Science and Technology thread

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

The new Google Finance is worthless. Did Google not have enough cash to afford the handful of employees needed to keep that site going?

 

[deepdarkblue]

The new Google Finance is worthless. Did Google not have enough cash to afford the handful of employees needed to keep that site going?

They've fucked up Google News, as well.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

I guess I'll stick with the Japanese.

 

[Pantone287]

Man, I gotta say, the $$ I've blown on entertainment and smart home upgrades over the past year has had a such a nice cost-to-quality-of-life payoff. NOD/Zack would probably scoff at my budget setup, but for a sub-$1k investment, it's been a lot of fun and super convenient.

My bedroom and TV/living area are on the lower floor, and I've got the following setup for that floor:
- Overhead lights voice-controllable/dimmable/color-changeable
- Bedroom lamps and white noise sleep machine voice-controllable.
- Surround sound for TV/linked to Alexa for music
- Bias lighting for TV
- TV/sound system/Roku/bias lighting voice controllable

Highly recommend all of the above, especially if you can get away with it for the cost of a weekend vacation somewhere. If anyone's interested in trying to duplicate any of it on a budget, here are the components I bought:

Monoprice 5.1 speakers - $160
Pioneer Receiver (Amazon) - $180
Cables, stands, etc. (Monoprice) - $60
Lightstrip for bias lighting (Amazon) - $30
Smart bulbs (eBay) - $120
Smart plugs for lamps (Amazon) - $30
Echo Dot - $30
Harmony Hub for voice controlling TV/roku/speakers (Amazon deal) - $70

After a year or so living with it, my caveats are:
- If I were doing it again, I'd probably go with Google Home and skim the Harmony Hub. It's been fine, but is a not-super-reliable product that will soon be obselete, and Google seems ahead of Amazon in direct media control.
- Alexa's new "routines" options are pretty great, though - e.g. saying "Echo, bedtime" to shut off all entertainment systems and lights and turn on your bedside lamps and sleep machine, etc.
- If I were building a new house, I'd totally just run ethernet with every electrical wire. Would it make it so easy/cheap to set up a full smart home.
- Bias lighting is a super cheap and easy to add something to your media experience.
- Having warm/amber lighting presets for your before-bed hours is pretty great. I definitely notice a difference there.
- Those Monoprice speakers are by far the best value-to-cost tradeoff you'll find, IMO. If you have thousands to spend on a system, even better, but if your realistic alternatives are TV speakers or a soundbar, these make a huge difference and are totally worth it.
- If you're streaming, make sure your streaming source can pass 5.1 audio. Older Rokus can't do it, and Hulu doesn't yet have the ability to do so even on the newer ones. Netflix and HBONOW can, though.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

The only thing that excites me about buying a house is being able to finally set all this shit up. I'll probably rely exclusively on this board when the time comes, like an idiot.

 

[physicsfactor]

I'm gonna hack all your shit

 

[ZackM]

Best part about owning a house is being able to have a wood shop. And being able to knock walls out whenever I feel like it.

 

[Pantone287]

Best part about owning a house is being able to have a wood shop. And being able to knock walls out whenever I feel like it.

So jealous. I've recently picked up the hobby of poisoning myself via polyurethaning a table inside my apartment.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

I’m hoping something like YoutubeTV takes off and is reliable for live sports by next year. Realistic? Is it too laggy right now?

 

[Pantone287]

I'm still using Hulu for live TV, and it's a lot better than ESPN3, at least. It's been years since I've had cable/satellite though, so I probably just forget what true HD looks like.

 

[aiw]

Math Bee: Honeybees Seem To Understand The Notion Of Zero

This is fucking crazy

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

Just bad.

 

[deeyoukayeee]

That app will surely be a big hit amongst Uber drivers. FFS, if I wasn't drunk, I wouldn't be taking Uber.

 

[skins]

Sounds like DUIs are back on the menu, boys.

 

[physicsfactor]

Professor seeking 3,600+ dick pics

I figure TDF has enough of these lying around to get her what she wants.

 

[deeyoukayeee]

So who here dabbles in cryptocurrency? Been learning for a few weeks, think it would be a prudent hedge, but nervous about execution. Help.

 

[deeyoukayeee]

Figures. Asians are good at software thingies.

 

[bdotling]

I missed that boat. I do have a Coinbase account set up and have been looking for a right dip to buy around $6,000 for bitcoin...missed the last one because I wasn't paying attention.

 

[deeyoukayeee]

What about wallets? My understanding is that if you buy on an exchange, it stays there and can be vulnerable/public. I like the idea of anonymity for any number of reasons.

 

[deepdarkblue]

Bitwise filed with the SEC yesterday to start a crypto currency ETF. That might be fun to play with if it gets approved.