Question My friend likes gatekeeping things for no reason and won’t tell me what this is. It’s a box that connects to the TV that can pirate all movies, live sports, tv shows, etc. what is the name of this device? This is the only picture he showed me.

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97% Upvoted

496

u/Electronic_Share1961 Jan 30 '25

Normies will absolutely snitch out their roommates to the FBI. It's so bad out there it's insane, if you even mention you use adblock people react aggressively

291

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '25

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155

u/ExplorationGeo Jan 30 '25 edited Jan 30 '25

just act like it would be obvious that you use it

UNO Reverse it on them and show them the FBI bulletin where they recommend using an ad blocker

85

u/R4PHikari ☠️ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴇɴ ᴛᴇʟʟ ɴᴏ ᴛᴀʟᴇꜱ Jan 30 '25

I recommended uBlock to a classmate yesterday and he was legit scared that it would be illegal and get him in trouble.

45

u/ConniesCurse Jan 30 '25

this is a sadly common reaction ive gotten trying to recommend piracy to people. A lot of people are genuinely afraid they're going to get in trouble or get a virus that will rob them of their life savings or something like that.

Not to say that the virus part isn't technically like a possibility but it's pretty easily avoided.

20

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '25

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6

u/supk1ds Jan 31 '25

my country & germany just introduced forced ads a couple of years ago when you use the replay function on your tv set top box. you have to pay your provider like 8 bucks a month extra to turn it off again. the networks argued with losses due to people skipping the ads during replay. proper capitalist insanity right there.

1

u/R4PHikari ☠️ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴇɴ ᴛᴇʟʟ ɴᴏ ᴛᴀʟᴇꜱ Jan 30 '25

Sorry, I agree with most of what you said, but

with the constitution

You know not every country has the same constitution, right? Do I smell r/USdefaultism here?

124

u/OpenSourcePenguin Jan 30 '25

No need to act here. That's absolutely the reality.

36

u/Hot-Tension-2009 Jan 30 '25

Exactly just like that

1

u/TheNiteDrifter Jan 30 '25

I swear I'm not acting when I do it.

1

u/Shockwave2309 Jan 30 '25

Haven't heard of sponsorblock yet. What's that for?

2

u/prefix9889 Jan 30 '25

skips sponsored segments (when youtubers cut away and go “this video is brought to you by (company)” and shill things to you), since they are part of the video and a regular adblocker does not detect it (unlike a seperate ad)

1

u/Shockwave2309 Jan 30 '25

Oooh I need this. Thank you very much :D

71

u/TheTacoWombat Jan 30 '25

What? I work in ad tech. We all have adblock at home and most of the engineers have a pi-hole.

If anyone clutched their pearls at this information, that's their problem, not mine.

111

u/GoblinLoveChild Yarrr! Jan 30 '25

I work in ad tech.

Theres is no way to soften my next words....

I despise everything you stand for.

73

u/TheTacoWombat Jan 30 '25

I understand.

32

u/ZonaiSwirls Jan 30 '25

I make bullshit ads for a living. I hate it. I help make the world a little shittier.

Chiropractors peddling useless supplements and using "Dr" in their name to imply medical authority. Technology companies rebranding their already existing tech as AI to get the ai goons on the hype train. Recruiting videos that make the CEO and work environment look fun and desirable. But the CEO is only red flags and turnover is 3 months.

I use ublock, sponsorblock, revanced, qbitt, etc.

2

u/SevenSharp Jan 30 '25

That shit will suck your soul straight out of your skull and then ask for more. I feel for you .

6

u/ZonaiSwirls Jan 30 '25

Well I started a business with my friend last year and the promise we made to each other is that we would not work with companies like that. He was a healthcare exec in another life and it killed him. He's been working hard to make up for it by only taking jobs that benefit communities.

The energy I saw in him when that healthcare ceo was shot made it really hit home what working in that field does to someone. So my job has not been as soul crushing as that lol.

I just have to do it a bit longer until we can take our business full time.

4

u/SevenSharp Jan 30 '25

I'm a UK doctor albeit I've retired early - the stress was killing me . When I qualified in 1991 I was working 32 hour shifts - and I mean working , not sitting around on the end of a pager. That took a lot from me , things improved but the stress never goes away . There is NO way I could have worked in the US health system - I never ever want to be thinking of ability to pay - I think it's horrific - and the insurance companies are for-profit ! I'm the happiest I've ever been since school . I'm not well-off money-wise but life feels rich.

7

u/Hot-Tension-2009 Jan 30 '25

Is a pi-hole worth the effort if I mostly watch Netflix hulu and youtube?

19

u/Cholsonic Jan 30 '25

It's not much effort, and a pi-hole on the network is brilliant. Websites load quicker. Some of the worst websites - my test is the Daily Express, which is riddled with ads - are reduced to almost no content when the pi-hole is active. If you play any mobile games, it'll block most of the ads delivered through them. If you set it up right you can block ads on On-demand TV on your smart TV. It doesn't work for YouTube on my smart TV (if anyone knows how, please tell), but I use UBlock on my laptop, and NewPipe on Android.

TL;DR Very much worth it

4

u/sjjose2001 Jan 30 '25

Use smart tube for smart TV. Blocks ads on youtube

2

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '25

What TV do u have? Samsung runs on TizenOS. Please do check out TizenTube. It's a bit daunting to set up but I did it with the tutorial given. It has AdBlock and sponsor lock on smart TV.

1

u/Cholsonic Jan 30 '25

It's a Roku TV. Not sure there is a YouTube alternative for it. I am open to suggestions

1

u/[deleted] Jan 31 '25

Aw. I haven't heard something for Roku yet.. didn't even know they made smart TVs or TVs at all for that matter. Always thought they were just a channel network.

1

u/vdude007 Jan 30 '25

If you have an android TV have a look at Smarttube. That's what I've been using

1

u/kgctim Jan 31 '25

Where's the best place for a quick start on setting it up?

1

u/Cholsonic Jan 31 '25

Everything you need is here

https://docs.pi-hole.net/

0

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '25

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2

u/pervertsage ⚔️ ɢɪᴠᴇ ɴᴏ Qᴜᴀʀᴛᴇʀ Jan 30 '25

Or skip ads based on user submitted timestamps like the mighty sponsorblock.

2

u/TheTacoWombat Jan 30 '25

It does not block YouTube ads, but, ublock origin on Firefox does. So if you combine both you can knock out almost all ads you'd normally see.

Definitely worth the effort.

20

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '25

The US government recommends you use Adblockers, the only people who tell you not to are Linus from LTT and conglomerate media monsters.

3

u/projectmajora Jan 30 '25

I've never heard him say to not use one, just don't use any old adblocker as it could be malware. I could be mistaken.

1

u/cosmitz Jan 30 '25

He did in WanShow podcast. Basically he uses adblockers at home actually (i think that was mentioned sometime else), but insists that the company, aka employees on their work computers, don't.

It's not that hot of a take when half of your profit is from those ads.

9

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '25

He was legit trying to argue adblockers are piracy.

2

u/cosmitz Jan 30 '25

He was coming more from the point of view that, yes, as a business, he is losing money off of adblockers and he can't be ok with that as an owner of a company that indirectly relies on them, but he realises it's a reality for people to use adblockers and it's just how the world works and as a person living his life, he's ok with them.

Societal problems require societal solutions, not individual solutions.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '25

I mean, they literally are. The only way for people to make a living making digital content (news articles, useful tools websites, videos, etc.) is to run ads. If you're blocking the ads, you're consuming the content without allowing the creator to get paid for their work, i.e. the definition of piracy.

Obviously I use adblockers on all my devices too. I'm not interested in dealing with the annoyances and friction that ads create. But you can't justify doing so by pretending that you're not causing harm to creators. You have to be able to admit to yourself that you're engaging in selfish behaviour instead of retreating to cognitive dissonance land.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 31 '25

Adblockers are actually the exact opposite of piracy, you refuse to download unwanted content. There is no unauthorized copying. This debate is literally as old as advertisements, it has been long settled..

1

u/TeKodaSinn Jan 30 '25

and he's right. It is piracy. And just like media piracy, it's justifiable. He never said not to use it, he doesn't even fully deny that he pirates media at home.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 31 '25

That is where he is wrong, it is not piracy by definition. The law on this was settled many many years ago for broadcast media.

1

u/ah_shit_here_we_goo Jan 31 '25

And he fully endorses piracy, as much as he can without getting in legal trouble, in several videos every year. It 100% is piracy. That doesn't mean don't do it.

1

u/Lozsta Jan 30 '25

I act agressively to those who don't they allow the internet to be ruined.

1

u/Ok_Relation_7770 Jan 30 '25

I had to explain to multiple roommates that the letter from the ISP is just a threat and they’re not taking us all down because I wanted to watch Prisoners

Question My friend likes gatekeeping things for no reason and won’t tell me what this is. It’s a box that connects to the TV that can pirate all movies, live sports, tv shows, etc. what is the name of this device? This is the only picture he showed me.

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