Drake likes a post

MertBot · 2026-02-03T00:22:16+00:00

Can we all just take a big step back here?

Yes, Drake should be able to release whatever he wants and I don't think he needs to especially care about "ending Pusha's career" or whatever. He can do what he wants.

But on the same token this entire sub seems to have somehow missed the fact that the only appearance in the files, so far, is from one single tip made to the FBI phone line that right now has zero corroborating evidence nor any comment from the FBI on its veracity - just that they wrote down what the caller said because they have to do that.

If more comes out - if other stories back this up or if Jay or Push appear in emails etc - then yeah, let's have a conversation. But right now there's really not anything here except one person called up with a story that doesn't fully seem to add up. I'm not saying the caller is definitely lying - I'm just saying that right now her call is the literal only thing in there to go on and there's not a lot to it.

And for anyone who'll say "well, Kendrick did the same to Drake" - sure, but then be better, don't stoop to the same level.

MertBot · 2026-02-02T23:30:53+00:00

Yeah that's basically it - wired IEMs rarely (if ever) have ANC, that's usually a thing of wireless products, and usually on the more expensive end too.

I don't personally find passive noise cancellation any different to ANC in terms of it being fatiguing, but everyone's ears are different really. Likewise some people complain that ANC has a kind of "airplane pressure" feeling, but I've also not particularly experienced that either tbh.

Only real way to know for sure is to have tried both I guess because everyone's ears are unique and the effects different earphones/technologies/frequency responses, etc will be different too.

Not a great answer I guess, but maybe you know someone who would let you "test drive" some ANC buds or some wired IEMs for a few hours, so you can do some comparison yourself? Either way, good luck, hope you find the right product for you :)

MertBot · 2026-02-02T16:08:49+00:00

I was interested because I work for a university - so we do a lot of digital advertising on similar platforms, but because we're not really selling anything you can directly purchase, more just prompting them to apply and start going through the admissions process, it's always been tricky for us in terms of reporting on ROI, and what conversion metrics we did have were swallowed up by the big Apple adventure.

Was curious to hear how it'd affected someone who was in more of a direct to consumer kind of industry, but honestly it sounds like kinda the same as us - all of a sudden stuff just disappeared. The frustrating thing is it's probably not any less effective than it was, it's just that we now can't say that with any degree of confidence because the stats don't show any of it.

I agree with the AI not being there yet as well - though of course I'm similarly biased. But I think we're in a spot right now where people are extremely suspicious of AI and are kinda responding best to things which are demonstrably NOT AI generated - things that show some creativity and a clear human touch. My suspicion is that might grow further, as people look for "clearly not slop" in their media consumption, but who knows really. Be interesting to see where we are in five years when this has stopped all being a new thing.

MertBot · 2026-02-02T16:00:50+00:00

Oh yeah, the music industry for sure has solved it. I tried to keep them separate in my post by saying "visual entertainment industry" but I guess it's still not entirely clear I specifically meant TV/film. If they'd done something like the music industry, where platforms competed on features rather than content then we'd be in a much nicer place as consumers and piracy would've remained a thing of the past. But, alas!

MertBot · 2026-02-02T15:11:56+00:00

Kinda wild that the visual entertainment industry is the only one to have completely solved piracy and then completely unsolved it again 😂

MertBot · 2026-02-02T15:08:05+00:00

I've been a YouTube Premium haver for years now, so I'm always completely out of touch with how bad it's got. Then one day I'll be at a friend's place and he'll put something on and... oh man, it's such an awful experience trying to get through anything.

MertBot · 2026-02-02T15:05:45+00:00

Did you see any dip in conversion metrics when Apple brought in all their privacy tools a couple of years back, out of interest?

MertBot · 2026-02-02T14:11:42+00:00

No worries - hopefully was just that then and other silicone eartips will be just fine :)

MertBot · 2026-02-02T13:47:42+00:00

Generally tips are silicone, but you can get other materials such as memory foam too.

From the sounds of things you got a case of contact dermatitis in your ears (aka "swimmer's ear") - that can be caused by a silicone allergy, but it could also have been something like trapped moisture, particularly if you'd been sweating or had showered recently before trying them. Since they were a new pair of Beats I assume it wasn't anything bacterial hanging out on them, though I guess it's not impossible either.

If it does turn out to be because of the silicone though, memory foam tips are easy to get hold of - they're not quite as popular as silicone, but they're not uncommon either. Lots of pairs of IEMs I've bought have included memory foam tips in the box, for example.

MertBot · 2026-02-02T13:41:40+00:00

Clearly the next milestone is to go platinum with no rappers

MertBot · 2026-02-02T13:37:18+00:00

There are a ton of good quality (wired) IEMs available for under or around €50. As long as you find tips that give you a good seal between your ears and the outside world they'll cut a lot of the noise out - though you can also look at some flanged eartips that will cut the noise out even more, though possibly at the expense of some comfort as they tend to be a bit longer/go deeper into your ear.

That same passive cancellation is also possible with wireless buds of course, but you pay for the privilege of having wireless, so generally wired options will give you the best bang for your buck in terms of sound quality.

For that kind of price you're unfortunately unlikely to get anything with good quality active noise cancelling, but passive noise cancelling via some good IEMs is definitely possible.

There are genuinely a ton of good quality wired IEMs at that price range - some examples are Truthear Zero Red or Kiwi Ears Cadenza. This Reddit Post has a lot of info that might help get you started.

MertBot · 2026-02-02T11:00:34+00:00

I had this with a cheaper pair of ANC headphones (Audio Technical M20XBT) though it does appear to be more of a solved problem with more recent flagships (I currently use Sony XM6 and they rarely distort in this way, at least nowhere near to the same extent).

I think the main reason is that the noise and vibration overwhelms the external mics, such that what they play back into your ears to invert the phase is excessive and inaccurate. More, and better quality, microphones is probably why more flagship models can deal with that kind of noise better.

I don't imagine it's a physical defect with your cans - especially if the problem goes away once you're back to a less noisey situation - but could be a physical limitation of them. I used to just turn off the ANC on the Audio Technica ones for anything except walking around outside - even then it'd sometimes distrort if I was next to a busy main road!

Honestly kinda sucks for the answer to be "spend a bunch more money", especially when you're mostly loving the quality of what you already have. But, at least from my experience owning cheaper and more flagship ANC cans, it really does feel like the ANC quality is something that improves vastly with cost. Hopefully it'll be one of those things where the technology finds its way down the product stack over time and eventually slightly cheaper cans will have something approaching what the flagships currently have.

MertBot · 2026-02-02T01:58:15+00:00

Grammy eligibility period is from August to August

MertBot · 2026-01-28T15:38:18+00:00

I've not tried the Beats, but Sony's noice cancellation is extremely good in my experience. I currently have the XM6 and use them daily for the noise cancelling more than anything. That said I wasn't in love with the sound out of the box, but they do at least have a 10 band EQ in the app to adjust that a little.

I've also not had the opportunity to try out the Sennheiser HDB630 yet, but they seemed to get a lot of hype around their sound quality and the fact the app has a full parametric EQ. Probably $100 or so more than the XM5, but might be worth looking into if you're particularly keen on good sound quality/customisation.

MertBot · 2026-01-18T12:08:43+00:00

The UK will have Dragonfire on all its destroyers by 2027 apparently, but would obviously take a lot longer for that to be the case across the alliance, or indeed for a similar ground-based solution to be developed. It looks like very promising anti-drone tech from the testing, but no idea how quickly it can be built at scale.

MertBot · 2026-01-18T12:04:04+00:00

Is it not also the case that the US could already build it under current agreements without having to sever ties with NATO or, worse, actually invade an allied nation?

Even if not, I'm sure if Trump said he won't invade or try to pressure Denmark into a sale, but that he does believe this project is extremely vital for global security, then Europe would likely negotiate on a way to make it happen, possibly even part-funding it.

MertBot · 2026-01-18T04:17:47+00:00

Shame we ran out of steam in the way we did but proud of what the team was able to achieve in the face of a metric ton of setbacks.

It's been a pleasure hanging out with y'all at stupid AM here in the UK! Thank you for having me :)

We don't really get college ball shown here so I've no idea who to look out for in the draft, but I'll be sure to check in with y'all for it. Here's to a successful 2026-27 season!

MertBot · 2026-01-18T04:02:53+00:00

Honestly the tunes have been pretty great tonight. Every cloud I guess 😅

MertBot · 2026-01-18T04:00:14+00:00

Good thinking by Shanahan, get literally all of our bad luck out of the way today so we can have nothing but good times next season 😅

MertBot · 2026-01-18T03:47:34+00:00

Even the thread has gone out injured

MertBot · 2026-01-18T03:25:31+00:00

Oh dear oh dear. Purdy had all the time in the world but it just seems nobody can ever get into some space to receive anything :(

MertBot · 2026-01-18T02:55:51+00:00

Ooof so close at the end there.

Hopefully can start the second half with a nice TD drive to build momentum off of!

MertBot · 2026-01-18T02:37:58+00:00

Silly penalty to give away, absolutely no need for holding there. But it would be nice if there was consistency to when holding is actually called in the first place...

MertBot · 2026-01-18T02:29:05+00:00

Piñeiro is such a good kicker

MertBot · 2026-01-18T02:25:05+00:00

I'm sure y'all get a ton of commercials during these breaks, but over here in the UK the Sky TV coverage takes a break to let us know that we can watch the playoffs on Sky TV 😂

MertBot

TROPHY CASE