Ebby

If I recall you still can through ADB, but it’s a pain and they started locking that down too. Ad blocking VPN (at least the one I tried) didn’t work.

There was a big update about a year ago that very clearly sent the message “this device will show what we want you to see.”

While based on Google TV, they lock down the OS, control the app store, and force their apps. You’re in their walled garden and it’s a pain to break out in any meaningful way.

No thanks. It’s all about data harvesting and ads now.

There was a time it was a neat product, but Amazon tech isn’t entering our household anymore.

1 in 75? That math seems pretty off.

40,000 fatalities would be a sample size of 3 million. The USA is 335 million, 110x larger.

1 in 8,250 is more like it.

Ha, I get it. Lots of stuff here is posted super seriously. It’s easy to incite this community where it spills over into others.

I suppose the joke part of this didn’t sink in. I refer to my earlier comment about lack of coffee. :)

Name calling… Check Unsubstantiated claims… Check Fake quotes… Check Rampant escalation of violence… Check

Yup, quality post we got here guys. I haven’t even had a cup of coffee yet.

The user may not be aware they have this tracking technology on their phone. The toolkit may be some app developer integrating a 3rd party library for analytics. Banking apps, loyalty apps, phone companies, games, utilities… they all can rely on 3rd parties for proximity services.

In fact, I was going to mention an app, Exodus, that can reveal these trackers and in scanning my phone, I found 2!. The first is home assistant, which is understandable, but the second is a Health app my doctor office uses! Man, that irks me!

Uhhh that exact technology has been in use for years. Your phone broadcasts/receivers a beacon at regular intervals while Bluetooth is on. Anyone can pick it up if they are looking.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/14/opinion/bluetooth-wireless-tracking-privacy.html

The process is so streamlined companies bragged your advertising profile is updated before you check out.

The Next Major Version of Bluetooth Might Help Advertisers Track Your Smartphone Faster

FIFY

Let’s not pretend this feature didn’t trickle down the data harvesting dog-hydrant to us peons solely for our benefit.

James May of Top Gear fame actually went into this in an episode of “Cars of the People” season 2 episode 1. Basically, he claims it was actually World War II that set things on that course. Pretty enlightening episode IMHO. Worth a watch for a history lesson.

“Who am I?”

“Why am I here?”

“When I’m done rolling up this booger, should I eat it or throw it out the window?”

Linky

I sort of already do. It’s called dreaming about driving a car.

I think these folks forgot that random dreams play an important role in information processing. I’d rather not mess with that too much.

Ha! Yes! Even today USB 5 volts is pretty sweet for low power stuff. USB PD re-complicates things, but it’s not user dependent so that’s a plus.

And you need a loooot of copper to prevent voltage drop especially when a grid of 100 houses 1/2 mile long draw 20-80 amps each. The math starts adding up real quick.

I heard it said many years ago that if DC won the battle, we’d have power stations every 10 miles and power lines as thick as your wrist.

Converting local power is fairly easy, with AC inverters added for universal compatibility.

But, take note of how many DC voltages you use in your house. Devices in mine range from 3v to 25v and some weird one like 19v for a laptop. You’d still have adapters all over the place.

You have speed, cost, and safety to contend with.

Cars are faster (direct to destination), cheaper for some trips (even including maintenance), and about equal in safety; more accidents, but much fewer muggings.

So, want to boost public transit? Start beating cars in those categories.

• Speed - Making roads suck in order to prioritize public transit is a low blow and not giving this cause credibility. It’s stirred up a ton of animosity. Cities have adopted a “can’t win so let’s be a dick” strategy. But where this can beat cars is high speed rail. As a car guy, I really look forward to that! Whoa, I know.

• Cost - Make it all free. Seriously, it’s public infrastructure. Pay for it with taxes. Our county already spends $150+ million a year making streets suck for a miniscule minority. Dump that crap into busses and light rail and we got ourselves a functioning town. Hell, the Bay Area already earmarked $1.4 TRILLION with a T for the next 25 years.

• Safety - My female friends ALL have stories about public transport. They range from forced conversations, sexual comments, and even overhearing detaills of how the two men in the seat behind will attack her. Yeah, she drives everywhere now. Point is, safety has to be enforced and it hasn’t had a good track record here. Not to mention there is a huge public service campaign right now plastering busses with banners that say “Human trafficking happens here”.

facepalm

Yeah, that’s the message you want to send…

So public transport, pick 2 of 3 categories and do better than cars and you’ll attract riders. Oh, and stop being a jerk to everyone else pretty please with a cherry on top.

Oh knock off the drama. Like I’ve never ridden or own bikes. Advocating lights and safety equipment isn’t “trying to get bicyclists killed”. What backwards bizarro logic.

News flash, cars aren’t responsible for your safety; you are. Being proactive is the best advice.

But go ahead, you do you; wear that camo vest. Lmao.

Lights and reflectors are required at night. During the day, they are optional, but highly recommended.

The second part of your statement is patently false; a visible, predictable bicyclist is safest.

So do bikes. It’s just common sense safety for all when on the roads at dusk or night.

I use kimai. It’s gotten much more stable over the past couple years and there is a mobile app. (I think it’s a couple bucks now, but works pretty well)

It runs in docker so it’s pretty easy to set up.

I have one customer who is pretty nuts about bills and this is the only way to track and invoice all that nonsense.

There are several out there using yt-dlp. Tube archivist, tube sync, etc. They are fairly straightforward to set up in docker if you use that.