The e-commerce industry has been growing exponentially over the past decade, but with this growth comes the challenge of catering to a diverse customer base that spans various languages and cultures. Enter ChatGPT -- a powerful AI-driven tool that's transforming how online retailers approach personalization for multilingual and multicultural audiences.
For starters, ChatGPT helps break down language barriers. By understanding and generating text in multiple languages, ChatGPT-powered chatbots provide a seamless shopping experience for customers, no matter their native tongue. This not only improves customer service but also builds trust and loyalty by showing that a brand genuinely cares for its customers' convenience.
But how does this play into personalization? Personalization in e-commerce isn't just about showing product recommendations; it's about creating a shopping experience that feels tailored to each individual user. ChatGPT leverages natural language processing to analyze customer data and interactions, picking up on subtle cues and preferences that can be missed by traditional analytics. It can recognize dialects, slang, and cultural references, allowing it to adapt its responses and recommendations in a meaningful way.
Moreover, ChatGPT assists in curating personalized marketing campaigns. By understanding the nuances of different cultures, it can help create content that resonates with specific customer segments, avoiding one-size-fits-all messages that often fall flat. From customized emails to targeted social media ads, it ensures that the content not only speaks the customers' language but also reflects their cultural context.
ChatGPT doesn't just stop at customer-facing applications; it also streamlines backend operations. Multilingual support for customer service agents, translation of product descriptions, and management of cross-cultural customer data—all of these are simplified with the AI's capabilities. This efficiency behind the scenes is what enables a smoother, more personalized front-end experience for the customer.
In essence, ChatGPT isn't merely a tool for translation—it's a gateway to a truly global, personalized online shopping experience that recognizes and values the individuality of each customer, bridging cultural divides and fostering a sense of inclusion. As e-commerce continues to evolve, AI like ChatGPT will undoubtedly become integral in shaping a world where online shopping knows no borders.

Just a few words to start off with: this will be a pretty long post since I want to be up front with as much detail as possible to avoid vagueness, but I'll try and break it into sections, and put a quick TL;DR at the end, as well as my best guesses for what's going on. I'll also state now that I'm originally a car guy that's worked solely on newer, fuel-injected car engines, so this whole experience of working on an old carbureted motorcycle has presented a lot of new things to me. My apologies if I get anything wrong here or have proceeded with anything under an incorrect assumption. Anyway, a major thank you to anyone that reads this!
- - - - - - Context - - - - - -
In the past month, I took on a restoration and road-legal-ification of my dad's old '88 FZR400 he raced back in the 90s. During its heyday, my dad had done some mods to the engine, of which I can't really remember exactly what off the top of my head; they had at least included intake or exhaust porting, though, and maybe a stroke or bore (? again not sure). Needless to say, upon dyno tuning it back then, it apparently made around the stock brake horsepower, but at the wheel.
After my dad retired due to injuries, picking up car racing, and starting a family, the bike sat for many years, until he fixed it up a bit to be sold in the early 2010s. However, after he found no takers due to many other things going on for us as a family at the time, he eventually let it sit for the past decade. Unfortunately, he didn't run it dry before letting it sit, which according to him, was likely because he assumed he'd continue trying to sell it, so I've spent most of the past 30 days un-gunking the carbs and fuel tank of degraded ethanol and whatnot.
While I can say I've made fairly consistent progress, I've continually hit roadblocks with it, from starting one day to dying off idle the next and such. But, just the other day, I had a massive breakthrough where I got it to start, idle, hit redline, and ride around the lawn up to 2nd gear. Later that same day, though, it began to refuse to idle and consistently died a short few seconds after every start.
- - - - - - A/F Fiddling - - - - - -
I've been a bit confused with the powertrain on this thing since it's seemingly sentient and has a vengeance, as whenever I get it to do something I want it to do, it quickly protests by doing something else undesirable, or even the opposite of what's expected. For example, after cleaning the carbs four times (I'll get to those in a bit), I eventually deduced that the hesitation and sensitivity to rev off idle, as well as its behavior on closed throttle (rev drops) could be due to an A/F mixture issue; so, I messed around with the air screws on each carb:

1. This is where I became even more confused, though, as the stock (or at least how it was when I received it) 2-turn setting was acting very lean (hanging revs, hesitation to rev, overheated really easily).
2. Tightening the screws to make a richer mixture seemed to have no effect, even making it act as if it was leaner (revs hanging even more, refuses to start or idle at times).
3. Backing out the screws to around 2.5 turns out, however, seemed to not even really change the behavior from the "rich" screw setting.
4. Going back to the original 2-turn setting, the bike began to run great and is the setting that allowed me to take it for a ride on the lawn. Thus, I deduced that despite a cleaning and visual inspection, maybe the screws were just holding some gunk or something in the perfect, hidden place.

Problem solved, then, right? Wrong. Like I said, it refuses to stay running now. Regardless of that fact, though, even when it was able to run, the hesitation to rev off idle was so bad that I could intentionally stall the bike whenever I felt like it just by giving it too much throttle too quickly at idle. It was as if the engine was a glass cannon, working amazingly under the right circumstances, but would fall apart at the blink of an eye if something changed.
At this point, I'm just kind of confused since the various things I've tried have seemed to have no impact or positive change most times, and when I do end up doing something right, it seemingly makes the bike run for a totally different reason or behave in an unintuitive manner. To close, I'll just list some of the things I've tried in an effort to make it work properly.
- - - - - - Carb related changes - - - - - -

• 1st carb cleaning (at this point I didn't fully understand how carbs worked, so understandably the bike didn't run after this): bowl de-gunking and cleaning, also changed out the totally blocked 88 main jets for some 87.5s that were lying around.
• 2nd carb cleaning: full passageway cleaning of both air and fuel sides, as well as diaphragm and needle cleaning. Bike started after this, albeit not very easily, but didn't really run.
• 3rd carb cleaning: essentially a full carb rebuild to totally eliminate the possibility of blocked passageways (still, not 100% sure it's totally perfect, but it was good enough to get it to run, idle, and rev nearly properly for a bit).
• 4th carb opening: changed the 87.5 mains back to the 88s after a good cleaning in an aim to sort out the lean behavior. The day after this is when I was able to get it out on the lawn.
• Messing around with the idle position screw, I've been able to keep it at the right idle speed on certain days, but it feels very inconsistent and like I have to keep changing it every other time I start the bike.

- - - - - - Carb unrelated changes - - - - - -

• Changed out the spark plugs that were in the bike (can't remember the brand/model off the top of my head, but they're not NGKs) for what I believe to be the stock plugs that came with the bike when new, the NGKs (CR8E according to the manual).
  • As a sidenote, the electrodes are noticeably smaller in design than the ones that my dad was running, but seemed a little less roughed-up, so I'm not sure if that's contributed to any of the issues or not. I don't think it would, since they're listed as the stock plugs, but due to the engine modifications, I can't say for sure.
• I've tried running the bike with and without the airbox/filter while changing other variables, and haven't really noticed any differences; I will note that the lawn test included the airbox/filter.
• Plugging, routing to airbox, or letting the transfer case vent to atmosphere hasn't seemed to do anything. Not totally sure what other vacuum leaks people online could be referring to since the carbs sit directly on top of the engine block and have no tubing in or out of them, and the diaphragms are in great shape, able to hold vacuum on their own.
• I fit the radiator fan back on the radiator so I could run the bike without a fan or having to let it cool intermittently. Funny enough, I'm pretty sure this is when the bike started to refuse to start, but I'm not sure why. The load on everything shouldn't be that high nor even present when it's off, and the only things I touched were a single tube and clamp on one side of the radiator to access its back for the fan.
• I've kept the like-OEM lead-acid battery topped up the whole time, as well as letting the bike idle for a while sometimes to keep it charged on its own.

- - - - - - TL;DR (and possible solutions) - - - - - -
Restoration of an old '88 FZR400 set up for track racing that sat with gas in it for a decade or more, but I've run into weird and inconsistent engine behavior surrounding what I believe to be fueling. Sometimes it'll start, sometimes it won't, I've taken it for a ride on the lawn, but it stopped starting later that same day.
Here are some of my thoughts/guesses as to what could be going on:

1. I suck at cleaning carburetor passageways: the possibility of me taking apart a carb four times and still missing certain things is very real, since it's the first carb I've ever touched. But, from the various successes I've had with it, I can't see why it would somehow randomly get much worse out of nowhere.
2. Imperfect jet needles: I only used some fine steel wool on the needles in my 2nd carb cleaning in order to not damage or scratch them up too bad. Because of this, they're still, ever so slightly (seriously, barely noticeable), sticky when fully seated. My hope was that they'd polish themselves up as time went on and since a lot of my problems are idle related, I don't think this is the main issue, but could be doing something undesirable, not sure.
3. Bad-good fuel: I've been using 87 octane in the tank for all my testing purposes up until the lawn test day, where after I noticed the bike starting to want to not start, I went and got some 93 in my can simply because I felt like it. Still refuses to start. I doubt this is the issue, since why would a higher octane perform worse in any situation? However, this makes me think that maybe the fuel filter has just coincidentally gave up at the worst time.
4. Bad spark plugs: not sure this is really the cause, but just an option since I keep forgetting to buy brand new plugs. But, I have inspected and gapped both sets I have and they seem to be in order.
5. Valves out of spec: I will be honest, I have intentionally avoided this since I really don't want this to be the problem, but I'm beginning to suspect that maybe the bikes rude awakening after a decade of sleep may have shocked some things out of whack.
6. Vacuum leak: a lot of people online keep mentioning this on different forums for other bikes, but I can't see where there could actually be one on this specific bike. Still a possibility, though, I just can't see where it might show up.
7. Desynched carbs: this is definitely something I will be doing just as a maintenance thing soon down the line, but perhaps the idle issues are mainly because of this. Don't know why it's sometimes pretty difficult to rev, though.
8. Something I haven't thought of: I think there are probably a few things I've left out of here since I've just forgotten them at the current moment, so if any of you can offer any advice or thoughts, I'd greatly appreciate it! Thanks!

I need a watch mainly for normal somewhat competitive running training: to measure distance, speed, and heart rate. I had the M430 for many many years and loved it for its simplicity and how it could do everything essential. Eventually the battery life started to be compromised, so I decided to upgrade to Polar Pacer, which I read is a similar watch but with some new features.
I'm disappointed - many functions that were working well in M430 have been made worse for some reason.
The main ones concern interval training:

1. When doing intervals, I use a lap view with "Average lap pace" as the main thing to help pace myself. Expect, it is actually not showing average lap pace, but is so severely delayed that it becomes essentially useless. Say I'm trying to run 3-min repetitions at 4 min/km pace. Starting off, the "avg pace" might lag stuck at 4:17 forever, even though I feel I'm running faster. It will slowly drift to perhaps 4:10 over the first minute, and then 4:05 over the second minute. Then, suddenly it jumps to 3:52 min/km during the last minute. So I have overshot it due to the lag. The feature clearly does not work, which is surprising, as it worked perfectly in M430. Ironic that the watch calls itself "Pacer" and fails at this basic task. Now I have to do the math in my head while I run by looking at the distance and time ("4 min/km pace is 250m per minute") to be able to gauge how I'm doing - the distance is correct in the watch. This is silly: the watch should be doing the math for me! But it is not calculating simple average pace! Instead, it seems to be using some obscure weighted average that makes it useless in short intervals (not that 1-4 min intervals are that short - you can easily get good enough GPS to calculate this, as proven my the instant pace which works well).
   
2. When pressing the lap button, I only get the lap time. This can't be customized. In M430, I got lap pace and lap heart rate on the flash screen, which again, made pacing an entire interval session much easier. Lap time is not interesting unless I'm on the track which already gives me distance, but even then, I'd rather see average pace to avoid doing the math in my head! If I'm doing 3-min intervals, I know that the lap time is 3 min, so don't show me that and allow be to choose a more informative variable.
   
3. Polar Pacer is advertised as being compatible with the Stryd pod. I already had one (and use it occasionally), and that's why I didn't go for the Pacer Pro. IT IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH STRYD. Yes, it shows you power in real time when you run, but it does not store running power data, so that you cannot see what you did afterwards or use that metric to monitor training. This should be made clear before selling the watch as "Stryd-compatible".
   
4. Treadmill running speed is way off. This was the case for M430 too, but you would think that this is a very easy thing to fix with a calibration factor that you can manually put in. Why did Polar not do that? Even in my ancient Polar RS200 from like 20 years ago, you could manually calibrate their footpod against a known distance. Why not in 2024, Polar? Again, treadmill data is pretty useless because of this.
   

I'm thinking of switching to Garmin or Coros for my next watch. Polar is just so far behind in features these days. The HR stuff is good, better than anyone, but that's just not enough to make me commit to Polar anymore if they don't care about basic functionality. I already switched to Garmin for my bike computer as Polar is completely uninterest in cycling metrics.
This was mainly to rant about how a "Pacer" watch does not to its job, but also to perhaps hear solutions in case I'm getting something wrong and not configurating the watch properly. What are your experiences?

Im looking for a high speed and comfortable bike to ride.
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/redline-lieutenant-bmx-bike-20-in-green-0711937p.html?rq=bmx#srp
https://www.sportchek.ca/en/pdp/capix-rail-20-bmx-bike-74889618f.html#srp

I’ve always wondered what is the unbiased king of bmx bike repair kits I’ve been buying cult repair kits when I say that I’ve had 2 but I’ve recently picked up one from Temu and it honestly isn’t that bad I feel it could last me a couple years. But I do have friends who swear by other brands like kink?

I keep reading posts about how bad Toast Support is. You guys are CRAZY! I think you must be calling on the phone. Waiting on hold is stressful and a waste of time. There is the toast now app where you can text toast support directly. I have never waited more than 2 minutes to be linked to a support agent. There is a TON of information online for troubleshooting as well. I was a customer of micros for 16 years. Let me tell you, if you want to see terrible support buy a micros system! Shift4 is just as bad. There’s no app or online troubleshooting guides. You guys have no idea how good you have it!

About Us

We’re looking for a sixth person (fifth player) to join our TTRPG adventures! Our group started up back in 2018, and while we’ve seen a few players come and go, three of us have been playing together since the start. Right now our group is all male, ranging in age from the late 20s to early 50s (with most in our early 40s).
We have managed to be very consistent over the last five years, though we do go through lulls around the holidays. We play every other Friday: folks start showing up around 6:15pm PT, and we’re usually ready to play by 6:45pm PT. Our sessions normally last until about 10-10:30pm PT. We typically potluck or order dinner as a group for game night. We have a few different dietary styles in the group, so we try to order from places that can cater to vegan and non-vegan folks alike. Some of us drink while we’re playing, but usually only 1-2 drinks over the course of the night, so nobody is getting sloppy (and we don’t want to play with folks who can’t keep it together).
We play every other week at one of our houses in NE Portland (Roseway) or in SE Portland (Montavilla). We use Foundry or Roll20 if we need to avoid an in-person session due to illness/scheduling, but that’s pretty rare. Both of our host houses have cats. At our primary host location we play in the basement (which is down some stairs), at the other we play in the dining area. Both houses have a few exterior stairs to get from the street to the house.
We were a 5E group for most of our time together, but for the last ~6 months or so we've been trying out new systems, and as such we've just started trying out a primary + backup game situation. We play our backup game as needed when some folks can't make it. A Pathfinder 2E game was our main game for the last few months, but we've had mixed feelings about it, so we're about to have our second Blades in the Dark session as our new primary game, with that Pathfinder 2E as our backup for now.
We started out with a homebrew D&D 5E campaign in 2018, played an online Ghosts of Saltmarsh game during the Pandemic, and ran Curse of Strahd from August of 2021 until November of 2023. We’ve also played Monster of the Week, Paranoia, and Call of Cthulhu. We’ve chatted about trying a few other systems down the line like Mothership, Traveller, or Band of Blades. That will all depend on how people feel. Our games are usually an even mix of combat, exploration, and roleplay (with natural shifts between the three based on the situation). Two of us paint miniatures and create terrain as a hobby, so we usually end up with customized miniatures and very immersive battlemats for games where that makes sense.

About You

You enjoy playing TTRPGs and want to join an in-person group that meets up every other Friday. You can commit to playing pretty consistently. Being asked not to smoke weed or tobacco during a game (or at a host's house/property) isn’t a deal-breaker. You’re comfortable using Discord regularly, as we use that to coordinate game nights and occasional other optional events. If you’re interested in playing other systems or running a game for us, that’s cool too!
We really want to make sure you are a good fit for us, and that we’re one for you too; we're hoping to find someone who'll want to be with us for a long time. We’ll need to meet first in some local public place to play a one-shot (or two) and see how you get along with the group. That means this is not necessarily a first-come, first-served pitch.
If you have questions, please reach out to me here or on Discord (@meekbarbarian)

For many Egyptians, working from home has become the new normal. But let's face it, juggling deadlines and managing a household can be a challenge. One key element to a productive home office is a reliable printer. If you're looking for crisp, high-quality prints without the mess of ink cartridges, then an HP laser printer might be the perfect solution for you.

Why Choose an HP Laser Printer for Your Home Office?

HP laser printers offer several advantages over traditional inkjet printers, making them ideal for home use:

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Space-saving design: Many HP laser printers are compact and lightweight, making them ideal for smaller home offices or workstations with limited space.
Energy efficiency: HP laser printers are known for their energy-saving features, reducing your environmental impact and keeping your electricity bills down.
Top HP Laser Printer Picks for Your Home Office Needs:

Now that you know the benefits of HP laser printers for home use, let's explore some of the best options available at Hardware Egypt:

HP LaserJet Pro M15w: This compact and affordable monochrome laser printer is perfect for basic printing needs. It offers fast printing speeds, mobile printing capabilities, and a user-friendly design.

HP LaserJet Pro M28w: For those who require slightly higher print volume or duplex printing (printing on both sides of the paper), the HP LaserJet Pro M28w is a great choice. It retains the compact design and fast printing speeds of the M15w, with the added functionality of automatic two-sided printing.

HP LaserJet Pro MFP 137fnw: If you need a multi-function printer that can print, scan, and copy, then the HP LaserJet Pro MFP 137fnw is a fantastic option. This all-in-one solution saves space and streamlines your workflow, perfect for busy home offices. It also boasts Wi-Fi connectivity for easy wireless printing from your computer or mobile device.

HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw: For those who require color printing capabilities, the HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw is a top contender. This versatile printer delivers high-quality color prints alongside the benefits of laser technology like fast speeds and cost-effective printing. With Wi-Fi connectivity and automatic duplex printing, it's a well-rounded solution for home offices that need both color and black and white printing.

Choosing the Right HP Laser Printer for You:

When selecting the perfect HP laser printer for your home office, consider these factors:

Printing needs: How often will you be printing? Do you need color printing capabilities?
Features: Do you require scanning, copying, or faxing functionalities? Wi-Fi connectivity for mobile printing can be a valuable addition.
Budget: HP laser printers cater to a range of budgets. Determine how much you're comfortable spending and choose a model that offers the features you need within your price range.
Upgrade Your Home Office with Hardware Egypt:

At Hardware Egypt, we understand the importance of having the right tools to be productive at home. We offer a wide selection of HP laser printers, all backed by our exceptional customer service and expertise. Visit one of our stores or browse our online selection to find the perfect HP laser printer for your home office needs.

Invest in an HP laser printer from Hardware Egypt and experience the difference of crisp, efficient, and cost-effective printing, allowing you to conquer your home office with confidence!

Hi, I live in South Fargo and I am the at-home dad. Occasionally, I will use a service called Homeaglow (an app) to hire a quick cleaning helper so I don't get overwhelmed. The system puts out my job, and cleaners in the area are matched to it.
Today, I was going to be using a guy I know only as "Kenneth C." Never used him before. But he passed their background check and I was home so no big deal.
You communicate with the cleaner through the app (like Uber, etc), and as he was on his way, he sent me a message saying he was coming on his bike. (No idea if that means a bike or motorcycle.) He sent another message soon after saying he'd had an accident and dislocated his shoulder and asked please could he reschedule because he needed to get to the hospital.
Well yes, dude, absolutely! Unfortunately, I didn't see his message for about 10 minutes, I was working on my own morning and I'd just texted him so I wasn't worried about it, until I looked at the phone. I immediately thought, well, he couldn't be too far away and he's on a bike so maybe I should offer to get over there and help him. So I started texting, but I noticed that the messages weren't getting through.
Never did get through. I hope he got to the hospital.
Then, a couple of hours ago, I got an email from the customer service people on the app, apologizing for the sudden cancellation by him, and reassuring me (paraphrasing), "Hey don't worry we won't charge you for the appointment and we have disciplined the cleaner by making sure he's never allowed to clean for you again, as well as putting something in his file."
What the what??? I can't get a hold of either the Homeaglow customer service or Kenneth, he's blocked from me now. I hate to think that he would assume I had reported him or something, especially since I never answered his last text cuz I didn't see it!!
Does anyone out there know a "Kenneth C" who works as a temp cleaner??? Have him contact me here (He'd know me only as Eric from the app), I want to be sure he's all right. 🙏
Also, shame on Homeaglow for handling it like that without getting the facts, first.

Hi, I live in South Fargo and I am the at-home dad. Occasionally, I will use a service called Homeaglow (an app) to hire a quick cleaning helper so I don't get overwhelmed. The system puts out my job, and cleaners in the area are matched to it.
Today, I was going to be using a guy I know only as "Kenneth C." Never used him before. But he passed their background check and I was home so no big deal.
You communicate with the cleaner through the app (like Uber, etc), and as he was on his way, he sent me a message saying he was coming on his bike. (No idea if that means a bike or motorcycle.) He sent another message soon after saying he'd had an accident and dislocated his shoulder and asked please could he reschedule because he needed to get to the hospital.
Well yes, dude, absolutely! Unfortunately, I didn't see his message for about 10 minutes, I was working on my own morning and I'd just texted him so I wasn't worried about it, until I looked at the phone. I immediately thought, well, he couldn't be too far away and he's on a bike so maybe I should offer to get over there and help him. So I started texting, but I noticed that the messages weren't getting through.
Never did get through. I hope he got to the hospital.
Then, a couple of hours ago, I got an email from the customer service people on the app, apologizing for the sudden cancellation by him, and reassuring me (paraphrasing), "Hey don't worry we won't charge you for the appointment and we have disciplined the cleaner by making sure he's never allowed to clean for you again, as well as putting something in his file."
What the what??? I can't get a hold of either the Homeaglow customer service or Kenneth, he's blocked from me now. I hate to think that he would assume I had reported him or something, especially since I never answered his last text cuz I didn't see it!!
Does anyone out there know a "Kenneth C" who works as a temp cleaner??? Have him contact me here (He'd know me only as Eric from the app), I want to be sure he's all right. 🙏
Also, shame on Homeaglow for handling it like that without getting the facts, first.

I'm looking to take my mom's side business of selling her oil paintings online, and wanted to get some feedback from other entrepreneurs.
Some background - my mom is a talented painter who has been selling her artwork locally for years through her personal Facebook and Instagram pages. She has separate accounts for her personal use and for showcasing her paintings, but all the posts/descriptions are currently in our local language. Customers can only get pricing information by directly messaging her - she does not publicly list prices for her paintings. After being contacted, she then coordinates payment and shipping the sold pieces.
While this approach has worked so far, I think we can streamline and potentially grow the business by launching an ecommerce website on a platform like Shopify. Some benefits I see are:
1) More professional online presence to showcase her artwork portfolio 2) Easier for customers to browse available paintings 3) Can expand beyond just our local market for sales 4) Translate/repost her existing social media content to English to reach wider audiences
However, I have a couple of concerns about making this transition:
1) Right now, there is a more personalized interaction when someone messages to purchase a painting. I'm worried publicly listing set prices on a website could make her art seem more commercialized and negatively impact the perceived value/exclusivity.
2) Expanding sales outside our home country could bring up some legal/regulatory hurdles around things like customs, taxes, insurance for shipping valuable items internationally etc.
I'd appreciate any advice from those who have gone through similar transitions, or insights into optimizing an ecommerce art business. Some specific questions:

• How can we maintain that personalized experience even with an online store?
• What potential challenges should we be aware of selling internationally?
• Prerequisites/marketing strategies for a successful art ecommerce business?
• Any better platforms than Shopify to consider?
• Tips for reposting/translating existing social media content to English?

Thanks in advance for your guidance! I'm happy to provide any other details about the business. My main goal is making this transition as smooth as possible for my mom while opening up more sales opportunities.
For context, I'm a senior software engineer (back-end focused) with a computer science degree, so I have some technical experience to draw from. However, launching an ecommerce business for artistic products is a new area for me. I'd greatly value any advice from those with relevant experience.

First timer here... I inherited a bunch of my dad's vinyl when he passed away. I didn't currently have a record player, and it was around christmas, so I bought one of those crosley suitcase players at Walmart for like 30 bucks. It was plug and play and served me just fine for a couple of years. I just occasionally used it, so it was whatever.
Recently my husband and I have gotten into buying more vinyl and wanted to upgrade to a better turntable. My husband's birthday was this past march, so I thought I'd buy him one as a gift that I could benefit from as well... went back to Walmart (don't come at me) and bought a Crosley C62b for around $200. I had looked online at reviews and they were generally positive. I knew that coming from walmart this wasn't going to be "top of the line", but the company is so known that I thought it would be a decent player we could get a year or 2 out of before upgrading to something nicer.
On his birthday we set it up according to Instructions, which were pretty vague, but we watched some YouTube videos and we were pretty confident about it. We played a few songs and it did great. We were heading out to dinner, so we didn't mess with it any more that night or the next couple of days. Since then we have yet to play a record through without it skipping.
We have balanced that tone arm 2946 times, set the antiskating, calibrated the stylus, replaced parts, tightened screws that were loose from the factory... done everything imaginable to get this thing to work properly and we still cannot play a record through. The needle just jumps all around and I'm really worried it's going to mess up all these $40 vinyls we've bought.
Like I said, we're pretty confident in our abilities to set this thing up. My husband and I are not idiots (unless you count us buying not one, but 2 crosley players). He's a musician that's worked around music equipment basically his whole life. I have electrical and mechanical experience from the Navy, and I also run sound equipment at our church every Sunday. My husband and I are pretty good at doing things like this, so I'm really just not sure what else to do.
I was an idiot and threw the box away the next day, or I would have taken it back. And I have reached out to crosley multiple times with no response. You'd think a company that's as known as crosley would have a decent customer service department. They must know their products are shit.
Anyways.... anyone have any advice on something I could try? Usually the first song will play fine, but as the arm moves in it starts jumping and skipping whole songs.
Or could someone recommend a good player around the $200-300 range?
And please don't comment on this and be an asshole. A lot of times in these niche communities people can come off as self righteous. Be cool. I'm seriously looking for some good advice here.

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I’m not sure if this is the right group to post this, but I’m gonna try anyways.
I bought a vacuum from a mostly online company, and when the vacuum stopped working within five uses, I left a negative review highlighting my experience. The company reached out to me and said that they would be happy to refund me, I wouldn’t even need to return the vacuum to them, but they would only give me a refund if I changed my negative review to reflect a positive 4 to 5 star review.
I am not the only consumer that they have done this too, they’re one star reviews are riddled with screenshots of messages that those customers received from the company, asking them to change their reviews and exchange for their refund of a defect product.
Is there legal action to take here? What would be the process of getting my money back, without changing my honest review, and making sure the company doesn’t continue this behavior?

Hello Reddit, my name is Luca Zambello and I’m the CEO of Jurny, a SaaS startup automating hospitality with AI. I am excited to host my first AMA on this sub and invite you to ask me anything about steering a high-growth tech company in the hyper-dynamic, quickly evolving space of AI.
In under five years, I’ve raised over $12M from venture capitalists and the crowd and signed key partnerships with industry giants like Airbnb, Vrbo, and Expedia. In the last year alone, Jurny facilitated more than $35M in bookings and quintupled our customer base. You can learn more about Jurny here!
The journey of building and integrating cutting-edge AI into our platform has been filled with both huge successes and formidable challenges, especially given the rapid technological evolution and the continuous emergence of new AI applications. I’ve appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box and been featured in CNBC Travel, Forbes, and Entrepreneur, discussing these very topics.
I've received invaluable support and advice from other entrepreneurs throughout the years, and I am eager to pay it forward by sharing insights, lessons learned and answering your questions about navigating the dynamic field of AI, or anything else about my business or yours.
Join me back here at 12:30 PM ET on Wednesday for our discussion!

• Luca

So this is a long one. Like, I'm going back over it and damn. This is longer than I thought it would be. Throwaway account, I've only made one other post to this relating to what's going on. Instead of updating the other post, I figured I'd make a separate one about the whole shit show I experienced, and the shit circus I uncovered and avoided. I'll try to keep this in as chronological an order as I can.
As the title says, my abusive/narc mom and pos/delusional/golden child brother started trying to reach out to me a few months ago wanting to make amends and build bridges with me again. There were a few people that commented on my previous post in another subreddit that may be a little disappointed in me for how I handled this, and a few that might enjoy that I handled it the way I did. Someone commented to not let them use my good nature. My nature is dependent on who I'm dealing with, and when it comes to that side of my family, I'm more stick than carrot. So their attempts did not go ignored, and did not go unpunished.
Growing up, I was always closer with my Dad than my mom. My brother was the epitome of "pampered mamma's boy". He started having seizures as a child and was diagnosed with epilepsy, which I thought was why my mom babied the absolute fuck out of him long into adulthood. He would go a year or 2 without any seizures, and then there would be a few months where he'd be having them every other day. At Anytime he got in trouble at home or school, my mom would find a way to blame me, for not making sure he knew whatever he was doing would get him in trouble, or she would blame my dad for not being "involved enough in their baby's life." My dad was in the Navy and I remember any time he'd deploy, I'd dread every day until he came back. My brother would taunt me that he knew whatever he did, I'd be the one to get in trouble for it. My dad would always make things up for me when he got back from his deployments though. We'd often have weekend trips just the 2 of us. And then around my 12th birthday, my mom insisted on sitting us all down and explain to that she and my dad were getting a divorce. We got the whole talk about how they still love us and they just can't be together anymore, etc. my dad told us both that he still loved us and he would be there for us whenever we needed him. He explained that he would be moving out, but he would be by to pick us up to spend the weekends with us. I was nervous and honestly scared of what it would be like without him. But I was looking forward to the weekend when I got to see him again. That never happened though, and that was the last time I ever got to see him.
Right before his weekend with us, my mom explained to us that my dad didn't want anything to do with us anymore. There was some news story about a father that killed his kids when he had custody of them and she used that to terrify my brother and convince him that our dad wanted to kill us to start his life over. We left damn near everything behind and moved in with my mom's brother in Florida (from Virginia) a couple days before my dad was supposed to come get us. After that, she went to great lengths to make sure we had no contact from him.
Years went on, my mom seemed more indifferent towards me than ever. She never seemed interested in anything I did unless my brother also seemed interested in it. She didn't show any interest in my wanting to learn guitar until my brother also showed interest in it. Then we got one guitar that we had to share, I'd take lessons on the condition that I taught my brother whatever I learned in them. My brother eventually wound up breaking the guitar and I was blamed for not storing it in the case it came with. I had to share my N64 with him whenever he wanted to play it. I was playing perfect dark one day and having a hard time killing the skedar leader at the end of the game. My brother burst into the room saying he wanted to play his MegaMan game, to which I just replied "give me a minute, this boss fight is hard, once I'm done you can have your turn" He didn't like that. He left the room and came back with a hammer and smashed the console while I was still playing. My fault for not letting him play it. The only thing I had that he could not use was a pair of roller blades my aunt got me for my 14th birthday. I specifically asked for roller blades to get around instead of a bike because my brother and I had different shoe sizes, so he couldn't wear them Because of constant shit like that, I never really put much value in having things growing up. I didnt want to buy something or get something as a gift just to have it fucked up in a few weeks or months. At some point, my "little" brother became the larger one, so my clothes all became "hand-me-ups" as he outgrew everything. So, because I didn't really have any distractions at home, I turned into a high achieving student, rarely got in trouble. made the honor roll all throughout school. But that wasn't something to celebrate as it was expected of me. I had long since decided that I was moving out as soon as I could once I turn 18. I got a job working at a Walgreens as soon as I could and started saving up for a car. My mom however took issue with this and would never agree to take me looking for one and absolutely refused to ever have it put on her insurance. This is where my Aunt comes in. She and her son are the only 2 on my mom's side that aren't some sort of degenerate. She had her son young, but put herself through college while raising him alone and eventually got her MBA and a cushy upper corporate job. She told me to tell my mom I had to go in to work on one of my days off, that she would pick me up and she would take me car shopping. So that's what we did. I couldn't quite afford a cash car, but she helped me with the financing. I put down what I had as the down payment, the arrangement she made with me was that 1- as long as I was in school, she would cover the insurance and payments for me, however, if I got into an accident, I was responsible for paying the deductable. And 2- as long as i was living with my mom, the car remained in her (Aunt's) name. And if anything happened to it, to let her know so she could get the appropriate authorities involved. My mom was PISSED when she found out I now had a car. Her reasoning (that she said in front of my aunt) was that she didn't think it was fair for one of us-either me or my brother- to have something the other couldn't use. Due to him being 13 and having epilepsy, he couldn't drive, so why should i have a car if my brother doesn't? That turned into a long shouting match between my mom and Aunt that basically ended with my aunt explaining that since it was her car, and all paperwork on her name, I was just on the insurance for it so I could drive it. But if anything at all happened to it while I was living at my Mom's, that the police and insurance companies would get involved. My mom still kept track of all the miles on the car to "make sure I was only going to work and school and wherever she told me I could go". Most of the time, when I hung out with friends, I wasn't the one driving. From that that point though, my mindset was very much "keep my head down and nose clean until I can leave." I graduated a month before my 18th birthday. After graduation, my mom and i got into an argument about me contributing to her bills. I eventually dropped the ball that I planned on getting back in touch with my Dad and leaving. She started laughing. Something about that laugh made me really uncomfortable. She then said "well, you can certainly meet up with him whenever you want! I'll supply the gun if you buy the bullet!" And told me my dad had died when I was 15. That. Fucking. Broke. Me. Later that night, i called my best friend and vented everything to him. He was in the DEP program for the Navy and would be shipping out in a few months, he told me to come by first thing in the morning and talk with him and his parents about the whole situation. I basically packed up all of my clothes and left the day after my 18th birthday. I just left my house key and a note that said "I'm not your problem anymore." I couch surfed for a little while until after my best friend left for boot camp, then I was able to move in and live with his parents (chosen parents basically). My only real rules were keep the house and my space clean and make sure I had a job and/or going to school. I spent a few months mourning my dad and kind of in a haze. Since he was in the Navy though, that meant I was reliable for financial aid for school. My second dad helped me get everything put together to start receiving that so I could start college.
Well, after a couple years of this, my brother, who had spent his time at school more as "forced socializing" instead of learning, was expelled from public schools for allegedly setting off a fire extinguisher in a classroom. He had to enroll at an alternative school called "the drop back-in academy" that was specifically for dropouts or anyone that got the boot from the public school system. My mom reached out to me and asked me if I would drive him to this school in the mornings, she'd pick him up in the afternoons, and she'd pay me $20 a week.I agreed to it thinking this was out of character for her, but she surprisingly held up to that agreement. I drove him for a couple years until I was ready to start my bachelor program. My second parents were getting ready to move back to their hometown and I was going to start school on the other side of the city. So, I was moving to that side of town and couldn't really drive out of my way to pick up and drop off my brother anymore. He continued his enrollment at this place for another 3 years (5 years total) and it turned out, he was never attending. I would drop his ass off there every day and he'd just walk home immediately after I pulled out of the parking lot. He'd just tell my mom that he finished his work early and decided to walk home instead of wait around for her. One afternoon, I'm coming home early from work and my brother is just sitting on the steps to my studio apartment. He tells me that he and our mom got into a really big argument and he needs a place to stay. I (reluctantly) let him in. I'm stuck thinking he must be really desperate if he's coming to me for help. But I start thinking at this point, he's 24, jobless, and probably needs to learn some self discipline and responsibility, and our mom just never did that for him. So I try to help. I ask him what their fight was about and he tells me that he started dating this girl at his alternative school. She was 21 and got the boot from the school system for being too old to attend (we actually have several relatives that were kicked out of the school system for the same reason) and that he accidentally got her pregnant and our mom did not take kindly to that. I called my landlord and explained the situation to him. He was okay with it, so I let him crash on my couch for a little bit (until the end of my lease, then I'd be moving) and just told him to clean up after himself, take care of himself, etc until we could all work this out. He crashed there for a few months and did Jack shit. He would complain that I didn't have a computer for him to use (I only had a laptop I bought for school) and I didn't have any video game consoles for him to entertain himself with. So he was stuck there bored all day. I got tired of the complaining and lack of effort and told him he had to go back to our mom's if he wasn't going to be an adult. We started shouting at each other until he dropped this little bombshell. He yelled "I can't go back to Mom's!" And when I asked why, he just blurted out "because it's to close to that elementary school!" That stopped the whole thing. "And why is that a big deal now?" I asked him. I already knew why that would be the problem, but 1% of me was holding onto the hope that he was got jumped by a gang of 5th graders and the trauma was too much for him to bear. I told him he could either tell me what's going on, or I could make a phone call and get every last detail I needed. He confessed that he had been leaving that school and going over to his "girlfriend's" house and waiting for her to get home. And that one day, her mom ended up catching them in the act. I explained to him that he was leaving out important details if that was the reason he couldn't be near a school.
He told me she was 14, not 21. I. Lost. My. Shit. Everything after that is kinda fuzzy, but he was arrested, mom posted bail, and since she lived right around the corner from an elementary school, he couldn't stay there. So they told his parole officer that he'd be staying at my address until his court date.. his PO had swung by a couple times, but I was always either at work or school or out somewhere. At this point, I told him the lease was up in 6 weeks, I couldn't stand to be around him. I packed my stuff early, moved out into a storage unit, and I stayed at an extended stay hotel until it was time for me to move. Called my landlord and told him what was going on, and if my brother was still there the last week of the lease, nail him for trespassing. My landlord was a good guy. I never had any problems with him. I paid up the last 6 weeks and threw him since extra cash for his troubles as I knew I wouldn't be getting my deposit back. That was the last time I saw my brother. After I moved out of state, I cut all contact with everyone in that family except my Aunt who was the only one that ever helped me out or even had my back. But even then, it was just through email. We'd mainly email birthday and holiday wishes to each other. Updates from my side on how life and career are going.
I never had a myspace or a Facebook growing up. I either never had a computer to check it on, or I was just so accustomed to not having any online distractions that I just never got around to making one. I did finally make a Facebook and I did get in touch with my dad's side of the family and reconnected with them. I hadn't seem most of them since I was 4 or 5. Some of them had been in contact with my brother (he fucking knew our dad died) and was spinning some sort of web about how he graduated high school early, had gone to college for pre-med and then got some sort of full ride scholarship to some prestigious medical school in Florida. He told them I wasn't on social media because I had been arrested for selling drugs and that he was taking me in after I got released. He was also using my senior portrait as a profile pic. They were surprised when they saw me and how I "looked just like my brother!" I had set the record straight. They looked dumbfounded when I told them that he couldn't get himself out of the 9th grade in 10 years, and now would likely never complete his high school journey due to the fact he can't be within 100 yards of a school.
So, fast forward to last week. I checked my email for the first time since late January (for my aunt's birthday) and noticed a few from her saying my mom wanted to reach out, then several emails from a new address. It was my mom's first initial and last name. Subject lines usually read "please respond" and "let me know you're okay" and stuff like that. I'd copy some of them over, but holy shit this is already a novella. Basically she got my email address from sneaking my aunt's phone (aunt did not sell me out). She's trying to apologize for how she treated me growing up and trying to excuse it by saying I reminded her of my dad and then she was going through menopause and just any excuse to dishes full accountability it seems. She acknowledges that it was wrong to hold me accountable for my brother's fuck-ups but dismisses that by saying he didn't know any better and she needed me to be a good role model for him. Things have been hard for her since I left, since she "had" to take my brother back in (I would've left him on the street or in jail), she had to sell her house (she was only 10 years into her mortgage) and buy another smaller one further from a school for him. He never did get a hs diploma or GED because how can he? And she's been going through breast cancer treatment for the last several months and just doesn't have the energy to take care of her 33yo baby anymore. She asked me if I lived close enough to them to take him in for a little bit while she focuses on her health. I left Florida 8 years ago and haven't even lived in the same time zone in 6 years. She can only check her email at work since she no longer has Internet at home. She had to cancel her home Internet service because of him. So, I decided to just put my brother's name into a search bar and the first thing that pops up is a FDLE sex offender's page. And holy shit has he gone downhill. He had a second arrest when he was 27 for the same thing, and then was caught in communications with another girl (like Chris Hansen sting) and was released from prison at the beginning of the year. And the mugshot.... You know the pale lady from the scary stories to tell in the dark movie? Think that, but with a patchy beard. Beady eyes, bad skin and all. According to the sheriff's office inmate search, he's been arrested 5 times in the last 10 years. Twice for lewd and lascivious battery of a minor (aged 12-15), once for solicitation of a minor, and twice for probation violations.
The TL/DR: abusive mom took all her frustrations out on me, blamed me for everything my brother did, hid my father's death from me until I was almost 18, and reaches out after 8 years of no contact and wants me to take care of her pedophile son while she's in poor health.
I'm attaching my response to her below.
Hi. I'm alive. I'm well. I'm also not okay with you contacting me, especially under the circumstances that you violated the privacy of your own sister to get my contact information. I have read your apologies and excuses and I do not accept either. You say I reminded you of Dad? He spent more time with me and showed more interest in my well-being than you ever did, and that's including the 6 years he was absent from my life by your own selfish design. Menopause? I find that hard to believe as this went on for the better part of half a decade and not once in that time did your attitude towards brother change. You always treated him with the same coddling infantile obsession and patience that one would show a toddler. It was and is clear that you have a preferred child as that adult-sized pile of shit is still living comfortably with dear old mama. I'm guessing no one else is willing to take him in? Are Uncle and Cousins afraid of him doing something to their daughters or grandchildren? I do believe you when you say you want to rebuild the bridge that you nuked from orbit years ago, but I can't believe it's not for your own selfish desires. And I can't find any reason or way my quality of life could be improved with your presence. The reality is, my life has been far better without you than it could be with you. I've never said this to anyone, but if there is a sense of karma and balance in the universe, your current situation is proof of that. The next time I see your name on my computer screen, had better be for your obituary. But since you and the monster you raised both decided to keep Dad's death a secret from me, and remove any choice I had to mourn or pay my respects, I'll return that kindness to you.
Please die away from me.

I recently 100% Trials Rising's achievements, with the last one I got was "Two is Better than One" where you need to control two players on the Tandem Bike.
In order to do this I got an extra keyboard from a friend and plugged it into my PC, but that wasn't enough as the game didn't recognize it as a seperate keyboard.
The solution to this is to follow this tutorial on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IFYOpzsx2Y
This is an emulator for keyboards to act as controllers, which allows you to use the Tandem Bike as both riders.
After installing the emulator, you only need to add your extra keyboard as keyboard 1. Your main keyboard doesn't need to be emulated. You set your extra keyboard as the first slot, and you need to change the keys.
As a custom setting, Right Trigger (RT) = UP KEY, Left Trigger (LT) = DOWN KEY, X-min = LEFT KEY, X-Max = RIGHT KEY
Then, after opening up Trials Rising, you hit START on the program. After that, you can go to Stonehenge and choose the Tandem Bike. At this point you should be able to control both players using both keyboards. All you have to do now is make it to the finish line with 0 faults.
I hope somebody finds this useful, as it took me a while to get this achievement with no PC tutorial