Don’t try to update the BIOS of a generic x86 mini-server if the manufacturer does not offer it on its website. I didn’t learn the lesson the first time but I certainly did the second one. $200-ish down the drain that way
It’s not that bad, bios is stored on an eeprom chip that can be programmed with some special device. On some motherboards (usually older) the chip is socketed which is really nice. On others, you need to desolder it. If you can find someone doing electronic repair, they might be able to fix it.
If I ever find someone with enough hardware and electronics knowledge to revive those two boards (in Central America I should add), I’d just give them up for free for all I care.
You have to approach loans to friends and family members as straight-up “gifts” without anticipating ever seeing the money again. If you do ger repaid consider yourself very lucky.
My wife and I “loaned” a dear friend of hers $2000 at the start of covid. He hasn’t mentioned it since. But we went in knowing this was the likely outcome.
Don’t screw around with stock options on Robinhood. Also ideally don’t triple your first purchase overnight because then you’ve fooled yourself into thinking it wasn’t a fluke even when you know it was a fluke.
Or, as I did, don’t drop a class mid-term because it’s not going well and end up sliding into part-time status. Poof, scholarship gone. I woulda been better off taking the F.
I wanted a newer car, so I rolled my existing auto loan into the newer vehicles loan. So easy right?
I was upside down on it for years and years. It’s so disheartening to drive a vehicle that’s falling apart and stranding you everywhere but still owe $10k on it. It was an awful decision that took years of pain but that was my lesson on buying things I can afford.
Fo sho. My buddy bought one and talked it up. I tried it out as I was interested in a new chair since my work from home ability had recently increased from 25% to 50% arouns 2018. My broke ass 10+ year old chair from college was wayyy more comfortable. Invested in a ~$250 office chair after that. Have had it for 5 years, work from home 75% of the time, amazingly comfortable and it still looks like new.
I bought my Steelcase Leap V1 from a guy who did just that - bought chairs from office sales, replaced bad cushions, cleaned and greased them up, then resold them out of his garage. Bought mine early pandemic. Still feels as good as when I bought it.
I use a wooden chair from a dining room set probably, never got the hype over chairs. I’m not hard-core gaming but I’ve sat in it for maybe 8 hrs a day before doing school stuff and it never gets uncomfortable
Waaaay long time ago one of my school friends was both a videogame junkie and car guy. This was before ‘gaming chairs’ were really a thing, but his solution was to hit a scrap yard and salvage the most comfortable seat he could find from a junked car. He mounted that onto an office chair swivel base.
To date, the most comfortable “gaming” / office chair my butt has ever had the privilege to occupy.
I have no idea what a car seat would cost from a scrap yard, but if your the tinkery type and looking for a new project…
I’ve been thinking about doing this because I have a herniated lumbar disk and every seat hurts except the seat in my truck. Hopefully this it a temporary situation but it is insanely comfortable, maybe worth it.
Worse case scenario, your back still hurts but you have an insanely comfortable computer chair!
Well… not really. Actual worse case is it fucks up your back even more. I also have a herniated disc, and I can say a lot of the things that make it feel better temporarily are making it worse in the long run. Taking pressure off of it with comfy chairs or braces etc feels good, but that pressure is what keeps your back muscles toned, which are what -should- be taking pressure off the spine. So, the more you rely on short term fixes, the more you’ll become dependent on them.
I’d honestly talk to your doc about it - if you’re not already seeing a physical therapist, get a referral. They can hook you up with some exercises to keep things manageable; and that’d be the person to run any abnormal seating plans by.
This is true. Gaming chairs are a scam. They’re made in China and sold in bulk to wholesalers for $40 who mark them up and sell them for $600. I have one and hate it, it’s hard as a rock and not adjustable.
Buy a used Herman Miller. I know someone linked a gamers nexus video before, but you really really do not realize how bad most chairs are until you sit for ten hours straight in a Herman Miller, and have zero pain afterwards. And then that chair will last you several decades. There’s a reason they are constantly for sale. Those chairs literally outlast businesses.
My wife has bought several gaming chairs over the years. None of them have any breathability and she just sweats like crazy whenever she sits in one for a long period of time.
I’m curious why you say that, unless you mean in today’s market. Sure, it’s expensive and often something needs fixed. But it sure beats paying inflated rent to someone else to live surrounded by methheads, folks with kids that literally bounce off the walls all day, and/or older folks that go to bed at 6pm and complain if you make a peep after 6.
Personally, I like my house, as spendy as it is. I’d amend your statement to say “don’t buy a house you can’t afford, do your homework and research”.
Not me personally, but one of my career mentor’s friend’s took down the entirety of Google Ads as an intern for like 10 minutes. Apparently it was a multi-million dollar mistake, but they fixed the issue so it couldn’t happen again and all was well afterward.
In my first couple months, I broke Amazon so that no-one in Europe could buy video for a few hours. On a Friday, right before going on a week’s vacation.
The way that the ensuing investigation and response was carried out - 100% blame-free, and focused on “how did these tools let him down? How can we make sure no-one ever makes that same mistake again?” - gave me a career-long interest in Software Resiliency and Incident Management.
You’re not a real SRE until you’ve caused at least a $100K outage. You’re not a good SRE until you’ve fixed it so nobody can ever make that particular one again.
If an intern (or damn near any employee) can be in a position to single handedly take down that scale of system it’s not the intern that should be fired - it’s the architect that baked that kind of weakness in the first place.
Never let the car run out of gas. I was on the highway and the destination gas station was in sight. Well, even after putting more gas in from a Jerry can it wouldn’t start because debris clogged the fuel filter. Getting it towed + repaired was like $1000 when I could have just stopped at a gas station earlier.