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Comment Firefox is the best browser! (Score 1) 240

I won't consider another browser until I can have the bookmarks toolbar next to the address field instead of under it, and have separators in the bookmark lists. Firefox compact mode (has to be enabled with "browser.compactmode.show" in about:config) with the bookmark folders between the address field and the extension icons is perfect, takes very little vertical screen space away from the web content.

That I can have browser-specific proxy settings instead of being forced to using system wide proxy is also a killer feature for me, because it allows me to transparently access my home NAS stuff from Firefox (and Firefox only) via an ssh tunnel on my work laptop (my work browser is Chrome).

Comment What are the alternatives? (Score 1) 147

Is there an alternative that is still as good as pre-2020 Google, or at least better than 2024 Google? I tried many alternatives around 2020 but didn't like the UI or search results of any of them compared to Google, but now I don't like Google Search anymore either so I may reconsider. I just want straight-to-the-point search results without having it trying to outsmart me and flood me with things I didn't search for. What I search for is what I want, nothing else.

Comment Unbreak Firefox on Facebook and Instagram! (Score 1) 33

The next thing on their TODO list should be to become compatible with Facebook and Instagram again, after giving a broken experience there (scrolling jumping around like crazy) for nearly two years. Yes, I understand that the problem is that Meta has badly written JavaScript code that is broken on Firefox. No, that doesn't matter for end users. I really want to recommend people to use Firefox, but sorry, I can't because of this.

Comment Re:Can it be used locally? (Score 1) 64

I have been able to "smarten" dumb appliances by plugging them into smart power switches. For less than $8 each I bought a couple boxes of smart switches from Amazon, then reflashed them with Tasmota -- no more cloud! -- and joined them to Home Assistant. Now any device I want to be smart, I plug it into a smart switch and monitor the power.

One of my scripts monitors the power draw on my dryer, and when it goes above 100W for a minute then drops below 10W for 15 seconds, it knows the cycle is done and alerts us to go down to the basement and take out the clothes before they wrinkle. A similar script monitors the washer.

The refrigerator's plug has a script alert me when the average daily power draw is higher than normal. I added that after my son called me from his most recent vacation and said "my refrigerator is using more power than it should, can you go check it?" Sure enough, their freezer door had been left open by their toddler. Of course the food was already thawing, but we cleaned it out a week before they would have come home to a house full of rotted food stench. And before you ask, yes, when I installed Tasmota I configured the switch to be "always on", so that even if Home Assistant thinks it would be a good idea to shut off the refrigerator's power, it can't.

I also have a small water pump on a smart switch. Normally the pump draws 36W, but when it runs dry it draws 30W. Now if the power consumption drops below 33W and stays there for a few minutes, it shuts off the pump and alerts me that the water is low.

So I get what I need -- timely information about the equipment in my home, automated reactions when things go bad that might keep things from getting worse, and no cloud involvement from any sleazy appliance manufacturers. And an $8 plug is a lot cheaper than paying a $400 premium for a "smart washer".

Comment Re:what about needs to work with local server off (Score 1) 64

Tuya's become a nightmare to deal with. They've decided they fear local integrations because they're losing ad revenue when people don't use the Tuya app. They have been going to progressively greater lengths to prevent device buyers from bypassing the Tuya servers and running their stuff locally.

My understanding is you can no longer register for a free Tuya developer account that lets you set it up with the "Local Tuya" integration for HomeAssistant -- you have to have a paid developer account, if it works at all. And their libraries used to flash right onto an ESP32, but now they're encouraging developers to more secure chips, in an attempt to prevent end users from reflashing their own devices with firmware (like Tasmota) that no longer communicates via Tuya services.

I wouldn't buy anything Tuya with the hopes that it will someday integrate with anything else. If you buy them, expect them only to work with the official apps.

Comment Re:more data (Score 1) 64

PKIs were designed for offline use. There are a couple hundred trusted Certificate Authorities that each issue a "root" certificate. These root certificates are distributed worldwide, in browsers, operating system distros, phones, etc. When you encounter a certificate in the wild, you have to verify the certificate before accepting it, which is done by checking what you can locally: is it expired? Does its DNS name resolve to the name on the cert? Does it have a valid signature? This means checking to see if it was signed by a CA certificate that you already have in your local trust store; if so, you can accept it without going online.

Not to say that the online component of certificate validation isn't important, but it's of varying importance depending on the risk level. When online you should check for certificate revocation, which is to check to see if a previously issued certificate has since been flagged by the CA as compromised and revoked. This can be done by looking for it on a Certificate Revocation List (CRL) published by the signing authority, or by querying the authority's Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) server. But it's an optional step, and can be skipped in low-risk situations (such as being offline.)

Comment Re:UI changes (Score 1) 408

Fifty years of UI design seem to contradict you. Remember back in the mid-seventies when cars stopped labeling controls only in English in favor of iconography? Quick identification of the correct control is important when hurtling down the road at highway speeds.

This was an economic choice. Icons are multi-lingual, meaning manufacturers didn't have to create dashboards with knobs labeled in dozens of different languages.

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