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Joined 5 months ago
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Cake day: March 28th, 2024

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  • I have gotten the “there doesn’t seem to be anything here” error message a couple of times. Might be due to blocked or removed instances or posts (in my case at least).

    Some lemmy apps (on Android) have different ways to handle things. I have been using Eterniry on and off after the recent update it got and I can tell it’s much faster than Jerboa for loading images and posts but the overall UI seems slower. I tried mulitple apps as well in the past and they all have their own sets of issues which is to be expected.

    The rate limiting error may also be due to you logging onto multiple devices/apps at once. A few days ago I had the same issue when I logged off and logged back in with Jerboa and Eternity within a small interval of time.

    If you suspect your ISP, test with proxies and wireguard obfuscation within the mullvad app on your phone (and desktop as well if you want more accurate results, like that you can have more than just one result from one device). Try also to change your country to one that is closer to you to see if you might see some difference. It could be that you get timed out by the servers you’re trying to reach with the VPN tunnel that you’re using.




  • If the pdf files are properly formatted (no compression/all text selectable), you should be able to open a terminal and do (I know it works the other way around, not sure if libreoffice can actually do the reverse but it doesn’t hurt to try)

    libreoffice --headless --convert-to docx *.pdf
    

    Just know that since docx is a proprietary format by microsoft, the results may be flawed. As a last resort I guess you could run a windows VM and try to convert your files with any big software known to be able to handle such files.


  • I haven’t tested many microphones since I quickly settled on the current one I have, the Blue Snowball. Like I saod previously, it’s cheap and does well for everything I need. It comes with a small stand making it easy to transport and quickly set up. Only downside for what it is would be the shape. A round ball isn’t very practical while packing up.

    I cannot help further on the model of the microphone. If you go to a shop on-site they may let you test some of them. If they do, chances are you can also see how much noise around you gets picked up. You could also look at some reviews and buy online by some big marketplace like Amazon where you’re sure to be able to return the product if you’re unhappy, without having to spend extra for returning it. By experience, you won’t get in any trouble if you buy and return a few of them right after.


  • In the case of your laptop and microphone together while being on the go, a “small” microphone and somewhat cheap would indeed be best like I said previously. If you’re outside, I wouldn’t bring some equipment that attracks too much attention to you for sure.

    As for in-ear earbuds, the only good options I’m aware of do not offer any microphones. The cheapest and only ones that I can think of are the old (now retired) apple standard earbuds. However the mic isn’t that “good” per say and I doubt many places still have a stock of them.


  • It is a solution. I prefer to know exactly how my software is doing things and prefer to set every settings myself. While that isn’t something I recommend most do due to time constraint, I also forgot that those tools are implemented in a lot of big applications making use of video/audio calls. If it suits your needs and find no issue using them, go for it. It will indeed help tremendously. The tips to dampen the noise in the room you are in still applies. Noise cancelling tools like so need to distort the audio the more ambiant sounds there are and the volume they’re at. The louder an environment is, the more your audio will be distorted and the worst the quality will get. Nowadays, we are at a point where it shouldn’t matter too much because of how well those tools processes the audio so it should be fine. Just keep it in mind.

    In the end that wasn’t all that useful but I hope you’ll manage to have good calls with an audio that fits your needs and liking.


  • While browsing a few years back, I found myself buying the Blue Snowball. While many headsets now include good microphones, I chose this one because it was (and still is) cheap and of good enough quality for regular use.

    As for the input settings, that might be tough if you have no experience with it. Depending on your laptop’s OS and the wide range of software it might be tough.

    Before any audio settings in place, test out your audio with:

    • a microphone,
    • a physical filter (some uses socks, its not recommended but it’s just to give you an idea of what it is),
    • a room with as much noise reduction as possible (thick curtains/room with a good amount of furniture/sound absorbant panels, all of those can help).

    Chances are, the noise will still be too much and you will want some artificial changes from softwares afterwards, but the more you dampen the noise, the less tweaks you will have to do in the software making it easier while also not ruining the audio too much with software filters.

    If you’re willing to tell me what OS you will use with that laptop I can try and see what could potentially work on there without just telling you xyz software and giving you random values you have no informations on. Sometimes, simple OS audio configurations can do as much as some advertised software.


  • As blackstrat said, a commentator headset-microphone might be the thing you need if you ever have the money to spend on it. I could give you a good recommendation if you need one but the headset without anything else costs around $3k US iirc. That’s without the needed cable and DAC. Think around $5k US for the whole thing. It is really impressive because no matter how much shouting or loud noise there is right next to you, you cannot hear it if you want to filter it out by decreasing the noise gate.

    Do you need to have such a high end headset-microphone? Probably not. A good microphone, adjusted audio input settings and mixing should be well enough. However, if you do feel like you really need a luxurious microphone then tell me and I’ll find the referrence for it in a bit.


  • You could always try on another machine if you can to see if the latency is due to the laptop or the keyboard itself.

    Also, changing keyboard, especially if you’ve been using a certain keyboard type and you change to another, can really mess uo the eay you type until you get used to it.

    Lastly, bluetooth is a whole mess so it very well could be that. If you value what you bought and like you said, someone close to you is a tinkerer, converting a bluetooth device to a wired can be a nice project if they haven’t done so before (and it prevents throwing out a working device with a small defect).






  • Setup:

    Download Seal and go to Settings > General. From there click on the update yt-dlp to make sure you’re on the latest yt-dlp build. No head to Custom command > New template. Put your label of choice and in the “Command template” section put in your custom command.

    To create a good custom command I highly recommend you browse TheFrenchGhosty’s Ultimate YouTube-DL Scripts Collection’s Watch on Mobile Devices Script to get an idea of what you would want (I’ll give an example template later on based on theirs).

    Once your command is done click “Done”. If you have not configured the output directory yet, go to Settings > Download directory > Custom command directory (Usually you’ll want this in the Download folder. On android: /storage/emulated/0/Download/<Name-Of-Your-Choosing> Make sure to have “Configure before download” under Settings > General, enabled. From there, exit the app.

    Go to the app you want to download your media from (ie. Browser, Youtube). If you are in a browser, long press the url bar of your link and click “Share”. You will be presented a menu to share the selected link. Long press on the Seal icon marked as “Quick Download”. You will be presented with a way to pin the app. This will allow this specific app you’re in to have Seal be presented right away when you want to share a link and be prompted with the “Configure before download” menu. From there, select “Commands” as “Download type” and click on the template’s label you created earlier. You can now click “Download” and enjoy.

    You could avoid the hussle of setting up a custom command and tweak a few things in the app’s offered options. I just prefer to use my usual commands that I use to download on my phone as well.

    As for the command, here’s a short template I just made from modifying TheFrenchGhosty’s scripts as mentionned above (haven’t tested it but should theoritically work):

    yt-dlp --format "(bestvideo[vcodec^=avc1][height=1080][fps>30]/bestvideo[vcodec^=avc1][height=1080]/bestvideo[vcodec^=avc1][height=720][fps>30]/bestvideo[vcodec^=avc1][height=720]/bestvideo[vcodec^=avc1][height=480][fps>30]/bestvideo[vcodec^=avc1][height=480]/bestvideo[vcodec^=avc1][height=360][fps>30]/bestvideo[vcodec^=avc1][height=360]/bestvideo[vcodec^=avc1][height=240][fps>30]/bestvideo[vcodec^=avc1][height=240]/bestvideo[vcodec^=avc1][height=144][fps>30]/bestvideo[vcodec^=avc1][height=144]/bestvideo[vcodec^=avc1])+(bestaudio[acodec^=mp4a]/bestaudio)/best" --force-ipv4 --sleep-requests 1 --sleep-interval 5 --max-sleep-interval 30 --ignore-errors --no-continue --no-overwrites --add-metadata --parse-metadata "%(title)s:%(meta_title)s" --parse-metadata "%(uploader)s:%(meta_artist)s" --no-write-description --check-formats --concurrent-fragments 4 --output "%(title)s - %(uploader)s (%(upload_date)s).%(ext)s --merge-output-format "mkv" --throttled-rate 100K

    Not all the info here is relevant for each use cases but I hope this gives ideas and helps even a bit.






  • If you are technical enough you can use an Xposed module to prevent that. Like one that reduces the intake of energy while charging. Some ROMs also offer that built-in.

    Try to see what your charger is. Maybe your phone is using “fast charging” which might make it charge faster but it will definitely get hotter. A charger that is compatible with your phone and without fast-charging capabilities might help your phone not be as hot.

    Lastly, and this is less about the energy part and more about safety, make sure if you charge it unatended that it is away from anything flammable. While there is a very small change something like that would ever happen I wouldn’t take the risk.


  • I can definitely see that being a thing sadly.

    So the post and comments refer to people who act in such a way mixed with the US politics because of how certain people make “jokes” about minorities that are oppressed and might be oppressed further in the worst case scenario, right?