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7 surprising ways to repurpose your old Chromecast

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**7 Clever Ways to Repurpose Your Old Chromecast**

Got an old Chromecast sitting unused in a drawer? Even if you don’t need it for streaming anymore, there are still plenty of creative ways to put it to good use. Dust it off, connect it to your TV, update the software, and try one of these ideas to repurpose your old Chromecast.

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### 1. Turn Your TV Into a Digital Photo Frame (or Virtual Fireplace)

One of the simplest ways to reuse an old Chromecast is by transforming your TV into a digital photo frame. Perfect for parties or family gatherings, all you need to do is:

– Open Google Photos on your phone.
– Select an album or folder.
– Tap the Chromecast icon at the top.
– Connect to your TV, tap the three-dot menu, and select “Slideshow.”

Your TV will now cycle through all the images in the album.

Want a different kind of ambiance? Use Chromecast to turn your TV into a virtual fireplace. Just open the YouTube app, search for “fireplace,” and cast it to your screen. Enjoy the cozy, high-definition scene—complete with soothing crackling sounds. (Tip: Look for longer videos without ads for a seamless experience.)

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### 2. Use Your TV as a Big-Screen Monitor for Your Phone

Many Android phones now offer desktop mode, but if yours doesn’t, you can still mirror your phone with Chromecast. Here’s how:

– Open the Quick Settings panel on your phone.
– Find and tap the Cast option.
– Select “Cast entire screen.”

Now your phone’s display will be mirrored on your TV. Pair your phone with a Bluetooth keyboard, open a word processor or web browser, and you have a makeshift desktop experience! While lag can make this setup less suitable for gaming, it works great for writing, browsing, or presentations.

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### 3. Turn Your Soundbar Into a Music Player

If you have a soundbar with an available HDMI port, plug your Chromecast into it and transform your soundbar into a dedicated music player. Many apps—including Spotify and Pocket Casts—support Chromecast, allowing you to easily send audio from your phone to your TV’s sound system. It’s a perfect way to get more out of your soundbar between movie nights.

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### 4. Use It for Presentations

Chromecast remains a handy presentation tool. Keep it in your bag and plug it into any display with an HDMI port at the office or on the go. The Google Slides app for both Android and iPhone has a built-in Chromecast icon, making it simple to start your presentation. On a laptop, use Chrome’s “Cast” option under the View menu. Browsers like Brave and Edge also have casting capabilities built in.

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### 5. Create a Retro Gaming Console

For those with a fourth-generation Chromecast with Google TV, you can sideload the RetroArch emulator to turn your device into a retro gaming console. Set up emulators for classic systems and enjoy vast libraries of old-school games—especially those with simpler graphics like NES or SNES for the best performance. More advanced consoles may experience some lag, but it’s still a fun project for gaming enthusiasts!

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### 6. Turn Your TV Into a Live Dashboard

Transform your TV into a dynamic dashboard using services like DAKboard. It can display your calendar, weather, to-do lists, and more. Cast the dashboard directly from your browser or use a tool like castDeck for a seamless, always-on information center in your living space.

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### 7. Use It for Home Security

If you have Google Nest doorbells or cameras, you can use a newer Chromecast to stream live video footage to your TV. Some third-party smart doorbells and security cameras that integrate with Google Home may also be compatible. It’s a convenient way to keep an eye on your doorstep or monitor different areas of your home.

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**Final Thoughts**

Your old Chromecast still has plenty of life left in it! With just a bit of creativity, you can reinvent its role in your home—whether it’s as a digital frame, mini-PC, music station, or part of your home security setup. Give these ideas a try and upgrade your tech experience without spending a dime.
https://www.howtogeek.com/how-to-repurpose-an-old-chromecast/

general

New right-wing ‘Wikipedia clone’ calls Holocaust ‘a happy accident’

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SFGate columnist Drew Magary recently tested Elon Musk’s new “Wikipedia clone” known as Grokipedia and reported finding it rife with racism, antisemitism, and falsehoods.

“There is nothing this man cannot make cheaper, wonkier and 20% more Hitler-y,” Magary writes, critiquing Musk’s latest attempt at creating “his own optimized version of Wikipedia.”

For example, Grokipedia’s entry on Adolf Hitler includes a peculiar section titled “Debates and Intent on Functionality,” which, as Magary notes, is absent from Wikipedia’s corresponding article. The passage reads:

> “The historiographical debate on the intent and functionality of Nazi racial policies, particularly the Holocaust, centers on whether the systematic extermination of Jews was the fulfillment of Adolf Hitler’s premeditated master plan or the unintended outcome of bureaucratic radicalization and wartime improvisation.”

Magary highlights this as a dangerously misleading interpretation: “You already know about people who deny that the Holocaust ever happened, so kudos to Grokipedia for introducing, ‘The Holocaust was real, but also it was just a happy accident!’ as a new means of discrediting Jewish history.”

While it is unclear who authored this passage, the entry links vaguely to the Associated Press, but the sourcing remains questionable and ambiguous.

Musk’s site employs a confusing combination of crowdsourcing and proprietary AI software—similar to the algorithms appended to Twitter/X—which predictably results in virulent and problematic content across its more than 850,000 entries. Magary admits that he relied heavily on Wikipedia to verify information: “I never would have sorted this without Wikipedia, so thanks, Wiki!”

Unlike Wikipedia, which is non-profit and entirely human-written, Musk’s Grokipedia operates on opposing principles. Magary describes Elon Musk as “perhaps, second to Donald Trump, our greatest disseminator of bad faith,” suggesting that Musk’s priorities shape this project’s bias.

“It makes sense that he would cobble together a half-assed competitor to Wikipedia motivated by profit, and by his own demented worldview,” Magary writes. He calls Grokipedia “a reactionary product,” a characterization he found blatant during his exploration of the site.

The platform appears chaotic, essentially attempting to rewrite much of history to suit Musk’s interests. Shockingly, when Magary searched for a Grokipedia entry about Grokipedia itself, none existed. He quips:

> “More like WOKE-ipedia. Am I right, fellow plantation owners?! Huh? Anyway, if you think these suggested results make sense, then you’re on more ketamine than Musk himself.”

Regarding sensitive topics such as slavery, Magary criticizes Grokipedia’s so-called “slurbot” for freely denigrating Black and mixed-race individuals or for outright ignoring harmful content altogether—for instance, there is no Grokipedia entry for the N-word.

Musk, according to Magary, tailored Grokipedia directly to appeal to his base. “I got the feeling that his pet project tweaked hot-button entries to tilt MAGA, and then just stole content for all of the normal stuff,” he writes. This mechanism serves as a “whitewashing machine” aimed at spreading racist falsehoods.

Magary concludes that the site has no real purpose other than to strategically insert lies into what should be a reliable reference. This renders Grokipedia not only a malevolent product but also a poor one.

“But hey, maybe Elon didn’t mean for his baby to be such a piece of s—,” Magary jokes. “Maybe it was just the unintended outcome of bureaucratic radicalization and wartime improvisation.”
https://www.alternet.org/wikipedia-clone-musk/