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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 6th, 2023

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  • The 50s were objectively a time of prosperity and entitlement for the US. It’s literally why they’re called “boomers”, it was an economic boom. We had high taxes on the rich, people saw those tax dollars translate into quality public services like highways, corporate competition was high, education was affordable, housing was plentiful. It was undoubtedly the best time to be a while male in US history.

    And then capitalism did its efficient best to buy up the govt and begin squeezing all that prosperity into their pockets. And here we are.



  • ZigBee devices form a mesh network, which WiFi devices don’t do. This means I can have my hub on one side of my house and a bunch of bulbs and smart outlets maintain a backbone through the house for a bunch of low power devices (like thermostats and door sensors) to connect to it.

    If you’re having a bad ZigBee experience, I recommend making sure your bulbs can serve as a general ZigBee bridge, and not just a bridge for other bulbs of that brand. Otherwise, a well placed smart outlet can serve the same purpose.


  • I also don’t want devices I’m actively using to needlessly compete with random logistical packets from a dozens of devices around my house. I also don’t want the devices themselves to need all the power of a WiFi connection when another protocol suited to low power home automation devices is sufficient.

    ZigBee/zwave were fine for me, though. I personally haven’t seen a clear benefit to matter+thread yet.




  • I feel like DVDs/Blurays already disappeared 10 years ago and are now making a comeback. Same for CDs. Streaming services don’t let you own anything, and if they pull something down, you’re SOL. Self hosting Plex and ripping my own disks has given me a level of freedom not possible with netflix et. al. Especially since DVDs are considered garbage to most people now, you can set up your own streaming service for you and your friends and family for cheap. No piracy necessary.