Yeah they started putting ads on the dasher boards a few years ago. There are also ads digitally inserted on the ice.

The tech is pretty cool. When they first started doing it, it would sometimes cut off players, but they seemed to get it settled down within a few months.

I know the /r/hockey sub was really upset about it when it was first implemented, and I was annoyed at first because of the glitches. But now, it’s like…well, now I see these ads instead of those ads…what’s the difference?

Oh, that was me. I installed it on my desktop Linux computer the other day.

You’re welcome.

Oddly enough, that’s a real chair from the 20th century. Somewhere there’s a wiki that has a page with every chair in Star Trek and what model it is, and that is an off-the-shelf model.

Ohhhh this explains how my router can tell me how much traffic we use for, say, Teams. I’ve wondered about that.

Immortal wouldn’t be a problem, you’d think. Maybe if you were the Highlander.

Pretty sure my great great grandparents were German. I’d have to double check that. My grandmother’s maiden name is pretty German Jewish, but I can’t recall at the moment whether she was a first generation immigrant or not. I did some research on this a few years back, and I would have to look at my notes to confirm.

It’s a little confusing because there’s a actually some German heritage on both sides - the grandmother above was my father’s mother, but there’s some on my mother’s side, too.

Americans are obsessed with genealogy, and I spent some time on it during the pandemic, so I can tell you I’m some odd fraction German, which you usually can’t get to, like 5/8ths, because it comes from both families.

Yeah I saw that about Germany. Unfortunately, if even Germany is sliding that way, it’s hard to imagine anywhere else not doing the same…

Close, he looks like Mr. Burns but he has a mustache. Also he apparently has an extra wrinkle under one eye. Unfortunately the images were not reproduced, so I’ll hit Frinkiac.

Mr. Snrub

Mr. Burns

I don’t agree with the wrinkle comment, but that mustache…

One of our neighbors had a MAGA collar for their dog…THEIR DOG. Why do they need to drag their DOG into this? He was a good boy. (Was, because the dog passed away from cancer a year or two ago.)

My wife is predicting a civil war. I can’t help but wonder what our role will be in it.

Any countries who are not sliding into fascism that would be interested in hiring two well-educated adults? I really love Germany, and despite some German heritage, it’s too far removed to be of value in gaining citizenship or a passport. We visited Germany in the spring of 2016 (and heard, several times, “WHAT is going on in your country?”) and she loved it, too.

Yes, I think you are missing the joke. I’ll explain it, because that can only make it funnier.

In the show, it’s quite obvious that it’s just Mr. Burns with a fake mustache. He apparently didn’t even think of a fake name until he’s called upon to suggest what to do with the money, because he says, “Mr…Snrub. Yes, that’ll do.”

The writeup is ignoring that and writing out the theory, with supporting evidence, as though realizing Mr. Snrub, is, in fact, Mr. Burns would be a major revelation to everyone. (Also it’s not my theory, I just reposted it, as noted at the top of my comment.)

My wife’s uncle has a huge comic book collection, and he’s getting up in years (never married; still lives in the house he grew up in). He mentioned getting it appraised, because I guess he does have some that may have some value.

Personally I’m just glad he’s thinking about this kind of stuff.

When we bought our current house, the previous owners had the basement walls covered with framed pictures of various things (I don’t remember what all they were - likely family and friends, that sort of thing). When we stopped by for the inspection or something, I noticed the trash was out, and one can that was open on the top was filled with those pictures.

That moment really reinforced the point that all the crappy knick-knacks we have laying around will likely also end up in the trash someday. We’ve definitely reduced our purchases of stuff like that and try to stick to stuff we’ll actually use.

Hogan is a great example. I actually wasn’t upset when he won his second term as governor, even though I disagree with some of his policies - but in general he did some good stuff for Maryland during his terms. Like getting masks and covid test kits in secrecy so Trump’s idiots wouldn’t confiscate them, as happened elsewhere in the country.

I’ll never forgive him for axing the bike lane on the new Nice Bridge; we’re stuck with that decision for at least 50 years now. But, by far, my biggest problem with Hogan is the “R” after his name.

Those third-party organizations are running ads that say things like, “I voted for Hogan, but not this time - we can’t let the Republicans gain power in Congress.” (Other organizations are noting “scandals” for the other candidate about taking tax breaks to which she wasn’t entitled, but they seem overblown. It seems pretty silly coming from supporters of the party of George Santos, Matt Gaetz, and how many others…)

But…

This is my favorite fan theory, originally created by the Four Finger Discount people, I’m told, but I can’t find it on their site:

In Simpsons episode 9F10, “Marge vs. the Monorail”, the town meeting is interrupted by a mysterious character named Mr. Snrub. It’s a strange scene, because we never actually find out who Snrub is, and he doesn’t show up again in the rest of the episode, or indeed, in the rest of the series. However, I think I might have figured out why: Mr. Snrub is actually Mr. Burns in disguise.

I know it sounds implausible, but here is my reasoning:

Notice that “Snrub” has the same number of letters as “Monty”, Mr. Burns’s first name. Coincidence? Maybe, but there’s more.

Notice how quick Smithers is to agree with Snrub. I think the writers added this line as a subtle hint to the audience that there is some connection between Snrub and Burns. It also explains why Smithers was so willing to help Snrub in his time of need; because Snrub reminds him of Burns in some deep, ineffable way. If you listen closely to Snrub’s voice, it sounds an awful lot like Harry Shearer. Harry Shearer does the voice of many characters on The Simpsons, including Reverend Lovejoy, Seymour Skinner, Ned Flanders, and… Mr Burns. This doesn’t tell use for sure that Snrub is Burns, but it does narrow down the possibilities considerably.

When Snrub stands up to speak, he mentions that he comes from “someplace far away”. The writers of The Simpsons have always said that they consider Springfield to be somewhat flexible in its reality. For example, in one episode, Moe’s Bar is a short walk from the Simpsons’ house, but in the movie, it’s right next to the church. It is quite possible that, for the purpose of this scene, the writers wanted Mr Burns’ home to be “far away” from the Town Hall.

Notice that, in the above scene, when everyone in the Town Hall starts to get angry, Snrub instinctively tents his fingers, not unlike Mr Burns’ signature gesture. Now, to be fair, we occasionally see this gesture done by other characters, such as Homer, Bart, and even Lisa. But, I mean, still.

I will admit that this theory has some flaws. For example:

If Snrub is Burns, how did he grow the moustache so quickly? We saw Burns earlier in the episode dumping nuclear waste in the park, and he didn’t have a moustache then. This could partly be explained by the fact that, strictly speaking, we don’t know how much time has passed between that scene and the scene in the Town Hall. Perhaps this was enough time for Burns to grow the moustache that would disguise him as Snrub?

We all know that Smithers is in love with Burns, and that Burns doesn’t return Smithers’ affection. So, why is Burns so quick to embrace Smithers and hang on to him as they escape the building?

Look at this comparison of Snrub and Burns. They look almost nothing alike. For one thing, notice that Snrub has an extra wrinkle under his left eye. His face also settles into an expression that is open and happy, in contrast with Mr Burns’ scowl. In addition, Snrub has a more prominent overbite, the three liver spots on his head are further apart. I haven’t even gotten started on the colours: Snrub wears a dark blue suit with a black tie, and has light blue hair. Burns, in contrast, wears a teal suit with a pink tie, and has gray hair.

If Burns really was at the Town Hall, then who was running the nuclear plant? The lights are on in the building, which clearly means that the power is working. Snrub’s suggestion is that the city give the two million dollars to the Nuclear Power Plant. Why would Mr. Burns do this, since Burns already knows that the power plant is where the money came from? This leaves us with the possibility that Snrub was just an innocent person who spoke at the town meeting without being fully informed about the background details (hence why everybody was so mad at him for being so ignorant and unprepared).

So, at the end of the day, it’s hard to say who Snrub really is. It’s even more difficult to say why he showed up in only that one scene, and why he never showed up again — perhaps he was a character the writers wanted to introduce to the show, but could never find a good enough story for.

Like many fan theories, it’s probably not true, and I’m probably over-analyzing it, but it’s sure fun to think about!

Invested / Endowed Value - Having already spent time and money to improve your status in the game, it’s difficult to throw it away.

Isn’t that every game? I can’t think of a single game, back to old Atari 2600 or arcade games, that doesn’t have this element. Many people are playing to see how far they can get, to beat the game.

It’s not even a theory, really. Troi had to argue with the computer to get a chocolate sundae in one early episode.

Ha, actually they played themselves on that front. I don’t want to get into all of the details, but basically there’s literally not enough space for all of us to be in on the same day. There used to be, but they shrank the footprint to save money.

Honestly I think the plan from our upper management was to allow a lot of full-time remote working, but that got killed by even higher up people. So, now we have this. I actually think our upper management isn’t really the bad guy on this one and are just trying to make the best of a bad situation, dealing with idiotic requirements coming from on high.

I also think there are some artificial factors keeping it at one day a week, for now. It might go up to two at some point in the future, but a lot can happen between now and then. And two days might start running into that space limitation again, and they won’t easily be able to expand the footprint - nor will they want to spend the money.

After four years of work from home, since the beginning of the pandemic, we’ll soon have to start going back in once a week. I know, that’s a lot better than many people that have been forced into 5 days a week or similar bullshit, but it’s definitely one more day a week than I want to go in. DC area, too, so you know traffic is going to be a nightmare, as always.

I’d even be willing to go in quarterly or whatever for special meetings. But weekly? We’ve proven we can do this.

They’re pushing this whole “hybrid” working and “rethink how you work!” and “it’s all about teams!” But they didn’t require any sort of coordination on coming into the office for teams, or anything along those lines - it’s a free for all. So instead of sitting at home on a call, we’re going to be sitting in cubicles on phone calls. It doesn’t make any sense.

And even if they had decided teams should coordinate in-office days, my area in particular works with so many different teams that we’d still be remote for most of them. Or in the office every day, which would not go over very well.

But I’m sure the Popeye’s (fast food chicken place) across the street will welcome us back. The one that has survived over four years without us. No one I know has ever gone there.

We’re going to lose a bunch of people as a result. And hiring is a disaster that isn’t likely to be resolved any time soon. It’s gonna be a fun few years…

Counting down the days until I can retire. Unfortunately, there are too many, I’ll have to deal with this. Or find a completely remote job.