Yeah, it was (and still is) a feature that was added to the RSS protocol.

Apple didn’t invent the concept of podcasts, but they sure popularized them. They used to be called syndicated audio, and were pretty niche. Then Apple added it as a feature of iTunes. The idea was that because your iPod didn’t have any wifi or data connection, you couldn’t listen to new content while out and about. So you would plug your iPod into your computer with iTunes to sync down all the latest content before you leave for the day. Then they needed feeds of new content to provide to the users, so lots of new episodicals were started, and Apple grouped them under the umbrella of “podcasts”.

Apple never made a product called iTouch. You’re thinking of a product called “iPod Touch”. It was the touchscreen version of the iPod (without the iconic clickwheel). The first one was essentially a slimmer iPhone 3G without a cellular modem.

I worked in an electronics repair store just after they came out. We replaced hundreds of broken screens on them. The sheer number of people who called them “iTouch” was surprising, considering Apple never called it that.

The fact that high end music streaming platforms are only just now starting to offer super high bitrate lossless “CD Quality” audio as an option, gives you an indication of how good CDs actually are as a physical medium.

A cheap old CD player connected via SPDIF to a modern mid-range DAC with decent speakers will give you better quality audio than the latest Sonos system streaming from Spotify.

It’s certainly a bad sign if you leave the interview and you’re not sure if the job is for writing PHP or pleasuring his wife.

Yes, that’s the theory, but it also has the side effect of making banks richer, because all the money that would be flowing out inflating the economy is now flowing into the banks inflating their stores.

• Ball rolls about two feet and stops just before it rolls off the table.
• White ball, polished surface, shiny
• Male
• Tall person, slender build, light brown hair, clean shaven, white button-up collared shirt, blue jeans.
• Ball was a bit bigger than a billiard ball, but smaller than a baseball. Smooth, and heavy. Like a white cricket ball but with no seams.
• It was one of those large common fold-up trestle tables but with a white table cloth on it.
• I knew all those without having to think about it, or choose afterwards.

To me the imagery seemed like a cheesy “how to push a ball” educational video with a paid actor to demonstrate how to push the ball in the correct manner.

Fyi, Tidal dropped MQA in July and moved to using FLAC. https://www.headphonesty.com/2024/06/tidal-officially-dumps-mqa/ I like Qobuz too, and I support and encourage their mission in the streaming world. But personally I find more of my favourite artists are available on Tidal than on Qobuz. Unfortunately I find the tidal “station”-style playlists are also garbage. Nobody has a chance to effectively compete with Spotify’s algorithm on that front.

How the heck is he 25? Dude has bushy old-man eyebrows and greying hair. He looks 55, not 25.

The coin flip, chance concept is something I’ve dealt with too. I was fast going down the incel path in my mid 20s. One of my managers at work was given two tickets to a speed dating event, his mother told him he “needs to find a girlfriend” so she can “be a grandmother”. He didn’t want to go, we were talking to him about how awful a speed dating event would turn out to be.

He said he would go if one of his friends came with him to the event too. He called so many of his friends, most were already in a relationship, or were busy that day, the rest rejected the invitation. Then he started asking workmates at work, similar situation. Eventually he approached me, he knew I was single, knew I didn’t have social life, knew I never spoke to women, he said it would be a good opportunity for me to put myself out there. My first inclination was to say “no way”, “absolutely not”, I’m not attractive and a bit autistic, I don’t make a good first impression to anyone. The thought of awkwardly making small talk for 5 minutes at a time with 12 different women who were judging me based on first impressions, was the absolute opposite of my idea of a good time.

Then I thought about it as a chance to help my colleague, he wasn’t going to go unless I went with him, I wanted him to go, he wanted me to go, plus it was at a new bar that I’d heard good things about. At the very least I’d get to have some drinks with my work friend.

The event was about as awkward and anxiety inducing as I expected for the most part. Most women were much older than me, and clearly had zero interest in chatting to me. So I took the pressure off myself, I wasn’t there to find a girlfriend, I didn’t buy the ticket, I was there to support my friend. There were two women around my own age, who were not bad looking and I actually managed to hold a conversation with (the beers helped). At the end of the event you could write down the name of anyone you felt a connection with and the organisers would find mutual matches.

Next day I find out I matched with one of the women I’d indicated. I got her contact details, and started talking to her via emails and SMS for a few months, getting to know each other better. Again I didn’t put any pressure on myself, I didn’t know this person, I didn’t ask her to match with me, it was a “easy come, easy go” situation with zero stakes. After two months we eventually went on a real date, and turns out we were a great match. Two years later we were engaged. Today is our 10th wedding anniversary, and we have two kids.

After we started dating I found out that she only went to the speed dating event as a support person to her friend. She didn’t go in looking for a relationship either.

That got me thinking about the odds of this happening. If my colleague didn’t get given tickets from his mother, if any of his other friends weren’t busy and went with him instead, if I didn’t agree to go along with him, if she didn’t go along with her friend for support, if I didn’t write down her name at the end, if she didn’t write down my name. The mind boggles. She told me it was a 50/50 whether she wrote down my name, just like you mentioned.

When people say dating is a “numbers game”, that doesn’t need to be interpreted in a predatory or creepy way. I think this is what it is about, the chances of finding a connection with someone really is a chance, but the one thing you can do is find a way to make that chance non-zero.

That’s why generally they’ll use the term “street value” for these kinds of descriptions. That means it’s worth that amount because that’s what people are willing to pay for it.

+1 for CBAT

A few people I work with, in the data science and environmental science fields.

Kristen Bell played Anna in Frozen, did not sing “Let it go”. That was by Elsa, played by Idina Menzel.

That’s a great perspective, thanks for sharing that and it makes me want to reconsider using Gleam, but even more so makes me want to properly learn Erlang. And actually I’m not really a fan of Ruby, so that’s not something I’m attached to in Elixir.

I certainly appreciate the introduction of typing in Gleam, but one criticism I’ve seen of Gleam is the lack of function overloading, that is such a core feature of both Erlang and Elixir.

What’s your thoughts on Gleam vs Elixir?

I just started learning elixir last month then I read about gleam, watched some video introductions, it looks good, but I think Elixir is still the better language to learn right now to choose one.

Personally I only use smartphones with dual XLR output and optical SPDIF.

I for one certainly cannot forget CBAT. It’s nuts, and so good, and so bad.

All the panels used by all Kindle, Nook, Kobo and Boox eReader models are made by Carta.

There might be other companies that make those other kinds of small updatable eink displays used in stores, or the tiny ones on microcontrollers.

Ah yes, H’taln’k from J’briom-4, flying his Zal’t M’lort class Winger to the Mont Bronl’n port with the day’s haul of Sea Crom’t. Oh won’t his mabs’k be pleased with this delivery.