It’s rough right now politically in the US. A lot of people around me seem like they’re ready to give up hope. It makes me incredibly angry seeing Zuck up there with all the other billionaires, and Elon is a parasite that has infected the government.

I often find myself wondering how I can make a difference. How can we regain control of our world?

Idk if I’m being dramatic, but the Fediverse really seems like it could be our response to these fuckers controlling the narrative on social media. It could be more than just an interesting decentralized social media platform. I really think this could be a key step in reclaiming our democracy.

Am I being dramatic lol? Do you all feel the same way? I was kinda getting emotional even. Like we could bring real change. That gives me hope, which is something we are desperately lacking right now.

It’s not just Lemmy. It makes me happy to see all the Fediverse platforms (specifically activity pub based) blowing up.

Friendly reminder if you have the financial means, donate to your instance, donate to the Lemmy devs, donate to Pixelfed or any other social media app fighting big social media. And better than a one-time donation, set up a monthly contribution even if it’s just $2/month. It really helps open-source developers when they have a steady income.

...👀

Edit: should also mention this is only one of the key features. The client will also have a website version that functions - hopefully - near identical to the mobile app. It will be offline first allowing you to browse cached content without internet.

The email analogy is really… boring.

Full disclosure, this idea is for a Lemmy client I’ve been toying around with making. I’ve gotten a bit in my head and would to run an idea by everyone.

The challenge:

Onboard people onto Lemmy in a way that makes sense to people that understands Fediverse and explains it well enough that typical social media users will understand it too

My onboarding flow idea.

As you read this, think of CARROT weather, an app with a funny personality.

You are an alien creature exploring the Lemmy Verse, a federation of social planets. You must chose a home planet, then you are free to explore its local communities or any of the communities in the lemmy federation of planets

I might give the alien creature a name. TBD.

Is this stupid?

Remaining challenges:

• I suspect a guiding the user to select the same “home planet” if they log out could be an issue.
• Should I explain that not all planets live in the same Federation? I’m thinking no.

Would love to reinforce this with animations that really drive the idea home. Almost like cut scenes from a video game. But that is beyond my area of expertise, for now.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/29038131

I'm a decent developer, but with only a couple years' professional experience and no formal training. I'm looking for open source projects to contribute to (ideally pick one or two and get dedicated to them).

I'm open to small or large projects.

I'm using this as my source of options:

https://fediverse.party/en/miscellaneous/

But I'm curious if there are other ones, or if you all have ideas about which ones are needing and deserving help.

Thanks!

Recently picked up a Kinesis Advantage 360 Pro and I love it! I also love bringing my laptop to the coffee shop to do work.

I’m wondering how difficult and expensive it would be to build a custom split keyboard to match the Kinesis as closely as possible. I would want this keyboard to be flat and use low-profile keys, but have the same thumb clusters and ortholinear layout allowing me to utilize the same muscle memory. I would also like it to be flat enough that I can fit it in a laptop sleeve case.

I have no idea how difficult it is to build custom keyboards. I’ve watched a few videos, but I would love some tips. I have some very basic soldering skills and I would love a fun project!

I want something designed to last, but I would love to do this for under $200 if possible. I have no idea if that’s remotely realistic.

If there are prebuilt split keyboard that match the Kinesis closely, I’m happy for recommendations but I figured this is specific enough it would need to be custom.

Thanks in advance!

Just got my first ergonomic keyboard! Coming from a Keychron K2 and now using a Kineses Advantage 360 Pro, which I picked up refurbished for a nice discount.

I’ve been using it exclusively to type for a week, and today I used my M2 MacBook Pro keyboard for the first time in a week.

To the person that decided computer keyboards should be staggered instead of ortholinear, I hate you.

I know there is history to the keyboards being adapted from typewriters, but I realized I’ve been hitting the entire bottom row of keys with the wrong finger. For example, I’ve been hitting Z with my ring finger instead of my little finger.

I could give up the thumb clusters, but I really wish Apple would give you an ortholinear keyboard option in their laptops.

I also keep hitting the wrong key on the Kineses because all the keys are so much closer now than I’m used to. It takes so much less movement and I love it!

Here are the problems I want to solve:

The same app everywhere

It will run as a website, iOS app (also on macOS), and Android app. It will be responsive, supporting phone, tablet, and computer screen sizes along with everything in between.

And I’m not talking about simply resizing the interface. Navigation (e.g. sidebar or on mobile bottom tab bar) will match what you would expect to see on the device size you’re using. But everything else (e.g. posts) will look the same, which I hope will make it really easy to jump from mobile to desktop.

Onboarding and configuration

The app will allow you to configure it to look like a typical Reddit or Lemmy app. During the onboarding process, I will prompt you, asking which style of interface you prefer. Consider these presets, which change a bunch of more granular configuration options. I will also give you the ability to fully customize each option instead of picking a preset.

Caching and offline support

This is where it starts to get more tricky. Caching is easy. If you launch the app, it will have everything you previously saw still loaded.

I would like to make it so upvoting, for example, can be done offline. The app will optimistically apply the upvote to the post or comment, then when you reconnect to the internet, it will actually apply the upvote. This is a difficult problem to solve, so I can’t promise this will work, and it would likely be the last feature I add.

I need your feedback

This is a big project to undertake. I really want a Lemmy client that checks those boxes for myself, but I’m curious if any of those resonate with you? Is there anything I missed that you would like to see? If I do build this, I will likely have to keep the project very focused as far as features go initially.

Just for context, I’m using Voyager on iOS currently. I really like it, but the “the same app everywhere” concept and making it easier to onboard Reddit users are my main motivations for creating my own app. My app will also be fully open source

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/22399282

Wemo Stage is one of those devices that has a horrible rating if you check Amazon. However, it fills a device category that up until now has essentially had no competition and is honestly not terrible for a first of its kinds device. The category I’m referring to is battery-powered thread light switches. As someone that rents, I can’t install light switches in the wall, so this has saved my smart home by allowing me to install renter-friendly physical controls for Apple Home.

But there are a few differences:

Wemo Stage

• HomeKit over thread
• Mediocre battery life
• Responsiveness is okay most of the time, but it really depends on the stability of Apple Home and can lag
• 3 programmable buttons, each supporting single, double, and triple tap for 9 programmable shortcuts

Nanoleaf Sense+

• Not actually tied to HomeKit in any way
• Uses Lightwave (Nanoleaf proprietary protocol) over thread
• Bypasses Apple Home (thread border router) altogether
• Near instantaneous response time, and doesn’t seem to lag ever
• On, off, and dimming controls. Two extra programmable buttons that will eventually support Matter (coming soon supposedly)
• Includes motion sensor that can control lights via Lightwave protocol

The Sense+ is very new. I’ve only had mine for a few days after pre-ordering the switch. I was really hoping the Sense+ would be better all around, but despite its instantaneous response time, it has a few major drawbacks:

• lack of support for non-Nanoleaf lights
• built-in button programming is very limited; you can’t program a button to set both brightness and hue. Seriously, Nanoleaf?

I wish they could have the switch support direct control of any Nanoleaf light, but fall back to Matter control for anything else. Though I suppose mixing protocols could get messy. But Lightwave is really solid as long as you live within Nanoleaf’s walled garden. But as soon as you throw anything else into the mix, the illusion shatters.

I’m sure the Sense+ will mature with software updates. I’m excited to see how Nanoleaf improves the product!

I may mess around with more wireless Thread switches. ONVIS makes one that is more of a button form factor than a switch. But for now I find myself having to choose between Sense+ which is more responsive, or Wemo Stage which can control more devices.

I love Apple Home. It has its flaws, but— just like Lemmy— I love trying out bleeding-edge tech like Thread, Matter, mesh based routers and sick lighting. I also mess around with Homebridge, and I’ve considered trying Home Assistant. I’ve learned a lot, and I want to collaborate with other home automation enthusiasts. I’m going to try to post more to that community, but I wanted to put this out there if anyone is interested in collaborating with me to build up that community.

I hate big tech controlling social media. I desperately want social media to be federated.

I really love community-driven social media like Reddit. Lemmy feels… too small. I really loved that Reddit let me jump into any niche hobby, and instantly I had a community. Lemmy, you’ll be lucky if that community even exists, and if it does, chances are nobody has posted in ages.

On the other hand, Lemmy is full of political content lately. I’ve basically been doom scrolling everything US election-related, and it’s really starting to take a toll on my mental health.

I know I can filter content. I know I can post and be the change I seek. Yet, it feels like an uphill battle.

Not sure what the point of this is, or if it’s even the right community to vent about this. I just really want to replace Reddit, but I find myself going back more and more (e.g. r/homekit is very active compared to Lemmy version).