Here are five articles that I spent a lot of time researching and writing in 2022. They are all loaded with links that will take you even deeper into the topics presented. I'm proud of these and I hope you find them informative. Happy New Year! 🎉 🎆 😁
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Replacing Google Play Music: How I Store & Stream 22 GB of My Own Music (MP3s) for a One-Time Cost of $7.99
[excerpt] "Here are the key components of my Google Play Music replacement:
- CloudPlayer Platinum app: $7.99 one-time purchase
- 15 GB Google Drive cloud storage account: Free
- 5 GB Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage account: Free
- 2 GB Dropbox cloud storage account: Free
- [for buying new music] Mp3Caprice.com account: $0.12 - 0.22 (Yes, that's 12 - 22 cents!!) per MP3 song, one-time purchase fee
Become an armchair expatriate with these 55 video series that'll take you out of the U.S. & around the world!
[excerpt] "Below is a list of 55 fictional series we have seen and recommend, categorized by the part of the world to which they will take you. The majority of these are from two low-cost sources: Acorn TV ($5.99/month) and PBS Passport ($5/month). A few are from Hulu and Netflix. ..."
Music to Get Lost In: A Brief Introduction to Jam Bands
[excerpt] "I like all kinds of music: blues, rock, psychedelic, R&B, jazz and occasionally even folk/bluegrass and their offshoots. And I especially like long, well-developed performances that I can get lost in -- the kind of music that musicians love playing as they engage a melody and soar side by side like the Blue Angels in tight formation and then diverge into solo musical loops and barrel rolls, eventually converging back at the melody where they started. This kind of musical aerobatics is the domain of the jam band..." NOTE: Article includes links to 9 full-length pieces of music from my favorite jam bands.
Secure, Fast & Customizable: Why I Ditched My Windows PC for a Hot Rod Chromebook
- After 30 years, enough with Windows, already!
- Chromebooks dominate in education because they're powerful & easy to use.
- Chromebooks are REALLY secure.
- Chromebooks are fast! (Thanks to the ChromeOS.)
- Chromebooks are customizable.
- Buyer beware! It may be cheap, but when does that low-cost Chromebook expire?
- My Chromebook: Part of a Powerful Ecosystem of Google Tools
- Final Thoughts: How 40 Years of Personal Computing Has Led Me to a Chromebook
- Bonus Tip: Don't throw away that old Windows PC or Mac. You might be able to make it a Chromebook!
[FYI: This article contains over 60 links to references for further research. Enjoy!]"
Stuck waiting? Doing mindless chores? Don't be frustrated or bored: Fire up a podcast & learn or just be entertained.
- You can pause them when you need to switch your attention to your otherwise boring chore and then pick them up later.
- If you miss something because your chore needs you for a few minutes, you can easily "rewind" the podcast and go back and repeat what you missed.
- You can listen to them at high speed, without chipmunk voices, but with the pauses and spaces squeezed out. (See the settings in your podcast player or this on Google Podcasts' "Podcast Controls" from PC Mag, for details.)
- You can save them for later and even binge listen to a whole series you may have missed.
- With today's smart speakers (Google Home, Amazon Echo, etc.) you can do all of the above completely hands free while you move around your house.
- Using Android Auto or Apple CarPlay you can start or continue listening to your Google Podcasts (and most other podcast apps) while you drive.
How to Get Started
- [from December, 2021] In Case You Missed Them: Some Ideas “Worth Sharing” from the Past Couple of Years
