ProllyInfamous

I can't legally pay for parking in my city.

So I don't. Fines are very low (almost not worth paying, entirely), so I don't sweat it (and know where lots of "free" parking is).

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Definitely this makes scheduling important – and then following through. I will typically arrive a bit early, and not leave until (they're) fifteen minutes late.

It is cumbersome but worthwhile; if I had family (or was "on call") this would obviously be impossible.

>one of the magnets broke off the screen

I had a similar event (but only once) supporting university labs: one of those four "alignment pins" broke off; but they're not necessary once the magnets are engaged. Unfortunately, I had to completely re-disassemble the entire unit to shake out that metallic-breakoff.

The 2006 iMac is a dream to work on: the back plate (including stand) simply detaches, exposing access to everything without having to remove the LCD – this latter part is the worst part of any newer iMac-opening.

Thanks for sharing your similarities, fellow-oldening-hat.

As long as we're arresting extremists on all sides, I support your conclusions...

>>Brought to you by the people who have complained bitterly for decades about federal overreach and excessive government spending.

>"When the President of the United State of America does it – it isn't illegal!"

>–Nixon, probably

>It was just...nice.

In psychedelic tongue: it drips well.

And it's getting so inexpensive (I can easily price many 120Hz systems, barely above $1000)!

How much (approx) was your son's build?

All the data center work was on large crews lasting for months ("long-term" in construction), with hundreds of workers semi-coordinated across various trades.

A major problem in Unions is that cronyism is even good'ole'boy'er than the general US population's. My only touting of "join a union" is for would-be apprentices to "learn the ropes" about construction. Get paid to learn; retire elsewhere... [†]

They no longer allow this (at least not in 520), but I soon realized the best "life balance approach" to being IBEW was: enter in their non-traditional student pathway (i.e: olderfolk, CW/CE) and then never progress beyond 90%er [•] – to me, the extra 10% pay wasn't worth all the headache of working with management to coordinate jobsite goals. Many "ninety-percenters" remain, grandfathered (but slowly retiring).

[†] LU520's payscale isn't among "the best;" if you're in an area where your ticket-out is $70+/hr, then retiring IBEW probably makes sense...

[•] with Mad Respect for my boy Johnboy; hope you're retired by now!

Interestingly, Unions aren't the actual employers.

Instead, each LU "territory" is made up of several large corporations (the electric contractors). Some employ sub-contractors, often. You can even be a worker for "contracted shops" without even being a union member, which opts-out paying "dues" – Francis-Bacon IIRC?

Hating to quote R+M so casually, but "it [all] just sounds like slavery, with extra steps..." as each sub-universe slowly begins to realize Their Realities.

I cannot distinguish between 120Hz and 144Hz.

I avoid any-higher refresh rates, by your own reasoning =P

I still maintain an entire fleet of 30Hz equipment, but my main two machines are each 144Hz (sharing one screen $$). The $600 Mac Mini handles this easily. Obviously the other's nVidia GPU is a different $tory$$$$ == PoE@144Hz so_pretty

My favorite digital reading method, conversely, is probably less than 1Hz (eInk)? But even hundred of pages of text I'll always prefer printouts.

Fun-fact™ Wednesday:

One person has appointed every single judge to the current US FISA Courts (whose jurisdiction includes domestic surveillance rubberstamping).

You can thank the concessions of Bush v. Gore (2000) for giving this executive-level privilege to the hoNoRAblE [SCOTUS Chief] Judge Roberts.

In 2026, this orchestrated puppetteering probably doesn't even matter anymore..?

>>"They're cool"

Pretty much sums it up, for me.

But I don't even own a cell phone, anymore... so probably not the intended iPhoneDuo demographic.

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This "cool" mentality is the flaunt/sickness driving planned-obsolescence, in my very-jaded opinion.

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Why does a dog lick his balls? Because he can..!

Sleeping on the West Coast beaches... encouraged me (in less than a month) to find more-permanent housing.

Decades later, I still remember what was lost...

What we'd do, instead, was worker-coordinated "slow downs" & two-hour lunches.

It's harder to "do nothing" than you might think. We'd make 10-manhour projects take 10 days. Ten grueling days of do-nothing, but we were physically there, present on our assigned job-sites. Eventually "the hall"-'ll listen, but it can sometimes take awhile...

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I don't have a better solution. I went "independent" with my own shingle, which has its own (different PITA) problems. Grass-is-greener.

Most HN readers would do better, blue collar, in a commercial environment (IMHO); residential is too knit-picky, individual homeowners too personally-invested. Union is a great way to start your blue collar adventure, getting paid to learn and fuck up (which you will).

Technically the workers are supposed to express any grievance(s) to on-site stewards, who then coordinate with Union leadership.

I never once saw an on-site steward.

Leaving 520 after the 2.5%->4.5% "dues" increase was among many pyrrhic victories (it was to cover aging healthcare expenditures, which is now making more sense these years later).

Eventually Unions will need sub-unions, separate from their own current LU-management – if only to keep the actual workers working.

>killed old.reddit.com

The recent login-required (to use old-reddit) is stupid [0].

For now, just use this tip: `www.reddit.com/r/RedditYouWant+RandomCharactersHere`

and then your UI will be similar when browsing. Be sure to replace "RandomCharactersHere" with something obscure, or else /r/RedditYouWant will overflow with undesired content.

e.g: <http://www.reddit.com/r/PCMasterrace+fuckUspez123>

e.g: <http://www.reddit.com/r/PCMasterrace+PCBuild> (does not require login, yet)

[0] I go back to the SA>Digg>Reddit transitions, with my oldest (abandoned) /r/account [1] dating to 2007. #Return2RSS

[1] Hey /r/Admin(s): yeah, it's me, Rita... howdy you fatcat bayarea phucks

Most Unions don't even allow the workers to initiate a strike (as part of the work contract) – it must be ordered by LU/hall.

src: former IBEW 520 (datacenter sparkie #AMA)

Also: October 31st is officially "Take the License Plate off your Car for the Day+" (to protest LPR cameras).

Share with your friends.

>Some of the old iMacs could just be displays natively.[1] it was just an odd ball feature no one used.

This oddball Apple cable sits proudly in our "old proprietary Apple cables" cardboardbox (Thunderbolt2 is NOT DisplayPortMini, despite their physical interconnectability)... and are now worth ≥$65/each.

Too bad my 2009 iMac 27" is still alive, occassionally requiring that cable's usage; a more-powerful 15" MBP can then use it as its main display =D

Thought this way until 144Hz; now 30Hz is cheese-grated-eyeballs, and 60Hz ponders "is something wrong/corrupted with this slow/glitchy system?"

I spent three decades @30Hz, and just the past few ≥60Hz@4K... as I've aged I appreciate the analogue more, and the jarring stutters of 30Hz are constant reminders of computized digitality.

Also, PoE at 144Hz is incredible (I went from <30Hz to 144Hz with this one simple trick: $1000 5070Ti, which turns out was actually a great investment, too [today's price $1449]). But so is scrolling through walls of text, now.

¢¢

I rode a 2009 MacPro5,1 (¡galliently! into the future, with capable GPU upgrades) until Jan23's M2Pro mini debut (which I still use as my main Mac).

Apple Silicon is certainly incredible (I also have a base-model M4mini, but it severely lacks RAM/ports so I don't really use it much/eWaste); my only Silicon-purchase-regret was buying a beautiful new 2024 MacBookAir (15") – heavily discounted $850@CostCo – but with only 8GB of RAM (it is functionally worthless, other than for watching it destroy your SSD with page-outs as you casually stream YouTubies...). In 2024, only 8GB of RAM (soldered onto the board because fuck you)!

Was at Microcenter, yesterday.

Marietta's did not have any Pi400s for sale (I love mine, with its built in keyboard; it is my main Kali hackbox) but did have lots of Pi5 (4gb was ~$100 IIRC; 1gb was ~$40).

I've picked up two 7" touchscreens, which seemlessly integrate into any Pi project (mine are both now installed on Pi 3b+ PiHoles, to display realtime DNS traffic 24/7); if you buy the returned/open-box, each screen is less than $50 (no more fumbling for HDMI cables).

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Unrelated: the RTX5070Ti (purchased May 2026 for $999) is now $1449! The 5060 (purchased July 2026 for $329) is now $459; no 5090 in stock (of course).

>You just take a suction cup and clip the screen off.

Having done this dozens-of-times, each attempt remains scary. Reattaching the glass, the magnets flex the pane incomprehensibly.

My favorite feature of these older iMacs (and laptops of the era) is that you can manhandle the glassed screens (pointing, touching, scraping), to no destriment of the LCD (beneath).

I own a bike, too, but my car also doesn't have plates attached (it is registered & insured, though).

Correct; everything else is "above board" (e.g: insured, registered).

In Tennessee, the first two offenses for improper display of license plate are $10 & $20 fines, respectively (but obviously this allows them to initiate a traffic stop; a younger-me couldn't afford this risk). In the past year+, a dozen officers have ignored my plateless transgressions.

This has the side-effect of encouraging me to obey most traffic laws more rigorously (e.g: I speed less, am generally less-aggressive).

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I am a middle-aged fat bald white dude in the US South – I'm practically invisible!

FYI: Halloween is officially "Drive without a License Plate Day" (to protest FLOCK cameras)

While returning wrong-sized filters to Home Depot yesterday, the clerk (whom I've known for years and am friendly with) said "the computer says I cannot refund this even though I know you bought them yesterday – as your receipt indicates."

But Computer said "no."

So I just put the wrong-sized filters back on the shelf, and "stole" the correct-sized filters. Clerk and I waved upon my exit.

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We will figure these automated systems out.

I don't own a cell phone, and I don't display a plate on my generic vehicle.

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No illusions that I'm not also traceable. Tracked.

>With the rackets, they splatter like fireworks.

[looks at tennis racket nervously]

"I'm an adult. I will not record this incredibly-sounding phenomenon for the YouTuby viewies..."

I'll just take your word for it.

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I am forty-something, but I still always cringe when I think about that sappling I destroyed (recklessly, with my teenage-swung crowbar), just to show off to some girl...

The thing that makes older iMacs "disposable" is that the required cooling vents end up [mostly] blocked, within just a few years – then they thermally throttle, until death.

If you open them up and keep them clean, they can have uses forever:

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My 27" iMac (2009) still sits faithfully alongside my main 48" setup (because I own the copy of CS4 installed upon it – FU Adobe!). It mostly plays background shows (while I work on main computer, adjacent).

My 24" iMac (2006) still sits faithfully on my tax desk, for its annual usage/filing. It also still plays Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne (quite well!).

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>I suggest spending a bit more and getting a mac mini and a ... display, instead

This is fantastic advice; my past two Apple's have been Mini's. My three main machines all connect to the same massive 48" display (that is about to outlast its first retired Mini).

The only new iMac I would ever again consider purchasing would be something on-par with the iMac Pro (2017) – but in 2026+ any iMac would need a 32"+ display (minimum) to be "usable" IMHO.

Here in SE Tennessee, we have a few areas with the "congregating pulses" type (i.e. they all blink [mostly] together). But they're all green, here =D

You sound remorseful (from your youthful indiscretions); but out of curiosity... does the "glow" splat when thwacked (with a tennis racket)? or does it immediately extinguish?

"Rugged individualism" is why America has slowly destroyed itself – divided, conquered.

As with all things, the past few decades were slowly, while the past few years have went quick.

What do you like talking about? What brings you into the HN comments?

This random 3pm on a Texas Tuesday, Texas' demand is just over 60GW;

>>[Even] 5gw in a [60gw] peak load system is massive.

What you originally wrote is also true, but for normal operating conditions:

This would save Texians so much money by not having to use natural gas peakers (but the generators' owners, themselves, are making bank... so they ARE incentived to use nat.gas), and each facility makes BANK when the Texas grid is peaking at 80GW+ (e.g. 2021 winter storms, the costliest natural disaster in Texas' history, would have been entirely avoidable == buy electricity from the rest of America).

After the 2021 storm, the top-rate for a MWH was reduced -66% (but is still orders of magnitude more expensive than normal ERCOT operating compensations; the Texas power grid operators are incentivized to tax the grid maximally).