I tell everybody as soon as they ask me if I have kids and I live in a very, very conservative area. Fuck em.

Is there a sim card buried in there somewhere that can be removed or is it soldered in, potted, etc?

… Or your car bricks if you remove it wouldn’t surprise me, regardless.

Can I also add nothing? It’ll make me feel important with no consequences.

Might vary by locale? Around here (South US) it seems like every single store has their own rewards/discount/whatever system that requires your phone number but it’s not necessary for the transaction… It’s just an extra info grab.

Sometimes the user facing POS/credit card reader will let you handle it (enter/skip) but many places rely on the salesperson to ask and then enter it or skip.

But, I also don’t get around much so my experience is limited.

Same.

Cashier: “What’s your phone number?” (For the store tracking/rewards/whatever)

Me : “Don’t have one!” (As I remove the credit card from the case on the back of myphone)

Nobody has questioned it once. They don’t want to ask in the first place but are forced to.

I’d made it so long without hearing that song until it popped up in Umbrella Academy. Streak ruined.

Remember when small trucks were small? I remember. My 2008 Tacoma (which used to be a small truck) seems about the same size as a 90s model Silverado.

I remember the late 90s Tacomas and S10s. I want them back.

But, I do think we hit critical mass because newer ones seem to be shrinking again… I think.

Damn, got removed from your job by down votes. Sorry, that sucks.

Yeah, I still get spam/scam from back in the day when your phone number, address, and email were all public in the whois and it was regularly scraped for targets.

I tell everyone to do the privacy guard/redaction.

Generally speaking, programmers like to program (many do it just for fun), and many dislike review. AI removes the programming from the equation in favour of review.

This really resonated with me and is an excellent point. I’m going to have to remember that one.

I feel your pain.

Years ago I threw a party for work friends and acquaintances where I had 30 confirmed and 10 tentative (from calendar invite). I bought a variety of drinks (alcoholic and non) and bought/cooked food for about 50 to ensure there was plenty.

… 4 people showed up.

That was the instant that I stopped giving a fuck. Ever since then I’ve adopted the approach of “I’m going to do something, you can come if you want, but I’m not planning for you”. Or, more commonly, I just don’t organize anything :)

EDIT: I should note that this was a recurring yearly party that got bigger and bigger over 5 years until it just died. Pre COVID.

Damn, beat me to it.

I can also recommend this service.

So now can we call them “pole hangers”? “Pole grabbers”? “Pole holders”? If they’re listening to music and swaying in time, perhaps “pole dancers”?

I’m sure there are better terms but I’m not very creative.

Ooo, I’ll have to check this out. Thank you

It was weird that it needed my social security number, bank account, mother’s maiden name, and the name of my first pet to make the order but I guess it was worth it to stay healthy. Thanks bud!

O, and tell Derek I said hey.

Slashnet still exists and it’s fairly active depending on the channel. #xkcd was bumping last time I checked my client.

You’re supposed to put a link to where we can buy your miracle vinegar/silver mix in your post. Have you learned nothing from these marketing geniuses?

When it gets bad enough that I have to ; )

Though we have been on a kick lately of washing dishes immediately after supper and not letting them pile up.

Ah, delete the windows partition. That should keep me safe.

There was a big headline recently about a tech company accidentally hitting a North Korean “hacker” (I’m just going off the headline) so that might be fresh in memory with regards to your laptop farm reference.