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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 2nd, 2023

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  • My other half has new Ultra, I have an older Ultra model. Stuff i find invaluable that she hasn’t used once:

    • S Pen
    • Modes & Routines
    • Secure folder
    • DeX (to a lesser degree than the above)

    I try to use my phone as a Swiss army knife. Stuff I rely on that most normal users likely dont realise their phone can do:

    • Using Kodi the phone becomes fully fledged mobile media player. Great for vacations in case of poor weather (in conjunction with HDMI lead, controller/wireless keyboard)
    • OsmAnd navigation has an offline Wikipedia plugin. I set up a shortcut in it so i can display/hide all wiki entries nearby. Brilliant when on vacation
    • All my main apps will work offline in case of data outage: navigation, notes, password manager, books, music, podcasts, media etc etc
    • Password manager has more uses than simply handling passwords
    • Playing video sites in the background …with a timer if desired
    • Browser with uBlock “etc”
    • Manipulation of .pdf files
    • A good launcher. Mine is always set up the same regardless of device - I can access any app within 2 swipes & 2 taps
    • A good car dock
    • Most don’t realise that a simple DNS entry can help reduce the amount of ads they see
    • All manner of nerdy tech shit to interact with stuff on my network. No normal human needs to know that this usage factor exists

    And most importantly …using the camera in landscape so images/video can be viewed properly on a TV or monitor. And not using digital zoom in the dark to record an entire concert from row Q



  • Late to the party but just another vote for Nextcloud. I used a paid subscription initially but then took the plunge, bought a Pi 4 & SSD for storage then read up & figured out how to self host.

    It was my first experience with Linux, I fell over many times but dont give in as after all the hair pulling & teeth grinding it becomes rewarding & even a little “fun” when you get there & then become confident enough to take on & complete further Pi projects.

    The Pi can handle Libre Office (synced through Nextcloud, handled on mobile by Collabora Office).

    Whilst you’re at it, why not sync the notes you’ll inevitability make on your self hosting journey through your Nextcloud instance? Try Joplin & do away with Google Docs, Evernote etc into the bargain


  • Like others I used Liftoff but had to move on when API broke it & dev is getting on with real life stuff.

    Moved to Voyager. It’s good but as an android I still find it a bit strange using what looks like iOS interface. I still get a bit lost when uploading a post & usually have to edit it a few times. No biggie, maybe I should post more & get used it it 😃

    I still miss the Joey app from the other place.




  • I dunno if TV is dead per se as we all enjoy watching shows/movies. Not really interested in gimmicks - we only have 4K as all new TV’s are 4K & we only got it because our previous TV failed & they can no longer be repaired.

    All i want is a good quality dumb screen. You can stick all your smart features where the sun dont shine, I’ll handle everything via a separate box that I control thank you. I’ll not be at the mercy of your shitty EULA, you won’t monitor my viewing habits or force ads into the UI or remove your dogshit apps without warning. Our TV has never been online, HTPC with a couple of USB TV tuners, uBlock Origin, an interface of my choosing, remote control & lots of storage handles everything. Still perfectly happy watching SD stuff, the only 4K we watch is YouTube.


  • I never had any issues before with cheap HDMI leads over a short distance, so just to throw something else into the mix for consideration - 4k & cable length. My scenario was getting 4K picture on TV from HTPC (home theatre PC, a PC based media player) via a Dolby Atmos compatible amp. Cable length approx 10m.

    Standard HDMI cables tend to be labelled as “HDMI 2.0/a/b compatible for 4k at 60Hz”. I bought several of these cables & had same issues with all of them - they would not display image on TV (though mysteriously they displayed an image if a games console was used rather than the HTPC). They sell them in all kinds of lengths but in my experience they dont work beyond about 5m.

    Close to giving in, I bought a 10m “active” HDMI optical lead which is directional - one end is labelled source & the other end labelled display.

    First one I bought worked perfectly.




  • The days before everything became enshittiffied, before 6 or 7 giant corps took over, the days before social media became a cesspit of slanging matches & false lifestyles, the days when search engines worked & displayed what you searched for not what they think you want to see, the days before shitty algorithms clogged your feeds up endlessly with shit that you searched for once during a conversation you had with someone at work, the days where news sites showed news headlines not bullshit clickbait lies, the days before evil corps tracked every move you make, the days before you were forced to have a shitty app for everything.

    The days when going online was fun & interesting. I hope Lemmy continues to bring back some of that fun!



  • Windows, free, not well known/talked about?

    Hands down qttabbar. Adds tabbed browsing to Explorer. Absolutely no idea why this isnt built into Windows, I’ve used it for some years & hate using a Window machine without it.

    More well known:

    • Joplin. Markdown note taking app. Also has a portable version (I use this over the .exe version). Can be set up to sync with your other (multi OS) devices
    • ShareX. Screenshot clipper. Has a learning curve but the initial pain is worth it. Greenshot is a good portable alternative
    • TeraCopy. File transfer tool. Much faster & far more reliable than Explorer copy/paste
    • Everything. File search utility. Use this once & you’ll absolutely hate having to endure using the built in Explorer search. Also has a portable version


  • I personally would be very wary of eBay as even with a paid check before buying, the seller could potentially take your money then claim on their insurance. The phone then becomes blacklisted (sim no longer works, only works abroad or on wifi). If you confront the seller they could just say a previous owner must have reported it stolen.

    CeX used electronics store guarantees against this & also gives a 2 year warranty


  • Some years ago before online banking, buying a fairly sought after but relatively uncommon type of used hot hatch car. Back then there was a strong chance potential car buyers would have cash for the transaction. Magazine ad made out it was from a dealership/garage. Something about the phone calls got my spider sense tingling, especially when they claimed the car was elsewhere so I’d have to meet them off site. I’d already traveled so thought what the hell, I’ll look but definitely not buying from this chump outfit.

    I’m a big muscular fella, just over 6 feet tall & around 19 stone of solid muscle so fairly intimidating looking & was standing leaning against my own car waiting for them to turn up. All of a sudden I hear the roar of the car, strangely with with a bunch of undesirables in it hanging out the windows. They slowed right down checking me out, thought better of it coz the driver floored the accelerator & disappeared. No doubt in my mind they were planning someone was gonna get mugged for a few grand that day. No doubt they’d done it before.




  • Some years back there was a password manager which stopped sync through cloud (probably Dropbox) & insisted it went through their own servers instead. The whiff of subscription service was in the air so I switched Keepass.

    I sync Keepass between devices myself but I recommend Bitwarden to family who probably couldn’t figure out how to set sync up with Keepass if I’m not around. I stick with Keepass as I like the key file aspect & because it allows multiple documents to be added to entries (restricted on Bitwarden). The documents are available offline, such as vehicle breakdown documents etc. Could be very useful one day!