Cleaned out my bookmarks folder for the first time in 3 years and found 47 dead links

Figured out why my bottom bracket was creaking after 2 years of noise

Turns out it was just a tiny bit of grit caught between the frame and the bearing cup on my commuter bike that I built up last March. Took it apart at my shop in Portland last night and a quick clean with a rag and some fresh grease fixed everything. Has anyone else had a creak that drove them crazy for months only to find a super simple fix?

Rant: That contractor who didn't call before digging near our pit

I was on a service call in a basement in Pittsburgh last Tuesday, and some contractor had cut right through our controller wiring for the elevator pit. They didn't call 811 before they started digging. I had to reroute all the cables through a new conduit, which took me half the day. The worst part was the building manager didn't even know they were doing excavation work. Has anyone else dealt with careless digging near their equipment?

Can we talk about why everyone thinks MKUltra was shut down in 1973?

I keep seeing people online say the CIA's MKUltra program ended when they destroyed the files in 1973. But I just read through the Church Committee report from 1975, and it clearly shows they kept running behavior modification experiments at least through 1974 at McGill University and a few other places. The files were burned, sure, but the actual work continued under new names. Has anyone else dug into those later records from the Senate hearings?

Debate: Is the Wayback Machine better for finding old geocities sites or just stumbling through dead link directories?

I spent 3 hours last night comparing the 1998 version of a fan site for The X-Files through Wayback versus a cached list from a random forum, and the Wayback clearly won for preserving images and layout, but the directory had way more obscure personal notes from the original creator - which approach do you all think gives the truer abandoned web experience?

Heads up on those cheap airlock kits from that big online store

Lost about $35 when the grommets cracked on three lids during my first batch of sauerkraut, ruining the whole ferment. Anyone have a reliable brand for 1-gallon jar lids that actually last?

So I tried fermenting a batch of hot sauce with ghost peppers and pineapple for 3 weeks, and it came out tasting like fizzy candy. What gives?

My shop foreman insisted on using a torque wrench for stem bolts, and I finally get it now

He said 'just feel' wasn't good enough, especially on carbon steerers, and I blew off his advice for years. Last month, a customer brought in a cracked Giant TCR stem after another shop overtightened it, and the repair bill was over $400. I've used my 5 Nm preset wrench on every cockpit since. What's a part you've started torquing that you used to just crank down?

I finally realized I'd been reading a 2008 forum thread about 'the best browser' where everyone was arguing over Netscape Navigator.

The moment of truth came when someone earnestly suggested trying the new 'Google Chrome Beta' to see if it was any good.

Spent $80 on a 'heat protectant' spray that fried my client's hair

I bought the 'ThermaGuard Pro' spray from a beauty supply in Phoenix, thinking it was salon-grade. It left a sticky residue and actually made my client's highlights turn brassy after one blowout. I had to comp her a full corrective color service, which cost me over $200. Has anyone else had a product fail this badly, and what's your go-to protectant now?