DVDs and Blu-Rays, VHS tapes and LaserDiscs. Or build a Plex or Jellyfin server and make a Kodi or OSMC box, connect the two, and build your own library.
Do you use debit cards? if so, marketers are scooping up tons more data than from your purchases than they are from streaming.
Telling folks that the only way they can be safe on online is to do with without major platforms that provide tons more viewing choices is not a good way to go. It makes security unnecessarily hard and depriving.
There was a time when DVDs and completely booked the traditional means. Shaming people for using smart TVs is unnecessarily alarmist and not at all constructive.
Smart TVs collect viewing data. Here's what you need to know to reduce the data collection for all the major brands of smart TVs. These TV privacy settings limit what manufacturers learn about you.
@dangoodin @MisterMoo Hey, you asked what we would do without streaming. I gave you an answer. Jumping down my throat and calling me alarmist is not constructive to this conversation. If you don't like my answer, you can simply mute me and walk away and not carry this further.
No one is twisting your arm to do what we do. If you want to use a smart TV, go ahead. That's your prerogative; I ain't your parent to tell you what to do.
I personally do not want a smart TV. If I need a device for streaming, I would rather just buy a separate device for that, like a Roku or something. That way, if I really *don't* want any streaming at all, it's as easy as unplug the Roku and back in the box it goes. Even now, my Roku's major usage is just for Plex and a couple of additional bits like the SomaFM channel and New Ellijay's streaming TV channel. But if people ask for alternative means, then we should be able to share with them some alternative means of watching stuff. If people also want to watch physical media, who are we to tell them no?
Long and short, lay off people who present an alternative to the mainstream.
My Jellyfin server has way more content I want to watch at this point than any streaming service since it contains... exclusively content that I want to watch.
@lordbowlich @dangoodin @MisterMoo And that's the best part. You make your own server with what you want, especially considering how so many streaming services keep yanking content at the worst times, dooming a lot of shows and movies to obscurity.
Yup. Last time I subscribed to Netflix, I did to watch Midnight Dinner. And then they yanked all but the Netflix produced seasons when I was midway through watching them.
Midnight Dinner will never be cancelled on my server.
@LambdaCalculus @lordbowlich @dangoodin @MisterMoo I've been in conversations about a show, and they ask which streaming services I have. I always tell them "None of them, which really means I have *all* of them." 🏴☠️
I have the local plays my wife and daughter have been in to play on the big screen. I also have the videos I took of my martial arts moves to practice. I can watch Inara open her birthday gifts from a few years back.
(I mean, I haven't checked but if those are available on Peacock+ I'll be more than a bit unnerved.)
@LexPendragon @lordbowlich @dangoodin @MisterMoo I have this on my eBay watchlist because it's generally not on any streaming service, and there are some potato quality rips on YouTube, but having clean 576p rips with opening and ending songs would be preem!
This is the complete collection of The Trap Door series one and two on DVD in PAL format. The set has been tested and is compatible with Region 2 players in the United Kingdom.
@LambdaCalculus I know that feeling! There was a show on MTV called Dead at 21 that I watched in my teens, and it was amazing and I loved it. I strongly suspect it wouldn't have held up, but because it was MTV it was infused with music that they never had rights to re-redistribute or whatever, so it never saw any other release. I got some bootleg DVDs and ripped them ages ago, but the quality was "Hurts your ears to listen" levels.
@LambdaCalculus But VLC plays the "DVD" directory just fine, for this 480p, poor audio files.
I forgot that this is so painfully 90s. I am just curious if this ripped off hackers before Hackers was out or was this just the whole zeitgeist at the time.
Ed Bellamy (Jack Noseworthy) discovers that as part of a childhood medical experiment, a microchip was implanted in his brain which will kill him on his 21st...
@LexPendragon @LambdaCalculus As I always said, Hackers is a fantasy movie about how 2600 readers thought the world was. So anyone else who read 2600 would *also* make Hackers.
@mdhughes @LambdaCalculus I heard they got all the clothes for the movie from thrift stores. I think the costume department here dropped the wardrobes off at those stores.
@LexPendragon @LambdaCalculus Which is, to be fair, how most of GenX dressed ourselves; I only bought new underwear and socks, everything else was band shirts or thrift stores. My leather trenchcoat cost me $100 or something, had a long scar under the arm which I sealed up with some patch kit.
@mdhughes @LexPendragon I used to hit up so many thrift and vintage stores in NYC in my teen years. I remember finding a very cool peacoat in one for $10; it was thick and heavy and made for a great winter coat.
@LambdaCalculus @LexPendragon Oh, also Army/Navy Surplus. Army boots and spit-shine dress shoes, packs & duffels. Sometimes the green fatigue pants before they went all bullshit camo, but I preferred black Levis.
@mdhughes @LexPendragon I had an army duffel I bought when I was about 14 that lasted me throughout high school. Big and roomy, with plenty of space for books, notebooks full of my 6502 code and Apple II notes, lists of BBSes and numbers, and Gopher and early websites, my Game Boy, my Walkman and mix tapes, and then some!
@mdhughes @LexPendragon Even so, it was the gateway for a lot of younger hackers, and it was a massive influence on the scene, too. And it's also pretty accurate to the NYC hacker community; we have a lot of overlap from other scenes and communities.
@LambdaCalculus @dangoodin @MisterMoo I use a separate device for streaming. It's an unlocked Amazon Fire Stick running LineageOS TV and a mix of Free and proprietary streaming apps. Eventually I plan on replacing it with a SBC running LineageOS TV. I could be more paranoid, but it feels to me like this is the reasonable compromise here.
@dangoodin @LambdaCalculus I don't care for the advertising practices of smart TV vendors (https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2021/3/10/22323790/lg-oled-tv-commercials-content-store), nor do I care to use apps built into my TV which will gradually get slower and lose compatibility over time, nor do I appreciate remote controls themselves being turned into ads for streaming providers. That doesn't mean I don't stream. I'm just more conscientious about what devices I use to stream.
TV makers are getting increasingly aggressive about advertising. The latest example is LG putting autoplay ads right in the app store on its premium OLED TVs.
@dangoodin @MisterMoo The Roku is not part of my smart TV. I would *never* buy a TV with a Roku built into it. It's a physically separate device, that, at any given time, I can easily just disconnect and put away.
Buying a smart TV is still a far more dangerous avenue; you don't have nearly as much control because the components are baked in. Short of opening the TV and physically ripping the components out (which is way past most average consumers), your hands are tied.
We let computers and such devices get way too comfortable in our lives, and it's really disgusting that you can hardly even get a non-smart TV nowadays, and even when you find one, the prices tend to be worse.
Telling people they're safer buying a smart TV just reeks of irresponsibility to me. At least the separate Roku device can be unplugged and removed. The smart TV can't.
@LambdaCalculus I have an APC surge strip that had a master outlet and then switched outlets. The master outlet senses a higher power draw so when I turn on my TV it gives power to my Roku and when my TV gets powered off it kills the power to my Roku. I don't want that thing talking on my network all the time. @dangoodin @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds
@dangoodin @MisterMoo Personally I mostly listen, not watch. There's plenty of superb audioshows online! Or webcomics or ebooks... Also there's starting to be some excellent indie cartoons posted to YouTube!
At this point I start to grow frustrated by people who insist I'm missing out, since from my perspective...
Mister Moo 🐮
•Dan Goodin
•So y'all do without streaming then? What do you watch?
The 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus
•DVDs and Blu-Rays, VHS tapes and LaserDiscs. Or build a Plex or Jellyfin server and make a Kodi or OSMC box, connect the two, and build your own library.
Need media? Reject modernity; embrace tradition!
Dan Goodin
•@LambdaCalculus @MisterMoo
So many things wrong with what y'all are advising:
https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics/privacy/how-to-turn-off-smart-tv-snooping-features-a4840102036/
How to Turn Off Smart TV Snooping Features
Consumer ReportsThe 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus
•@dangoodin @MisterMoo Hey, you asked what we would do without streaming. I gave you an answer. Jumping down my throat and calling me alarmist is not constructive to this conversation. If you don't like my answer, you can simply mute me and walk away and not carry this further.
No one is twisting your arm to do what we do. If you want to use a smart TV, go ahead. That's your prerogative; I ain't your parent to tell you what to do.
I personally do not want a smart TV. If I need a device for streaming, I would rather just buy a separate device for that, like a Roku or something. That way, if I really *don't* want any streaming at all, it's as easy as unplug the Roku and back in the box it goes. Even now, my Roku's major usage is just for Plex and a couple of additional bits like the SomaFM channel and New Ellijay's streaming TV channel. But if people ask for alternative means, then we should be able to share with them some alternative means of watching stuff. If people also want to watch physical media, who are we to tell them no?
Long and short, lay off people who present an alternative to the mainstream.
:flan_reaper:
•@LambdaCalculus
My Jellyfin server has way more content I want to watch at this point than any streaming service since it contains... exclusively content that I want to watch.
@dangoodin @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds
The 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus
•:flan_reaper:
•@LambdaCalculus
Yup. Last time I subscribed to Netflix, I did to watch Midnight Dinner. And then they yanked all but the Netflix produced seasons when I was midway through watching them.
Midnight Dinner will never be cancelled on my server.
@dangoodin @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds
The 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus
•:flan_reaper:
•@LambdaCalculus
Had some house guests swing by last weekend and dump their DVD collection off. Soon we will both have digitized copies of everything.
@dangoodin @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds
The 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus
•The Tech Lord ⊕ `Lex Pendragon
•I've been in conversations about a show, and they ask which streaming services I have. I always tell them "None of them, which really means I have *all* of them." 🏴☠️
The Tech Lord ⊕ `Lex Pendragon
•@LambdaCalculus @lordbowlich @dangoodin @MisterMoo
You're also missing a key detail of the personalized media server debate:
Personalized content.
I have the local plays my wife and daughter have been in to play on the big screen. I also have the videos I took of my martial arts moves to practice. I can watch Inara open her birthday gifts from a few years back.
(I mean, I haven't checked but if those are available on Peacock+ I'll be more than a bit unnerved.)
The 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus
•@LexPendragon @lordbowlich @dangoodin @MisterMoo I have this on my eBay watchlist because it's generally not on any streaming service, and there are some potato quality rips on YouTube, but having clean 576p rips with opening and ending songs would be preem!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266727131003
The Trap Door Complete Collection Series One & Two Dvd PAL UK Region 2 R2 Tested | eBay
eBayThe Tech Lord ⊕ `Lex Pendragon
•@LambdaCalculus I know that feeling! There was a show on MTV called Dead at 21 that I watched in my teens, and it was amazing and I loved it. I strongly suspect it wouldn't have held up, but because it was MTV it was infused with music that they never had rights to re-redistribute or whatever, so it never saw any other release. I got some bootleg DVDs and ripped them ages ago, but the quality was "Hurts your ears to listen" levels.
(Also, because I was compelled to check, this was a potato, right? https://bt4gprx.com/magnet/CLIrn40mw3YHJpALcMuzu27kmF2CwfVGB )
The Tech Lord ⊕ `Lex Pendragon
•The 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus
•The Tech Lord ⊕ `Lex Pendragon
•The Tech Lord ⊕ `Lex Pendragon
•@LambdaCalculus But VLC plays the "DVD" directory just fine, for this 480p, poor audio files.
I forgot that this is so painfully 90s. I am just curious if this ripped off hackers before Hackers was out or was this just the whole zeitgeist at the time.
The 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus
•@LexPendragon I think this screenshot just unlocked some long lost memories! I remember seeing this show occasionally!
Can you share the rips when you're done?
The Tech Lord ⊕ `Lex Pendragon
•@LambdaCalculus Gladly!
I am warning you, I am watching the first episode and the audio is as much hiss as it is dialog, and I have the volume cranked up to 120%.
The Tech Lord ⊕ `Lex Pendragon
•@LambdaCalculus
Or, I could be putting in way more effort that needed, as Archive.org has a better quality one already done.
https://archive.org/details/dead-at-21/
Dead At 21 (1994) : MTV : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Internet ArchiveThe 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus
•The Tech Lord ⊕ `Lex Pendragon
•The Tech Lord ⊕ `Lex Pendragon
•@LambdaCalculus If you're like me, and you find yourself going "Wait! I know this song, what is that..." this page helped me catch a bunch:
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls024591279/
MTV Top 100 Videos of 1994 - IMDb
IMDbDigital Mark λ ☕️ 🕹 Z?
•As I always said, Hackers is a fantasy movie about how 2600 readers thought the world was. So anyone else who read 2600 would *also* make Hackers.
The Tech Lord ⊕ `Lex Pendragon
•Digital Mark λ ☕️ 🕹 Z?
•The 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus
•The Tech Lord ⊕ `Lex Pendragon
•Digital Mark λ ☕️ 🕹 Z?
•The 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus
•benbrown
•The 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus
•The 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus
•The 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus
•The Tech Lord ⊕ `Lex Pendragon
•@LambdaCalculus Archive.org has this show, too:
https://archive.org/search?query=subject%3A%22The%20Trap%20Door%22
Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine
archive.orgInhabitant of Carcosa :emacs:
•I use a separate device for streaming. It's an unlocked Amazon Fire Stick running LineageOS TV and a mix of Free and proprietary streaming apps. Eventually I plan on replacing it with a SBC running LineageOS TV. I could be more paranoid, but it feels to me like this is the reasonable compromise here.
Tersoo Akaahan
•he probably has no real idea about #smartdevices
YetAnotherGeekGuy :verified:
•Pot, meet Kettle.
Mister Moo 🐮
•LG is cramming ads everywhere it can on its TVs
Chris Welch (The Verge)Dan Goodin
•Let me guess: you use a Roku because you think it's safer than a smart TV?
The 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus
•@dangoodin @MisterMoo The Roku is not part of my smart TV. I would *never* buy a TV with a Roku built into it. It's a physically separate device, that, at any given time, I can easily just disconnect and put away.
Buying a smart TV is still a far more dangerous avenue; you don't have nearly as much control because the components are baked in. Short of opening the TV and physically ripping the components out (which is way past most average consumers), your hands are tied.
We let computers and such devices get way too comfortable in our lives, and it's really disgusting that you can hardly even get a non-smart TV nowadays, and even when you find one, the prices tend to be worse.
Telling people they're safer buying a smart TV just reeks of irresponsibility to me. At least the separate Roku device can be unplugged and removed. The smart TV can't.
Bob K Mertz
•I have an APC surge strip that had a master outlet and then switched outlets. The master outlet senses a higher power draw so when I turn on my TV it gives power to my Roku and when my TV gets powered off it kills the power to my Roku. I don't want that thing talking on my network all the time.
@dangoodin @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds
silverwizard
@Dan Goodin @The 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus @Mister Moo 🐮 @Verb
Dan
Dan
DanDanDan
Dan
Are you saying that smart TVs are perfectly safe if you follow a giant listicle of things you need to do?!
That's the solution? every consumer should know what the safe docs are and follow them?
The 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus
•silverwizard likes this.
Adrian Cochrane
•@dangoodin @MisterMoo Personally I mostly listen, not watch. There's plenty of superb audioshows online! Or webcomics or ebooks...
Also there's starting to be some excellent indie cartoons posted to YouTube!
At this point I start to grow frustrated by people who insist I'm missing out, since from my perspective...
Adrian Cochrane reshared this.