Each entry in the “Mixed nuts” series is a collection of random and, occasionally, relevant observations. The series originally was inspired, as noted in the first “Mixed nuts” post, by the famed “Scattershooting” newspaper columns penned by the late Blackie Sherrod.
When I transitioned this site into Cut the Crap and Just Write (CTCAJW) Mode, I wasn’t sure if there’d ever be a need for any more of my “Mixed nuts” posts. In fact, this one is the first since last November. But, hey, why not? So, with that purposeful observation, here goes.
Astro 1.0 debuted on schedule earlier this week.1 As I already explained, it’s gained a lot from a late decision to use MDX, rather than a custom flavor of Markdown, for component-based content. While it still lacks some capabilities2 on which I’ve come to depend from Hugo, Astro has come a long way and is definitely worth a look.
The original promise of Chrome OS Flex (COF) was that it would reinvigorate outdated computers. However, when I tried an early-access version of COF on a slow, underpowered HP laptop of 2013 vintage, COF failed to install during multiple protracted attempts. Fortunately, since then, Google’s apparently improved the installation process. Now, with COF released to general availability, I’ve been able to transform that dinosaur of a computer into a Chromebook — although it’s a Chromebook with a sub-par display, sub-standard speakers, and a slow (but very large) spinning hard drive.3 Anyway: if you, too, previously attempted to install COF on an old PC or Mac but couldn’t succeed, I suggest you try again.
Interested in buying a newer TV, but planning to pair it with your existing, older soundbar or soundbase? Don’t be surprised if the new remote won’t control the sound device (especially if the latter lacks an HDMI connection) as the old one’s probably could. TV remotes these days tend to use Bluetooth, while older sound devices likely have infra-red remotes — “first-world problems” and all that jazz.
Lately, I’m using social media less, and enjoying it more.4
Ironically, Astro 1.0 was “born” one year to the day after the Astro community reacted so kindly to the birth of our grandson. ↩︎
Among other examples, I’ve yet to find a satisfactory way to obtain and display each file’s Git data or — as was true previously — set up RSS and JSON feeds with suitably processed HTML content. ↩︎
I bought it in early 2015, the day after budget cuts cost me a Day Job I’d held for nearly 17 years. Because I didn’t know how long it would take me to find my next workplace, especially since I was 59 years old and my kind of work was typically a youngster’s game, I purposely selected the cheapest laptop I thought would be adequate for job-hunting purposes. (My then-incumbent home computer was an early-2000s relic that no longer was up to the task and, on top of that, used an equally old monitor that was dying.) Such “feature frugality,” unusual for me when I buy a computer, turned out to have been wise: it would be a year before I was working once again. ↩︎
If you’re old enough, you’ll get that reference. ↩︎
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