Bought up by Google years ago werenāt they? Thats how google maps gets the extra āpolice aheadā etc info.
6 Likes
Iāve been using it since before that happend, and google bought it because it was/is better, and is why google maps got better.
Still, Waze has better turn by turn navigation and their traffic report became more accurate because of the google map users contributing to the data.
So I would call itā¦ google adjacentā¦
3 Likes
Ahh, right on. I only used it for a couple months a few years back, couldnāt stand all the ads.
Maybe a regional thing, I have never seen a single ad 
I used it when I was in the states, but on an NZ sim, still no adsā¦
Where do they put them?
Sameā¦
Provided that I tend to use Google maps when abroad because itās better for finding stuff like restaurants and Iām more familiar with the process for saving offline maps.
Data roaming is expensive and sometimes it doesnāt work at allā¦ So I donāt want to end up getting lost looking for a McDonaldās with free WiFiā¦ 
I should probably look into the offline map functionality of Waze. It doesnāt have this feature. So Google Maps it is for international travel purposesā¦
Have you ever tried Saily?
I can reccomend it.
I think Norton own it (VPN not Motorcycle)
Would you consider a VivoKey supplied nextcloud service if we offered it in 2025?
1 Like
Yeah I would
my only criteria is >=2Tb cloud storage that works on desktop and mobile. I donāt mind paying for it, I already do.
$ = TB 
Nextcloud has file sync clients for basically everything and of course web access. Iām actually quite impressed with their Android client. Searching files is very fast. I have 5TB on my personal instance and I can find any file on there in seconds with the Android client. Itāll pull it down automatically when I select it and open on the phone.
1 Like
Sounds good to me. Isthat something I should be looking forward to? Or just an idea?
1 Like
Every search for anything always had links to fast food and big stores (target, macys, etc) no matter what I was searching for. At one point, it would even show a full-screen ad whenever you stopped at a stoplight so that you couldnāt look at anything else on the map.
But like I mentioned, it was years ago, they may have gotten less obtrusive since then.
1 Like
Iām keeping my X account, I find it more welcoming now that Iāve followed a bunch of Gundam accounts and Elon is in charge.
I used to follow a lot of infosec and it accounts but the politics that constantly seeped into that space sickened me. Now all of those accounts moved to bluesky and I made the mistake of following themā¦ Gosh, I hate obscure academic political arguments. 
As far as the Facebook stuff, I have an empty account that I created back in the day when itwas required for the Quest. And I have no desire to use it or even log in. Also, Iāve never paid for youtube premium.
Iām thinking about going back to what I used to do and run my own server againā¦
Many Tuya products are based around an ESP32 and can be flashed with ESPHome. But some newer ones use a realtek knockoff chip which is probably not supported yet, if ever.
Pretty much why I havenāt installed a smart lock now that I can. And Tuya advertises that their locks have a āClipper chipā that complies with the requirements of chinise intelligenceā¦
Iām considering ordering a Yale from the Amazon UK or German sites.
2 Likes
I wouldnāt use a lock either. All I have is a bunch of wifi outlets and a couple led strips so Iām not too worried about itā¦ But I still would like to use something more futureproof
1 Like
Okay well now weāre talking about this 
Shelly
I have to say the most impressive iot company Iāve come across is Shelly. Almost all of their stuff can run locally/independently from the cloud. The only stuff that canāt seem to do that is the Bluetooth low energy stuff that needs to go through a Wi-Fi gateway deviceā¦ but I could be wrong, I think it might be possible to configure the gateway to talk locally as well to report ble events.
Seriously just look at their stuff. A lot of people think that their app is garbageā¦ it has only two stars. These reviews are from idiots. Is the Shelly solution all-encompassing like Alexa or Google home? Not reallyā¦ the app doesnāt do a lot of fancy stuff like voice control or anything like that, but just the fact that you can set up a Wi-Fi push button device to call various URLs based on the button pattern you pressed is impressive. I donāt mean it talks to the cloud and says talk to the urlā¦ the button itself calls the URL itself. You can direct this to an internal web server or a external Cloud server or whateverā¦ the button will run independently from anything and do what you ask once configured.
I ran into a problem updating the firmware on a ble device and it seemed to brickā¦ come to find out I can download a Shelly Bluetooth debug app on the Play store and force push a firmware update to bring it back to life. These guys donāt mess around when it comes to making quality stuff. The only downside I can see so far is that they are simply missing some basic iot devices to round out a complete smart home.
Lutron
The other company I really like is Lutron, specifically their Caseta line. I really like their approach to light switches and motion sensors, and their proprietary low frequency RF protocol they use with their Pico remotes.
The remotes and motion sensors and everything can work entirely locally using their RF direct control protocol for controlling lights and everything. The range on the low frequency RF is pretty good. I havenāt had a situation yet where a remote couldnāt control the lights I needed to control.
The other thing about Lutron is their smart hubā¦ while it is ethernet only and no wi-fi support, this means not a lot of interference for their low frequency RF protocol with the hub. They also publish PDF support documents that detail every single UDP and TCP port the hub uses and what those ports are for. Iām pretty sure the Smart hub will totally function with something like home assistant even if the cloud is down.
I havenāt tested this yet but the software plugin for home assistant seems to connect directly to the smart hub and not to the Lutron cloud service.
The final thing I really like about the Caseta line is the light switch dimmer system they have. It goes into a standard junction box but it does not require a neutral wire. It goes between the hot and load only. The reason this is important is many parts of my home are still rocking the 1930s wiring which only runs a hot and load wire to the junction box. No other smart dimmer works like this that I have found. Every single light switch now in my home is running a Lutron Caseta, whether it is old school wiring or modern wiring with neutrals in the box. I like Lutron for this function.
Oh one other thing, they make a wall plate adapter for their Pico remote so it looks like a wired dimmer but itās just the remote in a plate. This is great for things like three-way wiring where you just wire nut together one of the boxes and put a Pico remote over it and put the actual dimmer in the other box. Actually in one situation I just carefully screwed the Pico plate into the wall with no actual box or cut out for a boxā¦ just to screw holes to hold the plate to the wall and it looks totally legit like thereās a box there.
7 Likes
A fantastic April fools prank would be to include an ungodly amount of lube for a random flex sale. Like a Diddy amount of lube. Attach the flex to a two liter bottle of lube and send it, sit back and just wait for the forum post.
Even better is to send @Hallic random opened packages of lube and nothing else.
6 Likes
Hmm maybe weāll rig something upā¦
2 Likes
yeah, fuck that for a joke, I would be out too and certainty not reccomending to anybody.
I havenāt seen a single ad, ever.
2 Likes
For the past 12 years every few months or so I buy Shrek DVDs on eBay with a burner account and send them to a former coworker. Iāve never revealed it was me and I always get a tickle when I see her post it on socials
7 Likes
Well, I guess thatād be better then sending me a box of empty lube packetsā¦
wonders if heāll end up with āThe Lube Guyā forum subtitle or something
4 Likes
āLubedā
1 Like