Mint

I see Mint as the more reasonable option that keeps 98% of the advantages of Ubuntu, with less of the crazy. I was a xubuntu user a decade ago, but have been very happy with Mint xfce since I switched.

Aviation biofuel is mostly a distraction. Any serious effort to decarbonize the transportation industry would focus on a scalable system, presumably high-speed rail.

(And whoever is thinking about being a smartass, don’t you dare come at me with bullshit about trans-ocean flights, they obviously can’t be take by train, but biofuel is still utterly incapable of supplying even only ocean flights. It’s not ever going to be a viable product. We’d be better off trying to scale up carbon capture than try to use all our arable land to grow crops for fuel.)

Thanks for the rec! I also love that you presume that there will be a next time, cuz, uh, that’s accurate. These little boxes are powerhouses, I probably want one for a TV set-top box now that all the TV boxes (Roku, Amazon Fire, even Android TV and soon Apple TV) are riddled with ads.

Beelink and Minisforum are legit

I wish I knew a lot of this when I first started shopping for a mini PC. I ended up with a Beelink model that I’m quite happy with, but it seems almost luck that I didn’t pick another one, and I would have liked a “reputable brand” search function.

I think US military operations moved away from counter-insurgency to preparedness with conflicts with mechanized military forces that have actual air power, so a low-and-slow airframe wasn’t considered as necessary. That, and drones are filling a lot of the air coverage and surveillance gap (though no one on the ground will tell you there could ever be a complete replacement for the BRRRRRRRR of an A-10.)

As I understand it, the Armed Overwatch pick that would at least sometimes replace the A-10 for close air support is the OA-1K Sky Warden, which has 10 hard points, and a 7,257kg gross weight. I don’t know how to accurately calculate the Sky Warden’s weight budget, but it’s a little more than half of the gross weight of the A-10, so I’d guess it’s roughly half, or 3,500kg or so. Which is definitely a step down in terms of weight and ability, but I guess the hope is that it will be cheaper to fly and maintain, particularly since it’s based off the long-running Air Tractor AT-802 airframe. I think the other two planes in consideration, the EMB-314 Super Tucano and the AT-6B Wolverine, have fewer hard points (5 each) and lower maximum take-off weights (5,400kg and 2,948kg, respectively).

And if I read the literature correctly, the craft actually selected was the OA-1K Sky Warden, the airframe based on the agricultural aircraft designs of Air Tractor AT-802.

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/air-force-pilots-begin-training-for-air-tractor-based-light-attack-variant/

It looks like the Scorpion was not selected by the USAF for the light-strike or patrolling craft role, in favor of pursuing turboprop options (Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine and Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano).

This is how it often works, people cry bloody murder until they get the human-oriented infrastructure and then most people love it and forget they ever complained about it.

Sounds like the beginning of a supervillain origin story.

I don’t have much sympathy for the McMansions, but there are huge sections of Pacific Coast rail line threatened by coastal erosion, and it sure would be nice to get some nice high-speed rail along there.

100% agree with this. Dune 1 sets up the world, Dune 2 gets to tell more of a story.

apart from some Harkonnen costume choices.

Oh, man, I forgot about those. 😄 The miniseries is good, though.

Torchlight 2 and 3 are fun looting co-op experiences.

Sandersons … too much of a choir boy to match Martin’s tone

I’d agree, it’s not an ideal match. But another talented, perhaps up-and-coming writer (as Sanderson sort of was at the time) could do a good job.

Remember when GRRM was so pissed that people criticized his friend Robert Jordan for faffing around for over a decade and never finishing the Wheel of Time series? Yeah, same.

Hey, while we’re on the subject, does anyone remember the forum thread that went viral a few years ago of a guy whose HOA booted his car, and he managed to hide the booted car in his garage and the towing company freaked out? He updated the forum posts as the saga developed, and it’s a very funny read.

https://www.jeepforum.com/threads/epic-hoa-parking-boot-battle.572540/

For anyone seriously considering this tactic, they already have your license plate and VIN when they boot your car. If you manage to remove the wheel and destroy the boot, many jurisdictions will come after you for damage to city property and it will cost you a lot more than paying to get the boot off. I had a buddy who found this out the hard way.

Thanks, much easier! (I like that username, btw!)

Lawnchair is what I switched to after Nova Launcher was purchased. Honestly, I have few complaints, it’s been plenty good enough for me.