I've been using XBMC since XBMC was first a thing... so there's is some level of inertia here. But nonetheless I still use xbmc/kodi based solutions.

I've been using rpi's with openelec for many years now, all content sourced from smb shares on a central box. It does 1080p on all displays, with no issues co-sharing the same content. Usually gigabit, but when I have to use wifi for the display-attached unit, I use the network settings tweaks in advancedsettings.xml for Kodi in order to let the device buffer. The buffering does tend to wear down microsd cards faster than normal, but for devices with physical drives it's a non-issue.

The only problems I would like to see solved in my solution that I've been using for well over a decade... is the lack of DRM-required plugins. Which is to say, I would happily throw money at Netflix or Hulu or HBO Go if I could make them work with kodi/openelec. I wouldn't mind the ability to record those streams to be watched at my convenience either.

to reply to myself i just want to iterate that i think it's a bad idea to just as for 'best linux laptop' -- and that has always been the case.

Pick a pricepoint, then look at places to see what fallsin that range. Then do some research on cpu/gpu/chipsets (are chipsets even relevant these days?!) and perhaps the drivers behind your usb ports.

That's like 3, maybe 4 things you need to check facts on before you can tell if it'll work with .

I am also curious about this. I also purchased an MSI laptop (roughly, iirc a ; 17" 1680x1050 oddball, with a something Intel core that I forget (most likely 2, as i think i would remember if it was 4).

it had an nvidia 4-- something (460?)m card. roughly a 160gig hd, and had the msi dragon stylized decal in a plastic circle on the back.

i went to buy the same model with a 1080p display at the same price, but they had ran out of stock, and i had a deadline with which to submit my order for reimbursement.

All things said though, i didnt have any hardware issues with that thing until i accidentall tipped a cup of coffee onto it. The poor thing never started up again.

As such... i have no reservations about buying an MSI laptop over a any day. Same goes for the Asus from ~3.5-5yrs ago that I am typing this on. It's no gaming rig, nor ever really was.... but it did decent enough for modern games when it was new, and i can gauge it's capability still 3-4 years later. Also havent had any hardware failures on it, despite a lot of more-than-normal wear and tear.

Your post/story has struck a chord for me, and I'm now being a little selfish and thinking about how best to make a time capsule of knowledge and sharing for my kids, should I pass away (and my wife too, of course).

The first and obviously most important is how much you love her (them). Beyond that... I honestly think that if you just talk about yourself, what you think made you the person you are today, what helped or hindered that, what you dislike, etc... always with your best attempt at a 'Why?' answer following it up.

I think she is going to want to know who you are / were, and what made you into that -- more than anything else.

Then espouse upon your values and what tenets you hold dearest, again with an explanation. Do you believe it private or open-source software, and why?... as a top of the head example.

Then move on to snippets of tips and tricks, things you'd have taught your kid(s) as they grew and asked questions. It can be random, it can be silly, it can be incomplete -- it will all still be of value to her.

Don't constrain it to video either. If/when you feel that you're no longer representing yourself the way you want to in a visual format, move on to leaving textual information, notes, letters, tips, tricks. Build a wiki for her with random bits and bobs for her to discover that you think would be of use or interesting, both to you -- and her in the future.

And of course, leave a history of websites, accounts, passwords (probably in a password vault, with the password or keyfile stored elsewhere) of accounts/sites/memberships you held that you think she might find interesting. Giving her a window into your public and private history (using semi-private internet forums as a top of head example again) would likely be cathartic and interesting as well. Insights into who you were with people privately, away from the eyes of the internet -- or even the eyes of your friends or family. Not to mention the benefit of bequeathing said accounts to the next generation (though make sure the admin staff of such places are aware of the changeover, and make sure they're comfortable with it). Game communities, software communities, specific discussion communities or sites, etc.

I think the gist of it is, do your best to document for her Who you are and How you became that way, and let her follow the path herself as needed (ontop of / aside from the videos). She won't understand all of it, or perhaps even most of it, but at least you'll have done your best to give her all possible examples and avenues to explore at her own pace -- which I think would be cathartic in the long term, when she's in her 20's and becoming an adult, and missing her Dad in a different way than she will in the next few years.

I'm sorry for both yours and her loss, but thank you for posting this. It got me thinking about what I would do if I were you, which helps me start planning how to bequeath my knowledge posthumously, to my kid.

Target just managed to 'Oh... our bad, a bunch of other systems and avenues were also hacked.... well before the system(s) we're talking about now were hacked.....'... and this isn't a bigger deal?

Contradict me if I'm wrong, but are they not talking out of the side of their mouths to say that they'd been breached earlier, and only knew it now / only divulged it now?

Well, despite the crazy old english pirate tangent s.pertry took on this.... he's kind of right. Occums Razor and all, the simplest answer is that someone made a tool that made piracy easier. It doesn't mean the maker was out to make piracy easier, just that the tool he created (unknowingly?) did so.

... in the article.

Seriously. You speak the truth, and most of us know it - but you're obviously appealing to the un-informed with your editorial, and the obtuse use of 'pirate' in place of 'share' makes it hard to swallow.

I get you, I've been in the scene since the early 80's, and I absolutely understand where/how/why/from it started. That said, you let your 'corporate overlords' (for lack of better euphemism) dictate the tone of the article. And that ruined it for me.

Just sayin'. :(

Yeah because 'real' scientists would have hopped in their VW wagon and drove out to the galaxy to test and take measurements and be 100% sure....

The thing is bazillions of kilometers away, all they have to work with is mathemtical models to provide/disprove theories.

Yeah this post didn't deserve a downmod. It was an applicable use of pop-culture humor.

I take a similar tack, but with Sith Lord names instead of locations/ship names. With SW:TOR on the horizon, and the ever expanding EU novel universe - I'll not run out of naming options anytime soon.

Plus, naming a machine Vader, Bane, or Caedus is pretty cool in a horribly nerdy way.

Ohshit wait.... $10 says the person I responded to is an RIAA/MPAA astroturfer!

You can't claim 'there is going to be no RIAA in less than 5 years' without proof here dude.

They've been railroading mothers, grandmothers, children, and politicians for the better part of a decade without pause.... Other than wishful thinking, what makes you think they'll suddenly curl up and die the horrible painful death they deserve - within the next 5 years?