I remember when that was a big deal… my read on it was that their producer was trying to market them as “hot underage Russian lesbians” but they themselves just wanted to provide representation through an act that did not reflect their real lives. Good faith on their part, bad faith on management’s.
Not that the disgust with them was entirely unjustified. They still misled people.
I prefer the Russian version, feels more authentic since they’re from there.
For consumer boxes, it’s basically Shield (Google), Apple TV, Roku, Fire (de-Googled Android), or some bargain bin shitbox.
The best streaming box on the market is arguably the Apple TV because it’s a bunch of icons, no ads. You say it spies on you, I’ve seen or heard no proof of this. The only “proof” is that it’s closed source and you don’t know what it’s doing. But not knowing what it does does not necessarily mean you get to assume the worst and tout it as fact. It just looks like you have an agenda — or a stake in the competition. The best set-top box on the market for gaming (if we specify that) becomes the Shield, due to more options on Android, though the Apple TV can run RetroArch now, so it’s closer.
The best option is probably to get an old corporate junker, put Linux on it, find some 10’/3m interface, and get a wireless keyboard/trackpad deal like the K400, then you can do what you want with it. But, most people aren’t gonna go that far. Maybe more people should. Curious now what you’re running with. I’ll tell you mine — 2nd gen (2021) Apple TV 4K. Good for everything but YouTube. I mostly use it for Plex (streaming from my Mac). I could use Infuse (Apple-only streaming thing like Plex) but I don’t care for it.
So you’re okay with Google scraping your data, but not Apple. Open with that next time, you save everyone the time of reading through your subterfuge.
You don’t care about privacy, you’re just tribal.
You… do know why Android exists, right?
They should do this everywhere, but the speed should be a bit higher. Like if you’re on a cheap unlimited plan and you get deprioritized, it shouldn’t go lower than 5Mbit. The whales paying for priority can still get 50+Mbit or whatever, but they shouldn’t be given 100+ or 200+ so everyone else gets unusable speeds. Adjust the numbers to make it make more sense.
What if I want something I don’t have to squat down to get into? I like small trucks and small SUVs because I can just lift my leg and slide in. I’m getting older, my knees ain’t what they used to be, I don’t want to feel like I have to squat to get into a car and have to feel like my arse is dragging on the pavement like I’m in Mario Kart. But I don’t love the gas mileage of those bigger vehicles.
I’d prefer a bus (and I’d prefer it to be electric) if I lived in a city that supported either, and if public transportation went to my job (it doesn’t). Cars are necessary where I live, and I’m here because I dream of a better world, but, I also gotta pay bills, and wishes don’t do that.
I saw a 1980s Honda Civic on the road the other day and it made me so happy. I don’t even love that model — the Prelude was the better small car, but I loved the Accord. Still, seeing something from the mid-to-late 1980s (I think they all got a little chonkier in 1988, so this would have been older than that) made me smile. Those cars were good on gas, too.
I would pay a lot for YouTube Premium if it actually blocked all the ads. Unfortunately, it does not. The video itself is allowed to contain ads inside the video, which YouTube does not block. I have heard that if the creator declares it, it can be skipped, but SponsorBlock (aims to) skip all of them by default, and for free.
I have an iPhone — the second worst device for consuming YouTube on, tied with the iPad for the same reason. On my old Android phone, I have Firefox with uBlock Origin. Same with my Macs, and my work PC (which is at work). The worst device for consuming YouTube on, I also own — the Apple TV streaming box (which is ironically the best streaming box due to it not having ads in the OS — I’m dead serious, even if you’re Android all the way, you should get one).
On my iPhone, I’ve deleted the YouTube app. Instead, I have a shortcut to YouTube on my home screen that opens in Safari. I have a Safari plugin called Wipr 2 that I paid $5 for, one time, to a solo developer who uses the Fediverse (Mastodon) and is a woman (this shouldn’t matter, but I do enjoy minority representation, and seeing girls win). I occasionally see ads on YouTube, but it’s rare, and typically, refreshing Wipr (updating its block lists) fixes the issue.
That’s on an iPhone. Wipr2 is not available for tvOS. So mostly, I consume YouTube content on my MacBook, which I can mirror to my TV. Ironically, the TV itself (which runs Android TV) is better at mirroring my MacBook (which is between 1 and 2 metres away) than the Apple TV box, at the same distance. (Make that make sense.) (So, you often hear about Apple and Google being rivals around iOS and Android, respectively, but Apple actually licenses AirPlay to Google for inclusion in Android TV. That is actually a thing, and it works great.) I can also run a Thunderbolt/USB-C to HDMI cable and make my TV a monitor for my MacBook, and just drag a Firefox window up to the TV. But it’s a MacBook Air, I still have to keep the lid open, and the screen on (I turn the brightness all the way down though).
Yeah, I thought I knew there were bikes that fold, but I didn’t say because I don’t want to say what I don’t know.
The engineer in me is wondering if there’s a way to make a bike with telescoping parts. But the frame is one of the biggest parts, and I always see those three bars welded. It seems like if you go beyond removing the wheels, and maybe the handlebars, you’re going to get most bikes about as small as they can get. I’m wondering if the frame can be broken down (and maybe the wheels somehow) and if the loss in strength will make the bike less stable/trustworthy and if a more active mountain biker who is hitting real trails would even trust such a contraption, considering you’d only break it down maybe once a year tops… it would have to be something you’d do often.
Not by choice.
When I drive with someone else at work (not often but sometimes it happens), they often want to listen to the radio, which means we’re listening to ads for 90% of the trip and then we get one song. And people are okay with that. Fucking mindless drones.
Radio really has gone to shit. If you haven’t listened in a while… the ads are almost worse than going online without an ad blocker. You won’t get a virus or spyware, but you might spend the whole trip listening to ads before you earn the right to hear one censored song. Then you get back in the car and the ads start over again. It really is mostly ads these days. Most radio stations in an area will be owned by the same company, and they sync the ads so you can’t just change the channel.
Worth looking into bike rental for a vacation. I mean, vs trusting your bike to not get lost or damaged by the airline. It might even be cheaper or at least make more sense to buy an entry level bike while you’re there, and when you leave, donate it to a youth organisation or something.
Oof. Didn’t know it went up. We paid a total of $15 and we’re happy with it, but we’ve had the benefit of having used it for the past 16 years.
If the price is too high, Google Keep is pretty good for doing a similar thing.
OurGroceries.
The year was 2010, and the iPhone was not yet available where I lived. I could have bought one, and I could have activated service with it, but I would never be able to use it at home or anywhere around home. So it would have been pointless. I wanted one. Android was cool, but it wasn’t really what I wanted. Wife needed a new phone, and our carrier had a deal. Two Android phones for $100, and each came with a $20 Android Market (what Google Play Store was called then) gift card. So yeah, we took that deal. The phones were ass, but I was able to put CyanogenMod (now called Lineage) on them and make them a little better.
We wanted a grocery app, and we discovered an app called OurGroceries. Free with ads, or $5 to remove the little banner at the bottom. Even without paying, it offered synced grocery lists and even Web access. As in, my wife is at the store and I’m on the computer, I just hit the bookmark and add something to the list, she sees it in a second or two (provided she has signal or WiFi). We both paid. The app was useful and it was nice.
When I got an iPhone, I immediately paid the $5 again. They since changed it to where only ONE person on the sync account needs to pay. That is to say, if you and five family members all download it, all six of you get ads. But if ONE person connected to the sync account pays, the paid status syncs and nobody has ads. That said, I’m not mad because $10 of the $15 I’ve paid wasn’t even mine to start with, it was on a gift card. It’s been 16 years, and we still use it.
Is it the best grocery app? I think it still ranks highly. Personally I think the one in Paprika is a little better. Our first requirement is that it must support iPhone, Android (my wife still uses Android), and computer. Paprika checks those boxes — so does Google Keep, which is another good option (that is also free!). Apple has shopping list support in Notes, and our computers are Macs, so that works, but Apple Notes doesn’t really work on Android. It actually does, I think, through the browser (since my wife has an Apple account, on the Mac and on her iPad), but it’s not as robust if you actually have an iPhone. Any note taking app should work, but the sync won’t be there.
So if you don’t want to pay, Google Keep should be your first stop. If you don’t like Google for privacy or whatever reason, you’ll probably have to pay. OurGroceries is either a single developer or a small team, and they’re independent, and deserve at least the $5 they’re asking for a whole family to use their app indefinitely (as long as they keep the server up — I hope, should they ever decide to take their server down, they allow a self-hosted option). If you want more features, Paprika is definitely a solid choice, but you’ll want to wait for a sale. Normally it’s like $10 on phones and $20 on computers or something. But it’s actually not a shopping list app. It’s a recipe manager that has a shopping list and a pantry inventory. And a couple other things. (OurGroceries also has a recipe manager, but it’s not great, it’s really just another kind of shopping list that can be copied into an actual shopping list — you can have multiple.)
Oh yes, I’ve used diced white onions in my tuna salad as well. I don’t like relish (or celery), it’s just not the flavour profile I’m looking for.
BBQ sauce = ketchup with molasses, more or less, I think, on the off chance you were asking what it was. I don’t think that’s the case, just covering my bases. Anyway, I use the sweet/spicy kind, so it adds a kick. I wouldn’t do both BBQ sauce and Tabasco. Tabasco gives it a kick, but it’s more subtle, the flavour of the sauce is covered by the tuna, but the heat is still there. For heat plus added flavour, I go for the BBQ sauce. Specifically Sweet Baby Ray’s sweet and spicy (or whatever that variety is called).
I “get” the hype around the Vision Pro from the Apple Store. They act like people don’t understand it. I tell the guy, “yeah I get it, it’s a whole new computer, and just like the Macintosh in 1984, people didn’t really understand it, so it didn’t sell well at first.” The guy acted like I was the smartest person who came in all week. But then I said, “but I don’t need it, the two Macs I have do everything I need. I’m not going to drop $3500 on something nobody knows what it’s good for hoping what it is good for is something I want.” I have a Mac mini and I have a MacBook Air (both M2, the Mini is a Pro though, both 16GB RAM). And they do what I need.
That being said, my favourite film did come out in theatres, but it only played 8 hours from where I live. Very limited engagement, and it has not returned to theatres (or if it has, I didn’t know and either way I did not have the opportunity to go). So, I could use a Vision Pro to watch it in a virtual theater and almost have the same experience. Is that worth $3500? On its own, maybe not, but when you talk about being able to watch any movie in a virtual theater — assuming the experience is good — it kind of makes sense. I mean, you’ll spend way more than $3500 to build your own home theatre. First of all, you need a place with a big enough room. Second, you’ll want to soundproof it. Third, you’ll want a big TV and a good sound system. The right seats. Raised seats (as in, the ones behind are higher up than the ones in front). And floor to ceiling black carpeting. Assuming you even have the space for it (most don’t), you’re probably looking at closer to $5-8K for the whole setup, but honestly, I’m really not sure. At that point, the Vision Pro is kind of a steal, except it’s strapped to your head and only one person can use it at a time. Now imagine you’re in Utah, big house, seven or eight adults in a polygamous relationship, who knows how many kids, and like five or six of the adults love movies, and the kids all wanna watch Kpop Demon Hunters all day… the theater makes more sense. But to single people or even married couples living in apartments or smaller homes, the Vision Pro might come out ahead for that “rich people” experience.
It’s still a lot of coin, though.
What’s crazy is when you actually want to watch an ad (like a game or movie trailer, or a review of a product you’re considering buying), and you have to watch an ad to watch the ad. You’d think videos advertising a commercial product would pay a fee to cover the ads.
Fry sauce! I add hot sauce to mine. Popularized in the American Midwest but you can make it anywhere.
What TF is tuna spread? We always called it tuna salad, even though it’s not really a salad.
The traditional recipe I know calls for mayonnaise, mustard, and relish. I do not use relish. However, I’ve been known to add minced garlic, Tabasco sauce, and shredded cheese. Sometimes, chopped olives. If you don’t use mustard, you can also use BBQ sauce.
Egg salad is messier by far, and I have an egg guillotine. The kind you put a hard-boiled egg in and it slices it. Then you carefully turn it and repeat. Once it’s sliced two ways, I’ve never been able to get the third dimension, I just push it through to the bowl like that. So I get long pieces, but there are ways to 3D slice it (patience? skill? Yeah, probably a skill issue).
Tuna salad is not that messy. I’ve also been known to eat it without bread. It’s very high in protein, and cheese adds more. Screw those nasty ass snot-consistency protein drinks, I’d rather eat tuna out of a small container. I’d LOVE to get a CLEAN can of cat food and put it in there, and walk around looking like I’m eating cat food like a mad lad (it kinda looks/smells like cat food). Like the old “put vanilla pudding in a mayonnaise jar and walk around eating it to look crazy” thing I’ve never actually seen anyone do.
I don’t believe in guilty pleasures because I don’t feel guilty about listening to weird niche music that everyone around me thinks is beneath them.
That being said, I understand the concept and can apply it to my music library. So here’s a big one.
22/7 - Hyacinth Apple Music | YouTube
I’m linking the Apple Music version not just because I think they deserve to get paid more for your stream, but in case you’re a subscriber, you have Dolby Atmos turned on, and you have compatible earbuds, because the song is fucking magical in spatial audio. It’s like feeding candy to your ears. The best spatial audio mastering I’ve heard is Tom Sawyer by RUSH. This is second best. The song feels like a tech demo for spatial audio.
For context, 22/7 (which is another way to say Pi, mathematically, and read as “twenty-two per seven”) is a cartoon band, similar to HUNTR/X from Kpop Demon Hunters, except, after the anime series about them… they just continued making music. Hyacinth isn’t from their anime. They even make music for other anime now. So they’re a real band. Anywhere between 8 and 12 Japanese girls singing in unison in groups. For JPop/idol music, it’s pretty good. You don’t need to know their anime to listen to them. It was a fantasy series about a mysterious wall that would spit out engraved metal chips with instructions. No one knew who was writing the commands, but people started following it, and it told them to build an idol group and when and where to have them play. They become an overnight sensation. Eventually the wall tells them they have to disband, and after being forced to do so, they seek out who’s behind the wall. It’s… not very good, as far as anime goes, but the music is on point and I think it’s worth watching, if you like music anime.