pgalvin (u/pgalvin) - Readit News

pgalvin commented on Is 4chan the perfect Pirate Bay poster child to justify wider UK site-blocking? torrentfreak.com/uk-govt-... · Posted by u/gloxkiqcza

dndvr · 16 days ago

Can't have the populace heating the voice of the guy who was never proven to be a member of the ra, better they listen to the sexy husband of convicted provo bomber Dolours Price instead.

Dolours being the sister of Marian Price who is currently suiting Disney over being depicted shooting Jean McConville in the back of the head in Say Nothing.

pgalvin · 16 days ago

For what it’s worth, despite the legal situation, it is virtually unanimously accepted by historians, journalists, academics, and the wider Irish and British public, that Gerry Adams was a member of the IRA. Nobody seriously disputes this.

pgalvin commented on Thoughts on Daylight Computer jon.bo/posts/daylight-com... · Posted by u/3r7j6qzi9jvnve

steveBK123 · 7 months ago

I've got one coming my way hopefully in next 2 months..

I kind of see it similarly to this review - a new category of device and not quite a 1-1 replacement of anything I have.

I have reluctantly owned Kindles & iPads since v1 of each, and don't particularly like either.

For me the iPad is always the 2nd (or 3rd) best device - if I'm seated indoors at a table or sofa, a MacBook is better.. if I'm on the go, a big iPhone is better.. if I am doing book length reading, a kindle is better. I can go a week or three without picking up my iPad. I find the OS annoyingly close to being a proper mini MacOS that never quite gets close enough in terms of multitasking/etc. It almost would be better by not trying to do so many things.

That said I find Kindles to be the worst tech product I regularly use, hands down. It's good for reading books in bed, thats basically it. But its so much better at that, I use it daily.

All the notetaking/highlighting/sharing functionality is garbage. Attempts to download/purchase more books on it are clunky enough I just wait til I'm back at phone/desktop. It also has the most bizarre ad targeting showing me content I would never read despite having nearly 20 years of my reading history.

I've even tried the Remarkable (v1) for a couple years as a work note-taking device.

So I'm hoping the Daylight solves the "3rd device" issue a bit better, but tbd. Light computing, mostly for reading, plus some light note taking, touch & keyboard, better battery life and a screen that works outdoors.

pgalvin · 7 months ago

I may have misunderstood your comments on Kindles. How are they the worst tech product you use, if you also think they’re the best at their intended purpose? Do you mean that you still find e-ink technology lacking, but there is nothing better?

pgalvin commented on The origins of 60-Hz as a power frequency (1997) ieeexplore.ieee.org/docum... · Posted by u/theamk

freeqaz · 7 months ago

Interesting to think about what the future could look like. What if breaker boxes were "smart" and able to negotiate higher voltages like USB-C does? It would avoid the problem of a kid sticking a fork in an outlet, or a stray wire getting brushed accidentally when installing a light fixture.

Time will tell!

pgalvin · 7 months ago

> It would avoid the problem of a kid sticking a fork in an outlet

One of the best things about living in the UK! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEfP1OKKz_Q

pgalvin commented on Israel, Hamas reach ceasefire deal to end 15 months of war in Gaza reuters.com/world/middle-... · Posted by u/dnsbty

kamikazeturtles · 8 months ago

Are the Palestinians in the West Bank supposed to love their armed illegal settler neighbors?

It feels like almost ever day that I see a video of a Palestinian's home in the West Bank being demolished or a Palestinian family being harassed by armed settlers

pgalvin · 8 months ago

I think you might have misinterpreted the comment above you. I took it to mean that there are a set of circumstances unique to Gaza that cause greater conflict between it and Israel than between the West Bank and Israel, which is not sufficiently explained by generational trauma alone.

pgalvin commented on The heist that made the Mona Lisa famous history.com/news/the-heis... · Posted by u/thunderbong

Vecr · 10 months ago

He said the thief returned the original. The copies would have (supposedly) sold to people who wouldn't be able to complain without incriminating themselves.

pgalvin · 10 months ago

I was referring to the commenter’s second idea that perhaps the Mona Lisa on display today is a copy. Alas, the truth is less interesting.

pgalvin commented on The heist that made the Mona Lisa famous history.com/news/the-heis... · Posted by u/thunderbong

david927 · 10 months ago

The details of the crime seem to point to something like this.

Remember that Picasso was questioned and probably involved. One theory is that what we think is the original is, in fact, a master-copy by Picasso. The original is held privately in Florence.

pgalvin · 10 months ago

Unfortunately (for a fun theory), carbon dating and x-rays of the Mona Lisa have disproved that.

pgalvin commented on Epic Games Store and Fortnite Arrive on EU iPhones arstechnica.com/gadgets/2... · Posted by u/mpweiher

cesarb · a year ago

> If this would be the case, then a SIM-enabled Windows notebook would also be competition for the iPhone.

Can that SIM-enabled Windows notebook do phone calls using the cell operator network (that is, not over the Internet)? If not (that is, if it uses the SIM only for data), then it's not an iPhone competitor. The "smartphone" category (which is where all iPhone competitors reside) requires being both "smart" (that is, with PDA functionality) and being a "phone"; the Librem 5 (and, for instance, the Nokia N900) fits comfortably in that category.

pgalvin · a year ago

Nowadays, and especially for those under about 30, phone calls come near-last on the list of things smartphones are used for.

To change to the Librem 5, I would need to:

- change the way I communicate with all of my friends and family by using SMS over the _only_ method used in much of the world - WhatsApp.

- be excluded from context surrounding many social gatherings due to not being in group chats.

- change the way I travel with very, very different navigation apps that lack turn-by-turn directions.

- stop using social media when on the go - mobile websites often lack many features, if they even exist.

- accept significantly reduced quality photographs of memories, especially in low light.

- meticulously acquire local files for tens of thousands of songs I have organised in Spotify playlists for over a decade, and totally change the way I discover new music.

- lose Shazam and apps like it, so I’ll forever be wondering “what was that song I liked…?”

- entirely change from the mobile-only bank that I use (and, even then, suffer the atrocious UX of most online banking).

- change from the convenience of Apple/Google/etc. photos to setting up Syncthing, my own NAS, and making sure it keeps running and never goes wrong.

- become stranded when public transport stops running at night, as I can’t get an Uber, or try to get a normal taxi at 3am. I’m not even sure they exist where I am.

- carry a wallet, or at the very least my cards, with me for the first time in 9 years.

Unfortunately, the duopoly is well-entrenched, especially for those born after 1995 or so and outside the US (SMS is very, very rarely used in much of the rest of the world). You could tell people that there are plenty of workarounds - I listed many above - and some sacrifices to use a Linux phone, they should try it! But then they would ask “why?” and you’d be hard-pressed to give any reason they care about.