Sprig and Quill

digitalfreedom

If you are ever in need to get in contact with friends and family in your area without the use of cell towers, one way you could do it is through Bluetooth. While this tech might seem odd to need when you can message someone over the internet or cell signal, there are situations where having this set up could help keep you and those you care about safe.

For example, lets say a natural disaster hits your area and knocks out the cell service and power grid. You need to both get in touch with your loved ones, and send a message to rescuers that you need help. So, you send your messages over Bluetooth and wait.

Since the messages do not go to a server, another use case is for organizing protests where protesting is considered illegal. For example, in Hong Kong several years back, protesters used Bluetooth messaging to make it harder for Chinese authorities to trace who was there.

Other uses are: you are camping somewhere with no signal, you are on an airplane and want to messages someone you know who is not sitting with you, or you can't afford a phone plan but still wish to send messages.

Benefits:

  • No Cell or Wifi Needed.
  • Security. Bluetooth messages are encrypted.
  • No server communication.
  • Messaging is free.

Downfalls:

  • People you are trying to communicate with must be using the same app as you.
  • There are distance limits (though most some apps will device-hop to increase limits).

Apps:

Suggested Videos:

#digitalfreedom #digitalprivacy

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FOSS stands for Free and Open Source Software, and it is exactly as it sounds: software that is free that allows you to see the source-code so that you can ensure there is nothing suspicious.

Quite often, the projects run off donations, and communities may work together to improve the code for everyone.

Here is a list of some popular options:

Arts:

  • Krita: Open source free drawing program
  • Inkscape: Free open-sourced program for Vector format files
  • Seamly2D: A program for creating fabric patterns
  • Scribus: InDesign alternative
  • FontBase: A program for sorting and previewing your fonts.

3D: – FreeCAD: a free alternative to AutoCAD – Blender: pro-level 3D creation software

Animations: – Synfig Studio: 2D animations – OpenToonz: 2D animations – Enve: 2D animations

Music and Audio

Streaming and Video Editing

Photography:

  • Dark Table: Photo editing that supports RAW files
  • GIMP: photoshop alternative program

Office, Writing, and Business:

Creating Writing Specific:

Accounting and Money Management:

Entertainment:

  • VLC: a media player that can play pretty much anything
  • Kodi: Video media manager
  • Jellyfin – A personal media server and client.
  • HandBrake – An open-source video transcoder.
  • VidCoder – An open-source DVD/Blu-ray ripping and video transcoding application.
  • Metastream – Watch streaming media with friends
  • Syncplay – Syncplay synchronizes the position of media so people can watch the same thing at the same time.

Ebooks:

Gaming:

Farming:

Other:

  • GRAMPS: family tree maker
  • uBlock Origin: Ad Blocker
  • Eraser – A secure data removal tool for Windows.
  • Powertools: Productivity tools for Windows.
  • KDE Connect: Connect your devices: including by syncing notifications between phones and computers.
  • Grocy: “Grocy is a web-based self-hosted groceries & household management solution for your home.”
  • Devtoys: “Swiss army knife for developers”
  • VSCodium: “VSCodium is a community-driven, freely-licensed binary distribution of Microsoft's editor VS Code.”

Text-to-Speech:

#digitalfreedom #foss #opensource

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RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. An RSS feed is a standardized file (usually XML) that lists recent updates from a website—-blog posts, news articles, podcasts, comics, changelogs, you name it. Most (but not all) websites have RSS feeds built into them, so once you find the correct URL for the RSS feed, you can add it to your RSS reader and new updates will appear in your feed.

This gives you the ability to stay up-to-date with what is happening online and/or around the world without attention-seeking algorithms, web-trackers, ads, or e-mail subscriptions.

RSS lets you subscribe directly to content and read it in one place, on your terms. 

If you care about the open web, RSS is one of its backbone technologies.

There are many RSS options out there, and they tend to fall into three categories: self-hosted, local only, or web-based. 

  • Self-hosting: for those who can host a server. One of the most popular options for this is using a Nextcloud server with the Nextcloud News app. 
  • Local-Only: means that the program is run on your device only, so while it does give you a feed, you can not view the feed across your devices. This is a good option for those who only plan to use a RSS reader on one device. 
  • Web-based: this RSS reader is hosted by someone else, meaning you can sync the feed across your devices. This option does have the risk of failing if your host shuts down the server, and there is also the risk of the host becoming a paid-service someday. This is the option I use, and just to be safe, I occasionally back up my subscriptions in a opml file. Most RSS readers have a function to import from opml, so it is a safe backup to have in case I ever need to switch to a different reader. 

Note: some websites refuse to provide RSS feeds, but you can still have a chance to add them using scrapers such as RSS-Bridge.

Reading RSS Feeds with FOSS Software

  • FreshRSS (self-hosting or web-based). I personally use this this. You can use the website, and/or add the feed to the app of your choice. For example, I sync my feed to the android app Readrops, so that I can view the feed on my computer and my phone. You can also self-host this if you'd like.
  • Miniflux (self-hosted): for those who prefer a minimalist and fast-loading setup.
  • Liferea (Linux)
  • RSS Guard (Linux/Windows): This one has the added benefit of being able to subscribe to and play podcasts.
  • Thunderbird (Linux/Windows/Android/Ios): Thunderbird is primarily a FOSS e-mail inbox option, but it also has a RSS feed reader built in
  • Akregator (KDE): This one is an app for the KDE software community. 

Publishing Your Own RSS Feed

You write posts → RSS updates itself to send your post to the feeds of your subscribers.

Some website providers (such as WordPress) do have a built-in RSS feed. You can typically find your feed at:

  • https://yoursite.com/feed/
  • https://yoursite.com/category/news/feed/

You can also add rss to your website if it does not already have one built-in. 

#digitalfreedom #rss #digitalprivacy

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RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. An RSS feed is a standardized file (usually XML) that lists recent updates from a website—-blog posts, news articles, podcasts, comics, changelogs, you name it. Most (but not all) websites have RSS feeds built into them, so once you find the correct URL for the RSS feed, you can add it to your RSS reader and new updates will appear in your feed.

This gives you the ability to stay up-to-date with what is happening online and/or around the world without attention-seeking algorithms, web-trackers, ads, or e-mail subscriptions.

RSS lets you subscribe directly to content and read it in one place, on your terms. 

If you care about the open web, RSS is one of its backbone technologies.

There are many RSS options out there, and they tend to fall into three categories: self-hosted, local only, or web-based. 

  • Self-hosting: for those who can host a server. One of the most popular options for this is using a Nextcloud server with the Nextcloud News app. 
  • Local-Only: means that the program is run on your device only, so while it does give you a feed, you can not view the feed across your devices. This is a good option for those who only plan to use a RSS reader on one device. 
  • Web-based: this RSS reader is hosted by someone else, meaning you can sync the feed across your devices. This option does have the risk of failing if your host shuts down the server, and there is also the risk of the host becoming a paid-service someday. This is the option I use, and just to be safe, I occasionally back up my subscriptions in a opml file. Most RSS readers have a function to import from opml, so it is a safe backup to have in case I ever need to switch to a different reader. 

Note: some websites refuse to provide RSS feeds, but you can still have a chance to add them using scrapers such as RSS-Bridge.

Reading RSS Feeds with FOSS Software

  • FreshRSS (self-hosting or web-based). I personally use this this. You can use the website, and/or add the feed to the app of your choice. For example, I sync my feed to the android app Readrops, so that I can view the feed on my computer and my phone. You can also self-host this if you'd like.
  • Miniflux (self-hosted): for those who prefer a minimalist and fast-loading setup.
  • Liferea (Linux)
  • RSS Guard (Linux/Windows): This one has the added benefit of being able to subscribe to and play podcasts.
  • Thunderbird (Linux/Windows/Android/Ios): Thunderbird is primarily a FOSS e-mail inbox option, but it also has a RSS feed reader built in
  • Akregator (KDE): This one is an app for the KDE software community. 

Publishing Your Own RSS Feed

You write posts → RSS updates itself to send your post to the feeds of your subscribers.

Some website providers (such as WordPress) do have a built-in RSS feed. You can typically find your feed at:

  • https://yoursite.com/feed/
  • https://yoursite.com/category/news/feed/

You can also add rss to your website if it does not already have one built-in. 

#DigitalFreedom #DigitalPrivacy #RSS

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Internet radio is a digital audio service transmitted over the internet. Unlike traditional AM/FM radio, which uses radio waves, internet radio streams audio through online connections, making it accessible from anywhere in the world with an internet connection.

Benefits:

  • Global Access. Listen to radio stations from the other side of the world from you, or right in your area.
  • Variety: Thousands of stations offer everything from indie music to talk shows, news, and music genres.
  • Less Restrictions: In places where there is a lot of censorship, using the internet can provide more freedom than traditional radio.
  • Free Music: So long as you have internet, you can listen to music. This makes internet radio an alternative for those who can't afford music-streaming platforms.
  • Emergency Situation News: If you are somewhere that does not have a radio, you can connect to local news stations over the internet.

How To Tune In:

While there are some dedicated internet radio apps and websites, some of them only display stations directly linked to their companies, and some even charge for the service. So, be sure to use FOSS apps and programs (example: VLC. There is a tutorial here ).

Once you have your app or program: 1. Find stations using search engines like Radio Stream URL Search Engine or InternetRadio . 2. Add stations to your platform of choice 3. Enjoy!

Getting Creative:

There are devices you can buy that look just like traditional radios, but another popular method is to make. Here are some examples:

Station Examples:

#DigitalPrivacy #DigitalFreedom #internetradio #radio #music

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