Random randomness

[Kasey Chang]

I've had all sorts of printers, and so far, I kinda hate them all in general. I tolerate my current Epson because I can get aftermarket carts for them.

Let's see... I've had good old Epson dot matrix printers (and rebadged Radio Shack ones) way back when. I have the original Deskjet 500C, the first consumer color inkjet, very long time ago. I've had mostly HPs and Epsons, as I'm not a fan of Canon and Brother back then. I've had personal lasers as well. Most of those just die when they start not booting up or refuse to feed paper. And I had to dump them.

I used to work in a software logistics shop and we churn through printers like crazy, printing serial numbers on reg cards and such. We have specialized label printers, triple-head dot matrix printers, even a continuous form laser printer (i.e. a laser that feeds like a dot matrix printer) and more.

[Brian]

I used to have an HP LaserJet 4 that I rescued from the trash bin at work and repaired. I used it for several years and only had to replace the toner cartridge once.

Unfortunately, the output feed roller started going wonky and would accordion every fourth page or so. I replaced the feed roller and the gear set but it only lasted another six months or so.

Every printer I've had since then has been a let down.

[Kraken]

We were an "HP family" for many years, but our last couple of HP printers were disappointments -- their quality went downhill over the past 10 years or so, IMO. Now we each have a Brother, and those are working out better so far.

[Skinypupy]

I don’t remember the last time I printed anything at home. It’s been a few years, at least. I haven’t even bothered to set up a printer on my last two PCs. If I need to print anything, I do it at work.

I think Mrs Skinypupy has an HP something or other, but she doesn’t use it much either.

[Lassr]

I currently have an HP Envy 4520. I like it so far but only had it about 3 months. I had a Cannon before that and it died after a year of limited usage. So Canon is on my do not buy list. Every HP I have owned has lasted years.

[Daehawk]

Lots of love for Brother out there and Im included. Have a multi and yes I do scan stuff, copy stuff, and print receipts all the time too.

[Daehawk]

woke up with a charlie horse and all that enters my head is the skit with rick james getting kicked by and yelling "Charlie Murphy!!"

[stessier]

The trailers for the new A Star is Born look boring as hell.

Wife and daughter went to see it yesterday as my wife was really, really looking forward to it.

I asked how it was but I don't remember her answer.

Actually I'm pretty sure she didn't answer directly. She said she had a splitting headache from the emotional rollercoaster.

I have no idea if that's a positive or negative.

I saw it last night and enjoyed it. This is definitely a throwback where characters are given time to let situations breathe. The scenes of Cooper and Gaga singing were amazing. I was bummed there weren't more of them.

[Daehawk]

cheap under poverty level food wins again. Got the cheap ass vanilla wafers at the store last week and they are super flavorful. Yes they taste like vanilla. The big name Nilla Wafers are pretty bland compared to these.

Lecour's brand.

[GreenGoo]

We eat those occasionally as well.

[Daehawk]

I see no need to explain this one

[Isgrimnur]

Those damned millennials are killing ... *shuffles deck* ... American cheese!

One by one, America’s food outlets are abandoning the century-old American staple. In many cases, they’re replacing it with fancier cheeses.

Wendy’s is offering asiago. A&W’s Canada locations switched to real cheddar. McDonald’s is selling the Big Mac’s soft, orange square of American cheese with a version that doesn’t contain artificial preservatives. Cracker Barrel ditched its old-fashioned grilled cheese. So did Panera Bread, replacing American with a four-cheese combo of fontina, cheddar, monteau and smoked gouda. The result: higher sales.
...
American (cheese) culture is at a crossroads. The product, made famous by the greatest generation, devoured by boomers on the go and touted as the basis for macaroni and cheese, the well-documented love object of Gen X, has met its match with millennials demanding nourishment from ingredients that are both recognizable and pronounceable.

Don’t rely on anecdotal evidence. The data show it, too. U.S. sales of processed cheese, including brands like Kraft Singles and Velveeta, a mainstay of delicacies such as ballpark nachos, are projected to drop 1.6 percent this year, the fourth-straight year of declines, according to Euromonitor International.

The end of the affair is also evident at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where 500-pound barrels of cheddar -- which are used to make American cheese -- are selling at a record discount to 40-pound cheddar blocks, the cheddar that shows up on party platters. That’s because demand for the cheese in the barrels has been dwindling for years, according to Alyssa Badger, director of operations at Chicago-based HighGround Dairy.

[LordMortis]

The radio pointed to this study a few week ago. Good for Millennials. I also like to opt for better cheese and have hit a point in life where I am comfortable doing so.... Maybe I have impacted the market to that degree.



Also is that only a millennial thing? Or is it Costco version of Orgainic! thing?

American has about three purposes. 1) too lazy or cost conscious to get something better for your sandwich or burger. 2) Grilled cheese. 3) A supplemental extra for Mac and Cheese.

Since I decided I'm worth cheese in my budget, 1 almost never happens, so 2 and 3 almost never happen because I rarely don't buy better cheese for sandwiches and burgers.

[Rumpy]

A&W’s Canada locations switched to real cheddar.

Interesting, but I don't think many fast-foot restauraunts in Canada use American cheese anyway. There are some outliers, but for the most part, I've only ever seen it as an option when travelling to the U.S.

[Blackhawk]

So you mean that people are choosing cheese that tastes like cheese?

[GreenGoo]

American cheese is called processed cheese in Canada, and yes it is everywhere.

[Daehawk]

And I love it in all its yellow colored glory. I got some cheap generic brand at the store the other day and its much better than Kraft single.

[coopasonic]

I am not really sure if I eat American cheese or not...

Pepper Jack is a derivative of Monterey Jack, the original “American” cheese invented by Mexican Franciscan friars of Monterey, California. As the name suggests, the cheese is flavoured with sweet peppers, rosemary, habañero chilies and garlic and spicy jalapeños for an extra kick.

[Skinypupy]

Mrs. Skinypupy and I had put together a solid plan, and have been scrimping and saving for the last couple months so we can get a few major projects done around the house. We are trying to finish the boys room (painting, closet needed some finish work, and some organizers), buy all new furniture for both of the kids rooms, get a couple dead trees pulled out, and finally get the ceiling storage racks for the garage.

We finally had all the money saved up and were planning to start the projects this weekend. Predictably, in the past 24 hours:

- I walked into the spare bedroom downstairs to find water running down the walls. Apparently the toilet above it had come unseated, and was leaking like crazy. Ceiling, walls, and carpet are all completely trashed and will have to be replaced.
- One of the cats (who has never had a single issue before yesterday) has randomly decided to go after a spot between her shoulder blades last night. She tore off all the fur, and scratched it into a massive bloody mess. Vet needs to do a blood panel (at least), and who knows what other treatment we'll need to do for me.
- Mrs. Skinypupy let me know that while taking the kids to school this morning, she noticed the rubber starting to flake off two of her tires. So...new tires.

It's nothing that's a huge deal in the grand scheme, but all the $$ we've saved for these projects that we were so excited to finally get finished has now gone poof. Guess we'll start saving again...

[Isgrimnur]

They know. Get out.

[Daehawk]

Watched a 1989 ep of Computer Chronicles with them talking about mhz being king. There was a Intel guy saying "Our 33mhz is top of the line right now but I expect in 10 years time we could see near 200 mhz speeds" . Even the top Intel bigwig couldn't predict how fast tech would evolve or how big the leaps would be. By 1999 the top Intel cpu was 600 mhz.

[Anonymous Bosch]

Even the top Intel bigwig couldn't predict how fast tech would evolve or how big the leaps would be.

I'd say Moore's law -- a predictive observation from one of the original founders of Intel, and top Intel bigwigs -- has proven to be surprisingly accurate over the years.

[Max Peck]

I am not really sure if I eat American cheese or not...

Pepper Jack is a derivative of Monterey Jack, the original “American” cheese invented by Mexican Franciscan friars of Monterey, California. As the name suggests, the cheese is flavoured with sweet peppers, rosemary, habañero chilies and garlic and spicy jalapeños for an extra kick.

Apparently there's a difference between American cheese and American cheese.

[Daehawk]

Ive been having weird dreams of late. But just now I had THE weirdest. I was on the couch and nodded off. In my dream I was in the bedroom and wanted to listen to some music but my wife was watching tv and wouldn't let me. Then suddenly she started singing White Wedding to me by Billy Idol. I was shocked and amazed because she was good! Damn good . I just stood smiling listening. In fact she sounded like Billy . Then suddenly I jolted awake and the radio I was listening to when I fell asleep was on my chest playing..yup you guessed it..Billy Idol's White Wedding

[Holman]

And I love it in all its yellow colored glory. I got some cheap generic brand at the store the other day and its much better than Kraft single.

If your American cheese is yellow, it has been dyed. American cheese is white.

[Z-Corn]

I'm an absolute food snob but I won't hate on American Cheese.

It has its place in American cuisine. American on a burger is delicious. A grilled cheese with American is delicious.

"Processed" isn't necessarily a bad word. It depends on what was done in that process. A blend of quality cheeses, sodium citrate (aka melting salts) and annatto for color can be made into a great cheese. It's when you wrap it in individual slices that it gets gross.

[Daehawk]

Burgers and grilled cheese are 2 of the 4 ways I eat it. The other two are by the slice and torn up in salads.

[AWS260]

Deadspin's coverage of U.S. women's gymnastics is really excellent. Too bad the institution they're covering can't tie its own shoes.

In the past couple of months, USA Gymnastics has:

Hired a coach who defended Larry Nasser, then forced her to resign after an outcry from abused gymnasts.

Fired the marketing executive that they had installed as CEO, after nine months of incompetence.

Appointed Mary Bono (remember her?) as CEO, only to see her immediately criticized (by Simone Biles) for a dumb take on Colin Kapernick's Nike ad.

Saw their new CEO resign after five days.

At least the athletes are still amazing.

[Madmarcus]

Watched a 1989 ep of Computer Chronicles with them talking about mhz being king. There was a Intel guy saying "Our 33mhz is top of the line right now but I expect in 10 years time we could see near 200 mhz speeds" . Even the top Intel bigwig couldn't predict how fast tech would evolve or how big the leaps would be. By 1999 the top Intel cpu was 600 mhz.

Missed by a factor of 3. Given the context it would be better to predict low and look good when you beat the prediction than the opposite so I think he was doing well.

[Madmarcus]

I'm an absolute food snob but I won't hate on American Cheese.

It has its place in American cuisine. American on a burger is delicious. A grilled cheese with American is delicious.

The problem, for me at least, is that mild cheddar is better in both uses than American cheese.

[Kraken]

I loves me some American cheese (the real deli kind, not the packaged stuff), and I too am a bit of a food snob. And I prefer yellow. So there.

[Isgrimnur]

And I love it in all its yellow colored glory. I got some cheap generic brand at the store the other day and its much better than Kraft single.

If your American cheese is yellow, it has been dyed. American cheese is white.

First they dyed our margarine and now this.

[Kraken]

And I love it in all its yellow colored glory. I got some cheap generic brand at the store the other day and its much better than Kraft single.

If your American cheese is yellow, it has been dyed. American cheese is white.

White American is blended from white cheddar and/or jack. Yellow comes from cheddar and/or colby. Annatto is a seasoning, not a dye.

[Kelric]

American cheese is flavorless muck.

[Z-Corn]

I'm an absolute food snob but I won't hate on American Cheese.

It has its place in American cuisine. American on a burger is delicious. A grilled cheese with American is delicious.

The problem, for me at least, is that mild cheddar is better in both uses than American cheese.

But it doesn't melt as well as American.

[Z-Corn]

Annatto is a seasoning, not a dye.

It is both.

[LordMortis]

Annatto is a seasoning, not a dye.

It is both.

I thought it was an Italian way to tie your tie.

[GreenGoo]

Boo! Boo! I say.

[Paingod]

Boo!

Go for the eyes!

[wonderpug]

I was saying Boo-urns.