Using vintage laptops in 2024: How do you make it work?
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    AusatKeyboardPremi
    1w ago 100%

    Thanks for your suggestion. Antix is already on my list of lightweight OSs to try out.

    Currently, I have been daily driving FreeBSD on a ThinkPad T43 (slightly newer internals than T42).

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  • With shares at 10-year lows, Assassin's Creed maker Ubisoft faces questions over its future
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    AusatKeyboardPremi
    2w ago 100%

    I completed a marathon of all AC games last year, from the very first title, all the way up to Valhalla.

    The games serves as a good reflection of Ubisoft over the years. The issues in the series and Ubisoft’s approach are amplified when one plays the games back to back.

    The first title from 2007, albeit with clunky movements, had a promising story which was only elevated by its sequels.

    The titles post-Revelations experimented a lot but the series settled at Origins, which was the last playable game, all aspects considered.

    Valhalla is the worst of the series. It offers nothing new in terms of gameplay or story. It is just more of the same. Mundane and boring. It kept painfully reminding me that I am playing a video game.

    Yet, I firmly believe that Shadows will be a lot worse with its live service mechanics.

    ::: spoiler A sidebar on AC 2007 I would be remiss if I did not mention that nostalgia might be compensating for some of the game’s flaws. I still remember reading the full/multi page spreads about the game in the local computer magazines. :::

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  • YSK: You don't own your Kindle e-books.
  • "Initials" by "Florian Körner", licensed under "CC0 1.0". / Remix of the original. - Created with dicebear.comInitialsFlorian Körnerhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearAU
    AusatKeyboardPremi
    3w ago 100%

    Thank you for introducing me to KOReader and Kindle jailbreaking.

    Fortunately, the Kindle Paperwhite I use is no longer supported, and is compatible with few of the jailbreaks out there.

    A good rabbit hole to dive into over the weekend.

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  • Damn electron and the likes
  • "Initials" by "Florian Körner", licensed under "CC0 1.0". / Remix of the original. - Created with dicebear.comInitialsFlorian Körnerhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearAU
    AusatKeyboardPremi
    3w ago 100%

    I have experienced this myself.

    My main machine at home - a M2 Pro MacBook with 32GB RAM - effortlessly runs whatever I throw at it. It completes heavy tasks in reasonable time such as Xcode builds and running local LLMs.

    Work issued machine - an Intel MacBook Pro with 16GB RAM - struggles with Firefox and Slack. However, development takes place on a remote server via terminal, so I do not notice anything beyond the input latency.

    A secondary machine at home - an HP 15 laptop from 2013 with an A8 APU and 8GB RAM (4GB OOTB) - feels sluggish at times with Linux Mint, but suffices for the occasional task of checking emails and web browsing by family.

    A journaling and writing machine - a ThinkPad T43 from 2005 maxed out with 2GB RAM and Pentium M - runs Emacs snappily on FreeBSD.

    There are a few older machines with acceptable usability that don't get taken out much, except for the infrequent bout of vintage gaming

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  • linux
    Linux 1mo ago
    Jump
    Linus Torvalds: Speaks on the Rust vs C Linux Divide
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    AusatKeyboardPremi
    1mo ago 100%

    He uses a version of Emacs called MicroEmacs.

    I recall seeing his MicroEmacs configuration a while back when I was exploring options to start using Emacs.

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  • What's the most petty/pointless/pedantic hill you're willing to die on?
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    AusatKeyboardPremi
    2mo ago 100%

    Something does seem fishy: the total number of votes this post has received (~450 at the time of writing this comment) is only about a third of the number of comments (~1.2k).

    I guess people were really pent up about their pedantic tendencies.

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  • Using vintage laptops in 2024: How do you make it work?
  • "Initials" by "Florian Körner", licensed under "CC0 1.0". / Remix of the original. - Created with dicebear.comInitialsFlorian Körnerhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearAU
    AusatKeyboardPremi
    2mo ago 100%

    Thanks for sharing your experience.

    Also, appreciate the intro to Haiku OS, I had not heard of it earlier. It is interesting to read their philosophy through their FAQs.

    https://www.haiku-os.org/about/faq/

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  • Using vintage laptops in 2024: How do you make it work?
  • "Initials" by "Florian Körner", licensed under "CC0 1.0". / Remix of the original. - Created with dicebear.comInitialsFlorian Körnerhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearAU
    AusatKeyboardPremi
    3mo ago 100%

    Thank you. The order of trials is 98 -> 2000 -> XP.

    I will not be using Windows to connect to the internet; that function will be reserved for the Linux based OS, which I will be running in dual boot mode.

    During my search for operating systems for older machines, I did come across NetBSD, but I am not sure if I am ready to give up my familiarity with Linux-based OSs.

    Edit: Having said that, this seems like a good opportunity to try it out.

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  • What are your favorite open-source games?
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    AusatKeyboardPremi
    3mo ago 100%

    I am surprised that 0 A.D. is not mentioned.

    Although initially unplayable, the game was fun in the mid-to-late 2000s.

    I haven't checked it out in a while, but it holds high nostalgic value for me.

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  • memes
    Memes 3mo ago
    Jump
    Laptop recommendations
  • "Initials" by "Florian Körner", licensed under "CC0 1.0". / Remix of the original. - Created with dicebear.comInitialsFlorian Körnerhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearAU
    AusatKeyboardPremi
    3mo ago 100%

    Refurbished ThinkPads are available in countries where Framework, System76, and Pine64 do not ship.

    Besides, ThinkPads are really well-built machines that perform well for everyday tasks at a fraction of their (or the aforementioned competition's) original price.

    I love my two machines, which are from before Lenovo took over completely. Their keyboards, port selection, and repairability are almost unparalleled compared to today's competition.

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    ThinkPad 3mo ago
    Jump
    Using vintage laptops in 2024: How do you make it work?
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    AusatKeyboardPremi
    3mo ago 100%

    I am having similar objectives as of now for the T42. I hope it goes well. Thanks for sharing your experience.

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  • Using vintage laptops in 2024: How do you make it work?
  • "Initials" by "Florian Körner", licensed under "CC0 1.0". / Remix of the original. - Created with dicebear.comInitialsFlorian Körnerhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearAU
    AusatKeyboardPremi
    3mo ago 100%

    Thank you for your insight. But I have made it clear that I will not be using Windows 98 for browsing the web, and instead use a Linux based OS.

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    ThinkPad 3mo ago
    Jump
    Using vintage laptops in 2024: How do you make it work?
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    AusatKeyboardPremi
    3mo ago 100%

    Thank you for your insights. I already have some of these items on my list such as trying out Antix, restricting Windows 98 to gaming, upgrading the hardware, lifting the T42 with both hands from both sides, etc.

    When it comes to web browsing, I am starting to think as long as websites that offer long form reading content work, I should be okay. For every other website, I would rather use my daily driver. It would be nice if the boards and forums I frequent also work but I won’t lose sleep over it. Besides, I am using this opportunity to get back on IRC.

    As for writing, my workflows are already based on plain text (org files) so I won’t be requiring any office suites. It is also an opportunity to test out my emacs configuration on a resource constricted machine.

    If I may ask, how was your experience using the Celeron laptop you mentioned? Do you still use it?

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  • "Initials" by "Florian Körner", licensed under "CC0 1.0". / Remix of the original. - Created with dicebear.comInitialsFlorian Körnerhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearTH
    ThinkPad AusatKeyboardPremi 3mo ago 94%
    Using vintage laptops in 2024: How do you make it work?

    cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/18205906 > I have an old ThinkPad T42 coming my way. I plan to use it alongside my daily driver mainly for reading, emacs, and retro gaming. I will be dual booting a lightweight flavour of Linux (TBD) and Windows 98 on it. > > However, I am a bit concerned about its ability to handle today's internet, with all of its heavy websites. > > I would love to hear from those of you who are still using old ThinkPads (or other vintage laptops) in 2024. How do you make it work? Do you use lightweight browsers, specific configurations, or lightweight websites to get around the limitations of older hardware? > > Are there any specific tips or tricks you can share for getting the most out of an old ThinkPad on the modern web? > > Looking forward to hearing about your experiences!

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    I have an old ThinkPad T42 coming my way. I plan to use it alongside my daily driver mainly for reading, emacs, and retro gaming. I will be dual booting a lightweight flavour of Linux (TBD) and Windows 98 on it. However, I am a bit concerned about its ability to handle today's internet, with all of its heavy websites. I would love to hear from those of you who are still using old ThinkPads (or other vintage laptops) in 2024. How do you make it work? Do you use lightweight browsers, specific configurations, or lightweight websites to get around the limitations of older hardware? Are there any specific tips or tricks you can share for getting the most out of an old ThinkPad on the modern web? Looking forward to hearing about your experiences!

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    cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16240755 > Suggestions for a complimentary typeface to JetBrains Mono for reading and writing documents or prose > > I am looking for a typeface that complements well to the one that I use to write code ([JetBrains Mono](http://jetbrains.com/mono/)). I will be using this to write documents and articles. > > For further context, I am configuring Emacs' org-mode where I would be using both typefaces together. I could use JetBrains Mono for both purposes as I find it capable. But I would like to explore my options. > > I have also looked at [Iosevka](https://typeof.net/Iosevka/). It offers variants for coding, reading, and writing. But I would prefer to stick with JetBrains Mono as much as I can for coding purposes.

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    "Initials" by "Florian Körner", licensed under "CC0 1.0". / Remix of the original. - Created with dicebear.comInitialsFlorian Körnerhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearTY
    Typography AusatKeyboardPremi 5mo ago 60%
    Suggestions for a complimentary typeface to JetBrains Mono for reading and writing documents or prose

    I am looking for a typeface that complements well to the one that I use to write code ([JetBrains Mono](http://jetbrains.com/mono/)). I will be using this to write documents and articles. For further context, I am configuring Emacs' org-mode where I would be using both typefaces together. I could use JetBrains Mono for both purposes as I find it capable. But I would like to explore my options. I have also looked at [Iosevka](https://typeof.net/Iosevka/). It offers variants for coding, reading, and writing. But I would prefer to stick with JetBrains Mono as much as I can for coding purposes.

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    In my pursuit to migrate from Vim to Emacs, I have stumbled on yet another roadblock. When working with files that contain [special whitespace characters](https://unicode-explorer.com/articles/space-characters), Vim/Neovim would automatically highlight these. This saved me a lot of time during debugging or data analysis, and is a functionality that I struggled to get to work on more modern IDEs. However, this does not work out-of-the-box neither on vanilla Emacs nor Doom Emacs. I am unable to find any working solutions online. I assumed `whitespace-mode` would have handled this, but it is not the case. It would be really helpful if the community here can help solve my problem as I deal with such characters on a daily basis. Until then, I have to pause my pursuit and stick with the trusty Neovim. ::: spoiler U+200B in Neovim Notice Neovim highlighting the character as `<200B>`. ![](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/868c6bbe-d2f6-4cb5-b0d9-7f7eaa0047ef.png) ::: ::: spoiler U+200B in Doom Emacs Notice the think cursor between "hello" and "world". ![](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/d1b725a6-dba8-42d6-bca2-7f54b29ab14f.png) ::: ----------------- Thanks to the suggestion by @nmtake@lemm.ee, `glyphless-display-mode` allows me to view the characters. But it still doesn't play well with vim motions on Emacs. [Here is a demonstration](https://imgur.com/z9ccGd0), and below are the keystrokes. 1. `C-v` to enable `VISUAL-BLOCK` mode. 2. `9j` to select all 9 occurrences. 3. `d` to delete the selection. The above vim-motion works on Neovim but not on Emacs with evil-mode. If anyone wants to try out here is the text I am playing with: ```plain hello ​ world hello ​ world hello ​ world hello ​ world hello ​ world hello ​ world hello ​ world hello ​ world hello ​ world hello ​ world ```

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    512pixels.net

    cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/14145658 > [512Pixels] Logitech’s Mouse Software Now Includes ChatGPT Support, Adds Janky ‘ai_overlay_tmp’ Directory to Users’ Home Folders

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    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-10/apple-says-no-major-app-developers-accept-new-outside-payments

    cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15358589 > Bloomberg - Apple Says No Major App Developers Accept New Outside Payments > > According to Apple, only 38 developers have applied to add such links — out of roughly 65,000 that could.

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    https://www.gsmarena.com/hmd_pulse_trio_unveiled_affordable_phones_with_gen_1_repairability-amp-62582.php

    > HMD is betting that consumers are moving to more environmentally-conscious products and are placing an emphasis on repairability. HMD says the Pulse range is built to “Gen 1 repairability” and that users can pick up self-repair kits from iFixit. Repairs include changing the battery, but also swapping the screen.

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    cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/14012479 > To all evil-mode users, how do you work with vterm? > > As a long time Vimmer, I have recently started using Emacs out of sheer curiosity. I chose Doom Emacs as it has evil-mode enabled by default, and do not want to dive down the rabbit hole of configuring the editor from scratch (at least, not yet!). > > After installing and enabling `libvterm` in Emacs, I am having a frustrating experience. I configured ZSH shell to use vi-mode keybindings which interferes with evil-mode whenever I press `Esc` or `C-[`. > > After having searched a little, I came across a workaround to disable evil-mode when in vterm. But it is still not a smooth experience. For instance, when switching between buffers (`C-w C-w`). > > I would like to know how others in the community tackled this problem. Is there a better solution to this problem? Or have you made peace with the aforementioned workaround? Or have you stopped using vterm entirely?

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    As a long time Vimmer, I have recently started using Emacs out of sheer curiosity. I chose Doom Emacs as it has evil-mode enabled by default, and do not want to dive down the rabbit hole of configuring the editor from scratch (at least, not yet!). After installing and enabling `libvterm` in Emacs, I am having a frustrating experience. I configured ZSH shell to use vi-mode keybindings which interferes with evil-mode whenever I press `Esc` or `C-[`. After having searched a little, I came across a workaround to disable evil-mode when in vterm. But it is still not a smooth experience. For instance, when switching between buffers (`C-w C-w`). I would like to know how others in the community tackled this problem. Is there a better solution to this problem? Or have you made peace with the aforementioned workaround? Or have you stopped using vterm entirely?

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    After using Apple’s products exclusively for close to a decade, I have seen a pattern emerge with their software updates where every new update introduces a set of trivial regressions in the UX. 1. Swipe to seek a video in iOS’ native player has stopped working since I updated to iOS 17. In fact, this paper cut is what prompted me to write this post. I believe it didn’t work on iOS 15 either but worked flawlessly on iOS 16. 2. Across all of iOS 16 versions installed on my phone, long-pressing an item on screen (links, app icons, files, etc.) to show the contact menu and selecting an entry in the menu without listing the finger didn’t work. It did until iOS 15 and it does now in iOS 17. 3. Spotlight in iOS 14 (and back in iOS 10 or 11, I don’t remember well) took slightly longer to load (and even stutter on iPadOS). I don’t find this issue anymore on the same devices that had this earlier. 4. The magnifying bubble that popped up while moving the caret in a text field stopped working around iOS 14/15. It was reintroduced back in iOS 16. Now, I understand that these regressions are unintentional unlike the botched System Preferences on macOS or the poor handling of Safari UI across iOS 15 and macOS 12. I also understand that such regressions are bound to happen as no software is 100% QC-able, but it doesn’t mean one has to wait for an entire year to see these get fixed as is the case with the examples I have mentioned. It could also be the case that these issues are localised to my devices, and that the yearly updates perhaps cleans the slate (the good ol’ reboot-machine-to-rid-error fix). Regardless, I have raised bug reports for all these and more, along with feature requests. I would like to hear your experiences across major/minor software updates on Apple devices or services. Also, let this serve as a PSA to file bug reports if you have the time and effort to spare, it helps the developers a lot (Apple or otherwise). Here is a comprehensive guide to report bugs for a variety of Apple’s offerings: [Bug Reporting: How and Why?](https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/712889) E: Through one of the deleted comments made on this post, I learned that the removal of the magnifying bubble while typing in iOS 13 was [intentional](https://bzamayo.com/ios13-text-selection).

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    "Initials" by "Florian Körner", licensed under "CC0 1.0". / Remix of the original. - Created with dicebear.comInitialsFlorian Körnerhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearUN
    Unixporn AusatKeyboardPremi 1y ago 94%
    Are there more themes that support a plethora of apps?

    I know that Nord, Catppuccin and Dracula support a range of apps. There is also Solarized and Gruvbox which have been ported by the community to many other apps. I have been using Nord (Solarized before it) for a long time and wanted to change things up. I am not really a fan of the use of purple in Dracula and Catppuccin. So, curious if there are more themes out there?

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    I would submit a feedback every time I missed the feature while using the app. I can now stop using Google Photos. :D

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    I have been struggling with getting a decent image from SD within fewer iterations. I have played around with different sampling methods, CFG values, and steps. But unable to find a consistent configuration that gives me decent images. Simple prompts that I am struggling with: 1. `a photo of a puppy, intricately detailed, realistic` 2. `drawing of a bowl of fruits, manga style` If I am unable to get good output for simple prompts, I am afraid the output for more complex or abstract prompts will be completely unusable. Are there any tricks that can reduce the iterations to give decent images? Any guidance would be really appreciated. Thanks!

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    *Itna sannata kyu hai bhai?* [Why is it so silent here?] Arrived here after reading the [post on lemmy.ml](https://lemmy.ml/post/1865955). However, the community is not as active as I hoped it would. Not many posts, and most posts have zero comments. What do you think could drive more engagement here? My initial thoughts on this. The community could be more active if the rules and moderation policies are made known. What are the rules for posting here? Are news articles allowed? Or is it just general articles? What about discussion posts? What topics are allowed for discussion? For example, I wanted to post about the recent events around casteism in Madhya Pradesh. But I wasn’t sure if it met the policies and rules. Moreover, recent articles are about general topics or listicles, so I ended up dropping the idea.

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    - Zoom65 EE with case and PCB foam - GMK WoB - AEBoards Naevies V2 stock This is my sixth keyboard (fourth custom). The experience has been extremely good considering the mostly stock setup. Though I am going to stick with this for a while, I do know my next will be a split ergo. Do share your suggestions for a wireless split ergo.

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    I am completely fascinated by AI art, and would like to try my hand at it. I know that most of this boils down to prompt engineering. Can the community recommend a few resources that can help a complete beginner get bootstrapped quickly? I am not sure if this post breaks the rule. Please remove it, if that is the case. However, do point me to the right community where I can post this question again. ----------------------- Edit: Resources I came across while researching. 1. MidJourney - Produces much better results, but is a paid offering. 1. https://docs.midjourney.com/ 1. Stable Diffusion - Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). 1. https://huggingface.co/spaces/stabilityai/stable-diffusion 1. Setting up Stable Diffusion locally using DiffusionBee - an easy to use wrapper over Stable Diffusion. 1. https://github.com/divamgupta/diffusionbee-stable-diffusion-ui 1. https://diffusionbee.com 1. https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-use-stable-diffusion-mac/ 1. I used an M1 Pro with 32 GB, DiffusionBee produced images within 20 seconds at 25 steps, within 40 seconds at 50 steps. 1. Alternatively, try automatic1111 which exposes more features to tinker with. 1. https://github.com/AUTOMATIC1111/stable-diffusion-webui 1. A quick read on prompt engineering: https://www.assemblyai.com/blog/how-to-run-stable-diffusion-locally-to-generate-images/ 1. Refer to "Prompt Engineering" under "Tips and Tricks". 1. For inspiration/exploration: https://arthub.ai/ Thanks [@Hyrulian@lemmy.world](https://lemmy.world/u/Hyrulian) and [@livedeified@lemmy.world](https://lemmy.world/u/livedeified)!

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