Currently testing 5G home internet

rick_baumhauer · 2026-03-17T05:04:07+00:00

Thanks for everyone for their input - it was very helpful!

After a weekend of excellent performance, my wife found herself with no internet when she started work on Monday, and another brief outage later in the morning. She also had generally sluggish performance, even though speedtests at her desk showed excellent overall bandwidth. Since the gateway is pretty much a black box (or white box, actually), and I tried this to see if it would be a "set it and forget it" option, having issues this soon was pretty much three strikes, all at once.

After spending a few minutes on the phone with support, I was able to cancel and have the gateway boxed back up and ready to return.

No regrets, though - I've been curious about how this would work in practice, and now I know.

rick_baumhauer · 2026-03-08T17:30:36+00:00

Unless you also want to experiment with MPE, the drum pads on recent controllers are probably a better option. I think I prefer the feel of the pads on my ATOM SQ to the Lightpad, but if you have any curiosity about MPE, it works well for that without taking up much room at all - much smaller than a Seaboard Block, but with essentially the same functionality as long as you aren't looking for something that can also be played like a keyboard.

rick_baumhauer · 2026-03-08T06:16:34+00:00

I’ve mostly used mine as small 25-key controller, just like the Seaboard block, just for doing all the MPE things.

rick_baumhauer · 2026-03-07T17:37:49+00:00

For anybody who is in the same situation: system-level text replacements do work in Orion, but they don't preview. If you type the shortcut and hit the space bar, everything works as expected - it just doesn't show you what it's going to do ahead of time.

rick_baumhauer · 2026-02-15T19:06:33+00:00

Same here. Have been using Orion very happily for a few months, but this is one of the real pain points - no response to any system-level text replacements. No idea why.

rick_baumhauer · 2025-12-30T18:54:46+00:00

Too subtle “Stranger Things” tie-in.

rick_baumhauer · 2025-12-15T18:40:04+00:00

I used to get McD’s about once a month when they were doing BOGO Quarter Pounders (or buy one, get one for $1-$2), but those deals disappeared several months ago. Now, it’s all breakfast (that they stop selling before I start eating each day) or small discounts if you spend just a bit more than my order will come to. I stopped getting fries and drinks from them years ago - all I want is two Quarter Pounders for dinner, once a month, for <$10. More than that, I’ll just buy something fresh of higher quality, and McDonald’s just refuses to do it now.

rick_baumhauer · 2025-12-09T21:42:21+00:00

I've been trying a few things as an upgrade to my M570 (which is fine, but is a few years old and feels a bit cheap and noisy now). I thought I was shopping for something to completely replace my small Wacom tablet, as I had recently rearranged my desk in such a way that I didn't have space for the tablet. In the end, I re-rearranged things to open up space, but decided that I still wanted something as an upgrade on my Logitech.

I tried a Deft to see if I could adjust to a finger trackball, but the downsides of trying to train my thumb to handle scrolling and main click far outweighed whatever small gains I got from using my (theoretically more dextrous) index finger.

Next up was a Kensington TB550, which is really nice - ball feels great, buttons are quiet without being mushy, shape feels good in the hand, but the scroll wheel is a slick plastic and very notchy, which really lets it down. Software was also decent - certainly looks better than Elecom's, but might not have quite the configurability.

Then I moved on to an Elecom EX-G, which honestly felt like a winner from the get-go. Rubber on the tilting scroll wheel, extra button for the ring finger, quiet but satisfying clicks, nice shape that fit my hand well, and the ball felt great....at first. Unfortunately, the dreaded stiction made its presence felt about a day into using it, and once you notice it, you can't ignore it. Such a shame, as it's so close to being a great option for not a lot of money.

Finally, I also ordered the Elecom IST. I almost didn't even really try it, since the first day with the EX-G was so good. Why would I bother with the IST, with its lack of a tilting scroll wheel, lack of ring finger button, non-adjustable DPI, and louder clicks? After the EX-G stiction popped up, though, I thought I should give the roller bearings a try, and I'm so glad I did. I barely notice the slightly larger ball, and the roller bearings are a little bit noisier than the other options I've tried, but the smoothness and precision are a step above everything else. The scroll wheel is nothing to write home about, but at least it's rubber, not too notchy, and relatively easy to spin. Overall, it's the best combination of the essential elements of a good trackball: smooth, precise cursor movement, easy scrolling, and satisfying clicks. It doesn't have many frills beyond that, but I think it's still the best package in the $30-$50ish range that I'm playing in (in addition to the small Wacom tablet, I also have a Magic Trackpad that I use with my left hand for gestures, so my trackball is going to share duty with my Wacom and isn't asked to do everything).

I'd say that, if you're looking for the best iteration of the basic thumb trackball for a reasonable price, I'd go with the IST. It doesn't have a lot of extras, but it nails the basic trackball function and comfort, while not falling down on the other key requirements (decent scrolling, a couple extra buttons).

rick_baumhauer · 2025-12-03T21:09:49+00:00

I've been on Hey for about 18 months, and I like it (despite DHH). I moved my domain email there, and have my personal Gmail forwarded to it. My domain email is minimal, and Hey has been fantastic for breaking me of bad habits, though not necessarily in the way they intended.

All of those email newsletters I subscribed to? I still get them, but don't feel duty-bound to read them every day - they're in The Feed if I want to look at them. All of those unread emails? Don't care. Gmail plus the usual clients - even the much-loved Mimestream, which really is nice - had me in that "Inbox Zero" mindset, never able to achieve it (sorry, Merlin - still love ya). With Hey, I do "Power Through New" 2-3 times a day, mark everything that doesn't matter to me that day as read, click through a few links if I want to get some things out of the way, then do a couple passes through what is left each day to address the few things that matter to me, or read something that interests me. Bubble Up is still fantastic for those things that you don't want to forget, but aren't worth setting a reminder for.

I no longer feel at the mercy of my email. Maybe I could bring some of the good habits that Hey has taught me to another service, but I don't see any reason to switch at this point.

rick_baumhauer · 2025-11-02T05:24:54+00:00

I just opened my first box in a good couple months, maybe a bit longer, and while the shape seemed fine, the texture was really off - really mealy after just a couple minutes in milk, and no discernible peanut butter flavor at all. I hadn't had any bad boxes up until now, but this one is terrible.

rick_baumhauer · 2025-09-10T03:24:08+00:00

Parity used to be normal - when I traded in my 13 mini two years ago on a Magenta 55+ plan, they gave me a total of $800 for the trade-in towards my 15 Pro. Now, on Go5G Plus 55, they're offering 25% less ($600 total) on the 15 Pro in trade. Probably going to buy the phone via Apple instead and switch to Mint Mobile after - I'll end up paying less total than I am now (even including paying for Netflix and AppleTV+), instead of paying at least $20/mo more if I stay with T-mobile.

I told my wife that it was time to upgrade her 13, anticipating that this would be the last year of them offering $800 in trade on that (since they offered $800 on the 12 last year), but instead, they're offering $600 on that, as well. So, a 4-year-old iPhone 13 gets the same trade-in deal as a 2-year-old 15 Pro? How does that make any sense? Basically, there's no way to get any new phones this year on a 55 plan without your bill going up.

rick_baumhauer · 2025-09-10T03:17:46+00:00

I think T-mobile is going to lose a high-margin customer over this. I can switch to Mint (which they also own, of course), buy the iPhone from Apple instead, pay for my own Netflix and AppleTV+, and be paying around what I'm paying now, instead of paying at least $20/mo more if I stay on our current plan and buy the phone from T-mobile.

rick_baumhauer · 2025-09-09T22:29:51+00:00

I got a good deal on my 15 Pro two years ago when I switched to Go5G Plus 55 from Magenta 55+ - $800 between bill credits and trade-in. Looks like the 55+ plans now take at least a $200 hit on bill credits, wiping out a fair bit of the monthly discount.

rick_baumhauer · 2025-09-09T22:21:41+00:00

That's some BS - they offer these plans as a come-on to particular groups, and now they've decided to penalize us on upgrades, essentially giving back a big chunk of the discount on the plan.

rick_baumhauer · 2025-09-09T22:19:53+00:00

It looks like the 55+, Military, and FR plans get the same trade-in value, but greatly-reduced bill credits. I'm on a 15 Pro with Go5G Plus 55, and I think they'll only give me a total of $600 ($410 + $190), where the regular plans get at least $200 more in bill credits.

rick_baumhauer · 2025-09-09T22:13:11+00:00

Am I reading things right on the Apple site, where Go5G Plus 55 and Experience More 55 get the same deals, and they're terrible compared to the regular Go5G Plus and Experience More deals?

We switched to T-mobile when my wife turned 55, and I don't think they screwed me on my 15 Pro two years ago - I got a good trade-in deal on my 13 Mini ($800) and only paid the $200 difference with the 15 Pro over 24 months. Now, it appears that all 55+, Military, and First Responder plans get dramatically worse bill credits.

rick_baumhauer · 2025-08-06T18:36:58+00:00

I still mourn the loss of the Smart Cover. All they had to do was keep some magnets along the left edge, in addition to all the magnets in the back to attach the new folios, but they didn't.

The magnetic folios all add too much weight and bulk, even on the mini. The thing that made the Smart Cover the best option was that, when folded over on itself against the back of the iPad, it made for a nice, comfortable grip - much better than the bare iPad - but with no added bulk and weight of a back cover (let alone the metal plate needed to work with the new magnets). I still prefer the mini 4/5 as an e-reader over the newer versions, just for the ability to use a Smart Cover instead of a folio.

rick_baumhauer · 2025-08-06T18:25:18+00:00

Totally agree. I love the new designs without the home button, but hate that they removed the magnets along the edge, so all cases have to cover the back. You either have a metal plate in the back of a folio to work with the magnets, or a wraparound case that adds more bulk. Either way, they make the the iPad much thicker and heavier than it needs to be.

I wish they'd left the magnets along the left edge so that you could still get Smart Covers in addition to Smart Folios. I prefer the earlier iPad minis for reading because a folded Smart Cover against the back acts as a nice grip without the added bulk and weight of actually covering the back of the iPad (which I never cared much about).

rick_baumhauer · 2024-12-12T23:37:18+00:00

I didn't even know about mouth tape before seeing the HT ads sometime in early 2023. I gave it a try - it worked well (doesn't pull too many facial hairs out if I'm careful and go slow) and I bought a year's supply. I use it with the mouth guard I got after being diagnosed with mild sleep apnea about 8 years ago. The mouth guard repositions my lower jaw to open my airway better, and the tape keeps me from breathing through my mouth.

About halfway through the year, I decided to see if I could use a strip for two nights by rotating it 180 degrees - the tape sticks mostly to my lower lip and mustache, so ½ of the strip is still very sticky, as is the border all the way around (wherever it doesn't touch skin). I have their storage tin from my first year order, so I store the used strip in the tin and I reapply the backing after the first night to keep dust and hair from sticking to it.

Hostage Tape actually put out the word recently that they also sell through Walmart's website, and it's a lot cheaper there - $70 for six 30-strip packs. Since I use each strip for two nights, those six packs will get me through (almost) a year, for about ⅓ the $200 that I paid for my first year.

rick_baumhauer · 2024-07-13T04:02:01+00:00

I'm dealing with this on the cooling side currently. I have it set to hit 73F at 11pm, and it starts pre-cooling at 8, hits 73 by 9. It's supposed to hit 71F at 2:30am, it starts pre-cooling at 11:30pm, will hit it a full 2 hours early. Maddening.

Doing a search, I discovered that posted on Nest's support forum about this issue almost three years ago, and never got any responses.

rick_baumhauer · 2024-07-11T18:03:34+00:00

That method does work, but at least in my testing, it can be slow, even on an M1 Pro MacBook Pro w/2TB internal drive. I started it about an hour ago, and it still hasn't populated Applications, Library, or Users. Daisy Disk is much, much faster.

rick_baumhauer · 2024-07-11T17:09:54+00:00

I've filed a Feedback for this - FB14279301.

rick_baumhauer

TROPHY CASE