Make sure you’re also blocking all other outbound DNS at your firewall. Many “smart” devices (and presumably some apps, though I have no way to check this) are hard coded to use 8.8.8.8 regardless of what DCHP says to use.

You think I’m jumping through mental hoops for telling people to use an ad blocker?

I remember way back in the late 90s or early 2000s, when Opera was commercial, I bought a lifetime license. I don’t remember the specifics but it was basically a way to support them and it was good for all future versions, forever and ever.

I lost the key long ago and the browser is free now anyway. Still wouldn’t use it.

I’m tempted to do a master reset on mine to see if I got that option. I have the Roku edition and I know that I can specify what source it defaults to on power on. I can also turn off content recognition, which is what’s going on in OP’s case. But using it as just a dumb TV would be awesome.

The TVs I’ve seen that do this have been smart enough to not get naggy about a lack of Internet until 30+ days after first power on. Then you get popups or autoplay videos begging you to connect it.

My Hisense has been pretty decent, surprisingly. But for my next TV I’m honestly thinking of going with a commercial display.

You can, but don’t forget to also block other outbound DNS connections in your firewall. Lots of “smart” devices are hard coded to use 8.8.8.8 regardless of what DHCP says. Pihole won’t stop those, so you have to block it at the firewall.

The backup camera is one of those things that you mock until you get one, then you can’t fathom living without it. But you can easily add an aftermarket one to an existing system.

I wound up paying for Subaru Starlink when I discovered that any dealership can sell it to you, and several sell it at steep discounts. I’m paying $10 / month for a 7-year package that includes emergency response if my airbags go off or the car flips, stolen vehicle location, and some other things I really don’t use. It basically stays out of the way. But when I had a Hyundai, I’d regularly get BlueLink popups about “special savings at your local dealership” and long story short, that’s the main reason I didn’t buy another Hyundai.

This will be the most middle aged thing I ever post, but:

I’m Gen X. I feel like my generation, and maybe some millennials, got the best of both worlds. We know what it’s like to live in an offline world, including cars. You can drop me anywhere in the continental US and I can drive home without GPS, and probably without a map. We grew up on mixtape-fueled road trips and not having every inch of our commute planned and cross-checked. We didn’t know exactly what to expect in that upcoming town or city, because there was no Tripadvisor or Wikitravel.

We also know how convenient smartphones can be. It’s great that I don’t have to carry a camera plus a camcorder plus a Walkman plus an atlas plus a photo album plus a laptop plus a calling card plus a bag phone plus a notepad plus an encyclopedia plus a wristwatch plus a travel alarm clock plus whatever else I’m forgetting. But take that all away, and it’s at worst a mild annoyance.

So if I can’t use Android Auto, I’m just going to not buy that car. And if all cars suddenly stop shipping with Android Auto, then I’ll see that as a precursor to mandatory 30-second ads before being able to drive, and I’ll just buy whatever car remotely meets my needs AND makes it easy for me to install an aftermarket Android head unit.

Who could have imagined that this might happen?

Look I don’t know about you but when I hear “quality software development” the first company that comes to mind is GM so

I can honestly say that the phrase “my radio was stuck in a boot loop” is something I ever thought I’d need to say, but here we are.

Side note, you know what would be just absolutely perfect? Just Bluetooth. I don’t need to watch Disney+ while I drive. I don’t need up-to-the-minute notifications of the hottest celebrity news. I don’t need sports updates. I don’t need to know what my stocks are doing right now.

I just want to play music.

This is yet another reason why I would not buy or recommend HP printers anymore. My ancient laserjet from 10 years ago is still going strong, but if it ever kicks the bucket, I’m getting a Brother. They seem to just work without any hassle.

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I know people are passionate about their love / hated of Brave, but it along with LibreWolf (and Firefox) all offer strong fingerprinting protection out of the box. With Firefox, just make sure you add uBlock Origin.

Browser fingerprinting is nasty and easy. There are ways to push back but it’s still awful.

I did, in fact disprove the study. I found an apartment for under the claimed amount. I then went on to explain exactly why that doesn’t matter.

Context is king.

Did you actually read my reply?

I agree with the sentiment. There’s a large gap between minimum wage and housing. I don’t think anybody expects to afford an ultra luxurious three-story corner penthouse loft from working full time at Taco Bell, but I do think it’s reasonable to expect to be able to afford a simple, safe, one-bedroom in good repair.

I own so I’m completely out of touch with rent prices. I know what they were when I was renting 10+ years ago but things are a lot different now. I went on apartments.com to see if I could prove this study wrong.

TL/DR: I could, but … not really.

My criteria was: (1) under $1002 / month, (2) in a safe area, (3) with free parking, (4) within a 10-minute drive of at least two supermarkets, and (5) within a 20-minute drive of most of our metro area. I found multiple apartment complexes that met all those criteria, along with multiple independent rentals. All of the complexes were within the $900 - $1000 range. So … yes, technically I just proved the survey wrong. But that $100 savings doesn’t really exist.

First, you need a car to get from there to here. That’s non negotiable. Our mass transit here sucks and you’re either going to be two hours early or 15 minutes late, and that’s assuming you have a regular, consistent schedule to work with. So let’s assume you buy a sensible 10-year-old Civic / Corolla / whatever with 90k miles in immaculate condition. I found a few options nearby for $12k, and let’s assume you talk the dealer down another $2k, you have a $2500 downpayment, and there’s no tax because we’re in magical la-la land. Let’s also assume you got zero percent interest because it’s 2003 again for some reason. A 60-month loan would be $125, or an additional 4 hours a week.

Next, let’s talk groceries. Let’s say you are exceptionally frugal and can prepare nutritious, filling meals for yourself with only a $200 / month grocery spend. That’s an extra 7 hours of work per week.

Next, gotta put gas in that car. Your friend, who happens to a magical elf, magically conjures up gasoline just for you for the low, low price of $2 / gallon. Wow! Combined with your extremely thrifty vehicle (and your commute, which also just happens to be entirely on interstate at 40 MPG), you only go through 10 gallons of fuel a week. At $80 / month, that’s an extra 3 hours of work per week.

Don’t forget car insurance! Your driving record is spotless, your FICO score makes TransUnion weep like that statute of liberty from The Onion’s political cartoons, and your driving is angelic. Your full-coverage premium (because you don’t want to get hit with surprise bills) is only $75 per month. You pay in full to avoid fees, so that’s another two hours of work each week.

Did I mention car maintenance? You do all your own oil changes, filter changes, tire rotation, everything, because you’re a frugal bastard. I don’t even know what oil costs because I’m fortunate enough to be able to pay people to do that for me, so just for the sake of making things easy, let’s say one banana ten dollars per week. Heck, let’s just round that down an hour of work per week.

Oh and let’s make utilities super simple. That apartment includes water, sewer, trash, cable, and internet. You only have to pay electric and gas. And because it’s exceptionally well insulated and you’re very frugal with your electricity, your combined electric and gas bill is only $75 / month, averaged year round. That’s only two hours of work per week.

You use an MVNO to save a fortune, and your phone is only $20 / month. That’s a half hour of work per week.

And I know it’s exorbitant, but you have the audacity to want to go out once in a while. You splurge by getting the dollar menu at McDonald’s (which doesn’t exist anymore BTW) so you budget an extra $30 / month on “fun money”. That’s an extra hour a week.

So with those extremely unrealistic and lowball numbers, you’re looking at an additional 20-ish hours of work each week. To afford that barebones and frankly impossible lifestyle, you’re looking at working 125 hours a week. That’s 18 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, with no downtime ever. And again, I’m using impossibly low numbers here and making a lot of assumptions that will never happen.

That’s before taxes. That assumes you never get sick. You never splurge on luxuries like “plates” or “clothing”. Your car lasts forever. You’re never a victim of crime. Your rent never increases. Inflation never happens. And you never take time to go on interviews for a better paying job.

So yeah, I technically proved the study wrong, but not in any remotely good way.

I’m working my way through it right now. I loved the books so I’m excited to see where this goes.

It feels like a SyFy original, like filler. That’s not a bad thing by itself but it’s not particularly good either. I think it’s going to be something fun to pass the time and that’s about it.

I had no idea they made this into a series. I loved the stories so I’ll definitely check this out.

I love this.

I am all for purchasing or licensing content that I enjoy. 100%. But that assumes the content owner is willing to take my money. I have no sympathy for people who refuse to let me give them my money who then turn around and cry “noooooooo, piracy is ruining us!!!”.