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Comment Simple way to turn off the start/stop permanently (Score 1) 303

Let the smaller, 2nd battery that powers it die. When it inevitably failed in my Grand Cherokee, I left it in the car. Now the Jeep says, "Start/Stop system unavilable" in the menu, and I never have to turn off the Stop/Start after forgettng to disable it when I start the car.

(Of all the bullshit Trump's EPA has done, they actually got this policy change right. The Start/Stop system was an awful idea from Day 1.)

Comment I'm surprised it's still 50%+ (Score 1) 108

With 1) a majority of Americans doing their best "Batman Forever" addiction imitation with their eyes glued to their phones, 2) sports packages being available now with streaming options, and 3) digital OTA options in most places for network TV and random digital channels with various, old syndicated content (from I Love Lucy and Star Trek to Home Improvement) with the same commercials volume (if not less than) of cable channels carrying the same edited-for-TV slop... That's just 50% of America throwing their money away, IMO.

Or, "I have Company X that provides internet access, and cable TV (or landline phone) is just part of the bundle," and haven't bothered cutting the cord yet.

Comment Dump the nickel, too (Score 1) 186

The small penny came up in the mid-1850s, along with the elimination of the half-penny. (Both the large penny and half penny were coppers larger than today's penny.)

The nickel production costs are at least partially because of the harder metal (nickel). The U.S. Mint could consider a new "half dime" - the "deem", in coin parlance - and cut production costs again? It'd make more logical since again to have a 5 cent coin be smaller than the 10 cent dime, anyways - though their so damn small that some people wouldn't be able to even read them...

If you make the dime bigger, you'll screw with everyone's heads - unless you went with a different brass color??...

Oh, fuck it, nevermind... kill the nickel, too. And live with the $0.10 dime being the new penny.

Comment Public sector issue: salaries (Score 4, Interesting) 61

I can only speak for the public sector, but the talented people that stay in the public sector eventually have to move up to management positions for only one reason: A bigger salary.

The real problem isn't about too many managers. It's about politics and culture: "I'm THE manager, so people beneath me cannot make more money than me!"

If leaders eliminated that single stupid, corrosive paradigm from their org's culture and people were paid what they're worth based on merit (not title or hierarchies), these pointless middle management jobs would disappear overnight. "You mean I don't have to manage anyone and I get paid what I'm really worth? Wow! F**k those management responsibilities! I'll take door number 2, thank you."

If you're a manager and don't like this because you worked your way up in the current culture and would feel slighted by this change, you need to STFU. You're not BETTER than your subordinates because of your title. You're just managing others because that's your job that you're officially trained to do - manage people. And those people may be just as important, if not more so, to your organization as you are.

Comment Corporate meddling for years (Score 1) 50

A while back, RT tried different techniques to appease their corporate overlords.

The most egregious I recall was when they tried to introduce manufactured, positive reviews well ahead of the general release window. They did this to trick early bird types that would be looking for an RT score and maybe not come back to check for updates. Bad movies would have an 80%+ score until a few days before when the real reviews would blast the movie and drop it into rotten territory. That was kind of obvious to regular visitors so they cut that practice out.

The influencers aren't as clumsy anymore, but they can't hide the problem they've created: Everything can't be various degrees of "fresh" at ROTTEN Tomatoes.

Comment imparts formality & importance, Mormon trivia (Score 1) 29

Using the middle initial imparts extra formality, and in some corners, respect and importance to the individual's name.

Trivia - In my church (LDS/Mormon), it is traditionally ingrained in the Mormon culture to say the full name of every "apostle" or "prophet".

The odd tradition likely started as a practical way to differentiate Joseph F. Smith (a president/prophet in the early 20th century) from the original founder Joseph Smith (died in 1844). My guess is that it sounded unique so it became the Mormon version of, "So and So THE THIRD" - only without the disdain and with some religious reverence/awe sprinkled on top.

So now we have leaders with names (in any church PR) like David O. McKay, Harold B. Lee, Spencer W. Kimball, Howard W. Hunter, Gordon B. Hinckley, Thomas S. Monson, Russell M. Nelson... and so on. Joseph Fielding Smith was the only exception (since "F" was already taken).

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