Justin P. Miller
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  • You get what you pay for

    This article about companies that tried to save money using supposed AI and are now spending even more to fix mistakes reminds me of the nice revenue stream I have developed fixing mistakes in cheap and/or do-it-yourself divorces.

    A couple decide to get divorced, and don’t want to hire an attorney. Presumably, they also do their own electrical, plumbing, taxes, dental work, and surgery. Our Heroes, usually (and statistically) living somewhere in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, see a billboard or other advertisement and spend their $179 or $249 or whatever too-low-to-be-true fee being charged for a no-fault divorce, and they file.

    What makes this scheme work for the firms that do it is that filing fees vary across the state, county by county. Some counties charge significant filing fees to support the robust court services they offer for divorcing parties. Other counties - a handful in particular - have cornered the market on cheap divorces by charging very low filing fees and making up for it in volume. These counties also happen to be sparsely populated, rurally situated, and at least five hours from where our statistically likely Heroes live.

    Invariably, something Goes Wrong and the parties find themselves needing to go to court. Where? That far-off small courthouse with one judge and a literal hitching post in the parking lot. They call the firm they “hired” to do their divorce and learn that the representation was limited to preparing the documents, which the parties filed as pro se litigants, and they have to find new counsel because the divorce mill attorney isn’t about to drive to the hinterlands to go to court!

    That’s where I come in.

    My office is within easy driving distance from the Divorce Capital of Pennsylvania: Cameron County. There aren’t many other attorneys this close who are 1) willing to go there, 2) willing to take these cases, and 3) good at getting results. So, a couple of times per year, I get a call from some unfortunate soul who tried to save a buck. I figure out what went wrong, quote a fee, and then we try to fix it as best we can. Sometimes we can, sometimes we can’t.

    → 2:32 PM, Jul 15
  • New keyboard, who this?

    I love a new keyboard. I seem to buy a new one at least every six months. For years I used keyboards with actual switches, but at some point in the last five years I’d switched over to laptop-style keys exclusively. I tried out a Logitech MX Mechanical Mini with Tactile Quiet switches last week and liked it enough to buy one. The replaceable keycaps are a nice feature because I didn’t like the feel of the plastic on the included ones. (My texture sensitive people know what I’m talking about.) I fortunately found some in classic Apple style (ADB era) that feel right. In other words, I’m back to mildly clicky typing again - and it is great!

    → 3:45 PM, Jul 14
  • Currently reading: Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle 📚

    → 1:49 PM, Jul 22
  • Must be Lego Day at Wirecutter

    Three Four stories posted today:

    I missed this one: Lego Isn’t Just for Kids. Here’s How to Become an Adult Lego Master.

    The Best Lego Sets for Adults

    The Best Lego Sets for Kids

    The Best Lego Sorting and Storage Tools

    → 4:34 PM, Jul 21
  • ER docs worry over extreme heat as a ‘mass casualty event’

    In Phoenix, where daytime temperatures are topping 110 degrees Fahrenheit for the third straight week, emergency room doctors think of extreme heat as the public health emergency it has proved itself to be: In 2022, Arizona’s Maricopa County reported a 25% increase in heat-related mortality from the previous year.

    → 6:59 PM, Jul 19
  • sĭl′ĭ-kən, -kŏn″

    Why does Apple pronounce “silicon” with an “ə” in the last syllable instead of the more traditional American “ŏ”? Are they sourcing it from the UK’s Commonwealth?

    → 3:28 PM, Jul 14
  • kottke.org, Jason Kottke: Instruction Manuals for 6000+ Lego Sets, Courtesy of the Internet Archive

    → 1:33 PM, Jul 14
  • Announcing The Laundry Files 2nd Edition | Cubicle 7 Games

    I’m so excited for this one!

    → 11:04 AM, Jul 14
  • Nautilus: A Third of North America’s Birds Have Vanished

    For weeks, Adam Smith had been crunching the raw data from more bird statistics than anyone had ever tried before—thirteen different bird counts and millions of radar sweeps. Suddenly he heard the musical chime that tells him his results are ready. He leaned across his desk, surrounded by enough high-powered computers to heat up his entire office, and stared at what could only be an impossible conclusion: Over the past fifty years, his calculations found, a third of North America’s birds had vanished.

    → 3:11 PM, Jul 13
  • But is Anish Kapoor allowed to use it?

    NYT: To Help Cool a Hot Planet, the Whitest of White Coats

    Dr. Munday noted that covering half the Sahara, or any contiguous surface, with that much radiative material shouldn’t happen for a number of reasons, among them practicality, wildlife concerns and weather disruptions caused by one region suddenly becoming much cooler.

    → 6:55 PM, Jul 12
  • Wirecutter: “Why We Love Lego”

    I have a stack of bricks at my desk that I use as a fidget toy to help me think during meetings. I stack and unstack the tiny tower of three by two bricks, hearing the satisfying click as I break them apart and put them back together.

    This is how I get through every phone conference and zoom meeting.

    → 9:42 PM, Jul 11
  • Florida Republican women say they will switch parties after DeSantis approves alimony law:

    Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a measure that will overhaul the state’s alimony laws, after three vetoes of similar bills and a decade of emotional clashes over the issue. The measure (SB 1416) includes doing away with what is known as permanent alimony. DeSantis’ approval came a year after he nixed a similar bill that sought to eliminate permanent alimony and set up a formula for alimony amounts based on the length of marriage.

    → 12:02 PM, Jul 10
  • “…it was also bad to suffer the terror of monotony”

    WHAT DID PEOPLE DO BEFORE SMARTPHONES?

    → 4:12 PM, Jul 8
  • Currently reading: The Friendly Orange Glow by Brian Dear 📚

    This is a fascinating look at a part of technological history I had not known about before picking up this book.

    → 2:13 AM, Jul 8
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