There was a rulethat was close to being enacted by the FTC that had to do with that, the "click-to-cancel" rule. It was supposed to go into effect 2 weeks ago.

It would have required companies to "make it as easy to cancel, as it was to sign up" for tons of things in the US.

It said that companies had to provide an easy way to cancel, that took equally long as signing up or less, AND via the same medium. So companies couldn't make you call to cancel if you signed up online.

Unfortunately, it was stopped by the 8th circuit court, who deemed it "outside the FTC's authority" which is absolute bullshit, that's why they exist.

I really hope it manages to get pushed through somehow, because so many companies are just the absolute worst scumbags and constantly getting away with it.

edit: it's not quite the same as deleting an account, i realize that. it still would have enabled a lot of these 'services' to get shut down easily.

There's also Tremors 2: Aftershocks.

Plus there's Tremors 3: Back to Perfection.

Followed by Tremors 4: The Legend Begins.

Then Tremors 5: Bloodlines.

Don't forget Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell.

One might think Tremors: Shrieker Island, AKA Tremors 7: Island Furry (I spelled that wrong on purpose, it has nothing to do with furries) would be enough for Michael Gross to quit his acting career but how else was he going to pay for his ludicrous railroad memorabilia obsession and also the railroad he owns and the 'safety first when crossing railroad tracks' campaign?

So no, it didn't end there. They kept the franchise going, choo! choo! with the imaginatively titled television series, Tremors: The Series.

If you skip the credits, you can watch all of it in less than 24 hours.

and your Pants Pee-free

they are seriously underestimating my capabilities, as well as the efficacy of my laundromat and determination of the drunken hobos who live there.

They measure the angular degree of the appliance but I'll wager a testicle they still have not tackled the more critical issue of the degree in temperature of cold porcelain. As I'm sure most men living anywhere with a latitude bigger than 45° can relate, there is nothing worse than having to chip onesself free on a cold night in the dead of winter.

The specs on the website don't have the number one statistic I care about: Can I, a 6'3" (190cm) man, fit comfortably inside without being forced to drive with my knees? It says it is 69" (175cm) tall which is not a promising sign. The website does not have warranty information yet either, the next most important thing for me. The fact it is mostly made in America, implies that it will probably break within a year which makes the price irrelevant. The lack of infotainment is a huge plus, I don't understand how those things are even legal. A laptop dock would be much more beneficial in my opinion. One which can easily slide out of sight, like when I'm actually driving and not just watching porn while stuck in a traffic jam. The option for hand crank windows pretty cool, so I can re-enact that one scene from the movie The Game if I want.

After really taking a deep look at the customization options I can't help but wonder, Am I dressing a Barbie or looking for a vehicle? Can I get the icon in cornflower blue? Is there an option to make the entire vehicle look like a 90's geocities page, including gifs? I spent who knows how long looking at the options and went to see what the price would be. Well guess what? I can't! Not without reserving one for $50. Even then I have no indication I'll be told the price. Sorry but I don't care what options there are, I'm not gonna pay one dollar, let alone fifty, if I can't see what the final price will be, even just an estimate would be nice. Am I supposed to trust the word of random news articles that it's actually under $20k with an asterisk? I don't care if the $50 is refundable. Any company that requires I speak to someone for the price of their product, is a company that is lying about the price of their product.

Great idea and almost a step in the right direction for cars (in my opinion). However, I can all but guarantee this would be a bad car for me to buy, because car salepeople and car engineers simply can't help but take any good idea and load it up with as much enshittification as they possibly can stuff in and then try to get the customer to pay more for heaps of shit on top, which they call icing but is really just shit, all while lying about every possible thing they can.

The plan is to keep the people dumb, in debt, in jail, in fear and/or under their control. there's the idea of accelerationism, where to force change, instead of doing things like lowering national debt or slowing climate change, to do whatever it takes to increase them or speed them up, make them worse and let the survivors figure it out. With the jails packed and turned into debtors prisons, utilizing the prison population as cheap labor and a legal form of slavery, they think they can create an industrial revolution. there's also a scientific revolution they hope to bring about, detailed here later.

When I say 'they' i'm referring to the US's current administration of MAGt's and muskrats, who also are in a triumvirate of power with vanilla pudding (the ruler of ru) and xj (if you gotta ask, you can't afford it AKA the ruler of ch). they are the scamchurian candidates, the fronts of the real controllers, the ~2700 billionaires that are known about and a few other hundred that are probably hiding away somewhere. the goal is to end with control over the remaining 99.999999999% of the population by using about 2% to subjugate the rest and force change which will kill off 75% of the people (leaving a PROJECTed 25 percent left), which might slow global warming and the destruction of life on earth just long enough for the remaining scientist slaves to create a base on mars or underwater or in another dimension or whatever, where the 0.0000000001% will live, supplied by the space elevator or portal tech or whatever gets invented to allow them to continue their lavish lives at the cost of billions of others.

so what does this tinfoil hat rant have to do with student loan debt beyond keeping people dumb?

i have a theory using a metaphor based on Newton's laws. they believe they are the unbalanced force in the first law, creating a change, disrupting the object in motion which is humanity and its future. they want to be, or believe they are, the result of the first law as shown by the application of the second law: the combination of mass and acceleration. they are the mass. they believe they are accelerating things. while the third law, every action has an opposite but equal reaction, is their methodology. by strengthening their hold over a large amount of educated people through debt and eliminating the department of education, it will suppress scientific progress and contain it, hoping to force a powerful reaction as the pressure builds and eventually boils out or explodes, resulting in some major scientific breakthrough that will save the day which they will take credit for. except it wont happen and instead there will be decades of unnecessary suffering as their plans fail miserably and all the bad things in the world continue to grow unchecked.

treat all that the talking heads say, as not just lies but the exact opposite of the truth and the plan is revealed. when they make accusations, that's what they are planning to do. when they claim something they are doing will help people or industry or whatever, it will hurt it severely. destroy the dollar and other major currencies to force a switch to a cryptocurrency they control. censor information and remove freedom of speech. murder, arrest or deport anyone who dissents too loudly. epsteins island was nothing, instead of a pedophile island they will create a pedophile nation.

yeah, i know, this is all more than just a bit of a crazed rant. i can't say i believe all this 100%. i don't think it is all too far from the truth either. i wish i had the means to do something to stop it beyond ranting like a madman online. at least my student loans were forgiven. total and permanent disability did that. hooray. i'm debt free. now i can enjoy all that life has to offer... i had way too much coffee today.

I am a jack of all trades, master of none. I'm a nobody, who likes to have fun. I'm easily distracted and lose focus a ton.

I am an amateur scientist, a cook, an author of unwritten books, I can't solve your problems but I'll still take a look.

I've been a toy soldier, a quick thinker, a recycling inventer and a useless tinker, who was once known as a legendary drinker.

I'm naturally shy but occasionally I'm bolder and i see beauty beyond the eye of the beholder as a student or mentor to both younger and older.

A person "who" cares, doesn't matter about "what", "when" I'm needed, "where" ever that may be, and sometimes "why". z.

I've walked a mile in your shoes and I ran so far away just to be the man who walked a 1000 miles to fall down at your door.

I never give up, never surrender, never gonna let you down, never gonna turn around, bright eyes, every now and then i fall apart.

A party of one, a party of five, a party of me, oh, ah, ah, ah, ah, staying alive, staying alive. As long as I know how to love I know I'll be alive, I will survive.

I want it all or maybe just a little bit off more than I can chew on that it's a piece of cake and eat it too rich for my blood is thicker than water you talking about?

Chances are, the odds are even, shirts versus skins. don't stop believin' that as far as I'm concerned, everybody wins or was kung fu fighting, thunderbolts and lightning, please.

Online I go by Lattrommi, the first and foremost, last but not least, mostly a man, still part beast, from the state of ohio in the united states of north america on this planet earth within the sol system somewhere along an arm of the milky way galaxy.

If you read all this, I hope you have a nice day.

I moved all my debt from a third party to being a government loan. Does that change anything?

Yes, that is the wisest move you could have mmade considering your circumstances as I understand. I am not an accountant, lawyer or professional of any kind that's relevant. Some of what I say here may be incorrect. To the best of my knowledge it's accurate. I am someone who had the entirety of their student loans forgiven, thanks to president Joe Biden. It took a large amount of time spent reading legalese, time on the phone with loan servicer representatives and way too much time worrying about shit which I could not change quickly or easily.

First thing: No one should ever be trapped in a situation, where they feel they must choose between bills/food/rent or paying loans granted for educational purposes and enabled/encouraged by the government. No one. Honestly it's ironic in my opinion, that there is a lack of educational resources available for mitigating debt gained solely for the purpose of education.

Thankfully, there are also many, many rules in place, made to prevent your situation and others like it from occurring.

1. Call your loan servicer or spend time on their website.

If you suck on the phone, go to their website. If the website sucks or is confusing, take short notes and write down any questions. The most likely best option for you is an Income Driven Repayment plan. IDR. However, some people may not qualify due to whatever loan scams were available when the loan was first taken out.

2. The servicer representatives are paid regardless of what you do.

The person you talk to is not getting a commision. Your payments do not go to them. They are there to answer your questions. Their job is to keep the account out of default. They (probably) do not want you to go into default or declare bankruptcy. They (hopefully) want you to communicate, work with them and eventually make payments or contribute to society (more on that later). The government owns your debt. That debt is also probably insured or negligable. The government probably does not NEED your balance in full on time. They have other ways of generating income, like literally generating physical currency. Having wages garnished and getting drops in your credit score are from not doing anything and gnoring the debt and their notices.

3. IDR.

On an IDR they will look at your income and any other expenses you might have. Some things count in your favor like paying your electric bill and rent, other things are irrelevant like a nyetflix subscription or paying for ubers. They determine through algorithms or math or something if you can afford to make payments or not. If you are truly in dire finanacial stress, you probably will get a deferment if you aren't already on one.

4. There are other debt forgiveness programs.

If you work as a teacher you can get loans forgiven. Same goes for certain types of public service. There are other repayment plan options. Check studentaid.gov, it has a forgiveness page with a wealth of information. It isn't always easy to understand because there is a lot of nuance and circumstances covered. You can try calling their hotline number too but I had better luck with the servicer. Mine were forgiven due to being totally and permanently disabled. I had no idea it was an option.

5. Conclusion.

There are other comments here basically saying "jUsT pAy it" which aren't contributing to the conversation at all. They should be treated as what they are: trolls and losers. Fuck them. They deserve nothing, not a second glance, not a reply, not even a downvote. Fuck. Those. Pricks.

Good luck, don't let your past define your future. Unless you want it to.

I don't really think I'm important enough for doxxing to matter. I've even posted my social security number in a chat room before, just for a laugh. Also my banking and paypal logins.

One time after I did that, I met a nice person who privately messaged me. They were just like me, same mothers maiden name, same name for our first pet, even went to the same first concert! what are the odds?

Anyways so like a week later some hacker stole my identity. I couldn't believe it. The crazy part though is that my credit score actually went UP. About a month later the hacker actually called me and tried to make me take my identity back but I knew better than that. No backsies. Heh, sucker. Have fun with your new wife, moron.

Honestly, I was happy to have someone to talk to for a bit. It was nice.

Because I am terrible at writing, most of this was painstakingly generated using LLaMA 3.1 70B & 405B. Believe it or not, this was actually a lot of work.

The LLM ruins your presentation in my opinion. I do not mean that you disclosed the use of a LLM, I personally appreciate that honesty quite a lot. The short version is that there is too much elaboration.

That's the first thing the LLM provided for you: It elaborates too much and gives a massive wall of text. One that you spent a long time painstakingly editing. If you had started from scratch and formulated it yourself, you most likely could have come up with a far more readable essay for the average stranger on the internet (I'm assuming that was your intended audience. I'm frequently wrong about things.) Look for the redundancies. LLM's seem to love saying the same thing in different ways. Just an observation I've made which I have no backing for. Many of these points could easily be combined in my opinion.

The second thing using AI did to your detriment, is that the sections are not human-like. They are formulaic, each one having several clauses or thoughts strung together with commas. Sure, each sentence might be grammatically correct but I bet I could read this to my nephews as a way to quickly get them to fall asleep. Not only does every sentence have multiple thoughts and concepts, there are few intermediary sentences to break up the monotony.

The third and final thing I will point out is that page breaks and spacing things out are absolutely critical to keeping people engaged. Twitter became popular because of the character limit. If your point takes longer than 7 seconds for someone to read in their head, you've lost half your audience. Tell the AI to be more succint if you continue using one.

I think you might do better if you took out all of the text that isn't bolded/strong or a header. Link to the full manuscript somewhere else at the end for those who are interested. Those 2-4 words starting the numbered points are all most people will need. If they do need further clarification or specifics, visit that's when they can visit a link at the end.

Just my two cents.

The 2019 Memorial Day tornado outbreak. Less than a week away from the 5 year anniversary of it.

My apartment is located roughly 500 feet (152 meters) from the end point of an EF4 tornado that hit and about 1500 feet (~450 meters) of the start point of an EF3 tornado that hit. One ended and the other began within minutes of each other.

I recall I looked out of my front door and could only see the sideways winds. I had just woken up after sleeping all day because I was tired, having stayed up late the night before, burying my cat which had eaten mouse poison, which I was unaware of the symptoms for until it was too late. I had to bury my cat a second time then next day and broke my hand in frustration while doing it.

My power was out for 10 days and I had no water for 6 days. I didn't own a car and public transportation had halted in my area from trees blocking the roads. I walked 4.5 miles to a nearby Urgent Care for my hand but they had closed due to damage. From there I walked 9 miles to the nearest hospital. They had too many people. I gave up waiting to be seen after 8 hours and went home, then wrapped my hand with bandages myself, around an old brace I had from a previous unrelated broken wrist.

When my power came back, I learned that a power surge had fried the power supply of my computer. I eventually managed to check my email at the community college, which is when I learned my health insurance coverage through Medicaid had ended, thanks to an order from the president at the time.

My absentee landlord never checked on the building. Less than a month later, the in-wall A/C unit fell out of the wall, leaving a hole large enough for me, a 6'3" 250 lb man, to easily crawl through. It was there for 6 months before it was repaired by the landlords maintenance person, who bought a cheap window unit A/C and stuck it in the hole then filled in around it with expanding foam.

The hole was 'fixed' around the same time I was able to buy a replacement power supply for my computer. My data storage drive had also stopped working and I learned an important lesson regarding backups. That was right around Christmas time.

Unrelated to the tornados, that's about when I started passing kidney stones. I tried to go to the hospital for them but without insurance, they turned me away. It wasn't considered an emergency. I missed several days of work while I passed them at home. Work said because of the amount of time I missed, I needed a doctors note to return to work. Work would schedule me 6 hour shifts, 6 days a week, which comes to 36 hours. Employees needed 40 hours a week to be considered full time and to qualify for the company insurance. Without insurance, I couldn't find a doctor who would see me. I was terminated and the reason they listed was that I abandoned my job.

My official last day with the company was 31 December 2019. I was ready to start a new year. 2019 had not been kind to me. I remember thinking to myself on New Years Day "At least 2020 can't possibly be worse, right?"

now is my chance to brag that I've been running HML on a eee pc netbook that's mounted on a wall in my bathroom, for about 4 years now, as a music player and in case of emergency internet searches when showering and it does its job wonderfully.

Not sure when this became a thing, but it feels relevant and might be useful to someone someday.

a formerly homeless friend once showed me that taking a brick and grinding it on top of the can, will open it without a knife. the 'ridge' of the can, the metal circle that runs along the diameter at either the top or bottom, is a metal 'lid' that's folded or pinched shut onto the other piece of metal, the 'cup'. (single quotes around terms i picked and might not be official jargon)

in just a few minutes, the brick ground the metal off the ridge, seperating the lid from the cup, which easily popped out. technically you don't really need any tool, just some relatively flat concrete or a rough flat rock. or even low grit sandpaper.

i don't recommend tossing out the can opener though, there is a chance of metal shavings falling in if you aren't careful. still might be useful in an emergency.