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Joined 2 months ago
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Cake day: July 5th, 2026

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  • The piracy option is by far the cheaper and easier method all things considered. If you like Free Media (Heck Yeah) then just Google those words or even their acronym and you’ll probably be rewarded with all you could ever want. Of course, this isn’t a legal thing I would ever actually suggest anyone do.

    This is how a family could have watched things ranging from entire series to latest it-shows to classic films and newest releases as a family while on a reasonable budget. Of course, mind your local ordnance regarding such things and take appropriate measures when doing anything other than verifying those websites exist for purely educational purposes as governments and corporations are absolutely watching every single byte of data that passes through your pipes unless you actively shield it. You will receive notices about any illicit activity they detect and they would be within their legal right to restrict or deny your access to the internet for piracy and theft.

    On an unrelated note, I’m quite happy with Proton VPN and the services they offer. Being Swiss-based with that reputation for international privacy, I’m reasonably assured my data isn’t at any greater risk of loss or breach than anyone else relying on a single point of failure and have my eggs in a basket that is otherwise entirely uninterested in me outside a subscription to keep their lights on.

    One monthly fee for privacy and a one-time investment in some basic hardware and you’ve got all of humanity’s recorded media on your television. Uh. In theory.

    Edit: word. I swear I English good.


  • Not the specific answer you’re looking for, but the one I’ve got as its the one I use for myself…

    I have a RaspberryPi as the default input for my TV now. Any and all interactions with the big screen happen through mouse and keyboard now rather than the TV remote besides power and maybe sometimes the volume.

    If you’re looking for a cheaper option than that, I believe you can get older chromesasts/firesticks and jailbreak those for more or less the same results I’ve got with my setup, but YMMV depending on what you’ve got and what you seek.




  • Not true at all. I grew up in the age of dial up internet. When you bought software, you owned it. That media was yours to run on your hardware as you saw fit barring certain public/commercial uses, much like you’re not allowed to buy a DVD to make copies and distribute it on your own.

    However, the expectation of exchanging money for ownership is about as old as money itself. If we were talking about, say, a blacksmith and their craft that you paid solid gold for, you would therefore be okay with the blacksmith showing up one day to reclaim their iron because you only purchased a license to his materials and not the ownership of the product? I don’t see that being acceptable to you. What makes software different, especially when it doesn’t require internet connectivity to actually function? I don’t need connectivity to access locally stored media, and fuck Sony for reaching into anyone’s account and deleting access to something they bought, full stop.









  • I am decidedly on the spectrum and very much prefer things to be clear-cur with precisely defined lines.

    You can be a healthy individual with solid beliefs and that is precisely why you can’t in good conscience walk away from your family who might be struggling but always means well in their heart of hearts. Not bad people, just misguided. And on top of that, they’re your only support network. You may disagree on everything except that you genuinely love one another and would never wish or bring harm upon one another.

    A healthy person would absolutely struggle with leaving that social circle. And this isn’t really that far-fetched a scenario as most people really aren’t that adamant and vitriolic in their beliefs as any given extreme would have you believe.

    So are you wrong? Not in every case, for sure. But you’re also not really correct either. Human interactions are mostly nuance, which your assessment is entirely devoid of.


  • To be perfectly clear, the only AI I am subscribed to is the one Proton gives with their family plan VPN bundle, and I didn’t choose it. I used it to edit a letter I wrote once and otherwise trust it as far as I can throw its server.

    This knee-jerk reaction to anything with the letters AI attached being bad is just so silly. Y’all are acting the way Republicans act when it comes to the word “queer.” Just because it’s in the vicinity of you doesn’t mean you’re contaminated, you’ve caught it, you’re now one of them.

    This is a highly intelligent individual - controversial hot takes notwithstanding - utilizing a tool in a way that has proven itself to be very effective when used properly. Nobody is saying you have to get ready to be a switch in the bedroom any more than they’re saying you have to use AI.

    Distro maintenance is a difficult and thankless task, and having a tool that can scan and analyze code orders of magnitude faster than you as well as make suggestions on how to fix it isn’t an inherently bad thing. Setting that tool loose with unlimited agency would be a bad thing, but where oh where is Linus saying he’s gonna give Claude full read/write access to the entire kernel and walk away forevermore?

    Hate on AI bros all you want. I’m with you there, most of them are idiots that don’t know their mouth from their anus and speak from both equally. I don’t think Linus fits that particular picture [hot takes notwithstanding!] when it comes to using the new tool on the market in a reasonable and measured way.



  • So it was definitely an act for many years, but shortly after the time he did his big cyberpunk video I feel like his character shifted. As I examine the timeline now, that’s around the time he got engaged/married so I can appreciate his priorities shifting. That’s not it, though.

    What sold me on him being a bit out of touch now was the recent debacle with YouTube changing how views were counted and him being flippant about the whole thing. JoshStrifeHayes actually did a direct video response to that claim which, IMO, expertly dismantled Spiff and demonstrated why not only was he wrong, but also sitt8ng atop a high horse because he is the Spiffing Brit and losing 10k viewers means little to him. He does it on a Tuesday as an experiment, so his hot take of “people go outside bruh” doesn’t work for people who only have 7k followers.

    After that, the changes I perceived in his character clicked into place for me; he’s become elitist and has lost touch with regular working class folks. That’s fine and I’m happy he’s made it like that, but I don’t need to support him any longer. And he’s not at all hurting from my lack of views.




  • I absolutely agree, though the reasonable side of me just wants to note that while Conservatism is evil as an ideology, being conservative (little c) isn’t inherently bad and, in fact, is required in order to be properly progressive; you cannot build a proper future without a solid foundation. Conserve what works, discard what weighs you down, build newer and better, rinse repeat. See: boiling water for power meme.

    Modern right-wing movements are a global net negative on society, but I just hesitate to fully endorse blanket statements like yours because while the overall movements and ideologies tend to be oppressive and bad for society, there are still sensible elements and issues raised that are worth considering.

    That said, if the Republican party got Thanos Snapped tomorrow my antisocial autistic ass would throw the biggest party in the world with open invitations. I’ll make pizza, you just bring the dough.


  • Please read all my comments in this thread and provide me examples of my inconsistency.

    System is broken and needs fixing. This guy is trying to fix it. I agree this is a small step, but also believe its a step in the right direction and an example of a politician putting his money where his mouth is, all too rare these days.

    I’m not “blue no matter who,” I’m saying look at the active track record of the political figure in question and then with receipts tell me how this is something actually worth criticizing like a New York Post writer. “His policies are not exactly what I want verbatim so I’m gonna throw a Libertarian-style hissy fit because I’m more right than you!”

    Man is making moves people in one of the biggest cities on the planet actively approve of in ways that ease the financial burdens of working people. If I have to go searching through three screens to tip somebody through an online app then in all reality I probably won’t 9 out of 10 times. Which means more of my money goes to corporations where I never see it again versus into the actual economy where the actual value of that dollar continues to accrue as it circulates amongst the masses.

    Let me reiterate from my top comment here: Perfect cannot be the enemy of good when the system is so wildly stacked against us. Every bit of progress in the right direction is a fight for an inch we no longer have to worry about later. That is how movements build momentum.