hardware doesn’t even need to be that recent! i’m using an i7 8700K for my plex server and it can transcode h.264 into h.265 on the fly.

I’ve noticed that things recorded on film hold up much better to low resolution compared to digitally filmed content.

The biggest issue with downloading x265 stuff from the high seas is that so many of them are just x264 that’s been re-encoded in x265, resulting in smaller file sizes but reduced quality as well. x265 is superior in almost every way technically speaking but it needs a good source material, not an x264 reencode. Their “golden rule” is more like a rule of thumb and I absolutely wouldn’t use some blanket criteria like resolution or dynamic range.

to get something as flexible as my android tv i’d need an nvidia shield and those are going on ten years old at this point. maybe if/when they do a hardware refresh, assuming sideloading isn’t completely impossible by then.

Yeah. To be honest on the DNS side it would probably be far easier to just do a whitelist instead, block everything except your specific service. and yeah, its a stupid amount of work. i hate smart tvs but i’ll be damned if im gonna pay extra for a streaming box =|

just saying its possible

Not sure if you mean hardcoded DNS IPs or hardcoded “phone home” IPs. Hardcoded DNS addresses in devices are annoying, the only way i’ve found to get around that is using destination nat rules (DNAT) which requires more than a consumer router typically. hardcoded phone home IPs would get blocked by your firewall. you’re right that most firewalls are set up by default to implicitly allow outbound traffic. you set up a rule that explicitly denies all outbound traffic from the TV, then only allow port 443 (or whatever port your streaming service uses) on the specific IP/IPs that your service uses. Here’s Netflix’s published IP info for example.

edit also i’m fully aware it’s fucking ridiculous that we as consumers have to go through this much rigamarole. you shouldnt have to be a literal network engineer to do something as simple as have an internet-connected tv that doesnt spy on you.

no it helps to block everything that isnt just netflix or whatever streaming service you use. you combine a DNS adblock along with blocking all the unused ports and it severely limits the communications. you could also add a vpn to add another layer of security. idk about jellyfin but most streaming services i know use https/443 to stream to your tv. so youre only allowing the specific service you want and only on a specific port. buncha great dns blocklists here https://github.com/hagezi/dns-blocklists, and a smart tv specific one for pihole here https://github.com/Perflyst/PiHoleBlocklist/blob/master/SmartTV.txt

It’s relatively easy to restrict a smart tv to TLS/HTTPS traffic only using your router and a dns adblocker.

Mine will chase after something if i throw it but then she expects me to come pick it up and throw it the other direction haha.

Cats eat by sense of smell before taste. Churu is basically thin tapioca pudding (not dairy but texture-wise i mean) with a shitload of strong scents in it that drive them absolutely wild!

Baby just needed a day to adjust, what a cutie.

I’m throwing in my vote for CachyOS. Not because it’s the easiest to use (though it isnt difficult imo) but because it works out of the box, then they have nice wiki to guide you through simple things (like using Lutris and Proton). It’s also Arch based so there’s the arch wiki to fall back on. I ran Windows for 35 years and just switched to Linux in like October, fwiw.

Naw, we just need equal access to cocaine. Level the playing field with subsidized cocaine I say!

Haha. The precious girl I ended up with bamboozled me a bit. I picked her up at the shelter and she clinged to me and started purring, then when I got her home I found out she can’t stand being held. She’s a smart one though, I love her.

I kinda wish I had been chosen by a stray, instead I went to a shelter and let one of the cats there choose me so I guess it’s close enough.

I bought a lifetime pass for 100 bucks about 10 years ago, and have had 10 years of not having to give a shit about these announcements. I’ve saved well over 100 bucks on streaming services in that time. Worth it 1000%.

iiiinteresting. good to know my whole house is a fire hazard by UK standards!

Which makes it extra amusing to me that they coat the pins or whatever with plastic so you cant accidentally touch live while inserting it.

Fun fact, the only reason North America can get away with our dinky plugs and sockets is because we only run 120V (typically). Anything here that’s 240V will have a much beefier plug and socket, more similar to the UK plugs. Heres a 240V/30A and a 240V/50A. These don’t bother with the coated pins because it would typically be plugged in once behind a big appliance and never touched again.