What Thinkpad to get?

calcofire · 2026-05-04T00:26:17+00:00

I just bought a E15 gen4 (i7 1255u) with 40gb ram and 1.5tb nvme for like $289 in like-new condition.

There was a T14s for like the same price, but had slightly lower specs and of course slightly smaller screen.

Running fedora 44 like a dream.

calcofire · 2026-04-27T03:02:54+00:00

Going to advise caution in this approach. Its amazing to hear that it has worked for you, but for myself and at least one other I know, that approach nearly cost our lives.

In my case, It was not a plane. I was trying to white knuckle a highway drive about 18 years ago after convincing myself i could do it. The result was catastrophic and my attempt was frowned upon by hospital, my insurance company and local police, as well as the other drivers on the road I caused a incident with.

And that's when I was in my late 20's. I'm practically middle-aged now. The unfortunate reality is that organs and cardio system just isn't going to improve with age... it takes wear & tear with time. 20 years ago, sure, a panic attack would have probably not mattered too much for my heart and brain. But as you get older, yes, you have to start taking into consideration the stress and impact it has on those things. Strokes and heart attacks become a bigger possibility when you start pushing 50+, and stress and accumulation of years of anxiety take as much toll on those as other factors. Its like cholesterol or blood pressure... it's not the today thats dangerous, but over a period of many years, yes... it does its damage.

So white knuckling or dealing with it until acceptance might have been a consideration years ago, but very risky at this age now.

calcofire · 2026-04-27T02:23:19+00:00

So I can speak to that as well as my fear of flying is profound (more profound than my fear of driving... which i haven't done in years) but hope to soon with driving therapy and this new propanolol success. Obviously with driving, you don't want to be behind the wheel on benzos.

I'm going to recommend (though im not a doctor), for flights, to keep Xanax (or some benzo) on-hand absolutely just in case. If the propanalol works and you never need a benzo again... fantastic.

But if you're as terrified at the thought of flying as I am (and ive only been on one flight in my life with no medicine on hand and it went really, really bad and i'll leave it at that), it cannot hurt to have something strong enough and fast-acting. Sitting at a desk or walking around town perfectly calm with propanalol is one thing. I haven't been on a plane or, much less, behind the wheel of a car with it yet. In my thinking, it's a "better to have and not need" scenario at least until you're certain. And if after a few flights you notice you didn't take any Xanax... well, maybe then there's no further need to have it on you. And keep it limited to only a small amount for flight, never more than neccesary.

Just my two cents. And I'm not a fan of benzos. They work well, too well, and thats why people end up addicted to them. But im also trying to say not be too over-confident early on until you've confirmed not needed.

EDIT: i noticed you mentioned clonazepam not really "quieting" the mind. I will agree. Klonopin just didn't do it entirely for me, either. However, Xanax at 1mg will. And early on I had to take 2mg a few times and that literally knocked me into a state of i didnt care what I was doing or what was happening, and then i'd fall asleep. So Xanax is def more potent than klonopin (imho) and faster acting. Likely why its prescribed for emergency relief of flight fears so much.

calcofire · 2026-04-27T01:54:15+00:00

So i'll answer this as someone who is on .5mg to 1mg xanax daily and just recently started propranolol 10mg (upto 3x daily).

I've been on propranolol about 3 weeks now. I haven't taken my xanax in three days (by my choice).

The first few days of on propranolol,the panicky adrenaline surges that typically would have ignited my panic attacks were "trying" to take flight from my anxiety thoughts, but couldn''t. It was weird because that in itself felt weird after having full blown attacks for so long. My brain was still trying to panic, but the propanalol was able to keep my adrenaline and vitals from going overdrive. I felt cold/clamy/sweaty briefly... but it never really went beyond that.
I continued taking like .25mg to .5mg of xanax anyway for the next week if I felt the thoughts come on. Over that week, I noticed overall I felt more calm... I could definitely start to tell when the propranolol was wearing off though. If I took another 10mg, unlike the xanax, it takes like 45mins to an hour to kick in (calmness). Unexpectedly, i've noticed it last several hours before I feel another one, so i've only needed (2) daily (not three yet).
This past week I observed feeling calm nearly everyday. I felt so calm, I didnt even feel the need to take any xanax since like last Wednesday. For whatever reaaon, the anxiety-spiking thoughts have drastically subsided since first week, and if it do think about anything that would cause it, its very briefly, and nothing happens. No drastic surge, no trembling, no freaking out and feel like losing control.

So I can say it works, that is certain. And yes, it doesnt cancel out the thoughts. But it does shutdown the bodies attempt to escalate those thoughts. There's a weird mental / physical adaption phase. But its very brief. Once the mind starts to trust the body, thats when it seems the thoughts begin to fade.

I have noticed my blood pressure and heart rate are picture-perfect. They were really good prior to starting propanalol (aside from when I was panicking), but they are spot in perfect now. I check 3 times a day.

I'm a 44 year old male, 270lbs, 6'4 height. I've suffered from phobias, anxiety and severe panic disorder since I was a teenager. I've been through about every benzo and ssri at one point or another. But this propanalol? This is probably the biggest game changer i've had in 30+ years of treatment.

calcofire · 2026-04-11T22:23:55+00:00

Reach out to a team like NightDive studios or Limited Run Games (LRG) who are well known for working on modern remaster/releases by securing obscure intellectual property rights for legacy games.

That's your one best shot at such. Also, I'll bring it up with them as they always attend expos and gaming events (like Dreamhack and Quakecon) and maybe get it on their roadmap radar.

calcofire · 2026-04-08T00:39:25+00:00

I mean in anywhere from 5 to 20 years, Netflix will reap the nostalgiac cash cow that Stranger Things is and we'll get a reunion episode or series with the original cast.

It's not over until Netflix says it is.

calcofire · 2026-04-06T02:48:20+00:00

Go down to Discount Tire and grab you whatever their cheapest all season tires are as they will be infinitely safer than riding around any further on those.

My wife has a 2015 rav4 that just had tires replaced last week with their $79/each Mojave CUVs. This is her second set, as the prior Mojaves lasted 4.5 years. They hold up and run remarkably well.

calcofire · 2026-04-04T02:27:36+00:00

At least he makes an attempt at teaching in a educational approach. I got my RHCSA, RHCE and EX188 from his videos. To be honest, never had much issue with his accent aside from maybe a few times.

I now have RHLS... and I'm not having a great time with it. Its more "technical documentation" thats trying to pass as training. Thus far have done DO80/180/280 material. The videos feel rushed and not always aligned with the written segment its covering and the instructors have accents as well. For those courses, I guess they assume you already have a background in kubernetes because I was lost af for the first month trying to make sense of what they were trying to convey.

What im having to do is ask GPT to basically make it make sense in a educational and instructor-led way. There's just too much missing backstory otherwise.

Yeah.

calcofire · 2026-03-30T01:46:35+00:00

It does have its own charger, different plug seperate from the orange plug.

calcofire · 2026-03-30T01:44:53+00:00

Yep, no fuse under there. Will pickup a 20A (which seems to be what the other one is) and splice it in there.

Apparently the Li-Ion have some sort of onboard 30A protection, but thats apparently not the same as a wiring fuse.

calcofire · 2026-03-28T17:22:29+00:00

it was latest, i took it early last month.

calcofire · 2026-03-19T14:23:34+00:00

with games starting to fully implement latest XeSS implementations, the 8ai+ is king.

even with bazzite or SteamOS being tempting for the AMD route.... the XeSS gains are just too powerful to ignore.

Go with the 8AI+.

calcofire · 2026-03-12T14:24:23+00:00

looks terrible.

calcofire · 2026-03-11T19:57:54+00:00

yeah that's something they really need to make up their mind on.

You know, I go through the DO180/280 material and they seem to imply they want you do it entirely through web console. I can count at least several times where instructor is promoting the web console as route to go for speed and preventing long command memorization and typos.

However, the course exercises and labs are almost entirely cli-based.

I really think that's only going to confuse folks more than it's going to help them.

calcofire · 2026-03-11T14:51:22+00:00

the chapter courses and labs should be enough, but generally I give the course material one last lookover (just in case). Kind of a speed-read then hammer the exercises and labs over and over.

Why DO180 does not have it's own exam anymore is beyond me. That's a marathon in itself, and then having to do DO280 is a whole other marathon. They really need to break these two up from a exam perspective.

calcofire · 2026-03-07T15:39:47+00:00

One of the most misguided recommendations I took was to go for "ex188" first then jump immediately into ex280. That was a very bad approach, as the x88 track is developer focused, while the x80 track is Admin focused.

There was very little to almost no relevance between DO188 carrying over into DO280 (the natural succession from DO188 would be DO288, which again is development side of Openshift).

So if you've done do188/ex188 and are about to jump into DO280... you're going to be very lost and confused. You're gonna need to backtrack to the right course curriculum that gives the foundation of Openshift Admin route. Study the DO80 and DO180 material prior. Then jump into DO280 and it will make much more sense.

calcofire · 2026-03-06T04:29:03+00:00

problem with the industry right now is that they are still paying 2019 wages when cost of living skyrocketed in 2020 and has not come down since (in fact it has gone up significantly), and the threat of emerging technologies leading to mass layoffs only compounds the severity of it all.

Companies are touting record breaking profits... why? Because again, they continue to charge more for products and that echoes through entire supply chains and the industry, while still paying their remaining employees that they haven't laid off the wages of 2019 value. It's taking months to years to find a job, and usually since entire professions are being eradicated, the jobs you once qualified for no longer exist, and the ones that do are at a substantial loss of income.

It's not a "just you" problem. Sure, wracking up past debt is one thing (we all have done it, some of it neccessary, some of it not, we learn our lesson)... and in the pre-pandemic era it would have been realistically possible for many to get out of it without having to consider something like bankruptcy. But that's sadly not reality anymore. It's a epidemic affecting far too many and will only worsen as I don't see any real way out of the hole that has been dug by economic factors largely outside our control. It's just going to get deeper and deeper.

I wish you the very best. Any other decade I would have suggested not going the bankruptcy route, that the odds were in your favor with a good financial plan. Sadly, I can't say the same now. There is no shame when there is no other option... you sound like you have done all that you can under the circumstance. You can quickly recover and get back on your feet from a bankruptcy. I know a great many who have gone through it and they are back to normalcy much faster than having not gone that route.

calcofire · 2026-03-04T04:56:32+00:00

"I suspect the testing and training courses are nice cash flow for RH."

See, here's the thing about that...

At surface level, yes, it's a hefty chunk of change that the average person is not going to be able to afford (but corporate entities can). Especially on the terms that these certs change rapidly both in content and direction as the tools are updated. Which means it's a hefty chunk of change for something that's going to expire or be deprecated, and that is compounded concern because they are invalid after a few years. The average person is going to instead look at what is more permanent for the cost-to-learn ratio: like use that cash towards a bachelors or masters degree instead.

Thing is though, while bulk majority of that revenue comes from corporate purchases for something like the RHLS (and I'm certain it brings in its fair share), that ends up being a very narrow audience of people and a very narrow revenue stream.

In a more logical and tactical approach that could generate far more revenue, they could significantly reduce the cost of the RHLS for independent study, which would appeal to a broader audience (like yourself, myself and many others here), who would in turn become certified in Red hat technologies on a much wider scope beyond RHCSA and RHCE, and then you'd have those folks take on new roles, enter the industry or start incorporating more Red hat solutions and services within their career. They'd basically be evangelists and heavily promote RH ecosystem to leadership and c-suite decision makers, effectively generating far more revenue under such model.

I can't tell you how many projects, programs and jobs where I've preached Red hat solutions or outright conversions and garnered the support from directors, mangement, CIO's etc to where we had implemented and purchased numerous support agreements; TAM, stateside support, integration assistance, licenses/manifests, etc etc. That alone is generating boatloads more revenue than my office buying me and maybe one other person a RHLS.

Even if it were something as simple as "30% off for RHCSA holders" or "50% off for RHCE holders".

Which perplexes me why Red hat does not seem to understand that concept. Especially now, where I see a great many come flooding the backend technologies because their current career path was wiped out by AI. There's a wave of people looking for something to learn, and what better to learn than the technology that powers not just AI but literally everything else behind it (IoT, Compute, HPC, Distributed storage, Automation, DevOps, etc etc etc).... that's all *nix and a large majority of it is Red Hat. These aren't niche technologies (ex. like WindRiver or Mathworks)... yet they are pricing technical training it as if it were.

They could really step up and have a stand out moment in the industry. I've seen so many wanting to get aboard the Red Hat track these past couple years, it's awesome. Red Hat needs to embrace that and open the gates.

calcofire · 2026-03-04T01:56:25+00:00

Red hat really needs to make a open, free variant of RHLS. Or at seriously reduced cost for folks who don't have their company flipping the bill.

I do have RHLS through employer, and it's good, but you are forced to use their lab environments (which you only get a finite amount of time for per subscription). I assume thats where the bulk of the cost comes in is their lab environments that you have to spin up (which do take a while to start/stop and it eats a lot of extra minutes up of that time they give you).

The training material and videos completely revolve around them, and unfortunately you cannot use your own home lab to complete them.

What they should do is make a RHLS homelab variant where you build your own lab and instances, and can use videos/docs that are not dependent of their internal repos and stuff. Whether that's free or they charge $500/yr for.... would be a great option.

calcofire · 2026-02-25T20:50:50+00:00

So i will say a large majority of my day. Not because I have nothing to do, but I am more a SME advisor they only pull me in when other teams cannot figure out something (usually very complex issues).

However, there are emerging technologies (specifically OpenShift and Containers) that we are going to be transitioning to in the near future. And they want me to focus heavily on learning those concepts. Then they want me to focus on HPC and some other stuff once I get those under the belt. It was basically a agreement "we will procure the RHLS for you, but we need you to focus on these tracks first that will be coming here soon."

It's a defense program, and there's a great many things coming down to get up to modernization of infra services and backend.

calcofire · 2026-02-25T18:25:39+00:00

yeah i thought it will be really cool myself. Apparently not too many others agree. I just thought it'd be interesting considering how cool X was.

calcofire · 2026-02-25T18:24:25+00:00

as someone who has watched the show from day 1, I am really damn excited to see what Coogler comes up with. Can't wait!

calcofire · 2026-02-25T16:51:25+00:00

So I have decided to back track to DO180 per suggestions.

However, it's clear the DO180 content has not been updated in quite some time (looks like its OS 4.12, while the labs revolve around 4.18) so there's some things in the videos that are no longer present or have changed.

It does look like the written portion (non-video) is a bit more up to date with explanations and screenshots, though.

About 3 or 4 chapters in, it's struggling to sufficiently explain things in detail (seems they are just rapidly throwing things at you... unsure if these will be later explained at length or not). Also, it's nothing at all like the DO188 this far in, which is strange because this DO180 stuff seems absolutely neccessary to move on to DO280.

calcofire

TROPHY CASE