So glad I blocked my LG C1 from the internet ages ago. Haven’t received updates in forever, don’t care. It’s a TV, it shows pictures. I even still have it LAN enabled so it can be controlled via Home Assistant automations, it just can never leave the home network, and that’s how I like it.
I can’t even remember how long ago I set it up to do this, I think it was when I heard rumor they’d be including ads in the UI, maybe 2023 or so.
Something that existed until the beginning of 2025.
I just need Jellyfin to fix their subtitles issues on Apple TV and I’ll be all set. Swiftfin needs some work yet, though I’m told the fix is in the pipeline for release soon^™ (probably by Q1 next year?).
I use utterly unique and very long passphrases for the most important stuff (banking, mortgage servicing, email, etc.), 2FA for those and most other things, and just throwaway crap passwords for things I don’t care about (web forums and most everything else).
No illusions on my part. RAID5 NAS with periodic disk archive backups.
Got what I need locally and intend to keep it that way. I’m sick of sites like Amazon with “Buy Now” buttons that are really “rent now via restrictive terms and only via devices we approve until we decide you no longer need access.”
Neat write up.
Power consumption is a big reason I ditched my full size server for an AMD mini-PC. Way more efficient with a tdp of 25w, and idles pretty low (sub-10w, I forget the exact wattage).
I’m not really doing a lot with it, it’s mostly for Plex and Jellyfin, and I’ve got a separate VM hosting home assistant. It’s running Proxmox, and plenty of headroom if I needed more VMs or containers.
Basic headset would be good for sim racing.
I use an AMD mini-PC with Ryzen 5700u, 32GB RAM, connected with my home NAS. Similar software stack, the server is hosted via Proxmox, no issues.
I have a Zigbee antenna. Will have to double check. I’m pretty sure the lights work with the antenna, but scenes are only possible if you’ve integrated them (generally via hue through something like Homekit).
This is why it’s a great idea to refuse to install everything that’s possible, including smart switches, cameras, lights etc. that rely on the good will of some company to keep running.
Even then you can get fucked over. I’ve used Hue smart lights for years, and back when I bought them, you didn’t need an account to use them, just an app and network connection. Years later, they forced an online login for the app, requiring you to be online to interface with the bulbs. You can kind of work around it with Home Assistant, but you still need the account now to add the bulbs, and I don’t think scenes work without an account either now.
Why do you want a VPN? Is it just for some light piracy? Staying safe on public wifi? Or do you actually NEED to maintain your privacy, with real consequences if you can’t?
Nice try, FBI.
Oof, seriously? I had no idea. Fuck.
Edit - just looked it up, Kape Technologies via parent company owned by Ted Sagi.
Any reason Private Internet Access (PIA) isn’t in the running? I’ve been using it for years now with no complaints or issues.
Rsync is great. I’ve been using it to back up my book library from my local Calibre collection to my NAS for years, it’s absurdly simple and convenient. Plus, -ruv lets me ignore unchanged files and backup recursively, and if I clean up locally and need that replicated, just need to add —delete.
Fuckers.
Phrasing.
It’s not necessarily about the devices. Kobo books are very easy to remove DRM from, and don’t require owning a physical Kobo device or their app to do so. All it requires is two Calibre plugins. And EPUB is not a proprietary format, unlike AZW3 and KFX.
Also, I might be wrong, but it seems Kobo has a lot more DRM free books in general, compared to Amazon.
Kindle has always required either the Kindle app or an actual physical Kindle to de-DRM.
Might be too late. Winterbreak hasn’t worked since 5.18.1 and the latest firmware is 5.18.5. If you’ve been updating your firmware normally, jailbreak has been unviable since around April or May, at least for the 11th and 12th gen devices.
To be fair, if you OCR the pages via camera, you haven’t actually circumvented DRM. That means it’s a completely legal backup, as the DRM on the original file was untouched and unaltered. This definitely does fall under fair use.
It’s blocked at my router. I’ve had two routers the past few years, an ASUS AX5700 (RT-AX86u) and a NETGEAR AXE7800 (RAXE300). Both allow for blocking a device from internet without blocking LAN access. So you give it an IP on your network, and then just block it from internet. I use the Netgear currently and have the ASUS as a backup device.
I don’t know if it’s true, but I’ve read that some TVs will scan and seek to connect to open networks if it’s not connected at all, so I figure that way it’s totally blocked, and I still have access to its APIs for Home Assistant and Homekit use.