madbad2000

I love adding Cholula to my pizzas. Not every time, but it spices things up nicely. I used to be a Franks Red Hot guy, but Cholula offers a better flavor for pizza (and most items). I would do Franks on Wings and such. But as an overall flavor and spice enhancer, it's hard to top unless you want to add stupid heat.

I splurged on a RocBoxx a few years ago and we eat far more homemade pizza. It's pretty awesome to have a "portable" device that can crank it up to 900 degrees for that authentic pizza experience. It also works great for entertaining since everyone can make their own and it only takes a minute to cook each one once at temperature. I also do steaks in there on high heat and those are always amazing too.

I fully agree that they changed something and it doesn't taste the same. Pizza Hut was my favorite growing up and I have had it probably 4 or 5 times in the past decade. Dominos seems to be better than I remember as kid, but not enough to become a staple in my family rotation. I'll also say that I think Little Caesars changed for the better. They make a much more respectable pie and haven't increased prices much. Even my picky, German wife likes them, probably more for the crazy bread. At the end of the day, if I'm getting pizza its usually something local or Costco if doing a larger gathering. Hard to beat the value and quality of a Costco pizza

I am very glad that I ripped the bandaid off and got rid of cable and didn't pick up a dedicated streaming service. I cut my screen time back immensely without any regrets. I have netflix free with my cell phone plan, im a prime member so get video included and watch some free YouTube videos when i want some time killer. My wife and I were talking last week and our TV hasn't been turned on since the beginning of June and used sparingly prior to that. Lots more time with my young children, more physical activities outside and more work done around the house. Gives me time to do other things too like learn a language and piano. I think I always had this feeling like I was going to miss something if I didn't watch all the shows and talk about it at work around the water cooler. Very glad to be trying some new things.

I agreed with your point on Iridium and added to it. The USG is not even 25% of Iridium business today as they have really taken off with their commercial business. Look into the sensor market and Iridium is pretty much going to be the leader for good reason. They are also doing a lot in the Aviation industry for onboard data integrated with safety and voice. They have the luxury of a strong, long-term fixed contract with the Government that helps them leverage financing better than a lot of other companies. Going forward though, they are basically niche and not looking to be a global telecommunications provider to the general public. I used Alaska as an example from personal experience. I'm not talking about a single recluse riding moose in the woods. State and federal agencies, mining, oil, fishing, etc are all woefully in need of good broadband outside of major cities and actually present a really solid business case for satellite providers since you don't have to do much at all in terms of investment outside of what you're already doing in populating a constellation. And when you look at the usage of each space vehicle, users in these extreme latitudes are not having to contend with any saturation issues that may eventually pop up in more populated areas. One thing that stood out to me from being in this industry is the amount of places in the United States that are still lacking good coverage and throughput let alone expanding that out to a global scale. Will be interesting to see how it transforms in the next few years.

Something else to consider is that with satellite internet, you can in theory take that anywhere like a cell phone. The antennas are much smaller and I can see people switching from wired and taking it with them in their RVs or for other travel. Not the vast majority, but an interesting use case.. As long as you have power considerations, in theory you should be able to take it anywhere in the world.

Iridium is still active. The Government basically bailed them out for some exclusive access. They have since rebounded and completed an entire refresh of their constellation last year. Iridium didn't take off initially for quite a few reason with cost of equipment, cost of service and lack of data capability all contributing along with the rise of cell phone competitors who offered cheaper, better and more flexible options. They will be a player going forward in their current niche with aviation/maritime and government customer base. I dont see them as a player in a broad option to general population. We are reaching an interesting point where a user in the city will be able to choose between wired internet, cell phone (4g/5g) or satellite options that should all be at broadband speeds. Since cities are a major draw for user base, there will be a lot of competition and you should see corresponding prices reflect that. I would assume that cell phone probably wins out for most, especially as you start seeing more 5g hotspots for other devices in your home. Wired internet dominates home setups for good reason with the ability to connect all your wifi devices, but once cell phones start meeting people's needs for throughout, its on. I wonder if cable and internet providers will see a drop from those that are fed up with the customer service and experiences. I went out of my way to switch from Verizon Fios in Maryland because I hated the way they operated and their customer service. To the point that I had a competitor run a new line just to get rid of them. And after all of the hassle, I still enjoyed a 50% reduction in bill with faster speeds and much better TV packages. It will also be interesting because users in more remote areas will have either some alternate options or even a 1st time option for broadband without really increasing costs. If I'm a user in the middle of Alaska, my cell coverage is already spotty and "high speed" internet could still involve a kbps in the package. Not a great option for tradional GEO satellite service due to the extreme angles/latency and a LEO provider like Starlink could change my life in extreme ways. The cost to add me as a new satellite user is essentially $0. Whereas if I wanted 5G or wired internet at that speed, no telecom is looking to invest the cost of setup and maintenance in rural Alaska to capture my small monthly fee.

It will provide a better signal and have lower latency. The problem we have with current higher orbit constellations such as GEO is the distance it takes for your signal to travel from end-to-end. You're seeing a lot of loss and most small devices can't produce enough power to transmit and have a large enough receiver to catch the signal on the download. LEO is significantly closer and the small form factor devices out there even today is impressive. You don't really have a Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation that is built and marketed for home use. Iridium has the best one, but does not have the capacity for wide-spread use. It's pretty much for Business and Government who can pay the rates required. O3B has a MEO orbit and has already proven to meet current speeds, but again that is expensive due to the terminal requirements to access the constellation. Starlink is the front runner right now for a global, LEO constellation that is accessible for normal commercial use. Once they get a satellite receiver at a price point that is palatable for the general public and get their infrastructure in place, I think people will be impressed. I like what I've seen on it so far and having Amazon enter the game only makes it more likely that prices stay down due to competition.

Satellite internet is still very hit and miss (mostly miss) on the speed and connection. It is great if all you are using it for is surfing the web and getting emails. If you are doing anything like working from home good luck with that as your connection will be dropped a lot it will also feel like you are on dial up when doing conference calls and forget video because that is not going to work all that well. If you want to stream movies or shows satellite internet is also going to be a huge let down as you are going to be luck to get 480p from it. Also if you like to play video games online this will also not work as you will have a high ping and latency is going to be an issue. Elon Musk's starlink I believe it is called also has the same issues though once the technology gets worked more this should improve though plugging into a line will still be the fastest and most reliable way to get onto the internet. It really depends on what you are using. The upcoming constellations should be pretty solid once the constellations are mostly/fully populated. The current offerings at high speed are still a premium in terms of cost and not "high speed" if you're used to current home internet rates. I've tested some of the stuff out there right now/upcoming and it hits all of the marks. This is especially true if you're already in a disadvantaged location where it will be a complete game changer. With the capability, design and backhaul already being built you should have no issues doing video calls, streaming or gaming. But that is all once fully populated and gateways are in place to handle that traffic. It's also important to realize too that there is a large corporate social responsibility for these global constellations to bring internet access to the globe in areas that have nothing at all. So anything that they can pull will be amazing to them. Will be very interesting to see how it all plays out.

I just don't see the federal government intervention for something like that. While the cell providers may like having the initial fed dollars to establish the coverage, they are likely to be stuck with the maintenance once done. And for the chance at a very small amount of additional revenue. They will also face stiff counter lobby from the satellite industry who have really taken aim at global internet on their LEO constellations. You're looking at 2-3 competitors right now who will be up and running in space probably before you could get a cellular lobby approval on that upgrade. And even then you're talking probably years before you could start to populate these northern dead spots with multiple years to get that coverage finished in just Wisconsin. All for how much more revenue? The cell companies are likely happy with their current infrastructure covering the major roadways and decent sized towns. They need their money for 5G upgrades which is going to put them in competition with current Internet providers and potentially a lot more revenue. The satellite providers are playing a numbers game globally, so I would bet their costs are going to beat cell plans currently without having a huge investment in hardware for the consumer.

I would guess that the cell companies are less likely to expand coverage for the few it would help. Cost/benefit not really there for them honestly. Upgrading speed capacity in congested areas is big. The better option is probably going to fome from satellite internet and then connecting via wifi to that connection.

Pretty sad that I have better (cheaper) viewing options for the Brewers outside of the local market than most of you inside of it.

We'll see how that plays out in years 4 and 5 of Cains contract. There is a pretty good chance we have that bloated contract on the books when we need to have the money for another player at that time, but will be strapped. I might be wrong, but so could everyone else. I think the Brewers will be perfectly fine in years 4 and 5. I anticipate significant cash flow after three straight World Series titles.

Wow...first glance I was shocked by the package expecting a lottery ticket back. I'm fine with losing Brinson and Diaz/Harrison are high risk prospects with big ceilings. I also liked the fact we did not give up our top arms. I love this trade and think the Brewers did very well. The timing of it is hopefully a positive sign to entice those remaining pitchers to see the Brewers are serious about investing in a winning team and want to be a part of it. I fully expect Santana to be traded for arms and probably some lower level prospect capital/lottery tickets.

I was really surprised by Begin Again with Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley. On Netflix if that is your medium of choice.