Ember's recent activity
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Comment on Is Tildes failing to thrive? in ~tildes
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Comment on Is Tildes failing to thrive? in ~tildes
Ember Link ParentYup tildes is perfect for my post-Reddit needs. It’s more in-depth and slower, so I can spend 15min on the site and feel just as “caught up” as hours of Reddit browsing would take.Yup tildes is perfect for my post-Reddit needs. It’s more in-depth and slower, so I can spend 15min on the site and feel just as “caught up” as hours of Reddit browsing would take.
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Comment on I just switched to an iPhone, what should I do to make the most of this change? in ~tech
Ember Link ParentThis point is pretty important. To expand on that point, here's specifics on what permissions to expect: Notifications Most apps will ask for push notifications. There's also Time Sensitive...When I first switched, I often denied app permission requests for random things. I’d recommend not doing that. It can severely hamper the usability and as a new user, it’s not always obvious how/where to re-enable the permission.
This point is pretty important. To expand on that point, here's specifics on what permissions to expect:
- Notifications
- Most apps will ask for push notifications.
- There's also Time Sensitive Notifications which are obvious by their name; you can separately allow or disallow those.
- And a few apps have Critical Notifications, which will go off even if your phone is muted (e.g. the Home app has this for things like water sensors, for if your house is flooding).
- Contacts
- Some apps ask for this but I usually don't allow it unless it makes sense to me.
- e.g. Venmo can use your contacts to suggest people to pay, but I don't really feel like trusting them with my contact list.
- Photos
- Some apps ask for this.
- You can grant "Limited Access" or "Private Access" to avoid sharing all your photos with each app.
- Bluetooth
- Pretty core permission, like notifications, apps will ask if they have any external device features at all. A similar permission they'll ask for is "Local Network".
- Camera & Microphone
- pretty self-explanatory
- Calendar
- Rarely asked for.
- You can grant apps "Add Events Only" so they can write to your calendar without full access.
- Health
- Very situational. You can permission individual health categories by app; e.g. you can grant sleep data to a sleep tracking app, calorie data to food apps, etc. It's nice to have these permissions/integrations enabled so all your health data gets saved into one place.
- Motion & Fitness
- Rare but some map/car apps use it to determine if you're walking or driving.
- Location Services
- Lots of apps will ask for this permission but be careful granting it.
- "While Using" will not allow the app to track you when the app is closed. This is a good compromise to me.
- "When Shared" will let you choose to share your location every time the app asks for it. Decent if you rarely use the app and want to be re-asked again.
- There's also a "Precise Location" toggle for each app. If the app doesn't need to know your exact address at the moment, you can just share a general location.
- "Always" means the app can always wake up and track your location. Apple is pretty stingy about this level of permission for good reason: apps can't immediately ask for this permission, and they have to provide a good explanation when they do. Apps will first ask for "When Shared" permissions and then only later can they ask for upgraded "Always" permissions. iPhone will also periodically confirm this with you, with a popup showing a map of where the app has tracked your location recently, to make sure you're OK with it. Don't be alarmed by this popup because sometimes you want "Always" for a few things like weather, driving, or a stargazing app I use called Sky Guide.
- Finally, there's a "track your activity" permission that apps can request, to get permission to track you across multiple websites and devices. You can completely disable these prompts by toggling off "Allow Apps to Request to Track".
And you can always review all these categories in Settings -> Privacy & Security, or Settings -> Notifications.
- Notifications
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Comment on I just switched to an iPhone, what should I do to make the most of this change? in ~tech
Ember (edited )LinkTips on various settings: By default, iPhone ends a phone call if you press the lock button. You can prevent this in Settings -> Accessibility -> Touch -> Prevent Lock to End Call. The easiest way...Tips on various settings:
- By default, iPhone ends a phone call if you press the lock button. You can prevent this in Settings -> Accessibility -> Touch -> Prevent Lock to End Call.
- The easiest way to start a screen recording is via the control center. You can customize it in Settings -> Control Center. My custom buttons are: Low Power Mode, Flashlight, Screen Recording, Apple TV Remote.
- By default, other people can do a lot of stuff on your Lock Screen without your passcode. I’ve turned most of the toggles off in Settings -> Face ID & Passcode, under the heading Allow Access When Locked. Only ones I have turned on is Lock Screen Widgets, Live Activities, and Return Missed Calls.
- In that same screen, I’ve also turned on Erase Data. I have backups enabled, so if someone is really attempting to get into my phone, I’m fine with it getting erased.
- Also in that same screen, I have Stolen Device Protection turned on. It’s a relatively new security feature. And I have Face ID with a Mask turned off unless I’m in a situation needing a mask.
- Live Activities are really neat but giving permission is a bit strange. The first time an app launches a live activity, it’ll appear in your Lock Screen along with a prompt asking if you’re ok with that app starting an activity. Press Allow to let it continue.
- iPhone will periodically check if you’re OK with apps having full location permissions. For example, if you have a weather widget, it probably needs a lot of location permission or else it’ll stop working. I’ve had less tech savvy family members just hit disallow when iPhone checks in about location and then wonder why their weather stopped updating.
- iPhone will ding a text message again after a few minutes if you don’t pick your phone after the first time. It can mislead you as to how many texts you’ve received. I leave it on because I'm aware of this feature, but if it annoys you, it can be turned off in Settings -> Messages -> Notifications -> Customize Notifications -> Repeat Alerts.
- You can have keyboard in multiple languages, so that autocorrect doesn’t get trained wrong. Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> Keyboards. Especially if you’re doing something like Duolingo, it helps to have the other language’s keyboard set up so you can get help with accents, etc. Switch using the globe icon in the keyboard.
- If you’re using iCloud, go through all the toggles in {Your Name} -> iCloud -> Apps Using iCloud -> Show All, and make sure everything’s on. I’ve had phones default to some stuff being off, and then it’s not getting properly synced.
- in {Your Name} -> Contact Key Verification, you can toggle on a new feature. Once it’s enabled, you can manually verify contacts in-person. You and your contact can get checkmarks next to each other’s names for enhanced security. Look up the whole process online if you’re interested.
- I tend to leave auto-brightness turned on because it's good enough for my daily use. However, if I manually change the brightness for a moment, it can take a while for auto-brightness to take over again. You can skip this waiting period by toggling auto-brightness off and then on again, in Settings -> Accessibility -> Display & Text Size -> Auto-Brightness.
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Comment on Not every student needs Algebra 2. UC should be flexible on math requirement. in ~science
Ember Link ParentI think it was similar for me. I spent so long in basic math mentally dismissing f(x) as just a synonym for y. It took science classes using other inputs besides x plus matrices with g(x), h(x),...I think it was similar for me. I spent so long in basic math mentally dismissing
f(x)as just a synonym fory. It took science classes using other inputs besidesxplus matrices withg(x),h(x), etc. to really stick. -
Comment on Not every student needs Algebra 2. UC should be flexible on math requirement. in ~science
Ember Link ParentI can absolutely understand Calculus and Trigonometry being optional courses in high school. Trig is situationally useful and Calc is barely useful if you’re not a STEM major. But Algebra 2… it’s...I can absolutely understand Calculus and Trigonometry being optional courses in high school. Trig is situationally useful and Calc is barely useful if you’re not a STEM major.
But Algebra 2… it’s pretty much the capstone of basic math. Polynomials, logarithms, exponents, functions… pretty much everyone can benefit from understanding logarithmic vs. exponential graphs shown on the news, or compound interest, or break-even points, etc. Even knowing what a “function” is would help demystify “algorithms” if you understand that it’s just inputs and outputs.
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Comment on What did you change your mind about this year? in ~talk
Ember LinkThat I would be ok living alone for the rest of my life. I started dating someone this year and very quickly started to notice all sorts of things about myself—things I thought were unimportant or...That I would be ok living alone for the rest of my life.
I started dating someone this year and very quickly started to notice all sorts of things about myself—things I thought were unimportant or low priority, that I’d really just been suppressing. I used to be fine with being alone for days at a time, peaceful and quietly working. And now I’m not. It was a bit unsettling at the beginning, seeing myself change. But the joy is worth it.
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Comment on Can someone please recommend me a no BS printer I can use like half a dozen times a year in ~tech
Ember LinkI’ve had a Brother HL-L2315DW sitting on my shelf for probably 6 years now. Prints maybe a dozen sheets a year. Never had to replace the toner, got it at Walmart for $100.I’ve had a Brother HL-L2315DW sitting on my shelf for probably 6 years now. Prints maybe a dozen sheets a year. Never had to replace the toner, got it at Walmart for $100.
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Comment on "Java is fast but in practice, PHP sites run faster as PHP coders take more straightforward approach to design and don't get lost trying to implement exotic design patterns and endless abstractions" in ~comp
Ember Link Parent*C# 12 just released last week (.NET 8). Long gone are the days of C# 7 and Windows-only .NET Framework.*C# 12 just released last week (.NET 8). Long gone are the days of C# 7 and Windows-only .NET Framework.
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Comment on Monaspace in ~design
Ember LinkWasn’t too interested until I got to this part: Because yeah, copilot can be a bit confusing sometimes since it’s in the same font. Sure it’s grayed out but that doesn’t always distinguish it...Wasn’t too interested until I got to this part:
What if Copilot had its own voice?
Because yeah, copilot can be a bit confusing sometimes since it’s in the same font. Sure it’s grayed out but that doesn’t always distinguish it enough.
And then the Texture Healing bit seemed really cool.
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Comment on The sneakiness of embedded allistic ableism in ~health.mental
Ember Link ParentThis is the most important context that may or may not be missing from that tweet. The curse of Twitter’s format is how it forces terse, biting, contextless messages. Was the original speaker...hyperbole is a valid rhetorical device
This is the most important context that may or may not be missing from that tweet. The curse of Twitter’s format is how it forces terse, biting, contextless messages. Was the original speaker using hyperbole or not? Was the tweet’s author exaggerating the original speaker’s words? Was it popular on Twitter because users misread it?
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Comment on Request - Suggestions of a laptop brand or style for someone who is clumsy in ~tech
Ember Link ParentOne of my family members grudgingly owned a MacBook for years. They dropped it so many times the lid was slightly bent, and it never stopped working. Of course that's just anecdote; there are...One of my family members grudgingly owned a MacBook for years. They dropped it so many times the lid was slightly bent, and it never stopped working. Of course that's just anecdote; there are legitimate concerns from the repair community about Apple products which should be considered.
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Comment on Insomnia 8 forces users to login and use cloud storage in ~comp
Ember LinkInsomnia is a popular alternative to Postman, which grew in part due to Postman’s push for cloud storage and logins. The latest update to Insomnia seems to be pushing down the same path now:Insomnia is a popular alternative to Postman, which grew in part due to Postman’s push for cloud storage and logins.
The latest update to Insomnia seems to be pushing down the same path now:
The challenge is that we cannot continue to offer a great product with all these capabilities while working on an abstraction layer that supports two different storage backends for all data in Insomnia, adds too much complexity to the whole product. Unlike Postman, the data is end to end encrypted, so there is data sharing concern with Insomnia.
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Insomnia 8 forces users to login and use cloud storage
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Comment on Scalene, an open-source tool for dramatically speeding up the programming language Python in ~comp
Ember Link ParentThats probably fair, I’m being uncharitable. I’ve just got a bad view of python cause of the last project I worked on. Complete mess of a project: Data science wrote up a new machine learning...Thats probably fair, I’m being uncharitable.
I’ve just got a bad view of python cause of the last project I worked on. Complete mess of a project:
- Data science wrote up a new machine learning model, and some processing around it using python-only 3rd party libraries.
- They had one member with a bit of engineering background who tried to Dockerize the whole thing. That person leaves after the initial deployment.
- It falls to my team and specifically me to maintain this project. Meanwhile we’re maintaining a dozen other microservices which are decently written and battle tested.
- The python project works fine locally on small inputs, which is probably what the scientists were testing with. But in production, it’s filled with flaws that reveal themselves at scale:
- It required massive amounts of memory to load the machine learning model
- It needs GTX 2080TI cards to run at decent speeds
- The batching logic was naive and poorly thought out, and took weeks to untangle.
- There were absolutely no unit tests, because everything was written simply and quickly and it works fine locally, so what’s there to test?
- When we considered breaking it out into separate services and rewriting the non-ML portions in a compiled language, we got pushback from the data scientists that they wouldn’t be able to keep hacking in more features themselves.
- Meanwhile we’d keep hitting bugs in the python because typing is optional or None kept popping up or cuda errors would corrupt the whole container…
Anyways, I know every language is valid etc. but that project really left a bad taste in my mouth.
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Comment on Scalene, an open-source tool for dramatically speeding up the programming language Python in ~comp
Ember LinkAm I crazy in thinking python will never be suitable for performance critical applications? Like, is it fine as a learning language? Sure. Is it suitable for proof of concepts or open source...Am I crazy in thinking python will never be suitable for performance critical applications? Like, is it fine as a learning language? Sure. Is it suitable for proof of concepts or open source projects to draw in contributors? Absolutely. But should we be productionalizing unoptimized notebooks handed to us from data scientists and then be continually shocked that it’s not great engineering? Or we try to clean up those notebooks and rewrite them with best practices and optimizations, and suddenly you’re not writing beginner-friendly python any more. There’s plenty of other “user-friendly”, “batteries-included” languages, like this article praises python for, that actually compile to far more efficient code. Using AI as a crutch to solve bad engineering decisions is not a great solution.
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Comment on Failures in accuracy, ethics and responsibility with Linus Tech Tips and LMG as a whole in ~tech
Ember Link ParentWow that’s some real anger. I hope someone at LMG with some power is able to take the criticism seriously but like Steve mentioned in this follow-up, it’ll be harder to believe a commitment to...Wow that’s some real anger. I hope someone at LMG with some power is able to take the criticism seriously but like Steve mentioned in this follow-up, it’ll be harder to believe a commitment to change at this point.
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Comment on Best FOSS app for Lemmy? in ~tech
Ember Link ParentIt’s no Apollo but it scratches that itch. Really makes you appreciate the differences between a native Swift app and a PWA. The fact that they were able to reproduce Apollo’s UI so quickly is...It’s no Apollo but it scratches that itch. Really makes you appreciate the differences between a native Swift app and a PWA. The fact that they were able to reproduce Apollo’s UI so quickly is pretty incredible though.
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Comment on What is your favourite cutscene/cinematic in any game? in ~games
Ember LinkThe farmhouse scene in The Last of Us. The acting is so real and raw and always gets me choked up. The TV show didn’t even try to improve on it, they just reproduced it in faithful detail.The farmhouse scene in The Last of Us. The acting is so real and raw and always gets me choked up. The TV show didn’t even try to improve on it, they just reproduced it in faithful detail.
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Comment on Is an iPad enough for college students these days? in ~tech
Ember (edited )LinkSomething not mentioned yet is how fun iPad note-taking can be. I got to use an iPad for the last few years of school and it dramatically increased my desire to pay attention. Of course this is...Something not mentioned yet is how fun iPad note-taking can be. I got to use an iPad for the last few years of school and it dramatically increased my desire to pay attention. Of course this is super subjective, but there was something really appealing about handwriting in a digital space. Switching colors without carrying a pile of ink pens around… drag and dropping sections of text to rearrange the page… smart shape drawing to get really satisfying diagrams… plus all your digital notes are usually text-searchable so studying is that much easier. I signed up to submit my notes for students that couldn’t take their own, and that plus the iPad really helped me take high quality notes.
I did also have a MacBook (the bad ones with the butterfly keyboard), so I definitely still had access to a real file system and keyboard when necessary. Those are important for writing papers and code. But non-essay classes, like math or basic sciences or introductory courses, were 100% iPad.
Honestly if you have the budget and your friend is comfortable with Apple, I’d say get the base model M1 MacBook Air (used from Swappa or refurbished from Apple) and the iPad Air (used or refurbished) & Logitech Crayon. Could also do a used base model iPad but the lightning connector and Apple Pencil 1 support is gross. Could probably squeeze that under $1.2k with good shopping and they’ll last through college. Only downside would be storage space, but iCloud storage or others is an option.
Whatever you do, don’t buy new. The Apple used market is really good (Swappa) and you can save a ton.
I know old forum etiquette was “no necro posting” but I’ve enjoyed it here on tildes. Usually the revival has something new to add and isn’t spam. Also tildes is good about collapsing what you’ve already read and highlight what you haven’t.