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Joined 7 months ago
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Cake day: August 24th, 2024

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  • Even for devices that will stand the test of time on their own, they’re still being unnecessarily modified by the addition of extra nonsense to support AI boondoggles.

    I was talking to our company’s account manager from one major PC manufacturer, he agreed that a generation of laptops with a likely-to-be-useless-in-future Copilot button permanently emblazoned on their keyboard will really date this era.

    The computers themselves will be fine - they have some extraneous hardware but that doesn’t really detract from their usability - but there’s a better than even chance that logo will exist as a reminder long after memories of what it was supposedly for begin to fade.


  • Yes, but you shouldn’t.

    After a reboot, a lot of phones can only use the device’s default keyboard app for entering the unlock pin/password.

    If you’ve removed or disabled it, you can get into a situation where you have no keyboard at all, and a delightful chicken-and-egg situation of needing a keyboard you don’t have until after unlocking the device to enter the code to unlock the device.

    (A USB keyboard will let you escape this, for what that’s worth)


  • You might have to consider buying used.

    Even older HP printers are fine (and I know people love to shit on them, but they too used to be perfectly safe and reasonable choices). More or less the safe/unsafe divide coincides with the switch from printers with 2x16 character displays to ones with full colour screens.

    I’ve got a 2012-designed (but mine is 2017-built) HP Colour Laserjet CP5225dn, it has none of the modern lock-in shenanigans.

    Just gotta find one that’s new enough that consumables are still readily available (fortunately this usually isn’t too difficult), and in good physical condition.




  • It always seemed like an amazing way to speed-run repetitive strain injury to me.

    Anything that requires that level of precision but offers basically zero range of motion just seems to force unnatural levels of tension in every muscle in your hand and wrist.

    The things cause me agonising wrist pain within minutes of use, not something I’ve experienced with any modern (ie, larger than the postage stamp sizes of old) touchpad.

    Good riddance.





  • While I have a personal general rule against backing electronics on Kickstarter and would likely wait for it to be available at retail, I wouldn’t necessarily immediately discount this one.

    It’s probably worth noting - mentioned in Jeff Geerling’s video - they had a MOQ of 1500 on the metal case, which likely forced them to be significantly further through the process than a lot of Kickstarters are at launch.



  • Surprisingly, no.

    I’ve got both the first-gen Palma, and a Kindle Oasis (2017).

    Ignoring anything that’s purely a function of the Palma being significantly newer - has a cool-warm light while that model of Kindle is one colour temperature only, and that it has a faster-refreshing e-ink display, etc - it’s still often a more pleasant experience.

    The Palma is a little heavier (especially vs the Kindle without its case, which is typically how I use it), but because it’s narrower much easier to hold. The Oasis does have the physical page turn buttons, but I never found them to be particularly well placed, always required holding it a bit awkwardly.

    It’s mildly painful for content that doesn’t reflow (like PDFs) due to the phone-like 16:9 aspect, but imho for e-books is the superior experience.