I’ve switched to bone conduction headsets recently. They work even with foam earplugs in. You might even be able to add shooting earmuffs over top of them, too.
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I’ve mostly seen “mini PCs” being talked about for retro gaming emulation, sort of the next step up from Raspberry Pi. Not only cross-platform stuff like arcade and early home consoles, but also old DOS games, especially of the era before 3D graphics cards. (See “eXoDOS 6.0” for a nice bundled package of nostalgia.)
Some of the newer “mini PCs” are capable enough to emulate 3D-accelerated consoles and games like N64. But they also seem to have price tags approaching regular-size PCs, too.
But a caveat: many come pre-loaded with extra software (“bloatware”) by their manufacturers, and one reviewer even found malware. Many reviewers recommend wiping the HDD (SDD) entirely and reinstalling Windows (11) sourced from Microsoft as a first step.
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What is this Windows of which you speak? Ah, yes, the elders have spoken of it. The word is the law, and the rule is the word, and Windows, or something! 
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I do wish you could get those mini-PCs with no operating system, it would make them cheaper and a good next step after a Raspberry Pi. Only reason I’d get one is to wipe it, put Linux on it and use it as a replacement for a Roku if one dies. I still like the Roku hardware but the company has started doing way too much crappy stuff, probably won’t buy any new stuff from them in the future.
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I do not own a cell phone. I have a Jitterbug phone in my car, which is always turned off except when I need it for an emergency. I had the company turn off its ability to send or receive texts.
I have a landline phone at home, and I am constantly getting calls that are just “beep” and nothing else. I suspect people (or, more likely, robots) are trying to text me.
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That’s very commendable, if it suits you. I use texts for pretty much just family who aren’t always around or able to speak on the telephone, and a few friends sparingly.
It’s good for that.
But, I must know: how do you get around all of that scourge of multi-factor authentication? Like if you’re trying to log in to an account that prioritizes “security” (ahem…theater) and requires a phone number or some such?
Oh, ISTR that most of those give an option for hearing a recorded message instead of a text.
Maybe. I think those are probably just regular robocalls, or some kind of massive spamming expedition in early stages of data gathering. I think when I’ve tried to text a landline, some kind of recorded voice tells me “No, no, no!”
I did. Wow. That’s a buttload of games. I’m still trying to find one bizarre game from probably 1989 or 1988 that just featured a tuba (I think) going around some kind of circle with some catchy music. It was not a challenging game, more a time-waster, but I have no clue what the title is.
Yeah, I’ve heard a bit about bone conduction headsets…for my uses, at home, regular closed-back headphones are fine for listening to music (just regular AKG K240…not especially fancy, nor especially comfortable for me…and I actually prefer open headphones like the low-end Grados for listening in comfort — the SR60s were my jam for years until I got sent to the drunk tank by the popo and my satchel went “mysteriously” missing…but the SR80s are up next on the big old shopping list). Actually, I have a pretty nice set of Sonys around here…not one of their higher-end models, but more a comfortable “on-ear” set that are comfortable and as hi-fi as I intend to go…which one can see, is not really high at all…just enough to hear what I need to and try to do likewise.
But the elusive part is finding a solution to block as much sound as possible. I’ve concluded there isn’t any better solution than foam earplugs with closed ear-protection earmuffs. 1.5-2 KHz and up is where problem noises begin for me…anything below that doesn’t bother me much.
As in, no music, no nothing…complete silence. Can’t be done with ANC, it appears. Physical barriers or bust, is the way it seems to me.
ANC PLUS music, yes, absolutely. But that’s not an issue for me. I have decent speakers, all different kinds…even these little KRK “Classic” monitors sound fine at the desk here, up on stands, pretty much optimally directed at my sitting spot. For days when I was walking around twenty miles through our own Forest Park (one of the main reasons I moved back here), earbuds were nice through some of the more populated areas.
FWIW, it seems that, per TapeOp magazine and various reviews online, including Wirecutter (do people really value Wirecutter’s opinions? I think it’s useful, except maybe for highly specialized niche products, which I don’t think they do), that among ANC earbuds, Anker makes a model that is about on par with the equivalent Bose model…including a higher degree of customization with the size and shape of the physical insert than the highest end Sonys.
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If I want to listen, really listen, to music, Bose noise canceling headphones plugged into as close to the CD player as possible work for me. Noise canceling headphones also made airplane flights much more comfortable (always take off headphones or earphones when talking to, well, anybody).
But day to day music, well, I’ve lost so much hearing to shooting, rock, and, (especially) roll (concerts were cheap back in the day), that even the factory system in the truck sounds fine. I can, and have, listened to it for hours.
Protect your hearing.
Edit to add - for shooting, I have custom molded ear plugs. Had them made at a gun show, by a guy who (claimed) his real job was molding hearing aids. They work better than anything off the shelf.
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Word. Even though I grew up in the era of the Walkman, the Discman, and then the now-then, I’m happy to say I never cranked any type of cans.
However, I’m convinced that even lower-level sounds, if constant enough (75 dB or lower), whether environmental or deliberate, as in the case of music, in addition to general deterioration of the body, will contribute to hearing loss.
At 48 39 I can still hear pretty well approaching 20 kHz tones (no I can’t hear 20 kHz, I don’t think, but last time I checked recently, certainly 17k or so, which is about as high a pitch as I’d like to hear, except maybe if there are some transients from percussion instruments or overtones that contribute), but mid-range tones are dropping out…normal speech, for example, or talking into a two-way radio.
It’s not scientific, but I suspect it’s from repeated exposure to those mids at around 75-80 dB…what most people would shrug off as “background noise”…that does it.
Something to do with ear hairs and something and those bones and such.
Actually it’s other people…they don’t articulate clearly in speech! Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Yeah, one of these days it would be nice to have an audiologist make casts of my ear canals.
I know a guitar player, a good one, who had some custom made out of wood…they had a small circular hole in the middle to let through mids while providing overall reduction in volume throughout the spectrum.
I never asked him if they gave any kind of EQ effect or if they were pretty flat reduction. But they looked cool and he liked them.
/* And in my King’s Quest for absolute silence, thus was born my still-standing desire to acquire a coffin in which to sleep unperturbed nightly.
Not really joking, either. I think it would do the task pretty well. Probably have to improve ventilation a bit.
And not as expensive as one would think, for serviceable models. Yes, I have shopped around!
Although I don’t really think a brick-and-mortar store would much appreciate me “trying out” one of their models in the store…online is the way to go for that one. */
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Can anyone suggest a good Bluetooth speaker(s) situation? My current one is pretty old and getting a little crackly, and I would like something with a bit of a bass boost, or a separate sub.
Thanks JamParty for your service! 
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Tomorrow, I hit the local Free Geek “Live” sale in search of a newer used computer than this one.
Yes, I’ve decided to be proactive for once in my miserable life and not wait for this one to kick the bucket before I make my move.
This very old baby (Made in 2011, bought in late 2019) is a 10.13.6 MacBook Pro High Sierra.
This model has 8 GB, and because of all the picture stuff I do, it’s very cramped and crowded memory-wise. (I have thumb exterior drives, but…)
I want something similar, but more current so my browsers will still be supported. (They have begun their slow but inexorable decay at this point.) I would love for it to have a bigger screen, if possible. And for it to play discs. And I want as much memory as is humanly possible.
Yes, I’m keeping with Mac though Dog Knows it’s not perfect. But I’m not of a mind to change horses in midstream.
Hoping against hope that it doesn’t eat my entire paycheck in one go. This one ran me $220 or so from Free Geek, because I got a credit for trading in the last laptop I’d bought from them. But won’t be doing that this time.
Suggestions of good used models to look for welcome. (As well as models best avoided.) Thanks.
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If you can, try to get an M1-based model. I could foresee Apple ending support for all Intel models within the next couple of years; the Apple Silicon Macs have been around for four years already.
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Thanks, yeah. On another techie-ridden site I frequent, I was warned to avoid the Godless Intel Hybrids. 
If at all possible.
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A built-in CD/DVD drive will be problematic; Apple stopped including those a number of years ago, now, even in its desktops. They’re rare now even in Windows notebooks. You’ll have to go with an external drive, plus that’s always been the only way to add a Blu-ray drive to a Mac.
Memory is also something you’ll have to consider very carefully. Apple Silicon Mac RAM is NOT expandable as it is bonded to the CPU substrate (not the PCB, the chip substrate). Whatever you buy, you’re stuck with. And Apple has never been known for generous RAM pricing.
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I suspect Sequoia will be the last version to run on Intel Macs, and then only on the last models made before the Apple Silicon transition started. Another couple of years of security updates, and then those Macs will be seven years old and officially obsolete.
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Yeah. The drawback of purchasing from Free Geek is that the computers are loaded down with stuff that takes up storage space, but I’ve never used it and I never will. Quicktime? Chess? Don’t care! But you’re not supposed to remove any of that because safety issues or something…? I forget.
I plan on keeping this laptop if only to keep playing discs. Still, everything Free Geek sells is older, so a miracle could happen.
We just had to spend almost $500 on the KITTY. So that Blu-ray isn’t a priority anytime soon. 
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All right, so I’ve been following so far. Needs more computer juice to make the magic happen. I follow.
And, from my limited understanding, the Apple/Mac idea is that the hardware in terms of the CPU/GPU, and any possibly corruptible additions such as DDRAM or whatever are sunsetted with a hard deadline, although that date is known sometime in advance.
This is, in effect, a way of airgapping the system from using drivers that may harbor potential vulnerabilities. Such as reading an updated file.
And this is why one cannot just plug in an external peripheral, like a BlueRay or whatever drive/hardware using a standard like USB C or USB 3.x or something.
Because the Apple or Mac is protecting against bad actors who may have created malformed (intentionally) drivers for unknown hardware.
So how is it that I can “make” a Hackintosh right now from an Intel-based computer?
No, not trying to be a jerk, just trying to understand.
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Oh, you can. The drivers are pretty much standardized these days and cryptographically notarized. What I was saying about a disc drive was that Apple (and Chromebooks, and most Windows laptops these days) don’t offer an internal CD/DVD/Blu-ray[1] drive even as an option. They take up a huge amount of volume that could be used for the battery, won’t fit into the thinnest models, and generally aren’t needed thanks to near ubiquitous broadband WiFi. You need need to sneaker net some files? Grab a cheap 256GB thumb drive from Walmart for twenty bucks or less; it’ll be faster and store more than four or five double layer Blu-ray Discs. Apple hasn’t shipped a commercial release of macOS on any kind of discs in, what, over a decade now?
Apple has never offered any kind of Blu-ray drive, internal or external. Steve Jobs famously said in 2008, “Blu-ray is a bag of hurt,” because of the incredibly burdensome licensing for the end-to-end protected data chain — and iTunes started rent movies to download at about that time, coincidentally enough. ↩︎
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Well, so why not @CLANG_Potroast just snag a cheap external drive? Plug and play? What’s with the whole new computer thing?
8GB memory should be enough…I only have that much on this current daily driver, and it’s fine with judicious use of swap partition and pkill/killall for runaway processes.
So, I was trying to politely ask “what’s the problem? get a little drive from some kid down the street and plug it in” and trying to figure out what might be some problems.
I’ve never even seen a computer recently that had a port large enough for a CD/BR/DBD/Whatever drive. Use that for cooling space or another fan or something, I’d guess.
/* So the real question is, why does Clangerina need a new computer? Because it ain’t the optical drive, and the hardware is fine. So, I’m asking techperts, why?
Warum? Explain it like to an imbecile, for I am one, and I’d like to know why I can (i) make a Mac Whatever-the-code-name boot on a normal (for now) (ii) why other than the sensible, prudent security measures I stated make it impossible to rely on blah blah…I already said why I think the Mac/Apple OS exists as it does, nämlich for driver reasons, but Mac is already using BSD…so explain it me good. */
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I’ve been using an old external CD/DVD/Blu-ray drive for years on my Intel iMac; it does everything I need. And while 8GB is enough to run macOS, I generally recommend 16GB because (a) the extra 8GB substantially reduces swapping, (b) OS memory requirements tend to grow with successive releases, and (c) you can’t upgrade the RAM in an Apple Silicon device — period. It’s mounted on the same carrier substrate as the CPU, wire bonded, and encapsulated as a single unit.
I am hoping Apple will see fit to investigate Compression Attached Memory Modules (CAMM), but I’m not holding my breath.
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Oh, I have external storage drives, and they’re okay.
But I’ll always be annoyed at how many things you have to attach to a computer just to make it properly computer-y.
I mean, there aren’t enough jacks on this thing for me to have the scanner, a storage drive, and my bamboo pad all plugged in at the same time. Which is annoying. Oh, and if the cat clambers across the desk while one of 'em is plugged in… uh… yeah. Even if I go up a screen size, I bet I’ll still have too few jacks. But we’ll find out in a few hours.
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