Lka1988

Of course, because why wouldn’t a checkes notes entirely local operation require an internet connection?

You can also just not attach the TV to the internet

That’s what I did with the curved Samsung TV that I put in the basement for the kids. Factory reset with no internet, default input set to a specific HDMI, and a Roku (with Pi-hole handling adblocking). Roku remote also handles TV power/volume. Haven’t had any issues with it.

You can turn off HDMI input scanning on roku TVs.

Knowing Roku, they probably automatically re-enable that setting after an update.

Secondly, block *.logs.roku.com with a pihole was my solution. That TV is the single most banned traffic on my network still.

Fucking seriously. The two Rokus in my house are the two most-blocked devices.

Louis is right.

You jest, but Windows already tries to limit installations outside of the microsoft store on a default OS install.

We have an older curved 55" Samsung “smart” TV that I put in the basement for the kids. Mounted high up on the wall, out of reach of little destructive fingers.

Turns out it can be configured with a default input. When I moved it to kid duty, I cleared out all the wifi credentials (I think I just factory reset it), disabled all the “smart” garbage I could find, then stuck a Roku stick in it and set that input as default. The Roku remote handles TV power and volume, and the Samsung remote is put away with the rest of my tech hoard stuff. Pi-hole on my network removes the Roku’s ability to show ads at all. I always forget that there’s a big ad spot on the home page.

Jesus christ Nintendo

Edit 16 hours later: This makes me want to sell my Switch outright. I rarely play anything on it, usually I just game on my PC or N3DSXL (which is modded, naturally).

Bingo. I bought an album on Bandcamp and dropped it right into my Plex server.

You can run Plex off a RPi and those are like $20

Non-Zero Pi models haven’t been even close to $20 for a while now. Any Pi these days is gonna be $60-80 for a fully functioning setup (Pi + SD + case + power adapter), at the minimum. And I wouldn’t run Plex off a Pi Zero, those have more or less the same specs as the 1st/2nd gen Pis.

Affinity is very much not Mac-only. I bought the Windows version for my ex (back when we were still married) for her Windows PC.

Jesus christ. So glad I ditched MS. It’s like getting out of a cult - once you see it looking in from the outside, you finally realize how terrible it is.

I switched earlier this year. No ragrets.

It’s not great, and heavily restricted, but it for sure exists

That’s kind of the point though. Apple’s file manager portrays a “flat” filesystem, where all of your data is laid out neatly on the table - so to speak - and the actual locations of those directories within the system are buried inside vague and protected locations “for security”. Android file managers embrace a more traditional Unix-like filesystem hierarchy.

Yeah, I know how capitalism works, unfortunately… I’m just ranting into the void at this point.

But spotify is easy and fast,

So you mean it’s convenient. That’s a valid reason. Evil shit aside, that’s literally why music streaming exploded the way it did.

Unfortunately, the evil shit is pushing me away. Why can’t we just have a regular music streaming service that doesn’t inevitably suffer from feature creep and enshittification? Why does everything have to constantly increase profits?

The average car is 12 years old. Car makers start to drop support (making/stocking parts) when the car is about 10 years old.

I haven’t had any issues with getting parts for my 2008 Sienna, or parts for my 2007 Honda Metropolitan scooter. But the Sienna uses the 2GR-FE though, which only recently stopped production a few years ago, and the scooter is based on the still-currently produced Ruckus 🤔… Still.

Come back and talk to me about that car when is is 25 years old and tell me how it is.

No need - I have two 46 year-old vehicles: a 1980 Honda XR500 motorcycle from 08/79, and a 1980 Mercedes 240D from 12/79. The motorcycle is currently torn apart in the garage, undergoing a full restoration. Believe me dude, I know aaaaaaall about the frustrations of long-discontinued parts 😂😂

I have a 26 year old truck, the bed has holes, the frame is showing signs of rot - I’m trying to decide if it is worth trying to rebuild the transmission, my mechanic isn’t intersted in part because they are not sure if they can find the parts - they will be more than $1000 in labor in before they know wihch bearing it has and thus can check if it can be had.

Man I feel that so hard with the Mercedes. Poor thing has cancer and I’m not sure if it’s possible to save in its current condition. It’s got almost half a million miles, but goddamn it drives so, so nice… I think it needs a clutch though. Luckily, since W123 cars are sought-after classics at this point, there are still options, but it’s gonna be a hell of a process if I decide to attempt a restoration. My dad (with help from me and my siblings, friends, and neighbors) somehow managed to save a pretty rusty 1963 VW Beetle almost 20 years ago, was about a 5 year process. That car recently went to a collector… I’m mad about it, but only in the “goddammit I wanted to inherit it” kinda way 😅

Ah, the Detroit approach

I mean, it’s just a single path, but at least it’s something.

Our 10 year-old Highlander still drives like new. It’s our newest vehicle, and one of Toyota’s last generation of vehicles without a cellular connection.

I live in the suburbs. The older kids can bike to the local Walmart (save it) as there is a pedestrian tunnel that crosses under the main road, providing a complete pedestrian/bike path from one end of the town to the other.

I’d prefer if we had more of those, but it’s something.