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I'm getting happier with my decision to embrace piracy again by the minute. This isn't just true for books. Streaming film/TV is essentially cable TV at this p
by _Algernon_ 4y ago
I'm getting happier with my decision to embrace piracy again by the minute.
This isn't just true for books. Streaming film/TV is essentially cable TV at this point: you either pay out your arse for all streaming services or you have to constantly micromanage different subscriptions. Even if you are happy with the former, there is no way to centrally browse everything so you need 7 different apps.
Not to mention series being removed from streaming platforms because of profit: https://techcrunch.com/2022/12/13/westworld-removed-from-hbo-max https://techcrunch.com/2022/12/13/westworld-removed-from-hbo...
You can't even rely on being able to access the media you want in the future if you do it legally. It's insane.
- majkinetor 4y agoIn the meantime: 1. Rarbg or rutracker to dwn anything in minutes 2. mpv to watch anything in minutes with subtitles and bunch of flexible options that propriatery or FOSS tools like plex can only dream to have 3. enjoy life without commercials ever and hord stuff if you want it and pay for things after the fact For books replace 1. with libgen and 2. with calibre reader. Yes, its 100x easier. Games could be in some cases easier to buy, especially since you realy must test those for viruses and other malcious stuff, not something you should be concerned with multimedia.
- _Algernon_ 4y agoSince I game on Linux, Steam provides enough value since most games with Proton are one-click install. Don't use other stores though.
- the_af 4y agoSteam+Proton is magical these days, I have no problem supporting creators and buying their games. With Steam, GOG and Humble Bundle, it's never been easier to game on Linux. It feels like paradise. In a way, gaming is in much better shape (re: convenience) than streaming TV shows these days. Yes, DRM for online play can be problematic for Proton -- but fuck those games!
- majkinetor 4y agoSteam provides something else too - up to date and patched games for latest systems. Its hard to follow those otherwise. However, I am sure it will turn out to be scam one day and you will lose access to all/most games you bought.
- deckard1 4y agoLutris makes it easy to install GOG and Epic store games as well. Epic has been giving away a lot of games the past year or two, so it's a great option for Linux. Amazon Prime also gives away games that usually redeem on GOG or other stores. Great time to be a patient gamer. I have a huge, 100% legal collection of games that were all free thanks to these stores competing to build up their reputation.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- helloworld11 4y agois rutracker relatively secure for torrent downloads?
- ndsipa_pomu 4y agoIf you're downloading tv or books, then you should be okay as you won't be executing anything. I wouldn't trust software pirated from there (or other places).
- bogomipz 4y agoAre books and video generally low probability as attack vectors then? Are PDFs harder to exploit?
- majkinetor 4y agoOfcourse they are. Majority of that stuff isn't executable, or if it is, it relies on exploits of viewers, so by using something else you are probably safe. Also, there are sandboxes if you are unsure and you can convert to safer formats. Anyway, I yet have to meet somebody that was fucked up this way, I guess there are numerious easier options. Its way more probably that your country will hunt you, if you live in that lame country in which case VPN is a thing :)
- layer8 4y agoAdobe Acrobat (Reader) opens PDFs from download locations in “Protected View” by default, which disables potentially dangerous dynamic features, and also by default opens all PDFs in a “Protected Mode” sandbox which restricts otherwise possible system access. You want to make sure that those are active. I believe that’s on Windows only, not sure what the implications are on other systems. Without those restrictions, PDFs can execute embedded JavaScript on open, which can access and execute local files.
- auggierose 4y agoPreview on a Mac doesn't execute JavaScript in PDFs. To make sure you are not spreading anything to anyone, open the PDF in Preview and print it.
- bogomipz 4y agoRegarding 2, what is MPV here?
- _Algernon_ 4y agoProbably this: https://mpv.io/ https://mpv.io/
- majkinetor 4y agoOr, use SMPlayer, the nice x-platform frontend: https://www.smplayer.info/ https://www.smplayer.info/ It has awesome integration with open subtitles and remembers everything you do on a video so if it crashes or you stop, it just continues with everything set like volume, position subtitle sync etc.
- Izkata 4y agosmplayer is/started as a frontend for mplayer, but it looks like you can set it to use mpv as its backend.
- layer8 4y agoUnfortunately libgen is pretty hit-or-miss for me, especially for fairly recent, or non-English, or pre-digital-age (badly scanned, if at all present) publications, or stuff like ISO standards.
- auggierose 4y agoThere is a torrent of all ISO standards out there somewhere.
- layer8 4y agoPresumably with some cutoff date?
- satvikpendem 4y agoYou might be interested in this then: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34176479 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34176479
- layer8 4y agoZ-Library, while larger than LibGen, is still very incomplete as well.
- ndsipa_pomu 4y agoPiracy is the answer. I'm a big fan of old scifi films and series and the more obscure ones are getting harder to track down. Quite a lot of the stuff produced in the early 70s is sometimes available on DVD which can easily be ripped, but it depends on whether it was popular enough for them to issue it. With some old BBC series, I'm in the position of paying for a license, but not everything is available. Just before Xmas, I was searching for M.R.James Christmas Ghost Story adaptations and whilst I was able to get the newer Mark Gatiss produced ones from iPlayer, the older "Tractate Middoth" isn't available (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03n2rnf https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03n2rnf). There's going to be so many lost productions unless pirates get together to hoard old media.
- majkinetor 4y agoYou can literarry find everything, but for rarest stuff you need to search for dedicated private commune. FYI: https://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5940948 https://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5940948
- ndsipa_pomu 4y agoThank you, kind stranger, but I've already sailed across the pira-seas and have obtained a copy. My point was that as a BBC license fee payer (for many years), I have paid for that programme to be produced and by all rights it should be available on iPlayer. (I'm not even going to mention the complete rights cluster-duck that is Monkey Dust (and yes, I've already got a copy of all the series))
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- TedDoesntTalk 4y agoCan you name some of the obscure 70s sci-fi? I would like to watch them. My downloads are TV series for Logan’s Run, Planet of the Apes, Battlestar Galactica, etc, but it’s limited and probably not too obscure and also… American besides the 70s Doctor Who saved Survivors (was that 80s?)
- sergiotapia 4y agoButchered It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (we all know why) on streaming platforms. My pirated version is still the original hilarious versions.
- ttyprintk 4y agoI didn’t know this. I’m sure they chopped a half dozen episodes out. Did the network edit and re-release more than that?
- 404mm 4y agoAlso worth mentioning, Plex UI and UX is so much better than any of the apps I’m paying subscription fees to (7 currently!!!). To pile up onto your example of Westworld, I was super annoyed when I subscribed to AMC+ to catch up on The Walking Dead, just to find out that only last few episodes of current season are available and since I was waiting for more to air, I am now SOL.
- majkinetor 4y agono no no no no no... its all shit really. You can't really expect that "lets have everything here" tools get into tiny details of specialized tools.
- walthamstow 4y agoOne beautiful bit of the Plex UX is having the clock time in the top right corner of the HUD in the player. It's very convenient and I don't think any other service (in the UK) has it.
- eulers_secret 4y agoPosting here to plug jellyfin (and swiftfin in TestFlight) - it’s really nice to have a full FOSS option on the AppleTV/iPhone. My issue with Plex is their unceasing dark patterns and attempts to monetize users. Forcing centralized accounts and constantly re-pinning their “value add” channels made me leave them. Also eroded my trust with them, I wouldn’t be shocked to learn that they log all the media I watch in their app…
- 404mm 4y agoI like Jellyfin for what it is. I actually switched from Jellyfin to Plex recently because of frequent issues with crashing transcoder (the issue may have been on my side) and inability to download content for offline use on the phone or tablet. As far as the organization itself, I liked it more than Plex.
- ClassyJacket 4y agoDon't forget that you don't even know which streaming service something is on. Americans will tweet something is on HBO or Peacock or whatever, but where the hell is it in Australia? And Amazon is now doing this shady thing where the subscription includes every episode except the hold the last episode of each season hostage and make you buy it separately.
- j1elo 4y ago> Don't forget that you don't even know which streaming service something is on [...] where the hell is it in Australia? I think your best bet would be to just use a website like https://www.justwatch.com/au https://www.justwatch.com/au
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- borbulon 4y ago> or you have to constantly micromanage different subscriptions. To me that's the killer app right now, one-place-to-toggle-them-all, with a running tally of what you're paying this month. Unfortunately streaming companies have no vested interest in making it easier for people to turn on and off their subscriptions, so even if it could be done it'd be a constant arms race.
- andsoitis 4y agoYou can pause your subscription at Netflix or Disney+.
- delecti 4y agoThe Google TV app (at least on Android) can show where everything is, and will even link directly to it in another app if you've got it installed. You can also buy/rent things that aren't available for streaming anywhere, or even just not anywhere you're subscribed. As someone who has come to terms with having too many subscriptions and their apps installed, it works great for me.
- zie 4y ago> there is no way to centrally browse everything so you need 7 different apps. The Apple TV App (on iOS/iPadOS) does this. It even links you directly to the show in the app, assuming you have a valid subscription on that app. If it's not streamable, you can almost always "buy" or rent it. It's not perfect, but it's the best there is that I'm aware of. I basically agree with everything else you said.
- Grimm665 4y agoPirate streams of NHL hockey games seem to come from the source before it goes to the networks who overlay it with additional scoreboards, scores of other games, and other junk on the screen. When they cut to commercial, it goes to a sequence of black and white slow motion footage of ice and rink preparation. It looks like the placeholder that the networks then put their ads on top of during breaks. Why is it not possible to pay for this version of the stream? Even if I sign up for ESPN through Comcast or whatever hoops I have to jump through to access live sports, I still get the version with the ads and screen junk. Pirate streams are higher def and just more pleasant to watch. Sometimes you can even choose streams with no commentation at all, just the sounds of the sport. Where are these options in the paid streaming service?
- SoftTalker 4y ago> Why is it not possible to pay for this version of the stream? Because they want both your money and ad money. I don't know why people ever accepted advertising on pay cable TV. Pay to watch ads? Ads made sense on over-the-air broadcast because there was no way to earn revenue from that other than a BBC-style "license" tax that wouldn't really fly in the US (though we do have NPR so...)
- yonaguska 4y agoI never buy e-books unless they include it with the purchase of a dead tree book. If I'm going to pirate a book, I'll at least buy the paper copy to support the author and publisher. For all other media, excluding games because steam is so easy, piracy it is.
- drakonka 4y agoThis is an interesting approach since you're likely paying more to buy the paper copy than you would to buy the ebook. This seems like it would be a pretty uncommon practice. However, as a self-published writer, knowing there are people like you out there is encouragement for me to release paperback versions despite the additional initial expense of paperback covers.
- E39M5S62 4y agoI exclusively buy physical books and then pirate the ebook. If I'm going to own a book, I'm going to OWN the book. Reading on a proper e-ink device is just too nice to give up, though.
- qwertfisch 4y agoBut then you use a service (reading a digital version) which you did not pay for. You only paid for the paper version.
- TheHappyOddish 4y agoThat's morally acceptable for me and probably for the GP.
- themadturk 4y agoMany ebooks are surprisingly expensive these days, often costing more than the paper copy, at least on Amazon. Since I'm a Kindle owner, that's where I buy ebooks...and later strip DRM so I can actually own what I've purchased.
- 4y ago
- rowanG077 4y agoThis is the reason why I don't feel bad about piracy. If you as a company can't even approach the comfyness of piracy while your app is the flick of a finger away to open you have failed.
- joshspankit 4y agoNetflix could have done it. We all watched as piracy freed people from the nonsense rules of cable and DVDs (inconvenient times, waiting for releases, region locks to name a few)... And then Netflix solved a lot of those problems for a reasonable price. And then through paying attention to the goldmine of watch data, they did it even better than piracy. We knew that the licensing model would catch people off-guard eventually, but for a time they had actually solved it. Then, they lost the contracts. And media companies saw them as competitors instead of partners. And Netflix brought back region locks (some not their fault, but some that was). And the prices started to go up in chorus with the anti-consumer practices. And now we’re back to the fragmented battleground that was cable TV. And the book industry has somehow stayed just as bad the whole time, in many ways more draconian than Hollywood... Maybe next time the pendulum swings back in favour of the consumers, we’ll end up with better contracts so we can avoid this sort thing as it swings over to producers again.
- richardatlarge 4y agoYes, ironic that the breakdown of the Netflix monopoly will create such a scattering of services that piracy is a solution
- ymolodtsov 4y agoWho said you need to watch ALL streaming services?
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- jesuscript 4y agoI’ve been feeling the same. I wanted to watch about 5 or some movies this year that were a) not available on any streaming platform, b) only available on one specific streaming platform exclusively (which I didn’t have a sub to), c) You straight up could not purchase it on YouTube/Amazon/ITunes. I’m not playing this game.
- Valakas_ 4y agoI understand that different companies may want a part of the pie, and that's fine. Competition is good. But for us consumers, there should be a central place, where we can find everything, and they those companies that offer shows can still compete with each other somehow. The problem is devising such a system.