Another shout for Homebox. I used to use a spreadsheet but over time found I simply didn’t maintain it but I’ve found I always maintain Homebox.

Homebox allows parent/child relationship between items & exports to spreadsheet.

I dont utilise the QR code facility because my family members would not bother to use QR codes. Instead I’ve numbered all boxes in each location (attic, garage, basement etc), printed contents of each box & put the printout into physical folders left in each location so even the most Luddite in my family can easily locate stuff then, in theory, remember where they took it from & if the stars align & its my luck day, put the item back in the same box that they removed said item from. When that happens I always check my lottery numbers too!

They can’t filter/search a physical printout but at least they can find stuff (I guess I should simply add a QR code to each printout for a best of both worlds solution).

Overall I’ve found Homebox a useful, simple & fun tool

A close friend sells a product on eBay. A product most households have & my friend collects when it’s no longer wanted which is cleaned, sorted & resold. Has now left 9-5 job to run it as a business.

This friend is exceptional at exploiting niches & will likely become amongst leading sellers of this type (is well on the way already having done it before with a particular collectible). Interestingly, reading through the suggestions here, previously collected & sold scrap before pivoting.

I’m very proud of them!

For me it’s the first thing i learned how to self host: Nextcloud …which in turn allows me to sync Joplin notes, which I use constantly

People allow their TV to connect to the interpipes? Tut tut, I thought y’all were better than that!

My other half has new Ultra, I have an older Ultra model. Stuff i find invaluable that she hasn’t used once:

• S Pen
• Modes & Routines
• Secure folder
• DeX (to a lesser degree than the above)

I try to use my phone as a Swiss army knife. Stuff I rely on that most normal users likely dont realise their phone can do:

• Using Kodi the phone becomes fully fledged mobile media player. Great for vacations in case of poor weather (in conjunction with HDMI lead, controller/wireless keyboard)
• OsmAnd navigation has an offline Wikipedia plugin. I set up a shortcut in it so i can display/hide all wiki entries nearby. Brilliant when on vacation
• All my main apps will work offline in case of data outage: navigation, notes, password manager, books, music, podcasts, media etc etc
• Password manager has more uses than simply handling passwords
• Playing video sites in the background …with a timer if desired
• Browser with uBlock “etc”
• Manipulation of .pdf files
• A good launcher. Mine is always set up the same regardless of device - I can access any app within 2 swipes & 2 taps
• A good car dock
• Most don’t realise that a simple DNS entry can help reduce the amount of ads they see
• All manner of nerdy tech shit to interact with stuff on my network. No normal human needs to know that this usage factor exists

And most importantly …using the camera in landscape so images/video can be viewed properly on a TV or monitor. And not using digital zoom in the dark to record an entire concert from row Q

mobile Chromium doesn’t have ublock anyway…

Kiwi browser on Android is Chromium based & has had the ability to add extensions such as uBlock for years

Late to the party but just another vote for Nextcloud. I used a paid subscription initially but then took the plunge, bought a Pi 4 & SSD for storage then read up & figured out how to self host.

It was my first experience with Linux, I fell over many times but dont give in as after all the hair pulling & teeth grinding it becomes rewarding & even a little “fun” when you get there & then become confident enough to take on & complete further Pi projects.

The Pi can handle Libre Office (synced through Nextcloud, handled on mobile by Collabora Office).

Whilst you’re at it, why not sync the notes you’ll inevitability make on your self hosting journey through your Nextcloud instance? Try Joplin & do away with Google Docs, Evernote etc into the bargain

Like others I used Liftoff but had to move on when API broke it & dev is getting on with real life stuff.

Moved to Voyager. It’s good but as an android I still find it a bit strange using what looks like iOS interface. I still get a bit lost when uploading a post & usually have to edit it a few times. No biggie, maybe I should post more & get used it it 😃

I still miss the Joey app from the other place.

I tend to go with Panasonic because they make excellent panels. Mine doesnt have ads anywhere in the UI & doesnt have a camera or mic. Our set was originally released in 2021 & still looks great. The menus aren’t great but once its set up we never use them, its turned on/off & thats it. Never connect it to the net. Ours is connected to HTPC & amp

An alternative would be to get a monitor & connect USB TV tuner to your media PC/HTPC

Nothing sophisticated, I just have a note for videos. The note has headings (use the [toc] trick at the top of the note to jump directly to the headings without having to scroll through everything)

You could categorise video links by genre or whatever your preference. I chose to categorise by length, say up 10 minutes, 11 to 20 minutes, 20 to 30 minutes & so on. So i set up appropriate headings.

Thats it. I also set up a heading for “Audio” as some videos are essentially podcasts, audio based talks etc & Kiwi browser allows background play.

Its a few extra steps over tapping “save for later” in YouTube app but it takes seconds to copy title, copy url & paste into a note & it caters for videos from any source. To remove myself from the shitty algorithm it works for me

deleted by creator

My method for android & desktop. I never sign in to YouTube & never use the app. Using Joplin synced through Nextcloud (any syncable note taking app would do the trick) I keep a list of channels (“subscriptions”) & interesting looking videos (“watch later”) which I group by length. Obviously, this way the links can be via Piped, YouTube whatever.

I only ever interract through browser which is never signed in. Kiwi browser on Android, Firefox or Brave on desktop. All of them run uBlock + SponsorBlock + DeArrow.

DeArrow is by the same dev/s as SponsorBlock & gives anti clickbait crowd sourced titles & thumbs. Its become an invaluable tool so I’m glad to have paid to offer some support.

All of the browsers have history/cookies etc cleared once closed.

Voyager searches posts & communities. Looks like an iOS app (not surprising given its lineage) which a few months in is still taking some getting used to but its been a good replacement for the no longer developed Liftoff. Definitely worth trying

Voyager (F-Droid)

Voyager - Github

Gilbert O’Sullivan - Alone Again must rank amongst the saddest & also most beautiful

I dunno if TV is dead per se as we all enjoy watching shows/movies. Not really interested in gimmicks - we only have 4K as all new TV’s are 4K & we only got it because our previous TV failed & they can no longer be repaired.

All i want is a good quality dumb screen. You can stick all your smart features where the sun dont shine, I’ll handle everything via a separate box that I control thank you. I’ll not be at the mercy of your shitty EULA, you won’t monitor my viewing habits or force ads into the UI or remove your dogshit apps without warning. Our TV has never been online, HTPC with a couple of USB TV tuners, uBlock Origin, an interface of my choosing, remote control & lots of storage handles everything. Still perfectly happy watching SD stuff, the only 4K we watch is YouTube.

I never had any issues before with cheap HDMI leads over a short distance, so just to throw something else into the mix for consideration - 4k & cable length. My scenario was getting 4K picture on TV from HTPC (home theatre PC, a PC based media player) via a Dolby Atmos compatible amp. Cable length approx 10m.

Standard HDMI cables tend to be labelled as “HDMI 2.0/a/b compatible for 4k at 60Hz”. I bought several of these cables & had same issues with all of them - they would not display image on TV (though mysteriously they displayed an image if a games console was used rather than the HTPC). They sell them in all kinds of lengths but in my experience they dont work beyond about 5m.

Close to giving in, I bought a 10m “active” HDMI optical lead which is directional - one end is labelled source & the other end labelled display.

First one I bought worked perfectly.

Another vote for Voyager which caters for blocking of keywords. And thanks to whoever posted the US politics block list. Can’t upvote as I can no longer see their post.

This is what I do (assuming OP is on Android?).

You could use Github & Obtainium rather than F-Droid (faster updates for when the Muskrat dicks about with Twitter api again).

Or Mastodon. I like Megalodon

The days before everything became enshittiffied, before 6 or 7 giant corps took over, the days before social media became a cesspit of slanging matches & false lifestyles, the days when search engines worked & displayed what you searched for not what they think you want to see, the days before shitty algorithms clogged your feeds up endlessly with shit that you searched for once during a conversation you had with someone at work, the days where news sites showed news headlines not bullshit clickbait lies, the days before evil corps tracked every move you make, the days before you were forced to have a shitty app for everything.

The days when going online was fun & interesting. I hope Lemmy continues to bring back some of that fun!

Kiwi browser (Brave & Firefox on desktop) with: uBlock Origin, Sponsorblock, DeArrow (fights YouTube clickbait thumbs & titles, same dev team as Sponsorblock), Violentmonkey with a few scripts: Google Shut Up, Search cookie auto reject