I feared this was the case. I can sympathize.

The problem here starts with your elected officials. They set spending policy which affects your salary budget. There is, as far as I know, no direct legal action you can take to correct this. My state’s employees have been experiencing this for decades.

You can try raising money for lobbyists to represent government employees. You can run for office. You can try getting publicity about the problem in the media. I’m sure there are other things you can do.

But you know, consultations with lawyers are free. I am not a lawyer, so don’t let me stop you from talking to one.

Many government employees are unable to unionize, but otherwise I thoroughly agree

Indeed. I’ve had that happen too. Those are actual knockoffs since they’re copying another specific product. It’s a shame that is the reality of our manufacturing industry.

Okay guy, you can define words however you want if that helps you feel good about not knowing the definition of words.

Slight facial tick

It’s not a knockoff unless it’s intended as a copy of a different product. A cheap product in the same category is not a knockoff.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/knockoff

The only problem is that “knock off” brands are the only ones making products in at least some instances that used to be filled by the “brand names”.

This is the result of globalizing manufacturing. Eventually the brands that could pay for advertising stopped making things, and the void was filled by these “knock offs” (I don’t care for that term as it was applied in this article. These aren’t fake designer hand bags, they’re just products that don’t have a recognized brand name).

No he keeps it in the cabinet which is itself kept in the pattern buffer

See, you’re still thinking when you ask questions

Focusing on Proton compatibility makes the most sense and benefits both users and game devs by reducing complexity.

Which, credit where due, is an impressive accomplishment

Fair

Who would want to ruin the surprise of another’s annual iPhone release? These people hate joy

It’s refreshing to see someone admit they were wrong. It shouldn’t be a big deal because we’ve all been there.

Modern Vintage Gamer did a video about this recently.

The MiSTer platform is still DIY even when packaged like the SS One. This isn’t going to be a problem for some, but for those of you expecting a game console out of this, I’m afraid that you’re going to be disappointed.

That said, it is still possible to add on some really great software that does polish the experience a lot. There was a recent graphical UI released for everyone, should work on the SS One as well. You’ll have to check the MiSTer forum for details on all this and do the light setup work required. It’s worth the effort, but I do understand if that’s not for you.

A basic food dehydrator does a good job with drying filament rolls (and most can dry more than one at once).

The issue with most of the dedicated filament dryers is one of airflow. They get the filament rolls hot but don’t push the humid air out of the dryer. That’s not to say that they don’t work, but mostly they will work more slowly than a food dehydrator.

I assume that retailers are worried about consumer spending, as well they should be. We’ve been squeezed so hard for so long that I expect this holiday shopping season to be grim.

IIRC, last season was fueled by credit card debt. I don’t expect people are going to do that again with the way prices have spiked over the last year.

Launched them out of a Nerf Bazooka at my cousins

It really is crazy. My grandmother lived into her 90s while smoking most of her life