I've had my eBay account suspended two or three times. All of them was because of suspicious activity in that I was using a VPN. I had to connect with someone on their customer support team to get it unlocked. I guess that's understandable if someone else using the same IP address is doing something malicious, but I think this could all be avoided if they set up sane 2FA measures.
Just yesterday I logged in and it prompted me to choose how to receive a code - email or SMS. I chose email, received the code then entered. Then, they told me I had to authenticate again via SMS.
I really wish they would implement standard software based TOTP so I could use something like Aegis or passOTP.
This. I was born and raised in Portland and recently moved to Austin, having cycled and driven in both (though primarily in Portland). Both are often celebrated as being bicycle friendly, however in both cities, taking public transportation gives you a view into people's vehicles while you pass by and it's scary just how many people are texting or scrolling their social media feed while driving.
I think Austin is a bit more dangerous because 1) there are far more oversized pickup trucks driven by city people that reduce the driver's visibility (part of the whole "Texas identity" thing) and 2) the city finds it acceptable to allow/encourage cyclists onto streets where the speed limit is 55mph which are basically highway speeds (sometimes there are painted bike lanes, sometimes there isn't).
Within the first few months of moving to Austin, I had a middle aged woman aggressively cut in front of me while I was riding down a hill and yell at me for riding in the street (which is not only legal, it's required for cyclists). Then follow me home in her pickup truck and try to call the police. Police never showed up, likely informing her she was in the wrong.
I've been seeing this happen on YouTube more and more where they identify a video as being explicit and that I must login with a Google account. Not having a Google account means I can't view the video - even youtube-dl can't download it. There are other workarounds like viewing it on my phone via NewPipe or installing FreeTube on desktop.
fyi, yt-dlp has some workarounds for this that youtube-dl doesn't.
youtube-dl is more or less unmaintained these days (last proper release: december 2021), yt-dlp is the main fork. lots of development happened here in the last few years.
Even when logged in there are still videos I can't watch on YouTube. I don't have a credit card, only debit, and I'm not sending Google pictures of my ID.
Somewhat related, I had recently tried sending an email to legal@microsoft.com and my emails were rejected. I tried a couple of times using two domains and I could only assume they were blocked because I had "microsoft" in the username (so "microsoft@[mydomain].is" and "microsoft@[mydomain].xyz". I guess it's understandable as sending an email with "microsoft" in the username could be construed as a phishing attempt against Microsoft employees.
Personally, I find the vast majority of recipe websites absolutely terrible. It seems others have shared small and minimalist recipe websites, but the one that I use and haven't seen shared yet is https://plain.recipes.
I could see it's name as an impedance toward adoption in a corporate environment. The name "GIMP" certainly doesn't inspire confidence in someone who's never heard of it before. GLIMPSE, a fork of GIMP, certainly has a better name.
FWIW, "git" doesn't have an insulting meaning to most people in the US. "Git" can mean "go" in some US dialects. I would guess that the average person here has no idea that "git" has any kind of negative connotation.
On the other hand, in the US, "gimp" is always either an insult, a derogatory verb, or the open source project.
I had researched dumb phones recently only to learn that the two most important functions of a smartphone (for me) is the GPS and having a decent camera, and these things are either crippled or missing entirely from dumb phones. It's simply easier to dumb down your existing smartphone, especially if you have an Android phone.
In my case, I have a 2017 Pixel 2 XL running LineageOS, with a text only home screen launcher (OLauncher). I only have SMS, phone/contacts, camera, open street maps, KOReader, Music, Podcasts, Notes, and Calculator. That's it. Everything else has been purged or disabled, including the web browser, via ADB.
I don't really use it all unless I'm driving. I wrote about my setup here: https://chuck.is/phone
I'm in a similar boat. GPS, Camera, but also Telegram and a basic browser for reference.
Dumbing down a smart phone doesn't fix the size and delicateness of the device either. I essentially want a tiny durable smartphone, ie size of an iPhone 3g.
My biggest thing is I hate how important this device is while also being unwieldy and easy to break. The only entertainment I use on my phone is twitter and even then I find it easy to stop scrolling.
I want the abilities of a smart phone, but something I can keep on me without worrying about it, like wearing a watch or how I can throw around my wallet.
I had thought that smartwatches didn't have cameras, but it looks like some do, at least. I can't imagine they're very good, since iPhones have a hard enough time fitting good cameras.
While true that an iPhone is still needed somewhere in the process, Apple now lets you set up an Apple Watch for family members that don't have an iPhone.
Literally tried to upgrade my Pixel 2 XL to Lineage and it failed repeatedly. Reddit says, no joke, it's the cable that's the problem. Sigh. Same computer didn't have issues flashing old Galaxy and Nexus phones.
Bought a dumb phone but found it lacking for your exact reasons -- no GPS, crappy camera, and texting using the number pad was tedious as all hell.
Gave up, got a Pixel 7, might think about flashing it.
> Reddit says, no joke, it's the cable that's the problem.
Not surprising. My experience across a few different Android devices over the years is just about all USB-related functionality is a flaky mess, and that includes things like ADB and installing new ROMs. How it's flaky varies from device to device which makes it extra fun.
Not knowing anything about Pixel 2's USB functionality, but I have encountered cases where new cables have solved the problem I was encountering. One time was when I've tried to transfer files from my phone to the desktop and the speeds were ludicrously slow, like ~2Mbps where normally it would be 80-100 Mbps. The cable was rather old at that point and I bit the bullet and bought a new one and at that point I've realised that cables can worn out eventually.
Can confirm with Android phones and vr headsets that ADB access can definitely be affected by choice of cable. Talk about face palm, but it is what it us
> Literally tried to upgrade my Pixel 2 XL to Lineage and it failed repeatedly. Reddit says, no joke, it's the cable that's the problem.
I recently started having issues with the data functionality of the port. I can't get ADB to run at all, it will only charge. The power button also doesn't work so I've had to set it to shut off the screen by holding down the "Recents" button.
> Bought a dumb phone but found it lacking for your exact reasons
I like the idea of dumb phones, but I don't want to have to buy separate things like a digital camera, GPS, mp3 player, etc. Seems like it's just adding more complexity.
That OLauncher home screen just made me take a deep breath, very very nice! Truly 'calm tech' [0]
My anxiety with ditching Android to LineageOS is the loss of all the software-defined image quality in the Camera app.
What has been your experience using your phone camera with Lineage? As in is it good enough to also capture some family moments or do you use it just as functional camera to take pictures of something you need to remember?
I had Signal installed for a while, but ultimately removed it because it's mostly friends sending stupid memes, breaking whatever I was concentrating on seemingly at random. I do have it running on my laptop.
I'm aware and I have. It's been helpful, but I tend to get into the habit of checking and messaging friends at random when I feel I feel slightly bored. Secondly, they'll often send me links and Youtube videos that I can't open. I'll likely reinstall it again in specific situations, like when I'm traveling abroad. Thirdly, the battery life on my phone lasts a few days without Signal running in the background. I've had the setup I have for about two months and it's working for me, at least right now.
I'm going to grab one of the Jolla devices and give it a test drive next month. I think there's decent alternative out there where you can still maintain your privacy without having to step all the way down to a "dumb phone".
I've planned on running the Pixel 2 XL into the ground. I was originally running GrapheneOS but switched to LineageOS after support was dropped. I did look into CalyxOS but I believe support for the Pixel 2 was dropped around the same time that it was dropped by GrapheneOS - likely coinciding when Google stopped releasing security updates.
> It's simply easier to dumb down your existing smartphone, especially if you have an Android phone.
That claim is a bit nuanced, IMO. Before I finally chose to move to iPhones, I tried my best to remove distractions from my Android phone, and I failed. iOS is less customisable, but comes with a configuration/ecosystem baseline that's far easier to tolerate, and insofar as it is flexible, the changes are far less painful than bringing an Android to that level.
What did you find difficult in removing distractions on Android?
I got a Pixel 5 few years ago (seemingly the smallest form factor Android device), didn't install any apps, removed a bunch of stock apps I didn't need, and turned off notifications for everything beside incoming calls/messages. After that, I just trained myself to avoid using search/the browser unless necessary and to do something else when the itch arises to check the phone for something.
I'm sorry, but I don't understand your first sentence. You researched dumbphones and discovered they're not smartphones? I'm struggling to understand what you thought you were going to find.
I had spent time researching dumb phones and thinking about what my needs are with a mobile device (ie GPS and decent camera). What I learned was that a "dumbphone" isn't really an option. Maybe we're getting into semantics here, but can a dumbphone have both GPS and decent camera and still be considered a dumb?
> People should stop running to mommy to get their data deleted and just not share it in the first place.
Agreed that people should not just hand over personal data, however humans make mistakes and may later that it was a decision that they only now realize was not in their best interest. People open accounts/share personal data when they have to for work/business and then no longer work for that company, or they think they have to, or they have been coerced/tricked via dark patterns.
I've been deleting accounts and requesting my personal data be purged from accounts I created 5 to 10+ years ago - before I was aware of good digital hygiene and that these accounts have information that can later become a liability (whether it's personal/financial data that's been hacked, or the company sells my data to 3rd parties/marketers, or the company is bought out by another company with different privacy polices).
https://github.com/wustho/epr