Gyroscopic Investing

ochotona wrote:The real PITA will be if AM and/or FM radio ever goes digital. Then every analog AM and/or FM radio ever built will be obsolete.

dualstow wrote:

ochotona wrote:The real PITA will be if AM and/or FM radio ever goes digital. Then every analog AM and/or FM radio ever built will be obsolete.

I think they did that in Norway or nearby.
Edit: yep. https://www.theverge.com/2015/4/19/8453 ... radio-2017

While avocado resellers like Whole Foods only have to worry about creating a catchy advertising campaign to attract millennials, Home Depot is in full-on panic mode after realizing that an entire generation of Americans have absolutely no clue how to use their products. As the Wall Street Journal points out, the company has been forced to spend millions to create video tutorials and host in-store classes on how to do everything from using a tape measure to mopping a floor and hammering a nail.

Home Depot's VP of marketing admits she was originally hesitant because she thought some of their videos might be a bit too "condescending" but she quickly learned they were very necessary for our pampered millennials.

Meanwhile, Scotts Miracle-Gro has been forced to start training classes to remind frustrated millennials, who can't seem to keep their flowers alive, that plants need sunlight to grow (apparently not a single millennial ever took biology in grade school). Commenting on the tutorials, a defeated VP of Corporate Affairs, Jim King, admitted "these are simple things we wouldn’t have really thought to do or needed to do 15 to 20 years ago"...sorry, Mr. King this is your life now.
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The Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. has started offering gardening lessons for young homeowners that cover basic tips—really, really basic—like making sure sunlight can reach plants.

“These are simple things we wouldn’t have really thought to do or needed to do 15 to 20 years ago,” says Jim King, senior vice president of corporate affairs for Scotts. “But this is a group who may not have grown up putting their hands in the dirt growing their vegetable garden in mom and dad’s backyard.”

“They grew up playing soccer, having dance recitals and playing an Xbox,” says Scott’s Mr. King. “They probably didn’t spend as much time helping mom and dad out in the yard as their predecessors or their predecessors’ predecessors.”

Companies such as Scotts, Home Depot Inc., Procter & Gamble Co. , Williams-Sonoma Inc.’s West Elm and the Sherwin-Williams Co. are hosting classes and online tutorials to teach such basic skills as how to mow the lawn, use a tape measure, mop a floor, hammer a nail and pick a paint color.

WiseOne wrote:Sounds about right. When I was a teenager I was mowing the lawn, weeding the garden, helping clean out the garage and paint the floor, and babysitting for the neighbors. My nieces have never done any of these things.

But, if you're a suburban parent you don't do any of those things either. You hire a guy from El Salvador who doesn't speak English to do them. And of course, pay him in cash. He's the one who goes to Home Depot - not the suburban parent!

I still do all my own housecleaning, despite lots of urging from people to hire somebody. Not having a housecleaner is considered strange in my neighborhood. Or maybe it's just that I'm that bad at it!

Xan wrote:Recordable media like DVD-Rs will always (well, almost) have a shorter lifespan than store-bought.

DVDs (or CDs or whatever) which are mass-produced are pressed, that is, there's a physical hole for a 1 as opposed to a 0 (or it's the other way around, I forget). With recordable media, it's a dark spot that simulates a hole. Eventually the ink fades.

Xan wrote:In general, I'm pretty high on the reliability of USB flash drives, if it's enough capacity for you. I'm actually pretty low on using a traditional hard disk (as opposed to a solid-state disk), because they introduce an entire class of potential mechanical problems.

I would also strongly recommend off-site-ness as a key component of your backup strategy. Maybe have a couple of USB flash drives, encrypted, and cycle them through a safe deposit box. Encrypt your files and put them on the cloud every so often. (Make sure it's good encryption.)