RandomPancake
@RandomPancake@lemmy.world
- Comment on GM’s CarPlay replacement software is off to a disastrous start - 9to5Mac 11 months ago:
The backup camera is one of those things that you mock until you get one, then you can’t fathom living without it. But you can easily add an aftermarket one to an existing system.
I wound up paying for Subaru Starlink when I discovered that any dealership can sell it to you, and several sell it at steep discounts. I’m paying $10 / month for a 7-year package that includes emergency response if my airbags go off or the car flips, stolen vehicle location, and some other things I really don’t use. It basically stays out of the way. But when I had a Hyundai, I’d regularly get BlueLink popups about “special savings at your local dealership” and long story short, that’s the main reason I didn’t buy another Hyundai.
- Comment on GM’s CarPlay replacement software is off to a disastrous start - 9to5Mac 11 months ago:
This will be the most middle aged thing I ever post, but:
I’m Gen X. I feel like my generation, and maybe some millennials, got the best of both worlds. We know what it’s like to live in an offline world, including cars. You can drop me anywhere in the continental US and I can drive home without GPS, and probably without a map. We grew up on mixtape-fueled road trips and not having every inch of our commute planned and cross-checked. We didn’t know exactly what to expect in that upcoming town or city, because there was no Tripadvisor or Wikitravel.
We also know how convenient smartphones can be. It’s great that I don’t have to carry a camera plus a camcorder plus a Walkman plus an atlas plus a photo album plus a laptop plus a calling card plus a bag phone plus a notepad plus an encyclopedia plus a wristwatch plus a travel alarm clock plus whatever else I’m forgetting. But take that all away, and it’s at worst a mild annoyance.
So if I can’t use Android Auto, I’m just going to not buy that car. And if all cars suddenly stop shipping with Android Auto, then I’ll see that as a precursor to mandatory 30-second ads before being able to drive, and I’ll just buy whatever car remotely meets my needs AND makes it easy for me to install an aftermarket Android head unit.
- Comment on GM’s CarPlay replacement software is off to a disastrous start - 9to5Mac 11 months ago:
Who could have imagined that this might happen?
Look I don’t know about you but when I hear “quality software development” the first company that comes to mind is GM so
- Comment on GM’s CarPlay replacement software is off to a disastrous start - 9to5Mac 11 months ago:
I can honestly say that the phrase “my radio was stuck in a boot loop” is something I ever thought I’d need to say, but here we are.
Side note, you know what would be just absolutely perfect? Just Bluetooth. I don’t need to watch Disney+ while I drive. I don’t need up-to-the-minute notifications of the hottest celebrity news. I don’t need sports updates. I don’t need to know what my stocks are doing right now.
I just want to play music.
- Comment on HP raising Instant Ink subscription pricing significantly 11 months ago:
This is yet another reason why I would not buy or recommend HP printers anymore. My ancient laserjet from 10 years ago is still going strong, but if it ever kicks the bucket, I’m getting a Brother. They seem to just work without any hassle.
- Comment on Four years after Apple, Google will finally kill third-party cookies in 2024 11 months ago:
I know people are passionate about their love / hated of Brave, but it along with LibreWolf (and Firefox) all offer strong fingerprinting protection out of the box. With Firefox, just make sure you add uBlock Origin.
- Comment on Four years after Apple, Google will finally kill third-party cookies in 2024 11 months ago:
Browser fingerprinting is nasty and easy. There are ways to push back but it’s still awful.
- Comment on Comcast resists call to stop its misleading “10G Network” claims | Comcast renamed its whole network "Xfinity 10G" despite cable's slower speeds. 1 year ago:
In related news, AT&T has decided to rebrand their 5G network as 25G.
- Comment on Gen Z is cooking more and shopping less as they struggle to achieve financial success 1 year ago:
Yeah I feel like the headline is intentionally bait-y here.
Eating out adds up fast, and if you’re on a limited budget, of course you’re going to start cooking more. Even if we’re generous with the word “cooking” to include things like cereal and sandwiches. And of course you’re going to reevaluate your shopping when money is tight. Lock down to the essentials to stretch that paycheck.
The people who complain about their finances while simultaneously eating out 3x a day and buying shit they don’t need are digging their own holes. Spend the money on shit you DO need and save the rest.
- Comment on Six months ago NPR left X. The effects have been negligible — X wasn’t worth the effort, at least in terms of traffic 1 year ago:
I had a really old Twitter account going back to 2009, maybe 2008. I don’t even remember. Back then it was great for connecting with friends, making plans, meeting new people, etc. I hadn’t done anything meaningful with it in years so I logged in to see if it was really as bad as everyone was claiming.
Narrator: It was.
Within a month I was simultaneously a fascist, an anarchist, a bootlicker, a socialist, and a troll. I think I had posted a picture of a cup of coffee and maybe my cat.
Deleted, moved on with life.
- Comment on Windows 12 May Require a Subscription 1 year ago:
Kagis?
- Comment on Windows 12 May Require a Subscription 1 year ago:
Honestly OneDrive is actually very good as far as cloud storage platforms go. It just works. I paid for a subscription for a few years.
But starting around the 1000th time Microsoft tried to install even more bloatware I started looking for alternatives. For the low low price of “spend a few minutes learning about Tailscale” and buying a few extra hard drives, I’ve got 24TB of storage. My most important stuff gets encrypted locally and backed up to B2. I use Immich to manage my photos, so now I dropped my Google Drive subscription as well. Still on the fence about Nextcloud’s office suites but LibreOffice works great.
The only reason I still use Win11 is because gaming on Linux still has some issues with the games I play.
- Comment on Windows 12 May Require a Subscription 1 year ago:
Microsoft: “Windows 12 is free but all our great built-in apps like Candy Crush, Linkedin, and MegaStomp are unavailable without a subscription.”
Me: “Yup.”
Microsoft: “But if you don’t subscribe, you’ll miss out on hot celebrity gossip and the latest fashion news! And you won’t be able to use Bing AI to find great deals on amazing products from our trusted corporate partners!”
Me: “Sounds good, thanks.”