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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 15th, 2023

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  • Lessons learned when switching:

    Some things I didn’t expect just work differently on Linux and it took time to figure out those differences. For instance, a change to a network interface config on Windows usually takes effect when you hit the “OK” button. Linux requires toggling the interface for that change to take effect. That one took me a couple of frustrating hours to figure out. There are lots of other examples like this so keep it in mind if things aren’t working as you expect.

    Trying to do absolutely everything on Linux right away was a mistake. I started switching back to Windows for quick tasks and then learning how to do those tasks on Linux when I could spend a few minutes figuring them out. Over time I spent more and more time running Linux and one day realized I hadn’t started Windows in months.

    In addition to (or instead of) dual booting, create a virtual machine to allow you to use what you need in either OS without rebooting.

    Lastly, if you find that you’re spending a lot of time fixing OS problems don’t be afraid to try something else. Haven’t spent much time with Fedora, but I use Mint daily because I don’t have to fuss with the OS much. Others in my household have more problems with Windows 11.




  • One of the primary reasons Medicare Advantage has become popular is the sales commissions are MUCH HIGHER than for Medigap plans. Those commissions don’t end after the first year either, they continue to be paid as long as the policy is held and that commission structure leads sales people to actively lie about Medicare Advantage vs. Medigap. Those increased commissions can easily add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars extra pay in just a few years for pushing MA.

    People are told if they don’t like their MA plan they can just switch to Medigap at a future date but that’s a outright lie. The truth is that after the initial 6 month open enrollment period, the vast majority of people can never switch to a Medigap plan and are stuck with Medicare Advantage and its long list of disadvantages for the rest of their lives. Even the most minor of health conditions (such as medication controlled hypertension) can be used a pretext to deny coverage or substantially jack up Medigap rates.

    Another common lie is that you can always go to any in-network MA doctor or medical center anywhere in the country. Again not true. In most places people are limited by specific geographic area except for occasional visits to medical providers other areas. If you have a world class medical center and doctors outside your coverage area you want to see too bad - computer says no. No one in customer service or sales will mention that. You have to read the 200+ page policy’s fine print or you would never know.

    If you or a loved one are approaching Medicare age be very, very careful before choosing Medicare Advantage over Medigap, despite how tempting it may look.






  • Adguard Home is a Pi-Hole competitor. They work fine for ad servers, but the content I was trying to reduce couldn’t be blocked that way or the TV’s wouldn’t work. Menu changes were being loaded while the set was off and Roku was inserting some ad content along with menu changes.

    To my surprise this setup has reduced menu additions and ads to almost nothing. It seems that these menus aren’t updated when my TV’s are actually in use and that’s now the only time they can connect to the Internet.


  • spaghettiwesterntohomeassistant@lemmy.worldHA Doorbell
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    13 days ago

    Dahua (professional side of Amcrest) still sells their video doorbell through B&H Photo. According to a Q&A answer on the site it will power a wired chime.

    I have another wifi Dahua camera (also bought from B&H) and have been really impressed with it. It’s used with Frigate and Home Assistant. Be aware that B&H offers their own warranty for Dahua products. I looked at the fine print before my purchase and felt it was reasonable.

    EmpireTech sells rebranded Dahua products and they have a different model. The seller gets great reviews on ipcamtalk.com. Detailed user reviews here. EmpireTech also sells through Amazon.


  • My TV continues to chatter to random servers on the internet long after it has turned off. It transmits to a telemetry server on every single button press.

    What’s even more irritating to me are the random changes to the TV’s UI. Turn it off for a while and I come back to an entire new set of menu entries and ads!

    Home Assistant, OpenWRT and Adguard Home mostly fix those problems.

    When my TVs are powered off a Home Assistant automation enables a couple of OpenWRT firewall rules. Those rules block all TV Internet access. When the TVs are powered on the firewall rules are automatically disabled and the TVs work normally. That along with Adguard Home’s blocking of all UI ads makes my TVs almost user friendly.