lightweight

lightweight, 9 days ago to random

It's really frustrating that many consumer electronics manufacturers don't offer replacement parts for their goods. I've had 3 sets of earbuds go through the wash (my boys, one of them twice!), damaging the charging cases, although the buds themselves seem fine. But you can't buy replacement cases - you need a whole new set, rendering the old earbuds redundant. Wasteful. I've managed to find second-hand cases on eBay, but none of the vendors ship to NZ. Tried YouShop, but... 1/2

lightweight, 12 days ago to random

This makes me quite angry. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/518319/tiwai-point-aluminium-smelter-to-stay-open-until-2044 this just extends our unhealthy co-dependency on an unreliable multinational corporation, who's exploiting our environment and our people. Will they make good on their obligations to clean up when they're 'done'? Time will tell. But I think we're chumps for not giving them the boot. The poor buggers depending on Rio Tinto for livelihoods need to be supported for retraining sooner than later. Who wants to bet R-T cuts and runs before 2044?

lightweight, 15 days ago to random

Many people think Bill Gates' story is a rags to riches tale. Those people are sorely mistaken. I know this because I spent a few years working next door to the Mary Gates III research hospital (a nearly kilometer long building) at the University of Washington, named after his well-known mother.

Bill was born with a multi-million $ trust fund. His company was both duplicitous and inept from its very first business transactions. Here's a great history of the early days: https://web.archive.org/web/20051013072349/http://www.vanwensveen.nl/rants/microsoft/IhateMS_1.html

lightweight, 17 days ago to random

Surprised how little fuss has been made about these two articles... (oh wait, I forgot who most tech magazines depend on for most of their advertising revenue): https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-poses-threat-to-germanys-digital-sovereignty-warns-study/ #DigitalSovereignty

And remember Munich? The Bavarian city that switched to Linux more than a decade back? And then famously - with much more fanfare (again, wonder why) - switched back to Windows? Well... they've quietly gone back to #libre again... The full saga: https://www.zdnet.com/article/linux-not-windows-why-munich-is-shifting-back-from-microsoft-to-open-source-again/ #PublicMoneyPublicCode

lightweight, 17 days ago to random

Why, oh why, does the NZ gov't continuously get bamboozled into making shitty web-based systems that are 100% dependent on proprietary Microsoft technologies? Yes, 'new' DOC booking system, I'm looking 🤔 at you.

It'll perform poorly, cost a bomb, scale ungracefully, and be very expensive to maintain... until Microsoft suddenly end-of-lifes the technologies on which it depends. At which point the taxpayer will bail you out (again).

Gov't decision-makers, some guidance: https://davelane.nz/procurement

lightweight, 20 days ago to random

I say "you can't be both a 'progressive' and comfortable with the public (listed) multinational corporate model." Change my mind.

lightweight, 24 days ago to random

Just had a #DogWalkFlashBack to '94, the week I first arrived in Aotearoa. I installed Linux for the first time, on my desktop computer (486 dx2 66MHz, 32MB RAM, monitor was 800x600 pixels, common at the time). I remember the giddy feeling of realising that I had actual real multi-tasking, and I could log into my system from outside the Lincoln Uni campus. Plus I could log into my old account at UW (Seattle) & from it back into my desktop. Heady days. People came from all over campus to see it.

lightweight, 27 days ago to random

Fascinating... just saw an ad on Facebook that Thrifty (car rentals) have gone 100% EV... I wonder what they know that the rest of the population don't...

lightweight, 27 days ago to random

Given the plethora of at-least-as-good #libre messaging platforms (see Matrix, Rocket.Chat, Zulip, Mattermost, NextCloud Talk, etc.) that aren't

• exploiting your data,
• pestering you to pay more,
• reducing 'free tier' features (to get you to pay $),
• blocking integrations you want,
• failing to live up to their security promises, or
• simply being painful to use.

Why does anyone bother with MS Teams, Salesforce Slack, or Discord? Just doesn't make any sense to me.

lightweight, 27 days ago to random

Kids repurposing/revitalising old hardware with #libre software (KDE!) for people on modest incomes. https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2024/02/22/rhode-island-teens-are-fixing-junked-computers-and-learning-valuable-tech-skills/72340312007/ We should see this sort of programme at every secondary & tertiary institution. It's a huge learning opportunity for all involved, and great for the planet, too!

lightweight, 30 days ago to TeslaMotors

Blimey - according to https://thedriven.io/2024/01/25/worlds-largest-ev-battery-maker-set-to-cut-costs-in-half-by-mid-2024/ the world's largest battery manufacturer, China's CATL will be halving the price of its Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries this year. "This means the price of an average 60 kWh battery pack will have dropped from $US6,776.00 to just $3,388.00 in just 12 months, saving EV manufacturers over $3,000 per vehicle."

Our #BEV (MG4 Excite) has a 51kWh pack... So we could replace a future (post 7yr warranty) failed pack for well under US$3k... #BatteryTech

lightweight, 30 days ago to random

Ouch, my former employer is caught up in the gov't service downsizing: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/516748/about-30-jobs-to-go-at-crown-forestry-institute-scion

lightweight, 1 month ago to random

Wanting to breathe new life into an Android-powered phone? See https://www.sustaphones.com/ ! I've been running LineageOS (and CyanogenMod before it) on all my phones for the past decade or more... but it's a hassle to set it up... this new system promises to make it much more accessible to less technically confident folk: https://openandroidinstaller.org/ You can install your preferred OS ROM... I'm planning to use it when I upgrade my OnePlus 6T from Lineage 20 to 21 in the next few weeks.

lightweight, 2 months ago to random

Went out for a walk last evening around dusk in my parents' neighbourhood in Pennsylvania... lots of big houses, lots of US flags, lots of big pickups/SUVs. Only saw one TV on in a house as I walked past... but it was playing Tucker Carlson. This is bible thumpin' Trump country. How can people here really be so disaffected, credulous, & ignorant? (I'm no Christian, but how can you claim to be a Christian and not revile Trump?!)

lightweight, 2 months ago to random

I encourage everyone to install a geoIP plugin into their browser so they can see where websites they visit are hosted. I use this one on Firefox, my main browser: https://webextension.org/listing/country-flags.html It's fascinating to see how many Aotearoa NZ government websites are actually hosted overseas, mostly in the US. Similarly all NZ political party campaign websites, because they all use Nationbuilder, an expensive, US corporate owned Software-as-a-Service. It's important that we realise this stuff...

lightweight, 2 months ago to github

For folks still actively using #Github for their #libre software activities, this is worth a read: https://sfconservancy.org/GiveUpGitHub/ I left Github shortly after Microsoft announced they were acquiring it (I should've done so sooner). Now I host a few Gitlab (Community Edition) instances and my own personal Forgejo instance. Both platforms are great (I prefer the fully #libre nature of Forgejo, though).

lightweight, 3 months ago to random

@billbennett good to hear you on RNZ today, by the way. Nice work.

lightweight, 3 months ago to random

Lots of folks in Aotearoa NZ will know of Don McGlashan - a documentary on him is being created, and the producer is trying to fun the release. I've just made a modest contribution, because I'd love to see this! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shirleyhorrocks/don-mcglashan-a-life-in-music

lightweight, 3 months ago to random

Interesting to see that this InternetNZ-funded survey report about NZers' internet use & impressions contains (fleeting/dismissive) mention of Mastodon but fails to mention any form of the words 'corporate' or 'colonialism' once... https://internetnz.nz/assets/Uploads/New-Zealands-Internet-Insights-2023.pdf Seems like the typical unquestioned assumption that total foreign corporate dominance is A-Ok for Aotearoa/NZ.

lightweight, 3 months ago to Tobacconist

So, my hunt for an ethical (= no #MilitaryIndustrialComplex, #Tobacco, #FossilFuel, #BigTech) #KiwiSaver operator has stalled. I thought #Sharsies might be an option, but their funds only allow you a token 5% discretionary investment & only among NZX stocks. You can't remove their second major share holding, the Microsoft Corporation, which makes them a hard no for 'ethical investment'.

lightweight, 3 months ago to random

This is cool - mixed agriculture & solar... with great results for the latter, and - nonintuitively - improved results for the former! https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2301355120

lightweight, 3 months ago to random

Bush fire in Ōtautahi, on the tops across the valley from us. Ugh. Some folks'll be having a stressful day despite it being cloudless & hot. Perhaps because of that. Lots of appliances & now 3 choppers heading up. Police blocking access up Worsley's Rd. and also at the top of Westmoreland...

lightweight, 4 months ago to random

Oh dear - Mayor Mauger is pretending to wring his hands about the 15.8% rates rise in Ōtautahi. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/509019/christchurch-s-15-point-84-percent-rates-rise-we-can-t-keep-doing-it-like-this I wonder if not building the stupid stadium might have made up the difference? He's not worthy.

lightweight, 4 months ago to random

Anyone here using Briar as a secure messaging platform (desktop & mobile, #libre)? https://briarproject.org/

Interested in communicating with folks - if you're using it, keen to increase my contacts :) - happy to exchange my link via DM...

lightweight, 4 months ago to random

Semi-regular Fediverse question: is anyone from the NZ Ministry of Education here? If so, let me know (DM is fine if you want to keep a low profile).

Broader question: is anyone from any country's Min of Ed or Dept of Ed in the Fediverse?