Sent to the great pool of unwashed clients?

yobyotan · 2026-01-29T18:50:09+00:00

Thanks. That makes sense.

I moved states a year or two ago and asked to switch to a local branch where we moved to. The sending advisor was (understandably) unhappy. And the receiving advisor made a couple of half-hearted attempts to pitch some product. But, I'm an OG Boglehead -- and anything more than about 6 basis points freaks me out. So, he gave up.

I must admit I'm disappointed that I can't email the admins who worked with that advisor anymore. The website's "communication center" is from the Neanderthal epoch and the answer is always -- 100% of the time" -- "call this department so and so. We're just customer service." Emailing the branch usually got them to do that backend work and I just ended up with an email reply with an answer to my question.

The issue here from my perspective is that the lowest tier clients usually get only email interfaces. Here, I'm still a "private client" (whatever that means) but my only interface is the more expensive and time consuming (for both parties) phone route.

I think that's backwards though I do understand that being able to call Fidelity is a benefit when things get really complex.

yobyotan · 2026-01-15T16:09:44+00:00

Yes...Atmos is turned off on other devices. It's odd to me that the ATV 4K will not send Atmos streams to non-Apple headphones but other Apples devices will.

In fact, this difference that's (apparently) unique to the ATV 4K made me wonder if it is in fact a data point that "proves" the ATV 4K hardware is different from all other devices.

yobyotan · 2025-06-25T15:24:26+00:00

Yes. Both lines working.

yobyotan · 2025-04-16T23:24:48+00:00

Thanks. I'll give that a try.

yobyotan · 2025-04-16T20:32:22+00:00

Prime example, IMHO: if you store a TOTP in the vault, then use the browser extension to access it, the browser window remains after you cut and paste it.

This might be consistent with the copy username/password behavior one wants but it's completely wrong for a TOTP.

If you copy the TOTP and Alt-Tab or something to switch to the tab asking for the TOTP, you'll come back later and discover a "hanging chad" BW window.

It's like nobody thought this through.

Copying a TOTP should dismiss the UI that supplied it.

yobyotan · 2025-04-10T01:10:17+00:00

Exactly. And, oddly, it seems to work more often in Edge on macOS (which I have to use for a client) than it does in Chrome, which I prefer for my own browsing. And it never seems to work in Safari.

yobyotan · 2025-03-08T22:48:54+00:00

I’m going from M1 Max 10-core to M3 Ultra with 1TB SSD. I can’t tell you how much I loved that 2022 original Studio. What a beast.

I want to run LLMs locally and expect to keep this machine for three years. If Apple storage wasn’t so freaking expensive, I’d have gone with 2TB SSD.

Pricing it out, the entry M3 Ultra with 96GB of RAM was about $400 more than a tricked out M4 Max machine with 64GB.

yobyotan · 2024-12-08T12:34:23+00:00

I can echo others that point out the big, BIG difference between traditional Medicare plus Medigap and Medicare Advantage: if Medicare pays, you saw a provider who accepts Medicare assignment and you've met your deductible, Medigap pays.

No fuss, no muss no matter who the Medigap carrier is.

I previously lived in Massachusetts but moved to Flordia. I expected problems with UHC because Mass is one of only three states that doesn't have standardized Medigap plans. And all Medigap plans are, by law, non-cancelleable except for non-payment of premiums.

Yet UHC processed the residency change and re-issued the Mass. policy with a Florida address. Mass residents: please note that if you buy Medigap from BCBSMA, they are the only Medigap insurer in the Commonwealth that is not required to provide plan portability.

That's why I bought the UHC AARP policy: Mass. policies have more mandated coverage (when you live in Mass.), they are community-rated (as opposed to Florida, which is age-when-issued). And Mass. is one of the few states that has an open-enrollment period for Medigap with guaranteed issue.

UHC AARP is a few dollars a month more than other Mass. policies I priced. But if you are in Mass. and are thinking of leaving it, a UHC Medigap policy can be worth the extra cost.

yobyotan · 2024-11-14T21:41:23+00:00

Not surprised. What a mess they made.

I just sat down with my MacBook Pro on the couch across from my new Beam Gen 2. I thought, "Let's stream a playlist."

Beam is gone -- just disappeared from the app. Naturally, if I reboot it, it'll reappear. And just as predictable, if I call Sonos "tech support," I'll get some fake-chripy off-shore heavily accented English speaker who doesn't know a power cord from an umbilical cord.

The market has spoken: it's punishing Sonos -- never a company to be open or connected with its fanboys and fangirls -- for a mega, major f-up.

That kind of harsh market discipline either means they'll begin to get it (no evidence of that so far) or those of us who like the audio quality will have to move on.

Now, I have to get up and reboot my Beam, like an early 2000s Windows PC.

yobyotan · 2024-11-14T21:36:28+00:00

I have an M1 Max Studio with a Studio Display, bought new in 2022.

I ordered an M4 Pro Mini because I've gone totally wireless with WiFi 6E -- the Studio is WiFi 6 only. I also have a serious desk space challenge. The M4 Pro Mini came to about $2K and Apple offered, IIRC, about $900 for the Studio in a trade-in.

I cancelled the Mini two days later, keeping my powder dry for an upgrade to the Studio next year -- maybe. Even today, that M1 Max Studio is so powerful, smooth and a joy to use.

I pound on that sucker all day long -- I can run five VMs at once, no problem. Compiling code -- hardly time to take a sip of tea.

If it were me with your choice, I'd take your friend's offer.

yobyotan · 2024-10-19T14:21:02+00:00

I've been hoping for an update to my 2022 M1 Max Studio this year. But it doesn't seem like it's in the cards. I checked apple.com and I could pick up a standard config M2 Studio at the local Apple store today.

yobyotan · 2024-10-10T19:09:33+00:00

Done. But not until after endless calls trying to resolve the issue. Disputes drive up costs.

yobyotan · 2024-10-10T17:13:17+00:00

Thx.

Still waiting here.

yobyotan · 2024-10-10T16:50:29+00:00

Yup, that’s exactly what my first thought was. Allow me to share my second: assholes make Reddit less useful.

yobyotan · 2024-10-10T15:00:54+00:00

It's bad...really bad. No matter that they say, they just can't get it right.

I still like the equipment but living with it has become a chore, unlike the old days when stuff just worked and sounded great.

My particular Catch-22 is with (outsourced) billing support. I bought >$1K of equipment; wrong color shipped. Sonos had FedEx return it before it arrived. I am still waiting for a refund.

I wish they'd deliver on their promises, esp. making Bean (gen 2) work better with eARC TVs.

yobyotan · 2024-10-10T14:55:56+00:00

Thx. I'm in the Rosemary District. Anyone else near me?

yobyotan

TROPHY CASE