Currently looking for a new 4x game that will scratch my itch. Been going through tons but they all seem like watered down versions that “simplify” the process. Last game I played was SpaceEmpires (4&5), completely addicting but after over a decade of bugged games I’ve just completely given up on it. Definitely got my playtime out of it though, great game regardless.

would that principle still apply in the scenario of a window and wall being in the equation? I would imagine if that were true than more efficiency could be produced with a smaller fan inside ductwork vs a large unit which covers the entire cylinder size.

You do realize you don’t “own” anything on Steam right? Every dollar you give them is towards a “subscription” to play the game.

I’ve been watching Majority Report with Sam Seder. Watched Breaking points since they were on the Rising with The Hill. Something just started to slowly change with them when they broke off. There’s the constant Ad’s (which is understandable, but was excessive), segments hidden behind a paywall, personalities started to change after surgery then Kyle Kulinski got heavily into the mix including romantically. I don’t know, just seemed the show started to take over the lives of the hosts, Sam and Emma have been a breathe of fresh air on Majority (even when Emma drinks a little too much lol). The show is their job and Sam is pretty professional, decent daily live show with clips of segments also being uploaded.

Just want to highlight this channel, it’s a great resource and his group does a free weekly newsletter you can sign up for as well as the video version on his channel. He covers users questions on live streams a lot of times and goes in-depth with interviews and space topics covering just about everything.

Is there any valid reason why they would do this, like it’s demonstrably safer? Or is this a battle I can pick to shield myself a little from MS?

Thanks for the input?

For me, it’s any community of Tradespeople. I can find relevant manufacturer and adjacent code regulations for modern equipment or building techniques anywhere online. The problem comes from obscure-ancient technology that was discontinued 60+ years ago, the only references to those are on Reddit and very specific forums.

I recently ran into an electrical panel that was built in the 60’s and was promptly made illegal (split bus residential panel, no singular main disconnect switch). Even being trained and educated as an Electrical Engineer, it only gave me the ability to understand what the panel was doing, not the history and use cases of the past (since their use in residential applications is obsolete). I was able to find discussions between inspectors and electricians, how things played out with local authorities, and the on going debate of their practicality by actual professors discussing regulations and safety. I will miss these resources if they become unavailable at a future date (the whole enshitification process).

That being said, places with higher than average traffic (like reddit now) tend to give a lot of crappy answers. Lot’s of diy’ers thinking their way is best (whether it’s code compliant or not), and others who don’t care about discussion and only want to say you’re doing it wrong because it’s not how they would do it (and nets them the highest profit margin on a job). There’s lots of owners out there that are probably afraid to ask a question now adays because of the responses (same linux community effect), even though the information around it could be important.

random word associations with a theme lol. There’s a lot of cross ties between breastmilk and gaming/freedom/raging fascists etc. If I had a nickel…well it would be just a few of them but still weird that it happens.

Needs more breast milk.

I can’t see the message they replied to because the creator deleted it but I’m not getting what you’re saying and people are upvoting you so there must be something I’m missing. Are you guys buying pc parts with pre-installed OS on them? If it’s used than you’re using the original OS you received the part with?

I was just worried someone might take it to heart without realizing the nuance lol. You or I may do well, but someone asking such a broad question like finding a partner probably doesn’t have that much social awareness (it’s been answered so many times and really all boils down to the individuals or specific situations like the scenarios we presented). I was just imagining a guy walking around in cargo shorts with socks and sandals awkwardly screaming “hi” at everyone with a pair of orange earplugs sticking out.

Yeah does anyone else wonder if this screams of incompetence from upper management? OP was ONLY able to get the disks, RAM, CPUs and Network Card. Sounds like someone higher up gave the “ok” just thinking the “Server” frame was the important part security wise. It would be an interesting scenario to see if the data center was able to upgrade the system while keeping all of the base components compatible and everything under cost or if this was just a screw up.

All valid points made in an academic setting. I think the general consensus, and the points other users are trying to make, involve more transparency and proper presenting of the facts in their statements. I have parroted the “oh you should try proton, they’re more private and secure” to other people. This is a factual but misleading statement without the nuance of higher OPSEC fundamentals.

Just look at their main landing page for proton mail.

• Proton Mail’s end-to-end encryption and zero-access encryption ensure only you can see your emails. Not even Proton can view the content of your emails and attachments.

• Proton Mail protects you from these digital spies and prevents companies from monitoring you.

• your data is protected by some of the world’s strictest privacy laws.

• From newsrooms, activists, and international organizations to academics, Nobel Prize winners, and movie characters, Proton Mail is the trusted choice for secure and private communication. Join over 100 million people worldwide who believe their online privacy is worth protecting.

A common user will look at this and believe that by just having this account, they will be protected. There is no asterisk* beside e-mail recovery explaining the dangers of linking to another e-mail. In fact, a lot of their services promote linking e-mail because you can’t use third party verification if you haven’t setup your recovery e-mail and/or cell phone verification. I ran into this trying to help an older relative who’s paranoid about online accounts, ended up being more hoops and they were dissuaded because it always come down to “enter more information to continue…privately ;)”

The front landing page should have a section explaining everything that’s being said here with vpn’s, alternative e-mails, and how to really protect yourself with anonymity. To a lot of people, Private+Secure=Anonymous. It’s not accurate, but unless you already know the things you have to do to protect your identity, it’s not very clear on what the average person should do.

… So you’re at a concert, wandering around the crowd (with earplugs) just conspicuously sliding up to different spots and striking up conversations with attractive people while they’re enjoying the performance? I would emphasize you want something more like a festival where there are multiple events and people have down time in-between to socialize. A normal concert would be like wearing sunglasses to a theater and moving around to get “the best viewing spot” while talking to everyone which is creepy as hell and not a good setting to strike up an actual conversation.

I guess my mind automatically excluded it because of the demon aspect being somewhat horror related (though it’s a completely mild movie in terms of graphic violence) but it definitely deserves to be on this list. Partner watched it for the first time few months back and loved it (they hate horror and generally prefer family genre), just a generally great movie that keeps you intrigued and was a great change from stream-binging style entertainment.

Fiber is a sore subject lol, it was a big local deal when fiber was coming to town with newspaper articles and everything about the big development and how great everything was gonna be with the upgrade in speed. Lots of crews all over the county for months (maybe years? time is fickle) and even had them running the lines on my street and a relatives on the other side of the main town. Turns out they decided to not actually make fiber available for the area, it’s just running through. I understand you can’t just splice into fiber lol, still irks me I have a box I can’t touch or move with “Fiber” labelled on it sitting on the property though and have to deal with cable internet that runs like it’s a DSL connection.

With wired Ethernet to every room, would something of this type of connection be aesthetically pleasing? I would like to bundle everything so there’s not an excessive amount of wall plates and others have suggested running two lines in parallel with STP cat6a (cat8 will probably be saved for the next place if it has fiber available). I’m just worried about the look of having several wall jacks or several unknown connections that might confuse someone (I will label everything but that only goes so far for understanding). If I include coaxial it might look a little like this style of outlet if I’m not running two ethernet ports. I’m starting to lean into the coaxial/single ethernet just because cable/satellite tv is still king around these parts and people love their boxes.

If you had to have a modem box for internet with coaxial or DSL, would you prefer that tucked away into the server closet as well? or keep that in a separate area with the phone connections and just run an ethernet from the modem to the server closet where the router and switch setup are at?

The only problem with that is if you’re pumping air out you have to think about where the air is coming in from. Older fireplaces are notorious for this because any air escaping through the chimney has to be replaced usually resulting in the rest of the house becoming actually colder through air gaps/cracks. Newer built houses even have ductwork for controlled air introduction when using exhaust fans like the range hood over the stove to maintain relative pressures with energy efficient houses (this house is nowhere near that level yet, but once newer windows are installed and I can seal the outlets I replace/install it will be one step closer).

One thought I did have is running the HVAC return through the area, it would reduce the relative humidity of the house as I’ve already installed several dehumidifiers for the closed crawl spaces I’ve sealed up and insulated but this whole geographical area is just horrible (/s about the servers being a dehumidifier, but realistically the equipment has to have some type of impact even if 1% lol) . Nearly every house I’ve worked on has some type of moisture issue but home owners typically don’t care unless it becomes life-threatening or threatens the structure. My thoughts on the return is so cold air isn’t directly blasted into the area as the dramatic temperature change might introduce condensation, the calculations for the CFM (airflow) have to be exact though so I’m not killing any systems early. The house has an old A/C system with an oil heating system (also has propane and electrical heating in other locations, idk if the person before me had a thing for collecting all the systems but it’s rather insane), the a/c doesn’t cover the entire structure though so I either have to think about replacing the entire setup (it is rather old but looks well maintained surprisingly) or milking the old system while installing a secondary hvac system for the unconditioned areas (mainly 2nd floor, plenty of attic space to install it which will probably be sealed as well if I do).

You definitely hit on a great idea though, I was planning on installing a secondary thermostat in the server area. If I did a return through and set it to active the hvac system fan when a temperature threshold is reached, in the winter it would disperse the heat through the house and I wouldn’t have to worry about the system switching from A/C to Heat or how I would continue to cool an area now getting hot air directly pumped into it. Then in the summer the air returning would be directly cooled when necessary and released back into the house so I’m not worrying about another outside vent opening requiring filters that need to be replaced/inspected etc. Might be able to pull off the airflow requirements with something as simple as a slotted closet door a lot of bedrooms have. I would be concerned someone might replace the door one day without realizing it’s importance so maybe dedicated wall venting into the server area is safer, even if it looked worse.

Oh nice! I had home assistant on my radar from other open source threads I read but hadn’t run across the site link or realized they have smart hubs for sale with it. I’ve been hesitant with the automation setup because of the complications you mentioned. I imagined the high priced homes/condos with automated systems probably came with a subscription service for customer support with the equipment installed but wasn’t sure if that assumption was right. If I can pull the same thing off with an open source project that’s reliable and has custom equipment built for it then maybe it’s worth looking into after all.

lol I’ve seen that before and sympathize every time I see my router log filled with my partners apple devices doing their thing. I’m slowly convincing them to move away from it all with suitable replacements I find along the way.

cheep Chinese ip cameras that have poe and are blocked from the internet

That’s a good point. I’ve been introduced to those systems with some installs and was avoiding anything that connected to a server not under my control even if it’s more complicated (completely wigs me out people are complacent with some unknown server recording EVERYTHING). I hadn’t looked into “dumbing” the cameras to take advantage of their lower price points, much like you can buy a smart tv but avoid it’s connectivity to use it more privately and without bloatware. Been sporadically searching security systems the past few weeks so I’ll have to double down and keep that perspective in mind.