I'm looking into buying a projector.

I had one fron Anker, but it fell apart quickly. Right now I'm using one borrowed from a friend, but he wants it back at some point, so I need to buy a new one finally.

What I want:

• HDMI in
• Audio out
• Cinch video/audio in (adapter/converter would be an option as well)
• resolution at least 720p, preferrably 1080p
• paying more for resolutions above 1080p makes no sense for my use-case
• I prefer a dumb device without Android or internet connectivity
• it has to be repairable, lamp has to be available easily
• can be a used product, if there's any specific model that can be recommended
• will mostly watch in dark rooms or semi dark rooms, does not need to be usable in daylight settings

This should be simple to achieve, but I'm overwhelmed with all the models out there and don't know what manufacturer is good.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/42701015

We are slowly seeing a move away from the US giants - will be a huge boost to local businesses.

Just came over from Reddit and found this community but noticed the ! in front of the name. Why is that there? It kinda makes it look like it's impersonating another community. (Although the search doesn't return anything else)

Edit Thanks for all the answers!

Joule is the metric system unit to measure the energy in food, however we still see calories being used everywhere, specially advertising and fitness influencers. Let's stop this nonsense.

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for some new pans (maybe also have some pots from the same brand?) and wanted to get something from a european brand - and ask for recommendations here.

What they must have:

• Induction compatible
• Made in EU
• Non-Stick Coating without PFAS (for the pans) (yes, I know but I very much enjoy cooking with them and am using wooden/plastic utensils)

What would be nice to have:

• Removeable handle
• Ceramic Non-Stick Coating (as it should last longer)

What I've found currently that mostly fits my needs are the Tefal Ingenio Black Stone ( https://www.tefal.de/p/ingenio-black-stone-3-teiliges-pfannen-set-l39990/2100126098 ) but I've not got any experience with Tefal at all, so I'm open to experiences + other recommendations.

Thank you all for your time, I hope you have a lovely day <3

I’m working on moving away from MS Office. Installing LibreOffice was the easy part. However, I also need an alternative for online storage.

My primary use case is off-site backups for the most critical data from my NAS (around 300 GB). Ideally, the solution would also support additional software, helping me move away from non-EU applications. I’m looking for something reliable, easy to set up, and scalable over time.

In my research, I came across Hetzner’s managed storage, which seems promising (link). Nextcloud appears to be a flexible starting point. It offers reasonable pricing and servers based in Germany.

I also considered Proton, but it seems overpriced if I only need the storage component.

Are there other options I might have not considered?

Edit: Thanks for the input everybody. I think I will try out nextcloud for a while and when this is too complicated and time consuming, I might try one of the other good solutions here.

The first phase of the transition from iDEAL to Wero has begun. Dutch consumers are now seeing the new iDEAL | Wero logo replace the familiar iDEAL brand. Behind the scenes, work is underway to move iDEAL transactions to the Wero system, creating a modern European digital payment method that builds on what millions already use every day.

This guide is by a Canadian author, but I find it very appropriate here as most of his solutions are European and he points to several alternatives, so all in all a great source of inspiration.

Orqa is one of the few companies in the FPV market that does almost all of its engineering in house: mechanical engineering, electronics design, RF design, firmware development, optics design, prototyping, etc. All of our products are labelled as “Made in Europe” since everything, except micro-displays, is made in Osijek.

The prototyping lab in headquarters provides high-end equipment such as FDM 3D printer Stratsys F170, big SLS 3D Printer Formiga P110 Velocis, advanced laser cutters and CNC machining, as well as other relevant equipment needed for developing hardware devices. In addition, Orqa owns high end RF design and testing tools.

I'm like any other European raised on the Internet:

• my English accent is more American (guys is it hard to switch to a British one?)
• learned English from American cartoons, games and websites
• I know who the current and previous mayor of New York is for some reason
• I know the American flavor of the month "thing"
• Evening news from the national broadcaster regularly covers US news, or social media posts from prominent figures in the US (doesn't do this for any other country with such regularity)
• I know the Oscars are happening from media yet completely missed Cesars

People here focus on tech a lot but I think it can't be understated how much of a cultural grasp the US has on Europe. Being born into it already being in full swing I didn't really question it. This Wikipedia article states most of the top 50 movies are decidedly American.

I started watching more sports channels to escape the news about US. I yearn for the day where I realize I've been living under the proverbial rock and thanks to which I avoided learning about the latest US flavor of the week news. I also read European Corresponded (funded by EU) to get more out of sight news from member states, but US still spills through.

I started unsubscribing or blocking communities which have too much US news. Even those that paint it in a negative light. I just don't want it to be there.

I started using the "favorite channels" feature on my TV to narrow the channel list to a curated European or my country focused channels. Stuff like niche channels from the national broadcaster (documentaries, science, history, culture) that cover my country mostly. There's some private channels that broadcast old movies and music from my country in there too. France24, Deutsche Welle, BBC (they love to cover US...). Especially the niche state channels make you think - "damn, my own culture - it's kinda cool!". I also started watching arte.tv more, there's even an app for my old Samsung Tizen OS TV. It's so refreshing to learn something local.

You can see that my "journey" is kinda funny as I even tried to figure out clothes: https://szmer.info/post/11927959/13610982

I also read the first chapter of "Special Relations: The Americanization of Britain?" by Howard Malchow and it seems promising. It marks the start of the Americanization with the launch of the first satellite (AT&T) which made broadcasting American content easier. I also should read a book about the "change of guard" as the global superpower between the UK and the USA, as I don't really know the details of how that panned out.

I probably sound like a .ml user. Anyway, I don't know where I was going with this thread. Just dumped my thoughts. I guess it's ironic that I'm writing this as an European, an Indian could write something very similar. Guess it's just our turn to get culturally "colonized"

I guess these Wojaks represent my feelings best:

cross-posted from: https://lemmus.org/post/19855879

Countries are growing uneasy about their dependence on U.S. technology firms.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/25288070

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — There’s a chance the dreaded buzz of propellers heard on Ukrainian battlefields is coming from drones built in a country with a population of just over a million on Europe’s southeastern fringe: Cyprus.

I've got a Chromecast on which I have disabled Google Services and only use NewPipe and VLC from F-Droid.

I was wondering what I could replace it with when it stops working.

The remote depletes batteries within a coulle days and the Chromecast has started rebooting randomly...

What I want to do:

• watch videos from my SMB share
• watch videos from media.ccc.de
• optional: Youtube access
• nice to have, but optional: PeerTube access

I'd prefer something very free and open. Could be something I build myself, I've recently been given a used FireTV remote, perhaps I could re-use that and avoid some e-waste.

EDIT: other functionality is optional and I don't need anything like casting or AirPlay.

As someone who left OneDrive behind, I am very happy with Drime. And new features are being added on a regular basis. (Just to be clear, I am not affliated in any way to Drime)

Guys, it's time to learn Esperanto.

This is a very solid alternative to Google's keyboard, the only issue is that it's not European.

It's clear that the main problem with book apps is they're walled gardens. Fediverse to the rescue? bookwyrm seems to solve this but there's no app in play store and the bookwyrm app on fdroid looks awful. What do you think?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/42450984

Of course I dream of something with feature parity with the US and Eastern alternatives, but I am not interested in color or touch. Mostly care about format support and rendering.

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share my current status quo of gradually moving away from US-based services and products and replacing them with European alternatives where possible.

This is not about perfection or ideological purity — more about direction, values, and supporting EU-based ecosystems when reasonable alternatives exist.

What I’ve Already Switched

Email / Cloud / VPN

I’m fully aware that Proton is a European company based in Switzerland. My decision to move away from Proton was not about trust or geography, but about risk concentration.

I was using Proton Mail, Proton Drive, and Proton VPN at the same time and decided to follow the principle of:

“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

So I deliberately split these services across different providers:

• Proton Mail → TutaMail (Germany)
• Proton Drive → Filen (Germany)
• Proton VPN → Mullvad VPN (Sweden) (when I actually need a VPN)

This is more about resilience and diversification than distrust.

Music Streaming

• Deezer → Qobuz (France)
  • While Deezer is often seen as European, I decided to move away after learning more about its ownership and investor structure.
  • A significant share is held by non-EU stakeholders partly linked to the US, which didn’t align with what I want to support long-term.
  • Qobuz feels more in line with my values, and the switch was a nice improvement in sound quality.

Messaging

• WhatsApp → Threema + Signal
  • WhatsApp is completely gone.
  • Signal is still US-based, but currently required for activism/political work.

Language Models

• ChatGPT → Le Chat

Charging Devices

• Anker → recable (Germany)

Voice Chat

• Discord → TeamSpeak

OS

• Windows → Linux Mint (Oh boy, do I love Linux Mint <3 Fck Windows)

Office / Creative Software

• Microsoft Office → LibreOffice (rarely needed anyway)
• For most creative work, I use Affinity Publisher, Designer & Photo

Entertainment

• Cancelled several US streaming services (e.g., Disney+)

Navigation

• Apple Maps → TomTom

Payments

• PayPal → Wero

Clothing

• While Adidas is a German brand, a lot of their production happens outside the EU, which I want to move away from over time.
• Ideal goal: Support European production under reasonable conditions.
  • Shoes: Switching from Adidas → TREAZY (EU production, plant-based materials)
  • Socks: Planning to switch to TREAZY socks (made in Portugal)
  • Underwear — Open Question
    • Looking for high-quality men’s underwear (trunks) that:
      • Is genuinely produced in Europe,
      • Feels really comfortable,
      • Actually lasts a long time (doesn’t stretch out or fall apart after a few months).
    • Do you have recommendations? Something you’ve had for years and still feel comfortable in, made in Europe?

Audio / Hardware

• Initially planned: Shure SM7B
• Decided on: Sennheiser MD 421 Mark II (Supporting a European audio manufacturer felt like the better fit for me.)

What I Still Use (Reluctantly / Pragmatically)

• Netflix (No real EU alternative with a comparable catalog — I only subscribe occasionally, 1 month every few months.)
• Gaming: Steam (ecosystem reasons)
• Password Manager: 1Password (Canada — not EU, but best fit for my needs so far)

Big Open Topic: Smartphone

• Currently using an iPhone 15 Pro
• Considering a Fairphone with LineageOS
• Waiting to see developments around Fairphone 6
• Would love to see some experiences here.

Where I’d Really Love Community Input

• Messaging: Thoughts on Element / Matrix / XMPP?
• Streaming: Any serious European Netflix alternatives you like?
• Underwear: European underwear brands/experiences that are truly high-quality & long-lasting?
• General: EU services/products you’d strongly recommend or avoid?

This is very much a work in progress, not a finished state. Happy to learn, adjust, and iterate — feedback welcome! 😊

Thanks!

Edit: Improved structure and readability.

I'm thinking of moving away from US-based messengers.

Signal, telegram etc have the same problematic architectures. Of those kinds of solutions, I like Threema best, but nobody uses them (which is only a problem because of their architecture).

So I wanted to get a solution with a decentralized architecture, pretty much like the fediverse.

From what I can see, the fediverse activityPub with MLS layer project (to enable fediverse end-to-end encrypted messaging) is still in the functional documentation stage.

So, what do you think of Element as a messenger (which uses matrix protocol)?