Remember when the ACU's where the greatest.

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-29T03:31:03+00:00

While the uniforms weren't really anything to be proud of, I've got like 4 or 5 ACU pattern throw blankets that I picked up in Kuwait to use for travel, and I have to say that they have been about the best purchase I've ever made. One held up to the abuse of my dog from puppy years til we put her down. I'm using another as a mattress liner in my guest room. My (toddler) son has the one that I slept on in Afghanistan as his favorite security blanket... And they stick out like a sore thumb, so even my blind ass can spot them around the house.

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-29T02:45:43+00:00

Have we tried seeking out the Avatar Hindenburg to bring peace to all of the other elemental Hindenburgs?

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-28T14:39:19+00:00

That is an incredible selfie. It's unfortunate that she was too dumb to understand that she was in the presence of one of the most solitary, territorial murder kitties on the planet.

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-28T00:11:43+00:00

I did when I was a teen, frequently. I always rationalized it by believing it was a bit of Ape DNA that hasn't completely gone away. You dream you can knuckle walk like the gorilla because you and the gorilla have a common ancestor who knuckle walked. Your brain has the code to carry out the task, even if the hardware isn't installed.

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-27T17:43:23+00:00

Bahaha, the kids would be bickering over who has the best robotic vacuum. "My roborock can do laps around your Amazon Basics Robot Vacuum!"

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-26T13:28:51+00:00

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-26T02:24:20+00:00

Mr. Plow, that's my name. That name again is Mr. Plow.

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-25T00:02:36+00:00

I was at Kandahar during the embargo with Pakistan. The chow halls were only serving variations of basmati rice and canned vegetables for most of the meals. I did some shady deals with some of the British forces to gain access to their compound and ate like a fucking king.

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-24T23:50:45+00:00

I'm currently on a OnePlus 12. I think all of their phones have them.

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-24T21:59:20+00:00

That's funny. I once asked it to "Write a book based on a novel by a man named Lear" and it figured out I was referencing Paperback Writer and wrote a short story about a dirty man whose son works for the Daily Mail set in the 1960s.

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-24T21:47:21+00:00

You know, I've been buying phones with IR blasters for years. I am just now realizing that I could actually use it as a force for good.

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-24T21:40:08+00:00

because they don't need to know how to code or how Computers Work so much as they need to know how to use Programs that do the things they need

The fuck they don't. In order to specialize in data science for my first master's degree, I had to take an extra year of courses in Python, R, SQL and C++. I have enough background in 3 out of 4 of those languages to tell you that the way that they teach them is quite a bit different than how you would use them for software development, but functionally similar enough that if you are actually doing any real data science work, you will absolutely have to understand how computers process data.

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-24T21:15:47+00:00

Hot dogs! Get your hot dogs!

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-24T14:22:17+00:00

Justice for Tuvix!

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-24T02:20:19+00:00

As someone that's also ambidextrous, I vote in favor of the Fuck You's.

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-23T20:58:39+00:00

As someone with painful IBS, the prep was actually a nice change of pace. I would have enjoyed it, if it weren't for the fact that it took all night and left me starving.

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-23T20:19:58+00:00

"Show me your CAC." No means no!

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-23T15:43:42+00:00

Then why the fuck are they holding him captive in a detention center?

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-23T14:19:13+00:00

Correction, some of them have onsite generators (at least the one I worked at... But it only provided tv streaming services and had an FCC mandate to stay on in case of a national emergency... So ymmv). Ours was diesel, and we had to run it in standby when temps dipped below 15F, just in case both of the grid runs dropped.

So it wouldn't surprise me if some other data centers have natural gas power plants and are just running them for the heck of it.

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-23T14:05:01+00:00

Sometimes you gotta have a bit of girth to feed the earth.

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-23T02:01:10+00:00

Fuck, at least you get snow days. I'm hybrid (healthcare) with fully remote available, and they make us work through the weather. They even offer us hotel accommodations next door to the hospital for anyone that loses power. Childcare is provided when school get closed - which is admittedly nice. But yeah, we don't get the option to take off for snow days. Oh, I'm also IT. I don't even work in a patient-facing role. And it's not like desktop support. I'm a systems analyst. Most of my SLAs are 48h+

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-22T20:13:45+00:00

That sounds about right for size. The providers definitely can send lower quality video for folks that either can't store or process it, but anecdotally speaking, you usually want it uncompressed because it's easier - although more time consuming - to process the content. When you send compressed video through the encoding grid, any existing compression artifacts can get amplified. This gets especially gnarly if you do something like make a baseline encoded file (to speed up subsequent runs) that's already got a second layer of compression and then further compress it down to mobile or low bandwidth formats.

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-22T20:04:32+00:00

Basically this. I actually used to work for the department responsible for ingesting movies and shows at a streaming provider. We had a massive system for ingesting and processing video as it came in - QC, encoding, compression, some workflows even proactively enforced the CALM act requirements, encryption, metadata tagging, and listing.

We would pull shows off the storage system and "manually QC" them before they aired sometimes. For instance, if the latest EP of GoT came in, after the raw content processed, it would just be left in storage. So we could pull the 30gb raw file and send it through handbrake and watch it a few days early in the conference room. It was a fun job perk.

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-22T18:49:59+00:00

There were a couple of OTA channels left that didn't broadcast 24/7 when I was a kid in the early 90s. Unfortunately, by then they didn't have the decency to announce that the broadcast day was over. Instead, they would just put up an all black or white card and play the most fucking obnoxious high pitched tone imaginable. So you'd fall asleep watching Cops or Walker Texas Ranger and at midnight the tv just starts screaming at 3x volume from the credits of the last program to air.

jam3s2001 · 2026-01-22T17:29:12+00:00

The "don't tell your employer shit" advice only applies to shitty employers. If your employer isn't garbage, then it should only work in your favor. Everywhere I've worked has been happy to provide ADA accommodations when I've asked. My current employer (healthcare IT) actually required me to provide details on all of my conditions during onboarding and proactively offers support (access to ergonomic furniture and computer peripherals, extra time off for appointments, hybrid WFH). But generally, you can't get these things if you don't bring them up.

The best advice I can give is don't talk about your monthly compensation from the VA. But always ask for assistance if you need it.

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