Razors Edge

Where is @Zephyr family from?

Exactly!

Coincidence or terrorist plot? 500 Newfoundlanders wound up on the same cruise and it turned into a rocking kitchen party ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - A Celebrity Apex cruise to the Caribbean this month turned into a rocking Newfoundland kitchen party when hundreds of people from Canada's easternmost province happened to be booked on the same ship. By a strange stroke of luck, 250 couples from the province, as well as kids and grandparents and even Newfoundlanders living in other parts of the world, were all on the same cruise, said Mark Hiscock, who sings and plays banjo and accordion in the popular Newfoundland-trad band, Shanneyganock. There were we so many Newfoundlanders on board, the company roped off the main pool deck one night and hosted a party exclusively for passengers from the province, Hiscock said. "You had to show your ID, that you were part of the Newfoundland contingent," the musician said in an interview. "I ran up and sang 'The Islander' and 'I'se the B'y' and everybody was going cracked." About 3,000 people were on board when the ship set sail for the Caribbean on April 6. Pamela Pardy bought her ticket in November and soon began seeing social media posts from friends and friends of friends saying they, too, would be on the cruise. Her travel agent then confirmed that 250 couples from the province, excluding kids and grandparents, would also be on board. "Plus, when we go on the ship, there were all these people who don't live in Newfoundland but are from Newfoundland," she said in an interview. "So Newfoundlanders from around the world, literally, who were, by fluke, on this same cruise." Pardy said she and her fiance have been on many fabulous cruises -- they often take two a year -- but sailing the seas with all those fellow Newfoundlanders was uniquely special. There was a connection between the passengers, and people felt free to strike up conversations with friends and strangers, Pardy said. She and her fiance would drape a Newfoundland and Labrador flag over the deck chairs as an invitation for anyone looking for a chat. "Being in an elevator on a cruise ship is not usually a social event," Pardy said. "But when you're from Newfoundland, and you hear, 'Come on in, my ducky,' or 'What floor are you going to, my trout?' It was just so endearing." The non-Newfoundland passengers were also included; the open, chatty atmosphere extended to them, and they were welcomed to witness what Pardy called "Newfoundland hospitality." She said she spoke with several people without connections to the province who were now interested in visiting. On the last night of the voyage, many of the Newfoundlanders gathered again on the deck to take a group picture and sing the Ode to Newfoundland, the province's official anthem. "You felt part of something bigger," Pardy said. "That's the only way that I can explain it." She said she hopes Expedia Cruises will offer another cruise full of Newfoundlanders -- this time on purpose

I think @jsharr was already on the case!

All this time I thought @Kzoo was a dude! Did "he" change his pronoun?

What a fun series. Now I need to Wiki it and see if there is a possibility for a 2nd season!

As far as I was aware, it was JUST Jax for the past few month. Now - BOOM - THREE DOGS?!?!?! How did I miss the dog #2 event?

Folks like @Johnny Come Lately Name use that one minute break to grab a fresh beer from the fridge as well. He's a real multitasker.

PERV!!!! But, yeah, show us the drone footage, dammit!

WWJD?

...and got in trouble for it It was ISIS, Baby!!!!

Give @Johnny Come Lately Name shot to prove you wrong!

From what I can tell, that's a good thing as the real estate market in Jackson is a real shit show!

Can we see the moon? THat might help with deciding on the arsehole bit, too!

...in the "did I pay for an OS or not?" department! Windows 11's Start Menu Will Soon Have Ads: Here's How to Turn Them Off It's no secret that Microsoft wanted to put ads in the Windows 11 Start menu. The tech giant started testing ads in its beta releases a couple of weeks ago, and prior versions of Windows had advertising in the Start menu as well. As of Wednesday, the update adding those ads to the Start menu is rolling out. According to Microsoft, the Start menu ads will be comprised of Microsoft Store apps chosen from a "small set of curated developers." The ads will appear in the Recommended section of the Start menu which previously only showed documents and images that the user had recently used. When you click on an ad, you'll be redirected to the Microsoft Store to download the app. Microsoft isn't just adding advertisements to the Start menu. The update changelog also notes that frequently used apps already installed on the user's machine will also appear in the Recommended section alongside the ads. Apps will appear there only if they aren't already pinned to the taskbar or Start menu. For the time being, the update is optional. You can find it by navigating to Windows Update > Advanced Options > Optional updates where you can install update KB5036980. In addition to Start menu ads, the update includes some additional fixes and improvements. Notably, this update fixes an issue where widget icons on the taskbar can be pixelated or fuzzy. Lock screen widgets are also improved, and Microsoft says that they'll be more reliable moving forward. Some of minor bug fixes include fixing an issue with the Japanese 106 keyboard layout and a freezing issue with the Settings app. The full documentation is available on Microsoft's support website. So far, I've had the update installed for a few hours and have yet to see any ads, although some users and publications have been able to get them to show up. It's likely that Microsoft hasn't turned on advertising for the majority of users yet and will wait to do so until the update rolls out to more machines. Ads in Windows are nothing new The Start menu is only the latest victim in Microsoft's plan to add advertising to as many parts of Windows as it can. However, advertising has been in the operating system for a long time already. Microsoft's Search UI recommends web articles, apps, games, and other promotional materials. For the most part, users either turn these ads off or have tuned them out. Windows 10 also had advertising directly in its Start menu, so this is something Microsoft has done before. It was done exactly the same way with promoted apps showing up as tiles that you had to manually remove so you could use that space for other things if you wanted to. In all honesty, it's surprising that it took Microsoft this long to start adding ads to the Windows 11 Start menu.