u/nycnewsjunkie

It will be Interesting to see whether this new technology has implications for home brewing and additionally whether it leads to better on the go espresso

Just re reading children of dune and was struck by a scene that mirrors one in dune

The scene takes place in Leto's tent just before he puts on the living skin. In the scene he considers what he is about to do and the path he is about to take. One path that temps him is choosing to be with Sabiha. He thinks how pleasant this would be. He then rejects it based on the long term consequences of that choice

Another facet of the scene is his realization that Sabiha and the fremen have a touch of prescience which they are scared of and thus reject

The scene mirrors Paul's with Chani when Jessica first takes the water off life. Paul also makes a choice which is that he and Chani will be together although Paul realizes it will only be for a short time.

Paul too realizes that the fremen have limited prescience which they turn away from

As we know the choice Paul makes versus the one Leto makes in this critical moment set Paul on his course and Leto on his

Attended three day's of Dick's. First time there and had a blast

My quick take on the three days fwiw

Day one: two great stretches of music set one Prince Caspian -> Plasma and set two 46 Days > Down with Disease > Life Saving Gun. Both were amazing. The rest of the night was fun

Day two: A complete wonderful show

Day three: Set one was one of my all-time favorite party sets. Set two was good

i am trying to use my surface tablet running windows 11 with no keyboard or mouse. I am using a pair of xbxs as a second screen extending my main screen everything works well except that when i use the onscreen keyboard the system places it on the xbx screen and will not let me move it. is there something i can do about this

I have now had my XBX for a month and thought I would do a quick review

My use case was twofold

1. When I am away from my desk i wanted to have a larger screen and also to be able to work privately when in public/on a plane

2. I wanted a device that would allow me to watch movies/tv on a large screen in bed or while traveling

For both use cases the XBX has proved to be an excellent choice

I worried a lot about the readability of type for use case 1 but have found no problem with it. Note I use reading glasses normally and got the proper insert for the XBX. I like the fact that I simply plug it into the usbc port on my laptop and am good to go

Use case 2 is equally simple paired with my android phone. I do not use the speakers on the XBX preferring to use my earbuds for top quality sound

Anyway for this basic use the XBX is an excellent addition to my setup simple to use and effective

I have read many books about Gettysburg including among others Sears, Catton, Foote , McPherson and historical novels such as Shaara's Killer Angels.

 All of these books seem to agree on one thing about July 1.  On that day Buford recognized Gettysburg as a place to fight and supported by Reynold's his holding up the Confederate's and giving the Union the chance to occupy the "high ground" west of Gettysburg was the difference between a great union defeat t and a great union victory.

 Having just finished Meade at Gettysburg, by Kent Masterson Brown, I am reevaluating this narrative.  This books takes the position that Meade's plan was for Reynold's to force the confederates to concentrate and deploy and then lead them back via a fighting withdrawal to what Brown describes as an impregnable position at Pipes Creek.  The book states that Buford's and Reynold's action on July 1, ran counter to this plan.  Further it argues that by committing the army as they did on the 1st they made Gettysburg the battlefield and that while a good position it was far weaker than Pipes Creek.  The book allows that had Reynold's survived he might have pulled back consistent with Meade's plan but that is unclear.

The question I am now considering and posing to those who read this is should Buford and Reynold's be seen as the heroes and saviors of the AOP or should they be seen as a duo who bungled Meade's well thought out battle plan

Personally I am wrestling with this question and would be interested in any and all opinions

Edit: Thanks to all who have responded. Your thoughts help me think about an interesting question

Just finished reading Meade at Gettysburg. It is a fascinating book. One of the things it focuses on is logistics and how they impacted the battle and the campaign

I have read a lot of civil war histories but this book brought home in a way few other books do the scale of the logistical challenges a civil war army in the field faced

Of course logistics come up in other books for instance how van dorn's destruction of his supply depot forced Grant to abandon his first attempt to take Vicksburg but

Grant's later Vicksburg campaign and of course Sherman's march to the sea made the idea of cutting loose from ones base of supply and living off the land seemed quite straightforward

Reading this book and thinking about the massive wagon train the AOP had or the enormous quantity of fodder needed to keep horses and mules alive made me think about a side of the war which I feel is underplayed

Maybe the above is just my lack of focus on the issue while thinking about the more heroic and exciting strategy and tactics but I am wondering how others feel about whether this facet of the war gets the attention it deserves

As a person who completed a full Four Seasons Yacht trip in Croatia I felt a counterpoint to the Ryan Walker Video review was warranted. I am not a youtube influencer nor am I going to spend a 45 minutes or even 4,000 words on a review what I will try to do in a short post is give a fair view of this boat and the experience. Note I have never been on a cruise ship so I am not going to compare it to that experience. Also, I am not going to get into Price Value analysis that is a different subject and each person needs to decide for themselves.

The foregoing out of the way my thoughts

1. The Four Seasons Yacht is not a private Yacht experience. It is a small cruise ship/floating hotel
2. The experience is like going to a Four Seasons Hotel. The level of service start to finish is excellent. Are there rough edges sure. Is check in perfect, no. Is everything done exactly as each individual would want, no. Having said that is this what you would expect staying at a Four Seasons Hotel, absolutely
3. This is a floating hotel that took us from one destination after another. The boat is not the main event that is getting to visit the destination. We traveled up the coast of Croatia to see Croatia, eat in Croatia and experience Croatia. The Four Seasons Yacht made this an effortless, relaxing task. Go to sleep in one port wake up in another. No need to drive, pack, unpack, check in, check out
4. Our floating hotel had an amazing room with an amazing view and it was serviced perfectly. Everything you expect your hotel room to have is there and works as expected. If we needed room service, extra water, extra towels etc we just asked and it appeared. We didn't ask often except for room service as most everything we wanted was there. If something didn't work and there were a few hiccups they were fixed promptly
5. Concierge service/on shore planning was superb. We had our trip planned before we left and then made major changes to half of our days each the day before. No problem are changes were taken care of and our new next day plans implemented. All shore excursions and restaurants were first class. Note we did not do the group excursions but the people who did said they were great
6. Food and entertainment on the boat is limited. The Japanese restaurant will not make you forget a top meal in Tokyo but it is good. The fancy restaurant will not match a high end NYC meal but it is very good. The pool restaurant was ok. The bars made great drinks and had reasonable bar food. The nightly entertainment in the theater was blah

In some this was an excellent experience and for what we wanted and what it seems designed for the Four Seasons Yacht is excellent. Would I go again. For the right itinerary absolutely. The passenger size, crew/staff quality, great rooms all made for a wonderful vacation

ps: I had watched the video review prior to departure and looked out for each of the problems it raised. I can't say I experienced/saw any of the actual problems. Some of what is in the video is opinion and that is a different thing

Having read Shattered Sword and Craig Symonds The Battle of Midway I just finished Walter Lord's Incredible Victory. Lord who wrote the Titanic book A Night to Remember is a wonderful writer and because of when he wrote the book 1960s had access to participants. While more recent books may give a more accurate account of the battle Lord's work is truly worth the read. It reminds me of reading Bruce Catton's civil war books where the historiography may not be the latest and best but the feel of the moment is captured in a very special way

Anyway for those interested in Midway or the war in the Pacific this is a good summer read or as I listened on Audible a good listen

The title says it all I've been waiting for patches what is the current status who has upgraded and are initial issues resolved

I am thinking of purchasing a 1S for use as an on the go second screen. Having used the xbx I am ok with the resolution

My question is whether the screen will stay anchored above my laptop screen while I am on a plane or other moving vehicle. I dont mind occasionally re-anchoring but dont want to be doing it every few minutes

I should also ask are there any other issues I should be aware of for instance is the 700 vs 1600 nit brightness a major issue

I do want this phone but without an optical zoom and with only a 23mm lens it does not work for me

Any idea why mfgs think wife and super wide is what is needed

Edit: Changed flair to xbx didn't see it first time around Just got a pair of xreal a01's. While they are fully usable I'll do a full review once I have the proper prescription inserts. I am curious to know if people who have had any xreal product use their audio vs putting in a pair of earbuds. I find the later easy to do and very effective

As the title says I own a pixel og but love the short wide form factor of the wide 8

My question is for Samsung owners who have switched to Pixel and know both phones

1. How is the Samsung software update schedule for unlocked phone In particular the security updates
2. How does the camera and photo app compare and can I use the google photo app with its erase feature
3. What Pixel features will I miss
4. Can I continue to use my pixel watch If not is the Samsung watch acceptable

I saw an article on interesting Spock lines. One that was called out was "I do not approve. I understand" from A Taste of Armageddon.

I have never really focused on it but having it called out as one of his great lines makes total sense and it says so much about what makes his character so compelling

What do people think of this line and what are other iconic lines that give insight into humanity because we are seeing it from a different perspective

On my android phone to enable the kill switch I have to go to settings and in the proton vpn setting enable "always-on vpn"

If I need to turn off the kill switch as it causes problems with certain web sites can i do this by reversing the process. Meaning I go to settings and disable "always on vpn"

Are there any issues or problems I need to be aware of from using the always on vpn. Note i am running android 16 on a pixel 8 if that is useful info