@JaredBusch said:

@Kelly said:

HSAs are good for anyone that has medical expenses. They lower your tax burden right off, and can be used for a wide range of expenses that might not seem to fit the category, e.g. chiropractic care, dentists, contacts, etc. It might not be useful for everyone to contribute the maximum allowable to it, but I think there can be value for just about anyone.

But for many that benefit is outweighed by the time spent managing your expense to setup the HSA and make claims against it.

Our bank gave us a debit card that charges against the HSA. All we have to do is save our receipts for taxes.

HSAs are good for anyone that has medical expenses. They lower your tax burden right off, and can be used for a wide range of expenses that might not seem to fit the category, e.g. chiropractic care, dentists, contacts, etc. It might not be useful for everyone to contribute the maximum allowable to it, but I think there can be value for just about anyone.

@scottalanmiller said:

If you have ever used Linux terminal servers (and most of us do and they are so powerful and easy and free) and are the only one logged in, it's VDI, too. VDI means a one to one setup. If you are the only one on the terminal server at a given time, that's VDI. Silly, but that's all that it is. So, for example, our jump server is VDI for me when I'm the only one logged on, which is not uncommon.

Can you give some examples of software you use for Linux terminal services? #whatislifewithouttopicderailments

Not advocating for this, but you could use a KVM over IP set up to actually make this work without all the crazy cabling.

Just the little bit there makes me very interested in Android. I might consider a Nexus for my next device...

@scottalanmiller said:

@BRRABill said:

@Dashrender said:

Just so we're on the same page, in the SMB packages for $5/month I get hosted Exchange, Sharepoint, ODfB, Skype for Business and the online version of Office apps.

That a limited version of Office apps though.

Not limited, it's online. Different products. I could equally call the on premises limited because you have to install it. What matters is that they are two different things, not one being a crippled version of the other.

The set of features available to the online version, save concurrent editing, is a subset of the local install. To most, the semantics would point to the online version being a crippled version of the local install.

I love paperwork even less than documentation.

I saw a report that stated that Windows is only 10% of Microsoft's revenue. I think they're preparing the company for the day when the OS is free or nonexistent.

@hobbit666 said:

Just done two missions on Xcom2

How is it compared to XCom?

@scottalanmiller said:

@Dashrender said:

I give you the point that iPhones seem to be more stable - but they are definitely not the never crash, never have problem device either.

Nothing is. But the difference is staggering. I've easily had more issues in a week on Windows Phone and Android than half a decade on iPhone.

To be clear, I've had iPhone have complete mechanical failure and burn itself to toast without any fault of mine (Apple replaced it on the spot for free.) But I've had single days with more Android crashes than I've ever had iPhone crashes.

On a purely anecdotal level I have a significantly higher usage to reboot/crash ratio on my iPhone 6 than my Lumia 640.

I've seen that one before. I'm trying to remember what I did to mitigate it. It was awhile ago, but I'm thinking DNS and AD membership. You might have to reset the Host-1 account in ADUC.

@IRJ said:

My Samsung Note Edge got water damage over the weekend so I have been using a Nokia Lumina 521. I understand that it is a cheap Windows Phone so I am not dinging it on performance. The OS itself is what sucks. I am running Windows 8.1 on it.

1. The tiles suck. There is a reason people like icons vs. tiles. Microsoft should know better since people are obsessed with desktop icons and icons are the mainstream on Android and iOS. You might think the tiles look pretty, but they suck and just cause you to do more scrolling.

2. No apps. I knew this before i even tried the Windows Phone, but I didn't expect the app selection to be so poor. I am lucky to find 10% of my android apps. It makes everything more difficult when it comes to managing VPS servers, various email accounts, cloudflare, and alot of other apps that make administration easy.

3. Internet Explorer... No explanation needed. I am sure there are other browsers, but IE is terrible.

4. Ineffecient scrolling. When I go through a list of apps, I get a vertical list of A-Z apps. I can scroll through Android and iOS much faster because I may have A-D on the same screen, and if I want to get to R, I only have to quickly scroll 3 or 4 pages. On Windows I have to scroll pretty far down. It only takes an extra second, but that matters in the long term.

1 - Tiles do something for many apps. You can stack and folder the non live tiles to create more room. My home screen doesn't scroll because I've organized it this way.
2 - Pretty much
3 - I've not had much issue with IE on the phone
4 - You can tap a letter header to jump to a particular section of your apps list.

I ended up ordering an ASUS: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015ZG9D74/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER.

@coliver said:

@Kelly said:

The second set of Mistborn books is at least as good as the original, but in a totally new way. I think I prefer the Wax and Wayne arc over the original, but they're so different it is hard to compare well.

I bought the first of that when it first came out. I haven't had the ability to read it as of yet.

I'm not sure we can be friends until you rectify this...

@dafyre said:

I'm kinda partial to the Acer brand, myself. I'm currently running an Acer Aspire v3 something or another... Only thing it doesn't meet is the 256GB SSD drive... (Mine came with 1TB hdd).

TigerDirect is showing their new models, the Predator here... http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9877502&CatId=3998

Has 128GB SSD and 1TB drive... Meets all your other specs, I think.

That is very comparable to the ASUS. Hmm...so many options.

The second set of Mistborn books is at least as good as the original, but in a totally new way. I think I prefer the Wax and Wayne arc over the original, but they're so different it is hard to compare well.

@RamblingBiped said:

@Kelly said:

@RamblingBiped said:

Disclaimer: My wife is a librarian...

Have you or her ever read the Alcatraz series by Brandon Sanderson? The first book is Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians.

I have not read the Alcatraz series yet, but I've read quite a few of his other books. The guy is an absolute beast when it comes to writing. The pace at which he releases new titles is ridiculous.

I've read and enjoyed Elantris, the original Mistborn Trilogy, The Stormlight Archive (can't wait for the next book in the series), The Rithmatist, and all but the last book of his contributions to the Wheel of Time series. He is actually the reason that I started reading WoT.

I'll probably go back and re-read the Mistborn trilogy, and read all of the newer books in that series before taking a swing at Alcatraz.

Alcatraz is mostly aimed at the Teen market, so they're comparatively short, simple reads, but they appear to be the way that Sanderson releases all of his pent up sarcasm and penchant for puns and plays on words. They are laugh out loud funny. As in, trying to read in bed without waking up other sleepers is hard, funny

@coliver said:

@Kelly said:

@coliver said:

Has anyone read any of the Discworld series? I've heard good things but haven't read it yet.

Yes, but you have to have a British sort of humour to really enjoy it. There are a few grouped books, but it isn't really a series in the classical sense. It is more akin to Modesitt's Recluse Saga than Jordan's Wheel of Time in the relationships between books. My personal favourite is The Nightwatch, but there are many good, funny stories.

Did you enjoy the Recluse Saga? That's in my top 10-15 fantasy series.

Very much so. It declined quite a bit at the end, but the Creslin duology is among my all time favorite books.

@MattSpeller said:

I've had decent luck with XPS 13's

A 13" is a bit too small for me. I like larger displays and numpads.

@Nic said:

You should know there's nothing comparable to a Mac

Nope, they're incomparable. And frustrating...