Kind of. Heavily inspired by. But color perception is also heavily influenced by context.

Consider: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

In particular look at the illustration "The regions marked A and B are the same shade of gray.".
So, same wavelength, but looking like a different color.

Now look at the illustration "A region of the same shade has been drawn connecting A and B."
Your brain kind of "slips" and now they equate.

Color perception is very much a brain thing.

I am in my late 50s, and have migrated to e-readers pretty much exclusively, but only e-ink ones.

For me it comes down to:
- having tons of books on the device
- always sharp fonts (many of my pulp paperbacks from the 80s and 90s have crap paper with degrading letters)
- easier to hold: no more tired thumbs forcing open a paper back
- back light for reading at night or in bed
- instant purchases from my couch (of two minds on this one, since browsing bookstores for actual books is more enjoyable for discovery)
- e-link is easy on the eyes like paper, can't read on phone or laptops

You can indeed opt out of it. For Visa, you call and say you want to "opt out of the VAU", i.e. the Visa Account Updater

I had a similar experience as you, 1st agent was saying there was nothing I could do, 2nd agent told me out to opt out of it.

I never authorized the VAU usage though, that was something that was opted in by default as far as I can tell.

I always operated with the understanding that issuing a new CC number means I have to update all my services explicitly. This was true until fairly recently when the VAU kicked in.

The "special relationship" was in fact how the visa agent explained it to me, not my choice of words.

I had this exact scenario happen to me after dealing with my kid's CC getting compromised. Suddenly Uber and DoorDash were all in use again even on the replacement card.

I found out that certain special companies like Uber and Netflix have a "special" relationship and they just get the new card numbers. I complained how that defeated the whole point of using replacement cards for security, and the agent was explaining I don't really have a choice, that I should just try to cancel my company subscription / account instead.

And what do you do if you deal with an uncooperative shady web site?

Very infuriating.

Calling again, I got another agent who was sympathetic about my security concerns, he explained that there that there is an explicit Visa Account Updater (VAU) program, and that you can indeed opt out of it, saying that I just need to ask to "opt out of the VAU", I am not interested in that service.

So, calling back afresh one more time I did just that, and lo and behold that took me out of the VAU.

The next time my kid's card got messed up (teenagers! someone was stealing their Uber rides), I got the card replaced yet again, and this time all services were blocked until we gave the new number to those services that we trusted and wanted to continue.

I drive a bright red 2000 Toyota Echo with a 5-speed manual shift. I bought it new, driving it is a joy, peppy and nimble.

I cannot imagine driving without manual shift.

I really like driving, even in the city, it calms me, almost like meditation. The whole game of shifting up to speed and then down again is a soothing ritual. It is like a dance where you try and keep the car working just hard enough, not too much, not too little, a balancing act.

I drive plenty of automatics, from economy cars like my wife's Yaris, mini-vans now and again for road trips, rental Corollas for when my car is in the shop.

They all work great, and are comfortable rides, but I find them boring and sluggish. The newer vans and cars especially feel so heavy, they use a lot more gas compared to my Echo (it runs at about 5.5L / 100km, or approx 42mpg). They also pamper the driver far too much, I have to turn off all the warnings!

When I drive my car, I definitely feel the road much more directly in how the car handles, can feel directly how hard the engine is working, am so much more aware of the driving experience. It engages me completely, and I enjoy it very much.

I had to use a courtesy car one time, automatic of course, when my car was in the shop for a few weeks. It worked fine, blah blah. When I finally got my car back I ended up driving all over the entire Vancouver lower mainland for about 4 hours, just reveling in the experience of zipping around in a fun car, shifting and being in tune with it.

I love my car, and will grieve when it finally goes.

I have my eye on the new Toyota Corolla Hatchback, which is relatively reasonably priced, and is fortunately still available in manual for me in Canada. Fingers crossed though that I get at least 5 more years out of my beloved Echo.

but but but: stick man videos!

Roku does not support HTML web apps. It's all SceneGraph and bright script (basic) coding.

I have two Roku boxes, and use the Youtube app all the time. It plays fine, I can access purchased content.

My only complaint is the lack of comments.