I am non-stupid, so guess again. I recently installed Ubuntu in a virtual machine...that part was smooth. Finding stuff was the typical (but shouldn't be typical!) new-OS pain.

Then there was some error box that popped up upon every boot--I never resolved it because I didn't want to give it the nerdy effort and only planned to use it for a short time.

I desired no password to be involved, but "Sorry, that ease-of-use is not an option in this all-powerful OS."

Then, there was some issue where I couldn't put shortcuts where I wanted without a bunch of hoops (why not just a right-click?) and I gave up quickly because it was for work and just used it for the task at hand; and I didn't want to devote life-minutes for something that should take life-seconds.

I can already feel the geeks breathing upon my neck over what I didn't do right, but come on, my mother can install/navigate Windows/Mac OS without pauses and questions. You know, life-minutes...

Then how is it still a tip?

Thank you...

I worked in a Unix shop in the 1990s and I know almost nothing about how to choose / install /administer Linux today. The choices may as well be infinite, and by definition an amateur can't deal with its features via a simple GUI, so he's lost without exerting nerdy effort. I get it, *nix is powerful, but most users don't need nearly that. Since there's no path toward standardization and hobbyists can't leave well enough alone (not to mention the bugs created by changes), I think it'll simply remain where it is when it comes to general user acceptance. Too bad...

I am a firmware developer. I remember when microcontroller datasheets were less than 100 pages. Now, they (especially the ARM stuff) tiptoe around 2000 pages. Chatbots have been helpful finding and simplifying the details regarding features and the related logic registers, pointing me in the right direction. So I don't use them to write code as much as I use them as a "simplifier" and technical sounding board.

But since they don't have shame, they can't feel bad about sending you down the wrong path, pressuring them the next time to say "I don't know" versus possibly giving misinformation. I wasted several hours, over two weeks, trying to repair a common laptop hardware issue--even though I told it the goal in the original query, at the end I made it admit that the goal was impossible.

Got ya'.

People still died. People still get robbed. The real, unanswerable question is how much crime are these cameras preventing. Worse, thanks to the pandemic masks are socially acceptable in the states now.

Bummer.

Would not?

I think that this (electing a Trump) is what happens when the pendulum gets pushed too far--it has a tendency to forcefully swing back in the other direction and I think that's a big problem with our current politics. We got a Trump because we had an Obama. We got a Biden because we had a Trump. We got another round of Trump because we had a Biden. Oy.

How can we get to a ranked-choice system at a national level?

Yep.

I've been in the water industry for 23 years. To counter what someone above posted, design engineers are asking us for water system quotes for data centers today that will consume a few million gallons per day. That's equivalent to what a town of tens of thousands of people would use per day (influent and effluent). So, it's like adding another small population stressor, everywhere they're built.

It goes without saying that water is a critical resource. And its ease of access IS shrinking.

My day just started, and I already know that this is the best thing I will hear today, thank you. I plan on using that phrase some day; now I just have wait the long time it will take for me to be pleasantly surprised at something.

Nah, just train some sharks to watch over the lasers.

In this entire thread, when it came to the ire for American car manufacturers, I saw no one point out the pollution laws, which are a big crimp on the design of cars versus SUVs/trucks. For example, I want one that's a little bigger than today's offerings, but not an SUV.

I'm embarrassed that I mentally shrugged my shoulders at the summary and didn't realize it was referring to cost until I read your post.