Yes, and they had pretty great customer service for years. They basically decided to take the years of great customer service and brand marketing and destroy it because they were losing money.
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Yes, and they had pretty great customer service for years. They basically decided to take the years of great customer service and brand marketing and destroy it because they were losing money.
I find this to be the most true in IT. There is just simply too many tools, protocols, frameworks, libraries etc to ever know them all, inside and out.
For quite several years now, I have been using dinky little media boxes to feed the TV. And I have always been less than satisfied. They have been slow, or not able to show some media types, or didn't have the apps I wanted, or just not good enough.
Finally, I plunked down for a new Apple TV+ box. Yes, it is an exorbitant cost, about 40 cups of coffee.
But it is absolutely brilliant.
It feeds the TV at high resolution.
It is fast. Lickety-split fast.
It has the various systems I want to use -- Apple TV, Plex, Prime, ABC iView, SBS OnDemand and Youtube.
And it is all integrated. If I look for something in the home screen, and it finds that it is available for free on SBS OnDemand, then it gives a linky to the show in the app. Click on it, and it opens the show in OnDemand. Magic.
I'm not going to recommend that you get one, just that, briefly, these are my experiences with it.
I might not keep the Apple TV subscription, I will give it a couple of months to see if we actually watch anything from it. I will be keeping Prime, as we use it for Amazon stuff, and the others are free.
I hate the little touchy-feely pad on the control. I accidentally brush my finger over it, so lightly I don't even notice, and the thingy goes off somewhere to something I didn't want. I usually use one of the little typey keyboard things that come with one of the previous, cheapy media boxes, and which connects to the Apple TV + via bluetooth.
And how confusing is it to have two things, a device, and a service, with almost the same name? Apple, what happened to your design philosophy? And the same goes for the touchy-feely pad on the remote.
Finally, I plunked down for a new Apple TV+ box. Yes, it is an exorbitant cost, about 40 cups of coffee.
But it is absolutely brilliant.
It feeds the TV at high resolution.
It is fast. Lickety-split fast.
It has the various systems I want to use -- Apple TV, Plex, Prime, ABC iView, SBS OnDemand and Youtube.
And it is all integrated. If I look for something in the home screen, and it finds that it is available for free on SBS OnDemand, then it gives a linky to the show in the app. Click on it, and it opens the show in OnDemand. Magic.
I'm not going to recommend that you get one, just that, briefly, these are my experiences with it.
I might not keep the Apple TV subscription, I will give it a couple of months to see if we actually watch anything from it. I will be keeping Prime, as we use it for Amazon stuff, and the others are free.
I hate the little touchy-feely pad on the control. I accidentally brush my finger over it, so lightly I don't even notice, and the thingy goes off somewhere to something I didn't want. I usually use one of the little typey keyboard things that come with one of the previous, cheapy media boxes, and which connects to the Apple TV + via bluetooth.
And how confusing is it to have two things, a device, and a service, with almost the same name? Apple, what happened to your design philosophy? And the same goes for the touchy-feely pad on the remote.
My father passed away a week ago… we have had the farewell ceremony and the cremation, and I’m now slowly getting used to the idea that he’s not there anymore. No more “morning dad” texts to send, with a reply coming “morning son”, and when he was ready a text of “talk?” to see if I was up for a brief phone call. I miss these regular contacts most of all.
A South African friend said to me, the passing of a parent is a momentous occasion, when your relationship with your ancestors in the spirit world shifts and changes. Perhaps he is right, that those who are still interested are now following me rather than him.
I’ve taken to handing out the wine bottles that are still in his supply to his friends and neighbours in his apartment block, I usually drink very little myself. I was doing introductions and house calls yesterday, just to update them on the latest events and what had happened to my dad in the hospital.
A South African friend said to me, the passing of a parent is a momentous occasion, when your relationship with your ancestors in the spirit world shifts and changes. Perhaps he is right, that those who are still interested are now following me rather than him.
I’ve taken to handing out the wine bottles that are still in his supply to his friends and neighbours in his apartment block, I usually drink very little myself. I was doing introductions and house calls yesterday, just to update them on the latest events and what had happened to my dad in the hospital.
I lost my mom almost 2 years ago this June, and it still feels as fresh as yesterday. I remember finding the courage to see her in the ICU, after she passed, to say my goodbyes and kiss her forehead one last time. My brother couldn't handle it - he burst into tears and left the hospital completely. I sat in the lobby of the hospital, making calls to funeral homes and signing paperwork as she was laying in the bed. It was a heartbreaking experience, one I thought I'd never get over. In some ways, I haven't. I, too, am still getting used to not receving a text or funny picture from her, resisting the urge to call, and seeing her empty apartment. A part of me will never heal, and that's OK. That's just a crack in the cornerstone of our existence. It's cracked, but still bears the weight of life and carries on.
Sorry to hear that. I’m lucky enough to still have both my parents. But I don’t see too much of them for various reasons. My Dad and I are close and talk often. I’ll miss him when he’s gone.
Make sure to take time for yourself to remember him in your own way.
Very sorry to hear that.
It is tough - very tough - to lose a parent, but they stay with you always in mind and memory, especially when it was a close and warm relationship.
My father is gone twenty years this month (3rd May), and I still miss him, and my mother left us in December 2018, a loss that we still feel deeply, even though the ferociously bright person who loved to live and laugh had been dimmed by dementia for close to a decade before her death.
All I can say is to take the time to grieve, and to remember him, and allow yourself to admit to sorrow, and pain, as well as love and laughter.
They say that someone is never fully gone as long as there are those who remember them with love.
The very best of luck to you.
I never got the hang of that touchpad either; disabled it to make it just an Enter key in the settings.
Caught up (by phone) with an old friend with whom I hadn't been in contact for a few years - he lives in Spain, where he teaches, and is an avowed technophobe - and we had a lovely chat.
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That’s nice. A friend of mine is in town tomorrow so we are meeting up for dinner which will be nice. Certainly better than driving to The Lake District to see him.
Have a week off work so driving up to Glasgow for a few days.
That sounds lovely.
Do enjoy; hope you have a lovely time, it is always nice to catch up with old friends.
Agreed.
Off to Glasgow for work in July. Will be flying up though as it’s dirt cheap. Cheaper than the train even. Go figure!
Funny how we are both dining out tomorrow.
Decent Brother is in town tonight - he is back briefly for a school reunion (the sort of thing that I avoid like the proverbial plague) - and we plan to meet for brunch sometime tomorrow.
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Enjoy; could be interesting - I like the Scottish cities, and have a lot of time for the old Scottish universities.
This is something that I simply cannot get my head around, and not only because I love train journeys.
School reunion? I wouldn’t have a clue if they have them for my school or not. Been decades since I’ve seen or heard from anyone I went to school with.
I couldn’t imagine anything worse than meeting up at a school reunion.
Enjoy your meal out.
By the time I factor in getting to the airport, getting through security and the flight itself it probably won’t be any quicker than driving up. But I’m not putting all those miles on my car at 7p a mile.
My nan passed away a year ago on February 2024, just when I barely returned to school after the Christmas break.
The last time I saw her was on FaceTime when my mom traveled up there to visit her in the ICU during Chinese New Year. It was also the first Chinese New Year I celebrated alone, as my nan had a heart attack and had to be hospitalised for a long time.
I had to go through a lot of grief counseling and support, including retaking a calculus course because of this situation. I still miss the weekly phone calls my mom makes to my nan.
Terribly sorry for your loss. I hope you have plenty of memories of her to cherish. I'm doing my best to do the same with mine.
I kept her rosary and a few sentimental things from her.
Had well recovered from this grief but still going to therapy a few times a month.
I lived about 1400 miles away from my grandpa when he died. He was a WW2 vet and a devout Catholic. I on the other hand struggled immensely with the ideology surrounding Christianity, foundational of the culture I grew up in and he knew this. Anyhow, upon receiving my brothers call, I immediately hopped in my car and drove across country to his house (grandma had passed away 15 years earlier). About 20 hours later my wife n I got there. I was pretty tired so we took a nap in the guest bedroom. This was about 10 feet from where he died in the connecting hallway effectively a day earlier. I will never forget this and this will sound crazy: He came to me while I was asleep. The experience was one I will never forget. I was asleep but completely awake and clear minded in my minds eye. I saw rainbow energy waves bouncing around (kind of like an Apple screen saver but every where all the time) and felt absolute love. He told me telepathically (the words were more like feelings than a conversation but had direct meaning and I understood exactly what he "said") not to worry and that he was OK, that he loves and will always love us and that everything would be fine. The feeling was like love times a billion; I was in an ocean of love. Just completely covered in love and Joy and all the colors of the rainbow energy.
Then I woke up out of a dead sleep and sat up in the bed. I startled my wife and she asked me if I was ok and I said: I just talked to grandpa and he is OK. It was realer than real if that makes sense. I dont know how exactly to express that aspect of my experience. Its like that was more real than me typing this message here now even though Im completely conscious and lucid right now.
Anyways, I now know that death is not an end at all. It is a door and our loved ones who step through that door are continuing their journey. Their bodies may have expired, however their essence, spirit, soul, anima (whatever you want to call it) is all there. I miss my grandparents and wish they were here for my kids to meet and hear stories but I have no doubt and take comfort in knowing that I will see them again when it is my turn.
You will too.
Then I woke up out of a dead sleep and sat up in the bed. I startled my wife and she asked me if I was ok and I said: I just talked to grandpa and he is OK. It was realer than real if that makes sense. I dont know how exactly to express that aspect of my experience. Its like that was more real than me typing this message here now even though Im completely conscious and lucid right now.
Anyways, I now know that death is not an end at all. It is a door and our loved ones who step through that door are continuing their journey. Their bodies may have expired, however their essence, spirit, soul, anima (whatever you want to call it) is all there. I miss my grandparents and wish they were here for my kids to meet and hear stories but I have no doubt and take comfort in knowing that I will see them again when it is my turn.
You will too.
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Sorry to make this all about me but this indeed is what’s on my mind. I passionately, wholeheartedly, and devoutly HATE being “the young kid” in any space. Or being perceived as such, especially in a room full of grown adults. It’s just really embarrassing and makes me feel as if I’m worth less. This is true even when I do have some experience and authority. I really, really wish I could just jump ahead to 50 years old, that would be amazing.
I will need to look that up.
However, in spite of how well the technology works there's still nothing worth watching!!!!!
So, there was this one time in my junior year of high school, on the first day of school, that the counselor made a silly mistake. She accidentally put me in a 12th-grade language arts class instead of my junior English literature class. I didn’t even realize it was a seniors class until the teacher started talking about graduation and college. Then, when she saw my name on the roll call, she quickly realized the school had made a mix-up. I felt like I was blending in with the seniors, and none of the other 12th graders knew that I was the youngest in the class. 😂
The teacher had to write a hall pass for me to go back to the counsellors office and tell her the mistake she made and the counsellor put me in the right class.