SyntaxColoring

I'm troubleshooting an M Audio SP-2 that I got second-hand, and that looks to have been modded by someone else. (Its cable has been replaced. I'm not sure if anything else has changed.)

It has a quirk: depending on the polarity setting, the sustain activates very "early," when the pedal is only pressed down ~10% of the way. I would have expected it to activate when it's closer to ~90% pressed down.

Before I look too far into "fixing" this, I'm just looking for some confirmation that this is, in fact, a wrong way for a sustain pedal to behave? It certainly feels weird to me, but maybe it's a matter of opinion?

I'm having fun with my Empress Zoia, but it involves a lot of futzing with parameters, and I'm having trouble making patches at home that still sound decent when I take them live.

At home, my signal chain is this:

Bass -> Boss OC-2 -> Empress Zoia -> Behringer BDI21 -> computer audio interface -> headphones -> my ears

And live, it's this:

Bass -> Boss OC-2 -> Empress Zoia -> the venue's combo amp -> who knows

I was hoping that the BDI21 would get my home setup to sound close enough to a live setup that there would be no surprises, but that's not panning out. At home, I can do a fuzz that sounds like Radiohead - The National Anthem,

I play in open jams that sometimes settle into extended 1-chord vamps. As a bassist, what can I do to keep these interesting so we don’t sound like a broken record? At least, until a vocalist or lead instrumentalist finds something to do.

For example, Chain of Fools is a 1-chord vamp that feels interesting and varied, but I think that’s the work of the vocals and guitar. Without those, is there a way for the bass to fill that role, without losing the underlying chord? Are there any examples of songs that do this?

As far as I can tell, the housing lotteries on NYC Housing Connect have completely unpredictable lease start dates.

You have no way of knowing when—or even if—you'll hear a response to your application. And then, if you're lucky enough to be accepted, it doesn't sound like they'll be nice and hold your spot until your current lease ends. It sounds like they give you a now-or-never offer.

The about page says:

It can take several months or longer to hear about your application. Sometimes you might not hear back even if you qualify.

While you’re waiting, carefully check what you

Various sources (like Bank of America, Experian, and Investopedia) suggest, for tax purposes, saving your bank statements going back several years. I guess if you're audited, the saved statements are supposed to be some kind of proof that you've been telling the truth on your tax returns?

In my case, saving bank statements seems redundant with what [my budgeting software](https://www.youneedabudget

My first credit card was a secured credit card, but I never understood why it made sense for secured credit cards to exist as a distinct product.

My credit limit was equal to the amount that I deposited ahead of time. So...that's effectively a debit card, right?

Except that secured credit cards can build credit, whereas debit cards can't. But then, why can't debit cards build credit? A recurring explanation I see is that with debit cards, you're using your own money, not borrowing someone else's. But aren't I doing the exact same thing when I make an initial deposit to a secured credit card, and then "borrow" up to that limit later on? It seems like a distinction without a difference.

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One of my coworkers told me a story about another coworker who got laid off. The one who got laid off had stock options, and we think they would have stood to gain a lot if they had exercised them. But, having just lost their job, and being the primary breadwinner of their household, they couldn't justify a surprise expenditure on that kind of risk. So they had to miss the opportunity.

Since then, I've had a YNAB category for "money to exercise options." A savings goal on that category keeps pace with the rate at which my options vest.

This way, whenever I leave the company, exercising 100% of my vested shares won't be a financial burden. I can make the decision to exercise or not based ju