Aotearoa Daily Kōrero 06/11/2023

pro open source, though I use a complete mix of all the various flavours of that & closed source software both personally & in work. In work i'm constantly advocating that we contribute financially to open source projects, not always successfully unfortunately. For all the touted efficiencies of business, they're just as likely to throw a mil at a closed source commercial product than deploy their own build of an open source one.

This is the way.

I've been a stoic OSS user professionally and personally for almost my entire career.

Of every tool I've encountered the OSS one has been superior or I've been able to contribute to make it so.

Familiarity with one or the other clouds this. I initially hated StarOffice because it wasn't exactly like Office97 (or which ever version was contemporaneous)... Now LibreOffice is just fine TYVM.

Yes, I support open source and open science (which have some overlap). I'm pragmatic where necessary, but use OSS whenever I can. I have to use Windows for work reasons, but Linux for everything else.

Yes. Love Louis Rossmann, and Linux.

Just replaced my Note 5 phone battery, though I have to buy a new back cover, because it cracked while I was heating up the glue with my hair dryer. Only $7 from China, anyway - and I get to choose a new color.

Open source is the only hope for a technological future that doesn't fuck us in the ass constantly.

What are your thoughts on open source?

Open source software,

I do my best to use open source where practical. In particular I like where companies find a model that allows them to generate revenue with open source software, as it tends to generate better supported software. But there are some awesome sponsored projects like all the ones KDE does.

I run linux on my personal laptop as a daily driver and it works great for me. I use Android on my phone, and am on the lookout for a cheap secondhand Pixel 7 as I'm keen to give GrapheneOS a go.

science,

Having science publically funded but then you have to pay a journal to read the paper that the researchers had to pay to be published in... is crazy. Luckily these days it's pretty easy to find the original papers online if you know where to look. I'd be pretty happy to have requirements for free access to research done with public money.

repair manuals / right to repair movement etc…

I'm a big fan of right to repair. We make so much ewaste. Someone (consumer NZ?) tested out a bunch of returns processes using GPS trackers, deliberately causing really easy to repair faults (from memory they used blenders and just detatched an internal wire). Places like Kmart made no repair attempt. Their policy is basically to send all warranty returns to landfill and replace with a new one.

It's insane and something needs to change.

I use a Dyson purifier and... it's been okay I guess. It helped a little bit, but whether it's worth it or not is debatable.

A couple of cons:

- You need to run it all the time, because otherwise it can take ages to filter out pollutants, by which time your allergies can get triggered.
- It works best if your doors and windows are always closed. Naturally, that won't make for a very healthy or pleasant home, so you might want to restrict the purifier to a specific room which has its windows and doors closed all the time. But then if you consider air draughts, the pollen's gonna make it's way in anyways, so a strategic placement of the purifier is crucial.
- Obviously it won't help if you go outside.

So you could get one if you really want to, but don't get it specifically for combating hayfever. The one I've got also purifies VOCs (ie volatile organic compounds like formaldehyde, which can released by paint, carpets, furniture etc), and it also doubles up as a space heater, air cooler (fan) and temperature/humidity monitor. I've also noticed a significant reduction of dust in my room, which means a lot less dusting/cleaning needed for all the surfaces and electronics etc in your room. I can also control the purifier from my phone and Home Assistant. So it's nice to have when you consider all of those.

I have friends across the ditch who swear by Haytox - a medication which is administered nasally, it takes only a few minutes and you're allergy free for a whole year. Maybe get your partner to talk to their GP and see if it's available here? I haven't seen any mentions of it in NZ but maybe they've got something similar.

They can be helpful if you don't have a ton of outside air coming in

Aliexpress!

If you do use the Pi for Home Assistant, save a lot of future headaches and use a proper SSD and not a SD card - there are always soooo many people having issues with SD cards after a while.

If you are thinking you're going to be investing a good bit of time in the future with Home Assistant (you will as it's a hell of a rabbit hole) apparently Pi's are quite slow to work with.

A used PC (small form factor for about $200 with a 5 or 6 gen i5 CPU that ends with T and 4 gig of ram) is a suuuper snappy, future proof and reliable system to run HA on. Mine only uses ~10watt and is automating my whole house.

I finally got my mower fixed after a few weeks, so my lawns are looking pretty scruffy after being allowed to grow for so long. It'll take a few weeks to get them back to where they should be.