Increasing TV resolution like this is a good thing.

A hologram works by using photographic film capable of photographing the actual light waves. Once we have resolutions better than light's wavelength, we can have holographic TV.

There is absolutely no proof that a computer can drive a car better, and safer, than a human. None, whatsoever. Until the proof exists, I'd rather risk something that's cheap to replace instead of my life.

I'm a little skeptical of a sudden mass takeover with autonomous driving. As this post implies, the risk is huge. Where are autonomous devices in low-risk situations? Why haven't they taken over? I think we're better off with things like dryers that can sort and fold laundry, or dishwashers that can put the dishes away. The risk of a dropped dish or torn shirt is much more tolerable than a car crash at highway speeds.

Where's the permanent colony on the moon? Where's the permanent colony in a deep orbit? I think we have to demonstrate long-term living outside of earth's orbit before we can establish any kind of Mars colony.

I cut the cord years ago, and I've experimented with various computer-as-a-DVR and network DVR devices. (Elgato EyeTV on a Mac, Windows Media Center on Windows 7, Tablo, and now HDHomerun.) They are all very expensive, and they are all a pain to use. HDHomerun's DVR software is extremely stable and easy to use, but it's still rather feature incomplete. I don't think Silicon Dust has enough cashflow to make HDHomerun's DVR a complete device.

For the money I've spent on bad devices, $18 a month is a great deal, especially if the software works and is easy to use. No one in my household could figure out the Tablo. I used the Elgato EyeTV when I was single, and its interface was so awful that it basically required the user to write SQL queries in order to program the DVR.

I will say this, though: 20 hours of recording space is extremely small unless the controls are good. I like to DVR the news and occasionally watch the headlines, but that often requires dedicating 5 hours of space for yesterday's and today's broadcasts.

My first job out of college was to automate that. I ended up writing a program that "verified" that the instructions to put pills on the shelf, and then run tests on the pills months and years later, were correct.

Probably the biggest failing here is not understanding what Skype is. The biggest problem is that the changes fundamentally redefine what Skype is; but Skype's users used it for what it was: simple video conferencing.

Good question. Over the air TV is a hassle if you want similar functionality in your home. The technology to do something similar to YouTube TV is expensive and buggy.

For example: I stuck a giant antenna in my attic ($150), and then I bought an HDHomerun ($200), and their DVR software ($50,). Their DVR software has to run on some kind of a device, but I already own an NVidea shield, which it runs on. Before the HDHomerun I used a Tablo ($250) + ($150) hard drive. The Tablo, though, is a buggy piece of junk. Even before that, I used a Windows media center PC ($1500) that worked very well as a DVR, but Microsoft end-of-lifed their support for DVR.

So, for about $2300 in sunk cost I have a working, but buggy and difficult-to-use DVR solution, and two DVRs that are collecting dust. This pays for 5.5 years of YouTube TV, with no buggy software and no hardware to setup or collect dust when it's end-of-lifed.

I suggest looking at the result of codec comparison in https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/tech/.... The EBU performed A/B comparisons with different lossy codecs for 5.1. They trained people in how to spot the difference in challenging areas to encode, and then evaluated various codecs with challenging pieces.

Keep in mind that FLAC is typically 3x as large as 320kbps, and storage sizes are quite huge now.

Last summer I wrote a program to compare two audio files, mostly to get an objective understanding of how sound degrades in a lossless format: http://andrewrondeau.com/blog/2016/07/deconstructing-lossy-audio-the-case-for-lossless

My conclusion is that, even at 320 kbps, formats like MP3 and AAC still screw with the sound. The newer Opus codec at 320 kbps is better than an 8-bit flac, though.

What happens with lossy audio is that it's more about "will someone notice an objectionable artifact" then "can someone notice the difference in an A-B test." Even then, the difference is usually in details that people don't pay close attention to. So, what you pay for in lossless is that the subtle echo in the fadeout sounds perfect, and that the equalization is always perfect, and that the cymbals and clicks of the guitar sound exactly like they do in the studio. Most people will never hear the difference, even in A-B testing.

In my very subjective experience, I find that AC3 has a certain dullness that lossless doesn't have. MP3 has a particular thinness that's noticeable compared to AC3. I personally don't have any opus files in my collection, so I can't comment there.

I really missed the artwork when I started ripping DVD-As. So now when I get a new DVD-A I go through a lengthy process to dig out the artwork out of the DVD-V portion and actually make a video with it. Works well for most DVD-As, but the Flaming Lips releases had a very different setup for the DVD-V version, and there's no way to go back and get the artwork unless you have a physical DVD-A player.

That's why I still pay for a streaming service. Pretty much all vinyl comes with download cards so you can have a digital version. (Some stick a CD in the sleeve, though.)

I have shelves full of DVD-As, which I treasure. I also treasure my vinyl when I love an album enough to want a physical representation. Why? Two reasons:

• Cover art: Vinyl is the best way to deliver large scale artwork
• Simplicity: DVD-A has DRM. CDs require complicated playback hardware. You can build your own record player if you want to.

I don't run around pretending that records sound better... They don't. But that's not the point, the point is to have a physical recording of music that I love that'll still work when we can no longer play our DVD-As and CDs, and to be able to appreciate the printed artwork. Otherwise, I just stream it.

I bought a Treehut watch made from wood. I find the woodworking fascinating, and the leather band very comfortable. Yes, it's not a nerd watch in the sense that it doesn't "do" anything nerdy; but I have a very nerdy phone in my pocket.

The one thing I really miss about the mailed disk version of Netflix was its recommendation system. It always recommended good movies that I never got to see. The reason why I continued to subscribe to Netflix was because of its recommendation system. I really wish they had everything, even if most movies were pay-to-stream.