Consider counting that on your tax deductions for the year since it’s a donation. This is all really nice of you and hopefully helps make their lives a little better.

It’s a nice gesture, but this is exactly why a lot of people don’t like giving away free stuff. It’s why IT departments are hesitant to give away equipment they are throwing out because some users will come back and expect free tech support. Not saying you’re against doing anything like that, but just that asshole companies like Microsoft make this so damn difficult nowadays that doing as others suggested here to create a new Microsoft account for this is going to get you calls inevitably in the future when they forget the password or run into other issues. And if not, it’ll likely end with them not using it because of the hassle or throwing it out.

I hate to sound negative because it’s an awesome gesture on your part to do and I’m sure in a perfect world, it would be wonderful for some of the residents to get to use something like that.

But since it’s not like the old days of having a CD you pop in but a digital app connected to an online account, you’ll need to do somethings that may cause confusion. It sounds like you’d have to do as others suggest and create a new Microsoft account and have a license for that game on there. Or get a GamePass subscription on that account that would allow access to Flight Simulator and more, but that would mean a perpetual donation for them to use it too.

Someone may come along and suggest a pirated copy of Flight Simulator, but I would strongly advise against that because it can put the home at legal risk if discovered and can cause other issues like if it gets patched in the future.

This is Grubhub and all those other apps when I get a craving at home and don’t want to drive or can’t drive because I’m not sober. I browse through and see some stuff that looks decent and get all the way to the end to find out that my $10 worth of food is now going to be $25 plus tip to be delivered to me. So I just close the app and then get one of those stupid notifications “hey you still have stuff in your cart! Come back and finish your order”.

No, fuck you.

I always go for 720 or 1080 despite having decent 4K TVs. My reasoning is file size too but because I don’t have a ton of space to spare for all the stuff I want to store. I have about 2TB left but that’s going to get used up eventually.

There are some things I’ll go for the high quality stuff like Super Mario Bros which looks amazing but that’s rare for me.

30GB for one movie is nuts.

Most recent, but not the absolute worst, was ripping my pants at work. I bent down to pick something up and heard the rip. It was over my crotch region too. Thankfully I had boxers on but was still pretty embarrassed.

Thankfully my boss was cool about it and I just drove over to Costco down the street and got a new pair and changed in the back of my car. He make a joke when I got back which was fine.

Been that way for a while on my iPhone and I’ve never had Premium or whatever the fuck YouTube calls their paid subscription now.

It doesn’t work on music videos or videos that are for the music, like music with an album art in the background unless YouTube hasn’t categorized it correctly.

I think your cert plans are good, but I think you should also get a Microsoft cert relating to security as well just to diversify and also be appealing to orgs that are using Defender and give you another perspective. Microsoft has exam vouchers every so often so you have the opportunity to schedule an exam for free if you participate too.

I am currently unofficially the security guy at my job in my role because no one else was taking it on and I have similar goals as you and this is the route I’ve been taken thus far.

If you have the freedom in your current role, see if there are any security related tasks you can take on to gain some experience if that sounds appealing too.

Yeah the ones at the Post Office, right?

I’ve been into 3D printing for a few years now and it’s been a really fun hobby that has grown over the years.

I started with a cheap FDM printer which basically is the most common kind that extrudes plastic onto a build plate to create a 3D object. I then began learning how to create my own objects in various CAD programs like Fusion 360 and even Windows 10/11’s 3D Builder. I started making small alterations to existing objects I found online. The first was because the object I wanted was too large for my small print bed so I learned how to modify the model on my own in the CAD software. I then began doing more complex things like creating objects from scratch to be used. I’m mostly into practical printing but there are a lot of people who choose this for miniatures like for DnD and Warhammer or for creating cosplay armor/accessories.

Most recently, I moved into resin printing (SLA) which is different than FDM in using liquid resin and lasers to create the 3D objects. This is more expensive and more hands on in terms of needing post processing and also more safety involved because resin is toxic to breathe in and also hazardous to the touch, but has been very satisfying and a joy. The level of detail is much higher quality on SLA than FDM, generally feeling like something you’d actually find in a store than something that has noticeable lines straight from a FDM printer bed. Not that you can’t achieve similar qualities with FDM, but it just will require more work like sanding and polishing.

Similarly, my girlfriend likes to crochet and we both have grown to find commonalities in our hobbies. I recently created and 3D printed a crochet hook for her with a cute little buddy on top which she has been awing over the past week.

We have gone to some local street fair events and often find people who are selling their crocheted and 3D printed stuff, usually like stuff animals and desk toys, respectively.

But if you feel burnt out, you may need something else in your life. Maybe to find a more fulfilling purpose like helping others? Speaking from experience, some of my burnt out feelings have been “fixed” when I spend time helping others and being a source of strength for someone else. I find myself most satisfied when I have been able to improve someone else’s life in some way. Just to throw that possibility out there too.

Don’t put up with abuse. I let a woman take advantage of me and abuse me, mentally, emotionally, and physically, for almost 4 years. I was determined not to hit the 4 year anniversary, but I feel stupid letting it go on at all. She still tries to reach out and every now and then but I’m over it. I let her have a ton of control over my life back when we spent time together.

It was hard dealing with it and it was hard getting over her.

I can do meth

You’re unfortunately correct. IT departments will just implement a new GPO to modify registry or otherwise hope to block this or pause this update until they absolutely have no choice and then hope for the best or hope to block it later down the line.

I kept wondering what would keep me from updating to newer versions of Windows.

Yeahhhh…this is it. This and the inevitable forced Microsoft accounts that will come with this.

The Microsoft of the past was evil, but at least you could pay for an upgrade to the enterprise version that didn’t include this bullshit, but even the enterprise versions suffer from this stuff too!

Guy in my 30’s here too. I felt the same but the last 4 relationships I’ve had over the last decade, all of them approached me. Two women at work had an interest in me and reached out to me and another came by a friend and another came from online dating, she messaged me first.

I have spent time going hard on the search and didn’t have as much luck as when I just sat back and did my own thing. I focused on my hobbies and doing what made me happy than trying to please women I was interested in and making them my top priority in hopes they would see me and want to date me.

I’ve had my best luck when I didn’t try/wasn’t actively searching.

I hated hearing that when I was single but it seems true.

I think sometimes the smell of desperation comes off even if you don’t feel desperate and it scares people off. Whereas if you’re not looking and happen to meet someone, it’s natural and there is no desperation because you’re doing you.

Not to say you can’t still swipe on Tinder, etc.; just put more effort into doing things you enjoy and the rest comes naturally. Take pictures of yourself doing those things you enjoy to share on your dating profiles which helps in this search too. Since you want something long term, you need some common ground and hobbies/common interests are perfect for that.

If you’re into reading and post about books you’ve read, you’ll meet someone who strikes up a conversation about reading the same book. Sort of like that, is what I’m getting at.

Good luck!

In my country it is illegal to share, but not illegal to download

By torrenting, you are sharing by default as it’s P2P. Even if you choose not to seed after downloading, you’re still sharing while you are downloading as other people who download after you are downloading chunks of the data from your partially downloaded data too.

So technically you are still committing a crime here.

Should that law change, it cannot retroactively affect something that happened in the past

Not necessarily. Very tyrannical governments don’t care and will tread on your rights even going backwards before the law was enacted if they so desire to do so.

Most laws don’t apply retroactively, but some can and do.

My religion specifically states that I am commanded to take a day off for the explicit purpose to rest.

This is your cue that both science and religion are telling you to rest and enjoy the beauty of this world.

Edit: disregard this comment. Learned more about AirTags and this will NOT work if you are on Android. AirTags rely on other iOS devices (iPhone/iPad) and only work with Android in notifying you if one is following you to protect you against being stalked. But they do not have GPS and are incompatible with Android’s Bluetooth, so yeah, sorry. Thought this would be a good idea but apparently I didn’t fully understand how these worked so disregard below.

Since he’s on iPhone, what about you carrying an Apple AirTag that is connected to his account?

To be fair, I don’t know the specifics on battery and the like, but seems like a possible hardware solution given that he’s on iPhone.

There are also other devices that are similar and work with Apple’s Find My network too.

I think you and the other are right that most of the people who would be searching for this type of answer would be involved in some crime as part of the process, but I can also think of situations where this can be used for legitimate reasons and most of these are outliers but still legitimate.

The (current) top comment here mentions a few, one being if you’re famous and want to avoid, for example, an Amazon employee or a USPS employee knowing who you are and where you live based on the packages you receive. You may be trying to lay low from actual criminals and can’t rely on police because of corruption reasons. You may be a whistleblower and can’t rely on the government for protection but still need things and shipping is objectively much safer than physically leaving your house for your necessities or things needed for your operation. Or you could just be a paranoid person, which is okay in the sense of not breaking the law, just someone who values their privacy for irrational reasons, but nothing inherently illegal or even morally/ethically wrong.

Wondering if this is a thing I can add or not; someone confirm if this is another possibility:

Rent a room at a hotel/motel and have the package delivered there for the day. Use cash and a fake name to book the room to keep up the anonymity.

Not sure on the first part or the last part which could be separate issues.