I was originally against this because I hate it when language is reconstituted and made murkey, but I looked it up and you’re right.
I’m still not sure this is the same as poison, but it can certainly be harmful so it’s not that big a stretch.
I’ve not had any wear like that on my deck, but I’m not crazy hard on controllers. At worse the whole stick can be pretty easily replaced. The repairability on Valve hardware gets a high priority.
I don’t think you can compare a park/field to a manicured putting green. You can’t see the ground through the grass. Either way, play it if you like, to each their own.
Lawn darts was a dangerous game to begin with, so I’m not too shaken up about losing it, but I disagree that the bouncing is part of the game. No ground is perfectly even, and you can’t see imperfections from where you throw. It just creates randomness and makes it not worth playing. These aren’t issues in the other examples you cited. My opinion, obviously.
So now makers and hobbiest’s just can’t have magnets? Surely that’s an overreaction.
Not sure if you’re aware, but Duracell and probably others coat button batteries in a chemical that tastes bad in order to discourage ingestion.
I see where these regulations are coming from, but we can’t just ban away anything that could be harmful. I just recently bought a bunch of magnets like these for a using in 3D printed models. I don’t have any kids, but I do have pets and so they’re stored away in their own case and not left around. People just need to be responsible. I mean, we don’t ban bleach but you sure as hell shouldn’t drink it!
I was at a company picknic this summer and was watching people trying to play a pitiful version of Lawn Darts. The darts were weighted but would just bounce off the ground and ruin a good shot. Lawn darts, or darts of any kind, simply don’t work as a game when you take the pointy end away. I will say though, that a company outing where there’s people milling about is not a good place to play lawn darts, so I wouldn’t have used the real ones here even if you could.
Proper product packaging, like we use in medicine canisters, and perhaps an extra disclaimer/waiver on purchase is the way to go on these things IMO.
Eww, yeah that’s not cool. Was that Samsung forcing that on the phone or the carrier? I know US carries are atrocious for their uninstallable apps like that. Regardless shame on Samsung and the others for allowing it. The only apps that came on mine were Samsung apps.
Regardless, your dislike is completely justified. I really wish someone else could step up and make the phone we need. Repairable, jack/slot, small-midsize, proper updates, but I just don’t think the market is there. The iphone-ification of smartphones is basically complete, and now Microsoft is trying to do it to the desktop. In the future there’s going to be a lot of old people telling stories to their grandkids about how they used to own a computer and choose what was installed…
My very fist Android phone was a Samsung and while it had all kinds of cool features like TV out and an IR blaster, the software never got updated. I ended up installing and tinkering with custom ROMs and that led me to the Nexus line when it first launched. I stayed with Google ever since because they kept the Nexus and A series affordable, and had a much nicer clean OS with constant updates.
When they switched from Nexus to Pixel they decided they wanted to price it like an iPhone, even though it totally lacked the polish and value proposition. I stuck with my Nexus until they introduced the A series. It was affordable and new, but lacked video out, wireless charging, and thr SD card. Things the Nexus line all had. It was the beginning of the iphone-ification of Android IMO, but there were no other good options because every other vendor abandoned their phones after a year.
Now several years later things have only gotten worse. The amount of brands selling Android phone that are actually decent is like 2, maybe 3, they all are just slate designs with nothing interesting, and only a few actually give you proper updates. Samsung stands out in that crowd for having the most interesting phones and still decent support, but I agree that they are too expensive when new, and the locked bootloader sucks.
As you mentioned I’m 100% I’m just talking about Samsung’s phones here. Samsung as an entire company is one I would stay away from in most cases. I also would never buy one of their appliances and while I may have considered their TVs in the past due to them being an excellent panel manufacturer, I would think twice today.
I agree and disagree. I switched from a Pixel to an S series and I have to say I like the Samsung better.
While the Samsung UI used to be a sore spot, I think the Pixel design language shift of the past couple years is far worse. All the big colorful pills with too much whitespace… Samsung brings back a proper notification shade with lots of quick buttons, like it used to be 3 or so versions ago with a Pixel. I put my custom launcher on and basically forgot it’s Samsung.
There’s spots all over Android that have been rough that Samsung just, smooths out. It’s like they’re actually using the phone and willing to take matters into their own hands when Google isn’t, because Google is focused on AI assistants and letting everything else rot. Samsung lets you customize, whereas Pixel keeps walking you toward an iOS style experience one step at a time.
DeX, if you have a use for it, is awesome. During my lunch break at work can unplug my laptop from my dock, connect my phone, and have a personal workstation for watching videos, whatever. I also have a much better Private Folder with multiple apps. It’s like Samsung understands that with one device we need separation. Google has been saying a competitor to this is coming, but at this point it’s so far behind I’ll believe it when I see it.
Samsung doesn’t hold you hostage in format wars. My old Pixel in 20fucking23 couldn’t support external storage with anything but FAT32. That’s insane. It was screwing me up trying to easily back up a large file and that was no problem for the Samsung. Same with casting, Google is all in on Chromecast and nothing else, Samsung can CC but it can also Miracast. So now I can cast to any TV instead of only some.
Samsung’s hardware is usually better. They try new things sooner so you have a refined ultrasonic fingerprint sensor while Pixel was still doing illuminated, depending on your version the processors are better.
Now, places where Samsung sucks are obvious and you stated a few. No unlocking is bullshit. I own the phone, I should be able to unlock it. If you’re into tinkering then stay away, but Samsung’s do tend to have higher resale value, so if you want to get into ROMs then you can always sell the Samsung and grab a cheap used Pixel. Samsung kept the headphone jack and uSD around a little longer, but they’re both long gone on today’s models so that’s moot.
Samsung (and I can see where they’re coming from) was concerned with how much control Google had over Android so they made their own first party apps for everything. This means a lot of duplicate apps. I will say that while some can’t be easily uninstalled, they can be easily ignored. I just don’t use most of them and I’m fine. They don’t really force them on you or keep changing them to the default handler or anything. I’m OK with it, but I could see some people being annoyed.
That’s about it honestly… Samsung reminds me a bit of the early Nexus era days. Lots of customization, interesting tech, and work being put into the OS. Google is just plodding along, content to lock people into an iPhone clone and sell AI. I say give them both a try. If you pick up used or a refurb you can save a fortune and easily switch if you don’t like it without losing much if anything.
Yes, it’s taken from this address: https://youtu.be/5t5QK03KXPc
I’ve been saying that Idiocracy is coming true, but that was set in 2505. Seeing how far we’ve fallen in just 45 years, there’s no way we make it 500.
We were originally discussing why subscriptions can make sense to fund ongoing costs and you replied:
What kind of subscriptions require large infrastructure?
My response was based on the original topic of services provided by large companies, not self hosting for individual consumption. I also run a proxmox server and have similar requirements to you, but this is not indicative of the type of infrastructure a larger company with higher SLAs and demands would require.
Saying you can slap together a couple proxmox servers and have something equivalent to what it takes to run Netflix is highly disingenuous. Saying you can do the same and have an alternative to Netflix for YOU is true, but not what we’re discussing.
This isn’t meant as a slight, but I take it you don’t work in IT. You are way underestimating what it takes to run a service at the scale these large companies do. Homelabbing is cool and a great way to get off these providers, but we as individuals have completely different requirements. A proper cloud service is incredibly complex with multiple environments, rigid change controls, global availability, zero allowable downtime, etc. You can’t just wing it with a few desktops.
Oh wow, that looks even better! When I was looking into this about a year or so ago all I could find was the BedJet and it used air instead of water. There was another company but it went out of business, this looks like it might be it?
Do you know if the Chillpad Dock Pro has sleep tracking like the Sleep 8? A big seller for me is that it automatically prevents overheating/being cold, and wakes you up at the right time. The website says this:
Automatic Temperature Adjustments for Optimal Sleep Schedule automated temperature adjustments throughout the night to keep your bed at the perfect temperature for optimal sleep.
That sounds contradictory for it to be both automatic, but also scheduled.
If you don’t own it or don’t know don’t worry, I’ll research it more. I really appreciate you showing me these options!
Wow, I didn’t know freesleep was a thing. I wrote the sleep pod off due to the subscription snd cloud reliance. Looks like someone is working on a Home Assistant integration too! This is definitely something I’m going to follow.
I’m conflicted though, as I really don’t want to give money to a company with such a terrible business model, but they’re the only ones who make this kind of bed.
It doesn’t need one. Sleep Eight decided to make it that way.
I’ve been having a lot of trouble with sleep lately, and it’s really impacting my work and life. Apart from working with my Dr I was seriously considering ponying up the big bucks for a Sleep Eight until I found that literally all of it’s features rely on the cloud, and a monthly subscription, for no legitimate reason whatsoever.
Look, I’m for subscriptions when they make sense. Have a service that requires a lot of infrastructure? Subscription. Something that needs continuous dev work? Subscription. All I ask is that the subscription be kept low so that it’s affordable and everyone can be happy. But that’s not how it goes. Two things end up happening:
Both are what’s happening with the Sleep Eight. You literally can’t use any of the sleep detection features (things that run locally on a cheap smart band from 10 years ago) without the cloud. Its insane. There is no good reason that couldn’t be done on device.
I refused to buy it because of their business model, but they’re really the only game in town for this kind of product. They seem to be getting away with it, so I guess fuck me.
Easier said than done. I havent seen a system that doesn’t eventually attract and promote power hungry people. People that like having power over others, that abuse that power, and create systems to protect themselves.
Pedophilia is a real thing, but I highly doubt all these elites suffer from it. They are simply looking for a new taste, a new experience, a way of showing off their wealth and power. I honestly don’t know how you solve a problem like this without a huge purge that holds these offenders accountable. But they are in control and we are bickering over if global warming really actually seriously exists for real this time, and throwing anyone who could be The Other under the bus.
The last 10 years have really shaken my belief in the common man, and I’m seriously doubting if we have the faculties to hold a democracy together.
I don’t want account sharing either, except theres things like Google homes where you can’t sign in with more than one account. People sharing the same account in a TV aren’t trying to, it’s just the natural way they use it.
Exactly. I see that it can happen, I am seeing it happen first hand. I still don’t understand why it’s happening.
AI is just soooo fucking expensive. Silicon Valley has made burning cash up front a standard practice, but the amount they’re burning is just astronomical. There is going to be a demand for profits, or the path to profits, much sooner than usual.