A few weeks ago I came across a milk crate in our shed as I was tidying things up. Upon closer searching I actually found three milk crates that had been obtained (presumably by the previous owner) and secreted away. Milk crates are funny things. They are super-useful for storing and transporting things in; they often appear in yuppie or hip cafes as seats; they are often branded with their owners name, and it is illegal to hold on to them because they are owned by dairies.
It’s now been a little over two weeks since I installed LineageOS on my Samsung A5 phone.
During that time I’ve installed, removed, replaced and set defaults and permissions for the apps I use. I thought it may be useful for posterity to describe what apps I am using (and why).
First off, I didn’t install the so-called Gapps (Google Apps) package on my phone so I don’t have the Play store directly available. The benefit of that is that i don’t need to let Google know what apps I use, or when, or where, or how! But I do need to be able to install apps aside from the stock apps on my phone. I opted for F-Droid for that. I needed to access that site through my browser then download and install the F-Droid apk file.
An Australian classic from the 60s.
After a couple of hours of spinning my wheels going nowhere this morning, my Samsung A5 2017 android phone is now free of all Google and Samsung apps.
After some consideration of both privacy concerns particularly relating to google described here and more general security concerns described here I looked into replacing the Google-provided operating system on my Samsung phone. One of the side benefits is to rid myself of all of the annoying and bloated Samsung apps that can’t be deleted by an everyday user.
^Well, it’s significantly less dramatic than ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’.
As we prepare to relocate from a small rural property that has been home for the past 11 years to a much smaller, domestic house and block closer to children we’ve begun clearing out/throwing away/tidying up what we brought with us 11 years ago and the extra that has accumulated in those same years.
As I’ve been clearing up the shed and carpeted man cave I’ve paused to reflect briefly on some of the items being thrown away or otherwise disposed of.
Another classic. A great song/hymn with an inspiring back story well sung.
We come to the final chapter, and final post on my comments and reflections on the book of the prophet Micah.
Micah 7 begins with a brief lament by Micah as he seeks righteous people in Israel but, like a fruit-picker arriving after the harvest, finds little joy (verse 1). Instead he finds people who are violent, seek opportunities to undertake violence, and do it well (2-3). He finds rulers and judges who are corrupt and can be bought with the bribe. The one offering the bribe is described as a ‘great man’1 who speaks what he desires rather than the truth and the corrupt officials make it happen (3-4). But it gets worse! Verses 5 and 6 speak of neighbours, friends, family and household members being or becoming enemies because they treat each other with disdain, contempt and mistrust. It’s an ugly picture all around.
Micah chapter 6 is very much a chapter in two parts. Whilst the chapter and verse divisions in the Bible make it easier to find specific sentences, sometimes the divisions run counter to the narrative and make it more difficult to understand. The chapter divisions in use today were added in the early 13th century, and versification we use was added in the mid-1500s.
The first three verses are a recap of the indictment of the Lord against His people, Israel. The Lord pleads His case to the mountains and the foundations of the earth - for they were there before Israel had been formed. They are poetic witnesses of what the Lord has done for Israel.
Another classic, non-musical.
Another classic, not exactly musical.