A somewhat less busy but more nerve-wracking day at work
today. Just-in-time supply chains are a scourge upon the world
and are going to drive me into an early grave. My place of work
has fortunately been around long enough and is well-funded enough
that we have built up and are able to maintain a modest
inventory, which is typically just enough to continue production
at some capacity when our supply chains break down - but it is
always during the unusual and extremely time-sensitive jobs that
JIT shows up to kick in our teeth.
My 'project' last night was a failure - after posting my
log, I was distracted by some piece of nonsense or another and
ended up only getting about 5.5 hours of sleep. In addition, on
account of how busy we have been, I'm already into overtime at
work. So, of course I immediately passed out as soon as I sat
down on the couch when I finally made it home. Too many more
nights and days like these, and I'm going to find myself getting
a full night's sleep whether I want it or not.
Now that I'm sufficiently satisfied with my ability to
interact with the internet using this DOS machine, I've been
turning my attention to my phone. Yes, it is easy to access the
internet on a smartphone. It is almost too easy! I can even (and
frequently do) dial into a BBS or browse gopher from a terminal
app installed on my smartphone. The problem, of course, is the
tracking and the ads (and the tracking ads) that go along with
all of that accessibility. I have been thinking about my ongoing
efforts to get away from the reach of Google, and I think the
next step is going to be to ditch their phone OS.
There are a number of ways forward on this, of course. I
could keep my existing hardware, and install LineageOS on it -
that would maintain compatibility while cutting back on some of
the access Samsung and Google have to me, my device, and my data,
but at the end of the day it is basically just skinny Android.
PostmarketOS is another option, although I would have to either
do a lot of dev to make it work on my current phone or I would
have to get a different phone that already has packages
available, many of which still have only limited functionality.
If I'm thinking about new hardware anyway, I could get a device
purpose built for user control - the Librem5 is a candidate,
though the price is completely unjustifiable, especially
considering its specs. The PinePhone has similarly not great
specs, however it does have a much more reasonable price point -
I'd consider getting one anyway if for no other reason than as a
hobby device.
Not that I need another hobby device at the moment - I think
I have the Digital Mavica in such condition now that it would be
functional, if I had a working battery pack - they are
fortunately available after-market, so there is one enroute now.
I also have my WinXP machine to rebuild, after tearing it halfway
apart to rent it out to work, and then tearing it the rest of the
way apart when I got it back to test the components of the
donation LGA1151. These are all projects for another day though -
tonight I am determined to get a decent night's sleep. Hopefully
it will go according to plan this time, haha.
