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Easter Sunday Open Thread

Happy Easter, to everyone celebrating today.

Does anyone have a Surface Book? Is it worth more than $2k? Does the 13.3 inch screen seem bigger because it has such a thin bezel (or for whatever reason) or is it wysiwyg?

There are so few computer stores around here (everything is online other than a small kiosk in two local malls)that you can't even test them out before you buy -- keyboard feel, screen size and weight matter a lot to many besides me, I'd bet.

For those of you online, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

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    For the last couple of days (5.00 / 2) (#1)
    by Nemi on Sun Mar 27, 2016 at 02:48:20 PM EST
    I've regularly been checking in with the Bald Eagles Family in Pittsburgh via eagle cam.

    As I'm not really 'into' birds I'm surprised at how attached I've become to these two - and their cute, big-eyed, curious offspring. And it moves me to see how the parents take turns going fishing or staying home with the kids, how gentle they seem, and the way they help each other feeding the eaglets.

    The first and second born, ehm, hatched - and one more to go - have started to move out from under the parent's protective belly so the parents will soon have their hands, or claws as it were, full.

    I think I've become a Bald Eagle fan. :)

    The Washington DC (none / 0) (#10)
    by Suisser1 on Sun Mar 27, 2016 at 09:50:50 PM EST
    Bald Eagle Cam is also a good one. Great, crisp image.

    Parent
    Thanks ... (none / 0) (#13)
    by Nemi on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 07:52:40 AM EST
    This could become very addictive. ;)

    Parent
    Easter 1916: 'A terrible beauty is born.' (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sun Mar 27, 2016 at 06:06:40 PM EST
    Written only a few months after the collapse of the Irish Republican Brotherhood's armed insurrection in Dublin and the summary execution by the British of many of the rebel leaders, Irish poet William Butler Yeats' "Easter, 1916" reflects his innate ambivalence at the time as to whether or not that now-fabled rebellion and its resultant carnage had actually been worth it.

    In many respects, the Easter Rising looked to have been an almost catastrophically inept failure on the part of rebel leaders. Because their immediate targets were almost entirely symbolic in nature, their strategic goals became tragically self-limiting in their general scope.

    By failing to seize and secure an undefended Dublin in its entirety, the rebels had merely ensured that when British military reinforcements did inevitably arrive from England as had been expected, they would land unopposed at the city's docklands and have little or no difficulty re-entering central Dublin. Thus, British forces very quickly isolated the rebellion to a few key focal points along O'Connell Street and the River Liffey, such as the General Post Office, Four Corners and the Custom House.

    However, during the course of suppressing the Easter Rising, the violent shelling of central Dublin prior to the British military assault had needlessly killed hundreds of civilian noncombatants, when all London really had to do was starve the rebels out. Further, the British authorities then launched a series of brutal reprisals against perceived rebel sympathizers in the rebellion's immediate wake.

    So, rather than intimidate the opposition as was the obvious intent, these British tactics proved entirely counterproductive by instead horrifying and radicalizing much of the heretofore ambivalent local citizenry, to an extent which probably surprised even the Irish themselves. If they hadn't been convinced earlier by Sinn Fein's political arguments that the British had to go, many of them were now.

    In obvious retrospect, a millennium's worth of pent-up Irish indignation and grievance had been unleashed by Great Britain's heavy hand that spring, and Yeats had correctly surmised that in the Easter Rising, a truly watershed moment in the tortured history of Anglo-Irish relations had likely just been reached:

    "Too long a sacrifice
    Can make a stone of the heart.
    O when may it suffice?
    That is heaven's part, our part
    To murmur name upon name,
    As a mother names her child
    When sleep at last has come
    On limbs that had run wild.
    What is it but nightfall?
    No, no, not night but death.
    Was it needless death after all?
    For England may keep faith
    For all that is done and said.
    We know their dream; enough
    To know they dreamed and are dead.
    And what if excess of love
    Bewildered them till they died?
    I write it out in a verse --
    MacDonagh and MacBride
    And Connolly and Pearse
    Now and in time to be,
    Wherever green is worn,
    Are changed, changed utterly:
    A terrible beauty is born."

    Go n-eírí an bóthar leat. May the road rise with you.

    The FBI has announced interviews (5.00 / 1) (#4)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Mar 27, 2016 at 07:15:41 PM EST
    With Clinton aids and say an interview with her is likely.

    The interviews by FBI agents and prosecutors will play a significant role in helping them better understand whether Clinton or her aides knowingly or negligently discussed classified government secrets over a non-secure email system when she served as secretary of State.

    LINK

    Just thought I would get a jump on more hysterical announcements of this.

    While there's certainly been no shortage of people, both here and elsewhere, who are willing to speculate otherwise and engage in wishful thinking, the simple facts are as follows:
    • During Hillary Clinton's tenure at the State Department, the use of a private server by an agency official to conduct government business was not expressly prohibited by either federal law or State Dept. rule;

    • There is no evidence that the security of Clinton Foundation server she was using was ever breached by outside or hostile interests;

    • Of the 30,000-plus emails turned over by Mrs. Clinton to the State Dept., only 22 of them were ever retroactively classified as top secret, all of which took place between 24 and 36 months after she had already stepped down as Secretary of State;

    • Mrs. Clinton was the recipient and not the originator of all 22 of those "classified" emails, which were sent to her by senior State Dept. staff, and per the L.A. Times;

    • All of Mrs. Clinton's work-related emails, even those later deemed classified, were sent to aides who possessed the necessary security clearance to read them, and were never sent to private citizens.

    Aloha.

    Parent
    Okay (1.00 / 1) (#14)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 08:28:23 AM EST
    Mrs. Clinton was the recipient and not the originator of all 22 of those "classified" emails, which were sent to her by senior State Dept. staff, and per the L.A. Times;

    So her lack of common sense and lack of understanding that her employees were breaking the law doesn't disqualify her to be President?

    Hmmmmm

    Isn't that what Nixon did??

    Why yes. Yes it was.

    Parent

    You're assuming facts not in evidence. (5.00 / 1) (#21)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 11:22:08 AM EST
    Would the LA Times lie? (none / 0) (#51)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 07:56:53 PM EST
    You don't see the comparison? (none / 0) (#55)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 11:34:32 PM EST
    I am shocked. Yes, shocked.

    Parent
    You guys (none / 0) (#16)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 10:37:06 AM EST
    are still steamed about Nixon four decades later? The bitterness is still there? Knock the boulder off your shoulder Jim.

    Parent
    Uh, GA (1.00 / 1) (#18)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 10:45:53 AM EST
    it was Repubs who refused to support Nixon who forced him to resign. For undeserved support look at Democrats and all of the Clinton scandals.


    Parent
    Yes, (5.00 / 1) (#19)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 10:53:05 AM EST
    thanks for reminding me that the GOP has been wasting a lot of money on these kinds of things. I guess you have forgotten that the GOP spent money on three separate investigations of the Vince Foster suicide.

    More or less it shows how desperate the GOP is these days every time they start screaming about "scandals". You know Jim you would be well to remember the old fable about how you can only scream wolf so many times before nobody believes you and that is what happening now. You guys have lied about her with regards to Benghazi. You have lied and said she killed Vince Foster. You guys have lied and said that she's a lesbian. You guys have lied and lied and lied. If I had a dollar for every time the GOP lied about Hillary I would probably be a wealthy person by now. Just keep lying Jim. It's worked so well for you...not.

    Parent

    I Do Like Jim... (none / 0) (#23)
    by ScottW714 on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 12:05:52 PM EST
    ...acknowledging republican presidential crimes so openly.  In another post be acknowledged Bush's mistake, which is in some silly way, progress.

    What a sad state of affairs when Jim only has republican analogies when trying to tie someone to a crime or a yuge mistake.

    Last week he also said FDR was something like a 'Lead From the Front Commander in Chief'.

    Parent

    Actually I have no (none / 0) (#52)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 08:04:40 PM EST
    knowledge of how "you guys" relate to me since I have never made any of the things you claim.

    Why do you make things up??

    Parent

    Jim... (none / 0) (#57)
    by ScottW714 on Tue Mar 29, 2016 at 11:57:36 AM EST
    ... we are not laughing with you.

    Parent
    these were (none / 0) (#58)
    by ding7777 on Tue Mar 29, 2016 at 12:01:45 PM EST
    retroactively classified


    Parent
    For a more (none / 0) (#12)
    by TrevorBolder on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 05:46:42 AM EST
    Detailed, comprehensive and accurate account,

    Please see the Chicago Tribune

    http://tinyurl.com/jjwf2z4

    Parent

    Wondering why (none / 0) (#33)
    by jbindc on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 01:29:52 PM EST
    "All those FBI agents" aren't doing something more useful with their time, like hunting terrorists.

    Strange how the GOP is silent on thay.

    Parent

    Oh, the (none / 0) (#34)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 01:32:12 PM EST
    GOP is not silent. They are letting their minions know that nothing is going to come of this nonsense slowly but surely with their so called "legal experts" now stating that there is going to be no indictments hoping that their minions forget all the lies they have been feeding them for months now.

    Gullible doesn't even begin to describe the GOP.

    Parent

    Nah (none / 0) (#38)
    by TrevorBolder on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 04:17:31 PM EST
    It's strange that Democrat Senators are silent on that.

    Parent
    Why (none / 0) (#39)
    by FlJoe on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 04:54:56 PM EST
    would Democratic Senators say a word about it in any case?

    And from the when will they ever learn(or maybe no big deal in the first place) files

    emails released by the Pentagon late Friday show Defense Secretary Ash Carter continued to occasionally use a personal account for official business through September, months after controversy erupted over Hillary Clinton's email use while leading the State Department.


    Parent
    Actually (none / 0) (#40)
    by jbindc on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 05:03:12 PM EST
    I thought (none / 0) (#46)
    by TrevorBolder on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 06:18:20 PM EST
    It was the Washington Post???

    The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, commented after the Washington Post reported that FBI Director James Comey told an unnamed member of Congress that 147 agents were working the Clinton investigation.
    Story Continued Below

    Asked about the Post report, the source said: "That number is greatly exaggerated.

    Parent

    OH well (none / 0) (#48)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 06:34:44 PM EST
    The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, commented after the Washington Post reported that FBI Director James Comey told an unnamed member of Congress that ......

    Hard to imagine anything more unassailable than that!

    Parent

    Went Easter Shopping (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by CoralGables on Sun Mar 27, 2016 at 09:10:17 PM EST
    I threw away my Hillary pantsuit sillouette T (none / 0) (#15)
    by Militarytracy on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 08:56:18 AM EST
    About 6 mos ago. I pulled it out to wear. Who in their right mind came up with that unflattering shirt? Why didn't I notice how unflattering it was before then? It was the shirt of losers bahahahaha. I guess I was momentarily blinded by my roar, it's gone now though

    Parent
    LOL. I have not tried mine on yet (none / 0) (#26)
    by ruffian on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 01:12:13 PM EST
    Is it really that bad?

    I like my shirt my brother gave me from wonkette. Color is nice, soft cotton, I will actually wear it outside the house!

    Parent

    A middle aged woman (none / 0) (#47)
    by Militarytracy on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 06:25:30 PM EST
    Sporting a T shirt with a pantsuit female sillouette on it just ain't working it.

    I love the shirt your brother got you. Obviously some superior taste and style genes in your fam

    Parent

    hahahahaha....I see the point (5.00 / 1) (#50)
    by ruffian on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 07:10:31 PM EST
    Just tried mine on...it really is bad. Cut funny too at the neck - I could almost stick one of those white priest things in there for an extra bad look. I can't even leave it on to be alone in the house!

    Parent
    I think wearing it might summon (none / 0) (#53)
    by ruffian on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 08:58:10 PM EST
    The 'What Not To Wear' crew, like the bat signal.

    Parent
    I dug out my 2008 buttons and pins. (none / 0) (#56)
    by Suisser1 on Tue Mar 29, 2016 at 07:13:33 AM EST
    I've only had one or two unpleasant encounters with Sanders' folks wanting to "educate" me - compared with the passing, "love your button" from strangers and the check-out grocery gals who ask where they can get one. Dropped $30 on new buttons and stickers. Some to save for my daughter's daughters but a few to add to the collection worn.

    Parent
    HP spectre 360 (none / 0) (#2)
    by pitachips on Sun Mar 27, 2016 at 04:35:23 PM EST
    I considered the surface pro but didn't think it was worth the 2k+ price. I took the spectre 360 and it is a nice ultra light laptop w/ decent speed and can be used as a laptop or tablet (although the keyboard is not detachable).

    Here's a good ... (none / 0) (#9)
    by Robot Porter on Sun Mar 27, 2016 at 09:35:30 PM EST
    video comparing the two.

    The other laptop that has gained a lot of favor in the geek community is the Dell XPS 13. This is especially cool if you like small laptop. It's extremely narrow bezel gives it the footprint of a 12" laptop but it has a 13.3" screen.  

    But if you want to go bigger the XPS 15 (which is about the size of a Macbook with a 13.5" screen) has a 15.6" screen.

    Parent

    saw the dell (none / 0) (#20)
    by pitachips on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 10:59:31 AM EST
    For some reason I have a hard time pulling the trigger for Dell after getting burned on two straight laptops a few years back. Had multiple components going out on me requiring replacement/repairs etc. Hope that has changed.

    I simply can't bring myself to pay 2200 + for a computer anymore. This isn't 1998!

    Parent

    Back in the late eighties ... (none / 0) (#25)
    by Robot Porter on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 01:12:07 PM EST
    early nineties, I remember paying $2500 for a 486.  And it wasn't even top of the line.

    These days I tend to buy budget laptops. And build a powerful desktop.

    Which isn't to say I wouldn't WANT premium laptop.  But I find it hard to justify.  And I LOVE tech.

    YMMV.

    Parent

    Job (none / 0) (#5)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Mar 27, 2016 at 08:35:15 PM EST
    In a recent thread I was shilling for the MAX series BANSHEE.

    I love many thing about the show but the thing I love the most is Job.

    He (I believe that is the correct pronoun as I believe his character is a dr@g queen, not transgendered) is quite simply the most rockin dr@g queen/hitman/hacker/all round badass to ever rock premium cable.

    I've been watching the marathon leading up to the new season and this happened.  I forgot about it.

    you make me feel - mighty reel

    Some other glamor shots from the show.  She the best clothes since Mrs Peel

    LINK

    LINK

    LINK

    You really should be watching this show

    "best clothes since Mrs. Peel" (5.00 / 2) (#27)
    by Mr Natural on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 01:15:05 PM EST
    - the "talented amateur"

    You shouldn't tease me that way.  I loved the Avengers.  Sleepy villages and strange behavior.  I loved it.

    Parent

    Banshee (none / 0) (#35)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 01:33:51 PM EST
    Is an Amish village.  Can't get sleeper than that.  I really believe Job is a post modern homage to Ema Peel.
    A female impersonator Ms Peel.  How perfect is that?

    Parent
    New season (none / 0) (#8)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Mar 27, 2016 at 09:28:47 PM EST
    Starts Friday

    Parent
    If you have Hulu ... (none / 0) (#7)
    by Robot Porter on Sun Mar 27, 2016 at 09:10:52 PM EST
    I highly recommend the series "11.22.63" based on the book of the same name by Stephen King.

    Quality television with great writing, acting, and production design all wrapped around a fun and exciting premise.

    Deal (none / 0) (#17)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 10:37:50 AM EST
    apparently is going to veto the religious freedom act here in GA. Expect the holy war to commence soon in the GOP.

    Georgia Governor (5.00 / 1) (#22)
    by KeysDan on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 11:27:25 AM EST
    Nathan Deal did announce that he will veto the anti-gay, HB 747 religious liberty bill.  A very impassioned speech about his reasons for so doing.

     Georgia Prospers, a coalition of more than 500 businesses promoting inclusion and equal treatment for everyone, ran a full-page ad Easter Sunday in the Atlanta Journal/Constitution listing all the businesses, including a recent addition that Deal worked on getting to Georgia, Mercedes Benz USA. Legalized discrimination does not reflect their values--and would cost thousands of jobs according to Georgia Prospers.

    Hopefully, the Governor of North Carolina will have an epiphany and move to rescind not only the "bathroom bill" but also, the rest of the discrimination included in the law.


    Parent

    It's nice when one of our "Leaders" (5.00 / 1) (#28)
    by Mr Natural on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 01:16:50 PM EST
    actually takes a leadership position - sticks his or her neck out a little.

    Rare but nice.

    Parent

    Someone (none / 0) (#36)
    by FlJoe on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 01:35:57 PM EST
    once said that in politics the right thing often gets done for the wrong reasons, apparently the case here.

    Parent
    Told ya so (none / 0) (#24)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 12:35:01 PM EST
    Yes, you did. (none / 0) (#29)
    by KeysDan on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 01:17:05 PM EST
    Good call. Deal said "I don't respond ell to insults or threats," which doubtful, but,then, we need to go by results, not process in these cases.

       The stakes in the election are such, that, as in Georgia, not losing ground is a cause to celebrate--force those bakers to take money and by a devil's food cake; and/or force a florist to take your money for a bouquet of snap dragons.

    Parent

    Money talks, as was just proven (none / 0) (#30)
    by caseyOR on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 01:24:50 PM EST
    by Governor Deal. Add to the pressure from corporations the fact that Deal is term-limited and, so, in no need of reelection votes, and this veto starts to make sense.

    Too bad those folks in North Carolina can't take a hint. They are, I believe, cruising' for a big bruising' when the inevitable lawsuit hits the federal courts.

    Parent

    Yes, topsy turvy (5.00 / 1) (#41)
    by KeysDan on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 05:28:13 PM EST
    the moneychangers are driving the Christians out of the righteous place.  

    Parent
    As I said (none / 0) (#42)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 05:38:23 PM EST
    It's republicans and money.  Everything else is negotiable.  Sometimes events just make it more obvious.

    Also, GA was predicting a war.  If there is the smart money would be on the money to win.

    Parent

    I don't (none / 0) (#44)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 05:48:28 PM EST
    know. Lots of idiotic fundamentalists in the state. Maybe money will win control of the GOP and who they nominate but they can't make the voters heel to money at this point. Look no further than the Trump phenom on a smaller scale to possibly happen here in GA.

    Parent
    You are mixing apples and oranges (none / 0) (#45)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 05:54:04 PM EST
    Trump has next to nothing to do with religious zealotry.  If anything it's evidence of exactly what I said that they may talk religion but "goodness has nothing to do with it".

    Zealots are one leg of Reagans republican stool.  The others were never going to let them blow up the economy the way it was very obvious they were about to do.

    Parent

    Also (none / 0) (#43)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 05:41:18 PM EST
    The idea that Deal did this for any other reason than instead of his economy being built on zombies it would itself become a zombie is downright hysterical.

    Parent
    Did somebody mention (5.00 / 1) (#49)
    by Mr Natural on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 07:06:37 PM EST
    It really is (none / 0) (#32)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 01:29:18 PM EST
    quite strange because NC is more of a swing state than GA is and that kind of legislation has to be more untenable in NC than it is in GA and yet you have the NC governor signing it and Deal vetoing it.

    Yes, Deal is term limited etc. but watch for this to start setting the GA GOP on fire.

    Parent

    Oh, Deal (none / 0) (#31)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 01:26:20 PM EST
    very much responds to threats but apparently it depends on who is making them. The idiot fundamentalists in the legislature led by a one Josh Koon forced Deal into a corner. He had to pick a side and considering how bad the economy has been here in GA he decided that rolling the fundamentalists under the bus was a more tenable position than having a ton of businesses pull up stakes and leave the state.

    Parent
    Costco... (none / 0) (#37)
    by ScottW714 on Mon Mar 28, 2016 at 01:43:19 PM EST
    ...has 3 Surface Pro's from $1150 to $1900.

    I bought a tablet when they first came out and it ended being a large paperweight.  Not sure who the people are that like fingerprints on their screens, but it drives me bananas.  I would call it a first generation tablet, which is probably far from the Surface Pro as you can get.

    I also did not like that there is a lot of software that cannot be put on a tablet.

    At home I have a heavy duty desktop and bought a 13" laptop with cell and bluetooth.  I got it for long trip to have something really portable, but turns out it's a bit of a beast and I use it for nearly everything.  I really like the 13" laptop size, it fits in my small backpack and is just plain light and easy to take with me, especially through the airport.  The small screen doesn't need near the computing power and the battery lasts forever.

    Rarely does it bother me not having a larger screen, can't think of any time I really needed a larger screen, which is surprising.