On April 30th, the FCC voted that they wanted to demand KYC in order to use a phone number inside the United States. This may not end up happening, but better safe than sorry, and I'm trying to figure out ways around this problem in case they are needed.

The stated goal is to prevent spam and robo calls, and if a provider allows a robo call, it's something like a $2,500 fine per call, which means that services like Google Voice and text now and every cell phone and phone provider is going to require government ID. The provider has to keep your ID on record the entire time you have the service and then if you cancel the service they are required to keep your ID for four years after the date of cancellation. This will be a boone for hackers.

What i need help with:

1. Secondary Internet connection: It doesn't happen often, but I use my phone as a secondary internet connection if, for example, my home ISP is ever out. I am not sure yet if data only sims will be a problem since they can't make or receive telephone calls and make and receive text messages. So this may or may not be an issue. I guess if nothing else I could go to the local McDonald's or something like that and use their Wi-Fi if my ISP was ever out in order to contact the customer service of my ISP online to let them know about it.

2. Access to banking: Banks are so stupid in general, but every time I log in to my online account, it has to send me a phone call or a text message in order to verify that I am who I say I am, regardless of the fact that we all know that the telephone system is complete garbage for this use case, but they're banks, so what else can you expect, right?

3. Access to ride sharing services: I lost access to Lyft several years ago, because they no longer allowed you to book rides from their website, and I refused to install the app, and even if I wanted to install the app, it requires Google spy services, which I will not install on my device. That left me with only the option of Uber, which is fine, except that they also require a phone number, and if you don't have one, then you can't receive your text message verification codes again, and stuff like that to log in.

Without a telephone number, you can't call a taxi either. At least not that I'm aware of, because the old way of doing taxis before Uber came out was through the telephone system, and I'm not aware if taxis have evolved since then.

This book is FANTASTIC!

It’s 2067, and the Graves family has transformed Mars from lifeless rock into a chaotic patchwork of settlements—and everybody wants a piece.

Enter Hunter Graves: handsome, ambitious, and with spectacularly bad timing. He shows up at the United Nations base just as an emergency evacuation sends everyone scurrying for safety. Except he’s left behind. Uh oh.

Also stranded: Cleo, a sharp-tongued stowaway with no intention of dying today, and even less patience for overconfident trust fund boys. But the enemy of your enemy might just help you survive, so here we are.

Turns out the evacuation was just a cover for the mercenaries who came next, and they plan to blow up the base—and every trace of their crime—in eight hours.

Now, Hunter and Cleo have one shot to stop the explosion, escape alive, and deal with the inconvenient fact that they’re falling for each other.

The clock is ticking.

Scenario: I have an automation called John's AC. John's AC has four separate triggers. Max, minimum lower temperature, lower temperature, upper temperature, and max upper temperature. If the room temperature is below max lower temperature or lower temperature and it warms up to either of those two triggers, the automation gets triggered and creates a log event.

Question: Is there some way to make triggers enable and disable other triggers in their conditions? What I was thinking about doing is having upper temperature and max upper temperature be the only two active triggers. If either was hit, John's AC would then turn on and the triggers for lower temperature and max lower temperature would be enabled until one of those two triggers was hit, at which point John's AC would turn off, and those two triggers would be disabled. until upper temperature got hit again.

Admittedly, it's a lot of work, just to avoid a couple of log messages, but just for shits and giggles, I wonder if it's possible.

https://archive.is/mun7S leads to the same article.

As solar flares and earthquakes wreak havoc upon the Earth, Air Force One and America's president vanish. Ex-Navy SEAL Jack Kirkland must embark on a perilous mission aboard Deep Fathom miles below the ocean's surface to save the world from destruction. Violence and some strong language. 2001.

I was listening to a science and futurism with Isaac Arthur episode about deep time and cryo ships and the book Pushing Ice by Alistair Reynolds was recommended and it sounded interesting so I gave it a read and Lord it was a really good book.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/89186.Pushing_Ice

Edit: Just finished house of suns. Whoa!

With Overlord Google, agegating this kind of content on YouTube, why are there not more strain reviews on peer tube?

No Google, I will not sign into an account and give you all of my personally identifiable information because I don't have an account on your service and I do not want an account, so how about you go and fuck right off?

If I were to install window motion sensors, glass break sensors, door sensors, and cameras, I've basically got my own home security system. But how would you go about mimicking the remote monitoring functions that a company such as ADT or SimpliSafe would do?

The type where if your alarm goes off, you get a phone call and are asked for your code word, and if you give the incorrect code word, the police are summoned or whatever.

I have an outlet in my bathroom that's above and to the left of my sink and I'm wondering if it would be safe enough to use some of those third reality plugs in it.

They would not be directly exposed to water from the sink or anything like that, but during showers and stuff like that it can get quite humid in that room. And so I'm wondering if that would cause any kind of problem.

https://a.co/d/3M2S9p2

Should I put my smart plugs into the consumption section or the individual devices section on the energy dashboard?

I think that individual devices section is a recent update because I don't remember seeing that when I configured this back in April. I think there was only the consumption section.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/28482551

I'm looking into installing a door lock w/ key pad at home for two use cases:

1. I'm out of town and need to allow someone to enter my home, in an emergency or for any reason.
2. Nice to have - "oh shit, did I lock the door" - ability to lock the door remotely from my phone, would also solve use case #1 by unlocking remotely.

If there are no privacy respecting / self hosted apps for remote control (use case #2), then a "dumb" electronic lock w/ key pad that enables me to set a PIN that I can give to a friend or neighbor in a pinch and then reset the PIN after I get home, that would be good enough. If no such keypad/electronic locks exist, then my backup plan is to just make a few copies of my key for trusted friends & family and/or hide a key, but I'd like to explore the keypad route.

Currently, I have an automation that turns on my air conditioner for 37 minutes, every 3 hours. However, during that time, I cannot do anything like update, HAOS, etc. Because it breaks the timer, and then I have to manually shut it off.