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ilmagico

@ilmagico@lemmy.world

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ilmagico ,

The guide is suggesting to install microG, an open source reimplementation of Google services that even many "degooglers" use.

ilmagico ,

While that might be true, it doesn't look like The Verge was sponsored by any specific ebike company to write this article, since they never mention any specific brand.

Edit: actually after scrolling down enough, they did interview people from some ebike company. Still doesn't look (too) sponsored

ilmagico ,

I'm writing this from a samsung with unlocked bootloader.

ilmagico ,

Maybe I should've specified that it was unlocked via the official "OEM Unlock" switch provided by Samsung. Yes, there are Samsung phones that can be unlocked, though you're right, many cannot be (usually US versions).

ilmagico ,

Google Maps, their traffic data has no rivals, unlike gmail which has plenty of good competition. It's the one thing I couldn't easily replace yet.

ilmagico ,

Yes, I also use and highly recommend OsmAnd, great for offline maps, outdoor activities and lots of stuff... but no traffic data.

ilmagico ,

That would require me to buy an iPhone which I won't do for many many reasons... but ok, maybe Apple Maps is a decent competitor nowadays, good to know.

ilmagico ,

Millimeter waves is what they use in airport scanners,not x-rays.

ilmagico ,

The real numbers we need to see are watts per volume, or watts per mass

You have to chase it down, following the link to electrek.co, but then it says:
"the prototype cells house an energy density of 720 Wh/kg"

(of course, I'm just stating what is claimed, no idea how true)

ilmagico ,

You're right, I didn't see it! I just saw a bunch of chinese writings, which I cannot read, so didn't bother trying to read even the only thing I could 😅

ilmagico ,

that they look for a way to moderate cheating without just lazily requiring Windows in order to play online.

I would avoid those kernel level malwares anticheat anyways, whether they're for Windows or if they port them to Linux ("to run this game, please load this kernel module"... no thanks).

ilmagico ,

I love osmand for outdoor activities, recording hikes and bike rides, they actually have better info on trails than google maps (though there are specialized outdoor apps that are even better, usually paid). The UI has a lot of features and it's not the easiest to navigate, but I love it exactly because it has all those features. Searching for places used to be a nightmare, but it got better. It even works with Android Auto (not sure abt Carplay for Apple folks).

So, what is it missing? Traffic info. And that's why I still have Google maps.

ilmagico ,

If you (or that website) want to spread this kind of alarmist information, some would say conspiracies, you'd better back it with credible sources for all the claims in there. I read it and saw exactly zero evidence.

ilmagico ,

If linux came preinstalled by default and vendor supported, regular people would use linux as well. Usability is actually pretty good these days, arguably higher than Windows since you don’t have to deal with this BS.

Yes, you can buy Dell laptops with Ubuntu preinstalled and supported, maybe Lenovos, not sure, but it's not the default, available only on custom builds online and on business (expensive) laptops, so most regular people don't bother.

Edit: well, there's the SteamDeck as an example of mainstream vendor supported system with linux, I guess. Some people go through the trouble of installing Windows on it, but most people don't bother and stick to what it came with.

ilmagico ,

haha lol yeah we do get a bit annoying here ...
For me it's the opposite though, I use linux for work, and I've used it for so long I almost forgot what Windows looks like.

ilmagico ,

Most of the issues you describe are because usually computers come with Windows preinstalled with all the drivers and configuration set up by the oem to "just work", so replacing the OS inevitably means fiddling with it. People who e.g. try to install Windows on a SteamDeck will face similar difficulties.

Fairbuds are Fairphone’s proof that we really could make better tiny gadgets (arstechnica.com)

But of course we all know that the big manufacturers don't do this not because they can't but because they don't want to. Planned obsolescence is still very much the name of the game, despite all the bullshit they spout about sustainability.

ilmagico ,

In capitalistic societies like the USA, for-profit companies are mandated to serve the interest of their shareholders, which is usually to make as much money as they can.
If there was some kind of incentive to do the right thing, that makes the "right thing" more profitable than the rest, maybe companies would do the right thing. Maybe make companies pay for the amount of ewaste (or any kind of waste) they generate?

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Heartbleed vulnerability in OpenSSL, which had the same ultimate root cause as recent XZUtils backdoor incident (optimizedbyotto.com)

The XZ Utils backdoor, discovered last week, and the Heartbleed security vulnerability ten years ago, share the same ultimate root cause. Both of them, and in fact all critical infrastructure open source projects, should be fixed with the same solution: ensure baseline funding for proper open source maintenance.

ilmagico ,

The first one was a genuine bug, the second a malicions backdoor. The only common thing is they are both open source projects. I agree with having more oversight and funding on critical open source software, but suggesting that these two vulnerabilities are the same in some way is a bit of a stretch.

I dockerized my Nextcloud (github.com)

For years I've been running my Nextcloud on bare metal. Now I finally decided to switch it to docker. I looked into Nextcloud All-In-One and it seems easy to deploy but it lacks configuration options like multiple domain names and putting it behind a traefik reverse proxy is kind of a pain to set up....

ilmagico ,

Well, since we want to be technical ... Docker is not bare metal. Linux apps are not bare metal. Arduino is bare metal.

ilmagico ,

That's only the meaning you're used to, and that's my point. It depends on the context. I can assure you that, in the context of microcontrollers, for example, "bare metal" means running without an OS.

ilmagico ,

My point is, since its meaning depends on the context, I don't see the issue for it to mean, in the context of containers, "outside of a container". Just like in the case of VMs, or OS vs No OS, it means there's one fewer layer between the app and the hardware, whether that's a VM, Container runtime, or the OS.

I'm pretty sure everybody, including you, understood its meaning in this context, it didn't really cause any misunderstanding.

Roku has patented a way to show ads over anything you plug into your TV (arstechnica.com)

A patent application from the company spotted by Lowpass describes a system for displaying ads over any device connected over HDMI, a list that could include cable boxes, game consoles, DVD or Blu-ray players, PCs, or even other video streaming devices. Roku filed for the patent in August 2023 and it was published in November...

ilmagico ,

"security" for themselves, not the customer, I guess

ilmagico ,

I mean, yeah sure, but are the alternatives that much better in this respect? Which alternative non-ad-ridden, privacy-respecting smart tv would you recommend (or ended up buying)? Asking for my future tv choice...

ilmagico ,

While Google is hardly privacy-respecting and ad-free, I guess the fact it can be more easily customized is a plus, maybe I should consider it for the future. After all, that's the same reason I stick with Android.

Can GoogleTV be rooted like android can, preferably without resorting to hacks, like in some android phones where the bootloader is unlockable?

ilmagico ,

I still run it on a 10 year old chromebox (replacing chrome with linux of course). It's really not that heavy. If it seems very slow, I'd try rebuilding the database from a dump (if mysql/mariadb), and making sure the db is on a fast drive. At least, those two things made a huge difference for me. Also, some people reported huge speedups switching to postgres.

ilmagico , (edited )

Once again a misleading headline: No, Nissan isn't evil trying to force people to buy a new car (Edit: well maybe a bit, see replies). Those older cars rely on 2G connectivity, which is soon to be shut down in the UK, so they are sunsetting support for the features relying on it..

TL;DR: The 2G network they rely on is shutting down.

ilmagico ,

I'm not in the UK so I don't really know, I'm just saying the headline is misleading, and I'm just summarizing the article. Yes, I checked again, the article does mention the networks won't go down immediately, so maybe Nissan is a bit evil, or maybe there's something else the article isn't saying.

Linux market share passes 4% for first time (arstechnica.com)

We see the nearly 33-year-old OS’s market share growing 31.3 percent from June 2023, when we last reported on Linux market share, to February. Since June, Linux usage has mostly increased gradually. Overall, there's been a big leap in usage compared to five years ago. In February 2019, Linux was reportedly on 1.58 percent of...

ilmagico ,

Yeah, misleading headline. They're talking about the linux desktop, and based just on browser stats. Marked share of linux as a whole, including all datacenters, servers, cloud infrastructure, and heck, throw in IOT devices, android, routers, etc, I'm pretty sure it's the dominant OS already.

ilmagico ,

TL;DR: No. Not even close.

ilmagico ,

Forced to embrace, extend and extinguish? Or is this actually a good thing? (sorry I didn't watch the whole 50 min video)

ilmagico ,

Wait, you did this on an AMD processor, or did I misunderstand? Isn't it only supposed to work on Intel processors? Either way, I'd try with an Intel processor if I were you, if you have one handy, to see if it makes any difference.

ilmagico ,

I love linux and been using it for decades, personally and professionally, but no, linux doesn't have "hot patching" the same way as that article describes it. At most it can live patch the kernel (and only few distros actually use that), but definitely not for the last 20 years, and definitely not running processes. However, it does usually restart background processes after an update without requiring a reboot, but in my experience, often times the system becomes unstable after several such updates and rebooting is effectively necessary (though not forced, and that's why I like it).

ilmagico ,

Windows lets you pause updates for some time, maybe a week or so, after that you're going to take them whether you like it or not. Granted, you had a week or so to prepare, so it's ok to some extent, but don't tell me Windows doesn't force you...

ilmagico ,

Hmm, good to know, I'll have to try, just out of curiosity. Is that available on Windows Home or just Pro? Anyways, it's not something that many people would easily figure out, so for most non-technical people they effectively cannot disable them.

ilmagico ,

This is the right answer. No tool can detect AI generated content with zero false positives, but someone using AI to cheat won't actually know the subject matter.

Shell Is Immediately Closing All Of Its California Hydrogen Stations | The oil giant is one of the big players in hydrogen globally, but even it can't make its operations work here. (insideevs.com)

Shell Is Immediately Closing All Of Its California Hydrogen Stations | The oil giant is one of the big players in hydrogen globally, but even it can't make its operations work here.::The oil giant is one of the big players in hydrogen globally, but even it can't make its operations work here. All seven of its California stations...

ilmagico ,

As much as I'd like to use public transport, even with LA traffic on a Thursday (for those who don't know, Thursdays are always the worst in LA), even when the 405 is a parking lot, taking the metro / bus is still at least 2x slower than driving. Yes I tried, it's that ridiculous. There are a lot of ongoing projects to build and extend metro lines, new bike lanes, etc. but progress is very slow. As others have said, the whole metropolitan area was designed with cars, and only cars in mind.

ilmagico ,

Right? I don't known why some Americans think they're the only one capable of building AIs, and if someone else did it, they must be stealing it... (or more likely it's an excuse)

ilmagico ,

Well, technically, CEOs don't pick their own salaries, they are decided by the board, and so, indirectly by the shareholders. Then again, she is also a board member, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ilmagico ,

Still using WhatsApp only, because I failed to convince people to switch to Signal (so far).

ilmagico ,

Didn't they start as a non-profit? But I guess, as someone I know used to say, there's one god everybody worships: the money god.

ilmagico ,

Is that an actual for-profit company controlled by the non-profit wikimedia foundation, or just a way for the foundation to make money to run its operations? My understanding is it's the latter, unlike Mozilla and now Raspberry Pi. See here:

Wikimedia Enterprise is a product of the Wikimedia Foundation, with content created by volunteers around the world.

A nonprofit doesn't have to rely exclusively on donations to fund its operarions.

ilmagico ,

it's not. They do have a commercial product they use to fund their operation, in addition to donations, but that doesn't make them a for-profit company.

ilmagico ,

I just took some time to watch that video, and that seems to say "Yes" instead. Yes, they started as a non-profit, with a for-profit arm, and Yes, the for-profit arm is now trying to sell out in an IPO to (guess what) make more money. And while they are distinct entities, there's some of the same people on the board for both, who are likely going to profit.

ilmagico ,

Technically, no, iRobot and Amazon "mutually agreed" to terminate the deal, most likely cause the EU probably wasn't going to approve, but:

  1. The EU was set to deliberate in mid Feb, so they didn't (yet)
  2. It's also possible that Amazon used the likely rejection of the EU as an excuse to back out of a deal they didn't want anymore

I don't know which one it is, but if Amazon wanted to close, they would've been willing to make concessions to the EU to get their approval, rather than backing out.

ilmagico ,

My understanding is that this dialog won't appear if you update apps from f-droid or other 3rd party store, but only if:

  1. The app was installed from one store (or just the play store, not sure), and
  2. You are now trying to update the app by downloading an apk from somewhere else (e.g. a browser)

That would normally fail because the signatures don't match, but I guess there are places, like apkmirror, where you can find apks that are signed by the original developer (and so, they are authentic and 100% safe), but then google will give you a warning that you might not receive updates and such.

At least, that's my understanding. A tiny bit annoying, but not a big deal.

ilmagico ,

There are rumors that it could come without a steering wheel or any pedals to lower costs

Ehm what? Full self driving (and self crashing)??

ilmagico ,

Said another way: if a company offering a password manager can recover all your passwords with you just clicking "forgot password", that means they can read your passwords in plain text (and so can hackers if the company gets hacked).

Amazon has been listing products with the title, 'I'm sorry, I cannot fulfil this request as it goes against OpenAI use policy' (www.businessinsider.com)

Amazon has been listing products with the title, 'I'm sorry, I cannot fulfil this request as it goes against OpenAI use policy'::Products have appeared on the platform with odd titles that are seemingly related to OpenAI's usage policy.

ilmagico ,

Yes, there are a lot of legitimate users for this AI technology, and writing a meaningful product listing title from (say) a longer product description, maybe in a different language, seems fine to me. Even using trademarked names could be ok, if the product sold has them (e.g. "mini pc with Intel (tm) processor").

The fact that they are generated and used without anybody even looking at them is highly suspicions, of course...

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