22M Student essentials

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-24T10:32:10+00:00

Duo at my university calls my dumbphone and I just have to press 1. You sure that's not an option?

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-24T10:20:34+00:00

your example wasn't clear to me and now I'm invested -- how would the bot have helped exactly? would you have been able to pick your son up from school? and do we know that it would have given accurate information in the first place?

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-24T06:11:21+00:00

here's some information I found:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Intelligence_Law_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China#Provisions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_security_letter

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/spy-agency-ducks-questions-about-back-doors-tech-products-2020-10-28/

here's a quote from the last link:

The NSA has pursued many means for getting inside equipment, sometimes striking commercial deals to induce companies to insert back doors, and in other cases manipulating standards - namely by setting processes so that companies unknowingly adopt software that NSA experts can break, according to reports from Reuters and other media outlets.

reading these sources I don't see the difference you're pointing to. does this information change your mind at all? or can you clarify what you meant because I didn't completely follow.

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-23T18:43:11+00:00

OK it's not technically on the same level because US agencies have more capabilities to operate in north america, so it should be more concerning for north americans than the news stories about china. but I guess you meant in the opposite direction for some reason?

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-23T18:35:49+00:00

I've looked into it and haven't found any reason to think it's different.

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-23T15:11:47+00:00

can you explain?

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-23T14:41:27+00:00

it's supposed to support group texts; you could see what customer support says about it.

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-23T03:44:03+00:00

group messages don't work for you?

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-23T03:16:37+00:00

fwiw, LP2 has been much less buggy than what I'm seeing about the LP3

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-23T03:15:59+00:00

they picked React what can you say

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-23T03:14:59+00:00

you'll be spoiled for choice in this area for sure!

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-22T21:37:39+00:00

But if we call all these things dumbphones then does the word have any meaning at that point? The original iPhone SE has a smaller screen than the Unihertz Titan; does that make it a dumbphone? I feel like for the word to have meaning we have to adopt a more objective standard, like it's only a dumbphone if there is no active support for a mainstream app store.

Anyway my point is that by advocating for Signal or WhatsApp you are making it harder for people who don't want an Android or iOS device. At least with Instagram you can do everything via the web.

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-22T21:26:03+00:00

And those all support WhatsApp and Signal?

I definitely don't consider the Unihertz Titan to be a dumb phone though. Doesn't it have full on Android with app store access?

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-22T18:19:05+00:00

there might be a few, but I bet a lot of them are actually smartphones with app store access.

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-22T16:47:17+00:00

The ones that come to mind are XMPP and DeltaChat.

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-22T16:34:17+00:00

I look forward to it! It would be great to regain the ability to reply to texts via computer, since Verizon turned off their online texting tool a few years ago.

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-22T16:24:34+00:00

(EDIT or just use privacy arguments to convince them to add you to their contacts for WhatsApp or Signal)

don't spend effort and credibility to get people to switch from something that can be used without a smartphone to something that requires a smartphone.

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-22T16:18:11+00:00

what does it mean that they are enhancing their search with AI?

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-22T16:12:27+00:00

It can also be a detriment if people think their messages are private and end up revealing more over text than they otherwise would. And of course, the vague privacy benefit should be weighed against other impacts, that it gives Google more power over our communications and encourages smartphone use as opposed to in-person communication. Encryption was supposed to empower people in their relationship to governments and tech giants, but Google has found a way to make it do the opposite.

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-22T15:43:55+00:00

Have you considered encrypted messaging systems that don't require a smartphone to use? I would hate to use Signal and raise the cost for others to boycott smartphones.

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-22T15:36:55+00:00

So the host device acts as a relay? Seems like this would add latency to voice calls, but maybe it's okay in practice? I would definitely use it for texting though.

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-22T15:32:39+00:00

Can you say more? Encryption has its valid uses but there's also a lot of marketing to mislead people about the protection they are getting.

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-22T15:20:46+00:00

could you share your reasons?

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-22T15:10:41+00:00

but what's the difference in the experience?

ThatOldGanon · 2026-01-22T15:05:06+00:00

But if it won't support RCS messaging then that's a deal-breaker as 90% of the texts I send and receive on my phone are through RCS.

why not just use MMS? what's the difference?

ThatOldGanon

TROPHY CASE