The average social media profile has just headlines and lead pictures, while a good blog also has articles

How time-consuming would doing it yourself be, if anyone here has tried?

Completely agree. I find it especially inelegant that we still have such a thing as boot times to wait through, despite improvements by orders of magnitude in processing power and disk throughput. Android devices are a huge offender in this aspect, though I guess few people care since a full shutdown is rarely done.

We should have stuck with network file shares and FTP instead of outsourcing everything to Google. ‘Unlimited storage’ for select organizations was really good bait, but it was never sustainable.

Aside from my Pixel 7a, the rest of my phones and tablets are either old or originally low-spec budget models. This forces me to use Chromium-based browsers like Cromite since the performance penalty for Gecko-based ones becomes very apparent.

In my opinion, the reward for rooting LineageOS is pretty limited for having to risk one of the more important aspects of the Android security model, since the base system is already decently clean. If you want to go the extra mile, you could try installing the LeOS GSI, which strips out the remaining pings to Google servers (see LineageOS column of the table).

Definitely double check if the build you use has anything weird configured, but modern LineageOS (and Android in general) should already have good encryption by default. Not sure if LineageOS already has a way to toggle per-app network access, but if not, take a look at RethinkDNS, does a fine job without root.

Not much you can do about the unlocked bootloader, but as long as you aren’t being targeted by some agency, sticking to trusted sources like F-Droid for apps will go a long way. I have a similar approach with two phones and minimal personal data stored on each, so I’d personally approve of those elements.

Faraday cage might be of interest with regard to the iPhone since those can still function as their own AirTags even when powered off. But modern phones are surprisingly sensitive to signals so the slightest imperfection, especially in cheap Faraday bags, could give you away. While you’re at it, make a threat model to see if Faraday cages are necessary for your needs.

Same, too many clocks, all getting out of sync, and some on power strips that get turned off periodically.

I was thinking something on those lines the other day. We like to say that Linux revives old computers, and I wouldn’t for a second consider putting Windows back on them, but I also have a case of hardware support so close, yet so far. I’ve two old laptops with nvidia chips from before the days of Optimus switiching, so you are forced to use the dGPU. Believe me, I wasted a whole weekend trying to make them use only integrated graphics. It was fine while they were supported under the proprietary nvidia driver, but as soon as support ended, nouveau became the only option and it absolutely crippled 3D performance, even on very old titles. Meanwhile, Windows still supports the old 340 driver needed for those graphics chips.

Mostly comes down to hardware vendors not bothering with Linux support and open-source in general. Which leaves support for affected devices down to volunteers having time to reverse-engineer a driver from scratch. To be clear, I don’t blame nouveau at all. It must have been a ton of work to even get the nouveau driver to its current state.

Do you use a physical SIM? I’m fairly sure any carrier-unlocked phone will also work with your Tracfone service if you move the SIM over. You’ll need to find a way unlock the bootloader before rooting, uninstalling system apps, or installing any custom ROM. That will be difficult with retail Tracfone phones since they are decently locked down.

If you’re on a budget too small for a Google Pixel, I’d suggest looking at the LineageOS compatibility list and finding a carrier-unlocked unit you like. If for some reason you must use a phone you can buy from Walmart, take a look at Universal Android Debloater to disable some of the pre-installed bloat and the Rethink DNS firewall to block internet traffic to the stuff you can’t remove.

I have heard those terms in the past, albeit not too often

Another common mozilla L

Back in the early 2010s, I bought a new PC with Windows 8 on it. Hated the way it looked and the way it worked. I wanted my Start menu and Aero and Classic themes back. Led me to learning about Linux. But uxTheme and Classic Shell kept me happy for a couple more years.

Then I got a laptop with Windows 10. Felt my heart rate spike as I went through the settings and found out how much more hostile to user choice and privacy Microsoft had become. When the semi-annual updates kept undoing all my hard work debloating Windows, I decided it was time to begin using Linux in earnest.

At first, I had a dual-boot setup and jumped around between Ubuntu, Deepin, Arch, etc. Found myself booting into the Windows partition less than once a month, at which point I moved it out onto its own drive. Distro-hopping went on for about a year, after which I decided that Debian met all of my needs. Continued DE-hopping for about another year until settling on XFCE with Chicago95. Brought me enough joy to make a standardized setup in a VM, which I have since cloned to all of my computers except for the Windows laptop I keep around for work.

Mixed bag. I’m lucky enough that most of my work can be done on a Linux machine. Workplace does require us to bring our own devices, but the policy is extremely lax, no need to install any monitoring software or the like. Which lets me have a Linux desktop chilling on my desk.

But I do have to keep a laptop with Windows around. We sometimes have to work with overcomplicated Office documents that break on alternatives like LibreOffice or the occasional piece of proprietary software that needs direct USB access, which Wine cannot yet provide.

New local. I’m only subscribed to a handful of communities.

It’s definitely one of the ways I fidget when alone.

I don’t know if it’s related, but my problem is that sometimes I think my head is upright but it ends up being tilted a bit in photos.

I write a brief journal entry each day. Would have loved to read the day-to-day musings of past generations in my family, so I’d like to do this now for posterity. I even designed a custom printable planner with space for it, Letter/A4 sized so I can easily scan them in once I’m done. It’s just a section of my planner so the context of what I did that day is right there and the limited space keeps me from feeling pressured to write in gory detail. Printed out because the digital equivalents never really worked well for me.

That only captures a small amount of my life and I’m not big on taking photos, but even a brief daily journal entry takes much discipline, so I won’t push it and risk giving up.

While I like to consume documents and photos on paper, I don’t trust it in the long run. Vulnerable to water, fire, UV, and theft. You could say the same for electronic media, but it’s easy to duplicate, encrypt, and verify with checksums (or replace if it fails). All of my photos and documents to date fit within 128gb with room to spare, so I store encrypted copies on hard drives at home, a SSD hidden among cables and chargers at work, on my personal laptop, and in a microSD in my wallet. All verified with btrfs scrub and synced at my leisure.

Bought an automatic-feed scanner to gradually digitize the hoard of paper documents and photos I have remaining. I ought to look into digitizing old home VHS tapes from my childhood and backing up the really important stuff to M-Discs sometime, but that’s all I have time for now.

For sure. Mine did fill higher when it was new, but the low water level issue developed a few years in.

A luxury car complete with touchscreens, back when a touchscreen was magical and revolutionary. Car maintenance and privacy concerns have taught me to love the very opposite, a 90s Chevy.

New appliances. A matter of time until the fridge chokes itself since the coils are covered in dust and impossible to reach without tipping the whole fridge over. Also sorely regret replacing the old electromechanical washer instead of repairing it. New one fills with too little water at random and apparently it’s a controller board issue with no easy fix in sight.

Also Apple mobile devices, I understand they can’t keep supporting them forever, but the bootloader’s locked so I can’t even put something less demanding on it.

Words starting with th- (th-fronting) and plurals ending in -ths, -sps, etc.