They can be found on eBay, but be careful of fakes.

Story time. Not eBay, but Amazon (eBay could be worse).

A couple of months ago, before buying my Breakthrough x4 82mm CPL new on Amazon, I bought a used B+W CPL. I don't recall the veritable alphabet of letters in its name, but it was B+W's Kaesemann glass, high-transmission filter that retailed for north of $200 (closer to $300), but one was available used from Amazon Warehouse, in its original packaging, for around $150. I've purchased such items from Amazon Warehouse before and never had a problem -- until now.

I'm not sure what I got, but it was a dark CPL, probably three stops or more. The ring was super stiff, needing way too much force to rotate it. And it had no markings other than CPL and 82mm. No name at all.

Apparently somebody bought a B+W filter from Amazon then swapped it and returned a paper weight for a refund. I've heard of this happening, even with expensive cameras and lenses. In this case, Amazon accepted my explanation and return without question. They even credited my card before receiving my return, as soon as the UPS package -- paid by Amazon -- was scanned into the system.

I'm not complaining. Had this not happened, I wouldn't have purchased a breakthrough, and I like my Breakthrough better than my B+Ws.

That's true for quick-buck schemes, but not so much for long-term investments.

Careful, the first one sounds almost like ol' Bernie's scheme. You know, he Madoff with billions.

But I've thought the same thing, that Buffett's legacy is mostly what now drives his company's success.

Without going hands-on with your network, I can't say what might be wrong. But unless this is something you need often, a workaround seems prudent. One such workaround I sometimes use is cloud storage as an intermediary.

In another thread yesterday, the OP sought an app for shrinking photos so he could meet email constraints. I suggested he use Mega, a free (up to 20GB) cloud storage site. I use this regularly to share large files, or multiple files, with friends. I simply upload the file(s) to my cloud account, right click the upload and select "get link," and then email that link to friends. The link allows them to download my offering without ever logging into my account, so my other data remains secure. This could also work for you if your transfer isn't too large and you don't mind walking away and letting the uploads & downloads to work in the background.

It's decent, but it's not as good as it claims. As one might expect, The Fool touts its successes while ignoring its questionable recommendations. If you believe its advertising, you'd have to believe that all who subscribed to its recommendations a couple of decades ago are gazillionaires today. Sure, they recommended Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and other winners. But they also recommended some losers, although I can't think of one at the moment.

Still, The Fool's advisers know a heck of a lot more about stocks investing than I ever will.

Is the target device powered on and logged in?

I like my 82mm X4, especially how bright it is (high transmission), while still effectively polarizing my shots. If I want an ND, I'll put on an ND. No reason for a CPL to function as one.

My only complaint is it came with a note saying I have to register the filter to activate the warranty. That's hogwash, as this is not legally enforceable. Breakthrough is data-mining. I almost returned the filter because of this, but I like it so much more than my Hoya HD3, which is the next best alternative IMHO.

I've been adding more and more smart devices to my house. Many of them require using an app for setting them up. For example, consider smart bulbs. What could we use in lieu of a mobile app? How else can we set up a Wi-Fi connection? Well, let's see. I suppose we could pay more for the otherwise inexpensive bulbs to come with a small programming device with a display, just so we can set up a connection with the router and a voice assistant such as Alexa. Sure, that'd be just dandy. Count me in! I'd love to pay an additional $20, $30, $50 or more, just so I don't have to use my smartphone.

Many devices use NFC or Bluetooth, Jerry, on a mobile device for initial setup. This can be a tablet -- doesn't have to be a cellphone. Most of us have a capable smartphone and don't have as many gremlins as others, and many of us don't resist tech as much as others.

I too turned 60 a couple of months ago. Could we be twins?

I gotta admit, you had me believing you (for a minute) that speakers have no moving parts. Then I remembered an iconic scene from an old '80s film.

Regarding the word scrambles, I recently saw those on X (formerly Twitter). But there were two more scrambled words in the meme:
HTIELR
NGGERI

Of course, they are LITHER and GINGER.

As for the Lego vs jacks, I'll do you one better. Meet goathead, the bane of every barefoot rural Nevadan and dad who constantly repairs his kids' flat bike tires.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a few years ago didn't printer manufacturers fight tooth and nail against third-party ink cartridges? This, because they made little or nothing on printer sales, and those sales were simply a means to gouge consumers on printer ink, which is where they made their profits. Now, it seems Canon has found a way to continue the scheme in another way. I've also heard about printers using some sort of software lockout of third-party cartridges, but I've also heard there are workarounds for them.

I have a Brother inkjet all-in-one that hasn't had a drop of ink since its bundled cartridges ran dry. I use it only for the scanner, while using a laser printer for my monochrome needs. Anything color, I use a printing service.

No moving parts? Think about how a speaker works, by constantly "pushing" sound waves. The cone is constantly moving back and forth.

Number 16, about dimes and nickels, was centsless.

Yeah, email has a frustratingly low attachments size limit of 20-25MB, mostly (depends on email provider). As an alternative, one that allows me to maintain resolution, I upload photos to a cloud site and send a download link. I can send a link to a single photo or a batch, so nobody but me has access to the other stuff on my cloud account. The link recipient doesn't actually log in to my account, but just downloads the content I choose.

I use Mega for this (and free 20GB of cloud storage). You could use any of a number of cloud storage sites, many of which are free up to specified storage size constraints. I'll upload my files (even short video clips, which are almost always too large for email), then I'll get a link. I email the link to the recipient to download the files. Often it's something from my phone, so I use the Mega app to upload files from my phone.

https://mega.nz

If I still want to reduce photo size, I use Photoshop on my desktop or an app called Reduce Photo Size on my Android phone.

I'd recommend a used card from a reputable eBay seller. Remember, it'll come with a 30-day eBay warranty.

Nothing fancy, just something like an Nvidia GTX 1060, and I'd recommend the 6GB version. You can move up to the GTX 1070, or even the 1080ti, which is still a formidable card with its 12GB of VRAM. Next gen would be the 16-series, such as the GTX 1660. I would avoid anything ending in 50, such as a GTX 1050 or 1650. (The first two digits of an Nvidia card tell the generation, and the last two tell the model -- and higher is better.)

Any of these will run at least 4k ops/second and support DirectX 12.

Jerry and ChrisG, I don't think Bitcoin was ever a factor in GPU scarcity & pricing. It was Ethereum mining that used GPUs and drove the prices to insane levels, but Ethereum has gone proof of stake, meaning that's all in the past and GPU prices have returned to pre-Ethereum levels -- for now, at least. I've heard rumblings that AI will drive up GPU prices just like Ethereum did, as networks of banks of GPU cards will be needed for servers to keep up.

Carl, you might poke around passmark.com to look at and compare GPU benchmarks. Click on one that interests you to see more, including the DirectX version it supports and the number of ops/sec it's capable of.

Finally, anything newer/better than maybe a GTX 2060 would surely be bottlenecked by your CPU, so it wouldn't be better than an older model, such as those I suggested. And TriX is right, you need to consider your PSU (power supply) connector, although many can be adapted, if needed.