Very true. It's less of a total puzzler than Bezos, who got a trillion dollars or whatever and then started dating someone older and uglier than his existing woman, at unimaginable cost.
On this, I've been meaning to drop a comment about Round House denim here for a minute. USA-made, raw-ish (only one of their styles is actually advertised as raw, but their nominally-not-raw cowboy cut are still pretty dye-heavy and crinkly out of the packaging), some non-dadcore cuts that still work with thicker legs, and reasonably priced. Too soon to say anything conclusive about durability, but they seem fine. Basically, I think the Round House 1903 is as close as you're gonna get to a USA-made Wrangler 13MWZ rigid, which were my previous go-to. Recommended.
What's your take on American Giant? chinos I bought a pair recently and found that they're, er, fairly generously sized. They also come in only one inseam size, which worked for me but seems odd.
for upperbody comfort you can't beat cashmere 'sweaters;' for warm weather get down to 1-ply. those don't last long but you'll get compliments from all kinds of femininity--the real kinds i mean.
Is Gustin that good? I remember a decade ago thinking the brand name sounded cheesy but I've been interested in maybe buying some good denim again. I've always been one for the Japanese brands, but after wearing a $7 pair of thrift store 511s for the past year, I'm not sure if I want to pay Japanese prices for my next pair.
I've got a pair of AG blue jeans and black canvas pants. both are excellent. the jeans have a blend of spandex in them so they fit nicely and have some give, which is nice. the canvas pants do not have the spandex, and mine fit a bit loosely, so I'm often hitching them up. But I quite like both pairs. FWIW, I came to American Giant after Lucky started making its jeans overseas. If you like Lucky, you'll be fine with AG.
I have several AG hoodies, two henley jerseys, one of the waffle-pattern jerseys, a sweater, and a pair of sweatpants and every one of them is durable, comfortable, and well made. I have no trouble recommending AG.
I have one classic AG hoodie, the lightweight half-zip pullover, a slub long-sleeve (M fits my 36" sleeve length arms) I'm wearing now, a henley long sleeve, 5 slub shirts, and 1 classic cotton. All my old startup logo screenprinted American Apparel tri-blends are being phased out for the North Carolinian shirts. I've been very impressed with all of it, but their chore pants seems too pricey compared to the basic LC King duck. So a 32/34 brown duck is now winging its way to me, so see if I can squeeze into it.
(Dearborn changed their sizing at some point, rude. The original "last call for American stretch" jeans I bought, and follow ons, in 32/34 now must be ordered in 33/34 to fit, even though the old ones still fit me fine and I've only traded a little fat mass for biking muscle mass. We'll see how "true to size" LC King is.)
If American Giant made wool products... Oh, man, that would be the closest to divorce a man could get without going over the line. :scared-emoji-face-here:
Duckworth is where I go for good wool products. Their underwear is great, and all I wear anymore. I've also got a Vapor tee and a Sawtooth flannel. All are great, if you can stomach the price. Customer service is excellent as well. The trick to maintaining a happy marriage is to make sure I also buy something for my wife whenever I place an order.
Woaaaaaaah!!! Wool-poly blends, with some modal thrown in? These are cheaper than Fjallraven's Chinese wool t-shirts, dang. And the same blend for underwear? I didn't think anyone could compete with Jockey's modal underwear--a fantastic recommendation, thanks Eric.
>Most Merino Wool apparel companies tap dozens of other countries, many with practically nonexistent workplace and environmental regulations, to complete their supply chain. Typically, our competitors source their wool in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Uruguay, and Argentina. Then they process and spin their wool into yarn in China, Italy, Bulgaria, Argentina, Uruguay, and Romania. Fabric is made in China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, Turkey, and Australia, before it is cut into garments in China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Italy, and Turkey. Finally, they distribute out of Germany, the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand.
At the risk of stepping on toes, feel free to use my referral code. You'll get 25% off your first order over $100, and I'll get $10 off my next purchase. http://rwrd.io/n39busq?c
If Jack has a referral code, he should post it here and reap the benefits for bringing together this wonderful community.
Jack, any experience with their shirts? I’m intrigued by some of their offerings, but fit is everything...I’m pretty long and wide in the torso and usually look for XLTall or 2XLTall.
Gettees makes Pima cotton shirts here in Detroit. ~$30 each and they’ve held up well. I’ve had two that get almost weekly wear and haven’t had any issues after 3-4 years. They’re only now just starting to fade.
Point of contention, have you considered that maybe Zuck married for love, not looks? You dunk on him a lot for how much he “paid” for his wife, but maybe two lizards really can just fall in love.
This reminds me of something I read once about there being four types of couples, and the last causes us to recoil in disgust and conspiracy theories:
1: Handsome man with beautiful woman. All is right with the world.
2: Ugly man with ugly woman. All is right, if depressingly so, with the world.
3: Ugly man with beautiful woman. Okay, mismatch to be sure, but she sees something in him we don't. Maybe he's funny, or kind, or rich or amazing in bed.
4: Normal-looking man with ugly woman. Oh God, what's wrong with HIM? Can't he do better? Especially with his money? He must be psychologically damaged.
In sitcoms, you see Couple # 3 all the time. But in real life, the most common sight is #4, a normal-looking man with a hambeast of a wife. I see it everywhere. Is a man marrying a 6, who then slides into a 3 or 4, some sort of strategy on his part to protect himself from an adulterous mate?
If you're not in the top 20 percent of men, you will have a fattie or nothing. The top 20 percent of men are dating multiple women. Can't blame the girls. They have their careers to keep them busy now. So why not take their limited time off work and spend it with someone more attractive? Who cares if they're not exclusive? She has Daddy Corporation now and Daddy Government later.
Ill chuck you my conundrum, Jack. In the sea of college, most truly attractive girls are looking for short term shit and have no real ambitions for children or marriage. I have my pick of these despite fairly average looks (the blanks can be filled as to why this is so). Thus I can spend my college years sleeping with an array of rather attractive women with a panoply of mental issues and an aversion to marriage. If they want kids, they say they’ll wait until their mid 30s (something Im not going to do. My own parents having waited until 40, I’d like my kids to know their grandparents). Or conversely I can get into a serious relationship with a girl I’ve been talking to: on the zaftig side (but working to lose it) with a very pretty face; but stratospheric IQ (at my school on the most prestigious scholarship given only to 3 of 10,000 students in the respective freshman classes); wants 3-4 kids; has reasonable views on family, marriage, etc. Less striking than most girls I’ve been out with, but a much more mature, reasonable and conservative person.
Looks fade. If you agree on the big stuff, and she is logical and practical— I would go for it. Make sure you both know what the other is passionate about. Fine if you don’t share those passions; but you each have to be ok with the other following them. Together or not.
My first wife was hotter than the surface of the sun when I met her. Because she had an astounding rack for an 18-year-old. I now recognize that to be the warning sign that it is!
*shrugs* there are lots of people out there that are satisfied with so-so relationships/looks/lives in spite of options. Zucks thing seems to be clinging to control of his empire of dirt, and not much else.
Without getting into a rating system too deep, I would say Bezos and Zuck are with women who are worst Hollywood Homely.
I mean sure, in my fantasy that I have that much money I am with (fill in your ideal hottie), but I don't have that much money so maybe I just would be with someone who doesn't annoy me, and doesn't disgust me.
Anything's possible. They started dating when he was still in school.
I don't understand anything about him, to be honest. Most companies at least START with good intentions: Let's build a car! Let's engineer a better toilet paper roll holder! Zuck and FB started with the intent of manipulating people and violating their privacy. Facebook in general has been responsible for more everyday misery than any other company in human history.
I like the idea of this, because a hundred or so dollars for American pants seems eminently reasonable - I've spent at least that much on non-USA pants. I also love that they're available in 36" inseam. Unfortunately, I am much too tall and slim for relaxed straight usually - it's not a look that is generally flattering on me. It does make me wish that I could find an American manufacturer of the more technical kind of "work" pants, as it clearly is possible to profitably manufacture pants as a reasonable price point in America.
I actually check their stuff out regularly - I will need to actually the pull the trigger, there's always some very cool, unique-looking stuff. I think what's kept me from ordering so far is the wait - delayed gratification is not my strong suit - one of my (many) character flaws. I also love the colors they do their shirts in, but like almost every place, they don't offer tall sizes in their shirt/t-shirts. I suffered through regular shirt sizes for most of my life, but recently started grabbing tall sizes and it's just so much better.
$100 seems expensive to me, as I am some sort of awful cheap-ass when it comes to clothes. The reason for this is that I started poking around the thrift stores and discovered I could get all these fancy brands for $7 instead of $100.
It may take me months to find the right thing, but I do. It helps that I like bringing the element of chance into purchases -- the universe will provide me with the right pants when it sees fit to do so.
Some of those 1620 pants really seem to hit the mark in terms of a stretch-style work pant, thanks! I wish they gave some measurements for the fit, but I might just roll the dice.
I should have added detail and not just snark. That phone is very specifically targeted to Linux systems administrators or programmers, which is why I'm legitimately surprised Baruth hadn't heard of it. The underlying Linux operating system it uses didn't support SMS/MMS until the last year or so, for instance. Its performance as a phone is... so-so. It does not work with your iMessage. It cannot install your favorite Android app from the Play Store.
There's been classic programmer drama about how it technically supports, but makes it difficult to install, other operating systems besides PureOS.
The one thing it has on its competing privacy-oriented super 1337 hacker phones is that you can order an all-USA component model with a custom sparkly glitter pattern painted on the case to let you know whether the NSA/FBI intercepted it while shipping to you. :)
The top comment sums it up nicely for all those products. "Most "reviews" expect a polished OS that "just works" when this device isn't ready for daily use unless you're a tinkerer who can spend time bug reporting, searching for answers, reflashing when (not if) things go wrong." Most of the early users were expected to contribute kernel drivers for the phones' components, so they have functioning WiFi and cameras. The cameras still don't really work, last I read.
If you don't understand what a bootloader is and have never debugged error messages from a Unix program, I would strongly suggest not trying any of these devices and buying a regular flip-phone if you're concerned about contributing to the insane data troves that Apple and Google keep on you.
Bro, READ HACKER NEWS MORE. I mean, at least skim the headlines. n-gate.com stopped posting his mocking summary of the day's top posts, which would bring you amusement for 10-20 minutes of skimming his archives.
That a wonderful concept on many levels. That such a conceptually simple thing must cost 2K to bring to market compared to mainstream phones is sad. something something if something is cheap/free you are the product. If it also included encrypted peer to peer communication to skirt the networks, whoa nelly.
When I’m master of my own domain (working from home) it’s in a ratty old tshirt and a $4 pair of Amazon Starter brand (who knew they were still around?) shorts. Because if I’m sitting in front of my computer for 8-9-10 hours by myself I’m going to be comfortable and that’s comfortable. When I’m in the office, I see the same 8-10 people every single day, and I basically wear only LL Bean because they offer tall sized shirts and I have a looong torso (6’, 28” inseam). It’s cheap, lasts, and is formal enough to pass muster with the dress code. ’m not customer facing and I’m in an industry where zero people are concerned about vanity of impressing anyone else (food/agriculture). If I was a billionaire and running a company and working basically 12-15-18 hours a day you’d find my ass in whatever was the most comfortable athleisure I could find too.
my wife works in the tech sector and finds herself telling a surprising number of people, "you can't wear a hoodie to a meeting. hoodies are for founders."
When I worked in granite I wore cheap athletic pants, a capeshit t-shirt, and a hoodie. Of course, I had no meetings to go to and a boss who was desperate to keep me because he knew no one else could do my job, so that helped. At the county courthouse I can't bring myself not to wear nicer clothes, but I do seek out the softest, most comfortable pants I can find. They almost always have an elastic waistband. I'm too low on the seniority list to be invited to any important meetings. I have no one to impress anymore!
I used to dress “nice” when I worked in the office (dress shirt, jeans, wingtips, sport coat). After awhile, it got old. No different than having to wear a crappy Aramark polo and work pants when I worked at Advance.
Now, I spend half of my time working out in the plant. 99% of the time I’m wearing a branded UA polo, Wrangler “dad” jeans, and a pair of company-supplied Thorogoods. It’s like being paroled.
Oddly enough, it’s the guys actually working on the line who are showing up in tracksuits and sneakers.
Love them too, I would say some of it is a bit cringe now, although probably a not inaccurate depiction of attitudes contemporary with the character and funny as hell. It is a very nice change of pace from Sharpe's boy scout about everything attitude.
They don't make duck apparel but I've been pleased with both blue and black denim jeans from Texas Jeans. They say everything is Made in USA and my experience with their customer service has been great. A pair of jeans is about $60.
Unfortunately for me, someone who was an avid poster on the cesspool that is r/malefashionadvice about 10-11 years ago, I will always associate Pointer brand duck products with 90 lb comp sci undergrads with a trust fund instead of anyone remotely working class.
I have two articles of clothing that fall into costume and clothing categories. Both waxed canvas. The clothing, a Ship John Wills jacket that I wear the hell out of. Pretty spendy at nearly $500 and has a long wait list. It’s a tank and looks badass. The costume is a pair of waxed canvas GN.01 work pants from Red Clouds Collective. I have absolutely no use for those things and I’ve yet to break them in because of it. I hope to have a reason one day. I’ve been eyeballin’ some LC King and Grease Point stuff lately. I feel it fits in the clothing category for me. My sweatshop Carhartt Berwick jacket gets a lot of use because it’s just really comfortable.
I met a few of the RCC people at "The 1 Show" in Portland five years ago. I don't feel hip enough for their stuff but I like what they're doing. They even have a usa Made antifa accessory:
That’s hilarious. The owner of Ship John has taken an axe to the noggin outside his shop by some local ne're-do-wells . Had custom made signs stolen off his store front. A brute force attack to the roll up door in the back of the shop and most recently a break in where some choice garments and some Gransfors Brüks axes were made off with. The video footage wasn’t clear enough to see an RCC logo on the masks though.
Timely article. Apparently I decided a while ago I’d never where less than a 32 again and threw those jeans out. Now I need some smaller britches. I can’t bring myself to pay Levi’s Woke n Co any longer.
To be fair, Mrs. Zuck was around long before he was worth $50k, never mind $50bn
Very true. It's less of a total puzzler than Bezos, who got a trillion dollars or whatever and then started dating someone older and uglier than his existing woman, at unimaginable cost.
fair, but unless I am mistaken, he made up that cost and more since handing it to her...
On this, I've been meaning to drop a comment about Round House denim here for a minute. USA-made, raw-ish (only one of their styles is actually advertised as raw, but their nominally-not-raw cowboy cut are still pretty dye-heavy and crinkly out of the packaging), some non-dadcore cuts that still work with thicker legs, and reasonably priced. Too soon to say anything conclusive about durability, but they seem fine. Basically, I think the Round House 1903 is as close as you're gonna get to a USA-made Wrangler 13MWZ rigid, which were my previous go-to. Recommended.
What's your take on American Giant? chinos I bought a pair recently and found that they're, er, fairly generously sized. They also come in only one inseam size, which worked for me but seems odd.
I have yet to try them, largely because I've been so satisfied with Gustin and I only need so many pairs of pants.
for upperbody comfort you can't beat cashmere 'sweaters;' for warm weather get down to 1-ply. those don't last long but you'll get compliments from all kinds of femininity--the real kinds i mean.
+1 on a cashmere sweater. I also love my cashmere scarf, which was a gift.
Is Gustin that good? I remember a decade ago thinking the brand name sounded cheesy but I've been interested in maybe buying some good denim again. I've always been one for the Japanese brands, but after wearing a $7 pair of thrift store 511s for the past year, I'm not sure if I want to pay Japanese prices for my next pair.
Yeah, they are that good. Even though their name is uncomfortably similar to Guster, the second worst major label band I've ever seen play live.
(First worst, by a truly herculean gap, was Spin Doctors.)
Just go ahead now! 😂
I've got a pair of AG blue jeans and black canvas pants. both are excellent. the jeans have a blend of spandex in them so they fit nicely and have some give, which is nice. the canvas pants do not have the spandex, and mine fit a bit loosely, so I'm often hitching them up. But I quite like both pairs. FWIW, I came to American Giant after Lucky started making its jeans overseas. If you like Lucky, you'll be fine with AG.
I have several AG hoodies, two henley jerseys, one of the waffle-pattern jerseys, a sweater, and a pair of sweatpants and every one of them is durable, comfortable, and well made. I have no trouble recommending AG.
I have one classic AG hoodie, the lightweight half-zip pullover, a slub long-sleeve (M fits my 36" sleeve length arms) I'm wearing now, a henley long sleeve, 5 slub shirts, and 1 classic cotton. All my old startup logo screenprinted American Apparel tri-blends are being phased out for the North Carolinian shirts. I've been very impressed with all of it, but their chore pants seems too pricey compared to the basic LC King duck. So a 32/34 brown duck is now winging its way to me, so see if I can squeeze into it.
(Dearborn changed their sizing at some point, rude. The original "last call for American stretch" jeans I bought, and follow ons, in 32/34 now must be ordered in 33/34 to fit, even though the old ones still fit me fine and I've only traded a little fat mass for biking muscle mass. We'll see how "true to size" LC King is.)
If American Giant made wool products... Oh, man, that would be the closest to divorce a man could get without going over the line. :scared-emoji-face-here:
Duckworth is where I go for good wool products. Their underwear is great, and all I wear anymore. I've also got a Vapor tee and a Sawtooth flannel. All are great, if you can stomach the price. Customer service is excellent as well. The trick to maintaining a happy marriage is to make sure I also buy something for my wife whenever I place an order.
Woaaaaaaah!!! Wool-poly blends, with some modal thrown in? These are cheaper than Fjallraven's Chinese wool t-shirts, dang. And the same blend for underwear? I didn't think anyone could compete with Jockey's modal underwear--a fantastic recommendation, thanks Eric.
>Most Merino Wool apparel companies tap dozens of other countries, many with practically nonexistent workplace and environmental regulations, to complete their supply chain. Typically, our competitors source their wool in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Uruguay, and Argentina. Then they process and spin their wool into yarn in China, Italy, Bulgaria, Argentina, Uruguay, and Romania. Fabric is made in China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, Turkey, and Australia, before it is cut into garments in China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Italy, and Turkey. Finally, they distribute out of Germany, the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand.
That's truly dizzying. Well played, Duckworth.
At the risk of stepping on toes, feel free to use my referral code. You'll get 25% off your first order over $100, and I'll get $10 off my next purchase. http://rwrd.io/n39busq?c
If Jack has a referral code, he should post it here and reap the benefits for bringing together this wonderful community.
Executed today!
Jack, any experience with their shirts? I’m intrigued by some of their offerings, but fit is everything...I’m pretty long and wide in the torso and usually look for XLTall or 2XLTall.
No experience yet! They were doing their shirts overseas for a while so I didn't get involved.
Gettees makes Pima cotton shirts here in Detroit. ~$30 each and they’ve held up well. I’ve had two that get almost weekly wear and haven’t had any issues after 3-4 years. They’re only now just starting to fade.
If you are ever at a loss for article ideas any chance you would do a brief history of Scott T?
That's a good idea and it could tie in to my experience working in the same industry.
Saw the movie on him. What a deluded unrepentant sack of shit. And everyone working for him.
Point of contention, have you considered that maybe Zuck married for love, not looks? You dunk on him a lot for how much he “paid” for his wife, but maybe two lizards really can just fall in love.
Zuckerberg is cold and calculating because there's undoubtedly something very OFF about how his mind woorks.
"She's gonna lose her looks sooner or later. Might as well head THAT off at the pass."
Something like that?
This reminds me of something I read once about there being four types of couples, and the last causes us to recoil in disgust and conspiracy theories:
1: Handsome man with beautiful woman. All is right with the world.
2: Ugly man with ugly woman. All is right, if depressingly so, with the world.
3: Ugly man with beautiful woman. Okay, mismatch to be sure, but she sees something in him we don't. Maybe he's funny, or kind, or rich or amazing in bed.
4: Normal-looking man with ugly woman. Oh God, what's wrong with HIM? Can't he do better? Especially with his money? He must be psychologically damaged.
In sitcoms, you see Couple # 3 all the time. But in real life, the most common sight is #4, a normal-looking man with a hambeast of a wife. I see it everywhere. Is a man marrying a 6, who then slides into a 3 or 4, some sort of strategy on his part to protect himself from an adulterous mate?
If you're not in the top 20 percent of men, you will have a fattie or nothing. The top 20 percent of men are dating multiple women. Can't blame the girls. They have their careers to keep them busy now. So why not take their limited time off work and spend it with someone more attractive? Who cares if they're not exclusive? She has Daddy Corporation now and Daddy Government later.
Unless you Act As If. Then you can look like Jonah Hill and be awash in poon.
Ill chuck you my conundrum, Jack. In the sea of college, most truly attractive girls are looking for short term shit and have no real ambitions for children or marriage. I have my pick of these despite fairly average looks (the blanks can be filled as to why this is so). Thus I can spend my college years sleeping with an array of rather attractive women with a panoply of mental issues and an aversion to marriage. If they want kids, they say they’ll wait until their mid 30s (something Im not going to do. My own parents having waited until 40, I’d like my kids to know their grandparents). Or conversely I can get into a serious relationship with a girl I’ve been talking to: on the zaftig side (but working to lose it) with a very pretty face; but stratospheric IQ (at my school on the most prestigious scholarship given only to 3 of 10,000 students in the respective freshman classes); wants 3-4 kids; has reasonable views on family, marriage, etc. Less striking than most girls I’ve been out with, but a much more mature, reasonable and conservative person.
Looks fade. If you agree on the big stuff, and she is logical and practical— I would go for it. Make sure you both know what the other is passionate about. Fine if you don’t share those passions; but you each have to be ok with the other following them. Together or not.
I'll say this.
Women don't LOSE weight after college.
My first wife was hotter than the surface of the sun when I met her. Because she had an astounding rack for an 18-year-old. I now recognize that to be the warning sign that it is!
“Pretty women out walking with gorillas down my street…”
“Is She Really Going Out With Him”— Joe Jackson
I was a freshman in college when that song came out. Boy, the lyrics really resonate(d) with me.
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/joejackson/isshereallygoingoutwithhim.html
*shrugs* there are lots of people out there that are satisfied with so-so relationships/looks/lives in spite of options. Zucks thing seems to be clinging to control of his empire of dirt, and not much else.
Without getting into a rating system too deep, I would say Bezos and Zuck are with women who are worst Hollywood Homely.
I mean sure, in my fantasy that I have that much money I am with (fill in your ideal hottie), but I don't have that much money so maybe I just would be with someone who doesn't annoy me, and doesn't disgust me.
Anything's possible. They started dating when he was still in school.
I don't understand anything about him, to be honest. Most companies at least START with good intentions: Let's build a car! Let's engineer a better toilet paper roll holder! Zuck and FB started with the intent of manipulating people and violating their privacy. Facebook in general has been responsible for more everyday misery than any other company in human history.
Looks like an android, talks like an android, walks like an android.
It's a human!
Considering that he started FB as a way to get some “friends with benefits” in college!
I like the idea of this, because a hundred or so dollars for American pants seems eminently reasonable - I've spent at least that much on non-USA pants. I also love that they're available in 36" inseam. Unfortunately, I am much too tall and slim for relaxed straight usually - it's not a look that is generally flattering on me. It does make me wish that I could find an American manufacturer of the more technical kind of "work" pants, as it clearly is possible to profitably manufacture pants as a reasonable price point in America.
Gustin has a cut for you, trust me. They have at least two pants cuts that are too slim for me!
I actually check their stuff out regularly - I will need to actually the pull the trigger, there's always some very cool, unique-looking stuff. I think what's kept me from ordering so far is the wait - delayed gratification is not my strong suit - one of my (many) character flaws. I also love the colors they do their shirts in, but like almost every place, they don't offer tall sizes in their shirt/t-shirts. I suffered through regular shirt sizes for most of my life, but recently started grabbing tall sizes and it's just so much better.
The wait isn't usually that long. Sometimes three weeks!
$100 seems expensive to me, as I am some sort of awful cheap-ass when it comes to clothes. The reason for this is that I started poking around the thrift stores and discovered I could get all these fancy brands for $7 instead of $100.
It may take me months to find the right thing, but I do. It helps that I like bringing the element of chance into purchases -- the universe will provide me with the right pants when it sees fit to do so.
Check out 1620. The inseam is made to order at checkout.
Some of those 1620 pants really seem to hit the mark in terms of a stretch-style work pant, thanks! I wish they gave some measurements for the fit, but I might just roll the dice.
Unrelated to pants, but on the made in USA topic, does anyone have any knowledge about our experience with the Librem 5 USA phone from Purism?
https://puri.sm/products/librem-5-usa/
Holy shit.
I had no idea this even existed.
I'd read your detailed analysis and tech breakdown on that phone and your thoughts on ease of use, etc...
I should have added detail and not just snark. That phone is very specifically targeted to Linux systems administrators or programmers, which is why I'm legitimately surprised Baruth hadn't heard of it. The underlying Linux operating system it uses didn't support SMS/MMS until the last year or so, for instance. Its performance as a phone is... so-so. It does not work with your iMessage. It cannot install your favorite Android app from the Play Store.
There's been classic programmer drama about how it technically supports, but makes it difficult to install, other operating systems besides PureOS.
The one thing it has on its competing privacy-oriented super 1337 hacker phones is that you can order an all-USA component model with a custom sparkly glitter pattern painted on the case to let you know whether the NSA/FBI intercepted it while shipping to you. :)
Here are people commenting on the limitations of the three most popular non-Apple, non-Google phone: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28164208
The top comment sums it up nicely for all those products. "Most "reviews" expect a polished OS that "just works" when this device isn't ready for daily use unless you're a tinkerer who can spend time bug reporting, searching for answers, reflashing when (not if) things go wrong." Most of the early users were expected to contribute kernel drivers for the phones' components, so they have functioning WiFi and cameras. The cameras still don't really work, last I read.
If you don't understand what a bootloader is and have never debugged error messages from a Unix program, I would strongly suggest not trying any of these devices and buying a regular flip-phone if you're concerned about contributing to the insane data troves that Apple and Google keep on you.
That is rad. Let me know how it goes.
Adding to Chuck S and Keith below— compare/contrast with Apple and Android would be extremely helpful. (If you decide to do a review, that is.)
I imagine lots of people would be interested in these things; their marketing department needs to get it in gear!
I envision a shot of a white balloon floating overhead…(voice over) “Sick of funding stuff like this? Try the Librem 5…”
Genius! You’re hired! Haha
Bro, READ HACKER NEWS MORE. I mean, at least skim the headlines. n-gate.com stopped posting his mocking summary of the day's top posts, which would bring you amusement for 10-20 minutes of skimming his archives.
I don't value phones enough to spend more than $200, so couldn't bring myself to get this one, however, I like that this exists.
That a wonderful concept on many levels. That such a conceptually simple thing must cost 2K to bring to market compared to mainstream phones is sad. something something if something is cheap/free you are the product. If it also included encrypted peer to peer communication to skirt the networks, whoa nelly.
When I’m master of my own domain (working from home) it’s in a ratty old tshirt and a $4 pair of Amazon Starter brand (who knew they were still around?) shorts. Because if I’m sitting in front of my computer for 8-9-10 hours by myself I’m going to be comfortable and that’s comfortable. When I’m in the office, I see the same 8-10 people every single day, and I basically wear only LL Bean because they offer tall sized shirts and I have a looong torso (6’, 28” inseam). It’s cheap, lasts, and is formal enough to pass muster with the dress code. ’m not customer facing and I’m in an industry where zero people are concerned about vanity of impressing anyone else (food/agriculture). If I was a billionaire and running a company and working basically 12-15-18 hours a day you’d find my ass in whatever was the most comfortable athleisure I could find too.
my wife works in the tech sector and finds herself telling a surprising number of people, "you can't wear a hoodie to a meeting. hoodies are for founders."
When I worked in granite I wore cheap athletic pants, a capeshit t-shirt, and a hoodie. Of course, I had no meetings to go to and a boss who was desperate to keep me because he knew no one else could do my job, so that helped. At the county courthouse I can't bring myself not to wear nicer clothes, but I do seek out the softest, most comfortable pants I can find. They almost always have an elastic waistband. I'm too low on the seniority list to be invited to any important meetings. I have no one to impress anymore!
" I'm too low on the seniority list to be invited to any important meetings."
Be grateful.
I used to dress “nice” when I worked in the office (dress shirt, jeans, wingtips, sport coat). After awhile, it got old. No different than having to wear a crappy Aramark polo and work pants when I worked at Advance.
Now, I spend half of my time working out in the plant. 99% of the time I’m wearing a branded UA polo, Wrangler “dad” jeans, and a pair of company-supplied Thorogoods. It’s like being paroled.
Oddly enough, it’s the guys actually working on the line who are showing up in tracksuits and sneakers.
Respectfully good sir, would you have a link to these fine American work pants?
I could google it, but I am lazy.
https://lcking.com/collections/king-country/products/lc-king-brown-duck-bristol-5-pocket-jean?variant=32024708907075
As a paid subscriber, you're eligible to have me Google things FOR YOU, at no charge!
in that case, I'll send a private email so I don't sully my search history while simultaneously offering too much info here ...
I'll save you an email; it's "Seeking Dot Com".
didn't even use the lmgtfy.com link, now that is service! (I, I couldn't find the right pants without the link either.)
Being "landed gentry" and "gainfully employed" have pretty much always been mutually exclusive. I'm glad to see you're a full service author.
Oh, and I completely agree with you about Facebook.
Hey- I read all your books, I’m a big fan!
Love them too, I would say some of it is a bit cringe now, although probably a not inaccurate depiction of attitudes contemporary with the character and funny as hell. It is a very nice change of pace from Sharpe's boy scout about everything attitude.
Productive labor is for Nobodies, who exist to serve the needs of their betters.
How do you like Earth so far?
Those Persimmon Dye pants are absolutely gorgeous! I wish I knew about the brand before they sold out. They’re definitely gonna be on my radar now.
They don't make duck apparel but I've been pleased with both blue and black denim jeans from Texas Jeans. They say everything is Made in USA and my experience with their customer service has been great. A pair of jeans is about $60.
Unfortunately for me, someone who was an avid poster on the cesspool that is r/malefashionadvice about 10-11 years ago, I will always associate Pointer brand duck products with 90 lb comp sci undergrads with a trust fund instead of anyone remotely working class.
I have two articles of clothing that fall into costume and clothing categories. Both waxed canvas. The clothing, a Ship John Wills jacket that I wear the hell out of. Pretty spendy at nearly $500 and has a long wait list. It’s a tank and looks badass. The costume is a pair of waxed canvas GN.01 work pants from Red Clouds Collective. I have absolutely no use for those things and I’ve yet to break them in because of it. I hope to have a reason one day. I’ve been eyeballin’ some LC King and Grease Point stuff lately. I feel it fits in the clothing category for me. My sweatshop Carhartt Berwick jacket gets a lot of use because it’s just really comfortable.
I met a few of the RCC people at "The 1 Show" in Portland five years ago. I don't feel hip enough for their stuff but I like what they're doing. They even have a usa Made antifa accessory:
https://redcloudscollective.com/collections/feature-items/products/knit-face-mask-olive
That’s hilarious. The owner of Ship John has taken an axe to the noggin outside his shop by some local ne're-do-wells . Had custom made signs stolen off his store front. A brute force attack to the roll up door in the back of the shop and most recently a break in where some choice garments and some Gransfors Brüks axes were made off with. The video footage wasn’t clear enough to see an RCC logo on the masks though.
Timely article. Apparently I decided a while ago I’d never where less than a 32 again and threw those jeans out. Now I need some smaller britches. I can’t bring myself to pay Levi’s Woke n Co any longer.