What’s this got to do with libs? Comparing TikTok or other Chinese goods to a literal bomb doesn’t make sense, but whatever.
What’s this got to do with libs? Comparing TikTok or other Chinese goods to a literal bomb doesn’t make sense, but whatever.
I didn’t assume we were speaking of the general public in c/technology, maybe that was a mistake. Most of what I said can be done without too much effort, especially browser extensions. The openHAB and various other tools are only going to apply to those who need them and probably have experience enough to try to tackle them. The only major one that I think people should take advantage of but is beyond most folks ability is Pi-hole. It’s not hard at all, but if you don’t know where to look or what the instructions mean it’ll be impossible for them.
You’ve reiterated pretty much what I said, but directly contradicted some of the most obvious points.
Not sure what a “cute girl” has to do with anything, I gave a pragmatic explanation. Do you treat cute girls like they can’t handle realistic information?
Your idea is to reduce functionality of popular devices. That’s not going to work. Like I said, if you want to play in these businesses’ little proprietary gardens you’re going to have to play by their rules. If you want to be a Luddite, great, but for the vast majority of people such limited devices will never be adopted and any business producing them will either be niche expensive or fail.
I grew up with computers since the ‘70s. I know this golden age well - and the golden age of the internet before it was monetized, tracked, ad-ified, walled off, etc.
We’re never going to get the old days back.
There’s always some business that’s going to insert itself between what you want and you and try to extract profit from it. Doesn’t matter if it’s tracking you or subscription fees.
I hate being taken advantage of like that, but unfortunately if you want to play with some of their toys you have to pay.
Just do it judiciously and take control where you can.
I build my own PCs. No pre-loaded crap. I download driver-only software when needed, not bloated corporate-ware like what HP or canon does to pester you about ordering ink. I have several Linux boxes doing free things for me like running a 3D printer, running a CUPS print server, running openHABian, a Jellyfin server, and the best of all - Pi-hole (block ads, block devices from phoning home). I run Firefox with all the ad blockers and anti-trackers. Facebook containers and YouTube ad blockers.
But I run windows 10. Why? Because it was free and it works. Take advantage of the system that takes advantage of you. I also run it dual boot with Manjaro, for all those tasks windows might make difficult.
My LAN has a separate network for all IOT and similar devices so they can’t see the rest of my network, and most are blocked from phoning home as needed. They don’t get to sell that data.
I take advantage of all free good software; Gimp, LibreOffice, OBS, VLC, 7zip…
Some things we’ll never get back, like ownership of top-tier games that have to phone home.
Anyway… like I said, there’s no way to wind the clock back. However, with effort, you can control what you can and at least not give them what they’re trying to extract from you. Be in charge of what you let them have. It’s really all we’ve got.
Plain white basmati rice.
One cup rice. If it’s not washed, wash it.
2 1/4 cups water.
1 heaping teaspoon salt.
Put rice, salt, and water in pot.
Bring to boil. Stir a little to keep rice from sticking too much.
Soon as it boils, take off heat, put heat to low, then put pot back on heat and put a lid on it.
~ 20 minutes later, check. Should not be any water in the bottom of the pot. If no water, eat!
Lol, well they had no problems seriously wounding the unarmed BLM protesters by shooting them with “rubber” bullets.
They wouldn’t touch the right wingnuts showed up at protests with guns.
They also wouldn’t touch an armed group distributing food to homeless and needy
They didn’t touch the Bundy’s when they took over the wildlife refuge offices in an armed standoff.
So cops are fine shooting at unarmed people, but if they’re going to face well armed threats they play nice.
Everyone thought AI was going to kill us via some Terminator-like Skynet.
Nope.
It’s just going to let us kill ourselves via greed and accelerate destroying the environment.
Those were replaced with better tech that did the exact same thing. VGA - DVI - HDMI - Display Port.
I don’t know about you, but I still have one DVD hooked up. Because I have the option to. Not because the motherboard maker took away all the SATA ports and told me I had to buy a special proprietary dongle or plug to fit the replacement.
Yet more proof that Apple has ceased to be an innovator that adds features to phones and now takes things away and leaves it to fans to make up justifications for it.
How is using magnets a “new button”?
Disabled folks who can’t fasten buttons have been using magnet closures for a while. This guy adds the ability to decorate it and that’s a new button? They had changeable button covers for fun in the ‘80s.
Wanna know why prices everywhere went up so much? They had to pay all the advertising companies for the billions of ads they’ve been trying to force us to watch everywhere, from tv to internet to roadside billboards. So the consumer had to pay.
(No, not really, but it sure feels that way)