skyfaller

skyfaller, 9 months ago (edited 9 months ago) to headphone

What's the best smartphone with a #headphone jack?

Other criteria:

• Long support period for security updates
• Easy to repair
• Open source software, firmware and hardware would be ideal

But I will give up phones before I give up my 3.5 mm headphone jack, that's a hard line for me.

EDIT: I'm requiring security updates into 2027, since Samsung offers that on two models I'm considering. That should help narrow the field.

skyfaller, 9 months ago (edited 9 months ago) to random

I have some books that I don't want, but I'm not sure how to dispose of them properly.

Let's start with the worst case:

• poorly-written book
• expressing potentially harmful ideas
• by an objectionable author

One example might be Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand. I think I have to hold on to it because even though I hate it now, it was important to my political evolution. But let's say I decide I need the shelf space, and it's time to say goodbye.

What is the most ethical way to get rid of it?

skyfaller, 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago) to philadelphia

:gritty: Looking for a Mastodon server with feral chaos energy?
:i95: Can-do dedication to infrastructure?
:phillypride: Zero tolerance for hate?
:birdsite: Custom emoji for stunting on corporate websites as they collapse?

Please consider Jawns.club!

We welcome anyone from the past, present, or future of the #Philadelphia area; or anyone who just loves #Philly :-) :jawn:

If you want to join Jawns.club, and can't find the link, please request an invite here: https://forms.jawns.club/invite

#PHL #PA

skyfaller, 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago) to random

So once upon a time on the Internet, it was standard to use pseudonyms to protect your privacy.

Then various companies like Facebook decided to require real names on your social media accounts, supposedly to encourage more polite discourse, but probably so they could more effectively sell your personal data.

Now we're here on fedi, where no one is enforcing real names, but I still see a lot of people using their full names and a headshot. What would you choose if you were starting fresh today?

skyfaller, 5 months ago (edited 5 months ago) to random

I added #emoji to Jawns.club. It's easy to copy emoji from other servers: https://fedi.tips/using-custom-emoji-on-your-mastodon-server/

New emoji: :BLM: :covid19: :no_covid: :nocars: :yesbike: :firefox: :rss: :signal: :tux:

I haven't added any custom emoji from scratch, but Alex has, and I encourage Jawns to submit emoji that you would like to see. Custom emoji can be PNG or GIF files up to 50kb in size, can be still or animated, can contain transparent backgrounds.

I also sorted emoji into categories. #MastoAdmin

skyfaller, 7 months ago (edited 5 months ago) to random

UPDATE: It's wild garlic

Is this allium vineale / wild garlic? Allium oleraceum / field garlic? Or Allium schoenoprasum / #chives?

The last option, chives, is #native to the USA and #PA; the others aren't. I'm growing a native plant garden, so if it's #invasive / introduced, I'll evict it.

When I picked a leaf off the specimen growing out of the wall, it smelled faintly of green #onions, so I'm inclined to believe it is in the onion family.

#weeds #WildGarlic #PlantIdentification #PlantID

skyfaller, 11 months ago to random

Does anyone in #Philly have a #radioactive source that produces X-ray/gamma or beta #radiation, or know where I can visit / borrow one?

I bought a geiger counter alternative on Kickstarter, and I have no idea if it works. I could buy radioactive test material, but then I would be intentionally creating the situation I am trying to avoid: radiation in my house.

So I want to find a gamma or beta radiation source not in my house, to test my radiation detector, but I don't want to keep it.

skyfaller, 10 months ago to random

I've lived in the #Philly area off and on since 2002, and I just don't remember the weather looking like this, constant thunderstorms. Is my memory failing me? Did I not notice in the past, because I was a computer nerd shut-in? Or does Philly have a monsoon season now, where it didn't before?

skyfaller, 1 month ago to random

Suppose you had to produce a local computer from scratch, completely independent from existing manufacturers like Intel. (If you need a specific location for this hypothetical, let's say Greater Philadelphia.) No chip fabs in China, Taiwan etc. The tech level and computing power doesn't matter, you can tailor the application to the power of the computer; indie local production is top priority.

What is the best approach? A simple conventional silicon chip? Vacuum tubes? Analog? Mechanical?

skyfaller, 5 months ago to random

So #COVID is killing more than 1,000 Americans each week right now, according to the CDC, and it's been that way since August: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklydeaths_select_00

COVID #deaths probably are undercounted in the USA (as well as worldwide): https://www.bu.edu/sph/news/articles/2023/covid-19-deaths-in-the-us-continue-to-be-undercounted-research-shows-despite-claims-of-overcounts/

But let's take the official CDC figures at face value. Can we contextualize this? What else kills Americans at the rate of something like 1,000 deaths every week, more or less? I have trouble wrapping my head around it, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

skyfaller, 4 months ago (edited 4 months ago) to random

Which is the superior writing instrument? Or, which should I practice more in the new year?

skyfaller, 8 months ago to random

What could you do with a chimney / gas furnace exhaust pipe once you remove all of your gas appliances and no longer need an exhaust pipe? Simply sealing it up is boring. In our house, the gas boilers are in the basement, so what could you do with a connection between the basement and the roof? Ideas:

• Solar tubes - Light the basement without power use, electronics or moving parts.
• Windcatcher - Turn the basement into a shabestan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabestan - Needs qanat as well, though.

skyfaller, 6 months ago to MountainBiking

Folks who fancy #bicycles for #FollowFriday:

• @jfred - #biking and boosts, Linux
• @Librarianbikes - #bikes and books, Seattle
• @glightly - Accessibility and #cycling, plant science at UC Davis

skyfaller, 11 months ago to random

What is the best #weather source that offers hourly #forecasts of #humidity? Given the increasing dangers to humans from high air temperatures in humid conditions, I want to keep an eye on wet bulb temperatures: https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/humans-cant-endure-temperatures-and-humidities-high-previously-thought/

Apparently Apple weather offers this, but I don't have any working Apple devices these days. On my Android phone, neither Google Weather nor Carrot Weather seem to provide humidity predictions at adequate resolution for me.

skyfaller, 5 months ago to random

Went garbage picking this morning with the neighborhood cleanup group, until the rain got too unpleasant and we quit a bit early.

I want to get my own trash claw grabber, but it feels like all the options are cheap crap with plastic parts that don't work well and fall apart quickly, creating more trash. They all ship in plastic packaging, creating more of the waste that you're trying to pick up.

Surely there's a market for a "Buy It For Life" long-lasting sustainable zero waste trash picker?

skyfaller, 11 months ago to random

Anything that is not actively being maintained is in fact being destroyed. Discuss!

(Seems related to the old saw "if you're not growing, you're dying.")

skyfaller, 7 months ago to philadelphia

I want a ground source #heatPump to provide heating and cooling to my #Philadelphia rowhome. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_source_heat_pump

"The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has called ground source heat pumps the most energy-efficient, environmentally clean, and cost-effective space conditioning systems available."

Can I afford the up-front cost? Hard to know, unless I can find an installer willing to drill boreholes on my property, so I can get a quote. (Ideally 2 to compare.)

#geothermal #HeatPumps

skyfaller, 7 months ago (edited 7 months ago) to random

Continuing adventures in #homeMaintenance: what do I do if my #downspout is not properly anchored to the wall? I need to sort this out quickly, before my appointment to get a downspout planter installed on the 1st. https://water.phila.gov/gsi/tools/downspout-planter/

I still don't understand how people are supposed to learn stuff like #houseRepair.

EDIT: No point in reattaching this low on the wall, diverter would probably be installed above here.

skyfaller, 6 months ago to random

Victory! I have a downspout planter and a rain barrel installed thru Rain Check. https://www.pwdraincheck.org/en/

It was painless, the installers were extremely helpful. I needn't have worried so much about preparing for their visit.

The rain barrel I had them winterize, since we're expecting a hard freeze tonight. This just means disconnecting the diverter and intake hose from the downspout.

skyfaller, 11 months ago to random

It's emotionally difficult considering deleting my Twitter account. I've been active there since 2008, and I still don't know how to grieve a virtual community like this. But I'm not sure I can contribute any more to the terrible fascist cesspool it's become, and if I go inactive, I risk Elon deleting my account for me. It seems I'll have to go out on my terms.

I've started by posting an archive of my Twitter account on my web server: https://twitterbackup.skyfaller.net/

Thanks @darius for the software!

skyfaller, 2 days ago to random

We've finally cleared our main garden of all our inherited plants, except for the yucca. Assuming this is common yucca / Yucca filamentosa, it is native to just south of here, like Virginia, so I think of it as helping the plant move north ahead of global heating. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yucca_filamentosa

Also, I'm told that previous owners have tried to kill this plant multiple times and failed dramatically (it looks very healthy). I try not to pick fights I expect to lose.

skyfaller, 8 months ago to random

I got both the COVID vaccine and flu vaccine at Pelham Pharmacy, during their walk-in hours. https://pelhamrx.com/

I got one shot in each arm, figuring I'd like to know which shot was the source of any complaints. The flu shot in my right arm is a nothingburger, it feels fine. The covid shot in my left arm is pretty sore, but doesn't bother me much unless I try to raise that arm or pick things up with it.

Some patients at the pharmacy were wearing masks, but no staff. Do better, y'all.

skyfaller, 8 months ago to philadelphia

Ok #NativePlants folks, should common #purslane, Portulaca oleracea, be considered native to the USA in general, and to #Philadelphia #PA in particular?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portulaca_oleracea

This is for the purpose of making my yard a pollinator-friendly native plants garden. I have some volunteer purslane growing in my roadside strip, and I'm debating whether to kill it.

Wikipedia says there is evidence that it arrived in North America before the Europeans did. How long must it be here before it's native?

skyfaller, 3 months ago to random

For #ThrowbackThursday, on this day in 2016 we installed a rack to hang my bicycle on the wall of our apartment.

I miss this plain old acoustic bike sometimes. It served me well through high school, college, law school, and my wanderings afterwards. It wasn't a cargo bike, but I learned to attach panniers to it and carry groceries. I awkwardly strapped a case of oranges to the rear rack a few times. A good steel bike is hard to kill.

I left it at my parents', and my dad gave it away recently.

skyfaller, 2 months ago to random

I've been using my de-Googled GrapheneOS "phone" (no SIM card) around the house.
What it revealed to me is how easily I defaulted to proprietary Google products throughout my Android experience, even though they are completely at odds with my values. Without the convenience of apps baked into the OS by the same manufacturer, I suddenly want replacements for all my Google things. I'm even reevaluating trivial things like a weather forecast widget, where I previously said "good enough" & moved on.