This. Why pay £6/m when, with self-hosting a Samba/NFS/NextCloud instance, I pay a fraction of the corporate cost.
Currently I'm paying ~£15/m as my server now has a GPU for better streaming and local assistant purposes. It uses ~80W. Without the GPU I was paying ~£4.50/m, which gets me:
Network-wide traffic protection, ads, spam etc.
Hub to remotely control, secure and automate my home
Cloud media, frequently synced between devices
CCTV
Password management
Email
Notekeeping
Instant messaging
Streaming for locally stored movies, shows, music, podcasts, books, audio books and YouTube subscriptions
Multiplayer Minecraft server
Website/blogsite
Remote desktop access
Group video calling/presentation hosting
54TB shared storage between everything
Network-attached storage
Imagine the cost of outsourcing all these services for unlimited access, unlimited* storage, unlimited e-mailboxes, and complete independence** from outside influence. I know I'd be paying £8/m to Google for their 2TB media storage plan alone.
*Limited by the drives you can afford**Relying only on the developers of the softwareIt cost approx. £200 for the base parts, £200 for the GPU and £900 for the hard drives. A valuable investment.
I've worked out that I've had the server running for 3 years. If I take into account the money I have saved by not paying Google £8/m, I've saved £40/year. If I account for Netflix £25/m, I've completely covered the £900 I spent on storage. Disney+ £15/m takes me well over the remaining hardware costs. The media I own is far less than that offered by streamers but it's everything I can need for the next 20 years+. I've counted. Every other service is just a bonus.
TL;DR: They're a damn good choice, and I don't know how offline they can be.
I use Proxmox, Reolink 810s, and I have AgentDVR logged into the cameras via https (443) to get info, and ONVIF (8000) for the stream. It takes a little tweaking via the camera app or web GUI if you want the onboard AI to omit large or small objects for screenshots or notifications, which I have controlled by HA. I use the AgentDVR and Reolink integrations. Here are the features I've got:
AgentDVR logged in to the cameras' admin account (definitely no Reolink account)
Reolink cam rolling footage based on motion, on onboard MicroSD
AgentDVR 24/7 footage saving directly to a mounted high-capacity HDD
Reolink cam, with detection, sends a screenshot with a configured naming format via FTP directly to Home Assistant's www folder (but this and notifications can be handled by either piece of the setup)
Home Assistant monitors the folder with folder_watcher and an automation prepares to send my phone a notification (Fdroid - not Google) once the image has 'closed')
I've saved my automation script in which HA does the screenshots instead of the Reolink cam. I've kept the clickAction to the Reolink app in there because it's very complicated
My cameras are connected to my home WiFi but they can also connect to an NVR or a PC for a completely isolated link (you'll need a PoE injector, I use this for up to 4 cameras).
If you use the Reolink app, then it will use the Reolink servers via several domains. I haven't checked traffic on the cameras yet. It can be fully offline but I choose not to for a better remote experience using the app.
I set them up a long time ago, scanning a QR code on the camera using the Reolink app. I don't know if it can be handled another way.
Let your friend know to get Freesm Launcher. Its a fork of Prism Launcher, which is designed to give you easy control over multiple accounts (local and Microsoft) and multiple instances, and Freesm in particular was made to remove the requirement for a M$ account.
I highly recommend purchasing directly from minecraft.net at least once, because despite the bastard publisher, Mojang do deserve the profit of the sale, whatever they get after M$ and payment processors take their share.
That's why a lot of folk - okay a tiny amount of dedicated folk - are switching to open source alts or self hosting their own to maximise privacy and actually own their digital media, while keeping some of the comforts of modern technology.
I use a basic SMB shared drive as my own 'cloud', and (Android) FolderSync to periodically sync my phone's folders to it. I then back up that folder to a memory stick. But I've been experimenting with something that gives you the true UX of a cloud service - NextCloud. It's good. Alternatively OwnCloud
Microsoft has been making a lot of anti-consumer moves recently, so it feels even more necessary to cut off dependency to them and the other giant megacorps.
Same here with TPLink. I avoid Tapo for its more anti-consumer features like cloud dependence and WiFi, and stick to Kasa, but I do have a KP303 which was pretty much the only smart strip in production, and unlike the other Kasa plugs the strip can't be configured without logging in.
Good, but nowadays the difference for flagship spec is more $800/$3000.
My console from 2020 runs games about the same as PC hardware from 2018. If you built a 2018 spec PC today it would beat the Xbox Series X and PS5, but unlike the consoles, PC components have reduced in price.
Which means the difference with available hardware and matched SSD size would be $650/$900
I used Ghost Spectre once and it was great, but was scared off it by frequent mentions online of other security flaws with prebuilt ISOs, the same potential risks as any closed-source and unregulated software. I never saw issues, just got fearmongered out of it
Can confirm, I still own an i7-7700k. Pretty much all 77xx variants were on the compatibility list but mine wasn't. Weird thing, though (sarcasm), I used the standard Win11 Install Media to install, and it did so with no problems! Funny, that.
Occasionally it threw a fit with the Office apps my partner needed to use (the standard for the university and LibreOffice's docx, xlsx format is not compatible with M$), all it did was refuse login due to lack of TPM2.0, but this only happened after the 24H3 update or whatever it's called.
On Voyager you can block instances, communities, users, posts and keywords from appearing. I recommend adding to the list every time a new intolerant prick starts stirring shit up.
And Reddit is a sinking, stinking corporate ship. Art is destroyed. Adults are alienated. Innocent folk are stripped of their rights to speak. There's nothing left for the community but fascists, conservatives and bot scripts.
I have a knack for repairing tech, so I put out advertisements - newspaper, store noticeboards, town hall - with an email and a promise to charge far less than out-of-warranty shops. I work locally and get quite a few folk who message me, from those who have simple problems but no tech-savvy family, to those who commission prebuilt PCs, or ask me to research and find quality products in the sea of trash because they just don't have hours or days to research for themselves.
The HMRC gets a Self Assessment tax return once every April, I claim rebates, and regularly help local stores with donations to fund, sell or recycle.
It's the best way I've found to work on my terms: with as little interference from governments as possible; not profiting from corporations or conglomerates hellbent on servitude, profit and extortion of the poor, neglecting employees or destroying environments*; and earning enough to afford breaks and occasionally give advice ehe
This is why I don't work with or use the Job Centre or its affililates, Meta, Amazon, or Google.
Same! There's also the reality that, as more of us divert from Christian normalcy, these guys could literally just be friends. Intimacy is a beautiful, comfortable thing, and it shouldn't necessarily be restricted to the lover/s if the urge to snuggle and kiss is there.
There is the factor of feeling like you're not enough for the person, feeling insignificant, but sometimes the other person feels they need something different, and that's okay. It doesn't mean you're any less important to them.
Love and passion is wonderful and shouldn't be suppressed!*
*with the obvious exceptions involving mental trauma - huge maturity gap, under 18/over 20, close blood relation etc.
Hey, you ever read about the annihilation - sorry, rehabilitation of Americans by the Euro settlers? The ones they called Indian because their complexion is similar to folk from a certain other, already colonised land? This screams 'you're uncivilised and savages if you don't look, talk and quack like us'
The only way to be comfortable in this system is to disadvantage others, step on others' backs. The most ethical way to earn comfort in a greedy capitalist society is to earn, borrow and steal as much money as you can. The moral code of a thief stands: Steal only from the rich.
Of course we did bro, AI (or at least, the current use of the term) is here and no multinational conglomerate gives a fuck about the environment any more
This. Why pay £6/m when, with self-hosting a Samba/NFS/NextCloud instance, I pay a fraction of the corporate cost.
Currently I'm paying ~£15/m as my server now has a GPU for better streaming and local assistant purposes. It uses ~80W. Without the GPU I was paying ~£4.50/m, which gets me:
Imagine the cost of outsourcing all these services for unlimited access, unlimited* storage, unlimited e-mailboxes, and complete independence** from outside influence. I know I'd be paying £8/m to Google for their 2TB media storage plan alone.
*Limited by the drives you can afford**Relying only on the developers of the softwareIt cost approx. £200 for the base parts, £200 for the GPU and £900 for the hard drives. A valuable investment.
I've worked out that I've had the server running for 3 years. If I take into account the money I have saved by not paying Google £8/m, I've saved £40/year. If I account for Netflix £25/m, I've completely covered the £900 I spent on storage. Disney+ £15/m takes me well over the remaining hardware costs. The media I own is far less than that offered by streamers but it's everything I can need for the next 20 years+. I've counted. Every other service is just a bonus.