Good Old Games? Old should never be lowercase in an acronym.

Gift of Gab? Could be written either way. It is kinda silly to lowercase anything in an acronym. For example, POTUS — Military/Government shorthand for President of the United States — is never written as PotUS.

In before, “they can’t, Ace died earlier this year”

Gene will just use AI to replace Ace and call it another farewell tour for like the sixth time. Loving money is fine I suppose, the bills aren’t gonna pay themselves, but he kinda makes himself a target.

No, no, that argument fell apart the moment the “well” “regulated” 2A “militia” stepped aside and let fascism in. Now they’re just tacticool cosplayers.

So Linux, “the free alternative to Windows”, needs corporate backing to sell it and make it mainstream?

This has been tried before and a lot of Linux fans don’t like it. The first time I’m aware was Lindows, which was offered on CD at Walmart and other retailers. Microsoft sued and they changed the name to Linspire. It was corporate Linux, and the best thing it had going for it was that it wasn’t Windows. Beyond that, it was kind of garbage. I mean, I guess it was Linux, but it wasn’t right somehow.

If you want a corporate backed alternative to Windows because you don’t like certain things Microsoft stands for, get a Mac. Honestly, you can’t do much better than a MacBook Air these days, but the $500 M4 Mac mini (down to $480 in some stores for the holidays) is pretty damn hard to beat. It doesn’t run most games though, but beyond that it’s fine. Just know that Apple stands for a lot of things Microsoft does. Regardless, it’s a corporate-backed OS that is an alternative to Windows, with solid hardware support… and it’s not really denting Microsoft’s market share, despite being objectively better for everything but gaming and repairability (the latter of which does not extend to Microsoft’s Surface machines, but PCs in general).

I think the best thing for Linux was the end of Windows 10’s life. Computers with 7th gen Intel and older were able to run Linux perfectly, despite Microsoft drawing the line in the sand there. My last Wintel machine ran a 4th generation Xeon, and it ran Windows 11 just fine with hacks (though not recently, I’ve been a full fledged Mac user for 2 years since that rig died).

And I think the worst thing, the thing holding Linux back the most, is the divisiveness of the Linux community. It’s not everyone, but the guys who run Arch (and some of the Debian guys) looking down their noses at the Mint and Ubuntu guys… like, suck it up princess! People gotta start somewhere, and if you show the Mint and Ubuntu guys you’re willing to help, they’re more likely to be Arch and Debian guys in the future. But for now, depending on what you like (KDE/Mint for Windows expats, and GNOME/Ubuntu for Mac users), those beginner Linux distros are just fine! It’s a foot in the door. And if they’re happy with it, more power to 'em. (And if they got a Mac? Hey, at least it’s not Windows!)

To be clear, the Macintosh in 1984 had the menu bar. Amiga had it, too. Now, the dock — that came later. I remember System 7 or Mac OS 8 had a zip-tie pull-out thingy on the left (and Microsoft 2000 copied it). I think the actual Dock as we know it now came in OS X. And there were clones (e.g. AquaDock) until Apple started handing out C&Ds and lawsuits. I tried a couple (on Windows), none of them were great.

At least on a Mac we can choose bottom or left! Wild that Microsoft won’t give Windows users the option.

Of course you could say Mac is dorky with its always on menu bar at the top, but I quite like it. Even on my laptop with a notch it’s not terrible. And I like the status bar (right side of the menu bar).

And of course on Linux you can just have it any which way you want it.

I still generally prefer windowing on Windows 11 to macOS Tahoe. Since Sequoia (the last version) we’ve had basic windowing (and before that, free apps like Rectangle to shoehorn it in), but what Microsoft started with Aero Snap in Windows 7 has never been “the Mac way.” I think the old Mac users prefer a controlled chaos on their desktop. I like a more elegant setup. I like how I have Windows set up at work. It doesn’t quite work as well on Mac, to try to do the same thing, but I wouldn’t trade my Mac for something like my work PC, even if it could play more games.

On Mac or Windows? I’ve never had backwards scrolling on Windows.

Apple calls it “natural scrolling” and it’s kind of sublime on a MacBook, with the track pad. With a mouse it feels like shit for some reason. I guess opinions differ, but as a seasoned Windows user, I didn’t like “natural” scrolling. When I roll the wheel, I assume the bottom part is on the page where the cursor is, so as I roll down with my finger, the bottom of the wheel is rolling up, pushing the page up, scrolling down. That makes sense and now I can’t visualise why it’s fine the other way with a track pad, but it is. I have no justification for that.

I wonder if maybe it’s coming to the rest of Windows later. Microsoft 365 is a subscription service, so maybe it’s a test pilot thing?

People who use Macs at home most likely use Windows at work, if they use a computer at work. There are some jobs that do use Macs, but like usage outside of work, it’s a lower percentage.

They sell phones at a loss because their overpriced service makes up the difference. They sell phones at a loss because you will ultimately pay more over the life of the plan. Take my iPhone 16 Pro Max 512GB (I traded an older phone to get it, but you can look up the retail price, or look up this generation’s, I’m sure it’s about the same) and multiply $25 times 24 (months). Now add what Verizon charges for one to 24 times what Verizon charges per line. Verizon users pay way more, even though the phone seems “cheaper.”

I challenge anyone with Verizon to post their bill for one line of service with unlimited 5GUW (ultra wideband, I believe). I also get unlimited LTE and base 5G, but after 50GB, it’s de-prioritised. Doesn’t matter, I use maybe 5GB a month on a busy month. Never been a big mobile user. Anyway, I pay Visible $25 a month, and Visible is owned by Verizon and uses Verizon towers. Anyone can get Visible, but they don’t have stores and Verizon stores will not help you. You download the app (iOS or Android) and it does everything. Only service is via chat, no phone support. Same towers. Same coverage. They do have subsidized phones, but not as many, and it’s strictly new customers only.

This is me — I like the art of language and I’m quite good at it. But the difference between being good at your language and being a “grammar nazi” is being pedantic about it.

There are a few things that annoy me enough to downvote someone, but only a few things and I think they’re particularly egregious mistakes, not typos or common mistakes. I will say in vague terms one of them is someone trying to sound smarter than they are but looking dumber as a result of not just using words they know how to use properly. For example, saying literally when you mean figuratively, though, that one does not bother me.

The thing to realise is (and what makes someone not a grammar nazi, IMO), is that if you understand what they’re saying, they’ve done their job adequately. Some of us older guys don’t like new words being made (like simp), or older words having their meaning changed (like cooked), but if you’re good with language, you know it’s a living, evolving thing that changes with the times. It may be cringe for an older person to use those words, but I think it’s fine if used correctly and sparingly.

To be fair, this guy was kinda trying to game the system (I read the article).

You can buy an iPhone straight from Apple (he bought the iPhone 16e) and it’s not locked.

This guy went to Verizon, bought a phone from them, and intended to skip out after a month and go to a cheaper MVNO. I don’t disagree with the ruling — he was acting within the rules, and Verizon changed said rules after he signed the paperwork — but this guy doesn’t seem like a saint. I mean, fuck Verizon and all that, no sympathy for Big Red, but this guy was totally taking advantage. Of course, if Verizon makes a deal and he follows the letter of the law, I’m with him, but also, people like this make phone deals worse for the rest of us.

Remember when you could get a flagship smartphone for $200 straight up and you just had to keep service for 2 more years? If you were happy with your carrier it was fine, it wasn’t even new customers only. It was like, once that 2 years is up you’re eligible. Verizon even bumped up my eligibility by 2 months when my phone was boot looping. I told them I needed a new phone, either they had to help me or I would be forced to take my business to another carrier, because I couldn’t just not have a phone for 2 months. They said “you know what, you pay your bill on time, we want your business, what phone do you want?” (Then they tried to talk me out of getting an iPhone, 6s, because my last two phones were Android. I said IDGAF about platform wars, the iPhone 6s is the best phone out right now (this was before the Pixel 1 was even announced! But the same year it came out) and it’s the one I want. Rocked that phone for four years.)