Like this:

This is and was the current workaround. On my old phone I had to install an app for that because they decided that there is an up and down which didn’t allow for a 180° rotation.

When held upside down the buttons on the side are misaligned to where the fingers and the thumb are placed. Thus, the volume up-and-down buttons are swapped, which is rather unintuitive.

Before a smartphone holder for my car was handed down to me (I never bothered to buy one for myself) I placed my phone inside the cup holder located at where the shifter is. When the phone needed to be charged, it was not possible to have the phone oriented in the “normal” direction, as the phone would have stood on the charging cable resulting in damaging of the cable. For that reason I made use of the app that allowed me to rotate the phone, so that the charging port would have been on the upper side.

A phone with the charging port on the upper side instead of the bottom. This makes using the phone easier when it is being charged. Also, recessed camera lenses. Why do they have to stick out? When placing the phone on a surface, the camera lens cover will get scratches over time. If the phone was just one milimeter thicker, the cameras on the back wouldn’t stick out and one wouldn’t need a phone case, that adds to thickness anyway. It also would be nice if phone manufacturors would still have smaller screen sizes (max. 6") in their portfolio, as it is inconvenient to carry a larger phone in a pocket.

As long as you have multiple backups of your data, you shouldn’t be concerned. HDDs as well as SDDs can potentially fail at any given time.

The key is to have more than one backup. You shouldn#t rely on only one backup alone.

The “invite your boss for dinner to your home” thing that is often depicted in (US-based) sitcoms or cartoon series, where the protagonist introduces the family to the boss who is invited to have dinner at their home in anticipation to get a raise and/ or promotion. Is that a real thing over there? I never would think of invitng my boss into my home.

Oggy and the cockroaches

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1ghHlhem7676hJfsyoON5Q

Don’t get me wrong - I’m all in favor of the EU Directive that states that all such devices must have the same charging port from now on. I think that this should have been introduced way earlier.

I also realize that this law doesn’t apply to Apple exclusively, but you don’t find the Lightning port on any other non-Apple devices. If the Lightning port didn’t exist at all, Apple devices probably would have been equipped with USB C ports instead.

But one thing that affects all kind of devices is that they will be outdated at least software-wise mostly deliberately, no matter what charging port they are euqipped with. This even happens with Android-based phones, as there is a wide range of phones that can’t be fixed with alternative software (ie. Graphene, LinageOS and similar).

In my opinon it should be law that manufacturors should allow for end-of-service-devices to be opened up and upgraded with an alternative OS/ software, to extend liftime and to avoid being discarded. This affects mobile phones as well as smart lightbulbs, headphones, or vacuum robots and many more. This indeed has nothing to do with the EU Directive for charging ports, but it could have been another step towards keeping devices longer in the life cycle and thus avoiding landfill.

Too many devices are being bricked by manufacturers deliberatly, and there are barely any ways to repair such devices, because manufacturers do not let it happen.

I really hope so.

I wonder what happens to all those devices that are brand new, but can’t be sold any longer due to having the lightning port. My guess is that these devices will be shreddered and land up in a landfill - better for the environment than having to use a different cable (/s).

This EU Directive only applies to devices sold as brand new. Frome here on devices sold as new have to be equipped with a USB C charging port.

You still can buy a refurbished device equipped with a lightning charging port from a second hand market seller.

Nothing changes for most people. If you own a device that still has a lightning port, you probaly also have a lightning cable for it. The three most common types (USB C / Lightnin / Micro USB) will still be around for a couple of years.

From the enviromental point of view it would be best to keep any device until it is not usable any longer.

I’d rather would like to see that Apple is being forced into revealing the software code for end-of-life devices than having to switch to a new charging port. That would have a more severe impact, as devices often still work well hardware-wise, but are outdated software-wise. Even Apples glued-in batteries can be changed (albeit it is very complicated), in order to prolong a devices lifespan. If outdated Apple devices could be revived with a FOSS software solution to be still compatible for a longer time, it would be way better for the environment - given, protecting the environment was the goal all along.

I always thought that entering, hot-wiring and driving away with a car was a complete fabrication, as cars have a steering column lock that prevents movement of the steering wheel. This scenario is often depeicted in older movies.

At least I thought so. I recently learned that this doesn’t seem to be true, as there were cars around that do not have such locking mechanism. So this TV trope doesn’t seem to be far fetched. I think it is a safety requirement now to combat car theft. I assume that modern, recent cars are locked electronically rather than mechanically.

However, I don’t think that car manufacturers leave/left a conventient ammount of cable length underneath the steering column to be yanked out and to be hotwired in a comfortable and accessible way.

This vehicle shows that electric cars suitable for daily use could have been a thing for decades already. With upcoming advancements in battery technology GM could have been what Tesla was a decade ago and nobody would have to fear the uprise of Chinese cars, displacing domestic car makers in the very near future. The unwillingness of long term investments in favor for short term profits by selling combustion-powered cars rendered GM to a bystander in EV developement.

Well researched and informative as always!

We are on good terms with our landlord, and repairs (mostly heating) are taken care of quickly. So far there are no problems at all. But we like to anticipate the worst. I too believe that spills on a wooden floor in a kitchen are normal wear and tear. I think it all depends on what else in the appartement is worn out (some things even due to real negligence), if we move out any time in the future eventually.

Our kitchen is integrated into the living room (open kitchen space) and the whole room has hardwood flooring. Due to the room layout it would be hard to establish a “border” where the flooring could change (e.g. tile floor in the kitchen area). It it easier to have one type of flooring across all the room.

We rent, and unfortunately we were the first ones after the hardwood flooring was put in, which means that every spill and every scratch is on us. We decided not to bother, as every spill leaves a mark (regardless how fast your clean-up effort is), and thus adds character to the floor. It’s a living room after all.

We know that a chunk of the security deposit will likely be gone if we move out. It would probably be as much money as to have the floor sanded down by ourselves.

Despite hardwood flooring has some disadvantages regarding spills and scratches, it makes the room much more cozy than any other type of flooring. The most durable type of flooring would be sealed screed flooring you expect in a warehouse. But that wouldn’t look cozy.

Yeah I get it. I too have some people inside my social circle who don’t seem to understand that certain things work very well for me (my outdated phone for example) and like to give unsoliced advice, because they mean well (in their own specific way). It is hard to combat these kind of people, as it would be ridiculous to cut ties over such bullshit argument. I guess thats the price for being a part of a social group.

High quality faucets (the ones which are expensive) usually do not leak. My girlfriend and I found that out the hard way. After moving in we built the kitchen and then we went and bought the cheapest IKEA faucet the store had to offer (back then for just 10 €), thinking “what could happen, it is just a faucet”.

It turned out that this faucet leaked water, even when closed. But it was so little that one didn’t notice. It went over years. All that leaking water eventually seeped into the countertop, along the hole where the sink is built in, where the material (particle board) of the countertop is exposed. Now our whole countertop is puffy and has been expanded because of the water seeping into the particle board.

We bought an expensive faucet after that, but it doesn’t attach to the countertop so well, because its surface is uneven due to the water seeping into the countertop. During summer, when the countertop dries out and decreases in thickness due to higher temperatures the new faucet comes loose. Until we get a new countertop we then have to deliberately wet the countertop where the faucet sticks out so that it can expand to tighten the faucet again.

Thats why (good) faucets are expensive - you pay for peace of mind partially.

I can elaborate why I have Google Maps installed on an iPhone, despite that I can use Apple Maps, which is pre-installed:

Google Maps is way better in announcing directions when travelling with a car, because it announces several times ahead: at 4 km before an intersection, at 800 m and finally when to actually drive through an intersection. This is more helpful than Apples announcement, which is just once a few kilometers ahead of the point where to change direction. Also, intersections are depicted more clearly in Google Maps.

Additional to that, I find that the woman from Google sounds way more nicer than that bitch from Apple. Apples voice has a pissed-off undertone, probably because it needs to tell you directions in the first place.

On the other hand, the street-view feature is better on Apple Maps.

But I live in Los Angeles where the people I know will feel shame on my behalf due to the car I drive.

Maybe your people should pitch in for a new ride on your behalf then, instead of yourself.

German cars are deliberately over-engineered to increase repairing costs. They fail less often than cheaper cars, but when they do, it’s time to check your covering on your bank account, because that’s gonna cost you.

I discovered KaBlock first, and it did its job. I did not test it with Youtube tho. A couple of weeks ago someone mentioned Hush Nag Blocker and I installed it as well. I think they complete each other, as Hush makes Cookie-Banners disappear, which KaBlock doesn’t. Both KaBlock and Hush seem to block ads from Youtube - I haven’t experienced ads on smartphone so far (I skipped into maybe 3 to 5 videos on it in the last couple of weeks, as I have a data plan that isn’t tailored for video streaming).

See my earlier comment: https://feddit.org/comment/3765971