zalgotext

Not really. Case in point - the Moon. It's absolutely massive, like several orders of magnitude larger than any satellite we've ever launched, and when it happens to line up just right between the Earth and the Sun, the umbra is only like 150km wide.

Plenty of anti-cheats work on Linux, and the ones that don't are probably borderline malware anyways, so it's really a win-win

Yeah if your vacuum does enough for you with its Internet access restricted, then there's probably no good reason to install valetudo. I chose to install it on mine because 1. paranoia, 2. I don't have a good firewall solution set up yet, and 3. a lot of features on my vacuum are disabled if it can't phone home, but valetudo re-enables those features.

I literally just installed this last weekend, so the docs are still pretty fresh in my mind. I still recommend you go read through that site to get the full picture and make your own informed decision, but here's my tl:dr.

Valetudo, first and foremost, is intended to enable select models of vacuum robots to operate cloud-free. It's not intended (nor is it feasible) to offer feature-parity with the manufacturers' firmware/apps/cloud services. But in my limited experience, the only feature my robot is missing after installing valetudo is the ability to live-stream video from the onboard camera, which isn't a big deal at all for me (and is something that the dev specifically won't support). Everything else works flawlessly so far. It also allows you to configure just about anything the robot supports configurability for, like pathing algorithm adjustments, obstacle avoidance sensitivity adjustments, and a whole host of other things. I'm not sure if the manufacturer's app even allows that level of configurability (because I never installed it), but I definitely feel like I have full control over my robot, and it functions flawlessly at performing its job of keeping my floors clean.

I think the biggest thing to be aware of is the rooting/installation process may require some soldering (not of the robot, just some through-hole soldering on a separate breakout board to make connecting to the robot's debug port more foolproof), and requires comfortability in a Linux terminal. If those things aren't in your wheelhouse, I'd say this project probably isn't for you.

If you have a robot vacuum, and the robot vacuum makes a persistent map (as opposed to the older "dumber" models that just bounce around randomly), they all send that map back to some remote server. In fact, most of those robots won't even enable the mapping feature unless they're connected to the Internet (which is absolute bullshit considering most of those robots generate, process, and store that map locally, so there's literally no reason to send it off somewhere).

So your options are to just use the robot without ever connecting it to the Internet and be happy with the reduced featureset, root the robot and install Valetudo on it, or just vacuum manually. But until manufacturers are forced to let us actually own the smart devices they sell is, under no circumstances should you ever let one touch the Internet.

I feel like if countries' leaders weren't dumb as shit, they'd work to fix healthcare, education, and the economy, as that would have a much larger positive impact than a dating app.

I feel like we'd see a lot more progress if these types of comments were higher up in the chain, instead of buried at the end of a conversation. I see a lot of ridiculing people for not knowing this stuff, a la: https://xkcd.com/1053/

I understand it's the ignorant masses' responsibilities to educate themselves. But like, we could all stand to make it easier on one another instead of jumping down each other's throats all the time.

Also this isn't directed at you in particular, just in general. I just liked your response, and I wish more people would give answers like this.

You know what, you're right.

You know what has an even better safety track record than a car with FSD supervised by a human?

Trains.

If your concern is actually safety, advocate for the safest methods of transportation - mass public transit, coupled with pedestrian- and bicycle-safe roads, and advocate against passenger cars, in any form.

I for one got the sarcasm, I just though it was a pretty shit joke

"not operational" as in "construction is not complete", sure, but they were able to start testing at that facility in 2024, and it will be complete and ready for full operational use in 2026. Just because other storage facilities didn't work out in the past doesn't mean new ones are doomed as well. This project has been in development for a few decades now, and they're learning from all those previous mistakes.

Edit: where in the Yucca Mountain article does it say it's "not a suitable site", as you imply? I'm reading the exact opposite in multiple places, and it seems like the halt of operations/construction there was due to political pressure and local sentiment, not because of any safety risks.

We do, it's called really big hole

They might not want that up front, but an Internet-disconnected car that gives the owner full control doesn't imply that it would be unreliable or hard to fix.

I'd even be ok with a connected-by-default car, as long as I have the option to disconnect it and do what I want with it, like any other computer I own. I don't think that's too much to ask, and I feel like it makes both audiences happy.