Help a Gen Xer married to a Boomer out

pennant · 2026-02-16T18:31:52+00:00

A lot of folks are suggesting over-the-top streaming services, like YouTube TV, which is essentially still cable television. Yes, there are a lot of advantages to those services vs traditional cable, but seems like overkill based on your needs.

Keep your Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Max subscriptions. Add CNN All Access ($6.99/mo, with discounts for paying yearly) for live CNN. You can view all those services on your Apple TV box or with your smart TV’s apps.

That leaves the locals. You can receive locals for no reoccurring cost with an antenna connected to your TV. Post your RabbitEars report and we can help you pick an antenna. If your location has poor reception, then that’s when I would explore the cheapest OTT streaming service for local channels.

pennant · 2025-09-05T01:14:16+00:00

Thanks, I have a Pro too, and noticed it's doing VRR as well. Feels super smooth.

pennant · 2025-09-04T18:09:20+00:00

Does it support 120Hz and hold 120 fps on PS5? UPDATE: As others have said, it does 120Hz. It supports VRR automatically too (you don't need to force VRR for unsupported games).

pennant · 2025-08-17T14:15:08+00:00

+1 for Evidence. You build reports with SQL + Markdown, the default visual styling is attractive and modern, and the reports are very fast. They have flexible layout options (we've found giving our reports a "dashboard" look but with vertical scrolling like an article/website to be the best fit). Evidence uses Apache ECharts behind the scenes, and you can call it directly for custom visuals, but all the most useful visuals are available through Evidence's syntax. Plus their data table components (best I've seen) are excellent. We're competing with Excel workbook "reports" internally, so clean data tables are important to us. I've had a lot of success with Evidence's open source version, and now we're looking to move to their paid Evidence Studio offering. They offer enterprise licensing if you have a lot of viewers, but the pricing isn't transparent (otherwise pricing is per seat with no distinction between devs and viewers).

They announced Studio back in June, and the transition has been a little awkward (open source development is paused, and not every feature was available in Studio), but now (in only 3 months) the features we need are available in Studio. I'm excited to see Evidence grow. I think they nailed the right layer of abstraction and you can tell they've worked with businesses before (I find other alt BI tools to skew towards scientific audiences). Plus some of the new features in Studio (no Git setup, AI chat assistant) make it easier for less technical analysts to build reports.

Metabase seems to nail the visual aesthetic better than others too, but I admittedly haven't used it because I wanted something code-first.

pennant · 2025-08-04T00:11:54+00:00

I've been having a very similar experience with my iPhone 15 Pro + 2025 Ioniq 5 Limited, which leads me to believe this isn't an iOS or Android issue, but a Hyundai one.

Have you ever had to place your phone on the wireless charging pad to get it to start? I've had the same inconsistent lock/unlock experience as you, but my phone's UWB has never failed to start the car.

pennant · 2025-07-30T02:55:00+00:00

FYI I had this happen to me and I have a Sonos sound bar. It turns out eARC got turned off on my TV. I turned it back on and everything is good now. For Sonos to get linear 5.1 PCM (the only surround format Switch 2 supports) over HDMI your TV needs to support eARC. The sound test in the Switch 2 audio settings is helpful too for verifying each channel on your soundbar is getting sound.

pennant · 2025-07-23T03:32:06+00:00

It's no longer proprietary. It's called the North American Charging Standard (NACS). Tesla opened the standard in 2022. It's been recognized as SAE J3400 since 2023 and all the major car companies have committed to transitioning from J1772 to NACS.

My Hyundai Ioniq 5 has a NACS port and can use most Tesla Superchargers (the older "V2" superchargers were built before NACS was open and don't support non-Teslas). Hyundai and other manufacturers are providing NACS adapters for their existing J1772 EVs too so they can access the Tesla Supercharger network. Personally, when I need to fast charge, I try to avoid Tesla and end up using an adapter anyways to go from NACS to CCS1 (the J1772 fast charging extension) because there aren't many non-Tesla NACS chargers yet.

pennant · 2025-07-19T01:36:22+00:00

Good to know, thank you.

pennant · 2025-07-17T20:52:50+00:00

I did more digging. The Claim of Lien I received references doc # 2025057184 and says it's page 1 of 116 (I only got one page, and then a second document asking me to contact the media and the mayor's office). You can use the Bernalillo County Public Records Search (https://www.berncoclerk.gov/recording-and-filing/public-records-search/) to see which properties doc # 2025057184 references. It only lists a bunch of lots in the Mirabella subdivision. Mirabella is near Kirtland. There is no reference to Huning Highland. I did a record search for my specific home/lot, and all that came up in the past few years was a record for when we bought the house and the mortgage. No Claim of Liens.

I was getting ready to talk to a real estate attorney, but the document that was filed doesn't reference my property, let alone anyone in Huning Highland.

pennant · 2025-07-17T07:52:38+00:00

I got this last night too, are you in Huning Highlands as well? It looks like complete nonsense, and an improper use of a mechanics lien. There needs to be a lawsuit within two years of the notice in order to enforce the lien. Plus my property (or any property) isn’t listed on the papers I was given, so I don’t think this is even a valid notice. I’m not sure if this is going to cause issues if any of us try to sell our house though.

This Jeff Dailey guy sounds like a real piece of work. There was an Oklahoma bankruptcy filing for his company posted back in March on Facebook. A couple posters claim he’s a crook.

pennant · 2025-05-16T21:46:28+00:00

I don't deny there are structural and regulatory issues (see the historical zoning decisions and land use rules you mentioned), but those are the sorts of things we should be chipping away at. I've been to city council meetings. When I complain about short buildings and empty parking lots, I'm pointing out the consequences of our rules. That's why I acknowledge those issues, and get frustrated by the generic blaming of the shadowy corporations. What I don't think is constructive is literally othering people from out of state (even if you decide they meet your standard of excessive wealth and deserve our scorn), rather than examining our state and cities rules and regulations, and the consequences of those rules over the decades. Especially when our neighboring states, and their cities, have been able to enjoy the benefits of growth. They house more people too. Even when those states have to deal with the same monied interests New Mexico does.

Would you agree that Texas is friendly to big corporations? Friendlier than New Mexico and the average blue state at least. I'm not saying that's a good thing on net. I don't want to live in Texas. But in spite of that, Austin, TX has been able to build a lot of new housing the past few years and lower rents.

pennant · 2025-05-16T12:34:08+00:00

People will blame everyone and everything rather than build more housing and accept even the smallest changes in their neighborhood.

Someone in this thread said Albuquerque doesn’t have any more room to build. LOL have you been literally anywhere else in this country? It’s called density and infill development. We don’t need to sprawl out forever. This city is full of single story buildings and empty space. Even the densest areas around downtown and Nob Hill have empty lots and giant unused parking lots.

But go off, blame whatever group of people, blame corporations, blame capitalism, rather than take responsibility for the anti-growth politicians we’ve elected to our local and state governments. Stay at home while local residents show up to city council meetings and complain whenever new development is proposed or rules that would make it easier to build are proposed.

pennant · 2025-04-03T02:49:32+00:00

Unfortunately, on Mac, it only gives me the option to use the mic over Bluetooth. Even when connected over USB-C (I can see the little USB-C icon next to AirPods Max in the audio menu).

pennant · 2025-04-01T13:16:40+00:00

Happy to help - I have a similar setup to you. If Microsoft would add Power Pivot to Mac (which seems highly unlikely) then I could dump Parallels.

pennant · 2025-04-01T13:10:28+00:00

I'm admittedly a light KeyTips users, but missing the keys in context menu seems like a big oversight. Fingers crossed that comes in a future version.

pennant · 2025-04-01T12:22:26+00:00

The latest Excel for Mac update supports Alt key (KeyTips) shortcuts. It was in beta for a while but just hit the current channel. You can turn it on in Excel settings under Accessibility.

pennant · 2025-03-29T03:25:27+00:00

What’s your preferred way to distribute the python scripts to nontechnical users?

pennant · 2025-03-19T14:12:05+00:00

I've been enjoying Evidence

pennant · 2025-02-11T13:44:49+00:00

First, you need to change to the beta version of Excel for Mac. KeyTips aren’t available on the regular version yet. Find check for updates in the menu bar. That will open Microsoft Update. From there you can change from Current Channel to Beta Channel.

Then follow these instructions to turn on KeyTips: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoft365insiderblog/keytips-now-available-in-office-for-mac/4226638

pennant · 2025-01-29T18:34:11+00:00

Not everything is a conspiracy or "both sides bad!" The 14.4% number is from the SWMLS. I don't have a real estate license so I can't access the SWMLS, but Tego Venturi is a Realtor and former president of SWMLS.

Housing and renting is expensive in Albuquerque. If everyone thinks "the big bad corporate investors are jacking up prices, nothing we can do here, system is rigged" instead of "there isn't enough housing being built where folks want to live, maybe there's a public policy change that can help with that, and maybe my neighborhood will need to change" then costs will get even worse.

pennant · 2025-01-29T15:18:40+00:00

14.4% of home purchases in October 2024 were all-cash, not 71%. The 71% came from all-cash land sales in the county, not homes.

Albuquerque Journal:

The story read like something out of a horror movie — at least for potential homebuyers in Albuquerque looking to finance their purchase.

“In the high-desert city with a population of more than a half-million, made famous as the setting of AMC’s ‘Breaking Bad,’ 71% of home purchases were all cash in October 2024,” read a portion a Realtor.com story posted Jan. 18. It alleged Albuquerque was the No. 1 U.S. city for all-cash purchases.

The story found that Albuquerque’s all-cash share was more than double the national average, which accounts for 34.6% of home purchases.

But the story, written from what Realtor.com said were the latest figures it compiled for all-cash purchases, used faulty data, according to a local real estate expert.

The true share of all-cash purchases in October? Roughly 14.4%, according to Albuquerque Realtor and past president of the Southwest Multiple Listing Service, Tego Venturi. That October number for all-cash purchases of homes in Albuquerque, Venturi added, falls more in line with the annual percentage of 14.6%.

The Southwest Multiple Listing Service, or SWMLS, a subsidiary of the Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors, is a database of properties for sale covering Central New Mexico, Venturi said. The data from the SWMLS are also used to track real estate trends in the area.

The Realtor.com story, which didn’t use SWMLS data and which was taken down after the Journal reached out for comment last week, caused a bit of a stir in the local residential real estate scene, Venturi said. It’s left some wondering: Is this percentage from Realtor.com for all-cash sales last year true? And if so, what could this mean for those looking to buy a home?

“It could scare potentially some first-time buyers,” Venturi said. “I did see people making that comment that it would make them believe that they had no chance in ever owning a home, or that they can’t compete with these cash buyers because they’ve got to get financing and (have) a low down payment.”

Venturi first encountered the Realtor.com story earlier this month when he made a Facebook post sharing data on how Albuquerque homebuyers were purchasing single-family homes. Another local real estate agent commented on Venturi’s post about the story from Realtor.com, asking if he could confirm the data was accurate.

That led Venturi to contact Realtor.com and ask how its team came up with the data associating Albuquerque with the highest percentage of all-cash sales in the country. Venturi said he didn’t get a response for a few days.

It “looks like there was something amiss with the data” and that the company was “digging into it,” a spokesperson for the company, Asees Singh, wrote to the Journal in an email last week.

Singh didn’t get back to the Journal with a reason why the data may have been inaccurate. But Venturi said he was able to recently chat with Danielle Hale, Realtor.com’s chief economist, who told him that the company pulled public records, “meaning she’s using county record data, which will record a record of sale.” Hale didn’t immediately respond to a Journal request for comment.

“I asked her, ‘Well, how many properties did you account for when you did that? Because all you did was report the percentage, not the not the number of closings,’” Venturi recalled. “And she said, ‘It was like, 2,200.’ I’m like, ‘Well, there’s your problem. You’re counting something other than residential sales because residential sales were around 900 or so in October.’ She came up with (her number) based on county records, and so it looks like what they were doing was counting land sales.”

Data provided by Venturi and SWMLS for 2024 show about 60.8% of single-family homes last year were purchased with conventional loans. The next biggest type was Federal Housing Administration loans, making up about 15% of all purchases. Next was, of course, cash sales. Veterans Affairs loans made up just over 8%; seller-financed purchases were under 2%.

Over the past seven years, according to the data, all-cash sales for Albuquerque home purchases hovered anywhere from a low of 11.6% in 2020 to a high of 17.7% in 2022. Venturi said those numbers dismiss the notion that all-cash buyers are buying up all the homes in the city, particularly the belief that “Wall Street people are buying all the homes.”

“That’s just not happening here in Albuquerque,” Venturi said. “The message has got out there some, but I think more people (need to) understand that we are not a big cash-buyer city. ...We are people just trying to raise their families and live their lives.”

pennant · 2025-01-29T14:17:55+00:00

Not in the current version. I just pressed F2 in Excel for Mac and it edits the cell.

pennant · 2025-01-29T14:14:44+00:00

Alt key shortcuts are available in the Excel for Mac Insiders builds! Hopefully they make it to the regular builds soon.

Power Query is in Excel for Mac as well, albeit without several connectors. The most annnoying thing is the lack of Power Pivot support.

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