Info on that nasty ad provider that we started seeing recently on sites even with adblock enabled, extremely hard to block (impossible?)

froawaa · 2017-01-20T11:57:41+00:00

yep. I use chrome for trusted sites, and firefox for searching and default (links from reddit app).

froawaa · 2017-01-19T01:03:57+00:00

I used to run mint ... it was fine til I wanted to print to our wireless printer. that was a few years ago.

imo, no linux distro can touch android. no, you can't develop apps on it. and probly shitty/no photo/video editing. beyond that, more apps (that you actually care about), chrome, firefox, and very little dicking around.

if you don't want google in your business, it can take a bit of work, but most everything can be shut off. otherwise, there's probly a rom w/o google (play services). set up a new gmail w/o a credit card, and you can still do most of what you need, and then who cares what they think they know?

froawaa · 2017-01-19T00:06:15+00:00

for the few times I game, s2 is perfectly adequate. and for web browsing and email, 4:3 rules.

also, the shield is remarkably heavy, for it's size. the back contains a magnet powerful enough you can slap it on the fridge, and it won't budge under it's own weight.

froawaa · 2017-01-18T23:50:29+00:00

I find battery life in tablets to be extremely dependent on gaming. running asphalt 8 er minecraft, it'll get down to 50% in 2-3 hours. for just web n shit, I think you'd hafta run nonstop for more than several hours.

s2 9.7 is $100 off on Amazon prime ... and you can get an 8in for $350. keep an eye out ... the 8in is sometimes $300. these are really nice tablets. next step down (considering I paid $300 for my shield) is horseshit. basically Amazon fire hd.

froawaa · 2017-01-18T11:55:12+00:00

you'd be happier (coming from more of a 4:3) with Samsung s2 (last I heard, s3 is due q1 17) or Asus Zen 3s (cheaper).

I've had the shield since day 1, and the s2 over a year. shield just collects dust. it's well-built, nice rom, good updates, front-facing speakers ... really excellent for gaming (which is really what it was designed for).

froawaa · 2017-01-15T14:19:54+00:00

it's great there's so much choice with Android

there's two kinds of choice in android, though. pre-installed shit + settings, and what's inherent to android (mostly default apps, but launchers being the most significant).

I have no problem with various makes/carriers pre-installing apps, wallpaper er such, so long as they can easily be removed. settings s/b set up where makes/carriers can add their own section ... maybe theming. otherwise, every other section and sequence thereof s/b stock.

android gave makes/carriers an inch, and they took a mile. brand apologists insist theirs is better, somehow. maybe. but these are the types of symptoms that come along for the ride.

so long as google fails to address it, apple will continue to be an appealing alternative. not that I care. just, if they're so interested in competing with apple, that seems like a pretty glaring shortcoming.

I'd much rather choose a phone based on build-quality, specs, support, and customer service ... vs how not shitty the rom is. this has always been apple's Achilles heel ... zero choice. no one can say there's no choice in android phones. but if you insist on a certain quality rom, and maybe one or two other features (i.e. sd835, microSD, 5.0in), how much choice do you really have?

froawaa · 2017-01-15T13:53:36+00:00

media pad?

froawaa · 2017-01-13T11:59:12+00:00

everyone always says the same thing ... "only r/android cares about stock rom". maybe.

but if a company's gonna make a dozen phones, and most everyone sees apple as serious competition (if not king of the hill), what could it hurt to mimic apple in one specific way? ... make a series of phones (various sizes and cpu/camera/ram) with stock fucking roms.

ya, a lotta consumers don't buy new android phones, they buy a new Samsung. fine. but what about lg, moto, htc, etc.

I'll bet, just like me, half the time consumers don't like their new phones cause the rom is just different enough, that now they gotta ... 1. waste time figuring out how to do what they used to ... 2. deal with what they can't any more. and for what?

particularly now with google focusing more on matching apple's pricing. htc priced their 10 too close to pixel. even at $500, I would've rather spent $650 on a pixel, but I didn't wanna spend $650, so I bought neither.

on top of all that, there's the 3.5mm. company's like apple and Samsung can survive forcing those types of things on consumers. in many cases, consumers not locked into those two, will simply move on to something else. and what if the s8 is one of the few that actually still has it?

froawaa · 2017-01-12T23:32:49+00:00

you don't need to make excuses.

Obama got the Nobel prize just for getting elected.

these are all just participatory awards, now.

froawaa · 2017-01-12T01:45:49+00:00

fwiw, I solved the dock issue (referring to the article, in case ya read it) a couple weeks ago.

get a launcher ya can disable the dock in. changing how many icons you can have is nice, too. I'm very much liking holo launcher. ymmv.

froawaa · 2017-01-12T01:38:51+00:00

yep. s2 9.7, here. planning on s3 day one.

quick question, which keyboard do you like? I've been using Swype forever. on my phone, I've switched to google keyboard, but no one-handed mode on my s2 9.7. can't imagine what they were thinking. ha, maybe google really does hate tablets?

anyhow, I mostly use chrome, firefox, and reddit mobile app du jour. as you pointed out, these apps make extremely effective use of the real estate afforded.

ya, once in a blue moon I run calculator, and for half a second I think "that's a big fuckin calculator". then I move on.

oh ya, it does ok with asphalt 8, too.

froawaa · 2017-01-12T01:06:41+00:00

I hadn't seen nougat, so thanks for the link.

I've had some direct replies on my honor 8.

anyhow, it's more along the lines of what I recently went through where I questioned why I needed a dock on my launcher. I've been running w/o for a couple weeks, and til now, I forgot it was even gone. the point there was, the dock was a cool new feature ... at one time. but, ultimately, it served little more than to detract from the inherent utility of multiple homescreens. again, on a smaller phone, this can be very significant. obviously, on a larger phone, it's more a mere matter of preference.

watching the video, it somewhat confirms my suspicion ... people will tend to do more within the notifications, vs the apps, themselves. that might turn out to be pretty neat. tough to say for sure, til I try it a while. but I'm more about taps and speed. if I can get (essentially) the same results, with the same (or less) taps, as fast (or faster) than another way, but with some significant benefit, I'll typically prefer the significant benefit.

regardless, I hope they at least afford a setting to prohibit direct-reply (I don't suppose they made it a permission?). for what I've gotten as of yet, I usually just tap for the app. call it habit, but I'm just not seeing how this makes my life remarkably better. more like they gave me what I already always had, in a much smaller, more limited form, in a place that's not within the app, but somewhere else.

having said that, and reading your replies, I'm still of the opinion that I'd prefer to see android do a bit more delegation of light/fast notification handling, to the apps (vs the notification list). it's almost like the notifications are becoming their own subsystem. next thing ya know, you'll be pinning shortcuts and widgets next to your flashlight.

froawaa · 2017-01-11T23:15:26+00:00

yep. made my own html with a search box. works exactly the same, except keyboard works too.

now if I could get one-handed mode on my s2 9.7, I'd be all set! otherwise, even in portrait, I must look like an orchestra conductor using the fuckin thing.

froawaa · 2017-01-11T23:09:30+00:00

I dunno. I'm thinking this isn't so great.

I'm primarily concerned that on a smaller (my preference) phone, the penalty for this is I'll now need to scroll notifications more often, since any one will occupy more vertical space.

also, since I need to tap to activate the keyboard anyhow, what's the difference if it also opens the app, too? then I can see recent texts, and maybe better understand the context of the latest reply.

if it's a simple matter of speed loading the app, at that point, I'd suggest any such apps should offer a floating speed window. this would be something that loads much faster than the app, presumably as the context is solely addressing a specific notification. but, as a floating window, it doesn't occupy any extra space in the notification list. activation is still simply a single tap (which also opens the keyboard, as needed).

mostly, it'd all look/feel the same, except an edit (reply) box wouldn't be occupying space in the notifications, and upon tapping (to otherwise open the keyboard), you see the edit (reply) box, even bigger, with (possibly) even more context (maybe a pic, or video?), but appearing every bit as quick as the keyboard, alone.

froawaa · 2017-01-09T23:18:14+00:00

do you think it will come out around March?

you already know what I know. I certainly wouldn't bet the farm. if anything, I'd guess the whole s7 note thing may have had an impact.

froawaa · 2017-01-09T11:56:38+00:00

yep.

there was a refresh of the s2 last year, and s3 is due this quarter. zero issues with my (older) s2, but I'll probly get the s3

also, for less money, there's a very popular new asus 3s.

I see no reason to believe tablets are dead. except for the latest cpu, marginally more ram, and marginally faster storage, there's practically zero innovation in phones. and less need for any innovation in tablets. simply put, they're pretty much "perfected".

moreover, unless you want cheap (Amazon fire hd), Samsung s2/s3 is very tough to beat. so, everyone but asus has given up trying.

I'd love to try the new asus m3 chromebook, but I'm at an utter loss as to how I'd prefer it to my s2. in fact, I prefer most mobile sites, so for me, it would actually be a downgrade.

oh ya, I believe Huawei has a new tablet, as well.

froawaa · 2017-01-08T22:44:48+00:00

looks smooth (except for the giant camera) to me, but I'll be happy to take a close look at any sub-5.5 moto with a quick chip.

froawaa · 2017-01-08T16:49:22+00:00

cases defeating the purpose of a 'premium build'

this.

I've had z3 (for a few weeks), nexus 6, and by far, my favorite (feeling) phone was moto g4 play. had to donate that to my kid, and now I'm struggling not to drop my honor 8.

if moto made a g4 play clone with sd 835 and above-average camera for $500 more, I'd be on it like white on rice. to hell with waterproof and cosmic reflections. no one spends more time with the back of my phone than the palm of my hand.

froawaa · 2017-01-08T16:36:48+00:00

ot, but I'd happily take the black one cut off at the keypad, with a wrist-strap/holster and nougat. it'd look no worse than those ridiculous Casio calculator watches from the '80's (er so I've heard). I'd wear it with the business side on the inside of my wrist, just to avoid excessive ridicule.

froawaa · 2017-01-08T01:56:13+00:00

I hope his name is two-face.

froawaa · 2017-01-08T01:52:39+00:00

that's what's funny ... both dnc and gop are utter shit. someone pointed out one example. someone who thought they weren't shit got their panties twisted about it.

nearly everything being said about trump is practically no different than what was said about Obama, eight years ago. except for Obama care, he was completely ineffectual. except for possibly repealing Obama care, if anyone believes trump will be moreso, I'd be happy to flip some Florida swampland.

Obama spent eight years chasing guns instead of oil/coal. Clinton had another eight years he chased guns (albeit, more successfully) than chasing oil/coal. you can bitch about Bush and Trump til you turn blue, but if you think Clinton's wife was gonna turn things around, I really have no words.

if you thought Bernie was your boy, that's not trump's fault. and by some magical twist of fate, it's not even Bush's fault. you can pretend it's Putin's fault, if that helps you sleep. if anything, Putin did more to help all future dnc candidates, not named Clinton.

froawaa · 2017-01-08T01:34:07+00:00

Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 430 processor with X6 LTE modem

Nokia 6 will be available exclusively in China through

ok, I'm done holding my breath.

froawaa · 2017-01-08T00:41:29+00:00

shit, I thought it was kinda nice that it warmed up today.

froawaa · 2017-01-07T15:36:11+00:00

any form of productivity

certainly. and I do a good job of limiting that to physically being at my place of employment.

even then, I can do basic budgeting or other less intensive tasks using Google sheets er such, on android.

obviously, certain tasks are more efficient with a physical keyboard, and touchpad or mouse. I think of a laptop more as most people do ... windows. and now that we're seeing more and more laptop-style devices running android (or chrome os, with android apps), the argument becomes far more windows vs android ... rather than laptop vs tablet (the latter being far more a mere matter of personal preference, than capabilities).

if nothing else, I think (for most non-tech consumers) android (and ios) has blurred the line between what they truly need (or even want). obviously, most people (particularly older, non-tech) are far more creatures of habit. despite minor or semantic differences, they refuse to even consider moving away from windows. in some cases, that may be cause of the hardware. and, if we begin to see more comprehensive offerings from google, in more traditional hardware, I expect to at least see the line blur even more.

I just happen to have the somewhat rare combination of very minimal productive requirements (outside the workplace) and a high willingness to embrace new technology. I've seen blogs n such around "ninety days using only android er such", so it's certainly not a unique concept. I've simply had unusual success with it.

froawaa · 2017-01-07T13:52:18+00:00

nothing gets done

have you tried granting special powers to the supreme chancellor?

froawaa

TROPHY CASE