I used to work in the games industry and this is a large split between older games and newer games. Traditional games like Super Mario don't "reach out" through notifications for you to play them more like Roblox. You are in control of the on/off switch
The Last Quiet Thing
61–70 of 165 posts
Re: The Last Quiet Thing
#62What a beautifully presented article. It rings true.
Growing up I’ve been feeling overwhelmed with the bureaucracy of life - maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t already have to manage an entire ecosystem of shit that I need to care about.
Re: The Last Quiet Thing
#63While I agree with the article, I can't help but feel like the superfluous animations undercut it somewhat. Would be nice to have a version with the images/diagrams but without the animations - maybe add support for prefers-reduced-motion?
Right at the top is a conspicuous option to read as plain text, which takes you to https://www.terrygodier.com/the-last-quiet-thing/ascii
...which swaps the font for monospace (less legible for body text in my experience, my eyes start just glazing over) and swaps the images and diagrams for ascii art (or in some cases omits them entirely).
There’s a comfortable middle-ground to be had between the two options.
Re: The Last Quiet Thing
#64This post says, “22% dismiss notifications”. Why do people allow this? I see people with phones that have 3 new notifications per 5 minutes and none of them are human being messages or human being event reminders. Turn off every notification that isn’t actionable or joyful to you. The news isn’t actionable. Stop letting the news task you. Your social feeds aren’t actionable. Stop letting your feeds task you. (And, ye…
I want to. The apps want the opposite. Apple is unfortunately on the side of the apps.
By app store guidelines, it’s officially disallowed to use notifications for marketing. Of course the apps find their ways, at different levels of honesty. This has led to me turning off all notifications for some apps, but the problem is the mixing of channels. I don’t want my bank to send me ads, but I do want it to notify me about transactions.
Re: The Last Quiet Thing
#65This is an interesting and more apt way to frame smart features. One way I've found to avoid objects that come alive is to buy the commercial version. - TVs aimed at commercial hospitality businesses let you avoid a lot of the bloatware and smart features that come bundled with it - Commercial washer/dryers let you avoid bluetooth and wifi and other junk not needed to wash your clothes. These are available without th…
It can also make sense to buy old/used versions of consumer products. For example: My parents have a washer & dryer from the mid 90s. They occasionally get a new belt, but besides that there's not much that can go wrong with them.
If you're looking at buying used stuff, it's important to research common failures for that specific product and what can be done to fix them. As long as it's popular enough that parts still exist, you should be good to go. You do pay a cost in terms of time, so it's important to pick your battles.
The most annoying thing to me is government-mandated smart devices. For example: In Washington state, all new water heaters must have a feature that causes them to reduce the water temperature if the grid is experiencing high demand.[1] There are no exemptions for off-grid installations. Everyone ends up with a more expensive, less reliable water heater. In my case I found a contractor who was willing to install a dumb water heater, but not everyone is as savvy. The state also mandates that new thermostats be programmable (no more simple bimetal thermostats), which is another electronic part that can fail.[2] Ideally governments would create incentives to encourage more efficient energy usage (such taxes & subsidies), but not require or ban specific solutions.
1. https://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=51-11C-40414
2. https://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=51-11R-40310
Re: The Last Quiet Thing
#66I'm getting into woodwork. I just bought a vice made in the 1940s, the same one my grandfather used. It's finished. As are my chisels, and my cast iron cookware. It's definitely refreshing.
How will you stay up to date with the manufacturer‘s latest updates without the app?
Re: The Last Quiet Thing
#67Sure, screen time. But I am also deeply tired of just keeping things charged . Some of my stuff insists on special usb cables - because those cables contain chips that mediate between the and its charger. Its exhausting.
Does your physical environment change that much that it requires cognitive load for you to decide on what cables to use? For myself, I bought two wireless charge "base" stations that handle my spouse's and my phone/watch/airpods. That's it. One place, bedside, where I need to put things.
Sure, for new equipment or in a pinch (that becomes cumbersome) but even traveling, you know what equipment you have, charge rate and things needing to get charged from what connector type. So you purchase the variants that you need.
Re: The Last Quiet Thing
#68Those Casio watches are just amazing. I got legendary gw-5000u and it has become part of my body.
I'm wondering how much 30+ year are feeling like author of this post. I for sure do not want any device that I need to babysit.
Re: The Last Quiet Thing
#69> This watch costs twelve dollars. It weighs twenty-one grams. > This watch costs four hundred dollars. It also tells time. > It also tracks my steps, monitors my blood oxygen, measures my sleep quality, logs my workouts, reminds me to breathe, reminds me to stand, I had quite opposite experince with casio. If I want water proof (like swimming) watches, I would have to buy bulky and super expensive gshock with GPS an…
While apple's one is 1 day
Re: The Last Quiet Thing
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
They are also likely to cost more and aren't normally directly available to regular customers, like you need either a business license of some sort and to contact a representative.
It is true commercial versions are slightly more expensive. But this is the tradeoff of buying something more durable and meant to be used continuously. But it's not true that they are difficult to buy. For my two examples: Commercial washer/dryer sets available through any appliance dealer. Commercial hospitality TVs and other commercial electronics are available via Grainger.
Might be a regional thing. Here where I live I don't think it'd be easy to find commercial or industrial grade appliances for domestic use