What are you using for the streaming services? Netflix etc? A web browser?

If so, that's a complete non-starter; it fails the ease of use expectations of watching TV of the wife using a remote control to turn it on and make it go. (and honestly it fails my own expectations for that matter too; having to reach for a keyboard or mouse to watch a movie or stream a show is just clunky). It also limits you from watching content in 4k.

At the moment, I've got a RokuHD of some sort on one TV, and an nvidia shield on another one. Plex, netflix, f1tv, and a couple other things on both of them. The TV remote can fairly seamlessly control the TV/soundbar and the attached box and it works well, and passes the usability test, but both devices are still more ad-laden than I want.

I've also got computers and consoles hooked up to TVs for gaming and what not, but i find them utterly miserable to use for streaming. Their is no app for linux that I'm aware of. And even the app for Windows is regularly just complete ass to use, and its a PITA to switch from plex to netflix and back etc, and using them with a remote control is pretty trashy. So I've been using the aforementioned boxes for streaming as the least awful way to run things for some years now.

But if there's a better way now, I'm listening.

t depends on if they send you a tax notice or not. There was an outfit in Ohio that I used to purchase a lot of electronics from. One year I got a note from them listing my purchases, and that I would have to pay taxes on. That was a pain in the ass.

I think they got "caught", or had new accountants or something. But yes - if you can avoid the sales tax, it's a significant discount.

Interesting, I've never received any such notices....but most of my stuff is one off buys...not repeated purchases from a single site...

Believe it or not, I STILL find it pays to compare Amazon to maybe smaller retailers....for shipping vs tax!!!

I find a lot of sellers out there that still do not charge sales tax and some times...that makes it cheaper than Amazon...

Prime has LONG been a good deal for me.....but here recently with them adding commercials to Prime videos/movies....I'm starting to step back and re-evaluate....

The Moon is target practice. We need to get away from innovative bespoke engineering, into industrial mass production with continuous improvement. To do that we need to fly often. Mars just doesn't have the launch window availability. The biggest part of the challenge is that we were born in the bottom of a deep well. To toss enough stuff out of the well for a long journey is critical. Boosters that reliably fly on time often and cheaply enough to get ships and fuel out of the well. Ships that carry fuel into orbit and return over and over since the vast majority of the material we need to send out of the well isn't payloads or ships, it's fuel. Kilotons of fuel. Once the factories and processes are set up for that going far beyond the Moon is fairly easy. But with a narrow opportunity every two years that's not going to happen in a human lifespan. It's not enough refinement cycles per year.

I see this accelerating the Mars objective, not deferring it.

Indeed. The sooner, the better.

Making war faster and cheaper? How evil can you be?

Looks to me like OpenAI is close to the brink. Cannot wait for their demise.

Fully agree it is not Ponzi. It is circular exchanges of things that have no value to inflate valuation.

Yes. It is more a circulation of non-value. Technically just as illegal though.

The difference to regular tech hypes is that the proponents are even more stupid.

Hmm....why in my head am I picturing the dancing Syringes of Mordor.....??

I think this should be one of the RARE times the US takes full advantage of of China's market and economical manufacturing capabitlies.....

We should buy a TON of these things....and set them all up aimed at China.

And if China gets out of line....we find out what their "return policy" is....

;)

That's what you do when you want change.

What if I don't want "change"....?

I mean I do vote for people who want what I want....but the govt isn't there to think for me...they are there to obey the will of their constituents ....

They seem to forget this...

Yes you prefer to use touch screens I guess to distract you and kill people rather than using a simple voice instruction?

No...I prefer physical buttons, dials, switches...that I can operate 99% of the time via muscle memory without having to take my eyes off the road....

Like the OP, I can't stand talking to a fucking machine.

It means when you do a Google search for a restaurant

People do that...?

I mean, by the time I get in my car, I already know what restaurant I'm going to....my research is done LONG before I think of how I'll get there either via my car or an uber, etc....

You talk to your phone / car on a regular basis ?

Ok...sounds weird....

I can't stand talking to machines...especially the auto answer phones businesses have....I just start repeatedly hitting 0 and saying "Agent"....etc.