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Comment by Havoc | Hacker News Reader

Currently on a mission to tape a bunch of gear too. Though to cover LEDs. Why does consumer gear meant for houses look like a disco at night?

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When I first moved into my studio apartment, I had a mission—no little lights! When I go to sleep, it should be completely dark.

Then I discovered that putting tape on my mouse's USB receiver interfered with the wireless connection.

Then I got a USB hard drive which has an LED along the top left corner, where tape won't stick.

Then I got a microwave which always displays the time when it's not in use, and if I cover up that display, I can't see the timer for my food.

And somewhere around there I gave up. It was impossible to tell before buying these products that they would come with lights, no one talks about this!

That's exactly the advantage of sneakernet shopping, you can ask to see the product in operation.

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a microwave offered for sale that was plugged in at the store at any store. Ditto for any consumer electronics other than TVs and computers (and I guess stereos).

Maybe at Fry‘s they had the microwaves plugged in? I don’t remember.

Yeah I don't think I ever saw one either, but at least over here you can bring it over to a counter, or request an employee to turn it on and test.

Obviously not viable for evaluating continued operation for something like a fridge, but just turning it on for the panels is usually possible.

Let me plug LightDims: They're translucent stickers that keep LEDs from shining into the room, but still let you see the LED status.

Be sure to buy from the original family business, not the knockoffs.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CLVEQCO/

I used those to dim the "Passenger" seatbelt light in my old car. Maybe I put my backpack on the seat.

Non-Amazon link: https://www.lightdims.com/store.htm

I learned how to solder small connections just to bypass the LED's that are on every single piece of electronics anymore.

I don't need my house to look like a fucking carnival. Who does this appeal to?

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