I can only count to four!

I believe the movie Gattaca’s premise is around this subject.

Unlike those in Ohio.

I would still have my other citizenship, so I would plant a flag and claim it for my homeland, ignoring any other residents who may be present, as is tradition. Bonus: free healthcare.

If it’s sunny: go for a good walk (about 5km/3mi). Or failing that, take the cat outside and sit on the back patio for a little while. The sun exposure gives me some much needed vitamin D.

Other than that, I make sure I get some quiet time each day to recharge away from other people, virtual and otherwise.

I like Dependent Injection, myself

I legit thought this was a Wagner poster until I read the comments.

It doesn’t have to be that way, if you have a CI/CD process that prevents it.

That is famously a bad idea.

My main one is to learn shortcuts on your most used programs. Using the mouse for everything is a waste of time, but that has been said multiple times.

My second is to create scripts to do a bunch of repetitive tasks. For example, I have a script I run on my work PC after I log on to the VPN that starts my “always on” programs (like notepad++), unlocks the hosts file, etc. I have some sendto scripts for converting files with pandoc, fetching multiple git repos in one go, etc. It just speeds up things and avoids errors versus me doing them manually.

On Windows I use PowerShell and on Linux I use bash, meaning they work without additional software installed.

My reaction as well. He was an absolute master of shaggy dog stories. The punchline is not the point, the delivery is.

He may still have enjoyed seeing this. Maybe make another long and hilarious joke about it. RIP Norm.

That’s awesome. My 1993 self is very envious of your rig.

I have not been able to find the case again since. It was a local shop that built it from parts, so it was not a big brand. I didn’t pick the parts either, since I knew nothing about PCs at the time, and it showed lol.

Edit: it was a white/beige mini tower. If I recall correctly, it was similar to a lot of cases at the time, with a black band across and a circular button on the right. The turbo and reset buttons were pink and teal in the shape of triangles. I purchased it in 1992 when I needed a PC for college.

I had the exact same configuration. 4MB RAM upgraded to 8MB. 40MB HDD upgraded to 200MB later. And the fugliest case with triangular pastel buttons you ever saw. Ran Windows 3.11 then Slackware Linux on that for many years.

Mod_perl. Now there is a name I haven’t heard in a long time. My paralysis demon appreciates your triggering my PTSD.

You’re not wrong, but I would rather OP seek any qualified medical care than none, even if all they do is refer them to the ER.

Consider going to a walk in clinic. If it’s nothing serious, you pay 100-200 and you’re on your way. If you go to the ER and it’s nothing serious, your insurance may deduct you hundreds more (my ER copay is $500 and I have great insurance).

If it is serious, the walk in will tell you to go to the ER. In that case, the insurance may waive the ER copay. While it is true they can’t deny you care, this system of expensive ER copay was presumably put in place to stop people using the ER to provide free care. Check your insurance policy (preferably before you get sick). I believe some places also have free clinics, but I would expect them to be pretty crowded.

Good luck OP. This sounds serious and you need to take care of your health. Try to find a way you can at least get some real qualified medical advice, even if you seemingly recovered this time.

First: you’ve done good, raising a kid that asks for your permission first.

Second: realize that this comes from peer pressure, them wanting a space away from parental supervision. If you truly want to make your kids savvy about the Internet, you need to assume they will eventually encounter seedy places, run into assholes, and be exposed to things like bullying.

Have a conversation: you will encounter these things. Your friends may be into them. But they can have bad effects and here is how you avoid it and how to deal if it happens to you. Talk about keeping private information private.

Be open and non-judgemental. You want them to feel safe coming to you for advice.

Be truthful and stay credible. Keep up with what’s out there, but don’t just buy into the latest Tiktok scare.

Talk to your kids about stuff they found that was cool or scary.

Embarrass them by using memes incorrectly.

Setting up a mastodon instance may be cool at first, but their friends are going to think it’s lame with the supervision. You could still do it for a number of other reasons, but it won’t prepare them for the ugly Internet.

Source: me, a parent.

I’m not a doctor or pharmacist, so I can’t give you medical advice, but if I were you I would contact your doctor’s office and ask.

Sometimes pharmacists can recommend an exchange, but it’s best to first check with your doctor. Typically it’s just a matter of getting a generic or different brand, but they will know best what the options are. It can be a headache though if one option is covered and one is not. You will have to check with your insurance company to find out if it is covered. Doctors don’t know the details of your plan and could end up prescribing something not covered. Pharmacists can often help with finding drugs that are interchangeable.

Not sure if it’s an overall increase, but you can always search the FDA drug shortages database.