Paying for content is one thing. Besides greedy studio execs, there are a lot of small potatoes people trying to make honest livings who work to produce the final products.

Ads, though, are supposed to defray COSTS. Marketers part studios to run ads. Cinnamon paying for ads is an oxymoronic situation.

It’s a slow burn introduction to Trek. The show starts off having not much to do with Trek, as the crew itself has nothing to do with the Federation or Starfleet, but they go through a process of learning what Starfleet is, and they try their best to aspire to its ideals so they might be accepted to the academy when they reach the Federation. Ideas (e.g., prime directive, augments, temporal directives) are introduced one at a time with explanations. It’s not meant to “just” be a kids’ show, it’s meant to be a kids’ introduction to Trek. And as a fan of Trek, I think also a good introduction for a non-fan who might feel lost by how vast the Trek universe is. It’s not about politics or diplomacy, but it carries the same spirit of unity, optimism, and the hope for the best of humanity that underlies Trek.

You need to check your reading comprehension. I never said there’s any such dichotomy about FOSS as a general concept. I specifically named Gimp, Inkscape, and Scribus before and after that sentence. Just because a FOSS “alternative” exists, doesn’t mean it actually is an alternative, or at least an acceptable one. Each software has to be evaluated individually. In the case of Gimp, Inkscape, and Scribus, they would not be acceptable in a professional creative space.

Gimp, Inkscape, and Scribus were terrible to use after using Adobe for years. Get Affinity suite instead and save yourself the rage and frustration. It’s one-time payment license (not a subscription) and they have deals. I got the license for the three of them for $90. They are way closer to Adobe products and definitely worth the one-time cost.

I love the concept of open source, but you can only make so many compromises in quality and usability, especially if you’re likelihood depends on it. Gimp, etc just aren’t there.

(On the other end of the spectrum, Blender is so amazing I can still hardly believe it.)

The problem is the inconsistency. The new UI has it so that the inbox is way more dense than the folders, no matter which density level you choosem

The newest release is visually awful. It drove me crazy and I had to downgrade back to the last stable (102). The content density was wildly inconsistent and text would be squished in one area and really spaced out in another. The toolbar moved so action buttons were in the title bar area, away from where your mouse would be (compared to before) if you’re interacting with your inbox.

Other than that, the old version works just fine. Multiple email accounts, calendar and contacts. It does the job. Minor nitpicks, like dark mode doesn’t dark evwrything, you still have to manually change your reading window colours. But at least it’s once and done.

You might enjoy “A Christmas Movie Christmas”, where the protagonists wake up and find themselves as the protagonists in a Christmas movie reality. It’s a comedy where you basically laugh at the troops while they call themselves out on it.

I’ll have you know that Queen Elizabeth and her father were both stamp collectors! Really, there’s really a royal stamp collection and its considered (likely) the best (the wisest in breath) in the world.

Dukat. I don’t like him a person, but he’s a great character. No other Trek character has ever been written as richly or layeredly as he.

At first you assume he’s your basic racist bent on hatred and power. Then you realize his obsession with Kira isn’t just about destroying an enemy, but his secret love-hate for Bajoran women. We meet Ziyal whom he mostly loves, but is ashamed of. He goes mad, starts a cult, makes himself appear Bajoran and starts a relationship with Kai Winn (ostensibly with other motives, but I think he reveled in it), and ultimately dies for and in his mad faith.

DS9 is lower on my list when I rank the various series, but some of the characters, and defininitely Dukat, top the list of characters.

As a non-Christian, I never made that Xmas connection.

Well, as a Christian, I wouldn’t feel bad about it because the poster is not correct. The X in Xmas does not stand for a cross, it comes from the Greek spelling of Christ which is Χριστός. The chi-rho symbol (☧) is an imposition of the first two letters (Χ and ρ) and is still commonly used to refer to Christ in some denominations.

As a bonus: if you’ve ever wondered (or not wondered) why some Christian symbolism uses a fish, ἸΧΘΥΣ (or ICTHYS) is an acronym for Ἰησοῦς Χρῑστός Θεοῦ Υἱός Σωτήρ, “which translates into English as ‘Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior’.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthys) This has been used since the first century.

I’ve been shipping them since Rutherford told Badgey, “I was just trying to impress Tendi. I mean, look at her, she’s so cute!” Earlier that same ep they’re in the holodeck in the EV suits and they accidentally embrace (due to mag boots) which mirrors the B’Elanna and Tom scene where B’Elanna told Tom she loved him.

But if you really think about it, they’ve been hinting at the crush since the beginning. He was willing to change his career to make the time to watch a pulsar with her (which was episode 2). When Tendi thought T’ana was transferring her off the ship, they tell each other how much they love the ship and hug. Later that ep he tells Billups he’s been triple backing up memories with her because he doesn’t want to forget her again. (Notably he doesn’t mention backing up memories with Mariner or Boimler.) They’ve always just a little closer than best friends, and damned if it isn’t adorable!

Also, did I hear right that the Ferengi Lower Decker was in communication with the mysterious vessel?

That’s what I got too. He was both expecting them, and also said they told him they’d make a lot of profit.

Also… Parliament :) Canadians see the word often 😄

Well, I mean, the obsessively and angrily chasing Aang party definitely shouldn’t be emulated, but he’s got a very good character growth arc.

• He learns his worth as a person (and as a prince) doesn’t come from his abusive father, but intrinsically from his own self.
• He gains the insight and humility to admit he was wrong and seek forgiveness from the people he wronged
• He learns to empathize with other people, and that he is his strongest when he releases (and is no longer clouded by) his anger and fights for good.
• He learns to appreciate the people who love him (Iroh) instead of chasing after someone who doesn’t (his father).

The world would be a better place of everyone could learn the lessons that Zuko learned.

I used to provide some user support at a previous job. (It wasn’t exactly my job, but people would ask for help.) And it’d be easy to get frustrated, thinking people were stupid or incompetent, but I’d remind myself that being good at computers isn’t part of their job, it’s part of my job. These people were hired for other areas of expertise. If I had to do take on parts of their jobs, I’d look stupid and incompetent too.

That said… sometimes the level of incomprehension people have really is incomprehensible to me. There’s a level where you’re reaching wilful ignorance. When I point at something on the screen and tell the person to click on that… and they can’t or won’t move the mouse there and click on it…

It’s nice that “new” Trek wants to portray things like equality for LGBT people as a given; hopefully we can reach that one day. And I think it’s good that LGBT people can “see themselves” on the screen without having their queerness be the focus of the drama. People just want to live their lives, and they want to see other queer people just living their lives.

On the other hand, showing the struggle and making it the focus of the drama, as Orville does, is the thing that helps people understand and confront the issues themselves. The whole story around Topa is very strong. Societal misogyny. Klyden’s entire journey (his own sex reassignment, hiding it from Bortus, their separation, his rejection of Topa when she transitioned back, the family’s eventual reunion). Bortus’ struggle to make the right choice as a loving husband and father. Bortus having the choice taken away from him. Topa lacking female role models.

These kinds of things are still very real issues that a lot of people don’t think about unless presented to them on this way. These kinds of stories help people imagine how they might need to support their own children, families, and friends.

It’s not really possible to compare Star Trek vs Orville because Trek is an entire franchise (even now there are 4.5 shows) and Orville is just one. But if I had to say of the current shows, which one does society need the most for social progress, I’d actually say Orville.

They’ll simply ask for it and people will give it in order to keep using the platform.

Google Ads asked me (a private individual) to provide my drivers license or passport in order to verify an organization’s Google Ads account, or else the account will be suspended. I understand verifying the organization via governed registration records, that makes sense. But requiring an emoloyee or volunteer’s passport?

The account is just going to get suspended.

I signed up for a Google Ads account for a non-profit I volunteer with. I had to verify the organization with governing documents, okay, fair enough. They also “require” my drivers license or passport. Excuse me? We will no longer have a Google Ads account after Sept 15 (the cut off to verify my identity).

Mariner even gestured to the facial Scar and outlined the shape of the chair with her hands.