tmpod

@tmpod@lemmy.pt

Estudante de Engenharia Informática apaixonado pela área; algures em Portugal.

Administrador da instância lemmy.pt.

Computer Science student, passionate about the field; somewhere in Portugal.

lemmy.pt instance administrator.

tmpod.dev

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

tmpod OP ,

That's the "Local link" I included in the post body.

tmpod Mod ,

I run a regional instance (lemmy.pt, for Portugal and the Portuguese language) and I definitely feel the hardships of Lemmy being so small. It's very hard to grow more specialized communities when the overall pull of the platform is so small, since most people looking for ""niche"" topics would rather stick to the bigger communities on Reddit and whatnot instead of opting for the tiny thing going on the Fediverse.

tmpod Mod ,

Yeah I always like to browse those too. You could start a community/post about the shows you're following. I'm thinking of starting something for The Boys, since it's starting now (maybe HotD too?)

tmpod Mod ,

Yeah, hopefully! The instance exists since 2021 and we're still small, even with the 2022 Reddit blackout. A lot of people registered then, but quickly realized Reddit was still bigger and went back. It's a shame, but I'll keep it running for as long as I can.

tmpod Mod ,

I will create a community somewhere soon (will look in lemmyverse.net and pick a nice instance other than lemmy.world :p), and leave you another comment when it's ready, so you can subscribe :)

What they did to GoT after season 4 (probably my favorite; the Oberyn plot is just so good) is nothing short of a crime 🙃
Seasons 5 and 6 still have some good episodes and plot lines, but the lack of source material starts showing. Season 7 takes a deep dive and 8 just disappears into the void. It's depressing to think about.
Still, I love the world too much and heard good things about it after a couple of episodes were out, so I decided to give it a try, and loved it. It's very well done from a more "technical" standpoint (as was GoT, even in later seasons), but the writing is also pretty good. Give it a shot!

tmpod Mod ,

Here it is :D (!theboys)

tmpod Mod ,

No problem! I've created separate posts for all episodes, so feel free to chime in as you watch them :)

tmpod Mod ,

Yeah, sure. That's because we're also fairly small and Reddit isn't really that popular, especially among older folks.

Regarding the 1 sub, I don't think the issue is having too many communities, seeing as !portugal serves as a main hub and has pretty loose restrictions already. The issue is more of the overall visibility of Lemmy paired with the low usage of Reddit-like mediums in Portugal.

tmpod OP ,

The two biggest things are lifetime extensions and inline consts. Both will allow you to write more concise code and, in the case of lifetime extensions, may help eliminate some bugs, since you won't need to work around that limitation anymore.

tmpod OP ,

Indeed!

tmpod OP ,

Yeah exactly! It's a great case of "invisible" improvements.

tmpod ,

I've settled on Manjaro for this computer, and I'm pretty happy with it (I've stooped distro-hopping, I just don't have the energy, nor the time to entertain that on my only laptop), though I'm considering changing to base Arch for my next one (which I hope is still 3 years or so in the future; this machine is only 4 yro still). Why? Because the version wait on Manjaro seems a bit arbitrary sometimes and that lag often doesn't play nice with the AUR (which I love). Sometimes I think of switching to more esoteric distros, such as the neat Alpine (which I've been using on servers for a while) and reproducible NixOS, but then I question the day to day usability and pain points, which are quite relevant to me atm.

Why do I like Manjaro though? I like the Arch made easier, the mhwd tools, the support forums (which I know people have mixed feelings on, but my experience has been nothing other than very pleasant).

Feel free to discuss my points!

tmpod ,

Thanks for the suggestion! However, I'm more than comfortable going with Arch now, something that wasn't true when I first picked up Manjaro (over 6 years ago).

tmpod Mod ,

As a slight joke (but only slight), ministers and other positions of power. It's incredible how poorly qualified some nominated ministers are, over here...

Democracy should allow anyone to run to be elected, but people nominated by the prime minister for specific ministries, should have some degree of education or experience in the field. Until very recently, there was essentially no assessment of skills. Now there are some forms and whatnot, but I still find it very lacking.

For example, we had a minister over 10 years ago that got his Bachelor's nullified by a court ordering following an investigation of some shady deals with the University.

tmpod ,

Seeing Portugal in second depresses me, but it's kinda expected :/

tmpod ,

True that 😅
Fado hits hard

tmpod Mod ,

No, you can leave it in case someone might be thinking of asking the same. The community isn't really moderated atm either way (though that may be changing soon :tm:).

tmpod Mod ,

Lol I know, hence why I say stuff might be changing in the near future. I need to get the other mods onboard, can't really act alone :p

tmpod ,

Incredible update, well worth the wait!

Congrats to everyone involved :D

tmpod ,

Great comment, cheers!

tmpod Mod ,

The Mass Effect trilogy is full of favorite moments for me, but perhaps the most memorable one is when you romance Tali and get(h) to the final push on Earth, in ME3.It's beautiful.

tmpod Mod ,

Yes!! Mordin's arc is beautiful <3

Do you use both a personal desktop and laptop?

I'm moreso curious if laptop functions have been offloaded to phones. If you have a full gaming desktop, do you see the use case for an additional laptop? or if most people here don't see the need for the increased processing power of a desktop, do you just use your laptop and a phone?...

tmpod Mod ,

I've been a laptop-only guy for over 10 years, here's my take:

At first, I wanted a powerful and colorful desktop computer, so I could play all the games I wanted, maybe touch on some 3D software, and overall have a cool setup. However, I couldn't afford it at all (though times during and after the 2009 crisis, in Portugal), so I ended up just sticking with the handful of years old, 17 inch and 4Kg laptop my older brother had given me.
The years passed and I never bought a desktop. The mobility and versatility of laptops was too good to give up, and having poured many hours into configuring my system (first years of laptop-only coincided with first years of Linux, pretty much) I didn't want to have to manage and sync two different computers. I wasn't aware of Nix and similar OSs, but even that doesn't solve the sync issue. Now my work requires me to take a computer with me, so I must have a laptop. I also work from home quite a lot, but I like to work outside, in the porch/garden.

Nowadays you can get really good and mobile (gaming) laptops, like the ones from XMG (and their sister brands) or even the newer Frameworks (which are also great for other obvious reasons). Even XMG laptops are quite reparable, outside of CPU/GPU failures, and DIY is supported by the seller. I'm currently rocking their XMG Fusion 15 L19 (late 2019), and am incredibly happy with my purchase, it's still in pristine shape!

Of course, this doesn't apply to everyone, but I think a laptop is generally a safer bet, if you know where to buy.
Happy to discuss this further! :)

Edit: Just wanted to drop an very nice laptop-focused channel: Bob Of All Trades. It seems they haven't been very active as of late, but they were very informative and had good guides some years ago, when I was looking for a new laptop.

tmpod ,

These are some good suggestions! The most crucial one is perhaps a ditching Gmail, but using alternative apps, such as newpipe and stuff, also go a long way. Unfortunately, the system is fighting against you and you'll have to really use a freer operating system to properly get away from Google. Still, these are good steps to take.

tmpod ,

I meant alternative apps to Google's in general, not to GMail specifically. Ditching GMail is an important step, as you block a relevant source of personal information, but using alternative apps, like MajorHavoc recommended, is another great step. NewPipe is one of such apps (I disagree Tubular is a better pick, but that's something for another post).

K-9 and FairMail aren't a good alternative to GMail. Not alone, that is. GMail is both an e-mail provider and a client, but I'd argue the first point is the most relevant. If you use a FOSS e-mail client with your Google account, nothing is really changing, they will still read all your mail. You have to change providers as well, which isn't trivial for most people.
E-mail is an insecure means of communication, so you shouldn't even use it for sensitive things, depending on your threat model, as usual. I personally use Migadu as my provider, for all the customisability and "vanilla" e-mail infrastructure they have, but Proton and Tuta are good alternatives as well, if you don't mind or don't care about the non-standard extensions.

tmpod ,

Yes, it is a hard step, but it is perhaps the most relevant one, hence why it's important to get started with it, unless some external factor prevents the change. If you still have other Google apps (including Google Services), then uninstalling Gmail really does very little to nothing.

tmpod ,

While others have mentioned the great GrapheneOS, I will throw two other options:

  • CalyxOS — privacy oriented Android OS. While Graphene focus on security pretty much above all else, Calyx focus on privacy (and usability) more. Both essentially only target Pixel phones and are great choices.
  • LineageOS + MicroG — AOSP fork, continuation of the old CyanogenMod, with an open implementatinon of Google Services. This is perhaps the most "normal" OS, seeing as Lineage's core is user freedom and not exactly privacy; however, with MicroG, you get a pretty private system with very few to none of the side effects of deviating a lot from standard Android.

Graphene is a great project, but I think it may be a bit too much for someone that is just entering the privacy world, hence why I'm suggesting these two options as alternatives that are less strict and "cumbersome" to use, so to speak, while not really sacrificing privacy.

In the end, as all things privacy, it depends a lot on your threat model, your tech proficiency and willingness to make "sacrifices" and adapt.

tmpod ,

That is interesting to hear, why do you think so?

tmpod ,

I see, that's a good point indeed, it can be a good learning step. From a privacy standpoint, however, it's not that effective.

tmpod Mod ,

Not a lot, I don't think long usage of social media is beneficial to anyone in the long run, even though I've been running a (small) instance for quite a while now.
I have integrated checking social media feeds (just Lemmy and HackerNews nowadays) into my daily routine, usually only happening in the morning and evening. Because of my admin and mod duties, I end up opening Lemmy more than twice a day, but only to check on reports, applications, etc.

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