I'm rather bored of the constant pop up ads on my current one that I paid for ads to be removed for years ago before more recently they changed to a subscription requirement for advert removal.

I'm looking for something easy to use that has no ads by default or has a one time payment to remove them. Extra features such as tags/folders would be great but not 100% required. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Weird question, but does anyone know of a simple tab viewer or organizer for Firefox (bonus points if it works on iOS)? I have... way too many tabs open, and I want to see what I can bookmark before closing rather than having to either close everything or manually check each tab.

I once heard about a website that does this, but I cannot find it. You would give the website an RSS feed, and it would give you a new feed to subscribe to. It would then release “new” episodes on a set schedule. This way you could listen to, for example, a weekly podcast starting at the very beginning, released on a weekly schedule as if you were listening to it when it first released.

I hope one of you awesome tilderinos know a website that does this. Thanks in advance!

I'd love to get a passable alternative interface to YouTube that just shows me what I'm subscribed to, a search bar, and nothing else. Does this exist as a userscript or alternate site?

Edit:

My current solution is to have my YouTube bookmark go directly to my subscriptions listing. I also have my ad blocker cut out the recommendations feed on the side. It works okay but maybe there's a better solution out there.

This is the ad block rule:

www.youtube.com##.ytd-watch-next-secondary-results-renderer
www.youtube.com##.ytd-guide-entry-renderer[title=Explore]
www.youtube.com##.ytd-guide-entry-renderer[title=Home]

Last time I owned an inkjet was well over a decade ago. I had a nice HP color laserjet that Just Worked™for almost a decade (and PS, I bought it used), and then I just lived w/o a printer for the past 3-4 years. Now, I'm window-shopping for inkjets, it sounds like the whole "use-our-ink-or-die" business model has only gotten worse.

Are there any good inkjet printers where I can just use it like a normal printer, just buy ink (cheaper than the printer was) when I need it, yada? Or should I just write off the entire industry (again), and go straight to the laser printers?

And does anyone actually have a decent (color, all-in-one) printer that works reasonably well with their (YourDistroHere) Linux machine?

Danke

ETA: Thanks for all the feedback. I'm now prioritizing a Brother laser (maybe just mono), or possibly an Epson Ecotank.

Side-note ... how cool is it that we have so many Linux-folk in our midst!?

Thanks again.

Hi Everyone!

I'm looking to donate some money to a charity that is focused on helping children learn how to code.
I've always heard that lots of charities are scams, and I was hoping to get the opinions of you fine folks about a good charity to donate to!

Hi everyone, I'm looking into getting a new laptop for university work. Thanks to a scholarship, I can get up to $2000 covered off a laptop purchase (and I'd be willing to pay a few hundred more out-of-pocket too).

I plan on using this laptop primarily for basic web browsing, word processing, and Zoom calls. I may be playing some video games on it like Slay the Spire or Hollow Knight, but these aren't too demanding and most of my time will be spent working anyway. My use case shouldn't require a lot of processing power or a high-end dedicated GPU. After graduating, I'll have more consistent access to my desktop anyway, which already has a dedicated card for gaming and can easily be upgraded to suit my needs if I get into video editing or programming, which further reduces the need for a laptop that can do these things. In light of this, I'm looking primarily at a laptop that is lightweight, has a long battery life, good build quality, and a 14-inch screen, to upgrade from my current 13-inch. I haven't decided whether I'll be dual-booting Windows/Linux or running Linux only, but I do plan on running Linux so compatibility is important. Ports aren't a huge deal since there isn't much need for anything more than HDMI/USB on a college campus and I can get a docking station for post-graduation needs.

After lurking around on this forum and others, I've settled on a few potential options:

• Thinkpad X1 Carbon
• Thinkpad T14s
• System76 Lemur Pro
• MacBook M1 Air (added after suggestions, link to specs)

ThinkPads seem to offer the best build quality and potential to last years after purchase, so I'm leaning towards those, but System76 appears to have upgraded their build quality recently, and I just love their designs as well. Lenovo will be releasing the next-generation X1 Carbon soon, but it may be priced out of my range, and I'd like to purchase soon. Even the Carbon Gen 8 is above my price range, though as I understand it Lenovo usually offers discounts so I'm waiting for the sale on customizable builds (they already have discounts on pre-designed builds). I'm totally open to suggestions not on this list, and I've also read that purchasing refurbished ThinkPads can be the way to go, though I'd like to take full advantage of my budget if possible. If anyone has any experience with the above laptops, reason to recommend one over the other, or knows why I might want to wait on purchasing (e.g. for a release of next-gen hardware), please let me know!

edit: Table working now!

edit2: Thanks for all the suggestions and discussion everyone. I've yet to make a final decision but will update again later.

I am looking to buy a headset. It's for my child to use on PS4, and when stock comes back in on PS5.

Which models have you used and liked? Are there any you'd avoid?

I think I'd prefer either USB, or something easy to repair, or cheap so I can just buy a new set of this one breaks.

Here's a list of Paid Games & Apps that I already have bought.

Utils

• Tasker
• KLWP
• Sleep as Android
• Nova Prime
• One or two Icon packs for Nova

Games

• Desert Golfing
• Death Road To Canada 2
• Meteorfall
• Mindustry
• Mini Metro
• Ordia
• Prune
• Reigns
• Reigns: Her Majesty
• RowRow
• Teslagrad
• UnCiv
• .projekt
• Sword and Sworcery

I'm looking for something worthwhile to spend it on. Is there a lesser known utility app that you use all the time? What about an indie game not getting the praise it deserves? Tell me about it!

I usually setup debian or ubuntu servers. One of the pain areas I have avoided is email and usually just off-load the email to a 3rd party service. I currently need to setup a server with an email server and need a really simple straightforward tutorial. I thought I would see if the community has any suggestions.

What are your favorite youtube channels to watch when you're in the mood for something positive and uplifting? No genre restrictions or anything, just something that really oozes the joy and passion that the creator has.

I'll throw this one out there to start: Bicycle Touring Pro. He makes wonderful, slow paced and positive documentaries about his solo and group travels on his bike around the world. If you ever want to just zone out for a moment, throw this on and you just might be inspired.

This is more specific than ~talk would normally have
, but tildes doesn't have anything for shopping yet, so...

I'm using my laptop right now, but I've found that for a lot of the stuff on my computer,
I don't really need a screen. I like using the terminal, and can get a lot done just typing:
no mouse or display. I think this would be great, as I already do a lot of my casual writing
and note taking my eyes closed, leaning back in a chair.

What's the best machine that meets these qualifications? Basically, I just need a way to read memory
out to another drive. Battery would be a must as well.

Thanks

Does anyone know of any communication platforms [1] which use a credit system or have a 'cost' attached to actions such as making a post or commenting? I am imagining something like Reddit or a forum where users have a balance, and actions have a cost which is charged against that balance. So if I have 100 credits and posting in r/whatever costs 2 credits/post and 1 credit/comment then that limits the amount of interaction in that sub.

I am wondering if a cost system like this would be useful for moderation or to promote high-value content, since it effectively turns the platform into a market. One effect of this system is that it would discourage low-value posts/replies/comments, because there is a cost associated with making a post, namely opportunity cost of posting something else later. Perhaps the credits are purchased with real-world currency, which I assume would amplify this effect?

I imagine a sustainable system would have some way to reward users of high-value content with more credit so they are incentivised and able to produce more content: maybe upvotes count as credit, or users can donate credit to each other?

[1] I hope this term is vague enough to encompass all forms of modern digital communication. I am curious about direct communication (email, WhatsApp, ...) as well as social media in its various forms (Reddit, Tildes, Twitter, ...), niche platforms (Letter), wikis, fora, and anything else under the sun.

What's your preferred program for typing up lots and lots of addresses? My mum's got multiple address books and they'll have to be typed up eventually, a block at a time. I don't really want to go with the contacts function of Outlook/Hotmail/Live, because it requires signing in and the password could be misplaced. I also would like to use something that could ideally export the addresses to another Outlook/Hotmail/Live or Gmail account.

My husband's birthday is coming up and I want to get him a smartwatch that syncs with his Pixel. I was gifted an Apple 3 watch which I like a lot and would like to find something with the same sort of functionality for android. I tried going through watch reviews but ended up with buyers paralysis because there's so many to choose from. What would you recommend and why?

Edit: Fitness is not the key use I'm looking for.

Hey folks,

I hate Twitter with a passion and find it very hard to follow discussions because they are so terribly displayed in the official App/Website. Unfortunately I have to use it for job reasons and therefore I am looking for less headaches.

Is there an app which can show me Twitter content and discussion tree views like Reddit does?

I am totally willing to pay.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

This post is born from another discussion we have currently on tildes about the benefits of LineageOS. Please, check it out if you wanna discuss about the benefits of the custom ROM scene.
Here, instead, I ask primarily about hardware, not about software. Although, as always, they later intersect.

My question comes from my search for a new phone, I have been rocking a Moto G5 Plus since 2018 (it was released in 2017 and I bought it second-hand) and my experience has been great overall. I knew that I could root this phone so that I did in September 2018 and from there I haven't gone back to stock ever since. Mistakes aside, the experience has been great overall and has nourish my interest in computing. But, this phone is 3 and a half years old and I definitely notice it. One, due to the wear and second the 2GB of RAM my model had (XT1680). I'm in no hurry in a change though, I think I could use it for some more years and I can say that thanks to an amazing community that still supports this phone. (Seriously, I am using Android 10 with the latest patch, unthinkable!).

Nevertheless, as a thought experiment, or as a backup plan, or useful for anyone interested in being part of custom ROMs, I would like to ask you guys which do you think are the most dev-friendly phone in the market right now?

The criteria would be:

• It has a unlockable bootloader.
• The kernel has been released and is available.
• Has a community that constantly supports it.
• It doesn't have 2GB of RAM

Please, write any phone you have the idea that has a modding scene. I'm afraid that some will not be available in my country, but I want to make it as international possible so I insist, write any phone that has that criteria. And feedback for the english will also be appreciated.

Pricing up my next Thinkpad (I'm a lifer for Thinkpads I think now) and I keep hovering over the 4K screen option. I'm looking at a 15.6" screen. The FHD 14" screen I currently have is lovely and sharp with a decent colour gamut, and I don't think I can see pixels, even now when the machine is literally on my lap. I'd guess the screen is maybe 35cm from my eyes at the moment.

I don't really game, I do edit photos, video (HD, not 4K) and do a little 3D work with Blender/FreeCAD/etc. I usually run Debian/Gnome, occasionally dropping into Windows because my 3D printer's preferred slicing software is Windows only (grrrr).

The other bonus to 4K is HDR400 and twice as many nits of brightness but again, I'm not sure that's worth an extra £250. I'd probably turn the brightness down anyway. The HDR is potentially interesting but as I don't watch TV/movies on this machine and my camera doesn't output HDR, that's likely not very useful despite sounding good. I could buy quite a lot more compute power and ram with that money instead..

I would go and look at one in person but I have no idea where the nearest 4K Thinkpad is, in person, and even if I did, I don't really want to go into shops right now.

Any thoughts, experiences, advice, etc would be much appreciated.

I'm thinking of paying for some cloud storage and I'd like to hear your recommendations and experiences with cloud storage providers. I'd like the best bang/buck and preferably something that works well with Linux (Void is my current distro). I had been using Keybase as they offer 250GB of space for free(?), though I recently learned they've been acquired by Zoom which...concerns me. Plus, I can't seem to get the filesystem mounted on Void for some reason =/.

Here are a few I'm considering:

Major Players

• Google One: $20 a year for 100GB

• Microsoft 365: $70 for 1TB of storage + Microsoft productivity suite (that I probably won't use all that much)

Out of these options, I think I'd prefer Microsoft at this point.

Smaller Players

• Cloudamo: $25 a year for 100GB. Bonus that it's built on open-source tech and looks pretty flexible.

• pCloud: I've been seeing this recommended in my current search for a provider. But... seeing as of this posting the website is down, I'm not filled with confidence.

• Wasabi: More of a DIY option, it'd be ~$72 a year for 1TB.

Cloudamo looks the most promising, here.

Complete DIY

• I have a 2TB drive that I guess I can expose to the Internet as a fileserver. Dunno what my ISPs policy on this is and I wouldn't be confident in its reliability.

Well, those are a few options. Got any more?

I know those are easy to find on children's education materials, but the keyword here is simple. Anything kiddie, requiring too many clicks or that takes 3 seconds is off the table.

I kinda need to brush up on my super basic reasoning. In part, because a grown man should know the time table by heart, and in part, because I wanna convince myself that I did not get brain damage after being hit by a car (there's really nothing indicating that, I'm just paranoid).

I'm looking for something simple that presents me with the multiplication table and or simple calculations to answer under a time frame. The requirement for iOS is that my computer is broken.

And it really can be super simple, even something I open from a mobile web browser or transfer to my Kindle.

Additionally: there is no need for if to be an app. A huge list of exercises (with answers) would be greatly helpful.

Thanks!

Hi,

I’m usually just overthinking my note-taking setup with plaintext markdown notes, but recently I had to create and share (as PDF) some rich text documents as well. What I’m looking for:

• Collaborative editing to some extent (ideally real-time like Google Docs..)

• Rich text formatting

• Export as PDF (or even Word if possible)

• Web & mobile app (iOS)

I’m aware of Microsoft 365 with Word online and Google Docs. I really can’t stand Word online, it feels so super slow one can barely use it. I also feel the same about the application for macOS. It’s just this gigantic thing I don’t need. I want some headings, basic formatting, lists etc.

And then there’s Google Docs. It just feels wrong. It’s a weird editor, especially on mobile, it’s in this format I can’t grab, it feels like the files are not under my control.

I’m also aware of some self-hosted solutions like ONLYOFFICE and probably some NextCloud addon/solution. But these are things I don’t want either since it’s usually a hassle to install them, keep them up to date and take care of the data.

I’m just hoping that I’m missing out on something else available except the Microsoft and Google solutions.

At some point I just thought I might stick to Markdown files and export them as PDFs or even Word documents, but I don’t know about any reliable online collaboration solution for markdown docs either.

I've had a Nexus 6P for the past 3 years. It's been a good run, and I've swapped the battery out once before (1 year ago) but it's time for a replacement. At this point, it's not charging properly, and turning off randomly.

What phones are you all using? Any you'd feel good about recommending? I'd be interested to hear thoughts on current smartphones, as it's not something I've looked into for a while.

Some things I liked about the Nexus 6P:

• Camera (12.3MP) was really good back when I first got it and still holds up (just shuts down when I take photos now)
• Larger form factor (not a dealbreaker though)
• Android
• Convenience of having photos uploaded to Google Photos automatically
• Battery life (in its prime) was actually decent

I'm in EU, and ideally I don't really want to spend more than 300 euros.
Thanks all, keen to hear people's thoughts...

Appreciate any kind of response/advice.

I limited the intake of high volume news and I'm currently taking a break from social media. I've been enjoying to occasionally visit blogs directly as my source of online reading. I tend to enjoy short essays, opinions, and honest observations. What blogs have you been following lately that you think are worth taking a look at?

P.s.
If it's your own, please shoot me a direct message: I'd love to check it out.

Inspired by this post, I was wondering what RSS feeds you all subscribe to and how you read them.

Here are mine:
http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/topNews
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/headlines
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/world
http://feeds.nature.com/nature/rss/current

I'm just started using Newsboat, a CLI RSS reader, to read in a few feeds (Reuters was one of them :( ) and it's pretty refreshing to get a text-based newsfeed with no distraction. Though, the feeds I'm subscribed to only give me a brief blurb of the news...

I’m looking for a device that can track runs, whether it’s a watch or small device, which just exports raw GPS data via USB. I don’t want it to have Bluetooth, and it’s not enough to be able to disable it, I would just like it to not have any wireless radios whatsoever. Have you guys ever seen anything like this? I feel like it doesn’t exist on the market.

I'm looking for a ~24" 1080p monitor -- nothing flashy, purely for TV and movies.

Right now I have a crappy Dell TN. I don't mind it, but the viewing angles aren't great.

I just started looking tonight. A lot of posts are saying that VA is ideal, IPS has light leaks, and TN has the typical viewing angle issues.

The main things I am concerned about are:

• I'm close to this monitor (VESA mounted where you'd have a second monitor)
• Color reproduction is important -- same with decent contrast
• I often watch stuff in a dark room

I don't really care about specific models (regional availability), but I'm hoping to find out which panel is ideal. Does anybody have any experience with a VA panel?

Back in the day I was a hardcore Google Reader (RIP) user, and following that I continued to use https://feedly.com/ for many years, but eventually I found myself falling behind on all my feeds and stopped checking it.

Recently, I signed for Inoreader and I've started reading more blogs again. It also has the nice feature of letting you subscribe to email newsletters too, which is quite nice since I find them annoying to deal with in my email inbox but convenient in the feed reader.

I'm wondering what blogs and newsletters folks on Tildes subscribe to.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Blogs:

• bellingcat: Independent investigative journalism often based on online "open source intelligence." e.g. The Boogaloo Movement is Not What You Think
• BLDGBLOG: Geoff Manaugh's blog about everything related to the space we inhabit, both built and natural. e.g. Underground Cathedrals of Radiation and Zones of Irreversible Strain
• Flowing Data: Nathan Yau's blog about data visualization. e.g. Racial Divide
• Idle Words: The blog of Maciej Cegłowski, creator of the Pinboard bookmarking service. Covers tech and lots of unrelated topics. e.g. Superintelligence: The Idea that Eats Smart People

Newsletters:

• BIG by Matt Stoller: A newsletter about economics and in particular the economics of monopolies and disruptive startups. e.g. The Slow Death of Hollywood
• Data is Plural: A weekly newsletter of fun/weird datasets.
• Normcore Tech: Vicki Boykis' newsletter about tech and tech-related things. e.g. The Reign of Big Recsys
• Uses This: Brief interviews with all sorts of creators about what tools they use to do what they do.

This is just a slice. I can share my entire list if people are interested. But I'm curious about what feeds others enjoy, on anything from film and furniture to "movie-set" urbanism. What are you reading?

The cheap bluetooth sleep-mask with built-in headphones I ordered off Amazon stopped working (big surprise) and I'm in the market for something similar but of good quality. Requirements:

• Wireless
• Comfortable to wear while I'm lying on my side

It doesn't have to be part of a sleep mask, and it doesn't even need to have great audio quality. I use it more for audiobooks and white noise than music. I just want something that's going to work with no issues and last for a while.

I'm running out of time to finish the spend requirements on a credit card promotion. I was planning on buying a VR headset, but I realized there was something that would actually be much more useful; a new router.

The market for consumer routers has been really strange; We are on the sixth generation, yet it's super common for consumer routers to be two or three generations behind, especially the less expensive ones. So much of the stuff on the market only goes up to 802.11n, and half of the time the firmware they include is halfway broken or is missing important features.

So I'm looking for a router that is relatively future-proof. I want Wifi 6. I want something that won't be interrupted by the microwave. Open source firmware would be excellent, but not a requirement. I don't need mesh networking; my house is not that big. I do want it to be relatively inexpensive; I'd consider $300 to be a hard limit unless someone has a persuasive arguement to justify the cost.

I would also prefer to avoid Netgear. I have no idea how they stay in business with the mountains of problems I have had with their products and their horrible support. The last time I owned a Netgear product, I was forced to give them my email address to download the driver and they illegally added it to their marketing mailing list without my permission. I don't do business with people who betray me.

Hi all -- I have had a Moto G5+ for the last two years, and have been largely happy with it. However, it's recently developed some serious issues w/ charging -- it tends to not ever get past ~45%, and the battery indicator seems to be ... disconnected from how long the phone actually lasts. I have attempted cleaning out the charging port (there was a lot of caked-in dust), changing the charging cable and port, to no avail. It works ok-ish for the moment, but I have largely been limiting it to emergency usage and I suspect it's on it's way out.

So, I find myself in the market for a new phone. In the past I have typically gone with whatever the cheapest reasonable Android phone has been (hence, the G5+ which I really do like quite a bit besides the poor camera). I am not a heavy phone user, and I really don't care about having the latest and greatest, my priorities are:

• long battery life (my Moto G5 lasts two days fully charged)
• cheap (say 200-300$, the SE on this thread is probably the upper bound of what I'd want to spend)
• reasonably performant
• preferably reasonable privacy protections (probably a pipe-dream)

The Moto G series have checked all boxes (apart from privacy) in the past, but I am considering whether I can take this opportunity to rid myself of another Google device in my life. I was thinking potentially going for a refurbished iPhone, but I really have no idea what to be looking for there. I haven't used an Apple device since my iPod (iTunes on Windows PTSD is real, and I don't even want to think about Linux support), and I am more than a bit hesitant to tie myself into their ecosystem, but it's hard to deny their superiority from a privacy standpoint.

I had also considered a Librem 5 at one point, and would be willing to spend a bit more for something so privacy oriented. But the 6-month order window, and other things I read about Purisms' roll-out have left me a bit wary there.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Grandma is understimulated in assisted living, and while Mom is looking into ways to either bunk with her, or drag her back to our place, I'm exploring other options. Her apartment does have wireless internet, so we could set up some sort of telepresence or video calling device, but even something as simple as a Relay or a KC2 isn't great, because it loses power, and needs to be explained to her.

I'm thinking that we might have better luck with a Tablet or a PC solution, and I do have a Kindle Fire (5th Gen?) and an off brand Windows 10 tablet around, and I am open to a Pi Project or speciality devices, but it has to be simple enough to plug and play, and the dream would be if it could start a video chat without the receiver having to pick up, or at least as simple as a nurse being able to come in and start a call. Any suggestions?

I've been using Textra for years, but there's some new protocol whose name I don't remember that Textra isn't compatible with. This results in some messages (primarily from other LG phones to my LG phone) going only to the LG Messaging app and not Textra, which is annoying. Any recommendations?

My OG Pixel died last night and while I'm waiting for tech support to get back with me on how I can still use MFA to do my job, I figured I would ask you all how I should proceed with getting a new device. My first impulse is to get a Referb Pixel 2 on Amazon for $99, as I liked my original Pixel, I like having the latest Android version and I like only paying $99 for an older flagship phone. Additionally, I was considering a Pixel 3a as it would presumably last a bit longer and has had good reviews but is three times as much and hasn't devalued nearly as much when used, which is good and bad.

I'm open to anything that's relatively stock Android and still updated, and am curious about iOS, Kaios or other options. Landlines are a hard pass.

For the past few years I haven't had any speakers connected to my PC due to a lack of space in my room and on my desk. For the most part I have been using a pair of headphones which are great, but they aren't the most comfortable thing when I just want to watch YouTube on my second monitor and keep my ears available for my significant other.

So now I am looking for alternatives to desktop speakers. Right now I am either thinking of:

• Bone Conduction Headphones

• Bose Soundwear

I think the bone conduction headphones would give me a ton of options to use while I am biking and sitting at my desk. The Bose on the other hand have excellent sound quality. A small, discrete speaker bar may also fit my needs if there are any good ones that can be recommended. Any thoughts? Have I missed an audio product that may fit my needs that you could recommend?

I'm using OBS Studio to create some video tutorials. Nothing complicated, just me talking and demonstrating the steps on my screen.

I essentially just need to slice up these recordings into clips, delete portions of the recordings where I mess up or there are long pauses, and export it all as one video.

I've used Premier in the past but I no longer have it. While I am pretty capable of learning how to use software, I would prefer something that doesn't have a huge learning curve.

I need something that runs on either Windows or Linux and is free. Not "free trial" free, but actually free. Open source would be a plus but not a requirement.

Feel free to recommend your favorite free video editor even if it doesn't meet all of my requirements, as maybe it will help someone else in the future.

Technically two people are a team, right? :P

If it was only me I would use Org Mode, but that's not the case.

Our projects are all artistic in nature, mostly screenplay collaborations, film criticism, YouTube, podcasts, etc ^[1]. It's easy to get overly excited about this kind of stuff, but we need to follow up too. And we don't have an external demand that would incentivize us to put in the effort.

Even though we're only two people, we both have trouble sustaining long term goals, organizing schedules and information. My partner is a brilliant writer, but for him concentrating is even more of an issue than it is for me. He needs something visual. This tool must also work very well on mobile since he currently does not own a computer. It also must be graphical and easy to learn for someone that only knows Windows and MacOS.

To be more specific, I'm looking for something that allows me to track what we have done, what we're doing now and what we're going to do next. A calendar and some kind of notification system would be nice, but, as I say in the title, it must be free (I'm Brazil and our currency is worth nothing, so even the cheap is expensive for us...).

Google gives me dozens of results, reviews, etc, but it's hard to assess how good each tool is without experimenting it. And I would like to avoid learning an entire platform just to conclude it is subpar (I know this is largely unavoidable, but we can do better with a little help from our friends!).

Any suggestions? :D

^[1] Even though our projects are artistic, their execution involves many things that are not artistic at all, such as understanding, budgets, legislation, registering our works with the copywriting authority, participating in public contests, networking, etc. There are lots of menial tasks that are easy to forget.

I miss buttons on devices. They are durable, reliable, repairable and nice to press. I can find their position without looking, and they work more consistently in different apps.

I probably don't need something with a physical QWERTY keyboard, since screen real state might be an issue. And it would have to be an actually viable smartphone, not something from a bygone era (I don't care about camera). But I want (a lot!) more buttons, preferably configurable, with support for custom keybindings, macros, etc.

What are some good options?

I'm trying to clean up my internet presence and move away from at least Facebook and Google. I've come a long way with deleting my Facebook and it's now basically an empty shell for messaging. I've installed Signal and will start the grooming process with my friends and family now. If you have some solid arguments for the change regular ol' folks can understand please share them with me because as we all know "privacy" just isn't enough.

Next phase is the big one...Google or basically G-mail.

1. Is there any way to get an complete overview of where you've used your e-mail for a service online?

2. What e-mail would you recommend?
2a. I'm OK with paying a bit for overall quality, security and equally important UX!
2b. I don't use any other relevant Google products like Drive etc. It's just regular e-mail and sign in credentials for other services I basically need

3. I use a Mac, iPhone and iCloud. Is iCloud a problem? IF this needs to change it HAS to be an "easy" switch and not like setting up a server for myself. Because it won't happen and I'm not skilled enough.

I would very much appreciate your input :)

EDIT: Thank you all for your thorough comments!

In the simplest terms, I suppose what I'm looking for is just a "quote of the day" generator. Albeit, one that I can put my own quotes into.

I have what I jokingly refer to as an "operating manual". Essentially it's just a constantly-updated evernote that contains rules for how I want to live (eg. "No drinking alone"), reminders about myself (eg. "You always feel better after exercising"), and my philosophy about aspects of life (eg. "In the news media, misery and controversy sell better than joy and harmony").

I'd like to be able to receive bits of this "wisdom" throughout my day, ideally by way of some sort of notification on my phone. Does any such app/service exist? Bonus points for one that is open source and cross-platform!

Planes may soon be a thing of the past, for now they're still sometimes hard to replace.

I used to rely on Hipmunk for finding flights, but sadly, they recently shut down. So I was wondering, what do people on tildes use to find flights? Any tool/website you're happy with?

Is there a good smartwatch/simile that monitors sleep and has excellent battery life (measured in weeks not hours)?

I use the Withings (ex-Nokia) Steel HR, but it … kinda sucks. The bluetooth pairings very often lose sleep data, it's very inaccurate, the reporting sucks for non-24s, and the leather bracelet is of very poor quality, keeps breaking.

I really don't care for the fitness/step tracking which, as someone else here put it, thinks typing on a keyboard or eating is a step.

I also briefly tried an Oura (https://ouraring.com/), but I never got it to work and had to send it back.

I also don't care much for any of those "sleep quality" trackers that try to detect if I snore and what not. I can do sleep studies in my own time, I just want to have accurate stats on whether and when I am asleep.

In the 2000s I used to use a service called last.fm (originally called Audioscrobbler) that would track the music I listened to and give me recommendations based on that. It was able to give me some really great personalized suggestions, but that came at the expense of me handing over significant amounts of personal data.

In prioritizing privacy, I feel like I've stepped away from a lot of the big recommendation engines because they're tied to data-hungry companies I am in the process of disengaging with (e.g. Goodreads is owned by Amazon). I can still find stuff I like, but it's often the result of manual searching that turns up popular recommendations that work for me, rather than less well-known or acutely relevant things. last.fm was good at giving me less "obvious" recommendations and would find music I was unlikely to find on my own. I want that, but for all of my media: books, movies, etc.

There's a second concern in that I also feel like I can't trust platforms like Netflix, who seem to prioritize their content over that of other studios. Their recommendations feel weighted in their favor, not mine.

What I want is an impartial recommendation engine that gives me high quality personalized suggestions without a huge privacy cost.¹ Is this a pipe dream, or are there examples of this kind of thing out there?

1. I don't mind handing over some of my specific interest data in order to get good recommendations for myself and help a site's algorithms cater to others, as I get that's how these things work. I just don't like the idea of my interests being even more data for a company that already has thousands of intimate data points on me.

Hey everyone, I'm currently looking for some web 1.0-esque websites, but with the twist of being designed for some ancient smartphones. An example of what I mean would be i.reddit.com , reddit's original (and still fully functional) mobile implementation, or Twitter's site when you access it without a modern version of Javascript (which reverts to a clone of itself from around ~2012). I understand this is a super niche category and there's hardly any of them left, but if you happen to know of any or stumble upon one, please let me know! Thank you! :)

I will be releasing a beta version of Intergrid in the near future, before New Year.

The first thing I need is someone to buy a domain name from.

I'm looking for a reasonable yearly price for the common generic TLDs ($10~$20), combined with reliability of support.

The only previous experience I had was with GoDaddy, and I had no issues with them. I have, however, heard stories of terrible support service (which I never used, for lack of need), and I'd rather not support a company of that level of service. (Nevermind that I bear strong dislike for post-service spam.)

The second thing I need is someone to host it.

Ideally, I would host it on a personal server, which would probably be a Pi-like platform, because I like the idea of owning the host as far as personal projects are concerned. I have little idea of how viable it is, or whether it's a better option for me than renting server space at the moment.

Lacking that, I'd like to have a EU-based hosting provider with reasonably-cheap ($10~$15) basic-level plans. Since the beta of Intergrid is local-storage-only, having a database hosted or supplied is not an issue at the moment. Low time-to-connect is important.

Apologies if this belongs in ~tech, that group is more on topic than ~talk but I think it’s for news and links more than open questions. (Edit: Looks like it's been moved to ~comp, I guess that works too.)

I’m looking for an HDMI switch. It needs to support at least 4K resolution and have at least 10 input ports. It also needs to have Toslink audio out. Remote control support is a “nice to have” but physical buttons are fine too.

I’m having trouble locating a product like this online. Not sure if I’m just using the wrong terms or if it doesn’t actually exist. Can any Tildes gearheads give me a pointer here?

I'm building my first desktop computer, and Linux is my operating system of choice.

I know video cards sometimes can be a pain and wish to avoid any issues.

Dollar-priced items are very expensive down here, and I don't require playing the latest games on the highest configurations. Just something to “put me on the map”, so to speak, so I can have a somewhat current machine that doesn't give me much trouble. Any suggestions?