Thomas Nelson25 said:Is the route—the actual path—geopolitically clean? Gotta pull up the map first.
Basically, if it can be done, do it. Cost isn't really the issue (assuming it covers decades of demand)—the main thing is making sure Russia knows there’s actually an alternative to their pipes.
Not really. 😁 You're looking at Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. Basically, you'd have to find a way through Turkey first, and then maybe things would move.
But we shouldn't write Russia off forever, either. If their government collapses and someone like Navalny takes over, everything could flip overnight. Though, how realistic is that? Not sure.
Michael Ortiz68 said:To build on that... Soder is suggesting that Germany might extend the lifespan of its nuclear plants by about five years.
A shift in the German energy strategy... it isn't exactly a complete reversal, but let's call it an "indefinite delay" of the energy transition.
Yeah, those last nuclear plants were supposed to be decommissioned this year, but now? Probably not happening. The mess Germany made for itself was betting everything on renewables while trying to phase out fossil fuels and nuclear at the exact same time instead of doing it in stages. I think they even held a referendum on choosing renewables. They should have phased out fossil fuels gradually, replacing them with renewables to keep things sustainable, and then moved toward nuclear. But shutting down nuclear too fast created a massive gap they couldn't fill. So, what happened? They ramped up fossil fuel production, which ended up spiking the very CO2 emissions they were trying to slash in the first place.
Calexico actually pulled off a pretty solid cover here Pitchfork, if you ask me. I dig it. While Neon Bible is still my top pick for them, I’d say Intervention is probably their best work overall. Someone did a great job blending those tracks with clips from Battleship Potemkin.
I want to throw out a quick shout-out to Steven Newman50 and Lisa Davis46, just for the sheer amount of effort they pour into this subforum. Honestly, I don't get why people question things like our Album of the Week or Song Day features. A while back, Pangloss and Silvery ran something similar, and if you ask me, the music section is probably the best part of this entire site because of stuff like this. You rarely see this kind of engagement anywhere else. It feels like the mods have decided their only job is handing out bans rather than actually contributing to the community. They have all these tools—editing rights, administrative powers—that could be used to host these little interactive games and polls that the rest of us can't pull off due to technical limits. I think a lot of people overlook how much time and work goes into this, work that most users aren't even required to do.
As for all the bickering going on elsewhere, I’m not looking to pick sides or get dragged into the fray, but man, it’s wild to me how much fighting breaks out over something that should be lighthearted fun. I get it—politics is high-tension. But when it comes to music? It really shouldn't be this serious. Everyone has different tastes, and if people showed just a little more grace, there would be way less blood on the dance floor
I don't think so. Do you have any other input ports on the TV? Maybe a DVI or an HDMI port? Honestly, I’d just track down a DVI-to-HDMI adapter or whatever else you can find lying around. Just double-check whether you need a male or female connector so you don't end up with a useless piece of plastic.
Try pulling the CMOS battery off the motherboard for about thirty seconds, then pop it back in. That is, if you can actually reach it without breaking something first.
Anthony Nguyen81 said:We're talking nations here, not just three different religions or tribes. Canada isn't some version of Yugoslavia viewed through a Mexican lens.
Back when the communists were busy hammering home the idea that we were all one single nation without these religious divides, you people actually managed to coexist. No one was driving wedges between you. But the second they started preaching in the churches and mosques that you’re all different faiths and different races, you started hating each other more than ever. It’s ironic, really. You're all ethnically identical, yet religion—or rather, religious institutions—split you wide open. It's pretty pathetic how you've managed to wreck your own country and your own lives.
Steven Fox37 said:And who decided that was the rule for being grammatically correct? It’s obvious I’m mocking the whole concept of stripping someone of their nationality just because of how they handle syntax. Am I going to lose my citizenship too because I forget an "e" at the end of a verb?
That’s more of a red flag than an actual standard.😁
Steven Fox37 said:reminds me of that kids' book "Snow in Miami" where the author talks about how other kids used to tease him because he’d call it "a car" instead of saying "it." this guy would probably take it even further and start erasing people's entire identities based on some childish linguistic rule. 🤣🙏
Give me a break. That isn't a "childish" rule; it's just how American grammar works. 😁 The word "car" is derived from "automobile," which is a noun with a specific gendered root in its origin, and according to standard English rules, abbreviations often follow the gender of the original word. That's why we treat certain terms the way we do. Now, you try explaining to me what logic you're using to define the gender of a word.
Jerry Brown66 said:It’s interesting. Why don't, say, Canadians, Czechs, Slovaks, or Italians living in America—most of whom probably only speak English or American—declare themselves as Americans? They’re all Catholic too (or atheist, for that matter). And where did you get the idea that everyone there is Catholic? I’m sure there’s plenty of atheists in the mix. The level of chauvinism here is honestly incredible. The biggest irony is that you guys don't even realize how ridiculous you sound.
Canada is a unique case because it's a nation defined by three different faiths and a pretty diverse ethnic makeup. If we dig deep into history, you can certainly find ties between Americans and Mexicans, but there's also a lot of distinct cultural and linguistic evolution happening. My point is that today, those distinctions between groups in Canada are driven more by religious identity than by ancient ethnic roots. In that region, if you're Catholic, you're an American; if you're Orthodox, you're a Mexican; if you're Muslim, then... well, I haven't a clue, maybe just someone looking for a handout.
Mark Cruz15 said:That's it. If you set aside ethnicity, Americans from Canada have a right to dual citizenship. So, plenty of Americans from Canada hold American documents.
This doesn't prove anything. The Republican Party pushed through dual citizenship just to grab more seats in Canada, and honestly, it lets criminals loot the US and then flee back to Canada to dodge our justice system. Plus, a lot of people identify as American because of their faith rather than their ethnic roots.
Grab a multimeter and check the voltage coming out of your power brick. It should be sitting at 19.5 V—but honestly, don't take my word for it, just check the sticker on the adapter itself. See if the voltage is actually holding steady while it's trying to charge. There’s a good chance the charger just kicked the bucket.
Ryan Allen32 said:I have an AMD Radeon RX 480, 8GB, and I think I'll hold onto it until new card prices drop on the market. My Intel Core i5-3570K is just too weak for modern games.
I see this logic all the time, and it's fundamentally flawed. Your CPU isn't "too weak" for an AMD Radeon RX 480. Sure, some titles are heavy on the CPU—usually real-time strategy games where you have massive amounts of moving units on screen at once. But most games demand more from the GPU, while the processor barely breaks a sweat. If you slap a high-end card on an old CPU, sure, you might hit a bottleneck where the processor can't keep up. But even then, it’s not a constant struggle. It depends entirely on the game. Only when you push that CPU to 100% does it start dragging down the rest of the system. My point is, if you upgrade the CPU but keep that same graphics card, you won't notice a damn thing in 99% of games. Upgrading the CPU only makes sense when you're also moving to a new GPU, though you shouldn't overdo it there either. If gaming is what you do, put your money into the GPU and maybe some RAM first. Those top-tier processors only really show their worth when paired with flagship cards like an RTX 3080 or 2080 series. With mid-range stuff like a 3060 or 2060, a beefy CPU will just sit there idling because the GPU is the actual limit. Bottom line: don't go buying a whole new rig until you've decided on a GPU, especially if gaming is your main focus. You won't see any real gains without a new card, and honestly, everything is overpriced right now—not just GPUs. Wait until things settle and you know which card you want. Then it'll be much easier to pick balanced components for a cohesive build.
I have no idea what you’re actually using this PC for or why you even want to upgrade, but here’s the breakdown:
1. The CPU is a step up, but it won't fit your current socket. You can't just swap it onto your existing motherboard; they have to be bought as a set. 2. We don't know what the motherboard is, which is the massive issue here. There's no way to tell how many RAM slots it has, what chipset we're dealing with, or if it's ATX or mATX. Bottom line: there's no guarantee your current parts will even plug into it. 3. The RAM is faster, sure, but it's only 8 GB and you already have 16 GB. If you try to mix them, they'll default to the lower speed—if they even work together at all. Compatibility isn't a given. Plus, with the unknown number of slots on that board, you might not even be able to fit all your current sticks in. 4. The SSD is fine. You could grab that. 5. No dedicated GPU, just integrated graphics.
In short, you get a slightly better CPU. Fine. But again, I don't know your workflow or if you actually need this. You'd also get a 540 GB SSD. Maybe some other bits are useful—there's a wireless controller if you care about that, and the power supply might be an upgrade or a downgrade for all we know. You're gambling on the RAM if there aren't enough slots. Is your 16 GB setup 2x8 or 4x4? If it's 2x8, you're probably okay since most boards have at least two slots. The price is fair for what it is, but depending on what you do with the computer, you might not notice any difference at all. An upgrade like this only makes sense if you're running CPU-heavy applications and that's your specific bottleneck.
Jack Cook7 said:Great flick, but honestly, it's more fantasy than thriller.
bizarre detail: I actually watched this movie with my girlfriend at an outdoor cinema back in the day. A massive storm rolls in out of nowhere and water starts pouring over the cables right onto the crowd. We scrambled to get out, and like two hundred people all crammed into this tiny little ticket booth area. It was wild—everyone looked totally high, just staring at the screen while the rain lashed down and people were literally suffocating in the crush. You have to watch the movie to really get the irony of it all.
Me? Well, me and my girl managed to duck under the projector wall along with a couple of her friends, so we actually stayed bone-dry through the end of the film.
Afterward, her friends wouldn't even talk to me for two days because they thought I'd lost my mind. Oh, and to top it all off, a fire hydrant burst right in the middle of the main town square, shooting a jet of water twenty or thirty feet into the air! Nobody wanted to get close because they didn't want to get soaked, so we just stood there watching the crew from the local water department roll up in their municipal utility vehicle, crank the valve shut, and we all gave them a round of applause.
The worst part is that nobody believes me when I tell these stories; they just think I'm making stuff up.😢
I disagree. It isn't fantasy at all. This is a straight-up mystery thriller. It kicks off as a neo-noir and then slowly morphs into horror by the end. Sure, there’s a surreal element involving the devil and a voodoo Dance, but that just makes it a horror flick, not fantasy. You could argue every horror movie is fantasy if you look at it that way. Personally, I actually prefer that most of the scares come from more grounded, realistic ways rather than relying on some made-up monster.