The Off Topic Topic

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Yeah, I've hardly ordered anything off Amazon in the past several years.  I tend to stick to more specialty retails for stuff I can't get locally, where even the ones that have started allowing third-party sellers (like Newegg) let me filter them all out because they still actually sell products.  Amazon is transitioning from an online department store to a marketplace of sellers in the same vein as Ebay and Aliexpress.

Amazon seems to be in an awkward spot with respect to its eCommerce business.  Unfortunately, their filings only separate revenue and earnings for AWS and not-AWS, so we don't know for certain what their eCommerce specifically is generating, but in FY2024 not-AWS was 83% of revenue, but only 42% of net earnings.

[Grey Fox]

I still use Amazon a lot. It's the only way to not have prohibitively expensive shipping options. Not counting that assholes business too cheap to have into Canada shipping from Asia meaning we also have to pay the USA puts on themselves tariffs.

[Valmy]

I use amazon sometimes to find products I want. Then I go to that company's website and just buy it directly from them 

I do buy from Target and Best Buy if they have instore pickup though. That is the only middleman I use generally.

[crazy canuck]

Never have and never will use Amazon to buy products. But I like the shows on Prime so I subscribe to their streaming service.

[celedhring]

I use amazon sometimes to find products I want. Then I go to that company's website and just buy it directly from them 

I do buy from Target and Best Buy if they have instore pickup though. That is the only middleman I use generally.

There's some stuff I have to order out of Amazon because it's not available anywhere else around here (i.e. 3d printer supplies and replacement parts). Other than that, I try to give them the least business possible.

[mongers]

Mongers, look for a custom-building outfit. I used "Palicomp" a couple of times, google them. They do a decent job, for example they came back to me after an order to suggest a better (and not more expensive) setup compatibility-wise.

Don't buy a premade crap.

Thanks Tamas for the suggestion, I'll look into it.

[mongers]

I use a firm called PC Specialist https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/ as does my oldest. I think we have had about 8 PCs and laptops off them over the years without a single dud. No way you should buy off Amazon.

Thanks Tricky, there some nice specked pcs there. 

[Caliga]

What We Know About the UPS Plane Crash in Louisville

Seven people were dead after the cargo plane crashed soon after takeoff. The authorities canceled flights from the airport in Louisville, Ky., and local residents were ordered to remain indoors.

Francesca Regalado
By Francesca Regalado
Published Nov. 4, 2025
Updated Nov. 5, 2025, 12:09 a.m. ET

Travelers were advised to expect flight delays and cancellations on Thursday at Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville, Ky., after a UPS cargo plane crashed near the runway, leaving at least seven people dead.

The crash on Tuesday afternoon ignited a large fire in a cluster of buildings south of the airport, sending plumes of black smoke into the sky. Firefighters were close to fully containing the fire, the authorities said.

The airport was closed and all departing flights were canceled on Tuesday night. There were an unknown number of injured people, according to authorities.

Here's what we know about the crash:

The plane crashed as it was taking off.
Three UPS crew members were on the MD-11 plane for Flight 2976 as it departed for Honolulu around 5:15 p.m., the authorities said. It descended shortly after taking off and crashed three miles south of the airport, the police said.

There was no hazardous cargo on the plane, Mayor Craig Greenberg of Louisville said in a Tuesday night briefing. Some storage tanks containing propane and oil at the crash site had ruptured, but the fire was almost entirely contained, Brian O'Neill, chief of the Louisville Fire Department, said on Tuesday.

A team of investigators would arrive in Kentucky and provide updates on Wednesday, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a social media post on Tuesday.

At least seven people were killed.
The authorities said that seven people had died from the crash. The identities of the victims were not yet known. UPS said in a statement on Tuesday that it had not confirmed any injuries or fatalities among its crew.

The plane hit buildings that housed two businesses, a waste company and Grade A Auto Parts. Three employees of Grade A were still missing, said Joey Garber, its chief operating officer.

Ten victims were brought to hospitals that are part of the University of Louisville, some with critical burns and others with injuries that were not life-threatening, said David McArthur, a spokesman for the University of Louisville Hospital.

Louisville is the main air hub for UPS.
The crash disrupted cargo operations for UPS, which has its largest air cargo hub, called Worldport, in Louisville. In a statement, UPS called the city the home of its airline and thousands of employees, and said that package sorting operations there would be halted overnight.

Louisville airport was the world's fifth busiest airport for cargo traffic last year, behind Hong Kong, Shanghai, Memphis and Anchorage, according to Airports Council International, an industry lobbying group.

The airport would reopen on Wednesday morning, Mr. Greenberg said. The airport said on social media that delays and cancellations were likely on Wednesday. A shelter-in-place order, which was issued Tuesday evening, was reduced to a one-mile radius around the airport. The local school district said classes would be canceled on Wednesday.

Before Wednesday, the most recent crash involving UPS happened in 2013, when a plane that departed from Louisville crashed in Birmingham, Ala., killing its two pilots.

Alexandra E. Petri and Pooja Salhotra contributed reporting.

Francesca Regalado is a Times reporter covering breaking news.

[HVC]

Guessing badly stowed cargo led to a stability issue.

[Caliga]

Early reports were that an engine needed maintenance and the flight was delayed for a few hours before being cleared.  I guess the maintenance didn't go too well as one of the engines fell off on the takeoff roll and then the wing tank caught fire.

I live about 12 miles east of the airport and I was at a dinner with co-workers when it happened.  We didn't see anything or hear anything but when I got home and let my dog out, I could smell an odd ozone-y odor in the air.  I don't know for sure if it was connected but it was an unusual smell I don't think I've ever smelled before.  A co-worker was driving home and hit what looked to him like a wall of fog that had a distinct kerosene smell.

Another co-worker who lives less than two miles away was walking his dog and wondered why the sky suddenly got dark, and then wondered why he could see flaming debris falling out of the sky.

[Jacob]

Never heard of this before. Kind of cool (if true, I read it on the internet after all): https://peakd.com/history/@arraymedia/he-injected-thousands-with-fake-disease-and-the-nazis-never-realized-they-were-quarantining-healthy-people-from-death-camps