I’ve had an Android since probably 2012. It has been nice to see the OS become so mature, and security has been getting increasing attention over the last few years. I don’t know iPhone as well, so I will speak more on my experience with Android.

Brand Families: Many excellent brands exist, but I will really only consider what I think of as the top two - Google and Samsung. I’ve had the Pixel 3, 5, 7 and my girlfriend has had the 4a and 8. The experience on a Google branded phone is, in my opinion, the best way to experience Android. The Samsung phones definitely keep up with the Pixel line, but the UI feels chaotic to me. Pixel Android is clean.

Work App Experience: My job is in IT for a government contractor, and my email is configured in a Microsoft Intune container. This feature simply does not work in non-stock OS’s, so I wouldn’t count on being able to use Graphene. Play store is required, as the Play Store sets up the secure container. This may sound like a downside, but to me it’s preferable over relying on Microsoft for this. The secure container works excellent and allows me to shut off all of my work apps with one click. If I was ever fired, my job could wipe the container without wiping my personal data. This is a huge benefit to me. Earlier this year we had an employee stealing data and when we issues the remote wipe command to their iPhone it wiped EVERYTHING.

Play Store: It’s very ad heavy. I typically know what I am looking for before I venture into the Play store.

**De-Googling: ** I use Firefox Mobile with uBlock (yes it works on mobile) and am working my way towards Proton services (drive, email, password manager, VPN, etc).

Overall Experience: I own several Android gaming handhelds, an Android audio player, and my Pixel 7. I will probably stick with Android for the foreseeable future. Android is flexible, mature, fast, and secure. My cameras are excellent and really only fall apart when zooming. Newer Pixel phones improve this experience.

I remember as a kid going with my parents to vote. All of the folks with signs had to stand by the road instead of in the parking lot because of the electioneering laws. This was back in the 90s, so they have indeed been enforced for a long time. This was back before the red side was violent and unhinged like they are today, so I would say that electioneering laws are more important today than they ever have been.

Plex is excellent, and even if you prefer the features or interface of Jellyfin, you should never expose any application (Plex, Jellyfin, or otherwise) directly to the Internet. This should be non-negotiable. Plex solves for external access with the mobile/desktop apps and app.plex.tv by brokering client connections into your network without a NAT/PAT on your router or firewall.

For a music library, even a small one, tracks should have proper metadata applied to them and be stored in directories. Plex provides guidance on this here: https://support.plex.tv/articles/200265296-adding-music-media-from-folders/

My own strategy: I deviate slightly from Plex’s file and directory naming strategy, but it works perfectly. I start with high quality music, mostly from Bandcamp and process it through Musicbrainz Picard into ALBUMARTIST\YYYY - ALBUMNAME\01 - TRACKNAME.FLAC. Picard sets the metadata and ensures that there is an album cover image also.

Before moving the organized files to my Plex server, I run them through MP3Tag and overwrite any mismatched artist names with the album artist (getting rid of artist fields with 'feat xxxx artist’s). This is important for when I sync files in Media Monkey to my iPod, since the iPod would break apart albums with multiple artists. My preference is to keep them grouped together.

Hope this helps good luck 👍. Let me know if you want to know a decent strategy on movie backups also.

I used it on an Android DAP to sync my music collection from my NAS after giving up on Folder sync due to its issues with new file detection breaking after a daylight savings time change. Synching was definitely more reliable but it takes ages to do the scan.

There is only one sane choice. People who abstain are choosing insanity the same way that those who abstained in 2016 allowed insanity to prevail.

Having said that, I think voters would be pretty excited to get out and support a candidate that they had actually chosen in the primaries after seeing them go through some campaigning and debates. None of us chose Kamala, and Biden’s late dropout was not ideal. I am hoping that America can have this opportunity back in the next election.

A major rewrite is pending. He stated this on his Twitter I think.

Suyu was mismanaged and died very quickly. Sudachi was excellent and has an Android build but the dev is taking a break.

I believe this is the episode HERE

Maybe I didn’t state it well, but homeless by choice is maybe slightly different than how I imagine it. I imagine it might be more like complacency like how some people never leave entry level jobs.

I truly struggle with what is the right way to think about the homeless debate. My partner and I debated it a few weeks back after listening to an episode of The Daily on the subject. We were both undecided.

On one hand, we should be humane to those in need.

On the other hand, some peoples situations are a result of their own making, and they are content living without. Regardless of how homeless people come to be that way, they often litter the streets with piss, trash, and drugs, making an otherwise fine area feel dirty and dangerous. Will expanded homeless housing help them get back up on their feet or enable them to continue their current lifestyle?

I don’t know what the right answer is.

You do not need to port forward to share a Plex instance over the Internet. App.plex.tv manages the inbound connections automatically. All you need to do is manage invites to your friends. They log in with their email/password or with Google SSO to app.plex.tv and your content will be available over a secure connection with no port forwarding.

Plex should not be accessed externally using a port forward. Always use app.plex.tv as it prevents unauthenticated users from seeing the instance.

Very cool 😎 what a time to be alive for a handheld gamer. The Turnip drivers seem to have very active development, and even in the months I’ve owned the Odin 2, the updated drivers have solved several minor problems on Yuzu/Suyu/Sudachi.

If Linux or Steam Deck OS ever comes to the Odin 2 I will probably wait a long time before I consider trying it out. At this point in my life I don’t have as much mental energy after work to tinker and when I pick up the Odin 2 I really just want it to work. When the Retro Game Corps guide for Steam OS on Odin 2 drops I’ll know it’s time.

This is an entirely different segment of gaming but recently I have been reaching more for my AYN Odin 2 Pro. I love the size and battery life and how I feel like I can pick it up and jump into a game quickly.

Android isn’t perfect and emulation is in a funny spot right now with the switch emulators pivoting what feels like every few weeks, but it’s an incredible device.

That said, the Deck is quite a bit more capable with a higher quality library of games. Valve killed it with the Deck and the Odin is not nearly a full replacement.

This should be a standard option at annual physicals. Skip the BP check I just want out.

Those are better, but are also not phishing resistant.

App-based TOTP are not phishing resistant and do not require any level of proximity to the login session. The future is more likely passkeys that use device TPMs.