Please wait...
I don't need it so wont, but ran across sort of a neat thing today ( may be old news to others )
Clockwork "uconsole".
A portable case for a RPI SOC, screen, keyboard, battery.. So far, eh, whatever, but its also got a slot for a 4G cellular modem. Sounds like a good candidate for a DYI VoIP phone. Sort of like i was talking about a few threads ago, but in a nice case.
WiFi, so when you have no cell.. still works...
And has BT of course so could be used as a meshtastic node too.
Around here we used to be warned we were going to make the switch away
from the current available networks, but that never happens because so
much people is still using the old ones.
It happens. In fact, here in the US some carriers kept 2G alive for quite some time after 3G was shut down for exactly that reason: embedded radios in cars, alarm systems, smart meters, vending machines, etc. were 2G and took longer to replace.
Equipment vendors are getting smarter about this, though. Often where you'd see an embedded 2G radio in the past, you'll now find a 4G radio attached to a USB or M.2 socket that can be upgraded without forklifting the entire appliance.
Fri Mar 15 2024 19:12:06 UTC from msgrhysIn the early morning, my father awoke to that creepy EAS tone emanating from his phone. It was a tornado warning.
Seriously, that tone is creepy.
Shouldn't it be?
Yes, it should. That doesn't change the fact that it is :P
Sat Nov 01 2025 07:29:55 UTC from ParanoidDelusions
Fri Mar 15 2024 19:12:06 UTC from msgrhysIn the early morning, my father awoke to that creepy EAS tone emanating from his phone. It was a tornado warning.
Seriously, that tone is creepy.
Shouldn't it be?
*le sigh*
I've got an "older" phone (if 2022 counts as "old") so I guess I'm off the upgrade train. I don't have the newest-and-best Google Messages.
So I switched back to Textra. Ironically, I originally moved to Google Messages because it has some spam filtering, and I'm moving back off it because of spam. Even with the filters on, the amount of text spam I get now is simply ridiculous. And the version of Google Messages I have doesn't have the ability to suppress messages, or even suppress alerts, from unknown numbers.
And that's what I want, y'see, because there's sooooooooooooooooooo much spam/scam coming over the wire now. Much of it is political, which I can't stand, and as the lists get sold to less and less reputable people it eventually falls into the hands of scammers who have nothing to do with any campaign and are just appealing to people who think they might be donating to something other than a scammer halfway around the world. And others are trying to appeal to my faith -- help Jesus save the unborn babies! It's out of control.
So back to Textra I go, with a setting that makes it suppress notifications for messages from numbers not in my contacts. I really wish it would file them in a spam/unknown folder instead. Maybe I can find a program that does that.
The real wake up was learning how entrenched I was in the RCS ecosystem. That's the Google equivalent to iMessage, dontcha know, where they figure out if both ends are on their system and if so, route around carrier SMS/MMS and just go device to device over their servers. A lot of messages got lost over a few days. I learned that I had to go to Google's web site and tell it to revoke the RCS registration for my phone number, to make it stop telling other Android users "yes, we'll take all your messages for IG right here on our servers, send 'em right here please."
And so I will always be that guy with the wrong color bubble, because I'm into sovereignty, at a pretty hardcore level.
And it seems we've turned that corner, where we just can't accept text messages from unknown numbers anymore. Sic transit gloria mundi.
Ya, it is pretty bad out there. I tend to ignore 99% of the messages i get on my phone. And the forced upgrade train, also sucks.
So I switched back to Textra. Ironically, I originally moved
to Google Messages because it has some spam filtering, and I'm
I don't get much SMS spam and I have three fucking phone numbers. I tend to use the stock application for SMS. I suppose my saving grace is I don't use a mainstream Operating System for my devices so the SMS applications I use are not really "stock".
But then I am intended to accept messages and calls from unknown numbers on two of the phones so it is not like I can just discard everything in my list of contacts. My list of contacts is thousands of entries long anyway because I integrate my phones with the contact books of the sites I work at.
Posts in this thread making me wish I could just Thumbs Up/Like a message without responding. I still think this is a useful social media feature Citadel could use.
But I know... It isn't gonna happen. Still, a guy can dream.
My phone isn't configured to "discard" messages from those not in my contacts ... it just doesn't emit a notification unless it's someone I know.
So if it was important, I'll see it eventually. And if I'm expecting an unsolicited text (such as "your order is ready for pickup") I'll go looking for it.
I realize that doesn't work for everyone. I'm fortunate enough to be existing in a space where anyone who can legit get on my case for not returning their text message, is already in my contacts.
I just can't say enough bad things about text spammers. Particularly the ones who pretend to be someone I might vote for or support. One even pretended to be Erika Kirk. These scammers are the second lowest form of life on the planet and they need to be raped with a cheese grater and then dumped into a vat of acid.