H Ramus

All of this stuff uses up a lot of space, around 200MB, which is greater than the standard root partition size in Openwrt. I run it on an x86 box (PC Engines APU2) and the internal SSD is 16GB. Every update I needed to expand the root partition size to be able to fit all the packages previously installed. I now build my own images with expanded root partition to avoid the hassle.

This is what I use. Openwrt with a USB HDD attached to it. Radicale2 deals with caldav stuff. Samba4 shares the HDD over the network. Zerotier gets me connected to the home network when out and about. Syncthing on my router and phone. When I charge my phone it automatically backs up my pictures and documents folder into the HDD. Separate offline copy of the HDD every few months for backup. Not as fast or dedicated as NAS but cost effective solution. Openwrt solves most of my networking needs.

This was the 80s, health and safety be damned. People would build wooden cars with ball bearings from washing machine for wheels. It was a basic wood plank from fruit boxes hacked together with some nails. We’d hit the steepest road (yes, with cars occasionally), climb to the top and zoom down the steep descent. Ended in a 90 degree turn which meant that using shoes for braking didn’t always work and some folks would hit the pavement and be launched. Kids as young as 6 to teenagers would all join in. No adult in sight. Ahhh… good times!

Well, hello there Don Draper

The AI centipede era has begun

What about images sent from Japan? Aren’t they all pixelated by default? /s

Thanks for explaining. It’s interesting and outside metadata there could be a case for data being secure. However, this is the same company that lied and got fined in the EU when they asserted that they wouldn’t be able to link WhatsApp and Facebook identities. This allowed the merger to happen. Security and privacy being something that the average Joe doesn’t care that much, it wouldn’t be too much of a negative impact when they already have so much bad press on other matters. Finally, from an ethical perspective, I’ll give this corp a miss. Values don’t really align with my personal ones even if privacy and security were beyond reproach.

Thanks. Haven’t used them in like a decade so things seem to have changed. At the time, new phone meant your messages transferred automatically.

At the same time, even if Facebook requires a backup for the messages to show up, as the app is close sourced, how would one know for sure whether the app doesn’t harvest the private key anyway?

Thanks. I stand corrected. I was one of those that paid $1 for life when WhatsApp was a new kid on there block but haven’t used it since news broke that Facebook acquired them like a decade ago. At the time, you had a new phone, your messages would transfer. Dunno how it is today after all those years but seems to be similar to Signal.

Based on the stories coming up on Facebook and their lack of moral / humane boundaries I still won’t trust them not to have access to a private key when their app is so invasive. Their whole model is based on behind the curtain trafficking.

WhatsApp is end-to-end encrypted. How does all the data magically show up when you change phone which doesn’t have the same private key as the old phone? It’s like having a lock on your front door and giving the keys to a random neighbour. Most folks trade convenience for privacy or security. That trade is looking less and less appealing by the day.

Two main benefits/“public goods” from having your lives in a societal arrangement:

1. Having an educated population allows overall advancements that wouldn’t be possible where education standards are low. If the protestant dogma of “work hard and you’ll get salvation” was still prevalent in all groups we’d still be chiseling stones as that is real manly work. Intellectuality is still mostly frowned upon in the US. The whole purpose is to work less and enjoy living as the benefit of having basic needs solved for. Access to free education has plenty of positive externalities that we aren’t even able to quantify. Would the US still be engrossed in its culture wars or other wars?
2. Having a healthy population allows a sense of group and care for a country. Belonging to a country should mean that your fellow countrymen have your back in time of need. Father time comes for us all. How unpatriotic it is that people proudly wave their flags whilst letting their own fellow countrymen die from preventable causes or having to face choices such as living longer and getting bankrupt or let sickness fester until perishing. Not having free healthcare from an outside perspective is as unpatriotic as you could get.

The US seems a prime example of too much emphasis on GDP and limited focus on quality of life. I’d rather be homeless in Cuba than in the US albeit all wealth and quality of life indicators are better in the US.

In the login details you need to include the username rather than email. Check your login details. Works for me