I've probably posted as much in Lemmy in a couple weeks as I did on reddit in several years, but as the say, be the change you want to see.

Free speech means that the government can't silence citizens outside of specific protections. It doesn't mean that private companies are required to give you a microphone. I highly doubt Spotify will take Rogan off the air anytime soon considering how much money he makes them, but if they did it wouldn't be restricting his free speech in any way as there are a magnitude of other places he can talk, from other online platforms to a soapbox on the corner of 5th Ave.

This is probably specific to the Pixel phones, not sure how much if any is relevant to other manufacturers.

1. Call screening and spam filtering is amazing. Having the phone automatically screen unknown callers means I haven't had to deal with a spam caller in years. And valid callers don't seem to have any problems understanding whats happening anymore. I used to get several who confused it for a voice mail when it first came out, but now it seems they understand how to leave a screening message and wait for me to pick up.

2. The phone tree and hold for me when calling businesses. Being able to read the options and click the text makes it so much easier to get through the options without having to really pay attention, then having it hold for me until a person answers lets me do other things instead of having to keep listening.

3. Song identification on the lock screen. Whether I'm out at a bar or restaurant or at home watching a TV show and a song I like but don't know starts playing, being able to see exactly what it is without even touching my phone is so convenient. I've found so many cool new bands I never would have without this feature. Its also amazing how it can often identify covers made specifically for TV shows right when they first air.

4. Amazing camera and cool features like photo sphere and the new magic eraser. The camera might not be as head and shoulders above Samsung and Apple as it was in the past but it's still always amazing how well it does in different conditions.

If you like more orchestral music checkout the soundtrack for Nier Automata. It came out a couple years ago and I find it great to listen to while working.

US it depends on where you live. I grew up and live now in upstate NY and the tap water is great. In between I lived in Arizona and the water was terrible. I have at different times a water cooler or an undersink reverse osmosis. The water wouldn't make you sick though so you can drink it if needed, it was just very hard and tasted bad.

Currently reading Fairy Tale by Stephen King, though it's not really science fiction more fantasy. Before that I read Intergalactic Exterminators Inc. by Ash Bishop which I thought was great. Its very funny with good character development.

The thought of learning English from a Neal Stephenson books cracks me up. As a native English speaker they were hard to get through, especially Diamond Age which, while great, was a difficult read for me.

I haven't raced the gr86 yet but it looks like a lot of fun, I should try it out this season. I really want to like the TCR since I love watching the real cars race, but am so slow in them.

I use a keyboardio which is pretty similar to the moonlander layout and don't really have much issue with switching between it and my laptop keyboard. Ive been using it for a few years now, so I don't remember exactly, but I think in the beginning while I was still getting used to keyboardio I had trouble switching between them, but once I got better with it they were different enough that I can use either with no real issues. If I had to guess, in the beginning your brain is a little overwhelmed with the new keyboard layout that it gets a bit foggy when switching back to a regular one, but then once you learn the new layout it kinda solidifies in your mind and becomes a separate muscle memory.

Another one I like for work that's not distracting is Zelda and chill on YouTube. Its a couple hours and usually auto plays more similar stuff.

What's your address? Id like to stop by and spew hateful racist bs from your front lawn. I'm sure all your neighbors won't think you are also a hateful racist just because I'm doing that on your property. Please make sure the megaphone is setup for me.

The Verge recently had an interview with Sen Ed Markey(D) about his bill to require AM radio in every car. Its pretty interesting if you want more info. Here's the YouTube but you can also find it in most podcast apps.

https://youtu.be/jhYAohkf3tM

I've been using keyboardio m01 and now m100 for several years and have been very happy. The custom sculpted keycaps are great and really guide your fingers to the right place. There is also lot of support for different plugins for things like sticky keys or macros. The m100 also has hot swappable mx switches so if you want really fancy ones it's very easy to change.

Why isn't the else curly lined up with the end of the else word? I'd your gonna go crazy might as well go all the way I guess 😜

You should check out Intergalactic Exterminators, Inc by Ash Bishop. I believe it's his only book so far but seems like it's gonna be a series. Its similar to the hitchhikers guide in that it's a bumbling earthling thrown into an intergalactic adventure with all sorts of aliens and weird outer space stuff. Pretty funny too.