esond

We use the blank cards almost exclusively.

For Christmas, we got several members of our extended family to read their favourite story book into a voice memo on our phone(s). We set up a blank Yoto card with all those stories, and with custom icons.

It was a great stocking stuffer for our toddler, and very cute to hear him call out who is reading :)

Because their husband secretly has HIV? Secret outside of the relationship, that is.

I've got a Samsung laser printer that was gifted to me when I started post-secondary 13 years ago. Still chugging right along. Never had a hiccup with it. Windows finds the drivers without issue on a new OS install (I have drivers backed up just in case).

No colour printing, but who cares. We do the same thing as you. When we want some photos printed (usually for distribution to family), it's no major hassle to get them printed at the local office supply.

Is this true? I would love to read further on this. For one reason or another, I am experiencing some concern lately about my waning ability to learn new concepts as I age, or at least my perception of it. I would be chuffed to learn that it was all just in my head (so to speak).

I was just last week in an interview for a role at Amazon and was told that -- while they would entertain a permanent remote arrangement for the right candidate -- it was the interviewer's honest opinion that being fully remote would hurt my chances to advance in the organization.

I figured, well, at least he was honest with me.

One of the issues that I know Canada faces (having been in this exact position) is a southward "brain drain". There is no small amount of top talent that graduate from Universities and ship out to SV, or of top talent that seek out remote gigs in the States.

The remote work proposition in particular is extremely enticing. Getting paid in a currency with 10-20% more buying power while still receiving the same government services was pretty swell.

Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss. This relatively short book has made more of a difference to my personal livelihood than maybe any other pice of literature or advice.

You really don’t realize how much negotiating you do in day to day life. Its good to be comfortable with it.

People don't use Netflix et al. because they want to follow the law. They use them because they're a better service and experience than the alternatives (PVR TV and DVDs).

When streaming services no longer offer a superior user experience, there's not much reason to use them. Maybe we'll see a new round of "You wouldn't download a car" ads.

I would happily pay for a service that let me download content to my personal machine, without DRM, and without restrictions. The price paid for that right now is breaking the law, and current enforcement of that law hardly a price to pay.

There's something to be said for the cord-cutting software ecosystem supporting more-than-casual piracy experiencing huge improvements. If you have the hardware, you can host your own media using Plex as a server, and Sonarr to manage your library and automate acquisition of new TV episodes.

Plex is one of the best pieces of software I've ever used. It Just Works™. You need a decent internet pipeline to support remote streaming, but LAN is a breeze to setup. It's so feature-rich I don't know where to begin. I honestly prefer it to any other streaming service. Apps on just about every platform you can think of (they had yet to release apps for Nintendo consoles last I checked).

I have my whole family set up on my server, and it doesn't cost them a dime. The primary drawbacks from their perspective are that they need to request shows and movies to be added, and I naturally don't have Netflix-level availability, but hey. Shit's free.

So when a cord-cutter with enough savvy to pirate video can actually replicate the services rendered by Netflix et al. on their own, why would they pay five times for something centralized that they can get for free[1]?

[1] Plex has $7 month premium features, with the option for a lifetime pass equal to about 2.5 years of subscription.

Mousewheel/scroll too!