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monovergent

@ monovergent @lemmy.ml

Posts

76
Comments

769
Joined

3 yr. ago

4w ago

Removed

Am I crazy not to trust Chinese developed games ?
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monovergent @lemmy.ml 4w ago
There's always the risk of spying if a game requires an internet connection, no matter who published it, but unless you plan to be in China later on, there's not much that Chinese companies (or authorities, if that is of concern) can do with the data collected on you.
I suppose some company could sell that data back to a US firm in a roundabout way. Anyway, take what I say with a grain of salt since I've hardly played or looked into any games requiring an internet connection.

4w ago

In CoMaps, is it normal to have to wait a while for a search to complete?

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monovergent @lemmy.ml 4w ago

I also have everything I need downloaded and have been using regular street addresses.

4w ago

What beverage is pure refresment to you?

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monovergent @lemmy.ml 4w ago

Ice-cold Vöslauer Superprickelnd was the best I've had. I've never seen it in the States, but most generic sparkling water from the supermarket will do.

4w ago

What beverage is pure refresment to you?

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monovergent @lemmy.ml 4w ago

Sparkling water

1mo ago

My questions regarding many things...

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monovergent @lemmy.ml 1mo ago

(from United States)

microG helps with apps that check for the mere presence of Google Play, but does nothing for Play Integrity. microG gets most apps up and running, but the details will vary, some apps won't have working notifications, and most official Google suite apps will still be broken.
I personally don't want to play a game of freedom/privacy alongside closed-source and personally-identifying apps on the same phone, so my solution to apps requiring Play Integrity would be an entirely separate phone. I hang on to my old phones, so I reuse the most recent one for work and other nasty apps.
However, there are workarounds for Play Integrity, many of them through the Magisk rooting tool. I'm not aware of any way to work around it without rooting. I haven't rooted my phone since the Android 4.4 days, so I don't have much good advice.
I am required to show ID maybe less than once a month, likewise for large transactions, official paperwork, etc. My passport card reveals less information than my state's driver's license (the de-facto ID for most US Americans), so I present that first.
Some jurisdictions have digital ID options, but it's all optional as far as I'm aware. Let's say that I wouldn't be too thrilled if they decide to make eID mandatory.

1mo ago

What question are you sick of answering?

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monovergent @lemmy.ml 1mo ago

"Are you human?"

I understand why it's needed, but it's damn annoying when every single website asks.

1mo ago

Any Android alternatives working on a Samsung A02s?

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monovergent @lemmy.ml 1mo ago

As with most Samsung A-series devices, you can install a Generic System Image (GSI), although there's no support from bigger groups and projects and no guarantee on what will work correctly out of the box. Most notoriously for Samsung devices, support for the cellular modem on third-party ROMs is hit-or-miss.

See: https://github.com/TadiT7/treble_experimentations_wiki/blob/master/Samsung-Galaxy-A02s.md

You can also ask me more questions about the process of installing a GSI on a Samsung device, if you want to pursue this option. I had one hell of a time getting a GSI working on my Samsung Tab A7 Lite.

Edit: Make sure it's not carrier locked, else you won't be able to unlock the bootloader and will be stuck on the stock OS.

1mo ago

Permanently Deleted

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monovergent @lemmy.ml 1mo ago

F2FS seems to do what you want, it'll reserve the original size of your file but compress what's actually written. Performance numbers might be massively inflated if your writes don't saturate the cache in RAM.

I've used BTRFS on SD cards before and it's mostly fine, but it will struggle massively if over 90% full, or if you have a < 1 GB volume and are, say, frequently updating a handful of files that together take up more than half its capacity. Mostly due to the CoW mechanism, it needs some headroom to make a copy of whatever files are being modified.

1mo ago

Is it possible to not know who a famous person is?

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monovergent @lemmy.ml 1mo ago

Very, I am completely clueless when people ramble on about celebrities.

1mo ago

How can I avoid proprietary software on school & company computers?

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monovergent @lemmy.ml 1mo ago

That's the point of school and company computers. To keep all the nasty software you need for your work away from your personal laptop, which you'll want to buy yourself.

No amount of privacy-friendly software you install on top of Windows thoroughly compromised with corporate MDM is going to save you.

If you must use your personal machine during work hours, tether it to your phone's data connection or use VPN if it is allowed.

1mo ago

Have you ever had a meltdown because of age verification ?

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monovergent @lemmy.ml 1mo ago

Not really but it does anguish me to think about it and has forced me to reconsider how I'm going to use the internet going forward. That open access to it can be taken away at any moment and now is the time to start downloading what I can.

We already see certain countries where websites require you to create an account linked to your ID in order to post, or even scroll further than a page down. It can happen here too. Of course, it's not going to change how I'm going to do my banking or work since anything I do for those is already attached to my real name. But it could be the end of my forum activity and browsing of "unfavorable topics" as I know it.

1mo ago

Should cash stay alive to enable "private" transactions?

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monovergent @lemmy.ml 1mo ago

For sure, even if it's not perfect. Ready-to-use without electricity or internet, no payment processor shenanigans, and not nearly as comprehensive a system of tracking even if you account for serial numbers.

1mo ago

Is advertising getting worse on websites?

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monovergent @lemmy.ml 1mo ago

Haven't noticed anything unusual as a uBlock + Librewolf user, but I wouldn't be surprised. What exactly happens when you don't use strict mode? Are some ads still getting through?

It's all a vicious cycle fuelled by greed I'd say. I probably wouldn't be using a full-fledged ad-blocker if the web were still simple HTML pages with a couple narrow columns of static (maybe GIF at the top and bottom banners) ads on either side. A pop-up blocker would suffice. But pages got heavier, more bandwidth was needed, more profit was desired, more visitors blocked ads outright, and so on.

The other day I was playing around in Chromium without ublock and happened upon a pcworld . com link. The site was so bloated and putrefied that my computer came to a crawl in a matter of seconds. I don't understand how anyone is supposed to go through their site without an adblocker.

1mo ago

The locking-down of Android: why I had to 'hack' a banking app just to get it running

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monovergent @lemmy.ml 1mo ago

It is bad. We should fight against the corporations and agencies that want to strip us of our privacy, and avoid using services that insist on invasive measures whenever possible. But the way things are going, especially living in the US, does not exactly inspire my optimism and my mind wants some certainty against all the what-if scenarios. Perhaps I should frame the separate device solution as my stopgap if we reach "rock bottom"?

I won't pretend to be an expert on how much isolation a separate device provides over a user profile, but it does give me peace of mind in the case of my work phone, which I only have powered up at the workplace and never connect to the same network as my other devices. Not everyone has the privilege, but I repurposed my old phone which otherwise would have sat idle for this purpose.

1mo ago

The locking-down of Android: why I had to 'hack' a banking app just to get it running

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monovergent @lemmy.ml 1mo ago

Never thought to consider that an app can know what keyboard is in use! I can imagine that not going well if someone is using a niche input method for accessibility.

I'd agree, the day my bank stops offering basic functions through the browser is the day I switch banks.

1mo ago

The locking-down of Android: why I had to 'hack' a banking app just to get it running

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monovergent @lemmy.ml 1mo ago

The kinds of thoughts that keep me up as well. Glad you found a way to make the app happy for now.

It's no doubt good to campaign and put pressure on banks, corporations, institutions, etc. but at the end of the day, my mind looks for the ultimate fail-safe. And it keeps coming back to having to use a separate device for such apps. At least I'm used to wearing cargo pants for the day I will need to carry 3 phones.

1mo ago

With people increasingly expecting constant stimulation, are we culturally heading toward a point where silence and pauses in all media become intolerable?

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monovergent @lemmy.ml 1mo ago

As much as I have ideals for my technology use, I will admit that

I have some audio in the background playing half of my waking hours
If I'm tired of words, I'll put on music, vice versa
If there's an unanticipated pause, I first check if it's still playing correctly
Yes I am afraid of being stuck with my own thoughts when I go to bed
I think of the time spent waiting in line as nothing but wasted unless I use it as an opportunity, perhaps to read a saved tab on my phone
All of this might not be the cause of it, but it definitely doesn't help my mental fog and fatigue

1mo ago

CalixOS or AOSP on Fairphone 5 ?

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monovergent @lemmy.ml 1mo ago

AOSP even without Google Play will still ping Google servers every now and then. Unless you're being targeted or installing apps of unknown provenance, the chance of being hacked due to the Calyx hiatus is still very low. But I think you'll need to reinstall from scratch once Calyx updates resume since their bootloader keys will be generated anew at that point. I'm biased towards fewer pings to Google over the latest in security, but that's just my own threat model.

Apologies if you've already seen it, here's the big table I consulted: https://eylenburg.github.io/android_comparison.htm

1mo ago

Looking for alternative SMS app

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monovergent @lemmy.ml 1mo ago

I've been using Fossify Messages. Pretty bare-bones, but does the job since I don't use SMS too much. I'm glad that it can intercept the Class 0 messages that my carrier uses for billing so it doesn't occupy my whole screen every time I call or text.

1mo ago

Do you get sick when travel via plane?

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monovergent @lemmy.ml 1mo ago

I don't, but there's always someone else in my family who's getting sick whenever we fly together. I've worn masks to the airport ever since the pandemic. Also tend to fall asleep shortly after takeoff, so I'm well-rested upon arrival.