frostycakes's recent activity
-
Comment on Linux mini computers in ~comp
-
Comment on Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks in ~life
frostycakes Link ParentI'm still holding out hope for getting a Maverick eventually, if Ford can ever actually match production to demand on them. They've been popping up all over in my area, but are still waitlisted at...I'm still holding out hope for getting a Maverick eventually, if Ford can ever actually match production to demand on them. They've been popping up all over in my area, but are still waitlisted at dealers. Now that's a perfectly sized truck that feels like the '00 Ranger I drove in high school and college.
I know they're still gigantic relative to these kei trucks, but it's still a step back in the right direction for compact pickups.
-
Comment on Tiny, cheap smart speakers unlocked the rise of digital payments in India in ~finance
frostycakes Link ParentRupay is part of the same global payments network as Discover/JCB/UnionPay and so on, so so long as the issuing bank allows non-domestic use, those RuPay cards should work outside India just fine....Rupay is part of the same global payments network as Discover/JCB/UnionPay and so on, so so long as the issuing bank allows non-domestic use, those RuPay cards should work outside India just fine.
It's why Discover is really popular with East/South Asian communities here in the US, as those partnerships mean it's ironically easier to find a place that takes Discover in these countries vs Visa/Mastercard/Amex.
I am surprised that UPI and the like did not enable debit/credit card linking at launch, though. Are debit cards just not a thing in India, then?
-
Comment on Warner Bros. Discovery unveils new flagship streaming service, 'Max' in ~tv
frostycakes Link ParentCinemax has always been an HBO property, though.Cinemax has always been an HBO property, though.
-
Comment on Does your flag fail? CGP Grey grades the state flags of the USA! in ~design
frostycakes Link ParentSame here in Colorado. I'm not even the only person in my friend group with a tattoo that incorporates the CO flag, never mind all the merch with it. Granted, we don't have a lot of other...Same here in Colorado. I'm not even the only person in my friend group with a tattoo that incorporates the CO flag, never mind all the merch with it. Granted, we don't have a lot of other universal state symbols here-- when I lived in Montana, tattoos using the state outline were a pretty common sight, that and the buffalo skull motif.
Kinda hard to use the outline when it's functionally just a rectangle, just like how nobody is using MT's Seal-on-Blue for tattoos or designs since those are a dime a dozen.
At least ours doesn't get regularly confused with the Chilean flag, unlike Texas.
I will say I love Maryland's as well, it's obnoxious in all the right ways, and I'm glad their residents love it enough to slap it everywhere.
-
Comment on Does your flag fail? CGP Grey grades the state flags of the USA! in ~design
frostycakes Link ParentFitting, considering my one time visiting Calgary made me feel like I was in a twilight zone version of Denver.Fitting, considering my one time visiting Calgary made me feel like I was in a twilight zone version of Denver.
-
Comment on Does your flag fail? CGP Grey grades the state flags of the USA! in ~design
frostycakes LinkEven if he did us here in Colorado dirty (I am biased as someone with a state flag based tattoo, though), it's nice to see Utah step up their game and make the Four Corners the best flag corner in...Even if he did us here in Colorado dirty (I am biased as someone with a state flag based tattoo, though), it's nice to see Utah step up their game and make the Four Corners the best flag corner in the country across the board.
-
Comment on My first electric road trip into rural Colorado in ~talk
frostycakes Link ParentI think that will be limited to sequential hybrids (a la the Volt) for the forseeable future, but I can also see it becoming even more of a niche activity, like horse people are today. I'm not...I think that will be limited to sequential hybrids (a la the Volt) for the forseeable future, but I can also see it becoming even more of a niche activity, like horse people are today.
I'm not going to cry over the fuel use of a couple thousand (at most) people, especially if they can be put into sequential hybrid vehicles that can just have jerry cans strapped to them like they do currently.
-
Comment on I'm buying my first ever new car tomorrow in ~life
frostycakes Link ParentOof, that is rough. It is unfortunate that the quality/availability of these varies widely, but one that allows a simple donation to charity that has online services, even if it's not local to...Oof, that is rough. It is unfortunate that the quality/availability of these varies widely, but one that allows a simple donation to charity that has online services, even if it's not local to you, might be an option, especially if any of the local ones do that shared branching services that most CUs I know of have.
-
Comment on I'm buying my first ever new car tomorrow in ~life
frostycakes (edited )Link ParentHave you looked closely at their membership requirements? I've seen quite a few that, while appearing to be industry/employer specific, also accept people who live or work in the same county as...Have you looked closely at their membership requirements? I've seen quite a few that, while appearing to be industry/employer specific, also accept people who live or work in the same county as said employer, or in a broader metro area.
Odds are there's at least a couple credit unions that have "live/work in [your state/metro area/county]" as an eligibility criterion.
Some will even allow membership for a donation to a specified charity; the former Coors employee credit union has "give a $5 donation to the Consumers United Association" as a way to gain membership eligibility, for example.
-
Comment on English has twenty vowels in ~humanities
frostycakes Link ParentAh, that would explain why, in all the examples this post gives for each vowel sound, I noticed at least one that did not follow the rules they set out in my American accent (Western US, pretty...Ah, that would explain why, in all the examples this post gives for each vowel sound, I noticed at least one that did not follow the rules they set out in my American accent (Western US, pretty close to General American). "Talk" and "ward", "ask" and "palm", "police" and "aesthetic", and "put" and "wolf" do not have the same vowel sound for me, for example.
-
Comment on What’s something you’ve been mulling over recently? in ~talk
frostycakes Link ParentIt's not banned, there's a toothpaste sold explicitly here that has NovaMin, but it's one that is fluoride-free, unfortunately. I've seen in it in a few brands, actually, usually under the name...It's not banned, there's a toothpaste sold explicitly here that has NovaMin, but it's one that is fluoride-free, unfortunately. I've seen in it in a few brands, actually, usually under the name nanohydroxyapatite. It's all on GSK for not using it in the US Sensodyne formulations, since I've had Irish, Turkish, and now Indian-market Repair and Protect that all have NovaMin.
Luckily it's relatively easy to buy foreign market Sensodyne online, so that's how I get a hold of it here, but I'm at a loss as to why it's not used aside from some crunchy granola type in toothpastes.
-
Comment on Meet the covid super-dodgers in ~health
frostycakes LinkMy boyfriend, despite also working in a customer facing grocery job like myself, is one of the never-COVID ones. I don't know how he's managed to do it the whole time. I myself only made it to...My boyfriend, despite also working in a customer facing grocery job like myself, is one of the never-COVID ones. I don't know how he's managed to do it the whole time. I myself only made it to April of this year, and that was almost certainly when I got it after public transit in my area stopped requiring them and I caught a bus without one since I hadn't planned on taking transit that day. Between being transit-reliant until May of this year and a grocery store employee, I'm honestly surprised I never caught it sooner, given that I gave up on masking at work about a month after they dropped the requirement for staff to do so (which was a few months before I caught it).
Even my parents, one of whom is an immunocompromised long-term care facility employee and the other who has been on near-full WFH, caught it about a week before I did, and they had gone to the extent of not having eaten at a restaurant in two years, as well as my mom having not gone inside to stores this entire time. Luckily even her case was pretty mild and they both made a swift recovery, but it's just odd that said boyfriend, who is in an environment where it's easy to catch it (and has basically stopped masking as well), is the last of the dodgers left that I know personally.
-
Comment on Allen Carr’s ‘Easy Way’ method helped millions quit smoking, but medicine never took it seriously — until now in ~science
frostycakes LinkAm I the only one who finds Alan Carr (and honestly anything that involves CBT or is CBT-adjacent) to be incredibly patronizing and counterproductive? When I tried the Easyway, it came off as just...Am I the only one who finds Alan Carr (and honestly anything that involves CBT or is CBT-adjacent) to be incredibly patronizing and counterproductive? When I tried the Easyway, it came off as just telling you "you dumb idiot, you only smoke because you don't know it's an addiction and you actually don't like it."
Every time I've had a therapist who's tried to push CBT for other things in my life, it's ended with me leaving their practice because all it does is activate this deep and strong oppositional streak in my mind that makes change impossible until what it perceives as the external imposition of values and thoughts ends. It sucks because I've had many therapists who both get almost offended when I lead with "let's not try any CBT, it has not worked one iota for my issues in past experience", and declare me treatment-resistant when it doesn't work, despite not trying any other treatment modalities first. I'm curious if that's due to my CPTSD issues (as I've seen in multiple places that CBT is contraindicated in PTSD treatment, and can in fact be harmful), but since the DSM still doesn't recognize that as a diagnosis, it's been a challenge finding trauma-informed therapists that do understand this.
While that may be true for some (even most) people, it's absolutely not true for me. I enjoyed the effects of nicotine from my very first cigarette onwards, and as someone with ADHD, nicotine on its own is an effective self-medication-- never mind the synergistic effects that Adderall and other stimulants have with nicotine. I disliked smelling like stale smoke and the mess of ash/butts, but outside of that, I genuinely enjoy nicotine, and it's why I've been vaping at a 3mg level for two years now-- it's the perfect mix of oral fixation (something I had long before I ever picked up a cigarette), nicotine, and not stinking after use, plus with reduced (no, I'm not claiming it's perfectly healthy) health concerns relative to combustion.
TLDR: Alan Carr basically wrote a CBT-based self help book, but there's a chunk of us for whom any CBT approaches are utterly ineffective.
-
Comment on Telegram celebrates 700M users and introduces Telegram Premium in ~tech
frostycakes Link ParentThe stickers are hands down the best underrated feature of Telegram, IMO. It's the entire reason my ex and I settled on it when we were looking for something to replace Hangouts for us. Sadly my...The stickers are hands down the best underrated feature of Telegram, IMO. It's the entire reason my ex and I settled on it when we were looking for something to replace Hangouts for us.
Sadly my current SO and I just use standard RCS (granted, since we're both on Pixels it's a good experience with encryption and whatnot), and since Telegram has gotten linked with the far right at least in my social circles (I literally had to explain this to the group of friends I do weekly bar trivia with, as myself and my SO are the only non-iPhone users in it, because a couple definitely were wondering if I was secretly a right winger when they saw it on my phone), it's not something I'm comfortable trying to move my contacts to anymore.
But fuck me if I don't miss all of my goofy sticker packs on there when using any other messaging platform.
-
Comment on Is anyone else receiving a staggering amount of spam calls recently? in ~tech
frostycakes LinkLuckily, between my carrier's (T-Mobile US) spam blocking and the Pixel's call screening feature, I haven't dealt with more than one or two spam calls a week for a year. It's annoying, but this is...Luckily, between my carrier's (T-Mobile US) spam blocking and the Pixel's call screening feature, I haven't dealt with more than one or two spam calls a week for a year.
It's annoying, but this is a mostly solved problem with the right devices and carriers. I've noticed that my friends on AT&T with iPhones seem to get far more spam calls than about any other combination of phone and carrier, and even in my personal experience I've never gotten more spam calls than in my time on AT&T.
-
Comment on A more detailed — and more sympathetic — review of the Murena One in ~tech
frostycakes Link ParentIt's one of the things I miss about the brief stint Google had with the Google Play Editions of devices-- I remember the Galaxy S4 and a variant of the HTC One (can't remember if it was the M7 or...This phone without Samsung's UI would be astounding.
It's one of the things I miss about the brief stint Google had with the Google Play Editions of devices-- I remember the Galaxy S4 and a variant of the HTC One (can't remember if it was the M7 or M8) coming in a version with stock Android. I definitely lusted after the S4 GPE since it had such a nice design plus no garbage Samsung software, seemed like the perfect balance and what the Galaxy Nexus should have been. (The One I was less excited about, because I still think HTC Sense was by far the best OEM skin over Android we've seen, whether then or since.)
Given the eventual creation of the Pixel line (and more applicable to the time, Google's then-acquisition of Motorola), it was a doomed project, but it's nice to think of what we could have had.
Sadly, I think if Google had tried to enforce standards like that on Android from the start, it would have never become the platform it is today (for both better and worse). I remember when the G1 came out, how so many companies were so opposed to even putting apps on an open-source platform that they refused to make Android apps (Facebook was one of the big ones, the Android version was simply a supremely crappy web wrapper until around when Android 1.6/2.0 came out) until marketshare more or less forced their hands. Elements of that attitude still linger today-- I find it beyond bonkers that I kept getting ads on podcasts for the Whole Foods app, which is apparently still limiting some online order features to the iOS version, even in 20-fucking-22, without any real technical justification as to why. And Amazon is a company that even maintains their own whole ass Android fork for their tablets, no less.
-
Comment on A more detailed — and more sympathetic — review of the Murena One in ~tech
frostycakes Link ParentIIRC that's largely a Samsung and bargain prepaid carrier phone thing. IIRC my OnePlus 8 had some app that basically pushed other OP accessories and whatnot, but that's the only thing I can think...IIRC that's largely a Samsung and bargain prepaid carrier phone thing. IIRC my OnePlus 8 had some app that basically pushed other OP accessories and whatnot, but that's the only thing I can think of that comes close. I know my S8 did not, and other than those I've had Pixels and Nexuses for years, so I can't speak to the current experience on other OEMs.
-
Comment on Tyre Extinguishers – deflating SUV tyres as a form of climate action in ~enviro
frostycakes Link ParentSo does CHP base chain mandates on drivetrains alone, instead of tire tread depth and type? That seems a bit backwards to me, to be honest. Locally our chain rules are met by winter tires or M+S...So does CHP base chain mandates on drivetrains alone, instead of tire tread depth and type? That seems a bit backwards to me, to be honest. Locally our chain rules are met by winter tires or M+S over a certain tread depth regardless of drivetrain, and it's only for summer tires that AWD/4WD is required.
-
Comment on Tyre Extinguishers – deflating SUV tyres as a form of climate action in ~enviro
frostycakes Link ParentAWD was an option on the Toyota Previa in the 90s, it's why they were somewhat popular with families who lived up in the mountains where I live. As far as the snow, it's easier but it's not like...AWD was an option on the Toyota Previa in the 90s, it's why they were somewhat popular with families who lived up in the mountains where I live.
As far as the snow, it's easier but it's not like it's impossible to drive a non-AWD/4WD vehicle up there. Hell, my stepdad loved to tell me stories about how he learned to drive in the mountains he grew up in in a giant RWD Oldsmobile Cutlass. One of the best snow-handling vehicles I've driven was a friend's late 90s Suzuki Esteem with a set of snow tires on it. Even my ex's Kia Soul was easier to drive in the snow with all-seasons than my old Ford Ranger was in 4WD mode-- we took that thing over Vail Pass in a blizzard and had no problem keeping control while still passing multiple Jeeps and Subarus creeping along.
I feel like people greatly overestimate the need for AWD/4WD in snowy areas, honestly.
I got an old Lenovo AIO for free from a coworker a few years back. It's incredibly low spec (a crap AMD E2 dual core and 4 gigs of RAM), but it was free and does great running a home server for torrents, Jellyfin, Pi-hole, and an e-book/comic server.
Plus, it works great as a secondary monitor for my desktop to boot. It certainly beats the AIO ending up in a landfill or gathering dust in a storage unit, and it performs better than an RPi at the least.
Only thing that would get me to move on is if I decide to shuck the external USB hard drives I have for storage on it, which would necessitate moving to something with the case space for two 3.5" HDDs-- but I have my old mini desktop from 8-9 years ago that would work perfectly for that, if I decide to go for it.
Even used PCs from friends/family/self will do in a pinch, especially if they're free.