People are using AI agents and shared GitHub toolkits to strip smart TVs of onboard ads, tracking and manufacturer bloat, replacing slow launchers with simple app-focused home screens. Projects such as dumbtv (by Muzzammil Yasin Sabuwala) and cleanyourtv (by Gathin T.) automate discovery of TVs on a home network and remove unwanted packages or swap launchers over Wi‑Fi without requiring root, with the authors demonstrating success on Fire TV Edition and many Android/Google TV sets from Sony, TCL, Philips, Hisense, Xiaomi and Shield. Developers report using large models and multimodal agents - Claude Code, Claude Opus/Sonnet variants and Deepseek V4.1 Flash - to generate the steps, and users have posted viral demos showing faster, ad‑free interfaces after running the prompts.
The movement is driven by frustration with automatic content recognition, built‑in ads and data collection, and could reduce the smart‑TV ad industry’s ability to sell viewing data or surface sponsored content. Workflows are still experimental: some users report smooth changes and easy reversions, while others have broken systems or bricked devices after AI agents disabled critical packages. Contributors plan ongoing maintenance and broader model support, and safer alternatives remain available in standalone launchers like ATV Launcher, Projectivy and FLauncher.
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A leak of over 421,000 emails from Germany's far-right AfD party reveals instances of nazism, including Nazi symbols, jokes, and references by party members and staff. The emails also detail discussions of violence, racist comments, and Nazi memorabilia, highlighting deep-rooted extremist attitudes within the party. (twitter.com)
Go will reject certificate chains containing eight distrusted SPKIs due to security concerns with certain intermediate certificates. The change aims to improve security by filtering out these problematic certificate chains. (github.com)
OpenBSD 8.0 was released on October 20, 2026, introducing platform-specific improvements such as increased kernel virtual address space for amd64 and added support for features like hibernate on arm64. The update also includes various kernel enhancements, bug fixes, and architecture support updates across multiple platforms. (openbsd.org)
OpenBSD 8.0 was released on October 20, 2026, marking its 61st release with enhanced security and performance features. The update includes platform-specific improvements, kernel enhancements, and support for suspend and hibernate functions across various architectures. (marc.info)
A Ukrainian drone evacuated a wounded soldier from the front line, marking a world first according to the brigade. The operation successfully saved the soldier, who is now receiving treatment, with the drone lowering itself to pick him up. (abc.net.au)
Supporters of Brazilian President Lula protested outside Meta's headquarters in São Paulo, accusing the company of electoral interference by favoring opposition content. The protest occurred ahead of the election, with Lula's supporters demanding equal treatment and transparency from Meta. (efe.com)
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