What in the fuck is happening. I’m disgusted that we have this plague of racism in 2025.

Sorry, you’re well out of the loop on this one, boss. Sideloading has been common practice for thousands? millions? of users since the beginning of android. There are plenty of apps not listed on Google Play - the ones that come top mind are Fortnight for a time and now the Epic Games Store app, and some VPN apps that couldn’t offer features like ad/malware blocking in their Play store versions. Sideloading means downloading an executable install file (an .APK file in this case) rather than installing from Google Play. And they are SEVERELY limiting this ability next year.

I feel like all the responses you’re getting are probably generally correct in the context of wind at/near ground level. But I feel like sticking a bunch of these in a JET STREAM is (maybe?) an entirely different matter. Or at least it could be, and I too am curious what the potential ramifications are.

Jet stream winds are not just wind like any other, are they? Various jet streams have serious impacts on weather. If they harnessed and substantively bled off the Pacific jet stream, are there potentially grave consequences on the already variable El Niño and La Niña oscillation? If it could cause serious shifts in the weather, that would affect the livability of areas, create more dangerous weather conditions, and impact farming way around the globe from their wind farm installation.

Maybe none of these are genuine scientific concerns, but frankly I don’t trust China to do the science for the rest of us. Pretending these are genuine concerns, say they screw something up - it probably doesn’t too seriously impact Chinese weather as they harness the jet stream winds right at the point where it leaves their airspace. But the ramifications for the rest of the world could then be dire, and I’m not sure that is remotely a concern for them. Could be an economic advantage even. Two birds, one stone.

I loved it too. The m7 was excellent, then the m8 managed to level up everything great about the m7. Amazing phone.

Yeah - for years it was a primary deciding factor for me when it was time for a new phone - HTC One m7, HTC One m8, Moto X Pure Edition all had front facing speakers. I think by the end there were simply no longer any options though… And now 10 years later, they’re still pointing the speakers at the damned ground. 😿

Phablets, lmao. You invoke the ancient magicks.

I’m so far on the opposite side on this one though - I always have preferred large screen devices and today, I ADORE my folding pocket tablet most of all. 😍

Stereo front facing speakers.

I have no idea why these terrible downward facing speakers took off, HTC had it nailed in 2012. RIP, king of smartphones. I’m glad to at least have 2 proper speakers on my Fold6 and 7, rather than an amplified earpiece speaker… But this is just not how sound works. I shouldn’t have to cup my hand around the side to point the sound in the proper direction.

Of course I believe in freedom of speech, but Marco and the Felon-in-Chief CERTAINLY do not, so this is clearly a smoke screen. And frankly, I suspect that any previous examples of this happening are in the interest in basic human decency. The fact of the matter is that American businesses doing business internationally have to be held accountable for the laws of the countries they are operating in as well, so this all sounds completely ridiculous.

Yeah - I was pretty sure that was the case, but didn’t want to speak out of turn. So the data is entering the house on copper regardless.

And your pc is connected by fiber directly to the modem? It sounds like not, which was the point of of the parent comment. But you can’t tell me that you think this is a normal and typical use case, to install PCI-E fiber optic network card.

I think they’re making a bit of a joke here. It’s just progress.

I don’t think “most” have fiber to the home, first of all. Cable companies in the US do multigig speeds via fiber to a relay and coax cable to the home. Fiber is great when it’s underground or in a data center and safe, but it is delicate and easy to break the cables so not a great home solution. Fiber terminations are difficult and more expensive. The power efficiency payoff on a 1m cable from your router to your pc is probably going to be measured decades, more if you factor in the higher cost of the cable.

I guess because Google’s Tensor chips are just more recent than Exynos. The Apple A4 was 15 years ago, and Samsung has been struggling to keep up with their Exynos chips for 14 years.

At my last job, I started shortly after the union had negotiated a one-time payout of $500 for every associate, at the cost of the $2000+ bonuses department heads received yearly. The savings for the company were immense of course, because the recurring cost of paying bonuses was gone. And the masses were happy to vote for a free (as far as they were concerned) $500 payment. I still find myself wondering how many yay votes ended up as department heads down the line and realized how utterly stupid that was. But most won’t have done, and simply got free money.

I’m not sure that tactic could possibly work here - there would have to be a contingent of people who actually wanted that in the first place - and as far as I can tell, no Greenlander even wants to touch the US with a 1,300 mile pole.

I considered it when they warned about the increase and offered it at $75, but I just didn’t have the money to spend back then. Felt pretty stupid for not doing it, but I don’t even know what paid features they offer, and I’m clearly not missing them.

99% of my usage is at home as well, so this is unlikely to affect me - until that random 1% anyhow.

Thanks for that - I wasn’t aware of the relay service, but completely agree that this is what they should be charging for and not the remote play feature in its entirety. I’ll probably drag it out for a while by refusing to update the app and server… Might be able to make it work with Tailscale as others have suggested.

In the past I’ve paid for a month or two when I wanted to download to my devices remotely (and I think that’s the singular feature that I’ve ever cared about in the Plex pass). But to take features away and then try and charge me for them is a bridge too far, I can’t support that bad behavior.

But what infrastructure does this feature require? I’m direct connecting to my own personal server with perhaps credential handling and a handshake handled by Plex servers to connect. None of the media is passing through their servers - or it shouldn’t be if it is.

I disagree, but to each their own. You do have a potential option here:

https://www.clicks.tech/

100%! And, 6 generations in the tech is pretty well advanced now. I don’t mind being an early adopter, but with folding phones being so fragile and early ones having hideous and unusable cover screens for instance, I was fine waiting it out the issues until it was a bit more mature. They’re still getting continuously better, it’s a great time for anyone into the idea of a foldable.

That’s fine man, but you don’t have to tell us about it.