Posts by Gordon861 344 publicly visible posts • joined 1 Jul 2009
I actually want to be tracked on AliExpress, but I use a spare PC to buy there so it is properly tracked.
I use Quidco as a forwarder to AliExpress as they do good cashback, currently 20%. It can take six months to come through but the money is good. But I only shop their using Chrome and without pihole to ensure they sales link up.
Whilst I can setup a VPN into my network to sort of stream locally when away from home, setting up the facilities for 75+ year old parents to do the same from their phone/tablet is not so easy. Even added it to their smart TV last week.
No need for Spotify etc, PlexAmp just plays music I like in the car via Android Auto.
No VPNs or odd apps, just click the icon and type your pin number and they have access. So less family tech support either.
The only way this proposal will work if everyone is required to use 'official' ID in order to use social media, as everyone will need to prove they are over 16.
I also think 16 is too old. I think 10 or 13 would be better ages to work around.
My solution would be to make it a legal requirement that any child's social media account is actually controlled by an adult via a system similar to the way Google handles children's accounts with family options. It would be down to the parents to decide how much or little the 'child' can do on their accounts but the parent would always be able to view 100% of the information on there.
So when a child reaches 10(13) they can have an account if the parent allows it, but the parent has full access/control. They can determine how much freedom they have when using it.
I've never had an issue with it blocking something I needed. I have pretty much just left mine alone doing its thing for ages now, probably should log in and update it really. There are also options on the admin page to pause operations for a set time or just turn it off.
For the cost, it is worth setting one up and just moving a few devices over at a time, rather than pointing your existing router at it. For mobile devices this probably means deleting the current wifi connection and then when you reconnect it you click advanced so that you can put the PiHole as the Gateway IP.
Linus Tech Tips (LTT) did a decent intro/setup video a few years back which should still be relevant.
"The problem is; Prime Memberships are paid up front and there is no way they are going to give you your money back. Not even a pro-rated amount."
I don't see how they can not return the money or keep you on an ad-free contract, at least in UK/EU, the US is a law unto itself.
I would be looking at the facility you used to pay for the subscription and get them involved. Initiate a chargeback, you have nothing to lose.
I did this with one of the Nerd-Box suppliers from the US when they kept delaying and never sending the monthly boxes. Just passed all the info over to Amex and they refunded the whole subscription, even for the ones I had received.
Would also be raising a complaint with your local Trading Standards and anyone else that might be relevant.
I recently put Jellyfin on my server PC (it's still running Plex to but rarely used).
My main use for it is audio streaming to my car via Android Auto and a VPN to home, it works well but the system needs some better playlist/playback options for audio files.
At home for video I just use a OMSC Vero V Kodi box.
Considering the Pi is moving further towards being a mini computer than a tinker board with every new version, why are they keeping the same footprint?
If they had increased the size by 1.5-2.0 times you could have the 3.5mm audio again, you could have full sized HDMI and negate the need for those damned adapter cables. You need a new case anyways, why not a slightly bigger one?
From that page "The ban on credit and debit card surcharges is effective across the EU from Saturday 13th January 2018, and will apply to all purchases made where the banks of the consumer and retailer are within the EEA."
So this could be the next Brexit sunny upland we've all been promised ...
Surely the fact that a form of encrypted communication was authorised by use to contact the Taliban, and by them, would also mean that it would be legal for everyone to have this communication system on their phones?
This would mean that as well as reporting to the Taliban local problems, it would also allow encrypted communications inside and outside the country.
Now that the software has been banned by the new 'government' there is nothing to stop them decreeing that no one may have it on their phone.
If/when they solve the power requirements and noise they could be used as a pack animal, but I always thought the idea of fitting one with a mortar for support fire would work well. Operator indicates position of the target from themselves and the unit calculates the trajectory and drops a shell on the target.
I expect that you will be better served once the Pi4 Compute Module reaches general circulation. With the EMMC options and the PCIE port I expect someone will bring out a fairly small all in one box with an M2 or SATA connection inside.
With this and the Pi Keyboard/Mouse it'll be a much better setup.
I really think the Pi400 missed a trick by not making the main board accept a Pi4 Compute Module, it would have opened many more options and they could have sold the main board as a unit for home building personalized Pi's.
The best thing Nvidia can do now is just keep drip feeding the stock into the supply chain slowly. If people see more cards becoming available over an extended period then they are less likely to pay the scalpers inflated prices and wait. Sooner or later the scalpers are going to run out of purchasing power and need to sell something.
They should also be limiting the number of cards going to any address/email too.
The way I see it, if I have 1000 units in stock and expect another 1000 in a month, the best way to sell is gradually release them to the market over the month. If I sell the whole lot in the first 24 hours customers are going to be desperate after not seeing any stock released for the rest of the month that they may pay over the price to scalpers. But if they know more are coming available all the time they are more likely to wait.
The problem with "But the review process also makes lots of abuses impossible" is that the review process blatantly failed to spot what Epic were doing until they'd already done it, so less secure than previously thought.
As an aside, do Apple users that downloaded the recent "don't pay Apple" version still have access to it and are they still able to avoid the ApplePay system?
From what I've seen in game so far the majority of the scenery is good, but the AI does seem overly keen on tree planting so if there's some trees in RL the area is full of trees.
My main problem with the sim is that my keyboard keeps unlisting as a controller when I start a flight, so I cannot end the sim other than closing the program from task manager. The keyboard becomes usable if I crash until I start a new flight again.
Very impressed with what they've done but there are some serious problems with the sim/game and support is very sketchy right now.
Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/28/nhs-will-keep-personal-data-of-people-with-coronavirus-for-20-years--uk-test-and-trace-programme
Telegraph (paywall so can't read it)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2020/05/28/nhs-fire-plans-store-track-trace-data-20-years/
New Statesman
https://tech.newstatesman.com/coronavirus/nhs-test-and-trace-privacy-doc-throws-doubt-on-apps-anonymity-claims
Expect to see The Register take on it soon.
So you get a positive result on a test, quick WhatsApp to your friends "Who wants another two weeks off on full pay?"
End up reading off a long list of names and numbers to the friendly NHS Ttrack and Trace person. Yes this will go well.
I also heard a report on the radio earlier that the plan is to hold onto all contacts data for 20 years for 'research purposes'.
Another Pi-Hole fan here, been running it since LTT did a setup tutorial last year.
Built a second one and added it to my parents home network and have been slowly moving devices over to it over the last few weeks, in case it turns out to block something they 'need'. Android phones are a pain to change the DNS lookup though as they all seem to require you to delete the wifi connection and then re-add it with a new DNS rather than allowing you to edit the settings.
The only addition I would like to see to the Pi-Hole is a simple way to VPN into it so that a mobile phone could be connected to it when using data and still have the same protections.
I always make a point of talking to any engineers or digging teams that I see in my street just to get an idea of what they may be about to break or turn off.
Not normally a problem but if you do need to call customer services later it helps if you can let them know that their teams were in the area recently and what they said they were doing.
My first thought when I saw a battery powered echo was WHY?
Surely most places you are going to use this you will already have access to power or your mobile phone can do everything this can do already. If you do want to use your Echo outside, but why not just plug it into a 10k mA power pack? Or just use a regular bluetooth speaker and slave it to your phone.
So again, what is the point of this?
I got caught by this last year just before Christmas. In some ways it worked out well because I cancelled right away and got any Christmas orders delivered free last year, but it's starting to again offer more free trials.
Tempted to sign up for another free trial this year and buy lots of minimum spend items and see how many deliveries I can get done in one month. Might also work as a bonus for the drivers as I expect they get paid per item rather than per address.
I got the impression, maybe wrongly, that in the US the whole junction is covered by the lights. Meaning that if you are still in the junction when the lights have changed then you get a ticket. As opposed to in the UK where the only bit covered by the red light is the stop line so if you have passed the stop line and are still within the junction when they change you are still legal.
The argument is that if you have already slowed to make another manoeuvre then the time that the yellow light is lit is not sufficient to clear the junction.
I think I saw video of the incident on C4 News last week, it was how you described it. When I saw the footage I thought that the cop was within his rights to fire.
Not that this in any way condones the other punishment beatings that appear to being handed out by the police elsewhere.
My parents keep offering to pass on their old, really old, laptops to family members and I keep persuading them that they will not be doing them any favours and that I will not be responsible for providing any help if they do so.
I'm having a hard enough time just trying to get them to move on from an eight year old Win7 machine that is really starting to show its age. I expect a lot of panic and stress over christmas when they finally come around to the idea of upgrading.
Last night I spent hours trying to get a wireless Xbox controller to pair with a PC.
Just needs a Bluetooth dongle, bollocks, the computer can see the controller it just won't pair, keeps asking for a PIN number, tried the standard 0000 or 1111 etc no luck. Further searching on the web suggests updating the firmware, nope all up to date. The last thing I found before giving up was, it needs Bluetooth 4 to work, oh great buy another dongle in the hope it might work, or just give up and run it from a cable.
Went for option 3, took it back to Currys for a refund.
