crash_davis

Yes, I looked at HomeAway/VRBO and AirBNB. Of the 2, AirBNB was the only one which offered a monthly discount, a decent one at that.

In honor of last summer in Austin where it was hell on Earth, I am fleeing the Texas summer hell hole and spending the entire month of July in Pagosa Springs. I call it homework for if I want to move there for retirement in 3-4 years. We've been about 5 times (a week at a time) in the last 3 years, but this will be the longest stay.

Orcas are badass.

Jesus needs to be shared.

so lubed and waxed?

I posted this in the Depression thread in the Help board. We are all assholes and argue over the most mundane shit. But life is more than the shit on this board. Shit outside of this board matters and sadly some of it is painfully sad. Posting it here cause it happened in Austin. Yesterday on Reddit Austin I came across a thread about Mopac and the 183 bridge being shut down. Redditors said it was a jumper from the 183 overpass down to Mopac. Then I see this thread this morning. The whole read was sad, but the part about the ringing phone got to me. Holy fuck, someone on the other end of that line is going to have a very bad year. I'm not a religious person but I'll think positive thoughts (I guess my way of saying prayers) to anyone who needs help. If you need help, please reach out to someone, anyone. 183/Mopac death I was driving home from work and the car in front of me stops on the overpass and puts their hazards on… I’m thinking they’re out of gas. But then they drive up another 40 feet and stop again. He opens his door and with no hesitation, he jumps off the overpass and lands on the median on mopac. I’ve never even dreamt of witnessing something so terrifying in my life. I of course stopped and called 911 and they asked me if he was still breathing so I kept having to look at his body from up top and I can’t get the imagine out of my head. I was stuck on the overpass for a few hours as detectives wanted to know what I’d seen. Meanwhile, he left the door open and his phone was in the seat and someone was calling over and over. I couldn’t help but think of a mom/dad/friend or relative not knowing what had just happened. This has rocked me to my core. Life is fragile, spend it with your loved ones. Love to all

Yesterday on Reddit Austin I came across a thread about Mopac and the 183 bridge being shut down. Redditors said it was a jumper from the 183 overpass down to Mopac. Then I see this thread this morning. The whole read was sad, but the part about the ringing phone got to me. Holy fuck, someone on the other end of that line is going to have a very bad year. I'm not a religious person but I'll think positive thoughts (I guess my way of saying prayers) to anyone who needs help. If you need help, please reach out to someone, anyone. 183/Mopac death I was driving home from work and the car in front of me stops on the overpass and puts their hazards on… I’m thinking they’re out of gas. But then they drive up another 40 feet and stop again. He opens his door and with no hesitation, he jumps off the overpass and lands on the median on mopac. I’ve never even dreamt of witnessing something so terrifying in my life. I of course stopped and called 911 and they asked me if he was still breathing so I kept having to look at his body from up top and I can’t get the imagine out of my head. I was stuck on the overpass for a few hours as detectives wanted to know what I’d seen. Meanwhile, he left the door open and his phone was in the seat and someone was calling over and over. I couldn’t help but think of a mom/dad/friend or relative not knowing what had just happened. This has rocked me to my core. Life is fragile, spend it with your loved ones. Love to all

It's not just the US. Best case for Apple from the DOJ case, status quo. Compromise case, they have to open up their walled garden: messaging, 3rd party access to NFC, gimping other apps at the benefit of Apple apps and services, etc. Worst case, they get broken up. Other countries are and will continue to do their own cases. Apple is going to spend the next few years battling in many different countries courts. If they are pissing off this many countries regulators, clearly they are doing something anticompetitive. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/21/technology/apple-doj-lawsuit-antitrust.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb The lawsuits reflect a push by the regulators to apply greater scrutiny to the companies’ roles as gatekeepers to commerce and communications. In 2019, under President Donald J. Trump, the agencies opened antitrust inquiries into Google, Meta, Amazon and Apple. The Biden administration has put even more energy behind the effort, appointing critics of the tech giants to lead both the F.T.C. and the antitrust division of the Department of Justice. In Europe, regulators recently punished Apple for preventing music streaming competitors from communicating with users about promotions and options to upgrade their subscriptions, levying a 1.8 billion-euro fine. App makers have also appealed to the European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, to investigate claims that Apple is violating a new law requiring it to open iPhones to third-party app stores. In South Korea and the Netherlands, the company is facing potential fines over the fees it charges app developers to use alternative payment processors. Other countries, including Britain, Australia and Japan, are considering rules that would undercut Apple’s grip on the app economy.

If you believe that you are in for a rude awakening. There's a reason Apple has acquiesced to EU first about USB-C and then about their bullshit to limit faster charging to "certified" Apple crap. There's a reason they about faced and changed their mind to allow side loading. There's a reason they were fined almost $2B dollars over music streaming apps. Governments around the world have had enough of their bs. There's a very compelling argument about their anticompetitive business practices. They are going to lose. Expect them to open up more of their wall gardened because of this.

Why do you hate Jesus, you commie bastard?

They start early in Houston. https://abc13.com/houston-crime-little-rascals-arrested-young-boys-accused-of-robbing-bank-greenspoint-wells-fargo-robbed/14546129/ HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The three bank robbery suspects dubbed as the "little rascals" are now in custody, according to FBI Houston. The trio made headlines when authorities shared on social media that they were wanted for allegedly robbing a Wells Fargo bank on the North Freeway and West Road in the Greenspoint area. Initially, a witness told officials the boys appeared to be between 14 and 18 years old. But, in the arrest update, the FBI said they are 16, 12, and 11 years old. "The age of the younger two, that's unusual for a bank robbery," Mike Schneider, a retired juvenile district court judge, told ABC13. "It's one of the first times I've seen that." While FBI Houston released the surveillance photos, the case is a Harris County Sheriff's Office investigation. According to HCSO, the boys passed a threatening note to a teller. They were believed to be armed, though they did not present a weapon, and they got away with an undisclosed amount of cash. Once the photos were released, HCSO started getting tips from the public. Parents of two of the boys came forward and identified them, the sheriff's office said. The third boy was handled by a law enforcement agency following a fight and recognized. The sheriff's office said authorities recovered a weapon and a distinctive item pictured in one of the photos. The "little rascals" are charged with robbery by threat, a second-degree felony. "I was thinking either this was very low in sophistication or maybe an adult had something to do with this. That is not uncommon. Because kids have a punishment that is less severe, it is not uncommon for adult offenders to get them to commit crimes," Schneider said.

Holy shit, you just succinctly described what the fuck is wrong with Merica! That's fucking hillarious.

I wonder how many times the homeless dudes shooting up the place have been arrested and released. If I were the police, why should I give a fuck knowing that the assholes will be released in probably 24 hours. The homeless are THE protected class in this city.

APD : Army reserves DPS : Marines DPS dudes have a hard on about being DPS. APD dudes are counting the days until retirement.

Anecdotally, they and DPS appear to be more active lately. Lately when I drive North Lamar or North Burnet around Koenig, I see cars pulled over. Which makes me give a PSA, if you are driving on Lamar from the Triangle north to 183, you are driving by the DPS station. DPS is VERY active on that stretch. In addition, sometimes I'll see DPS cruising through my neighborhood Brentwood/Crestview. I do not mind that one bit.

Apple getting called out on their bullshit. https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/apple-sued-doj-antitrust-monopoly-biden-rcna144424 The U.S. Department of Justice filed a landmark lawsuit against Apple on Thursday, accusing it of monopolizing the smartphone market. The civil suit, joined by 17 state and district attorneys general, charges Apple with restricting its smartphone operating system in a way that drives up costs for consumers and prevents developers from successfully releasing products on other smartphone systems. “Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies violate the antitrust laws,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a news release. Among the suit's allegations: Apple prevents the successful deployment of what the DOJ calls "super apps" that would make it easier for consumers to switch between smartphone platforms. Apple blocks the development of cloud-streaming apps that would allow for high-quality video-game play without having to pay for extra hardware. Apple inhibits the development of cross-platform messaging apps so that customers must keep buying iPhones.

Finally doing something about paper tags license plates. DPS and APD should pull over every non-new car with paper tag. Chances are high the ahole driving is wanted for something. They didn't name the business in the article. https://www.kxan.com/investigations/organized-criminal-enterprise-busted-in-austin-tied-to-fraudulent-paper-tags-inspections/ AUSTIN (KXAN) — An “organized criminal enterprise” accused of cranking out fraudulent vehicle inspections and paper license plates in Austin was recently busted, according to authorities — just as the state prepares to put the brakes on this years-long problem. Fraudulent temporary tags are often used to mask criminal activity — from avoiding tolls to turning vehicles into “ghost cars,” allowing criminals to avoid detection and hide in plain sight.

Christofacism is the American way, Praise fake Jesus. Just don't tell these fake christians that they are the opposite side of the same coin as the Islamist fascist/Sharia dipshits.

Correct, venue and sit down meal.

Here's a weird example of how fucked it is. The cost to rent a space for a wedding starts at $45k. 25 years ago, those same spaces were just $2-3k. The older fuckhead generations will say, well, downsize, get a shittier, less expensive place. This is their, our response to everything. Buy cheaper, sacrifice and deal with it. Why the fuck should they have to sacrifice when the previous 2 generations lived mostly stress free about their financial futures. Fuck the older generation, including ours.

How many of the people here have children in their 20s and 30s? If you do and talk regularly to them, you will understand their apprehension towards the future. History will refer to them as The No Lube generation cause they are getting fucked, no lube.

He and his buddies thought of an original idea to sneak onto a plane. They were just too stupid to realize that it was never going to work. I guess he didn't make it home. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/unticketed-passenger-removed-delta-flight-salt-lake-city/ It says Fleurizard told police he was in Utah on snowboarding trip to Park City but had to get home to see family members who'd flown in from Florida. He said a friend gave him a free "buddy pass" for Southwest Airlines and that was the ticket he used to get through security, but the flight he intended to get on was full so he went to the Delta gate. The complaint says he was seen on security camera video using his phone to take pictures of other people's boarding passes without their knowledge and it appears he used one of those pictures to board the Delta plane, where he tried to stow away in first the front and then the rear lavatory. But when he left that lavatory, there were no seats left and, as the plane was taxiing, flight attendants realized there was an issue and the plane returned to the gate. According to the complaint, Fleurizard "admitted he had made a mistake and was only trying get home." Police say the suspect is being held on a federal detainer at the Salt Lake County Metro Jail. Records indicate he remains behind bars.

He was at the head of the line for Determination and Conviction while they were handing out Intelligence.

I think the Troll is cool. Now the what-the-fuck-whalebones-thing sprouting from under I35 over 6th St is bullshit, but the Troll is tangible and will attract a shitton of people to see it and experience it. The one in Breck is a very popular tourist spot. Art is important to communities. There's a ton of shit to bitch about Austin, a $300k statue mostly privately funded is probably the last thing to worry about.