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Off Key - General Discussion

A place to talk about whatever you want

3.2k Topics 22.6k Posts
  • Pinned threads

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    S
    Great!
  • Pentagon boycotts the Ivy League

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    D
    Does this mean intelligence agencies will stop recruiting from these same schools. This man seems to never say or do anything that makes sense or common sense. It seems to be a feature not a bug with these people.
  • New paint job

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    No one has replied
  • House in France

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    B
    Beautiful. Very nice! Lovely British decorating style.
  • Good night, stars?

    environment
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    @wtg said in Good night, stars?: In the beginning, the Bible tells us, God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And so it has been ever since — until now. Here in the 21st century, we humans are on the cusp of turning night into day — and bidding good night to the stars that have guided us home for thousands of years. Two little-noted applications under review by the Federal Communications Commission would, if fully implemented, fundamentally remake the night sky. But the FCC, the satellite regulator, appears to have fast-tracked approval without much of a pause to weigh the benefits of these proposals against the harms they could cause to life on the planet. A start-up called Reflect Orbital proposes to use large, mirrored satellites to redirect sunlight to Earth at night, with plans to bathe solar farms, industrial sites and even entire cities in light that could, if desired, reach the intensity of daylight. At the same time, Elon Musk’s SpaceX wants to launch as many as a million satellites to serve as orbiting data centers — 70 times the number of satellites now in orbit. We could have a million points of light streaking across our skies at night. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/good-night-stars-we-are-on-the-cusp-of-turning-darkness-into-day/ar-AA1XbQDM Nightmare de jour.
  • AI took our jobs!

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    AxtremusA
    For AI bulls, this is “proof” that AI can increase productivity and reduce labor cost for businesses, bigly.
  • Peach growing ain't what it used to be

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    wtgW
    Parts of the Del Monte business and brand, such as the stickers marking bananas and its red-and-yellow logo on cans, will remain on grocery shelves, as Pacific Coast Producers bought the remaining fruit inventory and brand licensing rights, which included packaging under the Del Monte and S&W brands.
  • Attention, Costco shoppers who are gardeners!

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    AdagioMA
    I’ve spent many summers watering tomatoes and zucchini and getting 10 tomatoes and 6 zucchini for what feels like $100 in water and effort. I’ll just buy my produce, like Mik.
  • Will we have a 2026 election?

    current events
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    ShiroKuroS
    @wtg I’m afraid to click on that link and read the rest…. This is exactly road I’ve been afraid we would be going down …
  • Ax’s lame movie recos and cool YouTube picks

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    AxtremusA
    The Witch 2: The Other One Link to video
  • Buggy Textbooks

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  • Laughter is the best medicine

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    wtgW
    I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. It’s impossible to put down.
  • Surprising (to me) poll results re vaccines

    health
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    wtgW
    Indeed. I’m just surprised it is as high as it is, at 84%.
  • Remember how NH was going to get rid of car inspections?

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    B
    Quite the saga. Emphases mine. MANCHESTER, N.H. — A federal judge is telling New Hampshire that the state needs to get its vehicle inspection program back up and running. The ruling on Wednesday does not immediately change anything for New Hampshire drivers, who currently do not need to get their vehicles inspected. The judge denied a request to pause her original injunction, which ordered the state not to suspend the program. Despite the initial ruling, inspections have not resumed, and the state has not approved a new contract to continue the program. Gordon-Darby, the company that had been contracted to run New Hampshire's vehicle inspection program, sued the commissioners for the departments of Safety and Environmental Services after New Hampshire suspended the program to comply with a new state law to end it. The judge agreed with Gordon-Darby that the state was violating the Clean Air Act by ending the program without a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency. The state applied for that waiver in December, but the EPA said it could take up to 18 months to review it. The Executive Council has since ended the contract with Gordon-Darby. In her ruling, Judge Landya McCafferty noted that the commissioners said they don't have the legal authority to find a new vendor, but she said the commissioners have the authority to comply with her first ruling. The Executive Council is responsible for finding a new vendor. State officials said the program will remain suspended while they figure out what their next steps will be. As New Hampshire continues to resist the orders issued by the judge, a constitutional crisis is brewing, according to University of New Hampshire law professor Daniel Pi. "Where the state is openly defying the orders of a federal court, and this implicates Article VI of the U.S. Constitution and all sorts of things that just don't get litigated very often," Pi said. "Usually, states kind of understand what the federal structure is and agree with it." For New Hampshire drivers, nothing changes. The state is sticking to its earlier guidance that the program is suspended. That means inspection stations are no longer authorized to issue state inspection stickers, and vehicles are not required to get an annual state inspection at this time.
  • This is so wrong

    current events
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    wtgW
    said in This is so wrong: A Columbia University student was arrested on Thursday by federal immigration officers who reportedly misrepresented themselves by posing as New York police officers looking for a missing child in order to to gain entry to a residential building to make the apprehension. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/26/columbia-student-detained-federal-agents Update: Federal immigration authorities arrested a Columbia University student early Thursday, triggering protests on campus along with allegations that agents had entered the university-owned residence under false pretenses. Just hours after detaining student Ellie Aghayeva, though, the federal government abruptly reversed course, permitting her to walk free after the apparent intervention by President Donald Trump. In a social media post Thursday afternoon, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he expressed concerns about the arrest during an unrelated meeting with Trump, who then agreed to release her immediately. "I am safe and okay," Aghayeva wrote on Instagram, minutes after Mamdani's post, adding she was in "complete shock" from the experience. https://www.npr.org/2026/02/26/g-s1-111684/columbia-student-arrested-ice-missing-person
  • Ditch the internet phone?

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    S
    Gave up the two landlines many years ago. Never missed ‘em. Switched to a mesh router (EERO). WiFi now works flawlessly anywhere on the property.
  • Ting

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    wtgW
    From Ting's Feb update: When over 1 million homes lost power during Winter Storm Fern last month, the Ting electrical safety network delivered real-time, neighborhood-level outage data to emergency responders. These insights help prioritize response and reduce risks like home fires, flooding from frozen pipes, and serious impacts for entire communities Link to video
  • An interesting wager

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    B
    He insists he’s not really a betting man. He's a betting man.
  • Do you use a paper ledger to balance a checking account?

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    B
    I don't think I've ever balanced my checking account. Maybe once, or twice years ago.
  • What watch are you wearing?

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    D
    One of my few regrets is selling the best one for $600. It needed service, the price of that was estimated not set but astronomical, around 1k, and I had bills to pay. It would be worth 5k today but I don't care about that. I wish I had changed the strap and just kept it without having it serviced. It was/ is beautiful. C'est la vie.