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I'm working on a USB video driver. The way it works is quite complex so I ported from Linux rather than writing from scratch:

#define spin_lock_t IOSimpleLock *

Some things didn't have such simple ports, so I guarded them with #ifdefs. Then my coworker removed all the Linux-specific code as well as the ifdefs. Sucks to be him when it's maintenance time.

I get a big check when it goes to beta. I'm going to donate a good chunk of money to homeless shelters, soup kitchens and rescue missions.

And I'm going to buy a car.

The car won't help much with getting to work - because of the all-day rush our here in Portland, I'll stick to the light rail. But it might be worthwhile to drive instead of taking two busses to get from home to the North Portland light rail station. I expect that will cut my commute from two hours to ninety minutes.

More important to me in the short term is that I can go places where the busses don't go. Like the beach, the desert and the mountains.

I like to camp in the desert.

Say that ---^ in Reno and you get a 10-day involuntary hold for being a danger to yourself. That's because "camping in the desert" is a local euphemism for "committing suicide".

"But I'm not from Reno! I really _do_ like to camp in the desert." My pleas fell on deaf ears.

A good chunk of Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon and Northeast California is a desert.

I get another big check when we ship. There will be quite a lot of work between beta and shipping; I have to support multiple dongles, as well as harmony with the competitor's dongle, as well as some other featureful things.

I'm going to get my stuff out of storage in Canada. I don't know yet how much that will cost but I'm guessing three grand.

I'll get my piano back. I mean like a real piano, with wires and wood.

It was way out of tune when I recorded this. I later had it tuned, but I wanted to record its memory in case tuning it broke some of the strings. While they could be replaced, the new wires would spoil the distinctive voice of the piano that I had lived with since I was a toddler.

In my experience, if you enjoy my recordings, you're not right in the head. One of my two biggest fans has Borderline Personality Disorder - I met her by playing a piano in a nuthouse - and Schizotypal Personality Disorder.

I also have a Fatar controller in storage. It doesn't make sound, I have to use a MIDI Sound Module for that. But it has a hammer-action mechanism that makes it feel like a real concert grand.

I also - presently - have an M-Audio ProKeys 88sx Lightweight Stage Piano. I bought it for playing open mics.

The Hell am I going to do with three pianos? My apartment is tiny! But I cannot bear to part with any of them.

Lately I've been writing down my favorite artists when they're played on Radio Paradise. Then ever couple of weeks I go to a real good record store and buy a half-dozen CDs. I've got over a hundred artists in my list, I'm going to be enjoying lots of new music, with the approval of the MAFIAA.

Ah! The privileged life: a couple weeks ago I bought parmesan cheese for my spaghetti.

Sebastian Gorka, you're fired! You say you quit, you didn't quit. You quit because you were fired. And you were fired because you're a bigot. You hate Jews, you hate Muslims. Disgraceful! You're a disgrace to your race. And to the Nazi movement. You're not a Nazi, you're a fake Nazi. Wearing your father's pin doesn't make you a Nazi. No matter how much you wish it did. No color, no religion, no nationality should come between us, we are all children of God. Mother Teresa said that, and it's my watchword. Which I've always, always lived by. There's no room for bigotry in my administration. Stay away from me. And from my daughters. #ProTrump45

Admins should probably take a hands-off approach when it comes to moderation. Especially, if they are regularly posting highly opinionated comments in the same forum.

No matter what, SOMEONE will question the fairness of any given decision.

The problem with the SPAM mod is that it's a -10 moderation. That causes 2 issue:
    1: Mods can never fully revert it if we think it's in error since we can only ever make a post +5
    2: Because it's a super-mod, now the Admins are forced to manage it. It wouldn't be such a problem if the standard was objective (e.g. only commercial). But, since it's a subjective standard there will always be disagreements.

Is this a solution in search of a problem?

We really don't see much commercial Spam. Why isn't -1 Troll sufficient for the non-commercial "Spam?" Sure, it'll slow the descent into the karma hole a bit but how quickly do we really need to demote people?

Americans #PlanAhead, #winning big league against #Harvey! We have an all out effort going, and going well! So far, so good! Experts are calling #Harvey a once in 6000 year flood! They've never seen one like this! #WOW! But no match for the most resilient nation on Earth! #USA pic.twitter.com/tpXmOK70ug #TrumpTV #RepealThe22nd #RepealThe25th

Islam is no more inherently violent than Christianity, BUT..

If anyone has a basis to say otherwise it's probably Charlie Fucking Hebdo!

Which they didn't actually say, for the record.

Space travel is dangerous. We all know it. How did the old joke go? NASA == Need Another Seven Astronauts.

One of the big issues that space agencies have with manned space flight is getting folks to the target, perform whatever tasks (e.g., search for evidence of life on Mars, explore the oceans of Europa, build a temporary moon base on the surface and survey for lava tubes, water ice and other resources for a permanent base, perform geological surveys of asteroids, etc., etc., etc.) are required and returning those same folks safely back to Earth.

But what if we took a different angle and weren't so concerned about returning people safely? We could send older folks, those with terminal diseases, those with spinal cord injuries (who needs to walk in micro-gravity?) and those who just want the glory and adventure of advancing human knowledge and helping to make humans a space-faring race.

I'm 50 and in relatively good health. I don't want to die, nor do I want to throw away my life, but I'd jump at the chance to go to Mars, the moon, the asteroid belt or the Jovian satellites, even knowing it was a one-way trip.

Given that even Martian gravity is just 38% that of Earth and anywhere else we might go is much less than that, physical strength isn't so important. A space-farer would just need to be healthy enough to survive the acceleration (~3Gs) to get into orbit. After that, acceleration to reach other points in the solar system (given current technologies) would be much, much less.

So I'm going to set up a straw man for argument's sake and ask if you soylentils feel as I do, or are you just cowardly pussies who care nothing for adventure and advancing the knowledge and reach of the human race?

I, for one, would welcome the opportunity to die doing so.

Daniel Kammen, you are a schlemiel, a shmuck, a schmoe, and a #TOTALLOSER! But I have to say, you were smart to quit. That was a smart move. Because I would have loved to fire you. I promised my hard-working coal miners I'd bring back their jobs. In Youngstown, Ohio. In Detroit, Michigan. And in Pittsburgh, Pa. And getting out of the Paris agreement, which we all know is farcical, is a big part of that. I'm keeping my promises. And neither you, nor anyone else, will stand in my way. Screw Paris, screw your VERY CHILDISH hidden messages, and above all screw you. With a rusty pitchfork. Never darken my door again, you're dead to me. #JOBS

The Humble Bundle has a bunch of BSG (classic and new) comics on sale ($15 for the bunch).

Looks interesting: i've grown kind of fond of e-comics and manga's. About the only thing i can do while mobile, (like going to Disney World) cause i ain't got no phone.

Would have loved one of the phones Ubuntu was trying to crowd fund, but it was like $600-800+, if memory serves (and it NEVER DOES, Batman), but yeah.... money.

Still saving for that computer upgrade, but Disney set me back a bit, lol.
But worth it.
Last years vacation was a staycation. Really sucked. Didn't do anything. Disney World i enjoyed even though the humidity put it up over 109 degrees.
Helllllllla enjoyed EVERY second, pretty much.

Disney really can do a good job, despite the tracky-ness of it all. You just gotta want it bad enough: and i hella needed it.

Always nice to see your kids face light up like it did when Goofy entered the room.

Interesting fact that nobody bothers to mention about solar eclipses. It feels about twenty degrees cooler during totality than it does half an hour before or after. This is a good thing during a Tennessee summer.