I bought an Amazon Basics Wired Keyboard for >$12 and it works pretty good. There was a bit of a problem loading the drivers when I first plugged it in, but it eventually caught up to itself (after about 10 minutes).
It’s a nice, cheap keyboard with a fairly long cord–about four feet in length–that’s not too stiff or bindy. Though the keyboard is such a glossy black that it shows every single fingerprint or speck of dust.
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Back in the day I bought the Kid an Amazon Fire TV Stick. It was on sale at the time and I wish I would have bought two of them then, as I’ve purchased a second Fire TV Stick.
We have a so-called Smart TV, but the apps refused to update and their GUI (graphic user interface) wasn’t as good as I wanted. Plus Hulu was constantly freezing, jerking, and and buffering without stopping. It got to the point that the only app we used was Netflix, and even then it was a hassle to use, refusing to auto-play the next episode when we were watching television shows.
Anyways, with the new Fire TV Stick, we’ve started being able to watch Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime in the living room, which is great, as I’m obsessed with Horrible Histories. (It’s fun and engaging edutainment that everyone should watch no matter their age. I’ve already learned a lot about real history.)
Anyways, at $39 the Fire TV Stick is worth the cost. It works great, though you cannot customize the Home screen. I’m thinking about adding the Plex app so I can use a different screen when choosing and playing media.
I was having a bit of trouble with Hulu jerking and pausing after a week of using the Fire TV Stick, but I simply unplugged it for a minute and it’s worked great since then. I guess it just needs a chance to clear its cache. As they say, “Turn it off and on again.”
For the price, it’s a great little gadget and you can take it with you when you travel. Watch some TV, play some games, and listen to music (though, while it plays your Amazon Prime Music playlists, you cannot add songs or albums from the Fire TV Stick. You’d have to log in with your desktop, phone, or tablet. But once the music is added to your lists it’s right there on the front screen of your Fire TV Stick.)
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On a more horrible note, on Thursday my brother was hit by a car while riding his Go Ped. His spleen was punctured in seven places and he did some damage to his right knee cap, possibly breaking it.
There’s not a whole lot of information at this point, though he is alive and he’s going to be all right. The police haven’t gotten back to us about whether the driver of the car was arrested or if s/he drove off or anything. For all we know, it might have been a hit-and-run. My brother doesn’t remember a whole lot about the accident, just that he was driving home, then he was in the hospital.
It was a bit chilling when I saw his helmet. There was a big crack along the side where his head must have hit the pavement. If he hadn’t been wearing it, he would have been dead. As it is, he spent two hours in surgery and the doctors aren’t going to release him for several days, as he has drainage tubes in his chest and there was some talk about an air embolis.
He’s alive though, and he’s going to get better, and that’s really all that matters.
Seriously people, always wear a helmet. It will save your life.
