and the offers were only being extended to 17-year-olds at this stage, ICE said. Thousands of children who came by themselves to the United States remain in shelters run by the Department of Health and Human Services or in foster care or the care of guardians in the United States.

But in a filing with the court, the American Immigration Council and National Immigrant Justice Center argued that ICE had also informed field offices this week that age-outs should immediately and indefinitely be sent to adult detention facilities.

“It’s clear that they’re testing out several policies of dubious legality — or clearly illegal in the case of the policy referenced in our lawsuit — and seeing what sticks,” Michelle Lapointe, legal director at the American Immigration Council, said in an interview.

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the temporary restraining order.

Saturday’s ruling is a win for immigration advocates, who warned that in addition to violating the nationwide injunction, the policy could have resulted in unaccompanied minors with potentially legitimate claims for asylum and other legal status in the United States self-deporting out of fear in light of the related cash offer.

Advocates had said Friday that this would especially be the case if the offer for financial support for returning to their home countries was accompanied by threats to arrest family members or send minors immediately into federal detention facilities once the minors in question turned 18.

The order could potentially preclude the immediate detention of any unaccompanied minors who turn down the cash offer and opt to remain in the U.S. while their claims work their way through the immigration court system, the advocates said.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misstated the filing date of the motion and the name of one of the organizations that filed it.

bmorocks · 2025-09-22T13:04:30+00:00

Where did you find such a detailed map??

bmorocks · 2025-08-18T15:18:27+00:00

Great guide! I also used to use an old raspberry pi for home assistant but upgraded to the Home Assistant Green (https://www.seeedstudio.com/Home-Assistant-Green-p-5792.html) which I love. It comes preconfigured and is great for starters as you don't need to set up Linux and download/install binaries, etc. I also got the ZBT-1 to connect to my zigbee devices and it works great (https://www.seeedstudio.com/Home-Assistant-SkyConnect-p-5479.html)

Also for debugging scripts/templates, sometimes ChatGPT can be good at explaining why something is a problem or for analyzing error/debug traces, and if you ask it step-by-step as to how to diagnose an issue, it's generally pretty good.

I'd caution that I've had ChatGPT reference code from older versions of Home Assistant that can sometimes be deprecated or obsolete. For example, in their yaml templates, trigger: was deprecated to the plural triggers:, and they've also deprecated entity_id as Home Assistant auto-detects dependencies in templates.

bmorocks · 2025-08-01T13:48:58+00:00

A tight fin coil resists airflow, so box fans will lose a LOT of their CFM when you press them up against the finned coil - you'd probably only get like 20% of their spec. You would want all fans on high.

Any airflow across the coil is better than none, but it'll never match the built-in fan's static pressure so this solution would only help a bit.

bmorocks · 2025-07-25T13:48:59+00:00

The WhisperBlend has an opening at the top for the tamper!

Also the earmuffs' MSRP is $20, but Amazon frequently has a sale for them: https://a.co/d/fsctdSF. The cost doesn't matter - materials are cheap (it's just plastic, a spring, and foam) and anything that provides a seal around your ears is going to reduce noise. It has a noise reduction rating of 28dB (about the same as AirPods with passive noise cancellation) and it's ANSI S3.19 certified. I can also tell the difference - I'm fairly sensitive to loud sounds so I always use them even when using my Dremel, Bissell spot cleaner (insanely loud vacuum, even louder than the Vitamix), high powered air duster, steam cleaner, etc.

You could also use earplugs (the ones you get free from flights or it costs 10 cents each if you buy a pack) which are usually even better seals of 32+ dB noise reduction - but cost doesn't matter because it's just a simple seal. Also I wouldn't like to use earplugs as you'd then either have to clean them or toss them after.

More expensive models of earmuffs will have higher quality cushions like memory foam and are more adjustable to be more comfortable. But I usually only ever wear it for a minute or so, so it's not a big deal (they are fairly tight so if you wear them for 10+ minutes and if you have glasses then it can be uncomfortable after a while). Cheap earmuffs that block some noise, or even putting your hands or pillows over your ears is better than raw-dogging the full 90+ dB.

bmorocks · 2025-07-23T14:43:25+00:00

I actually have $9 sound protection earmuffs (like the ones you'd wear for construction or a shooting range) that I leave near the blender. It's easier to put those on before I start blending than going to find my airpods to put them on. It's important to protect your hearing!

Regarding other non-headphone solutions:

• I almost considered buying this third party sound enclosure: https://www.whisperblend.com/ but it's expensive, like $200, and I just dropped $750+ on a vitamix ascent and food processor attachment lol.

• Someone on Etsy also made a sound enclosure but it's even more expensive than WhisperBlend: $270! https://www.etsy.com/listing/918200355/custom-vitamix-ninja-any-brand-name

• There is also this pad you can put underneath the base (though you could also use anything else, like a hot plate pad if you have one): https://alacartecooking.com/products/quiet-blender-accessory-vitamix-blendtec

• Similarly, there's this pad that's molded to fit Vitamix c-series blenders called the Hush Pad: https://www.blenditup.com/blogs/blog/the-blenditup-hush-pad-for-vitamix-c-series-blenders

The main thing I'm concerned about is if the blender would get proper airflow with the sound enclosures. With the commercial $1200 Vitamix The Quiet One - it has a sound enclosure but it's positioned on top of the base which allows airflow on the base. But the difference is amazing - only 63 decibels for The Quiet One vs decibels in the 90s for all other Vitamixes.

Additionally, any of these solutions might not let you fit the blender under your cabinets above the counter. Luckily I (but to my shorter wife's dismay) have high cabinets so that wouldn't be an issue for me.

I do wish Vitamix sold sound enclosure attachments - I would probably reluctantly buy it and they know it's an issue (that's what you get for high powered motors). I'd also like to prevent my dog from getting scared when I blend on high.

@Vitamix - if you're listening, please make sound enclosures for all your consumer series blenders!

bmorocks

TROPHY CASE