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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 10th, 2023

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  • Yeah, and I can’t speak for everyone here, but I didn’t even bother trying it even though I was intrigued. It seemed like the kind of thing that could be completely game-changing and I wasn’t willing to get hooked on another Googler’s pet project that’d just get the axe in a few years. It’s a self fulfilling prophecy at this point, nothing new is likely to get any traction because no one wants to run the risk and then Google cancels it. If they were willing to put in writing that they’ll support something for x number of years (that’s end user facing, not just whatever contracts they make with devs or whatever), it’d probably go a long way, but they’re not willing to support an expensive flop if the product is what actually sucks, so, they’re not likely to do that.

    Hell, even anything older still runs the risk at any time :-\


  • When I installed fdroid from their website a month or two back it was like 2 or 3 clicks. Then whenever I want to install anything from there it’s an extra click or two over what it would be from Play.

    I’ve seen people click through way more complicated processes than this without even knowing they did it. Modern computing has taught people to just keep hitting whatever the approval text is (yes windows, I really do want to copy all of these god damn files. Yes, really, I still do! Yep, again, ALL of them!)



  • Ah, my apologies for the assumption, it’s been almost a year but I’m still too used to Reddit apparently!

    Yes, the default launcher had ads, the SHIELD itself didn’t, but I also didn’t like any of the 3rd party launchers I used but I don’t remember specifically why. Then, the SHIELD stopped booting so I didn’t want to buy another one and went with the ATV instead.

    As I mentioned, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to someone who knows they’d regret not having the cast functionality, but, if you just want a device that works very well and doesn’t ever have so much as a hiccup during navigation, it’s been great!

    I would still recommend the SHIELD for someone that wants cast or who wouldn’t have a problem with (mostly) relevant ads being shown on the device (stock).





  • We’re a non-iPhone household and went with the AppleTV when my Nvidia SHIELD died.

    Ads were getting put on the SHIELD and I definitely didn’t want to buy another one because of that and it has been a while since its had a refresh, so went with an AppleTV instead.

    The device itself is fantastic, the UI is so smooth and so much nicer. OTOH, I miss being able to cast to the TV more than I expected. It works decently with the Macbooks though (we’re a weird household … like Macs, hate iPhones).

    So … if ya’ll have iPhones or don’t care about casting, I’d definitely recommend an AppleTV with Plex (the Dropout, Youtube, Disney+ apps are all good too).

    ETA: Apple is also making some pretty awesome TV content as well and IIRC you’ll get a couple months free with the purchase … verify that yourself though in case they’ve removed it, but Foundation, Severance & See are fantastic shows if you’re looking for something to watch.





  • Interview With a Vampire … kind of … Lestat was by no means good to Louis, but their portrayals in the rest of the series was quite different … I think that Anne Rice was trying to show that neither of them should be considered reliable narrators and Louis will always try to portray his situation as awfully as possible and Lestat is a narcissist and will always try to portray himself in the best light even when acknowledging what he did incorrectly.

    But, when I saw that book 2 was about Lestat, I was like … wtf … I hate this guy, why would I want a story with him as the main character and then I read them all, lol.



  • Name of the room + number.

    I’ll give the human readable name a bit more info like if it’s a fan (then it’s ‘Kitchen Fan 1’, ‘Kitchen Fan 2’, etc…), but I’ll usually make a group and expose the group to voice and the group would be based on the human name (Kitchen Fan). For most rooms though, I only really care about the room itself, so, “turn off the kitchen lights” is all that’s really needed and that’s handled by the zones.


  • We had two of the dumb versions in the kitchen and I was forbidden to install anything smart in there until I found something similar. Then a year later, they made the smart version.

    10/10 would recommend, it’s expensive since you’ll also need a hub, but I’ve had less issues with them than my Hue’s at this point.

    I’ve got a z-wave dimmer and every now and then it’ll just flip out and start dimming the light for no reason (goes to 1% and then rises to 100%) and needs to be power cycled to fix.
    I’ve got my Kasa dimmers, but they just feel cheap. I’ve started hiding those away for locations they’re not really needed to be touched (attic lights, closet lights, etc…)

    OP – I would whole heartedly second @lemming741 's recommendation. They’re very good and very intuitive to use in a non-smart fashion as well.

    ETA: I’ve had internet die and they continued working as well.