I could definitely run Linux on the machine, no doubt it would work even better then. In fact I have an old Ubuntu partition on it that I haven’t booted in years, but which worked fine when I last used it.

However, the only purpose that machine serves at the moment is being an x86 Mac with a toolchain for compiling whatever, so that I can quickly compile distributables whenever I need to distribute something for x86 mac and don’t want to spend time setting up a full pipeline for cross compiling (once or maybe twice a year).

I have an old MacBook (2012) that runs macOS 10.13 (High Sierra, released in 2017) on 4GB RAM. I use it a couple times a year if I need to compile something for Mac x86 and don’t want to spend time setting up cross-compiling from my newer (M1) machine.

That MacBook is literally 13 years old, and the only upgrade I’ve given it is a new SSD back around 2018. It runs just fine.

Rip on the walled garden all you like, but if you want an OS with the stability and simplicity of a commercial OS, together with unix compatibility and a shell that lets you do whatever you want… macOS is your best bet. Using it literally feels like using a commercially polished and widely supported version of Linux.

With the drone drops usually being fairly accurate, you rarely get to see this clearly what the effective range of the grenades is. This really shows why stuff like artillery shells are regarded as potentially lethal to exposed infantry even at 100 m.

I usually make a point to take off my hood if I have one on, and generally lift my head and maybe give them a nod/smile, or otherwise indicate that “I’ve seen you, and I’m letting you see my face clearly”. If we’re alone in a dark, empty place at night, I’ll also make a point to cross the street away from them.

I’ve talked to some women about how they prefer men to act, and they generally said they think what I do is decent. Of course, that’s reliant on the whole “make eye-contact, nod, smile, and wave”-thing being done in a disarming and “I’m friendly and I see you, and I’m going to mind my own business”-way, and not a creepy way.

You could get it to run without a problem, but I don’t understand why they would portray macOS as having heavier requirements than windows. Of the two, macOS is an order of magnitude cheaper to run than Windows.

I know that Norway started training its standard infantry with light drones a year or two ago, I can only hope other NATO countries are doing the same.

I just want to underscore the crucial part of the monarch being apolitical. I believe the only Norwegian citizens that cannot vote are the royal family (whether by tradition or law I’m not sure).

I think it definitely has an effect of bringing cohesion and stability to a country that you have a formal head of state, or a “personification” of the nation, that is not tied to any political party. One thing is in foreign diplomacy, another thing is in bringing the country together during a crisis. In the latter case, the monarch is a figurehead that everyone can gather around, regardless of political affiliation.

It’s definitely true that most NATO troops have never trained for battlefield situations where drones are everywhere, and most current NATO gear isn’t built with the idea in mind that drones will be constantly attacking them from above. NATO definitely has a lot of adapting to do.

My point was just that light drone capabilities aren’t completely unknown to NATO, and that a lot of tech and doctrine had already been developed and implemented before the war. That should make it easier to adapt than if we were starting from scratch.

I can’t say anything certain, but I think it would be foolish to believe that the NATO militaries haven’t been watching intensely and working overtime on developing their own drone capabilities. Not to mention what they already had. A video posted years ago already showed an F16 (I seem to remember) that was equipped with a pod, from which it deployed a couple hundred drones that could be controlled simultaneously (i.e. a drone swarm).

If that’s what was shown off before the current war started, I can’t imagine it’s any worse now.

Not to mention that NATO militaries have been using various semi high-tech drones for years, so adapting to using a larger volume of cheaper drones shouldn’t be that large of a shift.

With all the AI rollout in customer support, I’ve essentially built up a habit of almost immediately trying to get in touch with a human if the bot doesn’t give me what I’m looking for right away. My experience is that in most cases, the bot will try to walk me in circles, recommending that I try stuff I’ve already tried (that’s why I’m contacting support). In all those cases, the bot isn’t saving the company any time, it’s just wasting my time and making me irritated.

In some cases it does save them support capacity, if only because I eventually give up on getting any support and just quit the service.

Thanks! I very much enjoy my profession, but I can also clearly understand that it’s not for everyone. My major impression after lecturing for different engineering courses is that chemistry differs from most in that you need (even) more basics before things start getting cool. Most of the other engineers can start doing actual cool projects in first or second year, while the chemists don’t really get to the good stuff before third or fourth year. On the other hand, I’m very glad I pulled through to the cool stuff at the other side :D

Someone who actually believes in their own message, and honestly believes that the political agenda they’re working for are important, to the point of putting this things ahead of themselves.

When you lose, you can choose to lie down and give up, or you can pick yourself up and keep fighting. I’m not an ardent critic of Harris, but she clearly chose the former. The same goes for Hillary Clinton. Both these people had/have huge platforms that they could use to front politics and help build up other candidates for future elections, not only presidential, but local, senate and house elections too. They have chosen to disappear from politics instead.

I seem to remember reading that the guy who invented the Rubik’s cube (Rubik?) thought for quite a while that it was impossible to solve until he uncovered the first algorithms for solving it by essentially just messing around.

So, an unmanned aircraft carrier for unmanned aircraft!

EXACTLY! I can’t believe that I’ve basically forgotten how the function of “social media” at a point in the not-too-distant past was actually to help real people stay in touch and organise real social events… how did we even end up where we are now? There was a golden age for a couple years where stuff like facebook brought a net positive to the world. Just makes me sad to think about where we ended up…

Tbh, to me, a replacement for facebook is what I’m looking most for. I used to use facebook a lot to organise stuff with different friend-groups, and now that most people don’t ever use it, that’s a lot harder.

Facebook was the de-facto primary communication channel for organising events or coordinating hobby groups. It honestly makes me sad that they broke it to the point where I have a hard time inviting old friends that live out of town to a summer party or something. Likewise, I have a hard time being invited to stuff because I practically never check facebook.

Friendica may take over facebooks role at some point, but it’s nowhere close yet. I made an account just to be on there for if/when it starts taking off. I hope the gap is filled sooner rather than later.

“Wisdom”: You’re a sorcerer with a long beard. “Intelligence”: You’re the annoying engineering type that breaks the DM’s beta in creative ways.

I’m a chemist, and I lecture in some engineering-related courses (mostly thermodynamics and mathematics)

It can be legitimate to ask “why do you want to do X” so that you can help find a solution to the underlying problem. Saying “you shouldn’t do X” without knowing what the underlying problem is is the epitome of unhelpful and overbearing.

It’s literally a meme that devs have some obscure problem, and the only online resource they find is a forum post with one of

• nvm, I fixed it (no further explanation)
• Marked as duplicate (link to question about something different but related)
• “You shouldn’t do this, here’s how to do something else” (cannot do Y, that’s why I’m trying to do X)

I remember as a student when I couldn’t understand how professors could “just see” the solutions to problems. I’ve been reflecting after teaching a bit that I’m becoming that person, and how it just feels natural now, and that it’s really just because once you’ve seen enough problems in your field everything kind of just fits together, so new problems don’t really look that new anymore. It feels good to be honest, but I have a hard time thinking of it as wisdom, more just accumulated experience (then again, what is really “wisdom”?)

The question isn’t who exclusively has a landline, or why OP needs to call a landline. They’ve stated that they need to be able to call a landline: It’s safe to assume that they are aware of the existence of smartphones and internet-based calling services, and have concluded that it doesn’t serve their needs, which is why they’re asking for help calling a landline. Responding that they don’t need to call a landline reads like the classic stackoverflow response of “you don’t need to do <thing the question asks how to do>”.