Tips for Privacy Beyond the Phone

Even with a privacy-focused device:

• Avoid Google/Apple accounts when possible.
• Use privacy-friendly apps (FOSS alternatives, open-source browsers, privacy mail).
• Use a VPN or TOR when browsing on public networks.
• Turn off unnecessary sensors/location services.

AFAICT "Abovephone" is nothing but what one can have on his own by installing the GrapheneOS on the Google Pixel phone by himself.

“[Zephyr is] an open source collaborative effort uniting developers and users in building a best-in-class small, scalable, real-time operating system (RTOS) optimized for resource-constrained devices, across multiple architectures.”

In simple terms, the objective of the Zephyr Project is to create a vendor agnostic RTOS that works across different chip vendors, CPU architectures and feature sets. That is a very ambitious goal – from my firsthand experience at Microchip, the challenge of keeping something working across the multiple devices that we make is tricky enough, let alone an entire RTOS.

SPI — “fast, structured, deterministic”

What SPI really is

SPI is synchronous master/slave communication.

Minimum SPI:

• SCLK (clock)
• MOSI (master → slave)
• MISO (slave → master)
• CS (chip select)

Master controls everything.

Why engineers choose SPI

• Very fast (MHz range)
• Deterministic timing
• Low latency
• Multiple devices on same bus
• Great for registers, sensors, memory

That’s why SPI shows up in:

• IMUs (gyro/accel)
• Flash memory
• Displays
• SD cards
• Motor drivers
• ADCs/DACs

In drones:

• IMU → SPI (speed + timing)
• Flash → SPI
• OSD → SPI
• Sensors that feed control loops → SPI

If timing matters, SPI wins.

Tradeoffs

• More wires
• More firmware complexity
• Shorter cable runs
• Harder to debug without tools

SPI is powerful but less forgiving.

UART — “simple, robust, boring (in a good way)”

What it really is

UART is point-to-point asynchronous serial.

Minimum viable UART:

• TX
• RX
• GND
• (optional CTS/RTS, rarely used in embedded gear)

No clock line. Timing is agreed ahead of time (baud rate).

Why engineers love UART

• Minimal pins (huge deal on small boards)
• Easy to debug (logic analyzer or USB-TTL)
• Survives long traces and noisy environments
• Firmware is trivial
• Works across vendors

That’s why:

• Barcode engines use UART
• GPS modules use UART
• Telemetry radios use UART
• Debug consoles use UART

In drones:

• GPS → UART
• Telemetry → UART
• RC receivers → UART
• ESC telemetry → UART

UART is the duct tape of embedded comms.

Tradeoffs

• Slower than SPI
• Usually 1 device per port
• No addressing built in

But for “device sends data to controller”, it’s perfect.

That’s why your MSR module was UART:

Card swipe → stream ASCII → done

Big picture: why SPI & UART show up everywhere (POS, drones, robotics)

When engineers design embedded systems, they’re juggling:

• Cost
• Pin count
• Speed
• Reliability
• Firmware complexity
• Noise tolerance
• Debuggability

SPI and UART win because they sit at the sweet spot of all of those.

That’s why you see them in:

• Drone flight controllers
• ESCs
• GPS modules
• IMUs
• Barcode engines
• MSR heads
• Thermal printers
• Motor drivers
• Power controllers

Same logic across industries.

Gov. Ron DeSantis declared CAIR a domestic terrorist organization, and they turned around and claimed they are suing him.

As we also reported, Ron didn't really GAF and in fact, encouraged them to do it because discovery in the case will be ENLIGHTENING.

Tony Blair, who should go down as the worst PM of the 20th (and perhaps the 21st) century. Great article, looks like britan has their Obama

Software teams are getting their own dedicated workforce, too. At re:Invent 2025, AWS rolled out three specific frontier AI agents: Kiro (a virtual developer), a Security Agent, and a DevOps Agent. Kiro isn’t just a code-completion tool; it hooks directly into workflows with “powers” (specialised integrations for tools like Datadog, Figma, and Stripe) that allow it to act with context rather than just guessing at syntax.

Commitment to Innovation: Localad consistently invests in new technologies, focusing on computer control, artificial intelligence, and user experience enhancement.