-
Posts
6,669 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
41 -
Feedback
100%
Content Type
Forums
Events
Store
Articles
Everything posted by btq96r
-
The first time I saw an EO Tech with a magnifier, it felt like a mess.
-
Would love to hear what everyone is seeing, and more importantly doing with AI in their personal and professional lives. I got to see a few of the apps my company had plugged into radiology systems for the docs doing the reads, and some are pretty useful. The technology is growing for sure. I have a ChatGPT plus subscription, and I was really using it to do a lot of advanced Excel formulas and research before I left my job. Now I'm using it for job searching, and to tweak my resume/cover letter with each application. I'd love to see what it can do with large data sets someday, and am interested in how it can be used as plug-ins with things I don't have a lot of familiarity with. I'm also trying things here and there with Google's Gemini, and X's Grok. I'm pretty impressed with the recent upgrades to Grok. Haven't tried Anthropic's offering yet. So, who on here is using any AI tools?
-
Just a little perspective on how much of a blip this currently is. The markets are as "low" as they were back on Sept 13th, 2024. So, not the crash you hear about from various media sources. I was pretty happy with my portfolio then, not disappointed now. Especially when I know over time, we'll keep going up and to the right. I've also got about 20-25 years before retirement age, so I know I have time on my side. Here's the five year chart for Vanguard's Total Stock Market Index Fund and their S&P 500 fund. You can buy either as a mutual fund or an ETF. It's basically the easiest way to get rich slowly. The stock market is as rigged as our representative democracy will allow it to be in favor of equity owners. That's sometimes slow going (and may well be for Trump 47), but this is what too big to fail looks like. You might not be able to get up there with Warren Buffet, but the US stock market as a whole and in proportion is a star to hitch your wagon to.
-
Stock market is fine. The valuations were getting out of whack, and we're seeing some reality come in. Still way more to shake out as AI costs and impacts ripple over the next decade or so. The S&P is trading above the normal PE ratio still, so be ready for more drops if the economy stalls. All that said, I'm not selling a thing. The long term trend of the market is up and to the right if you're actually diversified well enough. I wouldn't try to gauge individual stocks beyond a mental exercise. I'm just gonna stick with my total market index fund. Don't just do something, sit there.
-
Sounds like both is the correct answer.
-
Buy a Glock FM 81 survival knife if cost is your most important consideration. You can get a decent product and not enable the proliferation of drop shipping crap.
-
Hope they find out what happened. It's a shame to feel even at 95 he might have been cheated out of some more time. What a life. Give his Wikipedia page a glance. Lied about his age to enlist in the Marines at 16, made a mark in some prolific films, would up on Nixon's Enemies List. Impressive at any level. I'm also happy he got to leave Hollywood and enjoy some time of quiet reflection and peace. Santa Fe is a beautiful area. Peaceful rest wishes for a helluva guy.
-
These men fought for a better tomorrow than they had. And their record of battle speaks for itself.
-
Just seems a customer service thing. The form isn't terribly complicated, but I can see some folks who would hate the online version and appreciating some help.
-
You're that asshole who kept shooting me down in War Thunder, aren't you?
-
The best part of an expanded playoff is the gauntlet gets laid out. Very hard to say the four wins Ohio State needed to claim the championship didn't prove they deserved it. Just gotta keep reminding myself of this when I think about Ohio State being champions again.
-
It's fairly common for something like this when a different party takes control, even if it's just a memo from the White House Chief of Staff instead of a formal Executive Order. Just a pause to let the new administration get their political appointees in place to guide priorities in policy and regulation enforcement for the various agencies. I'd like to think the Trump administration v2.0 will be good for gun rights, but I don't think it's a high priority. If we escape any bad ideas like the bump stock ban this time around, that would be nice.
-
Never been. But it's on the list for a boring day.
-
That looks like the start of a beautiful friendship.
-
Jimmy Carter, 39th president of the United States, dead at 100!
btq96r replied to The Legion's topic in General Chat
He had more success than people realize. The feelings about his term, coupled with the way Reagan's optimism told the tale of the terms after cloud things up a bit. Jimmy Carter helped bring Egypt and Israel to peace; pretty hard to overstate how important that was then and now. While Nixon may have went to China, Carter gave them formal diplomatic recognition. Domestically, he pushed deregulation in the oil, airline, and transportation industries. Yeah, a Democrat removing regulation. He also appointed Paul Volker as Chairman of the Fed, knowing full well the plans Volker had were likely to feel draconian, and his presidency would suffer just as badly. That and the "malaise" speech are a moral courage we just don't get anymore in our politicians. His life before and after the Presidency were pretty impactful too. I'm grateful for the service he gave throughout his life. -
22 years ago, for my first vehicle, I wanted a Toyota Tacoma. I couldn't afford one, so I settled on a Ford Ranger. I still have that truck. But when I'm ready for a new one, the Tacoma is at the top of the short list. Hoping the quality holds until then, because I don't plan on buying for a bit to come if my Ranger holds out.
-
-
+1 for Private Internet Access. I've been using them for 10yrs without any issues.
-
Ratings don't always equal money. Like I said, if you can't sell the advertising to high payers, then you're not generating money. The article didn't talk about how much that 25% pay cut came out to, did it? For someone has experienced as Tom Selleck, and Donnie Wahlberg, I can see being up there on a per episode basis, even after a 25% cut. And if I'm CBS, I'm not selling the show either. The residuals from having Blue Bloods in syndication and/or on streaming platforms is a way for them to keep revenue coming in without having to actually pay to produce more. 14 years is a crazy large catalog of episodes people will probably be willing to watch for a long time to come. At this point, CBS may have just wanted to make money on their 14 years of investment without putting any more into it due to diminishing returns.
-
I'm guessing budget cuts came into play. Networks are burning cash, and the talent density on Blue Bloods couldn't be cheap. I'm also wondering if all the older, conservative tilt of the audience limited advertising revenue to offset the costs of the show. Great ratings only matter if you can tell companies the people they want to buy their products are watching.
-
Hoping his family can come through their grief soonest as possible. Glad he didn't have prolonged suffering. Cherish the time you have with people, you never know how fleeting it can be.
-
I work for a physician practice. Patients come to our business office from time to time with questions and frustrations over their bills because our outsourced billing company has issues. They're usually all friendly enough and most are just confused by a Byzantine system. Some are sorta rude, I get it. None have ever been threatening, but I always wonder if one will come with a weapon some day because a clerical error of some type just pushed them over the edge. Nobody deserves to be shot, even the shady dealers of United Healthcare. Arrested or tried in civil court... absolutely. But this will accomplish nothing. It's just gonna be more overhead paying for executive's security details.
-
The money potential from Alabama going to Notre Dame in the first round of the expanded CFP is too good to pass up. Anytime someone thinks the CFP is supposed to be all for merit, I remind them to think of the CFP as television executives before anything else, and their choices make a lot more sense.