I’m preparing for a new computer build and I have some questions. I’m feeling really scorned by Windows 11 and its incompatibility with my current hardware as well as the overall sense of that my privacy is being invaded. I’m not super familiar with linux, but I have messed around with various distros.

The build I’m planning to put together will likely use an AMD processor, but I’m uncertain about the GPU (definitely AMD or Nvidia). With my current build, RX 480 and i5-6500 I have found that in recent years I get massive artifacts in relatively old games such as Planetside 2 and Path of Exile (I also play Magic Arena quite a bit, but haven’t experienced any issues there). I even get screen tearing when watching youtube or amazon prime. It’s possible that my card is just dying, but considering that I don’t consistently see these issues across multiple applications I feel like it might be a driver issue.

I’d really like feedback and to know more about Linux gaming (especially with the games mentioned) as well as experience with AMD, Nvidia, and Intel hardware.

Thanks to anyone who responds.

Part of the problem is that polling has been fundamentally flawed for a while now. Polling in 2016, 2020, and 2024 all showed Trump as losing and the polling agencies had to artificially weigh pro Trump supporters higher in the polls because they weren’t being adequately represented. It seems that a major portion of the problem is that some number of liberal/socialist poll respondents don’t end up actually voting and some number of conservative voters don’t end up responding to polls.

The right believes that the 2nd amendment exists so that the public can overthrow a corrupt government, in this faulty logic they believe that some normies with AR-15s can overcome the US military. Unlike January 6th the current political right also wouldn’t hesitate to use that military might to crush a violent revolution. At best what you are talking about would result in a civil war, assuming the military splits evenly as well, and at worst would result in the obliteration of the rebels. Given the number of Punisher symbols I see on military persons I wouldn’t bet on them supporting leftist revolutionaries.

Ok, how do you propose doing that? A violent revolution?

The example is the Telluride though? That’s the whole point. Of course any sane person would pick a cheaper car. For that matter why would you ever buy a brand new car?

I definitely agree, but I went with the option which would have the lowest monthly payment. On the other end local rates have a 36 month loan at 6.75%, but that’s $1,800 per month.

I just Googled and the 2024 Telluride has an MSRP of ~$55,000 in my area, used 2023 models are about ~$45,000.

Looking at an auto loan calculator, that’s between $700 and $900 per month with a 96 month 9% auto loan.

Point is, if you can afford the car you’re probably not worrying about the subscription except on principle. If you can afford the car and have principle concerns you’d probably buy a different car.

The demographic you’re referring to is a portion of conservatives that’s hard to specifically categorize, some of them are libertarians that hate government involvement while some are MAGA followers that can’t think for themselves. The portion that dislikes free healthcare because of evil communism is also the group that thought the ACA and Obamacare are different things. When the Republicans tried to kill the ACA a few years ago it had majority support from conservatives until it whiplashed the opposite way, there were interviews on TV where people were complaining about Obamacare and saying that th Republican ACA was a great plan, the interviewer would then tell them they’re the same and they didn’t believe it. This campaign of embarrassing people probably actually saved the ACA.

The real reason Conservatives dislike free healthcare is a misguided belief that the government is inefficient or incapable. In reality Medicare is far more cost efficient than the majority of private insurance. Likewise reports that you have to wait in free healthcare countries really don’t matter because we have to wait for healthcare too, both systems are triage based. If you have a broken leg you might have to wait at the ER, but if you’re having a heart attack you’re going to get immediate care. If you try to schedule a routine dental visit you may have to wait several weeks, but if you had an accident and knocked out all your teeth you’re likely going to the front of the line.

https://youtu.be/sx2scvIFGjE?si=2jGK8Bqwiu7S0GSh

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/07/upshot/one-third-dont-know-obamacare-and-affordable-care-act-are-the-same.html

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/09/29/increasing-share-of-americans-favor-a-single-government-program-to-provide-health-care-coverage/

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskConservatives/comments/yoyj63/why_are_conservatives_against_universal/

It’s not a set number for the US either, we have Family Medical Leave (FMLA). When they say you have sick days it’s referring to paid sick leave by your job. If you’re sick you can be out for sick leave for quite a long time and the jobs can’t do anything against you, they just don’t have to pay you. If you’re so sick that you’re on FMLA for a long time you’ll probably qualify for Short Term Disability which you might also supplement with Short Term disability insurance.

It’s only common for government jobs and isn’t universal there either. Many government jobs in the US receive multiple different types of leave concurrently. So for example you might accrue 12 hrs of vacation leave per month, 8 hrs of sick leave, and have a floating holiday of 8 hrs per year. If you reach a certain cap (say 100 hrs) the vacation leave rolls over into sick leave.

If you quit your job they have to pay out the vacation leave but not sick leave.

The result is that many government employees, with long careers, historically have tons of sick leave they aren’t using (as in several hundred hours). When someone has a life event it’s not uncommon for coworkers to donate some of their leave to the person (think having a baby or a cancer diagnosis).

You can of course take more leave then you have sick days with FMLA, but they will be unpaid (by your job, you may qualify for something like short term disability, idk). Sick leave that you have when you become eligible for pension retirement typically can apply to your retirement (potentially allowing you to retire earlier), but you still have to qualify for retirement first.

If you’re 3 years from retiring and you can’t qualify for early retirement with your leave, then you might have hundreds of hours you’re not going to be able to use.

Hey, I’m not saying this technology doesn’t have a use, and maybe if it’s stupidly expensive it will be heavily subsidized. The point I’m making is that it “likely” isn’t the solution to world wide water scarcity.

Another user commented that desalination is a grift, it’s not, the market forces just aren’t there yet to push its large scale implementation world wide. However, the idea that an upcoming technology may theoretically scale up and be the same economic scale is historically unlikely.

Historically the trajectory of this sort of technology is that it will define technology for the next 20 years (Nobel Peace Prize or more), or it will be bought up and buried by a big corporation (goodwill isn’t typically good for capitalism), or it won’t scale up as predicted and will be a major nothing burger.

It’s complicated, typically US rates aren’t a flat $/gallon. Most have flat fixed costs (meter fee, availability fees, etc) and then the actual volumetric rate charge is tacked on top of that. In my city the rate is additionally tiered, so the more water you use the more those later gallons cost. Most residential users fall into Tier 1 though, up to 4 CCF (Centicubic Foot or 748 gallons) per month, which is billed at $1.89 per CCF or $0.002526 per gallon.

So it’s hard to use the rates alone as there are additionally fixed rate costs (around $10 a month) and other usage is billed differently (commercial and industrial have higher flat rates as well as higher flat volumetric rate). The result is that commercial and industrial users pay higher rates than residential.

Luckily, my city also publishes raw statistics which indicates that, all things averaged together, the water costs around $0.04 per gallon.

But furthers the point I’m making. If your water costs more than mine then the potential price of this machine is even higher and the base price is already expensive as is. If this was truly a cheap and affordable alternative for people’s in need then it likely would have made that price point a major point of the article.

Just because it’s cheaper than an alternative doesn’t make it affordable.

EDIT: Also the article says

“the team estimates that the overall cost of running the system would be cheaper than what it costs to produce tap water in the United States.”

Great point, sorry for the error!

While this is a cool development I would recommend tempering expectations. The cost of tap water is exceptionally cheap and the claims made here likely take these estimates to the extremes. The economics of scale likely don’t match up.

For example, tap water in my city costs ~$0.04 per gallon, at 5 liters per hour, 0.264 gallons per liter, 24 hours per day, for 5 years is $2,312. So saying they can make it for less than the cost of tap water doesn’t mean it’s affordable.

EDIT: Forgot to convert from liters to gallons

I like the customer service and overall quality of the place, I’ve never seen a bad store. I’m not crazy about their chicken (Popeyes is better imo), it’s not the best but you’ll never roll the dice on whether you got what you ordered or if there is a problem. Also, from what I hear, they pay very competitively and take care of their employees (could be wrong).

I haven’t deliberately eaten there in years (occasionally I’ll have it if it’s catered or if everyone else wants to go), because they have really terrible politics and support things I disagree with.

Also, the place has a vibe I hate, like preppy kids mixed with a church function. It just feels fake, the smiles, the “my pleasure”, etc. it feels so fake it’s unsettling to me. I like Popeyes because while I have to check my order to make sure it’s ok, the person behind the counter is a normal person not a plastic cutout.

A big part of it is reporting requirements, despite what some people think different portions of the government have different requirements. The reason a person gets inquiries about Venmo payments is because the IRS requires corporations to report that information to them and it’s a mainly automated process.

Regulatory reporting requirements of Corporations to the IRS can’t be copy pasted onto Pentagon spending reconciliation.

A better comparison, that is still not accurate, would be a cash business that has to report income to the IRS and has trouble getting granular details organized.

Complaints about transparency and accountability on the Pentagon budget are a valid complaint, but this is a poor example.

It’s not how I would want to be all the time, but Chaotic Neutral is really great for reviewing documents in a PDF.

I’m a big fan of Shutup10 (https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10). It’s an app you can download and run that greatly simplifies the privacy options available in Windows.