Gadgets, Tech, etc. - The Bear and Badger

b0r1s

For 50 Shades?

b0r1s

I deserved that

Paul the sparky

Now that's a one handed page turn

b0r1s

poprock

I read novels on the Kindle, magazines and comics on the iPad, and non-fiction books as, er, actual books. Oh, and I still get physical newspapers (because Waitrose provide them free with my shopping).

davyK

My old Kindle still needs the lamp on. But i prefer it that way - I'd imagine it would strain my old eyes with contrast like that in the dark.

Kow

Magazines/comics on a tab suits me just fine. I switched from an Android tab to the Microsoft Surface Pro and it was initially a bit jarring as all the apps I was used to are missing, but really I see the benefit of it now, especially as it converts so easily into a top quality laptop.

poprock

The only reason I’m reading magazines on an iPad is that they come free with Amazon Prime (via the Kindle iPad app). That’s been a pleasant surprise - I’ve started to read loads of mags because of it.

Kow

Irish libraries let you have free magazines to download. Pretty much without limits on either time or quantity. They have almost every magazine that might interest me, including Edge.

poprock

Nice.

Djornson

b0r1s wrote:

For 50 Shades?

lol, very good.

RamSteelwood

I'm now the proud owner of a kindle, thanks to the generosity of MY favourite uncle and @yourfavouriteuncle

Another badger legend!
And because of him a local charity will benefit from a donation instead of amazon

davyK

Nice.

davyK

Daughter #2 has taken delivery of something called the Remarkable 2 which seems to be like a Kindle except you can write and draw on it. She asked us to fund the purchase for her as part of her 21st birthday present a couple of months ago.

I had never heard of this thing but reviews look good. It's very much a specialist device being good at doing one thing.

Has anyone here ever used one?

I haven't been able to get my mits in it so far. The nibs on the stylus wear out so you have to keep buying those which is one minor worry I suppose - but perhaps that will be solved in the future. As long as they are available it isn't really an issue but this smacks of being a bit niche.

poprock

Never used one but I looked into them a while ago. They look cool as fuck, but definitely a niche thing. I’d have concerns about longevity - if the brand doesn’t take off, there’ll be limited support in the future - but if you can afford one, it’s definitely a cool toy.

davyK

Yeah. I suppose if she gets a few years out of it then that will be good enough. I've ordered a couple of packs of replacement nibs anyhow.

LivDiv

I had a go on one that belonged to a Creative Director at a place I was working.

Neat little thing. Great for notes and sketching/scamping ideas.

One thing to be wary of, at least at the time I had a go. Each line drawn is saved and doing scratchy sketches can end up with huge files.

davyK

I think she will be using it for hand written notes more than anything else so it should be OK. She's an engineering student which means there may be the odd rough sketch but nothing majorly detailed to begin with anyhow as she would use a PC for drawings.

GurtTractor

I think I'll get into e-readers once you can flick through flexible pages like a real book, there's something important about having information arranged spatially, in a way you can interact with tactilely. Guess it will take a few decades to get there, until then I'll stick with my dead trees.

Yossarian

The joy of my Kindle is the light. Flicking through pages is nice and all, but for me it’s easily trumped by being able to change position at will and still read comfortably.

GurtTractor

Yossarian

This must be the biggest tech news in quite some time:

https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/24/22994234/eu-antitrust-legislation-dma-digital-markets-act-details

GurtTractor

Interoperability is a big deal, the best future for a useful form of social media would be some kind of user configurable filtering and aggregation from multiple platforms. If we could see and control our own personal algorithms for incoming information I think it could do a lot to limit the biggest problems with these technologies.

davyK

Agreed. Interoperability is a big deal. To not be able to use one application or service for something like a commodity level thing like messaging is ridiculous. If anything it will encourage platforms to become more compelling and competitive.

Transparancy around content filtering is another. I'd argue its beneficial to all. Algorithms only seem to put us into ever decreasing circles of less and less areas of interest and that can't be good for people trying to flog us stuff. Why not tick a box when you are in the market for a phone, holiday, sound system, car etc and get bombarded about that instead of half assed ads for things you already own? Then at another time, change those settings to some other areas of interest.

That can be merged with seasonal stuff, but again with control. Not everyone likes Christmas or can afford to go (or want to go) on a foreign holiday in the Summer.

None of this sneaking about trying to be clever by looking at browser history ,cookies or searches. People know what they want you fucking arseholes. Just let them ask for it.

The culture of consume = happiness is at the base of all this of course and the sooner people wake up to that lie the better.

Blue Swirl

Smart home company shuts down without warning, leaving customers' homes very unsmart.

As is often the case, open source to the rescue.

davyK

Nothing smart about going all in on an immature technology.

Yossarian

I use an Alexa (which I’m planning to upgrade to a HomePod Mini at some point) plus Philips light in my bedroom, largely because my overhead light in there is horrible and voice activation on my bedside light means that I can just use that, but it is absolutely ridiculous that, if the internet goes down, I can’t switch the light on and off at all.

Blue Swirl

davyK wrote:

Nothing smart about going all in on an immature technology.

Well, as the article mentions, it could have all been avoided if the company in question just let people know ahead of time. Or released their software under a FLOSS license. Basically, if they did anything other than buggering off without any heads up.

Rather than it being an immature technology (I had mates at uni who'd automated their houses, and that was a depressingly long time ago), it's more of a warning about tying yourself to a closed ecosystem.

davyK

When I say immature I mean the market of suppliers. Proprietory startups etc.

And that reliance on being on t'internet really puts me off - practical matters - not Jeff or Vlad listening. A wifi router could network internally (my home printer is connected to PCs, phones etc by wifi). I'd be pleased to see houses built with data cabling,PoE and wireless APs cabled/routed back to a mini comms cabinet near the power consumer unit by design.

dynamiteReady

I've been wanting to buy a decent 8 inch Android tablet. I'd ideally like to avoid Samsung, but am open to suggestions. It will be mostly used as an eReader, but I don't want one of those poncey digital ink tablets.

All the better if it's a tablet running pure Android, because those forked versions of Android annoy me quite a bit.

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