Someone who disagrees with you is not a bootlicker.

Meta is a garbage company. Meta has done terrible things historically. At the moment we don’t know how Threads will affect the rest of the Fediverse. I’m ok with giving Meta a short leash. If you disagree, join an instance that has already blocked them. That’s how this works.

I fully expect, once rolled out, I’ll block Threads, but that is MY choice to make.

So, working backwards, thirdly, the books are excellent. The first three are by far the best and cover up to season 3/4ish. The next two are good, but also different. The show also really starts to diverge so kinda up to season 6, but only in the broadest sense.

In either case if you’re going to read the books, read them all for full background. If course we’re still waiting on at least 2 more new books, sooooooo you might be waiting a while/forever.

Second. The House of the Dragon TV series. I was also hesitant to watch it, but it really is great. It’s not perfect, but if all we ever got was this one good season, I’d be happy. If season two ends up sucking, bummer, but at least we had one good one.

And firstly. King Bran. The biggest issue with Season 8 is that it just rushes to the ending. Bran has the best story? He is a weird raven character now. What does that mean? Who understands what that means? What did he actually do? What about Meera?

But what if we knew more about this three eyed raven character? What if we understood their goals? What if they foresaw the events of the series? What if they caused, or guided them? Hodor’s purpose was to eventually save Bran. To do that Bran would have to make Hodor, Hodor. What if he helped ensure other events also took place? What if Bran being “King” was a setup from the beginning?

If all that is properly explained, I don’t really have an issue with King Bran.

Of course that only explains it for the viewer. To King’s Landing Bran is just some weird kid.

So let’s change Bran’s role slightly. The White Walkers are going to attack. The only way to win is with a united Seven Kingdoms. By the time Dany arrives the kingdom is largely united. However Dany has dragons. Can Bran convince Dany to give everything up and focus on the White Walkers? We see hints of this in the show. If the White Walker threat isn’t fixed in one episode, what happens?

There are multiple seasons of story, and that’s just Bran.

They key points of the show can still work (some of them at least), but they need time. Think of the Red Wedding. Arya’s seasons long journey is nearly at an end. Caitlyn and her negotiating is paying off. Robb is about to achieve victory. Three seasons of setup, executed perfectly.

Realistically, looking back, season 8 was never going to be able to wrap things up. Even less so with a reduced last season.

The show runners fucked up and they fucked up big time.

1. What’s the catch?

2. So you’ll just answer ANY three questions I have truthfully?

3. Wait… Did those first two count?

So I typically have two sets of headphones, really nice ones that I use for long travel & low key ones I use daily.

At the time my really nice ones didn’t have Bluetooth, but I knew future versions did, so I assumed that problem would solve itself.

For the daily I tried a set a Bluetooth and found them to be mostly ok, but had frequent disconnects and eventually I just got tired of remembering to charge them.

A few years later I figured the technology would have improved, but my problems remained the same. I then accidentally ran one of my buds through the wash and that made things worse. It wasn’t the first time I’d run headphones through the wash, but what was previously a $10s of dollars mistake, was now a $100s of dollars mistake.

I now use wired headphones daily and exclusively.

For my really nice ones I don’t have to remember to charge them. I just plug them in.

Also, when traveling on buses and airplanes, they sometimes provide onride entertainment. It’s not clear to me how wireless only folks utilize that. Sure I downloaded things before I leave, but it’s nice sometimes to just plug in.

This is the biggest one for me.

At some point I stopped using Reddit on the web/desktop and just started to use it on my phone/tablet. I tried different apps, but settled with RIF. Every few years I’d try different apps, but always found my way back to RIF.

Reddit did a bunch of stupid things over the years, but I could happily ignore them and continue to use RIF.

When RIF went away I had to find a new app. The official app wasn’t going to work for me. Old Reddit on the phone wasn’t going to work for me.

Luckily there are plenty of Lemmy apps. I’ve settled on Voyager (wefwef) but Boost seems fine too.

Sure, the content has changed a bit, but it’s close enough.

For me a good app is key. Lemmy has good apps. I use Lemmy.

So many apps redesign themselves and assume I’ll get used to it. In actuality they cause me to wonder, “Do I still need you?” and start looking for alternatives.

That isn’t to say that apps can’t ever redesign themselves, but so many redesigns seem to follow the latest trend and don’t demonstrate a clear understanding of their users.

Ancient tech? Looks at literally every laptop and desktop sold.

Headphone jack removal is anti-consumer and any device without one is missing a key component. Why would I buy a device missing a key component?

Plus you can find wired headphones EVERYWHERE. Walk into any gas station and pick up replacements for $10. Sure they may not be the best quality, but they work. Also, no charging, just plug them into your device. Also, no setup, just plug it in.

I use legal@[website.com]

I figure if they’re going to send spam, the legal department should be aware.

Out of curiosity what sort of safety did you think an unencrypted hard drive had?

I mean no offense and I think it’s a perfectly fine question to ask, I just want to understand what you expected.

Chakotay: Welcome to the Maquis Resistance, are you spy?

Tuvok: That would be logical.

And the show is over before it begins.

Yes, although you could use Gentle Repose can look like a post death ritual and give you a ten day window.

Nostalgia is the simple answer. I watched it last night, it wasn’t very good, but it had some funny jokes and throwback moments.

In terms of ratings, 67% is probably a bit high even for the target audience. Outside the target audience it should be much lower.

In terms of content, they stretched the skit to make the first movie and it was fine. For the sequel, they pretty much just reference things and add a little bit.

Basically if you think you’d like to see it, you’ll probably enjoy at least parts of it. If you skip it, you’re not missing anything.

The funny thing is that is exactly what they did last time they came back. EyePhone and Susan Boil jokes.

Luckily it just takes one season to get them out of their system and then we get some new things.

I wish that were true but what actually happens is some people are nicer, but asshats are still asshats. People who might have called an asshat an asshat, now just respond politely, but the asshats grow more bold.

So what you’ll get is any sense of reasonable Republican to quiet down, and the worst Republicans to speak louder.

Trump can call people vermin and Republicans celebrate. Biden responds that such language is Nazi-like, since we can’t call him an actual Nazi, and Republicans scream back that Biden is overreacting.

I just bought a new phone (originally released in May 2023) for $170. I’ve used it for 3 days now and it works perfectly. My old phone lasted ~3-4 years and cost a similar price.

I stopped buying “flagship” phones years ago and it’s been great. Midrange phones are absolutely the phones people should be buying.

I also get the bells and whistles that are often missing from premium phones. I have an SD card slot for expandable storage and I have a headphone jack.

Not at all? Just throw it into one big drawer?

My point is that it’s an absurd argument.

Let’s talk real world, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Do you think a reasonable argument can be made that those bombings made sense? If not, what about in 1945?

I’m not asking you to agree, just to understand the argument. It’s a discussion worth having, even if you disagree with the answer.

Not even you believe that is what I meant.

I would argue to stop other violence, not necessarily bigger, is also justified. It’s never allowed unrestricted, especially as the bigger entity, but a tactical or measured response to prevent further violence can make sense.

This is hugely important. Since Windows is what they use now, I’d start by seeing if any peers are using macOS. See what issues, if any, they have. If you can find someone who uses ChomeOS, ask them too.

Linux will likely have a solution to any sort of compatibility problems, but I imagine folks who have already moved off of Windows will share similar problems.

Hard disagree. The opening theme is part of the show. It’s a secret Star Trek call.

A few years back I was waiting for an elevator and randomly the song got stuck in my head. I started to hum/sing the song, quietly, but getting louder as I waited for the elevator. I didn’t notice but another man had also had begun to wait for the elevator. “Is that the Enterprise theme?” He asked? And we shared a conversation about a show each of us had watched 20+ years ago.

You gotta watch with the theme song.