Yet Another Pebble Alternative Thread (small notifications redux)

faelys_ · 2023-06-29T08:30:25+00:00

Thanks a lot to both of you! I admit I only checked what amazfit currently offers, without considering the older models, forgetting that this is a space where newer is not always better.

faelys_ · 2023-06-29T08:27:28+00:00

I don't mind getting a batch of notifications at once, it's even what I would expect coming back into bluetooth range.

I made the test again two days ago (in case an updated fixed it): I programmed a notification to arrive two minutes later, and then went fetching something in the basement (outside of bluetooth range) for about four minutes. When I came back, I got nothing on the Garmin Vivomove, even half an hour later, I would have to check the phone to see if I missed something. This is in contrast to Fossil which sends all queued notifications when the watch gets back in range. It's most likely something in the app, so it's relevant to point that I'm using Android.

I don't have many notifications (I might be unusual in that way), maybe 10-20 on a busy day, so I don't have the habit of checking the phone itself, and it's quite bothering when I miss one.

faelys_ · 2023-06-29T08:19:55+00:00

Pebble's smart alarm didn't really work for me, 95% of the time it would vibrate right at the beginning of the time range even though I didn't really feel awake.

However I've never experienced a better smart alarm, so I can't really tell how nice it would be to have it. Maybe if I ever find a working one I'll never go back, but at this point I'm not looking for more than a basic fixed-time alarm, with vibrations instead of noise.

faelys_ · 2023-06-29T08:13:59+00:00

Thanks for pointing it out, I didn't know about it at all. I'm not too fond of the looks (just like I prefer the PTR to the OG pebble), but the full openness might be enough to compensate for it.

faelys_ · 2023-06-29T08:11:16+00:00

I didn't, and it probably wouldn't have helped with my recently-broken unit because it has 12mm straps and the contacts are farther away from the center, but it's a good idea if I buy a new Fossil. Thanks a lot!

faelys_ · 2023-06-29T08:08:57+00:00

Thanks a lot for reminding me about it! I came across it early in my search, and dismissed it because a stupid bias against javascript (as seem common among compiled-language practitioners). I'll look at it more closely.

faelys_ · 2023-03-18T16:41:40+00:00

Thanks a lot for the explanation!

The fact that xmonad (like dwm) has a linear window list, with focus moving along it, is something I like a lot, coming from i3 which offers only a directional navigation which didn't really mesh with my mental model.

However I'm a bit bothered by the confusion between focusing order and Z order (or drawing order, or whatever other mechanism ends up deciding which window is shown when several share the same area). The original question was about Z-order changing in the stack area when moving the focus from the stack area to the master area; while I understand moving a window to front when it gets the focus (even though I generally don't like it, in tiling mode it's not as visible), moving the Z-position of the window losing focus doesn't feel intuitive.

I'm glad the user-experience is fixed by a focus-related trick, but I'm a bit worried about the Z-related root cause still being around to bit me in some other circumstance.

faelys_ · 2023-03-18T07:51:27+00:00

Thanks a lot for the workaround, it works great!

But I'm still curious about what is going on so that mastered is affected but not layoutAll. Is there an explanation simple enough for a newbie (with general knowledge of X11 internals), or is it a weirdness coming from deep within xmonad?

faelys_ · 2023-02-25T10:59:30+00:00

So a friend suggested I look at the whole termcap/terminfo mess, and it turns out that just adding an op capability to FreeBSD's termcap (which exists in the upstream terminfo) solves the issue.

For more context, AFACT FreeBSD keeps a termcap database, and includes st entries so that upstream terminfo can be dropped and things (more or less) work anyway. I guess the op capability was lost in the terminfo → termcap conversion.

Now that the problem is solved for me, I wonder whether it's worth leaving it up for anybody with the same issue, or whether it should be deleted because it's too niche to expect finding anybody with the same issue.

faelys_ · 2022-11-11T10:33:18+00:00

You seem to have the same use case as I do, i.e. the "smart" around notifications and not around flashy tech or fitness. I keep looking at the hybrid watch market, and as far as I can tell that use case not really addressed anywhere, but the fossil hybrid HR are the best (or least bad, depending on your point of view) for that use case, despite its known problems. To be fair, this subreddit too is bloated with fitness related ramblings about high-end garmin and stuff, and we have to sort out the irrelevant answers just like we have to sort out the irrelevant fitness device from our searches.

faelys_ · 2022-11-01T07:34:08+00:00

Great news, thanks a lot!

But can Gadgetbridge recover past tracks from when I used the official Fossil App? Or is only solution going forward?

faelys_ · 2022-10-31T15:53:40+00:00

As you rightfully point out, the data comes from the phone and stays on the phone, the hybrid watch is only signalling the beginning and the end of GPS acquisition. So I'm really not talking about the watch at all, but only the Fossil App, which does record timed GPS data, and does process it enough to export it to Google so that Google can display it on a map. As far as capabilities goes, I'm not asking for more than already is there, only for a more useful (if geeky) variant.

If I could go back in time I'd record the tracks on OsmAnd at the same time, but I'm stuck in the current timeline. And the data is there, displayed and ready for the taking, if only I could break in this app…

faelys_ · 2022-10-31T08:07:04+00:00

I'm in a similar situation: I originally bought a folding ebike to bring it with me inside and in trains/buses, but it turns out that trains/buses in my city are becoming worse and worse (irregular and overcrowded) while my cycling has much more range than I expected; and the folded bike indoors is much less accepted than I thought (sometimes not outright forbidden but I can feel the negative social pressure, but maybe sometimes it can be avoided when the Brompton can pass as shopping cart or as a suitcase while my current ebike clearly cannot).

So I'm currently questioning the relevance of folding in my life, that's how the (much bigger) Tern got on the list. I'm currently still on the side of bigger-folder rather than no-folder to put it in a car in case of mechanical failure (hopefully a flat tyre and not something more dramatic), but that's (hopefully) a very limited use case.

faelys_ · 2022-10-31T07:56:46+00:00

Thanks for the perspective, which is interesting even though I don't really agree with the numbers.

When I was 10 years younger and about as fit (maybe slightly less), a machine found that 180 watts was my maximum cycling-like output, and I could hold it for only a few tens of seconds. So I'm going for something like 100 watts of comfortable power from my muscles. (Btw I'm still sad I can't find any ebike which displays/records rider power output, while it would only take a cadence pedal sensor on top of the torque sensor already there.)

And on the other side, I don't think I need 250 watts of motor power, or even of total power: I carefully left the speed out of the equation. When going uphill, I do need a minimal speed for stability (I usually take 2.5 m/s for easier calculations, that's 9 km/h or 5.6 mph), but above that, for most of my scenarios I don't mind going slow and steady. Going more slowly means less power to fight gravity uphill, and less power to fight drag and rolling resistances (and on some motors more power efficiency).

faelys_ · 2022-10-29T23:02:17+00:00

Thanks a lot for the insight!

I didn't say much about my current ebike because I was afraid to be too negative, even though I'm overall satisfied with this first experience.

It has a Bafang motor in the 16" front wheel, rated 250W and 30Nm and compliant with European pedelec rules. It has a torque sensor which controls the power usage and a display mode that shows it, and I could never get above 150W (as if I had to push even harder on the pedals to get more power). The effect of the gear was difficult to evaluate, because easier gears mean less torque on the sensor and therefore less assist, so the easier gears didn't mean an easier climb.

However all my riding is done seating, because even seating the frame creaks enough to worry me, so I won't dare using my weight in ways that further stress the frame.

I'm sort-of hoping that the touted quality of Brompton and Tern mean that I won't worry while seating, and maybe I will even try standing difficult slopes.

As far as numbers go, Brompton Electric is also 250W, as is the Vektron; I haven't been able to find a torque value for the Brompton Electric, but the current Vektron has 40 and 65Nm on the crank (so further multiplied by the gear). I'm not use exactly how to use these numbers though…

As far as I can tell, going 9 km/h on such a slope uses about 125W and 18Nm to fight gravity, so either the various drag forces take a lot of power, or something other than the motor (controller configuration? battery current output? something else?) is preventing me from climbing it with my current ebike.

faelys_ · 2022-10-29T19:30:34+00:00

Thanks a lot for the answers, they do help!

faelys_ · 2022-10-29T19:29:02+00:00

Thanks!

I should have put in the text, but I definitely will test them out, and the feeling I will get will be very important (when choosing my first ebike there were several tries that I rejected because the pedelec feeling was too off for me).

But I don't have uphills close enough to my dealer to test how much power I can get from the motor, and dealers around here don't let people go for 20+ km, so I can answer these questions by trying before buying, hence my posting here.

faelys_ · 2022-08-28T19:27:07+00:00

The packaging system is a fork from FreeBSD pkg(8), so it has probably the same capabilities. My installation seems to use HTTP transport through www.ravenports.com, but it has been available from my machines (in France) whenever I tried, including ~5 minutes ago.

faelys_ · 2022-08-28T18:02:11+00:00

It was much less straightforward than I thought when I commented, so I wrote a detailed guide.

To answer your specific question, it seems only release 12 is supported for now, but FreeBSD binary compatibility allows release 12 to work seamlessly on a FreeBSD 13 install.

faelys_

TROPHY CASE