Curious Canid

My sister lives in Alaska. The locals say that you can tell if you’re in grizzly territory by checking any bear poop you find. If it contains bells and smell like bear spray, you know there are grizzlies nearby.

Polar bears will most likely hunt you, even if they don’t immediately attack. They are terrifyingly good at it.

Take a look at the suggestions in this article: https://www.lifewire.com/stop-alexa-from-listening-5121012

If you disable the microphone, except when you want to use it, that should severely limit what it can do. If you also set the option that tells Amazon not to keep any of your recordings that should keep you fairly safe.

The caveat is that Amazon can decide to cheat at any time. They have repeatedly lied about what information that acquire, how long they retain it, and what they do with it. At the moment, they don’t seem to be cheating on the Echo functions, but that could change at any time with an invisible firmware update. There isn’t anything you can do about this except to be aware of the possibility.

It is definitely worth using the privacy options they offer, even if they aren’t enforced through hardware.

If you get quantum foam you must be pouring it too fast.

And this does not take into account quantum foam.

From an old New Yorker cartoon… Dog: Humans are so cute when they try to understand quantum mechanics!

That’s been working well for me through several generations of dogs. Not only do they understand a lot of English pretty well, they also seem to like being spoken too.

I knew that was true of new articles, but did not realize it also happened with opinion pieces like this one. Thank you for the information.

I generally agree with the content of the article, but the headline destroys its credibility. No one who might possibly have their mind changed is going to go anywhere near it.

I will admit to over-reacting. I’m just sick of watching people with something important to say undermine themselves by adopting the emotionally exploitive rhetoric of the other side.

I suppose it’s inevitable, but the amount of ridiculous propaganda being posted here by a small by a number of people is making this community both less useful and less pleasant. Bizarre conspiracy theories and hatred are not news.

That is a concern, but they seem to have taken precautions to prevent that from being exploited, at least in the short term. We’ll have to see how it works out. I haven’t given up on them yet.

Startpage is a good choice. I am currently experimenting with searXNG. It seems a little messier to use, but I’m getting more relevant results and less junk.

Memento. From one perspective it’s a happy ending, but …

I wish I could just get Prime shipping and drop the video service. I may still drop the whole thing.

You may well be right. I do not have enough familiarity with the situation in India.

I think the principles still apply, but how to carry them out might well be very different.

Thank you for your comment.

First, get them out of the situation. If they don’t have somewhere to go that the abuser doesn’t know about, see if you have a local women’s shelter. Leaving the area entirely, at least temporarily, may be a good option.

Second, help them take action about the abuse. Contact the police or find a lawyer to help with the process. There are lawyers who will work cases like this without charging. There may also be local government agencies that are specifically tasked with investigating abuse.

Third, get them to seek help in recovering. There are likely to be local organizations that provide counseling and other resources. This is not going to be a short or easy process, but working at it will make a world of difference over the rest of their life.

I’ve been through this with more than one friend. Every bit of it is tough. Having your support will make a big difference. Abusers try to make their victims feel powerless and alone. Having a friend who will help works against that, as well as providing comfort.

I wish you both all the best!

I live in an urban area where the cost are slightly above average, but not by much.

Depending on whose statistics you accept, somewhere between 55% and 62% of the country are living paycheck to paycheck with little or no savings. That is a literal majority of Americans. It really is that bad and it’s getting steadily worse. I was quite comfortable 20 years ago and reasonably so ten years ago. The dividing line passed me about five years back.

Consider me as a data point. My salary is in the low six figures. I have a reasonable mortgage and car loan. I also live paycheck to paycheck and have trouble paying my bills every month. I am currently in default on several thousand dollars of medical debt, that I am trying to pay off gradually, but I’m not always keeping ahead of my new medical debt.

Part of my income goes to helping out some relatives and friends who are in much worse shape, but even without that, I would have trouble breaking even.

I am just barely short of being in the top 10% of US incomes. The income inequality in this country has left the vast majority of the population struggling. Many can no longer afford enough food or housing.

PlayOn produces higher resolution files than AnyStream on the services I use most frequently.

AnyStream has worked well for me. Sadly, I often get better quality results with PlayOn.