I don’t think I followed this… did HBO also own Cinemax? Is that why they called the service HBO Max?

Yes. It will tell you what’s happening where your eyes cannot see.

1. You may not actually need that app. There are many alternatives to Windows-only apps. 95% of the time, I use those. Web apps or Linux native apps.

or 2) you switch back to Windows when you really need that one app. Odds are, over time, you realize it’s actually #1.

I recently moved Gmail, Google Docs and Sheets, Google Keep (tasks) and Drive to Mailbox.org. It’s super affordable and works really well. You can edit docs/sheets online or offline. No self-hosting required. I recommend it. It’s located in Germany.

Be careful, because there is a limit.

I’ve been doing research into this because I want to degoogle. Looking for hosted and secure Mail, Calendar, Drive… maybe docs if possible. I don’t mind paying as long as I’m a customer and not a product to be sold.

My short list was: Mailbox.org, Zoho, and Notion.

Then there are the services I don’t understand as much because I don’t really want to self host or step into server maintenance… NextCloud, OwnCloud, LibreCloud, OnlyOffice. Maybe someone could straighten me out with those if I’m off base.

my concern is that I install a distro this year and want to switch to SteamOS later, but would have to start over with customizations, etc. in the new distro.

I wouldn’t sweat that at all.

I switched distros last week, didn’t like the new one as much as I thought I would, and switched again a few days later. It’s not that big of a deal. Install some apps, reload your files from a USB stick. It’s not a major commitment.

My first thought: If this ever ships, I’ll eat an outboard motor.

Without wires you have no permanent power. Also, it sounds like you want it to be wireless transmission without a network. That’s a challenge.

Lets Ignore the “no cables” part then. If you want this to be cheap, highly reliable, and non-networked… use wires. You can’t go wrong.

You can get 4 camera systems with local storage from companies like Lorex for a reasonable price for good quality. I got mine at CostCo for $299. It might support cloud storage (maybe?) but I never enabled it. It just records locally. It’s been running for years with no downtime or issues and the cameras still look great.

I do believe that everything old was better, everything new stinks, and my feet hurt all the time.

I certainly feel this way, but there appears to be a huge movement in the US that admires the uber-wealthy and sees that their callous disregard for others is a key to their perceived success.

It’s scary to me. I see it from executives who think Musk is a role model, I see it from conservatives who see Trump as a role model. It’s hard to argue that lack of compassion is not working right now.

Yeah, I try jumping around. Some are better than others, but none are great.

I probably need to switch VPNs. I currently use Surfshark and I experience 2 problems, and I want to see if it’s unique to that service.

1. Lots of sites block my traffic because they detect i’m coming from a VPN. And just not like… banks or streaming services, but stupid things like Autotrader.com. It’s silly.

2. The connection always seems to slow down over time, and I have to disconnect and reconnect to get it working at full speed again. I use it on Linux and on Android and the problem happens across devices.

Sounds like Mullvad has some good options.

I don’t even trust that. Google devices hard-code DNS and IPs and… I have no evidence or knowledge of it, but I assume that they have some Sidewalk-like ability to communicate directly to other Google devices to get outside the network you want them to be on.

Metal fans are low-brow angry degenerates. I like them a lot.

I recently switched from Google Maps to Apple Maps in an effort to de-google, but this seems like an even better alternative.

Does it work with CarPlay?

EDIT: It looks like it does.

I got mad at my iPhone yesterday because I asked Siri to navigate home using Apple Maps, and it said that I hadn’t shared my location with Siri so that wasn’t possible. No… I shared my location with Apple Maps, open the app and have it navigate home. If you’re not going to allow me to use native iPhone features with Apple Maps, I’ll just use something else.

I got way way too into fantasy football. I didn’t have a dangerous amount of money invested in it (this was before DraftKings and the rise of addictive gambling apps), but I had like 5 teams and spent endless amounts of time trying to predict who would score points every week, reading stats and articles, and would watch football all day Sunday, and Monday and Thursday nights, as well as highlight shows and analysis.

At some point I just said “What am I doing?” and reclaimed my time. It felt great. No regerts. I don’t even watch football anymore.

I often see a car in a crowded parking lot that is too wide or too long to fit in a parking spot, and I have to wonder if the person driving that vehicle is a complete idiot or a complete asshole.

How stupid are you that you chose a daily driver that doesn’t work? That you take up so much space that everyone else needs to actively avoid you and curse you because you are so bad at making choices?

Do you regret your choice? Do you constantly think “Fuck everyone else around me, I do what I want.”, or do you legitimately not notice how everyone else hates you?

Why would anyone load an app from McDonalds? You want to give them elevated access to your most personal data for a few dollars of coupons?

What are they taking from you that’s worth more than the discounts they are giving you? Because they are definitely making a profit, or they wouldn’t be doing it.

You say that, but it was vastly anti-Harris and silent on Trump right around the election, so… bullshit.