I switched all of my Windows systems over to Windows 10 LTSC a few months ago, and it’s been a game-changer. I still get security updates, but no advertisements, bloat, or new “features.” I believe it’s supported until 2032.
After that, I’ll probably switch my remaining systems over to Linux, but until then, it’s not half bad.
It’s certainly possible (and probably even likely) that you’re correct. Most of the people I’ve spoken to about that are somewhat tech-inclined and probably much more likely to be using an adblocker than the average person.
So many years of ad-free media has just ruined me on ad-supported content. I sat down in front of a public TV tuned to a cable channel the other day, and it was absolutely unwatchable.
The problem I have always had with cable TV, and now with streaming, is the advertisements. I understand why free services inject ads into their video stream; they have to make a profit somehow. I don’t like it, and I’ll block the ads, but I understand it.
Having experience what ad-free entertainment is like, be it from Netflix years ago, renting movies online, or Youtube with Adblock, I will never pay for a service that’s going to show me ads. Either make the service free and cash in on ad revenue or sell the service for an appropriate price that you can afford not to show ads. Sticking to the old model of “pay for cable TV and watch commercials” is never going to work, be it cable or streaming. I don’t think I’m in the minority here, either; I’ve heard this sentiment from plenty of others.
Microsoft knows that the addition of adds to Windows, Recall, data mining, etc are not suicide. As far as tech news goes, Lemmy really exists in an echo chamber. The vast majority of us at least have some interest in technology. For the majority of the population, though, this isn’t true. The typical person sees a computer as a tool to be used for other things. They’re not reading articles about the latest release of Windows, new CPU technology, the latest GPU, etc. They’re using their computer, and when it’s time for an upgrade, they buy whatever suits their needs.
If I was to ask any of my family, or most of my coworkers, about any of the latest “controversies” surrounding Microsoft, they would have no idea what I was talking about. Microsoft obviously thinks that the added profits gained by monetizing their customers will offset the loss of 1% of their users that switch to Linux. They’re probably right, too.
I like Windows, personally (well, Windows 10 at least). My unofficial rule has always been if it needs a GUI, then it runs Windows, otherwise, it runs Linux as a headless machine. Once Windows 10 is no longer a viable option, my unofficial rule will be “it runs Linux.” Most people will not make this switch.
I will resort to ChatGPT for coding help every so often. I’m a fairly experienced programmer, so my questions usually tend to be somewhat complex. I’ve found that’s it’s extremely useful for those problems that fall into the category of “I could solve this myself in 2 hours, or I could ask AI to solve it for me in seconds.” Usually, I’ll get a working solution, but almost every single time, it’s not a good solution. It provides a great starting-off point to write my own code.
Some of the issues I’ve found (speaking as a C++ developer) are: Variables not declared “const,” extremely inefficient use of data structures, ignoring modern language features, ignoring parallelism, using an improper data type, etc.
ChatGPT is great for generating ideas, but it’s going to be a while before it can actually replace a human developer. Producing code that works isn’t hard; producing code that’s good requires experience.
This is a good thing, but it’s hardly unique. Any advanced manufacturing facility will have remote access to their equipment in case an operator needs reconfigure it, transfer data, or in this case if they’re invaded by Lesser Taiwan.
This is looking more and more like my best option. I guess I can just buy an AC and run it with thr on-board temperature control until I have time to build and integrate an ESP board.
I have heard the same thing about ACs, but I think it depends on the unit. The window units that I use have a switch on the front that literally just turns them off; there’s no delay time for the compressor. It’s the same as pulling the plug.
I’ve used single and dual-hose portable ACs in the past, and I only have dual-hose units now. This is purely anecdotal, but when I had single-hose units, they would maintain the temperature throughout the day as it warmed up, but they didn’t do a great job of cooling. A dual-hose AC with a similar capacity was actually able to lower the temperature.
I decided to give up on it. Looking through the docs, they recommend that due to “reasons,” it should be restarted at least daily, preferably hourly. I don’t know if they have a memory leak or some other issue, but that was reason enough for me not to use it.
I installed TubeArchivist, and it suits my needs much better. Not only do I get an archive of my favorite channels, but when a new video is released, it gets automatically downloaded to my NAS and I can play it locally without worrying about buffering on my painfully slow internet connection.
What exactly is the use-case for a laptop or a tablet with ML acceleration? I can see the need in embedded devices; a self-driving car is a good example. Large-scale AI services are going to run in a datacenter. Who exactly is the target consumer for a laptop or tablet with an NPU?
I have a motion sensor that turns on the bathroom light when you enter, then turns it off after no motion is detected for 5 minutes. Works great except for those long sessions on the toilet; nobody likes to poop in the dark. Now I have a door sensor on the bathroom so when no motion is detected, it turns off the lights after 5 minutes unless the door is closed, then it’s 30 minutes. Much better than having to wave your arms around every 5 minutes when you’re trying to take care of business.
I use a lot of sunset/sunrise automations, but one of my favorite is for the lights on the main floor of the house. They turn on with a motion/presence sensor when someone enters the room, but the intensity of the light and the color of the light are controlled by the sunrise/sunset times. During the day, they turn on at 100% brightness and a cool white; starting 1 hour before sunset and 1 hour before sunrise, they scale between 100%/cool white and 60%/warm white. You don’t notice it unless you’re really paying attention, but it really helps the house feel a lot more “cozy.”
If any appliance manufacturer says that accessing your own appliance (that you own) outside their software ecosystem is financially “damaging” to them, they might as well be saying “Hey, just so you know, we’re collecting and selling your data.” If you have already purchased the appliance and their software is free, there is absolutely no other way that using a 3rd-party application could damage their bottom line.
Thanks, Haier, for letting me know never to purchase your products.
Is it possible to use the thermostat and humidifier without an actual hardware thermostat? I have a heater and cooling fan attached as a switch and a humidifier and dehumidifier attached as a switch. Set points and on/off thresholds are controlled by a combination of input numbers and threshold sensors.
I’d love to have the clean UI from the thermostat tile, but it looks like it relies on one unified thermostat device.
The problem with this is that the induction fan is the same fan that blows the smoke out from the exhaust vent; pellet stoves don’t exhaust out a chimney like a fireplace. They require forced induction. When you turn off the pellet stove with the potentiometer, the fan continues running until whatever pellets remain in the combustion chamber stop burning. Simply removing power means that the pellets continue burning, but the smoke and exhaust gases have nowhere to go. They will fill up the stove and start leaking out.
I’ve been doing a combination of working from home and working from the office since the start of COVID. I generally only go into work when there is something broken that needs me to physically repair it. I can honestly say that the times I’m working from home, my productivity is exceptionally higher than it would be otherwise. No distractions from coworkers, a more comfortable environment, better computers and desk ergonomics, no commute.
Employers need to realize that good employees work better from home, and the ones that don’t are not worth keeping on the payroll.
It’s actually surprising how much just having a person in the room can alter the temperature and humidity levels. In my master bathroom, I have my bathroom fan set to activate when the dew point reaches a certain level (I’ve found that dew point produces better results than just humidity); the idea is that the bathroom will be ventilated when someone takes a shower and for however long it takes for the humidity to dissipate after they’re done. The funny thing is that every so often, I’ll take an excessively long poop (lets me honest, I’m scrolling on my phone), and the fan will kick on. Just being in the bathroom will alter the dew point enough that it triggers the fan.
I also have a room that contains all my server/networking equipment. It’s climate-controlled, and I’m constantly monitoring temperatures. The times that in the room working, I can see a noticeable spike in the temperature graph, even though the only variable that’s changed is that there’s a person in the room.
So my point is: OP might not have been having fun that night; it’s entirely possible someone just came in and went to bed.