this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2023
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More importantly: Stop flashing useless blinky lights at me. I don't need a blue floodlight that tells me that my phone is charging, I don't need a yellow floodlight that tells me that my alarm clock is on and I don't need a green floodlight that tells me that my router is indeed not on fire.
The lights would be OK if they simply made them diffuse, low-intensity bulbs like they used to be in the 90's. Bonus points for being behind a transparent textured plastic lens.
But no, they simply put open holes in casings that expose the most powerful SMD LED chip they could source.
It is the most powerful until you specifically want to buy led torch light then they put the cheapest possible light in it.
Of course. The bright one all got bought up by Philips so you get a red LED when your smart light bulb is off or some shit.
The problem isn't the LED itself. The problem is engineers that read the datasheets where it shows which forward current they need. What they forget to think about is that the recommended forward current is for max brightness, so they slap whichever resistor they need, and never give it another thought.
Whenever I design a LED circuit that is only used as an indicator, I always make it 10% or less than recommended, because I do not need to burn away my retina when I test the boards.
Of course that's smart design. You'd think that would be something that becomes immediately obvious when the very first prototype PCB is put out and none of the engineers can look at the damn thing directly...
"Your TV is turned off. You can tell by the red lights we have turned on on the TV."
Next to my bed is the computer. There is a blue light that shines through a crack in my bamboo divider and hits me right in the eye almost every night.
Of course, I forget about it every morning for the past 3 months.
You could get up and do something about it right now.
But I'm already comfy right now....
ehh fuck it rolls over to other side of bed
Seriously. I've started taking black nail polish to LEDs. Cheap solution that stops the light and easy to remove if ever necessary.
I cut a little square of black electrical tape.
I have similar feelings regarding all the RGB lighting on computer hardware. I have to drape a towel over my mouse just so I can sleep in peace.
You can turn off mouse illumination in your hardware settings, most likely.
I found that one layer of masking tape will let me sleep, three layers makes it the brightness it ought to be in the first place
I've started opening up cheap electronic/electrical devices I buy and just snip one of the leads on the pointless status LEDs they have all over the place.