i read on mister RMS's website that he refuses to use phones except for the most basic things, preferring a laptop for aught else, mostly because phones are computers and 'software on computers should be free'
ngl, that is the most charming darn thing to hear in 2026-- and it lowers the bar considerably here. like if all you need to have is a computer, sky's the limit on how you want to run this.
sooo with a little help from Claude I have a xmpp server running from home base+jmp for calling / sms, a portable router and a cute construction grade wp836 grandstream phone (annoyingly I can't seem to route SMS to it yet, but they route fine through xmpp on a terminal).
if you're voiping, you really don't need a voip phone though.
i have zero compunction so my computer of choice is a macbook neo... which acts as a dumb terminal for aforementioned xmpp server / wasteful videogame computer / claude butler (open the floodgates ladies and gentlemen); if i wanted cred sometimes i carry the old thinkpad around instead.
i can't say that it's any more secure than Android (using claude == i don't know what I'm doing), but it's fun? expensive fun though. JMP is a subscription, proton (for MFA and everything else) is a subscription, you need a domain for your xmpp server, ...this 'homelabbing' thing is expensive, using a map is awful (so wife is navigator...with her phone). There are many failure points, me included. but god, so fun!
i usually leave the actual cell phone at home. i do still have one. that's a hard thing to drop... but not impossible! the only holdover is learning how to use a proper camera and setting up the media server.
probably the -worst- thing I ever did as a kid was take my parents' (mostly ripped) collection of VHS tapes and drop them into the 80 gallon fish tank to raise the fish up so I CoUlD ToUCh the FiBsCH. ah, then i blamed my brother... yup that memory still hurts!
i soo can't wait for my karmic come-uppance with my... exceedingly large retro video game collection.
reminds me of the pixel c! that thing was pretty neat. this thing has the same "glowbar"... i bet it's old stock for them now since the pixel c didn't see many sales; that was from an era where google at least pretended to be a 'good guy.'
i have always liked netbooks more than chromebooks (but I really only ever had the samsung NC10, specifically for the keyboard). i really miss that thing. these days i am wary of the gewgly eyes on my digital person, so i'ma pass on this til someone less on the radar makes another platform pop.
where to next! linux on risc-v? steamOS on ARM? screenless lozenge wirelessly coupled to an EEG that makes me hallucinate images?
Couldn’t help but laugh at the irony here— you’re not wrong! The fact of the matter is that anthropic is an “unacceptable risk”… that the government had contracted with to use with classified milnet.
That contract was already signed and active, the government had already agreed to Anthropic’s terms, and contractors were already cleared to use Claude on the classified networks; only until anthropic started enforcing those pre-existing guardrail clauses (probably for good reason) did Hegseth get pissy.
Guess it should go without saying: if you cannot support clause A.) surveillance of Americans, and clause B.) AI assisted weapons systems, then you are a /supply chain risk/. Lord knows we don’t need heroes here.
But you know, if abiding those terms is a legitimate threat to your supply chain, then why would you agree to those stipulations to begin with ;)
Edit:
So to more respond to your point: big disagree, this can absolutely be used for compliance. The crucial thing you’re missing is that the government /threatened/ to designate them a risk in response to the CEO’s enforcement of the clause. The government gave them a -timeline- to desist and comply… which debases the claim that they are a supply chain risk. The judge is a moron.
The -only- legal argument for the designation is the ugliest one: the fact that Anthropic is willing to play dead canary. “You’re not a supply chain risk a priori, but you’re a supply chain risk for asserting this work violates 1 and 2”
By the way… the same two stipulating terms exist with OpenAI’s contract with them… nudge nudge wink wink
> By the way… the same two stipulating terms exist with OpenAI’s contract with them… nudge nudge wink wink
Actually if you read Sam's statements closely (which you must, because he's a snake), this is not necessarily true.
What he said is that they "are working towards adding" similar protections. He did not say they even proposed them to DoD, never mind that DoD agreed to them. So maybe they did, maybe they didn't, but I've never seen any public info that actually provides clear evidence of it. All the reporting comes back to Sam's rather nuanced statement.
i think anyone who feels dispossessed from the advance of technology should rekindle that spirit of hands-on adventure by looking at clay pots at the museum.
the souls of a thousand hours sit there behind glass and valued for their richness and simplicity, against all odds, and people to this day carry on those traditions to improve the art.
did the soul of pottery die with the industrial revolution? will your hand code? it won’t be for everyone, but it’s there for you.
find a book by Soetsu Yanagi on the subject of “min gei” and it will help you.
Anecdotally and somewhat related: as blade fighting was common in those days, Chinese surgeons (pre-cultural revolution) would allegedly wrap severed tendons with the leaves of some herb to some effect. Not sure if it was bletilla striata.
so as to not hold the liability bag, devs will publish the majority of their apps as 18+ (we're back to the 2000s with porn banner ads everywhere), and children will ask their parents to use their computer (orly owl).
ngl, that is the most charming darn thing to hear in 2026-- and it lowers the bar considerably here. like if all you need to have is a computer, sky's the limit on how you want to run this.
sooo with a little help from Claude I have a xmpp server running from home base+jmp for calling / sms, a portable router and a cute construction grade wp836 grandstream phone (annoyingly I can't seem to route SMS to it yet, but they route fine through xmpp on a terminal).
if you're voiping, you really don't need a voip phone though.
i have zero compunction so my computer of choice is a macbook neo... which acts as a dumb terminal for aforementioned xmpp server / wasteful videogame computer / claude butler (open the floodgates ladies and gentlemen); if i wanted cred sometimes i carry the old thinkpad around instead.
i can't say that it's any more secure than Android (using claude == i don't know what I'm doing), but it's fun? expensive fun though. JMP is a subscription, proton (for MFA and everything else) is a subscription, you need a domain for your xmpp server, ...this 'homelabbing' thing is expensive, using a map is awful (so wife is navigator...with her phone). There are many failure points, me included. but god, so fun!
i usually leave the actual cell phone at home. i do still have one. that's a hard thing to drop... but not impossible! the only holdover is learning how to use a proper camera and setting up the media server.