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haveblue posted:Why do you think sniping software is now very rare and unreliable? just to point out the ridiculousness of one of your points https://www.google.com/search?q=ebay+sniping+software And by the way, saying ebay has tried to kill bid sniping doesn't support your argument. If they really have tried to it's because bid sniping saves money and ebay wants the items to sell for as high as possible. Schweinhund fucked around with this message at 21:37 on Mar 27, 2012 |
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Mar 27, 2012 21:32
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Golbez posted:This is the second time someone (maybe you) has said that 'eBay killed sniping' with this kind of bidding. But this is the auction style that has been in place since at least the late 90s, so just how long ago did eBay kill sniping? Wasn't this always the style, it's just that, back in the day, there was more interesting stuff on eBay and it was more fun to try to snipe it, before people realized just how the auctions worked? The whole "set your maximum bid" thing was introduced mostly to combat the situation where it was almost impossible to win any given eBay auction without script assistance. They wanted to end the arms race and make it possible to have a good experience using only the contents of https://www.ebay.com. I couldn't tell you exactly when it happened but eBay operated without it for some time after launch. haveblue fucked around with this message at 21:54 on Mar 27, 2012 |
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Mar 27, 2012 21:48
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Where do I get a tiny key ring or one of those little cell phone charm strings? I'm awful at keeping track of small objects. I have a thumb drive that I keep almost losing and I'd like to put it on my keys or something. The wikipedia image for it shows it with a little key ring but mine didn't come with that. It just came with the empty hole where a tiny key ring (but not a normal sized one) would fit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Usb-thumb-drive.jpg
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Mar 27, 2012 21:52
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Flillia posted:Where do I get a tiny key ring or one of those little cell phone charm strings? I'm awful at keeping track of small objects. I have a thumb drive that I keep almost losing and I'd like to put it on my keys or something. The wikipedia image for it shows it with a little key ring but mine didn't come with that. It just came with the empty hole where a tiny key ring (but not a normal sized one) would fit. The fishing section of Walmart usually has small split rings.
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Mar 27, 2012 22:05
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I put a Macbook Pro up on eBay and it was bought in 15 minutes by a guy from Poland despite me saying that anyone non US should contact me about shipping before buying. This guy's probably a scammer, right? He has one positive feedback, but the comment and auction it was from is hidden. If he does indeed Paypal me the money and has a Paypal confirmed shipping address that matches his eBay address, am I safe? What else do I have to do to make sure I'm safe?
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Mar 27, 2012 22:08
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If you're using Paypal I'm pretty sure there's no way you can be safe.
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Mar 27, 2012 22:16
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haveblue posted:Because there's no way to make saving $30 more likely to happen, so doing a bunch of meaningless actions to convince yourself that you did is a waste of time and effort. Why do you think sniping software is now very rare and unreliable? It's a dead field because demand dried up because eBay killed it. Do you also apply this logic to wearing a seatbelt in your car? After all you can't change the probability of having a crash, why stress over wearing a seatbelt. The answer of course is that it gives you an improved outcome despite the fact you can't control which outcome occurs. The point of sniping software is that it allows you to engage the sniping strategy without the stress of having to login to ebay and bid during the last minute of an auction. The sniping strategy only works in the scenario that previous bidders would be willing to up their maximum bid upon receiving an email from ebay telling them they have been outbid. In all other cases the outcome is equal. People are susceptible to increasing their bid when they receive that email, this is sometimes calling bidding fever or a bidding war; it occurs because some people are not economically rational. However by applying an economically rational strategy at the last moment of bidding on an item you gain an advantage over these people.
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Mar 27, 2012 22:30
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Anyone know what this plant is? It's some climbing vine that's infesting a lot of trees in Durham, NC and just started flowering but the only thing I can figure out is that it isn't Kudzu.  
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Mar 27, 2012 22:31
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That's wisteria. Seen both as an ornamental and nuisance.
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Mar 27, 2012 22:36
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Rashomon posted:I put a Macbook Pro up on eBay and it was bought in 15 minutes by a guy from Poland despite me saying that anyone non US should contact me about shipping before buying. This guy's probably a scammer, right? He has one positive feedback, but the comment and auction it was from is hidden. If he does indeed Paypal me the money and has a Paypal confirmed shipping address that matches his eBay address, am I safe? What else do I have to do to make sure I'm safe? Abort now. He's either going to ask for Western Union instead of Paypal, send you a fake Paypal invoice, or send you the money and then file a chargeback (which you will lose). Just cancel and relist now, don't even bother talking to the guy.
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Mar 27, 2012 22:46
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Crankit posted:Do you also apply this logic to wearing a seatbelt in your car? The real analogous question is, do you carry your own seatbelt around, or use the one built into every car you get into? Which has an equally obvious answer.
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Mar 27, 2012 22:59
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FCKGW posted:Abort now. He's either going to ask for Western Union instead of Paypal, send you a fake Paypal invoice, or send you the money and then file a chargeback (which you will lose). I'd say go for it if you're actually able to withdraw the PayPal money before shipping, but fat chance of that because surprise international shipping is usually a lead-in to an escrow scam.
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Mar 27, 2012 23:07
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Why do telephones still sound so shoddy compared to skype and VoIP? Does it have to do with the quality of mics/receivers in every single telephone and cell, or a limit in data or whatever that they can transmit over phone lines/wireless networks?
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Mar 27, 2012 23:58
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e: nvm
Tostito fucked around with this message at 03:12 on Mar 28, 2012 |
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Mar 28, 2012 00:06
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Centzon Totochtin posted:Why do telephones still sound so shoddy compared to skype and VoIP? Does it have to do with the quality of mics/receivers in every single telephone and cell, or a limit in data or whatever that they can transmit over phone lines/wireless networks? Telephones transmit voice data in a format that was standardized 30 years ago. They can't just update this format without worrying about "breaking" every phone that's out there. The wires could certainly handle it; DSL is done over the same lines that your telephone uses it. The standard isn't updated because it's more important that everyone is "speaking the same language" than the fidelity of the call be improved.
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Mar 28, 2012 00:23
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Centzon Totochtin posted:Why do telephones still sound so shoddy compared to skype and VoIP? Does it have to do with the quality of mics/receivers in every single telephone and cell, or a limit in data or whatever that they can transmit over phone lines/wireless networks? Which telephones do you mean? Most landline phones are, after getting to the local switching office, carried over digital lines with an encoding that hasn't changed much since the late 70s and was designed to be equal in quality to analog lines extant at the time (which wasn't very good). It's generally 8 bit sampling at 8 khz sampling rate, compared to say a CD which is 16 bit sampling at 44.1 khz sampling rate. For cell phones, most 2G systems used less than 16 bit sampling (sometimes 8 bit, sometimes 13 bit) at 8 khz, with more aggressive compression that intentionally degraded call quality in favor of reduced bandwidth usage. Some 3G and 4G systems use higher quality sampling and better compression methods. Remember that landline circuits are designed to fit voice data into 64 kilobit per second channels (with a low compression format), and that cell phone systems might be fitting the voice data into channels as small as 8 kilobits per second. And that's all before you consider that many phones have crappy speakers and mics, of course.
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Mar 28, 2012 00:38
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miryei posted:I mailed something rather important from Atlanta to Seattle, USPS priority, with tracking. The tracking currently lists the package as "out for delivery" in Atlanta. Assuming that I put the addresses in the right place (I and the guy who was helping me mail everything both double-checked it) what might cause this? So it turns out that my flat rate envelope was returned 'postage due'. What can I do to prevent this from happening when I re-mail it? Alternately, is there a better way to mail these documents? I want tracking and am required to use USPS. miryei fucked around with this message at 02:54 on Mar 28, 2012 |
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Mar 28, 2012 00:47
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I think that this question is better off here than AI, as it's car related, but only tangentially. I have a new VW Jetta with bluetooth, and I've been using it for a few weeks and it's been fine. For some reason, a few days ago it stopped recognizing my girlfriend's name when I try to make calls. I don't get any sort of error message, just the ding sound it makes when the voice system turns off. Every other contact I've tried seems to work (e.g. my girlfriend's dad, same long last name; my dad, first syllable of name is the same as my girlfriend's). I can't figure out what's wrong here. I tried deleting the contact and adding it again, which worked once, but not anymore. Additionally, it seems the problem started off at some point after she sent me an iMessage from her iPad for the first time, which for some reason created extra slots in my iPhone messages list (rather than connecting it to our iMessage log between our phones). However, this didn't seem to add any additional contacts that I can find. The voice command on my iPhone (not Siri, just voice control on iPhone 4) works fine with the contact. It's just the bluetooth in my car that has this issue. I've also tried letting the phone forget the bluetooth device, turning off syncinc of contacts, but nothing has worked. Does anyone know of a problem like this? I doubt this is something they'll do at the Apple store. Is the dealership any help with problems like this? I'd love any tips, it sucks that this is happening with the only person I call frequently.
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Mar 28, 2012 01:02
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OneEightHundred posted:If he asks for Western Union then that'll be great because then he can't chargeback! Yeah, that is what I am figuring. I just wanted to see if there were any obvious pitfalls if he actually does send the money through Paypal, it clears, and I put it in my bank account, then ship to a confirmed address with proper tracking and delivery confirmation, etc. As you say, the chances of that actually happening at this point are slim to none.
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Mar 28, 2012 03:36
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miryei posted:So it turns out that my flat rate envelope was returned 'postage due'. What can I do to prevent this from happening when I re-mail it? That sounds messed up. When I have to do this kind of stuff for work, I just go the post office and make sure that I'm doing everything they say I have to do. E. OneEightHundred posted:Anyone know what this plant is? It's some climbing vine that's infesting a lot of trees in Durham, NC and just started flowering but the only thing I can figure out is that it isn't Kudzu. If you have the yard for it, these make great decorations for arbors and the like as they offer sweet-rear end shade. I personally think they look great.
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Mar 28, 2012 03:38
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RFX posted:I think that this question is better off here than AI, as it's car related, but only tangentially. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3298776
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Mar 28, 2012 05:33
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What goes into the pricing of new DVDs at a store?
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Mar 28, 2012 05:42
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kimbo305 posted:One of the posters in the VW thread in AI is a tech at a VW dealership. He might be able to search for issues with various models and iPhone functionality over bluetooth. Thanks! I'll post my question there.
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Mar 28, 2012 05:46
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Rashomon posted:Yeah, that is what I am figuring. I just wanted to see if there were any obvious pitfalls if he actually does send the money through Paypal, it clears, and I put it in my bank account, then ship to a confirmed address with proper tracking and delivery confirmation, etc. As you say, the chances of that actually happening at this point are slim to none. Just because you pull the money out doesn't mean Paypal will just give up trying to collect any money they think you owe them. This includes sending you to collections, reporting a deliquent account to the credit agencies and filing suit to recover lost funds, just like any other business.
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Mar 28, 2012 06:23
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FCKGW posted:Just because you pull the money out doesn't mean Paypal will just give up trying to collect any money they think you owe them. This includes sending you to collections, reporting a deliquent account to the credit agencies and filing suit to recover lost funds, just like any other business. PayPal is pretty much the scammers dream service, avoid using it at all costs.
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Mar 28, 2012 10:58
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FCKGW posted:Just because you pull the money out doesn't mean Paypal will just give up trying to collect any money they think you owe them. This includes sending you to collections, reporting a deliquent account to the credit agencies and filing suit to recover lost funds, just like any other business. This. It hasn't happened to me directly, but it has to no less than three people I know. They have no qualms about overdrawing your PayPal account and then sending you to collections over it.
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Mar 28, 2012 15:58
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Fire In The Disco posted:This. It hasn't happened to me directly, but it has to no less than three people I know. They have no qualms about overdrawing your PayPal account and then sending you to collections over it. The Debt Collectors thread in BFC has numerous examples as well. So here's what will happen: he pays via Paypal, you draw the money out and spend it on booze or whatever. Dude from Poland says "I never got the laptop!" and Paypal locks your account and puts you in the negative pending an investigation. 1) Paypal says "hey, this guys is kinda shady and he has a thick accent. we'll side with the dude selling the macbook" and then your account will be unfrozen in a month or 2. 2) Paypal guys "welp, this guy has buyers protection through eBay and Paypal which trumps sellers protection, plus the fact that Apple laptops are the most fraudulent things sold on eBay, we're looking at a pretty clear cut case of an eBay scammer trying to make a quick buck from our poor friend in Poland here. Since we don't look at things like account history and eBay feedback when determining the outcome of a case, refund this poor sap's money and lock this scammer's account." You are in the negative now. After about a month or two, you start receiving collections letters and threatening phone calls, your credit ends up tanks and, if it's worth the hassle, you get a lawsuit against you to recover funds plus fees and interest. Just move on, this poo poo happens hundreds of times a day. FCKGW fucked around with this message at 16:32 on Mar 28, 2012 |
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Mar 28, 2012 16:22
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So what payment methods are good for sellers? vvv - thanks for the advice. I live in Australia so it looks like an escrow service is the only option. Emmjay fucked around with this message at 20:57 on Mar 28, 2012 |
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Mar 28, 2012 18:31
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Emmjay posted:So what payment methods are good for sellers? OneEightHundred fucked around with this message at 20:09 on Mar 28, 2012 |
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Mar 28, 2012 19:54
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Emmjay posted:So what payment methods are good for sellers?
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Mar 28, 2012 20:06
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How do I type garbled letters like this: Ȑ̢̞̠̞̯̺̠̘͇̹͚̻ͨ̅̆ͬ͛̓ͣͦ͟S̺̳̘̮̼̖̞̬͍̋̐ͮ͑ͨ̋ͨ̿̆͌ͥ̚͜͟ I can copy paste it from other places but I want to create it. Tell me the secret
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Mar 28, 2012 21:16
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Above Our Own posted:How do I type garbled letters like this: Ȑ̢̞̠̞̯̺̠̘͇̹͚̻ͨ̅̆ͬ͛̓ͣͦ͟S̺̳̘̮̼̖̞̬͍̋̐ͮ͑ͨ̋ͨ̿̆͌ͥ̚͜͟ It's a whole bunch of Unicode accents and other letter decorations applied around regular letters. Go to edit your post, see how there's a bunch of "& #39393;" stuff? Those are the codes for the various symbols, and you can just copy them around what you type like so: ◊̴̶̷̧̢̡̛̦̥̤̣̠̟̞̝̜̙̘̗̖̪̫̭̯̱̳̹̺̻̀́̂̃̄̅̆̇̈̉̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̾̽̚̕◊̴̶̷̧̢̡̛̦̥̤̣̠̟̞̝̜̙̘̗̖̪̫̭̯̱̳̹̺̻̀́̂̃̄̅̆̇̈̉̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̾̽̚̕◊̧̢̡̛̦̥̤̣̠̟̞̝̜̙̘̗̖̀́̂̃̄̅̆̇̈̉̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̚̕
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Mar 28, 2012 21:21
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Above Our Own posted:How do I type garbled letters like this: Ȑ̢̞̠̞̯̺̠̘͇̹͚̻ͨ̅̆ͬ͛̓ͣͦ͟S̺̳̘̮̼̖̞̬͍̋̐ͮ͑ͨ̋ͨ̿̆͌ͥ̚͜͟ Ļ̛̩̞̻͕͛̆̒i̦̣ͭ̀̕ḵ̞̱͖͎̰̭͍̘ͤͯĕ̗͒̄ͯ͂ͫͯ͢ ̷̜̜͍̜̄̆ͨ͌͒̊̂̑͜t̳̳̬̟͑̾̈̎̃́̂h̨̫̳ͭ̈͞į̛̮̦̼̺̑̋̑́̈́ͮ̐̌́s̺̞̊͐͠?̇͗ͧͭ̌͜͏̣̖̺̟̯̘̭̣̘
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Mar 28, 2012 21:22
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randyest posted:Cash in hand via Craigslist. But I guess that's only feasible for relatively popular products and if you live in a decent size city. Hmmm, I guess I had no idea that it was so stupid -- trying to sell a laptop computer on eBay seems like a totally logical and reasonable thing to try to do. I'll stick with craigslist I suppose.
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Mar 28, 2012 23:17
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Rashomon posted:Hmmm, I guess I had no idea that it was so stupid -- trying to sell a laptop computer on eBay seems like a totally logical and reasonable thing to try to do. I'll stick with craigslist I suppose.
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Mar 28, 2012 23:49
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I was thinking of building a custom lamp for myself, and I was wondering if it was possible to program something for an arduino board. Something like a program that automatically dims/brightens the light based on the time and date you've set - ie you could set up a calendar with specific brightnesses for specific times on specific days. Would this even be feasible?
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Mar 29, 2012 00:30
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I feel kinda stupid asking this, but say I wanted a cool, quiet place to nap during lunch hour at work. Could I rent a 10x10 self storage unit throw a mattress in there and sleep for like 45 minutes? I've never used a self-storage unit before, will the managers even care or notice? I'll probably be hitting it up every weekday, I don't want to arouse suspicion even though I don't think I'm doing anything illegal.
CatchrNdRy fucked around with this message at 04:02 on Mar 29, 2012 |
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Mar 29, 2012 03:59
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That sounds kind of insane. Technically you aren't allowed to "inhabit" in a storage unit since it doesn't have plumbing, but people do anyway, and if you'd only be there for 45 minutes or so, I really seriously doubt they would do anything. Why can't you just sleep in your car?
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Mar 29, 2012 04:24
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CatchrNdRy posted:I feel kinda stupid asking this, but say I wanted a cool, quiet place to nap during lunch hour at work. Could I rent a 10x10 self storage unit throw a mattress in there and sleep for like 45 minutes? I've never used a self-storage unit before, will the managers even care or notice? I'll probably be hitting it up every weekday, I don't want to arouse suspicion even though I don't think I'm doing anything illegal. Well I don't think people would care, and it's not illegal, but it seems rather wasteful.
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Mar 29, 2012 04:28
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I dug up an external USB drive, USB A to Mini A, and the only other hole on it is a DC barrel connector. The drive seems to work fine just leeching off of USB power, so what's the other power connector for?
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Mar 29, 2012 04:48
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