[subego]

Originally Posted by Thorzdad 

How old is your dad, subego?

Mid-70s.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by subego 

As an aside, nearing 20 years ago when I moved in, within the first few months one Michael Jackson, a resident of the building, murdered a cabbie with his own cab. I saw the cab back up and pull forward a couple times, but (pretty thankfully) couldn’t see the front of it from where I was standing.

The huge uptick in speeding, traffic accidents, and general crime since the beginning of the pandemic is fascinating to me, in a horrible way. I really want to know why this is the case, but every analysis I've seen tends to be politically-colored without actually providing good research.

[Brien]

To me it feels like a collective move to the church of ‘go F yourself-ism’.

[subego]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

The huge uptick in speeding, traffic accidents, and general crime since the beginning of the pandemic is fascinating to me, in a horrible way. I really want to know why this is the case, but every analysis I've seen tends to be politically-colored without actually providing good research.

My own observations in Chicago:

1) The economy’s tanked.
2) No one wants to be a cop.
3) Those who are cops are being more “hands-off”.

I’ll let others decide whether these observations are politically-colored (honestly… no snark or sarcasm intended).


As an aside, it’s pretty hilarious to see what people who don’t live here imagine it’s like. They think it’s the Wild West, but it’s more like, I dunno… the 70s?

[reader50]

Originally Posted by subego 

As an aside, it’s pretty hilarious to see what people who don’t live here imagine it’s like. They think it’s the Wild West, but it’s more like, I dunno… the 70s?

No murders here in 25+ years. Gunshots during some holiday evenings (idiots shooting in the air). There are occasional holdups or (rarely) crime gunshots. But no bodies to trip over.

I've never had a bullet hole in my home. Or a broken window, even though I don't have bars. No landlord calls to make sure I'm not about to move out. Nor needed thick enough walls to stop bullets. No drunks peeing on my front door.

A minority of days, you hear sirens - ambulances for the elderly, or a fire truck. Sirens for crime? Hardly ever. Car blocking my driveway? Maybe once a year, and even then, it's usually someone dropping something off (or picking someone up) at a neighbor's. They're gone in ten. Actually having to ask neighbors to move a car so I can get out? Maybe once every 5 years. Oh yes, there are no parking meters anywhere in town.

I think your expectations have adjusted. Maybe it's not the Wild West, but it's not supposed to be normal either.

[subego]

This does not appear on its surface to be an apples to apples comparison.

[subego]

Originally Posted by reader50 

I think your expectations have adjusted. Maybe it's not the Wild West, but it's not supposed to be normal either.

I want to add my expectations have most certainly adjusted. As a kid I was robbed a couple times. I’ve had a bike stolen. Had a car stolen. Had the car after that broken into a couple times and the tires slashed. I’ve been burgled a couple times. Been in proximity to carjackings twice and shootings four times. I’ve witnessed a murder.

It’s not even like I get around or anything, and never lived in what would be considered a bad neighborhood. This is just life in a really big American city. To be clear, I know of the existence and understand the appeal of places where expectations are different.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by subego 

My own observations in Chicago:

1) The economy’s tanked.
2) No one wants to be a cop.
3) Those who are cops are being more “hands-off”.

I’ll let others decide whether these observations are politically-colored (honestly… no snark or sarcasm intended).

That assumes that more policing = less crime, which is certainly one side's narrative.

[subego]

Generally speaking, I’d say more policing does equal less crime, at least by citizens.

More policing means more crime by cops though.

[subego]

Hey, subego! Wake up! I can translate phrases into 50 languages!

Gee, thanks Alexa.

[reader50]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

That assumes that more policing = less crime, which is certainly one side's narrative.

I thought it was: everyone should be armed in public to deter crime. We can all be unpaid (and untrained) policemen.

[Waragainstsleep]

Safer if you just shoot everyone you see. In case they plan to murder you.

[subego]

I kinda wanted to shoot Alexa for waking me up.

I’m very cranky when I wake up.

[subego]

Energy Saver suddenly stopped dimming the screen of my iMac.

[Waragainstsleep]

Ambient light sensor issue?

[reader50]

My impression is that Macs don't have an ambient sensor any more if they have a camera. That the camera is used to gauge the room lighting.

Did you cover the camera, so hackers cannot see you dancing to music in your underwear?

[subego]

I don’t think I’m using the right terminology.

The thing that kills the screen completely after X minutes.

[reader50]

Display Sleep.

What is the slider set to? Background processes can prevent computer sleep, but to prevent display sleep, one would have to simulate user input.

[subego]

Thanks for the correct term!

I have it set to 5 minutes, though just changed to 6 for giggles.

Operates correctly in Safe Boot, so I assume it’s not the OS. I don’t recall adding or changing anything.

[reader50]

A malfunctioning USB device could cause this. Perhaps even just a loose port connection combined with a vibration source, like a nearby fan. Can't be an external drive, or you'd get the "improperly dismounted" error message. But anything else would be a silent failure. Maybe even a mouse cord dying - though you'd notice erratic movement or scrolling in that case.

Success in Safe Boot would point to a 3rd party device, for which the driver does not load in Safe Boot.

[subego]

I yanked all the usb, so it’s not that. All I have externally connected is Ethernet and an Apple Bluetooth keyboard and trackpad.

Best guess now is some menulet daemon.

For the moment, I’ve just hot-cornered it.

[subego]

Little birdie told me the Energy pane in Activity Monitor will tell you if an application is preventing sleep in general. I stopped the few who were, but it didn’t fix the problem.

[reader50]

Do you have an alternate keyboard and/or mouse? It's seeing phony user activity somehow, probably from something glitching or wearing out. Most of the user input things are USB ... or connect via bluetooth.

Are you seeing any cursor jitter? A trackpad or mouse going bad might register small movements when there aren't any.

Nasty thought: some malware hides security dialogs, by moving them behind an existing window, and simulating a mouse click on the "Allow" choice. I suspect a simulated mouse click still counts to prevent display sleep. So if you've been partaking of the porn sites, better tell us about your bluetooth keyboard that was causing the whole problem.

[subego]

Keyboard and trackpad are Apple issue. No cursor jitter. There used to be intermittent connectivity problems, but Apple fixed that at some point.

No porn… on this computer. Also, not using an administrator account.

It just occurred to me I haven’t checked if it happens on other accounts. I’ll also try killing Bluetooth and see what happens.

[subego]

Managed to avoid this my whole life until now.



It’s in my upper periph. So, annoying, but not really in the way.

[reader50]

Have it repaired right away - they force resin or something into it, sealing the cracks. It's cheaper than replacing the windshield.

If you don't seal it, one or more cracks will grow out of it. Crossing as much windshield as it takes to reach an edge. In a few days, or a few weeks, you can be on the hook for the whole shebang.

btw, beautiful camera shot.

[subego]

TY! The 3X lens on 13 Pro is fantastic.

Had a feeling it was something I needed to jump on.

[subego]

Is it a horribly bad idea to go to the car wash before the repair?

[reader50]

I wouldn't.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by subego 

Is it a horribly bad idea to go to the car wash before the repair?

Hot/cold temperature changes can exacerbate it.

I pulled my glass pitcher out of the just-run dishwasher this weekend to make lemonade for the kids and stupidly filled it with cold water. Bye bye pitcher.

[andi*pandi]

glass shards everywhere too. I had a roommate explode a glass pan that had just come out of the oven, the food was too hot so she poured cold water in. It was like a bomb went off.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

glass shards everywhere too. I had a roommate explode a glass pan that had just come out of the oven, the food was too hot so she poured cold water in. It was like a bomb went off.

File under: mistakes only made once in life.

[subego]

Got an appointment for Thursday.

Person I talked to said the tech may refuse to do it and tried to push me towards a full replacement. I guess the issue is it’s ostensibly in my field of view. It’s so high it’s not going to bother me though.

I’ll let it stay dirty.

[subego]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

File under: mistakes only made once in life.

Was on a shoot for a really dumb action movie which never got made.

Someone broke into the production van and stole a bunch of shit.

Dumb actor/producer says “we’ve got a broken window and a MAC-10, let’s film me busting out the rest of the window with it!”

Spent the next hour picking shards of glass out of his hand.

[ghporter]

I was lucky enough that the shattered rear glass when my car was rear ended all stayed in the cargo area. And it was typical auto glass, so it disintegrated into small bits. Funny thing was that the tinting we had the dealer put on didn’t turn the broken glass into sheets of sharpness…it shattered with the glass. Safer, I think.

Of course when we tried to get our stuff out of the cargo area, we had to shake those small bits out of everything. And we both wound up with a couple of little injuries from the glass - my wife had a tiny piece embed itself in a finger, which required lots of light and magnification to find and then lots of patience/cussing to remove.

[subego]

Inaugural TiVo Stream firmware update took 2 or 3 hours.

[subego]

So, my dad’s not getting sold Wi-Fi in the living room.

Had an Ethernet drop put in awhile back. The existing Wi-Fi is an AirPort Extreme, and I’ve got a healthy supply of Airport Expresses lying around. Great.

Total disaster. Barely worked, and somehow dragged down my dad’s wired network with it. I know it was the Express because I accidentally left it plugged in, leaving him with a borked network for a couple days. Unplugging it immediately fixed the problem.

[subego]

Originally Posted by subego 

Got an appointment for Thursday.

Person I talked to said the tech may refuse to do it and tried to push me towards a full replacement. I guess the issue is it’s ostensibly in my field of view. It’s so high it’s not going to bother me though.

I’ll let it stay dirty.

At least this is sorted. What’s visible will remain a minor irritant.

[subego]

Apple Store opened 9 minutes late. Nice job breaking it, Steve.

[reader50]

Who is Steve? The famous one has been gone awhile. If he's returned in your area, I'd imagine the store would be closed for much longer. I also recommend stocking up on shotguns and axes. He might not be alone.

[subego]

Originally Posted by reader50 

Who is Steve?

You know… Singularity Steve.

[ghporter]

Google search says “this product in offered in this store.” Store’s web site doesn’t mention it at all. Store’s own app has no idea what “product” is. But Google is absolutely positive “product” is there.

[subego]

Originally Posted by subego 

So, my dad’s not getting sold Wi-Fi in the living room.

Had an Ethernet drop put in awhile back. The existing Wi-Fi is an AirPort Extreme, and I’ve got a healthy supply of Airport Expresses lying around. Great.

Total disaster. Barely worked, and somehow dragged down my dad’s wired network with it. I know it was the Express because I accidentally left it plugged in, leaving him with a borked network for a couple days. Unplugging it immediately fixed the problem.

Since I had a bunch, I tried a different one, and I think it worked. I’ve left it plugged in. We’ll see.

The next step is the TiVo Stream. I tried to set it up, but the Prime app was unusable. Hulu was fine.

[subego]

This typeface.

[andi*pandi]

I don't hate it.
Flashlight on the lockscreen could be superhelpful.

[subego]

I almost immediately switched back to the last typeface. All the new alternatives kinda suck IMO.

The flashlight widget has been around since the original xPhone. It’s less useful than it appears because the touch required to activate it is too long and deliberate.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

I don't hate it.
Flashlight on the lockscreen could be superhelpful.

Flashlight has been on the lockscreen for years (since at least iOS 12) now.

[subego]

This is a little better I guess. I theoretically like the new widgets. The new wallpapers have too few selections.



As for the 14 Pro (after one day), eSim is nice. Digital Island is mildly cool but feels gimmicky. The camera rocks.

[Waragainstsleep]

I saw someone has made it possible to play Pong with the digital island.

[Brien]

iOS 16 feels snappier than 15 ever did on my 12…