34 thoughts on “November 1, 2015: Refresh”

  1. I installed Windows 10 a couple weeks ago - so far it was much ado about nothing. There are a couple oddities with the graphics card (transparency no longer works) and I've had boot ups which come up blank except for the mouse pointer;I've found that if I unplug the router it comes up fine. I think that there just install stuff happening behind the scenes that are preventing the login screen from coming up. Otherwise, I don't see much difference in performance (certainly not degraded) and there isn't a whole lot with the UI changes. I had to work hard to remove all the standard cr@p that normally is installed in an upgrade.

    1. That's been my experience as well. It is nice having the normal start menu back, though.

      I think I'm going to see a bigger difference on my phone, which I believe is supposed to start this month. The rumored possible compatibility with Android apps will make me very pleased.

      1. I think I'm going to do it on my old ass machine, but I've gotta get a new hard drive and memory first. Too many viruses over the years has rendered it slow as hell.

    2. what sorts of "standard crap" did you remove and/or would recommend removing?

      I've not noticed much difference either way on my machine's performance (HP Pavilion with 2.5 GHz i-5, 8 G of RAM). But finding stuff on the re-arranged Start menu has been annoying.

        1. Yea, I don't think I have even opened that browser. Chrome and FF.

          Does Edge eat resources even when not running?

          1. I dunno. I just know I freaked out when my work software wasn't working at home. Then I realized I wasn't using IE, but rather Edge. When I realized I still had IE on my computer, I breathed a sigh of relief. And that was the first time in my life.

              1. I use IE_tab for Firefox at work. I could use Chrome (I use it at home... EAR uses Firefox), but for some reason I started with Firefox at work and just kept with it.
                Other people use IE for everything (>shudder<) or have to open IE specifically for work apps.

                1. What is this IE_tab? I am a person who opens IE specifically for work websites (sharepoint, Dayforce) and would prefer not to.

                  1. It's an add-on. You can tell FF (or Chrome, I guess) which URLs in which to basically serve as an IE shell, or you can change to that or back on an active page, too.

                  2. I have to use the Chrome IE tab for Sharepoint as well. I can confirm that MS Office documents open properly using the IE plug-in.

  2. Guys, Wild Enokis are the most fun I've had cooking in a long time. Nothing yet has turned out fabulous, but they're just such fun mushrooms.
    Why the heck did the Japanese decide to domesticate them and grow them like capless straws?

    is better than

      1. Don't go walking into the woods just picking something that looks like the first picture though.
        "Deadly Galerina" is out there, too. Also small, orange-capped, growing in groups on dead logs. Not hard to tell the difference if you know what you're looking for. But if you don't have it right, Deadly Galerinas are appropriately named. Galerinas not as cute looking though, don't feel fun in the hand after picking them. (It doesn't seem that books like to tell you to ID mushrooms by cuteness though.)
        Yes, I pick poisonous mushrooms that look like the edible ones just to show my kids how close they are so they don't get brave before they get smart. Then I toss the poisonous ones (I don't bring them home. "Toss" is literal: into the bushes.)
        Two weeks ago, I thought I was picking a big Galerina, but instead picked a cool Gymnopilus (poisonous and psychedelic, but in incertain quantities): the flesh turned cherry-red when cut, then slowly blackened.

        1. Mowing & raking yesterday and my daughter and I came no less than a half-dozen different kinds of wild mushrooms ... kept wishing for an app that would allow me to take a picture and be told if it was safe to eat or not.
          -
          -
          Then I thought, "Actually, I do, sort-of. I should take pictures and send 'em to AMR for identification."

          1. Any such app would probably lead to some poisonings, so don't expect one soon.
            If you want cold water on mushroom-collecting, read the "Poison Experts" here.
            I've obviously got some strong free-range parenting-type rebuttals to that. Imagine one here.

            As for the mushrooms in your yard, some were probably "Shaggy Manes", which are good to eat if the gills aren't yet black. You can keep them in the fridge for maybe a day before they "self-digest" or "deliquesce". Given their ephemerality, they're not commercial, but pretty good. Sauteed in butter, or fried in eggs are typical preparations.
            I've picked them, puffballs (two species!), inky caps (do not eat within days of drinking alcohol: I prepare them for the kids), and "fairy ring" mushrooms from my lawn and eaten them. Only the Shaggy Manes in the last month though.

            There's bad things that grow in lawns, too. So know what you're looking for. "Green-spored Parasol" is said to be the most common source of mushroom-poisoning hospitalizations, though it's probably not fatal.

            1. Eh, I feel like ranting...

              There is no way a lay person can tell the difference between poisonous and harmless mushrooms. Even experienced mushroom pickers can be fooled at times, so this warning needs to be taken seriously β€˜do not eat wild mushrooms growing on your lawns or in the wild.’

              "no way a lay person can tell the difference". Lay people can easily identify dozens of edible mushrooms. Morels, Lion's Mane, Sulfur Shelf, Resinous Polypore, Hen of the woods, Abortive Entoloma, etc.
              Experienced pickers will still have problems with some edible species with similar-appearing toxic species. Until you know what you're doing, avoid those that are harder to ID with absolute certainty.

              Experts also cautioned parents to teach their children not to eat wild plants, berries, nuts, or mushrooms.

              No wild grapes, raspberries, or strawberries? Maybe teach your kids only to eat what they know, and teach them what is toxic so they know what to avoid. Take them with you and show them what you know. Test them when they're young by requiring them to bring everything to you before they eat, and don't give them permission to forage until you can trust their skills. Let them eat so many grapes that they feel sick* just to put a little fear in them.
              *Not a good idea if potty-training is in the recent background.

            2. Any such app would probably lead to some poisonings, so don't expect one soon.

              I'm not.

              There's bad things that grow in lawns, too. So know what you're looking for.

              Thing is, mostly I just come across mushrooms and point 'em out to my daughter as "items of interest you'll find in our yard - not to be eaten without a grown-ups approval" and realize that even that's not an accurate admonishment as I'm a grown-up and know nothing about shroom id.

  3. Also: ODell's "Brombeere" Blackberry Gose is pretty dang good for a fruit beer a week past its expiration date. I am now out of it.
    Slight fruit sweetness, but more acidity. Overall crisp and dry. I want ciders that taste like this. (Ciders all too sweet.)
    I might go back to the store I bought it from and ask if they'll me more cheaper because it's expired.

      1. It's a low-ABV beer!
        If I could get six 4-packs, I'd probably finish them soon enough to not really worry about degradation any further.

          1. Odells is one of my favorite breweries in the states. I've never met a product they've made that I didn't like. Some are far better than others, but all are excellently made. I miss their ipa here in the big easy.

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