Back in the days of dial-up BBSs and Internet via a real modem, speed and availability constraints led to apps that work well offline.

Now that most people have unlimited broadband, offline tools have become rare. Now we are trapped in an infrastructure that constrains us to having internet at all times which is then reinforced by the Tyranny of Convenience.

So when someone makes the point “boycott Time Warner/Spectrum because they support right-wing politics and assault privacy”, ppl are helpless.. unable to stomach the idea of being offline. It’s like no one has the constitution to say “fuck this shit”.

The web has become such garbage that I am happy to be offline. Shitty ISPs don’t get a dime from me. No more paying for something that is infested with surveillance advertising, CAPTCHA, and garbage. I’m content to periodically login from public hotspots.

But not a single lemmy client for offline use.. to sync when plugged in and then read and compose replies later. This would giv

This thread is a whine and winge fest to collect complaints of functionality missing in our world of text UIs. I’ll start off with:

• SMS 2.0 (“RCS”): The new standard for SMS (Rich Communcation Services) only has an Android 8.1 app -- nothing for the desktop at all
• kbin/mbin
• Lemmy: Neonmodem Overdrive seems dysfunctional; some servers have an old.

  <server name>

  FE which works with links browser because it has a JavaScript engine, but it’s a terrible UX; and nothing works as far as offering offline access.
• Mastodon voting and poll creation: (though I have not tested https://brutaldon.org/)

Toot (CLI+TUI)

Toot is a standalone app. :::spoiler help page Authentication:
toot login Log into a mastodon instance using your browser (recommended)
toot login_cli Log in from the console, does NOT support two factor authentication
toot activate Switch between logged in accounts.
toot logout Log out, delete stored access keys
toot auth Show logged in accounts and instances
toot env Print environment information for inclusion in bug reports.

TUI:
toot tui Launches the toot terminal user interface

Read:
toot whoami Display logged in user details
toot whois Display account details
toot notifications Notifications for logged in user
toot instance Display instance details
toot search Search for users or hashtags
toot thread Show toot thread items
toot timeline

This bash alias will check the weather in Amsterdam over Tor:

 undefined

    
alias weathernl="curl -s --socks4a 127.0.0.1:9050 -A '' 'https://wttr.in/Amsterdam,Netherlands?lang=en&A='"


  

If your city name contains a space, just substitute with a ”+”:

 undefined

    
curl -s --socks4a 127.0.0.1:9050 -A '' 'https://wttr.in/Los+Angeles,California?lang=en&A='


  

This is one of few websites that looks like garbage in a GUI browser but great in text. Remove --socks4a 127.0.0.1:9050 if you don’t have tor proxy installed.

Tracker pixels are surprisingly commonly used by legitimate senders.. your bank, your insurance company, any company you patronize. These assholes hide a 1-pixel image in HTML that tracks when you open your email and your IP (thus whereabouts).

I use a text-based mail client in part for this reason. But I got sloppy and opened an HTML attachment in a GUI browser without first inspecting the HTML. I inspected the code afterwards. Fuck me, I thought.. a tracker pixel. Then I visited just the hostname in my browser. Got a 403 Forbidden. I was happy to see that.

Can I assume these idiots shot themselves in the foot with a firewall Tor blanket block? Or would the anti-tor firewall be smart enough to make an exception for tracker pixel URLs?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/22571649

According to 15 U.S.C. 7704 §5(a)(5):

INCLUSION OF IDENTIFIER, OPT-OUT, AND PHYSICAL ADDRESS IN COMMERCIAL ELECTRONIC MAIL.—

(A) It is unlawful for any person to initiate the transmission of any commercial electronic mail message to a protected computer unless the message provides—

(i) clear and conspicuous identification that the message is an advertisement or solicitation;
(ii) clear and conspicuous notice of the opportunity under paragraph (3) to decline to receive further commercial electronic mail messages from the sender; and
(iii) a valid physical postal address of the sender.

When my text-based mail client receives an HTML-only email message, it tries to render the HTML as text. It’s sometimes a jumbled up unreadable heap of garbage because the HTML is malformed and relies on a forgiving/tolerant rendering engine. Even when the HTML is proper and standards compliant, links are