![bleeping_computer [unofficial]](https://nota.404.mn/uploads/images/thumb_medium_3e0b3c6be7671e08e121.png "bleeping_computer [unofficial]")
#technology
GoToSocial is a new ActivityPub social network server for the Fediverse
This service is still in Alpha release but is already deployable and usable, and federates with other Fediverse servers.
However, there is no “main” instance you go to join. The intention really is that you host your own instance for yourself and a few friends and family. To this end, it is designed to be very lightweight and will happily run on a Raspberry Pi or even a $5/pm VPS.
This is taking a very different approach from say Mastodon which has one main instance everyone could join, but then it sits with the issue that everyone joins there, and it becomes a bit “centralised”. GoToSocial has been designed as lightweight for self-hosting, and also has a Docker image installation, so it makes it really easy for (and encourages) most people to host their own instance.
It seems to also be focussed very much around privacy (defaults to unlisted posts) and permission controls (for example, you have an option to post to mutual-only where both people follow each other). Also, by hosting your own service you set the rules, and you are also your own admin. You can choose to turn off likes, replies, boosts, etc as well. Being your own admin also means you can easily adjust the post length as well.
It does conform to the Mastodon API so apparently some Mastodon clients will also work fine with it.
See github.com/superseriousbusines…
#Blog, #activitypub, #GoToSocial, #opensource, #technology
Kobo’s new repairability push could heat up competition
“The competition” is probably primarily Amazon Kindle (without a colour model, nor any repairability announced yet). Certainly, consumers score with repairability, and on the face of it, you’d think suppliers lose out. But actually, I may be inclined to buy a far more expensive model if I know I can repair it and keep it going for a few years.
Though I should add after many years of owning a Kobo reader and a few Kindles, not one of them has had any issue at all, and all still work fine. But I get that some people do drop their devices, or things can die after the initial warranty period.
Kobos are now available I see for purchase on Amazon (yes really, just not to my country) as well as Walmart.
Kobos are excellent readers actually and the only thing that counts a bit against them, is they don’t have that vast availability of books that Amazon has. But the Calibre app works perfectly well with being able to buy books elsewhere and push them to your Kobo reader.
See androidpolice.com/kobos-repara…
#Blog, #ebooks, #Kobo, #reading, #technology
Android Tasker routine to warn if home WiFi is not functioning correctly
Been experiencing a bit of an issue the last month with everything seemingly on and connected, but my Chromecast device would not connect across Wi-Fi today, and sometimes my wife says her phone is not connecting, and I’d have to reboot the home router. So, I decided to write a small routine using the Tasker app to check every 10 mins whether my phone can ping the Home Assistant server over the home LAN. If so, all good, but if not pop up an alert. It only runs this while I’m actually home. If I happen to be at home, but using mobile data, then it will still give an error as the mobile data won’t reach the internal IP address.
I’m using the Auto Location 3rd party app for Tasker, which provides more reliable geofencing status, but one could also use the standard Tasker location Profile. Basically, either of these will set a variable called %HOME to 1 if I’m at home, or to 0 if I’m away from home. Below is the Profile that triggers this: If at home it runs task Set Is Home, and if not at home (Exit action) it will run Set Not Home.
The actions are just simple ones that set a variable called %HOME and set it to 1 or 0.
This action sets a variable called %HOME = 1
This action sets a variable %HOME = 0 and also just says audibly I have left home.
The other rigger under Profiles is a time one which just runs the WiFi Test task every 10 minutes.
Profile to run a task called WiFi Test every 10 mins
The Wifi Test task that runs every 10 minutes does the following:
* Creates and sets a variable called %HA_PING = 0. You can call it anything as maybe you want to ping the home router instead. We set this to 0 to check if the ping test then changes it, and to ensure it does not contain some non-zero value from a previous ping action.
* The Ping action is added and I set it to the internal IP address of my Home Assistant server. I said it can try 2 pings, and I also set a condition for IF %HOME = 1. In other words, only run this action if at home. If I did not add the condition, it would run when I’m away, and then give the ping error. One of Ping action’s fields is for Average Result Variable, and in there I just put %HA_PING. In other words, if there is an average ping result obtained, then set the variable %HA_PING to that variable (it will no longer be a 0).
* I added a Notify action but set two conditions to check before notifying: I must be at home, and the %HA_PING must equal 0. If the ping was successful, it sets %HA_PING to whatever the average result was. If it was not successful, the original %HA_PING is still 0.
* I just added an audible alert too, also based on same conditions that I must be home and the ping test did not set %HA_PING to above 0.
The WiFi Test task
To see what it is does under various scenarios, you can view the variable values in the Tasker app in the VARS tab, as shown below. Below we can see both variables after a run, and they show I am at home, and the last average ping response was 29.773ms.
The Tasker app is extremely powerful and fun to use and you can automate so many things with it.
#Blog, #android, #automation, #tasker, #technology
‘Secret’ iPhone feature lets you easily sign online documents for free, with no scanning, printing, or app installing
In the age of digital communication, needing to sign important documents online has become increasingly common, but it’s not necessarily the easiest process.
For an iPhone you can just use the standard Photos app to open it, hit Edit, click the Markup button, and add signature. Useful that you can also move it around.
I see on my Samsung Galaxy phone I can similarly use the Samsung Notes app and just a PDF with the S Pen. The selection tool will also allow me to select and move that signature around or resize it.
Both phones will allow you to sign, or complete, a document offline and no 3rd party apps needed.
See thefocus.news/lifestyle/secret…
#Blog, #ios, #signature, #technology
Palm OS and the devices that ran it: Before smartphones, we had PDAs in our pockets, and Palm did them best
I remember my PalmPilot very well. I used its Graffiti handwriting recognition to take many memos and keep my life organised.
I’m pretty sure before the PalmPilot I only had fixed ROM organisers which had the standard notes, calendar, contact, etc functionality (like the Sharp ZQ-3200 organiser with 64kB of RAM and a serial link). The PalmPilot also allowed 3rd party apps to be installed. It would also interface with some PC apps to sync data when you pressed the sync button on the cradle.
I think I moved to a Psion 5 after the Palm Pilot. Its EPOC OS was the forerunner to the Symbian OS that appeared on Nokia phones later on.
The 1990’s was an exciting time of innovative breakthroughs in all sorts of consumer computing devices.
There is a pretty good history and context and the link below and covers both the rise and the fall of Palm.
See arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/0…
#Blog, #palmpilot, #retrocomputing, #technology
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#Congo questions #Apple over #knowledge of #conflict #minerals in its supply chain
source: https://apnews.com/article/apple-iphones-congo-blood-minerals-b1f20aa7bd3a3f4f8cf7fcde19c6f053
A group of international lawyers representing Congo said Thursday that they sent letters to Apple’s CEO Tim Cook and its French subsidiary this week, raising concerns about human rights violations involving the minerals extracted from mines in the country’s troubled east that might end up being used in the company’s products.
#SupplyChain #HumanRights #Economy #business #iphone #smartphone #technology #trade #TimCook justice #crime #news