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Ever since getting a fire stick I’ve been hooking my laptop up to the tv instead. Now I can play games, watch movies, shows, etc
Etc as in watch porn on the TV? Amiright?
I mean you could do anything you want porn, watch your security cameras, youtube with all your ublock and sponsorblock extensions, possibilities are endless
These devices were annoying a decade ago. Comical that people still buy these when Roku and Android TV are so much nicer.
I have an nvidia shield (android TV) and it had 3/4 of my screen dedicated to ads. I was able to swap my launcher, but still frustrating
OK what the hell. This is the platform I was considering jumping into. Is nothing sacred anymore? That thing costs a fortune by TV stick standards.
Yep, everything is fucked. You can put kodi on a raspberry pi though I guess
You honestly got me thinking about the viability of throwing android TV on an RP4. I have one that I was going to use for a magic mirror, but I never got around to building it. I’m guessing I could find a remote and an IR module for the RP4, then just load android TV to it? Time to go down the rabbit hole…
I wouldn’t put android TV. Kodi has plex and jellyfin addon and definitely won’t have ads ever, or if it does it’ll quickly be forked
In case anybody sees this, you can use your normal TV remote with a pi
What Android TV device do you recommend?
They all have ads now… But I like our Chromecast with Google TV and our Nvidia Shield TV. Both super easy to use and can side load apps
Xiaomi TV Stick 4k. I got an Amazon Fire TV stick, hated it very much, but luckily for me it malfunctioned after a month, and i managed to get a “refund” that was limited to the amazon store. I spent the money on the xiaomi alternative that came with android tv, as it was about the same price, but you can install (and keep installed) a custom loader without ads, and never have to update anything it if you don’t want it. But be careful, some newer models from xiaomi come with google tv instead, which is probably harder to have control over privacy/ads.
Can we start invoicing these companies for the ads they make us watch? They should be paying us.
That shit is annoying, Shit starts to blast out loud before I adjusted the audio. It’s like going to some old website that would autoplay music obnoxiously.
I also hate the BS of 30 sec ad of another show before the show I want to watch and can’t skip. Looking at you Paramount.
People who using PiHole/Adguard Home & NextDNS be like what ads ?
They were dirt cheap last black Friday. Makes sense.
this is just a smidgen of the first-world’s self-inflicted punishment. very excited to see what happens next.
My Chromecast is doing it’s job fine with app only mode but the day they change it or take away that mode I’ve got some mini PCs ready to have libreelec thrown up on them.
What’s this app only mode you speak of? I am intrigued.
It’s a setting that effectively disables all content recommendations from the home screen, leaving you with nothing but app icons.
Can this be done on stock Android TV on a Sony smart TV?
It’s in settings > accounts and sign in > your Gmail account > apps only mode . I have to scroll down for it on my Chromecast but if you have it on your Sony it should be in there.
If you don’t have it on your Sony TV, I’d recommend installing another launcher like FLauncher which effectively does the same thing and gets rid of the garbage.
Just in time for my laptop’s monitor to crap out and await new life as a HTPC.
Frog: “Hey, did any of you guys notice the water get a couple degrees hotter?”
Other Frogs: Already boiled alive
Frog with hacked firestick and a pirate subscription: huh?
Frog who downloads media himself and hosts it on his own server: you guys are in water?
Frog who downloads media himself and hosts it on his own server: you guys are in water?
And when that frog realizes that all the other frogs in the water have been caught and eaten already, where do you think the predators are going to turn to next?
You’re right! People should stand against this NOW by not paying for these shitty services!
Wait a minute…
59… 58… 57 …
(Piracy means you are not giving these shitty services your money. Actively not supporting them.)
If someone could explain to me why that comment is getting downvotes?
The point I’m making is that just looking out for yourself is never enough, sooner or later its your turn.
I dunno why the downvotes, but I think your analogy doesn’t quite work. If anything, piracy keeps prices down for paying users - so long as piracy is an option, media services cannot raise their prices to such an obscene level, as the more they do it the more people will turn to piracy. So really pirates are on the front line.
Also, a lot of piracy is still done by torrents, which inherently helps others to pirate themselves - especially if you leave it to seed.
It’s just kind of sad that fewer people do it these days. Just like it’s sad how few people use ad blockers.
If someone could explain to me why that comment is getting downvotes?
It’s absurd. You’ve strained the metaphor by pushing it too far and it makes no sense.
- The boiling frog analogy has nothing to do with predators. Predators do not put live frogs in pots of slowly heating water.
- How exactly do you think ads are going to be forced on people who pirate their media?
- Telling people “stop giving money to trashy companies” is looking out for them. When companies get too greedy and start being shitty towards paying customers, the reaction absolutely should be “we’re going to pirate it instead” so that these practices actively hurt profits.
It’s absurd. You’ve strained the metaphor by pushing it too far and it makes no sense.
And when that frog realizes that all the other frogs in the water have been caught and eaten already, where do you think the predators are going to turn to next?
The point I was trying to make is that at some point it’ll be impossible or nearly impossible to do piracy, that you have to do more than just look out for yourself, you have to vote people into office that’ll pass fair laws for consumers.
I’m not passing judgment on piracy, just that someday there will be a point where DRM will be too much, so you need to fight by other ways than just piracy, like getting the right laws passed.
The point I was trying to make is that at some point it’ll be impossible or nearly impossible to do piracy
Piracy has always been illegal, and has always happened anyway. There is no way to make it impossible. Even Denuvo, the currently best anti-piracy measure, can be cracked and makes the experience worse for paying customers.
you need to fight by other ways than just piracy, like getting the right laws passed.
I don’t live in the country that needs to pass those laws.
Piracy has always been illegal, and has always happened anyway. There is no way to make it impossible
I hope you’re right, but I wouldn’t be so confident in that. As time goes on, and they bake more of the DRM into the hardware directly, it’ll be harder to circumvent (for the common person at the very least).
For example, the Sony PlayStation used to be very hackable, now it’s not (last time I checked).
I don’t live in the country that needs to pass those laws.
I would imagine that, as the world gets more International and interconnected, that might change, at some point the future. If it doesn’t, then good for you.
You are not immune to propaganda
And in particular, even if you avoid being exposed to it, you are still affected by other people being exposed to it.
Why come we are affected by what other douchebags are exposed to?
Because they vote too.
Hacked how?
I dunno exactly, I just know many people have “hacked firesticks” that basically run Kodi, then they pay some dodgy dude on WhatsApp like 30 euro a year and get e v e r y t h i n g as a streaming service. Sometimes the service gets shut down, but apparently they’re pretty decent at referring you to their new operation with credit - and even if not, you’ve paid far less than a full legit TV package.
I’m honestly a little jealous, as they even get live sports streams. Meanwhile, if I try and get them I have to go to very dodgy websites, and often the stream cuts off at key times. However, I just can’t bring myself to pay for piracy.
I met a guy in the city that supported himself selling cracked firesticks, I shit you not. 40 bucks a pop and it’d be plug and play all the way supposedly, and that’s all he did, sell those via word of mouth.
As an old, I have to chuckle at the whole thing as it reminds me of the '80s when (if you knew who to talk to) you could pay a guy to open up your 13 channel, wood paneled cable box, move a few things around, and give you free Home Box Office. It was the tits, let me tell you.
Fuck, I’m getting old.
For me, it was the guy in the pub selling bootleg cigarettes and tobacco. Then, for a time, they would sell CDs and DVDs. Although now that I think about it they did VHS back in the day also.
These days I’m pretty sure all hacked firesticks have moved to a subscription model. There’s a game of whack-a-mole being played with rights holders and streamers, particularly with sports, so there is some back end work being done keeping it seemless for the user.
It’s why I’m struggling really, really hard not to feel to annoyed with the average consumers that still buy this trash instead of supporting less oppressive alternatives.
Like, yeah, people should just be able to buy what they like and not have to concern themselves with the overall market trends they’re helping to entrench… But holy shit is it becoming a serious problem. The customers are what drive the direction of the market, but the customers base isn’t just tech enthusiasts anymore, it’s literally everyone, and they are sleepwalking us all off a god damn cliff. By the time they wake up to start complaining about it, we will already be halfway down.
By the time they wake up to start complaining about it, we will already be halfway down.
They’ll be at the “too big to fail” point, where to try to reverse the trend would crash the economy that’s based on selling customer privacy and information.
I’m still alive.
But only because I ditched Amazon Prime at the end of the month.
I left when they started charging $10-11 for whole food deliveries. It used to be included.
They also used to have Amazon fresh and Amazon pantry delivery, but they exited my suburban area, too.
So now Walmart+ gets my money.
Of course you are. Frogs jump out if the water gets too hot regardless how slowly the temperature is rising.
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Damn, from what i read here watching streams with nearly every solution on your tv sucks ass today. i still have my hardware steam link (and have another one in storage) and 2 steam controllers and just stream my desktop. the setup is ancient by now, but as long as the steam link can get updates or at least can sideload moonlight i’ll be set
