Random Questions

There’s a mode called “smart shuffle” that they’ve been pushing really hard and it’s obnoxious. If the shuffle icon has a sparkle on it, then it’s “smart shuffle” (with random extra songs!), you have to tap it again to turn it to regular shuffle.

Annoyingly, you can’t disable it permanently. Which sucks.

There’s also a separate setting called AutoPlay that plays random other songs after you finish an album or playlist. It turns on by default whenever you connect to speakers/bluetooth.

I hate it too.

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Wow I have been wondering if this was just me or my work internet being glitchy. How dare they smarten the shuffle

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Thank you for this!! I’ve been so annoyed, and I’ve never used Spotify before so I didn’t know if it was just how it was or not.

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Yeah it’s the worst!! I am a certified AI hater

No problem, glad I could help! It’s definitely not just you.

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Adding on to the how to fix internet stuff that got ruined by ai:

If you replace your browser bar search engine with this you will get basic like 2015 website only Google search results:
https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14

Longer article about it with some instruction on how to change your browser search

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I am still interested in siding cleaning experiences but I have another home maintenance question.

How often, if at all, do you have your carpet professionally shampooed vs using a home or rental machine? How much difference does it make?

The areas in question are a teen bedroom (food free, low traffic) and the stairs (very high traffic).

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I think we did it every couple years before we replaced our floors. I rented ours from a store for 24 hours except if I rented it one of the four times a year they were closed (like fourth of July) I got it for 48 hours for free and didn’t have to rush so much. The dirty water that got poured out was satisfying and gross. I did some couch cushions too, I shudder to consider their condition now.

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I had the carpet professionally cleaned once, after the dog finally went to the Big Crate in the Sky.

It did a fantastic job on the rug in the living room in the back where we came in and out all the time. However the rug was still old and worn and a few years later we had it pulled up and put down bamboo instead.

I’m not having carpet anymore. We have allergies and cats and drop stuff.

But anyway, professional cleaning was better than DIY.

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The only people I know who’ve done it professionally were 3 families who used the same company once, 5-6 years ago.

Rental machine used to be every few years or after potty training a human or pet.

We have the little one and rugs not carpet. I spot clean after accidents usually. I do a full clean every 3-6 months (B1 is still having accidents plus food etc and now B2 is training)

I think you moved in with gross carpet so I think the rental would be smart.

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Is there something that’s the opposite of a bra band extender? A bra band shrinker?

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I’ve folded the hooks over and sewed it down to shorten the band before.

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We did it once at the townhouse (lived there for 3 years) and have not done it at all in our current house - we’ve been here for 3 years. Although I think the type of carpet makes a big difference. This time around we bought low-pile, high traffic carpet and I honestly think it looks new still.

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Awesome, I will follow up when I pick date to try it!

Consensus seems to be that professional. Steam cleaning of the carpets is not anything that most normal people do with any regularity. The Boy will be very pleased if I just shampoo it myself. Actually, he would be happier if I did not clean them at all, but it seems like a reasonable compromise to do it myself!

They’re really nasty carpet. I am still thinking of ripping up entirely and replacing with peel and stick title, which is about the only thing I could afford right now. The adhesive seems like a problem for future me.

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For what it’s worth, I did this ~15 years ago in the kitchen/dining area (was half ancient linoleum and half carpet) and upstairs bath (also half and half, the second half being terrifying) on the assumption that it would be a stopgap for a few years until I had the money for real replacement flooring. Both sets are still there and still look good, although I did have to replace a couple tiles in the kitchen when I tore them moving the old fridge.

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Ooh, thanks for the anecdata! This is definitely meant as a stopgap because someday I want to replace all the hard flooring on that level… But will I?

Or when the particular child is grown I may change back to carpet.

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You can lay other flooring over stick on tiles without removing them.

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So in the US tax system - if someone were to successfully defeat a dragon and acquire the hoard, how would one report that for taxes? Would that be earned income or like lottery winnings? What if the dragon were in another country?

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I suspect it would be like lottery winnings. If in another country I would expect taxes in that country, and some (lower) tax in the U.S… unless one could argue this is an inheritance, or something like finding a shipwreck or pirate’s chest full of good and jewels l.

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Sounds like theft to me.
Which still has to be reported to the IRS.

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