#soylent | Logs for 2020-12-21

« return
[00:16:59] <AzumaHazuki> isn't that ironic?
[00:17:15] <AzumaHazuki> there was a war on christmas and it was the most conservative possible conservatives waging it
[00:19:49] <requerdanos> The piece is an interesting read.
[00:24:36] <AzumaHazuki> the ones who need to learn a lesson in irony won't of course
[00:24:43] <AzumaHazuki> or if they do, will utterly miss the fucking point
[00:44:20] <Bytram> =asub https://spacenews.com
[00:44:22] <systemd> Submitting "Lockheed Martin to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne for $4.4 billion - SpaceNews"...
[00:44:44] <systemd> ✓ Sub-ccess! "03Lockheed Martin to Acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne for $4.4 Billion - SpaceNews" (10 paragraphs) -> https://soylentnews.org
[00:47:38] -!- Teckla has quit [Ping timeout: 265 seconds]
[00:49:45] -!- Teckla [Teckla!sid172075@fe-405803.highgate.irccloud.com] has joined #soylent
[01:34:11] <aristarchus_> =submit https://www.theatlantic.com
[01:34:36] aristarchus_ is now known as RunawayXXXX
[01:35:37] <RunawayXXXX> =submit https://www.theatlantic.com
[02:18:12] <AzumaHazuki> the bot appears to be having some issues
[02:18:21] <AzumaHazuki> =submit https://www.theatlantic.com
[02:18:38] <AzumaHazuki> okay, yeah, bot issues and not a stealth "don't accept aristarchus posts" code
[02:25:20] <chromas> I've thought about putting in an anti-shitposting filter but it would be based on content and not nick
[02:25:29] <chromas> also it would emit something
[02:25:53] <RunawayXXXX> All this I have already suspected!
[02:25:57] * chromas gives Runaway1956 the evil eye
[02:26:20] <AzumaHazuki> block any subs coming from that hostmask IMO
[02:26:24] <AzumaHazuki> fucking conspiracy nut lunatic
[02:26:31] -!- AzumaHazuki has quit [Remote host closed the connection]
[02:26:36] <RunawayXXXX> Manually submitted the Facebook=domesday machine, it is just that good!
[02:27:12] <chromas> well noice
[02:27:23] <chromas> A real ari sub that's not about the alt-right
[02:27:28] <chromas> artstarchus++
[02:27:28] <Bender> karma - artstarchus: 1
[02:27:32] <chromas> sheeeeit
[02:27:41] <chromas> aristarchus++
[02:27:41] <Bender> karma - aristarchus: 4
[02:28:03] <RunawayXXXX> aristarchus++
[02:28:03] <Bender> karma - aristarchus: 5
[02:28:10] <chromas> hue
[02:31:43] <RunawayXXXX> aristarchus_++
[02:31:43] <Bender> karma - aristarchus_: 1
[02:32:43] * Runaway1956 notes chromas staring into the abyss
[02:33:14] <chromas> So when I look at you, I see nothing? Sick self-burn, mang
[02:33:21] <Runaway1956> lookee dat fool giving himself karma
[02:33:36] * Runaway1956 rolls eyes
[02:33:48] <Runaway1956> when you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back
[02:35:04] <Runaway1956> RunawayXXXX--
[02:35:04] <Bender> karma - runawayxxxx: -1
[02:35:28] <Runaway1956> So, are the aliens coming, or have they given up on us?
[02:36:12] <chromas> There here and they're gonna terk yer jerb
[02:36:53] <Runaway1956> I thought they looked at themightybuzzard and decided all the fish were taken
[02:37:00] <Runaway1956> so long and thanks for no fish
[02:57:43] <Bender> [SoylentNews] - Plants Can be Larks or Night Owls Just Like Us - https://sylnt.us - night-creepers
[03:28:06] -!- AndyTheAbsurd has quit [Ping timeout: 265 seconds]
[04:47:06] <c0lo> =w Castlemaine XXXX
[04:47:07] <systemd> XXXX (pronounced four-ex) is a brand of Australian beer brewed in Milton, Brisbane by Queensland brewers Castlemaine Perkins (now a division of the Japanese-owned - https://en.wikipedia.org
[05:27:45] <Bender> [SoylentNews] - Wearing Someone Else's Face: Hyper-Realistic Masks to Go on Sale in Japan - https://sylnt.us - who-do-you-want-to-be?
[06:31:12] -!- mechanicjay has quit [Remote host closed the connection]
[06:35:44] -!- mechanicjay [mechanicjay!~jhowe@71.212.nnp.zop] has joined #soylent
[06:35:44] -!- mechanicjay has quit [Changing host]
[06:35:44] -!- mechanicjay [mechanicjay!~jhowe@Soylent/Staff/Sysop/mechanicjay] has joined #soylent
[06:35:44] -!- mode/#soylent [+v mechanicjay] by Aphrodite
[07:46:34] <Bender> [SoylentNews] - U.S. Investigating 5 Allergic Reactions to Pfizer Coronavirus Vaccine - https://sylnt.us
[08:31:10] <FatPhil> Woo-woo - looks like we're finally treating the UK as the leper colony that we've always known it was.
[08:31:51] <FatPhil> https://www.bbc.co.uk
[08:32:03] <systemd> ^ 03Coronavirus updates: Countries around the world stop travel from UK - BBC News
[08:36:57] -!- RunawayXXXX has quit [Ping timeout: 265 seconds]
[08:40:20] <FatPhil> Simplifies my christmas, I guess.
[09:40:39] <c0lo> Gifts or without, beware of yanks.
[09:41:59] <c0lo> FatPhil, what was that site for investing in Scotch?
[10:06:19] <Bender> [SoylentNews] - New Catalytic Process Turns Plastic Bags Into Adhesives - https://sylnt.us - sticky-development
[10:11:56] <Ingar> FatPhil: about Belgian Covid numbers: pop. density is very high.
[10:12:49] <Ingar> not to mention, jewish marriages with 100+ guests (because.. religion!) or turkish family parties
[10:13:29] <Ingar> and totally incompetent leadership
[10:25:50] <FatPhil> c0lo: http://www.whiskyinvestdirectaffiliate.com :-D
[10:25:52] <systemd> ^ 03Investing in maturing Scotch whisky can achieve high returns. ( https://www.whiskyinvestdirect.com )
[10:31:10] <FatPhil> Ingar: pop density isn't as important as you might think: https://ourworldindata.org
[10:31:39] <FatPhil> It does enable the stupid to leverage their stupidity more though.
[10:40:26] -!- carny [carny!~irc@hxv-ysfz-8.keff.org] has joined #soylent
[10:41:07] <FatPhil> As the saying goes, if you add a clever in a barrel of stupid, it's still stupid, but if you add a stupid to a barrel of clever, it becomes stupid. Or something like that.
[10:50:53] <FatPhil> but there's no particular reason to assume fraudulent reporting?
[11:38:58] <c0lo> Thanks, FatPhil. I'll see if I was good enough and make myself a gift this xmas. I don't know, for 4 more years?
[11:39:32] <c0lo> s/and make/so that I can make/
[11:39:32] <SedBot> <c0lo> Thanks, FatPhil. I'll see if I was good enough so that I can make myself a gift this xmas. I don't know, for 4 more years?
[12:02:06] <Bytram> coffee++
[12:02:06] <Bender> karma - coffee: 5424
[12:23:19] <c0lo> https://apnews.com
[12:23:20] <systemd> ^ 03UK holds crisis talks as France closes border on virus fears
[12:25:05] <c0lo> Heh, FatPhil, looks like everybody started to stay away from Poms
[12:25:12] <c0lo> "Canada, India, Hungary and Switzerland are among the latest countries to halt flights from the U.K., following the lead of many in Europe. In the U.S., the governor of New York state said he wanted a ban on flights from Britain to New York City. France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland and Ireland were among those who on Sunday announced widespread restrictions on flights from the U.K. Eurotunnel, the rail ser
[12:27:24] <c0lo> And the honorable eds wiped the (now no longer) news that I subbed with "New strain of corona in UK"
[12:29:23] <FatPhil> From a conversation in a new coffee shop in town earlier today: "Yes, I'm originally from the leper colony that's floating off the north-west coast of Europe."
[12:30:54] <Ingar> combine that with the expected shortages due to brexit
[12:30:56] -!- AzumaHazuki [AzumaHazuki!~hazuki@the.end.of.time] has joined #soylent
[12:31:15] <Ingar> winter is going to be fun in the UK :)
[12:38:14] <Bender> [SoylentNews] - GitHub Removes its Annoying Cookie Banners - https://sylnt.us - a-good-start
[12:40:04] <AzumaHazuki> that fucking virus...four deletion sites make the antibody against the previous variant useless
[12:40:35] <AzumaHazuki> we better hope this doesn't inactivate the vaccine. it shouldn't, given how conserved most of the spike glycoproteins are, but with our luck...
[12:41:40] <requerdanos> mutant viruses, on the next, soylentnews
[12:41:54] * c0lo watching 'zumi transitioning from smug to worried. Atta girl
[12:42:22] <requerdanos> if only we had had a story, something like "New strain of corona in UK"
[12:42:50] <c0lo> Well, eds are humas too.
[12:44:04] <c0lo> Hey, eds, if you accept that story with "Age of Aquarius", merge it please with https://youtu.be
[12:44:06] <systemd> ^ 03"HAIR" - "AQUARIUS" ( https://www.youtube.com )
[12:49:14] <AzumaHazuki> c0lo: when was i ever smug about this, please?
[12:49:21] <AzumaHazuki> i have no fucking healthcare and i work in a hospital
[12:49:48] <FatPhil> steal it!
[12:50:22] * c0lo thinks he detected a bit of... ummm ... distant amusement in 'zumi's "winter is going to be fun in the UK :)"
[12:50:34] <requerdanos> https://duckduckgo.com
[12:50:36] <FatPhil> Oh - noone has healthcare in the USA - some have sickcare, but that's differnt.
[12:50:36] <systemd> ^ 03obamacare at DuckDuckGo ( https://html.duckduckgo.com )
[12:50:57] <FatPhil> that's was Ingar's line
[12:52:01] <AzumaHazuki> i wasn't the one who said that, Ingar was
[12:52:24] <AzumaHazuki> given my position, job, and general personality, i'd be the last one in here to joke about that ><
[12:52:54] <Ingar> joking is the only thing we have left!
[12:52:57] <c0lo> Ah, I'm stupid today. May repeat it tomorrow.
[12:53:01] <c0lo> Apologies.
[12:53:42] <c0lo> Apologies, Zumi.
[12:53:58] <AzumaHazuki> oh no problem, just left me confused a bit
[12:54:09] * AzumaHazuki is worn down, had only one day off between last week and this one
[12:54:11] <Ingar> AzumaHazuki: are you in the UK ?
[12:54:25] <FatPhil> Well, technically is was *distant* amusement - about 5000km distant!
[12:54:26] <AzumaHazuki> no, i'm in western New York, Buffalo specifically
[12:54:42] <requerdanos> "Just across the bridge"
[12:55:04] <AzumaHazuki> and sitting here wondering, if the hospital I work in is as nuts as it is, what the hell do Buffalo General and Oishei Childrens' (!) look like?
[12:55:11] <FatPhil> And do Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo?
[12:55:21] <AzumaHazuki> with bleu cheese, yes. never, ever with ranch
[12:57:09] <c0lo> (I never got that thingy with repeated buffalo. I tried it one with Ravel's bollero and it stil didn't make sense)
[12:57:43] <c0lo> s/one with/once on the tune of/
[12:57:43] <SedBot> <c0lo> (I never got that thingy with repeated buffalo. I tried it once on the tune of Ravel's bollero and it stil didn't make sense)
[13:00:55] <FatPhil> Autralian lagers Australian drunkards drink disgust Australian gourmands.
[13:01:04] <FatPhil> Same sentence structure.
[13:01:30] <FatPhil> but every noun, adjective, and verb is 'buffalo'
[13:01:33] <requerdanos> but with 100% more beer
[13:02:01] <FatPhil> And it's still not enough!
[13:02:39] <FatPhil> one could say that 'that' should be inserted as a third word, but it's not necessary.
[13:12:51] <c0lo> Thanks God the Aussies learned how to do ale properly. After beef and the steam engine, that's the third things Anglos got well.
[13:34:45] <c0lo> =submit https://apnews.com
[13:34:47] <systemd> Submitting "Google's antitrust case won't go to trial until Sept. 2023"...
[13:34:51] <requerdanos> I don't know that I've had proper ale
[13:35:09] <systemd> ✓ Sub-ccess! "03Google's Antitrust Case Won't Go to Trial Until Sept. 2023" (10 paragraphs) -> https://soylentnews.org
[13:39:53] <Bytram> question to the community: I know how to compare two files on linux: diff (and sdiff)... is there an easy way to compare two directories and create a list of all files that are identical or are different, possibly using diff's comparison parameters? Like ignore blanks, ignore whitespace, ignore case, etc.
[13:40:37] * Bytram is looking at dirs containing upwards of 1400 files, each
[13:50:01] <AzumaHazuki> all i can think of is a quick and dirty solution of piping ls dir1 > 1.txt, ls dir2 > 2.txt, then diff 1.txt 2.txt
[13:50:07] <AzumaHazuki> there is probably a better way
[13:51:51] <FatPhil> diff copes with directories
[13:54:29] <c0lo> =submit https://apnews.com
[13:54:30] <systemd> Submitting "Electric co-op offers high-speed internet to 4 towns"...
[13:54:52] <systemd> ✓ Sub-ccess! "03Electric Co-op Offers High-speed Internet to 4 Towns" (5 paragraphs) -> https://soylentnews.org
[14:00:13] <Bytram> FatPhil: that would be too easy! Really? Like this? diff -w -i dir1 bir2
[14:00:36] <Bytram> s/b/d/2
[14:00:36] <SedBot> <Bytram> FatPhil: that would be too easy! Really? Like this? diff -w -i dir1 dir2
[14:01:26] <FatPhil> IIRC, it's years since I've done it. I think that there's a 'brief' switch that will help cut the noise down (if you don't want the actual diffs when they differ)
[14:01:48] <FatPhil> -q, --brief
[14:01:48] <FatPhil> report only when files differ
[14:02:24] <Bytram> FatPhil++ That is so awesome! TYVM!
[14:02:25] <Bender> karma - fatphil: 95
[14:06:25] <c0lo> =submit https://apnews.com
[14:06:27] <systemd> Submitting "Swiss say Uber Eats must register as postal service provider"...
[14:06:48] <systemd> ✓ Sub-ccess! "03Swiss Say Uber Eats Must Register as Postal Service Provider" (7 paragraphs) -> https://soylentnews.org
[14:09:04] <c0lo> Hopefuly they don't ask for a stamp on every one of a mille feuilles/
[14:32:43] -!- Runaway1956 has quit [Read error: Connection reset by peer]
[14:32:57] -!- Runaway1956 [Runaway1956!~some@67.223.okg.wi] has joined #soylent
[14:41:48] <c0lo> https://www.bbc.com
[14:41:51] <systemd> ^ 03Why buying vintage clothes is ‘the new luxury’
[14:43:49] <c0lo> Next up: authentic moth holes in the fabric fetch record prices in second hand cloths.
[14:45:20] <c0lo> Because, see, they are organiky enough for the moths to feed on them and their stayed for long enough inside the wardrobe (instead of being worn all the time)
[14:51:24] <Runaway1956> The site is doing odd things. Reply to a comment, you get a page that says "OK, the document has moved here" with the "here" hyperlinked
[14:52:29] <Runaway1956> Something about "you can't reuse this form" a bit earlier. Of course, I just got out of bed, not sure if it was me screwing up, or the site.
[14:54:00] <Runaway1956> Oh yeah - the top of the page, with the links to /dev/random etc was missing on a couple of reloads
[14:54:33] <Runaway1956> I hope we don't have the 5G Covids!
[14:54:43] <AzumaHazuki> just you :v
[14:55:05] <Runaway1956> but we don't even have 5G in backwoods nowhere!
[14:55:31] <AzumaHazuki> and speaking of, really hoping that second set of vaccines hits my hospital soon. they didn't even have enough for all the ICU and corona ward nurses
[14:56:15] <Runaway1956> just reloaded the front page again, the top is all gone again.
[14:56:19] <Bytram> AzumaHazuki: o_O Yikes!
[14:57:02] <Bender> [SoylentNews] - Lockheed Martin to Acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne for $4.4 Billion - https://sylnt.us - vertical-integration
[14:57:27] <Runaway1956> also the side bar stuff
[14:57:59] * Runaway1956 needs to drink another cup of coffee before he can make more useful reports
[14:58:08] <AzumaHazuki> and of course no health coverage for me period till after 90 days total because America
[14:58:33] <Runaway1956> Funny that Obama care didn't address that problem, isn't it?
[14:58:46] <AzumaHazuki> Romneycare. no surprise there
[14:59:05] <AzumaHazuki> Obama's right of Reagan and he's gonna fry for his civil rights violations right alongside the Gipper
[14:59:11] <Runaway1956> In the construction industry, those 90-day probationers are the ones who hurt themselves the most
[14:59:16] <Runaway1956> and they have zero coverage?
[14:59:22] <Runaway1956> makes no sense at all, at all.
[14:59:33] <AzumaHazuki> if we did things the way the civilized world did...
[15:00:08] <Runaway1956> coffee++
[15:00:08] <Bender> karma - coffee: 5425
[15:00:10] <AzumaHazuki> fuck it, i should have died at least half a dozen times already. the reaper's going to get me when she does her next round of cats at this rate
[15:00:35] <Runaway1956> We've all got our stories - I should have died as an infant
[15:00:49] <AzumaHazuki> yes, you should have. but nevertheless...
[15:01:15] <Runaway1956> There were two of us - my twin did die.
[15:01:39] <Runaway1956> There could have been TWO of us assholes.
[15:02:24] <AzumaHazuki> or the good one died
[15:02:38] <AzumaHazuki> given how messed up this timeline is that would not surprise me
[15:04:22] <Runaway1956> Alright, ctrl-F5 restored the front page to it's normal appearance
[15:07:53] <Runaway1956> In other news - I still can't get MacOS to run in a VM. I guess I spent about 3 hours at it yesterday, failing everytime.
[15:08:20] <Runaway1956> Found a forum though, for Hackintosh's that have some promising information.
[15:08:41] <Runaway1956> though they do not support Opterons
[15:12:29] -!- AzumaHazuki has quit [Remote host closed the connection]
[15:18:34] <janrinok> Runaway1956, the site is doing funny things on my computer too. Often the css is missing leaving just raw text being displayed.
[15:18:54] <TheMightyBuzzard> janrinok, should be fixed
[15:19:26] <janrinok> k, I'll give it time to reach me and see what I get next.... ;)
[15:22:51] <Runaway1956> parsing TMB's sentence, I thought he was fixing Janrinok for a moment
[15:23:37] <Bytram> TheMightyBuzzard: just noticed the conversation... whatcha do? just a bounce?
[15:23:46] <TheMightyBuzzard> Runaway1956, redundant, he's married
[15:23:54] <TheMightyBuzzard> Bytram, nod nod
[15:24:05] <Bytram> good to know, tx!
[15:24:24] <Bytram> TheMightyBuzzard++ fixing da system
[15:24:24] <Bender> karma - themightybuzzard: 397
[15:24:37] <Runaway1956> coffee++ again
[15:24:37] <Bender> karma - coffee: 5426
[15:24:48] <Runaway1956> TheMightyBuzzard++
[15:24:48] <Bender> karma - themightybuzzard: 398
[15:26:24] <TheMightyBuzzard> aight, ima go make the hvac stuff up at the church go. early christmas present for our sheetrock guys.
[15:32:52] <Bytram> TheMightyBuzzard: is prolly better for the mud they'll be applying, too.
[16:28:47] -!- SoyCow7066 [SoyCow7066!~d8c4e185@925-300-434-342.ubr6.dyn.lebanon-oh.fuse.net] has joined #soylent
[16:35:43] -!- SoyCow7066 has quit []
[17:27:01] <Bender> [SoylentNews] - Swiss Say Uber Eats Must Register as Postal Service Provider - https://sylnt.us - delivery-please
[18:39:58] -!- SoyCow7066 [SoyCow7066!~d8c4e185@925-300-434-342.ubr6.dyn.lebanon-oh.fuse.net] has joined #soylent
[18:41:20] -!- SoyCow7066 has quit [Client Quit]
[19:07:13] -!- bacteria has quit [Ping timeout: 265 seconds]
[19:40:45] -!- bacteria [bacteria!1125@976-501-612-500.biz.spectrum.com] has joined #soylent
[19:46:01] <Bender> [SoylentNews] - What's the Biggest Group of Animals Ever Recorded on Earth? - https://sylnt.us - quantity-or-quality
[22:16:26] <Bender> [SoylentNews] - Google's Antitrust Case Won't Go to Trial Until Sept. 2023 - https://sylnt.us - plenty-of-time
[22:26:50] -!- mechanicjay has quit [Ping timeout: 265 seconds]
[22:29:19] -!- mechanicjay [mechanicjay!~jhowe@71.212.nnp.zop] has joined #soylent
[22:29:19] -!- mechanicjay has quit [Changing host]
[22:29:19] -!- mechanicjay [mechanicjay!~jhowe@Soylent/Staff/Sysop/mechanicjay] has joined #soylent
[22:29:19] -!- mode/#soylent [+v mechanicjay] by Aphrodite
[22:35:24] <FatPhil> what's the cheapest mobile contract available in the midwest (NE) that would suit someone who uses bugger-all internet, so has minimal needs. verizon have just quoted the in-laws 65$/month. That's more than 3 times what I pay over here, and my contract includes way more than they'd ever need.
[22:36:02] <FatPhil> I reckon verizon are trying to rip off oldies who don't know exactly what they might want were they to upgrade from their dumbphones.
[22:36:49] <chromas> do prepaid/pay-as-you-go like ting or boost mobile or something
[22:36:56] <Teckla> My
[22:37:25] <Teckla> My brother uses Mint Mobile. It's very inexpensive. They use T-Mobile's network.
[22:37:46] <Teckla> I think it's under $200 for the whole year.
[22:41:51] <FatPhil> Thanks - I'll pass that on.
[22:45:30] <FatPhil> I tried a pay-as-you-go thing once when I went to the UK, and it came with #10 free connectivity (so #20 of it for #10). As soon as I connected to a network, I noticed that it was basically hammering the network for no reason at all, even when no browser/mail/anything was open and the pennies were literally ticking down in front of my eyes. Presumably what I was connecting to was deliberately flood pingin
[22:45:36] <FatPhil> g me.
[22:46:10] <FatPhil> I immediately wrote PAYG off as a scam.
[22:47:33] <FatPhil> c0lo: Trump Trump Trump - Ra Ra Ra! ;-p
[22:55:38] <Bytram> FatPhil: what they ^^^ said. Also, WalMart has a relatively inexpensive plan; "simple"something. Also check out Tracphone (I think that's how it's spelled. I have no personal experience with those, but also be aware that *coverage* could be an issue, too...
[22:56:13] <Bytram> not much of a savings if you can't get a good connection!
[22:56:51] <Bytram> good luck!
[23:16:59] <c0lo> yeah, FatPhil, Trump had this end of the year. He surely worked for it and got it on merit.
[23:18:53] <c0lo> A pity he didn't get to into a fight with one of the chinese. Ya, know? Just for the fun of it.
[23:21:48] -!- AzumaHazuki [AzumaHazuki!~hazuki@the.end.of.time] has joined #soylent
[23:23:58] <FatPhil> Oh, yeah, trump vs. the chinese, that would have been fantastic!
[23:26:40] <FatPhil> Bytram: fortunately the 2 relevant parties only need it in 2 locations - NE and ESE NE, so once coverage is satisfied there, there are no further needs. Also, low bandwidth needs hopefully means falling back to shitty-tech(TM)
[23:29:35] <Bytram> be aware that providers are trying to transition out from old shitty-tech(tm), as you put it, as quickly as possible to free up spectrum for LTE and 5G. Avoid getting painted into a corner. Especially during a nasty great plains snow storm.
[23:30:01] <carny> FatPhil: puretalk usa is $20/month
[23:30:36] <Bytram> that great deal on, say, a CDMA phone, isn't so sweet when all the towers have moved on.
[23:30:40] <carny> it's 2gb/month but those numbers keep inching up as competition increases
[23:32:12] <Bytram> Also be aware that cheaper phone plans are prone to have increasingly exploitative tracking and marketing to make up the difference.
[23:33:26] <carny> i won't give any specifics for doxing reasons but i will say that as mvno's go puretalk is about the most bland and benign you can hope for
[23:33:41] <FatPhil> thanks carny
[23:34:03] <carny> any fake mvno that's really a voip provider should be treated as a plague and avoided
[23:34:25] <FatPhil> mvno?
[23:34:54] <Bytram> multi-virtual network operator, off thetop of my head
[23:34:56] <carny> essentially a 2nd tier company that resells excess capacity on the tier 1 network
[23:35:00] <Bytram> =g MVNO
[23:35:01] <systemd> https://en.wikipedia.org - Mobile virtual network operator - Wikipedia
[23:35:33] <FatPhil> ah, the bucket shops of telephony!
[23:35:36] <FatPhil> ta!
[23:35:38] <Bytram> I was theeese close!
[23:35:39] <carny> verizon's mvno's tend to be the best coverage for rural areas
[23:35:55] <Bytram> carny: I've heard that, too.
[23:36:10] <carny> in cities it's chaos now that so many have sprung up and networks are increasingly congested
[23:36:20] <FatPhil> passing all this on, thanks all!
[23:36:39] <carny> but for people who don't care about high speed data it's usually a safe bet
[23:37:39] <carny> the main limitation with mvno's is the hassle of unlocking an existing phone so you can take their sim cards
[23:37:47] <Bytram> fwiw, I have US Cellular in the NE USA. in over 15 years, have never had a billing issue. Coverage continues to improve.
[23:37:50] <FatPhil> as I mentioned - the g/f's parents and sister are both still on dumbphones, so even carrier pigeons would be an advance in web-tech.
[23:38:13] <carny> oh is this going to be a family plan?
[23:38:30] <Bytram> you mean that bird that went extinct?
[23:38:44] <carny> if they get their phones unlocked in advance and sign up together they can link their accounts for more discount
[23:38:58] <Bytram> carny++
[23:38:58] <Bender> karma - carny: 5
[23:39:11] <carny> but the last time i investigated they wouldn't let you do that one phone line at a time
[23:39:13] <FatPhil> presently parents + daughter are 3 phones all on a verizon package
[23:39:31] <carny> yeah that's a popular form of lock-in
[23:40:04] <carny> verizon gouges so much that family plans are the only sane way to subscribe for those who are otherwise forced to use them
[23:40:11] <FatPhil> I have no idea how the lock-in thing works in the US.
[23:40:30] <carny> well if one of them drops their vzw plan they'll lose their family discount
[23:40:54] <FatPhil> So they've found a local minimum, but not a global one, by far.
[23:41:25] <carny> so the way to do it is get all of their phones unlocked (which is required by law but phone companies will push back and delay and generally require threats to comply) and then order the competitor's plan and sims all at once
[23:41:35] <FatPhil> I think it's only laziness that's keeping themon verizon. That's why we're doing the legwork for them. And by 'we', I do include you - thanks!
[23:41:53] <carny> then swap them over and test them for a few days before calling up vzw and telling them to 'sod off' i believe is your native expression
[23:42:23] <FatPhil> To remove a piece of peaty soil, yes, is to sod off
[23:42:30] <FatPhil> ;)
[23:43:08] <carny> fyi if you were hoping to do this as a christmas present you're about 9 days too late for shipping
[23:43:16] <carny> but it's the thought that counts right? ;]
[23:43:51] <Bytram> another thought is to be aware that unlocked phones may be lower priority (or even ignored) when it comes to the provider rolling out OS/phone/security updates.
[23:44:23] <FatPhil> We generally don't have that problem in the EU as "unlocked" is so common.
[23:45:09] <Bytram> thaz why I mentioned it. It's a jungle out there, over here.
[23:45:33] <carny> in the usa it's required for the carrier to unlock the phone after 1 year of service or a certain amount has been paid
[23:45:42] <FatPhil> Not a christmas present, fortunately, unless it's santa's winter boots giving them a kick up the arse to get them into the 2010s!
[23:46:02] <carny> but only upon request and you have to duel with their customer disservice reps and win 4 out of 7 bouts
[23:46:25] <FatPhil> :)
[23:46:48] <carny> i have won in 3 straight bouts but i cheat
[23:46:59] <carny> i know their dirty secrets
[23:47:25] <carny> but it still usually takes a few days of waiting and calling back to harass them
[23:48:34] <Bytram> I regularly pay my phone bill in person. Made friends with the staff. They occasionally let me know of improved rates/packages. Also have gone to bat for me when there's been the rare issue. Helps to "Say what you mean, mean what you say, but don't say it mean,"