This or That, Day 19 #realGoat

@tinamarie1974 Between the 3 of them, most likely Hammond

@ybmuG ok then Hammond. Btw, he looks like Joey from Friends!

@tinamarie1974 @ybmuG

@therealjrn @ybmuG

I’m doin. How YOU doin

/giphy Shirley Temple giggle

@tinamarie1974 @ybmuG That Piccard giggle was creepy.

@therealjrn @ybmuG AGREE! It was G O N E quickly

@tinamarie1974 Funny, he was on Top Gear…

@ybmuG he is so stinkin cute!

@tinamarie1974 @ybmuG Also, LeBlanc took over as a host on Top Gear Britain, after they fired the original three…

@tinamarie1974 @ybmuG et al -
You all know that that is LeBlanc, right?
Hammond is the one who looks like a 50 year old 15 year old…
Let’s see how this works:
/image richard hammond

edit: yeah, that’s him.
He doesn’t look/dress as much like a teenage boy as he used to when I first started watching TG.

@DennisG2014 @ybmuG ooohhhhh well that is why it looks like him! I don’t even know what show we are discussing, I was just looking for the WW correlation

@DennisG2014 @tinamarie1974 Nice catch - was actually just messing with you. I was wondering who would be first: “Hey, that’s not Hammond” or “Hey, that’s LeBlanc”. I mean, I have to do something to distract from WW, right?

He does look a little like him and when it was an image that came up when searching for Hammond I thought is was funny, especially given it was from the old show and he became a host on the new.

I suppose that could start a whole Top Gear/Top Gear refresh/The Grand Tour debate, but I think I already know where that one would land.

@DennisG2014 @ybmuG tricky goat!!!

/giphy tricky goat

@mike808 I am the Stig!

@mike808 Now that pic is funny!!

@mike808 wtf!!

@tinamarie1974 @Kidzandliz
My brother-in-law just pulled up and wants to drag.

@CaptAmehrican for me it’s more like 15!!

@CaptAmehrican @llangley I promise there’s more to come!

@CaptAmehrican @ybmuG no worries. It’s a little fun wondering. Then, if/when disappointed, it just means you’re doing the goat job really well!

@barbgreenland He’s probably the one who would be most at home in this forum

@tnhillbillygal
*favourite

@therealjrn Pardon my behaviour.

@tnhillbillygal Ha ha! I forget whar the show comes from, but it aint from round these here parts. It’s over thar whar they talk funny.

@DennisG2014 Haven’t really watched much of the new TG. It’s more or a mourning thing, I think. Then again GT just isn’t the same either, but I have to say I really did enjoy watching Hammond rip it up in ep 3.

My wife walked into my office when I had it on and didn’t leave. We just sat there and laughed our way through it, especially the donuts and the tunnels.

@ybmuG All versions of TG are still on my DVR record list, so I still watch new episodes when they show up.
Prime Video is a p.i.t.a. for me (have to watch it either via PS4 or on my laptop, and both are less than ideal; I wish Verizon FiOS would add a widget for it, like they have for Netflix), so I have to go out of my way to watch GT.

Jesus - even Prime Video via web browser on my lap top is clunky…
Was just looking to see how much of GT I’ve watched…
I know I’ve watched the entire first season, but only about half of the episodes show as having been viewed.
It only shows the 1st episode of s2 as viewed, but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen more than that…
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway, I do recall there being some entertaining moments in GT, but overall I find it pretty meh.

@DennisG2014 Once again - the original is best!

@DennisG2014

I wish Verizon FiOS would add a widget for it, like they have for Netflix

Would you save anything by getting a Tivo Roamio with the cablecard bracket or the newer (and pricier) Bolt or the brand new device to have both access to streaming apps (Amzn, Nflx, Hulu, etc.) and a DVR? Or if you’re technical, a SiliconDust Prime and DVR software?

The WAF on Tivos is quite favorable. And they’re one of the few cablecard-plus-DVR setups, if not the only one-stop-solution still available now that MS Media Center is long dead.

The SiliconDust Prime devices are just network tuners, and the cable and media giants have slathered DRM all over everything to force you onto cable or walled gardens of streaming-only, so it is too expensive for any startup or the small companies that make tuners or DVR software (PlayOn, Plex, etc.) to compete and cross-license all the barriers to entry that the cable industry and AMZN, NFLX, HULU, Disney+, CBS All-Access, etc. have constructed.

I don’t think any other tuner devices do cablecards - Tablo, ChannelMaster, Centon, Hauppauge, etc. as they are all OTA and sidestep the DRM chokehold.

@mike808 Well, I don’t have to worry about WAF (now that I know what that means), only DAF.
I am a fan of TiVo, having been a 1st gen user until I made the switch to HD.
I don’t know anything about the other devices you mentioned.

I am not technical. I mean, I can figure stuff out if I have to, but I don’t enjoy the time and effort involved in learning new technologies, so I steer clear as long as I can hold out.

I’m reluctant to cut the cable, because I’ve experienced far more trouble with streaming video than with any cable service I’ve ever had (buffering, crashes, etc.).

My main issue with Prime Video is that I watch things (especially longer-format things) on both TVs in my house - it’s rare that I sit and watch an entire hour or more on one TV. The short version of why is that I’m a smoker, and I only smoke downstairs.
Anyway, if I want to watch Prime on a TV, I can only watch it on the upstairs one via my PS4, which is itself kind of a pain, but wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t always change horses midstream, so-to-speak.
So, when I go downstairs for a smoke, I have to bring my laptop and continue watching on that, which sucks.

TL;DR - A friend suggested I could solve my logistical issue with a Fire Stick. Just plug it into whichever TV I want to watch.

I still have to research whether this would work with both of my TVs. Neither are “smart”. They do both have HDMI ports, but I have no idea if that’s all that’s necessary for the Firestick.

Any advice on whether that would be the simplest, cheapest fix for this particular problem (even if it’s not the most comprehensive or up-to-date technologically)?

edit: just for clarification - since FiOS has a Netflix widget built in, it’s effortless to switch TVs and continue watching where I left off.

@DennisG2014 @mike808

A friend suggested I could solve my logistical issue with a Fire Stick.

Or, better yet, a “cigarette stick” as I call them. I gave up tobacco 6+ years ago and started E-cigs. The ones that look like a regular cigarette. No smoke, no smell and I get the necessary nicotine fix. Easy to steal a puff no matter where you are, plus a LOT cheaper, (even with Native American pricing at the casino or the BX at MacDill) so there’s that, too. Not trying to convert, just sharing my experience

@DennisG2014 The Firestick is what you want. I’ve got some older gen devices that are “good enough” if you want to whisper me where to send it for free.

It plugs into an HDMI input (e.g. input #2) so check you TVs to have a second one for the firestick. It turns a “dumb” TV into a smart TV using your home wifi.

You can also buy a Tivo Mini to add connectivity to a second TV via cable wiring (MOCA - ethernet over the RG6 cable) that goes to the main Tivo box or get a converter dongle to run it over wifi 5ghz or wired ethernet.

Then you’d be using the same Tivo interface for both TVs as well as be able to play recordings from the main box to the TV hooked up to the Mini.

@mike808 Thank you for the generous offer, but I’m going to pass, for now anyway.

I’m going to look into options from TiVo. I’ve missed it ever since giving it up for HD (which I held out on for quite a while, just to keep the TiVo).

Thanks for the advice.

@llangley I tried e-cigs a while back, and they just didn’t do it for me.
Irritated my throat more than smokes for some reason, and I found myself puffing on it constantly, way more than I smoke.

Aside from that, the governor of MA (where I live) has banned the sale of all vaping devices and products.
It’s a temporary, 4 month “public health emergency” ban, due to expire around the end of this year.
It’s also a complete joke and really pisses me off despite the fact that it doesn’t affect me in the least.
It was pretty clear from the start that the mysterious vaping illness “epidemic” was being caused by black- or gray-market vapes, but our brilliant governor decided to make it so that those were the only ones available without driving out of state (which most vapers have been doing).
Pot is legal here, so cannabis oil vapes were also banned - the “medical” community is pissed that they’re being denied one of the better ways to administer their “medicine”, and there have been some lawsuits.
It even banned the sale of cannabis “flower” vapes - devices that heat regular, raw pot enough to release the active ingredients as vapor, without combustion - even though the only thing they have in common with the devices implicated in the illnesses is the word “vape”.
Coincidentally (not), a couple of weeks ago, smack in the middle of the ban, a bill to tax e-cigarettes passed the first of the two state legislative bodies it needs to go through to get implemented.
I haven’t looked into when the next vote on it takes place, but my prediction is that the tax will pass sometime before the ban is lifted, and then the public health “emergency” will magically evaporate into thin air, like so much vapor.

Sorry to rant, lol, but it’s a pretty disgusting example of government over-reach, over-reaction and doing far more harm than good.
As someone who doesn’t vape and is therefore not affected, I feel more for all the people who recently opened vape shops than for the consumers themselves.
I had actually been shaking my head at all the vape shops popping up on almost literally every corner - I’ve seen quite a few instances of 2 or more vape shops on the same block - but to just suddenly up and ban the one product they sell, without even the slightest advance warning, is an incredibly shitty thing to do to any legitimate independent business owner, regardless of one’s feelings about the product they sell.
I wouldn’t have had much sympathy for them if their businesses failed due to over-saturation of the market (which was sure to happen to at least half of them, eventually) but to make a go of starting your own business only to have the rug yanked out from under you by your governor… that just sucks, hard.

Anyway, now I’ve gotten that off my chest.
This rant brought to you by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker. Remember that name when he inevitably runs for President.

@DennisG2014

I’m going to look into options from TiVo. I’ve missed it ever since giving it up for HD

Get the Lifetime option. Pays for itself if you don’t have to rent the FIOS DVR box. I went OTA, do my payback was in 3 months of no cable bill.

Roamio and newer have HD. Bolt and the newest box have 4K. Tivo has upgrade offers, but they are only to the newest box (Bolts and the brand new one that might not even be out yet).

Refurb Roamios do come up for sale from Tivo direct (get on their email list) and sometimes on Amazon. No experience with eBay resellers.

@DennisG2014 yeah, the whole vaping overreaction is nuts. People died from vaping bad street stuff so we must ban it all?? I’d think that anyone buying shit off the street knows the inherent risk whether it’s heroin, crack or whatever… I always knew (& still do) that I could be damaging my health but figured I was doing that anyway with tobacco/tar, so…

I also didn’t like them when I first started but when I tried again it was better. You don’t draw on it the same way so once I got that figured out it was great (I prefer menthol and the taste is similar to Salem Slim Lights). I started out by having a real cigarette first thing which took care of the wake-up requirement. The rest of the day I used the E-cigs. This was the routine for 20 days; did I really want to buy a new pack that will be stale as fuck in 20 days?? No, I didn’t. 6+ years later I’m still getting the fix, still don’t have to go outside to smoke, and it’s approx $1.50 per “pack equivalent”.

Again, not trying to convert. I’m just really glad I gave them another chance.

@Kidsandliz He was talking about the show, KaL. The guys on the show driving. RIF.

@Kidsandliz E-a-s-y, no one was questioning your driving history or skills. [or it appears Chutzpah]…
/giphy Chutzpah

@Kidsandliz @PhysAssist @therealjrn I also wasn’t aware of this show., or mehbe YouTube channel, so I can understand the reaction. But, anytime I get to hear more of the Adventures, it’s a bonus!! I’d give extra credit

@therealjrn Duh. Thank you for pointing out the obvious trj. And what was also obvious was I was ignoring that completely as I am unfamiliar with the show so focused on something else.
/image Mr. Obvious

@PhysAssist Chutzpah? More like the stupidity of youth with a few of those things.

@llangley Hey I’ll take extra credit any time I can get it.

@Kidsandliz @therealjrn Yes, “guys” on the show, not “only guys can drive like that.”

@Kidsandliz @therealjrn Besides, who can forget the true Wonder Woman of auto racing, Shirley “Cha Cha” Muldowney? Both funny car and top fuel

@Kidsandliz @therealjrn @ybmuG Or our sadly missed Mythbuster: https://ew.com/celebrity/2019/08/28/mythbusters-jessi-combs-dies-in-crash/:

@Kidsandliz Potayto Potahto
/giphy youthful stupidity

@mike808 I actually find that kind of creepy…

@miko1 I think he’s the one with whom I identify most!