I’ve turned off the AI summaries, but occasionally ask one of DDG’s AIs a question, and it almost always has blatant errors in the responses. Yesterday, I did a manual search first, then asked 2 of the AI models if Arm & Hammer currently sells any non-clumping clay litters. It gave me a couple products that it claimed were non-clumping, but when I pulled up product listings to buy them, they were all very clearly labeled as clumping.

Makes it really hard to trust AI for things I don’t know when they’re so often so obviously wrong about things I do know and can easily verify.

Just like humans, some of them are more sensitive to certain ingredients than others. One of mine can eat a wide variety of foods with no noticable issues, while the other gets soft, stinky poops any time I offer just a little variety.

You might find the stink less terrible if you can convince him to eat different food. I foster, so I meet a lot of cats, and have found that avoiding fishy foods and high carb foods (kibble) really helps make their poops less stinky.

I also have a different type of litter in the box in my bedroom because I’ve noticed that my cats don’t mind peeing in that litter, but will only poop in it if it’s the only box available.

I had one as a kid, and it came with a little booklet that showed the series of moves to move pieces around. This definitely wasn’t the fastest way to solve, but it worked.

I remember it said to solve the top layer first, then align that with the correct “center” cubes on the second/middle layer. Then you’d get the “edges” of the second/middle layer in place using the series of moves. For the bottom, there was another couple sets of moves.

OMG, thank you so much for asking this. I’ve been trying to figure this out for months!

Assuming it’s a real cat, my best guess is that it’s a black & white cat with advanced vitiligo? I’m not aware of any coat genetics that would explain that sort of spotting pattern.

I’ll never forget one of the first times I visited my parents in suburbia after I had moved away to a very walkable city. I borrowed their car to go to the gym & the grocery store, which were a few miles away, but less than a block apart from each other. After finishing up at the gym, I walked across the parking lot to the car, and as I’m climbing in, I caught myself and was like, “WTF am I doing, I should just walk,” so I did, but it was pretty miserable. The design of everything was just so car-centric and very unfriendly to pedestrians.

My friends created a FB account a long time ago, and I did end up using it briefly. I haven’t logged into the account in probably 10 years and have no clue what my password is. Thoughts on whether I should bother giving Meta more personal information in order to try to log in & delete that account?

I guess I’m a fourth grade student now? Sounds actually kinda nice.

They still haven’t actually updated it on all the government sites though.

Source: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_tides/media/supp_tide07b.html

I’m a millennial, and regularly talk to friends & family on the phone. There’s plenty of situations where I’d much rather talk on the phone than communicate via text.

Slight edit based on a conversation I had once at a bar with people of widely varying ages:

Nope. I got laid off over a year ago, then diagnosed with cancer. I feel guilty for being detered by how complicated some of them are and for not taking full advantage of the programs while I’m at a point where I really do need them and qualify for them. I’m on the mend now, and as soon as I can find a job again, I’ll be glad to be paying back into those programs.

From NYT:

The Federal Aviation Administration lifted the temporary closure of airspace over El Paso on Wednesday morning, abruptly reversing course after grounding flights hours earlier for what officials said would be 10 days.

“There is no threat to commercial aviation,” the agency said on social media. “All flights will resume as normal.”

The brief shutdown was related to a test of new counter-drone technology by the military at Fort Bliss, a nearby Army base, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Ahhh, the joys of federation! When viewed from my instance, the most recent post in that community is from 4 months ago!

I think this is the post: https://awful.systems/post/7222752

I think cost is probably the main factor. It looks like prices on induction ranges are coming down, but still priced as premium/luxury compared to the electric coils. I looked up the cheapest of both at the local big box home improvement store, and the cheapest option overall is $509 and available for pickup today. The cheapest induction range is $899 and is showing a 7 day lead time.

A lot of people in the US are also really attached to gas, and would choose gas over induction anyway. The cheapest gas ranges are just a little more expensive ($549) than the electric coils.

I have no clue if that factors into things, but price is definitely a major factor. My quick search of the local big box store shows the cheapest electric option is $509 and available for pickup today, while the cheapest induction option is $899, and is showing a 7 day lead time.

Seems like prices for the induction ones are actually coming down… I thought the difference was more significant last time I looked.

Yeah, these are pretty standard in the US, especially in rentals. If you’re lucky, you can find a rental with a gas stove, but I’ve never actually seen one with an induction stove.

Oh yeah, you’re right. I was focusing on just where the first day of the week lands, not the full month calendar.

If we had had any snow days here this year, that would probably have been my one day of peace!