cross-posted from: https://toast.ooo/post/232185

Hey all,

I’ve got an exciting thing to announce today, Canvas — Lemmy’s r/Place!

We need to get our own traditions over here in the Threadiverse, why not start off with our own r/Place

This weekend, we will open up a canvas to all Lemmy users, each user will be able to place 1 pixel every minute. This event will last 72 hours, starting midnight EST on the 4th and ending at 11:59pm EST on the 6th

Some instances that are joining in:

• toast.ooo
• lemmy.zip
• lemmy.ca

Join the Lemmy Community [!canvas@toast.ooo](/c/canvas@toast.ooo)

Join the Matrix Space #lemmy-canvas:matrix.org

#Meta is giving its answer to OpenAI’s GPT-4 away for free. The move could intensify the generative AI boom by making it easier for entrepreneurs to build powerful new AI systems.

In May an anonymous memo apparently written by a Google researcher concerned about the company’s future leaked online. It argued that, while executives squabbled about the competitive threat of text-generation technology from OpenAI, open source software was “quietly eating our lunch.”

As proof, the memo cited Llama, a large language model made by Meta that was initially available only to researchers by invitation but within days leaked on 4Chan, and quickly became popular with programmers who adapted and built on the project. Within weeks of its release, variants called Alpaca and Vicuna were nearly as good as ChatGPT but agile enough to customize on a laptop computer. “The impact on the community cannot be overstated,” the leaked Google memo said. “Suddenly anyone is able to experiment.”

Last week, Meta released the second version of its unexpectedly popular model, Llama 2. This time, it is open source and free for commercial use from the start. The new version was made using 40 percent more data than the original, and a chatbot built with the model is capable of generating results on par with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Meta claims.

Just like ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, and other generative AI models released recently, Llama 2 likely cost millions to create. But only Meta’s system is available for free to developers, startups, and others interested in creating custom variations of the model. By supplying a cheaper option, Meta’s Llama 2 makes it easier for small companies or lone coders to create new products and services, potentially accelerating the current AI boom.

Meta isn’t offering up Llama 2 alone. It has support with some major partners that are already making the model available to their customers, including AI startups Hugging Face, Databricks, and OctoML.

Microsoft, which has invested $10 billion in OpenAI, will nonetheless also offer Llama 2 downloads to developers for use in the cloud or on Windows. At a conference for Microsoft customers last week, CEO Satya Nadella talked excitedly about developers being able to use Meta’s open source AI alongside the proprietary offerings of OpenAI. Amazon’s cloud division, AWS, also offers access to Llama 2.

Ahmad Al-Dahle, Meta’s vice president for generative AI, declines to say what role the leak of the first Llama model played in the company’s new strategy for Llama 2.

“If you look back at Meta’s history, we've been a huge proponent of open source,” he says, pointing to the example of PyTorch, a popular tool for developers working with machine learning. “One of the major motivations for building a community around this was that we saw there was demand beyond researchers to work on these models and improve them.” Al-Dahle says work is already underway on the development of Llama 3, but he would not specify how it will be different.

Though Llama 2 lends credibility to Meta as a leader in open source AI, not all aspects of the release can be characterized as open. The training data used to create the model is described in release materials only as “publicly available online sources,” and the company won’t offer further details about what went into the model’s creation.

Meta’s license for Llama 2 also requires companies with more than 700 million monthly active users to establish a separate license agreement with Meta. It is not clear why, but the clause creates a barrier to other tech giants building on the system. The model also comes with an acceptable use policy, which prohibits generating malicious code, promoting violence, or enabling criminal activity, abuse, or harassment. Meta did not respond to a question about what actions it might take if Llama 2 was used in breach of that policy.

Jon Turow, an investor at Madrona Ventures in Seattle, says Meta’s pivot from trying to restrict distribution of the first Llama model to open-sourcing the second could enable a new wave of creativity using large language models. “Developers and entrepreneurs are very resourceful, and they are going to find out what they can squeeze out of Llama 2,” he says.

Turow likens Meta’s choice to release Llama 2 this month to Google introducing the Android mobile operating system in 2007 to rival Apple’s iOS. By giving away a cheap but powerful alternative, Meta can become a counterbalance to proprietary systems like the kind developed by OpenAI, sparking innovation that could feed back ideas that help improve Meta products and services.

Llama 2 is the first openly released model on par with ChatGPT, says Nathan Lambert, an AI researcher at Hugging Face, a startup that releases open source machine-learning software, including generative models. He doesn’t consider the project truly open source, because of Meta’s limited disclosures about its development, but he is astonished by the number of Llama 2 variations he sees in his social media feed. One example is the latest version of WizardLM, an AI system, similar to ChatGPT, designed to follow complex instructions. Eight out of 10 models trending currently on Hugging Face, a number of which are made to generate conversational text, are variations of Llama 2.

“I think there’s a case to be made that Llama 2 is the biggest event of the year in AI,” Lambert says. He says proprietary models have the advantage today, but he believes that later versions of Llama will catch up and, before long, will be able to perform most tasks that people turn to ChatGPT for today.

Lambert also says the Llama 2 release leaves a number of questions unanswered, in part due to the lack of documentation of training data. And it will still remain the case that only major players like Meta, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI will have the computing resources and staff needed to make leading large language models.

But he is hopeful that, despite the the success of OpenAI’s proprietary approach, language models are shifting into an era of transparency. A voluntary agreement between the White House and seven major AI companies calls for tests of things like potential for discrimination or impact to society or national security before deployment.

It’s a trend that could be challenged by growing questions about legal liability for AI systems and increasing regulatory pressure from politicians, who fear that malicious actors will start using open source models.

Like Demis Hassabis, the AI researcher now leading Google’s AI development, Turow disagrees with the assertion made by the leaked Google memo that it and other major AI companies are threatened by open source AI. He thinks data, talent, and access to computing power will continue to protect the biggest tech companies—but not make them invincible.

He’s now watching to see what startups and researchers do with Llama 2, expecting to see them rapidly improve it, as happened with the first iteration of Meta’s model. He says that should create new possibilities for both startups and the broader field of AI. “We're seeing open source continually get better and better, so there may be surprises that upset the early leaders,” Turow says. “I don't know what will happen.”

State Superintendent Ryan Walters staged a press conference Friday on the grounds of Tulsa Public Schools’ administration building about an incident he views as a violation of a local school board member’s religious freedom.

He vowed to make an issue of the matter when the school district’s accreditation is up for renewal next week by the Oklahoma State Board of Education.

“I want to thank E’Lena Ashley for her stand for religious freedom. There is no more fine example today that religious liberty is under assault than what’s happening here in Tulsa Public Schools,” Walters said over constant shouting from the large crowd that assembled for the 3 p.m. press conference. “You have a school board member who uses her freedom of expression to say a prayer, and what do you see? You see the radical left who want to shout her down.”

Friday’s press conference, which the Oklahoma State Department of Education announced on Thursday afternoon, appeared to draw an equal number of protesters and supporters, who, alternately, shouted over speakers at the podium and at one another over the course of about 20 minutes.

Along with Walters, speakers at Friday’s press conference included Ashley, Bob Linn with the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee, and state Sens. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, and Dana Prieto, R-Tulsa. Prieto brandished a thick stack of papers he identified as “almost 2,000 letters of support” for Ashley, drawing another round of jeers and cheers from the assembled crowd.

Afterward, when the shouting had moved away from the podium in front of the Education Service Center’s marquee, Walters spoke to reporters and made this revelation: “The next (state) board meeting we have next week, we will be looking at Tulsa Public Schools’ accreditation for all their violations, … and we are going to make sure that religious liberties are protected in Tulsa Public Schools.”

Ashley, a Tulsa school board member, spoke at East Central High School’s graduation ceremony on May 18 and invited everyone to pray with her.

“I pray in the name of Jesus Christ that each one of you would walk forward from this moment in the excellence and love of God, that he would guide you, direct you and draw you to your ultimate goal. In the name of Jesus,” she said.

Afterward, Ashley reported that she had received an email from the Tulsa school board president stating that both the president and Superintendent Deborah Gist had received numerous complaints from members of the school community and saying that the prayer Ashley made is not allowed under the U.S. Constitution and rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court.

East Central High School students and staff also voiced their concerns during the citizens’ comment portions of the Tulsa school board’s meetings on June 5 and July 10.

However, Walters zeroed in on objections from Gist and board President Stacey Woolley and used that as justification for not reaching out privately to discuss his concerns prior to Friday’s press conference.

“We’ve seen exactly what Superintendent Gist and Tulsa Public Schools’ reaction to this was: attack a board member, to send an email that fundamentally misunderstands religious liberty and religious freedom and attack a duly elected board member for saying a prayer,” Walters said. “It’s outrageous, and we’re not going to stand for that.”

In 1962, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Engel v. Vitale that school-sponsored prayer is a violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment. Walters has previously stated that he believes the decision was wrong.

Walters did not answer follow-up questions as to what specific provisions of the state’s accreditation standards he believes were violated by district officials’ criticism of Ashley’s prayer.

A spokeswoman for TPS confirmed Friday morning that the district was not contacted by Walters or the Oklahoma State Department of Education about the state superintendent’s concerns prior to the press conference announcement that went out Thursday afternoon.

As the press conference started, the district issued a written statement in response.

“Tulsa Public Schools values and respects individuals from all faiths, backgrounds, and cultures. We strive to maintain a welcoming environment for our students, families, and team members,” the statement says.

“The U.S. Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court rulings are clear: district officials may not lead prayer or promote religious views at school-sponsored events. By adhering to the law, we strive to uphold religious liberty and ensure that no student or family feels excluded at school events — particularly graduation, a once-in-a lifetime celebration.”

Tulsa Public Schools’ state accreditation was downgraded in July 2022 over an allegation that it violated a state law commonly referred to as House Bill 1775, which limits classroom discussion on race and gender. The district was penalized for an August 2021 professional development session on implicit bias for teachers — not students — offered through a third-party vendor.

The State Board of Education takes up every public school district’s accreditation renewal each July. This month’s meeting is set for 9:30 a.m. July 27.

Attendees at Friday’s press conference included a half dozen or so faith leaders from across Tulsa, who watched from the back.

The Rev. Randy Lewis of All Souls Unitarian Church said he came to hear Walters for himself. All he could do was shake his head in disappointment.

“It’s horrible what politicians are doing to this country — right, left, you name it,” Lewis said. “We are one nation and one people. This division, this foolishness? Scripture says: ‘Divided we fall; together we stand.’”

Walters told reporters after the event that he would have taken the same action had Ashley offered a prayer representing any faith background. However, requests from the crowd to allow an imam and a rabbi to offer a prayer at the top of the press conference were ignored.

Shelley Gwartney, who ran an unsuccessful bid for a Union school board seat last year and who is a current candidate for state Senate District 33, attended with a handful of fellow Moms for Liberty members.

“What this school board member did is protected under the First Amendment,” she said. “It was a public graduation. People are allowed to pray. If it can happen at TPS, how can it not happen somewhere else?”

A woman with a son in Broken Arrow Public Schools said she attended because “we are not looking forward to forced religious observance in schools.”

“I think Tulsa instituting religious programming would spread. It’s like this little spark,” said Melisa Mons. “But all of this yelling? I don’t think that solves anything. I can see where there’s that frustration of wanting to be heard, but it’s hard to hear other perspectives if everyone is yelling.”

Gabe Woolley, who teaches fourth grade English and social studies at TPS and is of no relation to the school board president with the same last name, hugged Ashley after the press conference.

He said he views the invitation to pray and the prayer she made at East Central’s graduation as the same as the moment of silence observed in public schools, where children can choose to pray or not pray.

“If we’re really going to say we want free speech, you have to embrace the other side,” he said

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — Oklahoma Comic Convention will be held on Aug. 5-6 at the Cox Business Convention Center in Tulsa.

The event will feature will feature guests from movies, television, anime, comic books, and cosplay. Guests who have confirmed attendance include Lea Thompson from "Back To The Future", Matty Cardarople from "Stranger Things", and professional wrestler Rob Van Dam. More guests will be announced closer to the event.

Guests will attend both days and be available for autographs and pictures for an additional fee.

The Oklahoma Comic Con will also have costume contests, Q&As with guests, fan panels, workshops, video game tournaments, tabletop game tournaments, an old school arcade, and more.

Vendors and artists from across the country will be selling everything from t-shirts and comic books to swords and art.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.nl/post/318319

It's foolish to think open source isn't possible on Android.

0. Introduction

I was a fool myself, I thought the apps my phone's vendor made were simply too aesthetically pleasing to switch from. I thought there were barely any good libre apps, and they were all limited in functionality compared to their closed source alternatives. I was ignorant to the fact that the apps I was using were filled to the brim with corporation branding, useless features, and bugs (which I thought were acceptible for some reason). But I digress, I'm here to show that there is a world where you install only libre software and still use your phone to do whatever you'd like. I needed this years ago, so I'll take you on a journey down the rabbit hole to prove it.

Assuming you already have some idea why libre software is preferable, the first step is embracing minimalism. Of course, you will not find open source versions of the exact same proprietary apps you love and use on a daily basis. Though, an open source alternative will aways exist in some form. If you embrace minimalism and identify what you want from an app with precision, you won't be carried away with extra featues that may simply be bloat.

Disclaimer: Some of the open source communities may be nasty, but at least they don't hide their dirt.

1. Basic phone features

You need to replace your default system apps. You didn't choose to install them, you were fed those apps. Just because the vendor doesn't want you to replace them doesn't mean you have to keep using them. Root your phone (Why is it dangerous and letting a company you know nothing about have control over your device and data isn't?) and delete those apps.

Phone app (Dialer): Go ahead and install Koler or Simple Dialer. NoPhoneSpam can be used to block based on patterns. Call Recorder can be used to record your calls, use Call Recorder - Skvalex (closed source) with its Magisk module if it doesn't work. Use Share my number if you need to share your number with a QR code.

Gallery: SimpleGallery has an all albums view in addition to per album view. It can remove metadata, filter media, has a recycle bin support, and allows basic editing.

Contacts: Simple Contacts.

Files (browser/explorer/manager): Are you, by any chance, still using Root Explorer? Perhaps your vendor's modern files app? You could also be dependent on Google and using Files by Google. Maybe ES File Manager and its ads had an impact on you. No matter which one you use, Material Files welcomes you. It has everything you need. If you can't give up your files app because it cleans junk files / optimizes or speeds up your 256 GB phone with 8 GB of memory, know that you don't need any of it. If you're used to the 2 panel layout, remember minimalism. You don't need it, this app has multi-window support.

Messaging: QKSMS or Simple SMS Messenger, the former should be superior to the default messaging app. If you can get a friend to read this post, you can use Silence (not to be confused with Silence the call blocker) to converse with them encrypted.

Software catalogue app: Droid-ify for open source apps and Aurora Store for apps on Play Store only. You can log in to download the apps you've paid for.

Launcher: Stop using a Google launcher, Nova Launcher, or OneUI's launcher. Yes, you can do without a Google search, weather, cpu temperature, and free space widgets (though you can still find them in libre launchers). There are a lot of open source launchers, though Olauncher (for elegant simplicity), KISS Launcher (power users), Discreet Launcher and Omega Launcher (more familiar) are some of the highlights. It's fun trying out new launchers, don't be afraid: F-Droid is your playground.

Voice Recorder: There are decent open source voice recorders but the proprietary ones are way better, no doubt. You can still live without editing voice recordings though, install Audio Recorder (not to be confused with Audio Recorder), it allows you to go back a few seconds and record over. Check out RingDroid if you want to trim an audio file.

Clock: Yes, even the default clock app can be changed, so why not? Try Clock (the new version).

Camera: Open Camera is worth a try. If not, stick with what works best for your use case. Keep in mind minimalism, though. Don't take a photo unless you really want/need to and consider using a simpler camera app in case you don't need filters or anything like that.

Browser: It might sound surprising but this is the easiest part. If you're using Chrome, install Bromite. If you like Firefox, install Mull. There are some simpler browsers that run on WebView, you can test them out if you want. For syncing bookmarks, use xBrowserSync.

Music: Newpipe (casual), Seeker (hq) to save locally. Vanilla to play local music. Blade if you're paying Spotify or want Deezer's library. Spotube works as a Spotify client. ViMusic is a simple player that can play from Youtube Music.

2. Social media

Don't use it. If you must, Frost for Facebook, Fritter for Twitter, Infinity for Reddit, Newpipe for Youtube, NewPipe x SponsorBlock for Youtube with SponsorBlock support (NewPipe's developers refused to implement it), Clipious as an Invidious client (you can use it to read replies to Youtube comments and proxy videos through Invidious), Xtra for Twitch, GIider for Hacker News, Jerboa for lemmy (the only working Lemmy client on Android so far). Use Matrix bridges for Discord and Telegram servers, SchildiChat and Element are two popular clients.

3. The Google suite

Gmail: K-9 Mail hands down, FairEmail is another solid alternative.

Google Drive: RCX to access your files on Google Drive, Onecloud, Dropbox, Amazon Cloud. See also Round Sync, an actively maintained fork of it. Any self-hosted solution like Nextcloud will still be better.

Google Translate: SimplyTranslate Mobile uses Google Translate, so the translation is decent. Monocles Translator if you want to go all libre and use LibreTranslate, which has mediocre translations. InstaLate for seamless LibreTranslation with an overlay.

Snapspeed: Litrato comes close depending on what you want to do. There's also Phimp.me, which can edit images but it is far from a polished app. Don't use an image editing app, try Litrato and Phimp(dot)me if you must, go with Snapspeed if you really need those features. You can use Simple Gallery's built-in editor or Imagepipe If what you need boils down to filters, cropping, rotating, sketching; Pocket Paint also works as it has layer support, you can get creative with it.

Google Authenticator: Aegis is just better. If you need MOTP, use andOTP which is larger in size.

Google Photos: Self-host a Piwigo, PhotoPrism, or an Immich server. Better yet, embrace minimalism and don't have thousands of images in your gallery. Frequently organize and delete unnecessary images.

GBoard: FlorisBoard as it has detailed custom themes. FlorisBoard already has a clipboard. You can also try XClipper if you're not satisfied.

Google Keep: This app is so basic that most open source note taking apps should suffice. As for the top editors, Joplin is good, can sync pretty well and even has error correction tools in case sync goes wrong, but you can't attach files bigger than 10 MB to notes. Neutrinote CE is almost just as good, it even has basic sketching feature but you can't attach anything other than images. It also doesn't offer anything to organize or group your notes that works with other apps. Markor has terrible UX but it has good attachment support. Quillpad is the closest in UI to Google Keep. It has an enjoyable UX and live markdown processing. Unfortunately, you can attach only images in-line, and you have to manually put in the whole path to the image as though you're on PC. Notesnook was added to F-Droid recently. It has clients on all major platforms and it might be the most modern libre notes app. Though, it has several features (some vital depending on the use case) locked behind a paid subscription.

Google Docs/Slides/Sheets: OpenOffice Document Reader can read and edit, but don't expect much. Collabora Office is a way better editor, it works but doesn't have as many features as Google Docs does. Neither of these options offer collaboration. Padland has collab through Etherpad but it's well-known how hard it is to get everyone you are working with to switch to another app.

Google Fit: RunnerUp to track your runs with a voice coach. Plees-tracker to track your sleep. Pedometer (Privacy Friendly) to count your steps. MediLog to log weight, blood pressure and more.

Google Assistant: Dicio is already on F-Droid but it won't get what you are saying. Possible actions are limited. There's also Athena that's in development, though it is not ready for any kind of use. Depending on whether you need some sort of an accessibility service, you can get away with ditching Ok Google / Alexa / Cortana / Bixby. TalkBack should help with it too.

Google Play Books: Aurora to get books, Librera Reader to read them, Badreads or Openreads to log and review them.

Google Calendar: Etar or Simple Calendar, can't go wrong with either.

Google News: No alternatives. Unless it has to do with your job, it's a stressful form of entertainment, drop it. News Provider can get news from rss feeds though. Thud has a lot of feeds set up by default, but it is laggy. Read You offers the smoothest RSS experience I've had on Android.

Google Tasks: Tasks.org is easily the best tasks app out there. It doesn't have smart language recognition or quick add, but it's still great. It's comparable to Todoist and TickTick.

Google Maps: Organic Maps (based on OpenStreetMaps) can suffice. You probably think an offline map would just suck and you can't do anything with it, but it works pretty well. It has add-ons that can report traffic jams. Your biggest issue will be the lack of places (with user comments and additional information), for which you will have to use GMaps WV, a wrapper for Google Maps.

Wallpapers: Olauncher has a new wallpaper every day. Cardboard Museum changes your wallpaper periodically with a different one from Danbooru. There is Muzei, which offers a new wallpaper every day. Doodle has several wallpapers and offers some customization. Resplash is like Google Wallpapers in how it pulls from a large online database, it is basically an Unsplash client. If you don't like any of these apps, browse the internet; don't use the the spyware that is Zedge.

Digital Wellbeing: UsageDirect can display your screen time per app. DetoxDroid can make your screen grayscale (per app) and break infinite scrolling. With OpenTimeLimit, you can limit an app's usage for a user. TimeLimit.io can be used for multi device support either self-hosted or with monthly subscription.

Speech Services by Google: RHVoice offers TTS. No open source STT that works for the English language is available on Android (Dicio, barely).

4. Oddly specific alternatives

Samsung SoundAssistant: Audio HeadQuarter works the same way with its Magisk module, is also way more customizable. At least some parts of it are not open source, however.

Goodreads: Badreads or Openreads with no community reviews. Embrace offline apps.

Trakt: Episodes for series (still needs some work for an enjoyable experience). Nekome can be used for anime and manga if you trust Kitsu. CineLog and Movie DB can both act as a database where you save movies or look up other movies, but they aren't actively developed and lack organization features. This is where SeriesGuide comes into play. It can be found on Izzy's repository and it "tracks or reports your" activity but it can help you group and organize your series and movies. It has premium features (extra) that require a monthly subscription. There is also an alternative called Showly.

Any streaming app (Hulu, Netflix...): Cloudstream-3. See CS3 Docs to learn to set up the app and install the repositories you want.

VPN: Depends on the provider. CalyxVPN is free, Mullvad is paid. Both have open source apps.

Spotlight-like: Blue Line Console, can be used alongside your favorite launcher as an assistant app. It can do basic math and unit conversions, supports widgets. It's addictive.

WinDirStat: DiskUsage does not have a list but it offers a visual block view that can clearly show what's eating up all the space on your phone.

Github: OctoDroid, very slow development but it's still good. It doesn't support Github Discussions and the new issue forms yet.

CamScanner, Office Lens: OpenScan will get you covered. Don't use the 155 MB spyware CamScanner.

Forest, Flip (Productivity / Pomodoro Timer): Goodtime is perfect, you can use it with your phone's screen locked.

Moon Reader: Librera Reader is just as good, if not better.

Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF read and annotate): Librera Reader.

Sketchbook: Saber for basic sketching. Krita is a great app that works properly only on tablets. Another option is Pocket Paint, which is barely okay. PxerStudio is great for pixel art.

Your Phone Companion: Zorin Connect, KDE Connect, Device Connect all do the same thing. Share To Computer is the simplest wireless way to transfer files or text from phone to computer, as it doesn't ask for an internet connection, it's handled locally.

Whatsapp: Jami has come a long way, use it if you have people who'd be interested in a libre P2P Whatsapp alternative that doesn't require any signup or phone number. XMPP/Jabber is also an option as long as you can host a server yourself. If not, then use Signal, if that still doesn't work for you, no alternatives. You can use Whatsapp Web To Go, it should work without the Whatsapp app. Try Open In Whatsapp if you need to text people not in your contacts.

Vocabulary(dot)com, Knudge(dot)me: No alternatives. If you aren't preparing for a test, don't bother with these and just consume media.

Merriam-Webster DIctionary: CollinsDictionary (MW alternative), Notification Dictionary (simple text definitions), WordBook (personal dictionary), EnglishWiz (offline with examples and word saving).

MyFitnessPal: Waistline is the only app that comes close but has only packaged products, so you can't use it if you don't consume a lot of packaged food.

Squid, Nebo (Handwritten notes): Xournal++ Mobile is not fun to use, but it is free software. Saber is a new alternative.

Remote for Samsung TV (old smart TVs): Sam Remote uses Wi-fi, so there is no need for infrared. The app doesn't have play/pause buttons.

VirtualTablet: Weylus can mirror the screen to the client. GfxTablet can also be used, though it has no mirroring.

AccuBattery: BBS can be used to track what's draining your battery. AccA with its Magisk module is a must-have as it will help your battery last longer.

Any fitness app (Thenx, Sweat...): Feeel for a workout database and how to do exercises. Wger too has a database of workouts. Workout Time! has predefined workouts as well and it offers a timer, which helps if you have issues with resting too much. GymRoutines is a simple workout app, you can make your own routines. There are just so many apps with unique featues in the open source scene, just try them out.

PS Remote Play: Chiaki.

5. Essentials

QR/Barcode Scanner: Binary Eye, no doubt. This app can zoom, crop, use the flashlight, scan images from the gallery, use both back/front cameras, have history, create barcodes.

Calculator: You don't notice how infrequently you use your calculator app until you delete it. For simple calculations, Blue Line Console can act as the most unobtrusive calculator. For complex calculations, try num++ or MicroMathematics Plus (plots, graphs). If you happen to make simple calculations frequently, there's Calculator Notification. Calculator++ is a good app with interesting gestures, a widget and a window mode.

Ad blocker: AdAway edits the hosts file to block ads.

Reminder: SimpleReminder is almost feature-complete now.

Metadata eraser: Prefer Imagepipe (over ScrambledExif, this one opens the share menu automatically instead of saving the image) for quickly cropping, scaling, and sharing images because it is lighter and still has more features. ExifEraser to erase metadata of all images in a directory. Simple Gallery can also remove metadata from multiple images.

Sync: Syncthing is a godsend, you can use it to sync your notes, images, music, any kind of library and archive P2P in your local network. Use WireGuard and sync from anywhere in the world.

Firewall: AFWall+ allows apps to access wifi/mobile/vpn/lan. Can't do without it.

Package manager (and the likes of SD Maid): De-Bloater to use custom scripts that can delete tens of apps at once, and restore deleted apps in case something goes wrong with its Magisk module. App Manager is an all-in-one tool that can block activities, permissions, control app ops, check app directories, disable modules, and so much more. It's powerful and you probably need it.

Text editor: Editor by the amazing billthefarmer, master of lightweight apps.

Video player: mpv's UX is better than VLC and it doesn't try to be everything at once. It's just a video player, and it can play network streams.

Root: Magisk because why wouldn't you want to root your phone? It's systemless, has modules support that renders Xposed obsolete, and it is open source unlike SuperSu.

Search inside files: aGrep takes a string and a directory as input. It searches for the former inside the files found in the latter.

6. Quality of life

Image Viewer: ImgurViewer (can see images/videos from a lot of websites), so you don't have to open media links in your browser.

Link manager: URLCheck will make it much easier to deal with links as it allows you to view the full link before opening it, choose an app to open the link with, copy/share the link, and clean the link (delete unnecessary parameters that track you).

Image upload: Pomfshare can upload your images to Pomf(dot)cat, Sicp, Uguu, one by one, not as an album. When it works depends on the servers.

Redirecting: UntrackMe redirects to open source frontends: Youtube to Invidious instances, Twitter to Nitter, Reddit to Teddit, Instagram to BIbliogram, Medium to Scribe, Wikipedia to Wikiless, Google Maps to OpenStreetMaps.

Share to save: SaveTo saves files via sharing, you can use its companion app SaveTo.Downloader.

Showing an image: Secure Photo Viewer is great if you happen to show an image to someone else.

2FA ease of use: BluePass syncs your 2FA codes sent via SMS with your PC.

Quick music player: Dialog Music Player is useful when you want to listen to an audio file in your files app.

Password manager: KeePassDX is one of the best password managers out there.

Blue light filter: With RedMoon, you can adjust the color temperature, dim level and intensity level of the filter. It makes it easier to use your phone at night.

File Encryption: Secret Space Encryptor encrypts files or folders. DroidFS, creates encrypted volumes that are easy to access.

Battery saver: SaverTuner is not a battery saver, rather it allows you to configure Android's builtin battery saver better.

7. Miscellaneous

OpenKeychain: PGP encryption for mails and files.

Shelter: Use the work profile to sandbox apps and have two instances of the same app.

Neo Backup: The ultimate backup app. Can back up / restore your apks and app data, you can even schedule backups.

Screen Shift: Change your screen resolution.

Terminal Emulator: Lightweight terminal, better than the default one with multiple window and special keys support. Termux is a powerful terminal emulator.

Video Transcoder: Simple video editor and transcoder. Use ffmpeg on Termux for faster and more accurate results. VideoCrop allows you to resize and crop videos, output is up to 20 seconds.

Kotatsu: Download and read manga, 40 MB smaller than Tachiyomi.

LibreTorrent: Torrent app, pretty good.

MyExpenses: A solid expense and debt tracking app where you add your transactions manually. There are lots of apps like this on F-Droid, check them out and pick whichever you think is the best.

Decisions: Making better decisions. I wish I learned of this app sooner.

Orbot: Tor proxy.

LM videodownloader: Download videos you come across on the web, pretty useful when you don't have a direct link to a video. Use YTDLnis on websites supported by yt-dlp, Seal freezes during some batch operations.

Photok: Image vault. Encrypt your images and view them conveniently.

Currencies: Quickly convert currencies, it allows you to favorite frequently used ones.

Monocles chat: is an XMPP/Jabber client. You can join group chats and send direct messages to other users, you can think of it as federated Whatsapp. Monocles isn't very stable but it makes the chatting experience much better by merging messages sent by the same user under just one avatar unlike Cheogram, another XMPP client that is more stable but has less features. Both are forked from Conversations, which has no themes with pitch black background.

FFShare: It pipes multimedia through ffmpeg to compress them before sharing.

Privacy Indicators: An icon pops up when camera/microphone/location service is in use.

Image Toolbox: It is the best libre app to resize images. It supports batch resizing too.

TextBender: Interact with any text on the screen.

SuperImage: An image upscaler that works locally.

8. Games

While video games aren't F-Droid's strong suit, there are some great games there.

Gurgle: Bill Farmer's take on Wordle.

Falling Lightblocks: It's an amazing tetris implementation, but it's not on F-Droid due to its closed-source backend for multiplayer.

Lato: A calming downhill snowboard game with serene landscapes.

Rabbit Escape: A puzzle game that gets confusing early on.

Antimine: Modern minesweeper.

Lichess: The best chess client on Android.

Xeonija: A creative adventure game with a plot.

SuperTuxKart: One of the best video games on Android. It's a racing game that also works on Linux, has singleplayer and multiplayer modes. You can even play soccer with karts.

9. Apps tightly tied to a service

Banking apps and shopping apps have no alternatives, you don't have to use them for the most part as they work in browsers. Do it in a work profile through Shelter if you need these apps.

10. Magisk modules

AudioHQ module is required to use Audio Headquarters.

ACC is required to use AccA.

Webview Manager allows you to replace the webview installed on your phone with Bromite or Ungoogled Chromium's webviews (or a custom one if you wish). The webview installed can be updated through an F-Droid app, they are updated also when you update the module.

De-bloater companion magisk module.

Disable screenshot and camera sounds disables screenshot and shutter sounds in case your rom does not offer an option to do so.

MagiskHidePropsConfig can be used to change your device's fingerprint and pass the SafetyNet test. You may need this app if you want to run banking apps.

Call Recorder - SKVALEX is the module needed to record calls using the closed source call recording app.

11. ROM

Arguably the most drastic change. Go to your device's Xda forum page and pick a rom for yourself. Don't be fooled by the number of options, almost all are based on AOSP, LineageOS, or GrapheneOS. If the rom has a different name than these three, then it has further customizations, which can be a great thing, though make sure it's not bloated.

GrapheneOS is the first recommendation. DivestOS is the second one, followed by LineageOS.

12. Device

Get a Pixel and install GrapheneOS.

13. Concluding remarks

When you go down the rabbit hole, you become part of the Android open source community and a supporter of the free software movement in a way. You may donate to developers, share the idea with masses through word-of-mouth, moderate communities focused on FOSS, be a number in the # of times an app has been downloaded, or write about it to spread the idea further like I did with this post. Using libre software also allows you to communicate with the developers, contribute to their apps, and have an impact on the development of the apps you love. This is incomparable to Play Store reviews or telemetry.

I would have never imagined writing 3000 words promoting free sofware on New Year's Day if it wasn't for F-Droid and the community itself. Thank you.

After launching last week, Meta’s Threads app now has more than 100 million users. It’s a dramatic launch for the Twitter competitor and it will soon be the largest social network to use the open ActivityPub protocol. Here’s what that means for you.

ActivityPub is a “decentralized social networking protocol” standard developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the group responsible for many of the standards that make the modern web work, like HTML and CSS. It’s basically a pre-designed social networking architecture that developers can use to create services similar to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram—but much more open. Right now, the biggest social network to use it is Mastodon but Meta has promised to add support for ActivityPub to Threads. This would allow the two social networks to interoperate in ways we haven’t seen with major social platforms before.

ActivityPub is designed to enable “the Fediverse,” or a series of decentralized social networks. The idea is that instead of your Facebook Posts, Twitter Tweets, and YouTube videos being locked inside their respective walled gardens, your Mastodon Toots would also be available in Threads. Similarly, your followers wouldn’t be locked into one app and nor would the list of people you follow. You’d basically be able to switch between Fediverse-compatible social networks as you like. While different apps and services could look different and have different features and moderation policies, the data contained within these sites, such as user-generated content or the network of followers and followings, would be available through any ActivityPub-supporting service.

On a technical level, ActivityPub is pretty simple. It’s essentially a set of rules that allows decentralized servers to share posts in a standardized format and enables users to use client apps to receive that information from the relevant servers. It’s really similar to the way that Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter currently work, except open to the wider web.

Crucially, ActivityPub allows for true interoperability. The magazine app Flipboard integrates with Mastodon using ActivityPub. Federated Mastodon Toots appear like Flipboard posts in the app and, if you like them or comment on them, the like also appears on Mastodon and the comments get posted as replies on the original Toot. In other words, you can use Flipboard to follow and interact with people on Mastodon without having to use a Mastodon app. It’s as if you can see Tweets on Instagram.

As well as Mastodon and Flipboard, there are a couple of other ActivityPub-based social networks under development. Pixelfed is a decentralized Instagram alternative while PeerTube is a decentralized take on YouTube. The biggest news for the Fediverse, though, is Threads.

While Threads launched last week without support for ActivityPub, Meta plans to add it. In a post on Threads, Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, wrote: “We’re committed to building support for ActivityPub, the protocol behind Mastodon, into this app. We weren’t able to finish it for launch given a number of complications that come along with a decentralized network, but it’s coming.”

This will be huge for The Fediverse. Mastodon, the current face of ActivityPub, had less than 2 million users earlier this year—even after hundreds of thousands of people flocked to it from Twitter. Less than a week after launching, Threads has more than 100 million users. How many will stick around remains to be seen, but unless things go wildly bad in the coming months, Threads is likely to become the dominant Fediverse player once the integration launches.

Of course, not everyone is happy about Meta moving into ActivityPub. Some Mastodon administrators are signing a pact agreeing to block Threads from interacting with the servers they control—something that’s possible because of Mastodon’s decentralized nature.

In a blog post addressing Threads, Eugen Rochko, founder and CEO of Mastodon, takes a different tact. While attempting to allay Mastodon users fears that Meta joining the Fediverse will allow them to be tracked, or that Threads will somehow undermine the ActivityPub standard, he writes:

“We have been advocating for interoperability between platforms for years. The biggest hurdle to users switching platforms when those platforms become exploitative is the lock-in of the social graph, the fact that switching platforms means abandoning everyone you know and who knows you. The fact that large platforms are adopting ActivityPub is not only validation of the movement towards decentralized social media, but a path forward for people locked into these platforms to switch to better providers. Which in turn, puts pressure on such platforms to provide better, less exploitative services. This is a clear victory for our cause, hopefully one of many to come.”

ActivityPub isn’t the only attempt to create an open social networking protocol. Bluesky, another Twitter competitor that’s still in private beta, has developed the AT Protocol, which also allows for federated social networks. Its most interesting feature is that it allows users to select what algorithm they want to sort their social feeds. While it’s a cool idea, the service has only just reached a million users in approximately four months.

Obviously, the social networking space is undergoing a major shakeup. Twitter under Elon Musk’s chaotic reign has seemingly created an opportunity for an alternative microblogging service. With Threads and Mastodon both embracing ActivityPub, it might not be one platform that wins out—but an open standard.

TULSA, Okla. - A new store in Tulsa's Woodland Hills Mall aims to take adults back to their childhood and bring out creativity in kids.

The LEGO store will have a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 14 to celebrate its grand opening.

Store manager Tulasi Kimbrough said it is not your typical shopping experience. "We are all about play," she said. "Play with our associates and all of our guests, too, that come in."

Kimbrough said the old saying, 'look but don't touch' does not apply at the LEGO store. "It is not like all of our sets behind and in the cases cannot be touched," she added. "We want them to embrace the product, touch and feel it, and play with the product too."

Kimbrough said no builder is too young or too old to embrace their creativity.

"We have the demo table that they will be able to create little sea creatures and add to the set which is super fun because you can say you built something for the LEGO store. We have our Duplo area which is for our younger kids. Those LEGO bricks are larger, so they are safer for the younger children. Also, the larger sets that are featured, we are able to pull those out and everybody can play with those as well," she said.

The new LEGO store is only the second in Oklahoma and is on the lower level of Woodland Hills Mall. "We are ready for the opening," Kimbrough continued saying, "We are excited to see everybody, we are just super happy to be able to bring this to the community, and to bring bricks to the hands of children and create the future builders of tomorrow."

The second LEGO store location in the state is inside Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City.

TULSA, Okla. — Curbside greenwaste collection efforts will start Friday, July 14, for Tulsa residents with leftover debris from the Father's Day storm.

Collection will start in the areas in town most heavily affected and will conclude in the lowest-impacted areas.

City contractors will work through the different zones over the next several weeks to collect curbside greenwaste in people’s yards that has not already been picked up or taken to the temporary mulch site.

A zone map and additional information can be found HERE.

When collections begins, contractors will be making a sweep through each zone, then they'll so one final sweep through when the initial collection ends.

Residents are asked to prepare all greenwaste by getting it to the curb so that it can be picked up.

Residents in neighborhoods where greenwaste may have been picked up by the city, ODOT or OTA will still be on the schedule for curbside greenwaste collection.

To prepare for the citywide greenwaste pickup, the city created a list of information for interested residents:

Stack (do not tie) greenwaste in lengths no longer than 5 feet long at the curb Make sure greenwaste is not placed in the street, around mailboxes, buildings, or on the tops of utility lids or boxes Make sure cars are not parked in front of greenwaste, or it may interfere with pickup operations
Make sure greenwaste is not bagged, as only yard waste should be bagged
Make sure greenwaste is free from storm debris, or it will not be picked up Important Definitions:

Greenwaste – Cut up trees and tree limbs from the storm. Yard Waste – Grass clipping and leaves. Tulsa residents are allowed to set out 15 clear bags every week next to their trash bin. These clear bags should not be placed in greenwaste piles or in gray trash carts.
Storm Debris – Shingles, construction and demolition debris etc. – Storm debris is not picked up in the City’s trash system, nor will it be picked up in the greenwaste pickup. Residents with storm debris will need to either work with their insurance company, hire someone to pick it up and haul it away, or haul it to the landfill.
Household Items & Bulky Waste - Patio Furniture, Couches, etc. – Household items that won’t fit in a trash cart but are not greenwaste or construction debris are considered bulky waste. Please note, only household items be accepted in the City’s Bulky Waste Pickup. Please leave storm debris out of that pickup. Once exception is fence panels, which if they are part of your bulky waste pickup request, they need to be cut into 4-foot lengths and bundled at the curb. Greenwaste is not considered bulky waste and should be kept out of bulky waste pickup piles, and any bulky waste pickup items should not be included in greenwaste piles.
Scheduling for bulky waste pickups has resumed. Citizens can schedule a pickup at www.cityoftulsa.org/bulkywaste.
Temporary Mulch Site For residents who do not want to wait for curbside pickup but still want a free disposal option, they can bring greenwaste to the temporary mulch site at E. Latimer St. & N. 89th E. Ave., from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. daily. Tulsa residents, as well as Tulsa County, Broken Arrow, Bixby, and Jenks residents can utilize the site when they bring a photo copy of their ID or a recent utility bill.

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — If you're craving a cheesy jalapeno bacon burger, the McDonald's on Gilcrease Museum Road can take care of that with no problem, just don't ask them if you can pay your water bill.

"They said that their phone's been ringing off the hook. It's been hundreds of calls," said a concerned resident who wants to remain anonymous but wants everyone to be on the ball when it comes to trying to pay their water bill over the phone when you call the City of Tulsa.

"I put my credit card in and then it comes back that the input was bad and then it says it's transferring back to customer service but instead it transfers me to McDonald's on Gilcrease," she said.

At first, she thought she had made a mistake, so she tried two more times before realizing that the problem was on the city's side, and when she called the city...

"They weren't going to tell anybody about it. I said, 'If you know this is happening why are you sending people over and over again to put their payment information in?' and they said, 'Well, they didn't want to get everybody worked up,'" she said.

Worked up as in the ransomware attack from the summer of 2021.

"Are you worried that somebody out there that's not from the city has your credit card info?" NewsChannel 8's Burt Mummolo asked.

"It seems definitive that somebody out there that's not the city has my credit card info because I don't know why else they would hack the payment system," she said.

Meanwhile, in the drive-thru at McDonald's...

"Can I get a large fry, a large Diet Coke, and can I pay my water bill here?"

Employees declined to speak on camera but told us it's been happening a lot, which is what our concerned resident says she was told as well.

"I said, 'Has this been happening a lot?' She goes, 'Oh, I've had to answer the phone all day long,' she goes, 'it hasn't stopped ringing,'" she said.

Mummolo asked, "On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate the city's transparency on this?"

"Zero," she said.

The city of Tulsa has released the following statement:

"At about 5 p.m. today, a City of Tulsa customer care agent notified management of a complaint from a customer advising they were transferred to a McDonald’s on Gilcrease Museum Road after making their utility payment. The report was marked as a priority concern and elevated to the City team and vendor. The payment the customer made was properly received and credited to their account. The misdirect seems to occur once the caller has completed their transaction within the secure payment system and opts to be transferred back to the City of Tulsa. Rather than hearing a customer care agent after that secure process, they’re somehow getting routed to McDonald’s. The glitch is a misdirect and no customer information is compromised. While we are working with our vendor to identify and correct the misdirect, that customer and any others who may be receiving the same misdirect can rest assured there is no breach of data."

TULSA, Okla. - McDonald's is getting ready to release a new sweet treat in just a couple of days, and they are made in Tulsa.

The Bama companies are preparing to offer one of the first chocolate pie products sold by the fast-food chain.

The new pies will be available at all Tulsa area McDonald's starting on Friday, July 14.

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — One of the fastest-growing, authentic Italian pizza brands, Marco's Pizza, will be opening a new location in Tulsa on Monday.

The new location will be located at the corner of 8013 South Sheridan Road at East 81st Street.

Marco's Pizza's largest franchisee Hoogland Restaurant Group is said to spearhead the opening.

“We are thrilled to bring a new location to the city of Tulsa. Residents here already know and love us and we are so excited to grant them more opportunities to enjoy our authentically crafted Italian cuisine with their friends and families," said Regional Director of Operations Ray Whitmore.

The pizza restaurant will offer pickup convenience for customers with services such as carryout, delivery, and app and online ordering.

Marco's Pizza stated the brand prides itself on crafting every pizza using the freshest, highest-quality ingredients, including a "secret" original pizza sauce recipe from its founder Pasquale "Pat" Giammarco.

The brand is also the first national pizza delivery brand to offer 'Specialty Pizza Bowls'. The pizza bowls are a crustless pizza option made to meet consumers' dietary preferences.

More information about Marco's Pizza can be found online, on the mobile app, or by calling 918-289-2387.

TULSA, Okla. - Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum approved a contract that will help low income customers pay their utility bills.

The contract with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services will allow the city to accept Low-Income Housing Water Assistance Program subsidies for the water and sewer portiond of utility bills for eligible customers.

Open enrollment for the program has begun, and applications are available here.