fxgn's recent activity

  1. Comment on What foods are better after a day or two? in ~food

    fxgn
    Link
    May be an unpopular opinion but all kinds of dumplings. I like when they're cold and chewy.

    May be an unpopular opinion but all kinds of dumplings. I like when they're cold and chewy.

    1 vote

  2. Comment on Was watching a history YouTube video when I realized they are all AI in ~tech

    fxgn
    Link Parent
    Nice try, but the LLMs put spaces around their em dashes

    Nice try, but the LLMs put spaces around their em dashes

    11 votes

  3. Comment on Is there a way to write/draw notes on web pages (in the browser, visible to myself only and stored locally on my computer) that are always there when I revisit the page? in ~tech

    fxgn
    Link
    It seems like you don't actually need custom drawn notes, just a block list of websites. So in that case, you can just use uBlock Origin. You just add the domain name you want to block to the "My...

    It seems like you don't actually need custom drawn notes, just a block list of websites. So in that case, you can just use uBlock Origin.

    You just add the domain name you want to block to the "My filters" section in settings, and it'll show a warning every time you try to visit that domain. If you want to block the entire website, you can just add the domain (eg. example.com), but if you want to block a specific page, you need to write example.com/somepage^$document to let uBO know you want to block the entire page.

    It's not possible to specify custom messages for the popup unfortunately, but you can add comments in your filter list like this:

    ! This website sells really bad stuff
example.com

! This seller is a scammer
marketplace.com/bad-seller^$document
    7 votes

  4. Comment on Help with setting up a PiHole - I would like to become worthless to tech companies! in ~tech

    fxgn
    (edited )
    Link
    Yes, you just need a Raspberry Pi, or, in fact, basically any device that can connect to a network. Raspberry Pis are crazy expensive nowadays so probably better to get something else. You just...

    Yes, you just need a Raspberry Pi, or, in fact, basically any device that can connect to a network. Raspberry Pis are crazy expensive nowadays so probably better to get something else. You just install PiHole and set the device as your DNS server in your router settings. You should also check out AdGuard Home, which is basically the same thing but with a nicer UI.

    Please note though, that DNS blocking is not a panacea and is pretty easily bypassable. It's more useful for ad blocking than for privacy. For example, Smart TVs usually hardcode their own DNS server, bypassing your filter, so you need some extra WiFi configuration to force them to use your server. Also, many devices nowadays use DNS-over-HTTPS/TLS, which is more secure, but also means Pi-hole can't block the requests. The only way to resolve this is to completely block DoH DNS resolvers like Cloudflare DNS and Google DNS (this is also explained in the post linked above). Both of those solutions require custom firewall rules, so it depends on if your router supports that.

    Lastly, anyone can bypass your DNS blocklists by just directly making requests directly to an IP, or by serving ads/tracking from the same domain name as their main service, for example using https://EvilTV.com/spyware instead of https://spyware.EvilTV.com would mean Pi-hole has no way of blocking just the spyware requests.

    DNS blocking is a form of badness enumeration, which is not a good solution for privacy on its own. It's a useful convenience feature to not see any ads, but it doesn't achieve the goal of becoming "worthless to tech companies".

    The only reliable way to stop the smart TVs from spying on you is to not buy a smart TV. For the washing machine, just don't connect it to the internet. You'll probably be fine without being able to start it from your phone.

    13 votes

  5. Comment on How to get better at academic writing quickly? in ~humanities

    fxgn
    Link
    Read more academic writing, or any non-fiction writing in general. Not just academic papers (in fact, they are often examples of very bad writing). Also, those excercises were pretty useful to me:...

    Read more academic writing, or any non-fiction writing in general. Not just academic papers (in fact, they are often examples of very bad writing).

    Also, those excercises were pretty useful to me:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Tony1/Writing_exercise_box

    And speaking of Wikipedia, editing it is a great way to practice.

    8 votes

  6. Comment on Anyone have any ketogenic diet stories? in ~food

    fxgn
    Link Parent
    But that doesn't mean a quarter of the effect. A normal cup of coffee generally has no effect on sleep after 8-10 hours.

    you still got a quarter of caffeine in you

    But that doesn't mean a quarter of the effect. A normal cup of coffee generally has no effect on sleep after 8-10 hours.

    2 votes

  7. Comment on Gadgetbridge: A FOSS alternative to your fitness watch’s app in ~tech

    fxgn
    Link
    It's not just for watches! I use it to check the battery of my Nothing earbuds without having to use their app

    It's not just for watches! I use it to check the battery of my Nothing earbuds without having to use their app

    2 votes

  8. Comment on Does the dryer shrink your clothes? in ~life

    fxgn
    Link
    I always use the "delicate" mode and it doesn't shrink them, but it does still slowly degrade them, so I always hang dry when that's an option.

    I always use the "delicate" mode and it doesn't shrink them, but it does still slowly degrade them, so I always hang dry when that's an option.

    4 votes

  9. Comment on Ineos has opened a carbon dioxide storage site off the Danish coast, as momentum builds in Europe for the fledgling but expensive technology in ~enviro

    fxgn
    Link Parent
    From what I've heard, both climate scientists and the people who actually develop the carbon capture tech all understand that it's an addition to decarbonization, not an alternative. Unfortunately...

    From what I've heard, both climate scientists and the people who actually develop the carbon capture tech all understand that it's an addition to decarbonization, not an alternative. Unfortunately though, the technology is heavily pushed by fossil fuel lobbyists, who love the idea that we can keep polluting all we want and just capture the emissions.

    16 votes

  10. Comment on Richard Stallman on using the word "content" to describe works in ~humanities

    fxgn
    Link
    Sounds like etymological fallacy. I don't think the word "content" in the current meaning implies a "commodity whose purpose is to fill a box and make money".

    Sounds like etymological fallacy. I don't think the word "content" in the current meaning implies a "commodity whose purpose is to fill a box and make money".

    10 votes

  11. Comment on EU's Ursula von der Leyen wants Canada to become bloc's first associate member in ~society

    fxgn
    Link Parent
    Albert Heijn has three!

    I think having only two types of maple syrup in stores here in the Netherlands is not enough

    Albert Heijn has three!

    2 votes

  12. Comment on EU's Ursula von der Leyen wants Canada to become bloc's first associate member in ~society

    fxgn
    Link

    European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday she wanted to ​open the door to Canada becoming the EU's first "associate member" in a push to forge new links among allies in "an openly hostile world".

    European Union lawmakers gave ‌a standing ovation after she made the proposal and then walked over to embrace Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, who was in the European Parliament to hear her annual State of the Union address.

    Carney welcomed von der Leyen's proposal for "a far stronger, more ambitious alliance in the future," his office said, adding: "Canada and Europe should secure our strategic autonomy through deep cooperation in the full range of strategic capabilities."

    He did not mention associate membership.

    Trump threatened to take action against the EU if it moved forward with the proposal.

    "If they do that, if ​I think it's at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things," Trump told reporters en route to an ​event in North Carolina.

    15 votes

  14. Comment on Billing for web hosting in ~comp

    fxgn
    Link
    If it's actually a static site, then the hosting for those is essentially free nowadays. @skybrian mentioned Cloudflare Pages and Netlify, but also, for example, all the major git forges offer one...

    If it's actually a static site, then the hosting for those is essentially free nowadays. @skybrian mentioned Cloudflare Pages and Netlify, but also, for example, all the major git forges offer one (Github Pages, Gitlab Pages, Codeberg Pages), and there are many other options. A lot of cloud infrastructure companies offer it for free because it attracts customers and barely costs anything for them to serve static pages from their established infrastructure. They're also a lot easier to maintain than a VPS and automatically set up deployment from your git repo. I'd say definitely go with one of those unless you need to host some additional services that actually need a server.

    As for billing, since the services themselves are entirely free, it just depends on how much regular updating of the site you'll be doing.

    4 votes

  15. Comment on Nearly impossible? How Fairphone built the ethical, repairable Fairphone Gen 6+. in ~tech

    fxgn
    Link
    Btw, for people who aren't aware (because I wasn't until recently), the Fairphone hardware and firmware is fully made by a Chinese ODM called T2Mobile. I assumed their manufacturing chain was like...

    Btw, for people who aren't aware (because I wasn't until recently), the Fairphone hardware and firmware is fully made by a Chinese ODM called T2Mobile. I assumed their manufacturing chain was like that of Framework, but apparently they do the hardware design (to the extent the ODM allows them to, eg. no headphone jack) and everything else is done by T2Mobile.

    7 votes

  16. Comment on Anthropic's Dario Amodei calls for AI oversight, joined by Sam Altman and Elon Musk in ~tech

    fxgn
    Link Parent
    It's pretty unfair to dismiss what the Chinese labs are doing as just distilling output from American models. Unlike "Open"AI, their research is actually open, and they use a lot of novel...

    It's pretty unfair to dismiss what the Chinese labs are doing as just distilling output from American models. Unlike "Open"AI, their research is actually open, and they use a lot of novel tecnhiques to improve and optimise their models. The distillation argument seems to mostly be a narrative pushed by Anthropic to downplay what the Chinese labs are doing.

    5 votes

  17. Comment on Deciding whether (or not) to have a child in ~life

    fxgn
    Link Parent
    Are we? AFAIK we are not doing it at the rate we hoped for, but many countries are still successfully reducing them.

    reducing emissions, which we're already failing at

    Are we? AFAIK we are not doing it at the rate we hoped for, but many countries are still successfully reducing them.

    7 votes

  18. Comment on The four-color theorem gets a rare new proof in ~science

    fxgn
    Link
    I hate the four color theorem. I can't believe that it's true. I choose to ignore all the proofs and wait for someone to finally disprove it.

    I hate the four color theorem. I can't believe that it's true. I choose to ignore all the proofs and wait for someone to finally disprove it.

    3 votes

  19. Comment on Software for humans in ~tech

    fxgn
    Link Parent
    Not Codeberg/Forgejo, which is what this site recommends.

    All of them, github, bitbucket, gitlab, every single service that hosts git repos is vibe coded now

    Not Codeberg/Forgejo, which is what this site recommends.

    9 votes

  20. Comment on Graphene speed issues and general wonderings in ~tech

    fxgn
    (edited )
    Link
    The only known performance issue related to GrapheneOS is slightly slower initial app loading times due to improved memory isolation (https://grapheneos.org/usage#exec-spawning), and AFAIK even...

    The only known performance issue related to GrapheneOS is slightly slower initial app loading times due to improved memory isolation (https://grapheneos.org/usage#exec-spawning), and AFAIK even that is basically unnoticeable since Pixel 6. I've had a 7 Pro with Graphene and don't really remember having much performance issues, now running it on a 9 Pro XL and there definitely aren't any.

    Never had issues with internet speed, it's the same as on all other systems

    despite installing MicroG via Vanced Manager

    Are you actually using the Vanced Manager? Because if so, that has been outdated for a very long time at this point, and you should be using Morphe (the main recommendation nowadays, previously ReVanced) or one of the many open source YouTube clients

    https://fmhy.net/mobile#android-youtube-apps

    7 votes