#Also I don't have that much battery... I have my laptop but no wifi there

[marciliedonato]

The weather is absolutely impossible. Yesterday it destroyed my new umbrella i had to walk to the hotel from class 15 minutes in the pouring rain no umbrella, now I have to get to the train station it starts raining really heavily like flood material raining everything is completely covered in water like a lake really deep puddles my boot is completely filled with water I'm only dry from the waist up bc the rain is coming from all sides and the wind is really strong and now I get here worried I wasn't gonna make it in time bc the weather made it impossible to walk and my bags were insanely heavy and were really straining my legs and my train is AN HOUR late and in the morning it was apparently over 2h so now I'm fucking stuck here and my boot is filled with water this is such bullshit. I fucking hate winter

[gougarfem]

Can I ask what dumbphone you got? What was your average daily screen time before getting one? Did you keep your old smartphone to switch back and forth or completely get rid of it?

Thanks!! I'm considering a switch too.

i have a doro 7030. i chose this specifically because it runs whatsapp in addition to regular calls and texts, so i can stay in contact with friends who live abroad or primarily use wifi (sms messages can get expensive if you don't have a good contract lol).

my average daily screentime was 11-14 hours, depending on how much i slept.

i initially kept my old smartphone for its camera, my banking app and spotify. my social media apps built up again, and i ended up migrating back over to it. i no longer have a smartphone because its battery completely died, but if you need to keep one, install an app that restricts you to the absolutely essential apps you kept it for, and only turn it on for emergencies (not every day/week). do not try to use both. our brains are programmed to get hooked on a smartphone no matter how much we try to limit it. they are deliberately addictive. (also, blue light is bad for you lol)

if i have to take a photo and send it instantly, i use someone else's smartphone. i also have a little digital camera which i take around with me to snap photos of surroundings, friends, etc. i scan college work onto my laptop with a printer (you can use public libraries for this usually if you don't have one). i use online banking on my laptop and do not bring my laptop with me when i leave the house or my room each morning. before i had a laptop i used the PCs at college or the library.

girl do it. make the switch. it genuinely will do a world of good for your mental health and social connections. you got this <33

[snarp]

I wrote this "How To Pick Out A Cheap Laptop In Early 2023" tutorial for my parents' law office; there's some task-specific stuff in there, but it may be useful for other people.

DON'T SPEND MORE THAN $500 - You can generally meet all of the guidelines below for under $400.

YOU NEED WINDOWS 10, NOT WINDOWS 11 - Avoid buying Windows 11 PCs or upgrading existing PCs to Windows 11. If a PC uses Windows 11, turn it off whenever it is not in use. As of right now (early 2023), Windows 11 is still only really intended for use in places with 100%-consistent high-speed internet access. The office's internet connection (like most places in Appalachia) can't handle this, so Windows 11 computers are likely to slow the whole network to a crawl. (There are a few things you can do to make this less of a problem, but they're not practical for the office (time-consuming, have to be re-done regularly, will stress everyone out).)

YOU NEED AN ETHERNET PORT - Since spotty wifi is a problem in a lot of places, buying a laptop with no ethernet port is a bad idea. (Also, laptops WITHOUT ethernet adapters aren't generally designed for heavy daily use - they can break easily.)

YOU NEED BOTH AN HDMI PORT AND AN SVGA PORT - The vast majority of TVs/projectors use either HDMI or SVGA ports; some recent laptops are missing one or both. This makes it very hard to, for example, give PowerPoint presentations in old courthouses.

YOU NEED A (SMALL) SSD DRIVE - Computers with SSDs (solid-state drives) can turn on and open files MUCH faster than those with HDDs (hard disc drives). SSDs have less storage space than HDDs, but that doesn't matter for the office's purposes - 256 GB is more than enough.

YOU NEED AT LEAST 8GB OF RAM - Preferably 16GB.

YOU DON'T WANT A "BUILT-IN BATTERY" - This just means "battery that can't be replaced." Laptops like this are designed to be disposable, so they always have a lot of other problems.

YOU NEED AT LEAST TWO USB-3 PORTS - Some recent laptops only have USB-C ports (the tiny ones), not the normal, rectangular ones (USB-3 and -2). USB-C-only laptops are intended as fashion accessories - they're not meant to be used for daily work, and (as above) always have a lot of other problems.

YOU WANT AN INTEL CORE i5-EQUIVALENT-OR-BETTER PROCESSOR - This isn't as big a deal as the RAM or SSD, but i3 processors slow down a lot of stuff.

YOU PROBABLY NEED A CD DRIVE - Many recent laptops don't have CD drives, but there are going to be times when you need them. (If necessary, you can buy a USB CD drive.)

BLUETOOTH ISN'T ACTUALLY VERY IMPORTANT - You can get a USB plugin if you need it, but you probably won't.

YOU DO NOT WANT A MACBOOK OR ANY OTHER APPLE PRODUCT - For too many reasons to list.

YOU DO NOT WANT A CHROMEBOOK - Even worse than MacBooks.

LINUX LAPTOPS ARE USUALLY FINE BUT YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE THEM - You'll end up needing to install Windows 10.

[sarcasrnspasrn]

have i mentioned how my computer's haunted on blog before? well im gonna list out the hauntings of my PC

neither of the alt keys have worked for several years now (very bad for someone who regularly used adobe programs when in college lmao, but at least i could use the onscreen keyboard). they both stopped working simultaneously which makes me think there's something weird going on software-side since i highly doubt i used both of them an equal amount to the point where both of them would stop functioning at the same time. all of my other keys still work just fine

for a while the battery was expanding causing me to be unable to properly click with the mousepad, only tap to click. this was a known issue with my series of dell laptops and got solved a while back by sending it in for replacement. before i fixed it it got so bad my laptop couldn't technically shut all the way

the computer frequently forgets it can use bluetooth, wifi, or both. like. the drivers just vanish. the icons don't show up in the toolbar at all. it's fixed with a restart

internal speaker drivers have also not worked for several years now. i troubleshooted the hell out of it and it looks like the only thing that'd fix it is a fresh install of the OS. as far as im aware there's nothing wrong with the physical speakers

same with the physical camera & the camera driver not working

for a while night shift wouldn't work at all. as a result i turned it off. however for the last several months (maybe a year now?) my computer has started changing to night shift again at the time i set it to back when i had it active (10pm) unprompted. unfortunately it doesn't automatically shift out of night shift. ever. so i have to restart it to make the orange tint go away. i've just gotten used to shutting down my computer every night

this is probably more in the lines of "i need to clean dust out of my fans" but the fans are fuckin loud man

i have been meaning to do a fresh install of the OS for probably almost 3 years now. i kept not doing it because "oh i need lappytop for college" and then i'd just not do it over the break. tbh at this point i should probably just get a new laptop (like how i should get new headphones because they're reaching the point where i have to twist the wires in a specific way to hear audio anymore) but that seems like too much work

[alt-pocalypse]

Day 2

Writing this from the back of Nyxx’s SUV. I don't usually get car sick so I’ll probably be fine? Today we all met up at our agreed meeting place outside the home depot. It was a few hours to walk but I was generally pretty safe but if any of the smarter ones did notice that I was human I just thwacked ‘em with ol’ Nancy! It feels really bad killing things that used to be human like this but It’s what I have to do. Nyxx says that it’s best to remember that they’re probably in a lot of pain anyway so really we’re just putting them out of their misery. Thinking about that helps a little. In the morning, after having some breakfast and brushing my teeth, I dumped out my school bag and started packing in the things I thought we might need at our new base. My pack list is as follows:

Wifi router

Phone charger

Laptop charger

Laptop

Radio with bluetooth and CD player

Changes of clothes

Snacks

Hair spray

Eye liner

As much monster as I could cram in there

I know it sounds stupid to bring so many things that need to be plugged in but Nyxx brought the solar battery she and her family use while camping alongside a big solar panel so it's gonna be ok. I also picked up ol’ nelly from her special case in my cosplay closet. She's a real nail bat from a cosplay I never finished and there’s no zombie apocalypse weapon better than a nail bat!

Like I said, Nyxx brought a solar battery and panel but she also brought her dad’s M16 (which I don’t even know if he was legally allowed to own) which will be great for big hoards. Nyxx also brought some tents and air mattresses. Raven brought a mini fridge which was kind of a surprise to all of us, it looked really heavy and we were all impressed that they had carried it all the way to the home depot over 2 miles. They looked exhausted. They also had a map of the town, a pair of scissors to handle our hair, and their sketchbook with some art supplies.

Wood and N came last and we were all kinda worried they wouldn’t show. Neither was carrying much, Wood brought some squishmallows, some books, headphones and a hand ax. N’s bag was mostly full of monster cans with a few walkie talkies. At their side they were holding a HUGE machete. We don’t need to bother too much about first aid supplies or anything like that because Nyxx always keeps a go bag in their trunk.

Once we were all together, we all went into the home depot to conduct our very first zombie apocalypse raid. I was nervous but also excited. There was a lot more still left than expected. Once again, the zombies didn’t come for us so overall it was mostly just a chill time. We got a few base building essentials and stuff to wash our clothes but the main highlight was when Raven picked out their weapon: a power drill with an 8 inch long bit! We made some of the typical jokes but honestly it was super cool.

Tonight we’re planning on staying in Nyxx’s basement. They live in the middle of nowhere so it's a good place to hide out when we look for a more permanent spot closer to resource spots and places where we can have fun if we get antsy. Speaking of Nyxx’s place we’re pulling into the driveway right now so I gotta go, bye! Will probably post a little later once I get connected to wifi.

[selene-moonie]

How I got a macbook

The short of it is - I rekindled an old friendship about two weeks ago and while we were catching up, I mentioned that I needed a laptop since I was using my sister's own and my friend just offered me his macbook. I collected it later that day and have been using it since.

Side note: lately, I've realized that I don't need to tell stories (as in always relate the bridge of events) even if I think they're really interesting. Not really piggybacking off my last statement, this is one of my favorites to date because I wasn't even wondering about the bridge of events, I just kept telling myself that I have the laptop.

The long of it is this:

I was at the library where I frequent to do work and pull smalls (a colloquial term for making small talk, but mine personally is always entertaining conversations).

I had a meeting at 1 pm, and I had asked one of the library assistants if I could use the conference room. He assured me that I could, on the grounds that I took pictures with the animals for the conservation exhibit that was going on at the time. I agreed, obviously, and headed for the adult section.

While walking to the adult section, this guy I had blocked back in 2020 because he was high quality garbage called out to me saying, "Hi Selene," and I was like, "Hi Frank," and then I beelined for the adult section because I. Was not. Doing dis.

Y'all, I was in mild panic mode because of all the places to see this dude? The library? Literally, no one goes to this one because it sucks and is in a terrible location. I go there because there aren't a lot of people, the wifi is decent, it's really convenient for my commute and the staff members are all really nice to me. Why was he there? His sister was in charge of the animal exhibit and he was helping her.

But apparently, I was doing it because he followed me and we started talking. At first, I was like, wtf am I doing, then at some point, subconsciously, I decided we were friends again. The conversation was good and I caught him up on what I'd been doing lately since we hadn't spoken since mid-2020.

Stuff like this has been happening lately. Old, cool friends have been resurfacing, new ones have been appearing, and they all match my vibe these days.

My boss then messaged me to say that she'd be in office for the meeting, if I wanted to meet her there. I complained to my newly remade friend that it's kinda late for her to say stuff like that when I don't have enough time to make it there by one. He simply replied that he was going up on that side, so he could drive me there. Obviously I agreed because I didn't want to travel there. Good thing too because I forgot the charger and the laptop has no battery. Had I stayed, I'd have had to go back home to have the meeting anyway.

We dipped out of the library at around 12:20 pm, and while we were just catching up in the car, I told him that I'd been using my sister's laptop (ironically, he had given her that laptop). He just told me that he had a MacBook he wasn't using, so I could take it when we came back after my meeting.

I was like, "Are you fucking serious?"

He's like, "Yeah. It's not a problem. I have like two other computers."

And I was like, "Thank you so fucking much, I really appreciate that."

We continued catching up, I went to my meeting, he picked me up after, and we went to his house to get it. I've been using it since, and in fact, it's what I used to write this post.

Also, if you're wondering about what happened to the conference room... I did forget about that. When I went back to the library the following day, the library assistant did complain to me that I set him up, so we're good now.

Onto the manifesting side of things:

I just wanna say that I did get kinda desperate cuz I'd been needing a laptop for about 2 years at that point, but with my job being WFH and I didn't have enough cash for the laptop I wanted (a MacBook, obviously), I kicked my affirming into high gear.

Ya girl was not about to be waiting another six months or indefinitely for what she wanted. Especially since it was messing with my daily quality of life.

I think I was affirming for it for about a week before it showed up, but what I always made sure to do was remind myself that the lack of options in front of me did not affect the manifestation itself.

i.e. I'm gonna get it regardless of what's going on rn.

Anyways, I got it. I wasn't even thinking about what the bridge of events would have been.

Ya fave Moon Babe,

Selene 💜 🌚

[bamsara]

If you can spark enough support/donations (because it's expensive at 1000) can I suggest you get a Asus gaming laptop? They run extremely well my dad has had his for y e a r s and it's just started having battery issues but works at 100 percent capacity when plugged in. My own is just running well plugged or unplugged.

They have a wonderful fan system, large storage space, and should run great for art stuff since they are meant to run video games.

I was aiming for something like that but I'm trying to milk my laptop as much as possible. Even if its 4 years old and probably has heat and overuse damage, I saved up a pretty penny for it ages ago so I plan to use it until it doesn't turn on anymore

I actually have some money saved up, not to that amount yet, but a decent start because of wonderful people donating + budgeting my own bills/supplies/taking some money out of my escape-from-alabama-and-this-house fund. I can't right now but soon I hope to open commissions and finish the Kofi shop thing. Its not super urgent because the laptop is still kicking though

(Also that being said thank you again ppl who donate with Kofi and twitch and stuff but please please PLEASE don't feel obligated to do so vdbdnfng I will still make art and write stuff either way as long as I have wifi)

[dailytechnologynews]

Is there really not a perfect 11.5-13.5" Windows tablet choice?!

Hello guys. For the past week i've been researching to find the perfect windows tablet choice for my specific application need. However it seems there isn't even one device that doesn't have some type of throwback. I'm not asking for everything, but it seems it is either hit or miss, even if you take into account overpriced products. Please hear me out and let me know your thoughts.

I am essentially looking for a WINDOWS TABLET which its primary purpose is to be fitted to my car as a secondary "dash" per say so i can use it to interact with my aftermarket motorsports ecu. It will function as a monitoring dash for the most of the time, but can be used to datalog (aka record data) or for direct tuning (so i don't have to bring my laptop everytime i need to make changes to my engine calibration). I wouldn't mind using it at home as well since i will have it, but mostly will work as a travel/trip companion since i have a PC at home. It has to be a WINDOWS tablet as the software that interfaces with the ecu is only windows based.

After thinking and revising my requirements several times after getting disappointed by what is available here is the break down:

Dimensions: Height needs to be around ~205mm +10mm max so the tablet can be secured in the glove box when not in use. Ideally height should be maximized so that the display area is maximized as well. Length larger than 300mm is not a problem but would get annoying to fit to the car since it will extend more towards the passenger side. This effectively limits me to ~11.8-13.3" tablets, so Microsoft Surface Pro can be used as a reference design (since i haven't seen bezel-less windows tablets yet) Display: This is the most important attribute of the tablet. 1080p absolute minimum resolution, 2K ideally, 3K is probably not gonna be noticeable at the usage distance. Here is a screenshot from my 1080p laptop so you can see the ECU software in datalog mode (slightly cropped but so you can get an idea: http://content.invisioncic.com/r260425/monthly_2017_09/fuel_pressure_link.png.bc827c0a96fe120632f1d7c168e66a64.png However let's not forget brightness and contrast. Brightness should be ~400nits or better for a glossy display, and contrast should be considered over color accuracy. Viewing angle in the length span should be at least 150deg but i think it is hard nowadays to find such a bad display panel. Finally a fully laminated panel is recommended. Physical interfaces: I essentially need a single full size USB port so i can connect my ECU to the tablet. After my research i decided to allow for USB-C assuming that i can get a dongle that will allow me to interface without any issues; but it's best not to allow for that route due to possible incompatibility issues (like what happened when usb3.0 was released). Extra USB ports, USB-C that allows charging and data, video output port, headphone jack, m.2 expansion slot, sd card slot are all pluses. Wireless interfaces: Min wifi and bluetooth. 802.11AC and bluetooth v4.2 or better all pluses. CPU/GPU performance: Generally something better than N3450 (tested my brother's CHUWI surbook mini) and more recent will help, GPU performance is irrelevant for the task so the majority of intergrated GPU's will do fine. RAM: 4GB absolute minimum, 8gb ideal Cooling: I prefer passive cooling, but usually the cooling solution used is sh*t. At least in some cases it can be modded (i'm experienced and willing to do) Battery: 4 hours light use with full display brightness as minimum. If charging is performed over USB-C i hope it is not the stupid kind of power->battery->device like in phones and can work like in laptops where the battery is not used when power is supplied to the laptop. This way you don't wear out the battery since the device will be connected to power most of the time it is operated. Storage: 64gb absolute min, ideal min should be 128gb, speed is relative but i think at least m.2 sata interface ssd; NVME huge + Others: Pen support and attachable keyboard are pluses, but i plan on using a good bluetooth keyboard with backlight (required) so it makes them irrelevant if the tablet is good, Thunderbolt 3 is a +, unlocked bios +, kickstand should work on a lap without cutting your pants off and stay in one place, sd card reader + Reliability: From what i read most chinese tablets are pretty bad with both hardware and software issues out of the box. Backcover should be metal to act as heatsink and be stiff enough, weight and thickness is not that important Condition: New or used. I believe some products offer better value when bought used and others because have been discontinued Pricing: My budget is flexible but depending on the features lots of them are overpriced especially bought new. I would say ~500eur for a new tablet with min features required and 1000eur for one with better hardware. Considering i'm building a 7nm PC in a couple of months the market pricing is really unacceptable for most windows tablets. Blame Apple for it, but i'm not a rich consumer neither i am a sheep. Performance to value is what i always look for.

I literally checked every windows tablet and 2-in-1 i believe. Here some potential picks and what i didn't like.

Microsoft Surface Pro (4 - 5 - 6): At first glance it is a good base candidate..but..really Microsoft? It's 2019 and no USB-C? Proprietary connector and overpriced hardware? Questionable reliability? Get the f*ck out of here. Unless you find a good used deal i don't think it would be worth it. Another Apple wannabe. Eve-tech EVE V: This is one tablet that hits all the boxes, kinda, since by now it is almost obsolete in terms of CPU performance..sadly while i'm greek-cypriot i would go with the stereotypical view for greeks because the CEO is a "malakas" and i'm really sorry to all the people that were scammed. On the other hand i believe there is some truth to the Paypal issues he had since my friend had similar issues (because of not much experience) and even I couldn't help him get them fixed as Paypal is run by assholes as well which need a punch to the face (their excuse it is the system and they can't do anything about it - like wtf). I still use it but the time a different payment system reaches similar adoption i would gladly switch. Chuwi Surbook: Slow CPU, screen is not fully laminated, mediocre specs but was good price at some time ago. Maybe the announced "surbook pro" would fair better? Voyo Vbook i5/i7 Plus: Nice screen, fair pricing? Not the most quality build, shitty battery, i7 model throttles? Teclast X6 Pro: A slightly better vbook i5? No full detailed reviews yet, and i wasn't that impressed from the previous X5 review Alldocube Knote 8: Seems good on paper, but no type-A usb ports Jumper EZpad 6: Possibly the only windows tablet in stock with a good value, however i need something with a better and larger display Acer Switch 3/5: Mediocre screens, single type-A port on the right side (since my car is RHD and the ecu is on the left side i would prefer it on the left side), shitty battery performance, a little overpriced Dell XPS 12 9290/Latitude 5290/Latitude 7285: Great displays, powerful, only 5290 has type-A port, mediocre battery life, overpriced but there are good used deals Asus Transformer 3 Pro T303UA/T304UA: Premium specs but discontinued, expensive, only 1 type-A port and it is on the right side (again), T304 is a huge step backwards even though newer (what the heck Asus, are you drunk?) Lenovo ThinkPad X1: Overpriced, no type-A ports, Gen3 is too big and has display coating issues, Gen2 is more suitable due to size and type-a interface but older and screen brightness not that good - all too tall Lenovo MIIX series: new 630 uses an ARM processor so no go (since i can't force the software developpers to re-compile), 720 rates very high in the features i need, 2 usb type-A ports, nice display, etc. 520 is a little newer with weaker hardware but still good for its price HP Pro X2/Envy X2/Elite X2 1012: HP's other offerings like the Elite X2 1013 are too tall for my needs, and while they have good displays and good build quality i am not font of their design decisions. I have a Zbook 17 G5 workstation at work we bought new and not even 6 months passed and the CPU fan now rattles like crazy..here's my 1st day rant about it: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Note-to-HP-Zbook-17-G5-design-engineers-Please-read-and/td-p/6914797 Also they are overpriced like crazy. I wouldn't ever think of buying again from them. Also the power supply is proprietary as some of the internal hardware. F*ck HP Huawei MateBook E: Aside the lack of ports it is a pretty good designed device, display is perfect but slightly smaller than the biggest i can fit - depending on price it might be a good consideration assuming i can run a USB-C dock i can charge within the car Samsung Galaxy Book 12: Similar to the Huawei above, just a little faster but with a worse display, extra usb-C port. Older and more expensive than the Huawei Toshiba Portege X30T and others: Ports are on the keyboard and not on the tablet, won't work for me.

I think i've covered 99% of the options but i may could have missed 1 or 2. To be honest i won't need this tablet for another 3-6months i would guess but at least i've done my research so i will be prepared when the time comes to buy one. What do you think? I know i went a little crazy but i'm that type of person that never regrets his purchasing choices because i don't buy blindly.