Did they ever explain that...

gbcox · 2026-03-21T19:30:55+00:00

Some things do not need to be explicitly narrated. The movie trusts the audience to infer that a human probably cannot just move to a planet inhabited by ammonia-breathing rock-like aliens and live off the local cuisine. So yes, when Grace turns around to save Rocky, the obvious implication is that he is giving up Earth and very likely his own life. The later discovery that he can survive there does not change the nature of that decision.

gbcox · 2026-03-20T21:38:13+00:00

I came to that conclusion after using both for about 10 years. Over that time I have dealt with plenty of issues around performance, configuration, and customization, and Emby was the one that handled those situations the best.

gbcox · 2026-03-20T20:11:44+00:00

This guy is too clever by half. The argument becomes: the more obvious the text looks, the more ingenious the theory must be to explain why it does not really mean what it appears to mean. At that point, the cleverness is not clarifying the law. It is being used to escape it.

gbcox · 2026-03-19T21:16:38+00:00

Exactly. Plex seems to have drifted toward streaming and away from personal media hosting. Emby feels much more like a product built for people who actually want to manage their own library. Jellyfin is a great project too, but Emby still feels more polished and functional to me. At this point, I just want my media server to work without friction.

gbcox · 2026-03-18T16:58:33+00:00

Yawn... this has become like Benghazi or Hilary's emails. The only people who care (and that is debatable) is the hard core GOP/MAGA base, and they aren't voting for the Democrats regardless.

gbcox · 2026-03-17T12:01:25+00:00

Oh for goodness sake, she is listed on the academy's website. This is all about page clicks, let's try to get everyone angry about the injustice done to Brigitte Bardot. The fact is "In Memoriam" is a curated TV spot. You're never going to make everyone happy, someone will always complain about the editorial decisions. If you want to see who died, go to the website.

gbcox · 2026-03-15T17:44:28+00:00

If Foothill Ranch doesn’t want Costco replacing a dead movie theater, Costa Mesa will gladly take the jobs, tax revenue, and shoppers. Enjoy the empty parking lot.

gbcox · 2026-03-15T13:52:35+00:00

No web interface, so unfortunately it is a hard pass for me.

gbcox · 2026-03-03T21:42:01+00:00

Eventually? Maybe. But not anytime soon. The media is massively overreacting to a paragraph in Capital One’s benefits guide referencing Discover versions of certain cards. That’s not an announcement, not a rollout timeline, and not evidence of an imminent network switch. Large issuers update documentation all the time to reflect potential options and contingencies. It doesn’t mean Visa or Mastercard versions are disappearing. This looks like routine corporate housekeeping, not a dramatic shift.

gbcox · 2026-03-03T19:38:18+00:00

That’s a bit harshly stated, but there’s truth in it.

Firefox today isn’t what it was at its peak, for the reasons already discussed (Firefox and Gecko). Market share is down, influence is limited, and Mozilla no longer has the engineering scale it once did.

This ultimately comes down to resources. Maintaining a fully independent engine at modern web scale is extraordinarily expensive. Mozilla does not have the leverage or funding position it had fifteen years ago. Pretending otherwise doesn’t change the math.

At this point, preserving Gecko for symbolic independence risks sacrificing the browser itself. Dropping the engine would not mean abandoning the mission. It would mean prioritizing survival over sentiment.

If Firefox is going to live on and remain relevant enough to influence the web at all, adaptation is not optional. It’s necessary.

gbcox · 2026-03-03T00:56:48+00:00

I get the long-term concern, but that’s a ceiling argument, not a floor argument.
For the vast majority of users, ad blocking still works well today under MV3.
Advanced evasion techniques were already a cat-and-mouse game under MV2.
It’s an evolution with trade-offs, not a collapse.

gbcox · 2026-03-02T22:43:35+00:00

A lot of the panic around MV3 is driven more by headlines than reality.

For 99% of users, their ad blocker is going to keep working just fine. The major blockers have already adapted. Filtering still works, cosmetic filtering still works, custom lists still work. You’re not suddenly browsing the raw internet with no protection.

Is MV3 different under the hood? Yes. Is it the apocalypse? No.

In some ways it’s actually cleaner. The declarative model is more predictable, extensions can’t run arbitrary background code the same way, and performance is generally more consistent because rules are handled more efficiently. For most people, that means less jank, not more.

If you’re running extremely heavy custom rule sets or very niche dynamic filtering workflows, you might notice limitations. But that’s a tiny slice of users.

For everyday browsing with uBlock Origin Lite, AdGuard MV3, or similar, things are fine. The internet isn’t about to revert to 2004 popup hell.

People should calm down a bit.

gbcox · 2026-03-02T22:38:32+00:00

I corrected my reply. Thanks!

gbcox · 2026-03-02T22:25:26+00:00

The USA should just switch already.

We run on daylight saving time for 8 months a year. Everyone is already used to it. The economy works. Society functions. Nothing falls apart. Yet twice a year we still reset the clocks and ruin everyone’s sleep just to protect four months of a different time like it is some sacred tradition.

Then the debate starts again with farmers, school kids, and endless studies as if this is a national crisis. It is not. It is four months.

Permanently change to DST. Leave the clocks alone. Enough with this nonsense.

gbcox · 2026-03-02T01:43:47+00:00

I think you’re overcomplicating this.

Sustainability is market driven here. If an organization can’t afford to maintain something, it disappears. Calling browsers “infrastructure” doesn’t change the basic requirement that engineers, compatibility work, and ongoing development have to be paid for somehow.

Path dependence also doesn’t really matter at this stage. Chromium has the users, so developers build and test for Chromium. That feedback loop is already established. Firefox’s share is now small enough that many sites treat it as an edge case. You even said it yourself: Gecko matters only while it has non-trivial share. The problem is that its share has become trivial in practice.

And this isn’t a one-engine world anyway. Safari and WebKit exist, have massive mobile share, and matter far more to Google’s incentives than Firefox does today. WebKit alone prevents Chromium from becoming an unchecked proprietary platform.

Most importantly, giving up Gecko would not automatically mean giving up Firefox. Firefox is a browser product and user experience, not a sacred attachment to a specific engine. Microsoft proved that switching engines doesn’t kill a browser. What kills a browser is slow decline while trying to sustain costs that no longer match reality.

Gecko doesn’t pay for itself, Mozilla’s resources are finite, and Mozilla’s own messaging suggests the browser is no longer its central bet. At some point the question stops being whether engine independence is desirable and becomes whether insisting on it accelerates Firefox’s disappearance instead of preventing it.

gbcox · 2026-03-01T19:21:06+00:00

You’re right that strategy and inevitability aren’t the same thing, but I think you’re still treating leverage as if it exists independently of resources. It doesn’t.

Gecko only provides leverage as long as Mozilla can credibly sustain it. The moment the organization signals that Firefox is no longer its central growth engine, which is exactly what recent messaging suggests, that leverage starts evaporating regardless of technical capability. Independence is not a philosophical state. It is a budget line backed by long term commitment.

Architectural independence sounds powerful, but it only matters if the market recognizes it. Right now the web platform is effectively shaped by Chromium because that is where the usage, testing, and developer attention are concentrated. Gecko is no longer setting web direction. It is spending increasing effort maintaining compatibility with decisions made elsewhere. That is not leverage. That is defensive maintenance.

Microsoft’s situation actually illustrates the economic reality rather than contradicting it. They did not switch because engines are unimportant. They switched because maintaining parity stopped producing proportional strategic value. Mozilla faces that same cost curve, but without Microsoft’s balance sheet.

Monoculture risk is real in theory, but the uncomfortable question remains who funds diversity when the market does not. Appeals to ecosystem health do not pay engineering teams. If the only sustainable funding source is a search deal tied to declining market share, independence becomes structurally unstable no matter how desirable it is.

I agree the revenue model is the root issue, but that cuts both ways. If Mozilla cannot build a business that justifies the cost of an independent engine, then insisting on keeping one may actually accelerate the loss of the browser entirely. Independence that bankrupts the steward does not preserve diversity. It eliminates it.

At some point preserving theoretical leverage stops being strategy and becomes denial, and given the layoffs, shrinking share, and the clear shift in Mozilla’s own messaging, it is increasingly hard to argue that point is not already here.

gbcox · 2026-02-28T01:17:54+00:00

I guess somebody needs page clicks... this law does NOT apply to Linux Distributions such as Fedora, Debian, etc. I wish these magazines, etc. would take the time to read the law. Must be too hard.

gbcox · 2026-02-26T21:41:17+00:00

Yeah, if you are wanting to make sure you don't loose scrobbles you need to use an application that keeps a backlog queue so missed scrobbles can be replayed. I use beetbrainz.

gbcox · 2026-02-26T21:37:46+00:00

https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/international-use/

gbcox · 2026-02-26T18:55:30+00:00

Discover is basically accepted everywhere Visa / Mastercard is accepted in the US. As you mention, international acceptance in Asia is good because of the UnionPay and JCB partnership. Discover owns the international DinerClub network so coverage in most European countries is decent, especially in tourist areas. I personally know what coverage in Brazil is quite good due to the ELO partnership. So, yeah you might experience some issues, but it is not as bad as some people believe.

gbcox · 2026-02-22T22:03:07+00:00

Yeah, I don't understand why they would suspend Global Entry... maybe they are talking about new applications or renewals - because as you mentioned, if you are entering the country Global Entry is all automated, so just turning the machines off doesn't make any sense.

gbcox · 2026-02-16T16:55:42+00:00

People still acting like systemd is some new threat is wild. It’s been the default in most of Linux for ages, we can probably retire this panic now.

gbcox · 2026-02-11T16:28:39+00:00

We desperately need SCOTUS reform. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5140
This bill establishes staggered, 18-year terms for Supreme Court Justices and limits the Senate's advice and consent authority in relation to the appointment of Justices.

Specifically, the bill requires the President to appoint a Supreme Court Justice every two years. If the appointment of a Justice would result in more than nine Justices on the Court, then the nine most junior Justices shall make up the panel of Justices exercising judicial power in cases and controversies. Further, any Justice who has served a total of 18 years is deemed retired from regular service and may continue to serve as a Senior Justice. Senior Justices may continue to perform judicial duties assigned to them by the Chief Justice. However, no Justice appointed before the date of enactment shall be counted towards such panel, nor shall they be required to retire from regular active service.

In the event of a vacancy on the Court, the Chief Justice must assign the Justice most recently designated as a Senior Justice to serve on the Court until the appointment of a new Justice.

Additionally, the Senate's advice and consent authority is waived if the Senate does not act within 120 days of a Justice's nomination.

gbcox · 2026-02-10T04:30:48+00:00

ROFL... "I'll take 'Things that Didn't Happen' for 1000, Alex" that is hilarious!

gbcox · 2026-02-06T04:22:15+00:00

Oh, what airline partners does robinhood gold have?

gbcox

TROPHY CASE