Itch

North or South Also known as "Merica'n" or "Americano"

I speak Portuguese, can understand most Spanish, have been studying Italian... At this point the next language I want to learn is Esperanto.

Clearly I internet more than you do, I was making the assumption that offering to "eat an otter" was a compliment. Urban Dictionary Defines Otter as:

GTX 970 I've had many nVidia cards over the years... I've had far too many bad experiences with ATI/AMD to ever go back. I know quite a few people that have been somewhat happy with them... I just had bad luck or they suck... either way nVidia from here on out.

Was reminded of something that starts out very very dark... either watch the whole thing, or don't watch it at all. Helped me a few times when I was really down. -tfn5dlyOVo

I am 100% unafraid, and clearly you don't have a sense of humor.

Which kind tastes the best barbecued?

37

Teaching English near a beach in Brasil. I'd of course run a few hostels on the side so that SG peeps have a place to crash.

I've been there... and I would dare say that a large portion of the people here have been in that position at least once in there lives.. (whether they were alone or just felt alone doesn't matter). What I can say is that Suicide isn't the answer to your problems. One of the hardest things in life is learning to love yourself. (It was for me anyway) You've got people here willing to help, but if you need someone to talk to (anonymously) the hotline that was posted in this thread can help.

Suicide is a very permanent solution to a temporary problem. The cost is far to high for the outcome. If she dumped you on Valentines Day she was not worth killing yourself over to begin with.

I have had several immediate family members join different branches of the military. My brother joined the AirForce as a medic and eventually licensed as a Nurse and then a General Practitioner. Now he makes a sick amount of money in medical sales. He was careful about which MO (Modus Operandi - basically your military position or job) he went for and like Caution said got out quickly. Served his time, took advantage of his schooling opportunities and learned a valuable skill-set while there. Yes he was broken down and rebuilt and went through some very trying experiences, but came out better for them. I have another family member that joined the Navy, did not take the time to research his MO and ended up in a shit job and hated every moment of it. Didn't leave with a marketable skill-set and would never recommend anyone join the military. None of this is to say one branch was better than the other. It all came down to how they approached the experience. Know what you're getting into. Work your ass off, take advantage of the opportunities that come up, and regardless of what branch of the military you join you will be fine. Either way if you do end up joining. Thank you. And a huge thank you to all the men and women that serve in our armed forces.

As a father... I can't begin to imagine the roller coaster of emotions you are dealing with right now. Congratulations/condolences it's very hard to say anything meaningful because it's a situation that none of us can truly understand. He's a handsome kid, take advantage of and cherish every minute you have with him.

For some insane reason 18 years after graduating from HS I decided going to Uni would be a good idea. I'm currently working on a degree in Linguistics with emphasis in 2 areas (Computational linguistics, and 2nd Language acquisition). I'm about 3/4 way done with the major, and have already completed a minor in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies.

I'm married so normally I would be doing something with the wife tonight.... But I am teaching English (ESOL) classes at night this semester, so I will be teaching.

That's laughable... You have provided nothing but anecdotes (which prove exactly nothing). I have data for over 150,000 users and several thousand computers over a 10 year period. And can provide details as to the % of support calls, level of user ability, length of warranty, number of repairs per laptop/desktop, the list goes on and on. That data includes a computer science program, and animation and electronic entertainment department, a center for higher performance computing, etc. Sadly you have been drinking the cool-aid from the church of Apple and can't see past your shiny aluminum case to see any flaws. I at no point said they were worthless, nor did I lump "all" users into one group. I spoke in generalities... that I can back up with actual data not anecdotes of "what you've seen". You on the other hand make claims that you can't back up with data. Yes some tech/developer conferences have a large mac user base, but I've seen it the other way as well, so your observation without a large sample base is not something that you can base a legitimate case on. Let's look at market share for example... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_share_of_personal_computer_vendors Apple ranks what ... 5th... far behind, Lenovo, HP, Dell, and only slightly behind Asus... clearly they have a corner on the market. When you have proof to your claims let me know... something you observed at a local tech conference... is not quantifiable data or proof of anything.

Anyone that contributes their spare time and efforts to keeping SG running has my thanks!... Welcome to the rank of LG.

For the most part I'd agree, however the last statement is just pure B.S. I have years of data that proves definitively the failure rate is the same or higher for Mac laptops as it is for PC laptops. And when they do fail... the repair costs far more time and money in the long run than the PC side does. Also development for Windows from a Mac is still very problematic. I am curious now that Win10 now has linux command line access (essentially a Bash shell) if more programmer friendly applications will be forthcoming...

We all know the truth is that Gabe can't count to 3.

As a long time advocate of gun rights and open carry. This kind of stunt makes me sick. This is not an open carry demonstration, I would have (as the police probably did) seen it as an act of aggression. Carrying loaded into a police station while concealing your identity is only going to end poorly. They are lucky the officers showed proper restraint and did not end up shooting them. I have gone to federal/state/police buildings carrying a holstered firearm. That being said my face was not concealed, I immediately asked the guard/officer on duty if there was a location I could check my firearm in, or what the proper procedures were so that I let them know I was not a threat and was just there as any other citizen would be... in the most recent case to pick up a social security card for my child. There is a right and wrong way to approach any problem. If you were pulled over in a manner that you needed to file a complaint about... entering the police station armed for war and wearing a mask is not the way to handle it. Yes there are officers that need to have complaints filed about them, but a vast majority are just everyday people trying to do a job and provide for their families. As with most situations treat people with respect and you will receive the same in turn. I can't say that all my interactions with officers have been great, but a vast majority are a positive experience.

Why would we ever change it? When not changing brings so much joy!

The amount of digging it would take to dredge up old screenshots and videos is insurmountable at this time... but I should get around to it eventually.. Zombie Ball - OG Napalm Hall camping on Vegas Hours and hours in Vent discussing "Obez's Mom" (aka Crimson). Raven leaving us all behind and taking his couch with him. I really do need to dig up the videos - SG has been damn good to us over the years.

This thread is full of misinformation on both sides of the argument. - NO apple isn't just for people who aren't tech savy, many very intelligent and sophisticated users use Mac. They don't corner that market either. However, YES they do cater to the computer illiterate which leaves some people to assume that Mac users are stupid... Stereotypes usually are based on something, but rarely truly represent reality. - NO Apple doesn't own the market on well built/well designed hardware either. (one USB-C port to handle everything is a great example of bad design) The XPS13 is an example of a very well built laptop that could easily compete with the macbook pro. - NO High end Macs won't outperform high end PC's or vice versa.... it all comes down to what you are using it for and what applications you need. I posted a rather lengthy post re: the whole Apple vs. Other debate and although that post was in a phone related thread a large portion of it applies here... I do get tired of the my computer/os is better than yours debate... in the end they are just tools that we use. You don't slice bread with a chainsaw... each tool has it's use and it's place. The only real recommendation I have is verify that you are purchasing the appropriate tool for your long term needs. I have on several occasions recommended Apple computers where the need fit the device. However I'd say the ratio is about 5% of the time. In terms of Gaming (this being a gaming forum) I couldn't in good conscious recommend a Mac.

I posted in a previous iPhone vs Android thread pretty much the reasons I will not be switching to iPhone now (or most likely ever). If you're happy with your purchase great... if you like built in obsolescence even better... either way... I thought this oatmeal comic was fitting here: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple

I will preface this post with the following: I have personally owned 2 iPhones and 4 Android phones. I have family and friends that use iOS devices (that I have to support) including my wife (who now regrets the purchase) has an iPhone 6s. That being said, from strictly a support standpoint I absolutely hate the iPhone. Sure they are generally speaking user friendly and sure most things "Just work", the problem comes in when something doesn't "just work", then your fucked and there is little or no recourse. Whereas with Android you have tons of ways to either find an open source solution, or make your own. The support issue is a big one for me I have to deal with it on a regular basis. Not only does the iOS system lock things out, it promotes a user base that doesn't understand why or how things work (nor do they care to learn). They just throw their hands up in the air and say "It doesn't work, fix it!" without attempting to find a solution for themselves. Generally speaking this is not a good thing. My experience both with phone support and with desktop/laptop support has been very much the same. The Apple (iOS/OSX) environment promotes/breeds a dumber user base in general. Before you get offended... I know that I am speaking in generalizations and that there are many sophisticated Apple users out there. However out of the 15,000 users I support, those that contact me for support have proven time and again that my point is valid. Let me give you some basic numbers from over 10+ years of support data we've collected. (We track all support cases and yes these numbers change over time, this is the current status using the data we have available here at work) We receive 64% more support calls from Apple users than all other OS's combined. To clarify if I have 1 Android and 1 iPhone user the iPhone user will call me 64% more for support than the Android user will. The average warranty for Apple products is 40% shorter (after purchasing Apple care, as and additional note the non-Apple laptops cover accidental damage and spills where Apple does not) The apple desktops/laptops run roughly 25% fewer applications (This is after accounting for duplicates, ie: 500 versions of Sudoku = 1 application) This becomes very important in specialized fields such as statistics or cartography where you have a stricter requirement or need. The average cost for similar hardware (ie: same cpu, ram, video, warranty, etc) is currently around 15%-25% higher for Apple products. I will admit the price gap seems to be getting smaller. For those reasons and MANY MANY more... I will not be switching to Apple now, or ever for that matter. That doesn't mean Apple makes a bad product, I just can't support a user experience that at the core is designed to cater to and promote knowing less about what your device does/is doing. This is just my 2 cents after 15+ years of IT support at a University level.