If you wanted a meaningful response, you wouldn't have started with those 3 words.

My point had nothing to do with having a bleeding heart. It was whether DP is effective at deterring future crimes, by which I meant similar crimes committed by other people, not by those executed. And research doesn't show that It does.

TFS.

Yes.

Not to mention barbaric. This unfortunately won't do much to curb scams. New scammers appear and just relocate.

I'll do that, also, when I need photo prints that exceed the dimensions my printers can do.
But for smaller sizes, up to 13x26in with the Canon, I love to print them myself. The cost per print is very low, especially with the hundreds of sheets of Canon photo paper I bought for very cheap in Craigslist. It is a fun hobby, also. The quality really is excellent. It is time consuming, though, mainly due to cartridge refills.

So, difficult to comment. But I wonder why they would use a caffeine pill as a placebo.
A placebo is supposed to have no effect. Caffeine certainly does. My husband is unable to sleep if he ingested even small quantities of it.

I gather this is an "active placebo". But caffeine is known to have many beneficial effects in a lot of people. So perhaps something else should have been used that doesn't.

Share lending is legal and available at major brokerages. It is a complex subject. I suggest you research it. In a cash account, you are supposed to get some interest if you allow your shares to be borrowed. But there are risks, including effect on SIPC insurance, taxation of the made-up dividends, cash collateral risk.

I believe you that the ET-8550 is a great photo printer. But professional reviewers still rate the color accuracy as inferior to printers with more color cartridges.

This one for example compares the 6 color ET-8550 against the 10 color Canon Pro 200. the only con listed for the ET-8550 is color accuracy.

I couldn't find one that compares it against my 8-color Canon Pro 100.

I don't publish in magazines, but I do print and frame my photos at home.

I bought the ET-5800 mainly due to pigment inks to make t-shirt transfers. They are more water resistant than the Canon Pro 100 dye inks. However, the colors are quite inaccurate. And is it very difficult to achieve a glossy look with pigment. The ET-5800 is not advertised as a professional photo printer, of course.

I believe you that the ET-8550 is a great photo printer. But professional reviewers still rate the color accuracy as inferior to printers with more color cartridges.

This one for example compares the 6 color ET-8550 against the 10 color Canon Pro 200. the only con listed for the ET-8550 is color accuracy.

I couldn't find one that compares it against my 8-color Canon Pro 100.

I don't publish in magazines, but I do print and frame my photos at home. One thing I do like about the ET-8550 specs is that it can print up to 78" length vs only 26" length for the Canon Pro 100.

I bought the ET-5800 mainly due to pigment inks to make t-shirt transfers. They are more water resistant than the Canon Pro 100 dye inks. However, the colors are quite inaccurate. And is it very difficult to achieve a glossy look with pigment. The ET-5800 is not advertised as a professional photo printer, of course.

I still have a Brother laser MFC 8550. The quality of the scanner on it is the main reason.

So at least you now admit they are smart. Mine is a home environment in 2026, not industrial 40 years ago. The reality is that smart devices can have many benefits, and can be implemented cloud free. Everything is mentioned is.

Cheap, yes, but these Ecotank don't make as good photo prints compared to printers with more color cartridges. Source: I have both a Canon Pro 100 and an Ecotank 5800.

The Canon are a huge PITA to reset and refill. But the results speak for themselves. It's not even close. Canon has replaceable print head, also.

Where do you draw the line at "smart" ? What does that word even mean to you ?

Of course you have to program your devices for them to be useful, whether they are mechanical or electronic. Is there an argument ?

Scheduling was just one example I cited. I have many other automations based on other triggers. For example, some that run my circulation pump only when I need hot water as opposed to 24/7, which saves energy, the lifetime of my pipes, and noise. This is accomplished with motion sensors near shower, and energy monitoring smartplugs on appliances,

Most of my automations have to do with energy saving. For example, turning the amplifier in my office on/off when I turn my desktop PC on/off. Same for the amp that powers my organ. When I press the physical switch, the smartplug detects increased wattage and turns on the amp. Works the same with the PC. Same mechanism gives me appliance completion notifications. I have 12 zones of audio in my house with 4 different amps driving them. I have triggers that turn them on/off as needed. The media players are even automatically paused for 7 seconds initially, the time it takes for the amps to actually power up, so I don't miss the start of the audio. I have per-room HVAC automations as well, that turn the AC or heat on/off based on occupancy, as needed - not on a specific schedule, again saving energy.

Other automations tell me if I have left any doors open or unlocked, so my cats don't get out accidentally for example. Or if I have a not-fully closed fridge or freezer door, and my food is at risk of spoiling. Or if there is motion in my mailbox to tell me mail has been delivered.

I do have lighting automations as well, with a combination of smart switches and smart bulbs, and motion sensors. The main purpose is to save energy and avoid leaving lights on, a big concern with the very large home size, number of rooms, and bulbs. But the automations also let me control things like the the color of the lights, not just their intensity. Traditional dimmers often don't work with LED bulbs. And they certainly don't work with smart bulbs with color effects. Each of the smart switches can perform 10 different operations based on number of taps on each of the 2 paddles.

Newsflash - switches are not just for lights.

Smart switches and other smart devices allow for many applications that are simply not possible to do with dumb ones, such as scheduling.

To be back on topic, there are 100% cloud-free alternatives to Wemo, such as Z-wave devices. ESPHome devices also come to mind.

You can opt out of lending your shares at most brokerages.

Many banks and credit unions will pay you more than 0.01%. It is the choice of Chase and other large banks to give you nothing in return. You can already get >3% in many FDIC insured accounts. While there are maximums to the insurance amount, you can get around them by using multiple banks, or CDARS. No need to buy crapto.