Interesting to see open source called "slow computing" (not quite what I expected when I clicked on the link). I've never been a big fan of the use of the word "slow" in the various slow movements though. I know the slow movements started with "slow food" and that was chosen to contrast with "fast food", but it does have connotations relating to physical speed, and I think that could be particularly misleading applied to computing. I prefer "thoughtful computing", "thoughtful food", "thoughtful parenting" etc. Too late to change now though.
The Joy of Slow Computing
31–40 of 49 posts
Re: The Joy of Slow Computing
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can't transmit things without facilitating the tracking of where you are transmitting from. True, but cellphones are constantly checking in to the network, even if they aren't transmitting any actual data. In theory, a cellphone could remain passive, waiting for a pager-like signal indicating there's an inbound connection waiting, and then iff the user wants to accept it, indicate its current position to the netwo…
> waiting for a pager-like signal indicating there's an inbound connection waiting, and then iff the user wants to accept it, indicate its current position to the network. So you page the entire network globally to find the device?
> So you page the entire network globally to find the device?
Or locally, and have the device check in when it enters a new geographic area instead of all the time. The accuracy of passive tracking could be decreased considerably if the protocols were designed with that goal in mind.
This is one of those cases where perfect is the enemy of good. Just because there will always be the possibility of tracking in wireless networks, does not mean that that we can not work on minimising that leak.
Re: The Joy of Slow Computing
#33I'm not sure I like the idea of calling the use of open source tools "slow computing", and connecting it up in people's minds the way we think about a middle-class fashion. Or maybe I'm just concerned about the middle class hipsters choosing open source tools ironically or without thought. It might give it an air of exclusion it does not - can not - deserve. I don't want open source tools to become equivalent to a mi…
Ironically or without thought might last until the first time the going gets tricky, don't you think?
Re: The Joy of Slow Computing
#34I think the author glorifies the archaic interface of Emacs too much, particularly since he doesn't need it for its original purpose as a programmer's editor. I wonder why he doesn't just use LibreOffice; it's equally free.
Re: The Joy of Slow Computing
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Why go the privacy route on my laptop, then have a smartphone? Suggestions? One of the things I considered quite a while ago, was getting a "feature phone" that allowed Bluetooth PAN -- a way of tethering via Bluetooth to it. This would allow me to get a feature phone with hopefully less tracking than our modern-day smartphones, but carry around an Android (or Ubuntu, perhaps?) tablet. That's the other thing you co…
Thanks, a Ubuntu Phone is a good idea.
I have an Ubuntu phone. Not sure exactly what is in there but there are definitely some packages borrowed from Android.
Re: The Joy of Slow Computing
#36As much as I enjoy playing with my Linux, OS X, and Windows 8.1 laptops, I have thought of going the free and privacy enhanced mode of Linux, running my OwnCloud, etc. The thing that holds me back is that I really rely on my Android smartphone for being able to SSH to a server anytime, write, and generally work on most stuff, only slower. The problem is that smart phones track us, even with custimization and are not…
My 2c. I host my own mail server, owncloud, RSS reader, bookmarker, blog and a bunch of other stuff. I don't particularly like sysadmin tasks or having to update stuff and then hope that nothing breaks, but I love the fact that I'm in control of my data and my computing experience. On my phone I've been using Android without a Google account and I use the F-droid app store. There are definitely still ways I'm being s…
Can you please elaborate a bit on what you're using for your RSS reader and bookmarker? (and the bunch of other stuff :-)
Thanks!
Re: The Joy of Slow Computing
#37>Eric Schmidt doesn’t care if I’m using Emacs
Actually, yes he does especially if you use GNU/Linux because that runs the world. The importance of free/open source is so great that if the popular libraries switched to a proprietary license a lot of companies would go bankrupt paying the license fees.
Re: The Joy of Slow Computing
#38It was an interesting and different kind of article. I particularly loved his attack on companies' claims to democratize some function. I know there's two meanings to the word but we're better off using (verbally and as consumers) the more important one. They're just cheapening the concept for profit. The other thing I liked was how the author took ownership of the situation while expecting less at the same time. I h…
For me "democracy" in this context is used as social equality and commonness (both are dictionary definitions). As such, I think that "democratising" and "making cheaper for profit" are far from being mutually exclusive. Companies use the word democratising because of a lack of a better word I assume. Nevertheless, and this is apparent from the article, the biggest price to pay for Slow Computing is to consecrate it…
Sandstorm.io and others are trying to free cloud computing.
Re: The Joy of Slow Computing
#39I'm not sure I like the idea of calling the use of open source tools "slow computing", and connecting it up in people's minds the way we think about a middle-class fashion. Or maybe I'm just concerned about the middle class hipsters choosing open source tools ironically or without thought. It might give it an air of exclusion it does not - can not - deserve. I don't want open source tools to become equivalent to a mi…
Hipster: someone who enjoys something I like in a way I don't like.
Re: The Joy of Slow Computing
#40As much as I enjoy playing with my Linux, OS X, and Windows 8.1 laptops, I have thought of going the free and privacy enhanced mode of Linux, running my OwnCloud, etc. The thing that holds me back is that I really rely on my Android smartphone for being able to SSH to a server anytime, write, and generally work on most stuff, only slower. The problem is that smart phones track us, even with custimization and are not…
My 2c. I host my own mail server, owncloud, RSS reader, bookmarker, blog and a bunch of other stuff. I don't particularly like sysadmin tasks or having to update stuff and then hope that nothing breaks, but I love the fact that I'm in control of my data and my computing experience. On my phone I've been using Android without a Google account and I use the F-droid app store. There are definitely still ways I'm being s…
What I have wanted to do for years is setup additional scripts/packages that act like DigitalOcean's droplets but for XMPP/mail server/ownCloud/MediaGoblin/etc. A one-click package that you can drop onto any host or your own machine and possibly having one-click streaming encrypted backups to wherever you want. So you can basically run a community site without worrying about being taken down. If someone doesn't like storing their data with you they can also just follow 5 steps and have their own setup.
The problem with proprietary is that someone else in some office, usually a middle manager or pointy haired boss or marketer, decides what the priorities are. So even the low hanging bugs aren't fixed and are simply avoided or worked around.