Please help me figure this out

I’m not sure if this is the right group to post in (if not and you know where I should on on here pls tell me)

We were gifted an iLive Home Theatre system. I bought an Amazon firestick for it and all was well until it just wouldn’t work anymore. So I bought a second firestick and once again all was well until my daughter gently and I mean like barely brushed by it and it stopped working again. What is going on?!

looking for a tablet mainly for taking notes, reading PDFs, and regular web browsing. I won't be gaming or editing videos, so I don't think I need anything powerful, but I also don't want something that starts lagging all the time.

if you've been using one for a while, what would you suggest and is there anything I should avoid? I appreciate the opinions y'all!

As said in the title, am looking for a device to watch stored movies.
I'm in the process of downloading a lot of movies/ anime etc into a external hard drive so that I can take with me on trips and I was wondering if there was any devices like laptops or tablets suited for these kind of « use », I was thinking that laptops were too much of a hassle to bring at the airport so I'm kinda leaning more towards a tablet but I'm open to any suggestions.
Looking for something kinda like a portable dvd player, easy to use, light, like you just pop the hard drive and just watch

I once put a bunch of pictures in there, but now I can’t remember the password and it seems like I didn’t write it down anywhere. If someone knows how to maybe get in there without the password I would be very very thankful!!

Assume money isn't an issue here, I know ram and SD cards aren't the same kind of ram, but Im curious if its possible.

I have a Roku smart TV and currently use the default Roku Media Player to watch things off my portable hard drive. Some videos have different subtitle file types, and only some of them work on Roku Media Player (the others will say no captions available even though I can watch them on my PC just fine).

So I'm looking for suggestions on alternate ways to be able to watch everything with subtitles. For example:

1. Is there a third party app on Roku that can play media from a portable hard drive?

2. I was looking into some HDMI plug-in media players, but none seem to have great reviews (with issues like subtitles not working, remote needing to be within 5 feet of the player, or the player refusing to turn off after).

3. I saw some people talking about using a server with some alternative apps, but I have no idea how that works or how to set it up or if it needs a subscription service or something.

4. I've also looked into hard-encoding all the subtitles, but that would be quite a bit of work doing manually unless someone knows of a program or something that does it automatically.

All in all, I'm looking for a solution that doesn't cost more than around $50 and doesn't require casting from another device. Thank you!

I have been getting calls from a number that says "unknown." I haven't picked it up yet.

Hello everyone.

I bought a second hand think pad computer a while back and it came with a charging cable that doesn't appear to be the original one and the sticker with all the information has been ripped off.

This has possed a small issue as the charger seems to have a loose connection and isnt working the best anymore so I would like to get a new one.

I need to know how many watts it had and what the voltage was so that I can replace it but I obviously cant see it via the charger. How else can I see this information?

So, my TCL tv just got updated and the media layout just changed. The subtitle got bigger and brighter but size is fine. It’s just the brightness of the subtitle. Despite lowering the contrast and brightness on the tv, the movie is dark but the subtitle is the same dazzling brightness and I’m unable to watch anything right now since it’s night. That’s so frustrating.

Anyone who can help? I have the TCLC645 4K QLED

The caption part in accessibility setting is referring to those in apps and not in media. I don’t know how to change it or downgrade it.

I saw a video of people using wifi blockers, and it seems useful to know how they work. Any help would be great,

So recently, I switched from an older laptop to the Surface Laptop 7 (released in 2024). One day, when I turned the laptop off, I curiously clicked the trackpad button. It didn't flex or feel like a click at all, it just felt like I was pressing my finger against an immovable glass surface. Coming from a laptop that has a trackpad that physically 'bends/flexes' when you click it, this was interesting to me. It's obviously better if you're a fan of corner right-clicks (which I'm not), as on a haptic trackpad, I noticed that it requires as much force as anywhere else on the trackpad. This is unlike older trackpads, where the corners actually have lots of room to flex and usually requires more force to click in that area.

How does a haptic trackpad actually make it feel like a real, physical click? I know that technology has been fooling our brains for well over a century, such as in the television with persistence of vision (thanks Technology Connections). Thank you.

It seems like that would help with some of the complaints about them

I wanted to screen record the credits of a show to check titles/names, so on my computer I did a screen record to then be able to slowly scroll/pause at the right time.

But somehow the video is just black! It’s blocked/changed by some sort of technology?

How on earth does the website even know I’m recording my screen on my computer and then somehow block the video I’m clearly seeing but the end results is a black video upon playback?

Just got a 4k 120hz oled TV screen for like $550, I was surprised at first so I decided to get it and am happy with it now, I thought 4k 120hz screens were like $800+ and with OLED like $1500+, decided to invstigate a little bit more and indeed they are cheap now, I made a great deal but prices are around 800ish for entry OLED 4k 120hz.

Last TV I got was like 3 years ago which it's a 4k 60hz which still look nowadays but upgraded it because of how cheap "top" tech is now on tvs

I’m so sorry. I just noticed it didn’t post the entire question. I have personal files on my work computer because my personal computer was hacked. I started using my work computer as my main for over a year. I finally bought a new computer and realized my employer doesn’t allow usb’s or any other method of transferring that I’ve found. There are over 300 files, including tax documents, medical records, children’s school docs that I’d really like to transfer but the permissions doesn’t allow it. Is there anything I can try?

Firefox is my default browser on my mac. I was just doomscrolling on my phone and i noticed that whenever i opened the comment section on any post on Instagram, the Firefox icon with a mobile on it pop up on my dock on my macbook

Just cant help but wonder what in the comment section could be triggering this. Is it to load the gifs/images?

I make and sell some PDF study materials. The problem I'm hitting is obvious: someone pays once, downloads it, and 5 minutes later it's on Telegram with screenshots of every page.I've looked into platforms like DocSend, Digify, and LockLizard. From what I understand:

DocSend/Digify = view-only in browser + dynamic watermark with name/email on every page. But you can still take phone pics.

LockLizard/Adobe DRM = needs a special viewer app and tries to block screenshots/recording. But users hate installing apps and it can still be bypassed. So my actual question: Does any real tech exist in 2026 that can truly prevent screenshots or screen recording for PDFs on desktop and mobile? Or is the entire industry just relying on "make it inconvenient + watermark + takedowns" and hoping for the best?

I'm not trying to do anything shady. I'm just curious how companies that sell PDFs, ebooks, notes actually survive when sharing is so easy. What do SaaS/course platforms actually use right now?

I'm looking for a reliable way to locate my car if it's ever stolen. AirTags are less expensive, but I've heard dedicated GPS trackers may be more reliable.

For anyone with experience, which would you recommend, and why? I'm particularly interested in accuracy, battery life, subscription costs, and how well each works when a vehicle is parked in a garage.

Hello everyone, I bought a new Samsung tv about a month ago, and everything was working great until about a week ago I noticed 2 things, the sound is very low, like the volume would be at 100 and i would barely be able to hear the movie, and secondly the sound is rough, it's as if everyone talking needs to clear their throat if that makes sense. I haven't changed anything in settings and it wasn't exposed to water or anything like that, google suggested i change some settings to have better sound and still nothing changed. What could be causing this? Why would it suddenly do that when it was working just fine? And what can I do to fix it?

This year is my boyfriend’s 50th and he’s very close with his large family. We have a family reunion tomorrow and I want to discreetly give everyone a link to send/upload personal video messages to. Some messages might be a minute, others could be over 10, and I don’t have much storage on my phone. I initially thought email, but some videos may be too large. Is there a free tool I can use so that everyone can send their personal messages from computers, androids, or iPhones to me, where I can store them until I create the final video? Like a single link I can just give everyone that they can use to upload in the folder I create that they don’t need to sign up for? Ideally I would like to let everyone make their video message as long as they want, but if I need to make a time limit I can. Please help! Posted in another sub and got zero replies and we leave tomorrow! It’s his family so this reunion is the perfect time to get the word out, but I don’t have a link to give them!

Standing by for replies and incredibly grateful for any guidance!

I live in the most densely populated suburban area outside of the most densely populated city in my East Coast state. There’s never a problem with service or connection - except one probably 3 square mile section of the town. There are banks, restaurants, other businesses and lots of homes in this section of town. Why the hell do I not get service here? I have AT&T unlimited.

For me, it's when my phone connects to my car's Bluetooth while I'm still inside the house, hijacking my audio, or when a streaming app asks "Are you still watching?" right in the middle of a massive climax.

What minor, petty tech inconveniences drive you absolutely insane on a daily basis?

If I were to make an account with a website that generates a fake number and somebody knows from the messages (which are public on the website I use) about this account.

Can they just use forgot password and then put the number in and use the code?

I had been having issues with my main keyboard for a few days, and then it gave up on me. Before then, sometimes restarting my PC would help, or just unplugging the keyboard and plugging it back in.

Anyways, after trying with 2 keyboards and neither working, I ended up calling ASUS tech support (because I thought it was a motherboard USB issue). They couldn't replicate it.

So I got my motherboard back and my PC reassembled and still wasn't able to use either keyboard, but then I tried a THIRD keyboard... AND IT WORKED?

The first keyboards were the RK96 and the RK-S98. Third keyboard that I'm currently using is the RK R98Pro (all Royal Kludge so maybe that's a factor?).

Appreciate anybody that could tell me what would possibly be causing this.