Ebby

I sort of do this because I own my domain. I generally pick an annual keyword email filters can lock on, followed by an identifier with whom I’m contacting.

It’s easy to trace if addressed get breached, especially unreported breaches, and add to a burn list if they get spammed.

Also, if I have no intention of responding I give fake info or if I need that rare password reset link I know when to look in the spam.

Yeah, using my domain is it’s self a bit trackable, but enough friends and family use it I figure poisoned data is sweet justice.

Fun fact, but for some reason old fake accounts have boomed in popularity; like data brokers with bad information bounce verifications off each other, linked it to some poor sap in another state, and snowballed into an actual profile. I’m going to use that identity as an alt profile for something someday.

Ha! You think you can scare me with a haircut?

Weeeelllllll… Yeah I guess you have a good point. If something did happen, finger pointing starts.

Gestures at wires

But it’s right there! I need a 1-day OSHA permit just to yank crap out!

I kinda want one of these. I could load it up with my collection. It’d be awesome. I can imagine my SO’s blood boiling already at the sight of “more useless junk”!

And what do you need an electrician for? Turn off power, open a panel, and disconnect the wires. Snip snip. Frankly, I’m surprised a dedicated switch/breaker for a 3rd party kiosk isn’t mandatory.

If only I had the space …

If I recall you still can through ADB, but it’s a pain and they started locking that down too. Ad blocking VPN (at least the one I tried) didn’t work.

There was a big update about a year ago that very clearly sent the message “this device will show what we want you to see.”

While based on Google TV, they lock down the OS, control the app store, and force their apps. You’re in their walled garden and it’s a pain to break out in any meaningful way.

No thanks. It’s all about data harvesting and ads now.

There was a time it was a neat product, but Amazon tech isn’t entering our household anymore.

Totally right. Forgot what community I was in.

Don’t most? Even Fitbit does that for ages. You can select what apps to receive notifications from.

First of all, the ISP controls cable modem firmware. They have all the settings and manage the device. You don’t get much control there.

As for your question, I’d say no, for 2 reasons. First, designing that capability is expensive and modems are built for cheap reliability. Second, any hardware to spy is more useful installed in a data center accessible to their user base. There is not much point installing unnecessary tech to one endpoint.

As for router, they are beefier CPU-wise. AT&T has in the past prevented users from changing DNS settings and that could lead to lots of tasty data. Deep packet inspection is becoming more prevalent in home routers as is integration with other technologies. (EERO devices for example).

Make sure to fire up a VPN or something when you need.

The user may not be aware they have this tracking technology on their phone. The toolkit may be some app developer integrating a 3rd party library for analytics. Banking apps, loyalty apps, phone companies, games, utilities… they all can rely on 3rd parties for proximity services.

In fact, I was going to mention an app, Exodus, that can reveal these trackers and in scanning my phone, I found 2!. The first is home assistant, which is understandable, but the second is a Health app my doctor office uses! Man, that irks me!

Uhhh that exact technology has been in use for years. Your phone broadcasts/receivers a beacon at regular intervals while Bluetooth is on. Anyone can pick it up if they are looking.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/14/opinion/bluetooth-wireless-tracking-privacy.html

The process is so streamlined companies bragged your advertising profile is updated before you check out.

The Next Major Version of Bluetooth Might Help Advertisers Track Your Smartphone Faster

FIFY

Let’s not pretend this feature didn’t trickle down the data harvesting dog-hydrant to us peons solely for our benefit.

“Who am I?”

“Why am I here?”

“When I’m done rolling up this booger, should I eat it or throw it out the window?”

Linky

I sort of already do. It’s called dreaming about driving a car.

I think these folks forgot that random dreams play an important role in information processing. I’d rather not mess with that too much.

Ha! Yes! Even today USB 5 volts is pretty sweet for low power stuff. USB PD re-complicates things, but it’s not user dependent so that’s a plus.

And you need a loooot of copper to prevent voltage drop especially when a grid of 100 houses 1/2 mile long draw 20-80 amps each. The math starts adding up real quick.

I heard it said many years ago that if DC won the battle, we’d have power stations every 10 miles and power lines as thick as your wrist.

Converting local power is fairly easy, with AC inverters added for universal compatibility.

But, take note of how many DC voltages you use in your house. Devices in mine range from 3v to 25v and some weird one like 19v for a laptop. You’d still have adapters all over the place.

I use kimai. It’s gotten much more stable over the past couple years and there is a mobile app. (I think it’s a couple bucks now, but works pretty well)

It runs in docker so it’s pretty easy to set up.

I have one customer who is pretty nuts about bills and this is the only way to track and invoice all that nonsense.

There are several out there using yt-dlp. Tube archivist, tube sync, etc. They are fairly straightforward to set up in docker if you use that.

I’ve been downloading my subscriptions and loading them into Plex. Plenty of room for improvement in that system, but I get a nostalgic hit of YouTube long ago. Man, it’s fallen so far over the years.

Also related, I’ve hit 2.4TB of internet use for the first time last month doubling my previous record.