tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75501928346262766862024-02-24T17:28:24.216-05:00Darth ContinentUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger209125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-30259297232912131652024-02-24T17:27:00.003-05:002024-02-24T17:27:33.600-05:00CVS, Who Do UX Think You Are?My longtime usual pharmacy formerly known as Eckerds up the street from me was back in 2004 bought out by CVS for some $4.5 billion (~$6.72 billion in 2022). Over the years I've frequently gotten prescriptions filled, COVID19 and other vaccines, and though faces have changed, service on site has remained historically excellent. Well done, good on you!Unfortunately, CVS consistently goesUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-11164159357819283842023-05-18T11:05:00.002-04:002023-05-18T11:05:48.385-04:00Synology DS218j Dies MysteriouslyI've enjoyed my Synology DS218j (NAS) for several dependable, trouble-free years, until yesterday.The device began to lose connectivity with my Samsung smart TV, very once-in-a-while at first, but lately almost daily. Rebooting the TV seemed to get around the increasingly problematic problem until finally the device was a ghost on my network, never to be seen again.Some initial research Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-86660439263654017502023-05-07T13:51:00.000-04:002023-05-07T13:51:34.048-04:00Hard Drive Replacement and USBJust got a shiny new Western Digital Black 10TB hard drive to replace my somewhat ailing WD 6TB Blue with just over 10 years of solid 24/7 performance. Electromechanical hard drives like many electronics in general will likely go the distance if no failures develop in the first few days, weeks, months of use, but over time they do simply begin to wear out. My venerable drive for games and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-49792837730258121962023-04-28T18:16:00.005-04:002023-04-28T18:17:29.840-04:00Change A Word, Ruin A Movie QuoteTwitter first introduced me to hashtag games which for wordplay fans can be hilarious and delightful. SWIM recently played one, #ChangeAWordRuinAMovieQuote, and it really tied the room together, tapping quotes from some of my favorite films.I have yet to see hashtag games blow up on Spoutible, but I intend to see if I can get the party started there for some wholesome pun...!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-10652870241378601932022-11-02T12:33:00.003-04:002022-11-02T19:17:47.436-04:00Elon Musk: POTUS 45, But With MoneyLast night, Chief Twit Elon Musk apparently decided my latest main Twitter account needed a permanent suspension, with no reason given. Suspension was made days after his tweeting to the effect that Twitter's typically draconian ToS enforcement would be paused while some mysterious committee is on his to-do list to create.Musk's hypocrisy in claiming to "free the bird" and declaring Twitter Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-64872054383969343472022-10-06T20:05:00.004-04:002022-10-06T20:15:18.839-04:00Troubleshooting a Tablet with a Teeny, Tiny TileTablet or smartphone repair is not fun, I hate it! That said, I managed a creative solution for my old Samsung Galaxy E 9.6 which I'd recently had to replace the battery on.Removing the old battery and installing a new one was relatively easy. Carefully pry open the tablet, taking care to not damage its electronic internals, remove the old battery, install the new one, then close it up. Right?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-13657029122882285922022-08-21T16:02:00.007-04:002022-08-21T16:34:22.964-04:00When Your Smart TV Complains, "Unsupported Codec"Sometimes in life we realize something after the fact that would be a superior solution to a compromise made early on out of haste or impatience.Case in point, my Samsung "smart" TV's inability to support various video codecs for digital media like movies, TV shows, and other files. Up until now given this happens relatively rarely (but still happens), I've simply found another format or used theUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-43457896482189371582022-03-27T13:20:00.002-04:002022-03-27T13:21:51.657-04:00Zoom Cannot Start Video With Older Webcams in Windows 10I've had a Logitech QuickCam Fusion webcam since around the time Windows 7 was still mainstream. Other than from my work laptop I don't do online meetings so the camera largely went unused on my home desktop, even after upgrading to Windows 10. Then, one day my wife and I installed Zoom and wanted to test it out prior to her joining some Zoom calls with some of her old high school classmatesUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-3081935752011628162022-01-07T15:22:00.006-05:002022-01-07T15:22:59.743-05:00Fennec Chard Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-11369838456632078022021-12-24T21:43:00.003-05:002021-12-24T21:45:23.072-05:00R.I.P., Reddit User /u/DarthContinentI can't say Christmas and the 2021 holiday season have been reason for me to be remotely festive.In May of 2020 I lost my mom (granted, MAGA "Democrat hoax" believing mom). This past year, I lost two beloved dogs in quick succession to nightmarishly aggressive cancer. Allow me to introduce them!Miles, my longtime "fren" and drinking buddy, left. Ava, my dear, sweet, gentle girl, right.Both Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-6177537174862372172021-11-01T18:58:00.010-04:002021-11-01T19:05:44.111-04:00Mouse Back/Forward Buttons Stop Working in Windows 10Recently, inexplicably, my wireless bluetooth iClever mouse decided that its thumb buttons used for stuff like forward and back in browsers and Windows Explorer and other applications should no longer work.No idea if a recent Windows 10 update was the culprit or what, but I found a very simple solution via a post on Reddit. Simply unplug the mouse's little USB transceiver and plug it into a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-1970032076895162042021-03-16T18:42:00.000-04:002021-03-16T18:42:32.050-04:00Prevent Docker for Windows Auto UpdateI recently installed Docker Desktop in order to then install PiHole on my Windows 10 desktop PC. PiHole is a cool and free little utility that you can install as a Docker container to provide ad blocking capability that goes a step further than a browser ad blocker add-on like say UBlock Origin. Once installed you can have your PC serve as a sort of DNS proxy for your entire network which Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-2641441216546108312021-01-17T12:29:00.001-05:002021-01-17T12:29:05.297-05:00Trump In Jeopardy Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-45030933243386102632021-01-16T19:30:00.010-05:002021-01-16T21:08:16.390-05:00Gaming vs GovernmentThere are parallels between government and gaming that help
disinformation and profits, respectively, thrive.Today’s games, in particular triple-A titles like Call Of Duty and Star Wars: Battlefront 2, are top-tier games that in addition to offering
a fun gaming experience also offer things like swag and other perks in exchange
for real-world money.You might pay upwards of $60 for a game to startUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0Florida, USA27.6648274 -81.5157535-0.64540643617884541 -116.6720035 55.975061236178846 -46.3595035tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-37373443198364378232020-09-02T20:22:00.000-04:002020-09-02T20:22:07.704-04:00How To Disable Microsoft Edge On PCUpon rebooting I discovered that Microsoft Edge once again is shoving itself into my face. Here's how to stop it from doing so, at least until the next Windows 10 update that tries to mandate it.First off, once Windows 10 loads you'll notice Microsoft Edge has opened a window by default extolling its alleged virtues, offering some tips to get started, and smugly pinning itself to your taskbar Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-70966661411336488842020-03-13T18:26:00.004-04:002020-03-13T18:26:59.607-04:00Trump Deals With COVID-19
What a time to be alive.
For now.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-29041891336590103632019-09-05T13:26:00.000-04:002019-09-05T13:26:05.417-04:00Twitter Account SuspendedAlas, my original Twitter account created ca. 2008 is no more.
After mocking someone's tweet as a "fucking retarded" idea, my original Twitter account, @DarthContinent, got suspended. Upon appeal, despite clarifying my intent was not to disparage people with Down's syndrome but instead invoke the dictionary definition of "retarded", they had none of it and decided to permanently suspend Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-47028199930785106522019-05-18T21:11:00.001-04:002019-05-18T21:12:46.129-04:00The Shout Out MapesUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-84167360782418808192019-02-22T14:35:00.001-05:002019-02-22T14:35:35.596-05:00Keep America BeautifulUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-24613981942241995162017-12-15T16:35:00.000-05:002017-12-15T16:37:36.437-05:00Discovering My GenomeI just received my results from Genes For Good, a study conducted by the University of Michigan which enables you, upon completing a series of health questionnaires, to submit a sample of saliva for DNA analysis.
Upon signing up via their facebook app,
I completed the various surveys both for medical history and daily
activities and was eventually notified that I would receive a "spit kit"Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-83587869676802056322017-12-09T17:54:00.003-05:002017-12-09T17:55:28.821-05:00Teamwork
#EmpireDidNothingWrong #ChristmasUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-80866297738235398612017-08-17T23:26:00.005-04:002017-08-17T23:26:49.655-04:00Ctrl Alt Right
#MAGA
#Nazi
#Trump
#AltRight
#UniteTheRight
#CharlottesvilleUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-31072780709633106962017-07-11T16:11:00.001-04:002017-07-11T16:11:21.654-04:00Remote Work WORKSI recently came upon an article on about remote work or working from home by Rebecca Greenfield, The Rise and Fall of Working From Home.
Having unfortunately been laid off recently from a full-time telecommute job with a company that works government contracts (thanks in part to POTUS 45's executive order sloppily implementing a federal hiring freeze back in January), I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-43308163789257590612017-06-25T12:58:00.002-04:002017-06-25T12:58:21.728-04:00Washed Out Color With NVIDIA GraphicsI recently purchased a brand new ASUS VE278H 27" LED-backlit monitor.
While a wonderfully big and bright display (especially paired with my NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 video card), once set up (using the DVI interface) dark colors, particularly blues and blacks, appeared washed out.
BEFORE: Blue / black wallpaper on DVI, note the rather nasty gradients.
After some research (most of which Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550192834626276686.post-1037792615671834572017-05-17T15:25:00.000-04:002017-05-18T12:25:43.192-04:00Prickly Pear Cactus Helps HangoverOpuntia ficus-indica, otherwise known as prickly pear cactus, is called nopal, and in the U.S. at least the fruit are oddly called "tuna".
Aside from its culinary uses and being decorative fauna, there is actual research which suggests that chemicals in nopal can actually help reduce the effects of alcohol hangover.
In a study reported by Scientific American, a group of healthy Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0