When Windows tells you it's out of memory, what does it mean and what can you do about it?

How Do I Tell Which Program Is Using So Much Memory? from Ask Leo!.
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Numerous people and programs can track your internet activities. But are you really that interesting?

Can My School See My Email and Other Messages? from Ask Leo!.
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This is a system designed to help you recover your email account if something should go wrong... and things go wrong more often than you would like to think.

Why Do I Need Another Email Address to Access My Account? from Ask Leo!.
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Here are my latest recommendations for specific security software and techniques.

What Security Software Do You Recommend? (2024 Q4 update) from Ask Leo!.
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Having your email automatically or continually signed in to can be a security risk in some situations, but very convenient in others.

Is Automatic Sign-in Safe for My Email? from Ask Leo!.
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CHKDSK can't check an empty drive, and Windows considers RAW to mean empty.

What Does “CHKDSK Is Not Available for RAW Drives” Mean? from Ask Leo!.
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Commercial software can be expensive. Can you just pirate software if you can't afford it? You can guess my answer, but even better: theft isn't necessary.

Why Can’t the Poor Just Pirate Software? from Ask Leo!.
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Embed from Getty Images One long standing Christmas tradition at Fox news is perpetuating the mythological war on Christmas. While it is not a self-evident truth that Christmas is safe in the United States, the idea that there is such …Read more »

Plato, through the character of Socrates, advances a now classic argument against democracy. When it comes to a matter that requires knowledge and skill, such as a medical issue, it would be foolish to decide by having the ignorant vote …Read more »

Embed from Getty Images In November of 2016, president elect Trump selected Betsy DeVos as his Secretary of Education. While this appointment seems to have changed her mind about Common Core, DeVos has remained committed to expanding charter schools. Charter …Read more »

Embed from Getty Images In the previous essay on charter schools I considered the monopoly argument in their favor. On this view, charter schools break the state’s harmful monopoly on education and this is a good thing. It is worth …Read more »

Embed from Getty Images In my prior essay on charter schools, I considered the quality argument. The idea is that charter schools provide a higher quality alternative to public schools and should receive public money so that poorer families can …Read more »

While being a charter school is distinct from being a for-profit school, one argument in favor of charter schools is because they, unlike public schools, can operate as for-profit businesses. While some might be tempted to assume a for-profit charter …Read more »

Client: “We’re a startup game company, and we need one character with thirty different eyes, thirty different mouths, thirty different hairstyles, and thirty different bodies for our game where the character can be customized.”

Me: “Okay, that’s technically thirty characters with each element drawn separately and/or in separate layers.”

I then give my rate for thirty characters.

Client: “Your profile says you charge [amount] for only one character. Please give us that rate since it’s only one character but he has thirty different mouths, eyes, hair, and bodies. So the price should be just for one character.”

Client: “I have a CD here that I want to install.”

Me: “What’s on the CD?”

The client starts reading out all the files on the CD.

Me: “That isn’t helping.”

Client: “Okay, could you come over and help me install the CD?”

Me: “Can we do this over Team Viewer?”

Client: “Sure, could you come over and install Team Viewer for me?”

I do in-house design work for my boss. I’ve worked with her for ten years and she swings wildly back and forth from being surprisingly design-savvy (not for a literal decade of trying on my part) and being a client from Hell. Today, she swung somewhere in the middle.

I have spent the entire time I’ve known her explaining how you cannot just pull photos from Google; I’ve explained copyright, public domain, etc. She refuses to buy photos 99% of the time, so I usually use free stock photos when possible. When she absolutely needs to buy a photo, she emails our web guy and has him buy one for her and add it to her next bill.

Me: “I see you got [Web Guy] to purchase the photo for the ad and forwarded me the email with the file. Unfortunately, the file is too small. Unless he sent you a separate email with a larger file, I will just email him for the correct one.”

Boss: “Maybe it’s how I sent it. I’ll try again.”

She forwards me the same email.

Me: “No, no, it’s not you. The file he sent you is labelled “thumbnail,” which is a preview file. He probably just sent the wrong one by accident. I have emailed him.”

Boss: “What about this one?”

She sends an email with the same photo attached.

Me: “That’s the same one. I have emailed [Web Guy]. Don’t worry about it. You don’t have the correct file.”

She forwards the same original email from [Web Guy].

Boss: “What about now?”

Me: “No, boss, I’ll get it from [Web Guy].”

She forwards the individual email she sent me.

Boss: “How about now?”

Me: “Boss, no.”

Closure: She now has a stock photo account that I have access to.

I’m at a briefing with a client, along with a board made up of the client’s in-house developers and designers. While discussing an idea with some of the other people in the room, the client stands up and starts hitting the desk with the newspaper.

Me: “Excuse me, but what are you doing?”

Client: “Hush, this works on my dogs at home. It should work on you too.”

He beats the table with the newspaper for a few seconds.

Client: “Now, sit, and stay.”

He continues to beat the table. 

Me: “I’m sorry, this is ridiculous. I’m terminating you as a client.”

As I walked towards the door, the client jumped up from their seat and blocked the door.

Client: “If you want a snack, I’ve got some under my desk, no need to leave the meeting!”

At this point, I shoved him aside, and walked out, followed by him. Whistling, and shouting “come!”

Client: “We would like a drawing of a moose on skis.”

I send the art.

Client: “Why there were two feet on each ski?”

Me: “People ski on two skis and a moose has four feet so I put two on each ski.”

Client: “That is ridiculous!”

Me: “Which part? You’ll have to be more specific?”

Client: “Well, I’m pretty sure they don’t make skis that can accommodate two feet each!”

Me: “Right. That was a pretty big leap on my part, sorry.”

Me: “I’ve looked at the brief and it’ll cost [total].”

Client: “I thought you were a freelancer.”

Me: “I am.”

Client: “No, you’re not. You’re a chargelancer!”

I’m designing a photographic history exhibit for a prestigious university. The project requires a series of panels that each depict a different decade, from the 1930s to the present.

Client: “You know, this is all great, but it could use a little more diversity. Right now, there are a lot of photos of all white men, and we don’t want to send the wrong message.”

Me: “Okay, that’s a reasonable request. I could pull some photos of your black student organizations and women’s center and add those to the panels showing the school’s more recent history.”

Client: “Actually, we’d love more diversity in the early panels too.”

Me: “What do you mean?”

Client: “Like this panel depicting the university in the 30s. All the photos are of white men!”

The school did not admit black students until the 1970s.

Me: “Hey, I’m glad I caught you. I’m calling about that request that I made five weeks ago. You never responded to any of my emails or voice messages. I’m just wondering what the status on that is?”

Client: “Well, the reason I didn’t respond was because your first email about it was unprofessional. We’re all professionals here, and I expect to be treated professionally. You really need to work on your communication skills, and I expect better from you if we’re going to continue working together.”

Me: “I’m looking at the whole email chain right now, and it seems fine to me. What seems wrong with it?”

Client: “Well, for starters, you could ask how my day’s been. Or you could put a joke at the bottom of the email. And you should really get rid of that line with all your company information at the bottom, it looks so unprofessional.”

I work as dispatch for a trucking company. One of my duties is to provide the closest truck driver for shipment. I get a call from a customer.

Customer: We can pay [generous amount] for this shipment, can you please check with your driver if that will be enough for him?”

I ask the driver:

Driver: “Yes, lock it down!”

Customer: “Alright, send your driver to the address.”

When the driver arrives at the address, he needs to wait for a couple of hours because they “made a mistake” with the paperwork. After asking them when they will be ready, only at the end do they tell him they sent their shipment with another courier for less money, and they didn’t even contact us. The driver tells me this and I call them asking for an explanation. They only said “sorry “and hung up.

Related:
Absolutely Trucking Mad, Part 4
Absolutely Trucking Mad, Part 3
Absolutely Trucking Mad, Part 2
Absolutely Trucking Mad

Client: “I need the number for Jack. Can you give me his number, please?”

Me: “Jack? Jack who?”

Client: “The manual for the modem said that I need to connect to Jack, so if you could give me his number, then I can connect with him.”

Where modern design, affordable living and sustainability meet, there is CABN. The first home of this project has just been created and soon, CABN's design will be the basis of a 67-home, net-zero community. If this is what the future looks like, there is hope that humans will actually have a healthy, happy future on this planet.[...]

Have you heard about Mississippi? It's a construction project brought to life by Waechter Architecture after more than 10 years of planning and investigation. This building isn't just your ordinary structure; it's a game-changer in terms of sustainability and creativity.[...]

Garden ponds are increasingly becoming popular among homeowners. The scramble for ponds can be attributed to their aesthetics, growing appreciation for wildlife and environmental awareness. As homeowners increasingly become aware of the need to maintain a sustainable ecosystem, they are more willing to adopt unique ideas such as keeping garden ponds. But are garden ponds really sustainable?[...]

The ways buildings are constructed has to change. It has become something else instead, something more sustainable, something newer. And it doesn't get much more modern than buildings that can actually move and adapt at will.[...]

The spirit of sustainability and being eco-friendly is all about using what's already there. Use a piece of land the way it is, without hanging it to suit the needs of a building. In the spirit of reclaiming wood, repurposing furniture and making use of everything the Tesseract was created. This home is a beautiful reboot of a former bachelor pad turned beautiful multi-person home. It's warm, inviting and modern.[...]

Gomi has revolutionized the electronics industry by tackling the persistent problem of proper disposal at the end of a product's life. Unlike many other speaker companies, Gomi adopts a circular approach that enhances product longevity and significantly reduces pre and post-consumer waste.[...]

Fargo is a house located in Louisville, Colorado and is designed for a former high-level design engineer at Apple. Despite the project's modern aesthetic, it blends into the historical neighborhood and meets multiple spatial criteria set by the client. These include a detached studio garage, an indoor-outdoor kitchen and easy access to the outdoors. The overall goal for DAJ Design was to incorporate these design elements while achieving net-zero energy consumption.[...]

Sotheby's is an iconic name in auctions, a decades-old seller of fine goods. Some of the world's most expensive jewels and rarest works of art have been sold here. Now, Sotheby's has put an entire island for sale. It's carbon neutral and already has some incredible buildings standing on it.[...]

Camping is one of the greatest joys of summer. With warmer weather, you do not have to be the most experienced camper or have the best gear to survive cold nights. Even amateur camping trips have bug repellent, shelter and s’mores. Stepping up your camping game includes being more sustainable, and many of the ways to do that are easier than you think.[...]

It sits on a flat stretch of green, surrounded by the rolling hills and pretty palm trees of Southern California. It's an amazing little oasis, a quiet getaway. And it's the first building in California to receive Zero Carbon Certification from the International Living Future Institute. It's only the fourth building in the entire world to reach this status. This home is called Zero One by MariSol Malibu and it's the first of its kind.[...]

Medical Aid, a South African insurance comparison website, investigated the effects of environmental issues like poor water quality, pollution, sanitation and chemical exposure on the health of citizens in 103 countries around the world. The information is summarized in a report titled, "Climate Health: Where in the World is Climate Change Impacting Health the Most?"[...]

3D-printed foods are a growing component of the additive manufacturing industry. Within this realm, 3D-printed meat is gaining speed. Like other 3D-printed objects, edible material is extruded in layers to produce a variety of meat products, including ground meat, burger patties, sausages and kebabs. Nowadays, with advances in additive manufacturing, the ability to 3D print foods is becoming more widely accessible, cost-effective and eco-friendly. [...]

California-based Greatfill makes zero waste easy. With a variety of refillable household products, the company’s focus is on health for the home, humans and the environment.[...]

RO54 is a split-level modern home perched on a Bel-Air hilltop. But this is not what your mind probably conjures when you think of a split-level home. RO54 by Arshia Architects is a dreamy façade of floating glass with view of the Pacific Ocean, designed in layers to allow a gradual ascent to the top of the roof with little effort.[...]

As our awareness of how our actions impact the environment grows, it becomes increasingly important to integrate sustainability into all aspects of our lives. This includes the materials we choose for yoga gear. Yoga Design Lab offers a range of products that not only enhance the yoga experience, but also prioritize eco-friendly materials.[...]

Plastic and floating debris are part of a problem that is rapidly growing. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is just one example of how water pollution and trash dumping are spiraling out of our control. Big, floating heaps of debris like the GPGP require interventions that are on a larger scale. This includes those carried out by The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit organization that removes floating ocean debris. However, what about smaller-scale solutions? Coastlines and local waterways also suffer from water pollution as a result of littering. This threatens biodiversity by causing illness and reproductive issues, particularly when aquatic[...]

If you live in an urban area with cars, industry and unpleasant city smells, you might retreat to your house for safety from environmental pollutants. But how good is your air quality at home?[...]

Lots of people want to have more sustainable homes, not just to help the environment. Because at the end of the day, it's a lot more affordable to get your energy from the sun and the wind than to pay some oil or coal plant to provide it. But for many people, being sustainable means having a home built. Hiring an architect and a contractor and going to all that trouble gets pretty expensive. Thanks to Clayton, sustainable living is about to get much more accessible.[...]

Clean beauty brand ILIA was founded by Sasha whose brother suffered from asthma and severe allergies as a child. Their mother helped him recover through an organic food co-op to give him access to clean nutrition, and he went on to become an Olympic athlete after being told by doctors he could never compete in sports. As Sasha moved into a career in fashion and beauty branding, she realized she didn't have clean ingredients in products she was putting on her body every day. ILIA was born as a beauty brand that cares about health. [...]

Soapbox is a company dedicated to providing meticulously-crafted personal care products that focus on the health of humans and the environment. [...]

Between two ponds in Southampton, New York, you will find one home that looks different from all the rest. The location of Tamsen House posed a lot of environmental challenges and this design by Fernando Fisbein Architect truly rose to the occasion.[...]

A water catchment house design in Africa won Special Recognition in the Architectural Design category at the Design Educates Awards 2023. The design by Hong-En, Lin addresses the challenges of water scarcity and pollution in Africa by using local materials and traditional weaving techniques to create a clean and sustainable water source.[...]

You shop local and buy organic when you can, but how can you tell if your farmers market produce is really organic? There have been a few scandals in recent years where farmers market vendors were found to be purchasing and reselling grocery store produce labeled as locally grown. So how can you tell? Here's how to find a great farmers market vendor or food co-op for organic produce.[...]

With a focus on minimal site impact and environmental protection, the Darwin Bucky project sets a standard for sustainable modular architecture. [...]