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Off Key - General Discussion

3.5k Topics 24.9k Posts

A place to talk about whatever you want

  • Pinned threads

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    Great!
  • Look at her!

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  • Message for Andy

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    Andy, I have another question if you will indulge me (awesome you found the site I couldn't remember; I have be careful about going to that site because they post a lot of sensational stories I don't want to see and aren't shy about posting actual videos of incidents of terror and horror, but I still like to have the option of going there) and my question is: For reference: I'm certainly not recommending you watch 20 minutes of this. I wouldn't. I watched 3 or 4... Link to video Is freehold the only or is it the most common property system for apartment ownership in the UK? Would there be an alternative system? The thing here is to get what we call fee simple (iirc) instead of lease hold. The condominium apartments in Florida are fee simple even though the owner of the apartment owns the build and land in legal association. Land lease is what I have now and even if you own a manufactured or mobile home, it's still a yearly renewed (or not) tenancy making the ownership of the dwelling illusory at the end of the day. Thanks!
  • Today was the last day of class

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    @ShiroKuro said: What an interesting model, esp. outside of a conservatory or similar setting. It is at the music school where a number of students take one-on-one lessons. This class is meant to augment those lessons. In fact, the teacher mentioned that he thought it was time the school started thinking of implementing a comprehensive program starting from beginner level to diploma. It would be cool if that happens. They teach many instruments in many music styles, and have classes on theory and analysis. I have been giving some thought to signing up for one-on-one lessons with the teacher but I've been told that he is fully booked and one may well end up on a waiting list. I'm not interested in lessons with any of the other teachers there.
  • For those who practice sour dough husbandry

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    Very clever! How does it deal with the discard?
  • Piano recording: jury prep

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    ShiroKuroS
    Thanks everyone!
  • What are you reading?

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    [image: IMG-5962.jpg] It’s largely a chronicle of his life (hippie surfer baker chef) up to when he opened the Tartine bakery. It’s a good story. There’s also a good bit of it dedicated to recipes that use day old bread - fancy ones! - and various permutations like baguettes, English muffins and brioche. But in the middle of all that is the base recipe and how he developed it. How it’s supposed to look (big holes, baked very dark), how it’s supposed to taste (not sour. Chad doesn’t like sour). Also pictures. The soupy mess that I get when I use his recipe is not a failure - it’s how it’s supposed to look! It’s what gets you the big holes! He goes on to tell how to make it come together again, something not in the base recipe. Read it straight through in one sitting. I’ll read the part with the method again before my next bake.
  • Like most any tool AI can be used for nefarious purposes

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    AxtremusA
    Turn on automatic software updates for networked devices. That’s about the best advice that can be given to most casual tech users.
  • Hey Daniel

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  • Ultra stainless steel

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  • Regulating the Influencers

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    dolmansaxlilD
    @daniel So I have an Instagram account dedicated to board games. Occasionally small board game companies send me games to play with the understanding that I’ll play the games and post about them. Because modern board games are a fairly niche hobby, it only takes a few thousand followers to become enough of an “influencer” for companies to partner with you. Larger accounts (many still under 10k followers but some of the super popular board gamers influencers that I follow have over 100k followers on instagram ) will be paid to make content about games, sometimes for social media or for Kickstarter campaigns. They get invited to try games before they are released and get lots of free product. And these folks definitely influence purchasing decisions amongst fellow board gamers so they are a huge part of a game company’s marketing budget. Every hobby has their own group of influencers. In niche hobbies they may only have a few thousand followers. But in areas like makeup and fashion they may have millions of views on TikTok. It’s a really bizarre landscape. There is a woman, I believe in China, who shows each product for 1-3 seconds before moving on to the next one. She’s a big deal - though I don’t really get why. But companies pay her to show their product, just for a moment.
  • This is why mobile home parks are bad news

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    Realtor.com on X: "Corporate investors are increasingly buying up mobile home communities and raising rents, leaving residents with few options since moving a mobile home costs $4,000 to $10,000. In Clinton, TN, one retiree saw her lot rent jump from $275 to $650 a month under new corporate https://t.co/WfYWAjabgF" / X https://share.google/UJkPuOXkc5TaLmYNJ My lot rent is $890 in '26. It increased by $75 after only $50 in '25 and $25 in '24. It was below $550 in December, 2019. This is a private owner in his '80's squeezing every last dollar he can out of his business by increasing rent and cutting services. People who know (this is second hand) know that his children hate the business and want nothing to do with it. I told the manager I was leaving and why. She said she wished I'd stay but will give me a landlord recommendation for these years when I asked her if she would do this. The worst way to go about it (although I suppose none is good) is when private equity simply declines to renew the leases, renovates every unit to a uniform standard, and re-opens a park, with all the units being rentals.
  • Canvas data breach

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    ShiroKuroS
    Anyway, yikes!!
  • Anyone use Incogni?

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    wtgW
    I looked into Optery, which is a similar service. I did the free plan, which provides a report that lists where your info is stored. It originally located 60+ sites, and I manually submitted requests to a bunch of them, requesting deletion of my info. Optery still sends me occasional emails and now it says I'm only on 30 sites. I may do some more manual deletion requests; I haven't pulled the trigger on a paid subscription. PC Mag does a comparison: https://www.pcmag.com/comparisons/incogni-vs-optery-which-data-removal-service-comes-out-on-top
  • Tech bros

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  • I’m all for tracking your fitness but…

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    Good lord.
  • Gleevec

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    AdagioMA
    This is a great story. Dr. Druker is still here in Portland, with the Knight Cancer Institute. (Named for Phil & Penny Knight of Nike.)
  • Sharing the wealth

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    It's a feel good story. Fine. The problem is still a system that created this chasm of a wealth disparity and it's attendant societal evils.
  • You can have this in New Orleans for 1 million

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    A New Orleans house the way it should be. Link to video
  • The data center being built in Utah

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