“No.”

Still remember being blown away at the HUGE screen … that was 3.5”. Was a good first smartphone for me though, and the trackball was nice because I was coming from a Blackberry Pearl.

Good news, everyone! Now on top of gas being expensive you’ll need even more of it! Surely that won’t backfire spectacularly!

Because it’s working exactly as intended.

No need to change what isn’t broken.

/s but still sadly true

RFC 1149 for the win!

Elbows fucking up, Canada! Keep it going and make it count!

• Signed, your American supporter

It has a paywall now. But when it was originally posted, there wasn’t one for a few hours. And it definitely wasn’t done on purpose.

I switched years ago to using Nellie’s Laundry Soda and it’s been great for us. Significantly cheaper per load, cleans well, doesn’t overpower you with fragrance, doesn’t gunk up the soap tray in the washer with the slimy residue, and is easily vacuumed up if it spills.

It’s like $90 for an 800-load bucket that weighs 26.5 lbs (12 kg) from Costco. You use 1 Tbsp (15 mL) of powder per normal load, and 2 if it’s a large or really dirty load. I almost always just use 1 and never had an issue.

Our last bucket lasted almost 2.5 years, and we are a larger family with a lot of laundry. Bought our current bucket last November, so should be good until like February 2028. I have a small plastic container on the washer and then refill it from the big bucket once every couple months.

Pair the soda with OxyClean and it works wonders.

Also stopped using fabric softener entirely and found out it’s really not needed. Dryer sheets work well if you need something; no need for liquids.

Finally, I have rediscovered how awesome bleach can be for laundry, and it is also very inexpensive, so definitely recommend looking into that, too.

EDIT: One more thing— always do your wash cycle on at least warm for virtually everything you wash. Regardless of what soap you use, liquid or powder, it’s not as effective in sudsing and such in cold water as it is warmer. I’ve noticed better results using warm for all my colors and then hot for whites, towels, and the like. Cold is only for specific scenarios or garments. In my experience, ink bleeding really isn’t a thing anymore unless you’re making your own tie-dye shirts or something, which was the justification for using cold for colors back in the day.

I’ve been using Duolingo to learn a language for a few years now, enjoy it, and feel that I continue to progress. I know there are other apps out there as well but I don’t have any experience with them. Duo does have a gamification component to it — some of which you can disable, but not all — and there is a cost if you choose to subscribe.

For me, though, I’m likely going to need to immerse myself and/or take a few formal classes to get better at conversational speaking as I keep learning. Not many folks around me learning German. The app does help practice conversations and give tips, which is nice, but using a language in real life with another person is more effective for me.

Maybe finds a few you like and make a playlist, then just watch those specific ones? Something that you can mentally focus on when in bed with your eyes closed, but also something that’s not competing to hold your visual attention as well as no giant volume swings for your audio attention. Don’t want to fall asleep to quiet dialog only to be woken by the shootout in the next scene, or fall asleep to a mellow ballad and awoken by a rock track, for example.

Edited to add: around getting bored with it— I have changed what I listen or watch every few years, but it’s a very slow ramp up of new and ramp down of old. Something your brain recognizes and likes, but isn’t trying to stay awake to read the next page or see the next episode or upcoming challenge or whatever.

Train yourself. Pavlov’s sleep. Every time you go to bed, watch/listen to the same thing. Eventually, your brain associate the thing with “time to sleep”. That’s how it works for me, anyway. I turn on the same movie and pass out in minutes. Don’t do it with one of your favorites, though.

And also, don’t do things like lay in bed watching TV or messing with your phone all the time. You want the bed to be mostly mentally associated with sleep

Dave

I have the Sony WH-1000XM4 headset and I love them. The jump from Gen 4 to newer isn’t huge for my needs, so I haven’t had reason to upgrade them. I say this because you may save some money going with a previous gen depending on your use cases.

I wear them mowing the lawn, on airplanes, trains, even doing the dishes— ANC on them is amazing. Music sounds amazing. The app is easy to use and completely unnecessary if the defaults are fine. Connects to two devices simultaneously. Mic works quite well and sounds good to the other parties. Battery life is excellent. They’re pretty great.

I agree they might be too bulky for working out, especially aerobics. They get a little sweaty when I mow the lawn but I wipe them off right away and let them dry. Still look brand new and on the original cups years later. Definitely worth the money, in my opinion.

Same for me. I want to like earbuds. I get the convenience and form factor advantages in certain situations, and I would like them, but they don’t stay in my ears, ever. Even the old school wired ones of yesteryear never for me. In the end I just accepted it and bought a really nice pair of wireless headphones. But I’m curious what suggestions come out of this discussion.

Bose? Ew!

/s

It’s a bold strategy, Cotton.

Life, uh, found a way.

Para beber, la Bomba

Ah, there’s the grift setup I was expecting.