First and foremost, it doesn’t matter at all that it was made in 2019. It plays every video I’ve ever thrown at it and it’s still getting updates.

Second, it’s very easy to replace the launcher, as already mentioned in the thread.

Third, a general purpose computer would almost certainly be more powerful in absolute terms, it would also be much worse in terms of usability for the specific purpose of playing videos and acting like a tv appliance. I’ve used HTPCs before and worked very hard at making them comfortable to use with a TV. No matter how hard I tried, they were always clunky. As soon as I got the shield, I never contemplated using an htpc again.

You can buy a Google tv or nvidia shield and replace the AdWare default launcher for a very nice, ad-free experience

I agree. I’m very skeptical about their claims and so far I can’t find any evidence of 3rd party verification of anything. All the “news” about their batteries is just glorified press releases.

In the context of lithium-ion batteries, “solid state” means that there’s no liquid electrolyte, rather than meaning there are no moving parts.

Do I detect a Blues Brothers reference?

Both!

If you want silliness and pop culture references, Dungeon Crawler Carl should do the job

“As lithium-ion battery fires create their own oxygen during thermal runaway, they are very difficult for fire and rescue services to deal with. Lithium-ion battery fire control is normally only achieved by using copious amounts of water to cool battery cells.”

Source: Fire Protection Association

Do yo want something like this?

CrowView Note-All-in-One Portable Monitor

The Closing of the Western Mind by Charles Freeman. It’s almost 600 pages of very information-dense prose but very well-written. It’s genuinely fascinating but I can read a dozen pages and spend a month or two thinking about them before diving in again.

Took me forever to find saddam.

The Cask of Amontillado by The Alan Parsons Project

Temporary, illusory wealth

Of course they do. Have you not been paying attention to capitalism?

Get them back… keep a copy of “Toxic Parents” prominently on your bookshelf.

True story: I was reading that book way back in the early 1990s and my stepdad came over for some reason. I went to put on shoes and when I came back, he had the book in his hands, looking at the cover. He dropped it like it was on fire, we traded an awkward look, then never spoke of it again.

Somehow I feel both seen and attacked.

I’ve been stung once and the actual sting hurt a little bit but after that it just itched for a couple of hours.

Normally the paper wasps around here are totally chill but this one managed to get caught inside my shirt somehow and decided it was time to go to war.