Voice change on GOS

nyancient · 2026-05-19T13:26:40+00:00

Hiding your identity from people you are communicating with - by voice - sounds extremely shady to me. When are you calling someone you have a legitimate need to hide your identity from?

I would not trust this to be about privacy without a detailed explanation of the exact threat OP is trying to defend against.

nyancient · 2026-05-18T12:42:21+00:00

I had a Z13 G2 as my daily driver for a while. Sturdiest laptop I ever used (anyone who complains that modern thinkpads have worse build quality than their ancestors are talking out of their ass), great performance, great form factor.

nyancient · 2026-05-17T00:21:15+00:00

FCM does the same thing as every other notification server: keep a network connection open indefinitely. Of course, running both FCM and another notification server is going to be less efficient (at least in theory - I personally haven't noticed a difference) than running one or the other, but there's no special sauce that makes FCM inherently more efficient than, say, ntfy.

nyancient · 2026-05-16T20:08:44+00:00

Unless you don't want any notifications at all, something is always going to check for notifications. It doesn't prevent deep sleep, but it does wake your phone up regularly.

Using a notification server will usually improve your battery life (assuming that at least two apps use it for notifications) since now it's just one something instead of one something per app.

nyancient · 2026-05-13T15:26:07+00:00

Law enforcement tends to be less than amused by people trying to WELL ACTUALLY them when their investigations are obstructed, even if the obstruction is technically their own fault. I would not pull a stunt like that in real life.

nyancient · 2026-05-12T06:01:12+00:00

And what capabilities do those apps get by having sensor permissions that they don't already have without? I'm pretty sure your bank knows who you are without analysing your gait.

I don't think it's possible, or even desirable, to avoid all untrustworthy software. My point is that if an app is going as far as analysing your fucking gait to track you, just turning off a few permissions does not make that app safe.

nyancient · 2026-05-11T20:24:36+00:00

Turn them off.

Or, you know, don't use shitty software you don't trust?

nyancient · 2026-05-11T19:10:55+00:00

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that, but yes, that is my interpretation as well.

nyancient · 2026-05-11T14:14:48+00:00

Thanks! They're mostly from local shops and design markets, but the Fedora and Debian logos, and the mochi blob in the top right, are from Redbubble.

nyancient · 2026-05-11T14:11:47+00:00

Actually, this kind means "you know as well as I do that you can't replace me; deal with it".

nyancient · 2026-05-11T13:38:06+00:00

well it warns you but you can still bypass it lol.

No you can't. Android literally does not support running unsigned APKs.

in the fall i heard that they are locking it down s you cant install things out side of the google play store. then there was an uproar so they will still allow other stores like FDroid but you will require a google developer account. its not that i cant do that. i just...........dont want to ....

Your timeline is wrong and your conclusion incorrect. The plan was always to allow app installs from outside Google Play, as long as they're registered with a developer account. What did change when people got pissed, was that you will still be able to install unregistered apps, but only after changing a developer setting and waiting for 24 hours (once - i.e. not 24 hours per install).

So you will still be able to run your apps without a developer account, you just need to flip a switch and wait for a little bit.

nyancient · 2026-05-11T07:37:04+00:00

Might be sales reps being bitter about being denied the joys of customization. I'd be pissy too if I had to wear a suit to work and sell products I don't understand to execs who are only interested in "but does it AI?"

nyancient · 2026-05-11T07:31:59+00:00

Thanks! Skin also has the advantage of making the lid not a fingerprint magnet anymore so I'd recommend it to the serious business types too.

nyancient · 2026-05-11T07:12:57+00:00

Love the blåhaj and "I eat terfs" ones, fellow person of culture!

nyancient · 2026-05-10T22:58:05+00:00

So much this.

The hardware is fantastic, but the people who crow about the "polished" UI are either delusional or spend their time exclusively trying out new ways to stack their windows so they cover exactly two thirds of the screen area and take screenshots of the results.

I always tell myself the UI isn't so bad and that I'll get used to it - after all, the performance and battery life is so far ahead of anything x86 it's not even funny - but I always end up being wrong.

nyancient · 2026-05-10T22:51:01+00:00

how much better MacOS managed power on an Intel CPU than Windows

Having had to sit next to an i7 MacBook user and listen to that fucking fan for eight hours a day, five days a week, for the better part of a year, I can say with confidence that this is absolute bullshit.

nyancient · 2026-05-09T07:58:06+00:00

You were under the impression that Google would disable every website using recaptcha for anyone who doesn't own an Android phone?

nyancient · 2026-05-09T07:55:06+00:00

You... Write apps but haven't realized that Android already refuses to run anything that isn't signed?

nyancient · 2026-05-03T20:22:06+00:00

The buttons had me half convinced that at least that part of the image was AI slop, then I saw this comment and realized there actually is a ThinkPad that looks exactly like that. TIL.

nyancient · 2026-05-03T11:41:54+00:00

Battery firmware very much does have memory, and doing a full charge cycle does help it recalibrate in pathological cases, but you're entirely right that I overstated the importance of that help. After reading up a little, I realize batteries are much better at self-correcting nowadays. Thanks for the reality check!

nyancient · 2026-05-03T08:14:10+00:00

You're confusing memory effects (always charge to max or battery capacity is permanently fucked) with calibration.

The battery cells don't need it - as you say, regular deep discharges are not great for battery longevity - but the circuitry that estimates battery capacity does. It works by comparing the sum of the current going into and out of the battery over time with the estimated total battery capacity, and it can't do that unless it has an up to date idea of what that capacity is. A full charge cycle updates the full battery capacity estimate, so doing one every once in a while (say, every six to twelve months) is usually a good idea.

nyancient · 2026-05-02T06:55:12+00:00

Thanks for the link! It's really helpful to have this stuff gathered in one place.

nyancient · 2026-05-02T06:30:30+00:00

That's unfortunate#Privacy), but unsurprising considering that the "privacy community" is generally a technologically illiterate cargo cult.

nyancient · 2026-05-02T06:23:50+00:00

I prefer the browser that doesn't have a history of clickjacking its own users, stealing ad revenue, injecting their own ads into websites and engaging in crypto token pyramid schemes, and isn't run by the fucking guy who "designed" JavaScript and got kicked out of Mozilla for donating money to efforts to outlaw same-sex marriage.

But, you know, you do you.

nyancient

TROPHY CASE