Author: DOuG pRATt

Feeling Toasty

My buddy Bismo was Elwood in his Blue Brothers tribute act, B-Movie Blues.

https://rovingrecordings.tumblr.com/post/130662342953/b-movie-blues-black-hats-bluesmobiles

Elwood’s favorite dining delicacy was dry white toast.

I became a fan of dry white toast while undergoing cancer treatments last summer, when this Pratt was put on a BRAT diet of bananas, rice, applesauce and toast. Since then I have been buying these $1.99 loaves of white bread that toast up perfectly.

Feeling Googly

First it was Google telling me my Pixel 4a phone’s battery was going to get clobbered by an update. The upshot of that was the purchase of a Pixel 8a for $300.

Now my 2nd generation Chromecast and Chromecast Audio devices have been clobbered, possibly by outdated encryption certificates. Google says they’re going to “roll out a fix.”

Important information about your Chromecast

We’re contacting you because of a disruption affecting Chromecast (2nd gen) and Chromecast Audio devices. We apologize for the issue and understand your frustration. We are working to roll out a fix as soon as possible and will share updates and guidance on the Nest Community page. We appreciate your patience as we resolve this issue.

© 2025 Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States

There is no replacement for Chromecast Audio. The new Google TV Streamer that replaces Chromecast is too much like Roku and Fire TV — and too expensive by comparison — to be of any interest to me.

Cast Your Fate to Google

The only music service I care about that’s missing from Lyrion is SiriusXM. For that, there’s a Google Chromecast Audio device on the Harman-Kardon receiver in the living room.

I’ll start SiriusXM in Chrome on my laptop PC, cast it to Chromecast Audio, then close the tab on the browser. Later, I’ll use the Google Home application on my phone to stop casting. Right now, however, the SiriusXM station I started playing yesterday is still playing, because Google Home can’t connect to Chromecast Audio.

Every Chromecast Audio device in the world is experiencing the failure.

https://www.androidpolice.com/unable-to-cast-to-chromecast-youre-not-alone/

But not to worry, Google says they’re working on it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/googlehome/comments/1j7crcn/comment/mgzcsog/?rdt=52529