Glue and Pieces

Chronically ill people:

Auto Mechanics Pose Dramatically to Recreate Renaissance Paintings

It even goes beyond that, like if I ever eat a raw vegetable for my own health I always get shit like “yeah but the dressing is super bad for you so you canceled it out by eating ranch with it” or “carrots have tons of carbs they’re basically sugar”

Norton is automatically installing and running a cryptocurrency mining program in the backgrounds of their users. There is no text box asking to confirm the use of this program and is installed automatically, it runs during “downtime” on your computer . While the official announcement said that this program was exclusive to the US, international users are reporting it as well. We don’t know the exact scope yet.

To delete this program, must go into the files (Program Files/Norton) and delete the file NCrypt.exe. It will ask for the admin permission. (Some report having admin permissions on their computer but being unable to delete the program.) If the software is already downloaded to your computer, I would NOT recommend continuing to use Norton, as there is no guarantee that the .exe file won’t return in another update.

This was trialed in their early access program in June of last year, and is now included with all subscriptions.

Don't want to mine cryptocurrency? You should use a different antivirus.

MP2: audio codec and container format

MP3: audio codec and container format

MP4: video codec and container format

Keyboard.

MP12

Robot toy.

MP13

Preamp.

MP14

Commuter train.

MP15

My dads coworker is at the front and this man comes Up and hands him a document.

The coworker took a Look at the document and while he couldn't read the things written by Hand, because he wasn't wearing his glases, he did notice the Logo of a different Bank so he's like:

"Oh, sorry sir you can't do that here! You have to go to the other Bank for this :)"

The man, visibly confused leaves, but dosen't take the document with him.

The coworker, now just as confused as the Guy actually Takes Out his glases and reads the hand written part:

1) Are those stairs up to code?

Just by looking at them: no. Open risers are a tripping hazard, I don’t see any tread grips so they’ll become a death trap in wet conditions, and those treads don’t look thick enough, supported enough, or even level. But hey, maybe it’s just a bad photo. But how far do the railing support posts go underground? Are they below the frost line? Were they properly supported in concrete? Was the concrete prepared right and given enough time to cure properly? Is the wood properly treated for weather resistance? Did he take into account the ground shifting on such a steep grade?

Even IF he did all that and the stairs were 100% up to code, the city has no way to verify that. So no, the city can’t just leave them there.

2) Who cares if the steps are up to code?

I saw a concerning amount of this in the notes. I thought we were all on the same page re: Cities have a moral obligation to make sure their structures aren’t deathtraps waiting to happen, and that’s what codes are for. I promise you, you WANT buildings and structures to follow codes and regulations. But in any case, they definitely have a legal obligation for it, so if they leave those stairs up on public land and someone trips, the city could be on the hook for millions in damages. So no, the city can’t just leave them there.

3) There’s no way stairs cost that much, it’s just the city stuffing its pockets:

$65,000 definitely seems on the steep side to me, and I’d want to see a breakdown of expenditure. But I also don’t know the scope of the project. For a set of stairs like the ones above? Yeah, that’s a lot. To excavate the entire grade and put in a concrete structure that includes stairs, an ADA compliant ramp, and good quality weather resistant material? That sounds more reasonable.

But the city also likely needs to have the following: a ground survey of the build site, architects to draw the plans, civil engineers to OK the plans, and the contractors - typically union, and therefore more expensive - to excavate and then build the structure. All of those steps are going to take a LOT of people and a LOT of time and therefore, a LOT of money.

4) Labor doesn’t cost that much, someone is just giving the job to his contractor buddy who’s inflating the price:

Labor does cost that much. Stop telling people to unionize and demand the value of their labor and then getting mad when people do it.

Anyway, in my city at least, contracts are done by blind bid and the lowest bid wins. Under most circumstances, my city legally cannot take a higher bidder, explicitly to prevent the above circumstance.

TL;DR:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/tom-riley-park-stairs-rebuilt-1.4227365

A few notes:

- There was already an accessible path to that area of the park. This issue is all about a footpath created by people taking a shortcut up the steep slope. Not an actual maintained path that’s part of the park.

- After removing the wooden steps, the city installed the above-pictured cement stairs with proper handrails, tread width, riser height, etc.

- The $65,000 initial estimate was probably for redoing the entire area leading from the parking lot to the community gardens, not just the steep part at the very end. 

One last thing: You can tell that this was an ad-hoc footpath because there is literally a railing blocking the way between the path and the parking lot, and the dude’s steps went up and over that railing.

I'm an American living in Germany. I've lived here for four years as of this week (June 2021).

Two and a half years ago, I had a medical emergency in the form of gallstones and an infected gallbladder. I tried to tough it out, like a True American Who Can't Afford Treatment, and ended up in the hospital getting the gallbladder removed. I was brought in on Thursday, had the gallbladder and five gallstones the size of macadamia nuts removed on Saturday, and was home by Tuesday. Total cost, 200 euro.

Back in March, 2021, I saw a visual distortion in my right eye, like an afterimage of looking at something bright for too long. Got seen by the eye doctor that day, got sent to the hospital that day to get a diagnosis--ocular vein occlusion--and spent the following three days getting followup diagnostics, including a full blood panel. I got diagnosed with having elevated levels of homocysteine in my blood, and that turned out to be caused by a genetic disorder that runs in my family (MTHFR-5 mutation) where I can't metabolize B vitamins correctly. And now I'm on modified B vitamins and the difference in my daily life is amazing.

Total cost for the hospital stay and all of the blood tests and eye examinations and other tests?

250 euro.

In my old city in the US--which has a nationally renown hospital--the gallbladder removal costs a year's salary for a minimum wage worker.

This was the first set I had been on that featured three directors, and hopefully the last. One director was there to primarily film the sex scenes, which he did effectively and economically. The other two directors handled what is called in porn-lingo ‘B-Roll’, i.e. everything non sexual. Which on this film was substantial. The plot for To The Last Man involves two ranches populated entirely by horny men who have random sex and feud over water, as they are in the middle of a crippling drought. Which is why we filmed in Arizona during thunderstorm season…

It’s amazing no one got killed, or seriously injured. There was horse riding, there were fight scenes of rocky escarpments, there were drownings. When the real guns and live ammunition came out for a scene I thought, “That’s it, I’m going back to the truck”.