Deliverer of ideas for a living. Believer in internet autonomy, dignity. I upkeep instances of FOSS platforms like this for the masses. Previously on Twitter under the same handle. I do software things, but also I don’t.

  • 0 Posts
  • 32 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
Cake day: June 5th, 2023
  • chirospasm@lemmy.mltoLemmy@lemmy.ml•*Permanently Deleted*English
    2·
    3 months ago

    Mastodon is a great way to follow folks on Lemmy, as Lemmy is focused more on communities around topics than individual contributors. The foil to that, then, is that individuals can be easily recognized as regular contributors within those communities – but only because you happen to see their usernames often enough, not because Lemmy is designed to follow them.

    Because of these design choices, I like leveraging Mastodon to hone in on ICs who tend to post interesting content, and share it via my Mastodon network. Likewise, it can be fun to see toots from Mastodon referenced in the communities I follow here, as they help facilitate good discussion.

    There are give and takes.

  • chirospasm@lemmy.mltoPrivacy@lemmy.ml•How is instagram spying on me?
    1·
    3 months ago

    Use the user profiles feature of grapheneos to make a “social” profile and only use that to access Instagram / facebook.

    You’ll want to consider isolating IG from your primary profile, to start. The above user’s suggestion hits the nail on the head.

    Once the profile ks created, and you’ve installed IG, you’ll want to deselect the option in your Manage Profiles settings on GrapheneOS to ‘Allow running in the backgroud.’ This way, you can ensure the app is entirely stopped until you want it open.

    Another consideration may be to turn off your Bluetooth when it’s not in use, as well: BT emits an ‘address’ of sorts that, if another IG user has enabled BT access on their IG app, may be able to detect your phone and track a conversation knowing you are in the other user’s vicinity.

  • chirospasm@lemmy.mltoOpen Source@lemmy.ml•What open-source software would you like more people to know about?
    137·
    6 months ago

    TrailSense, an easy to use, comprehensive wilderness tool.

    The goals of the developer are fun to consider:

    Goals

    • Trail Sense must not use the Internet in any way, as I want the entire app usable when there is no Internet connection

    • Features must provide some benefits to people using the app while hiking, in a survival situation, etc.

    • Features should make use of the sensors on a phone rather than relying on stored information such as guides

    • Features must be based on peer-reviewed science or be verified against real world data

    Likewise, the features being developed under those goals are great for getting outside:

    Features

    • Designed for hiking, backpacking, camping, and geocaching
    • Place beacons and navigate to them
    • Follow paths
    • Retrace your steps with backtrack
    • Use a photo as a map
    • Plan what to pack
    • Be alerted before the sun sets
    • Predict the weather
    • Use your phone for astronomy
    • And more
  • chirospasm@lemmy.mltoLinux@lemmy.ml•Ubuntu 24.10 and Debian Trixie Are Getting a Refined APT Command-Line Interface - 9to5Linux
    9·
    7 months ago

    Dumb error messages like that have to do with the UI and UX. The user interface (UI) in APT has mostly to do with how easily users see, recognize, and understand descriptions of errors (that is, how text appears and is organized), and the user experience (UX) in APT has to do with how easily users can, say, follow-up, within the tool, to resolve those errors.

    An example of a better UI in APT could be grouping to-be installed packages with clear linebreaks and color, or highlighting how much space is to be used by bolding it. All good stuff that isn’t gonna kill my eyes when I have to scroll around to find what was / wasn’t installed properly.

    And that scrolling around is all about the UX. An example of a better UX could be installation bars rather than percentages to keep the screen from scrolling past errors too quickly, affordances for users to make decisions within APT to resolve dependency issues without it dropping back into the terminal (again, dumb error messages), or providing help within the interface without having to back out to the terminal and use APT with an operator.

    I think it would be great to keep those error messages you mention, like, front-and-center, even after an operation has wrapped up. Who wants hunt/grep through a full log?

  • chirospasm@lemmy.mltoLinux@lemmy.ml•Any good Linux Tablet recommendations?
    131·
    7 months ago

    It’s Linux-based hardware, so any OS could be installed easily if PureOS isn’t a good fit for OP. And, unlike the phone, it’s basically a computer, like one of their laptops (which have been fine).

    If we are talking about Pinephone, Fairphone, Librem 5, etc. – they all suffer uniquely. Modems drop on all these devices often enough, battery life sucks based on tasks, app support is sundry, screens are left wanting, and more. Phones are hard to make.

    I might class Linux-based hardware phones differently from Linux-based hardware tablets.