Smartphones have what? to do with “yield curve inversion”, even though that is already tagged OT? LOL
We had a dumb-phone (flip phone) for many years, until all the carriers switched over to 2G and obsoleted it. Since we had to get a new phone anyway, and since I had built up so much credit with my Sprint account ($25 min to be added every 3 months and calls cost me 25 cents/minute–and we rarely made calls) that we could get a smartphone for “free” using our credits, so the wife was pleased to finally get a smart phone.
Turns out nowadays that you just about have to have a smartphone. From what I’ve read, to enter into Canada you MUST have a COVID app on your phone, even citizens. And with lots of merchants & vendors you basically need to use a smartphone. Everybody, and I mean everybody assumes you have a cell phone. Makes it tricky with places like banks & brokers when they need to send you a text to verify that it’s you. Tricky for us, because our house is in a dip and we don’t get a cell signal here.
We have a dummy google account for the phone— Android essentially requires a Google account-- used exclusively for the phone. We never do anything other than install apps. But suddenly a week ago, Google somehow figured out my real Google account and hooked it up to the phone.
Google is evil. But I still own a bunch of GOOG stock.
Ralph,
Thanks! For instance, I have the Kiwix app on the phone and have downloaded an (instantly obsolete) version of wikipedia and wiktionary (~100Gb). I was recently somewhere that was 4 air hours from a cell tower and was able to look up all sorts of stuff. Every year or so I update to the latest (obsolete) wiki db. The entry for e.g. Henry the VIII doesn’t change that quickly. I also have a mapping app that uses open map data rather than Google or Apple maps. All my recipes are on the phone, and something over 3000 epub books. So yeah, I find the phone indispensible. And once in a while I call someone with it.
You could use an open source smartphone like Librem 5. https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/ In the very long term, my plan is to move to something like this. I almost entirely use open source software on my home computers, TV boxes etc and don’t miss anything but the phone side is still not there and moving to purely free software will definitely make me miss things.
They are highly privacy focused and offer a lot more than a dumb phone. I have been trying to get more private (deactivated my facebook account, basically never use my LinkedIn or Instagram account though I haven’t deleted them yet, changed from chrome to firefox and duckduckgo etc.) but I am still using gmail and an Android phone tied to my google account as well as google maps. Hence, while slightly more private than before, I can still be easily tracked if they put the additional effort. Since I don’t see almost any ads ever and have set up my youtube and other video access that way, I don’t know why they will. I have to be the most unprofitable customer ever :).
Kiwix is definitely a favorite app of mine. With wikipedia, gutenberg and wikivoyage, it is a pretty powerful free and non-tracking encyclopedia and books. It ensures that I have to not use a high end phone even though I am prepared to pay for one since they all don’t have microSD support to store all that stuff.
Jim: … a desire not to be profiled myself. I don’t have a smartphone, and don’t have accounts with Facebook, Google, Instagram, Uber, or anything similar. I don’t use Chrome. Even the dumb phone I carry is in someone else’s name (by accident originally, but I decided to keep it that way). My iPad has almost no apps, and I don’t use ICloud. Only about a dozen people have my “true” email address.
Good man — with a bad past, but enlightenment might still be possible for you, as it was even for Angulimala:
From an interview with one of the best bug bounty hunters (Hackers finding security and other flaws in software):
He would never use Whatsapp Once you start dealing with IT security, you often become more cautious in everyday life. Arrouas even says he’s a bit paranoid. «Anyone who knows how vulnerable our IT systems are starts to worry.» At the beginning of his time as a pen tester, he saw what his colleagues could do on a public online service. “I was shocked.” This experience has a concrete impact on everyday life. Arrouas doesn’t use Twitter, encrypt the data on his hard drives, or use a password manager for complex passwords he can’t remember himself. And he monitors his computer’s network connections – like big companies do, for example, to detect attacks. He avoids so-called “smart” devices in everyday life. His car is not connected to the internet. He doesn’t want a microphone on his TV remote control. And he would never use Whatsapp. “Basically, I try to keep my presence on the Internet as small as possible,” says Arrouas. Not everything can be secured, but the risk can be reduced.
Once you start dealing with IT security, you often become more cautious in everyday life. Arrouas even says he’s a bit paranoid. «Anyone who knows how vulnerable our IT systems are starts to worry.» At the beginning of his time as a pen tester, he saw what his colleagues could do on a public online service. “I was shocked.” This experience has a concrete impact on everyday life. Arrouas doesn’t use Twitter, encrypt the data on his hard drives, or use a password manager for complex passwords he can’t remember himself. And he monitors his computer’s network connections – like big companies do, for example, to detect attacks. He avoids so-called “smart” devices in everyday life. His car is not connected to the internet. He doesn’t want a microphone on his TV remote control. And he would never use Whatsapp. “Basically, I try to keep my presence on the Internet as small as possible,” says Arrouas. Not everything can be secured, but the risk can be reduced.
Most people live with viruses of the biological kind and the cyber kind and reach a happy ripe old age, despite the occasional pandemic. Letting the fear of microbes of any kind dictate your life sort of reminds me of Howard Hughes in his later years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Hughes#Last_years_and_d…
Most people live with viruses of the biological kind and the cyber kind and reach a happy ripe old age, despite the occasional pandemic. Letting the fear of microbes of any kind dictate your life sort of reminds me of Howard Hughes in his later years.
Sure, but there are degrees, right?
I wouldn’t give my Wifi password to my fridge any more than I would lick a public toilet.
Neither has any virus protection to speak of.
I don’t want Gafgyt or Mirai any more than I want gastroenteritis.
At least E. coli won’t drain my bank account.
I wouldn’t give my Wifi password to my fridge any more than I would lick a public toilet. Neither has any virus protection to speak of. I don’t want Gafgyt or Mirai any more than I want gastroenteritis. At least E. coli won’t drain my bank account.
All true. I don’t have any Alexa-like devices listening to me, or any active cameras inside the house. And I don’t back up anything to a cloud. But some technologies are too practical to forego, like outside security cameras that are hooked to wifi, or the app-controlled switch on my hot water pump. I think that not using a smart phone, or not loading some very useful apps on your tablet, is Hughes’ish paranoia. I worry more about a massive hack that would drain all of my bank’s or my broker’s accounts, and there’s nothing I can do about that.