Syonyk

127 ms·

811.
by Syonyk 5y ago
Lent is coming up, which, culturally, is a good time to do weird things. I tend to disconnect from the internet for those 40 days, though the past two years have been a bit less-disconnecty than I prefer, with Covid and all (especially 202
812.
by Syonyk 5y ago
You could, but if you're doing that, it would be far easier to just build your own device that does what you want and nothing else. You can put together a ZeroPhone or something for about the same complexity as a network proxy device
813.
by Syonyk 5y ago
KaiOS supports WhatsApp. And, at least some of them support group texting somewhat competently, though not the older ones. But the reality is that I'm fine with a lot of my communication being computer-based now (with a keyboard). I
814.
by Syonyk 5y ago
Take a look at the rugged KaiOS devices. They should do what you need. I have a "Flip IV" right now (AT&T sent me one when I hooked up my 8110 to their network because that doesn't support VoLTE), and other than being wa
815.
by Syonyk 5y ago
Unfortunately, that doesn't work, because the old cell network radios don't exist anymore. You can get a modern flip phone or such, that supports things like VoLTE (AT&T is dropping support for all non-VoLTE phones here... soo
816.
by Syonyk 5y ago
> For privacy/security use a non-Android Linux-based phone. I agree entirely, mostly because there's not a huge difference between that and simply not carrying a phone... or your battery is dead unless you carry a bag full of
817.
by Syonyk 5y ago
> Yes there are serious problems with smartphones. And they become more serious over time, as we've moved more and more of society and interaction onto them... > And smartphones are here to stay. I don't think this is a
818.
by Syonyk 5y ago
It's not bad, and I use it/like it, but it's also exceedingly heavy compared to IRC. If you want to join large rooms, your server really needs a couple gig of RAM, and the "full featured" client (Element) is an
819.
by Syonyk 5y ago
> For a long time basically anything of relevance happened on freenode. Much did, yes, and when Freenode went belly up for insane reasons, everyone active moved their channels over to "What is it? Not Freenode! What's it li
820.
by Syonyk 5y ago
> But for many many other styles of games, the point is that you are using your imagination and flexibility to react to the story that no computer could do. Or alternatively there are many games that are more of a collaborative storytel
821.
by Syonyk 5y ago
> for example by covering the whole AirTags in superglue and foam to muffle all vibrations. Which makes it larger, harder to hide, and easier to find. Go try - see how much foam it takes to reasonably muffle the beeper. It'll ta
822.
by Syonyk 5y ago
> then technology needs a huge lobotomy! Yes, it does. It really, really does. The absolutely human-toxic nature of most modern consumer tech ("You buy me, I feed you ads, and collect absolutely as much data as I can to improve
823.
by Syonyk 5y ago
> The “an AirTag is traveling with you” alerts haven’t been defeated as far as I can tell. Perhaps not, but they're meaningless to the >50% of the population that doesn't have a modern enough iPhone as their daily carry ph
824.
by Syonyk 5y ago
> ...shouldn't be it a society that needs to somehow change (I've no idea how, though), rather than technologies killed because it threats existing societal stuff? We've allowed, collectively, anything that falls in the
825.
by Syonyk 5y ago
> It’s not unreasonable to demand that Amazon ensures every such tracker they sell has speakers and anti abuse features. I agree, however, this thread is about Apple's AirTag devices, and complaining about Amazon's incredibly
826.
by Syonyk 5y ago
And if you want it to report out, it has to have an active cell plan, and the power consumption is rather radically higher than "years on a button cell," so the device is bigger, it needs a clear enough view of the sky to get a GP
827.
by Syonyk 5y ago
I don't think all bases can be covered, certainly. But neither do I think Apple has been doing a good job of even trying to do a good job of it, at least recently. Apple clearly put some thought into how the product would be misused
828.
by Syonyk 5y ago
Trivial. https://mashtips.com/remove-airtag-speaker/ Or just buy a pre-modded one. https://uk.pcmag.com/mobile-phone-accessories/138509/silent-...
829.
by Syonyk 5y ago
> ...and we condemn in the strongest possible terms any malicious use of our products. Then subject them to malicious users before releasing them to see what sort of ideas they can come up with in a few days, and mitigate those befor
830.
by Syonyk 5y ago
No, I'm not going to "enter my email to continue." Looks an interesting article, but, no, sorry, modal sign ups that continue after a refresh lead to a page close. :/
831.
by Syonyk 5y ago
I'm always reminded of the bit from The Incredibles: BOB PARR: All right, listen closely. I'd like to help you, but I can't. I'd like to tell you to take a copy of your policy to Norma Wilcox on... Norma Wilcox. W-I-L-C
832.
by Syonyk 5y ago
> It’s hard to tell when someone has bought a product. How about, "I've literally got it in my last-day purchase history on eBay and they keep showing me the same thing and a bunch of related stuff to the item that hasn'
833.
by Syonyk 5y ago
No access to it... However, that's unsurprising. Literally every time someone tries to figure out how much methane there should be based on published leak rates and such, and then goes to measure out there somewhere, they find radica
834.
by Syonyk 5y ago
I assume one heating their garage on "I have more power than I know what to do with!" resistive heating isn't bothering with radiant heat.
835.
by Syonyk 5y ago
> E.g. I am heating my garage with an electric heater because it costs me zero. There's very few situations in which pushing electrons through a resistor is the best use of the electrons. Why not build a BOINC farm for the winter
836.
by Syonyk 5y ago
That sounds both amazing and a bit wasteful of paper, though if it's more of a magazine than a newspaper, I might have to try that out! I definitely don't need a permanent bound copy of some random Atlantic or Vox article.
837.
by Syonyk 5y ago
There was a study [0] that demonstrated that even having your smartphone near you - shut off, on the desk - reduced your ability to focus and concentrate. That's one of the reasons I've moved as much as I can to an e-reader, I k
838.
by Syonyk 5y ago
I would be interested to see if an e-ink type reader is closer to paper or a smartphone in a test like this. I've generally let myself drift to them for long form reading, but do wonder if it's that much better than an LCD, in
839.
by Syonyk 5y ago
> It seems I'm not the target for Starlink No schleep. It's aimed at rural users who, if they don't get laughed at for asking someone about fiber, get a quote of "Well, for half a million up front, we'll consi
840.
by Syonyk 5y ago
Excellent. I do feel like there's been a bit of a rejection of the polished, streamlined, "Facebook/Reddit" internet of late, and I love reading articles like this. "I wonder if I can do..." ponderings, follow

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