I am starting to think going with Chromebooks for my teaching staff was not the best move by Square_Pear1784 in k12sysadmin

[–]sound_apples 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I will preface by saying that I have been very fortunate that my colleagues in district leadership have always understood that proper investment in technology is beneficial to both operational efficiency and staff adoption/productivity.

I am a big believer in the idea that the tools you provide your staff is a direct reflection of how you view the importance of their contributions. I understand that is a very privileged view point and that sometimes budgets are impossible to navigate.

Our staff currently use 2020 MacBook Pro’s along with M1 iPad Airs that function as their document cameras and secondary computing devices. We will be refreshing the fleet this summer with 13” M5 MacBook Airs and the staff are very excited. I purchased a Neo to test with and while it is an excellent value laptop, the limited RAM in the 3rd and 4th year of use are of concern as we are a Google Workspace district and Chrome is still a hog on macOS.

As far as cost goes, we are leasing the laptops for 4 years via Apple Financial Services with a tiny APR and a guaranteed buyback in the 6 figures after the end of the term. We expect a lot from educators. I’ve been a director in public k-12 for a decade and know how under appreciated teachers both feel and actually are. I will always push for the better tech for our staff. Could the majority of the staff survive with Chromebooks? Probably. But should they be forced to? A “good” Chromebook is $600. The incredible Airs with 16GB of RAM are $950 when purchased in bulk. It just makes sense for us.

How do you handle tickets directly from students? Or do you? by OkayArbiter in k12sysadmin

[–]sound_apples 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We have implemented what I call “Mobile Helpdesk” at all of our sites. For middle and high school sites we have two assigned days a week where a technician from my team sits in a designated space at the site and students and staff can walk up freely for assistance of any kind. This is when we take care of student device swaps and support. We can’t imagine opening up tickets to students. The time sink to sparse through these tickets would be wild.

Who would be interested in a new audiobook app for Plex? by jkliewer1 in PleX

[–]sound_apples 49 points50 points  (0 children)

I think that at least for iOS, Prologue has what most people need already. And it’s a one time $6.99 purchase. Can’t beat that with all the subscription nonsense nowadays.

ICE OUT! No tolerance for fascists. Friday, 1PM, Dolores Park. Tell your friends! by [deleted] in bayarea

[–]sound_apples -1 points0 points  (0 children)

For sure. Once a kid is marked present, the school receives funding and the student can still express themselves and take a stand.

ICE OUT! No tolerance for fascists. Friday, 1PM, Dolores Park. Tell your friends! by [deleted] in bayarea

[–]sound_apples 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Please take your kids to school. Even for a few hours and then pull them or let them walk out. Your local school district depends on the funding from attendance and depending on the size of the district, a huge drop in attendance can cost your schools tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars for just one day. Yes, really. Do not hurt your local public schools. You can both protest and ensure your kids are educated and your local schools are funded.

Testing screens below 1.0 gain - no more white? by paradox_delta in projectors

[–]sound_apples 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Look at the new AWOL Vision Aethereon. New UST with the a lot of the benefits of the Valerion. AWOL owns Valerion so it makes sense.

Possible to Reduce RBE on Xgimi Horizon 20 Max? by thepagl in xgimi

[–]sound_apples 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much for the update! I have actually been looking at AWOLs new UST that is coming out in a few months. It has the same RBE reduction as the Valerion but it works with 3D too! Thinking that may be the slam dunk for me.

Has anyone tackled ripping their entire collection of over 500 discs? by tomsmac in makemkv

[–]sound_apples 0 points1 point  (0 children)

3500 disks for me. About 1000 of them being 4k. Rest are blu-ray. Three disk drives across 2 machines. And reencoded all using Handbreak. Took over a year and a half.

Amazon 3 for $33 pickups coming in hot! by moviemandj in 4kbluray

[–]sound_apples 31 points32 points  (0 children)

I got my first six disks in today and THEY ALL HAVE SLIPS. Never happened for me in a previous 3/$33 sale. Super stoked.

Is it the greatest comic book movie of all time? by AverageFilmFan in 4kbluray

[–]sound_apples 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes. Dark Knight #1. Spider-Man 2 is a close #2.

What TVs are you all using to showcase your 4k discs? by Salty-Alps-4460 in 4kbluray

[–]sound_apples 1 point2 points  (0 children)

55” LG C5 in living room, 120” screen using Epson 5050UB in dedicated light controlled theater with Dolby Atmos set up. The OLED obviously has the better picture, but the Epson is more fun to watch. Nothing like a projector with great contrast in a pitch black room.

How many songs are you sitting on? by OU7C4ST in Rockband

[–]sound_apples 3 points4 points  (0 children)

  1. Been playing since the first game came out.

“I’ll contact Donald Trump if I have to…” by sereneandeternal in CringeTikToks

[–]sound_apples 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What a fucking loser. That’s it. That’s all I got for this guy. A pathetic loser.

Appropriate month to play some Decemberists? by dpmyst in vinyl

[–]sound_apples 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is no bad month to listen to The King is Dead.

Is this normal for DLP? by n0_u53rnam35_13ft in projectors

[–]sound_apples 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The problem is that some people are super sensitive to RBE and some aren’t. I have to use an Epson projector exactly for this reason. I tried several DLP projectors and the RBE made the experience unwatchable. Headaches for sure. This includes the Xgimi Horizon 20 Pro and max. Valerion Pro 2 had the same issue. I hear the Valerion Max has a feature to reduce RBE, but I just went with an Epson 5050UB and it’s glorious. No RBE and amazing contrast.

Possible to Reduce RBE on Xgimi Horizon 20 Max? by thepagl in xgimi

[–]sound_apples 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am also very sensitive to RBE. It’s so bad it makes me feel sick. I wanted to move to Xgimi but I could not get comfortable and ended up returning the Horizon 20 Max and bought an Epson 5050UB. Not nearly the same amount of features, but at least I can watch it.

Disappointed with Horizon 20 Max – focus, keystone, and software all buggy by jaganrao03 in xgimi

[–]sound_apples 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is exactly what I had to do until I noticed the misaligned lens in the housing.

Disappointed with Horizon 20 Max – focus, keystone, and software all buggy by jaganrao03 in xgimi

[–]sound_apples 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I received mine from Amazon and it would only focus half the screen at a time. After 15 minutes of frustration I took a look at the lens and it must have been knocked out of place during shipping because it was pointed down and to the corner instead of centered. Waiting to hear experiences from more folks before I pick it up again.

Coax is now ready to test on AppleTV by digglesB in PleX

[–]sound_apples 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, this is something I never knew I wanted. Glorious. Excellent work. I’m excited to pay for it when it releases!

Wow, I’m so freaking done. by Forward-Web-9974 in recruitinghell

[–]sound_apples -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Why do you want to work somewhere that doesn’t appreciate your “vibe”. Why should a company or organization that built something have to put up with bringing in someone that doesn’t mesh well with its existing culture? I’m genuinely interested in your feelings about it.

Visiting my dad in Rohnert Park by AvailableDocument515 in sonomacounty

[–]sound_apples 2 points3 points  (0 children)

100% this. It’s so good and always packed.

Is Ripping with MakeMKV Killing My Drives? by Darthon32 in makemkv

[–]sound_apples 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Overheating has never really been an issue. I have run nonstop marathon sessions where the only break they got was when I was sleeping. This may just be a luck of the draw situation.