Got a Sony Atmos soundbar for my 4K TV. Set up was a nightmare though. Turns out plugging an HDMI cable from the PS4 into the TV, even with the PS4 off, completely screwed up Bravia Sync on ATV & Sony devices. Took a long time to figure this out. Still looking for a solution.šŗ
It is a big day for our 17 y/o daughter. She went to her first in-person job interview today. About 2 hours later she got a phone call that she got the job! Sheāll be working in guest services in a fun place so sheās delighted. š
I periodically watch live streams on YouTube on my TV - some very useful content. Iām always frustrated their AppleTV app will show chat messages but provides no way to type messages even with an external BT keyboard. Twitch allows responding to chat but not with a BT keyboardš
When I saw @Burk post about Shortcuts I realized I use a jumble of automation tools on macOS and iOS: Shorcuts, itās āPersonalā iPhone automations, Homekit, and finally Keyboard Maestro and zsh. I have but barely use Scriptable & Pythonista as well.
I watched Richard Bransonās flight today. It was pretty unimpressive by todayās standards. And calling themselves āastronautsā and āmission specialistsā seems pretty ludicrous for what they did. Rather disrespectful to the people who actually fly and do science in space.
This is the first year we planted carrots in the garden. We donāt have the best soil for them. My wife was excited to pull one early to see how they were doing. Looking good so far! Needs another month or so to mature though. š„
Bloominā and bloominā
Coming soon šŗ
In other, good, vaccine news
mRNA vaccine technology moves to flu: Moderna says trial has begun - Ars Technica
Saying goodbye: Today our 30 foot tall live oak was chainsawed, stump ground and tossed in a tree shredder - a victim of the record February cold. It never even put out a single leaf. Oddly to me our other 5 oaks are fine. š³
I usually watch international soccer/football matches from a recording due to the time zone difference. Iām finding I canāt open Micro.blog when I plan to do that to avoid spoilers. ā½ļø
Hmmm another new console. What are the odds these will actually be available on or shortly after launch? Meet the Switch Pro: $350 āOLED Modelā launches on October 8 - Ars Technica
Thanks to Capital One we got details of the credit card fraud my mother-in-law has experienced. Today we filled out the fraud affidavit and a sworn statement at the police department so that is off our mind. I could also help her put a fraud alert with the credit bureaus.ā š£š
Our dog has built herself a fort under the ottoman out of her bed, her blanket and at least a half dozen of her toys. š”
Since the middle of June local hospitalizations have risen and the Covid positivity rate in Texas is nearly 5% again. Too early to tell the impact on mortality. I guess summer vacation + Delta variant + the unvaccinated population is, not surprisingly, a bad combination.
Hear me rooooaaaarrrr!
Our 12 year old son has had zero side effects from his first shot of the Pfizer Covid vaccine. š Quite happy about that!
Our 12 year old son got his first dose of the Pfizer Covid vaccine. Uneventful so far. It will be nice to have this extra bit of insurance when we take our next trip in July.
Our son is 12 years old so meets the minimum age for the Pfizer vaccine (approved for 12 and up). The rest of us, all older, have completed our vaccines.
Iāve been hesitating this week regarding his vaccination. There have been amplified reports of a statistically significant rise in myocarditis and pericarditis in vaccinated adolescents and young adults. Especially in males. These are potentially life threatening side effects and are occurring with both Pfizer and Moderna shots.
Given a healthy 12 year old boy is unlikely to have a severe case of Covid the decision isnāt the no-brainer it was for the rest of the family. There also isnāt much evidence that this age group is a key spreader of the virus. Maybe it would be best to wait?
Iāve made him an appointment for a vaccine on Monday and I believe we will proceed with his vaccination. Certainly doing so benefits the community since it eliminates him as a potential spreader. At the moment I feel the benefits-risks for our son is pretty much a push: a small risk of a heart problem which will probably be temporary and minor versus the small risk of a bad Covid infection leading to longer term complications. My decision is partly influenced by the most recent data showing males 16 and over are more at risk of the heart complications.
We discovered today my mother-in-law is the victim of credit card/identity fraud that has been going on for so long and is so pervasive she canāt even access her online credit report. Not sure where to begin to fix this at the moment. The usual online tools are useless. š”
I took advantage of a Best Buy sale today to pick up a new Sony TV for my study (X90J). It replaces a 14 year old Sony LCD whose picture quality had eroded and which lacked, of course, 4k, 120Hz and so on. The new TV looks great.šŗ
Today is Prime day. Also known as the day every media outlet becomes a shill for Amazon.
Photo of our 12 y/o sonās bedside table. Heās currently reading Leviticus from the Bible and book one of Churchillās The Second World War. Nothing light about his bedtime routine. š
Weāve long been in the Playstation camp vs Xbox. But with some of the moves Microsoft has made, e.g. buying Bethesda and moving them to a Xbox only focus and creating Game Pass, it feels Sony has really been outmaneuvered. Canāt buy a PS5 yet anyway. Considering going XBox. š¤¢
With our son starting middle school we thought itād be a good time to do a book purge. We pulled roughly 100 books to be donated. Fells good. Well actually carrying them down the stairs didnāt feel good at all š£ š