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Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

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Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see. Pre-Covid I used to have my phone with me more often, with the whole WFH situation I don't really see a reason to use it since I have other devices in my home that give me a better experience (larger screen, physical keyboard, good speakers etc).

I treat my phone like I do Google. Every day I try to be a bit less dependent on it. I usually don't know where my phone is, physically, and only use it for banking and car navigation. I use WhatsApp through the web interface. I dream of a world without smartphones.

yeah I am like you, I even tried a PinePhone because I hate the current mobile OSes so much. (Unfortunately PinePhone is not 100% ready to be a daily driver though). Then COVID came, I haven't commuted for 2 years now and I stopped caring about phones. I carry my phone only in the weekend and only if I'm out, not if I'm e.g. bbq-ing at home.

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#412
post #395
post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> TV: just don't buy an actual TV. Buy a monitor and hook it up to a Linux box with something like Kodi. I simply bought a non-smart TV. I just made sure it had a number of HDMI ports. I plug my various media sources into the HDMI ports. A "smart" TV must be the most un-smart TV possible - you're stuck with whatever's there. The "smart" part (say, a Pi or a Chromecast or both) must be detached from the display device…

the problem is, non-smart-TVs are twice as expensive. you can buy a smart tv and never connect it to the internet, though.

That may be changing, but when I bought my 49" non-smart TV a few years back it was quite a bit cheaper than the same-size smart TVs. It wasn't that long ago, but a quick check at the same shop shows only "smart" (read: stupid) TVs. Unfortunately. As the price for the non-smart TV I bought was lower than the equivalent "smart" version I believe we'll be paying for a feature we don't need.

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#413
post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> TV: just don't buy an actual TV. Buy a monitor and hook it up to a Linux box with something like Kodi. You can hook up your cable box if you have that or stream from Netflix and such. Sure, even Netflix makes it hard as you can't get 5.1 surround but I'll take that and 2.0 -> 5.1 upmix over buying a Smart TV any day! I've looked into this, but this option is really not great, either: - Large Monitors are unavailabl…

Quoted post unavailable.

I'm a software engineer because I love technology.

Your opinion is fine don't get me wrong but my 4k 55" OLED tv is really really impressive.

It's a marvelous picture.

My DSLR images look brilliant on it, games do as well, HDR is surprising ly nice as well.

We watch most tv shows still on a 10 year old 720p beamer due to image size. 110" is still more immersive than 55". But I do expect being able to buy 110" 4k in a few years either through a more affordable 4k projector or by microled panels.

I can't follow your 4k = full of propaganda Point. Not sure what you mean by it.

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#414
post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly why I personally try to stay away from as many of these things/devices as I can reasonably do. TV: just don't buy an actual TV. Buy a monitor and hook it up to a Linux box with something like Kodi. You can hook up your cable box if you have that or stream from Netflix and such. Sure, even Netflix makes it hard as you can't get 5.1 surround but I'll take that and 2.0 -> 5.1 upmix over buying a Smart TV…

> TV: just don't buy an actual TV. Buy a monitor and hook it up to a Linux box with something like Kodi. I simply bought a non-smart TV. I just made sure it had a number of HDMI ports. I plug my various media sources into the HDMI ports. A "smart" TV must be the most un-smart TV possible - you're stuck with whatever's there. The "smart" part (say, a Pi or a Chromecast or both) must be detached from the display device…

Argh, a typo there.. read "pulled the plug" (too late to edit post)

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#415
post #395
post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> TV: just don't buy an actual TV. Buy a monitor and hook it up to a Linux box with something like Kodi. I simply bought a non-smart TV. I just made sure it had a number of HDMI ports. I plug my various media sources into the HDMI ports. A "smart" TV must be the most un-smart TV possible - you're stuck with whatever's there. The "smart" part (say, a Pi or a Chromecast or both) must be detached from the display device…

the problem is, non-smart-TVs are twice as expensive. you can buy a smart tv and never connect it to the internet, though.

Smart TVs are equally expensive, you just pay with your sanity and data instead of bucks.

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#416
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I tend to stay away from so-called 'smart' devices I tried several alternatives in terms of smart TV (Apple TV, Google/Android TV, Fire TV), and I could not find any platform that let me use all of the apps that I needed without resorting to casting from my phone. And in some cases there was a long process to follow in order to get the device to do what I needed[1], which involved activating developer mode, sideloa…

> without resorting to casting from my phone I am curious, why is that undesirable for you? I'm assuming there's something more than lack of individual app support for casting.

> I am curious, why is that undesirable for you?

Casting from a phone is a terrible experience. I want to sit down on the couch, mash some remote buttons and watch something. I don't want to find a phone to cast from. Whose phone would we use? Mine, my wifes, my relatives who are over? What if they want to change the program? Now they are figuring out all the casting business? No, pick up the remote and use it like normal.

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely. TV updates are another thing. They change things with abandon and you can't revoke the updates. Sometimes they break stuff and then you have to pray and wait until they hopefully fix them at their leisure. IMO, it should be illegal to issue unrevokable updates so you can't get a product to have identical features as it did at the time of purchase. You should always be able to wipe it back to stock. Same w…

That's exactly why I personally try to stay away from as many of these things/devices as I can reasonably do. TV: just don't buy an actual TV. Buy a monitor and hook it up to a Linux box with something like Kodi. You can hook up your cable box if you have that or stream from Netflix and such. Sure, even Netflix makes it hard as you can't get 5.1 surround but I'll take that and 2.0 -> 5.1 upmix over buying a Smart TV…

What is the gps app? Give it a shout-out.

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I own a concept 2. I have 4.6 million meters on it. I watch programming videos in Spanish while I workout(To learn Spanish). This is my "Smart Workout Machine". https://imgur.com/a/HDE0939

Can you share some YouTube channel recommendations para practicar español

Mainly I am using LinkedIn Learning right now, it's what my company is paying for right now. Learning platforms like that let you search by language and closed captioning sometimes, then LinkedIn let's me share that to my "activity feed" and "certifications".

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Government should mandate the ability to downgrade the software to versions that were previously available on said hardware. I’ve had so many issues with Apple devices losing compatibility with obscure features on apps after updating iOS, I wish I could go back occasionally to accomplish some task, and then upgrade again when finished. The flexibility is valuable. For example, on the newest iPad Pro, iMovie is unusab…

>Government should mandate the ability to downgrade the software to versions that were previously available on said hardware. What about devices that are connected to the internet and need security patches? As a software engineer can you imagine supporting every version of your software you ever released? Sounds like a nighmare.

I wouldn’t expect support for old versions, just the ability to download and install knowing that a downgrade by definition removes some fixes (and possibly restores something of interest).

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#420
post #254

"NordicTrack says it supports right-to-repair rules. However, because of its equipment’s moving parts, the spokesperson says, it believes that restricting access to its operating system is important for safety. " The real reason they don't want people using other apps or watching third party videos is because anyone doing that is not spending money on iFit. Or, at least, not as much as they could be. NordicTrack like…

Do they not want to enable access to god mode because you can tinker with the treadmill parameters and do unsafe things or because they think Netflix will somehow break the treadmill?

If it's the former, then they should keep god mode for treadmill service operations inaccessible but also allow loading apps like Netflix and Hulu. I'd wager that streaming apps are what most of the people using god mode want.

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