Words

I have had the CD Edition of the Eversolo Play in my living room for over a month. This version of the Eversolo Play is an all-in-one that features a CD player as well as a music streamer, DAC, and amplifier in a compact and inviting form factor. While I have no regrets ordering this device for my home, there are definitely a few areas where Eversolo could have enhanced the user experience. After thirty days of usage, the Eversolo Play has left me with a mix of positive and negative impressions that we should discuss here.

Within the past year, there has been a huge decline in articles written by me. Much of this is due to an intentional transition I've made away from writing articles focused on business, information technology, and information systems. I have written on those topics for more than two decades now, and it's simply time for me to move onto something different. The problem is that as I'm making my way through different, I've lost a bit of my writing voice. While I have plenty of new ideas and interests to write about, I'm finding that I'm hesitating to move forward for fear of tripping on my own two feet.

It's been awhile since I reviewed anything Hi-Fi but this summer I brought into my house what what I call budget premium audio equipment. Audio equipment designed and built better than the price suggests offering the latest in streaming, room correction, and amplification. Lately, my focus has been on WiiM, a brand brand owned by Linkplay Technology. Linkplay is a company that has been backed by teams from such companies as Google, Broadcom, InterVideo, and Harman.

My exploration for new and alternative social media platforms is coming to an end. Over the past couple years I joined dozens of social media platforms in search for the better ones for me. In my last post on this subject, I did a lot of editorializing but with this post I'll be brief and present the with the list of social media platforms and websites where I have a presence. This list may continue to shrink in 2025.

Last week the CEO and a founder of Post News, Noam Bardin, announced that Post News will be shutting down this May. Post News is one of the alternative social media platform that has launched in recent years as an alternative to more established websites like X and Facebook. Post News distinguished itself from other social media platforms by its efforts to provide users access to premium content and news articles without fully subscribing to news organizations.

I have come to both hate and love social media platforms since joining them in the early days via Google+, Facebook, and Twitter. There are some days I just want to quit all social media. Yet, social media has become an indispensable tool for communication, connection, information sharing, and in some cases building community. For years Twitter was my favorite for microblogging, but as X, for better or worse, it's no longer the valued social network it once was for me. Like many of you, I've been looking for an alternative to Twitter.

At the risk of dating myself, I’ve been writing and posting articles online since the 1980s. Back then we didn’t have the Internet but we did have dial-up modems and bulletin board systems (BBS) hosted by computer enthusiasts. When the Internet, blogging, and self-hosted websites became popular in the late 1990's and early 2000’s I was also there. For awhile I hosted a website focused on content management systems that in its peak easily received over 100,000 unique visitors a month.

I have no idea what the future holds for Twitter. I do know however that the recent changes at Twitter by Elon Musk continues to bleed cash, staff, and community. A lot of people are currently seeking social media networks that aren't Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. I've been there myself. In the past, I've always reached the same conclusion that I have too many friends, family, and acquaintances I value still remain on the Big 3 as I don't want to leave them behind. Until now. Increasingly, I'm starting to soften my stance from I'm not leaving Twitter to starting to tweet out loud that I may be leaving Twitter.

​​​​​​Running my weather station and media server on a Mini PC. Beelink's Mini PC and those like it are the future.

A few months ago, I purchased the Beelink U59 Pro Mini PC with only a few reviews available at the time. Despite being a longtime Windows and Linux PC I've been skeptical of the mini PC market  in general and have avoided making a purchase in the past. So much skepticism that my first introduction to this small form factor was last year's purchase of an Apple Mac Mini M1 despite not being a huge fan of the macOS operating system. Luckily, this Beelink Mini PC has convinced me that "small is better" for Windows and Linux as well.