I've already written about this but it bears repeating: if you do not have control over the tech you use, you should assume that it can – and probably will – be used by those who control it or later gain control of it for nefarious purposes.

This is why I have never owned a smart speaker, smart doorbell, or other such devices, and why I am constantly wary of using an iPhone or a conventional (“Googled”) Android phone.

I understand that my iPhone is not truly mine. Apple ultimately decides what software I am allowed to run on it and they have the ability to completely brick it or turn it into a surveillance tool without my knowledge or consent.

So why do I keep it? Because I'm expected to use a phone for work and church purposes, some of the apps I need to use do not run on de-Googled Android, and from my perspective, “Googled” Android phones are even more of a privacy nightmare than iPhones. So it's a situation where I have to choose the lesser of the evils.

To mitigate risk, I try to use my iPhone only for the purposes required, and I have a second phone running de-Googled Android with OS-level tracker blocking (/e/OS) for everything else. It's not perfect, but it's better than doing nothing.

This is just one of many adjustments I have made by assuming that tech I don't control can be used to spy on me.

Beware of the dangers of using Imperial tech and make adjustments accordingly. Every change you make, no matter how small, makes a difference.

Discuss...

#100DaysToOffload (No. 129) #tech #privacy #AI #smartphones #internet

Watch the video and check the website for more details, but I'll give a quick summary of each product and my impressions.

Power Keyboard

This is a bluetooth keyboard that you can pair and use with any device that supports bluetooth keyboards. But what's unique about it and made me pre-order it is that it can attach to my iPhone 17 via MagSafe and I can use it as a slider keyboard in both portrait and landscape.

I had been seriously considering buying a Clicks keyboard case but I didn't hesitate to pre-order the Power Keyboard because of its versatility. I can easily attach it to my iPhone when I want to use it and remove it when I don't. And I can use it for other devices (tablets, Apple TV, etc.), as well.

As someone who loathes typing on glass, this was a no-brainer. Especially since it's cheaper than their keyboard cases!

Communicator

If you are familiar with Michael Fisher (aka Mr. Mobile) and his content, you know how much of a Trekkie he is and there's no doubt he had something to do with the name of this phone. (And I'm pretty sure most of the folks behind Clicks are all Star Trek fans because they're nerds like me.)

A phone that looks like a BlackBerry that was made by BlackBerry fans and former employees! Finally!

The recognizable form factor and minimalist default launcher instantly hooked me, but what sealed the deal for me is when they announced it will have a SD card slot and a 3.5mm headphone jack! This is how I know Clicks means what they say about giving customers choices and being intentional about how they designed the Communicator, because I believe the real reason both of those features have been removed from mainstream smartphones is to make more money by forcing people to pay for more internal storage and buy wireless earbuds or headphones whose batteries eventually fail, requiring them to buy regular replacements.

I haven't pre-ordered the Communicator yet, but I am very seriously considering it. Given the current state of tech (and everything in general), prices are only going up. So I think the regular price of $499 USD for the Communicator is a steal in a world where $1K+ smartphones are becoming the norm. But the pre-order price of $399 USD is almost too good to pass up.

The only reason I hesitate is that, as part of my personal efforts to reorganize, consolidate, and be more intentional about the tech I use, I am in the market for a new laptop – likely a new MacBook, but I am not 100% settled on that yet.

I also am trying to figure out the best arrangement for my smartphone use. Right now I am using my iPhone mostly for work, church, travel, and iMessage and FaceTime. I am using my Unihertz Jelly 2E as a secondary personal device, mostly for listening to podcasts and music right now, but also for some communication and light app use.

I'm not sure if I need the Communicator if I have the Power Keyboard for my iPhone.

But, without question, I want the Communicator! And if money were no object, I'd pre-order one now. I just need to decide what my my focus and priorities are and whether what I currently have in the way of mobile phones is sufficient, so I'll wait a bit and think about it before pre-ordering one.

Kudos to Clicks

I'm pleased to hear about any tech company trying to make products that bring back intentionality and choice to the devices people use every day. Sometimes, less is more. Tried and true designs and features don't need to be forced into obsolescence.

It seems like Clicks is on the right track – their keyboard cases have clearly appealed to enough people that they are in a position to take their offerings to the next level.

I wish them success and am excited to get my hands on the Power Keyboard for sure and, perhaps, the Communicator, too!

Discuss...

#100DaysToOffload (No. 124) #tech #smartphones

There are several different free DNS providers who can do this, but I went with AdGuard for now. I reviewed their Privacy Policy and they make it clear that they do not process personal data via their public DNS.

Below is a link to instructions on how to use AdGuard public DNS servers on your devices. You can either use their apps or configure DNS manually.

Connect to public AdGuard DNS servers

I've already noticed the lack of ads in a few apps that are notorious for them and it's been wonderful. I'm going to set it up on my wife's phone next.

Discuss...

#100DaysToOffload (No. 110) #tech #internet #smartphones #privacy

By “Big Tech” I am referring to the largest and most influential technology companies in the world, including but not limited to Alphabet (which owns Google), Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Nvidia, and Meta (which owns FaceBook, Instagram, and WhatsApp). These companies create and provide the hardware, software, and services which governments, companies, and individuals use in most of the “free” world.

The technologies these companies provide have, without question, enabled us to do some amazing things. They have allowed us to communicate, learn, work, and live in ways that I only dreamed about as a child watching my favorite TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation. But these benefits have come at a cost – a cost which I have long felt is too great, and has only been increasing over time.

Almost daily we find more evidence of just how much control these companies have over the technology we use. For me, the recent story that drew my attention back to this issue is Apple removing apps from their App Store that have allowed people to lawfully report and track the locations of ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents based on their visible public activities. They have also removed an app that simply archived media documenting ICE abuses. Apple have done this in response to pressure from the U.S. federal government.

This is just the latest in a long train of abuses on the part of Big Tech. But it is one that comes at a critical time in the history of the United States and the world when many governments are becoming more authoritarian and are pressuring Big Tech to assist them in censorship, surveillance, and the infringement of human rights. These companies generally bow to the wishes of the governments of the countries in which they do business because they want to continue to do business. Apple have been resisting giving governments backdoor access to their iCloud service, but I believe it is only a matter of time before they give in on that, too.

And so, it's time for me to try again to divest myself of the products and ecosystems of Big Tech to the extent possible. The sobering reality of the situation is that Big Tech has become so enmeshed in the fabric of my everyday life that this will be a difficult and painful task. But it is necessary. And I believe it will be worth it, especially if I can help others to follow suit.

Over the coming weeks I will be assessing all of the technology I personally use and seeking freer replacements – or choosing to do without, if necessary.

And I will, of course, be documenting and sharing my experience for posterity and in the hopes that it will inspire others to do the same.

Discuss...

#tech #BigTech #politics #privacy #smartphones #socialMedia

I have long had a love-hate relationship with technology. I love what digital devices empower us to do, but I hate that it's so easy to abuse or be abused by others through those same devices.

Today I had an experience that reaffirmed my appreciation for smartphones. In my church, adults and youth are given responsibility to look after and help other individuals and families in our community. We call this “ministering.” My 16-year-old son and I are ministering companions and we have the opportunity to minister to four different households.

This morning we, along with another gentleman from our ward (congregation), went to visit one of our ministering individuals in an assisted living facility and give her a blessing. She's an elderly woman who has recently had some serious health challenges. She took a bad fall in which she broke both of her ankles and has also recently recovered from COVID-19.

I had never met her before – we are new to the neighborhood and only recently were given the responsibility to minister to her. She is completely deaf in one ear and nearly deaf in the other. When we first started chatting with her in our visit today, it soon became clear that unless we yelled at the top of our lungs, she would not be able to understand what we were saying.

As I saw the look of frustration on her face and felt my own frustration level rising, I had an idea. I took out my iPhone, opened the Notes app, typed what I wanted to say in large, bold print, and showed it to her:

My name is Dallin Crump. My son and I are your new ministering brothers.

She read it, then looked up at me and smiled. Her look of frustration had transformed into relief. “It's nice to meet you,” she said. “Thank you for coming to see me.”

We continued communicating in this manner, which took a little time, but was much nicer than trying to yell at her.

When the time came to give her a blessing, I gave her my phone and enabled speech-to-text to transcribe what we were saying in real time so that she could follow along.

We also later found out she had an iPad. With her permission we took a look at it to see if there was a way she could use it to keep in better contact with us. She said she never checked her email, but sometimes used Facebook Messenger to keep in touch with her family. I connected with her on that app, so now she can message me any time if she needs help from the ward and I can check in on her and offer words of support and encouragement.

30 years ago, we might have gotten by with a pen and paper when we needed to communicate with this sweet lady. But speech-to-text and instant messaging didn't exist in the convenient forms we enjoy today. She would not have known the words of the blessing we gave her, nor would we have been able to keep in contact with her as easily going forward.

I believe God has inspired the development of these and other technologies for the purposes of doing His work. Whether they are used for good or evil – to create or destroy, to build people up or tear them down – is entirely up to us.

For an elderly lady in need of love and spiritual support from her ministering brothers during a very difficult time, my smartphone and her tablet were godsends.

Discuss...

#faith #tech #smartphones

At the very end of 2022, I decided to try an experiment with an unconventional smartphone – the tiny Unihertz Jelly 2E. Here are my impressions and takeaways.

A refresh of the older Jelly 2, the Jelly 2E is the smallest smartphone I have ever used, sporting a 3” display. It may be small in stature, but it's a fully functional Android phone running Android 12 and it can mostly do everything other Android phones can do.

And when I saw it on sale over the holidays and was able to snag it for $144 USD, I figured I'd give it a try.

The 3” screen has a resolution of 480 × 854 pixels and is just fine for what it is. Everything is crisp and clear, just smaller.

The phone is small, but thick at 95 × 49.4 × 16.5 mm. The thickness is welcome – if it was any thinner it'd be very difficult to keep from dropping it. In fact, they even include a wrist strap if you want to use it!

It has a dual sim card slot – those seem to be more popular overseas. It's a feature I've never used, but always nice to have the option.

With 4GB of RAM I have never experienced any slowdowns, and 64GB of storage is more than adequate for my needs. But having the option to add a Micro SD card to expand the storage if I want to is quite welcome.

Phone calls are loud and clear. Even the speakerphone has worked well in a pinch.

The cameras (8mp front, 16mp rear) work fine and are not terrible, but don't expect iPhone or Pixel quality. I don't take many photos, so it's not a big deal to me.

The rear fingerprint sensor has been hit or miss for me. It works most of the time after a few attempts – only occasionally on the first attempt. Not a deal-breaker but noticeable.

In addition to all the standard features we've come to expect in smartphones like GPS, WiFi, front and rear cameras, etc., it also has a couple features that have inexplicably disappeared from so-called “modern” smartphones like a dedicated 3.5 mm audio jack, programmable action button, and even an IR blaster. I can't tell you how satisfying it has been to just plug my earbuds in or connect my phone to my sound system sans Bluetooth without having to look for a dongle.

The main reason I got this phone was to promote digital minimalism – to help curb the long-ingrained impulse to absent-mindedly pick up my phone and distract myself. And for the most part, it has worked.

It's definitely more difficult to type anything on the minuscule keyboard, so that alone is a huge deterrent to using it for lengthy emails, texts, etc. unless I'm truly desperate.

And I refuse to install social media apps on my phone, preferring to use a browser instead. Doing so on a phone that small is pretty agonizing, too, so with the exception of using mbasic.facebook.com a couple times, I haven't used social media on this phone at all.

But while my overall smartphone use has decreased, my computer use has increased to compensate. For example, rather than typing texts on my phone, I usually type them on a computer using the Google Messages web app (unless I am out and away from a computer). Same with my IM apps, emails, social media posts, etc.

The biggest gripe I have is that a couple a couple apps I've wanted to use have not worked. Skype just crashes immediately after launch. Gmail worked fine for a few days, then also started crashing immediately after launch. I switched to K-9 Mail and it works great. I expect there are more apps that might not work, as they are not optimized for the unconventional screen size and hardware, but thankfully there are alternatives to most apps that work just fine.

Another semi-gripe is that notifications don't seem to work for many apps. This might be due to my own lack of experience with Android 12 – I'm sure it's could be a battery optimization thing or some other setting. But it's only a semi-gripe because I usually disable notifications for most apps anyway as a digital minimalism hack. I prefer to check social media and other things on my own terms, not because that little notification tone went off. But I have missed some time-sensitive messages on instant messaging apps and that's a bit annoying.

But overall, this phone has been a delight to use and a great conversation starter (mostly people laughing and looking at me like I have two heads, but coming around as I talk to them about it and explain my reasons for using it). I love that a device so compact can do so much and do it as well as it does. If you are looking for something to help curb your smartphone use without giving up the important and useful features of a smartphone when you truly need them, give the Jelly 2E a try.

#tech #DigitalMinimalism #intentionism #smartphones

The delay is understandable. Package delivery is always delayed around the holidays, but this year some intense winter weather has been negatively impacting air and ground transportation all over the country.

So I don't mind long shipping times. The only expectations I have for this phone are that it will work with my carrier and will make me want to use a smartphone less.

I'm excited to thoroughly try it out and share my impressions. Hopefully it will arrive before the end of the year so I can start 2023 off on the right foot on my journey to more intentional technology use.

Discuss...

#100DaysToOffload (No. 97) #tech #smartphones #DigitalMinimalism #intentionism

It's the first time we've traveled to be with extended family for Christmas since 2019 – before the COVID-19 pandemic. My family, along with my two brothers and their families, planned to have Christmas Eve dinner with my mother and step-father and a small gift exchange afterward.

For various reasons, one of my brothers had to cancel his family's travel plans. We were sad that they wouldn't be able to join us in-person and that we would have to go at least one more Christmas without them. But thanks to modern technology, we used my (“ancient”) iPhone 8 to do a FaceTime call with them during our gift exchange. I played cameraman as family members opened their gifts and then passed the phone around to each family member to have a quick chat.

It is true there is no substitute for in-person interaction. But when in-person interaction cannot happen, video calls can be the next best thing.

If and when I decide to stop carrying a smartphone on my person, there will be other ways of doing video calls. A laptop, a tablet, or even a smartphone as a secondary device dedicated for specific functions like that.

Because, as was demonstrated tonight, a video call was able to bridge hundreds of miles and connect our family in a way that I only dreamed of as a child watching Star Trek: The Next Generation. While I lament other technological “advances” that seem to have done more harm than good or have mixed results at best (social media), video calls are one achievement I can wholly and unapologetically support.

Discuss...

#100DaysToOffload (No. 92) #tech #smartphones #COVID19 #family

Topics of Focus

#faith – thoughts related to my religion #tech – self explanatory

Other Topics

#100DaysToOffload #accessories #AI #automobiles #Bandcamp #books #business #cassette #charity #Christianity #Christmas #ChurchOfJesusChrist #climate #community #compactDisc #contention #COVID19 #decentralization #DigitalMinimalism #economy #electronicMusic #EveryDayCarry #eWaste #family #FOSS (free-as-in-freedom and open source software) #friends #gratitude #haiku #health #hobbies #HomeOffice #humor #intentionism #internet #laptop #LessConvenient #libraryMusic #life #Linux #loneliness #media #meditation #mentalHealth #misc #movies #music #news #nostalgia #physicalMedia #planning #poetry #politics #privacy #prophets #retro #smartphones #SocialMedia #synthwave #travel #TV #Twitch #unity (not the game engine) #Utah #vaporwave #writing