VerbTELEVISIONS ARE JUST SCREENS
they dont need to be smart
make them dumb
make everything dumb immediately
they dont need to be smart
make them dumb
make everything dumb immediately
Mister Moo 🐮@SarraceniaWilds I've never allowed a television to connect to the internet and I never will.
Dan GoodinSo y'all do without streaming then? What do you watch?
The 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus@dangoodin @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds DVDs and Blu-Rays, VHS tapes and LaserDiscs. Or build a Plex or Jellyfin server and make a Kodi or OSMC box, connect the two, and build your own library.
Need media? Reject modernity; embrace tradition! 
@LambdaCalculus @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds
So many things wrong with what y'all are advising:
Do you use debit cards? if so, marketers are scooping up tons more data than from your purchases than they are from streaming.
Telling folks that the only way they can be safe on online is to do with without major platforms that provide tons more viewing choices is not a good way to go. It makes security unnecessarily hard and depriving.
There was a time when DVDs and completely booked the traditional means. Shaming people for using smart TVs is unnecessarily alarmist and not at all constructive.
Kartik Agaram@dangoodin It's _using_ smart TVs that makes security hard. For example: https://consumerist.com/2017/01/06/ransomware-spreading-onto-smart-tvs-is-a-pain-to-fix
It's _responsible_ to educate people about the unanticipated and potentially severe consequences of their buying decisions. Particularly _before_ they make smart TVs a part of their habits/lives.
As a programmer, we've already let computers too far into our lives. It seems worth at least fighting a rearguard action against the parts we can still control.
@akkartik @LambdaCalculus @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds
It's perfectly safe to connect name-brand TVs to the internet and stream. There's no more risk from that than pirating the movie and watching it on your home network. There's no more risk than connecting a Roku to the internet. Just make sure you take 2 minutes to follow the guidelines here. It's irresponsible to tell people otherwise.
@dangoodin I don't understand why you're repeating yourself. Your link discusses privacy, not security.
You'll also need to elaborate on how pirating a movie is a security risk.
I've never used Roku. I do use first-gen chromecast. But I get to turn it on and off, and I will toss it at the first sign of malfeasance. Easier than tossing a TV. I have leverage.
Telling me I'm irresponsible, jeez, I left Twitter to avoid unjustified rhetoric.
@akkartik @LambdaCalculus @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds
There is no data I'm aware of that shows that streaming Netflix, Hulu, et al. is safer with a PC than with a smartTV.
Playing movies, especially pirated ones, downloaded from the internet runs the risk you're going to get a trojan.
2. I can teach my $non_techsavvy_relative to check file extensions before clicking on them.
1. I guess I need to repeat myself now. Check out my link above. TVs and other consumer IoT devices don't get patched as frequently as computers. They also historically don't take security as seriously.
I'd listen to an argument that things have improved. It's possible it's only rain now. But don't tell me nobody's ever pissed on me before.
Bob K Mertz 
@dangoodin
It's called digital fingerprinting. In the same way Shazam can tell you what song you are listening to your TV can identify what media you are watching by tracking only small sections of the screen at spaced out intervals. It's not about just Netflix, Hulu, etc.... It's that every single thing you watch your TV can fingerprint and phone home with.
@akkartik @LambdaCalculus @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds
It's called digital fingerprinting. In the same way Shazam can tell you what song you are listening to your TV can identify what media you are watching by tracking only small sections of the screen at spaced out intervals. It's not about just Netflix, Hulu, etc.... It's that every single thing you watch your TV can fingerprint and phone home with.
@akkartik @LambdaCalculus @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds
Darwin Woodka@akkartik @dangoodin @LambdaCalculus @MisterMoo @SarraceniaWilds
oh you'll find plenty of reply guys here as well