It sounds like providers are trying to hide monthly fees in an attempt to obscure them. My ISP will let me 'rent' a modem for $10 a month, but I just decided to buy my own for $60 fifteen years ago. My brain says that's $1800 (it could be wrong, it's late). If I didn't know I was paying a $10 monthly fee, I'd never have bought my own.
And if a fee is actually a tax, just put that on the bill. It's pretty simple.
Tomorrow I expect to see Scott Adams retweet his "Republicans will be hunted" post from a couple years ago.
Introduction
It is time for communities to break free of walled gardens and take ownership of their existence online.

The Future of Online Communities
Communities are the lifeblood of the Internet. They are the places where magic happens online — where people meet others like themselves, think and talk about the same things, and laugh at the same jokes. From newsgroups and chatrooms and forums, communities have always been the centers of the Internet that draw people in.
But online communities are much more limited than their counterparts in the real world. In the real world, communities are independent entities, free to choose where and how they hang out. No one tells them what to do or where to go.
Today's online communities are not like this. They are trapped inside apps and platforms, where they do not have independence or control anything of value. This limitation makes them second-class citizens, unable to chart their own destiny on the Internet. It is time to put communities in their rightful place as the foundation of the Internet.
It is time for them to take back ownership and control. It is time for a change.
Community Points
Community Points are the first step towards a better future for online communities. In order to be truly independent from platforms like Reddit, communities need to be owned by their members in ways that platforms cannot take away. With the advent of blockchain technology, we now have a way to establish this freedom in a decentralized and secure way.
As blockchain tokens that are owned and controlled by communities themselves — not by any app or platform — Community Points represent a way for Redditors to own a piece of their favorite communities. They are earned by making contributions to the community, like creating content and moderating. They not only represent ownership and reputation within the community, but can also be used for community governance, moderation, and unlocking premium features. They can even be used in custom tools outside of Reddit and on other platforms.
Most importantly, Community Points are a flexible tool that each community can shape to its needs. Each community has its own Points that it can customize with its own name, symbol, distribution rules, and uses. Every community has its own needs and we expect each to use Points differently and in novel ways that help take them to the next level.
“Come, come, you wasp; i' faith, you are too angry.
Katherine: If I be waspish, best beware my sting.
Petruchio: My remedy is then, to pluck it out.
Katherine: Ay, if the fool could find where it lies.
Petruchio: Who knows not where a wasp does wear his sting? In his tail.
Katherine: In his tongue.
Petruchio: Whose tongue?
Katherine: Yours, if you talk of tails: and so farewell.
Petruchio: What, with my tongue in your tail? Nay, come again, Good Kate; I am a gentleman.”
I'm orignally from the UP. There's a lot to see, but it's all so far away from each other. I've been to Tahquamenon Falls a couple of times, not really my cup of tea, but it's a nice stop. (There used to be a really nice Best Western motel near Trout Lake. The story I heard was someone in the Detroit Mob built it because they wanted a place to stay when they went deer hunting. I'm sure it's not true. I'm pretty sure.)
In St. Ignace or Mackinaw City you can catch a ferry to Mackinac Island. Both cities also have areas to view the Mackinac Bridge. Sault St. Marie has the locks between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. Last weekend of June there's a giant Auto Show in St. Ignace, I remember it being a lot of fun. Farther west is the Seney Wildlife Refuge, a very nice place to visit. Of course, Pictured Rocks on Lake Superior in Munising. Something most people don't know about is Kitchi-ti-kipi, a massive freshwater spring near Manistique.
The UP State Fair is some time in August, in Escanaba. This was always a blast when I was younger. The Marquette area is loaded with things to do. Lots of breweries, parks, beaches etc. There's a nice park called Presque Isle that you can drive through, it has a lot of places to stop and walk around or look for rocks on the beach. In the summer it's always loaded with students (from NMU) jumping off the cliffs into Lake Superior. North of Marquette there's a nice hike up Sugarloaf Mountain, with a spectacular view of the lake.
If you go in the fall, you'll want to drive up to the Keweenaw for the fall colors. Just make sure you watch the local color reports, because they happen earlier than usual for the rest of the state. On the way from Marquette there's a very nice waterfall south of L'anse called Canyon Falls. It doesn't look like anything from the road (just a parking lot and some outhouses), but after about a 15 minute walk there's a beautiful waterfall falling between a couple of shear cliffs. Between L'anse and Baraga there's a statue commemorating Bishop Baraga, one of the early European explorers. But I don't know if this is still open.
If you do make it to the Keweenaw, it's packed with waterfalls, beaches (stop and look for agates), little tourist towns. Drive up Brockway Mountain drive to see the colors from high. Check your brakes first, the road can be a little steep. Copper Harbor has a historical fort. In Hancock you can stop at Quincy Mine and take a tram down the hill and visit an old copper mine. I think they moved the rock museum here too, it used to be on campus (MTU) in Houghton.
There's an iron mine in Iron Mountain you can tour. I'm not really that familiar with this part of the UP, so I don't remember much else in this area.
I'm sure there's lots I'm forgetting about, and a lot that wouldn't be interesting except for someone who lived there and saw all the sights. Sorry, I kind of jumped around in location.
Oh, on Lake Michigan there's an old smelting town name Fayette that you can walk around.
I've been going with EyeBuyDirect the last few times I've gotten new glasses. I've used Zenni a few times, and they're definitely on the list of places I check, but EBD has a better selection. I save so much money on frames I can afford better lenses, and they run 2 for 1 deals pretty often. So I get a pair of regulars and a pair of polarized sunglasses.
You can upload a picture and then try on the glasses virtually and judge that way.
We should set up a GoFundMe and buy our own Supreme Court Justice. Does anyone have a coupon?
Spider-cat, Spider-cat
Doing things where the spider's at
Spins a web, lands on feet
Catches thieves, he's really neat
Look out, here comes the Spider-cat
US, Mechanical Engineer here. It definitely depends on where you are. In a city you'll start out between 60 and 75k. Rurally, between 45 and 60k. The size of the company will also play a big role.
Also, consider that you won't really get any raises unless you move to another company. Talent retention doesn't rank as high as talent recruiting unfortunately.
When I was a kid my parents had The Best of Bill Cosby on record. I wore that vinyl out playing it over and over. I memorized the bits. I bought all the cassettes I could find. I have vague memories of Fat Albert on Saturday morning. And some movie where he played the devil. And The Cosby Show. I wanted to be Bill Cosby when I grew up.
Has any other beloved celebrity fallen as far as Cosby? I mean he was universally considered to be a genuinely nice guy. He was America's Dad.
While this is a good first step, let me know when we start applying this standard to US companies.
Arthur C. Clarke wrote a sequel to the sequel to the sequel of 2001 (called 3001) where Frank Poole is rescued a thousand years after been lost in orbit around Jupiter/Saturn. By then global warming isn't caused by carbon dioxide or methane or even water vapor. It's from 1,000+ years of waste heat generated by each human that's ever lived. Even with 100% clean energy, everything still creates heat, and it has to go somewhere.
The screen is giant. Giant isn't even the right word for it. And with stadium seating, you don't have to worry about people sitting in front of you.
It reminds me of how the movie screen seemed to me when I was 5. If I'm too close, my field-of-view won't include the edges of the screen.
Regular theater: in the center, about 1/3 back from the screen.
IMAX: in the center, very back row against the wall.