Many of the cheap TVs with Roku built in require you to set up a Roku account before you can even use the HDMI inputs. After setting up your account you can disconnect it from the internet and use it as a normal TV, but I spent a while trying to get around this block. In the end I had to create a Roku account.
The problem is so many services requiring SMS to be that second factor. From what I’ve heard it’s easy enough to steal a sim that if you’re being explicitly targeted it’s basically the same as no second factor. Yet even if using an authenticator app most services require you to still have SMS/phone as another option for the 2FA.
For Authy specifically they’d need to guess your master password and then hijack your phone number, and for users of Authy I suspect their passwords are not easily guessed as it’s already a step above the standard SMS only 2FA most services require.
Absolutely this. AvE had exactly the same thing happen but Canadian and with tools. Now they’re both just too political for me to put up with sticking around for the technical stuff.
I’m not Australian and I’m not Canadian, so if I’m watching a technical video why do I need to know their political opinions?
The US really doesn’t understand that there is simply no competing with these batteries. To try to block the import of them is only going to set our own local industry back in their ability to compete in the global economy. And ironically the BMS systems for CATL are still using American semiconductors, so the US still gets some revenue from their massive expansion.
The most viable competitors to CATL are all in China too. I’d be somewhat supportive of a CATL specific ban due to their notoriously terrible employee working conditions and crazy NDAs/non-competes, but to ban all Chinese batteries in the US would be a huge mistake.
When they charge many $100s for an extra 8gb the value of the bare minimum 8gb doesn’t look so terrible (if only comparing to Apple). Especially considering the performance of swap on a fast SSD.
Part of the difference is that the Apple silicon Macs aggressively use SSD swap to make up for limited memory. But that’s at expense of the SSD lifespan, which of course isn’t replaceable.
I’d never recommend a Mac, but the prices they charge to get a little more RAM or SSD over base are crazy. The only configurations offering any “value” are the base models with 8gb RAM.
This is just going to lead to people using outdated Windows 10 for various reasons. I don’t use Windows much but have it installed. The trackpad gesture customization is basically gone in Windows 11 but was at least serviceable in Windows 10 (to change virtual desktops and volume easily).
Every other year or so, but only because there somehow keep being better deals. Over the last 8 years mint mobile has been consistently good pricing even for returning customers provided you’re willing to pay for the whole year up front. That’s my baseline. From there other small carriers come along offering unlimited for less and you join for a year or two until they go bust. Right now I’m on Spectrum mobile since it’s free with even the cheapest home internet available to my address (for 12 months).
Quality electric toothbrush. I can’t get my teeth feeling clean without one anymore.
A rice cooker. Doesn’t need to be fancy, but it lowers the barrier to cooking substantially given how many dishes use rice.
3, A phone with a camera that’s at least mid-range, as it’s the camera you’ll have on you most. I used to always use phones from cheap brands like Umidigi and although some of them did perform quite well others left me with gaps of my life where none of the photos I took have any detail.
This is referring to the Roku built into many TVs. So you have no choice but to deal with it at least a little bit for switching between your HDMI/PC inputs. The reason this case is so bad is that it literally prevents you from using any input or device until you find the Roku remote that came with the TV and click accept. The TV is a “brick” until you do this.
To be fair to Netflix before other networks took streaming seriously they were charging very little to license their content on Netflix. That’s why it had everything and was so good to be better than piracy. The royalties from Netflix couldn’t be enough to fund these networks. Even Netflix themselves as the studio has struggled substantially promoting these price hikes and the effective recreation of cable TV.
As they lose more of the licensed content they’re forced to focus on their own. Unfortunately for the just part they can’t compete with constant new mediocre shows and movies. The streaming industry as a whole has lost sight of what made it popular in the first place.
I assure you it is much, much worse than dominos. It’s like making a pizza with Cheez Wiz instead of real cheese. Considering the ingredients of provel cheese are all nice on their own is quite the feat.
This is certainly a distinct style of pizza, as much difference as Chicago style is from New York. Unlike with those I have no idea how anyone thought this was a good idea.
I’d argue we’re at the point where that would be a good business move too. It wouldn’t fix my main issue of but allowing 3rd party repairs so I wouldn’t buy one, but I know several people who have bought other brands due to Elon.
The Galaxy A5x series is excellent value. It’s not the absolute cheapest but for ~$300 there’s nothing it does wrong. I’ve used a Galaxy A52 (older 4g version) for the last 2 years without any issues. Before that I stuck to Umidigi phones in the ~$120-$150 range which were all great except for the cameras.
Over Christmas I won a Pixel 8 Pro giveaway but except for in the lowest lighting conditions the difference is insignificant to my eye. I actually really miss some of the Samsung software features (namely secure folder and free-form windows).
Having a cheaper phone is also freeing to treat them less gently. I often found myself taking photos I might not otherwise due to the fact all my prior phones were so cheap. I’m not about to hold my Pixel 8 Pro out over a cliff, but for the Umidigi phones and Galaxy A52 that was no problem when traveling.
I personally had no problem with them charging for API access, the rate was my bigger issue. I suspect they were basing it off of the money and hype behind the large language models that were previously training using their data for free rather than the relatively few 3rd party app users. I don’t get how there weren’t more people using them considering how bad the official Android app is, but there’s no way it was substantially impacting their bottom line.
Charging comparable rates or even 2-3x what they would get from users of the official app seeing ads also wouldn’t be an issue to me, paying to support software is generally good as it aligns user and developer interests. But with 20x higher rates than they’d get from the user using the official app that couldn’t genuinely be the case.
+1 for VPS, the ionos ones are $2/mo and have unlimited bandwidth at 400mbps. That’s basically the cost of electricity for a home server with orders of magnitude better reliability.
Seriously this is crazy. Apple somehow winning is way worse as there is simply no way to install third party apps on IOS. Android makes the risks clear but it’s still at least possible if you click install anyway.
In terms of being a monopoly, in the US ios has more market share anyway. Google’s lawyers must have really made some big mistake.
The home bought 15 years ago definitley helps. With higher interest and pricing explosions in growing Metro areas like DFW, I’d expect the housing payment to be well over 3x if you were to buy now. DFW median home price alone is up 2.63x over the last 15yr alone before considering interest rates.
If EU imessage usage were as widespread as in US it would definitely be subject to regulation. Such a shame.
Basically, though I tend to use GMX email aliases for these sorts of useless signups. I don’t want some temporary email account to be all that’s needed to get control over my TV should I ever connect it to the internet again.