danie10

Passkeys are an easy and secure alternative to traditional passwords that can help prevent phishing attacks and make your online experience smoother and safer.

Unfortunately, Big Tech’s rollout of this technology prioritized using passkeys to lock people into their walled gardens over providing universal security for everyone (you have to use their platform, which often does not work across all platforms). And many password managers only support passkeys on specific platforms or provide them with paid plans, meaning you only get to reap passkeys’ security benefits if you can afford them.

They’ve reimagined passkeys, helping them reach their full potential as free, universal, and open-source tech. They have made online privacy and security accessible to everyone, regardless of what device you use or your ability to pay.

I'm still a paying customer of Bitwarden as Proton Pass was up to now still not doing everything, but this may make me re-evaluate using Proton Pass as I'm also a paying customer of Proton Pass. It certainly looks like Proton Pass is advancing at quite a pace, and Proton has already built up a good reputation for private e-mail and an excellent VPN client.

Proton is also the ONLY passkey provider that I've seen allowing you to store, share, and export passkeys just like you can with passwords!

See https://proton.me/blog/proton-pass-passkeys

#technology #passkeys #security #ProtonPass #opensource

Mbin is a decentralized content aggregator, voting, discussion and microblogging platform running on the fediverse network. It can communicate with many other ActivityPub services, including Kbin, Mastodon, Lemmy, Pleroma, Peertube. It is an open source alternative to other link aggregator services like Reddit. The initiative aims to promote a free and open internet.

Mbin is focused on what the community wants, pull requests can be merged by any repo owner (with merge rights in GitHub). Discussions take place on Matrix then consensus has to be reached by the community. If approved by the community, only one approval on the PR is required by one of the Mbin maintainers. It's built entirely on trust.

It seems it's claim to fame is being more open and accepting of community changes and improvements. It can install as either bare metal/VM or as a Docker container.

Although anyone can install it and self-host it, their project page also contains a link to various instances that already exist and which anyone can register on.

See https://github.com/MbinOrg/mbin

#technology #opensource #Fediverse #linkaggregator #decentralised

Wondering if there is any way to change the rings to higher contrast colours, from the default white and grey? The settings seem to be in ~/.config/kwinrc file, but it has no colour options that I know of. It seems like an obvious choice to want to have.

The Mouse Click Animation has some great options, but it is only on actual clicking of the mouse keys (and yes I thought maybe I could set this to long duration, but it maxes out at 999 ms.

Nostr is unique in that it has a global public key ID that replicates posts (notes) via relays, so it is scalable, resistant to censorship, and the user fully owns their identity profile. There are only two parts to the network, namely relays and clients, with the Nostr protocol linking them. Every post is signed, and every client validates these signatures.

In this video I explain more about Nostr is, why it is probably one of the easiest networks to get registered and going on, I compare it with some other protocols, and I demonstrate a few of the web as well as Android mobile apps. There are no servers at all needing to be chosen, and it is truly irrelevant which client app is used. I'll also explain where cryptocurrency may come in, but why you need not worry about it all, or even use it at all.

Watch https://youtu.be/8mSyMCJlSwA

#technology #Nostr #socialnetworks #alternativeto #decentralised

I was looking for an app to alert me to low battery levels across various of my iOS devices. Although coconutBattery looked good, it is macOS only, and I only power my Macbook up occasionally. So I looked at a good four iOS app options, and there is no perfect one that does everything perfectly. I also discarded anything that was updated more than a year ago. I installed across my iPhone, iPad and Watch. You can view the battery levels from any device’s app, for all the devices.

PowerToYou covers iPhone, iPad (and iPencil found under Bluetooth devices), Watch, AirPods (added as a Bluetooth device). What I like is that it has a good widget layout, clearly showing the percentages and time last updated for each device. You can set notifications globally for any device falling below, or going above (to prevent full cycle charging), a percentage charged. Adding the AirPods on my iPhone, made them show up on the iPad’s app just fine. The widget expanded to show the AirPods. It also has some choices for Watch complications. The app was last updated Feb 2022, and has an active Discord support community. Download from https://apps.apple.com/us/app/powertoyou/id1558154409.

Cloud Battery covers the same devices as PowerToYou (but says AirPods can no longer be monitored this way, and did not detect them), but it also detected and showed my Apple Pencil battery level. Its widgets fall a bit short though as they are nice but fail to show any percentage level or time last updated. However, a quick press on the widget opens the app, which shows the percentages. Another quick press on an individual device, shows when the charge level was last updated, rename the device, and set a device specific alert fop passing below or above a certain percentage level. Cloud Battery also allows you to customise the colours of widget text and icons. App was last updated Jan 2022. Download from https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cloud-battery/id1480648069.

“Charged?” is a small app that allows you to check the charge level of your iOS and macOS devices via iCloud. I did briefly use it, and it shows battery percentages with last updated, for iPhone, iPad and macOS. It does lack some of the extra features the apps above have, and was last updated in March 2021.

Battery Status Overview does not work with macOS, but works on iPad, iPhone and Watch. It also has a lot fewer settings and more basic graphics, but does include a charge history log. They only mention alerts for the battery charge level reaching 100%. The app was last updated in Dec 2021, and only has one review rating, though.

Apple’s built-in battery widget is great, but it ONLY shows local devices, so no overview of all your other devices.

So I am a bit torn between PowerToYou and Cloud Battery. I’m leaning more towards PowerToYou as the widget has everything clearly shown. Cloud Battery’s plus is its ability to set a different minimum and maximum battery percentage for each device separately.

I’ll post any updates about this topic at my blog post at https://gadgeteer.co.za/powertoyou-and-cloud-battery-amongst-other-apps-both-display-battery-levels-of-your-other-apple-devices/.

I've been looking through so many clones (and I expect we'll see even more coming now) for a self-hosted alternative that also only has a single daily word that you can play only once. Some come very close, but all allow you to replay the same game multiple times, and that takes away the competitive part I have going with some friends (yes I suppose you could just switch browsers too).

But as Wordle is actually locally executed Javascript, and it's collection of words are also stored there, you can save the whole Javascript package to a folder, and just click to open the page file to continue playing the game as it exists right now. I tested this with Firefox and Edge browsers, and it worked fine. Brave however has some block for local files, so it did not work with that browser.

To do it:

• Go to the Wordle online page.
• Right-click and choose "Save Page" or "Save As".
• Then choose "Web page, Complete" (this ensures not just the page itself is downloaded, and includes supporting Javascript files).
• Save it to a location on your computer.
• To play it, just use your file explorer to find that download location, and double-click on the single html file to open it in your browser.
• You can bookmark that newly opened page to always find it easily.

Always use the same browser, otherwise, you will lose your stats history.

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/how-to-continue-playing-wordle-offline-as-it-exists-now/

#technology #wordle #puzzles #gaming

Wet shaving doesn’t involve some new disposable razors or cartridges, making it a more sustainable practice. Many shaving soaps and creams are in reusable containers, which means it is not as much waste if you are responsible. And check to make sure you are buying a biodegradable one, which means the little you throw away also doesn’t kill the planet.

A double-edged razor is an upgrade, no matter how you look at it. It is heavy and sturdy and better than a plastic razor. This one will also last longer, which is the cheaper option. You can pick from the many universally fitting blades available in the market. A straight razor also comes with the same benefits.

See https://beardoholic.com/wet-shaving/

#traditionalshaving #environment #shaving

I still have my dad's old Gillette Fatboy razor, which he would have been using in the 1960's. I cleaned it up and have shaved a few times with it, as of course as safety razor shavers around the world know, today's DE blades still fit perfectly well. A safety razor is built to last multiple generations. Try that with today's cartridge razors - you won't find blades for them in 40 years time, or by then the blades purchased, will have bankrupted you!

I just really regret my dad never let me into the secret of safety razor shaving, and I had to suffer ingrown hairs for 30 years before I discovered this...

See https://www.bundubeard.co.za/collections/adjustable-safety-razors/products/gillette-fatboy-d4-1958-v188

#safetyrazors #traditionalshaving #wetshaving #gillettefatboy

There is a common misconception that large open source projects are well-funded. In practice, many rely on a small group of maintainers.

The PHP programming language is one of them. Despite being used by 75%+ of the web, PHP only has a few full-time contributors.

See https://dri.es/php-foundation-launched

#php #opensource

Following heavy criticism regarding anti-repair practices on the iPhone 13 lineup, Apple has just announced its Self Service Repair program. The company shared earlier that it wouldn’t be disabling Face ID after third-party screen repairs, after online outrage. The Cupertino giant is now taking an unexpected step further and making repairs easily accessible to individuals.

In a newsroom post, Apple has stated that iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 users will be able to order genuine spare parts and tools to repair their own iPhones. The move is unprecedented by Apple, but it’s most definitely a welcome one that will help dodge anti-trust lawsuits.

Clearly, without lawsuits and pressure groups, this would never have changed. Whilst I really love some of what Apple does (very long software update cycles, the best health smartwatch, etc) there is also a lot I really dislike (a crippled Shortcuts app, iCloud web apps that lack features, Photos is dismal compared to Google Photos, etc). So this is yet another incremental improvement (like widgets, 3rd party keyboards and browsers, copy-and-paste, etc that eventually arrived).

See https://www.xda-developers.com/apple-now-lets-you-repair-your-own-iphone/

#technology #righttorepair #iphone #DIY

They cover many of the usual accepted reasons that so many of us know, but I love their honest ending: The reality, however, is that wet shaving is an addiction. The money saved on cartridges is often spent on building up a vast collection of artisan shaving soaps/creams, stylish safety razors and shaving brushes!

See https://agentshave.co.uk/blog/why-wet-shave-with-a-safety-razor/

#shaving #safetyrazor #wetshaving #traditionalshaving

Motorcycle rally racing is a high-speed, exciting, off-road motorsport that involves zipping across all types of terrain on two wheels. While riding, it’s extremely important for riders to know what’s coming up next — turns, straightaways, stream crossings, the list goes on. Generally, this is handled by a roadbook — a paper scroll that has diagrams of each turn or course checkpoint, along with the distances between them and any other pertinent information. Of course, this needs to be paired with a readout that tells you how far you’ve travelled since the last waypoint so you’re not just guessing. This readout usually takes the form of a rally computer, a device that can display speed, distance travelled, and course heading (and some of the fancier ones have even more data available).

See https://hackaday.com/2021/11/11/motorcycle-rally-computer-goes-open-source/

#technology #opensource #motorcyclerally #rallycomputer