lucky 10,000!

Time to go down the Panspermia rabbit hole!

That the primary motivator towards forcing the sale wasn't the algorithm as such, it was the probability that the PRC would use TikTok as a propaganda tool.

The Republicans aren't conservative in any sensible meaning of the word. They are radicals. The Democrats are far more conservative than the Republicans these days.

Lots of medical workers, especially in rural hospitals, are on H1-Bs.

I never stopped coming in to the office. Before that I worked in industrial automation, and that work couldn't be done remotely either.

"diesel engines are known for being especially difficult to start in cold."

When I was in the Army in Korea in 1985/86 one of the duties on the duty roster was to start every vehicle in the motor pool every 4 hours and run it for half an hour to keep it warm. Nothing like getting up at 0200 on a Sunday morning to spend an hour in the motor pool.

Yes, buying. I lived in Cedar City Utah and first encountered Linux in a RedHat 2.0 beige box at a gaming store in Red Cliffs Mall in St George. Probably in 1994 or 5. Came with a couple of manuals, a boot floppy, and a CD. Had the 0.95 kernel. Getting dial-up configured was interesting since the ISP only knew about Trumpet Winsock... Then leaving it running for a few hours in the evening to update everything.

Within a week I was at the local BN buying O'Reilly books.

The solution to Windows turning into a marketing device and personal information vacuum: Linux Desktop.

Let the flame wars commence. My personal preference is Linux Mint. I've been using it on my desktop workstation and my laptop for the last 6 years with zero complaints. I have Windows VMs (VMWare and KVM) that I use for software development, but when one of them goes stupid thanks to Windows updates or general Windows OS stupidity, I just roll it back to the last weekly snapshot. But all my personal computing and the running of my business happens on Linux.

Apple sucks compared to Android. The hardware is antiquated before Apple can get it onto the shelves, and yet they charge a premium for the little Apple logo. And then there's the app store, with a smaller audience, less choice, and Apple robbing both the creators and the consumers.

From the outside, all I can do is order another bag of popcorn and watch Apple users pay a tax for being stupid.

100%.

A little over 5 years ago, when it came time to build a new desktop machine, the number of hours/days lost to recovering broken VMs, lost files, jacked up drivers, etc., due to Microsoft updates was the deciding factor in making the move to Linux. I chose Mint because I wanted simple install experience and a familiar GUI layout. I haven't regretted it once. I run Windows (various versions) in VMs if I need to for software development, but the host is Linux.

That worked out so well that, when a Windows update killed the sound drivers on my laptop and could not be fixed, I installed the latest Mint, dual boot, and I haven't had a problem since. When my daughter bugged me to give her my old laptop, I installed Mint on that as well, showed her how to find and install software, and she's perfectly happy with it.

Why people put up with Microsoft's antics, I can't understand.

And here I am on my Linux Mint desktop workstation congratulating myself once again on my move to the Linux world SPECIFICALLY because Microsoft's updates kept screwing up my work environment.

First off, it was Turbo Pascal until version 4. Then it was Borland Pascal. BP 5.5 and 7.0 were incredibly easy to develop applications with. The beta diskettes that Delphi came out on were labeled "AppBuilder". And Delphi is still around, still being used. I know this because my primary development languages are Object Pascal, Java, Javascript, and C#. In fact, I picked up TP 3.01b in college and I've been using Pascal and Object Pascal ever since. I still have install disks for every version... in a box somewhere...

You can now develop for Windows, iOS, Android, and Linux using the same code base. It's amazing what it can accomplish right out of the box. While the world may have moved on and other languages are more popular thanks to Embarcadero's high price for the high end version of Delphi and it's dwindling development community, it's still an incredible development tool, and I say that as a contract programmer who, again, also develops in other languages.

So I find it funny that you refer to it as a coding dinosaur. I can develop applications from beginning to end quicker in that IDE than any other I've used. The language wasn't the reason Delphi didn't squash Microsoft's offerings. It's because Microsoft hired away all of Borland's senior developers, and after that Borland couldn't seem to find its footing, either in advancing its IDE or in its marketing.

Having said that, would I recommend Delphi to a company that was just starting up? No. Like I said, It's expensive and it's difficult to find developers with actual experience. But I know a number of large companies that are Delphi shops and cling loyally to the Delphi line of tools.

It's not dead yet.

Exactly what I was going to post. Musk has products and services he'd like to sell, and these pronouncements are based entirely on his desire to "actualize" his dreams of planet-buying wealth. We are more than capable of installing enough wind, solar, and wave power generation facilities to keep up with demand.