I know a lot of layoffs have happened lately and I'm lucky enough to be in a position to bring on another engineer for a six month to hire contract.
(US based only / no c2c / no H1B)
Job Description
We are seeking a talented and passionate Full Stack Developer to join our dynamic team. As a Full Stack Developer, you will play a crucial role in designing, developing, and maintaining robust software solutions. Your expertise in both front-end and back-end technologies will be essential in creating high-quality applications that meet our clients’ needs. Help provide access to prescription medicine nationwide.
Responsibilities

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to analyze requirements, design software solutions, and implement features in an Agile environment.
  
• Utilize Test-Driven Development to write clean, efficient, and maintainable code with unit tests.
  
• Maintain technical documentation.
  
• Participate in code reviews to ensure code quality/standards and adherence to best practices.
  
• Utilize Git for version control, managing branches, and collaborating with other developers.
  
• Debug and troubleshoot issues, ensuring timely resolution.
  
• Optimize application performance and scalability.
  
• Stay up-to-date with industry trends and emerging technologies.
  

Qualifications

• Strong proficiencies in Front-end technologies (JavaScript, HTML, CSS)
  
• Practical Experience with Front-End Frameworks (React, Vue, Angular, etc.)
  
• Hands on experience with C# ( .NET Core or .NET Framework), MVC, and Web API
  
  • Familiarity with cloud-native and serverless development principles.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
  
• Strong communication and collaboration abilities.
  
• Self-Starter with ability to work independently with a fully remote team.
  

Nice-to-Haves

• Knowledge of mobile app design patterns.
  
• Familiarity with AWS services (EC2, S3, Lambda, CloudWatch, etc.).
  
• Exposure to DevOps practices (CI/CD pipelines, Docker, Kubernetes).
  
• Experience developing with SQL, C, or Unity
  
• UI Design with Figma
  
• Fluency in Spanish spoken and/or written
  

I know a lot of layoffs have happened lately and I'm lucky enough to be in a position to bring on another engineer for a six month to hire contract.(not Fiserv).
Job Description
We are seeking a talented and passionate Full Stack Developer to join our dynamic team. As a Full Stack Developer, you will play a crucial role in designing, developing, and maintaining robust software solutions. Your expertise in both front-end and back-end technologies will be essential in creating high-quality applications that meet our clients’ needs. Help provide access to prescription medicine nationwide.
Responsibilities

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to analyze requirements, design software solutions, and implement features in an Agile environment.
• Utilize Test-Driven Development to write clean, efficient, and maintainable code with unit tests.
• Maintain technical documentation.
• Participate in code reviews to ensure code quality/standards and adherence to best practices.
• Utilize Git for version control, managing branches, and collaborating with other developers.
• Debug and troubleshoot issues, ensuring timely resolution.
• Optimize application performance and scalability.
• Stay up-to-date with industry trends and emerging technologies.

Qualifications

• Strong proficiencies in Front-end technologies (JavaScript, HTML, CSS)
• Practical Experience with Front-End Frameworks (React, Vue, Angular, etc.)
• Hands on experience with C# ( .NET Core or .NET Framework), MVC, and Web API
  • Familiarity with cloud-native and serverless development principles.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
• Strong communication and collaboration abilities.
• Self-Starter with ability to work independently with a fully remote team.

Nice-to-Haves

• Knowledge of mobile app design patterns.
• Familiarity with AWS services (EC2, S3, Lambda, CloudWatch, etc.).
• Exposure to DevOps practices (CI/CD pipelines, Docker, Kubernetes).
• Experience developing with SQL, C, or Unity
• UI Design with Figma
• Fluency in Spanish spoken and/or written

Hello all,
I have been reading up on posts on this sub reddit for a while and noticed a lot of posts painting Memphis in a negative light, especially in terms of crime. I am seriously considering selling off most of our belongings and moving myself to Eastern Memphis (somewhere like Oakland, Collierville, or Cordova) to get a fresh start. I wanted to see if there are any factors I am not properly considering.
Why I want to leave WA: -Cost of living! My fiancée and I made about mid $125,000 to $150,000 last year combined and still cannot afford a starter home in our area (with a 20% down-payment). -Homeless. I live outside of any major urban center but there is a huge homeless/drug problem here. No dumpster or car is safe and public areas are full of tents. -Dirty. Trash is left around streets. It is not terribly uncommon to see human feces on the sidewalk (alongside dog). -Crime. Multiple car break ins. Property crime. Harassed by homeless. I am aware that memphis does have an issue with car break ins but how severe is this? -Weather. We get about 60 days of sun every year where I am. Say what you want about muggy heat, but I am sick of cold, damp, and Grey. -Hobbies. We love the outdoors (swimming, kayaking, etc). Washington is great for this but it is too cold or damp most of the year to do this. Not to mention the cost of a place to store things like kayaks.
Why we chose Memphis: -I have family there. -Recently visited in May (I know this is not the unbearably hot season) and it was absolutely beautiful. -Clean. Outside of a few neighborhoods the Memphis area is remarkably clean (at least compared to what we are used to) -Cost of living! We can actually afford a house. Our jaws dropped at how much cheaper restaurants and groceries are here. -Public areas. You actually have plenty of places that people can come together at and enjoy outdoors without having to navigate around encampment or fighting for what little public space is available in highly populated areas.
My only concern is crime and jobs. We will have to quit our jobs to move and I know incomes in Memphis are lower. I am hoping for a remote position but that may not happen. We both currently work in banking and she has a history in animal medicine.
What do you think? Is this a good move or am I wearing rose tinted glasses?
Thanks!

Explorers of Sky is a solid candidate for my favourite video game of all time, but it definitely isn’t without a few small blemishes and things that annoy me. I thought it could be fun to discuss some of the small bugbears that we have with the story, gameplay, and so forth in this otherwise excellent game. Not things which fundamentally destroy the gameplay experience for you, but things that manage to irritate you on each playthrough. The main ones which come to mind for me:

• Partner AI: This is probably the most blatant problem, and the one which I hear about the most. Allies in this game are aggressively stupid for no reason, and plenty of things which should be the absolute bare minimum are locked behind IQ skills. Not stepping on visible traps should be the default, as should knowing not to use status moves when the target already has the bloody status condition. And why, for the love of all that is holy, is Weak-Type Picker not something that EVERY Pokémon gets?? Why is my Lv.60 partner with near-max IQ still spamming Thunderbolt on a Ground type? Let alone grasping concepts like not using Hypnosis on an Insomnia ‘mon. It’s frustrating, because it isn’t like giving allies better AI was beyond the technology of the time or something- it was a conscious dev decision to make allies stupid. Resultantly, you have to waste so much time micromanaging your teammates so they don’t get themselves killed that having a large team feels like a liability.
  
• Renaming Allies: Very minor gripe here, but it really irritates me on every playthrough that there is no way to rename teammates besides evolving them. It always makes me feel put on the spot in dungeons, because either you come up with a clever nickname right that second, or your ‘mon is just going to be nameless forever. Alternatively, if you give a ‘mon you want to hold onto a stupid nickname, or misclick while naming, you’re done for. This is a feature that has been in the main series literally since Red and Green, and it would have been so easy to add a button that does this to the Assembly menu in Sky.
  
• Egg/Tutor Moves: It’s a crying shame that there is zero way for Pokémon to acquire Egg moves, or even Tutor moves, beyond hatching from an egg with one. The Chansey daycare system isn’t a remotely engaging means of acquiring unique moves, because unlike in the main series you have virtually no autonomy over what ‘mons you’ll get, and what egg move they’ll have. You either get lucky and hatch a Chimchar with Thunderpunch, or you (more likely) don’t. Egg moves may as well not exist for how relevant they are to the average playthrough. Certain ‘mons are absolutely crippled by not having meaningful access to their best moves; Phanpy would be a really fun choice of starter if it could learn Earth Power and Ice Shard. Instead, it’s absolute dogwater with no usable STAB. Later games handle this far better, allowing the player to just pay a fee to learn these moves, and it honestly makes me glum how movepools are so comparatively limited in Sky.
  
• Temporary Allies: Slight retread of my earlier point, but the temporary allies you get saddled with throughout the story are also pointlessly restricted. Why can’t I alter their tactics? I much prefer Go After Foes to Let’s Go Together, which just makes Grovyle and others much too passive to be useful. Plus, why can’t I toggle their moves? A very small issue I know, but it ultimately culminates in a significant problem when you’re tasked with keeping these burdens alive- Cresselia probably wouldn’t be half as infamous as she is if you could just tell her what to do instead of just watching as she gets herself killed.
  
• Accuracy Nonsense: Why do moves randomly miss so often in this game? The main series is pretty good about setting most moves at 90%+ accuracy, and usually outright 100% for your standard options like Flamethrower. It removes a lot of pointless RNG from standard play, while allowing players to choose riskier, more rewarding options like Fire Blast if they so choose. Meanwhile in this game, basically nothing is completely safe. You can and will lose eminently winnable encounters because Bite decided it wanted to miss three times in a row. Oh, and if you got hit by Sand Attack once, or God forbid your opponent has Sand Veil/Snow Cloak up? Prepare for this bullshit. I’ve racked my brain trying to think of a gameplay justification for this change, and I just can’t. It just seems to be there for extra RNG.
  
• Conflicting Abilities: I recently did a playthrough with Riolu, and noticed that it has both Steadfast AND Inner Focus. One boosts Speed upon being flinched (also when you’re cross-eyed, but how often does that happen?), and the other prevents flinching. Lucario, then, effectively has no ability. As funny as this is, it obviously shouldn’t be allowed to happen, especially on a super popular choice of starter Pokémon. I understand that the devs aimed to adapt the abilities and learnsets of the main series faithfully, but at a certain point you have to sacrifice fidelity for gameplay. They should have altered the abilities of ‘mons that got saddled with dud combos.
  
• Perish Song: Perish Song exists. That is all.
  

Of course, there’s a lot of other random jank you can discuss with Sky’s battle system, like how options that are relatively unexceptional in the main series (eg. Mirror Move, Smokescreen) are godlike here for no reason. Not to mention the fuckery that is the Speed system, or Silver Wind/Ominous Wind having the potential to raise stats on EVERY HIT. But I honestly don’t mind these elements; I’m used to them at this point, and breaking the game wide open with Cyndaquil or Torchic is really fun. The tradeoff is that sometimes you’ll get unavoidably wiped by Porygon-Z hitting Agility two times in a row and then pressing the funny Discharge button, but that’s just Mystery Dungeon.

My wife and I are road tripping on a budget this summer through the US (NC, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Florida) for 10+ days. We’ll be wild camping a couple nights in national parks but should stay on well-made roads. Whilst looking at cars to rent over that period, all the cars below are relatively the same price:
Toyota Camry Toyota Corolla Hyundai Elantra Nissan Altima Volkswagen Jetta Chevy Malibu Ford F-150 - 2 doors
Which one should I rent ? The most important aspect for us is MPG and road/seat comfort. We’re travelling relatively light so boot size is not a problem. As we’re going up a couple hills, off-road ability is a plus but not essential.
Thank you for your answer!!!

I'm replaying EotS and my partner only ever gets +1s on level up while me and our recruit get +2s at least occasionally. We're all past level 50 now and not once has my patner got a +2! My first playthrough was ages ago but I think I had this same thing. When I googled it, all the forums said it's just different pokemon growth rate and to expect a spurt in later levels but we're basically maxxed and just coasting to 100 now. Is normal?
I'm playing a Zangoose and my partner is a Cradily, our recruit is a Driftblim. Cradily has the xp gain from the IQ skill so he's almost 10 levels above me, and yet his stats are lower than mine even though I've been shoveling gummie drinks in his face. I am using some AR codes including a teamwide xp gain, but I don't think this is the problem because as I said our recruit has been leveling up at my rate of growth, and I didn't have it on for our first like 15 levels. This isn't a big deal, but also feels like this shouldn't be how it is.
Also unrelated but am I right feeling like your starter attack move like Tackle or Scratch is the GOAT? It's got so much PP and it straight carries through anything but bosses.

I was looking back at the infamous series from 2019 in the playoffs and was looking at the +/- numbers of the Sixers players after Embiid's numbers this postseason.
Our main nine rotation players had +/- numbers of:
Embiid: +89
Butler: +15
Redick: -2
Mike Scott: -4
Simmons: -16
Ennis III: -21
Monroe: -25
Tobias: -33
Surely that has got to be some kind of record for the largest +/- in a losing series. How do you go +89 when your team loses the series by 19 points? I know we had bench problems then but there wasn't even one starter remotely close to him. It was also probably Embiid's worst offensive playoff series ever so was his defense impactful to such a high level that we couldn't function with him off the court?

For starters, this should be applicable to anyone who has the misfortune of owning anything by NordicTrack that has the ifit app installed. Ultimately, these are all powered by slightly different variants of the same android control board. So similar even, that if you crack open any of them, the boards have the same shape, mount points and locations of all the primary components and connectors. They all have the same design flaw.
All that being said, I've fixed a bike and two treadmill boards so far by re-flowing them. The problem wasn't the screen. It wasn't an issue of the board not getting power, etc. The issue was cold solder joints.
One of them had to be reflowed twice, but...again, I've got a pretty good track record going, and am now convinced that these are just cheaply made "not even half as good as an Amazon Fire" tablets with cold solder joints. If you don't know what a cold solder joint is, it's simply areas on the board where the board was not heated enough during production, resulting in poor joints that crack and fail overtime. It would be kind of like if all the important nerves in your nervous system just started breaking. You'd stop working too. Fortunately, there's usually ways to fix this on circuit boards.
If you have a multi-meter, you can poke the 12v power header into the tablet to confirm that it's getting 11 to 13v power. If it is (and assuming it's also getting 2 amps then), you're probably looking at cold solder joints. If you don't have a multi-meter, but you're mechanically inclined, you can pick one up for under $10 USD. Takes about 10 minutes to learn how to use on on Youtube. If you want to test if it's a screen issue....well, short of visible, physical damage, screens *and* the touch overlays don't just die at the same time. So even if the screen was totally failed, the touch overlay should still let you poke around if you know exactly where to click to make *something* happen. (You could also hook the screen up to a laptop if you have a large format screen with a 30 pin connector, but that seems overkill when, overwhelmingly, it's likely cold solder joints on the PCB in the tablet)
Also, it's worth nothing that cold solder joints don't always result in being dead in the water right away. While I would try *everything* else from a software perspective first to fix instability issues, constant crashing and reboots, completely frozen screens, inability to fully boot, or error messages preventing boot can all be related to this, too. For my own treadmill, it started with freezing after a couple workouts, and quickly (over a day) progressed to a boot loop where it never would fully load. For kicks, I let it torture itself and when I came back the next day, it was completely dead.
Anyway, fixing this is pretty much the same as what everyone used to do to XBOX 360's that had the red ring of death...cook the PCB until the solider melts again, but also try not to cook it so far that the components on the board literally burn and become unusable again.
Also, it's worth noting that if you're lucky enough to still be under warranty, you should pursue that first. And don't discredit looking at what credit card you bought your machine with, if you're the original owner. Some credit cards double warranties, so that 2 year warranty on the tablet could very well be turned into a four year warranty by your credit card company. This is actually a surprisingly common, but not well known, benefit of major cards.
To get started, unplug the unit from the wall. The last thing you need is to end up electrocuting yourself or blowing something out on your machine because power was still being applied to it.
Ok, so onto the actual repair.....to do this, you'll need to unplug the four cables going into the back of the tablet. On some machines, like my 9.5s, you might have to take a back cover off the whole unit to actually reach the back of the tablet, and its connectors. Once that's taken care of, you'll need to take out the (likely) 3 screws on each side that hold the tablet mount into the upper assembly that the tablet itself is mounted in. From here, the tablet should be freely removable from the unit.
Now you need to undo the screws in the back of the tablet to separate it from the touchscreen front. Warning: There are delicate ribbon cables going from the screen in front, to the board in the tablet. Damage one of them, and you may as well just buy a new tablet for the few hundred bucks NordicTrack will shake you down for.
Once you've exposed the board, you should be able to pull out the wire connectors and flip the pressure fit levers on the ribbon cable connectors for the tablet to remove the camera and touchscreen ribbon cables. Note that the wifi antenna is also relatively delicate, and should be pulled as upward as possible. You also need to be careful when reinstalling it, or you can crush the connector, and then....either you're good at incredibly small soldering by hand, or again, you're buying a new tablet with half the power and build quality of the cheapest Amazon Fire at quadruple the price.
Next, remove the screws securing the board to the inside of the tablet, and you should be able to freely remove it with ease. Now comes the Really delicate part.

THE ACTUAL FIX ITSELF

Ideally, you would be doing this in a precision controlled re-flow oven with a profile that walks the board through exact temperature changes....but you can get 90% of the way there, and have pretty excellent chances of fixing your board, nontheless. You just need an oven and a thermometer you can read from inside the oven.
Before prepping the board to go in the oven, remove the large metal RF shield covering the back of the board. Not the one that's postage stamps sized, but the one that's about the much larger one, about the size of two human thumbs. You can discard this - it's an RF shield and honestly it does nothing but trap heat that really shouldn't be trapped, in my opinion.
Using the "toaster oven method" to reflow a PCB, you will want to make a few loose (not very compacted) foil balls. Set them on a plate in a way where you can press the board into them, connectors side facing up. You should have the board be as level as possible - re-flowing a board at an angle can make the chips fall out of alignment, and then you pretty much have a dead, now-un-repairable board.
Once the board is level, put a thermometer you can read on the plate with the board and pop it in the oven. Set the oven to bake at 230C (About 445F) and once the oven has actually reached this temperature, count off two minutes. That is how long you want to let the board bake before you remove it. You don't have to be exact with this, but don't leave it in for only a minute and don't forget about it and come back after it's been cooking for 5 or 10 minutes. Try to be within a few seconds of that 2 minute mark. And the temperature gauge on the plate is so you can know that it really is within a few degrees of 230F. The temp gauge on stoves often lies, and if the board is below 220 it won't really re-flow, and above 240 you run the risk of cooking it to death.
Anyway, the final, and arguably most delicate part, is removing the board. You want to be as gentle as possible. No bumps, no jerky motions, and setting it down with great care once it's out of the oven. Also, set it down *away* from the oven so that the board can cool off faster. Don't put it in the fridge or anything, but let it sit undisturbed for about 15 minutes before trying to do anything with it. After that amount of time, it should be cool enough to touch. Once all of this is done, screw the board back into the tablet shell, but ONLY put the screws in along the two sides that have connectors coming out of them. This means you should have three of the four corners screwed down, and one or two additional screws along those two sides. Leave the fourth corner undone since it gives the board some wiggle room without constant straining & flexing. (The best option would be making silicone bushings to mount the tablet board to, much like portable had drives have, but that's just me trying to get as much life out of my tablet & treadmill as I can).
Now, reattach all the connectors. My preferred order for ease is: Camera cable, microphone cable, touch screen cable, wifi antenna, display cable (the largest flat ribbon cable in there). Then close up the two halves of the tablet, pop a couple screws in the corners, and reattach the four external cables to the tablet. Don't bother screwing it all back in yet because we're just testing to make sure it works at this point. You should be able to lay the tablet down, plug the machine in, and have the tablet power up. It should respond to touch and work just like it used to. If it works again, congrats! Now unplug it once more and finish reinstalling the tablet, plastic pieces, and screws.
If it didn't work, there's no harm in trying to reflow the board again. In fact, if the issue happens again later on, you can just try reflowing the board once more. That said, there's only so many times you can re-melt the solder holding everything together before the board will just plain out be toast. Usually it's somewhere around 3 or 4 times, but you could be unlucky and have 0 or 1, or be incredibly lucky and get away with it a dozen times over many more years of life from your machine, if you even need to.
All that being said, if anyone needs help with this, just reply here. I'm not on Reddit often anymore, but I'll try to get back to you within a week, and I'm much more responsive once we've started on a conversation.
Again, to date, I've fixed three NordicTrack devices doing this, and many MANY other PCBs in similar fashion. What's alarming to me here is that the units I've fixed all have usage times of under 100 hours for the machines. Honestly, I'm amazed this hasn't come up yet and that NordicTrack hasn't been litigated into free replacements like Apple and Microsoft have from similar mass failures out of warranty due to poor build quality. (Xbox 360, iPhone battery & back glass issues, etc...) I'm even more amazed that they'll sell the tablet for most models, but *not* the PCB....though, I guess that just goes to show that whatever lowest-bidder factory cranked these out for them, NordicTrack as a company has never even seen component level parts like that - just finished tablets, so it's not even something they *can* offer their ~~hostages~~ customers.
OH! And final word of advice! Put your units on a smart outlet that turns off after whatever the max time you use your equipment would be! Not only will it prolong the equipment life, but it actually makes it easier to use! For example, instead of waiting for the treadmill to wake up, I just say "Alexa, turn on the treadmill" and by the time I'm at it, it's happily waiting for me to click my name and go. And then if I forget to turn it off, the smart plug is programmed to shut it down after 2 hours anyway, so it won't be sitting there idly chewing away at the new life ~~breathed~~ baked into it.
If you want to make sure the temp if your oven is hot enough, but not going to fry something, try taking an old remote that you know works but that you don't care about. Disassemble it, reflow it, and make sure it still works when you put it all back together again. Now do it again and see if, once it reached temp in the oven, you can scrape parts off the board with relative ease. This will destroy the remote, but it's a good way to get comfortable with baking boards.
Anyway, that's about all. I wish I'd though to record videos of this process, but I hope this guide is enough to get most people back in business. And if you've already been through swapping the whole tablet and have a dead one you'd like to donate to seeing if my theory continues to hold true, I'd be happy to pay shipping to get it from you, or have you pay shipping if you want me to just take a crack at fixing it and sending it back to you.
If you're already skilled in these areas, it should take about 20 minutes to do, excluding actual bake and cooling time. If you're totally new at this but you can follow instructions with care and precision, you can probably have it done in under 2 hours. And hey - short of burning or electrocuting yourself (again, unplug before working on the equipment!) ....if you already have a dead board, the only thing you really have to lose by trying this is some of your time. =)

Last week, General Motors announced that it would end production of the Chevrolet Malibu, which the company first introduced in 1964. Although not exactly a head turner (the Malibu was “so uncool, it was cool,” declared the New York Times), the sedan has become an American fixture, even an icon, appearing in classic films like Say Anything and Pulp Fiction. Over the past 60 years, GM produced some 10 million of them.
With a price starting at a (relatively) affordable $25,100, Malibu sales exceeded 130,000 vehicles last year, a 13% annual increase and enough to rank as the #3 Chevy model, behind only the Silverado and the Equinox. Still, that wasn’t enough to keep the car off GM’s chopping block. The company says that the last Malibu will roll out of its Kansas City, KS, factory this November; the plant will then be retooled to produce the new Chevy Bolt, an electric crossover SUV.
With the Malibu’s demise, GM will no longer sell any sedans in the U.S. In that regard, it will have plenty of company. Ford stopped producing sedans for the U.S. market in 2018. And it was Sergio Marchionne, the former head of Stellantis, who triggered the headlong retreat in 2016 when he declared that Dodge and Chrysler would stop making sedans. (Tesla, meanwhile, offers two sedans: the Model 3 and Model S.)
As recently as 2009, U.S. passenger cars (including sedans and a plunging number of station wagons) outsold light trucks (SUVs, pickups, and minivans), but today they’re less then 20% of new car purchases. The death of the Malibu is confirmation, if anyone still needs it, that the Big Three are done building sedans. That decision is bad news for road users, the environment, and budget-conscious consumers—and it may ultimately come around to bite Detroit.
When asked, automakers are quick to blame the sedan’s decline on shifting consumer preferences. Americans simply want bigger cars, the story goes, and there’s some truth to it. Compared to sedans, many SUV and pickup models provide extra cargo space and give the driver more visibility on the highway. In a crash, those inside a heavier car have a better chance of escaping without injury—although the same can’t be said for pedestrians or those in other vehicles. (That discrepancy inspired a headline in The Onion: “Conscientious SUV Shopper Just Wants Something That Will Kill Family In Other Car In Case Of Accident.”)
This narrative of the market’s dispassionate invisible hand tossing the sedan aside holds intuitive appeal, but it leaves gaping holes. For one thing, federal policy has, in many ways, ]distorted the car market to favor larger vehicles](https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24139147/suvs-trucks-popularity-federal-policy-pollution). Fuel economy regulations, for instance, are more lenient for SUVs and pickups than they are for smaller cars, nudging automakers to produce more of the former and fewer of the latter. Another egregious example: Small business owners such as real estate agents can save thousands of dollars by writing off the cost of their vehicle—but only if it weighs more than 6,000 pounds, a stipulation that effectively excludes sedans entirely.
Carmakers, for their part, powerfully influence consumer demand through billions of dollars spent on advertising. Because SUVs and pickups are more expensive and profitable than sedans, manufacturers have a clear incentive to tilt buying decisions away from small cars and toward larger ones (which helps explain ad campaigns designed to confer an undeserved green halo on SUVs).
Even those who don’t want a big car may feel pressure to upsize, if only to avoid being at a disadvantage in a crash or when trying to see what lies ahead on the road. Such people find themselves trapped in a prisoner’s dilemma, preferring that everyone had smaller cars, but resigning themselves to buying an SUV or pickup since others already have them.
For all these reasons, modest-size sedans like the Malibu are disappearing from American streets, supplanted by SUVs and pickups that seem to grow bulkier with every model refresh. (The Chevy Bolts produced at GM’s Kansas plant will be bigger than the previous Bolt model, which was retired last year.) This pattern of ongoing vehicle expansion, a trend I call car bloat, is especially advanced in North America, but it’s visible worldwide. In 2022, SUVs alone comprised 46% of global car sales, up from 20% a decade earlier.
From a societal perspective, the decline of the sedan is a disaster. Consider road safety, an area where the U.S. underperforms compared to the rest of the rich world, especially for pedestrians and cyclists (deaths for both recently hit 40-year highs). Larger cars have bigger blind spots, convey more force in a collision, and tend to strike a person’s torso rather than their legs. They’re also heavier, with propulsion systems that guzzle more gasoline (or electrons) to move, producing more pollution in the process. Their weight also catalyzes the erosion of tires and roads, spewing microscopic particles that can damage human health as well as aquatic ecosystems.
Despite the myriad problems of car bloat, the federal government has taken no steps to restrain it. In the absence of regulations or taxes, carmakers have ample reason to abandon their sedan models in favor of SUVs and trucks. The higher margins of larger cars is especially precious now, as the Big Three scrabble for money to invest in electrification and autonomous technology, as well as to pay for the rising costs of wages and benefits that they agreed to last fall during negotiations with the United Auto Workers.
Realistically, it would be a Herculean task to pivot back toward selling small cars, even if American automakers wanted to. Although adept at selling high-priced, feature-laden SUVs and trucks, they’re far less experienced at the low-margin, high volume business of producing cheaper small cars. That is one reason (though hardly the only one) that China’s booming market for EVs, including many modest-size and affordable models, is sowing fear throughout Detroit—and in Washington, too.
Where does the shift from sedans toward SUVs and trucks leave everyday Americans? With a strained wallet, for one thing. With its MSRP starting at $25,100 the Malibu has been one of the most affordable U.S.-produced cars, costing barely half as much as the average new vehicle, which exceeded $47,000 in February (the Malibu is also at least a few thousand dollars cheaper than the Bolt that will replace it at the Kansas factory).
Especially when factoring in higher interest rates and spiking insurance premiums, cars are becoming a financial strain for many Americans. According to the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the average annual, inflation-adjusted cost of owning a vehicle and driving it 15,000 miles hit $12,182 in 2023, an increase of over 30% in just six years.
Over time, the elimination of sedans leaves the Big Three vulnerable if consumer preferences shift away from enormity. “Legacy car companies haven’t done a great job of thinking long term,” said Alex Roy, a cohost of the Autonocast podcast. “Gutting lineups is probably good for manufacturing efficiency, but not having one vehicle in a given product segment is short-sighted.”
Due to sprawled development patterns and woefully underfunded transit, many American families will still want a car even as they become more expensive. But, as I argued previously in Fast Company, a surge in vehicle prices could compel some households to swap a second or third car for a minicar or e-cargo bike that offers limited range, but costs only a fraction as much. Already, golf carts are popping up in places far removed from the retirement and beach communities where they have been a mainstay: In New Orleans, they’ve become so popular that the city is adopting new ordinances.
With the Malibu’s death, is clearer than ever that Detroit has abandoned the affordable sedan. They may yet live to regret it.

I have a 2021 chevy malibu with a remote starter my car just randomly shut off and died while in the middle of traffic i cant turn on hazards or anything, is there anything i can try before the tow truck finds me?

Hello, I have a 2009 Chevy Malibu hybrid with a 2.4L eco tech and I recently got a new alternator installed and it was fine till i was on the way back from lunch to work when all of the sudden the battery light turned on, and my power steering went out. I was able to make it back to work but any suggestions on what you guys think the problem could be?

(TLDR: I've always wanted an RX-8 because it was the best driving car I'd ever been in. It seems like I'm not going to be able to ever get one. Are there any alternatives?)
When I was 16 my parents gave me a 2009 Honda Civic (I don't remember the trim). It was a pretty standard car but it was in good shape and felt pretty good to drive. Unfortunately I was young and dumb and made a mistake that ended up totaling it.
I went to look for a new car using the insurance money and I wanted something small and quick. Because I was a dumb teenager, I started by looking at sports cars I had no business buying. While I was going through autotrader looking at cars I couldn't afford I stumbled upon an RX-8 for sale.
Since it was in my price range and looked pretty cool, I decided to do some research. Overnight I was smitten. It was fast, revv'd to the moon, had the coolest engine design I'd ever seen, and the car WANTED you to drive it like a bat out of hell. I spent hours researching, learning about all the problems, reading all the ways to mitigate them, and found a checklist of everything that I should check before buying one.
We found a private seller that had an 05 RX-8 with sub 60k miles in our price range and was willing to let a teenager test drive it. It felt fantastic to drive, granted I didn't have a ton of experience at the time but I loved it. Then we got back to the owners house and started talking stuff over for awhile. It seemed like I was going to be able to drive it but the owner mentioned that the engine had flooded out on him before and he'd had to tow it to the dealership to get it fixed. I knew about the flooding issue, I knew that the ignition coils on the 05's were weak and that flooding became less of a problem if you replaced them with stronger coils. My mom wanted they seller to start it again for us. He went to start it and flooded his engine.
That was that, my parents concluded that this was an unreliable piece of shit and I couldn't be trusted to look for a car myself. They took me to a dealer we had a family connection with and bought the first car he recommended, an 08 Nissan Altima. The transmission blew up after a year and a half, thankfully while it was under warranty , but two months after that a tree fell on the car.
While I was looking for a new car my parents and I got into an unrelated argument and they decided to go back to the same dealer that sold us the Altima and buy the first car he suggested. It's an 09 Chevy Malibu and I hate it. I've been driving it for around 5 years and it's killed all the love I used to have for driving and working on cars. It's slow and it handles like it's way bigger than it actually is. I'm so tired of it but since it's still driveable, I haven't looked into buying anything else.
Yesterday on a whim, I decided to try looking for a new car. Lo and behold I found my old dream car on sale for super cheap. An 09 RX-8 for 2,500 USD ... with 101,627 mi. So I started doing all the research again and remembered the fun thing about the RX-8, no one wants you to buy this car. I was reminded of all the reasons that this car is a bad idea. Premium gas with shit fuel economy, lots of upkeep, no parts being made. With no way of knowing if the previous owners had properly maintained the car, my main worry is the engine compression. So I called a Mazda dealership near the seller to see how much getting a test done would cost. As soon as I mentioned an RX-8 the tech immediately started trying to talk me out of buying one because the parts are non-existent and there's only one Renesis engine left in the US.
The world has finally convince me, getting this car as a daily driver is a bad idea. But I can't get it out of my head, I've wanted this car for nearly a decade. I'm still considering getting the car as a project without selling my Malibu since it is so cheap, but I'm not rich and $2500 is still a good chunk of money and the compression test is $640. So I'm turning to the good people of whatcarshouldIbuy, would I be a fool to buy this car? Is there any car that can drive as good as an RX-8 within my price range? Can I ever be free of this masochistic obsession with a car I've barley had a chance to drive but have longed for almost as long as I've been driving?

Job Description

PrivateAI (privateai.com) is building a privacy layer for Machine Learning designed from the ground up to facilitate storage, management, sharing, transfer and monetization of high value, patent-ready and IP-rich scientific data assets
Overview
The ideal candidate will have experience in managing multiple legal and administrative processes in an early-stage startup environment from start to finish. Be prepared for a chaotic, unpredictable, non-linear environment with unconventional tasks and problems. You need to be a self-starter and able to work in a dynamic, crazy environment of crypto and AI.
Salary Competitive Salary
Location Remote Worldwide
Timezone Flexible
Employment type Full-Time
Department Finance, Legal & Compliance
Level Senior
Skills Leadership Strategy Communication
Candidate requirements
These are the minimum requirements a candidate must meet to be considered for this role.
Job responsibilities
Drafting , reviewing, analysing and negotiating various contracts Understanding of how various jurisdictions work, their risks and benefits Ability to weigh legal vs commercial considerations Negotiating with counterparties, verifying their documentation, etc
5+ years of demonstrated legal experience in tech business development (tech sales, presales marketing, fundraising) or operations supporting these activities Thorough understanding of English law and ability to use it for global contracts between various jurisdictions Thorough understanding of English law and ability to use it for global contracts between various jurisdictions Strong communication skills. Perfect English Experience working with a team in a non-corporate environment.
Hiring Process Screening Assessment Offer
About PrivateAI
We are an early-stage (Seed secured) Crypto AI startup that aims to monetize scientific research, datasets and other kinds of IP through marketplaces tailored to AI companies that seek to acquire quality data for training. Our platform offers ways to participate in the AI economy without compromising the data, keeping it private (hence PrivateAI). All our co-founders have previously founded and exited multiple crypto unicorns ($AGIX, $SYS, $DOGE, $FTM)
Head office Seychelles
Company values Determination Bold Dreams Creativity

2021 Silverado, bought brand new. Transmission has already failed and now the wiring is jacked. Truck won’t start. I’m hoping to get a quick fix so I can sell this piece of junk. I never knew Chevy was such junk. 2 other 2021 Silverados in my neighborhood have had their transmissions fail and a new Tahoe in the neighborhood also had wiring issues. These things are just maintenance headaches.
Update: So I initially thought this was a grounding issue. Yesterday we disconnected the negative terminal of the battery, reconnected it and it started. But as it turns out, we just got lucky with it starting. I got up this morning prepared to take it to the dealer. It of course wouldn't start so I disconnected the negative terminal, reconnected and nothing. In the end, we had to "tap' the starter to get it started. So it is at the dealer now. Probably just a bad starter.
But, I started thinking about it. The "one click" not starting problem has only happened twice. Both times I was backed into my driveway which is on a slight hill (nose of the truck pointing down). On the way to the dealer the auto stop shut the engine off, but I was pointing up hill when this happened and it started right up. Got to the dealer and inside the garage was flat again it started no issues. I think when the transmission was replaced last month the dealer damaged the starter. Anyway, I wanted to give an update.
Also, as I was leaving the dealer this morning I saw that new Silverado EV. Damn that body style is nice. But that thing is just one huge rolling computer, so its not for me.

This happened two weeks ago and currently I’m debating if I could be an ah. So I (26F) have a guy best friend M (25M), we met trough my ex best friend S(28) who i knew since i was 15, his older sister. S and I drifted apart about 5-6 years back when i was no longer the “free all the time type” but she still wanted to party and drink daily. Through the time me and S were best friends, M and i got really close, he was like a brother to me and even after S and i ended our friendship M and I stayed regularly in contact. Now to the problem. So M has been married to a lovely girl L(also 25) for almost 2 years and 3 months ago they welcomed a beautiful baby girl. L was recently having a lot of trouble with the baby and M couldn’t help her through out the day because he works 12hr shifts. Around a month ago L called me crying because she couldn’t take it anymore, she was getting no sleep, eating only takeout, and unable to shower. Since they have no family in the area the first person she called to help was S, but she still hasn’t changed and was just making her days harder and refusing to clean anything because she “doesn’t do that kind of thing”, she was baling out frequently because her long time situationship called her last minute. Now I didn’t want to badmouth S to L but it did concern me why she hasn’t called me earlier to help since I already have a 1yo, work remotely and always told them to call if they need anything. She was begging me to come and help her and apologizing for calling me even tho she knew i didn’t want to come, that part confused me but I didn’t question it just yet and packed my bags informed my husband me and our kid will be staying at theirs for a few days. When I arrived i told her not to worry took the baby and told her to take a long shower while I cooked something, my daughter was quietly playing and it was all smooth sailing. After we ate we talked a little then she went to sleep while i was cleaning everything up. In the meantime M came back I explained everything to him and he got the guest room ready. Their baby slept almost trough the whole night and in the morning i made breakfast for L we got to talking and she just kept apologizing and thanking me so I questioned her what made her think i didn’t want to come and help her, and then she dropped a bomb on me. Apparently S was telling L how M and i had a fling around 18 that lasted a few months and since that i was resentful of every single girlfriend of his and now that they had a baby i hated her and couldn’t bare to look at her. To say that i was shocked would be an understatement, I explained to her that there wasn’t anything between us. She did understand quickly since she was already suspicious at the start because i was for starters married and with a kid, secondly there was no sign of anything non platonic between us. After 3 days i went home and was coming for a few hours daily to check on her and help, she was doing great and was getting much more comfortable with being a mother. Two weeks ago while i wast not there and S was visiting (she apparently didn’t know she stopped coming because i was helping) commented how L got the hang of her duties, and she replied how it was all because of me. S started questioning them and after they explained how i was helping her daily with the baby she got mad and stormed off. I got a very angry phone call from her saying how i make her look like a bad aunt and that i am a home wrecker who just wants to get into Ms pants. After that i was getting threats from her if i don’t stop helping she will make my life miserable, and i even started getting calls from their family members saying i’m a slutsince S told them M cheated with me. I was fuming so i went to her house and started yelling at her that first she is childish for making lies about HER BROTHER cheating and secondly that the only thing she was concerned about was me making her look like a bad aunt while she still hasn’t tried to help but just kept complaining. I’m still getting phone calls and messages from family members calling me names telling me how I shouldn’t replaced her but tell her how to be better since i’m not Ms real sister and that is not my job. So am IATAH?
Ps: sorry if there are grammatical errors english is not my first language<3

My 1991 Jeep XJ Cherokee engine currently has over 250,000 miles on it and hasn’t run in two years. When it did run it wasn’t very reliable and broke down in multiple very remote and inconvenient situations. Last time it was the starter relay and alternator. I haven’t given it much thought since the last time it died but I was told it’s probably the alternator again. Regardless, I’m going to be doing a lot of commuting in it here soon if I get it running but I’d like to stay ahead of any problems I might have at this point in its lifespan. How should I tackle this? Additionally, I had a bunch of issues with the vacuum system for the 4wd failing, is there a way to remedy this as well?

TLDR: Current car is dead but has $16k in loans against it, and I need to get rid of it to get a functional car.
Full story: I have a 2013 Hyundai Sonata that is for all intents and purposes, dead. It has a fully clogged catalytic converter, seems to be a failing fuel pump, and the engine jolts and shakes. I originally got the car with 14,000 miles on it 10 years ago and it's done me well (now has 193,000 miles on it).
Right around when I had first paid it off I moved to a new area and with my credit not in great shape, I ended up taking out a title loan against it. The payments on that were somewhat manageable while I was doing doordash in addition to my regular job but the interest was around 67%.
I ended up refinancing with One Main which brought the interest "down" to 36% but they gave me a decent principal increase when I refinanced. I used that cash to pay off other payday loans I had with exorbitant interest and between work being busy at the time (I'm in sales) and doing doordash occasionally it was fine.
However, this winter, work went through a bit of a lull and the car got gradually worse to where now it is realistically undriveable (stalls constantly and no/minimal power when trying to accelerate). Because of how tight things have been lately, I don't have much money (maybe $1,000) to put towards a new (to me) car.
I've been to a dealership and found a great deal on a 2021 Chevy Bolt EV with 11k miles on it and they'll even give me $1k for my Sonata (EVs are not popular here so they want it gone). That car is listed for $17,495 and they would be able to apply the $4000 IL State EV Rebate to it to drop it to $13,495 (plus I'd qualify for a $4,000 federal tax credit).
The problem is with all the negative equity (my payoff amount on the One Main loan is ~$16,000) and my poor credit (560-580 range) they're having a hard time getting a bank to sign off on the loan. I could likely get approved without the trade-in, but I don't know what to do with the Sonata then.
My credit had been sub 500 and I've worked hard to get it to where it is now and know I still have a lot of work to do. I know I could let the Sonata be repo'd or I could voluntarily turn it in, but that would be a major black mark on my credit.
I like the idea of an EV because it would make doordash more profitable because electricity is cheaper than gas, and it eliminates oil changes and the like. Plus my industry is busy in the summer and slow in the winter so having a good tax return from the rebate would be a godsend. Charging infrastructure here is not super robust but enough to support my normal commute, doordashing and any moderate trips I might take, plus it's starting to grow here.
There's no way I can logistically or financially keep 2 cars (the Sonata needs to be registered and insured for the one main loan and to be on my driveway, per my lease) and I need a car to get to work. No public transport here and no real uber or lyft drivers to where it's even remotely reliable. I do have an ebike (I sell them) to get around on but I can't not work when it rains and it won't be a real option in the winter either.
I know a trusted mechanic selling an older Corolla with 200k miles that's supposedly in great shape for $2000-2500, but I'd still have the issue of not knowing what to do with the Sonata and its not like a 200k mile car is going to last me all that long. And trying to come up with $2k plus title, registration, tax, insurance all out of pocket would be a major stretch if not impossible.
So the question is, what do I do with the Sonata?

Before we get into the main debate of what is Al-Salat, allow me to summarize the latest research in the field of mindful meditation and ritualistic chanting. And how it all ties into the freeing of our minds to become more rational, positive, forward looking and grounded.
I will touch on a few findings and give the links to the relevant studies at the bottom of this write-up.
Feeling like your thoughts are in a never-ending loop?
Ever find yourself obsessing over a work email you sent, wondering if you could've worded it better? Or maybe replaying a social interaction that didn't go as smoothly as you hoped? That’s what the relevant experts call rumination, and it’s like your brain is stuck in a loop, fixating on moments you wish you could redo.
Understanding Rumination: Think of your brain as a high-powered, incredibly efficient processor. When you're ruminating, it's as if this processor is running an inefficient program that's draining your mental battery, like when your laptop keeps overheating from too many open tabs. That would be me.
A few words on OCD: Now imagine your brain relentlessly bombarding you with intrusive thoughts, like a nagging doubt about whether you turned off the stove, even though you’ve checked it multiple times. Even more disturbing is when you try to assign blame to yourself for disasters miles away from you.
Intrusive thoughts: Why they happen and how to deal with them.
Occasionally, you’re minding your own business when a weird – and sometimes disturbing or upsetting – thought pops into your head. Why does your brain do this, and does it mean that you’re a bad person? Or even losing your mind. So, what is going on?
The Sci-Fi of Your Brain: The Default Mode Network (DMN): This network is like your brain’s background app. It’s most active when you're not focusing on the task at hand. It’s what kicks in when you’re showering and suddenly start overanalyzing a conversation from five years ago.
So, what is the fix?
Well, it so happens that meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity.
Hacking Your Brain’s Default Mode: The goal is to shift your brain from a state of unproductive rumination to proactive problem-solving. It's like choosing to focus on strategizing your career path or planning your next big adventure instead of dwelling on past mistakes.
The Power of Rituals and Chanting: Incorporating rituals or chanting might sound old-school, but it’s like a mental reset button. Starting your day with a mindfulness exercise or repeating affirmations like "I am capable and strong" can steer your mind away from intrusive thoughts and towards more constructive patterns.
Real Science Backs This Up: Regular practice over 4 to 6 weeks can rewire your brain, enhancing its ability to plan and solve problems – akin to updating your personal software to improve performance and efficiency in every aspect of your life.
The Bottom Line: It’s not about erasing your repetitive behavior; it's about updating your mental toolkit. You're not just stopping the negative cycles; you're starting positive ones. It's a mental upgrade, ensuring your brain is as optimized and forward-thinking as you are in your career and personal life.
There is growing evidence that simple, everyday changes to our lives can alter our brains.
That brings us to the Question, did God cover this extremely important part of our make up in the Quran? Where one can reset our brain’s neural networks in a matter of weeks and pull oneself back into the sphere of rationality from a reactionary emotional mess.
Two things are incessantly emphasized in the Quran, the establishing of Al-Salat and giving thought. Given this backdrop, we will now explore the wisdom behind how to achieve it through the verses of the Quran.
Unfortunately, there is a minority of folks out there who have failed to recognize the true wisdom behind the three times a day grounding exercise through Al-Salat. This lot has irrationally taken upon themselves to go against almost every culture out there and declare rituals as something bad. They then strangely identify Al-Salat as merely a ritual and then attempted to explain it away with linguistic gymnastics. Perhaps the important physical elements of it have thrown them off. I feel this is an emotional route. Rituals are not inherently bad. In terms of religion this is a reactionary approach. Just because bad religions use rituals doesn’t mean all rituals lose currency.
To be clear we will be discussing Al-Salat the noun. Repeated sixty-six times in the Quran (Salat is mentioned 99 times in all its forms). Once as plural and the rest of the time as singular. In fact, I view it as an aid and much closer to mindful meditation. Equating Al-Salat with meditation is very tempting. Especially when long-term practitioners of the ‘art’ put a lot of emphasis on awareness. As opposed to emptying one’s mind and all that jazz. Dhikr and be conscious (ٱتَّقِ), wrongly translated as fear, fits perfectly well here.
The very word Salat predates the revelation of Quran. This is not a new word, the word most probably migrated from Classical Syriac. The spelling of Salat differs from earlier Arabic literature, where ‘waw’ was often used instead of ‘Alif’. The pronunciation stays the same. Not surprisingly Quran mentions a number of earlier Prophets/Messengers engaged in Al-Salat.
Another thing to keep in mind is that both Al-Salat and Al-Zakat are mentioned together a total of 32 times in the Quran. Another 5 times the word spend is used in conjunction to remove any doubt as to what is meant by Al-Zakat. Out of the remaining 27 times Al-Salat is mentioned, 11 and possibly 12 times in instructional verses. Hence, a mere 15 out of a total of 66 mentions of Al-Salat are verses that decouple Al-Salat and Zakat, all the rest of noninstructional verses establish a very strong link between them. The significance of these exact numbers is perhaps a subject of separate research but this much is clear, they are intertwined in a very profound way. We should keep this link in mind when defining A-Salat and Al-Zakat.
The Quran, in addition to reminding us of our forgetful nature, also defines the three main objectives of Al-Salah. A prescribed prayer at designated times is a perfect cure for forgetful nature. The three objectives are:

1. Dhikr (Remembrance for want of a better term) Quran 20:14
2. To seek help from God Quran 2:45 and
3. The prevention of immorality and “evil” deeds Quran 29:45 and 19:59

Bonus effect: When Al-Salat and giving of Al-Zakat are clubbed together, it strengthens our certainty of faith in the hereafter. Quran 27:3. Once again we should keep this association in mind when attempting to define either of them.
If we were to ignore these three objectives and the one stated benefit, the distinction between Dhikr, praise and Al-Salat is blurred for starters (please see note 1 below), resulting in less than ideal conclusions. Two of the three objectives points to a one-way connection/communication. And to this day the word Al-Salat and to a greater degree simply Salat carries the same connotation in the Arabic language. Ministry of communication is called ‘wizarat alaitisalat’ (وزارة الاتصالات).
The third objective seems to be a passive result as opposed to active engagements of the first two. The overarching issue has to do with attention and emotion. Possibly linked to all high physiological arousal reactions like anger, lust, panic or anxiety and even insomnia. Hence, remedial measures must be undertaken to control them. More importantly, certain behavior and environment must be avoided in order not to accentuate unhealthy dose of these human responses. The goal is to reach the observed Gamma wave level meditation that heightens empathy and compassion. Which are counterweights to ‘evil’ tendances. Any way, we are in no position to second guess God on it and science agrees with God.
Let’s go through some of the definitions put forward by analysts for A-Salat. Restricting Al-Salat to a ‘Connection’ of late has become popular. Although linguistically accurate but substance wise is deficient. In that case clapping and whistling is a great way to make a connection. Why would God not accept that? Besides, calling Al-Salat a connection is like calling water wet, accurate but devoid of any real substance.
One school of thought have argued that Al-Salat is referred to as a system of governance or social justice. For me, if that was the case then in sixty six repetitions of the word in the Quran, God would have mentioned it at least once. It is also important to note that when God wants us to establish the system, the Deen, He says just that "establish the Deen" (أقيموا الدين) Quran 42:13.
Besides if we were to take Al-Salat as ‘the’ system then are we to establish three ‘the’ systems? Al-Fajr, Al-Isha and Al-Wusta, and how are they different? Right there is your first logical contradiction. This is compounded by the fact that Quran also refers to Al-Salat in the plural form, Al-Salawati Quran 2:238:3.
Coming back to the issue of ritual, In Quran 2:43 it says " bow with those who bow" a ‘ritual’ act. And in other verses the standing bowing (form can be different) and supplication is mentioned together in the same verses Quran 22:26 and 2:125, clearly pointing to a ‘ritual’ (clarity on this below). God also warns us against empty rituals Quran 2:177 hence an implied nonempty ritual can be deduced from it. In fact, God points out the distortion of the Salat and describe it in these terms “And not was their prayer at the House except whistling and clapping ......”. It is clear from this that this distortion was from some form of correct way of performing Al-Salat. No amount of imagination can distort a whole ‘System’ and reduce it to ‘whistling and clapping’. Besides, the verse clearly points to a particular location as opposed to a city or state. Which would have been the case if Salat was a system.
There are a few dissenting voices beside the system crowd. Let me first deal with one school that has split the Al-Salat to mean ‘following closely’ on one hand and introduce the notion of a congressional Salat or gathering to discuss matters of Deen. When the prefix ‘the’ is added onto ‘the following closely’ it becomes nonsensical. Furthermore, Quran 62:9-10 specifically deals with the Al-Salat performed in a congregational settings. Hence, that clearly shoots down that particular notion or at least the second part of the split. There is no basis for this splitting Al-Salat in the Quran.
Even if we were to entertain the notion, there are a number of difficulties inherent in this approach. Since Al-Salat is decreed upon all believers, forcing young mothers with small children to show up at least twice a day to discuss Deen betrays a male mind doing its thing. God informs us that He doesn't put undue burden on us. Performing Al-Salat three times in the comfort of one's home makes much more sense and is doable.
Young mothers, a sizable portion of any community, can manage that but leaving home twice and participating in any meaningful Deen discussion is a totally different proposition. A minimum one hour turn around for each Salat is being generous. To first instruct believers over 60 times to establish Al-Salat and then give 30 to 40 percent adults a pass is not only illogical but dilutes the importance of Al-Salat all together.
Now when we take into consideration people living in remote areas where the next house is several miles away, these regular sessions start to look like a nonstarter. Add to it adverse weather conditions and the idea of ‘sessions’ as far as I am concerned was dead on arrival.
Another logical difficulty in accepting the notion of a separate meeting/ gathering to discuss Deen is that as per Quran 62:9 after the prayer is concluded, we are then to disperse in the land to seek from God's bounty. The thing to note here is that the Al-Salat is supposed to conclude. That means it will have to be initiated with a new beginning each time. While it is logical to seek God's bounty after the congressional Al-Salat, which is stated to be in the daytime, but it is illogical to disperse in the land after the Isha Al-Salat and seek God's bounty. God is explicit in telling us that night is for rest.
Following as opposed to following closely above and/or commitment is another alternative to the traditional Al-Salat presented without a clear explanation except for a remote linguistic argument. Following or committing to what? Establishing The Deen is a separate endeavor, as mentioned above, that is where we are supposed to follow and commit to. And how do you "establish" ‘the’ following or ‘the’ commitment? Grammatically it doesn't make sense. Logically it clashes with the primary meaning of (أَقَامُوا) which has the connotation of standing still or setting something, which is the opposite of following or motion.
Furthermore, why doesn't following include giving zakat? Why is Al-Zakat mentioned and not simply Zakat all the time? Why is Al-Zakat mentioned with Al-Salat as something separate twenty-five times out of a total of twenty-nine? Purifying wealth by giving it away makes perfect sense and is an integral part of The Deen but purifying as an abstract notion alone is not from the Quran. In fact, God has gone ahead and used the word ‘spend’ (أنفق) multiple times with Al-Salat in instances where Al-Zakat is not mentioned. Quran 2:3, 8:3, 13:22, 14:31, 22:35, 35:29, 42:38. God goes ahead and use the same word in negation in another verse, Quran 9:54 to remove all doubt.
If we were to understand the standing bowing and supplication as a ‘ritual’, it does not contradict any of the verses where Al-Salat is mentioned. (Please see all instances of Al-Salat mentioned in the Quran below Note 3). But when a piece meal approach is taken then Salat, Hajj, fasting all can be made to mean different things based on how they appear in certain verses. The test is to reach conclusions without once introducing contradictions into all the instances where the notion and related words are used.
Whenever the word Salat is used without the ‘Al’, the context of those verses is self-explanatory, like Quran 9:84, 9:103, 33:56. But if we were to assume that Al-Salat could not mean ‘ritual’ then we are left with a lot of verses that have to be explained away in a manner that either border on contradiction or crosses into it. A Quranic impossibility.
Allow me to elaborate a bit more on the proposed system (Social system, Justice system, Socioeconomic system) aspect. How did the Prophet of God implement social order? Did he go around and repeatedly tell people that they should establish social order and social justice? Obviously not.
In fact, the people he was preaching to believed that they already have a social and justice system in place. Merely telling them that they should replace one social and justice system with another was not going to cut it. Besides, God in the Quran has detailed the various element of a just social order. By not focusing on these details and instead resorting to merely telling people to do something and that too in a high-level abstract manner is unlikely to bore results. If it was so easy, then unleashing a flock of trained parrots on them would be the most cost-effective way to bring about behavior change. God would never repeatedly waste words on such an unwise strategy. It is a testament to God’s wisdom that to establish The Deen (The actual social order) Quran 42:13 is mentioned just once in the entire Quran.
That brings us to the real issue of behavior change. Behavior changes and that too of a fundamental nature must start with individuals. It is easy to rile a crowd in a negative way but to establish and implement good needs behavior change on an individual level. This is important because in order to bring about change in a community we need influencers; we need role models. The commercial types have nailed this to the wall. They spend real and big money to get the services of influencers. In order to implement a new social order, we need individuals from whom everything good and proper literally drips. People flock to genuinely good people. Genuinely good people leading disciplined lives are in a best position to implement good change.
What is the best strategy to bring about changes amass but focus on an individual? The first element that must be identified and agreed upon is the Change Method. Mindful meditation as a change method is in itself a powerful tool for self-growth. And when mindful meditation is based on specific Divine instructions it becomes a force multiplier. Not only does meditation develop all the various faculties but it also establishes a regular communication with God.
The practice of meditation can be found in almost all cultures. Modern thinking had been suspicious of the practices and till recently altogether dismissed it as a pseudo mumbo-jumbo. The crazy part in all this was, and still lingers on, is that even when practitioners swear by it, the skeptics stick to their guns. Dozens of scientific studies have put the matter to rest. Not only does mindful meditation alter behavior but studies have shown it alters the physiology of the brain towards good. It was not surprising then that it was a matter of time before it was introduced into mainstream medicine.
Mindful meditation in all its forms is about doing something as opposed to talking about it. This is consistent with all successful behavior change techniques. Habit forming acts help change behavior and prolonged behavior change processes result in change in attitudes. Eventually leading to a desired character. Al-Salat is an ideal Change Method, one of the most fundamental elements in behavior change theory.
Instead of dishing the Al-Salat, when done in a mindful manner, first, ask the people who are engaged in it. It is a simple process, ask them if it helps them become closer to God and prevents them from immoralities. God in fact, warns us about empty ritual as already stated, God does not dismiss rituals as such. The message of the Quran is focused on individuals. We will be judged solely on what we did or did not do individually. God does not even force us to change a chaotic hopeless community, God actually makes it mandatory on those with means to extract themselves from such communities. To blame those engaged in self-improvement on all the ills of the world is a strange position.
When likeminded individuals decide on forming a community then God has given details of how individuals should interact among themselves. The implementation of a social just order falls on those who have already worked on themselves and already achieved a clear sense of right and wrong and have learnt to live a disciplined lifestyle. A just social order is not implemented by undisciplined individuals through vague instructions thrown at them. But individuals respond to precise instructions to be carried out at specific times in order to bring about positive changes towards self-improvement.
One of the objectives of Salat is Dhikr as mentioned above and one of the dangers of neglecting Dhikr is (ضَنْكًا), a position of difficulty, perplexity, distress, or need. Quran 20:124. Keeping in mind the forgetful nature of man, what better way to ensure engaging in Dhikr at least three time a day than establishing Mindful meditation in the form of Al-Salat. With the added physical elements of standing bowing and prostration ensure body and mind workout. Add to it the ritual washing in preparation of Al-Salat and you have all the necessary building blocks of a well-rounded development. And regularly asking God for help during Salat is a bonus.
It is a serious overreach to dismiss easily understood terms and try and twist them to mean something vague and far removed from their default meanings. Since God is privy to the future then why would God first reference the Arabic language and then insert terms along with the mention of Al-Salat that would make Al-Salat evolve to mean something completely different to the coming generations? This would neither be preserving the message nor make it easy to understand.
Instead of blaming mindless Al-Salat and altogether getting rid of it, we should promote mindful Al-Salat. To twist Jonathan Sacks’s words
“The cure for bad Al-Salat is good A-Salat, not no Al-Salat, just as the cure for bad science is good science, not the abandonment of science.”
Hence, when we take Quran 4:101 to 4:103 together, a logical slam dunk materializes. There are three aspects in these three verses. The first is that Al-Salat has a beginning for which a call is made. The second aspect is that Al-Salat has a conclusion. (The word used in Quran 4:103 for this is (قضيتم). Attempts have been made to twist this very clear term. But it is clear to any Arabic speaker that almost all connotations of this word point to coming to an end.) The third is that Al-Salat can be shortened. All in a course of a day or part of a single day. In addition, it shoots down some of the linguistics gymnastics that are initiated to try and prove that Al-Salat has no ritualistic aspects to it.
Those who have declared that standing, bowing and prostration doesn’t mean physical activities then after the Al-Salat is concluded, what are we to make of standing sitting and laying on one’s side? (The remembering aspect is repeated in Quran 3:191 in these exact terms). So, are we to engage in the remembrance of God first in a non-ritualistic manner and then conclude doing so but at the same time continue to remember God again in non-ritualistic manner.
Hence, standing doesn’t mean standing during A-Salat and apparently standing doesn’t mean standing after its conclusion. Let us keep in mind that during Al-Salat, Quran gives us a sequence of physical steps that is standing, bowing and prostration in the relevant verse. Then it gives us a slightly different sequence of physical states after its conclusion of standing, siting and lying on one’s side. The genius of the Quran is that whenever somebody wants to twist straightforward wording of God, Quran takes it to them till they are forced to see sense. It is no surprise the that for them to make their claim plausible they essentially have to rewrite the meaning of commonly understood everyday use words. Although, the etymology of these words has not changed at all to this day.
Then when you (have) finished the Al-Salat, then remember Allah standing and sitting and (lying) on your sides. But when you are secure then establish the Al-Salat. Indeed, the Salat is on the believers prescribed (at) fixed times. Quran 4:103
In any case, the mention of Circumambulation in Quran 2:125 along with standing, bowing, and prostration firmly points to physical acts. There is some discussion of the word for prostration being the adjective qualifying bowing but then there is Quran 3:43 where they are separated by an “and” after reversing the order of occurrence. In either case, it is still a physical act. Although there is no indication of stringing them together other than the order in which they are mentioned. But the way I see it that is consistent with God's mercy of not making it too rigid. This gives us the flexibility to do it in a manner that suits the needs of each one of us.
The notion that standing bowing prostration doesn't mean all those things because their use in some verses points to a different context is strange. If we were to reverse this logic and make those different contexts as the baseline, then standing should not mean standing anywhere in the Quran. Besides, how will ‘following closely’ or ‘social justice’ or ‘system’ resolve this objection?
At least in the case of submission of birds and seemingly innate objects Quran 24:41, please note that the term used is not Al-Salat. In any case we must keep in mind Quran 3:7. All verses with injunctions are not in need of seeking the help of Quran 3:7. But here is when the allegorical references within verses applies. God is giving us a sense of what is going on by the use of familiar terms like Salat, (note the verse did not use Al-Salat) and prostration which He has already taught us, and we know exactly what they mean. God also warns us that we should not take these context specific terms in instances like these and run with them. All the other above-mentioned proposals won’t even make sense with the application of Quran 3:7.
Besides, by that logic then glorifies shouldn’t mean glorifies because that is exactly what all creation of God does. Quran 61:1
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*This is a "re-post" from yesterday because the formatting on my phone was atrocious, and I wanted to add several things.
Going into the 2024 season I think we are seeing one of the biggest shakeups in fantasy relevant player personnel in recent memory. I specifically want to discuss how WR's are going to be ranked on teams with 3 or more "elite" fantasy talents. There are a lot of factors to consider: talent, QB play, chemistry within their offense, etc. However, I specifically want to look at where these WR's are planning on lining up at, in the slot or out wide, and how that may effect their value.
The following teams, at least in my eyes, have 3 elite WR's with varying ADP's and several question marks in terms of who will lead the team in fantasy points and production:
Chicago Bears
Out Wide - DJ Moore & Rome Odunze
Slot - Keenan Allen
Houston Texans
Out Wide - Stefon Diggs & Nico Collins
Slot - Tank Dell
Green Bay Packers
Out Wide - Romeo Doubs & Christian Watson
Slot - Jayden Reed & Dontayvion Wicks
Seattle Seahawks
Out Wide - DJ Metcalf & Tyler Lockett
Slot - Jaxon-Smith Njigba
Jacksonville Jaguars
Out Wide - Brian Thomas Jr. & Gabe Davis
Slot - Christian Kirk
San Francisco 49ers
Out Wide - Brandon Aiyuk & Deebo Samuel
Slot - Ricky Pearsall
Kansas City Chiefs
Out Wide - Xavier Worthy & Marquise Brown
Slot - Rashee Rice (suspension looming)
New York Jets
Out Wide - Mike Williams & Allen Lazard (not calling him elite by any means)
Slot - Garrett Wilson & Malachi Corley
Tennessee Titans
Out Wide - DeAndre Hopkins & Calvin Ridley
Slot - Tyler Boyd
Carolina Panthers
Out Wide - Xavier Legette & Diontae Johnson
Slot - Adam Thielen
I want to use the Packers and Seahawks as the best examples for what likely happens when we have 3 elite WR's lining up for one team. Although Reed and JSN were rookies, who typically don't start making a fantasy impact until the midway point of the season, they saw the greatest "growth" in their production playing from the slot, whereas the receivers lining up out wide (Doubs/Watson & Metcalf/Lockett) had a dip in their fantasy numbers (Watson mostly due to injury problems).
There was an article in 2021 from "fantasypros" (How Do Slot Targets Affect Fantasy Football? FantasyPros) that discussed the difference in value between the targets we see for slot receivers vs receivers who line up out wide. Although some of the specifics in terms of players is going to be outdated, there are some great insights and data that I still think apply today:

• Slot receivers typically have a higher catch rate
• ADOT is lower for slot receivers
• Perimeter receivers had 8.14 yards per target vs 8.26 for slot receivers
• If a player sees the same number of targets in the slot as the perimeter, he's more likely to score TD's in the slot
• Overall, this article determined, using data from the prior 4 seasons, that slot targets are worth 5.5% more than perimeter targets

These numbers are not staggering, however I think using this article as well as what we saw in the previous season from teams like the Packers and Seahawks, lead me to the following opinions about the WR's on the aforementioned teams (for PPR leagues):
Chicago Bears - The best value given where his expected ADP is going to be is Keenan Allen. I think Moore is going too high based off of how well he played last season with Fields at the helm. I think Odunze is fantasy relevant quicker than either JSN or Reed was, but Allen seems to me the safest pick coming off of one of his best fantasy seasons with the Chargers.
Houston Texans - This is going to be the 2nd hardest WR room to judge. Yes, I would typically think Dell is the best value at his ADP given he will play in the slot, and he will have the lowest projected ADP. However, I think we will see the most volatility and boom/bust fantasy performances amongst the 3 receivers. I think I would rank them as 1. Collins 2. Dell 3. Diggs given where their expected ADPs will be.
Green Bay Packers - I am a Green Bay fan, and this is easily the hardest WR room to judge. Most fans will tell you on talent alone, and how they looked at the end of the season, Wicks is the favorite. I will likely avoid this room all together, as the ball will be spread around fairly evenly. Given where their expected ADPs are, here is how I would rank their value 1. Wicks 2. Doubs 3. Reed 4. Watson. I believe Reed will be the #1 fantasy WR on this team, but he also is expected to get drafted several tiers about any of the other receivers. Watson is the most risky for a myriad of reasons, so I like Wicks and Doubs given their expected ADPs.
Seattle Seahawks - I really like JSN based off where his expected ADP is going to be vs Metcalf and Lockett. I think JSN came on and ended the season strong, getting praise for his route running. Looking at some data, I was a little surprised by his number of drops, but nothing unexpected for a rookie. I also have a feeling that Howell may win over this starting role at some point during the season, which I would prefer over Geno running the show all year. Lockett is always slept on and the best value at his ADP, and saw almost the exact same number of targets as Metcalf, with fewer TDs and yards.
Jacksonville Jaguars - I think this is straight-forward, Kirk will by far be the best value given his expected ADP and one of the my favorite value picks of the draft. I think he crushes it in the slot, and we see him as the fantasy leader for this team in PPR formats by a decent margin. I think Brian Thomas Jr. is a fantastic fit in this offense and the type of receiver Lawrence will utilize, but like Gabe Davis, I expect his numbers to be more volatile than Kirk. You could argue BTJ has the highest upside, but I like consistency in every format outside of Best Ball.
San Francisco 49ers - This is tough because as of right now, we do not know for sure if Aiyuk and Deebo remain on this team at the start of the season. I am going to assume they both do, and therefore this is another WR room I may avoid based on the expected ADPs. the 49ers love to spread the ball around, but McCaffrey is the most consistently dominant player on this offense week in and week out. I love Aiyuk, but I do not think he will every crack the top 10 for fantasy WR's with all of the weapons he has to compete with on this team. Deebo had a great stretch weeks 12-17 last season and is one of the most explosive players after the catch in the league, so part of me favors him more given the hype for Aiyuk and their expected ADPs (Deebo being riskier in terms of injury history). Pearsall will be the best value, given he is expected to play in the slot and the draft capital the 49ers spent on him.
Kansas City Chiefs - I would be shocked if Rice does not get at least a 4-6 game suspension or worse based off of the most recent news. Therefore, I cannot even remotely accurately predict who will be the best fantasy WR in this offense. As of right now, the best value given his expected ADP is Kelce and it is not even close.
New York Jets - I am excited to see a full season of Rodgers leading this offense *fingers crossed I did not just jinx this already unlucky franchise. Even though his expected ADP is in the top 10, I love Wilson this season. He saw the 3rd most targets in the NFL last season with atrocious QB play. This team bolstered the offensive line and added another solid weapon in Mike Williams. I think Williams has solid value for his ADP, but he is one of the most injury prone receivers in the league. I think he is far more talented than Lazard, and although Lazard has chemistry with Rodgers, I think Williams is the better receiver. Corley is interesting, as he is mostly a slot guy and "screen merchant", meaning I think they will need to design plays specifically for him as 46% of his yards in college came from screen passes and crossing routes, and I don't see him having major fantasy relevance right away on this team.
Tennessee Titans - This team is tough to feel confident in drafting any of these WR's for many reason. My biggest concern is Levis and how horrible he was apart from his 4 TD week 8 performance against the Falcons in his debut as a starter. I think the Titans had a solid draft and off season, providing him with every weapon he could need to be successful. He seemed to have built some decent chemistry with Hopkins at several points, which makes me want to favor him over the new guy on the team, Ridley. Acquiring Boyd is interesting if he does play in the slot the majority of the time. As with previous teams discussed, I would favor the value of the slot receiver.
Carolina Panthers - I personally love the profile of Legette. Everyone is concerned about his 5th year break out in college, but how many people know that he lost both of his parents early on in college and that obviously had an impact on more than just his college football career? I am a big truther when it comes to the opinion of Steve Smith Sr. and his comp for Legette was DK Metcalf, but better. It was clear that the Panthers loved him based off where he was drafted and I think they look to make him the cornerstone of this offense. This offense and team however, was abysmal last season, and they have nowhere to go but up. There new HC Canales has had success building QB's like Russell Wilson, Geno Smith, and Baker Mayfield so I have faith in Young improving handedly in year 2. Yes, Thielen is the slot receiver and saw an abundance of targets the first half of the 2023 season, but we saw that fade just as quickly the 2nd half. I love the talent of Diontae, but I favor Legette as the more dominant perimeter receiver on this team.
I am curious what the community thinks and if any fans of these teams have more insightful thoughts on these WR rooms.

Hi all, I can’t find much resources online so I figured id answer here. Definitely a first world problem, but just curious more than anything.
I recently rented a car from SLC at hertz after getting Presidents Circle with my new Amex.
I was under the impression that I could take any PC, 5 Star, or gold car. When I got there, all they had in PC was SUVs, and since I was driving quite a bit and it was just me, I opted for a Chevy Malibu that was in the 5 Star section to save on a little gas.
When exiting I was told I can not take the 5S cars, and only the PC cars. Thy said that the 5S and gold cars at this location are reserved. I had to turn around and park it.
The 5S cars at this location were significantly better than the 20 ford escapes in PC (Literally that and a couple chevy SUVs is all they had). It almost seems like having 5S status would be better than PC, since 5S had some convertibles and a brand new mustang.
I reserved a car purposely to save on some gas so it was frustrating that I had to take an SUV. The line at the gold counter was 8 people deep and I needed to get on the road.
Is this just a location thing, or is this the norm at Hertz?