Oh yeah, I’m very much aware of where I asked. Haha. I see an opportunity where I can at least advocate for the FOSS options, so I’m trying to learn what those are and how they compare to other solutions before I make any suggestions to the decision makers.

I was recently laid off, and have been wanting to explore some personal self hosting projects, plus I’m hoping to make a bit of a career pivot, so my interest is coming from a variety of motivations.

I only just discovered this problem a few days ago, so I don’t really know yet. We definitely need to be able to track a number of details about the animals including source, outcome, medical records, etc. I think having a way to keep track of “employees” (we’re 100% volunteer run), “customers” (finders and adopters), and finances is also pretty important, and hopefully in a way that doesn’t require a lot of duplicate entries due to multiple fragmented systems.

There’s quite a few (mostly proprietary) systems out there specifically designed for shelters, so I suspect something like that might be the best option for the current issue, but looking at Odoo might be relevant to my professional development in general, as I was recently laid off, and hoping to pivot a bit from the general administrative work I had previously been doing.

Thanks! Looks interesting. Might be a bit awkward to fit the data types, but I’m definitely curious to play with it and see how it compares to the other ERPs I’ve experienced, which were also clunky, even with more typical business data.

Thank you! This particular issue is something that I only started to become aware of a few days ago, so I’m still trying to learn more before pushing for any big changes. I don’t know that self hosting is even the right solution for our group, so I’m glad to see that they also offer a hosted option, although the self hosted option seems like a great way for me to test it out.

I have no clue yet if an open source solution exists, but I’m just getting started volunteering with a local animal rescue, and they definitely need a better solution for records management.

Hard disagree. If you ask people to make a temporary change that still feels achievable, they’re more likely to at least give it a shot, and many of those people will spend some time considering alternatives. Once the week is up, some people may even choose to continue boycotting Amazon, or at least reduce their spending there.

It’s happening. Slowly.

I first dabbled with Linux around 2015 by dual booting. Ran into too many issues, then I royally fucked shit up by accidentally deleting the bootloader or something, so I was pretty hesitant to try again. I finally got a hold of a surplus laptop from work so I could install Mint on it without any worry that I’d lose important data.

I’ve been using that as my primary PC for a few months now. I’ve run into some minor challenges, but nothing critical that I couldn’t figure out with a search engine.

I had another old laptop still running Windows 7 that has been having weird issues, but I’d been too lazy to backup the files so I could wipe it. I finally pulled the trigger today, fully wiped it, and installed Mint on it.

I’m not ready to preach Linux to my “normie” friends yet, but do mention it to them here and there in hopes I’ll be able to bring them over in the future.

One of the things I do often is to go to the manufacturer’s website and look for information about “Distributors” or a “Store locator”. Sometimes the system lets you search by specific product, but it looks like Purina’s only lets you search by animal. If there’s a local alternative that just doesn’t carry your brand, it wouldn’t hurt to ask if they can order it for you.

My personal approach to longer term boycotting is to reduce my spending with these companies as much as possible, rather than looking at it as all or nothing. If you were to adjust your purchasing habits to make something like Chewy your first choice, and only buy from TSC when Chewy is out of stock/delayed, that’s still going to impact TSC’s profits and is better than making no changes.

I don’t know where you’re located, but Wilco seems to carry the Purina duck food, available for shipping, and looks like they might be less bad morally, although I have no idea how expensive shipping is or how reliable they are.

P.S. Purina is owned by Nestle, so that’s a whole other layer to consider. No judgement though, my cats love their Friskies and Fancy Feast, and it’s not like I can explain to them why they should accept a different food, especially when I’m unemployed and it’s significantly cheaper than anything else.

Is there a specific brand that you need? I don’t know a whole lot about duck feed, but I’ve talked to some of the people who regularly feed the ducks at a nearby park, and they buy feed from Chewy.

Looks like this is a list of manufacturers that allow bootloader unlocking. If you want to install a custom ROM, you first need to unlock the bootloader. Note that carrier branded devices of these brands may still have a locked bootloader. The example I’m most familiar with is the Verizon version of Pixels… I always by the carrier unlocked version of the Pixel to ensure an unlocked bootloader.

I randomly tried using Jellyfin today instead of Plex, but Jellyfin kept crashing my browser and logging me out, so I wasn’t in the mood to troubleshoot, so I just gave up and went back to Plex.

In the past, I’ve been annoyed that Jellyfin didn’t seem to have an option to sort media by “Last Episode Date Added”, nor did it seem to have a way to build a queue of episodes from multiple different shows. I think I was also having trouble figuring out how to add multiple sources… I have my “long term” library on a local hard drive, plus anything “new” on a seedbox.

I theoretically want to fully switch over eventually, but so far, Plex is still good enough for my use case.

That’s so weird. I’ve been using Plex for years and had never heard of “Passout Protection” until looking it up just now, nor does it ever stop playback on its own for me unless it reaches the end of the queue. I’m using the free version via web browser on my computer. Maybe it’s a setting that only affects apps? Continuous playback on Plex is one of the reasons why I’ve always preferred it over Netflix, etc.

A few years ago, I found myself wondering if my cat wanted a buddy, so I signed up with the local shelter to foster, figuring if it didn’t work out, I’d have an easy “out” to find the new cat another home. I actually wound up fostering a few litters of kittens before adopting a second cat, and have also continued fostering.

If you decide to adopt or foster, be prepared for the first few weeks to be challenging. Read up on Jackson Galaxy’s guide to cat introductions, and move slowly from step to step. The guide is in 5 parts, here’s part 1: https://www.jacksongalaxy.com/blogs/news/cat-introductions-part-1-before-the-introduction

Some cats accept new cats within days, others may take weeks or longer. My oldest is always super pissed off for the first few days, but we usually reach “Eat, Play, Love” around 2 weeks.

If I’m reading this correctly, the reported cases occured in May of 2024? So, 8-9 months ago? I understand testing, etc., does take some time, but it feels unreasonably long for this information to become public. Are my expectations out of line?

I used it because that’s what the instructions on the Linux Mint website for creating a bootable USB stick from Windows say to do.

I have no clue what “electron wrapper”, “dd”, or “rufus” are. I’m trying to learn more, but can’t learn it all in one day.

https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/burn.html#in-windows-mac-os-or-other-linux-distributions

Yeah, I used to want to text a lot before meeting face to face, but have learned that almost always means I start to “fill in the blanks” and the person I meet never matches up with my expectations. By meeting face to face quickly, I don’t have a chance to build those expectations and am unlikely to feel “catfished” by anything other than blantant lies on their profile.

I think the bigger problem is that the apps really amplify the sense of “there’s always more fish in the sea.” So if that first date wasn’t full of sparks, people often prefer to see what other options are out there, rather than going on second dates to see if anything develops.

With the online approach, I know I’m very guilty of focusing on the other person’s “flaws”, and deciding they’re deal breakers. With people I meet via offline methods, we generally get to know each other a bit more organically and end up having multiple unofficial “dates” before the first official date.

My last actual date was over a year ago, with someone I met offline through mutual friends. There was definitely an initial spark, but it fizzled almost as quickly (mostly my own discomfort with emotional intimacy). We’re actually still friends though, and hang out with each other more often than I hang out with the friend who introduced us. If we had met via dating apps, I highly doubt we would still be friends because we just wouldn’t have any reason to cross paths organically.

I have most definitely seen higher effective suggestions at coffee shops. I ordered a single drip coffee (~$2.50) and the suggestions were $1, $2, or $3.

Per your original comment:

There hasn’t been an ad for alcohol on US TV for decades

Beer is alcohol. Beer is still advertised on US TV. Everything you’ve said just comes across as a bad faith attempt to redirect the argument.

I don’t usually watch live television, but I definitely saw a few beer ads during the Super Bowl.

JFC, what’s wrong with me? My first thought when reading that was, “Ooh! Maybe then I’ll finally be able to find a job again!”