Notices by Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange), page 3

Having spent a bit setting it up, I gotta say: Wow, this is nice. Is it perfect? No, but I sort of feel like I was missing out by not using Fedora.

Zero setup required on devices that were sometimes finicky on Debian, like my Wacom touchpad.

And while the speakers don’t work, everything else does. Even got facial recognition working.

One downside I noticed of this laptop: My thunderbolt dock, while it works right away, does not charge it. I have a plug nearby, so it's not the end of the world, but it would be much nicer if it did.

Update on the HP Envy journey. I am noticing in Linux that the fan stays on all the time, and I’ve determined it’s because of the Arc GPU, which there seems to be no way to turn off.

To put it another way, the battery life gets hosed in Linux because there’s a dGPU on even when not in use. There appears to be no way to turn off the Arc GPU.

Performance is fine given what it is. I ran Doom (2016) at 1440p and got 40+ FPS, which is pretty good. But that’s a bit of a bummer.

The key thing mixed with the dGPU thing may not make it the best choice for me, especially given that it already has a knock against it given the sound issues.

It’s too bad. It’s a very usable and upgradeable laptop, and the 120HZ makes it a lot of fun to use.

Have been using it on Windows this morning. A much better Windows experience than a Linux one—and I haven’t heard a peep from the fan. Only real issue seems to be some awkwardness with Thunderbolt.

This is huge and likely has an extremely limited audience. But it's the kinda idea I'd love to see more of.

https://www.clicks.tech/

Because Mastodon strips UTM codes from everything, it also breaks gift links. Maybe we should just allow UTM codes.

I’m just a little annoyed because somebody gave me a ton of hell a week ago because I shared a paywalled link, and I go out of my way not to do that and it doesn’t work for half the people clicking on it because URL codes get stripped.

Dishwashers make me mad.

“Don’t trick me into going to Radio Shack.”

Not going to lie, I want to go to an operating Radio Shack in 2023

So weird to think about but today’s my 10-year anniversary. Somehow, I’ve been married 10 years! Amazing partner, doesn’t put up with any of my bullshit.

May you have the same in your own life.

I saved my boss from boarding a hijacked flight on 9/11. You won't believe what he did next

Over at @tedium, I have a take on Threads, Mastodon, internet culture, and UX.

Key point: Learn to live with a grimy internet with slightly janky UX. because odds are it is the internet we actually want.

https://tedium.co/2023/07/08/threads-social-media-brand-safety/

Linus Tech Tips disappearing from YouTube discourse is pretty brutal not gonna lie

I’m quoted on @team’s Battle for Libraries website, and my comments remain relevant.

Today is the day to fight for @internetarchive. They need your voice: https://www.battleforlibraries.com

In today’s @midrange, we close out our year-end series by highlighting our favorite blog post of the year—Ted Gioia’s brilliant take on music catalogs sucking the value out of new music: https://midrange.tedium.co/issues/ted-gioia-old-music-killing-new-music/

What’s the most #creative thing you’ve done today?