You see, OCT 31 = DEC 25

You can login to (using my preferences as an example) DDG and configure it to not use AI, but I mostly browse in private/incognito mode and don't care to login to DDG every time I open a browser. However, I - and you - don't have to login to enforce that preference; at least with DDG you can set a default search engine that automatically avoids it. Here are the parameters in mobile Firefox:

Even in Chrome and Chrome derivatives, you can set a default search engine; I don't know the exact steps, but the end result should look similar to the above.

If you prefer to stick with Google, even they offer a no AI solution. I haven't used Google in years, but according to arstechnica, this would be the equivalent configuration:

I've not used any other search engines since Altavista, so I can't provide details for each one, but hopefully this is a good starting point.

edit: It seems this changed ... Or maybe I had it wrong from the beginning, but I tested this when I posted it, so I think it changed. Regardless, the q= is not necessary currently.

It is SO STUPID that spaces are widely preferred for indentation in code.

For the past, I don't know, two hours I've been trying to fix YAML formatting issues that could have been fixed without any human intervention if only tabs were used. (It's a big file, hence the duration.) (I know YAML doesn't support tabs. That's kind of my point.)

I even reluctantly asked Gemini (forced upon me by work; I was hoping it would change my mind in this case) why anyone would prefer spaces. It said the same irrelevant thing most people say: because some tools don't support tabs properly.

Know what that sounds like to me? A problem with the fucking tool.

I don't know if this is the right place to post this, but I can't think of a better option.

This morning, my entire family either switched or said they already had a Signal account. Now we have a family Signal chat.

I expected resistance, not compliance! I'm very happy.

My whole life I was told that they were called "Linkin' Logs" because they link up and this morning I learn this?

Hex isn't allowed in my bedroom because she used to pee in my bed regularly, but these days she pretty consistently sleeps against the doorframe of my office - across the hallway from my bedroom, basically.

I got her (and one of my other cats) as a kitten around sixteen years ago. She's never been very active and rarely wanted to spend time around anyone - human or otherwise - other than me. Because of that most of the time she's hiding somewhere and not often seen.

However, I can usually find her against the aforementioned doorframe overnight. Because she's getting old and I see her so rarely I always check to make sure she's alive (she is, at least as of the photo).

Tonight I saw her and gently woke her to confirm. (edit: I know it looks like her eyes are open in the photo - and they were, a little - but I assure you she was asleep.) As mentioned in the title, when she saw me she immediately started purring. It made me feel very loved.

(Also, I didn't notice until I was reaching to wake her or I wouldn't have bothered her, but while she was still asleep the beans you can see in the photo were twitching. I wonder what she was dreaming.)

Allegedly they have the "fastest MRI machine in the state, possibly the country" (according to the receptionist). (Apparently they have a 3T.) True to the receptionist's word, the technician promised the scan would take 7 minutes, but it only took 5.5.

I've had a bunch of tests in the office and they have all kinds of (what seems to me to be) very advanced technology in their basement. However ... Their elevator is ancient, slow, claustrophobic and a little scary. Riding it, one wouldn't anticipate the technology one encounters after.

Anyway, I think it's pretty funny that they have a sign - mounted at adult eye level - seemingly to provide instructions for someone who's never ridden an elevator before.

edit: Replaced photo with one with identifying info censored.

I just took this picture in my kitchen while making food and, TBH, I love it.

I live in a rural area. Sometimes I see mice in my house, but I have three cats and they mostly seem to handle it. Occasionally I have to clear up one the cats addressed before my young kid sees it. No big deal - I knew what I was getting into when I moved here.

However, just now I saw a rodent I couldn't identify. I'm home alone and therefore feel no need for restraint; I yelled "what the fuck are you?" at it. It rudely failed to identify itself, simply running away instead.

Maybe thirty seconds later it appeared at the opposite end of the room. I didn't really know what to do about it so I yelled "hey!"

It ran away again and I haven't seen it since then, but now I'm paranoid. It looked like a small ferret but I don't have one of those anymore and I don't think there are wild ones near here.

I don't want to get rabies or even my toes bitten.

edit: Temporarily ignoring safety concerns, especially those regarding my kid ... The rodent was pretty cute.

Back before I really understood what Reddit was and how it worked, I made a few posts, including this one that was my fifth post and probably my first one that was worth posting. It's been twelve years, apparently, but I still find this animation mesmerizing.

I find gesture based navigation (in the OS, not the app) to be pretty awful. My phone is therefore set to use 3 button navigation.

Mostly this works okay in Connect, but every once in a while I find something inaccessible - possibly even not visible - because the 3 buttons cover the interface elements.

A recent example I encountered was trying to export / import settings when switching between phones. I found how to do so in Connect settings, but had difficulty completing the process because both the "export" and "import" buttons were behind my system buttons and not very visible. I had to change my OS settings to even be able to access them after I found them.

Even more recently, which is to say today, I was trying to navigate through a video (which seems an iffy process anyway) and was unable to do so because the progress bar was, again, under my system buttons.

Well ... Basically the title.

Almost four years ago, I bought Chelsea boots because they're apparently what Jared Padalecki wore in Supernatural and they looked good there - practicality didn't enter my mind.

They arrived two days after I got home from the hospital from breaking my ankle. I didn't put them on.

Yesterday I had to go out in the snow and couldn't find my Wolverine boots, so I finally put on the Chelsea boots since they provide ankle support and had tread. They were amazingly comfortable and I didn't slip!

This was Duke. He's unfortunately long gone, but he was a good dog. He was the first dog I got as an adult, but really he was my then girlfriend's, now wife's dog. Still, hopefully this clip shows that he loved me as well, at least when she wasn't around.

Have you guys ever seen the record holding LED video wall Comcast has in Philadelphia? I've been up and down that building and it's universally pretty cool. The company is shit, but the headquarters are great.

The camera makes the fake panels look pretty obvious, but in person they look pretty realistic. When you're in the building and they're on panel mode, you could be forgiven for believing them until something wacky happens, like them turning into a celestial body.

There were a lot of good things that happened, but a lot of things I wouldn't mind having have skipped.

My kid can't really read yet, but they brought me home a book. This exchange occurred in the first ten pages:

"Papa, that man is as black as ashes, isn't he?"
Papa laughed. "Dogs and horses come in different colors, don't they?"
"But he's not a horse, is he, Papa?"
"No, he's not a horse." Papa patted her on the head. "But colored folks aren't much different."

I WONDER WHY THIS BOOK WAS FREE IN THE LIBRARY.

(I'm not blaming my kid, they chose it just based on the cover.)

Me (after spinning them around): Do you know why people get dizzy?
Kid, 6: accuratelyish describes the workings of the inner ear
Me: uh ... Yeah.

Nothing to add here.