@cliffwade@allthingstech.social cover
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

cliffwade

@cliffwade@allthingstech.social

Admin: AllThingsTech.social

Customer Support Specialist: @novalauncher
Engage Team: Branch Metrics

@protonprivacy Partner :Proton:
@Vivaldi Ambassador :vivaldi_blue:
@Vivaldi Soprano :vivaldi_green:

I've been playing video games since the early 70's and still play them today!

Interests: #AllThingsTech #VideoGames, #iOS, #Android, #News, #Animals #Cats #Food #Music #Photography, #Food #MastoAdmin #Searchable #Fedi22

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. View on remote instance

cliffwade , to News from fediverse
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

For those that use the @Vivaldi browser, what is your favorite feature?

Please BOOST for maximum exposure to the

Polls are limited to only four choices, hence the options that are listed.

cliffwade , to Random stuff
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

I've spent a good majority of the day moving 750GB of files out of my Google Drive over to my @protonprivacy drive.

I've quit using Google Chrome(long long time ago).
I've quit using Gmail.
I've quit using Google Drive.
I've quit using Google Keep.

The one thing that is just too damn good to quit using that Google makes is Google Photos.

While there are replacements, there's nothing that comes even remotely close to being as good as Google Photos in my opinion. Literally NOTHING!

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@stu As I stated in a previous response, it doesn't do anywhere near the things that Google Photos does and neither does anything else out there.

I'd want something that does everything Google Photos does, not just photo storage.

@protonprivacy @ente

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@MartinaNeumayer This isn't about private/personal data, because every company takes that to some degree. The difference is what they do with it. If you're on the internet, people somewhere, companies somewhere, have your personal/private data to some degree and you can't deny that.

Auto sync from phone to Google Photos, facial recognition, making of memories, collages and special photos, ease of searching for most anything, great web UI.

@stu @protonprivacy @ente

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@ente Oh, that is awesome to hear! Thank you for taking the time to respond. I'd certainly be curious to test it again if/when it had these things.

Don't get me wrong, what little I did play with it a couple of months ago, y'all have a really nice app. Very polished and certainly has great potential.

@MartinaNeumayer @stu @protonprivacy

youronlyone , to Android
@youronlyone@c.im avatar

How cool is it that @cliffwade is:

  • A fediverse admin.
  • A CS specialist of @novalauncher (my favourite launcher. I'm a pro and beta user for years! Highly recommended Android launcher!)
  • And a fan of Richard Garriott's series (check their profile banner - Ultima 4 opening sequence? I think a later version of U4.)

Someone playing Ultima is a good sign that the Nova Launcher's CS team is in good hands. Role-players can understand a customer, and can think far ahead, thus they can improve the processes.

cliffwade ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@youronlyone Haha, this caught me totally off guard.

Thank you so much for this post as it really put a huge smile on my face!

Glad all of these things check the boxes for you.

I started playing Ultima IV the day it come out and have played ever since. I literally just played it about 3 mornings ago for about an hour via Windows.

@novalauncher

cliffwade , to Android
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

I would absolutely love to get my hands on the new @loops Android or iOS app by @dansup to start using it and testing it.

As many of you know, I do beta testing all day everyday since I work for a large Android app and most all of the software I use is beta of some form.

It would make for a great experience to dive in early and see what it's all about and report feedback as much as possible to help make it the best app out there today!

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@dansup Oh! This is super exciting to hear. Thank you so much for that, seriously.

I know you're going to knock it out of the park with Loops, just like you have with PixelFed.

@loops

atomicpoet , (edited ) to Random stuff
@atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org avatar

Lots of people keep telling me "old" games are better.

I call B.S. on that whole notion.

I'm old enough to experience the near-infancy of gaming. My first console was an Atari 2600. I remember going to different arcades and seeing Pong cabinets in the corner.

Except for a brief year in 2004, I've never stopped gaming. And I can say with complete confidence that the quality of gaming has mostly improved.

By no means am I saying old games are crap. If that were true, I wouldn't own so many of them. I still own an NES, Genesis, Saturn, etc. I still emulate Atari 2600. I have The C64 Mini.

I agree that many old games are some of the best games.

But nowhere near as many games were released in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and '00s as there are now. And of the games released, the batting average is nowhere near as good as you remember.

For every Yars Revenge there was an E.T.

For every Super Mario Bros. there was an Action 52.

For every Phantasy Star II there was a Desert Bus.

If this were not true, the Angry Video Game Nerd wouldn't have been able to sustain an entire career talking about crappy old games for the past 20 years.

People also don't consider the numerous creature comforts that have come to exist now that simply make gaming better. There was no online multiplayer. Input options were limited. Accessibility, such as colour blind mode in fighting games, didn't even exist.

But the thing that gets me about so many of these retro gamers is they seem to believe that every game released nowadays is a DRM-laden AAA title teeming with micro-transactions.

This simply isn't the case. The majority of games made nowadays are actually indie titles, made by small studios -- some of them by solo developers -- lacking DRM and micro-transactions. Tens of thousands of indie games get released every year. And every day, there's an indie game released that blows away the retro game that inspired it.

Cuphead is better than Megaman. I'm sorry, it's true. Not only does Cuphead have a better art style, it's a more engaging and satisfying run-and-gun.

Yoku's Island Express is better than Sonic Spinball. I mean, the fact I'm even making the comparison is absurd. Yoku's Island Express has a richer pinball experience and a better story.

Jet Kave Adventure is better than Chuck Rock. The better game mechanics and story are in Jet Kave Adventure. Put those games side-by-side, and what I'm saying will be readily apparent.

When it comes to making video games, today's indie developers have a huge advantage over game developers of yesteryear because, not only do they have access to better tools, they can learn from the old games an improve on them. In other words, they have the benefit of hindsight.

The question I have whenever these discussions arise is simply this: why aren't you playing new indie games? Not only is the quality often superior, it's a more affordable experience than spending C$30 on an old, used NES cartridge.

Why are you missing out on games like Shovel Knight, Pizza Tower, Toree 3D, Super House of Dead Ninjas, Untitled Goose Game -- and many, many more?

cliffwade ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@atomicpoet I actually started on home Pong system that my parents had. Completely black and white.

While it was fun and it's what got me into tech and gaming all around, today's games are much better in so many ways, in most cases.

dansup , to Random stuff
@dansup@mastodon.social avatar

6 years ago today I started writing the first lines of code for Pixelfed!

Happy birthday @pixelfed 🥳

cliffwade ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@dansup Wow, that is incredible. Very happy birthday to @pixelfed and it's crazy to see how far it's come in the 2+ years I've been using it.

cliffwade , to News from fediverse
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

Do you celebrate Easter in any way?

Please BOOST for maximum exposure to the

Feel free to comment below with why you celebrate or why you don't celebrate!

cliffwade , to Random stuff
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

I want to share this publicly, as I feel there are other admins out there that might want to see it and possibly chime in here as well.

https://social.growyourown.services/@FediTips/112163544709115656

@FediTips which is the same person(s) who own/run @FediGarden has confirmed to the DM's they have sent.

I've provided some feedback for them, and would love to see other admins do the same possibly.

@britt @Whiskeyomega @beardedtechguy

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@nellie_m Sure, you're right. It's more of HOW they DM'd us and what was stated and how it was stated. You don't know this because you likely didn't get the same message we all got.

@FediTips

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@FediTips Can you show me where the Mastodon Covenant states that instance admins are required to defederate from Threads, or Meta in general?

@nellie_m

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@FediTips Awesome! Very well said.

Please make sure your site(s) clearly state that they NO LONGER FOLLOW the rules of the Mastodon Covenant. It's very important if you're changing things from their original statements in the Covenant to be different from said Covenant. Nobody needs to be fooled into thinking that FediTips, FediGardens or anything associated with them follows the Mastodon Covenant since you'll be making YOUR OWN RULES.

dansup , (edited ) to Random stuff
@dansup@mastodon.social avatar

TestFlight may take another week, so I'm thinking about distributing a @loops Android APK for the initial beta!

That would enable me to get it in the hands of beta testers the quickest 🤔

cliffwade ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@dansup As someone who works for a very large Android app, @novalauncher and does beta testing all day every day, I'd love to be involved in beta testing for Loops if at all possible.

Providing feedback and bug reports is something I do on a daily basis for my job and I know how helpful it is to get good reports to make your app be the best it can be.

@loops

cliffwade , to News from fediverse
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

I just did a test and it took 12 minutes from the time I posted on Threads from my @cliffwade account until it showed up in my timeline here on Mastodon.

https://www.threads.net/@cliffwade/post/C4y96SBL6di

I'm definitely curious if this will improve in the future or if this will be how it will always work.

cliffwade , to News from fediverse
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

Seems my Threads account is active for sharing.

@cliffwade

Click it, follow it, enjoy it!

pixelfed , to Random stuff
@pixelfed@mastodon.social avatar

✨Introducing Loops, a fediverse TikTok platform.

Explore and share short videos on the fediverse using your Pixelfed or Mastodon account.

Available Soon.

https://loops.video

Follow @loops for early access to the beta and updates.

cliffwade ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@pixelfed Very interesting! And how cool is it that I was the first follower!

@loops

cliffwade , to Random stuff
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

Huge thanks to @protonmail for accepting me into the Partners program today!

Super excited to be a part of this.

Remember, if you're looking for a more secure email service, Proton is the way to go and if you want to give Mail Plus a try for one month free, let me know and I can provide you with a referral link!

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@protonmail Thank you so much. Honored to be a part of it all.

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@andrew Let's tag @protonmail here and ask.

If someone already has an account setup, can they use my referral link to get a month of Mail Plus for free?

Andrew is stating that the link isn't working for him when he's already signed into his account, which I assume is on the free plan at the moment.

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@andrew Gotcha. Hopefully Proton will respond soon and provide feedback about that.

@protonmail

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@protonmail Thank you for the clarification. I thought that was the case but wanted to make sure.

@andrew

cliffwade , to Random stuff
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@protonmail I still haven't heard back with regards to the partners program application I put in last week.

I think the site says 48 - 72 hours and you should hear back but I think it's been longer than that. Any idea when I might hear if I were approved or not?

cliffwade , to Random stuff
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

For anyone who might have missed it last week, I wrote an article about why I switched from Gmail to Proton Mail and you can read it and hopefully share it with others via the link below.

https://blog.allthingstech.social/why-i-switched-from-gmail-to-proton-mail/

@protonmail also suggested that I apply for the partner program, which I did but haven't heard back yet. Hoping to hear back in the next day or two and hoping that I get accepted.

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@SteveClough Proton has been around for a lot of years, something like 6 - 8 years? Someone else might correct me, but I feel it's not going anywhere at all.

@protonmail

cliffwade , to Random stuff
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone for showing so much love on my blog post about @protonmail that I published earlier today.

The numbers are awesome to see on only day 2 or 3 of the blog itself.

https://blog.allthingstech.social/why-i-switched-from-gmail-to-proton-mail/

But also for all of the interaction on the original post here on Mastodon.

https://allthingstech.social/@cliffwade/112009638481968161

Y'all are the reason why I love this platform so damn much!

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@protonmail Thank you so much! I would absolutely love to be a Proton Partner and have filled out the form at this time.

I'm now waiting as my Proton Partners account is being reviewed.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do to get it approved.

cliffwade , to Random stuff
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

After 20+ years, I made the switch from Gmail to @protonmail and you can read my blog post via the link below to find out what made me do it!

https://blog.allthingstech.social/why-i-switched-from-gmail-to-proton-mail/

Are you using a paid email service or have you switched from Gmail to something else? Let me know in the comments.

Please BOOST for others to read as well!

Blog Mastodon account:

@cliffwade

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@shellsharks Oh nice! How long ago did you make the switch and what was it that made you choose Proton like I did? Are you using the paid or free plan?

@protonmail @cliffwade

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@shellsharks Very interesting. Thanks for sharing that link too. Something I'll definitely read and take notes from.

I never thought I'd pay for email, NEVER. Yet here I am!

@protonmail @cliffwade

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@florianlg I personally would recommend it, and I've seen a lot of others who have switched from Workspace to Proton.

I know @stu has used @Tutanota so maybe he can give you some insight as I'm not familiar with them.

@cliffwade @protonmail @Tutanota

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@florianlg Oh really? I'm not familiar with them at all. What more security do they offer if I might ask?

@protonmail @Tutanota @cliffwade

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@joat Have you thought about using SimpleLogin by chance? That allows you to create aliases super quick and it's not dependent on Proton itself to my knowledge. I could be wrong.

@protonmail @cliffwade

cliffwade , to News from fediverse
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

Good morning

How are we all doing today?

Tell me about your day, such as, what you have planned, what you hope to accomplish, what you've possibly already accomplished?

For me, it's just a rest and relax day with a bit of work emails here and there.

Tonight will be Fortnite with friends. Other than that, I have nothing planned to do for the day today.

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@shellsharks Whew, I'm worn out from reading all of that. LOL

Hopefully you get all of that stuff done and can do so relatively quickly to do the parenting stuff and then gym stuff.

cliffwade , to Random stuff
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

This last wave of spam attacks was quite brutal to say the least.

While didn't send out any of the spam, thankfully, I personally dealt with being spammed BIG TIME! I think I created 100+ reports and blocked 700+ accounts in total.

The good news is, this wave should be over with since the kid got arrested:

https://sakurajima.moe/@chikorita157/111964047131919267

But there is still much work to do by @Gargron and @renchap and the rest of the team.

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@renchap I read that last year when you posted it and I agree, lots of great ideas and thoughts in that post.

I know this is going to be something that we have to deal with and fight at all times basically, which is sad. I just hope to see the sign up process be much better than it is today.

I know captcha can be difficult for disabled people, but I think that's one of many things that will help. Though it hurts in other ways.

cliffwade , to Random stuff
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@protonmail I assume it was y'all that removed the ability to set a custom sound for notifications for the Proton Mail app on Android?

I used to be able to set my own custom sound to play, now, it simply uses the system default notification sound.

Any particular reason for this?

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@protonmail I currently have Proton Mail 4.0.3 (7822) installed and I'm not in the beta program via the Play Store.

Though I will change that, as I run beta software most everywhere.

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@protonmail Unfortunately you're not able to set custom sounds here any longer, as this was the first place I had looked. It used to be there prior to an update and then it was gone. That was even on the stable branch. I'm currently on the beta branch and still the same. I believe y'all said this would come to the beta branch soon?

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@kv Ah, I didn't realize that was clickable. Thank you! Seems the issue might be resolved. @protonmail

cliffwade , to Android
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

Google Gemini mobile app expands to more regions.

https://www.gsmarena.com/google_gemini_mobile_app_expands_to_more_regions-news-61560.php

cliffwade , to News from fediverse
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

Good morning

Let's take the time to do our and find out what we all have planned for the day today.

For me, it's work stuff as is always the case along with some video games and TV shows.

I think we'll stay home today and just rest and relax.

cliffwade , to Random stuff
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

The other day, I mentioned here: https://allthingstech.social/@cliffwade/111767025900398705 That I was looking to move away from Gmail, but more specifically create a new email address since I had been using the same one for 20 years and decided to give @protonmail and @fastmail both a try.

I have decided to go with Fastmail as I feel it meets my needs a bit better at this time. I have even decided to go with a paid plan, which is something I thought I'd never do, pay for email!

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@beardedtechguy I never thought I'd paid for an email service. Mainly because Gmail has been my home since prior to it ever going public. 20+ years now I've used it. Everything is there.

My Gmail won't go away, so I can always search it for anything I need/want, but I'm just tired of all the spam within Gmail. It doesn't necessarily hit my inbox, but I get a ton of it, again, due to 20 years of service more than anything else.

@protonmail @fastmail

cliffwade OP ,
@cliffwade@allthingstech.social avatar

@vintagetech Are you using Fastmail as well by chance?

@beardedtechguy @protonmail @fastmail

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • supersentai
  • WatchParties
  • Rutgers
  • jeremy
  • Lexington
  • cragsand
  • mead
  • RetroGamingNetwork
  • loren
  • steinbach
  • xyz
  • PowerRangers
  • AnarchoCapitalism
  • kamenrider
  • Mordhau
  • WarhammerFantasy
  • itdept
  • AgeRegression
  • mauerstrassenwetten
  • MidnightClan
  • space_engine
  • learnviet
  • bjj
  • Teensy
  • khanate
  • electropalaeography
  • neondivide
  • fandic
  • All magazines
    •