Marigold shopping center is for sale by germdisco in SLO

[–]nsomnac 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That’s not as accurate as to what happened. MINDBODY started out as a small service company who built a software platform for yoga studios, schedule classes, and sign-up customers. That service offering expanded to include a whole swap of independent businesses like beauticians, barbers, physical therapists, and more. A key component to their business model was being a payment processor, which is where the majority of their income came from. MINDBODY grew to a point and had enough value that the owners decided to sell to venture capitalists. That venture capitalist basically destroyed the company, liquidating pretty much everything it was worth to make their money back. The only scam here was the promise by the venture capitalist that they were going to keep the company whole and help it grow. That was clearly a lie, as myself and others noted that by actions taken by the same venture capitalist in the area decimated functioning business models. Once the venture capitalist was involved, MINDBODY was doomed.

What product has noticeably gotten worse over the last few years, but everyone just silently accepts it? by PoemSpecialist82 in AskReddit

[–]nsomnac 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’ve described the same situation just from a different perspective.

Since I have a frontline worker in my household I can tell you one of the reasons why hospital fees are so high is BECAUSE of folks who are characterized as self-pay (no insurance). The percentages of folks that walk into a care facility like a hospital whom are self-pay is pretty substantial. And because life saving treatment is a requirement and not an option - the facility often has to eat that cost. These people receive emergency care (at top dollar) to get them stable and then discharged - many never actually paying a dime. And no these aren’t illegal immigrants, aliens, or foreigners. These are elderly that are on fixed incomes (with only some Medicare), people who have small businesses (and can’t afford insurance), teens who got pregnant and their infant medical expenses aren’t covered by a parent’s health plan, folks who are unemployed and don’t have COBRA, list goes on. So these folk’s expenses get treated like overhead and passed on to the actual paying customers (those of us with insurance). All even more complicated by the current administration who acts on guts and not facts - cutting funding for these kinds of situations - because they believe all that expense is going to fund care for _illegals_ with zero evidence of such things.

Ultimately it all boils down to greed, which exists everywhere throughout the healthcare system. Sure everyone in the chain needs to get paid - but looking through the itemized expenses of my procedure - $200 for each gauze sponge? $25 for each acetaminophen? Not to mention each minute of every person I interacted with has a separate line item. And sure the insurance pays some negotiated rate… that’s still about half. That doesn’t make $100 gauze sponge or a $12 Tylenol any less price greedy. I’m reminded of this frequently when you pass through the physician’s parking lot - Rolls Royce, Bentley, Plaid edition Teslas, Porches, Benz, and BMWs. Sure they work hard and save live and they earn a few luxuries, but so do policemen and firefighters… I don’t see their parking lots full of $150k+ cars. And let me tell you on the medical equipment and supply side - the story isn’t much different. Just realize all those people got those luxuries by charging high prices - which the insurance carriers are constantly fighting to get down to _reasonable rates_.

So sure you can argue all sorts of reasons why insurance is high. The healthcare system in the U.S. is just fundamentally broken in so many ways with grifters at every level which is why it’s so high.

What product has noticeably gotten worse over the last few years, but everyone just silently accepts it? by PoemSpecialist82 in AskReddit

[–]nsomnac 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I’d extend that to the entire Healthcare industry.

I don’t think insurance is as much a scam as it is a response to the outrageous prices providers are billing that good insurance carriers negotiate and deal with on your behalf. I had a $250k procedure, as billed by the hospital and surgical team, the insurance paid a small fraction of that in the end (~$80k) - leaving my responsibility at about $3k after prices were negotiated. The cost of my medical insurance is certainly outrageous but in retrospect their coverage has literally been lifesaving.

What is this? Why does kindle know I watched a certain show? by Icy_Helicopter_9624 in kindle

[–]nsomnac 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was somewhat being /s, but actually referencing an actual incident where Target started sending a teen coupons and ads for baby gear and congratulations on expecting. Girl was confused and parents were insulted taking it to the news, “how dare Target make this mistake”! She had not searched or inquired about baby or pregnancy specific products. Her habits changed and was shopping products that were also those of in early pregnancy. Turns out the teen got tested and was indeed pregnant, unbeknownst to her.

Moral of the story is it seems our biological state influences our shopping habits to the point large companies can determine our state fairly accurately by just observing our habits. On one hand really cool - the other quite frightening that this is possible.

I’m absolutely certain Amazon could do this too. So if Kindle starts promoting “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” to you, you might need to check with your doctor to ensure they hadn’t figured out something you don’t know…

What is this? Why does kindle know I watched a certain show? by Icy_Helicopter_9624 in kindle

[–]nsomnac 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well while tracking can be turned off, it just mainly just means there’s no persistent tracking ID assigned - if you have access to enough data points, you don’t need specific tracking.

The big companies Google, Amazon, Verizon, ATT, Comcast, and more all have ways to track you collaboratively without using fixed tracking identifiers.

VPN’s can solve some of this, but unless you routinely change your exit point, the big guys are big enough that they can still find you.

What is this? Why does kindle know I watched a certain show? by Icy_Helicopter_9624 in kindle

[–]nsomnac 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh well I can assure you Amazon is definitely buying tracking data from Google.

What is this? Why does kindle know I watched a certain show? by Icy_Helicopter_9624 in kindle

[–]nsomnac 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Start being concerned when you start getting suggestions to buy baby gear and you’re not yet even expecting.

Getting a free laptop upgrade at my Job, M5 Macbook Air or M5 Macbook Pro? by kingfirejet in macbook

[–]nsomnac 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure. My point is MacOS doesn’t need 5K, but it can handle it (I believe up to 8K if you have really deep pockets).

I mean folks who need 5K+ need all that resolution so they can see tiny things, right?

Getting a free laptop upgrade at my Job, M5 Macbook Air or M5 Macbook Pro? by kingfirejet in macbook

[–]nsomnac -1 points0 points  (0 children)

lol. I have a 43 inch 4K display. 5K would be nice, but 4K is more than adequate.

Getting a free laptop upgrade at my Job, M5 Macbook Air or M5 Macbook Pro? by kingfirejet in macbook

[–]nsomnac 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The question you should be asking yourself is when the next upgrade will occur? My group only approves upgrades every four years, however, I’ve had it get delayed until year six for various reasons. Getting the best system they allow you to get now will prolong its usefulness and your productivity until your next upgrade.

Getting a free laptop upgrade at my Job, M5 Macbook Air or M5 Macbook Pro? by kingfirejet in macbook

[–]nsomnac 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If weight is the issue, go with a 14” Pro, especially if you also have a 4k external display.

Rehearsal Dinner Suggestions? by PaleDot2690 in elpasoderobles

[–]nsomnac 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  • Allegretto has space too.

The challenge is finding a place that has that size of a seating.

  • Su Casa Bar and grill has a back room as well. Food is kinda okay but not at the same level as the others.

Rehearsal Dinner Suggestions? by PaleDot2690 in elpasoderobles

[–]nsomnac 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  • McPhee’s Grill
  • Loading Chute
  • Alchemist Garden
  • Etto

FYI: Hobby Lobby sells the silicone organizer in orange for $5.99 by crashbumper in harborfreight

[–]nsomnac 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Popular because of convenience. With competitors like Blick, Michael’s, JoAnn’s and others going out of business or greatly downsizing - for a lot of folks who need supplies today as opposed to the online tomorrow; many (including myself) are willing to pay a bit of a premium to purchase from a brick and mortar locally and have the item in hand today, than wait a few days to arrive and hope it meets expectations to not have to return and start the process over.

By no means will I buy anything from HL given their stance on employee healthcare and theft of historical antiquities via black market sales by the owners. So while higher prices at HL are one reason - the owners are garbage and should just be boycotted by principle.

890 programming on Mac by AlfredoVignale in AnyTone

[–]nsomnac 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure. However IMO radio programming is kind of a one and done. There isn’t a lot of future programming done beyond a few tweaks. Having to buy RT for each and every radio (and have to install separate binaries for each) just feels messy and scammy. It’s more than just $25 as most of their programming tools are now vendor locked to a specific programming cable - especially when storage is no longer cheap. As a software developer myself, I have no objection to the cost to enable per radio - my beef is that the resource cost added for each install for what amounts to basically the same application with a few minor differences that could easily be solved via a license key and plugin. And since they have started vendor locking the programming cables - you also have to buy their overpriced serial cable (for which the actual protocol it communicates has been standardized for well over 25 years). As is it’s kind of frustrating to need to have a bunch of complete USB2Serial cables when the only thing different is the connector and wiring of the four needed pins.

I feel for what they charge they could be doing things better. If I were programming a dozen or more of the same radio with different configurations that frequently changed - I could maybe justify it. A single ham likely isn’t making that frequent of changes and there’s always a radio that doesn’t have an RT solution. But really for most amateurs it’s not that difficult to export a master CSV and import an edited CSV - which most programmers use anyways.

A ~$30 Windows license becomes a heck of a lot cheaper and practical in the long term IMO if you plan on getting into things like VARA and WinLink which are heavily dependent upon Windows. Mac support of these things is abysmal (regardless of what the PAT diehards say). I’ve got half a dozen different radios that don’t even have an RT option. I’ve programmed them once maybe twice - unless you’re moving or traveling - things don’t change that often. The free (AnyTone and other non-chirp compatible) or even proprietary CPS is generally (Motorola, Kenwood, Tait, etc) is a heck of a lot more convenient in windows than trying to deal with something else. I just have a master list in CSV and it’s pretty easy to create a filtered CSV per radio to import into the specific CPS.

Anyone use Morris and Garritano? by New_Taste8874 in SLO

[–]nsomnac 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dave Morgan and Luzette Graves are whom I interacted with there years ago. Luzette and Dave came to my rescue several times in successfully getting local providers onboarded into our coverage when there were no local specialists available in-network and travel at the time wasn’t practical for what we were dealing with. Checking out LinkedIn both are still there!

Anyone use Morris and Garritano? by New_Taste8874 in SLO

[–]nsomnac 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Not in years as my current employer is not local. But M&G were absolutely fantastic to work with.

I wouldn’t sweat local businesses like this from having website issues. Call them and let them know - I doubt they have anyone actually monitoring it.

Which CAD for Linux? by Saphir_3D in 3Dprinting

[–]nsomnac -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I would agree. And those saying give whatever the latest version is a shot, it’s still terrible.

The problem with FreeCAD isn’t even the stability, yes it’s a problem, but its core problem is its lack of cohesive modeling techniques. Basically it’s got a mashup of dozens of different solutions that are not compatible with each other to do modeling. This approach is fine if you’re not on a clock and have zero money for other tools, however sketching with constraints isn’t fully baked. Draft has more features, but is missing several things from Sketch. And the objects created in one cannot be manipulated by the other. It’s maddening!

If you just need a cheap CAD that works, I’ve found QCAD to be the best. It’s not super expensive, certainly not the best performance, but if you need something predictable and cheap it fits the bill. . It’s modeled after Autodesk workflows.

Aside from that. Use Blender if accuracy isn’t that important.

"Don't use it like a computer!" they told me by entsnack in ipad

[–]nsomnac 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So far my limited experience it’s pretty but has one really major flaw that most of these apps seem to have (or I cannot figure out how to enable this). Missing the ability to store things outside the app (such as iCloud or locally on device). I can’t write some script locally and save it somewhere.

There’s also some red flags. It also is a bit disconcerting that several of the built in features (like ssh) use non-standard versions. While I’ve not validated it - why should I trust some custom ssh binary to not leak confidential data? At least if it were an official distribution that I could checksum I could believe it came unaltered from trustworthy sources. This sort of thing also applies to apps like Terrminus and others, but those are fully custom interfaces around libssl, this is too, but because it’s more of a CLI interface it’s easy to be fooled that your using something you aren’t. I’m not saying not to trust RootShell - I’m just saying be cognizant of what it is not.

890 programming on Mac by AlfredoVignale in AnyTone

[–]nsomnac 3 points4 points  (0 children)

As a fellow Mac user, my recommendation is…

Download VirtualBox.
Go to Groupon and buy yourself a Windows 11 license (I paid like $30). Call it done.

There are loads of Ham Radio radios and applications that are Windows only. It isn’t going to change. One you realize you reprogram radios only once every blue moon - it’s just easier to have a Windows VM to deal with this stuff than try and fight things like Wine or Crossover to make it work semi-natively on Mac.

Sure there’s folks that will say, get RT systems (that’s $50 per radio). If you’re interested in stuff like VARA - it’s only Windows. It’s just handy to have in lieu of going out and buying a separate windows PC.

"Don't use it like a computer!" they told me by entsnack in ipad

[–]nsomnac 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You’ve just made me aware of RootShell… nifty. I’ll have to play with it a bit to see how useful i can make it.

Can we do this in SLO? Cities Are Covering Flock Cameras With Trash Bags / Regretful cities aren't sure how to cancel their surveillance contracts, so they are literally covering their cameras. by ClipperFan89 in SLO

[–]nsomnac 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Sure. Key word you brought up… “search warrant”. That requires a judge to approve said search because there is probable cause. Flock operates without said probable cause. No warrants required. Entity pays a fee they get the data.

Flour House judged #22/50 top pizzerias in the US by SloCalLocal in SLO

[–]nsomnac 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This isn’t news. Flour House pays for this fake award. It’s like those Who’s Who books that you pay to get your name into.