Why projects start with a Discord and not an alternative - Comment found on Mastodon
JCPhoenix @ JCPhoenix @beehaw.org Posts 30Comments 382Joined 2 yr. ago
JCPhoenix @ JCPhoenix @beehaw.org
Posts
30
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382
Joined
2 yr. ago
Going to Chicago solo next weekend and that’s a little scary
Chicago is tons of fun if you've never been. Even solo. I went solo for a few days last year, before a work trip started. I spent half a day at the Museum of Science and Industry and then a full day at the Field Museum of Natural History. Admittedly, I lived there for a bit in college, so I know my way around well enough.
Get yourself a 3-day pass for the CTA. Even just riding the "L' subway/elevated for a few hours can be an adventure and an interesting way to see the city.
Just got back home this afternoon after a 4-day trip to what might potentially be my next home. I've had a tentative job offer on the table for the last 4 months, but some of the processing and checks just takes forever. I should know definitively in like 2 months. While I'm waiting, figured it'd make sense to start exploring housing options. Plus I wanted a little vacation.
The trip was a success; found a few places that would be within my budget that I could see myself living at. All walkable, too (though I'll still have my car). And hung out with a friend.
It was strange driving home from the airport today, passing up downtown and driving through the neighborhoods to my apartment. That I may finally leave this place that I grew up in, that I've spent most of my adult life in (I've moved away before, only to be forced to come back after a couple years...thanks Great Recession). It's time though. Of my family, I'm literally the last one still here. And I don't have other relatives here. So might as well go. Plus I'll make a helluva lot more money. Hope it all works out.
Anything Popeye related.
So in the suburbs, yes and no. You can absolutely have grocery stores next to residential areas. So like if you have a main (st)road that has a grocery store, there may be housing behind the store. Here's an example in my area (The Price Chopper is a grocery store). Residential zoning has bumped up against commercial zoning along the (st)road. Which means that the grocery store is next door for some of those people. Even a few blocks away is still pretty decent.
But let's say someone wanted to build a grocery store next to this school for some reason. The developer is willing to buy up some houses (and people willing to sell them) and bulldoze them down to make a grocery store. The city will NOT allow that. That's like a 99.9999% chance of never happening. Because that area is specifically zoned for strictly for residential and not commercial endeavors.
And it goes further. Let's say instead of a grocery store, the developer wanted apartments or townhouses/duplexes. That keeps with the residential character and zoning, right? It does, but this area is probably zoned for SFH only. Not for multifamily units. It'll never be built. At least not without overcoming significant local opposition.
This is actually being fought over in a neighboring suburb.
That's not to say zoning is always terrible. If I build a house and then some industrial building/warehouse or commercial chicken coop wants to be my neighbor afterwards, with all the loudness and smells that brings, that's not gonna be great for me. And if I want to move because my quality of life has decreased, who's gonna buy my house? Nobody. At least not for the price I want.
So zoning has its benefits. It's just a tool at the end of the day. But it can make things difficult when people do want change. It's not as simple as tearing things down and putting up something new and completely different.
After a stunt like that, I'm surprised Republicans or the whole House don't just expel Gaetz. I know the GOP majority is only 9 seats, but do they absolutely need Gaetz vote on things? When whipped, does he actually vote with the party as expected? And if he were expelled, wouldn't DeSantis send another Republican in his place?
Though on the other hand, he did exercise a valid power, simply because the weak speaker gave it up to get elected.
But he's anti-vax. Or at least a "vaccine skeptic." While there are certainly those on the left who are anti-vax, I'd say that's more typically a position of the right (though of course not all are anti-vax). And he's not quiet about it either.
I'm Asian American. And yeah, what other people are saying. I'm Filipino. Therefore, I'm of Southeast Asian descent. I have a friends whose family is from South Asia (ie India, Pakistan, etc). I have a cousin who is half Korean. She's half East Asian and half SE Asian. Or instead of East Asia, it could be Northeast Asia, though the former is what people are most familiar with.
I had a former co-worker from Mongolia; she could be either Central, East, or even North Asian, depending on how one wants to look at things.
All of these are fine since they give a general geographical and/or cultural location for these countries within and relative to Asia itself.
Astronaut. Space was my first love. At least up until about first/second grade (age 6-7).
Eventually, I became more interested in computers. My dad is a programmer in an IT capacity and he used to bring home parts from mainframes or servers. I was fascinated with these components. He would also write little QBasic programs for me that did cool graphical stuff, like colored bubbles floating on screen or colored "laser lines." He'd bring me to his office to see the "computer room," which was just like an entire floor of mainframes and servers and tape machines. I was amazed and thought I wanted to be programmer like him.
Around my preteen/teen yrs, I taught myself HTML/CSS and started making my own websites. By high school, I was taking programming classes.
I went to college for CS, but I also got a job as a part time website manager and email designer. Though I also became that guy who knew how to fix my coworkers issues with their computers. For various reasons, I never finished my CS degree, instead just opting for a 2yr degree.
Today, I'm solidly in the IT realm. Mainly in end user support, but I also do some more sysadmin-y stuff with the network and servers and even procurement. Still do some light web and email stuff, but it's usually more on the technical side these days. Been just over 18yrs since I first got the parttime gig. I'm now on my second stint with this group and I'm the IT Manager. In a department of one!
FYI, I think Reuters sometimes wants people go login with a free account. At least free for now...
I don't know if this is everywhere, but some of the McDonalds locations around me do have some kind of Alexa-like voice in the drive-thrus. Like those automated phone systems. I'm assuming it's actually taking the order and not just being listened to by staff who are actually inputting the orders.
So yeah, it's already here.
You're on Beehaw. These type of comments aren't acceptable here. Be(e) nice or take it elsewhere.
This type of comment is unproductive on Beehaw. Please refrain from these types of comments in the future.
I'm not gonna lie, I didn't expect the vote to succeed. This is surprising, shocking, and even a bit sad. Not for McCarthy, but more for the country. That this is where we've gotten to.
but Gaetz’s gambit is a dangerous one
Is it that dangerous? What are the consequences to him if the vote fails to oust McCarthy? He's on the Armed Services and Judiciary committees. Will he be removed from those? Will he expelled from the House GOP caucus? He's more or less already uncontrollable, so what's the point? And with the GOP's razor thin majority, the GOP can't afford to lose members.
Right now, Gaetz has a high profile. Even if the vote fails, he won't be shutting up or muzzled anytime soon.
That's interesting that they're straight up building housing on such on the former grounds. Even left the tower! But I guess that makes sense given that it's mostly residential surrounding the old airport. Kinda reminds me of Chicago's Midway Intl Airport. Surrounded by residential neighborhoods and even has a trainyard not too far.
There's a former military airport south of Kansas City was closed down in the 90s. It's being used as an intermodal yard and storage/warehousing space now..
Yeah, Idk. If the city closed MKC airport, I wouldn't be too sad about it. As long as they did something cool or interesting with it.
Nope, it's still used, and has been for nearly 100yrs, I believe. It's basically just a general aviation airport. Charter flights and corporate jets still operate out of the downtown airport. Some local hospitals and TV stations keep their planes/helicopters there. I think some of the more high profile users are the Kansas City Chiefs NFL team and even Air Force One. So it's still very much in use.
That used to be the city's main airport into the 1960s. But with the advent of larger jets, it became difficult for them to takeoff/land safely due to the proximity to downtown, which is immediately south. It also doesn't help that downtown Kansas City, MO is situated on a bluff overlooking over the river and airport.
In addition, there wasn't much space for expansion. It's on that "peninsula," with the river to the west and south, and the the City of North Kansas City (this is a separate city from Kansas City, MO) immediately to the east.
There's always some talk, however, of potentially closing it down, especially because of the airport's effects on downtown development. Basically height restrictions to ensure that planes can take off and land safely.
But people (the users) generally like the airport. I've done some IT work there and the facilities are nice. If I had the money to charter flights, I'd definitely fly out of the downtown airport. It's so much closer and obviously far less busy than KCI. There's even a small plane museum there. Nothing fancy, but it's something.
I'm glad for all the federal workers and military who'll get paid on time. I know that in a shutdown, they'll eventually get paid what they missed, but most people can't go much more than a single missed paycheck (if they can even do that).
But they're just kicking the can down the road until November. I guess it's good that they'll all have more time to negotiate ("negotiate"), but it's not like these people like Gaetz and his cronies aren't doing to pull this again.
Kansas would probably be cheaper. There are literally places where [they'll give you the land as long as you build a house](https://www.kansascity.com/news/business/development/article262864183.html. Admittedly, these are in tiny towns.
Maybe SW of Kansas City on the Kansas side, somewhere along I-35. Maybe somewhere around here?
On the Missouri side, I'm thinking NE of KC. Like perhaps around here. Between I-35 and I-29. The two major interstates would be on the outside of the new city, instead of how it is these days where highways go right through cities. Maybe even go closer to the Iowa border. Kinda inbetween Omaha, Des Moines, and Kansas City (like 1.5-2hrs away from each city), with (further) access to I-80 and I-70, two major east-west highways.
Kansas City, MO. Or somewhere around the Kansas City area. Kansas City is already one of the federal government's "regional cities" which have a high number of various federal offices. The US government is already one of the largest employers in the area.
Being in the Great Plains, there's tons of space to build. The COL here is relatively low, or at least close to the national average. And being centrally located means good connections to the rail network and road network. At least according to this 2012 article, KC has the most highway miles per capita. Maybe not great news for the FuckCars types. For flights, to/from the coasts are roughly about the same.
On the natural disaster front, tornados and floods are the most likely. But Kansas City is on the edge of Tornado Alley; it's rare for a major tornado to hit here. And let's be honest: flooding can happen anywhere. There is a non-zero chance, however, of a major earthquake due to the New Madrid Fault Zone in the far southeast of Missouri. We also shouldn't have any of the water problems of the Southwest. That said, we are currently in a drought.
Weather, as in most of the Midwest, can be complicated and temperamental. It can be below freezing during the winter; on occasion below 0F (-17C). In the summer, hot and humid. We had several days around 100F (37C) this year. It can snow in April, but also have nice 60F (16C) warm days in December.
And guess what? We already got a new airport. Though I imagine if a whole federal city is built in the area, the airport will need to be massively expanded. Or like you said, new, additional airport.
That's what IRC used to be for. I was gonna say it was annoying to get something like mIRC installed and set up, but that's not even true since there are plenty of one click web clients. My subreddit used to have a channel on a reddit-affiliated IRC server and we provided a link to our IRC channel. Don't even have to register a username on most servers to join a channel and idle.
Being text only, however, means no reactions emojis and preview of images and videos and all that. Which I can understand be kinda annoying these days. Plus servers didn't necessarily talk to each other. There wasn't/isn't federation, or if there is, most servers are not federated. But if you're just dropping in for a one-off question, that shouldnt' matter.