Looking to expand your SONOS home audio system? Or want to get into the wifi zoned audio game on a budget? Check out IKEA's new Symfonisk speakers! Created in collaboration with SONOS, they are fully compatible with other SONOS speakers. I've got three SONOS speakers already (two Play:3 and one Connect:Amp), and it was a breeze to add this new Symfonisk speaker so that we could listen to music while preparing dinner in the kitchen.
Love it or leave it? No. Improve it.
This "love it or leave it" garbage is not new. Fifty years ago people were pointing out how stupid it is. Here's proof.
From the July 21, 1969 Chicago Tribune: On the op-ed page, Sydney J. Harris wrote a piece headlined, “The ‘love it or leave it’ nonsense.”
“One of the most ignorant and hateful statements that a person can make to another is, ‘If you don’t like it here, why don’t you leave?’” Harris wrote. “Most people who want to change conditions do like it here: they love it here. They love it so much they cannot stand to see it suffer from its imperfections, and want it to live up to its ideals. It is the people who placidly accept the corruptions and perversions and inequities in our society who do not love America.”
From the Chicago Tribune.
From the July 21, 1969 Chicago Tribune: On the op-ed page, Sydney J. Harris wrote a piece headlined, “The ‘love it or leave it’ nonsense.”
“One of the most ignorant and hateful statements that a person can make to another is, ‘If you don’t like it here, why don’t you leave?’” Harris wrote. “Most people who want to change conditions do like it here: they love it here. They love it so much they cannot stand to see it suffer from its imperfections, and want it to live up to its ideals. It is the people who placidly accept the corruptions and perversions and inequities in our society who do not love America.”
From the Chicago Tribune.
Our new apartment!
I never planned to become a home owner -- it just sort of happened. But it's good to live indoors, and rents are going to keep going up.
Here's two walkthrough videos of our wonderful new space in Chicago. First, right after closing, and next, about a month later after we've gotten some furniture in place.
Here's two walkthrough videos of our wonderful new space in Chicago. First, right after closing, and next, about a month later after we've gotten some furniture in place.
Goodbye, Croslene Kettle
Very sad to hear of our neighbor and friend Kettle's passing yesterday.
Here's what happened, courtesy of Block Club Chicago.
My wife wrote something up about him for her newsletter.
Our alderperson Maria Hadden shared this as well.
And finally, Jonathan Ballew of Block Club Chicago wrote this wonderful article that helps to explain what Kettle meant to us in Rogers Park (and vice versa).
Here's what happened, courtesy of Block Club Chicago.
My wife wrote something up about him for her newsletter.
Our alderperson Maria Hadden shared this as well.
And finally, Jonathan Ballew of Block Club Chicago wrote this wonderful article that helps to explain what Kettle meant to us in Rogers Park (and vice versa).
Chicago: Rogers Park Viaduct Clearances Map
I just moved back to the Windy City, and I'm about to have some furniture delivered. Delivery of big items here can be tricky, with the "L" tracks overhead. Some movers even sort of try to B.S. you and say their trucks can't make it to a certain part of town. Which isn't true, if they check bridge clearances-- and this map helps you do that. This map used to be found on the prior alderman's website, which is now deleted. So I'm linking to it here. Hope people find it useful.
Impossible Sliders: Try 'em!
My wife and I are road tripping around the country with our dog. I am so tired of driving and ready to be back home, but that's another story for another time.
How to telnet from OS X
Why in the heck does Apple's High Sierra version of OS X lack a telnet client? It smells like they removed it for "security" reasons but without it, how am I supposed to poke at an SMTP server to manually test mail server things in my life as an email geek?
Amazon Prime: Is it worth it?
Amazon just announced that the price for a yearly subscription to Amazon Prime is being raised to $120. With that in mind, I decided to do some rough math to see if Prime was still worth it for my wife and I.
We do order quite a bit of stuff from Amazon, on things like "dog stuff" (food, treats, bedding, etc.), consumer electronics and accessories (iPhone/iPad cases, Chromebooks, headphones), clothes, and even coffee.
We do order quite a bit of stuff from Amazon, on things like "dog stuff" (food, treats, bedding, etc.), consumer electronics and accessories (iPhone/iPad cases, Chromebooks, headphones), clothes, and even coffee.
HOWTO: Play Roku TV Audio through Apple AirPods
We have a cheapo 55" 4K Roku TV that I think we bought for $398 at Wally World last year. It works well. I'm happy with it. It gets the job done. It is cheap enough, though, that the remote does not have a headphone jack, like other Roku TVs or streaming boxes have, nor does it seem to have Bluetooth support. But I found out that even without that, you can use an iPhone to stream sound from the TV to headphones connected to the iPhone. In my case, fancy new Apple AirPods that I just bought.
HOWTO: Cook shrimp in an air fryer
We recently got a cool new toy, something that I've wanted for a very long time: An air fryer!
What does an air fryer do? It doesn't actually fry. It is a convection oven that uses forced hot air to cook things quickly. These "air fryers" are meant to be used sort of like deep fryers; they're good for things like fries, potatoes, chicken wings, breaded shrimp, and other snacky things that you would cook in a deep fryer, if you had one. Well, I don't want a real deep fryer, because all that oil is bad for you, and it makes your home smell like a Burger King. So I've been wanting one of these things for a while. When I first started looking these up a couple years ago, I saw that that Philips was selling them for $200 -- just too expensive for me. I started looking again recently and saw that there are now some other well-reviewed ones from other brands for under $100. I ended up buying this GoWISE USA GW22639 3.7-Quart Programmable Air Fryer on Amazon for about $62. It was list price for somewhere around $70 or $80, so I ended up buying a used one (a returned one, I think) for $65, then I got an extra five percent off thanks to our Amazon card.
What does an air fryer do? It doesn't actually fry. It is a convection oven that uses forced hot air to cook things quickly. These "air fryers" are meant to be used sort of like deep fryers; they're good for things like fries, potatoes, chicken wings, breaded shrimp, and other snacky things that you would cook in a deep fryer, if you had one. Well, I don't want a real deep fryer, because all that oil is bad for you, and it makes your home smell like a Burger King. So I've been wanting one of these things for a while. When I first started looking these up a couple years ago, I saw that that Philips was selling them for $200 -- just too expensive for me. I started looking again recently and saw that there are now some other well-reviewed ones from other brands for under $100. I ended up buying this GoWISE USA GW22639 3.7-Quart Programmable Air Fryer on Amazon for about $62. It was list price for somewhere around $70 or $80, so I ended up buying a used one (a returned one, I think) for $65, then I got an extra five percent off thanks to our Amazon card.
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