I went like 6 or 7 years ago. Basically no knowledge of Japanese. I used Google translate quite a bit. And yeah it was hit or miss, but generally worked well enough. Is there a better translater?

Besides that, you’ll encounter English a fair bit. Store names, brand names, signage, menus. Not the norn, but not uncommon. And plenty of information out there in English of how to get around.

Relative to other countries where both the spoken language and writing are foreign to me, my subjective opinion I found it easier. Not easy, easier.

Edit: oh and similarly not uncommon to encounter people who speak at least a little English.

First one that’s choked me up too.

Maybe because of how notable his absence is? Seeing rather than reading/hearing.

I feel like if it ever was, it was back when their logo looked like this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PHP2Shell

This, I’m guessing. A couple of new high impact vulnerabilities.

Answering on the idea of port forwarding. Though like others have said, tailscale or similar is a better option.

Opening an ssh port would allow file transfer. You could also so remote desktop with port forwarding over ssh and vnc (or some other more modern protocol, haven’t futzed with anything like that in a long time).

Probably doesn’t need saying but make sure your system is up to date. Also using a nonstandard port and using key based authentication and disallowing password authentication and good security measures. If the device you’re connecting from isn’t something you’re bringing with you, you’d also need a copy of your private key.

I’ve got ethernet running through the house, without running it through the walls. I’ve used cord covers but it’s still a bit tacky looking, TBH.

It’s totally feisable to do runs through the walls via the attic (my house is a single story on a concrete slab) but I don’t want to do that particular job. Might pay someone to do it some day, but it’s pretty low on list of things to throw money at.

In skimming over a synopsis of the show, it does sound interesting and like it skips tropes that I’m familiar with. Not opposed to checking it out. Will I remember by the time I’m looking for something to watch? I’d give it about a 15% chance.

Maybe. I wasn’t intending to infer it was related to age groups. More that my tastes happened to have changed as I aged.

That said and in thinking about it, I don’t recall any of my friends that I know have enjoyed anime showing interest in anime in recent years either.

Doesn’t mean one can’t be older and still enjoy them, but my anecdotal evidence based on a tiny sample size suggests less appeal to an older audience.

I actually have a separate work phone too. Jealous that you get a stipend for it. Mine is just a older phone with no sim card. Mostly sits in my home office. Connect it via hotspot when I’m out and about during work hours or am oncall.

No reason I can’t repurpose it as my travel phone when needed like you do. That’d be pretty easy.

I enjoyed some anime when I was younger. But that sentiment started changing maybe 15 to 20 years ago? Tried a few things here and there (I don’t recall what) that were recommended to me but didn’t enjoy any of it. So I gave up on it. And that’s fine.

Yeah, that and actually taking decent pictures.

Cheap phone + nice camera is another option. But with the downside of more to pack and carry around.

My primary concern isn’t so much what i’m saying now, but what they think about it later if we keep heading toward darker times.

… yeah that feels entirely possible. Valid concern.

Yep! I was initially going to move it out of the shot, but then I figured it probably wouldn’t go unappreciated here so leaned in to it instead.

That’s a hassle. They won’t find anything they’d be interested in while searching through my phone. Because I am a fairly boring man (and I’m cool with that). But I don’t agree that they should have the right to do so in the first place, and I do travel fairly frequently so this is a concern.

I guess I can get a burner and create a separate password database that just has stuff I know I’ll need to use while traveling (like airlines and rideshares). And memorize ones that I don’t want them having access to, like my email account (makes password resets a risk) and bank accounts.

With protesting and dissent nearing illegality, It’s no longer safe to have password managers, browser history or social media on your phone. (at borders for now)

I had not considered the risk of having a password manager on my phone and being cohered to unlock it. There’s nothing dissentious there to find so I’m not concerned about that (don’t infer from that that I think it’s acceptable that they can look, I do not). But what’s to stop them from stealing financial login info while they’re at it? That’s the worry that just triggered.

If you express any public dissent toward the administration, you should consider traveling with a dumb phone or a burner, not connected to your email/social online services/password systems.

Traveling with a dumb phone isn’t always viable. A recent example I can think of is I had to scan a QR code and fill out a customs form on a website. There was not a paper based alternative. But a burner works.

I can’t in good faith speak to how this compares to their first few albums. My previous exposure to Goldfinger was the singles that made it on the radio back in the 90’s and maybe early 00’s?

I landed on this one because I while I like that ska/punk sound, it’s not really a genre I track. I’ve got a buddy who does so I asked him for a recommendation. Goldfinger wasn’t his first recommendation, but first one that I could find that wasn’t a pricey limited release. He named that as “one of his favorites from the 90’s that have some fantastic new stuff”. So grabbed the latest.

I can say I enjoyed listening to it. I felt like there was quite a bit of variety in the sounds of the songs and I liked all of them. I understand it was a collaboration album so that makes sense. I would describe it as a bit on the pop side though.

Sounds great! It’s my favorite of theirs.

DIY Phone

Use the Comet and the Linux stack for calling*, messaging and mobile data as an alternate to your walled and closed smartphone. Contribute to the Linux ecosystem for mobiles.

• No earpiece but the front speaker can do the trick.

Limited to speakerphone, as it stands. Maybe someone will make an attachment that uses the GPIO pins to add an earpiece. Since the GPIO pins are on the bottom guessing that might be a little unwieldy though.

I hadn’t considered that. Which I should have, having been in that very same type of situation before.

I don’t have any great solution. Given how car-centric the US is car ownership really isn’t optional for a lot of people.

Good point. Edited for clarity.

I live in an emissions check only state. My car is an EV and I admit I take enjoyment in knowing ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) car drivers have an inconvenience that I do not.

That said, I’d rather we had regular mandatory inspections. Cars are already dangerous. We should be productively trying to catch issues that could suddenly cause them to behave unexpectedly.

Funny