This browser extension shows a beautiful daily nature photograph with an inspirational quote, along with a weather icon, and some quick links you can set. But its key focus is a todo list on the bottom right, and a larger central main focus for that day.

What I really like is the simplicity of it. No clutter or complexity, and it syncs between your various open desktop browsers. The free version does everything I need, but there is a paid Plus version that has a few non-essential extras.

It is not intended to replace more complex todo tools, but rather to bring simplicity and immediacy to your daily planning.

See https://momentumdash.com/category/uncategorized/feed
#Blog, #momentumdash, #planning, #technology, #todo

No, megapixel count is not the sole factor you should consider when shopping for a phone. Although megapixel counts are important, other variables affect image quality. The hardware, software, and your personal preference determine picture quality. To understand why megapixel count isn’t the ultimate arbiter of camera quality, it helps to know how smartphone cameras work, what each part does, and how their performance is quantified.

Light is the most critical thing all cameras need to work. Professional cameras can control how much light they receive by adjusting the aperture (the opening between the internal workings of the camera and the outside world). Still, smartphones mostly don’t have that luxury.

Samsung released some flagship phones a few years ago with variable aperture, and Huawei currently has the Mate 50 available with the feature. However, phone manufacturers don’t want to use the space or spend the money to put them in their phones.

Both the Google Pixel and the iPhone phones have far fewer pixel count numbers than many other brands, yet their photos are noticeably better than most other phones. In the Pixel’s case Google uses very smart software to compensate, but both do have larger apertures, allowing more light in especially for low light conditions.

But this is also why I look more at the DXOMark camera tests rather than just the technical specs of any phone’s camera. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, not what it looks like.

See https://www.androidpolice.com/smartphone-camera-megapixel-explainer/

#technology #photography #smartphone #cameras #photos
#Blog, ##cameras, ##photography, ##photos, ##smartphone, ##technology

Snowflake is a system that allows people from all over the world to access censored websites and applications. Similar to how VPNs assist users in getting around Internet censorship, Snowflake helps you avoid being noticed by Internet censors by making your Internet activity appear as though you’re using the Internet for a regular video or voice call.

There are numerous tools available, such as Snowflake, that “transform” Internet activity, each using a different technique. Some redirect Internet traffic to appear to be coming from popular cloud providers like Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services. Others scramble Internet traffic in order to make it appear completely random.

It therefore becomes costly for censors to consider blocking such circumvention tools since it would require blocking large parts of the Internet in order to achieve the initial targeted goal.

Unlike VPNs, you do not need to install a separate application to connect to a Snowflake proxy and bypass censorship. It is usually a circumvention feature embedded within existing apps. Currently Snowflake is available inside Tor Browser on Desktop and Android, Onion Browser on iOS, and Orbot on Android and iOS. If you have downloaded and installed any of these apps, and they are censored in your country, you can bypass the censorship by activating Snowflake through the apps’ settings page.

So, if you want to help people bypass censorship, consider installing and running a Snowflake proxy. The only prerequisite is that the Internet in your country is not heavily censored already.

You can join thousands of volunteers from around the world who have a Snowflake proxy installed and running. There is no need to worry about which websites people are accessing through your Snowflake proxy. Their visible browsing IP address will match their Tor exit node, not yours.

Alternatively, you can embed a Snowflake proxy yourself inside a page in your own website (e.g., relay.love). Visitors to your site can enter the page, enable the proxy, and leave it open to allow people to proxy through it (it behaves and looks exactly like the web extension). Or run a command-line version of the Snowflake proxy on your desktop or server.

See https://snowflake.torproject.org/

#technology #censorship #snowflake #privacy
#Blog, ##censorship, ##privacy, ##snowflake, ##technology

To that end, it is:

• Fully open source (licensed under GPL v2)
• Peer-to-peer whenever possible, otherwise Open Relay is used to ensure reliable peer connection
• Encrypted (via WebRTC)
• Serverless – Public WebTorrent servers are only used for initial peer handshake
• Ephemeral – message content is never persisted to disk
• Decentralized – there is no API server. All that’s required for Chitchatter to function is availability of GitHub for static assets and public WebTorrent and STUN/TURN relay servers for establishing communication.

Open the website and join a room to start chatting with anyone else who is in the room. By default, room names are random UUIDs that are generated client-side. To securely communicate with someone, it is recommended to join one of these randomly-generated rooms and share the URL (via the “link” button at the top of the page) to whoever you wish to communicate with via a secure medium of your choosing (such as Burner Note or Yopass). Your static user name will be presented to you, and it would be good share that with who you will be chatting with so they know they’re talking to you.

A problem with P2P is that there is a risk often of your IP address being exposed, as connections are made directly between peers. But if that is a worry then just start a VPN or a Tor session before connecting.

See https://chitchatter.im/

#technology #opensource #decentralised #P2P #Chitchatter
#Blog, ##chitchatter, ##decentralised, ##opensource, ##p2p, ##technology

If you are an advanced PC user and have been using Firefox browser for a long time, you might already be aware of about:config Settings. For those who don’t know, Firefox gives you a lot of customization by visiting about:config section.

See how to, with some suggested changes, at https://trendoceans.com/firefox-tweaks/

#technology #firefox #security
#Blog, ##firefox, ##security, ##technology

Tecno’s Camon Series 19 Pro Android 12 phones have some pretty good specifications, OK not super high-end at all, but certainly good enough for most users, at half the price on an entry level iPhone.

It has a 6.8-inch FHD+ virtually edge-to-edge 120 Hz display, 64 MP and 50 MP cameras on the back, 2X optical zoom, Optical Image Stabilization, 5,000 mAh battery, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and more.

See the review at https://www.techradar.com/news/this-dollar280-phone-is-a-lesson-in-affordability-i-hope-apple-and-samsung-are-paying-attention

#technology #android #affordability #mobile
#Blog, ##affordability, ##android, ##mobile, ##technology