It’s hilarious listening to the GOP call for fair maps. Ok, start in Texas, and then we can talk about other states.

The hip drop tackle isn’t dangerous unless you use the leverage to crash into the back of the runner’s legs. But the NFL doesn’t call it like that. Just an opportunity to generate more offense and vilify defensive players.

When you need Brownshirts, you generally don’t want people who can easily get and hold other jobs. You want people that feel excluded from society and are willing to be violent about it.

They’re going after Social Security, that’s why they are hunkering down.

Meta is training sexbots, isn’t it?

And I’m still here with a 1080p TV. Because my previous ISP had data caps, I’m not convinced my current ISP won’t move to data caps, and there isn’t a lot of good 1080p content out there besides DVD/BluRay and my Rips, let alone 5k or 8k content.

The rioting happens when Cheeto decides not to pay Social Security.

For the Home Assistant install, I would suggest a mini-PC. I run mine on an old Intel NUC. The mini-PC will give you more flexibility as you add and expand automation. I had read of Raspberry Pis bogging down under load (this was pre version 4 and 5). But even the NUC bogs down with local voice assistant use. I’m thinking of building my own, local LLM computer to offload voice. Eventually.

As far as other hardware, I’d go with the ZBT-1 (formally called SkyConnect) for Thread support, which is the new kid on the protocol block and we’re starting to see a good set of devices.

After that you’ll have to make a choice between Zigbee and Z-Wave, and buy a dongle for one of them to attach to HA to get the functionality. Both work solidly. Z-Wave devices tend to be more expensive because of the rigorous testing Z-Wave certification requires. Zigbee is cheaper, but it works on the 2.4Ghz spectrum, same as Wifi. It can lead to some interference if you still have a lot of old Wifi devices. You’ll have to look and see what kind of devices you want to run, what they cost, and decide from there. Personally, I went Z-Wave and most of my light switches are Z-Wave. it’s been solid but pricey. Hoping to see more Matter/Thread switches soon.

You’ll see a lot of Matter talk. Matter comes in two flavors, Matter/Wifi and Matter/Thread. Matter is a framework for devices to talk to automation hubs to tell them what functionality/sensors are available, Wifi/Thread is the protocol it communicates to the hub and other devices. I look for Thread devices since it is more like Zigbee/Z-Wave (Thread from what I understand is based on Zigbee). It builds an internal mesh network and keeps everything local, and it can’t communicate over the internet by itself.

If you don’t mind a bit of tinkering, I can recommend the Home Assistant Voice Preview devices. It is a voice device that talks to HA to be the voice front end. It is not nearly as polished as Google Voice or Alexa, but since I regulated Google Voice to basically be a voice front end to HA, it has been a decent replacement.

I’ve had T-Mobile 5G internet for several years now, and no issues. I’d say I’ve had to reboot the router more than with Comcast. But our area has also gone through a lot of tower upgrades. I’m not a competitive FPS player, mainly playing MMOs and nothing unusual. Streaming content has been fine. I also work full time remote with an IT job, and that hasn’t been an issue either.

It’s going to depend on how good your local signal is. T-Mobile phones in my area work well, while they don’t work as well when I visit my parents in another state. So the 5G Internet will follow suit. If you don’t have T-Mobile phones then you’ll have to pay attention to friends or reviews in your local area.

I am shocked and happy to be shocked.

He doesn’t think of you at all.

WOOOHOOO, GIBBS! Man, he’s fast.

Watch Mayfield carve up a Lions’ secondary with all 4 of their starting DBs out.

In 1980, sure.

Boohoohoo, I’m a conservative and I’m so oppressed!

I’ll second this. I have mine on an old NUC and it has been great.

IF things in Gaza improve, Trump still doesn’t deserve a peace prize for blowing up Venezuelan fishermen, and for all the invasions of American cities he prattles on about.

One thing has nothing to do with the other. Just more, “Get a horse,” anti-AI energy.

I thought Govee2MQTT was for the non-Matter lights?

Meh, lots of them earned it.