I drove Linux Mint for a bit when I was trying to quit Windows. The only thing that made me go back was that, while I could install Steam, the game I was playing at the time (Destiny 2) wasn’t compatible with Linux — as in, I couldn’t even launch it. So I’d switch back and forth for a bit; Windows for gaming, Linux for everything else. But at the end of the day, I don’t want to have that extra layer of complexity in my life. I ended up just sticking with Windows. I will probably give Linux Mint or another distro a shot in the future, but for now I’m only on Windows.

cautiously lifts tinfoil hat off head

I can see the devices you use mattering. Where were you watching the videos? Do you have the Amazon app installed on the same device, or on a device with a microphone? My tin-foil hat theory is that the Amazon app is always listening from your phone, based on similar things happening to my wife.

Reminds me of the time when my uncle asked me to go get the dolly from his garage. I, being a kid and having no context for why he’d need a dolly, spent a few minutes in his garage but eventually returned with a Barbie doll still in its box. Fortunately, my uncle just chuckled, clasped my shoulder, and went to the garage to get his dolly so he could move his laundry machine. I often remember that day as a lesson in humility.

Never mind what the picture is…why is it sitting on a large bed of ramen?

Not an expert by any means, but I always heard the glue is just as strong, if not stronger than the wood itself. I’m waiting for a dowel-free glue up to dry as we speak, and I’m curious to see how it turns out. It’ll just be a 3/4” thick shelf, though, so I’m not terribly worried about strength. I might have to go with the extra stability of dowels or dominoes if I were working on a tabletop, though.