After dealing with these TV boxes to get Netflix on my dumb TV, and the latest Chinese TV box not supporting Netflix, despite saying so on the box, I broke down and bought a Roku. I love it too. The only problem I've had is when using the bluetooth headphones; they cut out for 3 to 10 seconds when Kirk is talking.

I got rid of cable years ago and have Rokus in every room. Love them.

If I tell my Alexa to “play Kansas,” she/it defaults to Kansas and bands it thinks are like Kansas (and are often not, i.e. Journey). I have to be specific and say “play songs only by the band Kansas.” I’ll have to try the mix idea, but if it throws in other bands… 👎

You know, that's funny because for years I've been saying either "play Rush" or "play Van Halen" or whatever, and she is pretty good on sticking to that. Maybe she just doesn't like you, lol.

100% AI hates me because I don’t trust/generally don’t like it.

Michael Thanks to all the changes that Windows, Google and others have made to "security", migrating to a new laptop has taken me a week and I'm not near finished. It used to take just a day. The worst has been getting my Outlook to work again. (And the new keyboard layout).

I used ChatGPT to hunt down the solutions to dozens of annoying issues, and even AI can't keep up with all the security changes. It thinks the setting is on one page and it's been moved three times since. It's a constant one step forward, three steps back even with AI.

Thinking about it, I don't really hate AI... I hate the hype that surrounds AI. I also hate how industry and MSM ignore the science and logistical facts about building the infrastructure needed for AI at the scale its champions demand. Just today, two articles chalk full of facts and science (the titles give you the idea):

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/ibm-ceo-warns-trillion-dollar-ai-boom-unsustainable-at-current-infrastructure-costs

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/ai-data-center-buildout-pushes-copper-toward-shortages-analysts-warn

You've been saving your pennies from before 1982, right? That's the year they stopped making them out of copper... The "melt price" of a copper penny is around 3-4 cents right now. Of course, it is illegal to melt US coins, so I would never do it.

Thomas Yeah, that's exactly why I hate migrating to a new laptop. I love the new hardware and the speed boost, but it always turns into a two or three day project getting every little setting, shortcut, and preference back where I want it. You'd think in 2025 we'd have a one-click way to clone your setup to a new machine. Same thing with Android phones. The apps reinstall, but none of your preferences carry over, so it's another weekend of tweaking everything until it feels right again.

Michael Do you remember the hype machine that surrounded the internet as soon as businesses realized they could make money with it? Everything was the information superhighway and cheesy AOL commercials. That bubble was just as overblown and annoying. As for melting coins, I remember doing it in science class back in the 80s. The teacher freaked out and said it was illegal, and we all thought the feds were going to kick in the door. Meanwhile, I used to flatten pennies on train tracks all the time. And those penny-crushing machines in airports? They turn pennies into souvenirs all day long and nobody's hauling those tourists away. The law's really aimed at people melting huge batches for scrap metal, not a kid with a Bunsen burner. You know, kind of like the thieves that go around and steal all the copper piping out of houses when they're being built.

If you leave your house for a weekend here in Colombia, you might find thieves have come in and stole the copper wiring. I would invite them in if they could pull the new wire I need (properly color coded and sized) with what they pull out. Some of the old wires are run through the concrete foundation and spliced just before a turn. I do admire how tight Colombians can make a short splice along with the electrical tape on top. It's near impossible for me to unwind, cutting is my only option. A real bitch when replacing sockets and switches.

Michael Those are the same issues that were facing the big EV push before it fizzled.  Shutting down operating coal fired generators without first replacing their load capacity has aggravated the entire situation, too.  We have seen this coming for about 5 years in the power generation industry.

Richard I would contend the hype of the Internet delivered. We went from "bulletin boards" to chat rooms to online forums. For a while, when Google actually searched instead of marketed, you could look up almost anything. AI has been hyped for at least 5 years and has delivered funny pictures, search (ironically), and vibe coding. And documents that are 75% correct and famously include fictional references.

Matt Agree, but I would argue AI needs are even greater since it needs both the energy AND the components us normal people would like to have (c.f. the 100%-plus premium already happening on DDR5 RAM).

This just entered my feed. Title says it all:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/chatgpt-gladly-shoots-a-youtuber-overriding-safety-protocols-with-minimal-manipulation/ar-AA1RJTYb?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=7b5fb81804f44f18d2f4a474f8a64646&ei=26