It’s about short term vs long term costs, and AWS has priced itself to make it cheaper short term but a bit more expensive long term.

Companies are more focused on the short term - even if something like AWS is more expensive long term, if it saves money in the short term that money can be used for something else.

Also many companies don’t have the money upfront to build out their own infrastructure quickly in the short term, but can afford longer term gradual costs. The hope would be even though it’s more expensive, they reach a scale faster where they make bigger profits and it was worth the extra expense to AWS.

This is how a lot of outsourcing works. And it’s exacerbated by many companies being very short term and stock price focused. Companies could invest in their own infrastructure for long term gain, but they often favour short term profit boosts and cost reduction to boost their share price or pay out to share holders.

Companies frequently so things not in their long term interests for this reason. For example, companies that own their own land and buildings sell them off and rent them back. Short term it gives them a financial boost, long term it’s a permanent cost and loss of assets.

In Signals case it’s less of a choice; it’s funded by donations and just doesn’t have the money to build out it’s own data centre network. Donations will support ongoing gradual and scaling costs, but it’s unlikely they’d ever get a huge tranch of cash to be able to build data centres world wide. They should still be using multiple providers and they should also look to buildup some Infrastructure of their own for resilience and lower long term costs.

It does make sense for Signal as this is a free app that does not make money from advertising. It makes money from donations.

So every single message, every single user, is a cost without any ongoing revenue to pay for it. You’re right about the long run but you’d need the cash up front to build out that infrastructure in the short term.

AWS is cheap in the sense that instead of an initial outlay for hardware, you largely only pay for actual use and can scale up and down easily as a result. The cost per user is probably going to be higher than if you were to completely self host long term, but that does then mean finding many millions to build and maintain data centres all around the world. Not attractive for an organisation living hand to mouth.

However what does not make sense is being so reliant on AWS. Using other providers to add more resilience to the network would make sense.

Unfortunately this comes back to the real issue - AWS is an example of a big tech company trying to dominate a market with cheap services now for a potential benefits of a long term monopoly and raised prices in the future. They have 30% market share and already an outage by Amazon is highly disruptive. Even at 30% we’re at the point of end users feeling locked in.

Rust or mold, it doesn’t really matter. As other have said it’s on the outer part of the circle - the bit contacting the outer glass thread. The inner circle is the plug that contacts the contents and is clear.

If it feels scratch with a finger nail its rust, if it’s soft and scrapes off its mold. But as I said it’s not in contact with the contents so it doesn’t matter.

Also the contents of the jar are pickled. That means brine or vinegar, which is highly acidic and is what keeps the food fresh/prevents mould and bacteria. So if the pickles themselves look fine then they’ll be fine to eat. If the pickling had failed the contents would be mouldy.

Rust would make sense as the content of the jar is acidic and acids accelerate rust. There could be small pockets of air left at that location when you seal the jar and some fluid inevitably gets forced out as it is sealed; air plus acid is perfect for rust. But the jars internally themselves were otherwise well sealed as there is no rust in the inner bit of the circle, suggesting it plugged the jar contacting the fluid directly and no gas was left.

This likely reflects the jar lids are not quite perfect for the jar or possibly not screwed on to their perfect max tightness leaving air behind at those locations. But they were screwed on well enough to seal the content.

So in terms of hardware, I use a Raspberry Pi 5 to host my server stack, including Jellyfin with 4k content. I have a nvme module with a 500gb stick and an external HDD with 4tb of space via USB. The pi5 is headless and accessed directly via SSH or RDC.

The Raspberry Pi 5 has H.265 hardware decoding and if you’re serving 1 video at a time to any 1 client you shouldn’t have any issues, including up to 4k. It will of course use resources to transcode if the client can’t support that content directly but the experience should be smooth for 1 user.

For more clients it will depend on how much heavy lifting the clients do. I my case I have a mini PC plugged into my TV, I stream content from my pi5 to the mini PC and the mini PC is doing the heavy lifting in terms of decoding. The hardware on the pi5 is not; it just transfer the video and the client does the hard work. If all your clients are capable then such a set up would work with the pi5.

An issue would come if you wanted to stream your content to multiple devices at the same time and the clients don’t directly support H.265 content. In that case, the pi5 would have to transcode the content to another format bit by but as it streams it to the client. It’d cope with 1 user for sure but I don’t know how many simultanous clients it could support at 1440p.

The other consideration is what other tools are being use on the sever at the same time. Again for me I live alone so I’m generally the only user of my pi5 servers services. Many services are low powered but I do find things like importing a stack of PDFs into Paperless NGX is surprisingly CPU intense and in that case the device could struggle if also expected to transcode content.

I think from what you describe the pi5 could work but you may also want to look at higher powered mini PC as your budget would allow that.

For reference I use dietpi as the distro on my server, and I use a mix of dietpi packages (which are very well made for easy install and configuration) and docker. I am using quite a few docker stacks now due to the convenience of deploying. Dietpi is debian based, and has a focus on providing pre configured packages to make set up easy, but it is still a full debian system and anything can be deployed on it.

Obviously the other consideration in the pi5 is an ARM device and a mini PC would be X86_64. But so far I’ve not found any tools or software I’ve wanted that aren’t compiled and available for the Pi5 either via dietpi or docker; ARM devices are popular in this realm. I have come across a bug in docker on ARM devices which broke my VPN set up - that was very frustrating and I had to downgrade docker a few months ago while awaiting the fix. That may be worth noting given docker is very important in this realm and most servers globally are still x86.

If I were in your position and I had $200 I’d buy the maximum CPU and GPU capability I could in 1 device, so I’d actually lean to a mini PC. If you want to save money then the Pi5 is reasonabkr value but you’d need to include a case and may want to consider a nvme or ssd companion board. Those costs add up and the value of the mini PC may compare better as an all in one device; particularly if you can get a good one second hand. There are also other SBC that may offer even better value or more power than a pi5.

Also bear in mind for me I have a mini PC and pi5; they do different things with the pi5 is the server but the mini PC is a versatile device and I play games on it for example. If you will only have 1 server device and pre exisiting smart tvs etc you’ll be more reliant on the servers capabilities so again may want to opt for the most powerful device you can afford at your price point.

But like - use Linux?

This is spam and should be deleted. It’s custom spam code running on perchance.org (a genuine coding and AI site). The site itself warns users about the custom code on reaching it.

Open Office? It hasn’t been touched in a decade. LibreOffice is the true continuation of Open Office, which was forked off after Oracle bought Sun and OO had been left with poor governance and slow updates.

Open Office finally ended up under the Apache foundation but hasn’t been maintained since 2014.

LibreOffice has had continual development with both bug fixes and new features, and the Open Document Foundation gives it good governance and independence as an open source project…

Honestly, switch to Libre Office.

I’ve always loved the Denver Airport conspiracy theory - that it is actually the secret headquarters of the illuminati or other organisations. It was $2bn over budget and has tunnels under it, which have led people to claim there are also secret bunkers under the airport. It also has a few bizarre pieces of art within it.

I think it’s just an airport with ugly aesthetic choices but I love that people think of all the places a global secret society would base itself, they’d pick Denver Airport.

Apparently there are 6 underground levels at the airport - but they’re used to run an airport. And the tunnels were for a failed automated baggage transport system. The art is just art.

https://allthatsinteresting.com/denver-airport-conspiracy

For me it sort of stimulated my brain and got it going again.

I had a bad bout of depression in my early 20s, and the first time I took antidepressants I remember noticing how vibrant all the colours were, how much sound there was. It was like everything had been dulled and a veil had been lifted.

However it was not an instant cure - the first effects just showed how bad my depression was. It took weeks and months for things to gradually improve.

The next thing I actually noticed changing was my motivation to do things started lifting. For me it was a positive, if slow process. But it can be a negative thing ironically - people can be motivated to commit suicide and it’s why it’s one of the ironic risks of antidepressants at first. Take antidepressants under close medical supervision.

But eventually my mood did lift. It was very gradual. And I didn’t really notice it until moments of laughter came back or I found joy in my hobbies and interests again.

I would say antidepressants don’t just lift mood in one go. I’d think it move of mood swinging up and down around a centre. When you’re depressed your mood is centred at very low, and swings around very low and a bit less low. What antidepressants do is gradually move that centre up back toward normal. So at first you swing between very low and a bit less low, then between quite low and low, then a low and a little low, then a little low and normal and eventually you’re centre hits normal. Then you swing between a little low and a little high.

The antidepressants keep you at that level - they don’t make you endlessly happy, they just return your centre to where it should be. (For.some people they can tip into mania and over but that’s uncommon).

I stayed on antidepressant for nearly 2 years and finally came off. That’s when things got better - the antidepressants did the lifting but I also learnt the warning signs of depression and could be vigilant in the future. Coming off antidepressant when I was ready, the centre of my mood was in a good place but swings up and down were bigger/back to normal so I could have really good times again, but also some bad times. The difference with the bad times was they didn’t last, plus they were “appropriate” to life’s events and struggles. I didn’t need the antidepressants to.maintian that. But that is just for me - I know some people stay on antidepressants for life to achieve the same outcome.

I also knew when to ask to go back on antidepressants. I needed short courses of 3 months or so a couple of times. I actually had a terrible episode of depression again for over a year after a traumatic life event and the doctor denied me the medication saying I was just “grieving”. I had a terrible bout of depression lasting nearly 2 years and nearly killed myself. That depression thankfully finally lifted itself but it really damaged my trust in the medical profession (and I’m a doctor myself)

For me antidepressants work. They’re not a magic wand and they’re not the whole solution however. Sadly people don’t get access to other useful parts of the solution like CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) - I didn’t for example. But you can learn strategies to cope, prevent your mood dropping so low, and recognising when your mood drops. For me a the antidepressanrs were a tool to get me back to a normal centre ground/baseline while I learnt how to manage things. And they were and are a tool I’m prepared to go back to should things ever go bad again.

Looks like it was an Amazon AWS outage. Just geos to how how vulnerable the Internet is as it becomes ever more concentrated into the hands of the tech giants.

I think they were just pointing out that this is the problem with subscription services. You own nothing and you’re screwed when the service goes down.

It really doesn’t take “ludicrous amounts of time and money” to build a private library. It’s interesting how the subscription giants have managed to change people’s perceptions - when you buy content to keep, you keep some of the value, but when you subscribe you’re just getting a time pass to use someone else’s library and won’t see that money again.

They sold the proposition on convenience when everything was in one place, but now it’s all fragmented it’s a waste of money.

And of course plenty of people are building media libraries for free by sailing the seas.

Lots of elements to this.

On the one hand a safe well paid job is very valuable to a lot of people. Even if it’s dull, job security is a huge thing and not to be taken lightly.

Having said that, if there is no progression then it may end up being a trap and not worth it. You say its well.paid but is it well paid overall - as in keep going until retirement in decades, or is it well.paid compared to other jobs at your current level of career?

If its just well paid for your level then it might make sense to take a pay cut to get into something new, interesting and with better progression and opportunities long term. If it’s well paid overall then you need to be thinking not just about now, but about how you’d feel in 10 or 20 years.

Going out into the field might be attractive now, but would it be attractive in 20 years? Have you got a job you might not value fully yet but may come to value as you get older?

Ultimately only you can decide what is more important to you about work. It’s natural to worry about doing something irreversible and regretting it. But it’s also important not to let fear get in the way of career progress. Sometimes you do need to move jobs to keep motivated or pursue better opportunities or even just because a well paid may just not be interesting enough or tolerable.

People talk a lot about work life balance now, which is great. But it’s not just about hours and working from home. It’s also about having a job you like and adds to your life, rather than one you hate or is drudgery. We spend about 1/3 of the week at work and it impacts everything else about our lives - money but also happiness and mental well being. So while it maybe a €300 pay cut, it may be worth it if you really enjoy it and it makes your work life better.

I have an AMD mini PC in my living room and it has changed how I game. I got it because my Deck was nice but I found I plugged it into my TV most of the time and wanted better quality graphics that would look better on my 4k screen. I now love to sit in front of the TV with a controller and play my games, mostly directly off the device.

Many people have similar experiences with devices like the Switch - if you have a couch and a big screen TV then it makes sense to dock it, and many choose to.

So I think the “steam machines” of old do have potential now. The idea 10 years ago was good but the software and the hardware wasn’t there. Now it is, and steam doesn’t have to even do much to build the things - they’re out in the wild already. They can offer something more powerful than the deck without necessarily cannabilising the market the decks have - it’s expanding to a new user group who are less interested in mobile gaming and more interested in using their big screen TV to pc game.

Plus as a console the game library is massive compared to a PlayStation or Xbox or Switch, and with an OS that allows users to do so much more with their device.

Plus what Steam offers is something Windows can’t offer on handheld and doesn’t offer on a living room TV - a great interface. Steams gamescope and big picture mode are great on a mini PC.

So I think a steam “console” is not unrealistic. They can leverage what they already have with the Steam OS and steam deck with a standard branded hardware model of mini PC from existing OEMs, and allow others to use the OS for their own machines. I suspect if they make steamOS freely available people will also be doing this themselves with their own devices.

As a place for Valve to expand into, it’s reasonably low hanging fruit and relatively low risk as they’re not having to focus on the hardware and they already have the software working.

What a bizarre take. The EU council is backing down - they do want chat control but each time they propose it they meet resistance and back down. Then they come back again and try again.

To suggest the public reaction is overblown and media manipulation is bizarre. This is the 3rd or 4th time the EU has attempted to get this through. Just because they chickened out of a vote doesn’t mean the politicians don’t want this.

In a democracy votes happen. In the EU they keep resurrecting this terrible idea hoping to get it through but then backing away if they don’t think they can win. They know if there was an actual vote it likely would put an end to his.

Also the EU council is the antithesis of a democracy. It is not directly elected - instead it’s a club of the heads of states of all the countries in the EU. It just represents who happens to be in charge of each country, and gives equal weights to all those countries regardless of their population size. The EU has a Parliament but it’s a fig leaf of democracy as so much power is held in bodies like the Council and the Commission (which is 1 post per state and horse traded not elected).

So please don’t make this out as a sign that EU democracy works. If EI democracy was working properly they would have listened the first time, and they’d have moved to a directly elected system for the executive Council and commission years ago.

The EU gets too much of a free pass for “not being America” but it’s got huge problems that need fixing to make it an actual democracy.

This may or may not be the right role for you but should it not be that does not mean going back to your old job is the right way out. You got this role quickly on searching - it sounds like you do not know your own value and worth?

You wanted growth and change, but that is always anxiety inducing and will make you question your choice and decision. You will learn how your new role works and you will develop new skills to make it work. I’d stick it through for a good period and see how you feel.

But if it ends up being thay you really don’t like this job, it doesn’t then mean going back is or was the right decision. Nothing from your old job will be fixed or improved and you will feel the same again in a year. It feels like the safe option because it is familiar but rhwy didn’t value you enough to give you a salary your deserve. Your old manager obviously values you enough to want you back but mot enough to tell you that for your career to progress you do need to move forward.

You should look to move forward - if this new job isn’t a good fit in 6 months, work out what you really do want and look again. Don’t run back to familiar - you left for a reason but just becuase you haven’t found what you wanted yet downs mean give up.

I used to use Homeplug to get network from my router front downstairs of the house to the my office upstairs and back. It’s a small house, and I thought the homeplug was ok - I was getting about 150-200mbps of my 900mbps; not great but I thought it was a good as I could get. The electrics are about 10 years old but I could see there was a lot of noise and error correction when I looked at the software that came with the plugs. Simple direct wifi connection was atrocious as the walls are largely solid brick.

Then a couple of years later I read about how good they Mesh systems could be so I decided to try a cheap one. I was skeptical as wifi hadn’t worked for me. I got a Google Wifi system (not a fan of google but it was a cheap system compared to other mesh networks); it has no backhaul connection, just 3 wifi points (one in front room, one in hallway and one in office), and my speed jumped to 500mbps and low latency. I also hadn’t realised how bad the latency had been on my homeplug set up - it was night and day.

I have since upgraded to an ASUS XT8 system; 2 units only and I now get close to 800mbps on a good day, and 600-700mbps floor. My PC in my office is where I work (which involves high data transfers) and also game and chill, it’s been a huge boon.

So yeah, Homeplug does the job but it’s not great in my experience. It was cheap compared to a mesh network, but you get what you pay for. You can get some of the cheaper and older mesh systems 2nd hand on ebay - but unfortunately a good system is pricey. In my experience it was totally worth it.

I’ve not seen Euphoria, but drugs, drinking and sex plus underage clubbing were all things that happened at my schools between 15-18.

A drama like Euphoria is of course going to be way over the top regardless of setting.

I do agree casting 25year olds (zendaya is 29 years old) feels bizarre but that is what American TV has always done. Presumably it’s to do with experience given these are expensive shows that need to work to strict production schedules given how expensive these shows are. Its understandable they’d want a cast who have been proven to be reliable and experienced, and also are not restricted in the hours they can work. Also age consistency matrers - once you have one 25 year old cast member all of them need to be the same age or it looks disturbing with a mixed age cast set in a high school.

I suppose profile may matter too - Zendaya was already famous; the pool.of famous 18 year old actors is smaller than the pool of 25 year old actors. Certainly regardless of fame the pool of 18 year old actors with a big CV is going to be small. It’s risky to cast an unproven 17 year old but less risky to cast a 25 year old who has done plays, and maybe TV or movies, or completed acting training.

I agree they could just not set it in a high school but then the specific dynamics and stories they want to tell would not be available. High school is a strange time - in the US but also globally - where people are on the cusp of adulthood (16 in many places, 18 in the US), yet totally restricted by the law, family and school. It’s a perfect setting for conflict, which makes drama, and it is universally relatable as almost everyone went to school.

Meanwhile if you set something 19-25, it is no longer universal. About 50-60% of people in rich countries go to university / college. And those institutions massively vary from community colleagues, poorer universities, up to elite places. Meanwhile 40-50% do other things.

So yeah, I get that it feels bizarre that shows set in high schools are all 25 year old actors but I think it makes sense why, and setting things in high schools make sense too. These shows obviously make money and have a wide audience, even if it’s not really my personal taste.

Ok so important advice: regardless of Win/Linux, back up your data! Hard drive failures happen, and it can happen randomly at any time. So if you have important documents or any data you want to keep, back it up onto another drive, and ideally a second back up off site. And then get in the habit of refreshing those backups regularly,

I have had multiple hard drives failures over the years and learnt the hard way that you need multiple backups.

This is also important as a 5 year old gaming PC means 5 year old hard drives, and shit really does happen.

EDIT: And if you really have 0 time, get a second drive the same size as your hard drive and clone it. It’s better than nothing and can be set up in minutes. It’s not efficient as you will clone data you don’t need but at least you’ll be safe as soon as it’s done.

They said “from what I know” which implies uncertainty, while the response made clear, no it doesn’t work.

Perhaps but what is the value of human life? Being remembered of living and enjoying life? You won’t be around to care that no one remembers you, but you are here to enjoy life right now. So why be bothered by what people in 600 years are up to.