A consumer thread

[Deus Irae]

GameStop said Thursday it plans to shut down more stores after failing to meet second-quarter earnings forecasts. The news comes six months after the video game retailer announced in March it had closed 287 stores across the globe in the previous 12 months.


The company now has just over 4,000 brick and mortar locations and says it's identifying additional stores for closure. The company cites dwindling sales due to consumers' shift towards streaming platforms, digital downloads, and online shopping...

GameStop To Close More Stores After Earnings Report

 

[Deus Irae]

After putting “closing soon” banners on roughly 300 of its stores this summer, retailer Big Lots has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Leaders of the Ohio-based company warned earlier this year that inflation and troubles competing with other retailers had cast “substantial doubt” on Big Lots’ ability to continue. It quickly prompted speculation that Big Lots would file for bankruptcy, and those opinions were only heightened when the company postponed its second-quarter earnings call from September 6 to this coming Thursday.

Early Monday morning, Big Lots announced plans to sell assets and business operations to Nexus Capital Management, a private equity firm...

Big Lots bankruptcy: The roughly 300 stores already set to close in the US

 

[Deus Irae]

My condolences to those who like liverwurst, both because you actually like liverwurst and because the company won't be just fixing the production problem rather than removing the item from their lineup.

After a deadly listeria outbreak stretched across 18 states and killed at least nine people, Boar's Head will "indefinitely close" the Jarratt, Virginia, meat plant tied to the outbreak.

The deli meat company made the announcement Friday, in a press release posted to their website emphasizing the "regret" and "pain" that the outbreak and subsequent plant closure caused.

"We regret and deeply apologize for the recent Listeria monocytogenes contamination in our liverwurst product," the release begins. "We understand the gravity of this situation and the profound impact it has had on affected families. Comprehensive measures are being implemented to prevent such an incident from ever happening again."

Those measures include Boar's Head permanently discontinuing liverwurst, which was the product that was recalled for causing the listeria outbreak. The "root cause of the contamination" was "a specific production process that only existed at the Jarratt facility and was used only for liverwurst," the company said...

Boar's Head to ‘indefinitely close' Virginia plant tied to listeria deaths

 

[Lord Chevy]

View: https://youtu.be/Fo3OzwgR1_Q

 

[Beers]

Anyone have experience with WiFi extender/booster's? I'm looking at a couple $29 deals and wondering how well they work. I'd like to put one upstairs and another in the garage.

 

[Lord Chevy]

Anyone have experience with WiFi extender/booster's? I'm looking at a couple $29 deals and wondering how well they work. I'd like to put one upstairs and another in the garage.

Overall - I hate the damn things. They're unpredictable and unreliable.

If you can, run a cat5e or 6 cable to where you need coverage and pick up a WAP for each. Unifi by Ubiquiti is very good. We have one client with 40 of them, and another with 30. Buy them with the POE injector and you'll only need to run the data cable.

Access Point U6 Lite - Ubiquiti Store

Compact, ceiling-mounted WiFi 6 AP with 4 spatial streams ideal for smaller offices.

store.ui.com

The software to config makes it real easy - you can even set up a guest network with limits (no local network access, can isolate by vlan if you want/need to).

 

[Deus Irae]

Another one files:

Tupperware — the food storage company that’s been used in households around the country since 1946 — has filed for bankruptcy.

On Sept. 17, the Tupperware Brands Corporation announced it has voluntarily initiated Chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. This type of bankruptcy allows debtors to reorganize their finances and assets with the help of the court to avoid shutting dow...

The party’s over: Tupperware files for bankruptcy

 

[Beers]

Overall - I hate the damn things. They're unpredictable and unreliable.

If you can, run a cat5e or 6 cable to where you need coverage and pick up a WAP for each. Unifi by Ubiquiti is very good. We have one client with 40 of them, and another with 30. Buy them with the POE injector and you'll only need to run the data cable.

Access Point U6 Lite - Ubiquiti Store

Compact, ceiling-mounted WiFi 6 AP with 4 spatial streams ideal for smaller offices.

store.ui.com

The software to config makes it real easy - you can even set up a guest network with limits (no local network access, can isolate by vlan if you want/need to).

Thanks for the info.. I'll check it out and see if I can run cable, especially to the garage, without too much trouble.

 

[Deus Irae]

Unless the CEO change is accompanied by a political culture change, I doubt this will do much for the company, the potential consumers, or the country:

The CEO of athletic giant Nike, John Donahoe, is to step down from his role next month and will be succeeded by former senior executive Elliott Hill, the sporting goods company announced on Sept. 19.

The leadership shakeup comes amid a turbulent year for Nike, which has seen sales drop and its stock price fall while competition from its rivals remains tough.

Donahoe, who has served as president and CEO of Nike since January 2020, will retire from the roles on Oct. 13, Nike said. He will remain as an adviser to the company to ensure a “smooth transition” through Jan. 31, 2025, it noted...

Nike CEO Stepping Down, Will Be Replaced by Veteran Executive

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Overall - I hate the damn things. They're unpredictable and unreliable.

If you can, run a cat5e or 6 cable to where you need coverage and pick up a WAP for each. Unifi by Ubiquiti is very good. We have one client with 40 of them, and another with 30. Buy them with the POE injector and you'll only need to run the data cable.

Access Point U6 Lite - Ubiquiti Store

Compact, ceiling-mounted WiFi 6 AP with 4 spatial streams ideal for smaller offices.

store.ui.com

The software to config makes it real easy - you can even set up a guest network with limits (no local network access, can isolate by vlan if you want/need to).

Seconded.

I tried extenders in my house for years and never got results I wanted. Finally ran a Cat6 from the router, up the wall, through the ceiling, to the upstairs opposite end of the home and connected it an access point. Ran perfectly, strong signal everywhere.

Also, if running the cable hard-wired isn’t feasible, look into getting the absolute best router possible before investing in extenders. Extenders don’t actually “boost” and it’s a misleading word. In reality they just repeat the signal and also reduce it usually by 50% or more, and are often placed at the lower bandwidth outer range of the router as well, so that’s why the result is subpar. If you’re using extenders with an underpowered router (which many people do, thinking it’s going to enhance it) it’s a total waste of money.

Extenders do serve a purpose: they allow you to get lower quality, lower speed internet access in areas outside your router’s range and are cheap and easy.

@Beers

 

[Deus Irae]

 

[Lord Chevy]

But ... but the economy is better than ever!

Right?

 

[Beers]

How about security cameras? What do you all use/recommend?

 

[Lord Chevy]

How about security cameras? What do you all use/recommend?

Depends on budget and what you need.

Long term archiving, 4k, indoor v outdoor, PTZ, offsite storage, etc.

Avoid the Costco/Best Buy one box solutions. Crap.

Ubiquiti has a good camera solution - it's solid, and integrates with their other products.

Look for an NVR that supports add-on storage (USB, NAS). This will allow you to expand the storage at a lower cost, even keeping video for long term. Motion activated recording is another nice feature - saves on space during off-hours and usually can be set up to start at motion and not stop for X minutes. POE cameras are a must - with a solid POE switch you can power the device over the network connection - makes it easier to place cameras where you need them.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

How about security cameras? What do you all use/recommend?

I had Arlos and they worked well. Nest is also very popular. There are so many now. i think you can find a very good value at any price point with a little research.

 

[Deus Irae]

How about security cameras? What do you all use/recommend?

Nothing wireless.

 

[Beers]

Depends on budget and what you need.

Long term archiving, 4k, indoor v outdoor, PTZ, offsite storage, etc.

Avoid the Costco/Best Buy one box solutions. Crap.

Ubiquiti has a good camera solution - it's solid, and integrates with their other products.

Look for an NVR that supports add-on storage (USB, NAS). This will allow you to expand the storage at a lower cost, even keeping video for long term. Motion activated recording is another nice feature - saves on space during off-hours and usually can be set up to start at motion and not stop for X minutes. POE cameras are a must - with a solid POE switch you can power the device over the network connection - makes it easier to place cameras where you need them.

I hadn't thought too much about budget, but I'd say a few hundred bucks. I was thinking probably 4 cameras, outdoors. Amazon seems to have a million options

 

[Beers]

Something like this?

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

 

[Lord Chevy]

Something like this?

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

Looks like a good deal. Can't speak to the quality of the hardware, but it checks a lot of boxes - POE, outdoor, motion, and external storage.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Something like this?

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

Looks good. I usually cross check positive Amazon reviews with Reddit or a relevant online forum.