I figured this may lead to an interesting discussion in the comments.
How has your use of Technology changed in the past year? I'll start.
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Due to the rise of streaming services and Sony/discovery removing content from libraries, I downloaded all my iTunes purchases onto a 2TB SSD (which I'll soon need to get another).
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Like many, I've stopped using Reddit outside of Google search.
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I've reduced my subscriptions to just two. (Apple One and Google One)
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I've purchased DVDs/Blu rays of my favorite uncensored shows (Family Guy and American Dad) and ripped them and watch them through Cloud storage (Google Drive via Infuse for Apple platforms, and Kodi for Windows)(I've also purchased MakeMKV just because it is so damn useful)
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I've used Google App Scripts to bypass some Gmail limitations to make filters that I otherwise couldn't. For instance, in Outlook.com, you can block email addresses and domains before you have ever gotten an email from them. In Gmail, you can't. The best you can do is create a filter that deletes them. In my case, I've created a Google App Script that runs every hour and looks for (@.mil) domain emails and marks them as spam. (I am in college, and I fucking hate that they give my email to recruiters.)
I finally overhauled my home server. I built a 12TB storage and media server using a few parts from the old server but am running it on Linux using docker rather than my old gaming PC's windows 7 install. Should be much better for security and easier to upgrade or move.
Paid for PlexPass finally since hardware transcoding is locked behind the paywall.
Dropped Netflix after over a decade of using it regularly because the prices went up and I had been using it less.
Have used ChatGPT for help planning trips and developing goals and plans at home. I was restricted from using it or anything like it at work so I haven't been able to properly use it to my advantage much.
Finally upgraded my router to WiFi 6 and my Internet bandwidth to gigabit from 250 mbps. It's refreshing! Probably the best decision I made in 2023.
Dropped reddit (to include blocking the domain on my pihole). I still waste time but less of it is on social media.
I was wondering if you ever tried jellyfin, since you mentioned paying for plex.
I haven't tried Jellyfin yet mostly because I rely heavily on the native Plex apps for my TVs and phones. Outside network streaming without having to set up a proxy or VPN is another big reason.
I haven't liked the direction Plex has been going for a while, but it's hard to beat the convenience.
Similar to you I built a home server and got all the networking done in the house and started self hosting as much stuff as I can which is what got me interested in lemmy, got a ai chat docker installed but wasn't that useful on its own
Nice setup + great Wi-Fi for steaming, downloading, etc. congrats!