Tello $5/month 1GB LTE

 In my series of cheap carriers I just tried out Tello on an iPhone7 and a Pixel.  The signup process was really easy and I was able to port number from Sprint without issues.  Sprint makes porting out very simple, the PIN you use for the account is the port out PIN, you also have to find the account number on a bill that you can download as a PDF.  Give this info to Tello and wait one night, they will email you if it worked.   The email has documentation links for the codes that will setup your iPhone ##25327# or Andriod Pixel *#*#72786#*#*, but do use those links as I oversimplified it, in general they want you to be on WiFi for iPhone and some other bits.  On iPhone the setup was pretty fast and painless, on Android it took a while for the setup to complete, also it kept doing setup after a reboot.  It takes so long that I cancled it a few times.

They have a $10 referral code available to sign up.  Both the current user as well as the new signup get it.

Dogs can hear

 I verified that this only dogs can hear sound is real by recording it on my cell phone.   This graph on a microphone recording shows that there is a sound.

Do it yourself oil Change Toyota Camry

Now that I have more spare time I am finally getting to do it myself more, the first project has been done, but wasn't filmed, there are enough tutorials on YouTube for the Camry, there is no need.

It took me 4 hours to complete, including research and all the novice mistakes that I did and cost $22.11 by prorating the tools into 20 oil changes or 100,000 miles as you should change synthetic oil every 5,000 miles.  I estimate the next one, using these notes will only take me 30 minutes, I had to buy 2 oil changes, and tools that I won't need to repurchase.  For comparison I put my data into Jiffy Lube estimate and for my zip code it costs $113, although the last oil change was only $95 inflation?

I very quickly and absentmindedly searched on Temu and found 2 cheap filters, under $4 and some more expensive ones which I didn't order, who knows maybe those are the Genuine Toyota ones, that WalMart sells, but then again, what guarantee do I have that any retailer is selling the genuine items?

I tried to find Castrofil on Amazon to no avail.  When I searched for a similar filter to it to the one in a Genuine Toyota box, I found the manufacturer's page and a wholesale ad for $0.50 in quantity 100+.

The box looks different from the Walmart filter, $7.54, which does have a UPC code, Temu filter box, $2.98, does not.  Is this a fake Toyota 04152-YZZA1 filter?  Who knows, will it melt in regular use, don't know yet.  Will the felt disintegrate, I will let you know, the Castrofil, $3.97 is installed now.  So I could remove it and would if I didn't have to drain all the oil to check it.  

A good question is if the retailer is liable for selling a fake product?  I wish I could share the answer with you, but I have to paste it I guess, or summarize it from Bard.  "Yes, a retailer can be liable for selling a fake product. This is because retailers have a duty to sell genuine products to their customers. If a retailer sells a fake product, they may be liable for breach of contract, fraud, and/or product liability."

Now the listing for this product doesn't state it is a Genuine Toyota product, only the box says so.  I guess they did this to protect themselves, also they didn't put the box in any pictures, again good move, they in no way stated that it is genuine.  I guess this gives the retailer the possibility to deny any knowledge of what the product looks like.  But the again, if the product performs as well as the Genuine Toyota do I care?  Will they void my warranty on an old car, nope, it is long gone.

Best Linux distro

Sadly I don't use Linux on the desktop, as our company doesn't support it and I have in the past tried to support linux myself and ran out of time writing a wiki trying to support it, mind you I had help from others in the company, but not enough to make a difference and subvert the entrenched Windows and MacOS crowd, who now have Linux solutions built into both.  Yet our Windows users don't get the Linux Subsystem for Windows, they don't have admin, can't install Putty even and IT doesn't get it, they can't work.  It takes weeks sometimes months for them to get basic access.  Does this happen in all companies?

Are we doomed to use WSL and MacOS as the only solutions at work? 

I saw this X storm and decided to write into my old blog, as I watch an ant walk on my desk at work, dreaming of a better future, but hey, I found a friend this morning someone who is also working on my desk to collect some food for the colony.  I feel blessed to have a nice workspace, but the hours are long, so long...  let us automate, we can do amazing things, remove all the shackles from us, not saying to do insecure things, Linux isn't insecure, but why are so many companies hostile to open source?

😂 pic.twitter.com/F27reo895E

— The Best Linux Blog In the Unixverse🐧 (@nixcraft) August 17, 2023

gMail Audio?

 I just got called by mistake by a friend who didn't know that he called me on gMail Audio, wow, yet another similar app in a long list of fumbles by google since 2005, when they had Google Talk, anyone remember it?  

Here is a great article of the history of blunders in this space.

Car

 I might need a car.

web scrapping

 I really need to learn to web scrape today.