loner_t

Happy B'Day, Dan O' Wood!

Paul Volcker, Inflation Tamer Who Set Bank Risk Rule, Dies at 92

If you can post a trip report, it would be great to hear your impressions.

Perhaps these MOABs should be next. 😉

HBD, @RodH.

Did you forget the three different versions of VHS tape sets? 😆

Glad to see that I am not the only one who has three different versions of LoTR (DVD, DVD-Extended, BD). 😜

Who Owns Your Wireless Service? Crooks Do. is one reason not to have a smartphone.

Anything that can be used can also be abused (Eric Partridge). The 'use'r determines which it should be. The smartphone has a significant utility value, but monetization of such value still escapes the purveyors of such technologies. Social media is the best and worst 'ab'use of such a device. One example for consideration is e911. Most location-based services are an offshoot of such a mandate. Can such location services be abused? Absolutely. One vendor clearly articulates the delineation, and many others have followed suit to various degrees. Medicinal use of Marijuana vs recreational use also shows us the same dichotomy. As a parent of two young men, my primary goal for providing smartphones to them, as they live away from me was to keep the fabric of a family together and provide some sense of security. They were explicitly asked to provide permission to track their location, with instructions on how to turn it off, in case they did not feel comfortable under certain circumstances, no questions asked. The pros/cons of social media were explained. We have some interesting discussions on such topics. To a very large extent, CS also provides some of the same sense of family and community. The predominant access that I have is via a smartphone, albeit sporadic, due to work commitments.

IMO... The Pink Panther series with Steve Martin does not come close to the Peter Sellers originals. The Denzel Washington Magnificent Seven does not comes close to the 1960 Yul Brynner version which is a mere shadow of the Kurosawa Seven Samurai original.

Is 'political correctness' a new form of political in-correctness? ? I am certain Bob Seeger is rewriting frantically

Another option is to look at last year's models or factory-refurbished units, which drop in price. For example Accessories4Less sometimes has good pricing on Processors.

Outlaw Audio - Model 976 7.2 HDMI AV Surround Processor is also a nice processor. You can audition it for a bit. You can also read a Review .

Are there any budgeting guidelines? I like the Marantz 8802a. There are similar offerings from Denon, Emotiva, Yamaha, Onkyo.

Dire Straits' Six-Blade Knife is an interesting one. Billy Joel's Stilleto is another one.