well for me it was iPod touch but I suppose it counts
1 Like
Any reason to prefer an MP3 player to a phone or tablet running free software? Even when used without a SIM card, it can also take pictures, be used to take and read notes, browse the Internet (using WiFi), has a flashlight, clock/alarm, etc.
1 Like
I don’t see a MP3 player as a replacement for a phone or a tablet just a way too physical isolating media. And it is very niche and small improvement for privacy.
The best way I can explain it is to see it as a QubesOS vault VM completely offline. No Cellular, Bluetooth, WiFi so all remote attack, tracking and profileing gone.
I have seen a Ukrainian citizen explain why he is using a IPod. You never know when you have a power outage in a war zone and a IPod is a good way to safe phone battery for when you really need your phone. You can mod a IPod to have crazy long battery life. And you really need a way to entertain yourself with all the doom and gloom there. And it’s pretty hard stream music without internet.
You can still be tracked without a sim card you’re still connecting to cellular towers and with airplane mode you always have the risk of human errors or bugs.
3 Likes
Fair enough, but I don’t think that carrying separate devices (dumb phone, laptop, MP3 player, camera, flashlight, pen and paper…) is a realistic alternative to a “smart” phone for most people. You don’t need to stream anything if you store the music files on the phone itself. I think that embracing technology and making sure it is under the user’s control is a better strategy. For that, free/libre software is essential.
3 Likes
honestly my setup is basically
Phone A: Carry around, basic use
Phone B: Entertainment device
and that’s more reasonable than 4 stuff individually.
I would also argue at least 3 is fine but I wouldn’t go as far as that.
with that said I disagree physical stuff count as devices and can be used day to day just fine.
Pen and paper and flashlight are mostly still widely used by many households around the world.
Some people also still use dedicated alarm clocks (I know my parents do and some others)
With that said… Camera and MP3 players I agree can be a little excessive whne a primary/secondary phone could do that.
2 Likes
A simple mp3 player doesn’t have a microphone or internet. Plus, it’s smaller and easier to carry around, and helps saving your phone’s battery for when you actually need it
2 Likes
I recently wrapped my usb-c to 3.5mm cable in heat-shrink tubing. The metal-like exterior of the cable rubs on my jacket zipper which transmits into my headphone. The noise is why I haven’t embraced using the cable over BT. I could have purchased another cable but I like to MacGyver when the opportunity presents itself. I’ll know this winter if it works.
I don’t think I do anything else that other people are doing.
1 Like
I have other small one. Everytime I need to call a company I use #31# + company number to hide my phone number. Just because I don’t want to be on some random calling list.
I have never got asked why I’m calling with hidden number by a company.
because they can still see it.
When CNID is blocked at the caller’s request, the number is actually transmitted through the entire telephone network, with the “presentation withheld” flag set; the destination CO is expected to honor this flag, but sometimes does not
please understand in general when you call company, they can see the following:
- number
- name per cnam
- carrier
- other names, numbers, email addresses, physical addresses when integrated with database lookups (quite common, especially in sales industries)
- your real time location, for the companies that pay $$$
- most people don’t believe this but you can easily test it: most roadside assistance service numbers will prompt if you’d like to use the location from the calling number and they’ll pull it, but this is probably one of the few times where you actually consent to that pull.
2 Likes
this is not healthy
Are you sure? Often I’m asked to give my nummer if they need to call me back. I don’t think a most random store can.
I’m pretty sure only a few industries have permission to use lookups database lists by law in my country and you can easily opt-out every (telecompanies?) need to have a opt-out option in my country.
Idk if this is what you’re going for but I have a Roomba i3. I never gave it the Wi-Fi password or set it up at all but it is still able to accurately map and remember the floor layout/where the home base is. It must all be done on-device. I don’t like using apps for home appliances anyway so it’s perfect for me.
4 Likes
I know you wrote this like 2 weeks ago, but I also use regular 3.5 headphones and a usb-c dongle.
Run your headphone cord through your clothing and out the neck of your sweater/shirt on your back, not the front where the zipper is. Also helps if you have a belt, pass it through under the belt (easy to remove) or just run it through a belt loop to keep it in place.
how do you prevent the dongle from snapping off your phone when in pocket?
I feel like they protrude out way more than a regular 3.5mm jack and usb-c port is usually centered so it is less likely to be able to stick out the edge of a pocket.
1 Like
What kind of pockets are you talking about? I’m just wearing normal jeans or workout clothing or whatever.
I’ve never once worried about anything snapping off with regard to a usb dongle to 3.5mm.
I use iDefender by WeCooperate which is an open source program that uses a kernel driver on my win11 pc to stop programs from reading folders they don’t need. Namely:
%userprofile% - maps to C:\Users\Username, which includes appdata (where stuff like ur browser’s cookies, tabs, history, bookmarks etc. are stored and other programs’ data), documents, desktop and so on
%programdata% - maps to C:\ProgramData, this is another sensitive location where programs store their data and logs and other stuff
%WinDir%\Temp - maps to C:\Windows\Temp, a place where programs store their temp files, in addition to the temp folder in appdata
Those 3 folders are the main ones that no program on the pc (besides system ones) should have read access to. Of course, u have to allow each program to be able to read (and write) to its own folder in appdata, programdata and its own temp folders.
I also do the same for some registry keys. U could even do it for ipc paths, named pipes and so on if u really wanted to, but i value my time as a human being with limited lifespan.
I also block ReadProcessMemory permissions, so each program can only read its own memory but not other programs, preventing spying. For example, did u know that Steam (by Valve) tries to read EVERY single program’s memory on ur pc? Discord and Battlenet only read their own memory (even without iDefender forcing em to), but Steam constantly (every few minutes) reads the memory of Discord, the browser and everything else u have open? I haven’t seen anyone call out Gaben on that.
But yeah if u use iDefender properly u can make Windows 11 just as secure and private as Linux. Or at least almost.
1 Like
Great idea with the watermarking, never thought of that before. It’s a similar logic to using email aliases.
Stirling PDF has a customizable watermark feature.
Never heard of Stirling. Are they trustworthy from a privacy standpoint? Based on their website, it seems like they are exclusively web based. Is that the case?
it is a docker container you run yourself
Source?