I use Shotcut. I only use basic features like cutting and stitching, but it’s never let me down.

When those with empathy rule the world, and there are systems in place to stop the people without empathy from hurting others.

Do you think you could make an automatic warranty claim for the door not being strong enough for standard use?

If your device is not quite strong enough, a small spring that’s too weak to open the door on its own could help.

If you access to the side, then a form of lever could provide mechanical advantage (just check what the fulcrum rests on or you might dent something).

If you aren’t concerned with reusability, dynamite is fairly effective at opening doors.

I don’t believe any AI has the ability to do what you’re asking. AI often fails at the simplest of programming tasks, and even when the output runs, it usually has some major flaws.

Even if the AI could do what you want, it would take more effort to find the right prompt than to just do the work, and the prompt would be longer than the resulting YAML code.

You can ask for advice on specific home assistant features, or offer to hire someone to build the interface for you.

My personal recommendation is to just give it a try. Make a few interfaces and automations, and try downloading and modifying other publicly accessible interfaces and automations until you’re happy with them. The YAML code makes it easy to copy other people’s work, and the non-YAML UI makes it relatively easy to try things without programming knowledge.

Hello World

It was the best option at the time, and I didn’t feel like setting up Windows more than once as I gradually added new software and removed other software.

That particular VM doesn’t get booted very often anymore.

I use it in a VM because it’s better than Windows 10, some programs refuse to run on Linux, and I don’t need to provide the VM with an internet connection.

My actual server is an old laptop and it does not run Windows.

Even my friend who insists that Windows is superior still uses Linux for his gaming server because it’s easier to set up and manage.

I guess this is the last kick I needed to buy a new phone and move away from Google permanently.

If you want really cheap and low power, a Raspberry Pi will do for most tasks.

If you want more processing power, an old Thinkpad laptop is reliable and has a built-in UPS (a laptop battery).

Any desktop computer will give you the customisation and upgradability you want, but you’ll need to decide on each part individually. I don’t have any specific recommendations here.

Clippy never sold your data or demanded a subscription fee for something you already bought. Clippy just tried to help.

The clippy movement is not about clippy as a program, but as an idea that companies need to be held accountable, and that we will hold them accountable.
If a company tries to make a feature a paid subscription after you paid for the product, or releases and update that removes your privacy, we will be watching and we will hold them accountable.

Companies can lie to one person or hide changes from a few people, but they can’t handle all of us. Samsung has already reversed their added subscription fee for a smart TV as a result of community action.

The one good thing is that the AI features are opt in, not opt out.

I’d prefer to have it as an add-on or integration you have to manually install, but I guess I’ll survive with inactive bloatware.

A device was occasionally failing and I wanted to know about it fairly quickly. I didn’t always notice push notifications, so I made my room light cycle through the rainbow. It’s hard to miss.

I bought a Wooting 2 (analog mechanical keyboard) several years ago. It has suffered no visible wear since.

I’d love to try upgrading to the hall effect switches, but the keyboard still works so I can’t really justify it.

I’m happy with it.

Welcome to the club!

I have 3 computer monitors, and one is effectively dedicated to displaying Home Assistant. I started running HA on a Raspberry Pi 2 (not recommend, but possible), and upgraded to an old ThinkPad when adding a few more demanding tasks.

I’ve recently got into self hosting, ad found that HA runs equally well in docker as OS. The output on the laptop is not particularly useful considering you can do just about everything remotely.

Advice: Make backups, save any configuration files you make/change, then just go nuts and tinker with everything.

Almost everything can be done using the GUI (and it’s fairly user friendly), but it’s worth at least knowing how to access the YAML. Copying other people’s code (with permission) is a great way to learn and find new features.

Read the documentation before installing the community store (HACS). Is easy to install, but has a few steps that will keep you troubleshooting for hours if you don’t follow them the first time.
My favourite HACS integration is apexcharts-card. It takes a little learning to get right, but the graphs look really good. I’d be happy to share some tips and examples if you’re interested.

The video showed up in my feed and only watched it because of your recommendation.

The video is so information-dense that I feel like I’ve watched a 10 hour video and been hit by a sledgehammer.

You couldn’t get software this good for any amount of money. I will be using it.

LocalSend for transferring files between devices on a local network.

More self hosting than a program, but Home Assistant has legitimately changed my life. It allows for full home automation run entirely from within your home. The customisation options are effectively as unlimited as programming, while still somewhat holding your hand (unless you go full programming mode).

F-Droid because I hate having ads shoved in my face for daring to use the official installation method for an android app. You may find quite a few apps by smaller development teams or dedicated individuals that suck less than the big apps.

[Lynx](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_(web_browser) web browser. Not particularly usable for most tasks, but simple. Very handy if you accidentally delete your desktop environment and don’t have a second device with internet access.

I had so many problems with my last printer. I was very surprised when the new Brother printer worked out of the box with Linux. I even got it to scan to NAS with minimal effort.

I don’t personally have a regular mouse, but most “gamer” mice have a DPI button.

I have seen several pro gamers use the DPI button on their mouse to rapidly change their precision while playing. I suspect it would take more practice than I’m willing to put in, but they seem to use it to great effect.

That may be technically true, but what’s stopping someone from using the same button on a regular mouse?

A regular mouse can have a large amount of movement with your elbow and very fine control with your wrist. Your thumb on a trackball may have more range or precision than either, but not both combined.

My personal experience is that a trackball mouse is a little less accurate when trying to move a large distance precisely. Perhaps I just need more practice.