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Joined 11 months ago
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Cake day: June 10th, 2024

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  • For example, in the US, Samsung has had locked bootloaders on all its phones since the Galaxy S7.

    Yikes. While shopping for a new phone last year I was under the impression that at least in the European market they still allow you to unlock the bootloader, even on the latest models. The catch is that there’s pretty much no third-party Android distros that work with the phones, because they don’t release drivers or kernel patches and people have to scrape them from first-party OS images, which sounds horrible.


  • You can (on most Android phones) run an Android fork that doesn’t have Google services running and gets software and updates from elsewhere, e.g. GrapheneOS. Can’t do that with an iPhone. I get that you’re still ultimately dependent on Google to continue Android development and make security updates, but it’s way less of a dependency. And yes, GNU-ish Linux on phones would be awesome.




  • Good for the environment? I recycle everything I can. I don’t use plastic bags or single-use cups. I avoid using heating in the winter to save on CO2 emissions (used it for 2 days this winter when my gf was sick). I stave off aircon in the summer for as long as I can to save electricity. I’m vegan (mostly because of ethical concerns but also because meat is awful for the planet in general). I avoid using my car when there’s an alternative (cycling/public transit).

    Good for me? I do at least some exercise (stretching, workout, jogging, cycling) every workday and hike on the weekend. I brush my teeth twice a day, floss weekly, and get a full dental cleaning annually, and because of this (and genetic luck I suppose) I never had any issues with my teeth (don’t have even a single filling). I don’t drink alcohol or smoke at all. I avoid caffeine and sugars when possible.

    I feel privileged to be able to form those habits, and also often blame myself that I don’t do better. I’m addicted to fat and carbohydrate-heavy foods, can’t bring myself to clean the apartment with any regularity beyond the most necessary, and can’t form a habit of regularly reading books. Sometimes I wonder how other adults manage when they have a 9-5 office job with commute times, kids, etc.