Keep America Beautiful
I saw the tear but couldn’t remember the old TV commercial so I had to look it up. It’s for Keep America Beautiful.
Now with a URL!
What Is the YZY x GAP Combo?
Kanye West’s creative control of a GAP collaboration is almost upon us as teased by the launch of this web page.
Seemingly a signup form to be notified when products matching your specifications become available, but what if the form were a form of a combination. Maybe picking the right Top, Bottom, Shoe, and Hat size unlocks early access to the YZY line?
Here are your options:
- Top (8) – XXS, XS, S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL
- Bottom (8) – XXS, XS, S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL
- Shoe – M4 – M16 (25) and W5.5 – W17.5 (25)
- Hat (3) – S, M, L
I’m thinking that’s 1 out of 9600 to get the right “combination” (if there were one, who knows?). If you don’t guess the combo, your consolation prize is the option to buy a $200 round jacket.
BTS x McD Collab Meal Is Out of Stock
How I underestimated the power of the Army. I mean really it’s Chicken McNuggets, fries, a drink, and two new dipping sauces. But it’s not. It is the BTS meal at McDonalds… and this meal features a special paper bag… and possibly a $1 price tag… and the Army of BTS.
The meal appeared on the lunch menu within the app but when I actually went to order, I got this instead.
Yes, unavailable… on launch day. Must be an app glitch right? I drove down to the nearest McD and saw these promising signs.
So I went to place my order on the kiosk but what’s this?! Out of stock.
I tried asking the workers about the meal but didn’t get far. They said I had to use the app to order the “BTL” meal and that they could not ring up the order to get the (promotional) pricing (whatever that is). Not gonna lie, I was somewhat upset about the overall experience and confusion over McNuggets, fries, and a drink.
As a consolation, I asked for the new sauce and got Cajun.
And while the Cajun sauce looks like nacho cheese, it does pack some heat.
Did you have any success finding the BTS x McD meal? How much did it cost?
“On Your Left”
Although I’m a fan of the Marvel movie universe, I don’t know all the references that connect the various films. That’s why I never caught on to “on your left” until I coincidentally saw the two key scenes recently. I’m talking about these scenes.
The introduction is when Steve Rogers continually laps Sam Wilson during a morning run, saying “on your left” as he passes by.
Then in Endgame as a beaten Captain America gets ready for one more round with Thanos and his army, it’s Steve who hears “on your left” as spoken by Sam as the revived heroes start portaling in to join Cap for an epic sequence.
These Are the New Nike Hawaii Dunks
Releasing on Friday, April 23, 2021, are these Nike SB Dunk High Pro themed after Hawaii.
This island-inspired SB Dunk High features a traditional floral print to capture Hawaiian vibes—but that’s not all. The first layer of material tears away over time, revealing surprises that further contribute to the shoe’s oceanside motif, including shaggy green suede and a palm tree print.
From SNKRS.
While I like the nod Nike has given to Hawaii, I’m personally not feeling the “Hawaii” vibe of these Dunks. Even though the insole features artwork of volcanoes and nene goose, the design of the upper reminds me of a bad aloha shirt. I mean that pattern doesn’t scream aloha crisp to me. Now if the shoe featured a reverse print Reyn Spooner design, then the it’d be ready for the streets of Hawaii.
But then again, these “Maui Wowie” are made for 420 (but not dropping on April 20th), so I guess the inspiration of the design isn’t meant for the general audience. Of course, I’ll try for the Hawaii Dunks on SNKRS (at 4am HST), and it would be nice if Nike gave preference to those who live in the Aloha State. How about a local SNKRS Stash/Pass at the old Niketown location in Waikiki?
Images of the under layer can be seen in this post.
Connecting an Orbi RBR750 and RBS40V
Like the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV, I was totally helpless against my Tampa Bay Buccaneers aka my Orbi wifi gear. After getting a newer Orbi mesh system (RBR750) for better performance and coverage for the household, I wanted to continue using existing gear like my Orbi Voice (RBS40V). Unfortunately, the two systems are not fully compatible. Fortunately, the primary function I want is to be able to play music on the Harmon Kardon-powered RBS40V and that function is supported.
Here are some notes:
Configure the RBSV40V in extender mode (not Orbi mode). This status is indicated by a blue colored LED ring (white is Orbi mode). Follow these steps to change to extender mode.
Update to the latest firmware if available. But update the firmware using a computer/laptop. First, while connected to the Internet, download the firmware. Then switch network connections, attaching to the NETGEAR_EXT configuration network. Once connected to that wifi, use a web browser and go to https://www.mywifiext.net/ . The NETGEAR_EXT is a separate, private network just to configure the RBS40V. Log in, create a local account and password then proceed to update the firmware using the .chk file you downloaded. After updating, the device automatically restarts.
Download and install the NetGear Nighthawk mobile app to setup and configure the RBS40V. Yeah, it’s really odd but necessary. When going to extender mode, it seems the Nighthawk firmware/OS loads on the device. When in white-ringed Orbi mode, the Orbi firmware/OS loads accordingly. So even though the RBS40V is an Orbi device, it’s in extender mode, needing the Nighthawk app for setup.
With the mobile Nighthawk app, I actually cycled the 40V into Orbi mode then back to extender mode, simply to restart the configuration setup with the latest firmware. Not sure if this is needed.
Reconnect to the NETGEAR_EXT wifi network and even better, disable LTE on your mobile device so that network connectivity is strictly wifi.
Launch the Nighthawk app which should find the RBS40V and initialize the extender setup. Personally, I extended only the 5GHz wifi, skipping the extension of the 2.4 GHz network. Since the 2.4 GHz network is the NETGEAR_EXT wifi, I didn’t want to disrupt that configuration channel.
After several more steps and minutes, the RBS40V was configured in extender mode, and the Nighthawk app prompted me to register with Amazon Alexa. This was actually my main goal since that’s the step that allows Amazon music to stream. After all of this, the RBS40V is connected to Wifi and can play music.
Mountain Dew Major Melon Tastes Like a Slurpee
That was my impression of my first taste of the new Mtn Dew Major Melon, charged with Watermelon. Reminded me of a 7-Eleven slurpee – no specific flavor but the general taste/sweetness and the “bite.” Overall, this drink is good, so good that half of the 20 oz bottle is now gone while writing these few sentences. While sweet, it’s a different kind of sweet compared to the orginal Dew flavor.
I should have bought both the regular and 0 sugar Major Melons to compare at some point. I’ll be on the lookout for the non-sugar variation. But until then, I’m almost done with my first bottle of Mtd Dew Major Melon.
Oh, I found my first bottle at Palama Market. Yup, the Korean market stocked this ahead of (few) other stores that I had checked.
Passed on the NBA Top Shot Legendary Holo Pack
As interesting as the NBA Top Shot “virtual cards” are, today’s release of a special Holo pack containing rare, legendary moments was just too much for me at $999. For that price, you get 10 cards:
- 1x legendary
- 3x limited edition gold metallic
- 6x regular aka base cards
The value of these ten moments match the cost of the pack, but still, I’m thinking the price of this pack is too ahead of this nascent market. But then again, seeing how collectibles are really taking off, who knows what this pack (and its contents) might be worth a year from now.
I’ll stick with the common packs that are somewhat expensive at $9 a pack.
YouTube Videos Stuck in Fast Forward?
That was really odd. On Safari in Mac OS 11.1 Big Sur, YouTube videos were playing in fast forward with no audio. Using Chrome, the video playback was stuck, but the audio playback was fine.
My simple fix was to restart my Mac. Googling this issue, it seems like fast forward playback of any videos on the Mac has been an on-again-off-again issue for years. The “most unfortunate” solution offered was hosted on YouTube where I couldn’t see the solution in 2 seconds of fast forwarded playback. But the offered solution is accurate – force quit the coreaudiod service using Activity Monitor.
Here’s the solution described in text and augmented with video.
More COVID Closures
In these Rona times, the closures due to COVID continue to climb. While walking around Ala Moana, I noticed a few more shuttered storefronts.
Foot traffic at the mall does seem to be picking up as the weeks go by, but it’s much less crowded now than during the peak holiday season. Hoping more businesses can weather the prolonged COVID economic impact.
AT&T Chat to the Rescue!
In these COVID times when left is right, down is up, now is later, and face-to-face means online, who knew text chatting with a total stranger on a computer would provide better results than talking to real people in real life? That’s what happened with AT&T support chat who managed to make things right with my new iPhone.
Amazingly, this interaction initiated online as well on Twitter after I complained.
In Twitter Direct Messages, I was directed to contact AT&T support via chat. So I did, and that started my road to resolution. The avatar known as Jason listened to my complaints and managed to do what I had been asking various AT&T personnel in-store – trade in an old iPhone 7, change my plan to unlimited, and get this new 5G-ready iPhone 12 Pro connected.
As I learned, in order for this promotion to work, you needed an unlimited data plan already. But I pointed out to Jason that my phone ordered in November only arrived in January so why should I pay for a 5G plan when I did not have a 5G device, the new iPhone? But since I was within the 14-day return period, he said he could essentially start this promotion transaction again, making sure of the right sequence of steps. I also asked Jason about the conflicting answers of discounts, and he explained how the starter unlimited data plans did not qualify for discounts but other plans did qualify.
Thanks to this invisible voice, my questions and concerns about “upgrading” to a new iPhone were being answered and taken care of. Now, I don’t understand why this could not have happened at any of the local AT&T locations I visited. It almost seemed like these locations could only do tasks from a set script or menu. Anything off script was met with (polite) declines.
So my plan has been changed to unlimited with 5G, the iPhone 12 Pro is activated and connected, and I’m waiting for the trade-in box to mail in the iPhone 7. Thanks for chatting, AT&T!
