Thanks for this, looks like it took a long time to put together!
Some corrections with Windscribe since I use it: on Android you can get the APK directly (“sideload” - I use Obtanium) or through F-Droid. Also I think that pricing is for the full service. I pay like $3 a month with 30GB data and a choice of (I think) 3 or 4 countries IIRC. This has been more than enough for me and probably most people.
Ah shit, I’m in the Chicagoland area. I wonder if this affects me. That’s good to know.
Surprised no mention here yet of a Pixel 3a? Both Ubuntu Touch and PostmarketOS seem to run best on it, so I’ve had it on my eBay search notifications for a while hoping to be able to toy with one. I really don’t expect it to be daily driver material though.
If you have a Mac, have you ever tried installing an app and have it refuse because it’s not signed by Apple, and then you had to go into settings and click “allow anyway?”
This is that, except without the allow anyway feature, like iOS. It doesn’t matter if it comes from the play store or elsewhere, as this story originally had us believe.
surely there will have to be “no smart glasses” rules
They have this rule for ebikes at the lake I love to walk and the kids are zooming by anyway. I think we’ll struggle to enforce it and that really sucks. I hope this fails. It’s hard not to be pessimistic about it, as much as I can see some legitimate use cases. I just don’t trust big tech with it, least of all Meta.
Heh…these days I kinda long for devices for for specific purposes again 😅 and I’m a software engineer.
Buy refurb then, it’s what I did and it’s super fast. Returns are diminishing these days and your money will go further.
By your logic the *arr suite isn’t self hosted either since they rely on metadata cache servers.
In fact Jellyfin relies on external services for their metadata too!
Bit weird to pin it on an age generation
Hate to say it but it honestly doesn’t sound crazy hard to just block any instance that pops up. Yes it’s whack a mole but if it’s an automated script, it can just crawl through a backdoor instance and ban any domain it sees.
Like you, I value my relationships and by extension my mental health more than which messaging app I use.
I hate Meta with a passion and them acquiring Whatsapp is probably the most disappointing acquisition of all time to me, but I’m going to continue using it because my wife, family in Latin America, and world friends all use it. And being lonely and out of touch isn’t worth the satisfaction of knowing my data isn’t being scraped to me. Others in these threads always seems to disagree here, and they’re free to do that but it’s not a lifestyle I’m interested in.
I’m making changes where I can; I self host a server for my media, photos, files. I’m going to install Graphene on my phone soon. I’m interested in picking up a cheaper older phone to try a Linux mobile OS on. I have my phone auto connect to my pihole to block trackers when I’m out of the house, etc. But I know as soon as it’s something I have to inconvenience others with, it’s not going to work.
Pick your battles.
I’m on Mint.
T-Mobile acquired them, per the usual bullshit, but I get 15GB a month with unlimited talk and text for “$20” a month. The catch is that you pay yearly in bulk for that price. Had it a year and change. Been solid.
Fine, at least for now:
https://mastodon.social/@GrapheneOS@grapheneos.social/115135404985369728
Had to scroll too far for Stratum! The watch app is also why I use it so that I can keep my phone far away from me while I work. Game changer. Surprised more don’t use it.