General thoughts

[LongRunner]

Hard Disk Drives
SSDs may have made them unfashionable, but I don't mind; as mechanical devices go they're still more than respectable.
From my point of view, the only thing “better” about cars is that you can tinker (which I have no desire to do, beyond basic maintenance if I owned one).

I'm not entirely convinced SSDs will maintain that much of a reliability advantage (apart from shock resistance) either, given the move to more bits per cell (requiring ever‑finer voltage level distinction) in pursuit of closing the price gap. My expectation is that they'll settle on a similar lifespan to HDDs (possibly going a step too far before correcting), and even previously-formidable Samsung have put out some serious duds lately.

Overall the only unequivocal SSD advantages are speed, shock resistance and silence (with much-cheaper 5000–6000rpm* HDDs being near enough to silent for most people anyway); they may have better average reliability, but it certainly depends on which SSD and HDD models you're comparing.
(Even today I'd trust an old Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 or a middle-aged HGST or WD Caviar Black/Se over SandFarce-controlled SSDs or Samsung 870 EVO, and probably those with YMTC flash for that matter; provided the individual HDD is still healthy of course…)

That being said, I'd probably bail out of current single-platter drives, as (especially being the most immediately-threatened by SSDs) they tend to be the most cheaped‑out in their construction (particularly with Seagate being hell-bent on dragging out contact start/stop as long as possible, using it on a 1TB platter in Pharaoh Oasis and Hepburn Oasis ); if you're using 1TB (or even 2TB) for any serious purpose you can probably afford an SSD of that capacity, and 4TB+ HDDs (where the SSD price gap still matters) remain multi‑platter (which having “enterprise” variants, are more likely to be properly‑built).

*Let's not forget Fujitsu's MEA3320BT of 2008, now something of a prized collectible as the only 3600rpm FDB drive in the normal 3.5″ form.
Maybe if Fujitsu held onto their HDD division rather than selling it to Toshiba the year after, we could have seen some further developments…

On a side note (having mentioned cars), while mechanics appeals to many people as being more “intuitive” (although harder in many ways than electrical engineering), the noise puts me off; electronics has the significant benefit of being quiet to work on (barring catastrophic failures).

“Are you OK?”
If you have to ask, then you're not. Just say if you have a specific concern…

[LongRunner]

Aliens
I wouldn't mind if they took over Earth; at least they might have some idea what they're doing.

“Aspergirls”
I already posted to the effect that people with Asperger's syndrome (or autism “level 1”) tend to have less-gendered behavior – females being more “masculine” (energetic, hands-on, disagreeable, playing video games) and males more “feminine” (kinder, at times more attentive to aesthetics; though usually less obvious) than is generally the case in neurotypical people. There are too many Aspie/autistic transitioners (or nonbinary-identifying) to be random chance, and to reiterate my previous assessment – contrary to what conservatives tend to assume, the error lies not in where the individuals rate themselves on the scale, but rather the scale itself is faulty. I don't doubt the testimonies of women glad they were born earlier (before transitioning was widely known or suggested) so had time to come to terms with being “tomboyish” – if anything tomboyishness seems to be the norm in Aspergirls.
(That doesn't rule out the possibility of a few autistics really being trans, but it's reason enough to reevaluate the measurement.)

If my sense is correct, then there may be biological progress towards sex equality! Is it in your interest to risk suppressing that?
This is what makes me uncomfortable with sex stereotypes – while they aren't good for neurotypical people, they can at least endure them more-or-less.
Aspergirls, on the other hand, suffer wrong assumptions with uncorrectable frequency (and so do the boys to a lesser extent).

Maybe an “autifeminism” movement is due? If you want to start one, then count me in as a member (or ally)…
In any case, for any Aspergirls reading this thread: While neurotypical men may not like you as you are, we do.

[LongRunner]

Culture
The reason we nowadays have a gaping culture void is largely because culture comes downstream from technology (as other people have noted) and it's been a while since the last technological change with a major impact on everyday life. (All the AI hype comes not so much from optimism as desperation.)
With a dearth of ready-made entertainment, hands-on activity is what's left in the way of fun; if only everyone else could get their energy back…

[LongRunner]

Luminaires (light fittings)
Based on my experience, you shouldn't waste your money on “posh” luminaires; I recently removed a ceiling light with much the same finish as this (although with two E14 holders and a glass shade), which I've bought an LED oyster (Atom AT3014/12/WH/TRI, as I've been happy enough with their downlights) to replace. (One of the E14 holders unscrewed from its mounting and pulled a connection out; I've temporarily substituted a B22 pendant made from spare parts, as the pretentious fitting's earth wire promptly pulled out of the crimp lug, so I decided against trying to fix it. On further disassembly, I found that a protective bushing was missing, and the internal cup connectors had aluminium sleeves; not very posh there )
If you have money to burn on a real brass fitting (check it with a magnet), then that might be OK…or might not be, but either get real brass or don't pretend.

Drilling
I strongly recommend a hand-cranked drill for softer materials like plasterboard or light woods (and perhaps plastic), especially if you're in a heritage-listed house.
Power drills are great when you need more grunt (drilling metal etc.), but extra trouble otherwise.

[LongRunner]

Live music performances
To be quite blunt, most of them sound like crap compared to the original studio versions.
That's why they have studios, and why recordings of live performances usually fade into obscurity…

I don't know about you, but rarities have to be useful (or at least interesting) for me to value them.

[LongRunner]

Suspiciously smiley avatars?
It seems to me (albeit going from a sample of 3, only one who I interacted with myself) that if a woman chooses a smiling avatar online, she's more likely to have an adversarial relationship with men (the avatar possibly being overcompensation for her resentment). Let me know if you've had a similar experience…

[LongRunner]

Peace
In many ways it's relative; if the place you're in seems suspiciously peaceful, that's likely because the disorder and conflict are deflected to where you aren't looking.

Attention-seeking
The stigma placed on such behavior is somewhat unfair; while it can appear disorderly, that's largely the end-result of society ignoring peaceful expressions.
(Hence, disorderly behavior becomes the only way to effectively get attention.)

[LongRunner]

Physical media
To me the only rational reason to own physical audio/video players is to play old media, and the only excuse for buying new physical copies is if the publisher doesn't provide a permanent download option (if you care about the legality – though I don't listen to much new music given the loudness war, and mainstream movies/TV series don't generally appeal to me anyway). The rest is sentimental (and not sentiments I particularly care about myself)…

Books at least retain the benefits of better readability, and you can read them (during the day at least) without electricity.
(And if a particular book turns out to be garbage, at least the paper is recyclable – or biodegradable if too degraded to recycle…)

[LongRunner]

Elon Musk
I'm not sure he really has Asperger's syndrome; while Aspies can seem eccentric by neurotypical standards, beneath the surface we're almost unfailingly logical.
Elon is just plain eccentric (and indeed X-centric) as far as I can see… (Or if he is diagnosed, then the diagnosis is poorly defined; that's probably the case.)

Chinese/Taiwanese molded cordsets
Since I've found the ends on far too many of them to overheat at full load after relatively little strain (and I'm not talking about counterfeits here), I wonder if the manufacturers deliberately crimp the connections with a bit less than the proper force to reduce wear on their crimping dies?

[LongRunner]

France
It feels like a tumor on Europe; while marginally better than the USA (at least their electrical standards are decent), their stereotype as snobs is well-earned.
If I was in charge of the European Union, I'd eject France from it Come to think of it, I don't believe I've willingly chosen any French products…
Probably the country has become so terminally sentimental (superficial meaningless “art”, old landmarks, tourism) that they've lost their grounding.

Mark Hogan
I'm sorry, but I can't recommend his books on Asperger's syndrome; I lost my sympathy for him at the section where he killed a cat (on the command of an older man who mistook it for a rat – even if it was a rat, that's the thin end of the wedge), and his self-descriptions suggest that he probably should have been in an institution. (Just because he and me are both diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, doesn't mean we're actually equivalent.) So I had to stop reading