Why a linux box? You can pick from a selection of awesomely capable sticks or mini boxes that work perfectly, support wide formats, and never ask you to mess with an OS at all. And they're cheap.

So it's overqualified for the presidency of the US. A milestone indeed!

May I suggest the following mod distribution? I think it's fair.

5 x troll
6 x off-topic
3 x funny

And since there are some people who will think I'm making some devastatingly clever statement they agree with, instead of just being a jackass...

2 x insightful

I care about things I can do something about. I'm disappointed that I can't change their mind, but I trust the universe to force their hand eventually. But being dissatisfied is not the same as caring.

You missed my whole point. Right and wrong do not matter. Nobody is listening. And, yeah.. . Somebody shouting angrily into empty space, no matter what they're trying to convey, is probably emotionally suspect. And I f it turns out there's a god, it doesn't make the guy with the megaphone shouting about the end times near the mall less tribal.

I don't care if people don't believe in AGW (or pick your label). Not important anymore. Floods and fires will destroy property, insurance will go up or vanish, food supplies will be impacted, populations will be displaced... the list goes on. And irrespective of our beliefs, each of us will have to deal with whatever those changes brings. It doesn't even matter if it's human-caused or not. That's semantics. Mitigation is demanded.

The camps are divided and it's no longer about rationality or cause and effect. It's tribalism, emotion, and the willingness to completely shut off all input. Nobody is listening. And the world can burn to a cinder with a great many people acting out the scene from Erik the Viking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

It's always worse because they are very conservative when predicting.

To a fault. But the fact that it's incorrect in the wrong direction should not give you the pleasure it seems to. This is the opposite of what should make you happy. You should be enthused when the world is serene in the face of doom predictions, not when it's burning down faster than anticipated.

I really have it the old college try. My liver - and all of my other organs - ultimately forgave my transgressions. We'll see what my brain says when I'm in my 60s, but... cross that bridge.

The older I get the more I think we've forgotten how to make products that do their jobs well.

I fired my smart bulbs for being too clever at stupid tricks and bad at being lightbulbs.

For my birthday his year my mother bought me hands free soap dispensers that charge with USB and do the "will it or won't it" hand dance, and now I have to bring them out and hide my trusty unpowered pumps when she comes over. I could be mean, but she's coming up on 80. I'll play the game to make her happy.

My washer, dryer, and stove have apps. I've never installed or used them, so at least they are not mandatory. But now these same companies can't make a compressor worth a shit. They'd rather spend the money figuring out how to make a fridge advertise at you.

Throw Sonos on that dumpster fire. Too clever by a wide margin, and just shitty at making speakers.

Seems like the phrase "the greatest country on earth" has largely been retired. The only people using it are folks distasteful enough that the rest of the populace feels shame when they hear it.

I maintain this state of being is what happens when you spend a century shouting at every child that exceptionalism and toxic individuality is their birthright.

I agree with you... in the abstract. But this is emergency services 911. The definition of "adequately" should not be the common baseline.

Get a month at a time, don't overlap services. $20-ish a month for vast content. Good deal no matter how you look at it. TV has never been cheaper, except for OTA, and then it's ad-supported.

"The city is still investigating whether the update was adequately tested..."

"No."

Hopefully I just saved the city a bunch of money.

I generally use Spotify, but I do have VLC for simple streaming. But yes, it's a gap. My music library is extensive and eclectic. So for those rare occasions where Spotify comes up empty or I do need to play a curated playlist, my XBox Series X with Kodi is on standby.

I have fought the good fight for media devices forover a quarter century, ever since my actual XBMC install on the original XBox. I've built home theatre PCs and fought with getting remotes to work. I've got two NVidia Shields, a couple of Kodi boxes, a Fire Stick, and at least two Roku's sitting in my electronics graveyard.

Now? I've got two Apple TVs in use. And they work brilliantly. Except for a banner for current shows on their TV service (I don't subscribe), it never tries to sell me anything. I use Infuse for my media from my NAS. No lags, no stutter... everything just worked. Immediately. in Full 4K, HDR, Dolby Atmos/TrueHd/etc..

They're so good, I'll look at the next gen when it comes out. But there'd have to be a pretty compelling reason to upgrade.

Are you expecting it to go negative, and for Apple to send you a cheque? Near as I can tell there's no paid option for Apple Maps.