I’ve had my share of experiences with cars; in our family we have had:

1. MS Baleno
2. Tata Altroz
3. Renault Kwid

I was a student not long ago and had reserved buying the car in the future. Some of the cars I had on my mind few years ago were:

1. Renault Duster AWD
2. Ford Ecosport
3. VW Polo GTI

I was always head over heels for the Polo. It was small, it was fast, it was built well and after sales service was something I heard not good of, but was prepared to bear it considering the love for this small car.
Come 2023, the cars that I’ve always wanted just quit!!! None of one’s I had loved all this time are now on the market!
There must be people here who had loved these cars as well, what are you all buying? And to everyone else, can you please suggest me a good car that fits the bill?

• Should be small to medium
• Built to safety
• Should have an enthusiast car appeal
• Should be automatic
• Need a revered engine, sporty and fun to drive
• Should be able to tour the country
• No Tata/Mahindra

I’ve budget of 15 Lakhs OR.

Hello,
I am college student and recently decided to purchase a used car for daily commute.
I was scrolling through the marketplace and came accords a Ford Fusion (image attached) for $3.5k
Here’s the description:
2013 Ford Fusion for sale; $3500 OBO. Tires, front control arms, ball joints & strut assemblies all have been replaced within the past 2 years. Vehicle is in good shape, just needs tie rod ends and an alignment to pass inspection. Have new LED reverse lights and spark plugs ready for installation.
Please advice on this since this is my first time buying a car.

Welcome to the weekly /Louisville Classifieds and Promotions thread.
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Job seekers
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Situation: Low budget, hoping to generate MP4 files this weekend to grab clips to be played at a memorial service next weekend. The events were videotaped onto VHS, approx 20 years ago. They're in good condiion.
I first tried an experiment to see if I could converting a VHS video directly to mp4, through using OBS Studio. I hadn't used OBS before other than having a look at it years ago and deciding it was too complex, but I found a great YouTube video and have come pretty close. Using a USB 2.0 cable that has RCA and S-Video connections, I can see the VHS video in OBS and hear the audio, but the audio is initially a little bit off from the video and I think that'll probably get larger and larger the longer the clips that I make, and of course all the more so if I try to convert an entire VHS into a single MP4.
I found some seemingly good advice videos on how to calculate the exact gap and I see how to enter that figure into obs to have it slow down, for example, the audio to match up to the video. It'll take a while to do the testing especially to then test it on creating a one and a half hour or so video, and I wanted to see if a better approach would be to not go directly from the VHS to mp4, but instead to use a device that has both a VHS player and a DVD writer in it, and then to take the DVDs that that would create, put those DVDs into my computer's DVD drive, and use some sort of program, I don't know what, to convert the DVDs to MP4.
I looked for devices for sale that could create a DVD from VHS. None are available for local pickup on eBay near me. I found an ad on craigslist for a Sharp DV-RW55. The seller doesn't know if DVDs made by it can easily be turned into mp4 videos on Windows. I don't want to end up making the investment ($80 and a lot of time) if it won't help me get to MP4 files.
I'm curious also whether the DVDs themselves would have any audio vs video mismatch
Do you know, can DVDs made by this device be used in a Windows computer to generate MP4 files?
And, any recommendation please for free / low cost way to turn (rip?) the DVDs into MP4 files.
Is there some other way to quickly end up at video files I then can view at high speed, identify parts to make copies of, and then to cobble the clips together to provide to our congregation's zoom etc coordinator to be played on cue at the memorial? There also will be video and maybe audio-only submissions by people who won't be able to attend. I perhaps will want or need to incorporate those to make a single file to be played.
Thank you so much, and may you have a meaningful Memorial Day weekend.

🗓 Date: June 6, 2023 @ 5PM
🗺 Location: Long Beach Civic Center 411 W. Ocean Boulevard
📺 LiveStream (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/c/LongBeachTelevision
📺 Live Stream (City Website): https://longbeach.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=84
ℹ️ Details: https://longbeach.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1105633&GUID=B4766DE1-9B6A-41D5-A545-7D151BE969EC&Options=info&Search=
📄 Agenda (PDF): https://longbeach.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=1105633&GUID=B4766DE1-9B6A-41D5-A545-7D151BE969EC
🗣eComment: https://longbeach.granicusideas.com/meetings/4014-city-council-on-2023-06-06/agenda_items

Agenda Item

CD4 - Funds Transfer for Partners of Parks

Item #1 • File #23-0553 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Councilman Daryl Supernaw, Fourth District

Recommendation to increase appropriations in the General Fund Group in the City Manager Department by $200, offset by the Fourth Council District One-time District Priority Funds transferred from the Citywide Activities Department to provide support to Partners of Parks for their Long Beach Charity ProAm event; and Decrease appropriations in the General Fund Group in the Citywide Activities Department by $200 to offset a transfer to the City Manager Department.

CD4 - Funds Transfer for LGBTQ Center Long Beach

Item #2 • File #23-0554 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Councilman Daryl Supernaw, Fourth District

Recommendation to increase appropriations in the General Fund Group in the City Manager Department by $500, offset by the Fourth Council District One-time District Priority Funds transferred from the Citywide Activities Department to provide a contribution to The LGBTQ Center Long Beach in support of their Black & White Ball 2023; and Decrease appropriations in the General Fund Group in the Citywide Activities Department by $500 to offset a transfer to the City Manager Department.

CD4 - Funds Transfer for Wild West Women, Inc

Item #3 • File #23-0555 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Councilman Daryl Supernaw, Fourth District

Recommendation to increase appropriations in the General Fund Group in the City Manager Department by $500, offset by the Fourth Council District One-time District Priority Funds transferred from the Citywide Activities Department to provide support to Wild West Women, Inc for their inaugural Long Beach Woman’s Fair; and Decrease appropriations in the General Fund Group in the Citywide Activities Department by $500 to offset a transfer to the City Manager Department.

CD5 - Funds Transfer to Support Community Events

Item #4 • File #23-0556 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Councilwoman Megan Kerr, Fifth District

Recommendation to increase appropriations in the General Fund Group in the City Manager Department by $2,000, offset by the Fifth Council District One-Time District Priority Funds transferred from the Citywide Activities Department to provide a contribution to: · $500 to Partners of Parks in support of the Long Beach Juneteenth Celebration; · $1,000 to support the Uptown Jazz Festival; · $500 to the Long Beach Century Club in support of the Mayor’s Trophy Charity Golf Tournament; and Decrease appropriations in the General Fund Group in the Citywide Activities Department by $2,000 to offset a transfer to the City Manager Department.

CD4 - Funds Transfer for Rancho Los Alamitos Foundation

Item #5 • File #23-0562 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Councilman Daryl Supernaw, Fourth District

Recommendation to increase appropriations in the General Fund Group in the City Manager Department by $2,000, offset by the Fourth Council District One-time District Priority Funds transferred from the Citywide Activities Department to provide a contribution to Rancho Los Alamitos Foundation in support of their Summer Concert Series; and Decrease appropriations in the General Fund Group in the Citywide Activities Department by $2,000 to offset a transfer to the City Manager Department.

CD4 - Funds Transfer for Long Beach Century Club

Item #6 • File #23-0561 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Councilman Daryl Supernaw, Fourth District

Recommendation to increase appropriations in the General Fund Group in the City Manager Department by $500, offset by the Fourth Council District One-time District Priority Funds transferred from the Citywide Activities Department to provide support to the Long Beach Century Club for their Mayor’s Trophy Charity Golf Tournament; and Decrease appropriations in the General Fund Group in the Citywide Activities Department by $500 to offset a transfer to the City Manager Department.

Arcelia Delgado

Item #7 • File #23-0552 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Attorney

Recommendation to authorize City Attorney to submit Stipulations with Request for Award for approval by the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, and if so approved, authority to pay $169,300.13 for Stipulations with Request for Award with a life pension thereafter of $170.04 subject to COLA increases per week in compliance with the Appeals Board Order for Arcelia Delgado. The City of Long Beach is entitled to credit for payments previously paid in the amount of $69,532.31.

Michael Hannan

Item #8 • File #23-0551 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Attorney

Recommendation to authorize City Attorney to submit Stipulations with Request for Award for approval by the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, and if so approved, authority to pay $104,182.50 in compliance with the Appeals Board Order for Michael Hannan.

CA - Kayla Jentes

Item #9 • File #23-0557 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Attorney

Recommendation to authorize City Attorney to pay sum of $200,000, in full settlement of a lawsuit entitled Kayla Jentes, et al. v. City of Long Beach, et al., Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. 20STCV29354.

CA - Joel Reyes

Item #10 • File #23-0558 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Attorney

Recommendation to authorize City Attorney to pay sum of $399,000, in full settlement of a lawsuit entitled Joel Reyes, et al. v. City of Long Beach, Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. BC703737.

Martin Romo

Item #11 • File #23-0549 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Attorney

Recommendation to authorize the City Attorney to submit two Stipulations with Request for Award for approval by the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, and if so approved, authority to pay 1) $17,545.00, and also 2) separate authority to pay $72,500.00 in compliance with the Appeals Board Order for Martin Romo.

Mario Talavera

Item #12 • File #23-0550 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Attorney

Recommendation to authorize the City Attorney to submit two Stipulations with Request for Award for approval by the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, and if so approved, authority to pay 1) $27,695.00, and also 2) separate authority to pay $80,982.50 in compliance with the Appeals Board Order for Mario Talavera.

CC - Damage Claims

Item #13 • File #23-0547 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Clerk

Recommendation to refer to City Attorney damage claims received between May 15, 2023 and May 26, 2023.

CM - Federal Lobbyist RFP

Item #15 • File #23-0563 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Manager

Recommendation to Adopt Specifications No. RFP CM-23-236 and award a contract to Holland & Knight, LLP, of Washington, D.C., for federal legislative representation services, in a total annual amount not to exceed $130,000, for a period of two years, with the option to renew for three additional one-year periods, at the discretion of the City Manager; and, authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to enter into the contract, including any necessary subsequent amendments. (Citywide)

FM - Coastline Equip. for the purchase of a John Deere 332G skid steer

Item #17 • File #23-0566 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Financial Management

Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing City Manager, or designee, to execute a contract, and any necessary documents including any necessary subsequent amendments, with Bragg Investment Company, Inc., dba Coastline Equipment, a Long Beach distributor of John Deere Construction Retail Sales, of Moline, IL, for the purchase of a John Deere 332G skid steer, with related equipment and accessories, on the same terms and conditions afforded to Sourcewell, in a total amount not to exceed $153,097, inclusive of taxes and fees. (Citywide)

FM - Coastline Equip-John Deere 310P backhoe

Item #18 • File #23-0567 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Financial Management

Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing City Manager, or designee, to execute a contract, and any necessary documents including any necessary subsequent amendments, with Bragg Investment Company, Inc., dba Coastline Equipment, a Long Beach distributor of John Deere Construction Retail Sales, of Moline, IL, for the purchase of a John Deere 310P backhoe, with related equipment and accessories, on the same terms and conditions afforded to Sourcewell, in a total amount not to exceed $169,631, inclusive of taxes and fees. (Citywide)

Mayor - Cancellation of July 4th City Council Meeting

Item #23 • File #23-0560 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Mayor Rex Richardson

Recommendation to suspend Council rule contained in Municipal Code Section 2.03.020 (B) relating to the meeting schedule of the City Council in order to cancel the City Council meeting of July 4, 2023.

PRM/PW - Capital improvements at El Dorado East Regional, El Dorado Park West, Houghton, and Stearns Parks D4,9

Item #33 • File #23-0582 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Parks, Recreation and Marine
• Public Works

Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to accept and expend grant funds from the California Department of Parks and Recreation for capital improvements at El Dorado East Regional, El Dorado Park West, Houghton, and Stearns Parks, in an amount not to exceed $15,400,000; Increase appropriations in the Capital Projects Fund Group in the Parks, Recreation and Marine Department by $342,000, offset by grant revenue; Increase appropriations in the Capital Projects Fund Group in the Parks, Recreation and Marine Department by $342,000, offset by a transfer of California Department of Parks and Recreation grant funds from the Capital Grants Fund; Increase appropriations in the Capital Projects Fund Group in the Public Works Department by $15,058,000, offset by grant revenue; and Increase appropriations in the Capital Projects Fund Group in the Public Works Department by $15,058,000, offset by a transfer of California Department of Parks and Recreation grant funds from the Capital Grants Fund. (Districts 4,9)

Resolution

CC - Destruction of Records

Item #14 • File #23-0548 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Clerk

Recommendation to approve the destruction of records for the Health and Human Services Department; and adopt resolution.

FM - Ray Gaskin Service for for the purchase of one Ford F-550 refuse truck

Item #16 • File #23-0565 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Financial Management

Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing City Manager, or designee, to execute a contract, and any necessary documents including any necessary subsequent amendments, with Ray Gaskin Service, an authorized distributor for New Way Trucks and Scranton Manufacturing Company, of Fontana, CA, for the purchase of one Ford F-550 refuse truck, with related equipment and accessories, on the same terms and conditions afforded to Sourcewell, in a total amount not to exceed $167,457, inclusive of taxes and fees. (Citywide)

FM - The Quinn Co. for the purchase of 4 Caterpillar 430 backhoe loaders

Item #19 • File #23-0568 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Financial Management

Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing City Manager, or designee, to execute a contract, and any necessary documents including any necessary subsequent amendments, with Caterpillar Inc., through its local dealer, Quinn Company, of City of Industry, CA, for the purchase of four Caterpillar 430 backhoe loaders, with related equipment and accessories, on the same terms and conditions afforded to Sourcewell, in a total amount not to exceed $1,016,512, inclusive of taxes and fees. (Citywide)

DS - Noise Element

Item #22 • File #23-0564 (Details, PDF)
Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record and conclude the public hearing; Adopt resolution approving and certifying the Environmental Impact Report EIR 03-20, State Clearinghouse No. 2019050009 and associated findings;

DS - Noise Element

Item # • File #23-0585 (Details, PDF)
Adopt resolution replacing the current Noise Element with the updated Noise Element of the Long Beach General Plan; and

ED - 702 Anaheim Shelter – LB Rescue Mission and First to Serve D3

Item #24 • File #23-0584 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Economic Development
• Health and Human Services

Recommendation to receive and file Contract No. 36576 with Long Beach Rescue Mission Foundation, Inc., a California public benefit corporation (Lessor) and the City of Long Beach (Lessee) and Contract No. 36578, a Sublease between the City of Long Beach (Sublessor) and First to Serve Ministries, Inc., a California nonprofit corporation (Sublessee), or its assignee, for approximately 17,000 rentable square feet of space at 702 West Anaheim Street, for use as an emergency shelter, made pursuant to Chapter 2.85 of the Long Beach Municipal Code (LBMC) and in response to the emergency proclaimed regarding homelessness. (District 1)

FM - Transfer of FY 23 gross operating revenue, from the Harbor Fund Group to the Tidelands Operating Fund

Item #25 • File #23-0569 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Financial Management

Recommendation to adopt resolution requesting that the Board of Harbor Commissioners approve the transfer of 5 percent of Fiscal Year 2023 (FY 23) gross operating revenue, from the Harbor Fund Group to the Tidelands Operating Fund Group, with a true-up adjustment, if necessary, to reflect the final gross revenue amount upon issuance of the Harbor Department’s FY 23 audited financial statements. (Districts 1,2,3)

FM - Velocity Truck Centers for the purchase of 7 CNG powered Crane Carrier LNT-26 trucks

Item #26 • File #23-0572 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Financial Management

Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing City Manager, or designee, to execute a contract, and any necessary documents including any necessary subsequent amendments, with Los Angeles Truck Centers, LLC, dba Velocity Truck Centers, an authorized distributor of Crane Carrier trucks, of Whittier, CA, for the purchase of seven CNG powered Crane Carrier LNT-26 trucks, with New Way rear loader refuse bodies, on the same terms and conditions afforded to Sourcewell, in a total amount not to exceed $2,951,446, inclusive of taxes and fees. (Citywide)

FM - Velocity Truck Center-10 CNG Crane Carrier Roto-Pac side loader refuse trucks

Item #27 • File #23-0573 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Financial Management

Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing City Manager, or designee, to execute a contract, and any necessary documents including any necessary subsequent amendments, with Los Angeles Truck Centers, LLC, dba Velocity Truck Centers, of Whittier, CA, an authorized distributor of Crane Carrier trucks, for the purchase of 10 CNG Crane Carrier, Roto-Pac side loader refuse trucks, with related equipment and accessories, on the same terms and conditions afforded to Sourcewell, in a total amount not to exceed $4,765,507, inclusive of taxes and fees; and Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a lease-purchase agreement, and related financing documents, with Banc of America Public Capital Corp, of San Francisco, CA, for the financing of Roto-Pac refuse trucks, payable over a seven-year period at an interest rate to be determined when the agreement is executed. (Citywide)

FM/PW - Velocity Truck Center-20 CNG Crane Carrier side loader refuse trucks

Item #29 • File #23-0574 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Financial Management
• Public Works

Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing City Manager, or designee, to execute a contract, and any necessary documents including subsequent amendments, with Los Angeles Truck Centers, LLC, dba Velocity Truck Centers, of Whittier, CA, an authorized distributor of Crane Carrier trucks, for the purchase of 20 CNG Crane Carrier side loader refuse trucks, with New Way side loader refuse bodies, on the same terms and conditions afforded to Sourcewell, in a total amount not to exceed $9,322,091, inclusive of taxes and fees. (Citywide)

PRM - Reso w/LAFCO-LA for final District Boundary Map

Item #31 • File #23-0581 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Parks, Recreation and Marine

Recommendation to adopt resolution in support of the formation of the Lower San Gabriel River Recreation and Park District; direct City Clerk to file the resolution with the Local Area Formation Commission - Los Angeles (LAFCO-LA); and, authorize City Manager to approve the final District Boundary Map on behalf of the City. (Citywide)

PRM/DHHS - Accept grant funds for Wrigley Greenbelt and Multi-Service Center D7

Item #32 • File #23-0577 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Parks, Recreation and Marine
• Health and Human Services

Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing City Manager, or designee, to execute any necessary documents including subsequent amendments, to accept grant funds from the California Natural Resources Agency for capital improvements at Wrigley Greenbelt and Multi-Service Center, in an amount not to exceed $5,200,000. (District 7)

ABC License

PD - ABC License - Tacomasa D3

Item #20 • File #23-0576 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Police

Recommendation to receive and file the application of Tacomasa 1 LLC, dba Tacomasa, for an original application of an Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) license, at 4740 East 7th Street #130, submit a Public Notice of Protest to ABC, and direct City Manager to withdraw the protest if a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) or Conditional Use Permit Exemption (CUPEX) is granted. (District 3) Levine Act: Yes

PD - ABC License- Northern Café D3

Item #21 • File #23-0575 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Police

Recommendation to receive and file the application of TCRY Incorporated, dba Northern Cafe, for an original application of an Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) license, at 4911 East 2nd Street, submit a Public Notice of Protest to ABC, and direct the City Manager to withdraw the protest if a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) or Conditional Use Permit Exemption (CUPEX) is granted. (District 3) Levine Act: Yes

Ordinance

DS - Noise Element

Item # • File #23-0586 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Development Services

Declare ordinance implementing associated amendments to the Noise Ordinance, Long Beach Municipal Code Chapter 8.80, read for the first time and laid over to the next regular meeting of the City Council. (Citywide)

CM - Ordinance Amending LBMC 5.92

Item #35 • File #23-0532 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• City Manager

Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by amending Chapter 5.92 to reinstate language related to the operation of adult-use dispensaries in mixed-used buildings in Downtown Long Beach, read and adopted as read. (Citywide)

Contract

FM - South Coast Fire Equip. for 10 Pierce Enforcer Triple Combination fire engine pumper trucks

Item #28 • File #23-0571 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Financial Management

Recommendation to adopt Specifications No. RFP FS22-175 and award a contract to South Coast Fire Equipment, Inc., of Ontario, CA, for the purchase of nine Pierce Enforcer Triple Combination Fire Engine pumper trucks, and one Pierce Enforcer Triple Combination Rescue Engine pumper truck, with related equipment and accessories, in a total amount not to exceed $11,328,555; and, authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to enter into the contract, including any necessary subsequent amendments; and Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a lease-purchase agreement, and related financing documents, with Banc of America Public Capital Corp, of San Francisco, CA, for the financing of fire engine pumpers, payable over a 10-year period at an interest rate to be determined when the agreement is executed. (Citywide)

PRM - Great Scott for as-needed tree trimming

Item #30 • File #23-0579 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Parks, Recreation and Marine

Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to amend Contract No. 35545 with Great Scott Tree Service, Inc., of Stanton, CA, for as-needed tree trimming and removal services, to increase the annual contract amount by $1,949,030 with a 15 percent contingency in the amount of $292,355, for a revised total annual contract amount not to exceed $3,211,410. (Citywide)

PW - As-Needed Architectural Services

Item #34 • File #23-0583 (Details, PDF)
Sponsors:

• Public Works

Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to amend Contract No. 33926 with Architects McDonald, Soutar & Paz, Inc., of Long Beach, CA; Contract No. 33912 with Kardent, of Long Beach, CA; Contract No. 33913 with Mary McGrath Architects, of Oakland, CA; and Contract No. 33917 with Alomar Rania, dba RA-DA, of West Hollywood, CA, for as-needed architectural services, to extend the contract terms for an additional one-year period through July 19, 2024; Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to amend Contract No. 33498 with Hirsch & Associates, Inc., of Anaheim, CA, and Contract No. 33504 with RJM Design Group, Inc., of San Juan Capistrano, CA, for as-needed landscape architectural services, to extend term the contract terms for an additional one-year period through August 1, 2024; Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to amend Agreement No. 34375 with AKM Consulting Engineers, Inc., of Irvine, CA; Agreement No. 34376 with AndersonPenna Partners, Inc., of Newport Beach

Some of you have probably seen me on this sub hunting Craigslist for people searching for used cars under $10k.
My top recommendations are always gm3800 cars (Buick Lesabre, Pontiac Bonneville, so on), 2008-11 Ford Focus (which I own), Toyotas minus 07-09 Camry, Hondas, Mazdas, things like the Pontiac Vibe (Toyota Matrix), Panther platform like Marquis and Town Car, and Mercury/Lincoln cars that double as fancier Ford cars like the Milan.
Did Chevy make any great sedans in the last 20 years? Did Hyundai/Kia have any cars that don't blow up? Maybe discontinued brands like Plymouth or Oldsmobile that haven't found their way into the junkyard? What are some forgotten cars that go 200-300k?
Criteria: possible sub $10k Craigslist find

Reading dbrand's fine print is kind of like joining a secret club - one that entitles you to learn all of the most legally questionable aspects of our business. Creative accounting Tricks? Plans to destroy the sun? Horrific industrial "accidents" that have claimed the lives of countless scientists? It's all in here - this fine print sheds light on things that probably should have stayed in the dark. On that note- remember how we called it a "secret club"? Well, it's your responsibility to make sure it stays that way. If you fail to do so, just remember: we know where you live.
For some, it expresses a preference that all consumer goods should offer a Matte Black colorway. For us, it means we won’t rest until the entire world is coated Matte Black. How do we accomplish this? Simple, we destroy the sun. For the past five years, all of our money – or rather, your money – has funded the production of a cartoonishly large laser beam. We’ll cut to the chase: star-destroying lasers aren’t cheap. Neither are our products – you can blame the sun for that. Our accounting Robots just sent out an internal email. The message was clear: we’ve officially made too much money. As a result, our corporate bank accounts have been frozen. Turns out bribing the bank to unfreeze your assets is a lot easier when your assets aren’t frozen. Lucky for us, kidnapping the CEO’s son is free. With our exorbitant profits safely returned and a newfound distrust for financial institutions, we turned to the time-honored storage solution of simply stashing cash under the mattress. Here’s the deal: we need to buy a hundred thousand mattresses. Your order is bankrolling that purchase. Here’s hoping Casper ships in bulk.
Pastel skin development was a bit of a bumpy road. It began with us rounding up hundreds of test subjects and strapping them into chairs. Then, we blasted about sixteen million different colors directly into their eyeballs over the course of... thirty days? To be honest, we weren't really keeping track. Afterwards, as the lights came back up, we asked them to list their favorites. Their response, sadly, was not the perfectly recited list of CMYK values we had hoped for. Instead, a few of them said something about violating the Geneva Convention. We gently reminded them that they were a focus group, not prisoners of war. That seemed to shut them up. The remaining 99% of test subjects seemed completely incapable of speech for some reason. In the end, we got little usable data from the exercise. Instead, we picked eight colors at random. Don't let our test subjects' sacrifice be in vain.
The bees are dying. It starts with their exposure to pesticides. Over time, an acute poisoning sets in. Immune system? Ravaged. Their cognitive abilities fade to nothingness. Death ensues. They're dropping like flies out there. Soon, we'll be saying "they're dropping like bees out there." As a hive's worker bee population gets decimated, the queen runs out of servants. Much like yourself, the queen can’t do anything on her own. She dies too. The hive follows suit. This is a phenomenon known as “Colony Collapse Disorder,” and it’s contributing to bee shortages all over the globe.
You may be wondering: what does any of this have to with our products? Absolutely nothing. Don't let that stop you from buying some. Where were you when dbrand succeeded in their planetary conquest? Don't answer that - we know where you were. You were buying stuff off our website. Well, we've got good news. Once we've assumed control, we'll be instating a representative for the human race - mostly as a figurehead, so that you'll all keep giving us your money. How will we select this representative? First, we'll stage a cruel, bizarre decathlon. Events will include running an obstacle course constructed entirely of flamethrowers and holding your breath while submerged in a tub of hot sauce. The winner of the decathlon will get absolutely nothing – we’ll just stage it for kicks. Then, we’ll select the representative for all humankind based on how many dbrand orders they’ve placed.
We were halfway through building a fort out of your money when we realized… we need a fireplace that we can use to burn money. For warmth. There’s one problem: if we use cash to build the fireplace, we have less to burn. You see the issue, yes? Excellent. That’s why we’re having a sale. Did you know that was the origin of the term "fire-sale"? To describe a promotion that would generate revenue to use as kindling? Look it up. In a book. Then, give the book to us. We won't burn the book - we're not monsters. We'll just pawn the book off and burn the sweet, flammable proceeds. Once we've completed our money fireplace, we'll need to hang something over the mantlepiece. We were thinking of hiring an interior designer for that. Have you ever hired and interior designer? Of course not. Anyway, their rates are ridiculous.
We get a lot of questions about where our money comes from. To be fair, most of them come from the IRS. It's apparently a "red-flag" that a phone case manufacturer has accumulated enough wealth to construct an island fortress in shark-infested waters. We tried explaining that the sharks came with the property. They didn't care. Anyways, we extended an invitation for their auditors to come out and meet the Sharks for themselves. Upon arrival, we gave them a “carefully guided tour” through our compound, fed them a lunch that contained absolutely no arsenic, then brought them down to the pier to observe the sharks from a safe distance. You're probably wondering: why didn't we give the sharks an auditor-flavored lunch? Simple: Since their safe return to Washington, the IRS is now turning a blind eye to our “enterprise.” While the auditors may be off our backs, those sharks aren't going to feed themselves. Maybe we'll bring the Supreme Court down for a visit.
In 2020, Apple decided to enter the Magnet game. This was a mistake for everyone. You see, our magnet division have been preparing for this inevitability. Shortly after Tim got off stage, our magnet scientist unveiled what can only be described as the most powerful magnet on Earth. Once removed from containment, the magnet barreled into the nearest robot with so much force, the entire population of French Polynesia heard the impact. Naturally, a single robot was not enough to stop the magnetic rampage. To make a long story short, a gigantic ball of assorted metals has been wreaking havoc along the Guatemalan coast for the past few years. Needless to say, we went with a slightly less powerful magnet for the grip case. Our only advice is to keep it far, far away from Guatemala. Imagine, if you will, a vaguely criminal business enterprise. This “business,” which shall remain nameless, can only attribute about 11% of its annual revenues to activities that the police might describe as, “legal”. The accountants for this “business” advised that, in order to avoid a catastrophic financial investigation, they'd need to “cook the books”. Strange advice, right? How would a warehouse of oven roasted books help to satisfy a Government Audit? Turns out, “cooking the books” is actually slang for “fraudulent accounting tactics”. Why did the accountants wait until the entire building was on fire to mention that? Doesn't matter. Point is, we need some new books to cook, and your wallet is on the menu.
Here's a fun fact: every month, at least three psychopaths request that we make skins out of real human flesh. Ten times out of ten, the “should we call the cops?” conversation is preempted by a different, more important question: “is this an opportunity to make money?” Needless to say, we bought a van. After driving around and “collecting” a bunch of hitchhikers, we returned to HQ only to find we had been charged with kidnapping. Since it's apparently illegal to monetize humans in the way we had planned, we decided to pivot to Cow Hides instead. If you've ever wondered whether or not we can launch a product line from within the walls of a maximum-security prison, Leather is your answer.
While we're on the subject of maximum-security, prisons, have you ever broken out of one? Turns out, it's far more challenging than one might think. Our first thought was to bribe all of the guards. Apparently. The banks saw this coming and froze our assets. With the easy route closed, we had no choice but to rely on our business acumen. After a few months of deal making and strong arming, we had amassed a commercial empire within the walls of the prison. In other words, we add enough cigarettes to recreate the Great Chicago Fire. This is, in fact, precisely what we did- Just replace Chicago with Toronto East Detention Center, then burn it to the ground. Speaking of which, did you know that the Great Chicago Fire was started by a cow? Google it, then rest easy: with the launch of. With the launch of Leather, Justice was finally served. Henry Ford once said that a customer can have a car in any color, so long as it's black. Apparently, Sony missed the memo with their white PS5 Henry Ford? Spinning in his grave. We exhumed his corpse and saw it for ourselves, having unearthed A perpetual motion machine. That defies all known laws, the laws of physics we set to work: How could we utilize this self-powered skeletal term vine to power the production of dark plates?
As it turns out, Henry Ford generates less energy than it took to dig him up. Without sufficient electricity to power our Darkplates production lines, we instead applied for a Nobel Prize in Physics. The plan was to spend the prize money on a nuclear reactor. Turns out, the Nobel foundation has some “ethical code” which “prohibits” participants from “needlessly” exhuming corpses based on a “hunch” that the deceased has begun to spin. We’ll see how they feel when we’re digging up their graves. When we decided to redesign the Darkplates, we quickly realized that it was going to be a monumental task. This led to the formation of dbrand’s Plate Science division… or at least, that was the plan. See, we quickly realized that the term “Plate Scientist” means many things to different people. To geologists, it might mean “someone who studies Plate Tectonics,” which would explain why 100% of our applicants were geologists. With our newly assembled team of people who think a PlayStation is a Nintendo, we got to work. Normally, this story would end with the successful development of Darkplates 2.0. Instead, these so-called Plate Scientists gave us a bag of rocks. After both the Plate Science division and the geologists who staffed it had been dissolved, we went back to the drawing board. Turns out, our Industrial Design Robots had already designed Darkplates 2.0. A portion of the proceeds went towards replenishing our supply of sulfuric acid.
On Canada Day, we waived all shipping fees. Why, you ask? Simple – as Canadians we know that saving money on shipping means more opportunity to buy life-saving snowshoes. As the great Wayne Gretzky once said, “snowshoes – they’re the only sure-fire way to escape a polar bear attack.” Not Canadian? No clue why a polar bear would be attacking to begin with? Allow us to paint you a picture.
You just finished tapping the sap out of a faithful Maple Tree. A few unassuming drops spill on your parka. The polar bears don’t necessarily care for the sap – it’s the smell of fear and flesh they crave. Within moments, you’ve become prey. As your snowshoe-less boots dash gracelessly toward your igloo, narrowly escaping the third hyper-carnivorous near-death experience of the week, you pause to reflect: “Why the hell do I live in an igloo? It’s July.” Your sense quickly returns to remind you of the truth: you spent most of your money on dbrand and ice is cheaper than bricks. As your makeshift home melts around you and the grumbling stomachs of a polar bear family close in, your frostbite-ridden lips manage one final sentence: “I’m sorry I didn’t spend more on dbrand.”
When Linus “Tech Tips” Sebastian rang us up to propose a limited edition dbrand collaboration, we couldn’t hang up fast enough. Seventy-two “missed” calls later, Anthony Young’s name popped up on our caller ID. One phone conversation later, the Linus Face Tips drop was born. Our elevator pitch? It’s like if the LTT Store was good. Well, half-good.
See, here at dbrand we believe in offering choices. Specifically, a right choice and a wrong choice. Do we trust you to choose correctly? Never. That’s why we’ve designed our business model around your terrible decisions – we get paid either way. Great thinking, dbrand. Every time an iPhone screen shatters, Tim Apple feels a pleasant chill run down his spine. It can happen at any time: while he’s exercising, doing his taxes, eating an apple… even while he’s getting some shut-eye. Good ol’ Timmy hasn’t had a solid night’s sleep in over a decade. Why does this strange convulsion happen, you ask? Easy: from anywhere in the world, he can sense the repair fees he’s about to rack up. He’s like a shark, sensing the blood money in the waters. Unlike most sharks, this one can breathe oxygen and chairs one of the largest mega corps in the world. Scared? You should be. You’re already frantically Googling “Shark Repellent,” aren’t you? Stop that right now. He can sense your fear. Instead, get a screen protector. If we can prevent an iPhone screen from ever shattering again, it’ll cut off Tim’s main food supply and send him back to the ocean, where he belongs.
Are you sitting down? Good. We want you to remain calm. See, the truth is… the cows have escaped. It all started when one of our “interns” forgot to lock a gate at our Leather Production Facility. The rest is history – just like the intern. Is it accurate to say that we fired him? Debatable, really. On one hand: “firing him” implies that he worked for us by choice. On the other hand, his ashes are currently in the care of his family. None of this changes the fact that a legion of angry cows is currently on the loose. There’s no telling what they’ll do. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best, and buy some Leather while you still can. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got some herding to do.
Every Valentine’s Day, you ask yourself the same question. “Why am I still single?” We’ll answer your question with one of our own: do you have any idea how strict our character limit is? If we could fit our best-selling book “Why Nobody Loves You” into this space, we would. We can’t… so instead, here’s Chapter 11: you’re broke. Did we have something to do with that? Probably. Is that going to stop us from bleeding you further? Absolutely not. There’s only one solution: buy enough vinyl to fill the colossal hole in your heart. Look on the bright side: it’s cheaper than dating.
Despite our best efforts to detain Zack at our Teardown facility, he somehow keeps finding ways to escape. To overcome this hurdle, we held auditions for “volunteer Zacks.” Average, untalented Americans looking for a shortcut to YouTube superstardom. It was a disaster. Putting aside the fact that their baldness required constant maintenance, it turns out they were utterly incapable of jerry rigging anything. Normally, we’d just incinerate them and move on. Unfortunately, Zack is a bit of an environmentalist. As a result, our “Recycling Department” reluctantly devised a zero-emissions way to repurpose the volunteers. After replacing some unnecessary organs with mechanical upgrades, we soon had assembly lines of bald cyborgs tearing down devices around the clock. To make a long story short, we’re now offering consulting services to other corporations looking to shift away from human labor. If they’re going to collapse the job market, we may as well bankrupt them in the process.
Every time you get a package from dbrand, you can hardly contain your excitement. It’s not because you’re excited to give us your money – though you should be. It’s because you’re excited to read the bizarre text on the packaging. Think of it as a reward for making the effort to read – certainly, a lot more work than you’re used to. Now, You’re here. The disappointment has begun to set in. You’re realizing that you’ve been bamboozled. You’re reading a metacommentary on our packaging copy. What is this, school? The last time you took one of those fancy-pants book-learning classes, they had to invent a grade lower than F. You don’t even know what commentary means, let alone “metacommentary.” To be perfectly honest, we’re surprised you made it this far. Spoiler alert: there is absolutely nothing you can do to get this time back. Signed, a Robot.

Hello! I have been sitting on top of this since a year, and now is the perfect time to voice it out. Enough is enough! I have been on the lookout for this dreaded group since years, and even though I covered this group largely before, it is essential to cover rest of the elements I could not give space to in my previous expose writeups, due to lack of ample evidence and sheer amounts of writing that does not allow enough space for one particular group.
This Canadian (yes, took time to know that) group of trolls is nothing significant today, thanks to largely efforts of people dishing out ample evidence about them, but they tend to fabricate way too much lies in a concerted manner across Reddit, 4chan, YouTube comments and the like, all while simultaneously fabricating boogeymen cabals that apparently attack them. Today, even Louis Rossmann has felt the wrath.
It is critically important to trace and decode the patterns of their workings and Kiwifarms-like behaviour on internet, and I see this group as the next big threat to privacy community, simply because they have been persistent and think they are unstoppable.
My aim is to try to stay objective throughout as much as I can. I also want to mention that this is a lore that basically nobody other than me has tracked in this depth (arguably Techlore has enough material), and nobody else carries a record of these events in this manner to date.

WHY IS DANIEL MICAY'S BEHAVIOUR SO WEIRD?

I have been more curious than anyone else, trying to decode his behaviour psychologically to the best of my capabilities and experience on internet by myself. This person is claimed to be either mentally ill or narcissistic by various people, as of now. But I do not think he is simply narcissistic, because he consciously and responsibly knows very well what he does. As I show you screenshots of DivestOS incident, you will know why.

EVENTS

I will describe events in a chronological order since last year's "criticism of ... 4 years of evidence" magnum opus I wrote, making this the 5th year of "security" entities in FOSS community continuing to engage in awkward behaviours and exploiting the lack of expertise of ordinary folks who skim through various privacy communities. I recommend going through this first if you want to know everything about the backstory about privacy community's related issues. (https://old.reddit.com/privatelife/comments/ug9qnc/writeup_criticism_of_rprivacyguides_grapheneos/)

HOW IS GRAPHENEOS AN EMBARGO GOOGLE PARTNER FOR SECURITY PATCHES?

I read a couple of years ago somewhere, GrapheneOS describing how they are an embargo security partner. However, I cannot find those reddit comments anymore, so the next best option is a tweet from August 2022 by the horse's mouth. One person alone building monthly patches for years for supported Pixels compared to Google Inc seems like quite an impossibly tall order to me.
https://web.archive.org/web/20220829223401/https://twitter.com/GrapheneOS/status/1564322206414524420#m

(MAY 2022) MICAY CLAIMED HOW I WAS PAID BY CHINESE GOVERNMENT TO SPREAD LIES AND DESTROY PRIVACY COMMUNITY, PRIVACYGUIDES HEAD ENDORSES SAID CLAIM

Exactly one day after I published the 4 year criticism magnum opus on May 1 2022, what I see on the afternoon of May 2 2022 is this.
https://web.archive.org/web/20220502064114/https://old.reddit.com/PrivacyGuides/comments/uged1y/is_grapheneos_actually_good_or_just_hype/
One long thesis with zero citations. Hubris. This guy loves to talk about character assassination after pissing off people, and when he gets civilly criticised, this happens.
You can remove the archive.org part (https://old.reddit.com/PrivacyGuides/comments/uged1y/is_grapheneos_actually_good_or_just_hype/) and check currently how Jonah Aragon, head of PrivacyGuides, fully endorses these claims, and to this day, has a shared moderator (mbananasynergy) with GrapheneOS subreddit (earlier it was B0risGrishenk0/Tommy_tran whose new alt is Privsec_dev). You may also check how after a year, the post mostly has [deleted] users and comments, all being GrapheneOS sockpuppets and harassers abusing pseudonymity offered by Reddit. These are the people that scream everyday how sockpuppet harassment occurs to them.
He did this on Twitter as well. http://web.archive.org/web/20220820001954/https://twitter.com/GrapheneOS/status/1560729241364340737
In the tweets down the chain, he says:

That person is a tankie who supports authoritarian governments and peddles lies for them [...] It might as well be official CCP propaganda too.

Is there any problem with liking certain countries that you hate, because of geopolitical preferences and news media propaganda? How xenophobe can you be, to think Indians/Asians must like same geopolitical narratives as Canadians/Westerners? I do not believe in Western nationalist tropes, and I think it is fair for everyone to have this freedom.

HOW GRAPHENEOS WITCH HUNTS ANY OF ITS CRITICS

Here is the moderation list of GrapheneOS. https://i.imgur.com/nZDeBG6.jpg Here is it, straight from the horse's mouth. https://i.imgur.com/nhepoMJ.jpg

(JUNE 2022) LEMMY RCMP THREAT FIASCO REVISIT

There has been a recent incident from late April 2023 (a month ago) where Daniel Micay claimed he has faced a swatting attempt (attempt to raid house and murder), and a certain CP and gore spammer flooded GrapheneOS chatrooms with this type of nasty troll content, but in one month, he has NOT provided any evidence. Moreover, he claimed Royal Canadian Metropolitan Police (RCMP) is investigating this matter, and then proceeded to lockdown the GrapheneOS Off-Topic Matrix chatroom (place of claimed incident) for sometime.
For context in follow up, Lemmy is a free and open source federated Reddit alternative, that is fully federated with Mastodon, Twitter's free and open rival.
This faux threatening using Canadian police's credentials reminded me of a very similar incident that I faced at Lemmy from two moderators (akc3n from GrapheneOS and dngray from PrivacyGuides) on behalf of Micay. I am the moderator of c/privacy at Lemmy, and this was their failed attempt at trying to rage bait me into reacting hastily, causing administration to revoke my moderation powers, so that GrapheneOS trolls could make Lemmy their next place of habitat, something I protect Lemmy from.
https://archive.ph/acy2h
During this incident, due to the chaos that the tag team of GrapheneOS and PrivacyGuides (remember they still have shared moderator after Tommy?) caused, one Lemmy administrator warned me, because they got scared about the name of police being involved. Tommy_Tran/Privsec_dev proceeded to get me banned from Lemmy c/privacy's Matrix chatroom by tag teaming with dngray (PrivacyGuides moderator) to bait the moderator of that Matrix chatroom in believing I was the troll. Tommy took over soon enough and changed the room into some Windows/GrapheneOS Security crap, and later the moderator of Matrix chatroom itself moved off of Lemmy.ml (Lemmy's main instance) onto Lemmy.ca (coincidentally a Canadian instance). I do not know if these Canadians are friends or just fellow countrymen, but what they did was insanely evil. (Instances are like separate websites that can still operate like they are the same forum/website.)
Screenshot of c/privacy Matrix room takeover and trolling behind my back, knowing what they have pulled off: https://i.imgur.com/PoTiANo.jpg

(JANUARY 2023) akc3n, GRAPHENEOS MOD, CLAIMS THAT WITCH HUNTING CRITICS' ACCOUNTS IS "BRAND REPUTATION AND COMPETITOR ANALYSIS" AND TOMMY BEING A XENOPHOBE

Another horse and his mouth. N-n-neighhh!!! Since Reddit made API paid and Pushshift archival service has said goodbye forever, I can only show you the thread with barely any comments leftover as proof combined with the screenshot I preserved from back then.
Tommy loves Micay so much, he started to accuse me of being a Chinese government shill in exactly the same way Micay did in May 2022.
Now a ghost town of comments: (https://old.reddit.com/deapple/comments/10dxzdb)
Screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/q2OefBw.jpg (see the blue highlighted portion at the very end, at about 20% height from below)

DIVESTOS DEVELOPER BANNING ME ON MICAY'S ORDERS OTHERWISE HE WILL INITIATE A SOCIAL MEDIA HARASSMENT CAMPAIGN AGAINST DIVESTOS

Yes, this happened, and this is my favourite part as far as everything GrapheneOS head/mods have done to date. As dramatic as it sounds, Micay in realtime, in DivestOS' XMPP chatroom, was accusing me of the typical "harassment ringleader campaign" BS, and ordered DivestOS/Mull developer (these are his aliases) SubZer0Carnage/Tad/SkewedZeppelin that if I was not banned immediately, DivestOS and him would face social media targeted campaign and DivestOS will have to forcibly pull off any borrowed GrapheneOS code. DivestOS developer dusted his hands off me, since he does not like me apparently for liking some closed source software and he benefits off of the crybully. Also, unlike the crybully, I have never harassed or harmed anyone because I have a moral conscience to not be an abusive asshole on internet, so he will face no issues on my end.
Screenshot 1: https://i.imgur.com/Al65uTZ.jpg
Screenshot 2 continuation: https://i.imgur.com/mT8W9pa.jpg

TOMMY AND ANUPRITA/RANDOMHYDROSOL SHOWCASING THEIR LOVE FOR GOOGLE/APPLE/MICROSOFT SPYWARE

See, the point is Google and Apple are spyware/ad companies at the end of the day, and it does not matter if you need to use their services due to necessity. The technicality of it does not change, and people simply make privacy compromises for convenience or out of necessity. I do not have anything against that. What I am against though is this weaseling being done in privacy community, knowing people want to prevent privacy abuse from corporations and governments.
I use Windows (and Linux) daily according to how I laid it out in my computing guide in a very private and secure manner. I understand the use cases of common people extremely well, even better than just about all of privacy community, having been a Windows user all my life and daily driving Linux exclusively since 6 years (now dual boot).
These specimens come and evangelically claim how Google and Apple do not spy on people, and how "degoogling" is a nonsensical concept. The reality is, basically all of these peoples' knowledge other than Micay and DivestOS dev, is as good or worse than a first year sophomore computer science student. They mostly parrot the typical points that they formulate based upon things they would hear in their own little world of shitty security blogs, reddit and whatever proficionados like Micay and developers at XDA would blabber about, creating reductionist notions in their head they can just preach around.
Screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/bUdVCpH.jpg

GRAPHENEOS ALTS CLAIM CELLEBRITE KITS CANNOT EXFILTRATE DATA FROM PIXELS ON YOUTUBE COMMENTS

I do not know enough to be able to browse every YouTube comment section of every tech related video made on custom ROMs on phones, but what I know is Luke Smith is fairly popular among Western youngsters regarding tech topics. He is a more extreme version of Mental Outlaw, for those that are clueless.
When I saw this, I was astounded. Cellebrite is an Israeli cybersecurity company whose phone exfiltrating kits cost upwards of $1 million, and are only purchasable for government agencies like TSA, police and forensic departments. This company purchases 0day vulnerabilities in commonly used smartphone apps which allows them to run their phone hacking government nexus. How are these GrapheneOS people buying million dollar kits when Micay only has one desktop computer for his GrapheneOS ROM binary compilation? The answer is - it is a lie attempted to be spread like rumour.
One would think, why would anyone be concerned about going this far? I am usually the person who people try to follow on, since I pose good questions regarding a lot of things. In this case, the question would be: if GrapheneOS claims bootloader lock security for protection against Evil Maid and other bootloader attacks, is it secure against phone hacking kits at airports or against state actors? Has GrapheneOS' security ever been vetted independently? Since regular Joe on the street is not a proficionado, would it be okay to ensure selling claims of such extreme security of GrapheneOS is battle tested? People started asking these questions that always went unanswered. You get the idea.
Screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/woNxPhx.jpg

DOZENS OF GRAPHENEOS ALTS SPAMMING "PIXEL 6A $299" ON PRIVACY SUBREDDITS AND 4CHAN PRIVACY CLOSES OFF ALL AOSP ROM DISCUSSION POST BRIGADING

If you go to any of the 4Chan archives for /g/ board, and search "graphene" or "pixel", you will find both of these mentioned together many times, which is a very interesting phenomenon. This is known as astroturfing. Here is a compilation of /g/ comments from the last 6 months. https://i.imgur.com/G6P1c9n.jpg
privacy suffered the same and sheltered Micay against all criticism until last month when Micay accused privacy moderators of sheltering claimed CP/gore spammer and swatter, followed by a lot of vote manipulation and sockpuppet brigading, leading to privacy shutting down all discussions relating to any specific AOSP custom ROMs. https://old.reddit.com/privacy/comments/130y6uz/android_based_operating_systems/

MICAY'S CLAIMS OF CP/GORE SPAM ON HIS CHATROOM, AND CLAIM OF ATTEMPTED SWATTING (HOUSE RAID MURDER)

This is the spiciest part for most people in the know about this, and it has been one whole month since the claims. However, neither local Canadian news media has reported anything on something that would be as significant as swatting a software developer, nor has he presented evidence upon being asked by numerous users. Upon being asked, Micay has either ghosted or banned people, or accused them of being complicit in his self-proclaimed attempted murder.
What he is doing here is using psychological trickery of dead cat strategy, creating a loop of "mysterious" act that only he and his 2-3 moderator friends know about but have, upon being repeatedly requested by dozens, denied to give a shred of evidence, and has attempted to use this dirty sensationalist act to gain sympathy. He has also utilised the effect, until now, of relying on the goldfish attention span of masses regarding world events, so that people forget questioning his shocking claims and think his gospel is the immortalised truth.
Moreover, he has a history of never giving any evidence for his claims he has made over the years. Techlore and I have noted and documented this dozens of times at this point, and one Reddit user involved with using GrapheneOS undertook the effort to do this as well. https://old.reddit.com/u_lo________________ol/comments/1314x2x/_/
In the past 24 hours, after Rossmann's video came out, Micay announced that not just is he claiming to step down as developer of GrapheneOS, but that "police know about the swatting situation and are preventing it happening again". How did it go from blocking and ghosting dozens of people upon asking for evidence, to a month later claiming "oh all is good I am quitting social media have a nice day"? Is everyone this gullible? Is there no course of action, or no accountability to present evidence publicly (let alone block users asking) for the duration of an entire month? Nobody is asking for CP material, and evidence of such incident could have easily been shown. Micay engages on social media almost everyday, in a terminally online manner. The reality is, he is escaping accountability after failing to get sympathy from baseless sensationalist claims. Dead cat strategy works until it does not, and people hate being taken as fools for long enough.
EXTRAORDINARY CLAIMS REQUIRE EXTRAORDINARY EVIDENCE.
STOP BELIEVING STRANGERS SAYING ANYTHING ON THE INTERNET.
BEING EMPATHETIC DOES NOT MEAN YOU NEED TO TAKE EVERYTHING AT FACE VALUE.
https://web.archive.org/web/20230527063653/https://twitter.com/DanielMicay/status/1662212232506388481#m

COMPARING LEMMY FIASCO FROM LAST YEAR WITH CURRENT EVIDENCE-LESS CP/GORE SPAMMING AND SWATTING CLAIMS

The incident that happened with me from June 2022, in a nutshell, is faux RCMP (Canadian police) threats in order to sensationalise and scare off me and Lemmy's admins into thinking I was onto some serious wrongdoings, creating an image of things that never happened or never will happen. The exact same scare off tactics happened with Micay's fresh claims in late April 2023, which constitutes psychological manipulation of privacy and Android community users to gain attention at all costs. Bad PR is good PR, and good PR is great PR.

LOOKING AT u/lo________________ol's COMPILATION POST OF MICAY'S NUMEROUS EVIDENCE-LESS CLAIMS IN THE PAST

This is the compilation post. https://old.reddit.com/u_lo________________ol/comments/1314x2x/_/
The only ever real conflict that materialised enough into a spat, where I did support Micay, was when CopperheadOS CEO James Donaldson and him had their catfight going on, and when Donaldson asked me in DMs to harass Micay in an organised manner. I protected Micay. https://i.imgur.com/hujn4P1.jpg
Coming to basically every single claim Micay has made about me, Techlore, CalyxOS, F-Droid, Bromite, FlorisBoard developers/heads and so on... Micay has NEVER EVER provided proof justifying his claims. That is right, NEVER, not in a single case. All he has ever done, is scream and shout sensationally, utilising dead cat strategy over the years. There does exist a reason for why he has done all this, which I will elaborate on in a section below.

A VERY COMMON OCCURRENCE OF "$299 PIXEL 6A" COMMENTS ON PRIVACY SUBREDDITS

privacy has now purged comments of these Graphene/Pixel zealots, but there was a certain phenomenon that started after the Black Friday/Christmas sale regarding how financially "accessible" Pixels were, leading these single origin sockpuppets and astroturfers to spam comments with this theme in every "phone recommendation" post/thread. After the Black Friday sales ended, they went ahead and started recommending Swappa/Craigslist used handsets over anything else, with the idea that if you do not buy Pixel, you might as well be directly streamed 24/7 live to 3 letter spook agents. How much more elitist, misleading and toxic can one be when trying to improve privacy of average people?
Collage: https://i.imgur.com/Q1wIIfS.jpg

GRAPHENEOS MATRIX CHAT TELLING PEOPLE TO FLY TO OTHER COUNTRIES TO GET A PIXEL IF NOT AVAILABLE DOMESTICALLY

It is known among Google Pixel buyers and USA/Canada phone buyers, that Pixels have extremely limited availability by country. The amount of mental gymnastics required for someone to tell they need to travel by airplane to other countries to get one specific phone, if they want to have any privacy and security on a phone, forces me to say this - you need medical assistance. When a community goes ahead to do this, what will be your reaction? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
Here you go. https://i.imgur.com/Yv9nvxy.jpg

PRIVACYGUIDES PROTECTS AND PETS GRAPHENEOS MODS/HEADS INTENTIONALLY, UPON QUESTIONING YOU GET MUTED OR SILENCED

Tommy was originally made the moderator of PrivacyGuides (PG) exactly one day after he published the "false privacy prophet" post on me (https://archive.is/7wKJW), a post that had no evidence, and trended for an entire month at PG. This person has been a key member and friend of GrapheneOS mods and Micay himself. He thoroughly ensured that Micay's personal grudge based ideas were echoed through PG, and fellow mods like dngray, trai_dep and Jonah fully supported this. akc3n, a fellow GrapheneOS moderator, was always active in threads with them, essentially heavily controlling participation of users at every level. This sounds as ridiculous to me as it does to you, and to this day (May 27 2023), mbananasynergy is a shared moderator between GrapheneOS and PG. You might wonder, the subheading above has still not been addressed. How did I get silenced? Read below.
The exchange between Jonah Aragon and me. https://old.reddit.com/u_lo________________ol/comments/1314x2x/why_did_i_do_this/ji36hbs/#c

REDDIT MAKING ITS API ACCESS PAID, CAUSING PUSHSHIFT ARCHIVAL SERVICE TO COLLAPSE, LEADING TO RAMPANT SOCKPUPPET ABUSE AND HEADACHE FOR MODERATION

Reddit's decision to cripple Pushshift's archival service is intentional. It allows to generate negativity and drama, which will lead to more internet traffic like how Elon Musk loves the new "town square" Twitter. More internet traffic translates to more value when Reddit becomes public entity for shareholders. This causes a nerve busting headache for sitewide moderation, and everyone knows it.
GrapheneOS, as demonstrated and as observed by basically everyone, is extremely formidable at sockpuppet trolling and witch hunting of critics. The definition of a "critic" for them is anyone who does not worship GrapheneOS. Period. Louis Rossmann sees how this makes sense, and so does everyone else. Refer to the "HOW GRAPHENEOS WITCH HUNTS ANY OF ITS CRITICS" section above.

UTTER IGNORANCE AND FAILURE OF PRIVACY COMMUNITY TO SELF POLICE SUCH ELEMENTS

A little angry rant on privacy community as a whole
Privacy community seriously is pathetic in keeping people accountable and vetting the products/tools and their developers, for all the vigilante preaching that goes on in here. It took me to create privatelife and bring some change, and I do not know how much change has been brought about. People just want to look good, nobody cares about actual democracy and putting in the effort to maintain it. Everyone wants their hands clean, expecting others to do the watchdog job, and nobody ends up standing in the crowd. I am from India and I should care zilch about privacy community filled with "democratic westerners" not standing up for themselves, and living like sheep in a dictatorship of some FOSS, corporate and closed source developers/entities. Why do people want to dust their hands off of everything like X or Y incident has nothing to do with them? Where did the concept of solidarity go? Why does nobody want to hold people accountable for being assholes?
/rant

LOUIS ROSSMANN FACES THE MUSIC (COMPLICIT IN ATTEMPTED MURDER) FROM DANIEL MICAY FOR CALLING HIS REPULSIVE INTERNET BEHAVIOUR "INFORMATIVE AND UNFORTUNATE"

Rossmann came out yesterday with a descriptive video with a screen recording of his chat with Micay, where Micay accused him of all that he has gone to accuse literally everyone under the sun during the past month, and folks like me during the past few years. Some reddit users have been targeted with the same, and found solace in talking to me and whatever I have documented on Micay and his acolytes, among other topics and groups.
Rossmann's video on uninstalling GrapheneOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl1x1Dy-ej4
The video is gaining attention because of how much goodwill Rossmann's deeds towards Apple repairing and Right to Repair movement has garnered over the past 10-15 years. And he is a good person. My only disappointment with him has been missing the mark on, and being silent on GrapheneOS all this while. I get his reasons of benevolence towards FOSS projects, but we need to be stricter about social conduct. Nothing excuses being a horrible person, as far as civil discourse goes.

SO, WHY IS MICAY'S BEHAVIOUR SO WEIRD? A LITTLE MORE CONTEXT AND AN ATTEMPT TO SEE WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO HIM...

More than almost anyone else, I have been interested in why he turned out like this. I will preface this by saying I do not fully believe he is autistic, and even if he is, it does not explain this kind of "me versus the world" impulsive behaviour.
Last year, sometime after he wrote that "paid Chinese government agent" comment on me, I decided to try to genuinely sympathise with him for one more time and see his response.
https://old.reddit.com/privatelife/comments/ws96wx/_/ikzipwf/ (feel free to read with context https://old.reddit.com/privatelife/comments/ws96wx/_/ikzipwf?context=10)
He went silent on me and stopped attacking me. Considering I have documented his behaviour for a few years, I have a well supported conjecture that is better than "BPD/schizo".
Originally, Micay made the memory allocation hardening patch for Linux kernel, but never got a fulfilling wealthy life or career out of it, considering how many of his years later went down quarrelling with CopperheadOS' Donaldson. He quit Copperhead organisation to maintain his fork under the name of GrapheneOS, which is a free open source project. Lack of success in life is the first condition fulfilled.
The second part of this consists of many smaller parts.
I noted last year how in the below reddit thread/screenshot, Daniel Micay and madaidan argue together against Firefox. Before the Tor Project mailing list happened in August 2019, the whole anti-Firefox sentiment mysteriously used to not exist in GrapheneOS community. This is probably the first instance of Micay's resentment towards a large FOSS project.
https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2019-August/013995.html
https://www.unddit.com/firefox/comments/gokcis/firefox_is_insecure_refuted/
Screenshot: https://i.postimg.cc/1P0cfmjX/Firefox-insecure-refuted.jpg
For context, I would ideally advise to read through the "criticism... 4 year evidence" writeup, but an easier way to go through this is knowing about madaidan and his "toilet paper" (I did not call it that) blog attacking FOSS projects' security while simultaneously recommending the antithesis of privacy - Windows, MacOS, Google Chrome et al.
https://web.archive.org/web/20210929053611/https://old.reddit.com/linux/comments/pwi1l9/thoughts_about_an_article_talking_about_the/
https://web.archive.org/web/20220111035527/https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25590079
https://archive.is/zxS72
This is one part of how Micay started to become an isolated toxic person developing hate for FOSS projects for others not conforming to his ideas of how things should be done. This was also the first moment where he took a step towards the Google Big Tech black hole.
Slowly, however, he started to attract the "security zealots" in privacy and FOSS community. What happened here is explained by Dunbar's number, which says a human can only form relationships with 148 people. This number falls to a maximum of 30-50 if you are not particularly extroverted or prefer a smaller group. All of the "security zealots" found some comfort together, creating a loosely linked group where everyone can unite with certain talking points, regarding bashing Linux/Firefox security, preferring Big Tech obscure security products and services, and allowing to normalise the various toxic behaviours everyone individually bears, in the name of "oh IT security people are just bad at social skills". I can count these 15-20 people which allows me to be a bit more confident in what has happened.
People do not know much about this, but Micay used to fantasise replacing Linux kernel with Google's Fuchsia microkernel, a... Google project, because Linux is insecure and trashy. The issue here is that while he did work on Linux kernel patch in the past, he does not anymore, because he has started to develop resentment against any FOSS projects that are not fully conformant with his ways. Linux simply never gave him the success. Micay is apparently entitled to get the fruits, not realising individual work on Linux is largely a communistic effort. Free open source movement is by design democratic and for the community/society first.
Sometime ago, someone informed me of Micay (alias thestingestrcat) creating drama with Bromite (on which their Vanadium browser fork is based) and FlorisBoard projects. They labelled those project maintainers with very bad, false epithets, like "you will be tied to a group engaging in Kiwi Farms level abuse and tolerating neo-nazis". Well too bad, witch hunting people is what you people admittedly do and call it market research.
https://github.com/bromite/bromite/pull/2102#issuecomment-1155760155
https://github.com/bromite/bromite/issues/2141
http://web.archive.org/web/20220803142758/https://github.com/florisboard/florisboard/issues/1921
I should not need to elaborate on GrapheneOS' attitude towards Techlore (he has 2 videos on it) and CalyxOS (again Techlore partially covers CalyxOS).
GrapheneOS members, Micay and his friends like Wonderfall have attacked F-Droid in the name of security, only to push using Google Play Store that annihilates all privacy of people. Google Play Services gather every possible metric about your phone which includes sensor, location, IP address, telephone number, IMEI and so on every 7 minutes. Just to be fair, Apple does the same things and is far worse. This theme of evangelising Google products at the cost of bashing all other projects is a thumb rule for GrapheneOS community.
https://forum.f-droid.org/t/what-are-the-issues-fdroid-have-about-security/17520
Micay finding solace among his "security zealot" friends allowed him to go unchecked and grow into a very malicious person, targeting FOSS projects, individuals, organisations and privacy communities with a lot of sockpuppet trolling, vote manipulation, dishonesty, normalising horrific social etiquette, demonising and witch hunting any and all people that do not worship GrapheneOS. It is borderline criminal and is a surprise to me how people are okay with someone like him. I have two explanations for this - either the ones okay with this themselves share some of these behaviours, or they themselves use GrapheneOS and due to sunk cost fallacy and/or fear of Micay personally targeting them, they either defend him or keep their mouths intentionally shut. An insignificant number of people accept him merely because of benevolence towards FOSS projects IMHO.

FINAL WORD

The problem is not Daniel Micay. The problem is this kind of mindset that has been able to breed and flourish in society. Today, this Micay might go. Tomorrow, another Micay will come under a different name or even this very person under an alias. Privacy community needs to stop being such selfish and individualistic. People need to stop procrastinating or avoiding vetting of these people. I understand tools and code is hard to vet, but people behind the projects can absolutely be vetted. Giving space to elements like these toxic "security zealots" in tech is not bravery or benevolence, it is stupidity and disgustingly selfish. This is precisely why rulebooks like Code Of Conduct have become increasingly popular. We need to give people and projects the boot from society that do not follow Code Of Conduct, and especially pretentious groups like GrapheneOS (https://web.archive.org/web/20230521023428/https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/11-grapheneos-code-of-conduct) that pretend to have civil rules but do the exact opposite to everyone that disagrees with them.
Since enough people may not have understood this, I will repeat it, as I end this text file with some internet rules.
EXTRAORDINARY CLAIMS REQUIRE EXTRAORDINARY EVIDENCE.
STOP BELIEVING STRANGERS SAYING ANYTHING ON THE INTERNET.
BEING EMPATHETIC DOES NOT MEAN YOU NEED TO TAKE EVERYTHING AT FACE VALUE.

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YOU decide what events should change in the world of pop culture, be it real or ASB (future movie gets shown in the past, an actor does/doesn't die, alternate casting choices, unmade media possibly getting made, media is rewritten, a change in the box office or something new entirely)!
I document what happens in a current timeline of Earth!
We all have fun!
CURRENT TIMELINE:
1818: Mary Shelley's The Modern Prometheus, a novel in which scientist Henry Frankenstein creates a sapient creature named Prometheus is made. Prometheus becomes a stalwart of the monster genre.
1907-1908: A young comedian named Charlie Chaplin refuses to accept the offer of Fred Karno to come to the U.S. He becomes a famous comedian, often incorporating a character he named The Tramp in his stand-up routines.
1912: The Olympic ship crashes upon hitting an iceberg, becoming a memorable event. James Cameron's Olympic (1997) would be the first film to gross $1B, even entering the National Film Registry.
1931: Frankenstein and his Prometheus, an adaptation of The Modern Prometheus starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff as Henry and Prometheus is a box-office smash. It would enter the National Film Registry in 1991.
1941: Fleischer Studios' Mr. Bug Goes to Town is a box office success, saving the studio. Today it is one of Disney's biggest competitors, along with Warner Bros.
1951: Fawcett Comics wins a lawsuit over National Comics for the rights to the characters of Captain Marvel and Superman. While National Comics would die in obscurity, Fawcett Comics would be Marvel's biggest competitor.
1962: Marilyn Monroe doesn't die. She goes into hiding in Las Vegas doing revue shows. Discovered by higher ups at NBC, she signs on to The Marilyn Monroe Show, a sketch comedy show that runs until her death in 1999.
1966: Warner Bros.' Twister comes out, becoming the highest grossing film of the year. It would spawn "Tornado-mania", a series of tornado movies made to copy its success. It would enter the National Film Registry in 1996.
1969: Nixon resigns his presidency the become a talk show host. The Dick Nixon show airs until 1983.
Make America Great Again - written and directed by Mel Brooks - is released. The film stars Ronald Reagan as himself as he decides to run for President after becoming a washed up movie star - promising to “Make America Great Again”. Wacky shenanigans ensue, including President Reagan trying to build a massive wall on the Southern border to stop Soviet influence, claiming that “both sides have very fine people” in regards to the Civil Rights Movement, and him accidentally starting a cult about how hippies are secretly stooges of a global satanic cult run by the elites.
The film is a critical and commercial success and becomes one of the greatest and funniest comedies of all time. It enters the National Film Registry in 1999.
The Dick Cavett Show airs on ABC, becoming the main competitor to NBC's Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. It would end in 1996 to make way for its new replacement The Jon Stewart Show.
Creedence Clearwater Revival release a song about the Civil Rights Movement called Fortunate Son. It becomes their signature song. It enters the National Recording Registry in 2013.
1974: Star Trek: The Continuing Mission, a revival of the original 60s series, airs in syndication until 1981.
1974-1979: Michael John Kricfalusi becomes an anti-Rhodesian mercenary during the Rhodesian Bush War. He becomes a POW by forces from Apartheid South Africa. As a result, he is physically and mentally scarred.
1979: Ozzy Osbourne goes into rehab and continues to play for Black Sabbath, leading to them getting a Beatles-like Renaissance in the 80s, making Heavy Metal one of the 80s most notable music genres.
1980-1981: From February 1980 to August 1981, John Kricfalusi would heal his mental wounds at a mental institution.
1982: John Kricfalusi founds Spümcø, an animation studio that was founded due to John's perceived views on how Hanna-Barbera and Rankin/Bass, two studios he worked at, failed to make good cartoons.
1983: E.T. for the Atari proves to be a very good game, making millions for Atari. This would inspire them to improve their games on their future consoles such as the 5200 and 7800, leading them to become a fierce competitior in the gaming market. The last Atari console came out in the early 2000s.
You Nutzy Rascals!, a short made by John K., is the first to feature prototype designs of Ren and Stimpy.
1985: The War of the Worlds, a film made in collaboration with Disney and Jeff Wayne, based on his musical album adapting the H.G. Wells story, hits theaters. It is a critical and commercial success, cited for starting the Disney Renaissance. Disney and Jeff Wayne would collaborate two more times, making animated adaptations of The Modern Prometheus (1988) and The Time Machine (1992). It would enter the National Film Registry in 2022.
Warner Communications buys Warner Amex-Satellite Entertainment to make Warner MTV Networks.
1986: Ravel's Bolero becomes the theme to The Legend of Zelda. It would later serve to be the theme for the Zelda games in Japan, with a different theme for NTSC releases.
Cliff Burton survives a car crash and continues to play bass for Metallica, helping put thrash metal on the mainstream map.
1987: Morrissey and Johnny Marr become frenemies. The Smiths continue into the 1990s.
1988: During production of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Harrison Ford is shot and killed by a loaded prop gun. This would lead to it being hastily recut in time for 1989. It would lead to a heavy burden on Lucasfilm. The documentary Ford - Spielberg's Right Hand Man would be released in 2008 to great success.
1989: Doctor Who is saved from cancellation by BBC. It remains one of the longest running TV shows.
Sergio Leone dies of old age. He is remembered for his westerns as well as Don Quixote, The Phantom, and Leningrad: The 900 Days.
1990: John K. creates Big House Blues, the pilot for The Ren & Stimpy Show, which is picked up by Nickelodeon.
1991: Eddie Vedder dies in a car crash before the first Pearl Jam album is released. They find a new lead in Chris Cornell, who also sings for Soundgarden until their demise in 1997.
Ren & Stimpy airs on Nickelodeon, along with Doug, Rugrats, Tiny Toon Adventures, Taz-Mania (both this show and TTA would later air in syndication) and Big Beast Quintet (cancelled in 1993). It is currently the longest running American animated series, beating out Matt Groening's The Simpsons, who cancelled the show in 1998 in favor of working on the long-running Futurama which still airs today.
Tim Burton is attached to direct an adaptation of The Addams Family TV show as a movie. It would later spawn three sequels, with Tim leaving after the second movie. The latter two would be critically panned.
1992: Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace comes out, becoming the highest grossing film of the year. Episodes II and III would later come out in 1995 and 1998 respectively.
J.R.R. Tolkien dies at 100, finishing The New Shadow and The Silmarillion. He was also known for being war minister of the UK from 1940 to 1945.
Stephen Hillenburg is invited to work on Ren & Stimpy after showing his short film Wormholes at the TIFF.
Cartoon Network begins after Ted Turner merges with Viacom in 1986 and buys the Hanna-Barbera library in 1991.
1993: Spielberg quits directing after doing Schindler's List. This not only cancels plans for a Jurassic Park sequel, but also an adaptation of Supertoys Last All Summer Long.
1994: During filming of The Crow, Brandon Lee survives a shot from a prop gun. He would propel into superstardom. He is now known for playing Neo in The Matrix franchise and Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat (1995).
Kurt Cobain announces the breakup of Nirvana as he goes into rehab. In 2002, the band reunited for You Know You're Right, an album that became a top seller. They still perform to this day.
1995: YouTube, a video sharing site, is released. It would not gain much popularity until 2001, where an influx of YouTubers would bring it to stardom.
Toy Story, a stop motion film, gains critical acclaim due to its incredible scale, becoming the 2nd highest grossing film of the year.
Sarah Michelle Gellar dies in a kayaking incident days before the release of her only film Clueless. This would cause Clueless to become the highest grossing film of the year and become known as one of the best teen films. It enters the National Film Registry in 2005. Bad Boys, a film released the same day as Clueless, would become the 6th highest grossing film of the year despite mixed reviews.
Spotify, a humble music downloading site, releases. In 1997, it would change into a music streaming site, and would often show ads for the latest in music.
Selena Quintalla survives being shot. Jennifer Lopez wanes in popularity.
1996: The Nintendo 64DD comes out in a partnership with Phillips, revolutionising the console industry by introducing CD memory, rising it above the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. One of the top best selling games would be Super Mario 64 2, the sequel to Super Mario 64. The 64DD would serve as motivation for Sega to complete Sonic X-Treme by 1997, which becomes a huge hit. This would give Sega the boost it needed to continue making consoles. Other Mario games made for the 64DD include Mario Takes America and Super Mario's Wacky Worlds.
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), which had been under a state similar to the Atari 2600, releases its last two games: Super Mario Legends, a game similar in style to the Mario Land games released by Nintendo R&D1, which becomes a minor hit and Animaniacs, a port of Konami's Game Boy game which got mixed reviews.
Tupac survives being shot while having a drive in Las Vegas. He still has a rap career.
Ren & Stimpy Go To Hollywood, a film released by Warner Bros., becomes the highest grossing animated film of the year, making over $600M. It has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This film would also have one of Ronald Reagan's last acting roles.
NDR Filmes' Cassiopeia gets fame for being the first completely computer-animated film. It gets an English dub for a worldwide release. It enters the National Film Registry in 2006.
After his work on Ren & Stimpy, Stephen Hillenburg pitches his own show to Nickelodeon about a sea sponge.
Rapper and music producer Andre "Dr. Dre" Young is shot and killed by a vengefully spiteful Suge Knight in a drive-by shooting, since Young left Death Row Records after accusing Knight of corruption the month prior. His death leads to tributes from fans and colleagues alike, and his first album The Chronic is praised for being influential. Tupac Shakur, in addition to being a rapper, assumes Dr. Dre's role as a music producer out of respect for his newly deceased friend. After Suge Knight is arrested and imprisoned for life due to murdering Young, Shakur takes over Death Row Records. The Chronic enters the National Recording Registry in 2019.
1996-2000: A teen-oriented sitcom, Still Clueless: The Story of Tai and Dionne, runs on ABC from September 20, 1996 to May 19, 2000 for a total of four seasons. A spinoff and continuation to the 1995 film "Clueless", starring the late Sarah Michelle Gellar as Cher Horowitz, and breakouts Regina Hall as Dionne Davenport and Brittany Murphy as Tai Frasier, the series follows protagonists and best friends Tai Frasier and Dionne Davenport as they navigate through life in college without their late friend Cher Horowitz who tragically overdosed to death at a party but hilarious scenarios ensue for the two friends as they mature together in college. Created by Amy Heckerling, Brittany Murphy and Regina Hall reprise their respective roles as Tai Frasier and Dionne Davenport from the 1995 film, and also stars Alan Rickman as the main antagonist, the corrupt and unfairly strict college dean William Davidson. The series becomes very beloved, successful, and memorable, just like its 1995 predecessor. The first season has 23 episodes, the second and third seasons have 22 episodes each, while the fourth and final season has 25 episodes, totalling up to 92 episodes. New episodes always would premiere at 8:30PM on Friday nights, with either a TV-PG or TV-14 rating. The show had a direct competitor in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, another teen-oriented series, which would on Fox for only one season consisting of only eighteen episodes from September 20, 1996 to May 9, 1997. Created by Joss Whedon and based loosely on the 1992 film of the same name, the series stars teen sensation Alicia Silverstone as Buffy Anne Summers, a teenage girl who fights evil vampirical creatures. The show would have a more darker and serious tone unlike it's more lighthearted and comedic competitor "Still Clueless: The Story of Tai and Dionne" on ABC, and new episodes would premiere at 8:30PM on Friday nights, all having a TV-14 rating. Of the two shows, "Buffy" would be less successful as the show would have a lukewarm reception and audiences would more than likely watch the more successful "Still Clueless", which would have an otherwise more welcoming reception (like it's 1995 predecessor). The show's lead actress Alicia Silverstone would still have a briefly successful career in Hollywood; unfortunately, her career would be cut short as she would die from a serious chest infection on February 11, 2002, at the age of only 25.
1997: Reddit, a news and discussion board, is released. It becomes very, very popular.
The Notorious B.I.G. survives a shooting like his friend and collaborator Tupac, and he continues to make music.
Aspiring rapper Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs is killed in a gang shootout in Los Angeles, California; however, right-wing news network Fox News reports the shootout as having happened in New York City, New York (which is untrue). This leads to rapper Christopher "Biggie Smalls" Wallace recording a single dedicated to Combs called "I'll Be Missing You" (which heavily samples "Every Breath You Take" by The Police) which was included as a bonus track on No Way Out, Combs' first and only debut album released posthumously on July 22, 1997. The album became influential in the years since Combs' death, proving that, even in death, one can still have a rap career and be influential. No Way Out would enter the National Recording Registry in 2007.
1998: Neon Genesis Evangelion is unknowingly localized by 4Kids, leading to a HEAVILY censored English dub that makes the show popular during the late 90s-early 00s.
Chris Farley wakes from a coma due to a drug overdose. After deciding to give the role of Shrek to Mike Myers his friend, he gets the role of Doug Heffernan on The King of Queens.
1999: Stephen Hillenburg's SpongeBob SquarePants airs on Nickelodeon. Although it is a hit at first, work complications, problems outsourcing animation to the studio Gainax, and the banned episode Wrasslin' Maniacs where SpongeBob and Patrick beat up Squidward, Hillenburg is fired from the show in 2002.
Tommy Boy's Return, the sequel to Tommy Boy, releases in theaters. It is considered a cult classic today.
2000: Battlefield Earth is released in theaters to be a huge success, ending up the 8th highest grossing film of the year. This would cause an interest in works by L. Ron Hubbard, making the Church of Scientology a rising religion. Battlefield Earth 2 would later release in 2003 to similar acclaim.
4Kids is bought by Warner Communications. As a result, more anime airs on Kids WB.
The Atari Cougar, Atari's final console before being bought by Jakks Pacific in 2002, is released. It is a cult classic console.
Tim Burton's Wizard of Oz gains mixed to positive reviews, and makes the top 10 list of highest grossing films of the year.
2001: Grand Theft Auto III, the third entry in the GTA series is cancelled following 9/11. The game would later redevelop into Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which was released in 2004.
Spy Kids, Quentin Tarantino's first kids' film is released in theaters to mixed reviews, but becomes a cult classic. Two more sequels were released in the two years after it, all would get the same fate.
During 9/11, Kevin James dies after being squished by falling debris from the North Tower.
2002: Netflix, the world's first ever online streaming service for film and TV, launches. They release their first Netflix Original - an epic drama gangster film called American Gangster starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe and directed by Ridley Scott - five years later on November 2, 2007, after buying the distribution rights from Universal Pictures (who were set to be the original proprietors). All of their films and series are also given DVD and/or Blu-ray releases, courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, who owns the home media rights to Netflix Original films/series etc.
2003: Call of Duty, a war shooter game, sells 200,000 copies, making for poor sales. No sequels are planned. The Battlefield series gains from this.
Star Trek: The Original Generation, a Star Trek prequel series, airs for two seasons on Fox before cancellation.
Sony launches the American feed of 24-hour anime channel Animax, which overtakes Adult Swim's Toonami in popularity.
Sylvester Stallone becomes Governor of California until 2011.
TIME names Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein as Person of the Year due to being "One of the great dictators of the modern age".
2004: Fallout 3 releases on Windows to high ratings, saving Interplay from bankruptcy. They would later release 2 console games, Fallout 4 and Fallout 5. Many spinoff games would be made.
Hillenburg's company United Plankton Pictures makes the Newgrounds webseries The Motherfucking Patchy the Pirate Show, focusing on the misadventures of Patchy the Pirate.
2005: Minecraft, a web browser game is released by Mojang with the help of a team that planned a game known as Terraria, where it would be very successful until 2009, when a 3D version for Java was released. It is currently owned by Microsoft, who still makes updates for it.
SpongeBob SquarePants is quietly cancelled due to declining ratings.
FOX airs The Office, an American adaptation of the British mockumentary series of the same name, airing until 2013 for nine seasons. It becomes one of the most memorable sitcoms of all time, winning several Emmys. Mr. Blue Sky becomes the theme song.
2006: Warner Communications contacts Hillenburg for an adult-only SpongeBob reboot.
Night at the Museum is released to mixed reviews as it becomes a box-office bomb. With plans for a sequel dead in the water, Fox sells the rights to Sony in 2007 who plans to reboot the series, but also keep the distribution rights for the original film.
Blockbuster buys Netflix, moving the website to Blockbuster.com, and naming it Blockbuster Online. After all of its stores were closed, it becomes Blockbuster+.
2007: Kanye West dies in a car crash before his album Graduation releases, causing him to be mourned. This would lead to many people buying the album, creating a short-lived rap revival that would temporarily mark the end of gangsta rap until 2010.
Owen Wilson commits suicide. In discussions about the "Frat Pack", he is replaced by Steve Carell and Paul Rudd. Drillbit Taylor and Tropic Thunder are both dedicated to his memory. Plans for a sequel to Cars are cancelled by Pixar and Disney.
2007-2011: Identically similar to events in our world, screenwriter Simon Monjack and actress and "Clueless" sensation Brittany Murphy (who still starred in this alternate reality's version of the 1995 film "Clueless", but here she instead co-stars with rising co-stars Sarah Michelle Gellar playing Cher, and Regina Hall playing Dionne) are about to marry back in May 2007, but Murphy calls the marriage to Monjack off at the exact same wedding. This causes a scandal that briefly kills her good reputation, and gets her blacklisted in Hollywood (for a while). In this alternate history, Simon Monjack is put in prison for attempting murder on Brittany Murphy, but here, is killed by a crazed cellmate whilst serving time (said crazed cellmate also happens to be a fan of Brittany Murphy). Brittany Murphy then moves to an apartment complex in New York in 2008, ditching Hollywood for good and starting a musical career.
Natalie Portman, a fairly successful but struggling rising young TV actress, is having a hard time finding work in Hollywood due to the failure of the Star Trek prequel television series Star Trek: The Original Generation. She co-starred in the series alongside Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor, and Samuel L. Jackson. While the then 56-57 year old Jackson at least got to have a successful career in Hollywood (due to being a Christopher Nolan regular), Christensen and McGregor were rejected by the industry; Christensen started an indie rock band while McGregor then went on to become a successful UFC fighter, but would then become very scandalous as he suffers from numerous arrests and an intense drug addiction. McGregor would then unfortunately die young from a drug overdose on December 7, 2008. Going back to Portman, she would become an indie darling in independent cinema, however her career would be cut short when she would die in a car crash on July 19, 2009, just one month and ten days after her 28th birthday. She was last seen in a DTV thriller called "Abandoned", which released in March 2010. Her death leads to tributes from co-stars and fans alike.
In December 2009, Brittany Murphy is then offered the lead role in Darren Aronofsky's upcoming psychological horror film "Black Swan", about a troubled ballerina. The film would co-star Melanie Lynskey as the troubled ballerina's rival, and like in our world, Winona Ryder, Barbara Hershey, and Vincent Cassel. The film released in December 2010 (like in our world), to rave reviews, with critics calling it Brittany Murphy's finest appearance yet. Murphy would then take home the Best Actress Oscar as well as the Best Dramatic Performance in a Movie Golden Globe for her performance in the film in 2011. Murphy would then continue her acting career following a big career boost, as well as her singing/musical career at the same time. In fact, she releases a fairly successful debut album in March 2011 simply called "Brittany", to positive reviews. It would then become the best selling musical album of the year, even winning her a Grammy in 2012.
2008: Bulletman, the highest grossing film of the year, marks the beginning of the successful Fawcett Cinematic Universe (FCU). It would enter the National Film Registry in 2020.
During the premiere of Tropic Thunder, Tom Cruise announces his retirement from entertainment and Scientology. He spends the rest of his life quietly as a Buddhist in England. As Dwayne Johnson takes Tom's place, Paramount announces plans to reboot the Mission: Impossible franchise (though nothing comes from it).
SpongeBob XXX, an adult SpongeBob reboot, airs on AMC alongside Breaking Bad. SpongeBob XXX would be universally panned, airing only 3 episodes out of a made 6 (all were later put on DVD). It is known for being one of the worst animated series of all time.
Iron Age, a film fully funded by UNESCO, is made as the first film of an IRL cinematic universe. It gets nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, like every film in the IRLCU after it.
2009: Adventure Time, a cartoon by Pendleton Ward, airs on Nickelodeon. It becomes one of Nickelodeon's highest-rated cartoons, airing until 2016. Many people would call it an animation trailblazer, leading to Nick approving more "lore-based" shows.
Half-Life 3 comes out, and continues the high ratings of the Half-Life franchise, making games well until 2017 (counting spinoffs).
Some people would compare it to Regular Show, who they saw as Cartoon Network's equivalent to Adventure Time.
Discord, a discussion site, is released, becoming popular with gamers.
Liam Gallagher has a near-fatal drug overdose after the breakup of Oasis. Finding peace with his brother, Oasis reunites in 2012, releasing a new album in 2015. They still perform.
Amy Winhouse retires after a heavy intervention. She still occasionally produces for Adele.
2011: Fortnite Battle Royale by Epic Games is released to the public. It becomes extremely popular, and is still played today.
2012: Pixar's Newt, a film that came due to the cancellation of Wreck-It Ralph (some claim due to the problems of getting permission from game companies) is released and barely breaks even. It would start a dark age for Pixar, which would continue with Brave and Cars 2.
It would also play a key part in George Lucas refusing to give away Lucasfilm, due to Disney's perceived slump.
After Hillenburg's company dissolves, he becomes the cartoon reviewer Stevey Shark for Channel Awesome.
Jim Carrey dies of a heart attack.
2013: Doug Walker leaves Channel Awesome, leaving Stevey Shark to be the new star. Markiplier, MrEnter, and MatPat would later join Channel Awesome among others.
The Freedom Tower is made to replace the original North Tower destroyed in the attack. Memes would arise from the comparison between the towers.
2014: A Day With Patchy the Pirate, a half-hour short made by Hillenburg, airs on YouTube as Channel Awesome's first foray into animation. It has a troubled production due to being funded online, and would be panned upon release.
Robin Williams survives a suicide attempt, and launches his own suicide prevention program. He would then star in the 2016 drama Uncut Gems by Christopher Nolan, playing crime lord Howard Ratner, giving him a Best Actor Oscar.
2015: Star Wars - Episode VII: The Force Awakens, featuring Darth Maul and Darth Talon as antagonists, is released, becoming the highest grossing film of the year. Two more sequels were made in 2017 and 2019.
2016: John K. dies from multiple scolerosis. Bob Camp takes over as showrunner of Ren and Stimpy.
2017: Growing Around, a new YouTube webseries made by Stephen Hillenburg & Johnathan Rozanski, about a world where grown-ups switch with kids, is released. Despite gaining positive reviews, both the downfall of Channel Awesome and Hillenburg & Rozanski's heinous acts would result in Markiplier buying the license, airing it on his webseries Unus Annus for one last season, ending in 2020.
Chester Bennington survives his suicide attempt. Linkin Park would make its newest album in December of 2020.
2018: Donald Trump starts The Trump Experience, a very popular podcast.
2019: Season 3 of Gravity Falls comes out to near-universal acclaim.
2020: Chadwick Boseman recovers from his cancer.
2022: Jordan Peele's Nope becomes the highest grossing film of the year. It enters the National Film Registry in 2033.
Presidents of the USA since 1977:
Jimmy Carter (1977-1985)
Walter Mondale (1985-1989)
George H.W. Bush (1989-1993)
Mario Cuomo (1993-2001)
John F. Kennedy Jr. (2001-2005)
John McCain (2005-2013)
Barack Obama (2013-2021)
Jeb Bush (2021-today)
Governors of California since 1947:
James Roosevelt (1947-1953) Resigned) Democrat
Pat Brown (1953-1963) Democrat
Richard Nixon (1963-1969) Republican
Edwin Reineck (1969-1974) Resigned) Republican
John L Harner (1974-1975) Republican
Tom Hayden (1975-1983) Democrat
Tom Bradley (1983-1991) Democrat
Clint Eastwood (1991-2003) Independent
Sylvester Stallone (2003-2011) Republican
Conan O'Brien (2011-2019) Democrat
Gavin Newsom (2019-Today) Democrat

Visiting June 24-27 and would love for our families to go to new Harrison Ford Raiders of the Lost Ark on June 25. Can’t seem to find anywhere when tickets go on sale. We need nine tickets - are tickets generally hard to get? Much thanks!

Today thanks to a tip from Faraday_Rage, I bring you a ghost story from West Lake Hills, although saying that might be a bit misleading because West Lake Hills is a mid-20th century invention and the events of this story happen mostly before that. There used to be a village called Eanes in that general area full of farmers, ranchers, and cedar choppers before it was subdivided into one of the nicer suburbs.
There was only one bridge for vehicle traffic (besides the train bridge) from Downtown into South Austin before the 1940s. Because of this, the western part of Travis County was separated from the growth of Austin and the eastern part of the county, and remained sort of a wild frontier well after the surrounding lands were settled.
Among the early settlers in that area were two brothers named Alexander and Robert Eanes. There is a historical marker at the intersection of Red Bud Trail and Loop 360 which says the following:

Alexander Eanes (1806-1888) moved to Texas from Mississippi in 1845 and acquired this ranch by 1857. In 1873 he sold the property to his brother, Robert Eanes (1805-1895), who had moved to the area following the Civil War. A log cabin built on the Eanes ranch was the first Eanes school, and the community also assumed the Eanes name. Robert Eanes sold the ranch to his son-in-law, Hudson Boatner Marshall (1862-1951) in 1883. Marshall dismantled the ranch house and moved it to a site adjacent to the nearby creek.

So there was a man named H.B. Marshall who lived on the former Eanes Ranch with his wife Viola (Robert Eanes's daughter) and family.
H.B. Marshall was a Civil War orphan. His mom died shortly after childbirth and his dad died as part of Hood's Brigade. He spent his early life in Austin-area orphanages until he graduated high school at the age of 19. That was when the doctors of the era diagnosed him with "consumption", otherwise known as Tuberculosis today. There was no cure in the 19th century. Afflicted people were told to go live in the country and get some fresh air, and that's exactly what he did.
Lucky for him, HB's dad well fairly well off when he died and left him an inheritance. After he left the orphanage he used this money to buy the ranch from the Eanes family, met and married Viola Eanes, and started a family. Legends say a Mexican folk healer convinced him eating goat meat and drinking goat's milk was an excellent remedy for consumption, and so he raised goats.
The book Eanes Portrait of a Community has this photo of H.B. and Viola and their dog, along a brief biographical bit:

H.B. and Viola Marshall sold honey and butter and raised goats. At one time H.B. was president of the American Goat Association and traveled to Chicago to attend that organization's national convention. There he met and talked with Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. In its early days the Ford Motor Company used mohair from goats to make a soft, long-lasting fabric which was used to upholster the seats in its "tin lizzies". H.B. Marshall was one of the company's first mohair suppliers. Later, after Bee Cave Road became a better, more reliable road, Marshall, who was a skilled printer sometimes worked in Austin at that trade.

So HB Marshall and his family were very good at raising goats.
The Marshall Family were also beekeepers. HB liked to be called "Honey Bee" Marshall later in life. He lived the rest of his life on that ranch and died in the 1950s.
Now that you have that little bit of backstory, on with today's tale. The following article appeared on page 21 the Austin American-Statesman on May 16, 1966:

MYSTERY
Old Grave Beside Creek
The mystery of who is buried a shallow grave beside Smith Creek, seven miles southwest of Austin, may never be solved.
With it goes a tale of a robbery and killing said to have occurred more than 60 years ago on the Bee Cave Road.
But at least one story told by a man who died last year sticks in the minds of some residents of the hill country behind Zilker Park.
The man was long-time stock man and World War I veteran John Marshall, who lived out his life on the Eanes-Marshall Ranch seven miles southwest of Austin. His story told him as a child by his father, early Travis County settler and school teacher Hudson Boatner (Honey Bee) Marshall goes something like this:
In the late 19th century, a man from Bee Caves came to Austin with a wagon load of cotton. After selling it, he was returning home when his hired hand killed him and took the money. The slain man was not found for several days, and when he was, he was buried on the spot, several hundred feel off the road.
This is the way Cecil Johnson, of 1500 West Bee Caves remembers the story. He heard it in 1956 when he and his brother-in-law, Elmo Freitag, dug into the grave and found a skeleton. Freitag and Johnson went from where they live to buy a dog killed by a car on the Marshall ranch, Johnson said. "When we found the bones, we were pretty scared," Freitag said. "We went up to the ranch house to tell John Marshall about them." "That's when John told us the story," Johnson recalls. "He said we should cover the bones back up and let the old man rest."
The story was brought to the attention of the American- Statesman by Bruce Marshall of Houston, a nephew of John Marshall and an heir to 10 acres of the old ranch land. Others who lived along Bee Caves Road, or who knew John Marshall, recall hearing him tell the story, but no one contacted so far remembers hearing the story from anyone else.
Sheriff T. O. Lang said he has no records dating back that far, Marshall was born around 1887, and Johnson said the killing and robbery occurred "before John's time."
A check into the archives in the Austin Library's Austin and Travis County Collection reveals a similar crime which occurred in 1871. On Feb. 7 of that year, according to Frank Brown's Annals of Travis County, "an old citizen" named Charles Barnes, who "lived seven miles north of Austin," was killed and robbed after he had come to town and sold a wagon load of hay. He was shot and killed "probably for his money," and his body was found 30 yards from the road, three-fourths of a mile from his dwelling. A $1,000 reward was offered for the criminal, but he was never captured.
This "official" report is quite similar to the story told by John Marshall, but the directions from Austin do not coincide.
There are descendants or a family named Cotton who live in Bee Caves, according to Miss Jessie Roy, former teacher who lives on the Rob Roy Ranch on the Bee Caves Road two miles beyond the Marshall ranch. But she said she never heard of any of them being robbed or killed. Her family moved here in the 1890s.
Conceivably, with the tale handed down by word of mouth for three generations, the name Cotton, and the product "cotton" could have gotten confused. And the Brown report, probably taken from a newspaper account, could have been mistaken about the direction (north or west) from Austin where the crime was committed.
But if the wagon load was cotton instead of hay, the crime would have occurred most likely in October, according to Austin rancher and historian Carl Widen. Widen said in the old days Austin, it usually came from the south and west, from Dripping Springs and Bee Caves, in October, "in time for the circus." "The whole family would come to town with the load of cotton usually one or two bales to a wagon and after it was sold the women bought cloth for dresses and the kids went to see the circus. Then they got back home late that night.
Another hill resident, Charles Roberts, 80, who lives on a creek near the Rob Roy ranch, said he remembered people hauling cotton in trains of three or four wagons pulled by oxen, rather than by horses or mules. And Austin resident Charles Dellana said it used to take at least four mules to pull a wagon load of corn out of the bottoms or "The Narrows" between Bee Caves Road and the Colorado River. He opined that the murder and robbery must have occurred "earlier than 1903."
Besides the Cotton family out Bee Caves way, other family names familiar to those still living are Theodore Bose, Joe Beck, the Freitags, the Teagues, the Simpsons and the Moores. But who is buried beside Smith Creek on the Marshall ranch, how he died, and when he was buried, no one seems to remember.

Well this old story was apparently told far and wide. There was another article on that same day (May 16, 1966) in The Statesman: (h/t/ jbjjbjbb)

Ghost Hunters Have a Go at Ghosting
San Antonians Learn of Murder and Such Things on Austin Ranch
Ghosts, anyone? A strange tale of murder and theft was spottily told Saturday night by a "spirit" who was supposedly in communication with a group of ghost- hunters seven miles southwest of Austin. The ghost hunters, five people from San Antonio, gath ered on the old Marshall Ranch in West Lake Hills with two news reporters. They apparently believed they were communicating with a ghost named Tom Burns.
"Margaret, Margaret, Margaret," the ghost kept repeating through the automatic-writing technique of Mrs. Joan McKee, wife of Don McKee. McKee is manager of the Builders Exchange of Texas, in San Antonio. He and his wife say they are "student" parapsychologists. Spelling out the name of Margaret Owens, Tom Burns said, "She is dead now. She is my love."
The names of Margaret Owens and Tom Burns were interpreted by the McKees from an almost indecipherable scrawl which Mrs. McKee transmitted to sheet after sheet of paper with a pencil, while her husband held her elbow. They were seated at a table in the single upper room of the old Marshall ranch house. With them were this reporter, ranch owner and Houston Post business writer Bruce Marshall, and San Antonio residents Mr. and Mrs. Frank Gibson, Mr. and Mrs. John Mac-Donald, and Mrs. Mary K. Cook. The only light in the room came from a lantern.
"Burns" said Margaret "Owens" was buried on a mountain top east of the ranch, and had been killed in or near some water. Burns also said he had been killed by three men on a road near the ranch as he was hauling a wagon load of hay. Placing the date at 1904, possibly on a Monday, he said he was shot as he got down off the wagon to move a rock that was in the way.
Although at least two other spirits were supposedly contacted beyond the pale, that of Burns appeared to be the most communicative and the most interesting. It was either Burns, or a ghost named Nathan Anderson who spoke of a John Anderson who came "often" to the ranch to drink "rum from South America" with Robert Eanes.
Eanes, according to Marshall, was the first man in the family to own the ranch property. He died in the 19th century and is buried in a family plot on a hill near the ranch house. Marshall said later there had been a man named John Anderson who was a friend of the Eanes family. Marshall and this reporter have established, from local folklore and from written records, that a man, possibly named Charles Barnes, was killed seven miles from Austin around 1871, after selling a load of ether cotton or hay in town.
There is a grave of an unknown man beside Smith Creek on the Marshal ranch, not far off the Bee Caves Road, which is seven miles from Austin. Neither Marshall nor this reporter have verified that the grave on Smith Creek is the one in which the robbery victim was buried, but the coincidences of the known facts leaves room for speculation that it may be the one.
Burns said he had worked for a man named Cotton Roberts, and that Roberts had worked for a man possibly named Mitchell Treadwell. The name of Treadwell first came to the attention of the group when MacDonald, a former announcer for KONO-TV, fell into a trance through what was called auto-hypnosis. He said he got the name from a ghost present in the room, and that he also received "an impression" of the dates 1890 to 1901. Marshall later disclosed that the old ranch house had been built sometime between 1890 and 1905.
The name "Mitchell" was written on the paper when one of the persons asked aloud, "Does the name Treadwell mean anything to you?" Burns also spoke of his mother, naming her variously Mary Markham, Marstur, Masters and Markem, who he said had been sick in a barn and subsequently died.
Mention was made of a bearded man who wore a big hat and was deaf in one ear, of a box buried beneath a barn, and of wild mohair goats. Marshall said the last man to live on the ranch, his late uncle John Marshall, found a hole on the ranch about 30 years ago where a box apparently had been buried. This was when Miriam A. Ferguson was governor of Texas, he said.
He also said a bearded deaf man had once been a ranch hand there and that John Marshall's father, H. B. Marshall, had raised Angora goats on the ranch. Burns said Roberts had buried the box, and he (Burns) had dug it up. "Money means death," came the scrawled message on the paper.
Two of the most dramatic events of the evening occurred when the McKees tried to communicate with a ghost named "Robert" Both of them believed the ghost to be that of Robert Eanes, whom they described as having a very powerful, domineering personality. Mrs. McKee broke down and could write no more after transcribing the words, "My time is up now. Many have come but nobody will listen." Later McKee tried to communicate, and apparently went into a trance after receiving the word "yes" to the question of whether "Robert" had been born in July.
Just before McKee went into a trance, Marshall and this reporter were curious to notice that a strong wind the only one noticed during the entire night rattled the eaves of the house for about a minute.
The time was shortly after midnight Mrs. Cook, who writes radio and TV commercials, took down the following from McKee's barely audible words: "I have many children. I am as Abraham I shan't stay around where my people don't want me. It is dark. Darkness is in the land. We shall bring light."
Further efforts to communicate with "Robert" failed. After this incident, the "ghosts" seemed to leave the parapsychologists and their fellow delvers into ESP (extra-sensory perception).
A long vigil at the family cemetery until almost dawn proved fruitless. Gibson, sales manager for Pratt and Lambert varnish makers, whose supposedly "haunted" house in San Antonio was the subject of a Houston Post story several months ago, conceded with high good humor that he had seen no ghosts Saturday night "But Robert was around," he affirmed confidently.
Marshall and this reporter scratched their heads, totaling up the number of "unexplainable coincidences" which made the night at least a little provocative if not downright exciting. It would take a patient historian to check the names listed. As for the "ghosts" well, who knows?

H.B. Marshall had a son named John and he in turn had a son named Bruce. Bruce Marshall was an artist who spent most of his time in Houston but moved back to the family ranch in 1974. Marshall recounted the story of the 1966 ghost hunt in this 1983 article:

THE SEARCH FOR ghosts is not uncommon with visitors to the Marshall Ranch off Loop 360 South. It is the home of artist Bruce Marshall and his family and nine ghosts, those of seven people and two horses.
Marshall studio and gallery is a restored, pre-Civil War ancestral home located next to the family residence. Parapsychologists visited the building in 1966 and declared it to be haunted by a man who was attacked, shot and killed near the original entrance of the ranch. The ghost of the dead man, whose unmarked grave is still on the ranch, reportedly told the ghosts hunters about his fate. The ghost also admitted that he had committed murder, killing a woman named Margaret by drowning her.
There are two creeks near the ranchhouse that are the source of several other ghost stories.
"SUPPOSEDLY ONE GHOST walks the creek towards Eanes (Elementary) school calling for someone," said Marshall. "There were some kids camping near the creek about six months ago, they heard dogs barking and the noise of a wagon drawn by horses. The wagon has no driver and follows an old road which used to connect to Bee Cave Road."
Marshall said his family tries to play down the ghosts tales surrounding his homestead. "If we really become convinced that we're haunted, we really lose our enjoyment of the place. People seeking ghosts out here are very unwelcome," he said. "If there are such things, they don't bother me. They like me. They probably feel that if I go, the house goes, the property changes, and they're evicted.

In 1999 Marshall sold the house and the ranch to The Eanes Historical Society, who moved it next to the current location of Eanes Elementary School, where it has become the home of the EHS and serves as a small museum today.
So who is in the mystery grave at Smith Creek? I found one lead.
Back in February of 1916 a 20-year-old man named Albert Cook had an unfortunate accident and was killed. The Statesman reported it like so:

While setting a wolf trap on the Marshall goat ranch, eight miles from Austin, Alfred Lee Cook, 20 years old, accidentally shot and killed himself at 8:30 Friday morning, a charge of buck-shot from the left barrel of a double-barrelled shotgun entering his abdomen.
Cook was a laborer on the Marshall ranch, near Summitt. Early Friday morning he attempted to set a steel trap for wolves. He was carrying a shotgun and was accompanied by two small boys.
Setting his shotgun, both barrels of which were loaded, against a bush, he advanced to the trap. The gun fell across his path and he shoved it aside. As he did so, in some way the left barrel of the gun was discharged, the entire charge taking effect in his abdomen at short range and badly lacerating his body. Death was almost Instantaneous.
Justice of the Peace George W. Mendell, Deputy Sheriff Jim McCoy and Deputy Constable Matt Turner went to Summitt this morning for the Inquest. Justlce Mendell rendered a verdict of accidental shooting. The name of one surviving relative was reported to the Justice of the Peace, being Mrs. Rebecca Ann Brown, mother of the young man

Is this the person in the grave? I can't say for sure without DNA testing, but poor Mr. Cook might be the best candidate.
Time is short and space is long today so I'll leave it there. The Eanes-Marshall house today is called the Eanes History Center, and sits next to Eanes Elementary School at 4101 Bee Caves Rd. Bonus Items to follow:
Bonus Pic #1 - Photograph of Bruce Marshall standing next to the graves of his ancestors in Eanes-Marshall Cemetery - unknown date (mid 1970s?)
Bonus Pic #2 - "Photograph of Bruce Marshall and Dorothy Depwe in the Eanes-Marshall Cemetary looking down at a tombstone." - unknown date (mid 1970s?)
Bonus Video #1 - Eanes History: HB Marshall (from Eanes History Center)
Bonus Video #2 - Eanes History: HB Marshall Ranch House Tour (from Eanes History Center)
Bonus Article #1 - Masons BBQ meet at The Marshall Ranch - November 17, 1919
Bonus Article #2 - "Better watch out! Spirits on the prowl!" - May 14, 1966
Bonus book excerpt? - Notes from an interview with Earl Short (a reformed bootlegger), in which he mentions he saw H.B. and John Marshall setting up a soda stand one Election Day after he bribed some illiterate people for their votes.

This weekly thread is designed to be a place for all the new members of the subreddit and Vita community to come and say hello as well as where they (or vets) can ask any question they might have (no matter how redundant or simple). So, say "Hi", ask away, and welcome to /Vita!

FAQ

We get these questions a lot, so we're incorporating them into this thread. Have something you feel fits here? Shoot us a modmail!
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Value is ultimately subjective. If you like the library of games on the Vita and have the money, probably. If you want new, modern games then probably not. If you have specific questions about the Vita's capabilities feel free to ask in this thread, but keep in mind you're asking in a Vita-centric community and will likely get mostly affirmative responses.
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No. Sony did announce they were closing the Vita storefront in 2021, but later reversed that decision. It is possible that the store will be shut down at some point in the future, but no specific dates/timeframes are known.
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My Vita is in an error loop with the QR code on sign-in. What should I do?
This happens sometimes, and nobody's really sure why. However, community member LoganN64 has been able to provide instructions that consistently work for getting through this:

1. Log in to the PSN website with a Laptop or Desktop computer.
   
2. Click on your avatar in the top right corner and go to SETTINGS.
   
3. Scroll down to SECURITY and then scroll down to ACTIVATE/TURN ON 2 FACTOR AUTHENTICATION.
   
4. Click on GENERATE NEW DEVICE CODE, write this down exactly as it is case sensitive.
   
5. Go to your Vita and bring up the sign in page, enter the email associated with your account then enter the NEW DEVICE CODE as your password. Click on save password to avoid getting a new code each time..
   

I'm no longer able to transfer files from PS3 to Vita. What's happening?
This feature was disabled in May 2022. You can read PlayStation's update about it here. No workarounds are currently known.
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As of 2020, Sony has disabled developers' ability to put Vita games on sale. So in all likelihood, no.
The workaround and exception for this rule is that cross-buy games can still be put on sale for the PS4, and cross-buy items will still grant the Vita version (where applicable).
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It has been reported that consoles intended for China have more stringent region-locking, but these are not commonly found and this is unlikely to affect you.
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I have a question about hacks/homebrew
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So I just got offered a sales job at a Ford dealership in Texas in one of the bigger cities. Ford is really big over here and my friend is the director of sales. I basically just have a couple of questions.

1. The dealership was described as "low volume, but high gross". What does that really mean?
   
2. For other Texas Ford salespeople: Is it true that Fords sell easier compared to other brands?
   
3. I was told 10-15k a month is achievable. Is that true or is that exaggerated? I don't know the specifics yet, but I believe my commission is 25%.
   
4. I was told to utilize FB posts for sales and FB marketplace for leads. Is that a good idea? I'll be going in with 0 leads, but the walk-in rate is pretty high here.
   
5. I wasn't given any info on this and y'all probably aren't the best people to ask, but are there usually any benefits when working at a dealership?
   

Btw my lack of knowledge is because I've done the interview and then my buddy texted me and said I got the job and my first day is Monday. I'll be explained everything then.
Thanks for reading. Also, any general sales advice is always welcome and appreciated!

Hi everyone! I’m working on my second build for my dream setups, I’ve decided to go with a WaveJammer with a 701 instead of the 500 in it, I know its been done before but my actual biggest issue is finding the hulls for sale, as of my search there aren’t any even in the tristate area of me. Not on craigslist not marketplace not any that I can find.
I know its old now but anyone know where to find any? Anything would be appreciated.