LonM
lonm.social.vivaldi.net.ap.brid.gy
LonM
@lonm.social.vivaldi.net.ap.brid.gy
Technology Critical Luddite
European from Scotland
Background: CS, Security, & Computing Education

Current Goals: Using the power of thinking really hard to […]

🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://social.vivaldi.net/@LonM, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
RE: https://mas.to/@cubicgarden/115893155375243462

Some great, if unpleasant, imagery in this episode illustrating very pointedly some of the biggest problems in tech right now.

Also, rare vivaldi mention at the beginning!
#techgrumps 3.36 - Men are weird: The Return of the Glasshole...

https://rss.com/podcasts/techgrumps/2459249/
https://techgrumps.wordpress.com/

With @rnalexander @wendyg @eastmad and myself @cubicgarden

With a seriously worrying scenario for UK citizens using X/Twitter

It's REALLY time to […]
Original post on mas.to
mas.to
January 14, 2026 at 12:45 PM
Does anyone know an easy way to force android's wireless debugging to always use a specific port? Or at the very least have an easy way to print what it is without having to hunt through a hundred different menus?

Non-rooted device. Android 14. No ADB-over-USB, wireless only.

#android […]
Original post on social.vivaldi.net
social.vivaldi.net
January 12, 2026 at 12:16 PM
I'm reading this plan by scotrail to purchase some new trains and something sticks out at me. They're putting a bid for a company to "sell and deliver a new Suburban Fleet". They're also looking for a company to "purchase and own the new Suburban Fleet and then lease these to ScotRail".

Am I […]
Original post on social.vivaldi.net
social.vivaldi.net
January 10, 2026 at 6:39 PM
I see the online *whiteboarding* app I use is offering me a recap. It wants to "Let me relive my biggest moments" of last year. I have never used a yearly recap for any app, and I can't think of anything I would rather spend my time on less than reliving my remote meetings of the previous year […]
Original post on social.vivaldi.net
social.vivaldi.net
January 9, 2026 at 6:10 PM
Reposted by LonM
How my students taught me that Github’s monopoly is hurting the Open Source ecosystem even more than I thought.

https://ploum.net/2026-01-05-unteaching_github.html

#github #floss
How Github monopoly is destroying the open source ecosystem
How Github monopoly is destroying the open source ecosystem par Ploum - Lionel Dricot.
ploum.net
January 5, 2026 at 11:27 AM
RE: https://social.vivaldi.net/@LonM/115690994196492857

Today I needed to request a tax refund, and decided to check if the situation had gotten better. It has! HMRC online now only requests an account number, sort code and address to process online repayments.

I don't know if the change is […]
January 7, 2026 at 10:29 AM
Test 123 𝖙é💲t¸
Newline
December 21, 2025 at 4:10 PM
It's always bugged me that most of the tutorials for how to use a phone as a webcam seem to point to requiring installing apps, often opensource, or requiring plugins for things like OBS.
I just found this article describing how to achieve the same effect using scrcpy and a virtual video driver […]
Original post on social.vivaldi.net
social.vivaldi.net
December 17, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Very sad to see Robin Ince leaving the infinite monkey cage (and the BBC) - I've been listening to it for years and he always managed to add the right kind of humour to balance the facts. Well done to him for standing up for his views […]
Original post on social.vivaldi.net
social.vivaldi.net
December 13, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Today I discovered that the only way to get an immediate tax refund from HMRC in the UK is to go through an "open banking" service that gives a random third party company the right to see all your account details, including transaction histories.

Apparently this is better for people than a […]
Original post on social.vivaldi.net
social.vivaldi.net
December 9, 2025 at 6:22 PM
unstructions - Instructions that are unclear and useless
December 9, 2025 at 3:32 PM
One study of teens finds that attention issues are more linked to social media, rather than other digital activities.

Take away seems to be if you're engaging in focused activities (playing a computer game, fully watching a video you chose to watch) there isn't any risk. But quickly scrolling […]
Original post on social.vivaldi.net
social.vivaldi.net
December 8, 2025 at 6:37 PM
An MP is advocating for ICE-style work raids in the UK, enabled by a digital identity app. They are saying the quiet part out loud now. Someone has interrupted them and the feed has been cut.

https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/06b1c804-828f-4e7d-841c-8637451e1d36

#ukpol #ukpolitics #privacy
Parliamentlive.tv
Westminster Hall
parliamentlive.tv
December 8, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Lots of Seals taking a break by a windy shore today

#scotland #photography #nature
November 27, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by LonM
🇪🇺Misleading headlines: #chatcontrol is not dead, it is being privatized! 🚨

EU governments voted today for:
🔍 Warrantless mass surveillance
🆔 Mandatory ID for everyone (End of anonymity)
🚫 Digital house arrest for teens

The fight continues! 👇 […]

[Original post on digitalcourage.social]
November 26, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Reposted by LonM
Another game banned from Steam with no explanation and no apparent reason, with the studio behind it at risk of closing because of the ban.

Steam's de-facto monopoly must be broken, by legal means if it's not possible to challenge them commercially. They have become something between a […]
Original post on mas.to
mas.to
November 26, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Reposted by LonM
I just filled out the UK Government's consultation on the proposed changes to settlement status (immigration). If you live in the UK, I encourage you to do the same. Be warned: there is a lot of double-speak in this consultation. https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/earned-settlement
Earned settlement
The government is consulting on how the current settlement system should be reformed and how those reforms should be implemented.
www.gov.uk
November 22, 2025 at 11:32 AM
A nearby pond had its old flat concrete spillway upgraded into a proper stream with fish accessible pools, and replanted green borders. I love to see this kind of rewilding work, it makes green spaces nicer to be in, and it's good for wildlife too.

#environment #scotland
November 17, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Reposted by LonM
Ed Zitron one again at it with some dire looking financials for the biggest name in AI. Not only is this industry, and all the tech it touches, bubbling dangerously, now there is hard evidence that they may have possibly indirectly not been entirely honest about their finances?

If I was an […]
Original post on social.vivaldi.net
social.vivaldi.net
November 12, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Shen's comics run the gamut from funny to dark, but this one is nice and inspiring. I really need to get motivated to do more drawing. https://www.webtoons.com/en/slice-of-life/bluechair/ep-1203-you-can-do-it/
November 5, 2025 at 4:56 PM
November and finally the last of the apples have come off the trees. A pretty good harvest this year. And this is only what's left after all that we've been eating since August. Should keep us through to spring just fine.

#autumn #food
November 2, 2025 at 12:23 PM
A month or two ago I switched my desktop from Windows 10 to Kubuntu 25.04 and things were a bit rough. Luckily though the 25.10 release that is now out is much better. Wayland sessions with Nvidia cards don't crash periodically, keyboard and tablet integration works better, and it generally […]
Original post on social.vivaldi.net
social.vivaldi.net
October 31, 2025 at 5:04 PM