2019-05-13

PC-Mode with the Honor View 20: Good bye Desktop!

It's set... I'm trying to replace my Desktop/Laptop with my phone. And it looks like this will be it. With a HDMI/USB-C adapter it's a blast.


Huawei offers a PC-Mode on the phone. Something that is really appealing to me.  So I bought a Iiyama 24.5" G-Master Display with 75hz.
With me doing everything on the web, the most important thing is the browser. Chrome runs in a desktop mode. A little unstable, but good enough for normal usage. Of course you can also use Firefox. Even without having a desktop mode, it's running great.


The apps are running great. Only a very few apps seem to have some issues. But in general you can say, they just work. Gaming is another thing. If you can use a bluetooth gamepad, you are in gamers heaven. If there is only a multitouch control, you're out of luck.

It's fast on the Honor View 20. With 8GB RAM and 256GB Storage it's fun and the main tasks, outside web usage, is done well. That's video encoding. Power Director works great with desktop control and the encoding is quick enough on that device. The phone barely gets hot. Looks like the liquid cooling inside the phone works pretty well.

But there are problems, too. Sometimes the UI/PC-Mode restarts. I couldn't find out why by now. In 3 days there were several times. Sometimes it's just a soft restart, all windows opening automatically and you can just go on. Sometimes it's a hard restart and even the "boot up" screen is showing. I need to check if it's a problem with my settings. the display, the adapter or whatever.
LAN (which needs to be in your adapter, too) works. But you must deactivate "Mobile Data" and WiFi (!) before you connect it. Only then, LAN will be detected and used with blazing fast speed
(see screenshot).
The power-saving options for apps you always want to be in background need to be turned off. Check how it is done right.


All in all you can say it's pretty usable. There are some rough edges. I only run it for 3 days now, so the final verdict needs some more time. I'm pretty impressed with what you can do. External hard drives, USB-sticks, USB-micro, LAN and much more works. That looks like a good start.

2019-04-27

Computer Clash of Generations: The Digital Geezers

Is that thinking strange to you, to have a specific OS to use specific programs for common working scenarios? Yes? Then you are one of the digital nomads. The new users. The future.
But there are still more people than you might think that rely on a specific computer system software to do everything. And sometimes it's understandable.


You have a specific work that needs a specific software? Stop reading now. You probably framed in your company's prison. No one can help you other than your boss or your administrator. You need to worry. Your Company may be a dinosaur ready for extinction... arguably.
If you think you'll need something like "Windows" or "OS X/Mac OS" for your common tasks, you are only a prisoner of yourself and you can break out anytime if you really want.

The reign of OS'es is over!
In the last years we made a lot of progression. Web apps, new services, cloud storage. To all that mobile devices took over the market overwhelmingly.  That changed a lot. Almost no company that offers a service can now rely on e.g. Windows alone. And so, many things are offered online, ready to use, or at least with different apps for Android, iOS, Windows and Mac OS and often Linux, too.  But you can pretty much live with a browser and do everything.
Some years ago Google started ChromeOS, and even brought us hardware with basically a browser. Since then it went crazy. Almost anything can be done within the browser on any system which runs at least Chrome or Firefox. The reign of OS'es is over once and for all.

No you can not use your old software. Why?
I was quite early in the game, running a GNU+Linux system for years. No Windows partition. Why should I? I have my browsers running on a super stable basis and that's it. Yes, I'm a creative (oh come on Apple snob, stfu) and there is nothing missing. But doing common stuff like you do privately, there is a solution outside  the OS prisons anyway.
Yes you can't use your old software. But why should you anyway? We are living in 2019 the time I write this. Don't expect me to use 1990's solutions. Everything has changed. And it's so much better. Mail-clients? Didn't have one for decades now. I can use my mail-account from all my devices, from anywhere, anytime. Same for documents. You don't like Google? Choose one of the others that do the same. You know I could make a list now for a lot of stuff. But it's simple: You can do EVERYTHING with every major OS. Period. There is a solution for everything. You just have to chose it. If you wan't Kai's Power Goo you'll need Windows machine. But you can use your phone for much better results, or one of the dozens photo services on the web, with insanely better features.

You are missing out
You remember how you laughed at the old geezer that keep on doing their things, even if it looks like they're from another world? Yes you laughed so hard and thought "Wow that generation".
Don't be that digital geezer. It's exactly how it looks if you keep on doing stuff like you're living in the 90s and rely on platforms. You are missing a lot of stuff that is possible.
"But I did it like that, why changing?" Now you're sounding like one.
No one is forcing you to change. But it's not the world we are currently living in. Welcome to the digital retirement home.

2019-04-04

Why I won't join Openbook

There it is a new, trustfully, clean and security based social network, funded by the people, for the people without ads. Sound like the perfect place to be.

But there will be the same problems as always. It's not YOUR place, it is a place run by someone else, with their rules and yet still unclear measurements when a dividing or critical topic comes up. You know, Twitter was that place in the beginning. Even Facebook was, in the early days, kind of a light bringing savior for free speech. But for all of those, there came a moment when you discover that you have to play by the rules of the dominating communities at the beginning (and I read a press article where the team already explained that reports from people will then lead to your article being deleted and even your account probably removed), followed by governments, and then eyed by the press and all kind of activist groups from all directions. Then you have the same problem. What do you do? Uphold free speech at all cost? Giving away that right to play nice? Or just close?
I don't believe in public social networks anymore, because they all fall under the same rules in the end.

The only good thing to do is having your own place, your site where only you decide what you do or not with all consequences. THIS is freedom.
I already mentioned how to keep connected in a after-social network world, done by millions of people in some parts of the world already. Where no credible government have the right to snoop or even can snoop into: Your privacy.

I wish Openbook all the good and success for their honorable intentions.
It's just coming a bit too late in my opinion. The fight for free speech on a larger scale, has already been lost. And sadly, mostly the users are to blame for this.

2019-03-30

I'm one step away from being a Hikikomori

hikikomori (countable and uncountableplural hikikomori or hikikomoris)
  1. (uncountable) A Japanese phenomenon whereby an individual becomes a recluse from society, typically confining him- or herself to the house or a single room for a very long period.
  2. (countable) A reclusive person of this kind.

Well, with that f-uped society outside, it's an logical conclusion for me to back off as much as possible from normal life outside.
I feel that I can't stand the violent, reckless and disrespectful society more and more. Driving with the car is infuriating these days. People don't care for anything, speeding, and bringing other people in danger. And they don't even care.
People talking about freedom and will take free speech away from anyone whose not having their own view.
People want to be tech their savior (that it is!) but whining about big data.
People talk about protecting the environment and hugging pets, but still participate in mass-killing of animals for food.
Our society is gone highly illogical and are a threat to theirselves and others. And I can't go outside without getting angry, because I'm not looking away. No I'm not just carelessly walking by an idling car polluting the environment.


So, I stay at home more and more. The route to being Hikikomori fortunately, is still blocked by some positive things. I like nature. I'll go outside in the forests geocaching or just walking around. But I always hope that at best, I see no other people while walking. So I'm still looking forward to go outside feeling mother earth. Edit: Oh and playing Pokémon Go. I like this.

But at home, it's not really perfect either. Too much noise, voices and reckless people who think it's okay to play music and party at home in the protected-by-law rest periods. That's exactly what I mean. Nobody seems to care about the others anymore. So I'm going to build myself a soundproofed space to sleep. And to be honest, if I had enough money, I would buy a house far away from any population, and made a fortress out of it with a gym to go even less outside. And food? Well, Amazon & Co. would do it... at least if you have too much money at your hand. Those prices are ridiculous...

2019-03-21

Wikipedia in Germany calls last chance for freedom with shutdown

Today Wikipedia in Germany is shutdown. If you visit it, you only see a site telling you that this is you last chance to retain freedom.

In this protest, it's the first time for Wikipedia to shut down completely in Germany since they are online.  The most controversial parts of this try to rebuild a new copyright law in the EU, is article 11 and article 13 which are basically a demand for websites to censor content form users when uploaded before it is showed. This will lead to so-called upload filters. Together with a new EU-wide right for publishers to get money even from small snippets, this will effectively lead to the end of the free internet in Europe.

I warned about it over and over again. This EU copyright directive is made by people that don't understand it, fueled by lobbyists of the big media companies, and supported by people that only recognize their own "creativity" and totally see that the internet made us all creatives.

2019-03-07

Dissenter will change the Internet forever [Updated: ... or not]

Yes it's one of those moments. Not by a single company, but by the mere idea of it. Commenting about anything on the web, every site, every article, without having this site a chance to manipulate or delete it. It's genius!


Simple. I'm not even sure if Dissenter.com had this idea first, or if there is anyone who tried it before. It's a very bold move. Uncensored comments by anyone. Not that you couldn't do that with your blog or your own feed anywhere else, but if you copy the URL of any page on the web into the form at Dissenter, you see if other people made a comment on the page and enable you to comment on your own. No need to find a blog somewhere on the web with no connection to the site. There is also an add-on for Firefox and Chrome to comfortably see comments when you visit a site by clicking the add-on icon.

I don't care much who made this tool, because it doesn't matter at all. It's YOUR comment. If sites like Engadget come up with populist titles to describe Dissenter there is only one reason for it: Fear! Fear that people have free speak with no control over it. Live with it!
The good thing is that with a tool like these, the company that publish it, have no power to push for a certain direction.

It also will help circumvent bloggers and site owners in the EU, where you can be held responsible for any comment on your page, making it impossible offering comments on articles without 24/7 monitoring. You want to comment? Just use Dissenter. Since the site owner have no way to restrict you from making comments there, they are not responsible.

I don't know how to put it, but because everyone can comment, it's making no sense to call it biased. Of course one thing is sure: Only those who participate can give their views and sides for other people to read. So if you think there is something not correctly in the comment, you need to tell it. There is also a discussion, replies and likes for the comments. So you'll have all tools needed to agree or disagree and to put your view out.


Now tell me, how can this be a bad thing? It can't be. At least if you believe in a free and open internet, in freedom of speech and in the right to express it. It's up to you what you express.
And make no mistake. It can't be stopped. Maybe Dissenter can be censored and suppressed some day, but the idea is born. It's over!
You have to deal with the right of other to express their opinion about your site or article. Live with it!

Update 2019-04-11:  Okay, so I've stopped using Dissenter. First of all their plugin keeps requiring more and more rights to access websites shown in the browser. While I don't see an abuse of this, I have get no real benefit out of discussing things in dissenter with the lack of people participating in my region and language, and on my topics I'm interested in. So I see no sense wasting my time with another service.
If necessary I can use the dissenter website without any plugin, but I do not see traction catching on at things I'm really interested in.