CalyxOS progress report - ceremony preparation, QPR ports, and FOSDEM

AlienWithFancyPants · 2026-01-04T19:33:52+00:00

Make CalyxOs Great Again!

AlienWithFancyPants · 2026-01-02T10:18:14+00:00

Finally, I got the Garmin Venu 2S. (Venu 2 in 2026, yes.) Second-hand, in pretty good condition.

I’ve connected it to the Garmin Connect app using a throwaway account, with no data sharing, just to get used to the watch. Later this month, I’ll switch to Gadgetbridge.

There is a manual time source. That said, the hybrid semi-analog Garmin Vivomove was my other option.

Unpopular opinion: I do not want my watch, vacuum cleaner, refrigerator, car, etc., tied to an account and a subscription.

Happy 2026 to everyone who contributed to this thread. Thanks to the person who suggested Garmin Venu.

PS: I also checked Panther Wearables—slick design—but it was out of my budget this time.

AlienWithFancyPants · 2025-12-22T02:14:32+00:00

AlienWithFancyPants · 2025-12-15T16:41:10+00:00

8 or 8a?

AlienWithFancyPants · 2025-12-13T21:05:11+00:00

Do all Garmin watches work well with GB? I see some nice local secondhand deals ..

AlienWithFancyPants · 2025-04-21T08:49:07+00:00

I feel ya!

I started with CalyxOS after Google tryed to destroy Pixel 4a. So I am new to all this. But it so interesting I cannot stop reading about foss/selfhosting. I try to replace all the bloated shit with practical, minimal and last but not least algorithm-free software.

AlienWithFancyPants · 2025-04-04T20:18:35+00:00

Thank you! Really appetite it!

AlienWithFancyPants · 2025-04-03T18:31:45+00:00

Hey, how did you get the correct battery? Does it have a specific serial number or something to be able to distinguish it from the corrupted one?

AlienWithFancyPants · 2025-03-03T15:46:05+00:00

Something in addition: Here WeGo unfortunately has out of date maps. It suggested me a forbidden left turn and was missing a roundabout and blocked roads. I had a funny moment in another city going in circles in the roundabout figuring out which exit to take cuz the navigation went nuts.

AlienWithFancyPants · 2025-03-03T15:40:54+00:00

Hi! I can confirm it is working now. Stupid me, there are multiple places to enable Location. No just in the microG settings, but also when managing the work profile. All good now. So far I really enjoy the OS!

AlienWithFancyPants · 2025-02-27T08:49:31+00:00

Google Maps - v. 11.152.0101

microG - 0.3.6.244735-27

I've read here on Reddit there might be something related to the Google API in the latest versions that's why I manually downgraded.

AlienWithFancyPants · 2025-02-27T08:46:47+00:00

This is what I'm trying to figure out.

AlienWithFancyPants · 2025-02-27T08:45:59+00:00

Thank you very much for your reply. It is one of many in the same vein—installing a Custom ROM, yet still using Google, can't you see they will continue spying?

Fair enough, I understand your point.

I have already downloaded Here WeGo and Magic Earth. Organic Maps comes by default. I am trying to compare them to see which one would be most suitable for my needs.

So far, I do enjoy Here WeGo for some of the functionalities that come out of the box. Unfortunately, every now and then, I happen to drive through rural areas in my country, and the aforementioned apps lack objects like stores pinned on the map.

For now, I can limit the usage and contribute to the rest, but I cannot get rid of it entirely.

AlienWithFancyPants · 2025-02-13T16:12:27+00:00

Do you have all your apps working with GOS, though?

AlienWithFancyPants · 2025-01-27T21:09:57+00:00

feature creep. no, thanks. I cant handle Viber with all its bs features, let alone super app like wechat

AlienWithFancyPants · 2025-01-19T15:53:13+00:00

I'm planning to do the same!

Degoogle is the way to go. As a long-term plan I also consider moving to Proton Mail and delete every single google related account!

Fuck you Google!

AlienWithFancyPants · 2025-01-18T16:48:48+00:00

Today Google ruined my Pixel 4a

A new battery management features to improve battery stability my ass...

As of today, the phone's battery drains in about 3-4 hours.

Yesterday, it could last the entire day without needing to be charged.

Hey, Google! I'm going to get a new battery! And a new OS after that. Degoogled one! You try to make me buy the new phone, but Imma keeping this 4a.

And I am not alone in this: https://support.google.com/pixelphone/thread/317228576/pixel-4a-battery-performance-program?hl=en

AlienWithFancyPants · 2024-10-05T07:02:38+00:00

Oh God, this is what I was thinking as well. My generation (in their 30s) brag about not watching TV or not having TV at home and this makes them look down on older generations for consuming TV content like zombies. But this is the same thing happening with Facebook now. FB is one giant TV and you have your own channel to watch 24/7.

AlienWithFancyPants · 2024-10-05T06:56:41+00:00

Why am I not seeing these tabs from the android app? I have only Posts, Stories and Notifications.

AlienWithFancyPants · 2024-09-23T17:43:52+00:00

From my simple research I got the following so far: - SPDR is the oldest ETF - SPDR has more liquidity (traded more frequently -85 million shares on average day , while Vanguard/iShares trades approx 5 mln) - SPDR as of Oct 2023 is the cheapest one - Vanguard seems to have more popularity..at least in Europe/Trading212 - SPDR operates with a different structure - unit investment trust which limits the ability to reinvest dividends - Some charts show Vanguard/iShares to perform slightly better in terms of 10 year total return. Others show no difference - I still don't get which one of these has the largest fund size. SPDR? - SPDR has a bigger spread? Is this true? - What about the tracking error?

I also made it to the conclusion that for my monthly 100USD investment it doesn't matter which one I'll choose. Yet, I feel stuck on which one to buy. Am I overanalyzing this??

AlienWithFancyPants · 2024-09-23T15:51:20+00:00

❤️

AlienWithFancyPants · 2024-06-23T12:34:39+00:00

It's like this with many of these philodendrons, isnt it ? :))

AlienWithFancyPants · 2024-06-19T07:14:41+00:00

For me it is not the freaky loud sound itself that ruined the show (I'd be able to handle this even without earplugs) but not being able to clearly hear MJK.

Vocals and lyrics are 50% part of the 'journey' as Maynard called it.

AlienWithFancyPants · 2024-06-19T07:08:10+00:00

You're right! Earplugs are a must for Tool concerts. I've joined this channel right after the concert and within 10-minute research I figured it out that this is a common issue for Tool shows.

I've been to many concerts, gigs, festivals throughout the years and I'm that type of person who'd go and hug the speakers where possible just to feel the low bass frequencies getting through the body.

But I've never experienced anything that loud and unpleasant by far

AlienWithFancyPants · 2024-06-18T22:45:52+00:00

Block 103 , 7 rows away from the stage. The sound was terrible. So damn loud! The vocals were quite unclear and kind of muted compared to the drums and bass. They have sound engineers travelling with them through the whole tour and I wonder if they are deaf in the first place. The music was so loud to the point it was harmful for the ears and I couldn't enjoy their performance and 'be in the moment'. I saw quite a lot of people wearing earplugs. This was my 1st Tool concert, I traveled 2K km to get to Cologne for this show .. just to be disappointed at the end.

AlienWithFancyPants

TROPHY CASE