2 chapters across the catalog
The conversation opens with a discussion on the disappearance of farmers in Northern Silicon Valley, specifically in the Santa Clara and Livermore Valleys. Land previously used for agriculture has been converted into "track homes," which are described as mass-produced housing developments featuring limited model variations. The term refers to large tracts of property purchased for high-density residential construction.
Smart home devices like Nest thermostats and Roku streaming boxes are criticized for constant data logging and background communication with servers. A test using a "pie-hole" monitoring system revealed that a Nest device pings its logging server simply when a person walks past it. Additionally, Roku and Netflix apps frequently communicate with home bases even when not actively streaming, consuming bandwidth and building user profiles.
