đđ» Adulting Financial Samurai: How To Overcome The Guilt Of Not Taking Care Of Your Own Kids đ€ Android How-To Geek: These 5 open-source utilities should be on every Android phone Sefirah: GitHub: shrimqy/Sefirah: âPhone Link / KDE Connect alternativeâ PhotoSwooper: F-Droid: PhotoSwooper: " A dating app for your photos & videos" Neo Store: GitHub: NeoApplications / Neo-Store: âAn F-Droid client with modern UI and an arsenal of extra features.â Heliboard: GitHub: HeliBorg / HeliBoard: âCustomizable and privacy-conscious open-source keyboardâ LocalSend: âShare files without the cloud. Fast, private, offline. Open source and cross-platform file sharing for everyone.â Android Authority: 5 Android app stores you should use instead of the Google Play Store F-Droid: âF-Droid is the app distribution ecosystem for Android where your user freedom comes first. Discover our app store, explore the world of free and open source (FOSS) apps and learn about our app distribution tools.â Obtanium: âObtainium allows you to install and update apps directly from their release pages, and receive notifications when new releases are made available.â Galaxy Store: I didnât expect the Samsung Store to be in the list, but okay. Aurora Store [APK Mirror(https://www.apkmirror.com/) Make Use Of: I automated 7 annoying phone tasks with a single app, and now I canât use my phone without it Auto-reply when driving: When my phone connects to my carâs Bluetooth, Tasker automatically replies to incoming messages with a canned âIâm driving and canât respond right nowâ text. It stops the moment I disconnect. Low battery text to my partner: When my battery drops to 10%, Tasker sends an automatic SMS to a specific contact so they know my phone is about to die. No more âwhy didnât you replyâ conversations. Car parking notification: The moment I disconnect from my carâs Bluetooth, Tasker logs my GPS coordinates, timestamps the location, and sends me a notification. I can add a note or even take a photo of the parking spot from there. Sort my Downloads folder: Every time a new file lands in my Downloads folder, Tasker moves it into the right subfolder, whether thatâs images, documents, APKs, or audio files. My Downloads folder used to be a mess. Flashlight brightness slider: On Android 13 and above, Tasker exposes the hidden flashlight intensity control as a floating slider whenever I toggle the torch on. I had no idea this was even possible. Important notifications on Always-On Display: I keep my AOD off to save battery, but Tasker turns it on whenever I get a notification from specific apps, like WhatsApp or Gmail. It switches back off after I dismiss the notification. Google Doorbell chime: Instead of relying on a silent notification when someone rings my Nest doorbell, Tasker intercepts the notification and plays a custom chime on my phone while opening the Google Home live feed automatically. How-To Geek: Termux gives your Android phone access to tools Google doesnât want you to have Title is kind of click-bait-y⊠but Termux definitely is useful & i have it running on my Android devices. Termux: âTermux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app that works directly with no rooting or setup required. A minimal base system is installed automatically - additional packages are available using the APT package manager.â Make Use Of: 7 open-source apps so good, Google should build them into Android LocalSend Seal: GitHub: JunkFood02 / Seal: âđŠ Video/Audio Downloader for Android, based on yt-dlpâ Bitwarden: âCredential security for humans, agents, and machines. Bitwarden secures every password, passkey, and secret that your people, AI agents, and machines rely on. Experience the open source, end-to-end encrypted platform that scales with you.â Image Toolbox: âEdit, create & convert images with powerful AI â your all-in-one studioâ Proton VPN: The Intercept: Proton Mail Says Itâs âPolitically Neutralâ While Praising Republican Party: â⊠Proton CEO Andy Yen praised the Republican Party in a post on X, declaring that â10 years ago, Republicans were the party of big business and Dems stood for the little guys, but today the tables have completely turned.â When the tweet went viral, Protonâs official Reddit account posted a now-deleted comment stating that âUntil corporate Dems are thrown out, the reality is that Republicans remain more likely to tackle Big Tech abuses.ââ: So, no thank you to anything Proton =] I cancelled my account after that, moving first to Tuta, then to Mailbox.org. Wavelet: GitHub: Pittvandewitt / Wavelet: âA quick rundown on each feature and its settingsâ F-Droid: âF-Droid is the app distribution ecosystem for Android where your user freedom comes first. Discover our app store, explore the world of free and open source (FOSS) apps and learn about our app distribution tools.â Android Authority: HeyPolo is a privacy-first family location sharing app that gets it right Web Site: HeyPolo: âAlways know yourfamily is safe. Everything you need to keep your family connected and safe, without the surveillance.â I donât currently have a need for this (especially with Apple products + FindMy), but i was interested just because itâs supposed to be privacy-focused. How-To Geek: I tried 3 of the best Android devices for handwritten notesâhereâs the one Iâm sticking with Huion Kamvas 11: USD$$329.00 BOOX Go 10.3 (Gen 2): USD$399.99 Motorola Razr Fold Make Use Of: This free app shows every device on your network in under 30 seconds, but thereâs a catch I think the issue they are flagging in the article is just the number of devices that come back without names \ Generic information instead of being more accurate date. In the past Iâve used NetAlertx & really did like it, but recently when Iâve tried to use it, Iâve had problems. Occassionally i go back to test it out again, but havenât gotten in working. In the meantime, Iâve just setup OOTT that doesnât have nearly the same features \ details as NetAlertx, but it works, so thatâs good enough for me =] Seems a bit better (for me) than WatchYourLAN, so will be seeing how development goes. Android Police: This Android metadata removal utility allowed me to escape creepy internet tracking bugs GitHub: exiftool / exiftool: âExifTool meta information reader/writerâ Web Site: ExifTool by Phil Harvey: âExifTool is a platform-independent Perl library plus a command-line application for reading, writing and editing meta information in a wide variety of files.â The command used by Irene Okpanachi: perl ~/exiftool-13.55/exiftool -all= -overwrite_original filename.jpg â strips metadata from the file permanently and overwrites it without creating a backup copy. Replace filename.jpg with the file name. đ„ïžđ Apple Cult of Mac: AirDrop vulnerability lets anyone nearby knock it offline, no tap required âA newly discovered AirDrop vulnerability means someone sitting in the same cafĂ© as you can silently break AirDrop on your iPhone or Mac, no tap or pairing required. They just send a stream of junk data to your iPhone and AirDrop â alongside AirPlay, Handoff, Universal Clipboard, and Continuity Camera â all go dark for as long as they keep it up.â CISPA: Protocol Prying: Systematic Vulnerability Research in the AirDrop and Android Quick Share Proximity Transfer Protocols đ€ Artificial Intelligence \ Large Language Models How-To Geek: Googleâs Gemma AI runs locally on my $300 mini PC, and it replaced ChatGPT for more than I expected Gemma: âOur most advanced open models help developers create AI applications that run wherever users need them â from cloud servers to laptops and even phones.â Ollama: âThe easiest way to build with open modelsâ Make Use Of: I stopped paying for ChatGPT after I installed this free local model on my phone: âGemma 4 locally on my iPhone 15 Pro Maxâ Google Play: Google AI Edge Gallery App Store for iPhone: Google AI Edge Gallery How-To Geek: I turned a local LLM into a personal eBook librarian, and it gives me better recommendations than Goodreads âRather than using a standard LLM, I used a small embedding model, nomic-embed-text, running in Ollama. This model converts book descriptions into numerical vectors so the system can compare these vectors rather than vague descriptions.â GitHub: mhurhangee / patrick: packages I saved this because someone had mentioned the DOCX editing part being removed from other repos? So i wanted to save it in case it was useful for the future. Patrick: âReads, edits and reasons your Word files on the cloud your own computer â tracked changes you approve.â GitHub: superdoc-dev / superdoc: âđŠïž SuperDoc - Modern DOCX Editor and Agent SDKâ SuperDoc: âModern DOCX Editor and Agent SDK. Add DOCX superpowers into your product and agentic workflowsâ Y Hacker News: thisisjedrâs comments âIâm working on https://docx-editor.dev/, open-source, .docx editor library for building document apps.â How-To Geek: Setting up a local LLM is the easy partâhereâs what you need to do with it next âWorking on private documents and data: Keep sensitive data in your own homeâ âGet help with code instead of having it written for you: Autocomplete and explanations that never leave your machineâ âBuild a second brain: A local source for your ideasâ âSmart home automation: Keep your smart home localâ âUncensored writing and roleplaying: Escape overzealous guardrailsâ đ Current Events đ„đș Entertainment How-To Geek: 9 forgotten â90s sitcoms still worth watching Get A Life (1990): âA 30-something guy still lives with his parents, works as a paperboy, and tries to avoid growing up and being responsible at all costs.â The Critic (1994): âJay Sherman is a New York film critic who has to review films he doesnât like for a living.â Malcolm & Eddie (1996): âApparently, opposites do attract. Malcolm and Eddie are as different as one can imagine, but theyâre best friends who manage to be roommates as well as co-workers without killing each other.â Dharma & Greg (1997): âA free-spirited yoga instructor finds true love in a conservative lawyer and they get married on the first date. Though they are polar opposites, he fulfills her need of stability and she fulfills his need of optimism.â Smart Guy (1997): âA 10-year-old genius goes from elementary school to high school.â Damon (1998): âThe adventures of Damon, a talented police officer living in Chicago with his loser older brother.â Stark Raving Mad (1999): âA neurotic book editor is paired with an eccentric writer.â Spaced (1999): âFriends Tim and Daisy, 20-something North Londoners with uncertain futures, must pretend to be a couple to live in the only apartment they can afford.â Two Guys and a Girl (1998): âThree twenty-somethings share a Boston apartment and hang around (and work) at a pizza place.â How-To Geek: 6 beloved movies and shows that started out as surprise online viral hits Channel Zero (2016): âAn anthology series based on creepypastas.â Backrooms (2026): âAfter a therapistâs patient disappears into a dimension beyond reality, she must venture into the unknown to save him.â Hazbin Hotel (2019): âIn an attempt to find a non-violent alternative for reducing Hellâs overpopulation, the daughter of Lucifer opens a rehabilitation hotel that offers a group of misfit demons a chance at redemption.â The Amazing Digital Circus (2023): âA woman finds herself trapped in a virtual circus where she and five others are subject to the whims of a wacky artificial intelligence. In this digital purgatory they must face frightening N.P.C.s and cope with their own personal traumas.â Critical Role: The Legend of Vox Machina (2022): âAfter saving the realm from evil and destruction at the hands of the most terrifying power couple in Exandria, Vox Machina is faced with saving the world once again-this time, from a sinister group of dragons known as the Chroma Conclave.â RWBY (2012): âFour teenage girls form Team RWBY and train to fight crime and monsters known as the Grimm, while the world of Remnant remains on the brink of an all-out war.â Gizmodo: Dive Into a New Sci-Fi World With an Exclusive Excerpt from âMAYA: Seed Takes Root,â Read by Hugo Weaving: âAs for the story, itâs described as a blend of âscience fiction, fantasy, and philosophyâ and âa new mythology for the 21st centuryânot of gods and monsters, but of us.ââ The first chapter is available to read at the Gizmodo link. Gizmodo: 70 New Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Books Releasing in July: Too much to spell out here⊠so just leaving the link. Gizmodo: 10 New Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Audiobooks Releasing in July The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley: goodreads: The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy (Dearly Beloathed #2): âOsric is a member of the Fyren Order, a guild of assassins who gleefully murder for money. Aurienne is a Haelan, a scholar-healer whose Orderâs motto is Harm to none. Clear-cut absolutes separate them: good and bad, right and wrong, light and dark . . .â Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle: goodreads: Fabulous Bodies: âFashion influencer by day and grave-robber by night, Poppy Stringer is on call when Eddie Michaelsâa flamboyant, piano-slamming rockstar and queer iconâunexpectedly dies. All Poppy has to do is retrieve Eddieâs body from the medical examinerâs office, but what starts as a routine delivery quickly goes off course when Eddie wakes up.â Cross My Heart, I Hope You Die by Mallory Arnold: goodreads: Cross My Heart, I Hope You Die: âWhen Nora, Ruby, and Cham discover that theyâve each been dating the same man, what starts as outrage quickly spirals into a plot for revenge. Together they hatch a plan to lure their boyfriend to a romantic getaway in a secluded cabin at the top of a snow-covered mountain.â The Dragon Has Some Complaints by John Wiswell: goodreads: The Dragon Has Some Complaints: âGarrodigh was once a four-headed dragon, among the most powerful in KardoĆĄa. After an unfortunate incident, he now has three heads, one stump, and a daily whirlwind of internal bickering. Centerhead wants to rain death upon all humanity, Bottomhead is like a feral cat, and Upperhead is under the delicate delusion that he is, in fact, human.â Not With a Bang by Temi Oh: goodreads: Not with a Bang: âIn the summer sky, a celestial object is fast approaching, due to slingshot around the Earth and disappear again. And everyone has their own theory on what it is â a meteor, a planet, aliens?â Carry Me to My Grave by Christopher Golden: goodreads: Carry Me to My Grave: âMaggie Wise will take your eyes. When Malcolm was growing up, the local kids made up that chant about his mother, claiming she was a witch. He and his siblings did their best to ignore it. Now, Maggie is dying, and those same siblings have left Malcolm and his sister-in-law Violet to hold a vigil at her bedside.â Mudlark by Mary Helen Specht: goodreads: Mudlark: A Novel: âJenny Sweetâs marriage is endingâand with it her band and maybe even her fragile relationship with her thirteen-year-old daughter, Neko. A reluctant wife and mother, Jenny plans a new journey of self-discovery after one more gig at Burning Man. But when Neko disappears amid the chaos of the festival, Jenny fears that everything that mattered to her has been lost. As she races against the dark, Jenny finds herself thrown into the past, and into the heart of a gathering storm.â Null Entity by Seth Haddon: goodreads: Null Entity (The Volatile Memory Duology #2): âWith her identity erased from the Corporate Federation, Wylla is a ghost in the untraceable, unpredictable, and fueled by vengeance. She fights alongside Sable, the AI consciousness whose murder they avenged, the one she loves in ways no system could ever define. Together, theyâve built a reputation for tearing through VisorForgeâs carefully constructed lies.â The Felicity Complex by August Clarke: goodreads: The Felicity Complex: " Welcome to the Felicity Complex! Constructed during the height of the Cold War, our unique hotel is prepared to protect you, the billionaire class, from nuclear annihilation! Shielded from radiation and supplemented with closed air systems and hydroponic gardens, this resort bunker offers a prime existence full gymnasium and spa, gourmet meals, top-tier medical care, and the best in entertainment." Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst: goodreads: Sea of Charms (Spellshop #3): âMarin is a supply runner with her own boat that she sails from island to island, delivering whatever anyone will pay her to deliver: letters, flour, even the occasional enchanted lemur. Itâs a lonely life, but itâs hers, and she wouldnât trade the freedom of the sea for anything. Her only companion is a sea serpent, Perri, whom she saved from a fisherfolkâs net.â đź Games Gizmodo: Spend Five Minutes With This Hellish Operating System Simulator and Youâll Never Swear at Your Computer Again GitHub: Youâre the OS! Kotaku: DK64 Recomp Dev Criticizes Rival Project Using AI Vibe Coding Tools GitLab: dk64_decomp / dk64 Dolphin Emu: WCCF Tech: ShadNet Lets PlayStation 4 Emulation Players Go Online Without Sony, as ShadPS4 Sidesteps PlayStation Network Entirely âShadNet is going to offer shadPS4 users a way to connect, and play online games together. This project has been in the works for a few months now, but its in a stage where we can announce it officially,â the announcement on the ShadPS4 official website reads. âShadNet is still in development, and there is still a lot to be done, but its ready for testing. At this moment, only tracking score works, but please feel free to give it a try!â /r/TheSilphRoad: Souvenirs â A Comprehensive Guide to a Neglected AR Feature I never knew what the souvenirs did in PokĂ©mon GO, so i finally was looking into it⊠looks like itâs really not that much (at least as of 3 years ago, when this post is from) ...