Coffee is also a seed, not a bean.

I have setup and run what are basically HTPC’s for decades now. Kodi running on a Debian based Linux distribution or just Debian is a solid recommendation and has lots of support for infrared remotes, but kodi can be very fiddly to setup properly. It will work, but don’t expect it to work “out of the box”. You’ll probably still need a mouse and keyboard for anything outside Kodi. You’ll have to read a bunch of documentation and do some customizing to get the most out of Kodi. It’s still easier than most other setups, but it will feel very frustrating if it’s your introduction to Linux too.

I’ve moved to using my HTPC primarily as a server. Once you get comfortable with linux and docker, setting up new server services like Jellyfish, Plex, and and *ARR stack is relatively trivial. The advantage here being that you can serve your media to any device that can connect to your server. For me that means one library of media to share with any TV in my house, any mobile device I own, and any friends and family computer savvy enough to download the right apps and setup an account. If your network (and your Internet connection) isn’t reliable this kind of setup may not work very well for you at all. For example, Plex account authentication will fail is you don’t have Internet. Jellyfin and Kodi fair better when Internet is only available occasionally or is unreliable.

My least favorite part of using Kodi was setting up the remote. Even worse was trying to configure controllers for retro gaming. The situation is MUCH better than it was, but is still far from easy. I was kind of able to side step the remote problem because now I can just use the remote for the TV (if it supports the Plex or Jellyfin apps) or another streaming stick like fire stick, Nvidia shield, or Roku. My Nvidia shield can pair with any Bluetooth controller and runs RetroArch so that problem was side stepped too. ROMs can be copied via samba shares or loaded directly by a USB drive.

TLDR: Kodi has built-in support for IR, but streaming sticks are cheap, and in the long run I found setting up a server was more versatile, more reliable, and less stressful. I know, I also hate it when people ask for a specific solution and others recommend asking a different question. But in this case, my experience is that IR remotes suck, are flaky, and not worth it if there is any other option.

Do you mind sharing what brand retail UPS weren’t lasting a year?

I’m dealing with similar brownouts and also an area with lots of lightning. I got about 5 years out of my UPS batteries. Wondering if I’ve just been lucky.

“Step-sister-wife, help me I’m stuck.”

Funny. This is the same video I show to my friends to help them pronounce guanábana correctly.

You probably know this and were referring to gummies or something, but it needs to be said that smoking is not advised after a tooth extraction or pretty much any dental work. Not a great idea before hand either as the weed (in any form) can make the drugs that the dentist gives you less effective and coming down from a large dose of those can be a worse pain than the stitches in your mouth.

Try gaffer tape instead. It blocks all the light. It doesn’t reflect much light at all. It generally sticks to anything. You can get it in a variety of colors. It doesn’t leave as much sticky residue when removed or repositioned. I’ve not encountered many surfaces (expect painted surfaces) that it actually damages when carefully removed. I use black gaffer tape on basically all my electronic stuff: one strip to cover the whole light, two strips a razor’s edge width apart so that I can still see the indicator if I try but otherwise 99.9% of the light is blocked, or a strip with a folded over tab at one end for the displays I want to block %100 of the light %90 of the time.

Duct tape, duck tape, electrical tape, masking tape all really suck unless you love that sticky gunky residue they inevitably leave on everything. Gaffer tape isn’t perfect, but it’s much better for this kind of semi-temporary light blocking without too much surface damage kind of job.

Don Glover

This is like a Far Side comic in that I’m sure it’s actually funny, but I have no idea why.

“Sensors” sounds like a magical solution that hasn’t been thought through, but the marketing guys already sold it and won’t listen to the engineers explaining how difficult it is to actually build such a thing.

Likely more than just removed. I’m pretty sure that I left one too many scathing reviews of products that were defective by design or outright frauds, now I can’t leave any reviews.

Why bother telling retailers how to package them? Just hold the card companies financially responsible for the theft/scams and force them to honor what the customer paid for in the store. I’m sure the card companies will figure out on their own how to stop the thefts and scams, once they are actually responsible for the money.

I feel your pain.

I edit the URL to remove the first part of the URL and replace it with “http://old.reddit.com”. That still seems to work, last I checked, but I fully expect it to be killed any day now.

Use it. It’s a word. Stop being a fucking troll.

New words are still real words, even if you can’t find it in an internet search. Don’t lie to me and tell me you didn’t immediately understand that word without needing the definition (because it’s just such a damn near universal feeling, not every concept has a word YET in English, wild I know). That immediate reaction to a group of letters seems more real to me than your research skills. Words are more than artefacts to dig up and analyze. A fucking wild amount of our English language is informed by some playwright(s?) just making up words and phrases. Words are magic and this is a hill I will die on.

Lol, “not a real word”? They are right there in front of you in print with a definition and being used. That’s literally all it takes to be a real word.

You, your grade school vocabulary, and your abridged dictionary aren’t gatekeepers of the lexicon. Dictionaries describe the words people use. Dictionaries absolutely do not prescribe what are real words and which are made up, unless you’re French (but even that is a lie). ALL WORDS ARE MADE UP.

Not a real word? Fucking hilarious.

If they were really interested in fair competition, they’d have everyone compete in the nude as the greek Gods intended.

They’re not exactly high tech, but my wool blend socks have treated my feet just fine through many hot and often wet miles of wear. They’re pretty frictionless inside my boot, they keep my feet from feeling wet even when soaked with sweat, and I don’t think I’ve gotten a single blister since I made the switch. And only because you asked “where do I buy?”, the Kirkland brand wool blend ones are my favorite.

Yes, and you’d open that flap downwards I presume because it’s generally safer to let gravity pull your vinyl out of the sleeve than reaching your dirty hands in there to distort the package and dirty up the vinyl.

I mean come on. Are you fucking with me? Wikipedia, Musicbrainz.org, Discord, and allmusic.com all have the mountain at the bottom.

Is posting upside-down album covers a new meme? I fully embrace making it one.