That’s fair, but even with that, it’s got to be easier to shove it into existing code. Especially if you’re trying to do it in a way that people don’t notice!

And actually, the Windows 10 start menu infamously had ads, too. So it can’t be that.

Tali Roth, the then product manager working on the core Windows user experience, including the Start menu, taskbar, and notifications, took up the question and talked about how building the taskbar from scratch meant that they had to cherry-pick things to put into the feature list first, and the ability to move the taskbar didn’t make the cut, for several reasons that Microsoft values.

WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!

If you have working code, why would you rewrite it from scratch? Refactor, sure. Overhaul, maybe. But why rewrite the whole thing?! You’re gaining nothing but unnecessary bugs.

I know all the joke answers. To justify a product manager’s salary, because Microsoft gonna Microsoft, whatever. I want to know the real reason. Why would you ever rewrite working code from scratch if you don’t have to?

Four years ago, Recall wasn’t a thing. Microsoft was caught as off-guard by the AI hype machine as the rest of us. So I doubt this was originally the reason.

Might be now, though.

“tomato” is an open-source router firmware package. You can use it to access settings that the manufacturer intentionally hides away, or to set up features like UPnP more easily. Some versions even enable features like a built-in NAS (just bring your own drives), networked printer support, or running a publicly-facing website on your router.

Along with packages like DD-WRT, it’s a pretty common modification for a lot of tech-savvy users to make.

Though, to be honest, I’m not entirely certain that a 2011 Belkin router would be compatible with Tomato (probably?).

It definitely said 181 before. I’m almost positive.

If this is something you’re actually going through, OP, you should know that (1) the trimesters can all feel dramatically different, sometimes even turning on a dime, and (2) it’s definitely always ok to call up your OB anytime if something feels wrong.

First one: I better watch out, she’ll call a foul on me

Second one: I better watch out, she’s probably a felon on the run

Third one: I can’t watch out because I don’t know where she is

I’ve been ad-free for long enough at this point that I feel physically assaulted when I see one (at a friend’s house or whatever). It’s insane that we ever thought that was ok, and it’s become worse.

At this point, adblock is a survival measure. Piracy is self-defense. The first presidential candidate who campaigns on legalizing graffiti on billboards and mandating their eventual removal gets my vote. Burn it all.

Electron (and Tauri, and Neutralino) also offers some deeper OS integration stuff that browsers don’t do or actively block; direct file management, USB peripheral control, that sort of thing.

But for something like Discord, you’re totally right. You just need the browser.

Oh, I wasn’t blaming you—I don’t really mind the downvotes, if I made a bad joke I’m happy to take my lumps. Just surprised me, is all.

But I think you’re right. I was going for a sort of absurdist thing (lol, a train participating in a drag race. Lol, Tesla bro thinking he could outrun a high-speed train. Lol, some internet commenter who doesn’t get social cues and tries to inject his special interest/hyper focus into everything even when it doesn’t make sense) but I wasn’t absurd enough to not sound like I was legitimately saying those things.

Definitely a fair point. But for the most part, being in the country that collapses is going to be worse than being in a different country.

This is just me, and I’m no expert. But I kind of think that, if you’re legitimately worried about your country’s currency collapsing, you might want to consider leaving your country. Any sort of collapse that leads to hyperinflation or the large-scale elimination of financial infrastructure is probably going to be difficult if not impossible for the average person to survive, gold or no.

That said, precious metals are a niche enough market that I can’t imagine it not being rife with predatory sellers; companies that aren’t offering scams per se—you’ll probably pay them and receive what you pay for—but companies which are counting on people not knowing anything about the market and accepting a terrible price or poor quality goods.

Again, not an expert. But my end-of-the-world investment would be in shelf-stable food, easily-stored seeds (for planting), medicine, hand tools, high-quality camping gear, books, that sort of thing. If there is a collapse, those sorts of things will be immediately useful and also tradeable.

Man. I did not expect this joke to thud so hard.

I don’t mind people who have one thing as their “entire personality,” so long as they don’t try to make it into everyone else’s personality, too. When every conversation is about your special interest, and every occasion has to be about your special interest, and you refuse to talk about anything else, then you’ve gone from being a person who’s got a special interest to a person who can’t have anything else.

Same. Generally speaking our company is pretty healthy, but we’re still stuck in this really stupid leveling system where advancement is tied to greenfield development and I’ve been doing maintenance and compliance work for the last five years.

Me, in a CR400AF:

(Nothing, I wasn’t stopped by the stop light, so I sped past at 350 mph, only spent about 0.13s in earshot of this conversation, and covered ¼ mile in 2.57 seconds—about three times faster than Tesla Bro’s hoopty. Also I was insulated from the sound of their inane conversation by the sound isolation and also by the sound of the aerodynamic noise that the sound isolation was actually installed to block)

Hero, thank you.

It’s been a fun journey. And he’s on the Fediverse! https://mas.to/@TechConnectify

(not tagging him directly because I feel like he probably gets that enough)

Sign up for an account or have my data shared with 181 third party partners?

I think I’ll pass on this article, thanks.

Alec has been on a multi-year quest to get an incandescent color profile from LED Christmas lights. I haven’t watched this episode, but he usually does a pretty good job of recapping at the start of every episode.

It’s always super entertaining, in my opinion.

EDIT: I watched it. It is indeed super entertaining! This time, the recap comes after his special Christmas light repacking tip, so it’s a couple of minutes in.