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Beta testing Nothing OS 1.5.

Nothing , company behind the Nothing Phone (1) asked for people to apply for beta testing for Nothing OS 1.5, the company's implementation of Android 13 , to be pushed to selected participants on the December 15th of 2022. After sleeping on it, I decided to jump on the chance to become a beta tester. Though I had the Nothing Phone (1) for a couple of weeks before that, the experience with it had been quite good. Though I know that testing a beta version of any software, specially on hardware you use as your daily driver, is quite risky the idea of getting Android 13 on my smartphone was quite hard to skip. After a couple of day of using it, I'm happy to report that I've been one of those use case where I haven't seen no deal breaker bug. Actually, it seems that it works a bit better that it did with Nothing OS 1.1.7 , which is based on Android 12 . Though it's still early on the beta testing phase, it makes me hopeful that when the final version of Nothing OS 1.5 w...

Android still my favorite mobile OS.

Whit time, Android has proven to just work for me. While I tend to jump from one brand to another of Android smartphone as time goes by, Android itself keeps solidly as the mobile OS I prefer. As newer Android versions come along, each has corrected things I disliked from previous versions and added new things that I actually like. For example, Android 12   has made the setting menu a lot better, and made it easier for me to manage notifications, and permissions, of the apps I've installed. Both have improved my user experience, and really made my user experience all that better. Currently I've a Nothing Phone (1) , which is expecting an upgrade to Android 13 in the coming months. Which is good news for me, since I'm looking toward to seeing how Google improved on Android. I don't really expect much on the side on improvements on the user experience, but the refinements promise to be worth the wait. While I see iOS as something of a good mobile OS, and one that kee...

There is no such thing as a perfect OS.

When people ask me why I prefer Android and Linux Mint , the answer is because they just work for me. Would I recommend them to others? Well, that depends on their needs. Not everyone's use case fits either OS. While Android fit a wider set of users, Linux Mint doesn't. That's why I ask what do they need, even expect, to use their smartphone or computer for, since the answer depends on their user case. The OS that better fits your needs, is dependent on things like what you are going to use your computer for, what software you need to use, among other things. Trying to say that any OS is the best, is depends on what the end user needs and not on the OS itself. There is no OS that fits all user cases, so the best OS for a given user case depends on the details of each user case. Besides, there is no such thing as a perfect OS, since each OS is made to fit a certain set of needs.

Bluetooth headphones have won me over.

I freely admit that when wireless Bluetooth headphones began to become a mainstream, I was somewhat reluctant to make the jump. Mainly because all the bad press they got of bad audio quality for streaming music, and audio in general. Until I got to try some Otium Beats that I got as a present some six years ago. They have a good audio quality, and a good battery life. The pretty much sold me to the Bluetooth headphones, mainly when I'm on the go. The main thing for me, was not having to worry about a cable snagging on something, or it getting tangled on my bag. Yet, the fact that still has a cable paring the headphones was not optimal for me. Not a deal breaker for me, but I had the feeling that going for a pair of Bluetooth earbuds without the cable was the way to go for me. So when the time came to replace them, I went with the JLAB GO Air True Wireless earbuds . So far, they have worked great for me. The sound is more than good enough for what I expect from the earbuds I use...

If companies can't make the right to repair happen, legislation should make it happen.

The existence of third-party repair shops for computers , smartphones , and home appliances so that people can repair them and extend their useful lives, should be something people can have easy access to. Not only so they can save money, but also to reduce the electronic waste . Yet companies making their products harder to repair , not allowing third-parties having access to whats needed to conduct the repairs, and some repair shops malpractices , show that some level of government regulations should be put in place if companies and the people who run the repair shops don't clean-up their game. People have the right to repair things when they choose to do it, only replacing when they see fit to do so and not because its made artificially difficult by companies to do so. The right to repair doesn't strife innovation, since to make repairs technicians don't need to know the internal workings of things, or access to the source code of the software that runs our devices. Th...

The Nothing Phone 1 upgrade.

Each time I upgrade my Android smartphone , I get remained why Android has become my go to mobile operating system . While the iPhone and iOS are great, Apple fails to give what I expect from an smartphone at a price point that's good for me. My Motorola One Fusion started to restart itself at random times, and getting stock on while booting, so I decided to upgrade my smartphone taking advantage of the discounts of the El Buen Fin here in Mexico. After a couple of weeks of shopping, and doing some research, I choose the Nothing Phone 1 . The Nothing Phone 1 is a really solid mid-range Android smartphone, that comes with a near vanilla Android. The biggest change it has from stock Android, is the Nothing OS user interface . While Nothing OS is quite nice, I changed to Discreet launcher , which has become my go to Android launcher. The Nothing Phone 1 has proven to be an upgrade from the Motorola One Fusion in every aspect. While the Motorola One Fusion was a solid smartphon...

Free speech is a two-way street.

Elon Musk take-over of Twitter , has made it a lot more toxic than it already was before. While there was toxic behavior before hand, as in many other social media sites, it was kept at somewhat acceptable levels. Yet, since Elon Musk took over there has been a increased level of toxicity from people who believe that free speech means they shouldn't face the consequences of its use. Seems like those people believe that any kind of moderation on what they post is censorship, when in reality good moderation is there for people being able to have a base level of respect and security. The fact that people seem to believe that they should be able to say whatever push back is something to be expected. The irony is that they don't really expect it in reality, since they are conscious that you can't say all you think all the time. There is always some level of moderation, even censorship, in our everyday interactions. Not saying all we have in our mind is something we have to do i...