I’m looking for ideas of things that can be done offline either on or off a computer. Boredom is beyond a surplus at this point and the mind-brain needs to be occupied somehow. My Internet gets cut off either tonight or tomorrow.
Finding a job has been a tough time. Recently I finally found one, only for it to fall through at the last second.
For computer stuff I was thinking of messing around with ML stuff between an Arc A750 and Nvidia 3060 ti to have 16GB VRAM. Maybe with CPU as well since one computer has 64GB of RAM. Another computer is old hardware put together to homelab/tinker with, an RX580 would be swapped with the A750 in that one.
Maybe do some updated A750 benchmarks on both builds as it’s been a few months since reviewers checking how their performance has changed.
One PC has W10 and both EndeavourOS.
Also have:
DSLR Camera (no tripod)
RPi 3 (not b)
Atomic Pi
Ubiquity Flex Mini switch
Ethernet:
1x 25ft CAT 5e
3x 50ft CAT 5e/6
1x 100ft CAT 6
A few random short CAT 5(e?) cables
A few old android phones in various broken states
I don’t know programming, so was thinking of learning Python, Rust, or something else. I can kinda understand what’s going on/logic when reading it, but may become overwhelmed at times when there’s a bunch of text. Suggestions for books/courses/programs for writing code would be appreciated as well.
Another project idea is to somehow get the firmware off an ebike (Aventon) to modify. The pedal assist was able to be re-unlocked up to 32mph (throttle 20mph) by intercepting it trying to phone home to their servers to set the speed. Though it seems they may have caught on to that workaround and changed the app (not in use) to verify client side after it updates the firmware, which hasn’t been done. The bike has Bluetooth and a USB that can be used to charge from the controller/display.
If possible, find a way for inkbird temperature controllers + oven thermometers to control locally instead of leaving the network. Wish this could be done with an ecobee thermostat too.
As for non-computer related stuff, there is access to a library with a studio and various makerspace equipment.
I would also recommend digging out an old C64 and running ALL the old Abacus Programming Software they published back in the day but most likely you don’t have one and if you did you probably only gamed on it like most peeps
I found that their library of programming diskettes and very large spiral manuals were very nice.
I recently switched phone providers, for some reason hotspot isn’t working with it. I’ve contacted their support, but they haven’t been able to figure it out either. Have reset/changed network settings so many times. Switched from T-Mobile pre-paid to a company that uses Verizon towers. When possible, a new MVNO will be chosen.
I’m sorta wondering if a full phone reset will fix it, but don’t want to do that.
It just turns itself off immediately after trying to turn on. The Wifi calling won’t enable either. It’s a Pixel 7a with a physical SIM.
I was looking as some basic stuff about Rust a few days ago and how code is written. Just wondering if Python would be a better starting spot. Julia seemed interesting too.
There’s an option that automatically disables the hotspot when no clients are connected for security and to save battery. Make sure this is not enabled.
Wifi should also be turned off before enabling hotspot because you can’t run both an access point and connect as a client at the same time. If the phone is trying to auto connect as a client to a wifi network it may disable hotspot.
Power saving features may also be turning off hotspot.
And if you’ve set a data limit that’s been exceeded that may also automatically turn off hotspot.
C is kind of old. It’s really good, but doing things in it is more difficult and time-consuming than a modern language like Python would be. There are lots of really good resources for both languages though. C does have Python beat in performance, but on modern computers that hardly matters (unless you’re writing kernel modules or something). Python also can be run as an interpreter as well as compiled, so unlike C just playing around with it is going to be much easier.
I learned C first and Python latter, but there are good arguments in favour of starting with either one. You’ll learn more with C, but Python is easier to work with, which will give you better motivation to continue. Another good option is java. Also very popular, and not too difficult.
Like I could throw together a Python or Java breakout clone in a matter of hours, but in C it would be days. Being able to actually just run your program will help motivate you to add more features to it, or in my case, rewrite the whole thing from scratch because you come up with so many new things you want it to do that you figure it would be easier to just start anew.
Any way to data dump before loosing Internet? I find it an easy adjustment to not use social media or consume eye candy (movies, TV shows etc) but i find myself needing Internet to ask basic questions to get answers back.
I would love to see more resources “ripped” to kiwix compatible zim files but for now Id suggest you download the full Wikipedia zim file and host via kiwix (doesn’t have to be a server hell i have an instance running on an old android) so that you have all of wiki to refer to without needing a web connection