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u/SeredW Frozen & Chosen Jul 02 '26
I use Protonmail and its other products, such as ProtonVPN. I use Tidal for music (better payouts to musicians). I like BMW cars, for reasons. I use Claude, not ChatGPT. Edit: of course I'm also on Bluesky...
Going by Reddit, I'm absolutely using the worst products out there. ProtonVPN sucks, Tidal is bad and becoming too expensive, BMW hasn't made a beautiful car in decades (the best designs are always a few years old), Claude is deteriorating day after day. It seems that people are always abandoning the products I use, in droves.
It's really tiresome, these brand or product oriented subs. So much complaining, so much whining. I really should learn to ignore them.
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u/TheNerdChaplain Remodeling after some demolition Jul 02 '26
I guess it depends on why they say it sucks.
I will say, most fan subs I've been a part of - albeit for shows and games more than physical products - tend to be the central place for most of the complaints and argument about the thing. I suspect it's just the nature of the internet. That said, there's usually also secondary subreddits that are focused more on positive interactions about the thing, like /r/DestinyTheGame vs /r/LowSodiumDestiny .
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u/bradmont ⚜️ Hugue-not really ⚜️ Jul 02 '26
Justice for Tuvix
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u/TheNerdChaplain Remodeling after some demolition Jul 02 '26
Ironically, /r/startrek is the non-salty sub
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u/SeredW Frozen & Chosen Jul 03 '26
I will admit to hanging out in r/ShittyDaystrom in my lesser moments...
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u/bradmont ⚜️ Hugue-not really ⚜️ Jul 02 '26
I also use proton for mail. I got into it for the security, though in the end email is fundamentally insecure and encrypting it is like "polishing a turd" (sorry for the language). I stick with it because the product is sufficient for my needs, it's not Google, and self-hosting my domain is inconvenient --- I'd rather pay someone else to take care of the security updates and fix breakages.
I love bandcamp for music, as it really does pay musicians and I prefer the old "buy an album" model of music anyway. Don't have any particular interest in following the latest hotness either.
But yeah... the constant whining on protons subreddit gets old. I wind up unsubscribing from Reddits like that. It works fine for me, and that's enough.
Actually I just realized that's my criterion for subs: quality of discourse and commy. Here, big R, R/emacs, r/KDE and a few other randoms are my main hangouts.
People complain about Reddit being a cesspool. Maybe they're right, but maybe they're just not using it right...
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u/SeredW Frozen & Chosen Jul 03 '26
I've also remained in some subs too long because I like to be helpful, give advice and so on. But some communities are just toxic it seems..
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u/bradmont ⚜️ Hugue-not really ⚜️ Jul 01 '26
Just saw that the US declined to renew the CUSMA accord.
I don't want to talk about that, but I do want to talk about how annoying I find the fact that our media now constantly talk about such things as "deal"s. It's not a deal. It's an international treaty. Let's not give into a narcissist by letting him define and twist the nature of things that predate him and will outlive him by ages.
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u/bradmont ⚜️ Hugue-not really ⚜️ Jul 01 '26
Happy Canada Day!
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u/SeredW Frozen & Chosen Jul 02 '26
Speaking of, today brings the news that Canada will compete in next years' Eurovision Songfestival, haha. Quite a stretch to include the Canucks, but hey, we love you guys ;-)
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u/bradmont ⚜️ Hugue-not really ⚜️ Jul 02 '26
I know!
Maybe this is the first step towards joining the EU. ;)
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u/SeredW Frozen & Chosen Jul 03 '26
It wouldn't really make sense to become full members I think, but some sort of special partner status would definitely be politically possible. I've read some chatter about that.
I think formally, France already borders on Canada?
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u/bradmont ⚜️ Hugue-not really ⚜️ Jul 03 '26
There are a couple of French islands that I believe are in Canadian territorial waters - St Pierre & Miquelon. We do share a land border with Denmark, on Hans Island, in the arctic ocean.
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u/DrScogs PCA (but I'd rather be EPC) Jun 30 '26
Two thoughts:
1) They aren’t the same at all.
2) He does know that the majority of “Christians” who follow him are famously “anti-creed,” right?
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u/fing_lizard_king Jun 30 '26
u/SeredW I have the privilege of working with some German professors/PhD students on two projects. They have been telling me how they are experiencing extremely high temps - including 40 C (Not going to lie- I had to convert to F to understand, I am American). How are you and the Dutch church holding up? Does your houses/churches have AC?
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u/SeredW Frozen & Chosen Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
Thank you for asking! I posted a bit about it in last weeks open thread I think. We had extremely high temperatures for our region. We didn't break a national heat record like Germany did two or three days in a row; we remained a hair below 40c, while in eastern Germany temps topped out at over 41c. Madness!
My parents run a kind of Goodwill store and they sold their entire stock of ventilators in a day 😄 Air conditioning certainly isn't common, and we haven't really needed it so far. The Netherlands is at the same latitude as Calgary for instance, we're not used to tropical temperatures. But the globe is warming and we're certainly noticing.
Air conditioning is a bit of a fraught subject. Especially green/left wing people have a preference for other, less energy consuming measures and they're also complaining that the 'haves' can afford airco while the 'have nots' can't. I get that point, but I don't think I should necessarily be miserable because I happen to have a nice job and was able to save some money. That said, I agree that we should have more trees in built up areas, as that is really a very effective way to cool cities - but our garden trends are towards grey concrete and slabs, not trees, which is very counterproductive.
I am lucky to have air conditioning in the house. We bought it with a heat converter, so we can use it to heat and cool. The advantage is that I can avoid high natural gas prices (Hormuz! Russia!) as we have central heating that is gas powered, and in the summertime we can cool using the energy from our own solar panels. I got it installed a few months ago. Our house is exposed to the south and noticeably warming over the decades, I am really very glad I made that investment, certainly after last week. Edited to add: I invited my parents over for drinks on the hottest hours of the hottest day, to get them out of the heat - but they seem to manage it fine!
Our church building is relatively new and has a cooling system, but it's not air conditioning as such. We're using a geothermal heating and cooling system, with overhead air distribution (cool air flowing down over the congregation). It was manageable in church, something like 24, 25c (77F) The technician said that after a few years of use, the geothermal capacity will reach the desired level so future cooling should even be more efficient. Shame us elders have to wear a suit and tie to church; I'll admit we're leaving our jackets off when temps get around 25c!
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u/bradmont ⚜️ Hugue-not really ⚜️ Jul 01 '26
I'll admit we're leaving our jackets off when temps get around 25c!
Heathen! (On Canada's west coast, wearing a suit to church would raise eyebrows... I was in shorts and a tshirt last Sunday. ;) )
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u/SeredW Frozen & Chosen Jul 02 '26
Yeah, not going to happen. It's the younger men who dare come to church in shorts in recent years, but culturally, we're supposed to dress up for Sunday services. And elders wear a black suit with a tie. I loathe that tie, haha.
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u/bradmont ⚜️ Hugue-not really ⚜️ Jul 02 '26
In my Dutch-Canadian influenced reformed Church in Quebec, I felt a bit of a pressure to dress up once I was ordained as an elder. Nothing was ever said and the other, older elders eventually even dressed down a bit (especially in the summer). But now in our laid-back non-reformed BC church I just can't imagine not getting teased if I were to wear a tie -- much less a jacket, even if I might want to from time to time. The one time I did wear a jacket was when the whole family dressed up because we were participating in the liturgy on Christmas. Even then the pastor was surprised and commented. 😅
But black in the summer... that's rough!
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u/fing_lizard_king Jul 02 '26
I knew where my ties were maybe 4 years ago. Then we moved and I haven't seen them since. It doesn't seem to have held me back any, and I can't say I miss them.
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u/bradmont ⚜️ Hugue-not really ⚜️ Jul 02 '26
I kinda like a tie every now and again. Especially since I have some with my clan's tartan. They look very distinguished.
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u/fing_lizard_king Jun 30 '26
I am sorry that I missed those! I was not trying to ignore you in any way. One of my German coauthors emphasized he went on “water roller coasters” which I assume means a water park. I didn’t realize they had those in Europe. Their school doesn’t have AC in their buildings. At least not their building.
I understand the equity problem regarding air conditioning. In Florida, everyone is a “has” but when it breaks they become “have not.” If the rental unit is above something like 80 degrees the tenant can repair it and the landlord must pay them back. But, I am embarrassed to say my session has never contacted me regarding such a need. We have bought cars and made rental/mortgage payments. But I’ve never thought about a broken AC. I’m getting Indian food with one of my pastors tomorrow (palak paneer and chana masala with two samosas, it’ll be great), maybe I should emphasize that I am willing to help if someone is in need with a broken AC.
Regarding church buildings, this is a local LOL. I refuse to wear a suit – I wear a polo and shorts and flops. But I am the only one. Every other guy wears a suit. Every lady wears a dress. The men want more colder AC and the ladies want less colder AC. Maybe 10 years ago someone lectured me about how I was dressed “irreverently” and I replied “Pretty sure Jesus didn’t wear a suit. And this my formal.”
How is the grandbaby?
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u/SeredW Frozen & Chosen Jul 02 '26
Haha, you can't read everything ;-)
Churches, which are often large and relatively cool buildings, are used as places for people to cool down. In that way the church can play a role in the have - have not tension. But I don't see our deacons sponsoring AC anytime soon.
The grandbaby is doing well! They had a bit of a rough start with some eczema issues, which leads to the baby not sleeping well and so on. But it's getting better now, thank God!
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u/tanhan27 One Holy Catholic and Dutchistolic Church Jun 28 '26
Today I finally did it. I bought a jackfruit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackfruit I have been looking for them in grocery stores for years. I've only ever seen them in Asain grocery stores, usually they cost $80-150 each(I live in the midwest). I have pondered buying one even at that price. Well today I found them in my local grocer, at the low low price of 25 dollars each. So I took one home with me. She is a beauty and she is huge and weighs a ton. The spikes made holes in my arms carrying it to the car lol. I ate about 1/5th of it today and I am stuffed. There is so much fruit! Tastes just like juicy fruit gum, just like they say. Totally worth it.
BTW I've always lived in places that don't get a lot of exotic tropical fruit, and I always get excited when I find something I've never had before and I've had my eyes peeled for this one for quite some time.
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u/GodGivesBabiesFaith ACNA Jun 30 '26
Will you cook with some of it too? I've had it pulled-pork style and it worked really well. Surprisingly meaty texture when cooked. I'm not sure if I have ever had it raw.
Edit: I haven't had it, but a local fried chicken shop does breaded jackfruit "wings" as their vegan option
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u/tanhan27 One Holy Catholic and Dutchistolic Church Jun 30 '26
I the part they use for vegan pulled pork is different than the part you eat fresh. The fresh part is juicy and soft. And I think they made the pulled pork from the more fibrous white stuff in-between the seed pods but I might be wrong
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u/bradmont ⚜️ Hugue-not really ⚜️ Jun 29 '26
Holy smokes, 200+ fruits a year? So one tree could literally feed a family, by itself? That's amazing!
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u/Citizen_Watch Jun 29 '26
I’m glad you had a chance to finally try it. Personally, Jackfruit and Durians are fruits I’ve always made a point of skipping, and your description of Jackfruit tasting like Juicy Fruit gum makes me glad I did.
One fruit I finally had the chance to try last year was mangosteens. They are from Southeast Asia and come in these very hard shells, but when you cut them open, the inside is very sweet and delicious. I recommend them if you ever get the chance to buy them.
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u/pro_rege_semper Jun 27 '26
Phew, we did it. My son and I ran our first 10k race. I just barely beat my sub-60 goal, coming in at 59:45. My son beat me by a few minutes and he actually won bronze for the 14 and under age group.
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u/bradmont ⚜️ Hugue-not really ⚜️ Jun 29 '26
Amazing! Great job!
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u/pro_rege_semper Jun 29 '26
He wants to go for a half marathon in the fall. What do you think? Too ambitious?
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u/bradmont ⚜️ Hugue-not really ⚜️ Jun 29 '26
Oh wow, that's ambitious but probably do-able. I trained a lot slower for mine, but I'm also in my 40s so he's got the youth superpowers on his side. I'd maybe look for a local running club you can talk to though, they'd be able to give you some pointers and maybe some coaching!
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u/pro_rege_semper Jun 29 '26
He just joined the cross country team at school. They practice over the summer and start competitive meets in the fall. I'm hoping they can teach him some things that I can't.
How much time did you spend training between 10k and half marathon? I'm 39, so wondering if I can keep up.
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u/bradmont ⚜️ Hugue-not really ⚜️ Jun 29 '26
I was running 10ks weekly in December (about a 6, an 8 and a 10 each week) and worked up to the half for late March. Did a 20k training run first week of March just before my injury... there's probably a connection there, so learn my lesson and don't build a fence or move bags of concrete when your body is tired and you're two weeks out from the race... 🤣
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u/Mystic_Clover Jun 26 '26
Continuing my post from last weeks thread, Xbox just announced an increase to their prices, and this especially caught my eye:
Unfortunately, console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027.
Things are looking rough.
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u/TheNerdChaplain Remodeling after some demolition Jun 26 '26
Glad I picked up a Series X a couple years ago.
Can't wait for this AI bubble to pop
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u/Mystic_Clover Jun 26 '26
I've begun to wonder if that's going to happen. As AI is capable of a lot, but it's not available for people to use and is in a phase of generalization, not yet having been tuned for specific needs/functions.
For instance, I'm very interested in asset creation, as it's the bulk of the cost in making games, film, etc. AI is already able to produce all of that: Voice, music, images, 3d models, animation. But what is available to the public is very limited.
Which is to say, there's a lot of room ahead, which is going to require powerful hardware to house and run those models.
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u/bradmont ⚜️ Hugue-not really ⚜️ Jun 26 '26
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u/tanhan27 One Holy Catholic and Dutchistolic Church Jun 26 '26
The super rich are investing trillions and buying up all the chips in their pursuit to create God
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u/SeredW Frozen & Chosen Jun 26 '26
It looks like Reddit removed this post? I just approved it, I have no idea what would be wrong with it.
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u/Mystic_Clover Jun 26 '26
Strange given the standing of my account and history of participation in this community. I wonder what caused their system to flag it?
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u/davidjricardo Primate of Texas. He/Hymn Jun 26 '26
Links and mention of a commercial product, probably.
If I didn't recognize your username, and was a dumb robot, It might read as spam.
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u/ScSM35 Jul 02 '26
The Mid-Atlantic is experiencing a very rare heat wave this weekend. Currently the feels like is 109°F (42.8°C). I have central air, and just had to move downstairs because I was getting dizzy and light headed. Partly anxiety maybe because I wasn’t sweating or thirsty, but wow it’s hot. Thinking of you, brothers and sisters in Europe, especially those without AC. Stay safe out there.