I installed FakeStore and set the app’s installed_by* property from Package Manager to FakeStore (com.android.vending, the same as Google Play Store), which was enough to fool the public transport app I’m using. Is this the workaround you’re talking about, or does it require MicroG too?

* Not what it’s actually called, can’t remember that

It’s the apps that prevent themselves being sideloaded. Presumably, their devs will enact similar policy on EU iOS too.

It was advertised as “2 TB (64 GB Extended)” at a local clearance sale (not AliExpress), which was basically correct though I would prefer “64 GB but misprogrammed so everything can get corrupted at any time”. When buying it, I didn’t yet know if I could reprogram the chip but the low price was justified for the pretty aluminum case with a USB-C port and place for a custom PCB. I decided to buy it also to prevent another, less technical person from using it and losing their data. The store was getting rid of inventory for very cheap and would close soon so no more fake drives would be ordered.

Well, depends on how much you’re OK with some problems. I knowingly bought a “2 TB (64 GB Extended)” flash drive, tested its sectors and reprogrammed it to 32-in-64-GB for wear leveling and bad sector avoidance because it was still a cheap 32GB USB drive. I made sure to label it for “non-critical use” such as movies.

As for camping lanterns, ones charged from mains might have a nasty habit of shocking their users. (The YouTube channel contains a huge number of cheap Chinese charger teardowns and most don’t meet safety criteria. Usually, there is just 1 or 2 layers of thin tape between mains and the output you can touch.)

Sometimes, counterfeits or unknown brands are so similar to the real deal that it barely matters. I’d say that basic electronics (alarm clocks, kitchen scales, calculators, SD security cams) or even RAM is fine. With appropriate expectations, parts like video or USB cables, hubs etc., small home improvement items (hooks, screws) are fine too. Avoid categories where a lot of items have fake specs (storage devices, LED bulbs, anything that claims a runtime on a Li-Ion battery). Power electronics (especially if using mains or non-tiny Li-Ion batteries) can be downright dangerous. For novelty items and electronics modules, it’s usually easy to find text or video reviews on other websites because they’re easy to uniquely describe. Remember to consider ways in which the product can be utter crap despite high reviews citing good first impressions; it also helps to have practical knowledge of testing the properties of the items and fixing common issues.

Well, then you’re going to hear

Limited offer! Sign up until September 30 for Ford Fun Plus and get a year of ad-free rides at just $10 per month!

most of the time, much like Spotify.
(Last time I was in a Spotify-“enhanced” waiting room was 6 years ago so no idea if that still holds.)

They are purposefully slowing down old.reddit.com. Expect a lot of refugees when its inevitable shutdown happens.

Anyway, infrastructure mismanagement is typical for late-stage enshittification. Value of the company goes down, and execs who have sold their shares high are quietly stealing equipment from the datacenter to get some value out of it. (Not literally, they just fire any techs who suggest overdue upgrades and give themselves a bonus for making such a difficult decision.)

…Like MS-DOS getting open sourced. It’s pretty much worthless unless you need to use some really old device.

It’s a minix clone, so… mimix?

We should make a donation campaign, pretty sure somebody has a spare SATA drive around. This minix clone sounds good

I’m glad someone was able to donate a non-AT drive because Linus could not afford it :-(

With some camera trickery (perhaps mounting it in a way so that it gets tilted/dollied by moving the door, plus fake camera shake to make it look less artificial), one could create a perfect loop. These do well on platforms where watch time/duration ratio is logged and videos loop unless stopped, namely TikTok.

I have Bluetooth earbuds that crack open when they hit a hard surface (have surviveed so far) and the battery is a little Li-Ion pouch on soldered wires. They probably don’t last as long as sealed ones of the same size but it’s very easy to find and install a replacement battery. Just check disassembly guides before buying.

In the Czech Republic, BILLA uses them and they respond to the RFID reader on my phone. It’s a different kind though, most have black-white-red displays.

Can’t wait for somebody to hack them, the displays are certainly neat. Especially if they manage to add it to an existing Home Automation network without extra hardware.

AFAIK, they use RFID now so they must be changed manually but maybe someday, they will devise a price-gouging scheme involving face detection and tracking people with security cameras.

“Here comes this lady that always buys four cans of dog food despite the last price increase! Let’s notch it up it by another 20%!”

I agree. As long as anonymous voting doesn’t cause obvious trolling/spam issues, it should be preferred.

One of the reasons I’ve always found Facebook off-putting and never used it (even before learning about the shady practices) are the very visible votes. I tend to overanalyse any reaction and would judge people based on their votes on my posts, even if I consciously tried to avoid it. Similarly, I imagine some other people would do the same and I’d feel like I’m under surveillance.

unironically, your votes have great influence on the fate of posts

Arbitrators are very likely to lose their business if they rule against their more frequent client (which is the company of course).

It’s spelled roofying or roofieing