File Degradation/VPN's

[Christ56]

Christ56 last edited by

Greetings all: Looking for some definitive info here if possible; there being a ton of info on the net, but little that seems definitive to me. Please bear in mind that I am nearly 70 and only know the very basics, computer wise. The knowledge and abilities younger generations seem to somehow innately possess, computer wise, I lack. I have a 5 year old great niece who is better and faster on her iPad than I am on mine. I have owned various readers and tablets for about 15 years. These days I use mine primarily to read books and newspapers and magazines. She has had hers since age 2 and I don't have a clue what she is doing on it half the time.
In terms of computer hardware and software I comprehend very little. That being said, I am eager to learn. So, my first question is VPN related. Is there one built into Opera? If not, are there any recommendations in terms of which one is best for this browser? Or which search engine to use. For example, if I have a paid subscription to, let us say Nord, does it automatically work when I am using Opera? Or must I fiddle about with the system and or app settings to make sure that it is working; when that is, I am going about certain activities on my desktop? My 2nd query has to do with file degradation. Is there such a thing? Or, if some media ( eg, a movie or TV episode ) becomes unwatchable, or the audio/video gets out of sync, what is going on there??? It sure seems, ( to moi at least ) that the file in question, once perfectly fine, has deteriorated. But in researching this, I find that the majority opinion seems to state that files don"t ( even can't ? ) degrade over time. Any degradation is due to the device involved; like a USB memory stick, or an external drive full of files. I have a friend and roommate who now and then provides me with a short list of particular movies or TV shows he would like to watch. So I obtain the media and give it to him on USB's he provides, or that i don't need. This has been going on for about 5 years now. Recently he told me that some of the media involved will no longer play as well as they once did. the files are all pixilated or jumpy and not in sync. Over time, I have encouraged him to spend a bit more money on larger, and faster, and newer USB's. I also gifted him a 1TB Seagate external drive (completely full, 8 years old, and overdue to be replaced ) that I no longer have any use for. He runs into this issue on both the usb sticks and the drive; with respect to particular files that is. Which makes me think the culprit must be the actual files. For instance, the Lord of the Rings Trilogy was once fine. All three movies came from the same source 5 years ago, and all three played okay when I first gave them to him. Now all 3 files suck. The exact same thing applies to the 5 Seasons of The Wire. Once they were okay to enjoy but now not so much. The only difference is that The Wire is about 12 years old and not all seasons came from the same source. My Mom had asked me for The Wire and so I got them for her; and even watched a few episodes with her on her TV and there were no issues at all, quality wise. But she has been dead almost 7 years now, so those files have to be a least a decade old; and are the exact same files I passed along to my roommate. All of this media is avail. from sources other than downloads. I have little interest in Video media personally. But because I choose to pay Amazon, and Apple, monthly fees, for other reasons, I have access to Prime and Apple TV+ content that I never watch. So, I share it, within the house; and obviously, the content quality is first rate from both sources regardless of whether they are being viewed on a bedroom computer or a living room TV. My roommate views these files on a mid 2011 21.5" iMac. At first I thought the old mac, which I had passed along to him, which has a new SSD, was finally starting to die in terms of the display. But when I watch on my slightly newer and larger screened iMac, ( display quality still great ) the files are just as crappy. So what the heck has happened? I ask out of curiosity, mostly, because I am still trying to educate myself, to the extent that such a thing is possible, about computers. It helps to fend off the inevitable degradation of my brain, to keep on learning stuff. The newer the better, in all areas, but particularly, in terms of technology; so as to get me out of my intellectual comfort zone. Delving into technical things that don't come easily to me is my hobby and an entertaining, sometimes even useful way to spend some time. Of course, there is also some inconvenience involved when file quality blows. Chores once thought to be completed now have to be redone. ( More ) money must be spent on things like newer, faster devices that enable the viewing of the files involved. Time must be spent on finding new sources of the content. Just as an example, The Hobbit and LOTR trilogies I recently sourced and downloaded have become massive files. Even tho relatively recent, they have all been remastered and all 6 of them will no longer fit on 1 64GB USB. This, at least in my situation, also involves the time and expense of finding, and paying for, a VPN capable of actually doing what it claims to be able to do. Turns out that many VPN 's are fairly useless, and make most of their profit by selling off my personal data. Would have been lovely to know that a decade ago. In any event, these are my questions. If I have posted in the wrong forum I am sure another user, or a moderator, will let set me straight. In the meantime, my sense is that there are dozens out there, who will have the true accurate answers to me queries at their fingertips. At the very least, this forum probably has dozens of members that can obtain those accurate answers without breaking much of a sweat. So, THANKS, in advance, to those of you able and willing to enlighten a confused and inept old fart. I have plenty of time these days. But I still prefer doing things right the first time whenever possible.