Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...

[vansmack]

[Dejecty-hatch lııllı|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl]

not sure why, but I'm seeing David Holmes everywhere...doesn't it kinda look like him on this cover

[vansmack]

so i only pay attention to phones every 2 to 3 years or so, after i've paid off my old phone and start to consider my next upgrade.  i've got 4 months left on my current pixel 2, so i'm starting to get curious.  two Q's:

- is google releasing the new pixel on an annual basis?  if so, i can easily hold out for the 5.
- what is the fatal flaw with the 4?

I can't remember if you're one of my friends on Fi or not, but Fi just offered 50% of what you pay for the phone in service credits.

So....

Pixel 4XL 128GB: $999

Minus....

Pixel 3XL trade-in: $285 (ridiculously low, BTW)
Fi Service Credit: $500

Means.....

Pixel 4XL 128GB for $214

At that price, I'm willing to overlook it's shortcomings.

[vansmack]

Kacey Musgraves Christmas Special is solid for her outfits alone.  Now streaming on Amazon Prime....

[vansmack]

ICarlos Ghosn fleeing to Lebanon to escape Japanese prosecution might be  the greatest story ever in the auto industry....

[hutch]

He proved the original charge was right...

[vansmack]

Clearly you have zero knowledge of the Japanese Criminal Justice System....

I'm pretty sure the authorities looked the other way as he snuck out in an instrument case and let him leave rather than have their 99% conviction rate challenged by the entire developed world.  No OECD country in the world has a conviction rate close to that, yet many authoritarian and autocratic countries do.  Hmmm.

Did he cheat taxes?  Of course.  Did he do it the exact same way every other Japanese mogul does?  Absolutely.  Did he do it at the advice of Japanese financial planners?  Of course.  Would they arrest the Japanese CEO's of the same offenses?  Never in a century. Maybe two.  He was targeted specifically because they were tired of the Peugeot-Nissan alliance (which they agreed to) and the control the French had.  Nothing more, nothing less.  He has been under house arrest for 18 months with no charges - how much longer should he wait?   

[Julian, Bespoke SEXPERT]

The 10 Least Consequential Athletes of the Decade (featuring two Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim!)

[vansmack]

Oh no!   Mommy and Daddy are fighting!  And in public this time!

SONOS sues Google

[Dejecty-hatch lııllı|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl]

still in the market for a coup

the nanny can take an uber with the lil' one

[vansmack]

For the third year in a row, total consumption growth was up double-digits. The 13.5% growth in 2019 in total consumption was fueled by the continued growth of on-demand streams.....As a result of consumers continuing to move more towards streaming music, ondemand stream consumption now represents 85% of all music consumption in the United States; a 7.6-point jump over 2018 (77%). On-demand audio stream consumption in 2019 set a record high with 705 billion streams, up 32% over 2018’s 534.6 billion audio streams. While album sales and song sales continued to decline, 23% and 26% respectively...



It's not all rosey though:

"vinyl album sales in 2019 experienced another double-digit growth year; up 10.5% over 2018."

#shakesmyhead

https://www.buzzanglemusic.com/buzzangle-music-2019-report-on-u-s-music-consumption/

[Dejecty-hatch lııllı|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl]

Disney+ will be $7.99

Check that.

Disney+ will be $6.99.

Had not heard that...kids have been asking for it and I was already paying for Hulu...I'm going to be obvious when I say that... ESPN adds absolutely zero to the purchase for me
Kinda thought Disney+ was going to be $10 a month, so this sounded like a deal

You mean, the purpose of a bundle is not to save you money, but instead for you to pay what looks like a discount for something you might not ever use?  I've never heard of a such a thing.

Disney is dropping the Fox name, and is rebranding to 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures.

[vansmack]

Disney is dropping the Fox name, and is rebranding to 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures.[/i]

No surprise here. It might even have been part of the sale contract as to not confuse the brands, and those were the original names before being acquired by Fox, or being rebranded as Fox in the case of Searchlight.  I am a bit surprised they stuck with 20th Century though, given that we're well past that timeframe. 

[vansmack]

If Fox's 4K pregame show is any indication of what to expect for the big game, I'm going to be down with 4K streaming sports....

[Julian, Bespoke SEXPERT]

If Fox's 4K pregame show is any indication of what to expect for the big game, I'm going to be down with 4K streaming sports....

Seconded.