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Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

blog.hydroponictrash.solar

21–30 of 83 posts

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#22
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a (very much!) enhanced version of https://github.com/anthropics/claude-desktop-buddy running on a different ESP32 board with a case: https://github.com/nlothian/claude-desktop-buddy-FNK010B/tre... I have a bunch of Home Assistant controls using a variety of custom controls and cases. I have a custom version of Seeed's ESPClaw ( https://github.com/Seeed-Projects/espclaw - there are a lot of other ESP Claws too…

Any chance you have or could post pics of those custom HA controllers? Seeing custom interactables and how they integrate with ppl's environments are always suuuuper interesting

https://imgur.com/a/p7P1WBt

One-shotted LVGL UI (which I think it a bit ugly).

A Bluetooth gateway has a flat battery so 2 temperature sensors aren't getting relayed.

This is a Guition ESP32-S3-4848S040 board with this case https://makerworld.com/en/models/2859961-guition-4-esp32-s3-...

About $25 in total I think.

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#23

Cyberdecks are nice for photos and build blog posts, but does anyone actually regularly use them?

Idk if it merits being called a cyberdeck, but i use my rickety suitcase tablet+keyboard+mouse (+ powerbank) setup which I VNC from to my house computers mainly. One of the reasons is local LLMs being often impractical to run directly in my laptop, especially as I also do other things. Before that I didn't use it as much. Sometimes I just put the laptop and the mouse in the suitcase, mainly because I find the trackpad virtually unusable for VNC, particularly for copy-paste.

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#24
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For general compute they will lose to a laptop, but that isn't supposed to be their purpose. I think the best use cases require extra hardware that would make a laptop too bulky or awkward. For example a deck with a VNA, SDR, scope, and arbitrary waveform generator for field work with radio equipment. The traditional computer capabilities are sort of extra. Any sort of diagnostic "cart" with a dedicated computer and…

I'm imagining a computer set up for DJing with big-ass speakers on the outside top lid, and a bunch of analog controls on either side of the keyboard, and a heavy battery.

That's not only possible, but was done to death in the early 2000s during the heyday of car audio components, "home theater" PCs, iPods, and finally good enough laptops.

If you built one of those you were automatically the DJ after school, at the skate park, etc. You better believe those SLA batteries were heavy.

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#25
I read the article and sadly I think the author missed a key thing that is going on.

Yes, there are few people who created cyberdecks as a counter-culture, anti-company tool (which is a lot of what the author argues).

But some of the newer ones they highlight are nothing more than engagement farming reels. They are the very definition of the opposite of what the author writes here:

> We want to escape the algorithmic plantations that tech companies have herded us into.

I don't know of they fail to see this because they are blinded by their hope or there is a more complex viewpoint I'm missing.

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#26
post #25

I read the article and sadly I think the author missed a key thing that is going on. Yes, there are few people who created cyberdecks as a counter-culture, anti-company tool (which is a lot of what the author argues). But some of the newer ones they highlight are nothing more than engagement farming reels. They are the very definition of the opposite of what the author writes here: > We want to escape the algorithmic…

Agree. Any hobby can become superficial content for Instagram, especially if your only or main source of information is online channels. But real communities exist, and you need to be in the real world to experience them firsthand.

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#27
post #25

I read the article and sadly I think the author missed a key thing that is going on. Yes, there are few people who created cyberdecks as a counter-culture, anti-company tool (which is a lot of what the author argues). But some of the newer ones they highlight are nothing more than engagement farming reels. They are the very definition of the opposite of what the author writes here: > We want to escape the algorithmic…

Agree. Any hobby can become superficial content for Instagram, especially if your only or main source of information is online channels. But real communities exist, and you need to be in the real world to experience them firsthand.

Not arguing that real communities don't exist!

I'm arguing that the author's main point is based on the Instagram posts, and this is invalid.

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#28

I'll just wait until I can jack in with a jailbroken Neuralink.

If you already have the electrodes installed in your brain you can use stimulation circuitry from the courtocal labs cl1 to get a bidirectional bci.

https://corticallabs.com/cl1

Unfortunately getting that as elective surgery is impossible in the developed world and the quality of Brazilian back alley brain surgery leaves a lot to be desired.

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#29
post #25

I read the article and sadly I think the author missed a key thing that is going on. Yes, there are few people who created cyberdecks as a counter-culture, anti-company tool (which is a lot of what the author argues). But some of the newer ones they highlight are nothing more than engagement farming reels. They are the very definition of the opposite of what the author writes here: > We want to escape the algorithmic…

I don't know of they fail to see this because they are blinded by their hope or there is a more complex viewpoint I'm missing.

There is. "We want to escape" is a very different viewpoint from "we want to liberate the masses."

Freeing yourself from the social media is definitely doable. Depending on how firmly engaged you are at the moment, it can vary in difficulty between fait accompli and moderately challenging. It's obviously possible for anyone to do themselves.

Liberating the masses? Morpheus said it best:

"The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it."

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#30
post #29
post #25

I read the article and sadly I think the author missed a key thing that is going on. Yes, there are few people who created cyberdecks as a counter-culture, anti-company tool (which is a lot of what the author argues). But some of the newer ones they highlight are nothing more than engagement farming reels. They are the very definition of the opposite of what the author writes here: > We want to escape the algorithmic…

I don't know of they fail to see this because they are blinded by their hope or there is a more complex viewpoint I'm missing. There is. "We want to escape" is a very different viewpoint from "we want to liberate the masses." Freeing yourself from the social media is definitely doable. Depending on how firmly engaged you are at the moment, it can vary in difficulty between fait accompli and moderately challenging. It…

> "We want to escape" is a very different viewpoint from "we want to liberate the masses."

I don't think this is a point the author spoke about at all.

To crudely summarize what I think their claim is: Cyberdecks are an anti-big tech creation. They are spreading outside traditional hackers and the proof is these reels.

My claim is that cyberdecks are not spreading, and instead those reels is just evidence that (a) people will mine all subcultures for topics that they can create views from and (b) the author themselves is enabling this behavior.

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