April 2019

There were 26 posts published in April 2019 (this is page 2 of 3).

I eventually got my Nokia 208 working again. I thought the internet wasn’t connecting. However it accepted the APN settings automatically from my provider. It turns out simply that the built in browser doesn’t work properly any more. But you can set up IMAP email, then download and use Opera Mini by sending yourself a link.

I don’t like the phone’s sound level from the earpiece – I think my hearing is beginning to deteriorate slightly – but the loudspeaker is great. It works on 3G networks in Europe, India and the US.
https://www.devicespecifications.com/en/model/03862760
https://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_208-5560.php

I have 3 working phones, none of them new. But as none of them accept Lineage or Replicant, I am going back to this one for now.

referendums…

Egypt voters approve referendum extending el-Sissi’s rule
AP|Published: 04.23.19 , 22:28

CAIRO — Egypt’s election commission says voters have approved constitutional amendments allowing President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to remain in power until 2030.

The referendum was widely seen as another step toward restoring authoritarian rule eight years after a pro-democracy uprising that toppled autocratic president Hosni Mubarak.

Lasheen Ibrahim, the head of the commission, said Tuesday the amendments were approved with 88.83% voting in favor. The turnout was 44.33% of eligible voters. The nationwide referendum took place over three days, from Saturday through Monday to maximize turnout.

Pro-government media, business people and lawmakers had pushed for a “Yes” vote and a high turnout, offering incentives while authorities threatened to fine anyone boycotting the three-day voting.

e-waste

Philippine president to ‘declare war’ on Canada in waste dispute ‘More than 100 containers of waste were shipped in batches from Canada to the Philippines in 2013 and 2014. Most of the containers remain in local ports, sparking protests from environmental activists. Philippine officials say they were falsely declared by a private firm as recyclable plastic scraps and have asked Canada to take the rubbish back. “I will declare war against them. I will advise Canada that your garbage is on the way. Prepare a grand reception. Eat it if you want to,” Duterte said in a televised meeting with local officials late on Tuesday. “Your garbage is coming home.”’

I doubt that – it will probably end up here: Agbogbloshie: the world’s largest e-waste dump – in pictures . Toxins from old computers, fridges and other electronic goods are polluting chicken eggs in an area where 80,000 people live

Kai Os

I was interested to learn that Firefox OS for mobile phones had been forked into a new system called Kai OS. With a multi-million dollar investment from Google it is trying to position itself as a player in the feature phone marked, by delivering services and content from the smart phone market to much cheaper phones. Their website is very off-putting because it talks about offering rich data streams from customers and provision of ads to new, presumably captive, audiences.

Those looking for an escape from surveillance capitalism need not apply. But I find this kind of sad, because I originally bought one of those early Firefox OS phones, hoping that this could be the beginning of a brighter future.

blogging

It looks like nice work that Aral Balkan has been doing on his Indie web server. I ‘m not sure I believe any longer in the open web and like Hubzilla’s model of privacy and access restrictions, but otherwise I might go for it. I found yesterday that there are plug ins that enable one to convert WordPress sites to static websites. I was thinking of importing my blog in that way to Hubzilla. But I’m also tired of this work of endless archiving and preservation. For me the value in writing is more in the process of it. It allows me to develop my thinking and imagination. Afterwards I rarely look at what I’ve written. So I wonder what is the value of trying to preserve it. Most of what I write is anyway in long hand, in Moleskines and Boleskines (cheap imitation made in Auroville).

Australian Labor candidate has pulled out after saying the way Israel treated Palestinians was “worse than the South African system of apartheid”.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/apr/13/labor-candidate-melissa-parke-pulls-out-of-curtin-contest-over-israel-comments

“I’ve had 20 years’ experience in international relations and law including living and working in the Middle East,” Parke said. “My views are well known. But I don’t want them to be a running distraction from electing a Labor government which will take urgent and strong action on climate change. That’s why I have decided to withdraw my candidacy.”

International Keyboard

I found it hard to find descriptions of how to use the international keyboards available under Linux, so spent some time trying to figure out the key combinations to produce various diacriticals and international characters. On my mx linux box, which is set to US English with the Euro key, (though the standard way of getting the Euro doesn’t seem to work). These are some combinations that do work, with my compose key set to right-Alt (Alt-Gr)

á Alt+’ then a
à Alt+

then a
æ Alt +a then e
ç Alt+, then c
é Alt+ ‘ then e be quick with the Alt-‘
è Alt+

then e
ê Alt+Shift+^
€ Alt+e then =
ï Alt+i then shift + ” quickly on the second set
£ Alt+Shift+L then =
ñ Alt+- then n
ö Alt+o then shift+” quickly on the second set
ō Alt+- then o
ø Alt+/ then o
œ Alt + o then e
ú Alt+’ then u
ü Alt+u then shift+” quickly on the second set.