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Paper_jam

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Everything posted by Paper_jam

  1. No CR but some of our decision makers are making policy fully unencumbered by any consideration of data or otherwise being "fully informed."
  2. I tried to catch this Saturday and Sunday morning, but it was too hazy, then I tried last night and I could not pick it up out of the skyglow just above the horizon. A guy with us had a camera that was sensitive enough to get a faint image, but to the naked eye and binocs it was just too faint. If it was up to me, we'd have draconian laws and punishments to control light pollution.
  3. This thread title needs a slight edit: DT: COVID-19? - NO, POLITICS ALLOWED!
  4. This is more of a rant than a call for help; the IRS is bad at writing instructions in a clear, unambiguous way. The instructions for 1040 Schedule B say that filing Schedule B is required if "You had over $1,500 of taxable interest or ordinary dividends." I tend to interpret this as meaning that Schedule B is not required unless you had over $1500 of interest, or over $1500 in dividends. (i.e., if you had $1000 in interest income and $1000 in dividends, Schedule B is not required--the $1500 threshold applies to each category, not to the combined total.) However, I did some searching online to try and verify my interpretation, and found at least two sources -- one from a major tax software site, and one CPA website, that say it actually is based on the combined total (interest + dividends). I found at least one other online source that supports the first interpretation that it applies to each category individually (interest, dividends) not the combined total. If the IRS meant for this criteria to apply to the combined total, they should say "Schedule B is required if your combined total of taxable interest and dividend income exceeds $1500." If the first interpretation is correct, the instructions should say "Schedule B is required if you had taxable interest over $1500, or ordinary dividends exceeding $1500." It just seems lazy to leave it potentially open to misinterpretation.
  5. One more thing--kids that got Apple or IBM PC computers instead of Commodore 64s.
  6. A nice boat or high-end car (Porsche, Lotus, etc.)
  7. Kind of a tangent, but does anyone have a link or tip where to get decent quality masks? On Amazon there are tons of listings for masks, but the reviews generally are very poor (most common complaint being that the elastic breaks and/or the masks are much too small). Most of the "good" reviews are obvious plants (poor English, odd phrasing, etc.)
  8. Now the shit is really hitting the fan: Airlines ban alcohol on planes in response to Covid-19 https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/alcohol-ban-airlines-covid-19/index.html
  9. James Brown Alternate: Holmes (Priest)
  10. You probably don't need a COO if you aren't doing much operating.
  11. First level--parking & support columns, 2nd level of the structure "not occupied"**, 3rd story & up go hog wild. ** until after you move in and put in electric and HVAC without permits
  12. Argh its just killing me that the controls are not pilot-style (reversed in pitch). Down arrow should make you pitch up, and vice versa. Maybe I should try my joystick but I'm guessing this does not support joystick control. Also I don't see any visual indicator of your translation thrust setting/intensity. Without that it's hard to keep track of how the thrusters are set.
  13. I swear I remember hearing the "what does NASA stand for" joke from other kids at school the next day.
  14. Like TwiceHorn, I was decent enough at math, physics, etc. to muddle through an engineering degree at UT. There are many problems and concepts in engineering and science which you can visualize or relate to real-world situations that you can understand intuitively, even if the math is difficult. But when it comes to this level of abstract math, or quantum physics, or relativity--it's all complete greek to me. It might as well be magic or witchcraft.
  15. Dammit, that's a nice stretch of country road to haul ass down and do an Italian tune-up.
  16. At 6:32, the shot of trees with a white structure behind gives me the general impression of the CA state capitol grounds in Sacramento, I've been there. But it's such a brief shot, and I can't really see details on the building to be sure.
  17. At 1:41, there's a building with a golden dome which I think is probably the University of Notre Dame. Immediately before that is a shot of either a racetrack or some kind of stadium, which I thought might be Indianapolis Speedway (esp. since it's in Indiana, like Notre Dame). But the shape and buildings around the track don't look quite right for Indy. At 4:28, I can't tell exactly, but those oil derricks are probably at Long Beach or Venice Beach, CA.
  18. Why can't America fix our fucking phone system? And by that I mean, EVERY CALL should have un-spoofable caller ID that tells you the number and real name of the person or company calling you. If a call doesn't meet those specifications, the phone system should not allow it to go through. Any hacking or circumvention of the system should be a felony punishable by draconian measures.
  19. It's hideous, but it's not that much more hideous than some crossovers being sold today. If the wheel wells were bigger, with meaner looking wheels and tires, and some of that lower black cladding that every crossover is sporting these days, it'd probably sell. (Also assuming it had a competitive powertrain and interior, which I know it doesn't.)
  20. Bummed, they were either too low and/or too far west of me. But I've seen them at airshows twice many years ago, so I guess I'll be ok.
  21. Sounds nice, guess I shoulda made the effort.
  22. I've been thinking about it... but 20 mph? I'm not sure that's worth it to me. How are they going to enforce or manage that? Will they be using a pace car of some sort?
  23. For some time, I've had an issue when I try to browse the Surly forums: it just crushes my PC, locking up my browser (current version of Chrome) and any other applications that are running. Everything stops responding and just becomes slow as molasses, and I get heavy disk access for no apparent reason. It seems to be maxing out my system memory. If I wait long enough (a minute or three) things slowly come back and become usable again, but still sluggish. This forum is the only website that I regularly have this problem with, including several other forums or bulletin boards that run very smoothly. What on earth is Surly doing to my PC? Virus and malware scans don't turn up anything. The only Chrome extension I have is ABP. System info: quad core i7 860 (2.8+ ghz), 4 gig RAM, Windows 7, plenty of free hard drive space). (Yeah, it's old, but not so old that web surfing should be a strain.) Thanks for any ideas.
  24. Is that resurfacing going on right now? They are having a food drive at COTA on Sunday and supposedly you can drive on the track** with a donation. ** at 20 mph.
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